Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
(chief of two governments), the king of Mesopotamia who oppressed Israel during eight years
in the generation immediately following Joshua. (Judges 3:8) (B.C. after 1420.) His yoke was
broken from the neck of the people of Israel by Othniel, Caleb’s nephew. (Judges 3:10)
Chuza
properly Chu’zas (the seer), the house-steward of Herod Antipas. (Luke 8:3)
Ciccar
[Jordan]
Cilicia
(the land of Celix), a maritime province int he southeast of Asia Minor, bordering on Pamphylia
in the west, Lycaonia and Cappadocia in the north, and Syria in the east. (Acts 6:9) Cilicia was
from its geographical position the high road between Syria and the west; it was also the native
country of St. Paul, hence it was visited by him, firstly, soon after his conversion, (Acts 9:30;
Galatians 1:21) and again in his second apostolical journey. (Acts 15:41)
Cinnamon
a well-known aromatic substance, the rind of the Laurus cinnamomum, called Korunda-gauhah
in Ceylon. It is mentioned in (Exodus 30:23) as one of the component parts of the holy anointing
oil. In (Revelation 18:13) it is enumerated among the merchandise of the great Babylon.
Cinneroth
(1 Kings 15:20) This was possibly the small enclosed district north of Tiberias, and by the side
of the lake, afterwards known as “the plain of Gennesareth.”
Circumcision
was peculiarly, though not exclusively, a Jewish rite. It was enjoined upon Abraham, the father
of the nation, by God, at the institution and as the token of the covenant, which assured to him and
his descendants the promise of the Messiah. Gen. 17. It was thus made a necessary condition of
Jewish nationality. Every male child was to be circumcised when eight days old, (Leviticus 12:3)
on pain of death. The biblical notice of the rite describes it as distinctively Jewish; so that in the
New Testament “the circumcision” and “the uncircumcision” are frequently used as synonyms for
the Jews and the Gentiles. The rite has been found to prevail extensively in both ancient and modern
times. Though Mohammed did not enjoin circumcision in the Koran, he was circumcised himself,
according to the custom of his country; and circumcision is now as common among the
Mohammedans as among the Jews. The process of restoring a circumcised person to his natural
condition by a surgical operation was sometimes undergone. Some of the Jews in the time of
Antiochus Epiphanes, wishing to assimilate themselves to the heathen around them, “made
themselves uncircumcised.” Against having recourse to this practice, from an excessive anti-Judaistic
tendency, St. Paul cautions the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 7:18)
Cis
the father of Saul, (Acts 13:21) usually called Kish.
Cistern
a receptacle for water, either conducted from an external spring or proceeding from rain-fall.
The dryness of the summer months and the scarcity of springs in Judea made cisterns a necessity,
and they are frequent throughout the whole of Syria and Palestine. On the long-forgotten way from
Jericho to Bethel, “broken cisterns” of high antiquity are found at regular intervals. Jerusalem
depends mainly for water upon its cisterns, of which almost every private house possesses one or
more, excavated in the rock on which the city is built. The cisterns have usually a round opening
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William Smith