Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
(Jehovah contends).
•The scribe or royal secretary of David. (2 Samuel 20:26) He is called elsewhere Meraiah, (2 Samuel
8:17) Shisha, (1 Kings 4:3) And SHANSHA. (1 Chronicles 18:16) (B.C. 1015.)
•Son of Caleb ben-Hezron by his concubine Maachah. (1 Chronicles 2:49) (B.C. about 1445.)
Shewbread
(Exodus 25:30; 35:13; 39:36) etc. literally “bread of the face” or “faces.” Shew-bread was
unleavened bread placed upon a table which stood in the sanctuary together with the seven-branched
candlestick and the altar of incense. See (Exodus 25:23-30) for description of this table. Every
Sabbath twelve newly baked loaves, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, were put on it in two
rows, six in each, and sprinkled with incense, where they remained till the following Sabbath. Then
they were replaced by twelve new ones, the incense was burned, and they were eaten by the priests
in the holy place, out of which they might not be removed, The title “bread of the face” seems to
indicate that bread through which God is seen, that is, with the participation of which the seeing
of God is bound up, or through the participation of which man attains the sight of God whence it
follows that we have not to think of bread merely as such as the means of nourishing the bodily
life, but as spiritual food as a means of appropriating and retaining that life which consists In seeing
the face of God.
Shibboleth
(a stream), (Judges 12:6) is the Hebrew word which the Gileadites under Jephthah made use
of at the passage of the Jordan, after a victory over the Ephraimites, to test the pronunciation of the
sound sh by those who wished to cross over the river. The Ephraimites, it would appear, in their
dialect substituted for sh the simple sound s ; and the Gileadites, regarding every one who failed
to pronounce sh as an Ephraimite and therefore an enemy, put him to death accordingly. In this
way there fell 42,000 Ephraimites. There is no mystery in this particular word. Any word beginning
with the sound sh would have answered equally well as a test.
Shibmah
(properly Sibmah). [Shebam]
Shicron
(drunkenness), one of the landmarks at the western end of the north boundary of Judah. (Joshua
15:11) only. It lay between Ekron (Akir) and Jabneel (Yebna).
Shield
The ordinary shield consisted of a framework of wood covered with leather; it thus admitted
of being burnt. (Ezekiel 39:9) It was frequently cased with metal, either brass or copper; its
appearance in this case resembled gold when the sun shone on it, 1 Macc. 6:39 and to this, rather
than to the practice of smearing blood on the shield we may refer the redness noticed by. Nahum.
(Nahum 2:3) The surface of the shield was kept bright by the application of oil as implied in (Isaiah
21:5) The shield was worn on the left arm, to which it was attached by a strap. Shields of state were
covered with beaten gold. Shields were suspended about public buildings for ornamental purposes.
(1 Kings 10:17) In the metaphorical language of the Bible the shield generally represents the
protection of God: e.g. (Psalms 3:3; 28:7) but in (Psalms 47:9) it is applied to earthly rulers and in
(Ephesians 6:18) to faith. [Arms, Armor]
Shiggaion
(Psalms 7:1) a particular kind of psalm, the specific character of which is now not known
perhaps a “wild, mournful ode.”
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William Smith