carries with it too much of the appearance of a burdensome rite for the
Gospel dispensation; as it is too indecent for so solemn an ordinance;
as it has a tendency to agitate the spirits, often rendering the subject
unfit for the exercise of proper thoughts and affections, and indeed
utterly incapable of them; as in many cases the immersion of the body
would, in all probability, be instant death; as in other situations it
would be impracticable, for want of water; it cannot be considered as
necessary to the ordinance of baptism, and there is the strongest
improbability that it was ever practised in the times of the New
Testament, or in the earliest periods of the Christian church.
BAPTISTS, or ANTIPÆDOBAPTISTS, so called from their rejecting the
baptism of infants. The Baptists in England form one of “the three
denominations of Protestant Dissenters.” The constitution of their
churches, and their modes of worship, are congregational, or
independent. They bore a considerable share in the sufferings of the
seventeenth and preceding centuries: for there were many among the
Lollards and Wickliffites who disapproved of infant baptism. There were
also many of this faith among the Protestants and Reformers abroad. In
Holland, Germany, and the north, they went by the names of Anabaptists
and Mennonites; and in Piedmont and the south, they were found among the
Albigenses and Waldenses. The Baptists subsist chiefly under two
denominations,--the Particular or Calvinistical, and the General or
Arminian. The former is by far the most numerous. Some of both
denominations, General and Particular, allow of free or mixed communion;
admitting to the Lord’s table pious persons who have not been immersed,
while others consider that as an essential requisite to communion. These
are sometimes called Strict Baptists. Other societies of this
denomination observe the seventh day of the week as their Sabbath,
apprehending the original law of the Sabbath to remain in force,
unaltered and unrepealed. These are called Seventh-day Baptists. A
considerable number of the General Baptists have gone into Unitarianism;
in consequence of which, those who maintained the doctrines of the
Trinity and atonement, in the latter part of the eighteenth century,
formed themselves into what is called “The New Connection,” or
Association. These preserve a friendly correspondence with their other
brethren in things which concern the general interests of the
denomination, but hold no religious communion with them. Some
congregations of General Baptists admit three distinct orders of church
officers: messengers or ministers, elders, and deacons. The Baptists in
America, and in the East and West Indies, are chiefly Calvinists; but
most of them admit of free communion. The Scottish Baptists form a
distinct denomination, and are distinguished by several peculiarities of
church government. “No trace can be found of a Baptist church in
Scotland,” says Mr. Jones, “excepting one which appears to have been
formed out of Cromwell’s army, previous to 1765, when a church was
settled at Edinburgh, under the pastoral care of Mr. Carmichael and Mr.
Archibald M’Lean. Others have since been formed at Dundee, Glasgow, and
in most of the principal towns of Scotland:” also at London, and in
various parts of England. They think that the order of public worship,
which uniformly obtained in the Apostolic churches, is clearly set forth
in Acts ii, 42–47; and therefore they endeavour to follow it out to the
utmost of their power. They require a plurality of elders in every
church, administer the Lord’s Supper, and make contributions for the
poor every first day of the week. The prayers and exhortations of the
brethren form a part of their church order, under the direction and
control of the elders, to whom it exclusively belongs to preside in
conducting the worship, to rule in cases of discipline, and to labour in
the word and doctrine, in distinction from the brethren exhorting one
another. The elders are all laymen, generally chosen from among the
brethren; but, when circumstances require, are supported by their
contributions. They approve also of persons who are properly qualified
for it, being appointed by the church to preach the Gospel and baptize,
though not vested with any pastoral charge. The discipline and
government of the Scottish Baptists are strictly congregational.
BARACHIAS, the father of Zacharias, mentioned Matt. xxiii, 35, as slain
between the temple and the altar. There is a great diversity of opinions
concerning the person of this Zacharias, the son of Barachias. Some
think him to be Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada, who was killed by the
orders of Joash, between the temple and the altar, 2 Chron. xxiv, 21.
Campbell thinks, with Father Simon, that Jehoiada had two names,
Barachias and Jehoiada. See ZACHARIAS.
BARAK, son of Abinoam, chosen by God to deliver the Hebrews from that
bondage under which they were held by Jabin, king of the Canaanites,
Judges iv, 4, 5, &c. He refused to obey the Lord’s commands, signified
to him by Deborah, the prophetess, unless she consented to go with him.
Deborah accompanied Barak toward Kedesh of Naphtali; and, having
assembled ten thousand men, they advanced to mount Tabor. Sisera, being
informed of this movement, marched with nine hundred chariots of war,
and encamped near the river Kishon. Barak rapidly descended from mount
Tabor, and the Lord having spread terror through Sisera’s army Barak
easily obtained a complete victory. Sisera was killed by Jael. Barak and
Deborah composed a hymn of thanksgiving; and the land had peace forty
years from A. M. 2719 to 2759, B. C. 1245.
BARBARIAN. The word לעו (rendered _barbarian_; LXX, βάρβαρος,) in the
Hebrew sense of it, signifies _a stranger_; one who knows neither the
holy language nor the law. According to the notions of the Greeks, all
nations who were not Greeks, or not governed by laws like the Greeks,
were barbarians. The Persians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Arabians, Gauls,
Germans, and even the Romans, were, in their phraseology, barbarians,
however learned or polite they might be in themselves. St. Paul
comprehends all mankind under the names of Greeks and barbarians: “I am
a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians; to the wise and to
the unwise,” Rom. i, 14. St. Luke calls the inhabitants of the island of
Malta barbarians, Acts xxviii, 2, 4. St. Paul, writing to the
Colossians, uses the terms _barbarian_ and _Scythian_ almost in the same
signification. In 1 Cor. xiv, 11, he says, that if he who speaks a
foreign language in an assembly be not understood by those to whom he
discourses, with respect to them he is a barbarian; and, reciprocally,
if he understand not those who speak to him, they are to him barbarians.
Barbarian, therefore, is used for every stranger or foreigner who does
not speak our native language, and includes no implication whatever of
savage nature or manners in those respecting whom it is used. It is most
probably derived from _berbir_, “a shepherd;” whence _Barbary_, the
country of wandering shepherds; _Bedouins_, _Sceni_, _Scythei_, as if,
wanderers in tents; therefore barbarians.
BAR-JESUS, or, according to some copies, BAR-JEU, was a Jewish magician
in the island of Crete, Acts xiii, 6. St. Luke calls him Elymas. He was
with the pro-consul Sergius Paulus, who, sending for Paul and Barnabas,
desired to hear the word of God. Bar-Jesus endeavouring to hinder the
pro-consul from embracing Christianity, Paul, filled with the Holy
Ghost, “set his eyes upon him, and said, O full of all subtilty and
mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt
thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? Behold, the hand
of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun
for a season;” which took place immediately. The pro-consul, who saw
this miracle, was converted. Origen and Chrysostom think that Elymas, or
Bar-Jesus, was converted likewise; and that St. Paul speedily restored
his sight.
BARLEY, שערה, Exod. ix, 31; Lev. xxvii, 16, &c;; a well-known kind of
grain. It derives its Hebrew name from the long hairy beard which grows
upon the ear. Pliny, on the testimony of Menander, says that barley was
the most ancient aliment of mankind. In Palestine the barley was sown
about October, and reaped in the end of March, just after the passover.
In Egypt the barley harvest was later; for when the hail fell there,
Exodus ix, 31, a few days before the passover, the flax and barley were
bruised and destroyed: for the flax was at its full growth, and the
barley began to form its green ears; but the wheat, and more backward
grain, were not damaged, because they were only in the blade, and the
hail bruised the young shoots which produce the ears.
The rabbins sometimes called barley the food of beasts, because in
reality they fed their cattle with it, 1 Kings iv, 28; and from Homer
and other ancient writers we learn, that barley was given to horses. The
Hebrews, however, frequently used barley bread, as we find by several
passages of Scripture: for example, David’s friends brought to him in
his flight wheat, barley, flour, &c, 2 Sam. xvii, 28. Solomon sent
wheat, barley, oil, and wine, to the labourers King Hiram had furnished
him, 2 Chron. ii, 15. Elijah had a present made him, of twenty barley
loaves, and corn in the husk, 2 Kings iv, 22. And, by miraculously
increasing the five barley loaves, Christ fed a multitude of about five
thousand, John vi, 8–10. The jealousy-offering, in the Levitical
institution, was to be barley meal, Num. v, 15. The common mincha, or
offering, was of fine wheat flour, Lev. ii, 1; but this was of barley, a
meaner grain, probably to denote the vile condition of the person in
whose behalf it was offered. For which reason, also, there was no oil or
frankincense permitted to be offered with it. Sometimes barley is put
for a low, contemptible reward or price. So the false prophets are
charged with seducing the people for handfuls of barley, and morsels of
bread, Ezek. xiii, 19. Hosea bought his emblematic bride for fifteen
pieces of silver, and a homer and a half of barley, Hosea iii, 2.
BARNABAS, a disciple of Jesus Christ, and companion of St. Paul in his
labours. He was a Levite, born in the isle of Cyprus. His proper name
was Joses, to which the Apostles added Barnabas, signifying _the son of
consolation_. He is generally considered one of the seventy disciples,
chosen by our Saviour. He was brought up with Paul at the feet of
Gamaliel. When that Apostle came to Jerusalem, three years after his
conversion, Barnabas introduced him to the other Apostles, Acts ix, 26,
27, about A. D. 37. Five years afterward, the church at Jerusalem, being
informed of the progress of the Gospel at Antioch, sent Barnabas
thither, who beheld with great joy the wonders of the grace of God, Acts
xi, 22, 24. He exhorted the faithful to perseverance. Some time
afterward, he went to Tarsus, to seek Paul, and bring him to Antioch,
where they jointly laboured two years, and converted great numbers; and
here the disciples were first called Christians. They left Antioch A. D.
44, to convey alms from this church to that at Jerusalem. At their
return they brought John Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. While they were
at Antioch, the Holy Ghost directed that they should be separated for
those labours among the Gentiles to which he had appointed them. They
departed into Cyprus, where they converted Sergius Paulus, the
pro-consul. They preached at Perga in Pamphylia without much success, by
reason of the obstinacy and malice of the Jews; but being come to
Iconium, they made many converts. Here the Jews stirred up a sedition,
and obliged them to retire to Derbe and Lystra, in Lycaonia, where St.
Paul curing one Æneas, who had been lame from his birth, the people of
Lystra regarded them as gods; calling Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul,
Mercury; and would have sacrificed to them, which the two Apostles with
great difficulty hindered: nevertheless, soon afterward, they were
persecuted in this very city. Having revisited the cities through which
they had passed, and where they had preached the Gospel, they returned
to Antioch in Syria.
In A. D. 51, Barnabas was sent with Paul from Antioch to Jerusalem, on
occasion of disputes concerning the observance of legal rites, to which
the Jews wished to subject the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas were present
in the council at Jerusalem, and returned immediately to Antioch. Peter,
arriving there soon afterward, was led to countenance, in some degree,
by his conduct, the observance of the Mosaic distinctions. Barnabas,
too, (who, being by descent a Levite, might retain some former notions,)
used the like dissimulation: but Paul reproved Peter and Barnabas with
great freedom. Paul afterward determining to visit the churches in the
isle of Cyprus, and in Asia Minor, Barnabas desired that John Mark might
accompany them: but Paul objected, because Mark had left them on the
first journey. Hereupon the two Apostles separated: Paul went toward
Asia; and Barnabas, with Mark, to Cyprus. This is all we know certainly
concerning Barnabas.
There is extant among the writings of the fathers an epistle which is
attributed to Barnabas; though, being without an inscription, it is not
known to whom it professes to have been addressed. It was first
published by Archbishop Usher, in Greek and Latin, and translated by
Archbishop Wake, in his “Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers,”
and has often been reprinted. That it is not the production of Barnabas,
the companion of Paul, may be safely concluded from internal evidence;
though it may have been written by some other person of the same name.
There is also a tract which goes by the name of, “The Gospel of
Barnabas,” still extant; from which Dr. White, at the end of his Bampton
Lectures, has given extracts sufficiently copious to satisfy any
impartial mind that it is spurious.
BARRENNESS. This was looked upon as reproachful among the Greeks and
Romans, but more particularly so among the Jews; which may be accounted
for by the constant expectation of Messiah, and the hope that every
woman had, that she might be the mother of the promised seed. This
constant hope of the speedy coming of the great “Seed of the woman”
serves also to account for many circumstances in the Old Testament
history. “Couple it,” says the Rev. J. J. Blunt, “with this
consideration, and I see the scheme of revelation, like the physical
scheme, proceeding with beautiful uniformity: a unity of plan
‘connecting,’ as it has been well said by Paley, ‘the chicken roosting
upon its perch with the spheres revolving in the firmament;’ and a unity
of plan connecting in like manner the meanest accidents of a household
with the most illustrious visions of a prophet. Abstracted from this
consideration, I see in the history of Moses details of actions, some
trifling, some even offensive, pursued at a length (when compared with
the whole) singularly disproportionate; while things which the angels
would desire to look into are passed over and forgotten. But this
principle once admitted, all is consecrated; all assumes a new aspect;
trifles, that seem at first not bigger than a man’s hand, occupy the
heavens; and wherefore Sarah laughed, for instance, at the prospect of a
son, and wherefore that laugh was rendered immortal in his name; and
wherefore the sacred historian dwells on a matter so trivial, whilst the
world and its vast concerns were lying at his feet, I can fully
understand. For then I see the hand of God shaping every thing to his
own ends, and in an event thus casual, thus easy, thus unimportant,
telling forth his mighty design of salvation to the world, and working
it up into the web of his noble prospective counsels, Gen. xxi, 6. I see
that nothing is great or little before Him who can bend to his purposes
whatever he willeth, and convert the light-hearted and thoughtless
mockery of an aged woman into an instrument of his glory, effectual as
the tongue of the seer which he touched with living coals from the
altar. Bearing this master-key in my hand, I can interpret the scenes of
domestic mirth, of domestic stratagem, or of domestic wickedness, with
which the history of Moses abounds. The Seed of the woman, that was to
bruise the serpent’s head, Gen. iii, 15, however indistinctly
understood, (and probably it was understood very indistinctly,) was the
one thing longed for in the families of old; was ‘the desire of all
nations,’ as the Prophet Haggai expressly calls it, Hag. ii, 7; and,
provided they could accomplish this desire, they (like others, when
urged by an overpowering motive) were often reckless of the means, and
rushed upon deeds which they could not defend. Then did the wife forget
her jealousy, and provoke, instead of resenting, the faithlessness of
her husband, Gen. xvi, 2; xxx, 3, 9; then did the mother forget a
parent’s part, and teach her own child treachery and deceit, Gen. xxv,
23; xxvii, 13; then did daughters turn the instincts of nature backward,
and deliberately work their own and their father’s shame, Gen. xix, 31;
then did the daughter-in-law veil her face, and court the incestuous
bed, Gen. xxxviii, 14; and to be childless, was to be a by-word, Gen.
xvi, 5; xxx, 1; and to refuse to raise up seed to a brother, was to be
spit upon, Gen. xxxviii, 26; Deut. xxv, 9; and the prospect of the
promise, like the fulfilment of it, did not send peace into families,
but a sword; and three were set against two, and two against three, Gen.
xxvii, 41; and the elder, who would be promoted unto honour, was set
against the younger, whom God would promote, Gen. iv, 5; xxvii, 41; and
national differences were engendered by it, as individuals grew into
nations, Gen. xix, 37; xxvi, 35; and even the foulest of idolatries may
be traced, perhaps, to this hallowed source; for the corruption of the
best is the worst corruption of all, Num. xxv, 1, 2, 3. It is upon this
principle of interpretation, and I know not upon what other so well,
that we may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, who have made
those parts of the Mosaic history a stumbling-block to many, which, if
rightly understood, are the very testimony of the covenant; and a
principle which is thus extensive in its application and successful in
its results; which explains so much that is difficult, and answers so
much that is objected against, has, from this circumstance alone, strong
presumption in its favour, strong claims upon our sober regard.”
BARSABAS. Joseph Barsabas, surnamed Justus, was one of the first
disciples of Jesus Christ, and probably one of the seventy. When St.
Peter proposed to the disciples to fill up the place of Judas the
traitor, by choosing another Apostle, Acts i, 21, Barsabas was nominated
along with Matthias; but the lot fell on Matthias, who was therefore
numbered with the eleven Apostles. We know nothing farther of the life
of this Barsabas.
2. BARSABAS was also the surname of Judas, one of the principal
disciples mentioned, Acts xv, 22, &c. Barsabas and some others were sent
by the Apostles, with Paul and Barnabas, to Antioch, and carried a
letter with them from the Apostles, signifying what the council at
Jerusalem had decreed. After the reading of the letter to the brethren,
which was received with joy, Barsabas and Silas continued here some time
longer, instructing and confirming the brethren; after which Silas and
Barsabas returned to Jerusalem. This is all we know of Barsabas Judas.
BARTHOLOMEW, one of the twelve Apostles, Matt. x, 3, is supposed to be
the same person who is called Nathanael, one of the first of Christ’s
disciples. This opinion is founded on the circumstance, that as the
evangelist John never mentions Bartholomew in the number of the
Apostles, so the other evangelists never mention Nathanael. And as in
John i, 45, Philip and Nathanael are mentioned together as coming to
Jesus, so in the other evangelists Philip and Bartholomew are constantly
associated together. The supposition also acquires additional
probability from considering, that Nathanael is particularly mentioned
among the Apostles to whom Christ appeared at the sea of Tiberias, after
his resurrection; Simon Peter, Thomas, and Nathanael, of Cana in
Galilee; the sons of Zebedee, namely, James and John; with two other of
his disciples, probably Andrew and Philip, John xxi, 2. It is an early
tradition, that Bartholomew propagated the faith as far as India, and
also in the more northern and western parts of Asia, and that he finally
suffered martyrdom. But all the particulars respecting the life and
labours of the Apostles, not mentioned in the New Testament, are
exceedingly uncertain.
BARUCH, the son of Neriah, and grandson of Maaseiah, was of illustrious
birth, and of the tribe of Judah. He had a brother of the name of
Seraiah, who occupied an important station in the court of King
Zedekiah; but he himself adhered to the person of the Prophet Jeremiah,
and was his most steady friend, though his attachment to him drew on
himself several persecutions and much ill treatment. He appears to have
acted as his secretary during a great part of his life, and never left
him till they were parted by death. In the reign of Jehoiakim, king of
Judah, A. M. 3398, Jeremiah having been thrown into prison, the Lord
commanded him to commit to writing all the prophecies that he had
delivered until that time. He accordingly sent for Baruch, and dictated
them to him by word of mouth. Some time afterward he instructed the
latter to go and read them to the people, who were then assembled in the
temple; on which Michaiah, who happened to be present, and heard them,
instantly gave notice of them to the king’s counsellors. The latter
immediately sent for Baruch, and commanded him to repeat to them what he
had been reading to the people in the temple; which he accordingly did,
to their great astonishment: and, finding that they contained some very
unwelcome tidings respecting the fate of the kingdom, they inquired how
he came into possession of them; intimating that their duty to the king
required that they should make him acquainted therewith. Baruch was at
the same time advised to consult his own safety, and to let no man know
where he was to be found; after which they took from him the roll of his
prophecies, and deposited it in the chamber of Elishama, the scribe.
They next waited on the king, and told him what had passed. The latter
sent Jehudi to fetch the book; which being brought, Jehoiakim commanded
it to be read in his presence, and in the presence of his nobles who
surrounded him. But Jehudi had not proceeded far before the king took
the book, cut it with his secretary’s penknife, and threw it into the
fire, where it was consumed before their faces. He at the same time gave
orders to have both Baruch and Jeremiah seized; but the hand of
Providence concealed them from his fury.
Jeremiah was instructed a second time to commit his prophecies to
writing; and Baruch wrote them as before, with the addition of several
others which were not contained in the former book. In the fourth year
of the reign of Zedekiah, Baruch went to Babylon, carrying with him a
long letter from Jeremiah, in which the Prophet foretold the judgments
that should come upon Babylon, and promised the Jews, who were then
captives in that country, that they should again be restored to their
own land. The latter were exceedingly affected at hearing Jeremiah’s
letter read to them, and returned an answer to their brethren at
Jerusalem. After his return to Jerusalem, Baruch continued his constant
attendance on Jeremiah; and when Jerusalem was besieged by
Nebuchadnezzar, and Jeremiah thrown into prison, Baruch also was
confined with him: but when the city had surrendered, Nebuzaraddan
showed him much kindness, granted him his liberty, and permitted him to
go with Jeremiah wherever he chose.