Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
particular species, but to a large class of flowers growing in Palestine, and resembling the lily, as
the tulip, iris, gladiolus, etc.—ED.)
Lime
the substance obtained form limestone, shells, etc., by heat. It is noticed only three times in the
Bible, viz., in (27:2) (Authorized Version “plaster”), (Isaiah 33:12) and Amos 2:1
Linen
cloth made from flax. Several different Hebrew words are rendered linen, which may denote
different fabrics of linen or different modes of manufacture. Egypt was the great centre of the linen
trade. Some linen, made form the Egyptian byssus, a flax that grew on the banks of the Nile, was
exceedingly soft and of dazzling whiteness. This linen has been sold for twice its weight in gold.
Sir J.G. Wilkinson says of it, “The quality of the fine linen fully justifies all the praises of antiquity,
and excites equal admiration at the present day, being to the touch comparable to silk, and not
inferior in texture to our finest cambric.”
Lintel
the beam which forms the upper part of the framework of a door.
Linus
(a net), a Christian at Rome, known to St. Paul and to Timothy, (2 Timothy 4:21) who was the
first bishop of Rome after the apostles. (A.D. 64.)
Lion
“The most powerful, daring and impressive of all carnivorous animals, the most magnificent
in aspect and awful in voice.” At present lions do not exist in Palestine; but they must in ancient
times have been numerous. The lion of Palestine was in all probability the Asiatic variety, described
by Aristotle and Pliny as distinguished by its short and curly mane, and by being shorter and rounder
in shape, like the sculptured lion found at Arban. It was less daring than the longer named species,
but when driven by hunger it not only ventured to attack the flocks in the desert in presence of the
shepherd, (1 Samuel 17:34; Isaiah 31:4) but laid waste towns and villages, (2 Kings 17:25,26;
Proverbs 22:13; 26:13) and devoured men. (1 Kings 13:24; 20:36) Among the Hebrews, and
throughout the Old Testament, the lion was the achievement of the princely tribe of Judah, while
in the closing book of the canon it received a deeper significance as the emblem of him who
“prevailed to open the book and loose the seven seals thereof.” (Revelation 5:5) On the other hand
its fierceness and cruelty rendered it an appropriate metaphor for a fierce and malignant enemy.
(Psalms 7:2; 22:21; 57:4; 2 Timothy 4:17) and hence for the arch-fiend himself. (1 Peter 5:8)
Lish
(lion), the city which was taken by the Danites, and under its new name of Dan became famous
as the northern limit of the nation. (Judges 18:7,14,27,29) [Dan] It was near the sources of the
Jordan. In the Authorized Version Laish is again mentioned in the account of Sennacherib’s march
on Jerusalem. (Isaiah 10:30) This Laish is probably the small village Laishah, lying between Gallim
and Anathoth in Benjamin, and of which hitherto no traces have been found. (Fairbairn’s “Imperial
Bible Dictionary” suggests that it may be the present little village el-Isawiyeh, in a beautiful valley
a mile northeast of Jerusalem.—ED.)
Lizard
(that which clings to the ground) (Heb. letaah . (Leviticus 11:30) Lizards of various kinds
abound in Egypt, Palestine and Arabia. The lizard denoted by the Hebrew word is probably the
fan-foot lizard (Ptyodactylus gecko) which is common in Egypt and in parts of Arabia, and perhaps
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William Smith