Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
•Grandfather of Irijah, the captain of the ward at the gate of Benjamin who arrested Jeremiah on
the charge of deserting to the Chaldeans. (Jeremiah 37:13) (B.C. before 589.)
•Head of a Benjamite house. (1 Chronicles 8:24)
•The Hebrew name of Shadrach. He was of the house of David, according to Jewish tradition
(Daniel 1:3,6,7,11,19; 2:17)
•Son of Zerubbabel, (1 Chronicles 3:19) from whom Christ derived his descent. He is the same
person who is by St. Luke called Joanna. (B.C. after 536.)
•One of the sons of Bebai who returned with Ezra from Babylon (Ezra 10:28) (B.C. 459.)
•A priest, one of the makers of the sacred ointments and incense, who built a portion of the wall
of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah.
•Head of the priestly course of Jeremiah in the days of Joiakim. (Nehemiah 12:12) (B.C. 610.)
•Ruler of the palace at Jerusalem under Nehemiah. The arrangements for guarding the gates of
Jerusalem were intrusted to him with Hanani the Tirshatha’s brother. (Nehemiah 7:2,3) (B.C. 446.)
•An Israelite. (Nehemiah 10:23)
Hananiel
(the favor of God), son of Ephod and prince of Manasseh. (Numbers 34:23)
Handicraft
(Acts 18:3; 19:25; Revelation 18:22) A trade was taught to ail the Jewish boys as a necessary
part of their education. Even the greatest rabbis maintained themselves by trades (Delitzsch). Says
Rabbi Jehuda, “He who does not teach his son a trade is much the same as if he taught him to be
a thief”. In the present article brief notice only can be given of such handicraft trades as are
mentioned in Scripture.
•Smiths or metal-workers.—The preparation of iron for use either in war, in agriculture or for
domestic purposes was doubtless one of the earliest applications of labor; and together with iron,
working in brass, or rather copper alloyed with tin (bronze), is mentioned as practiced in
antediluvian times. (Genesis 4:22) After the establishment of the Jews in Canaan, the occupation
of a smith became recognized as a distinct employment- (1 Samuel 13:19) The smith’s work and
its results are often mentioned in Scripture. (2 Samuel 12:31; 1 Kings 6:7; 2 Chronicles 26:14;
Isaiah 44:12; 54:16) The worker in gold and silver must have found employment among both the
Hebrews and the neighboring nations in very early times. (Genesis 24:22,53; 35:4; 38:18) Various
processes of the goldsmith’s work are illustrated by Egyptian monuments. After the conquest
frequent notices are found of both moulded and wrought metal, including soldering.
•Carpenters are often mentioned in Scripture. (Genesis 6:14; Exodus 37; Isaiah 44:13) In the palace
built by David for himself the workmen employed were chiefly foreigners. (2 Samuel 5:11) That
the Jewish carpenters must have been able to carve with some skill is evident from (Isaiah 41:7;
44:13) In the New Testament the occupation of a carpenter is mentioned in connection with Joseph
the husband of the Virgin Mary, and ascribed to our Lord himself. (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3)
The trade included our cabinet work as well as carpentering.
•The masons employed by David and Solomon, at least the chief of them, were Phoenicians. (1
Kings 5:18; Ezekiel 27:9) The large stones used in Solomon’s temple are said by Josephus to have
been fitted together exactly without either mortar or clamps, but the foundation stones to have
been fastened with lead. For ordinary building mortar was used; sometimes, perhaps, bitumen, as
was the case at Babylon. (Genesis 11:3) The wall “daubed with untempered mortar” of (Ezekiel
254
William Smith