armour. Goliath, and the soldiers of Antiochus, 1 Sam. xvii, 5; 1 Mac.
vi, 35, were accoutred with this defence; which, in our authorized
translation, is variously rendered _habergeon_, _coat of mail_, and
_brigandine_, 1 Sam. xvii, 38; 2 Chron. xxvi, 14; Isa. lix, 17; Jer.
xlvi, 4. Between the joints of this _harness_, as it is termed in 1
Kings xxii, 4, the profligate Ahab was mortally wounded by an arrow,
shot at a venture. From these various renderings of the original word,
it should seem that this piece of armour covered both the back and
breast, but principally the latter. The corslets were made of various
materials: sometimes they were made of flax or cotton, woven very thick,
or of a kind of woollen felt: others again were made of iron or brazen
scales, or laminæ, laid one over another, like the scales of a fish;
others were properly what we call coats of mail; and others were
composed of two pieces of iron or brass, which protected the back and
breast. All these kinds of corslets are mentioned in the Scriptures.
Goliath’s coat of mail, 1 Sam. xvii, 5, was literally a corslet of
scales, that is, composed of numerous laminæ of brass, crossing each
other. It was called by Virgil, and other Latin writers, _squama
lorica_. Similar corslets were worn by the Persians and other nations.
The breastplate worn by the unhappy Saul, when he perished in battle, is
supposed to have been of flax, or cotton, woven very close and thick, 2
Sam. i, 9, marginal rendering.
3. The shield defended the whole body during the battle. It was of
various forms, and made of wood covered with tough hides, or of brass,
and sometimes was overlaid with gold, 1 Kings x, 16, 17; xiv, 26, 27.
Two sorts are mentioned in the Scriptures; namely, the צנה, _great
shield_ or _buckler_, and the מלן, or _smaller shield_. It was much used
by the Jews, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, and Egyptians. David,
who was a great warrior, often mentions a shield and buckler in his
divine poems, to signify that defence and protection of Heaven which he
expected and experienced, and in which he reposed all his trust, Psalm
v, 12; and when he says, “God will with favour compass the righteous as
with a shield,” he seems to allude to the use of the great shield
_tsinnah_, (which is the word he uses,) with which they covered and
defended their whole bodies. King Solomon caused two different sorts of
shields to be made; namely, the _tsinnah_, (which answers to _clypeus_
among the Latins,) such a large shield as the infantry wore, and the
_maginnim_, or _scuta_, which were used by the horsemen, and were of a
much less size, 2 Chron. ix, 15, 16. The former of these are translated
_targets_, and are double in weight to the other. The Philistines came
into the field with this weapon: so we find their formidable champion
was appointed, 1 Sam. xvii, 7. One bearing a shield went before him,
whose proper duty it was to carry this and some other weapons, with
which to furnish his master upon occasion.
The loss of the shield in fight was excessively resented by the Jewish
warriors, as well as lamented by them; for it was a signal aggravation
of the public mourning, that “the shield of the mighty was vilely cast
away,” 2 Sam. i, 21. David, a man of arms, who composed this beautiful
elegy on the death of Saul, felt how disgraceful a thing it was for
soldiers to quit their shields in the field.
These honourable sentiments were not confined to the Jews. We find them
prevailing among most other ancient nations, who considered it infamous
to cast away or lose their shield. With the Greeks it was a capital
crime, and punished with death. The Lacedemonian women, it is well
known, in order to excite the courage of their sons, used to deliver to
them their fathers’ shields, with this short address: “This shield thy
father always preserved: do thou preserve it also, or perish.” Alluding
perhaps to these sentiments, St. Paul, when exhorting the Hebrew
Christians to steadfastness in the faith of the Gospel, urges them not
to cast away their confidence, which “hath great recompense of reward,”
Heb. x, 35.
4. Another defensive provision in war was the military girdle, which was
for a double purpose: first, in order to hold the sword, which hung, as
it to this day, at the soldier’s girdle or belt, 1 Sam. xvii, 39:
secondly, it was necessary to gird the clothes and the armour together.
_To gird_ and _to arm_ are synonymous words in Scripture; for those who
are said to be able to put on armour are, according to the Hebrew and
the Septuagint, girt with a girdle; and hence comes the expression of
“girding to the battle,” 1 Kings xx, 11; Isa. viii, 9; 2 Sam. xxii, 40;
1 Sam. xviii, 4. There is express mention of this military girdle, where
it is recorded that Jonathan, to assure David of his entire love and
friendship by some visible pledges, stripped himself not only of his
usual garments, but of his military habiliments, his sword, bow, and
girdle, and gave them to David.
5. Boots or greaves were part of the ancient defensive harness, because
it was the custom to cast certain εμποδια, _impediments_, (so called,
because they entangled the feet,) in the way before the enemy. The
military boot or shoe was therefore necessary to guard the legs and feet
from the iron stakes placed in the way to gall and wound them; and thus
we are enabled to account for Goliath’s greaves of brass which were upon
his legs.
The offensive weapons were of two sorts; namely, such as were employed
when they came to a close engagement, and those with which they annoyed
the enemy at a distance. Of the former description were the sword and
the battle-axe.
1. The sword is the most ancient weapon of offence mentioned in the
Bible. With it Jacob’s sons treacherously assassinated the Shechemites,
Gen. xxxiv, 2. It was worn on the thigh, Psalm xlv, 4; Exod. xxxii, 27;
and, it should seem on the left thigh; for it is particularly mentioned
that Ehud put a dagger or short sword under his garments on his right
thigh, Judges iii, 16. There appear to have been two kinds of swords in
use, a larger one with one edge, which is called in Hebrew the _mouth_
of the sword, Joshua vi, 21; and a shorter one with two edges, like that
of Ehud. The modern Arabs, it is well known, wear a sabre on one side,
and a _cangiar_ or dagger in their girdles.
2. Of the battle-axe we have no description in the sacred volume: it
seems to have been a most powerful weapon in the hands of cavalry, from
the allusion made to it by Jeremiah: “Thou art my battle-axe and weapons
of war; for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee
will I destroy kingdoms: and with thee will I break in pieces the horse
and his rider, and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his
rider,” Jer. li, 20, 21.
3. The spear and javelin (as the words רמח and חנית are variously
rendered in Num. xxv, 7; 1 Sam. xiii, 19, and Jer. xlvi, 4) were of
different kinds, according to their length or make. Some of them might
be thrown or darted, 1 Sam. xviii, 11; others were a kind of long
swords, Num. xxv, 8; and it appears from 2 Sam. ii, 23, that some of
them were pointed at both ends. When armies were encamped, the spear of
the general or commander-in-chief was stuck into the ground at his head.
4. Slings are enumerated among the military stores collected by Uzziah,
2 Chron. xxvi, 14. In the use of the sling David eminently excelled, and
he slew Goliath with a stone from one. The Benjaminites were celebrated
in battle because they had attained to great skill and accuracy in
handling this weapon; “they could sling stones to a hair’s breadth, and
not miss,” Judges xx, 16; and where it is said that they were
left-handed, it should rather be rendered _ambidexters_; for we are told
they could use “both the right hand and the left,” 1 Chron. xii, 2; that
is, they did not constantly use the right hand as others did, when they
shot arrows or slung stones; but they were so expert in their military
exercises, that they could perform them with their left hand as well as
with their right.
5. Bows and arrows are of great antiquity; indeed, no weapon is
mentioned so early. Thus Isaac said to Esau, “Take thy weapons, thy
quiver and thy bow,” Gen. xxvii, 3; though, it is true, these are not
spoken of as used in war, but in hunting; and so they are supposed and
implied before this, where it is said of Ishmael, that he became an
archer, he used bows and arrows in shooting of wild beasts, Gen. xxi,
20. This afterward became so useful a weapon, that care was taken to
train up the Hebrew youth to it betimes. When David had, in a solemn
manner, lamented the death of King Saul, he gave orders for teaching the
young men the use of the bow, 1 Sam. i, 18, that they might be as expert
as the Philistines, by whose bows and arrows Saul and his army were
slain. These were part of the military ammunition; for in those times
bows were used instead of guns, and arrows supplied the place of powder
and ball. From the book of Job, xx, 24, it may be collected, that the
military bow was made of steel, and consequently was very stiff and hard
to bend, on which account they used their foot in bending their bows;
and therefore when the prophets speak of _treading the bow_ and of _bows
trodden_, they are to be understood of _bows bent_, as our translators
rightly render it, Jer. 1, 14; Isa. v, 28; xxi, 15; but the Hebrew word
which is used in these places, signifies _to tread upon_. This weapon
was thought so necessary in war, that it is there called, “the bow of
war,” or the “battle-bow,” Zech. ix, 10; x, 14.
ARNON, a river or brook, mentioned Num. xxi, 24, and elsewhere. Its
spring head is in the mountains of Gilead, or of the Moabites, and it
discharges itself into the Dead Sea.
ARROW. See ARMS. Divination with arrows was a method of presaging future
events, practised by the ancients. Ezekiel, xxi, 21, informs us, that
Nebuchadnezzar, putting himself at the head of his armies, to march
against Zedekiah, king of the Jews, and against the king of the
Ammonites, stood at the parting of two ways, to mingle his arrows
together in a quiver, in order to divine from thence which way he should
march. Jerom, Theodoret, and the modern commentators after them, believe
that this prince took several arrows, and upon each of them wrote the
name of the king, town, or province, which he was to attack: for
example, upon one, Jerusalem; upon another, Rabbah, the capital of the
Ammonites; and upon another, Egypt, &c. After having put these into a
quiver, he shook them together, and then drew them out; and the arrow
which was drawn was thought to declare the will of the gods to attack
first that city, province, or kingdom, with whose name it was inscribed.
ARTAXERXES, or AHASUERUS, a king of Persia, the husband of Esther, who,
in the opinion of the learned Usher and Calmet, was the Darius of
profane authors. See AHASUERUS.
2. ARTAXERXES LONGIMANUS is supposed by Dr. Prideaux to be the Ahasuerus
of Esther. He was the son of Xerxes, and grandson of Darius Hystaspes,
and reigned in Persia from the year of the world 3531 to 3579. He
permitted Ezra, with all those inclined to follow him, to return into
Judea, in the year of the world 3537, Ezra vii, viii. Afterward,
Nehemiah also obtained leave to return, and to build the walls and gates
of Jerusalem, in the year of the world 3550, Nehem. i, 11. From this
year, chronologers reckon the beginning of Daniel’s seventy weeks,
Daniel xi, 29. These are weeks of years, and make four hundred and
ninety years. Dr. Prideaux, who discourses very copiously, and with
great learning, on this prophecy, maintains that the decree mentioned in
it for the restoring and rebuilding of Jerusalem, cannot be understood
of that granted to Nehemiah, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes; but of
that granted to Ezra, by the same Artaxerxes, in the seventh year of his
reign. From that time to the death of Christ, are exactly four hundred
and ninety years, to a month: for in the month Nisan the decree was
granted to Ezra; and in the middle of the same month Nisan, Christ
suffered, just four hundred and ninety years afterward.
The easterns think that the surname of Longimanus was given to
Artaxerxes by reason of the extent of his dominions; as it is commonly
said that princes have long hands: but the Greeks maintain that this
prince had really longer hands or arms than usual; and that, when he
stood upright, he could touch his knees. He is said to have been the
handsomest man of his time. The eastern people call him Bahaman, and
give him the surname of Ardschir-diraz-dest, or the long-handed. He was
the son of Asfendiar, sixth king of the second dynasty of the Persians.
After having extinguished the family of Rostam, which was formidable to
him on account of the great men who composed it, he carried his arms
into the western provinces, Mesopotamia and Syria, which formed part of
his empire. He took Babylon from Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar; and
he put in his place Kiresch, who by us is called Cyrus. Some Persian
historians assert that the mother of Artaxerxes was a Jewess, of the
tribe of Benjamin, and family of Saul; and that the most beloved of his
wives was of the tribe of Judah, and race of Solomon, by Rehoboam, king
of Judah. If this be true, we need not wonder that he should recommend
to Cyrus to favour the Jewish nation. This Cyrus performed, by sending
back the people into their own country, and permitting them to rebuild
their temple. But the truth of this story is doubtful; and were it true,
the interference of the special providence of God must still be
acknowledged. Artaxerxes reigned forty-seven years, and died in the year
of the world 3579, and before Jesus Christ 425.
ARTEMAS, St. Paul’s disciple, who was sent by that Apostle into Crete,
in the room of Titus, chap. iii, 12, while he continued with St. Paul at
Nicopolis, where he passed the winter. We know nothing particular of the
life or death of Artemas; but the employment to which he was appointed
by the Apostle is a proof of his great merit.
ASA, the son and successor of Abijam, king of Judah, began to reign in
the year of the world 3049, and before Christ 955. He reigned forty-one
years at Jerusalem, and did right in the sight of the Lord. He purged
Jerusalem from the infamous practices attending the worship of idols;
and he deprived his mother of her office and dignity of queen, because
she erected an idol to Astarte, which he burnt in the valley of Hinnom,
1 Kings xv, 8, &c.
The Scripture reproaches Asa with not destroying the high places, which,
perhaps, he thought it politic to tolerate, to avoid the greater evil of
idolatry. He carried into the house of the Lord the gold and silver
vessels which his father Abijam had vowed to consecrate. He fortified
several cities, and repaired others, encouraging his people to this
labour while the kingdom was at peace; and the Lord favoured them with
his protection. After this he levied three hundred thousand men in
Judah, armed with shields and pikes; and two hundred and eighty thousand
men in Benjamin, armed with shields and bows, all men of courage and
valour. About this time, Zerah, king of Ethiopia, or rather of Cush,
which is part of Arabia, marched against Asa with a million of foot, and
three hundred chariots of war, and advanced as far as Mareshah. This
probably happened in the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign, and in the year
of the world 3064, 2 Chron. xv, 10. Asa advanced to meet Zerah, and
encamped in the plain of Zephathah, or rather Zephatah, near Mareshah,
and having prayed to the Lord, God struck the forces of Zerah with such
a panic that they began to flee. Asa and his army pursued them to Geran,
and slew of them a great number. After this, Asa’s army returned to
Jerusalem, laden with booty. The prophet Azariah met them, and said,
“Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin, The Lord is with you while
ye be with him, and if ye seek him he will be found of you; but if ye
forsake him, he will forsake you.--Be ye strong, therefore, and let not
your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded,” 2 Chron. xv, 2, 7.
After this exhortation, Asa, being animated with new courage, destroyed
the idols of Judah, Benjamin, and Mount Ephraim; repaired the altar of
burnt-offerings; and assembled Judah and Benjamin, with many from the
tribes of Simeon, Ephraim, and Manasseh, and on the third day, in the
fifteenth year of his reign, celebrated a solemn festival. Of the cattle
taken from Zerah, they sacrificed seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand
sheep; they renewed the covenant with the Lord; and, with cymbals and
trumpets sounding, they swore to the covenant, and declared that whoever
should forsake the true worship of God, should be put to death. The Lord
gave them peace; and, according to the Chronicles, the kingdom of Judah
had rest till the thirty-fifth year of Asa. Concerning this year,
however, there are difficulties; and some think that we should read the
twenty-fifth, instead of the thirty-fifth; since Baasha, who made war on
Asa, lived no longer than the twenty-sixth year of Asa, 1 Kings xvi, 8.
In this year Baasha, king of Israel, began to fortify Ramah, on the
frontiers of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel, that he might prevent
the Israelites from resorting to the kingdom of Judah, and the temple of
the Lord at Jerusalem. When Asa was informed of this, he sent to
Benhadad, king of Damascus, all the gold and silver of his palace, and
of the temple, to induce him to break his alliance with Baasha, and to
assist him against the king of Israel. Benhadad accepted Asa’s presents,
and invaded Baasha’s country, where he took several cities belonging to
the tribe of Naphtali. This obliged Baasha to retire from Ramah, that he
might defend his dominions nearer home. Asa immediately ordered his
people to Ramah, carried off all the materials prepared by Baasha, and
employed them in building Geba and Mizpah. This application to Benhadad
for assistance was inexcusable. It implied, that Asa distrusted God’s
power and goodness, which he had so lately experienced. Therefore the
Prophet Hanani was sent to reprove him for his conduct. Asa, however,
was so exasperated at his rebukes that he put the Prophet in chains, and
at the same time ordered the execution of several persons in Judah.
Toward the latter part of his life, he was incommoded with swellings in
his feet, which, gradually rising upwards, killed him. The Scripture
reproaches him with having had recourse to physicians, rather than to
the Lord. He was buried in the sepulchre which he had provided for
himself in the city of David; and after his death they placed on the bed
great quantities of perfumes and spices, with which his body was burned.
His bones and ashes were then collected, and put into his grave.
ASAHEL, the son of Zeruiah, and brother of Joab. He was killed by Abner,
in the battle of Gibeon, 2 Sam. ii, 18, 19, while he obstinately
persisted in the pursuit of that general. To revenge his death, his
brother Joab, some years after, treacherously killed Abner, who had come
to wait on David at Hebron, in order to procure him to be acknowledged
king by all Israel, 2 Sam. iii, 26, 27. See ABNER.
ASAPH, a celebrated musician in the time of David, was the son of
Barachias of the tribe of Levi. Asaph, and also his descendants,
presided over the musical band in the service of the temple. Several of
the psalms, as the fiftieth, the seventy-third to the eighty-third, have
the name of Asaph prefixed; but it is not certain whether the words or
the music were composed by him. With regard to some of them, which were
written during the Babylonish captivity, they cannot in any respect be
ascribed to him. Perhaps they were written or set to music by his
descendants, who bore his name, or by some of that class of musicians of
which the family of Asaph was the head, 1 Chron. vi, 39; 2 Chron. xxix,
30; xxxv, 15; Neh. xii, 46. The psalms which bear the name of Asaph are
doctrinal or preceptive: their style, though less sweet than that of
David, is more vehement, and little inferior to the grandeur of Isaiah.
ASCENSION OF CHRIST, his visible elevation to heaven. Our Saviour,
having repeatedly conversed with his Apostles after his resurrection,
and afforded them many infallible proofs of its reality, led them from
Jerusalem to Bethany, and was raised up to heaven in their sight; there
to continue till he shall descend at the last day to judge the quick and
the dead. The evidences of this fact were numerous. The disciples saw
him ascend, Acts i, 9, 10. Two angels testified that he did ascend, Acts
i, 11. Stephen, Paul, and John saw him in his ascended state, Acts vii,
55, 56; ix; Rev. i. The ascension was demonstrated by the descent of the
Holy Ghost, John xvi, 7, 14; Acts ii, 33; and the terrible overthrow and
dispersion of the Jewish nation is still a standing proof of it, John
viii, 21; Matt. xxvi, 64. The time of Christ’s ascension was forty days
after his resurrection. He continued so many days upon earth that he
might give repeated proofs of his resurrection, Acts i, 3; instruct his
Apostles in every thing of importance respecting their office and
ministry, Acts i, 3; and might open to them the Scriptures concerning
himself, and renew their commission to preach the Gospel, Acts i, 5, 6;
Mark xvi, 15. As to the manner of his ascension, it was from mount
Olivet to heaven, not in appearance only, but in reality, and that
visibly and locally. It was a real motion of his human nature; sudden,
swift, glorious, and in a triumphant manner. He was parted from his
disciples while he was solemnly blessing them; and multitudes of angels
attended him with shouts of praise, Psalm lxviii, 17; xlvii, 5, 6.
The effects or ends of his ascension were, 1. To fulfil the types and
prophecies concerning it; 2. To “appear” as a priest “in the presence of
God for us;” 3. To take upon him more openly the exercise of his kingly
office; 4. To receive gifts for men, both ordinary and extraordinary,
Psalm lxviii, 18; 5. To open the way to heaven for his people, Heb. x,
19, 20; 6. To assure the saints of their ascension to heaven after their
resurrection from the dead, John xiv, 1, 2.
ASHDOD, AZOTH, according to the Vulgate, or Azotus, according to the
Greek, a city which was assigned by Joshua to the tribe of Judah, but
was possessed a long time by the Philistines, and rendered famous for
the temple of their god Dagon, Joshua xv, 47. It lies upon the
Mediterranean Sea, about nine or ten miles north of Gaza; and in the
times when Christianity flourished in these parts was made an episcopal
see, and continued a fair village till the days of St. Jerom. Here the
ark of Jehovah triumphed over the Philistine idol Dagon, 1 Sam. v, 2.
ASHER, tribe of. The province allotted to this tribe was a maritime one,
stretching along the coast from Sidon on the north to Mount Carmel on
the south; including the cities Abdon, Achshaph, Accho, Achzib, Sarepta,
Sidon, and Tyre. But of the northern half of this territory, that is,
from Tyre northward, this tribe never became possessed, not having
expelled the Phœnician inhabitants, who are supposed not to have been
pure Canaanites, but a mixture of this people with a Cuthite colony from
Egypt. Asher was the most northerly of the tribes; and had that of
Naphtali on the west, and Zebulun on the south.
ASHES. Several religious ceremonies, and some symbolical ones, anciently
depended upon the use of ashes. To repent in sackcloth and ashes, or, as
an external sign of self-affliction for sin, or of suffering under some
misfortune, to sit in ashes, are expressions common in Scripture. “I am
but dust and ashes,” exclaims Abraham before the Lord, Gen. xviii, 27;
indicating a deep sense of his own meanness in comparison with God. God
threatens to shower down dust and ashes on the lands instead of rain,
Deut. xxviii, 24; thereby to make them barren instead of blessing them,
to dry them up instead of watering them. Tamar, after the injury she had
received from Amnon, covered her head with ashes, 2 Sam. xiii, 19. The
Psalmist, in great sorrow, says poetically, he had “eaten ashes as it
were bread,” Psalm cii, 9; that is, he sat on ashes, he threw ashes on
his head; and his food, his bread, was sprinkled with the ashes
wherewith he was himself covered. So Jeremiah introduces Jerusalem
saying, “The Lord hath covered me with ashes,” Lamentations iii, 16.
Sitting on ashes, or lying down among ashes, was a token of extreme
grief. We find it adopted by Job, ii, 8; by many Jews when in great
fear, Esther iv, 3; and by the king of Nineveh, Jonah iii, 6. He arose
from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth,
and sat in ashes. This token of affliction is illustrated by Homer’s
description of old Laertes grieving for the absence of his son,
“Sleeping in the apartment where the slaves slept, in the ashes, near
the fire.” Compare Jer. vi, 26, “Daughter of my people, wallow thyself
in ashes.” There was a sort of ley and lustral water, made with the
ashes of the heifer sacrificed on the great day of expiation; these
ashes were distributed to the people, and used in purifications, by
sprinkling, to such as had touched a dead body, or had been present at
funerals, Num. xix, 17.