Genesis Chapter 2: Uncommon Words Defined by Michael J. Buswell Sanctified: Made Holy; consecrated; set apart for sacred services. (Consecrated: Made sacred by ceremonies or solemn rites; separated from a common to a sacred use; devoted or dedicated to the service and worship of God; made venerable.) 2) Affectedly Holy. Soul: 1) The spiritual, rational and immortal substance in man, which distinguishes him from brutes; that part of man which enables him to think and reason, and which renders him subject to moral government. The immortality of the soul is a fundamental article of the Christian system. 2) The understanding; the intellectual principle. 3) Vital principle. 4) Spirit; essence; chief part; as charity, the soul of all virtues. 6) Life; animating principle or part; as, an able commander is the soul of an army. 7) Internal power. Eden: Pleasure, delight. The country and garden in which Adam and Eve were placed by God Himself. Thence: “Then signifies properly place, or set time, from setting, and Thence is derived from it. So the Germans say, von dannen, from Thence.” 1) From that place. 2) From that time. 3) For that reason. Heads/Head: To originate; to spring; to have its source, as a river. Pison: Babylonian, the current, broad-flowing, one of the four heads into which the river which watered the garden of Eden was divided. Some identify it with the modern Phasis, others with the Halys, others the Jorak or Acampis, others the Jaab, the Indus, the Ganges, etc. Havilah: A part of Eden through which flowed the river Pison (Araxes). It was probably the Grecian Colchis, in the northeast corner of Asia Minor, near the Caspian Sea. 1) A district in Arabia Felix, named from the second son of Cush; probably the district of Kualan, in the northwestern part of Yemen. Bdellium: “Bochart and Parkhurst translate it, pearl. But it is questionable whether the bdellium of the Scriptures is that now used.” A gummy resinous juice, produced by a tree in the East Indies, of which we have no satisfactory account. It is brought from the East Indies and from Arabia, in pieces of different sizes and figures, externally of a dark reddish brown, internally, clear and not unlike to glue. To the taste it is slightly bitterish and pungent; its odor is agreeable. In the mouth, it becomes soft and sticks to the teeth; on a red hot iron, it readily catches flame and burns with a crackling noise. It is used as a perfume and a medicine, being a weak deobstruent. Onyx: A semi-pellucid gem with variously colored zones or veins, a variety of chalcedony. (Pellucid: Perfectly clear; transparent; not opake as a body as pellucid as crystal.) (Chalcedony: A town in Asia Minor, opposite to Byzantium, now Constantinople. Pliny informs us that Chalcedon signifies the town of blind men. The last syllable then is the Celtic dun, English town, a fact that the historian should not overlook. 2) A substance of quartz, a mineral called also white agate, resembling milk diluted with water, and more or less clouded or opake, with veins, circles and spots. It is used in jewelry.) Gihon: A stream. One of the four rivers of Eden Genesis 2:13. It has been identified with the Nile. Others regard it as the Oxus, or the Araxes, or the Ganges. But as, according to the sacred narrative, all these rivers of Eden took their origin from the head-waters of the Euphrates and the Trigris, it is probable that the Gihon is the ancient Araxes, which, under the modern name of the Arras, discharges itself into the Caspian Sea. It was the Asiatic and not the African Cush which the Gihon compassed Genesis 10:7-10. The only natural spring of water in or near Jerusalem is the Fountain of the Virgin (q.v.), which rises outside the city walls on the west bank of the Kidron valley. On the occasion of the approach of the Assyrian army under Sennacherib, Hezekiah, in order to prevent the besiegers from finding water, stopped the upper water course of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David 2 Chronicles 32:30 ; 33:14 . This fountain or spring is therefore to be regarded as the upper water course of Gihon. From this fountain a tunnel cut through the ridge which forms the south part of the temple hill conveys the water to the Pool of Siloam, which lies on the opposite side of this ridge at the head of the Tyropoeon (cheesemakers) valley, or valley of the son of Hinnom, now filled up by rubbish. The length of this tunnel is about 1,750 feet. In 1880 an inscription was accidentally discovered on the wall of the tunnel about nineteen feet from where it opens into the Pool of Siloam. This inscription was executed in all probability by Hezekiahs workmen. It briefly narrates the history of the excavation. It may, however, be possible that this tunnel was executed in the time of Solomon. If the waters of Shiloah that go softly Isaiah 8:6 refers to the gentle stream that still flows through the tunnel into the Pool of Siloam, then this excavation must have existed before the time of Hezekiah. In the upper part of the Tyropoeoan valley there are two pools still existing, the first, called Birket el-Mamilla, to the west of the Jaffa gate; the second, to the south of the first, called Birket es-Sultan. It is the opinion of some that the former was the upper and the latter the lower Pool of Gihon. Ethiopia: Country of burnt faces; the Greek word by which the Hebrew Cush is rendered Genesis 2:13 ; 2 Kings 19:9 ; Esther 1:1 ; Job 28:19 ; Psalms 68:31 ; 87:4 , a country which lay to the south of Egypt, beginning at Syene on the First Cataract Ezekiel 29:10 ; 30:6 , and extending to beyond the confluence of the White and Blue Nile. It corresponds generally with what is now known as the Soudan/Sudan, (i.e., the land of the blacks). This country was known to the Hebrews, and is described in Isaiah 18:1 ; Zephaniah 3:10 . They carried on some commercial intercourse with it Isaiah 45:14. Its inhabitants were descendants of Ham Genesis 10:6 ; Jeremiah 13:23 ; Isaiah 18:2 , scattered and peeled, A.V.; but in RSV, tall and smooth. Herodotus, the Greek historian, describes them as the tallest and handsomest of men. They are frequently represented on Egyptian monuments, and they are all of the type of the true negro. As might be expected, the history of this country is interwoven with that of Egypt. Ethiopia is spoken of in prophecy Psalms 68:31 ; 87:4 ; Isaiah 45:14 ; Ezekiel 30:4-9 ; Daniel 11:43 ; Nahum 3:8-10 ; Habakkuk 3:7 ; Zephaniah 2:12. Hiddekel: Called by the Accadians id Idikla; i.e., the river of Idikla, the third of the four rivers of Paradise Genesis 2:14. Gesenius interprets the word as meaning the rapid Tigris. The Tigris rises in the mountains of Armenia, 15 miles south of the source of the Euphrates, which, after pursuing a south-east course, it joins at Kurnah, about 50 miles above Bassorah. Its whole length is about 1,150 miles. Assyria: The name derived from the city Asshur on the Tigris, the original capital of the country, was originally a colony from Babylonia, and was ruled by viceroys from that kingdom. It was a mountainous region lying to the north of Babylonia, extending along the Tigris as far as to the high mountain range of Armenia, the Gordiaean or Carduchian mountains. It was founded in B.C. 1700 under Bel-kap-kapu, and became an independent and a conquering power, and shook off the yoke of its Babylonian masters. It subdued the whole of Northern Asia. The Assyrians were Semites Genesis 10:22, but in process of time non-Semite tribes mingled with the inhabitants. They were a military people, the Romans of the East. Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria little is positively known. In B.C. 1120 Tiglath-pileser I., the greatest of the Assyrian kings, crossed the Euphrates, defeated the kings of the Hittites, captured the city of Carchemish, and advanced as far as the shores of the Mediterranean. He may be regarded as the founder of the first Assyrian empire. After this the Assyrians gradually extended their power, subjugating the states of Northern Syria. In the reign of Ahab, king of Israel, Shalmaneser II. marched an army against the Syrian states, whose allied army he encountered and vanquished at Karkar. This led to Ahabs casting off the yoke of Damascus and allying himself with Judah. Some years after this the Assyrian king marched an army against Hazael, king of Damascus. He besieged and took that city. He also brought under tribute Jehu, and the cities of Tyre and Sidon. About a hundred years after this (B.C. 745) the crown was seized by a military adventurer called Pul, who assumed the name of Tiglath-pileser III. He directed his armies into Syria, which had by this time regained its independence, and took (B.C. 740) Arpad, near Aleppo, after a siege of three years, and reduced Hamath. Azariah (Uzziah) was an ally of the king of Hamath, and thus was compelled by Tiglath-pileser to do him homage and pay a yearly tribute. In B.C. 738, in the reign of Menahem, king of Israel, Pul invaded Israel, and imposed on it a heavy tribute 2 Kings 15:19. Ahaz, the king of Judah, when engaged in a war against Israel and Syria, appealed for help to this Assyrian king by means of a present of gold and silver 2 Kings 16:8; who accordingly marched against Damascus, defeated and put Rezin to death, and besieged the city itself. Leaving a portion of his army to continue the siege, he advanced through the province east of Jordan, spreading fire and sword, and became master of Philistia, and took Samaria and Damascus. He died B.C. 727, and was succeeded by Shalmanezer IV., who ruled till B.C. 722. He also invaded Syria 2 Kings 17:5, but was deposed in favour of Sargon (q.v.) the Tartan, or commander-in-chief of the army, who took Samaria (q.v.) after a siege of three years, and so put an end to the kingdom of Israel, carrying the people away into captivity, B.C. 722 2 Kings 17:1-6 2 Kings 17:24; 2 Kings 18:7 2 Kings 18:9. He also overran the land of Judah, and took the city of Jerusalem Isaiah 10:6 Isaiah 10:12 Isaiah 10:22 Isaiah 10:24 Isaiah 10:34. Mention is next made of Sennacherib (B.C. 705), the son and successor of Sargon 2 Kings 18:13 ; 19:37 ; Isaiah 7:17 Isaiah 7:18; and then of Esar-haddon, his son and successor, who took Manasseh, king of Judah, captive, and kept him for some time a prisoner at Babylon, which he alone of all the Assyrian kings made the seat of his government 2 Kings 19:37 ; Isaiah 37:38. Assur-bani-pal, the son of Esarhaddon, became king, and in Ezra 4:10 is referred to as Asnapper. From an early period Assyria had entered on a conquering career, and having absorbed Babylon, the kingdoms of Hamath, Damascus, and Samaria, it conquered Phoenicia, and made Judea feudatory, and subjected Philistia and Idumea. At length, however, its power declined. In B.C. 727 the Babylonians threw off the rule of the Assyrians, under the leadership of the powerful Chaldean prince Merodach-baladan 2 Kings 20:12, who, after twelve years, was subdued by Sargon, who now reunited the kingdom, and ruled over a vast empire. But on his death the smouldering flames of rebellion again burst forth, and the Babylonians and Medes successfully asserted their independence (B.C. 625), and Assyria fell according to the prophecies of Isaiah 10:5-19, Nahum 3:19, and Zephaniah 3:13, and the many separate kingdoms of which it was composed ceased to recognize the great king 2 Kings 18:19 ; Isaiah 36:4. Ezekiel (31) attests (about B.C. 586) how completely Assyria was overthrown. It ceases to be a nation. Euphrates: A river in SW Asia, rising in E Turkey and flowing south across Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris, forming the Shatt-al-Arab, which flows to the head of the Persian Gulf: important in ancient times for the extensive irrigation of its valley (in Mesopotamia). Length: 3598 km (2235 miles). Meet: Fit; suitable; proper; qualified; convenient; adapted, as to a use or purpose. Thereof: Of that or this. Cleave: 1) To stick; to adhere; to hold to. 2) To unite aptly; to fit; to sit well on. 3) To unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to adhere with strong attachment.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 02:16:42 +0000
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