cheenc03a.pdf

ners of references. By far the most interesting is Heb.
n2,. cp Gen. 4731, where it is said that Jacob, after
blessing Joseph'. sons. 'worshipped upon the top of
his staff'(rpoorn6vrlorv gal rb 6xpav njr bdpdau adroG).
implying man (the reading of 6, Pesh., It.) instead of
,~~
T?;r.
Chabas justifies thir reading by a reference to
an Egyptian custom.l But it is clearly wrong, as the
parallel passage I K. 147 shows. The 'head ' of the
bed is no doubt a peculiar exprersion: Holzinger
suggests that a ' teraphim' may have been placed at
the bed's head. But the tine explanation is much
simpler. ux, should of course be Uy "couch' ; cp
,yru my 'the couch of my bed.' Ps. 1323, RVW The
other words are-
7, mpwo, mm, mai'inrih, mifnrth ( Jjye to lean).
Ex. 2119 Is.366, etc. Used of the pastoral rod
(11 DX) in Pr. 23r (see note in Che. Pr.14).
2. yp, 'y, of the ,staff' of a spear (I S. 177 [Kt. is
wrong], n S. 21x9 237 I Ch. 205).
3. 15"r $Neb, in David's imprecation, 'Let there not
fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or
that is aleper. or /hat Ieoneth on a ,/ax' etc., z S. 329.
So EV after Q ( npriu onurdkqr I-", or -"PI) and Tg.
Jon. (T~H, vgm ; so read, not ,>ua). The rival rendering-'that
holdeth the spindle'-does not suit the
context nearly as well (cp H. P. Smith, ad loc.), but
has a philological basis lacking to the first explanation.
Moved by Driver's learned note (TBS 192, with n. I)
Lohr and H. P. Smith adopt 'spindle' for 155 (ep
Prov. 31.9, and Toy's note). There can hardly be a
clearer evidence of corruption : no philology can save
thir unsuitable reading. Read is"? 'n , one that leans
on (lit. grasps) a staff'-i.r, a lame person. I"
Prov. 31.9 the reading is of course undisputed (cp
WEAVIN~ § 2).
4. .,", ma& Nu.1313 (a pole, for hearing a huge grapeclu~tei).
5. 6$(in slur.) Ex. 25 rl I K.81) (tokar the aik);
6. fdiou(m plur), kt.2647 Ad1ar3, coupled wrh 'swords
an. 183 speaks of (-An). Cp the use of i1tg and (Ran,
1, 2). T. K. C.
STAIRS. The rendering 'stairs' in AV is generally
misleading.
1. Io x K.6stl no doubt, ~'h5,luRln(il~IA~zriiMbrnc:
cochlm) can be plauribi rendered 'winding stairs' (EV: srr
however, Stde, ZATWY~ .sefl, auld cp TE~CPLE. F I,, ".).
.. I. . K. 8 1j .on the top of the ~trirs.
can
(ni5"p;l ~ ~ - 5 ~ )
hardly he the right deecription of the place where Jehu's
smppoxters acclaimed htm ar king (see JEHU).
z. In Neh. 94 ir war not on the stairs bur on the 'scaffold'
(nip, m'z.rileh; &i@.lr,
4. In Euk, 48 17 (dm, me'didfh) airs' should be
(RV): the step of the altar are meant.
5. 1n cznr. %I+ ,!he sscret placer (n>i~1~. mdrigath;
ixapeve roe po.el)(Lr,t.rol; m caz,em.: mmmrr) of tbe
stairs' forms a bad oarailel to 'in ths clefts of the rack; nn~n.
madaddgdA (in piur:), is .pin rendued 'siairs'in Ezek'36;oj
most wholarrrupgse 'steep, ladder-lnke hillr'(KV 'sfeeppl-,
Om+ppw'c) to the true meaning. The word, however, r,
S"IPCL0YS.
6. 'Stain' is right for ivogdsoiin Acts2l)o
T. K. C.
BT.4L.L (?3?rl, mar&& etc.). ~ m . etc. 6 ~ see
CATTLE. 3 5.
8TANDABD ($27). Nu. liz etc.
See ENsrcws.
STABS. To the Hebrews, as to other races, the
heavenly bodier were a constant source of interest and
wonder. Their great number. comparable to the sand
of the sea-rhore (Gen. 15s 22.7 264 Jer. 3322). and
known only to God (1's. 147+), their immeasurable
height above the earth (Job22m Ob.4 Is. 141s ; cp
Dan.81~~). and the brightness of their shining (Job
25s 3126 Dan. 1Z3), formed subjects for comment ;
bat it was their movementr that excited the keenest
attention, and opened up the widest field for the
imagination.
To realise the Hebrew conception of thin phenomenon,
it is necessary to make some reference to thetr cosmolo~y. .
Earth andThis bears close resemblance to the
scheme of the Babylonians (Jensen,
Kornrol. 9s). and may be thought to
have formed part of the common property of the
orimitive Semitic fvnlilv.
The earth war regarded as n flat surface, bounded
upon all sides by the watery deep. Above, the heavens
formed a hollow vault, which, resting on the waters,
might be raid to describe u circle upon them (J0b26,~
Prov. 827). This vaulr was thought to be solid, and
was spoken of as a firmament (y?? rz$ii', something
beaten or hammered out: Gen. 16 etc.), or, in the
language of poetry, a tent spread out above the earth
(Is. 401% Ps. 194). Upon the farther side of the
firmament, called by the Babylonians hirid inmi, 'the
inner part of the heavens.' there war again water. ,the
waters which are above the firmament' (Gen. 16 f ).
Indeed, one of the earliest of creative arts war the
placing of the vault of the heavens, in order to rle~ve
in twain the watery deep (oh? te'him, Bab. Tio'mat).
and thus make possible the appearance of dry land
((:en. 16-8 Prov. 8ssf ). Beneath the earth was the
realm of the underworld (haw, Sual), and the xhole
was perhaps conjectured to rest ultimately upon the
waters of the deep (Ps. 242 1366).
Across the fired vault of the firmament the heavenly
bodier ameared ..
to move, seemine. no doubt, to the
,, Movements Hebrews as to the Babylonians, to
of heavenly enter by a door in the eastern quarter
of the heavens and to ma*e their exit
in the W. by a similar means. Thus.
to the poet's mind, the sun has his tent in the heavens,
aild at his rising ir like a bridegroom who issues from
his bridal chamber (Ps. 19s f ).
The regularity of the movements of the stars arrested
the attention. They are governed by 'ordinances'
established by Yahwb and unalterable (Jer. 3135f ),
beyond the reach of human understanding (J0b38~~).
The spectacle of the heavenly host, led forth in full
tale, in a wonderful proof of Yahwb'a mighty power
(Is. 4026). Thus they naturally serve to mark divisions
of time. They are set in the firmament 'to divide the
day from the night' and to 'be for signs, and for
seasons, and for dnyr, and yearn' (Gen.l~+, cp Ps.
1041~). The Hebrew month (Yjn, hddci; "7:. yirah)
is a lunar month, and the quarter of this period-one
phase of the moon-appears to have determined the
week of seven days (see MONTH, 33 I, 6 ; WEEK. 5 I).
Since this constancy in the courses of sun, moon, and
scars was so impressive, it ir natural that anything
which appeared to be of the nature of an interruption
should, by the unscientific mind, be regarded nr a
portent of catastrophe. Of such a nature would be
ecli~sel of the run or moon, meteorites or falline stars.
1 A" eclipse of the run which ocmncd in ,he year B.C.
763 ir recorded in the Assyrian Eponym Canon. See AMOS,
5 4.
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