Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
the Persian Gulf. Among the ruins which are now seen at the spot are the remains of one of the
great temples, of a model similar to that of Babel, dedicated to the moon, to whom the city was
sacred. (Porter and Rawlinson favor this last place.)
Urbane, Or Urbane
(of the city; polite), the Greek form of the Latin Urbanus, as it is given in the Revised Version.
He was a Christian disciple who is in the long list of those whom St. Paul salutes in writing to
Rome. (Romans 16:9) (A.D. 55.)
Urbanus
the form given in the Revised Version for Urbane.
Uri
(fiery).
•The father of Bezaleel, one of the architects of the tabernacle. (Exodus 31:2; 35:30; 38:22; 1
Chronicles 2:20; 2 Chronicles 1:5) He was of the tribe of Judah, and grandson of Caleb ben-Hezron.
(B.C. 1491.)
•The father of Geber, Solomon’s commissariat officer in Gilead. (1 Kings 4:19) (B.C. before 1010.)
•One of the gatekeepers of the temple in the time of Ezra. (Ezra 10:24) (B.C. 458.)
Uriah
(light of Jehovah).
•One of the thirty commanders of the thirty bands into which the Israelite army of David was
divided. (1 Chronicles 11:41; 2 Samuel 23:39) Like others of David’s officers he was a foreigner—a
Hittite. His name, however and his manner of speech (2 Samuel 11:11) indicate that he had adopted
the Jewish religion. He married Bath-sheba a woman of extraordinary beauty, the daughter of
Eliam—possibly the same as the son of Ahithophel, and one of his brother officers, (2 Samuel
23:34) and hence, perhaps, Uriah’s first acquaintance with Bath-sheba. It may be inferred from
Nathan’s parable, (2 Samuel 12:3) that he was passionately devoted to his wife, and that their
union was celebrated in Jerusalem as one of peculiar tenderness. In the first war with Ammon,
B.C. 1035, he followed Joab to the siege, and with him remained encamped in the open field. (2
Samuel 12:11) He returned to Jerusalem, at an order from the king on the pretext of asking news
of the war—really in the hope that his return to his wife might cover the shame of his own crime.
The king met with an unexpected obstacle in the austere, soldier-like spirit which guided all Uriah’s
conduct, and which gives us a high notion of the character and discipline of David’s officers. On
the morning of the third day David sent him back to the camp with a letter containing the command
to Joab to cause his destruction in the battle. The device of Joab was to observe the part of the
wall of Rabbath-ammon where the greatest force of the besieged was congregated, and thither, as
a kind of forlorn hope to send Uriah. A sally took place. Uriah and the officers with him advanced
as far as the gate of the city, and were there shot down by the archers on the wall. Just as Joab had
forewarned the messenger, the king broke into a furious passion on hearing of the loss. The
messenger, as instructed by Joab, calmly continued, and ended the story with the words, “Thy
servant also Uriah the Hittite, is dead.” In a moment David’s anger is appeased. It is one of the
touching parts of the story that Uriah falls unconscious of his wife’s dishonor.
•High priest in the reign of Ahaz. (Isaiah 8:2; 2 Kings 16:10-16) He is probably the same as Urijah
the priest, who built the altar for Ahaz. (2 Kings 16:10) (B.C. about 738.)
•A priest of the family of Hakkoz, the head of the seventh course of priests. (Ezra 8:33; Nehemiah
3:4,21) (B.C. 458.)
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William Smith