prophetic office, was of the city of Abelmeholah, 1 Kings xix, 16, &c.
Elijah having received God’s command to anoint Elisha as a prophet, came
to Abelmeholah; and finding him ploughing with oxen, he threw his mantle
over the shoulders of Elisha, who left the oxen, and accompanied him.
Under the article _Elijah_, it has been observed that Elisha was
following his master, when he was taken up to heaven; and that he
inherited Elijah’s mantle, with a double portion of his spirit. Elisha
smote the waters of Jordan, and divided them; and he rendered wholesome
the waters of a rivulet near Jericho. The kings of Israel, Judah, and
Edom, having taken the field against the king of Moab, who had revolted
from Israel, were in danger of perishing for want of water. Elisha was
at that time in the camp; and seeing Jehoram, the king of Israel, he
said, “What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy
father, and to the prophets of thy mother. As the Lord liveth, were it
not out of respect to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, who is here
present, I would not so much as look on thee. But now send for a
minstrel; and while this man played, the Spirit of the Lord fell upon
Elisha, and he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make several ditches along
this valley; for ye shall see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley
shall be filled with water, and you and your cattle shall drink of it.”
The widow of one of the prophets having told Elisha, that her husband’s
creditor was determined to take her two sons and sell them for slaves,
Elisha multiplied the oil in the widow’s house, in such quantity that
she was enabled to sell it and to discharge the debt. Elisha went
frequently to Shunem, a city of Manasseh, on this side Jordan, and was
entertained by a certain matron at her house. As she had no children,
Elisha promised her a son; and his prediction was accomplished. Some
years after, the child died. Elisha, who was then at Mount Carmel, was
solicited by the mother to come to her house. The prophet went, and
restored the child. At Gilgal, during a great famine, one of the sons of
the prophets gathered wild gourds, which he put into the pot, and they
were served up to Elisha and the other prophets. It was soon found that
they were mortal poison; but Elisha ordering meal to be thrown into the
pot, corrected the quality of the pottage. Naaman, general of the king
of Syria’s forces, having a leprosy, was advised to visit Elisha in
order to be cured. Elisha appointed him to wash himself seven times in
the Jordan; and by this means Naaman was perfectly healed. He returned
to Elisha, and offered him large presents, which the man of God
resolutely refused. But Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, did not imitate the
disinterestedness of his master. He ran after Naaman, and in Elisha’s
name begged a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. Naaman gave
him two talents. Elisha, to whom God had discovered Gehazi’s action,
reproached him with it, and declared, that the leprosy of Naaman should
cleave to him and his family for ever. This is a striking instance of
the disinterestedness of the Jewish prophets. Elisha, like his master
Elijah, had learned to contemn the world. The king of Syria being at war
with the king of Israel, could not imagine how all his designs were
discovered by the enemy. He was told, that Elisha revealed them to the
king of Israel. He therefore sent troops to seize the prophet at Dothan;
but Elisha struck them with blindness, and led them in that condition
into Samaria. When they were in the city, he prayed to God to open their
eyes; and after he had made them eat and drink, he sent them back unhurt
to their master. Some time after, Benhadad, king of Syria, having
besieged Samaria, the famine became so extreme, that a certain woman ate
her own child. Jehoram, king of Israel, imputing to Elisha these
calamities, sent a messenger to cut off his head. Elisha, who was
informed of this design against his life, ordered the door to be shut.
The messenger was scarcely arrived, when the king himself followed, and
made great complaints of the condition to which the town was reduced.
Elisha answered, “To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine
flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in
the gate of Samaria.” Upon this, one of the king’s officers said, “Were
the Lord to open windows in heaven, might this thing be.” This unbelief
was punished; for the prophet answered, “Thou shalt see it with thine
eyes, but shalt not eat thereof,” which happened according to Elisha’s
prediction, for he was trodden to death by the crowd in the gate. At the
end of the seven years’ famine, which the prophet had foretold, he went
to Damascus, to execute the command which God had given to Elijah many
years before, of declaring Hazael king of Syria. Benhadad being at that
time indisposed, and hearing that Elisha was come into his territories,
sent Hazael, one of his principal officers, to the prophet to consult
him, and inquire of him whether it were possible for him to recover. The
prophet told Hazael, that he might recover, but that he was very well
assured that he should not; and then looking steadfastly upon him, he
broke out into tears upon the prospect, as he told him, of the many
barbarous calamities which he would bring upon Israel, when once he was
advanced to power, as he would soon be, because he was assured by divine
revelation that he was to be king of Syria. Hazael, though offended at
the time at being thought capable of such atrocities, did but too
clearly verify these predictions; for at his return, having murdered
Benhadad, and procured himself to be declared king, he inflicted the
greatest miseries upon the Israelites.
2. Elisha sent one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu, the son
of Jehoshaphat, and grandson of Nimshi, to be king, in pursuance of an
order given to Elijah some years before; and Jehu having received the
royal unction, executed every thing that had been foretold by Elijah
against Ahab’s family, and against Jezebel. Elisha falling sick, Joash,
king of Israel, came to visit him, and said, “O my father, my father,
the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.” Elisha desired the
king to bring him a bow and arrows. Joash having brought them, Elisha
requested him to put his hands on the bow, and at the same time the
prophet put his own hand upon the king’s, and said, Open the window
which looks east, and let fly an arrow. The king having done this,
Elisha said, This is the arrow of the Lord’s deliverance: thou shalt be
successful against Syria at Aphek. Elisha desired him again to shoot,
which he did three times, and then stopped. But Elisha with vehemence
said, “If thou hadst smitten five or six times, then thou hadst smitten
Syria until thou hadst consumed it; whereas now thou shalt smite Syria
only thrice.” This is the last prediction of Elisha of which we read in
Scripture, for soon after he died; but it was not his last miracle: for,
some time after his interment, a company of Israelites, as they were
going to bury a dead person, perceiving a band of Moabites making toward
them, put the corpse for haste into Elisha’s tomb, and, as soon as it
had touched the prophet’s body, it immediately revived; so that the man
stood upon his feet: a striking emblem of the life-giving effect of the
labours of the servants of God, after they themselves are gathered to
their fathers.
ELUL, the sixth month of the Hebrew ecclesiastical year, and the twelfth
of the civil year, answering to our August and part of September,
containing twenty-nine days.
EMBALMING, the art of preserving dead bodies from putrefaction. It was
much practised by the Egyptians of ancient times, and from them seems to
have been borrowed by the Hebrews. It consisted in opening the body,
taking out the intestines, and filling the place with odoriferous drugs
and spices of a desiccative quality. Joseph gave orders for the
embalming of the body of his father Jacob, Gen. l, 1, 2; and Moses
informs us that the process took up forty days. Joseph himself also was
embalmed, Gen. l, 26. Asa, king of Israel, seems to have been embalmed,
2 Chron. xvi, 13, 14. See BURIAL.
EMERALD, נפך, Exod. xxviii, 19; Ezek. xxvii, 16; xxviii, 13; σμάραγδος,
Rev. xxi, 19; Eccles. xxxii, 6; Tobit xiii, 16; Judith x, 21. This is
generally supposed to be the same with the ancient _smaragdus_. It is
one of the most beautiful of all the gems, and is of a bright green
colour, without the admixture of any other. Pliny thus speaks of it:
“The sight of no colour is more pleasant than green; for we love to view
green fields and green leaves; and are still more fond of looking at the
emerald, because all other greens are dull in comparison with this.
Beside, these stones seem larger at a distance, by tinging the
circumambient air. Their lustre is not changed by the sun, by the shade,
nor by the light of lamps; but they have always a sensible moderate
brilliancy.” From the passage in Ezekiel we learn that the Tyrians
traded in these jewels in the marts of Syria. They probably had them
from India, or the south of Persia. The true oriental emerald is very
scarce, and is only found at present in the kingdom of Cambay.
EMERODS. The disease of the Philistines, which is mentioned in 1 Sam. v,
6, 12; vi, 17, is denominated, in the Hebrew, עפלים. This word occurs,
likewise, in Deut. xxviii, 27; and it is worthy of remark, that it is
every where explained in the _keri_, or marginal readings, by the
Aramæan word, טחרים; an expression which, in the Syriac dialect, where
it occurs under the forms, טהרא and טהורא, means _the fundament_, and
likewise the effort which is made in an evacuation of the system. The
authors, therefore, of the reading in the _keri_ appear to have assented
to the opinion of Josephus, and to have understood by this word the
dysentery. The corresponding Arabic words mean a swelling, answering
somewhat in its nature to the hernia in men: a disease, consequently,
very different from the hemorrhoids, which some persons understand to be
meant by the word עפלים. Among other objections, it may also be
observed, that the mice, which are mentioned, not only in the Hebrew
text, 1 Sam. vi, 5, 12; xvi, 18, but also in the Alexandrine and Vulgate
versions, 1 Sam. v, 6; vi, 5, 11, 18, are an objection to understanding
the hemorrhoids by the word under consideration, since if that were in
fact the disease, we see no reason why mice should have been presented
as an offering to avert the anger of the God of Israel. Lichtenstein has
given this solution: The word, עכפרים, which is rendered _mice_, he
supposes to mean _venomous solpugas_, which belong to the spider class,
and yet are so large, and so similar in their form to mice, as to admit
of their being denominated by the same word. These venomous animals
destroy and live upon scorpions. They also bite men, whenever they can
have an opportunity, particularly in the fundament and the verenda.
Their bite causes swellings, which are fatal in their consequences,
called, in Hebrew, עפלים. The probable supposition, then, is, that
solpugas were at this time multiplied among the Philistines by the
special providence of God; and that, being very venomous, they were the
means of destroying many individuals.
EMIMS, ancient inhabitants of the land of Canaan, beyond Jordan, who
were defeated by Chedorlaomer and his allies, Gen. xiv, 5. Moses tells
us that they were beaten at Shaveh-Kirjathaim, which was in the country
of Sihon, conquered from the Moabites, Josh. xiii, 19–21. The Emims were
a warlike people, of a gigantic stature, great and numerous, tall as the
Anakims, and were accounted giants as well as they, Deut. ii, 10, 11.
EMMANUEL, or IMMANUEL, “God with us.” It answers both in the LXX, and
Matt. i, 23, to the Hebrew עמנואל, from עם, _with_, נו, _us_, and אל,
_God_, Isa. vii, 14; viii, 8.
EMMAUS, a village about eight miles north-west of Jerusalem; on the road
to which, two of the disciples were travelling in sorrow and
disappointment after the resurrection, when our Lord appeared to them,
and held that memorable conversation with them which is recorded by St.
Luke, xxiv.
ENDOR, a city in the tribe of Manasseh, where the witch resided whom
Saul consulted a little before the battle of Gilboa, Joshua xvii, 11; 1
Sam. xxviii, 13. Mr. Bryant derives Endor from En-Ador, signifying _fons
pythonis_, “the fountain of light,” or oracle of the god Ador: which
oracle was probably founded by the Canaanites, and had never been
totally suppressed. The ancient world had many such oracles: the most
famous of which were that of Jupiter-Ammon in Lybia, and that of Delphi
in Greece: and in all of them, the answers to those who consulted them
were given from the mouth of a female; who, from the priestess of Apollo
at Delphi, has generally received the name of Pythia. That many such
oracles existed in Canaan, is evident from the number which Saul himself
is said to have suppressed; and such a one, with its Pythia, was this at
Endor. At these shrines, either as mock oracles, contrived by a crafty
and avaricious priesthood, to impose on the credulity and superstition
of its followers; or, otherwise, as is more generally supposed, as the
real instruments of infernal power, mankind, having altogether departed
from the true God, were permitted to be deluded. That, in this case, the
real Samuel appeared is plain both from the affright of the woman
herself, and from the fulfilment of his prophecy. It was an instance of
God’s overruling the wickedness of men, to manifest his own supremacy
and justice.
ENGEDI. It is also called Hazazon-Tamar, or _city of palm trees_, 2
Chron. xx, 2, because there was a great quantity of palm trees in the
territory belonging to it. It abounded with Cyprus vines, and trees that
produced balm. Solomon speaks of the “vineyards of Engedi,” Cant. i, 14.
This city, according to Josephus, stood near the lake of Sodom, three
hundred furlongs from Jerusalem, not far from Jericho, and the mouth of
the river Jordan, through which it discharged itself into the Dead Sea.
There is frequent mention of Engedi in the Scriptures. It was in the
cave of Engedi that David had it in his power to kill Saul, 1 Sam. xxiv.
The spot where this transaction took place, was a cavern in the rock,
sufficiently large to contain in its recesses the whole of David’s men,
six hundred in number, unperceived by Saul when he entered. Many similar
caves existed in the Holy Land. Such were those at Adullam and Makkedah,
and that in which Lot and his daughters dwelt after the destruction of
Sodom. Such also is that described by Mr. Maundrell, near Sidon, which
contained two hundred smaller caverns. Many of these were natural
cavities in the limestone rock, similar to those in Yorkshire and
Derbyshire, and in the Mendip hills in Somersetshire; and others,
excavations made by the primeval inhabitants, for defence, or for
shelter from the sun; and which subsequently served as retreats for
robbers, as they are at this day. Josephus has given an interesting
account of these caves, and the manner in which the robbers were taken
by Herod. And Dr. E. D. Clarke has described similar retreats in the
rocks near Bethlehem; others, between Jerusalem and Jericho, are
mentioned by Mr. Wilson. Into such caves the Israelites frequently
retired for shelter from their enemies, Judg. vi, 2; 1 Sam. xiii, 6;
xiv, 11; a circumstance which has afforded some striking and terrific
images to the prophets, Isaiah ii, 19; Hosea x, 8; Rev. vi, 15, 16.
ENOCH, the son of Cain, Gen. iv, 17, in honour of whom the first city
noticed in Scripture was called Enoch, by his father Cain, who was the
builder. It was situated on the east of the province of Eden.
2. ENOCH, the son of Jared, and father of Methuselah. He was born A. M.
622, and being contemporary with Adam, he had every opportunity of
learning from him the story of the creation, the circumstance of the
fall, the terms of the promise, and other important truths. An ancient
author affirms, that he was the father of astronomy; and Eusebius hence
infers, that he is the same with the Atlas of the Grecian mythology.
Enoch’s fame rests upon a better basis than his skill in science. The
encomium of Enoch is, that he “walked with God.” While mankind were
living in open rebellion against Heaven, and provoking the divine
vengeance daily by their ungodly deeds, he obtained the exalted
testimony, “that he pleased God.” This he did, not only by the exemplary
tenor of his life, and by the attention which he paid to the outward
duties of religion, but by the soundness of his faith, and the purity of
his heart and life: see Heb. xi, 5, 6. The intent of the Apostle, in the
discourse containing this passage, is, to show that there has been but
one way of obtaining the divine favour ever since the fall, and that is,
by faith, or a firm persuasion and confidence in the atonement to be
made for human transgressions by the obedience, sufferings, death, and
resurrection of the promised Messiah. The cloud of witnesses which the
Apostle has produced of Old Testament worthies, all bore, in their
respective generations, their testimony to this great doctrine, in
opposition to the atheism or theism, and gross idolatry, which prevailed
around them. All the patriarchs are celebrated for their faith in this
great truth, and for preserving this principle of religion in the midst
of a corrupt generation. Enoch, therefore, is said, by another
evangelical writer, to have spoken of the coming of Christ to judgment
unto the antediluvian sinners. See Jude 14, 15. This prophecy is a
clear, and it is also an awful, description of the day of judgment, when
the Messiah shall sit upon his throne of justice, to determine the final
condition of mankind, according to their works; and it indicates that
the different offices of Messiah both to save and to judge, or as
Prophet, Priest, and King, were known to the holy patriarchs. On what
the Apostle founded this prediction has been matter of much speculation
and inquiry. Some, indeed, have produced a treatise, called “The Book of
Enoch,” which, as they pretend, contains the cited passage; but its
authority is not proved, and internal evidence sufficiently marks its
spurious origin. It is, therefore, reasonable to suppose that the
prophecy cited by St. Jude was either traditionally handed down, or had
been specially communicated to that Apostle. In the departure of Enoch
from this world of sin and sorrow, the Almighty altered the ordinary
course of things, and gave him a dismissal as glorious to himself, as it
was instructive to mankind. To convince them how acceptable holiness is
to him, and to show that he had prepared for those that love him a
heavenly inheritance, he caused Enoch to be taken from the earth without
passing through death. See ELIJAH.
ENOS, or ENOSH, the son of Seth, and father of Cainan. He was born A. M.
235. Moses tells us that then “men began to call upon the name of the
Lord,” Gen iv, 26; that is, such as abhorred the impiety and immorality
which prevailed among the progeny of Cain, began to worship God in
public, and to assemble together at stated times for that purpose. Good
men, to distinguish themselves from the wicked, began to take the name
of sons or servants of God; for which reason Moses, Gen. vi, 1, 2, says
that “the sons of God,” or the descendants of Enos, “seeing the
daughters of men,” &c. The eastern people make the following additions
to his history:--that Seth, his father, declared him sovereign prince
and high priest of mankind, next after himself; that Enos was the first
who ordained public alms for the poor, established public tribunals for
the administration of justice, and planted, or rather cultivated, the
palm tree.
EPHAH, the eldest son of Midian, who gave his name to a city and small
extent of land in the country of Midian, situated on the eastern shore
of the Dead Sea, Genesis xxv, 4. This country abounded with camels and
dromedaries, Isaiah lx, 6, &c.
2. EPHAH, a measure both for things dry and liquid, in use among the
Hebrews. The ephah for the former contained three pecks and three pints.
In liquid measure it was of the same capacity as the bath.
EPHESUS, a much celebrated city of Ionia, in Asia Minor, situated upon
the river Cayster, and on the side of a hill. It was the metropolis of
the Proconsular Asia, and formerly in great renown among Heathen authors
on account of its famous temple of Diana. This temple was seven times
set on fire: one of the principal conflagrations happened on the very
day that Socrates was poisoned, four hundred years before Christ; the
other, on the same night in which Alexander the Great was born, when a
person of the name of Erostratus set it on fire, according to his own
confession, to get himself a name! It was, however, rebuilt and
beautified by the Ephesians, toward which the female inhabitants of the
city contributed liberally. In the times of the Apostles it retained
much of its former grandeur; but, so addicted were the inhabitants of
the city to idolatry and the arts of magic, that the prince of darkness
would seem to have, at that time, fixed his throne in it. Ephesus is
supposed to have first invented those obscure mystical spells and charms
by means of which the people pretended to heal diseases and drive away
evil spirits; whence originated the Ἐφέσια γράμματα, or _Ephesian
letters_, so often mentioned by the ancients.
2. The Apostle Paul first visited this city, A. D. 54; but being then on
his way to Jerusalem, he abode there only a few weeks, Acts xviii,
19–21. During his short stay, he found a synagogue of the Jews, into
which he went, and reasoned with them upon the interesting topics of his
ministry, with which they were so pleased that they wished him to
prolong his visit. He however declined that, for he had determined, God
willing, to be at Jerusalem at an approaching festival; but he promised
to return, which he did a few months afterward, and continued there
three years, Acts xix, 10; xx, 31. While the Apostle abode in Ephesus
and its neighbourhood, he gathered a numerous Christian church, to
which, at a subsequent period, he wrote that epistle, which forms so
important a part of the Apostolic writings. He was then a prisoner at
Rome, and the year in which he wrote it must have been 60 or 61 of the
Christian æra. It appears to have been transmitted to them by the hands
of Tychicus, one of his companions in travel, Ephesians vi, 21. The
critics have remarked that the style of the Epistle to the Ephesians is
exceedingly elevated; and that it corresponds to the state of the
Apostle’s mind at the time of writing. Overjoyed with the account which
their messenger brought him of the steadfastness of their faith, and the
ardency of their love to all the saints, Eph. i, 15; and, transported
with the consideration of the unsearchable wisdom of God displayed in
the work of man’s redemption, and of his amazing love toward the
Gentiles, in introducing them, as fellow-heirs with the Jews, into the
kingdom of Christ, he soars into the most exalted contemplation of those
sublime topics, and gives utterance to his thoughts in language at once
rich and varied. The epistle, says Macknight, is written as it were in a
rapture. Grotius remarks that it expresses the sublime matters contained
in it in terms more sublime than are to be found in any human language;
to which Macknight subjoins this singular but striking observation, that
no real Christian can read the doctrinal part of the Epistle to the
Ephesians, without being impressed and roused by it, as by the sound of
a trumpet.
3. Ephesus was one of the seven churches to which special messages were
addressed in the book of Revelation. After a commendation of their first
works, to which they were commanded to return, they were accused of
having left their first love, and threatened with the removal of their
candlestick out of its place, except they should repent, Rev. ii, 5. The
contrast which its present state presents to its former glory, is a
striking fulfilment of this prophecy. Ephesus was the metropolis of
Lydia, a great and opulent city, and, according to Strabo, the greatest
emporium of Asia Minor. Its temple of Diana, “whom all Asia worshipped,”
was adorned with one hundred and twenty-seven columns of Parian marble,
each of a single shaft, and sixty feet high, and which formed one of the
seven wonders of the world. The remains of its magnificent theatre, in
which it is said that twenty thousand people could easily have been
seated, are yet to be seen. But a few heaps of stones, and some
miserable mud cottages, occasionally tenanted by Turks, without one
Christian residing there, are all the remains of ancient Ephesus. It is,
as described by different travellers, a solemn and most forlorn spot.
The Epistle to the Ephesians is read throughout the world; but there is
none in Ephesus to read it now. They left their first love, they
returned not to their first works. Their “candlestick has been removed
out of its place;” and the great city of Ephesus is no more. Dr.
Chandler says, “The inhabitants are a few Greek peasants, living in
extreme wretchedness, dependence, and insensibility; the representatives
of an illustrious people, and inhabiting the wreck of their greatness;
some, in the substructions of the glorious edifices which they raised;
some, beneath the vaults of the stadium, once the crowded scene of their
diversions; and some, by the abrupt precipice, in the sepulchres which
received their ashes. Its streets are obscured and overgrown. A herd of
goats was driven to it for shelter from the sun at noon; and a noisy
flight of crows from the quarries seemed to insult its silence. We heard
the partridge call in the area of the theatre and the stadium. The
glorious pomp of its Heathen worship is no longer remembered; and
Christianity, which was here nursed by Apostles, and fostered by general
councils, until it increased to fulness of stature, barely lingers on in
an existence hardly visible.” “I was at Ephesus,” says Mr. Arundell, “in
January, 1824; the desolation was then complete: a Turk, whose shed we
occupied, his Arab servant, and a single Greek, composed the entire
population; some Turcomans excepted, whose black tents were pitched
among the ruins. The Greek revolution, and the predatory excursions of
the Samiotes, in great measure accounted for this total desertion. There
is still, however, a village near, probably the same which Chishull and
Van Egmont mention, having four hundred Greek houses.”
St. John passed the latter part of his life in Asia Minor, and
principally at Ephesus, where he died.