ASHURITES
mentioned among those over whom Ish-bosheth was made king (2-Sam 2:9).......
BAHURIM
young men, a place east of Jerusalem (2-Sam 3:16;19:16), on the road to the Jordan valley. Here Shimei resided, who poured forth vile abuse against David, and flung dust and stones at him and his party when they were making their way down the eastern slopes of Olivet toward Jordan (16:5); and here Jonathan and Ahimaaz hid themselves (17:18). With the exception of Shimei, Azmaveth, one of David's......
BURIAL
The first burial we have an account of is that of Sarah (Gen. 23). The first commercial transaction recorded is that of the purchase of a burial-place, for which Abraham weighed to Ephron "four hundred shekels of silver current money with the merchants." Thus the patriarch became the owner of a part of the land of Canaan, the only part he ever possessed. When he himself died, "his sons Isaac and I......
CENTURION
a Roman officer in command of a hundred men (Mark 15:39, Mark 15: 44, 45). Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, was a centurion (Acts 10:1, Acts 10: 22). Other centurions are mentioned in Matt. 8:5, Matt. 8: 8, 13; Luke 7:2, Luke 7: 6; Acts 21:32;22:25, 22: 26;23:17, 23: 23;24:23;27:1, 27: 6, 11, 31, 43;28:16. A centurion watched the crucifixion of our Lord (Matt. 27:54; Luke 23:47), and when he ......
CURIOUS ARTS
(Acts 19:19), magical arts; jugglery practised by the Ephesian conjurers. Ephesus was noted for its wizard and the "Ephesian spells;" i.e., charms or scraps of parchment written over with certain formula, which were worn as a safeguard against all manner of evils. The more important and powerful of these charms were written out in books which circulated among the exorcists, and were sold at a grea......
GESHURITES
(1.) The inhabitants of Geshur. They maintained friendly relations with the Israelites on the east of Jordan (Josh. 12:5;13:11, 13: 13). (2.) Another aboriginal people of Palestine who inhabited the south-west border of the land. Geshuri in Josh. 13:2 should be "the Geshurite," not the Geshurites mentioned in ver. 11, 13, but the tribe mentioned in 1-Sam 27:8. ......
HELKATH-HAZZURIM
plot of the sharp blades, or the field of heroes, (2-Sam 2:16). After the battle of Gilboa, so fatal to Saul and his house, David, as divinely directed, took up his residence in Hebron, and was there anointed king over Judah. Among the fugitives from Gilboa was Ish-bosheth, the only surviving son of Saul, whom Abner, Saul's uncle, took across the Jordan to Mahanaim, and there had him proclaimed ki......
MERCURIUS
the Hermes (i.e., "the speaker") of the Greeks (Acts 14:12), a heathen God represented as the constant attendant of Jupiter, and the god of eloquence. The inhabitants of Lystra took Paul for this god because he was the "chief speaker." ......
MURMURING
of the Hebrews in the wilderness, called forth the displeasure of God, which was only averted by the earnest prayer of Moses (Num. 11:33, Num. 11: 34; 12;14:27, 14: 30, 31;16:3;21:4; Psa 106:25). Forbidden by Paul (1-Cor 10:10). ......
PUR, PURIM
a lot, lots, a festival instituted by the Jews (Esther 9:24) in ironical commemoration of Haman's consultation of the Pur (a Persian word), for the purpose of ascertaining the auspicious day for executing his cruel plot against their nation. It became a national institution by the common consent of the Jews, and is observed by them to the present day, on the 14th and 15th of the month Adar, a mont......
PURIFICATION
the process by which a person unclean, according to the Levitical law, and thereby cut off from the sanctuary and the festivals, was restored to the enjoyment of all these privileges. The great annual purification of the people was on the Day of Atonement (q.v.). But in the details of daily life there were special causes of cermonial uncleanness which were severally provided for by ceremonial ......
URIAH
the Lord is my light. (1.) A Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba, whom David first seduced, and then after Uriah's death married. He was one of the band of David's "mighty men." The sad story of the curel wrongs inflicted upon him by David and of his mournful death are simply told in the sacred record (2-Sam 11:2:26). (See BATHSHEBA; DAVID.) (2.) A priest of the house of Ahaz (Isa. 8:2). (3.) Th......
URIEL
God is my light. (1.) A Levite of the family of Kohath (1-Chr 6:24). (2.) The chief of the Kohathites at the time when the ark was brought up to Jerusalem (1-Chr 15:5, 1-Chr 15: 11). (3.) The father of Michaiah, one of Rehoboam's wives, and mother of Abijah (2-Chr 13:2). ......
URIJAH
the lord is my light. (1.) A high priest in the time of Ahaz (2-Kings 16:10), at whose bidding he constructed an idolatrous altar like one the king had seen at Damascus, to be set up instead of the brazen altar. (2.) One of the priests who stood at the right hand of Ezra's pulpit when he read and expounded the law (Neh. 8:4). (3.) A prophet of Kirjath-jearim in the reign of Jehoiakim, king of ......
URIM
lights (Vulg."doctrina;" LXX. "revelation"). See THUMMIM. ......
WATER OF PURIFICATION
used in cases of ceremonial cleansings at the consecration of the Levites (Num. 8:7). It signified, figuratively, that purifying of the heart which must characterize the servants of God. ......
ZURIEL
rock of God, chief of the family of the Merarites (Num. 3:35) at the time of the Exodus.......
ZURISHADDAI
rock of the Almighty, the father of Shelumiel, who was chief of the tribe of Simeon when Israel was encamped at Sinai (Num. 1:6;2:12).......
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