_all_ living creatures, zoologically and numerically considered, has
been doubted. During the long period between the creation and the flood,
animals must have spread themselves over a great part of the
antediluvian earth, and certain animals would, as now, probably become
indigenous to certain climates. The pairs saved must therefore, if all
the kinds were included, have travelled from immense distances. But of
such marches no intimation is given in the history; and this seems to
render it probable that the animals which Noah was “_to bring with him_”
into the ark, were the animals clean and unclean of the country in which
he dwelt, and which, from the capacity of the ark, must have been in
great variety and number. The terms used, it is true, are universal; and
it is satisfactory to know, that if taken in the largest sense there was
ample accommodation in the ark. Nevertheless, universal terms in
Scripture are not always to be taken mathematically, and in the vision
of Peter, the phrase ϖάντα τὰ τετράποδα τῆς γῆς,--_all the four-footed
beasts of the earth_, must be understood of _varii generis quadrupedes_,
as Schleusner paraphrases it. Thus we may easily account for the exuviæ
of animals, whose species no longer exist, which have been discovered in
various places. The number of such extinct species probably has been
greatly over-rated by Cuvier; but of the fact, to a considerable extent,
there can be no doubt. It is also to be observed that the presumptive
evidence of the truth of the fact of the preparation of such a vessel,
and of the supernatural circumstances which attended it, is exceedingly
strong. It is, in truth, the only solution of a difficulty which has no
other explanation; for as a universal deluge is confirmed by the general
history of the world, and by a variety of existing facts and monuments,
such a structure as the ark, for the preservation and sustenance of
various animals, seems to have been absolutely necessary; for as we can
trace up the first imperfect rudiments of the art of ship building among
the Greeks, there could be no ships before the flood; and, consequently,
no animals could have been saved. Nay, it is highly improbable that even
men and domestic animals could be saved, not to mention wild beasts,
serpents, &c, though we should admit that the antediluvians had
shipping, unless we should suppose, also, that they had a divine
intimation respecting the flood, such as Moses relates; but this would
be to give up the cause of infidelity. Mr. Bryant has collected a
variety of ancient historical relations, which show that some records
concerning the ark had been preserved among most nations of the world,
and in the general system of Gentile mythology. Abydenus, with whom all
the eastern writers concur, informs us that the place of descent from
the ark was Armenia; and that its remains had been preserved for a long
time. Plutarch mentions the Noachic dove, and its being sent out of the
ark. Lucian speaks of Deucalion’s going forth from the ark, and raising
an altar to God. The priests of Ammonia had a custom, at particular
seasons, of carrying in procession a boat, in which was an oracular
shrine, held in great veneration: and this custom of carrying the deity
in an ark or boat was in use also among the Egyptians. Bishop Pococke
has preserved three specimens of ancient sculpture, in which this
ceremony is displayed. They were very ancient, and found by him in Upper
Egypt. The ship of Isis referred to the ark, and its name, “Baris,” was
that of the mountain corresponding to Ararat in Armenia. Bryant finds
reference to the ark in the temples of the serpent worship, called
_Dracontia_; and also in that of Sesostris, fashioned after the model of
the ark, in commemoration of which it was built, and consecrated to
Osiris at Theba; and he conjectures that the city, said to be one of the
most ancient in Egypt, as well as the province, was denominated from it,
Theba being the appellation of the ark. In other countries, as well as
in Egypt, an ark, or ship, was introduced in their mysteries, and often
carried about in the seasons of their festivals. He finds, also, in the
story of the Argonauts several particulars, that are thought to refer to
the ark of Noah. As many cities, not in Egypt only and Bœotia, but in
Cilicia, Ionia, Attica, Phthiotis, Cataonia, Syria, and Italy, were
called Theba; so likewise the city Apamea was denominated _Cibotus_,
from κιϐωτος, in memory of the ark, and of the history connected with
it. The ark, according to the traditions of the Gentile world, was
prophetic; and was regarded as a kind of temple or residence of the
deity. It comprehended all mankind, within the circle of eight persons,
who were thought to be so highly favoured of Heaven that they at last
were reputed to be deities. Hence in the ancient mythology of Egypt,
there were precisely eight gods; and the ark was esteemed an emblem of
the system of the heavens. The principal terms by which the ancients
distinguished the ark were Theba, Baris, Arguz, Aren, Arene, Arni,
Laris, Boutas, Bœotus, and Cibotus; and out of these they formed
different personages. See DELUGE.
ARK OF THE COVENANT, a small chest or coffer, three feet nine inches in
length, two feet three inches in breadth, and two feet three inches in
height; in which were contained the golden pot that had manna, Aaron’s
rod, and the tables of the covenant, Num. xvii, 10; Heb. ix, 4. This
coffer was made of shittim wood, and was covered with a lid, called the
_mercy seat_, Exod. xxv, 17–22, &c, which was of solid gold, at the two
ends whereof were two figures, called _cherubim_, looking toward each
other, with expanded wings, which, embracing the whole circumference of
the mercy seat, met in the middle. The whole, according to the rabbins,
was made out of the same mass, without any of the parts being joined by
solder. Over this it was that the Shechinah, or visible display of the
divine presence in a luminous cloud rested, both in the tabernacle and
in the temple, Lev. xvi, 2; and from hence the divine oracles were given
forth by an audible voice, as often as God was consulted in behalf of
his people. Hence it is that God is said in Scripture to dwell between
the cherubim, on the mercy seat, because there was the seat or throne of
the visible appearance of his glory among them, 2 Kings xix, 15; 2
Chron, xiii, 6; Psalm lxxx, 1, &c; and for this reason the high priest
appeared before the mercy seat once every year, on the great day of
expiation, at which time he was to make his nearest approach to the
divine presence, to mediate and make atonement for the whole people of
Israel. On the two sides of the ark there were four rings of gold, two
on each side, through which staves, overlaid with gold, were put, by
means whereof they carried it as they marched through the wilderness,
&c, on the shoulders of the Levites, Exod. xxv, 13, 14; xxvii, 5. After
the passage of the Jordan, the ark continued for some time at Gilgal,
from whence it was removed to Shiloh. From this place the Israelites
carried it to their camp, where, in an engagement with the Philistines,
it fell into their hands. The Philistines, having gotten possession of
the ark, carried it in triumph to one of their principal cities, named
Ashdod, and placed it in the temple of Dagon, whose image fell to the
ground and was broken. The Philistines also were so afflicted with
emerods, that they afterward returned the ark with various presents; and
it was lodged at Kirjath-Jearim, and afterward at Nob. David conveyed it
to the house of Obededom, and from thence to his palace at Zion; and
lastly, Solomon brought it into the temple which he had built at
Jerusalem. It remained in the temple till the times of the last kings of
Judah, who gave themselves up to idolatry, and even dared to place their
idols in the holy temple itself. The priests, being unable to bear this
profanation, took the ark and carried it from place to place, to
preserve it from the hands of those impious princes. Josiah commanded
them to bring it back to the sanctuary, and it was accordingly replaced,
2 Chron. xxxv, 3. What became of the ark at the destruction of the
temple by Nebuchadnezzar, is a dispute among the rabbins. Had it been
carried to Babylon with the other vessels of the temple, it would, in
all probability, have been brought back with them at the close of the
captivity. But that this was not the case, is agreed on all hands;
whence it is probable that it was destroyed with the temple.
The ark of the covenant was, as it were, the centre of worship to all
those of the Hebrew nation who served God according to the Levitical
law; and not only in the temple, when they came thither to worship, but
every where else in their dispersions through the whole world; whenever
they prayed, they turned their faces toward the place where the ark
stood, and directed all their devotions that way, Dan. vi, 10. Whence
the author of the book of Cosri, justly says, that the ark, with the
mercy seat and cherubim, were the foundation, root, heart, and marrow of
the whole temple, and all the Levitical worship performed therein; and,
therefore, had there been nothing else wanting in the second temple but
the ark only, this alone would have been a sufficient reason for the old
men to have wept when they remembered the first temple in which it
stood; and for the saying of Haggai, ii, 3, that the second temple was
as nothing compared with the first; so great a share had the ark of the
covenant in the glory of Solomon’s temple. However, the defect was
supplied as to the outward form, for in the second temple there was also
an ark of the same dimensions with the first, and put in the same place;
but it wanted the tables of the law, Aaron’s rod, and the pot of manna;
nor was there any appearance of the divine glory over it; nor any
oracles delivered from it. The only use that was made of it was to be a
representation of the former on the great day of expiation, and to be a
repository of the Holy Scriptures, that is, of the original copy of that
collection of them made by Ezra after the captivity; in imitation of
which the Jews, in all their synagogues, have a like ark or coffer in
which they keep their Scriptures.
For the temple of Solomon a new ark was not made; but he constructed
cherubim in the most holy place, which were designed to give additional
state to this most sacred symbol of God’s grace and mercy. These
cherubim were fifteen feet high, and were placed at equal distance from
the centre of the ark and from each side of the wall, so that their
wings being expanded, the two wings which were extended behind touched
the wall, and the other two met over the ark and so overshadowed it.
When these magnificent cherubim were finished, the ark was brought in
and placed under their wings, 2 Chron. v, 7–10.
The ark was called the _ark of the covenant_, because it was a symbol of
the covenant between God and his people. It was also named the _ark of
the testimony_, because the two tables which were deposited in it were
witnesses against every transgression.
ARM. As it is by this member of the body that we chiefly exert our
strength, it is therefore used in Scripture for an emblem of power. Thus
God is said to have delivered his people from Egyptian bondage “with a
stretched-out arm,” Deut. v, 15; and he thus threatens Eli the high
priest, “I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house,” 1
Sam. ii, 31; that is, I will deprive thee and thy family of power and
authority.
ARMAGEDDON, a place spoken of, Rev. xvi, 16, which literally signifies
“the mountain of Mageddon,” or “Megiddo,” a city situated in the great
plain at the foot of Mount Carmel, where the good prince Josiah received
his mortal wound, in the battle against Necho, king of Egypt. At
Armageddon, the three unclean spirits coming out of the dragon’s mouth
shall gather together the kings of the earth, to the battle of the great
day of God Almighty, Rev. xvi, 13, 14; where the word Armageddon,
according to Mr. Pool, does not signify any particular place, but is
used in allusion to Megiddo, mentioned Judges v, 19, where Barak
overcame Sisera with his great army, and where Josiah was slain, 2 Kings
xxiii, 30. If so, the term must have been a proverbial one for a place
of destruction and mourning.
ARMENIA, a considerable country of Asia, having Colchis and Iberia on
the north, Media on the east, Mesopotamia on the south, Pontus and
Cappadocia on the west, and the Euphrates and Syria on the south-west.
Armenia is often confounded with Aramæa, the land of Aram or Syria; but
they are totally different. Armenia, which is separated from Aram by
Mount Taurus, was so denominated from Ar-Men, the mountainous country of
Meni or Minni, the people of which country are mentioned under this name
by Jeremiah, when summoning the nations against Babylon.
The people of this country have in all ages maintained a great
similarity of character, partly commercial and partly pastoral. They
have, in fact, in the northern parts of the Asiatic continent, been what
the Cushites and Ishmaelites were in the south, tenders of cattle,
living on the produce of their flocks and herds, and carriers of
merchandize between the neighbouring nations; a part living at home with
their flocks, and a part travelling as merchants and dealers into
distant countries. In the flourishing times of Tyre, the Armenians,
according to Ezekiel, xxvii, 14, brought horses and mules to the markets
of that city; and, according to Herodotus, they had a considerable trade
in wine, which they sent down the Euphrates to Babylon, &c. At the
present day, the Armenians are the principal traders of the east; and
are to be found in the capacity of merchants or commercial agents all
over Asia, a patient, frugal, industrious, and honest people, whose
known character for these virtues has withstood the tyranny and
extortions of the wretched governments under which they chiefly live.
The religion of the Armenians is a corrupt Christianity of the sect of
Eutyches; that is, they own but one nature in Jesus Christ. Their rites
partake of those of the Greek and Latin churches, but they reject the
idolatries of both. It is indeed a remarkable instance of the firmness
of this people, that while the surrounding nations submitted to the
religion as well as the arms of the Turks, they have preserved the
purity of their ancient faith, such as it is, to the present day. It
cannot be supposed but that the Turks used every effort to impose on the
conquered Armenians the doctrines of the Koran. More tolerant, indeed,
than the Saracens, liberty of conscience was still not to be purchased
of them but by great sacrifices, which for three centuries the Armenians
have patiently endured, and exhibit to the world an honourable and
solitary instance of a successful national opposition of Christianity to
Mohammedanism.
ARMENIAN CHURCH, a branch, originally, of the Greek church, residing in
Armenia. They probably received Christianity in the fourth century. Mr.
Yeates gives the most recent account of them:--
“Their whole ecclesiastical establishment is under the government of
four patriarchs; the first has his residence in Echmiadzin, or
Egmiathin, near Irivan; the second, at Sis, in the lesser Armenia; the
third, in Georgia; and the fourth, in Achtamar, or Altamar, on the Lake
of Van; but the power of the two last is bounded within their own
diocesses, while the others have more extensive authority, and the
patriarch of Egmiathan has, or had, under him eighteen bishops, beside
those who are priors of monasteries. The Armenians every where perform
divine service in their own tongue, in which their liturgy and offices
are written, in the dialect of the fourth or fifth centuries. They have
the whole Bible translated from the Septuagint, as they say, so early as
the time of Chrysostom. The Armenian confession is similar to that of
the Jacobite Christians, both being Monophysites, acknowledging but one
nature in the person of Christ; but this, according to Mr. Simon, is
little more than a dispute about terms; few of them being able to enter
into the subtilties of polemics.
“In the year 1664, an Armenian bishop, named Uscan, visited Europe for
the purpose of getting printed the Armenian Bible, and communicated the
above particulars to Mr. Simon. In 1667, a certain patriarch of the
lesser Armenia visited Rome, and made a profession of faith which was
considered orthodox, and procured him a cordial reception, with the hope
of reconciling the Armenian Christians to the Roman church; but, before
he got out of Italy, it was found he had prevaricated, and still
persisted in the errors of his church. About this time, Clement IX,
wrote to the king of Persia, in favour of some Catholic converts in
Armenia, and received a favourable answer; but the Armenian church could
never be persuaded to acknowledge the authority of Rome.
“They have among them a number of monasteries and convents, in which is
maintained a severe discipline; marriage is discountenanced, though not
absolutely prohibited; a married priest cannot obtain promotion, and the
higher clergy are not allowed to marry. They worship in the eastern
manner, by prostration: they are very superstitious, and their
ceremonies much resemble those of the Greek church. Once in their lives
they generally perform a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; and in 1819, the
number of Armenian pilgrims was thirteen hundred, nearly as many as the
Greeks. Dr. Buchanan, however, says, ‘Of all the Christians in central
Asia, they have preserved themselves most free from Mohammedan and Papal
corruptions.’”
ARMIES. In the reign of David, the Hebrews acquired such skill in the
military art, together with such strength, as gave them a decided
superiority over their competitors on the field of battle. David
increased the standing army, which Saul had introduced. Solomon
introduced cavalry into the military force of the nation, also chariots.
Both cavalry and chariots were retained in the subsequent age; an age,
in which military arms were improved in their construction, the science
of fortification made advances, and large armies were mustered. From
this period, till the time when the Hebrews became subject to the
Assyrians and Chaldeans, but little improvement was made in the arts of
war. The Maccabees, after the return of the Hebrews from the captivity,
gave a new existence to the military art among them. But their
descendants were under the necessity of submitting to the superior power
of the Romans.
Whenever there was an immediate prospect of war, a levy was made by the
genealogists, Deut. xx, 5–9. In the time of the kings, there was a head
or ruler of the persons, that made the levy, denominated השוטר, who kept
an account of the number of the soldiers, but who is, nevertheless, to
be distinguished from the generalissimo, הסופר, 2 Chron. xxvi, 11.
Compare 2 Sam. viii, 17; xx, 25; 1 Chron. xviii, 16. After the levy was
fully made out, the genealogists gave public notice, that the following
persons might be excused, from military service, Deut. xx, 5–8: 1. Those
who had built a house, and had not yet inhabited it. 2. Those who had
planted a כרס, that is, _an olive_ or _vine garden_, and had not as yet
tasted the fruit of it; an exemption, consequently, which extended
through the first five years after such planting. 3. Those who had
bargained for a spouse, but had not celebrated the nuptials; also those
who had not as yet lived with their wife, for a year. 4. The
faint-hearted, who would be likely to discourage others, and who, if
they had gone into battle, where, in those early times, every thing
depended on personal prowess, would only have fallen victims.
At the head of each rank or file of fifty, was the captain of fifty. The
other divisions consisted of a hundred, a thousand, and ten thousand
men, each one of which was headed by its appropriate commander. These
divisions ranked in respect to each other according to their families,
and were subject to the authority of the heads of those families, 2
Chron. xxv, 5; xxvi, 12, 13. The centurions, and _chiliarchs_ or
captains of thousands, were admitted into the councils of war, 1 Chron.
xiii, 1–3; 1 Sam. xviii, 13. The leader of the whole army was
denominated אל־שרהצכא, _the captain of the host_. The genealogists, (in
the English version, _officers_,) according to a law in Deut. xx, 9, had
the right of appointing the persons who were to act as officers in the
army; and they, undoubtedly, made it a point, in their selections, to
choose those who are called heads of families. The practice of thus
selecting military officers ceased under the kings. Some of them were
then chosen by the king, and in other instances the office became
permanent and hereditary in the heads of families. Both kings and
generals had armour bearers, נשא כלים. They were chosen from the bravest
of the soldiery, and not only bore the arms of their masters, but were
employed to give his commands to the subordinate captains, and were
present at his side in the hour of peril, 1 Sam. xiv, 6; xvii, 7. The
infantry, the cavalry, and the chariots of war were so arranged, as to
make separate divisions of an army, Exod. xiv, 6, 7. The infantry were
divided likewise into light-armed troops, גדודים, and into spearmen,
Genesis xlix, 19; 1 Samuel xxx, 8, 15, 23; 2 Sam. iii, 22; iv, 2; xxii,
30; Psalm xviii, 30; 2 Kings v, 2; Hosea vii, 1. The light-armed
infantry were furnished with a sling and javelin, with a bow, arrows,
and quiver, and also, at least in latter times, with a buckler. They
fought the enemy at a distance. The spearmen, on the contrary, who were
armed with spears, swords, and shields, fought hand to hand, 1 Chron.
xii, 24, 34; 2 Chron. xiv, 8; xvii, 17. The light-armed troops were
commonly taken from the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin, 2 Chron. xiv, 8;
xvii, 17. Compare Gen. xlix, 27; Psalm lxxviii, 9.
The art of laying out an encampment appears to have been well understood
in Egypt, long before the departure of the Hebrews from that country. It
was there that Moses became acquainted with that mode of encamping,
which, in the second chapter of Numbers, is prescribed to the Hebrews.
In the encampment of the Israelites, it appears that the holy tabernacle
occupied the centre. In reference to this circumstance, it may be
remarked, that it is the common practice in the east, for the prince or
leader of a tribe to have his tent pitched in the centre of the others;
and it ought not to be forgotten, that God, whose tent or palace was the
holy tabernacle, was the prince, the leader of the Hebrews. The tents
nearest to the tabernacle were those of the Levites, whose business it
was to watch it, in the manner of a Pretorian guard. The family of
Gershom pitched to the west, that of Kehath to the south, that of Merari
to the north. The priests occupied a position to the east, opposite to
the entrance of the tabernacle, Num. i, 53; iii, 21–38. At some distance
to the east, were the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon; on the
south were those of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad; to the west were Ephraim,
Manasseh, and Benjamin; to the north, Dan, Asher, and Napthali. The
people were thus divided into four bodies, three tribes to a division;
each of which divisions had its separate standard, דגל. Each of the
large family associations likewise, of which the different tribes were
composed, had a separate standard, termed, in contradistinction from the
other, אות; and every Hebrew was obliged to number himself with his
particular division, and follow his appropriate standard. Of military
standards, there were,--1. The standard, denominated דגל; one of which
pertained to each of the four general divisions. The four standards of
this name were large, and ornamented with colours in white, purple,
crimson, and dark blue. The Jewish Rabbins assert, (founding their
statement on Genesis xlix, 3, 9, 17, 22, which in this case is very
doubtful authority,) that the first of these standards, namely, that, of
Judah, bore a lion; the second, or that of Reuben, bore a man; that of
Ephraim, which was the third, displayed the figure of a bull; while that
of Dan, which was the fourth, exhibited the representation of cherubim.
They were wrought into the standards with embroidered work. 2. The
standard, called אות. The ensign of this name belonged to the separate
classes of families. 3. The standard, called נס. This standard was not,
like the others, borne from place to place. It appears from Num. xxi, 8,
9, that it was a long pole, fixed into the earth. A flag was fastened to
its top, which was agitated by the wind, and seen at a great distance,
Jer. iv, 6, 21; li, 2, 12, 27; Ezek. xxvii, 7. In order to render it
visible, as far as possible, it was erected on lofty mountains, and was
in this way used as a signal, to assemble soldiers. It no sooner made
its appearance on such an elevated position, than the war-cry was
uttered, and the trumpets were blown, Isaiah v, 26; xiii, 2; xviii, 3;
xxx, 17; xlix, 22; lxii, 10–13.
Before battle the various kinds of arms were put into the best order;
the shields were anointed, and the soldiers refreshed themselves by
taking food, lest they should become weary and faint under the pressure
of their labours, Jer. xlvi, 3, 4; Isaiah xxi, 5. The soldiers, more
especially the generals and kings, except when they wished to remain
unknown, 1 Kings xxii, 30–34, were clothed in splendid habiliments,
which are denominated, בהדרי-קדש, _the sacred dress_, Psalm cx, 3. It
was the duty of the priests, before the commencement of the battle, to
exhort the Hebrews to exhibit that courage which was required by the
exigency of the occasion. The words which they used were as
follows:--“Hear, O Israel; ye approach this day unto battle against your
enemies; let not your hearts faint; fear not, and do not tremble;
neither be ye terrified, because of them. For the Lord your God is he
that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save
you,” Deut. xx, 2, &c. The last ceremony, previous to an engagement, was
the sounding of the sacred trumpets by the priests, Num. x, 9, 10; 2
Chron. xiii, 12–14; 1 Macc. iii, 54.