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Miriam – Moserah

Page 42 of 82

Miriam

(rebellion), the sister of Moses, was the eldest of that sacred family; and she first appears, probably as a young girl, watching her infant brother’s cradle in the Nile, () and suggesting her mother as a nurse. ver. 7. After the crossing of the Red Sea "Miriam the prophetess" is her acknowledged title. ch. () The prophetic power showed itself in her under the same form as that which it assumed in the days of Samuel and David, --poetry, accompanied with music and processions. ch. () She took the lead, with Aaron, in the complaint against Moses for his marriage with a Cushite, (,) and for this was attacked with leprosy. This stroke and its removal, which took place at Hazeroth, form the last public event of Miriam’s life. ch. () She died toward the close of the wanderings at Kadesh, and was buried there. ch. () (B.C. about 1452.)

Mirma

(fraud), a Benjamite, born in the land of Moab. ()

Mirror

(; ) The Hebrew women on coming out of Egypt probably brought with them mirrors like those which were used by the Egyptians, and were made of a mixed metal, chiefly copper, wrought with admirable skill, and susceptible of a bright lustre. ()

Misgab

(height), a place in Moab. () It appears to be mentioned also in () thorough there rendered in the Authorized Version "high fort."

Mishael

(who is what God is?).

1. One of the sons of Uzziel, the uncle of Aaron and Moses. () when Nadab and Abihu were struck dead for offering strange fire, Mishael and his brother Elzaphan, at the command of Moses, removed their bodies from the sanctuary, and buried them without the camp, their loose-fitting tunics serving for winding-sheets. (,)

2. One of those who stood at Ezra’s left hand when he read the law to the people. () [MESHACH]

Mishal, Or Misheal

(entreaty), one of the towns in the territory of Asher, () allotted to the Gershonite Levites. ch. ()

Misham

(purification), a Benjamite, son of Elpaal and descendant of Shaharaim. ()

Mishma

(a hearing).

1. A son of Ishmael and brother of Mibsam. (; )

2. A son of Simeon, () brother of Mibsam.

Mishmannah

(fatness), the fourth of the twelve lion-faced Gadites who joined David at Ziklag. ()

Mishraites, The

the fourth of the four "families of Kirjath-jearim," i.e. colonies proceeding therefrom and founding towns. ()

Mispereth

one of those who returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua from Babylon. ()

Misrephothmaim

(the flew of waters), a place in northern Palestine. Dr. Thomson treats Misrephoth-maim as identical with a collection of springs called Ain-Musheirifeh , on the seashore close under the Ras en-Nakhura ; but this has the disadvantage of being very far from Sidon. May it not rather be the place with which we are familiar in the later history as Zarephat, near Sidon?

Mite

a coin current in Palestine in the time of our Lord. (; ) It seems in Palestine to have been the smallest piece of money (worth about one-fifth of a cent), being the half of the farthing, which was a coin of very low value. From St. Mark’s explanation, "two mites, which make a farthing," ver. 42, it may perhaps be inferred that the farthing was the commoner coin.

Mithcah

(sweetness), the name of an unknown desert encampment of the Israelites. (,)

Mithnite, The

the designation of Joshaphat, one of David’s guard in the catalogue of ()

Mithredath

(given by Mithra).

1. The treasurer of Cyrus king of Persia, to whom the king gave the vessels of the temple. ()

2. A Persian officer stationed at Samaria. ()

Mitre

(something rolled around the head), the turban or headdress of the high priest, made of fine linen cloth, eight yards long, folded around the head. On the front was a gold plate on which was inscribed Holiness to the Lord . (,,; ,; )

Mitylene

(mutilated), the chief town of Lesbos, an island of the AEgean Sea, 7 1/2 miles from the opposite point of Asia Minor. The city is situated on the east coast of the island. Mitylene is the intermediate place where St. Paul stopped for the night between Assos and Chios. (,) The town itself was celebrated in Roman times for the beauty of its buildings. In St. Paul’s day it had the privileges of a free city. (It is now a place of no importance, called Mitelin . It contains about 1100 houses, Greek and Turkish, with narrow and filthy streets. --ED.)

Mixed Multitude

When the Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, the first stage of the exodus from Egypt, there were up with them "a mixed multitude." (; ) They were probably the offspring of marriages contracted between the Israelites and the Egyptians; and the term may also include all those who were not of pure Israelite blood. In Exodus and Numbers it probably denoted the miscellaneous hangers-on of the Hebrew camp, whether they were the issue of spurious marriages with Egyptians or were themselves Egyptians, or belonging to other nations. The same happened on the return from Babylon, and in () (comp. vs ) a slight clue is given by which the meaning of the "mixed multitude" may be more definitely ascertained.

Mizar

(small), The hill, a mountain apparently in the northern part of transjordanic Palestine, from which the author of Psalm 42 utters his pathetic appeal. ver. 6. (It is probably a summit of the eastern ridge of Lebanon, not far from Mahanaim, where David lay after escaping from the rebellion of Absalom. --McClintock and Strong.)

Mizpah

and Miz’peh (a watch-tower), the name of several places in Palestine.

1. The earliest of all, in order of the narrative, is the heap of stones piled up by Jacob and Laban, () on Mount Gilead, ver. () to serve both as a witness to the covenant then entered into and as a landmark of the boundary between them. ver. () On this natural watch-tower did the children of Israel assemble for the choice of a leader to resist the children of Ammon. () There the fatal meeting took place between Jephthah and his daughter on his return from the war. ch. () It seems most probable that the "Mizpeh-gilead" which is mentioned here, and here only, is the same as the "ham-Mizpah" of the other parts of the narrative; and both are probably identical with the Ramath-mizpeh and Ramoth-gilead, so famous in the later history.

2. A second Mizpeh, on the east of Jordan, was the Mizpeh-moab, where the king of that nation was living when David committed his parents to his care. ()

3. A third was "the land of Mizpeh," or more accurately "of Mizpah," the residence of the Hivites who joined the northern confederacy against Israel, headed by Jabin king of Hazor. () No other mention is found of this district in the Bible, unless it be identical with --

4. The valley of Mizpeh, to which the discomfited hosts of the same confederacy were chased by Joshua, () perhaps identical with the great country of Coele-Syria.

5. Mizpeh, a city of Judah, () in the district of the Shefelah or maritime lowland.

6. Mizpeh, in Joshua and Samuel; elsewhere Mizpah, a "city" of Benjamin, not far from Jerusalem. (; ; ; ) It was one of the places fortified by Asa against the incursions of the kings of northern Israel, (; ; ) and after the destruction of Jerusalem it became the residence of the superintendent appointed by the king of Babylon, () etc., and the scene of his murder and of the romantic incidents connected with the name of Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. It was one of the three holy cities which Samuel visited in turn as judge of the people, (,) the other two being Bethel and Gilgal. With the conquest of Jerusalem and the establishment there of the ark, the sanctity of Mizpah, or at least its reputation, seems to have declined. From Mizpah the city or the temple was visible. These conditions are satisfied by the position of Scopus, the broad ridge which forms the continuation of the Mount of Olives to the north and cast, from which the traveller gains, like Titus, his first view, and takes his last farewell, of the domes, walls and towers of the holy city.

Mizpar

(number); properly Mispar, the same as MISPERETH. ()

Mizpeh

[MIZPAH]

Mizraim, Or Mizraim

(the two Egypts; red soil), the usual name of Egypt in the Old Testament the dual of Mazor, which is less frequently employed. Mizraim first occurs in the account of the Hamites in () ... In the use of the name Mizraim for Egypt there can be no doubt that the dual indicates the two regions, upper and lower Egypt, into which the country has always been divided by nature as well as by its inhabitants.

Mizzah

(fear), son of Reuel and grandson of Esau. (,; )

Mnason

(remembering) is honorably mentioned in Scripture. () It is most likely that his residence at this time was not Caesarea, but Jerusalem. He was a Cyprian by birth, and may have been a friend of Barnabas. ()

Moab

(of his father), Mo’abites. Moab was the son of the Lot’s eldest daughter, the progenitor of the Moabites. Zoar was the cradle of the race of Lot. From this centre the brother tribes spread themselves. The Moabites first inhabited the rich highlands which crown the eastern side of the chasm of the Dead Sea, extending as far north as the mountain of Gilead, from which country they expelled the Emims, the original inhabitants, (2:11) but they themselves were afterward driven southward by the warlike Amorites, who had crossed the Jordan, and were confined to the country south of the river Arnon, which formed their northern boundary. (; ) The territory occupied by Moab at the period of its greatest extent, before the invasion of the Amorites, divided itself naturally into three distinct and independent portions:-- (1) The enclosed corner or canton south of the Arnon was the "field of Moab." (,,) etc. (2) The more open rolling country north of the Arnon, opposite Jericho, and up to the hills of Gilead, was the "land of Moab." (1:5; 32:49) etc. (3) The sunk district in the tropical depths of the Jordan valley. () etc. The Israelites, in entering the promised land, did not pass through the Moabites, () but conquered the Amorites, who occupied the country from which the Moabites had been so lately expelled. After the conquest of Canaan the relations of Moab with Israel were of a mixed character, sometimes warlike and sometimes peaceable. With the tribe of Benjamin they had at least one severe struggle, in union with their kindred the Ammonites. () The story of Ruth, on the other hand, testifies to the existence of a friendly intercourse between Moab and Bethlehem, one of the towns of Judah. By his descent from Ruth, David may be said to have had Moabite blood in his veins. He committed his parents to the protection of the king of Moab, when hard pressed by Saul. (,) But here all friendly relations stop forever. The next time the name is mentioned is in the account of David’s war, who made the Moabites tributary. (; ) At the disruption of the kingdom Moab seems to have fallen to the northern realm. At the death of Ahab the Moabites refused to pay tribute and asserted their independence, making war upon the kingdom of Judah. () ... As a natural consequence of the late events, Israel, Judah and Edom united in an attack on Moab, resulting in the complete overthrow of the Moabites. Falling back into their own country, they were followed and their cities and farms destroyed. Finally, shut up within the walls of his own capital, the king, Mesha, in the sight of the thousands who covered the sides of that vast amphitheater, killed and burnt his child as a propitiatory sacrifice to the cruel gods of his country. Isaiah, chs. (Isaiah 15,16,25:10-12) predicts the utter annihilation of the Moabites; and they are frequently denounced by the subsequent prophets. For the religion of the Moabites see CHEMOSH; MOLECH; PEOR. See also Tristram’s "Land of Moab." Present condition. --(Noldeke says that the extinction of the Moabites was about A.D. 200, at the time when the Yemen tribes Galib and Gassara entered the eastern districts of the Jordan. Since A.D. 536 the last trace of the name Moab, which lingered in the town of Kir-moab, has given place to Kerak , its modern name. Over the whole region are scattered many ruins of ancient cities; and while the country is almost bare of larger vegetation, it is still a rich pasture-ground, with occasional fields of grain. The land thus gives evidence of its former wealth and power. --ED.)

Moabite Stone, The

In the year 1868 Rev. F. Klein, of the Church Missionary Society at Jerusalem, found at Dhiban (the biblical Dibon), in Moab, a remarkable stone, since called the Moabite Stone. It was lying on the ground, with the inscription uppermost, and measures about 3 feet 9 inches long, 2 feet 4 inches wide and 1 foot 2 inches thick. It is a very heavy, compact black basalt. An impression was made of the main block, and of certain recovered parts broken off by the Arabs. It was broken by the Arabs, but the fragments were purchased by the French government for 32,000 francs, and are in the Louvre in Paris. The engraved face is about the shape of an ordinary gravestone, rounded at the top. On this stone is the record in the Phoenician characters of the wars of Mesha, king of Moab, with Israel. () It speaks of King Omri and other names of places and persons mentioned in the Bible, and belongs to this exact period of jewish and Moabite history. The names given on the Moabite Stone, engraved by one who knew them in daily life, are, in nearly every case, identical with those found in the Bible itself, and testify to the wonderful integrity with which the Scriptures have been preserved. "The inscription reads like a leaf taken out of a lost book of Chronicles. The expressions are the same; the names of gods, kings and of towns are the same." --(See Rawlinson’s "Historical Illustrations;" American Cyclopedia ; and Bibliotheca Sacra , Oct. 20, 1870. --ED.)

Moadiah

() Elsewhere Called MAADIAH.

Modin

a place not mentioned in either the Old or the New Testament, though rendered immortal by its connection with the history of the Jews in the interval between the two. It was the native city of the Maccabaean family, 1 Macc. 13:25, and as a necessary consequence contained their ancestral sepulchre. ch. 2:70; 9:19; 13:25-30. At Modin the Maccabean armies encamped on the eves of two of their most memorable victories --that of Judas over Antiochus Eupator, 2 Macc. 13:14, and that of Simon over Cendebeus. 1 Macc. 16:4. The only indication of the position of the place to be gathered from the above notices is contained in the last, from which we may infer that it was near "the plain," i.e. the great maritime lowland of Philistia. ver. 5. The description of the monuments seems to imply that the spot was so lofty as to be visible from the sea, and so near that even the details of the sculpture were discernible therefrom. All these conditions, excepting the last, are tolerably fulfilled in either of the two sides called Latran and Kubub .

Moladah

(birth, race), a city of Judah, one of those which lay in the district of "the south." (; ) In the latter tribe it remained at any rate till the reign of David, () but by the time of the captivity it seems to have come back into the hands of Judah, by whom it was reinhabited after the captivity. () It may be placed at el-Milh , which is about 4 English miles from Tell Arad , 17 or 18 from Hebron, and 9 or 10 due east of Beersheba.

Mole

1. Tinshemeth. () It is probable that the animals mentioned with the tinshemeth in the above passage denote different kinds of lizards; perhaps, therefore, the chameleon is the animal intended.

2. Chephor peroth is rendered "moles" in () (The word means burrowers, hole-diggers, and may designate any of the small animals, as rats and weasels, which burrow among ruins. Many scholars, according to McClintock and Strong’s "Cyclopedia," consider that the Greek aspalax is the animal intended by both the words translated mole. It is not the European mole, but is a kind of blind mole-rat, from 8 to 12 inches long, feeding on vegetables, and burrowing like a mole, but on a larger scale. It is very common in Russia, and Hasselquiest says it is abundant on the plains of Sharon in Palestine. --ED.)

Molech

(king). The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon, and essentially identical with the Moabitish Chemosh. Fire-gods appear to have been common to all the Canaanite, Syrian and Arab tribes, who worshipped the destructive element under an outward symbol, with the most inhuman rites. According to Jewish tradition, the image of Molech was of brass, hollow within, and was situated without Jerusalem. "His face was (that) of a calf, and his hands stretched forth like a man who opens his hands to receive (something) of his neighbor. And they kindled it with fire, and the priests took the babe and put it into the hands of Molech, and the babe gave up the ghost." Many instances of human sacrifices are found in ancient writers, which may be compared with the description of the Old Testament of the manner in which Molech was worshipped. Molech was the lord and master of the Ammonites; their country was his possession, () as Moab was the heritage of Chemosh; the princes of the land were the princes of Malcham. (; ) His priests were men of rank, () taking precedence of the princes. The priests of Molech, like those of other idols, were called Chemarim. (; ; )

Moli

Mahli, the son of Merari. 1 Esdr. 8:47; comp ()

Molid

(begetter), the son of Abishur by his wife Abihail, and descendant of Jerahmeel. ()

Moloch

The same as Molech. MOLECH

Money

1. Uncointed money. --It is well known that ancient nations that were without a coinage weighed the precious metals, a practice represented on the Egyptian monuments, on which gold and silver are shown to have been kept in the form of rings. We have no evidence of the use of coined money before the return from the Babylonian captivity; but silver was used for money, in quantities determined by weight, at least as early as the time of Abraham; and its earliest mention is in the generic sense of the price paid for a slave. () The 1000 pieces of silver paid by Abimelech to Abraham, () and the 20 pieces of silver for which Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites, () were probably rings such as we see on the Egyptian monuments in the act of being weighed. In the first recorded transaction of commerce, the cave of Machpelah is purchased by Abraham for 400 shekels of silver. The shekel weight of silver was the unit of value through the whole age of Hebrew history, down to the Babylonian captivity.

2. Coined money. --After the captivity we have the earliest mention of coined money , in allusion, as might have been expected, to the Persian coinage, the gold daric (Authorized version dram). (; ; ,,) [DARIC] No native Jewish coinage appears to have existed till Antiochus VII. Sidetes granted Simon Maccabaeus the license to coin money, B.C. 140; and it is now generally agreed that the oldest Jewish silver coins belong to this period. They are shekels and half-shekels, of the weight of 220 and 110 grains. With this silver there was associated a copper coinage. The abundant money of Herod the Great, which is of a thoroughly Greek character, and of copper only, seems to have been a continuation of the copper coinage of the Maccabees, with some adaptation to the Roman standard. In the money of the New Testament we see the native copper coinage side by side with the Graeco-Roman copper, silver and gold. (The first coined money mentioned in the Bible refers to the Persian coinage, (; ) and translated dram . It is the Persian daric , a gold coin worth about .50. The coins mentioned by the evangelists, and first those of silver, are the following: The stater , () called piece of money , was a Roman coin equal to four drachmas. It was worth 55 to 60 cents, and is of about the same value as the Jewish stater , or coined shekel. The denarius , or Roman penny, as well as the Greek drachma , then of about the same weight, are spoken of as current coins. (; ) They were worth about 15 cents. Of copper coins the farthing and its half, the mite , are spoken of, and these probably formed the chief native currency. (The Roman farthing (quadrans) was a brass coin worth .375 of a cent. The Greek farthing (as or assarion) was worth four Roman farthings, i.e. about one cent and a half. A mite was half a farthing, and therefore was worth about two-tenths of a cent if the half of the Roman farthing, and about 2 cents if the half of the Greek farthing. See table of Jewish weights and measures. --ED.)

Moneychangers

(; ; ) According to () every Israelite who had reached or passed the age of twenty must pay into the sacred treasury, whenever the nation was numbered, a half-shekel as an offering to Jehovah. The money-changers whom Christ, for their impiety, avarice and fraudulent dealing, expelled from the temple were the dealers who supplied half-shekels, for such a premium as they might be able to exact, to the Jews from all parts of the world who assembled at Jerusalem during the great festivals, and were required to pay their tribute or ransom money in the Hebrew coin.

Month

From the time of the institution of the Mosaic law downward the religious feasts commencing with the passover depended not simply on the month, but on the moon; the 14th of Abib was coincident with the full moon; and the new moons themselves were the occasions of regular festivals. (; ) The commencement of the month was generally decided by observation of the new moon. The usual number of months in a year was twelve, as implied in (; ) but since twelve lunar months would make but 354 1/2 days, the years would be short twelve days of the short twelve days of the true year, and therefore it follows as a matter of course that an additional month must have been inserted about every third year, which would bring the number up to thirteen. No notice, however, is taken of this month in the Bible. In the modern Jewish calendar the intercalary month is introduced seven times in every nineteen years. The usual method of designating the months was by their numerical order, e.g. "the second month," () "the fourth month," () and this was generally retained even when the names were given, e.g. "in the month Zif, which is the second month." () The names of the months belong to two distinct periods. In the first place we have those peculiar to the period of Jewish independence, of which four only, even including Abib, which we hardly regard as a proper name are mentioned, viz.: Abib, in which the passover fell, (; ; ; ) and which was established as the first month in commemoration of the exodus, () Zif, the second month, (,) Bul, the eighth, () and Ethanim, the seventh. () and Ethanim, the seventh. () In the second place we have the names which prevailed subsequent to the Babylonish captivity; of these the following seven appear in the Bible: Nisan, the first, in which the passover was held, (; ) Sivan, the third () Bar. 1:8; Elul, the sixth, () 1 Macc. 14:27; Chisleu, the ninth, (; ) 1 Macc. 1:54; Tebeth, the tenth, () Sebat, the eleventh, () 1 Macc. 16:14; and Adar, the twelfth. (; ) 2 Macc. 15:36. The names of the remaining five occur int he Talmud and other works; they were, Iyar, the second, Targum; () Tammuz, the fourth; Ab, the fifth; Tisri, the seventh; and Marcheshvan, the eighth. The name of the intercalary month was Ve-adar, i.e. the additional Adar. The identification of the jewish months with our own cannot be effected with precision on account of the variations that must inevitably exist between the lunar and the solar month. Nisan (or Abib) answers to March; Zif or Iyar to May; Sivan to June; Tammuz to July; Ab to August; Elul to September; Ethanim or Tisri to October; Bul or Marcheshvan to November; Chisleu to December; Tebeth to January; Sebat to February; and Adar to March.

Moon

The moon held an important place in the kingdom of nature, as known to the Hebrews. Conjointly with the sun, it was appointed "for signs and for seasons, and for days and years;" though in this respect it exercised a more important influence, if by the "seasons" we understand the great religious festivals of the Jews, as is particularly stated in () and more at length in Ecclus 43:6,7. The worship of the moon prevailed extensively among the nations of the East, and under a variety of aspects. It was one of the only two deities which commanded the reverence of all the Egyptians. The worship of the heavenly bodies is referred to in (,) and Moses directly warns the Jews against it. (4:19) In the figurative language of Scripture, the moon is frequently noticed as presaging events of the greatest importance through the temporary or permanent withdrawal of its light. (; ; ; )

Moon, New

[NEW MOON] NEW MOON - 3185

Morasthite, The

that is, the native of a place named Moresheth. It occurs twice -- (; ) --each time as the description of the prophet Micah.

Mordecai

(little man , or worshipper or Mars), the deliverer, under divine Providence, of the Jews from the destruction plotted against them by Haman the chief minister of Xerxes; the institutor of the feast of Purim. The incidents of his history are too well known to need to be dwelt upon. [ESTHER, BOOK OF] Three things are predicated of Mordecai in the book of Esther: (1) That he lived in Shushan; (2) That his name was Mordecai, son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish the Benjamite who was taken captive with Jehoiachin; (3) That he brought up Esther.

Moreh

(teacher).

1. The plain or plains (or, as it should rather be rendered, the oak or oaks) of Moreh. The oak of Moreh was the first recorded halting-place of Abram after his entrance into the land of Canaan. () It was at the "place of Shechem," ch. () close to the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim. (11:30)

2. The hill of Moreh, at the foot of which the Midianites and Amalekites were encamped before Gideon’s attack upon them. () It lay in the valley of Jezreel, rather on the north side of the valley, and north also of the eminence on which Gideon’s little band of heroes was clustered. These conditions are most accurately fulfilled if we assume Jebel ed-Duhy , the "Little Hermon" of the modern travellers, 1815 feet above the Mediterranean, to be Moreh, the Ain-Jalood to be the spring of Harod, and Gideon’s position to have been on the northeast slope of Jebel Fukua (Mount Gilboa), between the village of Nuris and the last-mentioned spring.

Moreshethgath

(possession of Gath), a place named by the prophet Micah. () The prophet was himself a native of a place called Moresheth.

Moriah

(chosen by Jehovah).

1. The land of Moriah --On "one of the mountains" in this district took place the sacrifice of Isaac. () Its position is doubtful, some thinking it to be Mount MOriah, others that Moreh , near Shechem, is meant. [See MOUNT, MOUNT, MOUNTAIN MORIAH]

2. Mount Moriah . --The elevation on which Solomon built the temple, where God appeared to David "in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." it is the Eastern eminence of Jerusalem, separated from Mount Zion by the Tyropoeon valley. The tope was levelled by Solomon, and immense walls were built around it from the base to enlarge the level surface for the temple area. A tradition which first appears in a definite shape in Josephus, and is now almost universally accepted, asserts that the "Mount Moriah" of the Chronicles is identical with the "mountain" in "the land of Moriah" of Genesis, and that the spot on which Jehovah appeared to David, and on which the temple was built, was the very spot of the sacrifice of Isaac. (Smith, Stanley and Grove are, however, inclined to doubt this tradition.)

Mortar

(; ; ,; ; ,,,; ; ) The various compacting substances used in Oriental buildings appear to be --

1. Bitumen, as in the Babylonian structures;

2. Common mud or moistened clay;

3. A very firm cement compounded of sand, ashes and lime, in the proportions respectively of 1,2,3, well pounded, sometimes mixed and sometimes coated with oil, so as to form a surface almost impenetrable to wet or the weather. In Assyrian and also Egyptian brick buildings, stubble or straw, as hair or wool among ourselves, was added to increase the tenacity.

Mortar

"a wide-mouthed vessel in form of an inverted bell, in which substances are pounded or bruised with a pestle." --Webster. The simplest and probably most ancient method of preparing corn for food was by pounding it between two stones. The Israelites in the desert appear to have possessed mortars and handmills among their necessary domestic utensils. When the manna fell they gathered it, and either ground it in the mill or pounded it in the mortar till it was fit for use. () So in the present day stone mortars are used by the Arabs to pound wheat for their national dish kibby . Another word occurring in () probably denotes a mortar of a larger kind in which corn was pounded: "Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him." Corn may be separated from its husk and all its good properties preserved by such an operation, but the fool’s folly is so essential a part of himself that no analogous process can remove it from him. Such seems the natural interpretation of this remarkable proverb. The language is intentionally exaggerated, and there is no necessity for supposing an allusion to a mode of punishment by which criminals were put to death by being pounded in a mortar. A custom of this king existed among the Turks, but there is no distinct trace of it among the Hebrews. Such, however, is supposed to be the reference in the proverb by Mr. Roberts, who illustrates it from his Indian experience.

Moserah

(bonds), (10:6) apparently the same as Moseroth, () its plural form, the name of a place near Mount Hor.

William Smith, A Dictionary of the Bible (1884 edition). Public domain. Text from the CrossWire Bible Society.