detracts nothing from its perfection. Where things in themselves imply a
contradiction, as that a body may be extended and not extended, in a
certain place and not in it, at the same time; such things cannot be
done by God, because contradictions are impossible in their own nature.
Nor is it any derogation from the divine power to say, they cannot be
done; for as the object of the understanding, of the eye, and the ear,
is that which is intelligible, visible, and audible; so the object of
power must be that which is possible; and as it is no prejudice to the
most perfect understanding, or sight, or hearing, that it does not
understand what is not intelligible, or see what is not visible, or hear
what is not audible; so neither is it any diminution to the most perfect
power, that it does not do what is not possible. In like manner, God
cannot do any thing that is repugnant to his other perfections: he
cannot lie, nor deceive, nor deny himself; for this would be injurious
to his truth. He cannot love sin, nor punish innocence; for this would
destroy his holiness and goodness: and therefore to ascribe a power to
him that is inconsistent with the rectitude of his nature, is not to
magnify but debase him; for all unrighteousness is weakness, a defection
from right reason, a deviation from the perfect rule of action, and
arises from a want of goodness and power. In a word, since all the
attributes of God are essentially the same, a power in him which tends
to destroy any other attribute of the divine nature, must be a power
destructive of itself. Well, therefore, may we conclude him absolutely
omnipotent, who, by being able to effect all things consistent with his
perfections, showeth infinite ability, and, by not being able to do any
thing repugnant to the same perfections, demonstrates himself subject to
no infirmity.
8. Nothing certainly in the finest writings of antiquity, were all their
best thoughts collected as to the majesty and power of God, can bear any
comparison with the views thus presented to us by divine revelation.
Were we to forget, for a moment, what is the fact, that their noblest
notions stand connected with fancies and vain speculations which deprive
them of their force, still their thoughts never rise so high; the
current is broken, the round of lofty conception is not completed, and,
unconnected as their views of divine power were with the eternal destiny
of man, and the very reason of creation, we never hear in them, as in
the Scriptures, “the THUNDER of his power.”
ALMOND TREE, לוז. Arabic, _lauz_. Translated _hazel_, Gen. xxx, 37; שקד,
rendered _almond_, Gen. xliii, 11; Exod. xxv, 33, 34; xxxvii, 19, 20;
Num. xvii, 8; Eccles. xii, 5; and Jer. i, 11. The first name may be that
of the _tree_; the other, that of the _fruit_, or _nut_.
A tree resembling the peach tree in its leaves and blossoms, but the
fruit is longer and more compressed, the outer green coat is thinner and
drier when ripe, and the shell of the stone is not so rugged. This
stone, or nut, contains a kernel, which is the only esculent part. The
whole arrives at maturity in September, when the outer tough cover
splits open and discharges the nut. From the circumstance of its
blossoming the earliest of any of the trees, beginning as soon as the
rigour of winter is past, and before it is in leaf, it has its Hebrew
name _shakad_, which comes from a verb signifying _to make haste_, _to
be in a hurry_, or _to awake early_. To the forwardness of the almond
tree there seems to be a reference in Jeremiah: “The word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod
of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for
I will hasten my word to perform it;” or rather, “I am hastening, or
watching over my word to fulfil it,” Jer. i, 11, 12. In this manner it
is rendered by the Seventy; and by the Vulgate, _Vigilabo ego super
verbum meum_. [I will watch over my word.] This is the first vision with
which the Prophet was honoured; and his attention is roused by a very
significant emblem of that severe correction with which the Most High
was hastening to visit his people for their iniquity; and from the
species of tree to which the rod belonged, he is warned of its near
approach. The idea which the appearance of the almond rod suggested to
his mind, is confirmed by the exposition of God himself: “I am watching
over, or on account of, my word to fulfil it;” and this double mode of
instruction, first by emblem, and then by exposition, was certainly
intended to make a deeper impression on the mind both of Jeremiah and of
the people to whom he was sent.
It is probable that the rods which the princes of Israel bore, were
scions of the almond tree, at once the ensign of their office, and the
emblem of their vigilance. Such, we know from the testimony of
Scripture, was the rod of Aaron; which renders it exceedingly probable,
that the rods of the other chiefs were from the same tree.
The hoary head is beautifully compared by Solomon to the almond tree,
covered in the earliest days of spring with its snow white flowers,
before a single leaf has budded: “The almond tree shall flourish, and
the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail,” Eccl. xii, 5.
Man has existed in this world but a few days, when old age begins to
appear, sheds its snows upon his head, prematurely nips his hopes,
darkens his earthly prospects, and hurries him into the grave.
ALMUG TREE, a certain kind of wood, mentioned 1 Kings, x, 11; 2 Chron.
ii, 8; ix, 10, 11. Jerom and the Vulgate render it, _ligna thyina_, and
the Septuagint ξύλα ϖελεκητὰ, _wrought wood_. Several critics understand
it to mean _gummy wood_; but a wood abounding in resin must be very
unfit for the uses to which this is said to be applied. Celsus queries
if it be not the sandal; but Michaelis thinks the particular species of
wood to be wholly unknown to us. Dr. Shaw supposes that the almug tree
was the cypress; and he observes that the wood of this tree is still
used in Italy and other places for violins, harpsichords, and other
stringed instruments.
ALOE, עלר, a plant with broad leaves, nearly two inches thick, prickly
and serrated. It grows about two feet high. A very bitter gum is
extracted from it, used for medicinal purposes, and anciently for
embalming dead bodies. Nicodemus is said, John xix, 39, to have brought
one hundred pounds’ weight of myrrh and aloes to embalm the body of
Jesus. The quantity has been exclaimed against by certain Jews, as being
enough for fifty bodies. But instead of ἑκατὸν it might originally have
been written δέκατον, _ten_ pounds’ weight. However, at the funeral of
Herod there were five hundred ἀρωματόφορους, _spice bearers_; and at
that of R. Gamaliel, eighty pounds of opobalsamum were used.
The wood which God showed Moses, that with it he might sweeten the
waters of Marah, is called _alvah_, Exod. xv, 25. The word has some
relation to aloe; and some interpreters are of opinion that Moses used a
bitter sort of wood, that so the power of God might be the more
remarkable. Mr. Bruce mentions a town, or large village, by the name of
Elvah. It is thickly planted with trees; is the _oasis parva_ of the
ancients; and the last inhabited place to the west that is under the
jurisdiction of Egypt. He also observes that the Arabs call a shrub or
tree, not unlike our hawthorn, either in wood or flower, by the name of
elvah. “It was this,” say they, “with which Moses sweetened the waters
of Marah; and with this, too, did Kalib Ibn el Walid sweeten those of
Elvah, once bitter, and give the place the name of this circumstance.”
It may be that God directed Moses to the very wood proper for the
purpose. M. Neibuhr, when in these parts, inquired after wood capable of
this effect, but could gain no information of any such. It will not,
however, from hence follow that Moses really used a bitter wood; but, as
Providence usually works by the proper and fit means to accomplish its
ends, it seems likely that the wood he made use of was, in some degree
at least, corrective of that quality which abounded in the water, and so
rendered it potable. This seems to have been the opinion of the author
of Ecclesiasticus, xxxviii, 5. That other water, also, requires some
correction, and that such a correction is applied to it, appears from
the custom in Egypt in respect to that of the Nile, which, though
somewhat muddy, is rendered pure and salutary by being put into jars,
the inside of which is rubbed with a paste made of bitter almonds. The
first discoverers of the Floridas are said to have corrected the
stagnant and fetid water they found there, by infusing in it branches of
sassafras; and it is understood that the first inducement of the Chinese
to the general use of tea, was to correct the water of their ponds and
rivers.
The LIGN-ALOE, or agallochum, Num. xxiv, 6; Psalm xlv, 9; and Cantic.
iv, 14. אהלת, masculine, אהל, whose plural is אהלים, is a small tree
about eight or ten feet high. That the flower of this plant yielded a
fragrance, is assured to us in the following extract from Swinburne’s
Travels, letter xii: “This morning, like many of the foregoing ones, was
delicious. The sun rose gloriously out of the sea, and all the air
around was perfumed with the effluvia of the aloe, as its rays sucked up
the dew from the leaves.” This extremely bitter plant contains under the
bark three sorts of wood. The first is black, solid, and weighty; the
second is of a tawny colour, of a light spongy texture, very porous, and
filled with a resin extremely fragrant and agreeable; the third kind of
wood, which is the heart, has a strong aromatic odour, and is esteemed
in the east more precious than gold itself. It is used for perfuming
habits and apartments, and is administered as a cordial in fainting and
epileptic fits. These pieces, called calunbac, are carefully preserved
in pewter boxes, to prevent their drying. When they are used they are
ground upon a marble with such liquids as are best suited to the purpose
for which they are intended. This wood, mentioned Cantic. iv, 14, in
conjunction with several other odoriferous plants there referred to, was
in high esteem among the Hebrews for its exquisite exhalations.
The scented aloe, and each shrub that showers
Gum from its veins, and odours from its flowers.
Thus the son of Sirach, Ecclesiasticus xxiv, 15: “I gave a sweet smell
like the cinnamon and aspalathus. I yielded a pleasant odour like the
best myrrh; like galbanum and onyx, and fragrant storax, and like the
fume of frankincense in the tabernacle.” It may not be amiss to observe
that the Persian translator renders _ahalim_, sandal wood; and the same
was the opinion of a certain Jew in Arabia who was consulted by Neibuhr.
ALPHA, the first letter of the Greek alphabet; Omega being the last
letter. Hence Alpha and Omega is a title which Christ appropriates to
himself, Rev. i, 8; xxi, 6; xxii, 13; as signifying the beginning and
the end, the first and the last, and thus properly denoting his
perfection and eternity.
ALPHEUS, father of James the less, Matt. x, 3; Luke vi, 15. Alpheus was
the husband of Mary, believed to have been sister to the mother of
Christ; for which reason, James is called the Lord’s brother; but the
term brother is too general in its application to fix their relation,
though the fact is probable. Many are of opinion that Cleopas, mentioned
Luke xxiv, 18, is the same as Alpheus; Alpheus being his Greek name, and
Cleopas his Hebrew, or Syriac name, according to the custom of this
province, (or of the time,) where men often had two names; by one of
which they were known to their friends and countrymen, by the other to
the Romans or strangers.
2. ALPHEUS, father of Levi, or Matthew, whom Jesus took to be an Apostle
and Evangelist, Mark ii, 14.
ALTAR. Sacrifices are nearly as ancient as worship, and altars are of
almost equal antiquity. Scripture speaks of altars, erected by the
patriarchs, without describing their form, or the materials of which
they were composed. The altar which Jacob set up at Bethel, was the
stone which had served him for a pillow; Gideon sacrificed on the rock
before his house. The first altars which God commanded Moses to raise,
were of earth or rough stones; and it was declared that if iron were
used in constructing them they would become impure, Exod. xx, 24, 25.
The altar which Moses enjoined Joshua to build on Mount Ebal, was to be
of unpolished stones, Deut. xxvii, 5; Josh. viii, 31; and it is very
probable that such were those built by Samuel, Saul, and David. The
altar which Solomon erected in the temple was of brass, but filled, it
is believed, with rough stones, 2 Chron. iv, 1–3. It was twenty cubits
long, twenty wide, and ten high. That built at Jerusalem, by Zerubbabel,
after the return from Babylon, was of rough stones; as was that of
Maccabees. Josephus says that the altar which in his time was in the
temple was of rough stones, fifteen cubits high, forty long, and forty
wide.
Among the Romans altars were of two kinds, the higher and the lower; the
higher were intended for the celestial gods, and were called _altaria_,
from _altus_; the lower were for the terrestrial and infernal gods, and
were called _aræ_. Those dedicated to the heavenly gods were raised a
great height above the surface of the earth; those of the terrestrial
gods were almost even with the surface; and those for the infernal
deities were only holes dug in the ground called _scrobiculi_.
Before temples were in use the altars were placed in the groves,
highways, or on tops of mountains, inscribed with the names, ensigns, or
characters of the respective gods to whom they belonged. The great
temples at Rome generally contained three altars; the first in the
sanctuary, at the foot of the statue, for incense and libations; the
second before the gate of the temple, for the sacrifices of victims; and
the third was a portable one for the offerings and sacred vestments or
vessels to lie upon. The ancients used to swear upon the altars upon
solemn occasions, such as confirming alliances, treaties of peace, &c.
They were also places of refuge, and served as an asylum and sanctuary
to all who fled to them, whatever their crimes were.
The principal altars among the Jews were those of incense, of
burnt-offering, and the altar or table for the shew bread. The altar of
incense was a small table of shittim wood covered with plates of gold.
It was a cubit long, a cubit broad, and two cubits high. At the four
corners were four horns. The priest, whose turn it was to officiate,
burnt incense on this altar, at the time of the morning sacrifice
between the sprinkling of the blood and the laying of the pieces of the
victim on the altar of burnt-offering. He did the same also in the
evening, between the laying of the pieces on the altar and the
drink-offering. At the same time the people prayed in silence, and their
prayers were offered up by the priests. The altar of burnt-offering was
of shittim wood also, and carried upon the shoulders of the priests, by
staves of the same wood overlaid with brass. In Moses’s days it was five
cubits square, and three high: but it was greatly enlarged in the days
of Solomon, being twenty cubits square, and ten in height. It was
covered with brass, and had a horn at each corner to which the sacrifice
was tied. This altar was placed in the open air, that the smoke might
not sully the inside of the tabernacle or temple. On this altar the holy
fire was renewed from time to time, and kept constantly burning. Hereon,
likewise, the sacrifices of lambs and bullocks were burnt, especially a
lamb every morning at the third hour, or nine of the clock, and a lamb
every afternoon at three, Exod. xx, 24, 25; xxvii, 1, 2, 4; xxxviii, 1.
The altar of burnt-offering had the privilege of being a sanctuary or
place of refuge. The wilful murderer, indeed, sought protection there in
vain; for by the express command of God he might be dragged to justice,
even from the altar. The altar or table of shew bread was of shittim
wood also, covered with plates of gold, and had a border round it
adorned with sculpture. It was two cubits long, one wide, and one and a
half in height. This table stood in the _sanctum sanctorum_, [holy of
holies,] and upon it were placed the loaves of shew bread. After the
return of the Jews from their captivity, and the building of the second
temple, the form and size of the altars were somewhat changed.
Sacrifices according to the laws of Moses, could not be offered except
by the priests; and at any other place than on the altar of the
tabernacle or the temple. Furthermore, they were not to be offered to
idols, nor with any superstitious rites. See Lev. xvii, 1–7; Deut. xii,
15, 16. Without these precautionary measures, the true religion would
hardly have been secure. If a different arrangement had been adopted, if
the priests had been scattered about to various altars, without being
subjected to the salutary restraint which would result from a mutual
observation of each other, they would no doubt some of them have
willingly consented to the worship of idols; and others, in their
separate situation, would not have been in a condition to resist the
wishes of the multitude, had those wishes been wrong. The necessity of
sacrificing at one altar, (that of the tabernacle or temple,) is
frequently and emphatically insisted on, Deut. xii, 13, 14; and all
other altars are disapproved, Lev. xxvi, 30, compare Joshua xxii, 9–34.
Notwithstanding this, it appears that, subsequently to the time of
Moses, especially in the days of the kings, altars were multiplied; but
they fell under suspicions, although some of them were perhaps sacred to
the worship of the true God. It is, nevertheless, true, that prophets,
whose characters were above all suspicion, sacrificed, in some
instances, in other places than the one designated by the laws, 1 Sam.
xiii, 3–14; xvi, 1–5; 1 Kings xviii, 21–40.
AMALEKITES, a people whose country adjoined the southern border of the
land of Canaan, in the north-western part of Arabia Petræa. They are
generally supposed to have been the descendants of Amalek, the son of
Eliphaz, and grandson of Esau. But Moses speaks of the Amalekites long
before this Amalek was born; namely in the days of Abraham, when
Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, devastated their country, Gen. xiv, 7; from
which it may be inferred that there was some other and more ancient
Amalek, from whom this people sprang. The Arabians have a tradition that
this Amalek was a son of Ham; and when we consider that so early as the
march from Egypt the Amalekites were a people powerful enough to attack
the Israelites, it is far more probable that they should derive their
ancestry from Ham, than from the then recent stock of the grandson of
Esau. It may also be said, that the character and fate of this people
were more consonant with the dealings of Providence toward the families
of the former. This more early origin of the Amalekites will likewise
explain why Balaam called them the “first of the nations.”
They are supposed by some to have been a party or tribe of the shepherds
who invaded Egypt, and kept it in subjection for two hundred years. This
will agree with the Arabian tradition as to their descent. It also
agrees with their pastoral and martial habits, as well as with their
geographical position; which was perhaps made choice of on their
retiring from Egypt, adjoining that of their countrymen the Philistines,
whose history is very similar. It also furnishes a motive for their
hostility to the Jews, and their treacherous attempt to destroy them in
the desert. The ground of this hostility has been very generally
supposed to have been founded in the remembrance of Jacob’s depriving
their progenitor of his birthright. But we do not find that the
Edomites, who had this ground for a hatred to the Jews, made any attempt
to molest them, nor that Moses ever reproaches the Amalekites for
attacking the Israelites as their brethren; nor do we ever find in
Scripture that the Amalekites joined with the Edomites, but always with
the Canaanites and the Philistines. These considerations would be
sufficient, had we no other reasons for believing them not to be of the
stock of Esau. They may, however, be deduced from a higher origin; and
viewing them as Cuthite shepherds and warriors, we have an adequate
explanation both of their imperious and warlike character, and of the
motive of their hostility to the Jews in particular. If expelled with
the rest of their race from Egypt, they could not but recollect the
fatal overthrow at the Red Sea; and if not participators in that
catastrophe, still, as members of the same family, they must bear this
event in remembrance with bitter feelings of revenge. But an additional
motive is not wanting for this hostility, especially for its first act.
The Amalekites probably knew that the Israelites were advancing to take
possession of the land of Canaan, and resolved to frustrate the purposes
of God in this respect. Hence they did not wait for their near approach
to that country, but came down from their settlements, on its southern
borders, to attack them unawares at Rephidim. Be this as it may, the
Amalekites came on the Israelites, when encamped at that place, little
expecting such an assault. Moses commanded Joshua, with a chosen band,
to attack the Amalekites; while he, with Aaron and Hur, went up the
mountain Horeb. During the engagement, Moses held up his hands to
heaven; and so long as they were maintained in this attitude, the
Israelites prevailed, but when through weariness they fell, the
Amalekites prevailed. Aaron and Hur, seeing this, held up his hands till
the latter were entirely defeated with great slaughter, Exod. xvii.
The Amalekites were indeed the earliest and the most bitter enemies the
Jews had to encounter. They attacked them in the desert; and sought
every opportunity afterward of molesting them. Under the judges, the
Amalekites, in conjunction with the Midianites, invaded the land of
Israel; when they were defeated by Gideon, Judges vi, vii. But God, for
their first act of treachery, had declared that he would “utterly put
out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven;” a denunciation which
was not long after accomplished. Saul destroyed their entire army, with
the exception of Agag their king; for sparing whom, and permitting the
Israelites to take the spoil of their foes, he incurred the displeasure
of the Lord, who took the sceptre from him. Agag was immediately
afterward hewn in pieces by Samuel, 1 Sam. xv. It is remarkable, that
most authors make Saul’s pursuit of the Amalekites to commence from the
lower Euphrates, instead of from the southern border of the land of
Canaan. (See _Havilah_.) David a few years after, defeated another of
their armies; of whom only four hundred men escaped on camels, 1 Sam.
xxx; after which event, the Amalekites appear to have been obliterated
as a nation.
AMASA, the son of Ithra and Abigail, David’s sister, whom Absalom, when
he rebelled against his father, appointed general of his army, 2 Sam.
xvii, 25. Amasa having thus received the command of Absalom’s troops,
engaged his cousin Joab, general of David’s army, and was worsted. But,
after the defeat of Absalom’s party, David, being angry at Joab for
killing Absalom, pardoned Amasa, and gave him the command of his own
army. Upon the revolt of Sheba, the son of Bichri, David gave orders to
Amasa to assemble all Judah and march against Sheba. Amasa not being
able to form his army in the time prescribed, David directed Abishai to
pursue Sheba with the guards. Joab, with his people, accompanied him;
and these troops were scarcely got as far as the great stone in Gibeon,
before Amasa came and joined them with his forces. Then said Joab to
Amasa, “Art thou in health, my brother?” and took him by the beard with
his right hand to kiss him; and treacherously smote him under the fifth
rib, so that he expired.