Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
couriers, (1 Kings 14:27) But it has been conjectured that they may have been foreign mercenaries,
and therefore probably Philistines, of which name Pelethites may be only another form.
Cherith, The Brook
(cutting, ravine), the torrent-bed or wady in which Elijah hid himself during the early part of
the three-years drought. (1 Kings 17:3,5) The position of the Cherith has been much disputed. The
argument from probability is in favor of the Cherith being on the east of Jordan, and the name may
possibly be discovered there.
Cherub
apparently a place in Babylonia from which some persons of doubtful extraction returned to
Judea with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:59; Nehemiah 7:61)
Cherub, Cherubim
The symbolical figure so called was a composite creature-form which finds a parallel in the
religious insignia of Assyria, Egypt and Persia, e.g. the sphinx, the winged bulls and lions of
Nineveh, etc. A cherub guarded paradise. (Genesis 3:24) Figures of Cherubim were placed on the
mercy-seat of the ark. (Exodus 25:18) A pair of colossal size overshadowed it in Solomon’s temple
with the canopy of their contiguously extended wings. (1 Kings 6:27) Those on the ark were to be
placed with wings stretched forth, one at each end of the mercy-seat.” Their wings were to be
stretched upwards, and their faces “towards each other and towards the mercy-seat.” It is remarkable
that with such precise directions as to their position, attitude and material, nothing, save that they
were winged, is said concerning their shape. On the whole it seems likely that the word “cherub”
meant not only the composite creature-form, of which the man, lion, ox and eagle were the elements,
but, further, some peculiar and mystical form. (Some suppose that the cherubim represented God’s
providence among men, the four faces expressing the characters of that providence: its wisdom
and intelligence (man), its strength (ox), its kingly authority (lion), its swiftness, far-sighted (eagle).
Others, combining all the other references with the description of the living creatures in Revelation,
make the cherubim to represent God’s redeemed people. The qualities of the four faces are those
which belong to God’s people. Their facing four ways, towards all quarters of the globe, represents
their duty of extending the truth. The wings show swiftness of obedience; and only the redeemed
can sing the song put in their mouths in (Revelation 5:8-14)—ED).
Chesalon
(hopes), a place named as one of the landmarks on the west part of the north boundary of Judah,
(Joshua 15:10) probably Kesla, about six miles to the northeast of Ainshems, on the western
mountains of Judah.
Chesed
(increase), fourth son of Nahor. (Genesis 22:22)
Chesil
(idolatrous), a town in the extreme south of Palestine, (Joshua 15:30) 15 Miles southwest of
Beersheba. In (Joshua 19:4) the name is Bethul.
Chest
By this word are translated in the Authorized Version two distinct Hebrew terms:
•Aron ; this is invariably used for the ark of the covenant, and, with two exceptions, for that only.
The two exceptions alluded to are (a) the “coffin” in which the bones of Joseph were carried from
Egypt, (Genesis 50:26) and (b) the “chest” in which Jehoiada the priest collected the alms for the
repairs of the temple. (2 Kings 12:9,10; 2 Chronicles 24:8-11)
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William Smith