Basin; Bason – Beard

Basin; Bason

ba'-s'-n.

1. The Terms Used and Their Meaning:

The American Standard Revised Version has "basin," the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "bason," the preferred spelling of the English revisers. In the Appendix to the Revised Old Testament the American Revisers (section viii) say, "The modern spelling is preferred for the following words"; then follow among others "basin" for "bason"; but no similar statement appears in the Appendix to the Revised New Testament. The Hebrew word so rendered in English Versions of the Bible is chiefly used for the large bowl of bronze (the King James Version "brass") employed by the priests to receive the blood of the sacrificial victims (Exodus 27:3; compare Exodus 29:16; 1 Kings 7:45, etc.). It is found only once in secular use (Amos 6:6, "drink wine in bowls"), if the text there is correct; the Septuagint has it otherwise. See BOWL. The "basins" of Exodus 12:22; 2 Samuel 17:28 were probably of earthenware.

2. Of Various Materials and Forms:

While the priests' bowls were of bronze, similar bowls or basins of silver were presented by the princes of the congregation, according to Numbers 7:13 ff; and those spoken of in 1 Kings 7:50 as destined for Solomon's temple were of gold (compare 1 Chronicles 28:17).

3. The Typical Ewer of the East:

(1) The well-known eastern mode of washing the hands was and is by pouring water on the hands, not by dipping them in water, an act, of course, calling for the aid of an attendant. Elisha "poured water on the hands of Elijah" (2 Kings 3:11; see Kitto's note in Pictorial Bible 2, II, 330). A disciple came to be known as "one who poured water on the hands of another." Such was beyond question the prevailing custom among the ancient Hebrews, as it was, and is, among eastern peoples in general. They incline to look with disgust, if not with horror, upon our western practice of washing face and hands in water retained in a basin.

(2) The typical vessel of the East used in such ablutions has a long spout, not unlike our large coffee-pot (see Kitto, Pict. Biblical, II, 331, note). While the English Versions of the Bible unfortunately often suggests nothing like such pouring, the Hebrew expresses it, e.g. in 1 Samuel 25:41, where we have the Qal of rachats compare Kennedy in 1-vol HDB, and HDB, articles "Bath," "Bathing." Kennedy shows that "affusion," "pouring on" of water, was meant in many cases where we read "bathe" or "wash" in Enoch glish Versions. Lane (Mod. Egypt, chapter v) says: "A servant brings him a basin and ewer (called Tsisht and ibreek) of tinned copper or brass. The first has a cover with holes, with a raised receptacle for the soap; and the water is poured upon the hands and passes through the ewer into the space below; so that when the basin is brought to a second person the water with which the former has washed is not seen."

4. A Basin of a Unique Sort:

(1) A wash-basin of a special sort was used by Jesus for washing the disciples' feet (see John 13:5). The Greek is nipter eita ballei hudor eis ton niptera, translated the Revised Version (British and American), "then he poureth water into the basin." This word nipter is not found elsewhere in the New Testament, nor in the Septuagint, nor, indeed, in Greek profane literature. But fortunately the general sense is here made plain by the context and by comparison of the cognate verbs niptein and n izein. It evidently denotes an article, not necessarily a vessel, specifically suited to the use of washing a part of the body, e.g. the hands or the feet, and hence is used with the article, "the basin," the Revised Version (British and American). It is doubtful, therefore, if "basin," or "bason," conveys a true idea of either the oriental article here meant or the scene portrayed. The fact that, according to the custom of the day, the position of the disciples here was reclining, precludes the possibility of the use of a "basin" of our sort, in the way we are accustom edition to, i.e. for immersing the feet in the water, in whole or in part.

(2) So it is likely that the nipter was a jug, or ewer, with a dish, saucer, or basin placed under it and combined with it to catch the dripping water. We know from other sources that such a vessel was kept in the Jewish house regularly for ordinary handwashings, etc. (see Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:3), and for ceremonial ablutions. Hence, it would naturally be ready here in the upper room as a normal part of the preparation of the "goodman of the house" for his guests (the King James Version Mark 14:14; Luke 22:12), and so it is distinguished by the Greek article ton. Jesus Himself used the nipter, standing, doubtless, to impress upon His disciples the lessons of humility, self-abasement and loving service which He ever sought to impart and illustrate.

(3) Our conclusion, we may say with George Farmer in DCG, article "Bason," is that nipter was not simply one large basin, but the set of ewer and basin combined, such a set as was commonly kept in the Jewish house for the purpose of cleansing either the hands or the feet by means of affusion. The Arabic Tisht, authorities tell us, is the exact rendering of nipter, and it comes from a root which means "to pour," or "rain slightly." (See Anton Tien, reviser of the Arabic prayer-book, author of Arabic an d Mod. Greek Grammars, etc., quoted in DCG, article "Bason.")

George B. Eager

Basket

bas'-ket: Four kinds of "baskets" come to view in the Old Testament under the Hebrew names, dudh, Tene', cal and kelubh. There is little, however, in these names, or in the narratives where they are found, to indicate definitely what the differences of size and shape and use were. The Mishna renders us some help in our uncertainty, giving numerous names and descriptions of "baskets" in use among the ancient Hebrews (see Kreugel, Dasse Hausgerat in der Mishna, 39-45). They were variously m ade of willow, rush, palm-leaf, etc., and were used for various purposes, domestic and agricultural, for instance, in gathering and serving fruit, collecting alms in kind for the poor, etc. Some had handles, others lids, some both, others neither.

1. Meaning of Old Testament Terms:

(1) Dudh was probably a generic term for various kinds of baskets. It was probably the "basket" in which the Israelites in Egypt carried the clay for bricks (compare Psalms 81:6, where it is used as a symbol of Egyptian bondage), and such as the Egyptians themselves used for that purpose (Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, I, 379), probably a large, shallow basket, made of wicker-work. It stood for a basket that was used in fruit-gathering (see Jeremiah 24:1), but how it differed from Amos' "basket of summer fruit" (Amos 8:1) we do not know. Dudh is used for the "pot" in which meat was boiled (1 Samuel 2:14), showing probably that a pot-shaped "basket" was known by this name. Then it seems to have stood for a basket tapering toward the bottom like the calathus of the Romans. So we seem forced to conclude that the term was generic, not specific.

(2) The commonest basket in use in Old Testament times was the cal. It was the "basket" in which the court-baker of Egypt carried about his confectionery on his head (Genesis 40:16). It was made in later times at least of peeled willows, or palm leaves, and was sometimes at least large and flat like the canistrum of the Romans, and, like it, was used for carrying bread and other articles of food (Genesis 40:16; Judges 6:19). Meat for the meat offerings and the unleavened bread, were placed in it (Exodus 29:3; Leviticus 8:2; Numbers 6:15). It is expressly required that the unleavened cakes be placed and offered in such a "basket." While a "basket," it was dish-shaped, larger or smaller in size, it would seem, according to demand, and perhaps of finer texture than the dudh.

(3) The Tene' was a large, deep basket, in which grain and other products of garden or field were carried home, and kept (Deuteronomy 28:5,Deuteronomy 28:17), in which the first-fruits were preserved (Deuteronomy 26:2), and the tithes transported to the sanctuary (Deuteronomy 26:2 f). It has been thought probable that the chabya, the basket of clay and straw of the Palestine peasantry of today, is a sort of survival or counterpart of it. It has the general shape of a jar, and is used for storing and keeping wheat, barley, oats, etc. At the top is the mouth into which the grain is poured, and at the bottom is an orifice through which it can be taken out as needed, when the opening is again closed with a rag. The Septuagint translates Tene' by kartallos, which denotes a basket of the shape of an inverted cone.

(4) The term kelubh, found in Amos 8:1 for a "fruit-basket," is used in Jeremiah 5:27 (the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "cage") for a bird-cage. But it is not at all unreasonable to suppose that a coarsely woven basket with a cover would be used by a fowler to carry home his feathered captives.

2. Meaning of New Testament Terms:

In the New Testament interest centers in two kinds of "basket," distinguished by the evangelists in their accounts of the feeding of the 5,000 and of the 4,000, called in Greek kophinos and spuris (Westcott-Hort sphuris).

(1) The kophinos (Matthew 14:20; Mark 6:43; Luke 9:17; John 6:13) may be confidently identified with the kuphta' of the Mishna which was provided with a cord for a handle by means of which it could be carried on the back with such provisions as the disciples on the occasions under consideration would naturally have with them (of Kreugel, and Broadus, Commentary in the place cited.). The Jews of Juvenal's day carried such a specific "provision-basket" with them on their journeys regularly, and the Latin for it is a transliteration of this Greek word, cophinus (compare Juvenal iii.14, and Jastrow, Dictionary, article "Basket"). Some idea of its size may be drawn from the fact that in CIG, 1625, 46, the word denotes a Beotian measure of about two gallons.

(2) The sphuris or spuris (Matthew 15:37; Mark 8:8) we may be sure, from its being used in letting Paul down from the wall at Damascus (Acts 9:25, etc.), was considerably larger than the kophinos and quite different in shape and uses. It might for distinction fitly be rendered "hamper," as Professor Kennedy suggests. Certainly neither the Greek nor ancient usage justifies any confusion.

(3) The sargane (2 Corinthians 11:33) means anything plaited, or sometimes more specifically a fish-basket.

George B. Eager

Basmath

bas'-math.

See BASEMATH.

Bason

ba'-s'-n.

See BASIN.

Bassa

bas'-a.

See BASSAI.

Bassai

bas'-a-i, bas'-i (Bassai, Bassa; the King James Version Bassa; 1 Esdras 5:16; Bezai (Ezra 2:17; Nehemiah 7:23)): The sons of Bassai returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem.

Bastai

bas'-ta-i.

See BASTHAI.

Bastard

bas'-tard (mamzer; nothos): In Deuteronomy 23:2 probably the offspring of an incestuous union, or of a marriage within the prohibited degrees of affinity (Leviticus 18:6–20; Leviticus 20:10–21). He and his descendants to the tenth generation are excluded from the assembly of the Lord. (See Driver, at the place). Zechariah (Zechariah 9:6), after prophesying the overthrow of three Philistine cities, declares of the fourth: "And a bastard (the Revised Version, margin "a bastard race") shall dwell in Ashdod," meaning probably that a "mixed population" (BDB) of aliens shall invade and settle in the capital of the Philistines. In Heb (Hebrews 12:8) in its proper sense of "born out of wedlock," and therefore not admitted to the privileges of paternal care and responsibility as a legitimate son.

T. Ress

Basthai

bas'-tha-i, bas'-thi (Basthai; the King James Version Bastai; 1 Esdras 5:31 = Besai (Ezra 2:49; Nehemiah 7:52)): The descendants of Basthai (temple-servants) returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem.

Bat

(`aTaleph; Leviticus 11:19; Deuteronomy 14:18; Isaiah 2:20): Bats are the most widely distributed of mammals, reaching even the oceanic islands, and modern science has revealed the existence of an astonishing number of species, nearly twenty being recorded from Palestine. These include both fruit-eating and insect-eating bats, the latter being the smaller. It has not always been realized that they are mammals, and so it is not surprising that they should be mentioned at the end of the list of unclean birds in Leviticus 11:19 and Deuteronomy 14:18. It may, however, be significant that they are at the end of the list and not in the middle of it. The fruit bats are a pest to horticulturists and often strip apricot and other trees before the fruit has ripened enough to be picked. On this account the fruit is often enclosed in bags, or the whole tree may be surrounded with a great sheet or net. They commonly pick the fruit and eat it on some distant perch beneath which the seeds and the ordure of these animals are scattered. The insect bats, as in other countries, flit about at dusk and through the night catching mosquitoes and larger insects, and so are distinctly beneficial.

The reference in Isaiah 2:20, "cast .... idols .... to the moles and to the bats" refers of course to these animals as inhabitants of dark and deserted places. As in the case of many animal names the etymology of `aTaleph is doubtful. Various derivations have been proposed but none can be regarded as satisfactory. The Arabic name, waTwaT, throws no light on the question.

Alfred Ely Day

Batanaea

bat-a-ne'-a: The name used in Greek times for BASHAN (which see), Josephus, Life, II; Ant, XV, x, 1; XVII, ii, 1, "toparchy of Butanea."

Bath

(bath): A liquid measure equal to about 9 gallons, English measure. It seems to have been regarded as a standard for liquid measures (Ezekiel 45:10), as in the case of the molten sea and the lavers in Solomon's temple (1 Kings 7:26,1 Kings 7:38), and for measuring oil and wine (2 Chronicles 2:10; Ezra 7:22; Isaiah 5:10; Ezekiel 45:14). Its relation to the homer is given in Ezekiel 45:11,Ezekiel 45:14.

See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

Bath Kol

bath'-kol, bath kol (bath qol, "the daughter of the voice"): Originally signifying no more than "sound," "tone," "call" (e.g. water in pouring gives forth a "sound," bath qol, while oil does not), sometimes also "echo." The expression acquired among the rabbis a special use, signifying the Divine voice, audible to man and unaccompanied by a visible Divine manifestation. Thus conceived, bath qol is to be distinguished from God's speaking to Moses and the prophets; for at Sinai the voice of God was part of a larger theophany, while for the prophets it was the resultant inward demonstration of the Divine will, by whatever means effected, given to them to declare (see VOICE). It is further to be distinguished from all natural sounds and voices, even where these were interpreted as conveying Divine instruction. The conception appears for the first time in Daniel 4:28 (English Versions 31)--it is in the Aramaic portion--where, however, qal = qol, "voice" stands without berath = bath, "daughter": "A voice fell from heaven." Josephus (Ant., XIII, x, 3) relates that John Hyrcanus (135- 104 BC) heard a voice while offering a burnt sacrifice in the temple, which Josephus expressly interprets as the voice of God (compare Babylonian SoTah 33a and Jerusalem SoTah 24b, where it is called bath qol). In the New Testament mention of "a voice from heaven" occurs in the following passages: Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22 (at the baptism of Jesus); Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35 (at His transfiguration); John 12:28 (shortly before His passion); Acts 9:4; Acts 22:7; Acts 26:14 (conversion of Paul), and Acts 10:13,Acts 10:15 (instruction of Peter concerning clean and unclean). In the period of the Tannaim (circa 100 BC- 200 AD) the term bath qol was in very frequent us and was understood to signify not the direct voice of God, which was held to be supersensible, but the echo of the voice (the bath being somewhat arbitrarily taken to express the distinction). The rabbis held that bath qol had been an occasional means of Divine communication throughout the whole history of Israel and that since the cessation of the prophetic gift it was the sole means of Divine revelation. It is noteworthy that the rabbinical conception of bath qol sprang up in the period of the decline of Old Testament prophecy and flourished in the period of extreme traditionalism. Where the gift of prophecy was clearly lacking--perhaps even because of this lack--there grew up an inordinate desire for special Divine manifestations. Often a voice from heaven was looked for to clear up matters of do ubt and even to decide between conflicting interpretations of the law. So strong had this tendency become that Rabbi Joshua (circa 100 AD) felt it to be necessary to oppose it and to insist upon the supremacy and the sufficiency of the written law. It is clear that we have here to do with a conception of the nature and means of Divine revelation that is distinctly inferior to the Biblical view. For even in the Biblical passages where mention is made of the voice from heaven, all that is really essential to the revelation is already present, at least in principle, without the audible voice.

LITERATURE.

F. Weber, System der altsynagogalen palastinischen Theologie, 2nd edition, 1897, 194 ff; J. Hamburger, Real-Enc des Judentums, II, 1896; W. Bacher, Agada der Tannaiten and Agada der palast. Amoraer (see Index); Jewish Encyclopedia, II, 588 ff; "Bath Kol" in TSBA, IX, 18; P. Fiebig, Rel. in Gesch. und Gegenwart, I, under the word

J. R. Van Pelt

Bath-Rabbim, The Gate Of

W. Ewing

Bath-Sheba

bath-she'-ba, bath'-she-ba (bath-shebha`, "the seventh daughter," or "the daughter of an oath," also called Bathshua bath- shua`, "the daughter of opulence" (1 Chronicles 3:5); the Septuagint however reads Bersabee everywhere; compare BATHSHUA; HPN, 65, 67, 77, 206 for Bath-sheba, and 67, 69, note 3, for Bathshua): Bath-sheba was the daughter of Eliam (2 Samuel 11:3) or Ammiel (1 Chronicles 3:5); both names have the same meaning. She was the beautiful wife of Uriah the Hittite, and because of her beauty was forced by David to commit adultery (2 Samuel 11:2 Psalms 51:1–19). Her husband Uriah was treacherously killed by the order of David (2 Samuel 11:6 ff). After the death of her husband David made her his wife and she lived with him in the palace (2 Samuel 11:27). Four sons sprang from this marriage (2 Samuel 5:14; 1 Chronicles 3:5), after the first child, the adulterine, had died (2 Samuel 12:14 ff). With the help of the prophet Nathan she renders futile the usurpation of Adonijah and craftily secures the throne for her son Solomon (1 Kings 1:11 ff). Later Adonijah succeeds in deceiving Bath-sheba, but his plan is frustrated by the king (1 Kings 2:13 ff). According to Jewish tradition, Proverbs 31:1–31 is written by Solomon in memory of his mother. In the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 16:1–28) Bath-sheba is mentioned as the former wife of Uriah and the mother of Solomon by David.

See ADONIJAH; AMMIEL; BATHSHUA; DAVID; ELIAM; NATHAN; SOLOMON.

A. L. Breslich

Bath-Zacharias

bath-zak-a-ri'-as.

See BETH-ZACHARIAS.

Bath; Bathing

bath, bath'-ing.

1. Ordinary Bathing:

Bathing in the ordinary, non-religious sense, public or private, is rarely met with in the Scriptures. We find, however, three exceptional and interesting cases:

(1) that of Pharaoh's daughter, resorting to the Nile (Exodus 2:5);

(2) that of Bath-sheba, bathing on the house-top (2 Samuel 11:2 the Revised Version (British and American));

(3) the curious case mentioned in 1 Kings 22:38. (To wash with royal blood was supposed to be beneficial to the complexion.)

The dusty, limestone soil of Palestine and the open foot-gear of the Orient on stockingless feet, called for frequent washing of the feet (Genesis 24:32; Genesis 43:24; Judges 19:24; 1 Samuel 25:41; 2 Samuel 11:8; Song of Songs 5:3, etc.), and bathing of the body for refreshment; but the chief concern of the writers of Scripture was with bathing of another sort. Indeed, something of the religious sense and aspect of bathing, in addition to that of bodily refreshment, seems to have entered into the ordinary use of water, as in the washing of the hands before meals, etc. (see Genesis 18:4; Genesis 19:2; Luke 7:44).

2. Bathing Resorts:

The streams and ponds, when available, were the usual resorts for bathing (Exodus 2:5; 2 Kings 5:10, etc.), but the water- supply of large cities, stored up in great pools or large cisterns, was certainly available at times to some degree for bathing (2 Samuel 11:2); though, as Benzinger says, no traces of bathrooms have been found in old Hebrew houses, even in royal palaces. In Babylon, it would seem from Susanna 15, there were bathing pools in gardens, though this passage may refer simply to bathing in the open air. Certainly public baths as now known, or plunge-baths of the Greek type, were unknown among the Hebrews until they were brought in contact with the Greek civilization. Such baths first come into view during the Greek-Roman period, when they are found to be regularly included in the gymnasia, or "places of exercise" (1 Macc 1:14). Remains of them, of varying degrees of richness and architectural completeness, may be seen today in various parts of the East, those left of the cities of the Decapolis, especially at Gerash and Amman, being excellent examples (compare also those at Pompeii). A remarkable series of bath-chambers has recently been discovered by Mr. R. A. S. Macalister at Gezer in Palestine, in connection with a building supposed to be the palace built by Simon Maccabeus. For an interesting account of it see PEFS, 1905, 294 f.

3. Greek versus Semitic Ideas:

When we consider that in Palestine six months of the year are rainless, and how scarce and pricelessly valuable water is during most of the year, and in many places all the year round; and when we recall how the Bedouin of today looks on the use of water for cleansing in such times and places of scarcity, viewing it as a wanton waste (see Benzinger, Hebrew. Arch., 108, note), the rigid requirement of it for so many ritual purposes by the Mosaic law is, to say the least, remarkable (see ABLUTION; CLEAN; UNCLEANNESS, etc.). Certainly there was a marked contrast between the Greek idea of bathing and that of the Hebrews and Asiatics in general, when they came in contact. But when Greek culture invaded Palestine under Antiochus Epiphanes (circa 168 BC), it brought Greek ideas and Greek bathing establishments with it; and under Herod (40-44 BC) it was given the right of way and prevailed to no mean degree (see Anecdote of Gamaliel II in Schurer, HJP, II, i, 18, 53).

4. Ceremonial Purification:

But "bathing" in the Bible stands chiefly for ritual acts--purification from ceremonial uncleanness, from contact with the dead, with defiled persons or things, with "holy things," i.e. things "devoted," or "under the ban," etc. (see CLEAN; UNCLEANNESS, etc.). The Hebrew of the Old Testament does not sharply distinguish between bathing and partial washing-- both are expressed by rahats, and the Revised Version (British and American) rightly renders "wash" instead of "bathe" in some cases. Talmudic usage simply codified custom which had been long in vogue, according to Schurer. But Kennedy grants that the "bath" at last became, even for the laity, "an important factor in the religious life of Israel." We read of daily bathing by the Essenes (Josephus, BJ, II, viii, 5). Then later we find John, the Baptizer, immersing, as the record clearly shows the apostles of Christ did also (Acts 8:38; Romans 6:3 f); compare Luke 11:38 where baptizo, in passive = "washed."

5. Bathing for Health:

In John 5:2–7 we have an example of bathing for health. There are remains of ancient baths at Gadara and at Callirrhoe, East of the Jordan, baths which were once celebrated as resorts for health-seekers. There are hot baths in full operation today, near Tiberias, on the southwestern shore of the Lake of Galilee, which have been a health resort from time immemorial. It is probably true, however, as some one has said, that in Old Testament times and in New Testament times, the masses of the people had neither privacy nor inclination for bathing.

George B. Eager

Bathshua

bath'-shu-a (bath-shua`, "the daughter of opulence" or "the daughter of Shua"; compare BATH-SHEBA; for derivation see HPN, 67, 69, note 3):

(1) In Genesis 38:2 and 1 Chronicles 2:3, where the name is translated "Shua's daughter," the wife of Judah.

(2) In 1 Chronicles 3:5, the daughter of Ammiel and wife of David.

See BATH-SHEBA.

Battering-Ram

bat'-er-ing-ram.

See SIEGE.

Battle

See WAR.

Battle-Axe

bat'-'-l-ax.

See ARMOR, ARMS, III, 1; AX (AXE).

Battle-Bow

bat'-'-l-bo: Found in the striking Messianic prophecy: "The battle bow shall be cut off" (Zechariah 9:10). The prophet is predicting the peace that shall prevail when Zion's king cometh, "just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass." The words convey their full significance only when read in the light of the context: "I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the nations" (compare Zechariah 10:4). The battle-bow was sometimes made of tough wood, sometimes of two straight horns joined together (Hom. II. iv.105-11), and sometimes of bronze. In Psalms 18:34 the Revised Version (British and American) we find "bow of brass," but it probably should be of "bronze" (nechosheth), a metal very different from our brass, which is a mixture of copper and zinc. The point of the passage in this connection ("He teacheth my hands to war; so that mine arms do bend a bow of bronze"), as well as of that in 2 Kings 9:24 ("And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength") is that it required great strength to bend the battle-bow.

See ARCHERY; ARMOR.

George B. Eager

Battlement

bat'-'-l-ment.

See FORTIFICATION; HOUSE.

Bavai

bav'-a-i.

See BAVVAI.

Bavvai

bav'-a-i (bawway; Septuagint Codex Alexandrinus, Benei; Codex Vaticanus, Bedei; the King James Version Bavai, "wisher" (?) (Nehemiah 3:18)): Perhaps identical with or a brother of Binnui (Nehemiah 3:24). See BINNUI. Bavvai, "the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah," was of a Levitical family. He is mentioned as one of those who repaired the wall of Jerusalem after the return from Babylon (Nehemiah 3:17 f).

Bay (1)

ba.

See COLORS.

Bay (2)

ba (lashon, literally "tongue"; kolpos): The word occurs in the sense of inlet of the sea in the Old Testament only in Joshua 15:2,Joshua 15:5; Joshua 18:19, and in New Testament only in Acts 27:39 (of Malta, the King James Version "creek").

Bay Tree

ba'-tre' (the King James Version only; Psalms 37:35; 'ezrach): The word means "native," "indigenous," and the Revised Version (British and American) translations "a green tree in its native soil."

Bayith

ba'-yith (bayith; the King James Version Bajith, "house" (Isaiah 15:2)): A town in the country of Moab. The reading of the Revised Version, margin, "Bayith and Dibon are gone up to the high places to weep," seems to be the proper rendering of this passage. Duhm et al., by changing the text, read either "house of" or "daughter of." The construct of this word beth is frequently used in compound words.

See BETH.

Bazlith; Bazluth

baz'-lith, baz'-luth (batslith, Nehemiah 7:54; batsluth, Ezra 2:52; Basaloth, 1 Esdras 5:31, "asking"): The descendants of Bazlith (temple-servants) returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem.

Bdellium

del'-i-um (bedholach): The word occurs twice in the Pentateuch:

(1) in Genesis 2:12, in conjunction with gold and onyx, as a product of the land of HAVILAH (which see), and

(2) in Numbers 11:7, where the manna is likened to this substance in appearance: "The appearance thereof as the appearance of bdellium." The latter comparison excludes the idea of bedholach being a precious stone, and points to the identification of it with the fragrant resinous gum known to the Greeks as bdellion, several kinds being mentioned by Dioscorides and Pliny. It was a product of Arabia, India, Afghanistan, etc.

James Orr

Beach

bech (aigialos): The part of the shore washed by the tide on which the waves dash (Matthew 13:2,Matthew 13:48; John 21:4; Acts 21:5; Acts 27:39,Acts 27:40).

Beacon

be'-k'-n. The translation of the Hebrew toren, which usually means "mast" (compare Isaiah 33:23; Ezekiel 27:5), but in Isaiah 30:17 being used in parallelism with "ensign" the meaning may be "signal-staff" (Isaiah 30:17 the American Revised Version, margin "pole").

Bealiah

be-a-li'-a (be`alyah, "Yahweh is Lord," compare HPN, 144, 287): Bealiah, formerly a friend of Saul, joined David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:5).

Bealoth

be'-a-loth (be`aloth; Baloth): An unidentified city of Judah in the Negeb (Joshua 15:24).

Beam

bem: The word is used to translate various Old Testament terms:

(1) gebh (1 Kings 6:9), tsela`, "a rib" (1 Kings 7:3), qurah (2 Chronicles 3:7; 2 Chronicles 34:11; Song of Songs 1:17), all refer to constructional beams used in buildings for roofing and upper floors, main beams being carried on pillars generally of wood. The last term is used in 2 Kings 6:2,2 Kings 6:5 ("as one was felling a beam") of trees which were being cut into logs. A related form is qarah (used of the Creator, Psalms 104:3; of building, Nehemiah 2:8; Nehemiah 3:3,Nehemiah 3:6). Yet another term, kaphim, is used in Habakkuk 2:11: "The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it"--a protest against sin made by inanimate things. The Douay version, in translating, "the timber that is between the joints of the building," suggests the use of bond timbers in buildings, similar to that used at one time in English brickwork. It probably refers to its use in mud brick buildings, although bond timbers might also be used in badly built stone walls. The Arabs of the present day use steel joints to strengthen angles of buildings.

(2) Beam, in weaving, represents two words, 'eregh (Judges 16:14, the beam of a loom to which Samson's hair was fastened; used in Job 7:6 of a weaver's shuttle), and manor (1 Samuel 17:7; 2 Samuel 21:19; 1 Chronicles 11:23; 1 Chronicles 20:5), of a spear-staff.

(3) In the New Testament Jesus uses the word dokos, "a rafter," in bidding the censorious person first cast the "beam" out of his own eye before attempting to remove the "mote" from another's eye (Matthew 7:3; Luke 6:41,Luke 6:42).

See ARCHITECTURE; HOUSE.

Arch. C. Dickie

Bean

be'-an.

See BAEAN.

Beans

benz (pol; Arabic ful): A very common product of Palestine; a valuable and very ancient article of diet. The Bible references are probably to the Faba vulgaris (N. D. Leguminosae) or horsebean. This is sown in the autumn; is in full flower--filling the air with sweet perfume--in the early spring; and is harvested just after the barley and wheat. The bundles of black bean stalks, plucked up by the roots and piled up beside the newly winnowed barley, form a characteristic feature on many village threshing-floors. Beans are threshed and winnowed like the cereals. Beans are eaten entire, with the pod, in the unripe state, but to a greater extent the hard beans are cooked with oil and meat.

In Ezekiel 4:9, beans are mentioned with other articles as an unusual source of bread and in 2 Samuel 17:28 David receives from certain staunch friends of his at Mahanaim a present, which included "beans, and lentils, and parched pulse."

E. W. G. Masterman

Bear

bar (dobh; compare Arabic dubb): In 1 Samuel 17:34–37, David tells Saul how as a shepherd boy he had overcome a lion and a bear. In 2 Kings 2:24 it is related that two she bears came out of the wood and tore forty-two of the children who had been mocking Elisha. All the other references to bears are figurative; compare 2 Samuel 17:8; Proverbs 17:12; Proverbs 28:15; Isaiah 11:7; Isaiah 59:11; Lamentations 3:10; Daniel 7:5; Hosea 13:8; Amos 5:19; Revelation 13:2. The Syrian bear, sometimes named as a distinct species, Ursus Syriacus, is better to be regarded as merely a local variety of the European and Asiatic brown bear, Ursus arctos. It still exists in small numbers in Lebanon and is fairly common in Anti-Lebanon and Hermon. It does not seem to occur now in Palestine proper, but may well have done so in Bible times. It inhabits caves in the high and rugged mountains and issues mainly at night to feed on roots and vegetables. It is fond of the chummuc or chick-pea which is sometimes planted in the upland meadows, and the fields have to be well guarded. The figurative re ferences to the bear take account of its ferocious nature, especially in the case of the she bear robbed of her whelps (2 Samuel 17:8; Proverbs 17:12; Hosea 13:8). It is with this character of the bear in mind that Isaiah says (Isaiah 11:7), "And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together."

Alfred Y. Day

Bear, The (Arcturus)

bar. A great northern constellation.

See ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 13.

Bear; Born

bar, born (vb.), (yaladh): Occurs frequently in its literal sense, alluding to motherhood (Genesis 16:11; Genesis 17:17,Genesis 17:19,Genesis 17:21; Genesis 18:13; Genesis 22:23; Genesis 30:3; Leviticus 12:5; Judges 13:3; Revelation 4:7; Ruth 1:12; 1 Kings 3:21; Jeremiah 29:6); in the New Testament gennao, in the same sense (Luke 1:13).

Figurative: It is often used with reference to the beginning of the spiritual life or regeneration (John 1:13; John 3:3–8; 1 John 2:29; 1 John 3:9; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:1,1 John 5:4,1 John 5:18 the King James Version).

See REGENERATION.

Bear; Borne

bar, born (nasa'; lambano, anaphero, bastazo): In English Versions of the Bible the physical sense is familiar, of supporting or carrying any weight or burden. The translation of the Revised Version (British and American) is to be preferred in Psalms 75:3 ("have set up"); Lamentations 3:28 ("hath laid it upon him"); Zechariah 1:11 ("were laden with silver"); Luke 18:7 ("he is longsuffering over them"); John 12:6 ("took away what was put therein"); Acts 27:15 ("could not face the wind").

Figurative: The words are used in the figurative sense of enduring or taking the consequences of, be it for oneself or as representative for others: one's own iniquity (Leviticus 5:17 and often); chastisement (Job 34:31); reproach (Psalms 69:7; Psalms 89:50); or the sins of others (Isaiah 53:4,Isaiah 53:11,Isaiah 53:12; Matthew 8:17; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 2:24). In Isaiah 46:1–7 a striking contrast is presented between the idols of Babylon whom their worshippers had carried (borne) about and which would be borne away by the conquerors, and Yahweh who had ca rried (borne) Israel from the beginning. "Jacob and Israel .... borne by me from their birth .... and I will bear; yea, I will carry." "They bear it upon the shoulder," etc.

M. O. Evans

Beard

berd:

(1) Western Semites in general, according to the monuments, wore full round beards, to which they evidently devoted great care. The nomads of the desert, in distinction from the settled Semites, wore a clipped and pointed beard (see Jeremiah 9:26: "all that have the corners of their hair cut off, that dwell in the wilderness"; and compare 25:23; 49:32, etc.).

(2) Long beards are found on Assyrian and Babylonian monuments and sculptures as a mark of the highest aristocracy (compare Egyptian monuments, especially representations by W. Max Muller, Asien und Europa, 140). It is not clear that it was ever so with the Jews. Yet it is significant that the Hebrew "elder" (zaqen) seems to have received his name from his long beard (compare bene barbatus).

(3) The view of some that it was customary among the Hebrews to shave the upper lip is considered by the best authorities as without foundation. The mustache (Hebrew sapham, "beard"), according to 2 Samuel 19:24, received regular "trimming" (thus English Versions of the Bible after the Vulgate, but the Hebrew is generic, not specific: "He had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard").

(4) In one case (1 Samuel 21:13,1 Samuel 21:14) the neglect of the beard is set down as a sign of madness: "(He) let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish, .... Lo, ye see the man is mad."

(5) It was common. Semitic custom to cut both hair and beard as a token of grief or distress. Isaiah 15:2, describing the heathen who have "gone up to the high places to weep," says "Moab waileth over Nebo, and over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off." Jeremiah (Jeremiah 41:5), describing the grief of the men of Samaria for their slain governor, Gedaliah, says, "There came men from .... Samaria (his sorrowing subjects) even four score men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent," etc. And Amos, in his prophecy of the vision of the "basket of summer fruit" (Amos 8:1 ff), makes Yahweh say to His people: "I will turn your feasts into mourning; .... I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head" (Amos 8:10). On the other hand it was even more significant of great distress or fear to leave the beard untrimmed, as did Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, when he went to meet King David, in the crisis of his guilty failure to go up with the king according to his expectation: "He had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace." (Compare 1 Samuel 21:13,1 Samuel 21:14; 2 Samuel 19:24.)

(6) Absalom's hair was cut only once a year, it would seem (2 Samuel 14:26; compare rules for priests, Levites, etc., Ezekiel 44:20). But men then generally wore their hair longer than is customary or seemly with us (of Song of Songs 5:2,Song of Songs 5:11, "His locks are bushy, and black as a raven"). Later, in New Testament times, it was a disgrace for a man to wear long hair (1 Corinthians 11:6–15). To mutilate the beard of another was considered a great indignity (see 2 Samuel 10:4; compare Isaiah 50:6, "plucked off the hair"). The shaving of the head of a captive slave-girl who was to be married to her captor marked her change of condition and prospects (Deuteronomy 21:12; W. R. Smith, Kinship, 209).

LITERATURE.

Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, II, 324, 349; Herod. i.195; ii.36; iii.12; Josephus, Antiquities, VIII, viii, 3; XVI, viii, 1; W. R. Smith, Kinship, 209; RS, 324; Wellhausen, Skizzen, III, 167,

George B. Eager