Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
(worship), the name of one of the chief of the people, probably a family, who signed the covenant
with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:24) (B.C. 410.)
Pillar
The notion of a pillar is of a shaft or isolated pile either supporting or not supporting a roof.
But perhaps the earliest application of the pillar was the votive or monumental, This in early times
consisted of nothing but a single stone or pile of stones. (Genesis 28:18; 31:40) etc. The stone Ezel,
(1 Samuel 20:19) was probably a terminal stone or a way-mark. The “place” set up by Saul (1
Samuel 15:12) is explained by St, Jerome to be a trophy. So also Jacob set up a pillar over Rachel’s
grave. (Genesis 36:20) The monolithic tombs and obelisks of Petra are instances of similar usage.
Lastly, the figurative use of the term “pillar,” in reference to the cloud and fire accompanying the
Israelites on their march or as in (Song of Solomon 3:6) and Reve 10:1 Is plainly derived from the
notion of an isolated column not supporting a roof.
Pillar, Plain Of The
or rather “oak of the pillar” (that being the real signification of the Hebrew word elon), a tree
which stood near Shechem and at which the men of Shechem and the house of Millo assembled to
crown Abimelech the son of Gideon. (Judges 9:6)
Pilled
(Genesis 30:37,38) “peeled,” Isai 18:2; Ezek 29:28 The verb “to pill” appears in old English
as identical in meaning with “to peel, to strip.”
Piltai, Or Piltai
(my deliverances), the representative of the priestly house of Moadiah or Maadiah, in the time
of Joiakim the son of Jeshua. (Nehemiah 12:17) (B.C. 445.)
Pine Tree
•Heb.
tidhar . (Isaiah 41:19; 60:13) What tree is intended is not certain: but the rendering “pine,”
seems least probable of any.
•Shemen, (Nehemiah 8:16) is probably the wild olive.
Pinnacle
(of the temple), (Matthew 4:5; Luke 4:9) The Greek word ought to be rendered not a pinnacle,
but the pinnacle. The only part of the temple which answered to the modern sense of pinnacle was
the golden spikes erected on the roof to prevent birds from settling there. Perhaps the word means
the battlement ordered by law to be added to every roof. (According to Alford it was the roof of
Herod’s royal portico of the temple,“which overhung the ravine of Kedron from a dizzy height”—600
or 700 feet.-ED.)
Pinon
(darkness), one of the “dukes” of Edom,—that is, head or founder of a tribe of that nation.
(Genesis 38:41; 1 Chronicles 1:52)
Pipe
(Heb. chalil). The Hebrew word so rendered is derived from a root signifying “to bore, perforate”
and is represented with sufficient correctness by the English “pipe” or “flute,” as in the margin of
(1 Kings 1:40) The pipe was the type of perforated wind instruments, as the harp was of stringed
instruments. It was made of reed, bronze or copper. It is one of the simplest, and therefore probably
one of the oldest, of musical Instruments. It is associated with the tabret as an instrument of a
peaceful and social character. The pipe and tabret were used at the banquets of the Hebrews, (Isaiah
5:12) and accompanied the simpler religious services when the young prophets, returning from the
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William Smith