Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
Four kinds of wormwood are found in Palestine— Artemisia nilotica, A. Judaica, A. fructicosa
and A. cinerea . The word occurs frequently in the Bible, and generally in a metaphorical sense. In
(Jeremiah 9:15; 23:15; Lamentations 3:15,19) wormwood is symbolical of bitter calamity and
sorrow; unrighteous judges are said to “turn judgment to wormwood.” (Amos 5:7) The Orientals
typified sorrows, cruelties and calamities of any kind by plants of a poisonous or bitter nature.
Worshipper
a translation of the Greek word neocoros, used once only, (Acts 19:35) in the margin,
“temple-keeper.” The neocoros was originally an attendant in a temple probably intrusted with its
charge. The term neocoros became thus applied to cities or communities which undertook the
worship of particular emperors even during their lives. The first occurrence of the term in connection
with Ephesus is on coins of the age of Nero, A.D. 54-68.
Wrestling
[Games]
Writing
There is no account in the Bible of the origin of writing. That the Egyptians in the time of Joseph
were acquainted with writing of a certain kind there is evidence to prove, but there is nothing to
show that up to this period the knowledge extended to the Hebrew family. At the same time there
is no evidence against it. Writing is first distinctly mentioned in (Exodus 17:14) and the connection
clearly implies that it was not then employed for the first time but was so familiar as to be used for
historic records. It is not absolutely necessary to infer from this that the art of writing was an
accomplishment possessed by every Hebrew citizen. If we examine the instances in which writing
is mentioned in connection with individuals, we shall find that in all cases the writers were men of
superior position. In (Isaiah 29:11,12) there is clearly a distinction drawn between the man who
was able to read and the man who was not, and it seems a natural inference that the accomplishments
of reading and writing were not widely spread among the people, when we find that they are
universally attributed to those of high rank or education-kings, priests, prophets and professional
scribes. In the name Kirjathsepher (book-town), (Joshua 15:15) there is an indication of a knowledge
of writing among the Phoenicians. The Hebrews, then, a branch of the great Semitic family, being
in possession of the art of writing, according to their own historical records, at a very early period,
the further questions arise, what character they made use of, and whence they obtained it. Recent
investigations have shown that the square Hebrew character is of comparatively modern date, and
has been formed from a more ancient type by a gradual process of development. What then was
this ancient type? Most probably the Phoenician. Pliny was of opinion that letters were of Assyrian
origin. Dioderus Siculus (v. 74) says that the Syrians invented letters, and from them the Phoenicians,
having learned them transferred them to the Greeks. According to Tacitus (Ann. xi. 14,, Egypt was
believed to be the source whence the Phoenicians got their knowledge. Be this as it may, to the
Phoenicians, the daring seamen and adventurous colonizers of the ancient world the voice of tradition
has assigned the honor of the invention of letters. Whether it came to them from an Aramean or an
Egyptian source can at best he but the subject of conjecture. It may, however, be reasonably inferred
that the ancient Hebrews derived from or shared with the Phoenicians the knowledge of writing
and the use of letters. The names of the Hebrew letters indicate that they must have been the
invention of a Shemitic people, and that they were moreover a pastoral people may be inferred
from the same evidence. But whether or not the Phoenicians were the inventors of the Shemitic
alphabet, there can be no doubt of their just claim to being its chief disseminators; and with this
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William Smith