Translation | Verse | Text |
Strong Concordance | 1Sa 13:5 | And the Philistines [06430] gathered themselves together [0622] to fight [03898] with Israel [03478], thirty [07970] thousand [0505] chariots [07393], and six [08337] thousand [0505] horsemen [06571], and people [05971] as the sand [02344] which is on the sea [03220] shore [08193] in multitude [07230]: and they came up [05927], and pitched [02583] in Michmash [04363], eastward [06926] from Bethaven [01007]. |
Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
CHARIOTS | Scripture speaks of two sorts of these: one for princes and generals to ride in, Ge 41:43; the other to break the enemy's battalions, by rushing in among them, being "chariots of iron," that is, armed with iron scythes or hooks, projecting from the ends of the axle-trees. These made terrible havoc. The Canaanites, whom Joshua engaged at the waters of Meron, had horsemen, and a multitude of chariots, Jos 11:4 Jud 1:19. Sisera, general of Jabin king of Hazor, had nine hundred chariots of iron, Jud 4:3. See LITTER. |
Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
ISRAEL | Who prevails with God, a name given to Jacob, after having wrestled with the Angel-Jehovah at Penuel. Ge 32:1,2,28,30 Ho 12:3. See JACOB. By the name Israel is sometimes understood all the posterity of Israel, the seed of Jacob, 1Co 10:18; sometimes all true believers, his spiritual seed, Ro 9:6; and sometimes the kingdom of Israel, or the ten tribes, as distinct from the kingdom of Judah. |
Word | Easton Dictionary - Definition |
ISRAEL | the name conferred on Jacob after the great prayer-struggle at Peniel (Gen. 32:28), because "as a prince he had power with God and prevailed." (See JACOB.) This is the common name given to Jacob's descendants. The whole people of the twelve tribes are called "Israelites," the "children of Israel" (Josh. 3:17; 7:25; Judg. 8:27; Jer. 3:21), and the "house of Israel" (Ex. 16:31; 40:38). This name Israel is sometimes used emphatically for the true Israel (Ps. 73:1: Isa. 45:17; 49:3; John 1:47; Rom. 9:6; 11:26). After the death of Saul the ten tribes arrogated to themselves this name, as if they were the whole nation (2 Sam. 2:9, 10, 17, 28; 3:10, 17; 19:40-43), and the kings of the ten tribes were called "kings of Israel," while the kings of the two tribes were called "kings of Judah." After the Exile the name Israel was assumed as designating the entire nation. |
Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
MICHMASH | A town of Benjamin, nine miles north by east of Jerusalem, Ne 7:31; 11:31. It was a strong position and lay on the north side of a deep valley; for which reasons perhaps Sennacherib, on his way to Jerusalem, left his heavy equipage there, Isa 10:28,29. In this deep valley, a little west of the town, are two steep hills or rocks, supposed to be the ones referred to in the account of Jonathan's achievement at "the passage of Michmash," 1Sa 13:23; 14:4. Dr. Robinson found here a village called Mukhmas, which appeared to be the remnant of a town of some size and importance. |
Word | Easton Dictionary - Definition |
MICHMASH | something hidden, a town of Benjamin (Ezra 2:27), east of Bethel and south of Migron, on the road to Jerusalem (Isa. 10:28). It lay on the line of march of an invading army from the north, on the north side of the steep and precipitous Wady es-Suweinit ("valley of the little thorn-tree" or "the acacia"), and now bears the name of Mukhmas. This wady is called "the passage of Michmash" (1 Sam. 13:23). Immediately facing Mukhmas, on the opposite side of the ravine, is the modern representative of Geba, and behind this again are Ramah and Gibeah. This was the scene of a great battle fought between the army of Saul and the Philistines, who were utterly routed and pursued for some 16 miles towards Philistia as far as the valley of Aijalon. "The freedom of Benjamin secured at Michmash led through long years of conflict to the freedom of all its kindred tribes." The power of Benjamin and its king now steadily increased. A new spirit and a new hope were now at work in Israel. (See SAUL.) |
Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
PHILISTINES | A celebrated people, who inhabited the southern seacoast of Canaan, which from them took the name of Philistia, Ps 60:8 108:9, or Palestine. They seem originally to have migrated form Egypt to Caphtor, by which some understand Crete, and others with the ancients Cappadocia, Ge 10:14, and thence to have passed over to Palestine under the name of Caphtorim, where they drove out the Avim, who dwelt from Hazerim to Azzah, that is, Gaza, and swelt in their stead, De 2:23. The country they inhabited lay between the higher land of Judea and the Mediterranean, and was in the main a level and fertile territory. It resembles our own western prairies; and bears splendid crops year after year, though miserably cultivated and never manured. The Philistines were a powerful people in Palestine, even in Abraham's time, B. C. 1900, for they had then kings and considerable cities, Gen 20.2; 21.32; Ex 13.17. They are not enumerated among the nations devoted to extermination with the seed of Canaan. Joshua, however, did not hesitate to attack them by command from the Lord, because they possessed various districts promised to Israel. But these conquests must have been ill maintained, since under the judges, at the time of Saul, and at the beginning of the reign of David, the Philistines had their own kings and lords. Their state was divided into five little principalities, at the head of each of which was a "lord," namely, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron-and they oppressed Israel during the government of the high-priest Eli, that of Samuel, and during the reign of Saul, for about one hundred and twenty years. Shaamgar, Samson, Samuel, and Saul opposed them, and were victorious over them with great slaughter, at various times, but did not destroy their power, Jud 3:14 1Sa 4:1-22 7:1-17 14:1-52 31:1-13. They maintained their independence till David subdued them, 2Sa 5:17 8:1-18, from which time they continued in subjection to the kings of Judah, down to the reign of Jehoram, son of Johoshaphat, when they revolted, 2Ch 21:16. Jehoram made war against them, and probably reduced them to obedience; for it is observed that they revolted again from Uzziah, who kept them under his sway using his whole reign, 2Ch 26:6-7. During the unfortunate reign of Ahaz, the Philistines made great havoc in the territory of Judah; but his son and successor Hezekiah again subdued them, 2Ch 28:18 2Ki 18:8. They regained their full liberty, however, under the later kings of Judah; and we see by the menaces uttered against them by the prophets Isaiah, Amos, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, that they brought many calamities on Israel, for which God threatened to punish them with great misfortunes, Jer 47:1-7 Eze 25:15 Am 1:6-8 Ob 1:19 Zec 9:5. See also Ne 13:23. They were partially subdued by Esar-haddon king of Assyria and afterwards by Psammetichus king of Egypt; and there is great probability that they were reduced by Nebuchadnezzar, as well as the other people of Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, during the siege of Tyre. They afterwards fell under the dominion of the Persians; then under that of Alexander the Great, who destroyed Gaza, the only city of the Philistines that dared to oppose him. They appear to have become entirely incorporated with the other inhabitants of the land under the Maccabees, and are no more mentioned as a distinct people. The ancient Philistines appear in sacred history as a warlike people, not strangers to the arts of life, Jud 15:5 1Sa 13:20; worshippers of Baal and Ashtoreth, under the names of Baal-zebub and Dagon; having many priests and diviners, 1Sa 6:2 2Ki 1:2 Isa 2:6. They appear to have been of the race of Shem, their language being akin to the Hebrew, yet distinct from it, Ne 13:24. Their land, once rich and covered with cities and towns, is now desolate, Zep 2:4-7. |
Word | Easton Dictionary - Definition |
PHILISTINES | (Gen. 10:14, R.V.; but in A.V., "Philistim"), a tribe allied to the Phoenicians. They were a branch of the primitive race which spread over the whole district of the Lebanon and the valley of the Jordan, and Crete and other Mediterranean islands. Some suppose them to have been a branch of the Rephaim (2 Sam. 21:16-22). In the time of Abraham they inhabited the south-west of Judea, Abimelech of Gerar being their king (Gen. 21:32, 34; 26:1). They are, however, not noticed among the Canaanitish tribes mentioned in the Pentateuch. They are spoken of by Amos (9:7) and Jeremiah (47:4) as from Caphtor, i.e., probably Crete, or, as some think, the Delta of Egypt. In the whole record from Exodus to Samuel they are represented as inhabiting the tract of country which lay between Judea and Egypt (Ex. 13:17; 15:14, 15; Josh. 13:3; 1 Sam. 4). This powerful tribe made frequent incursions against the Hebrews. There was almost perpetual war between them. They sometimes held the tribes, especially the southern tribes, in degrading servitude (Judg. 15:11; 1 Sam. 13:19-22); at other times they were defeated with great slaughter (1 Sam. 14:1-47; 17). These hostilities did not cease till the time of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:8), when they were entirely subdued. They still, however, occupied their territory, and always showed their old hatred to Israel (Ezek. 25:15-17). They were finally conquered by the Romans. The Philistines are called Pulsata or Pulista on the Egyptian monuments; the land of the Philistines (Philistia) being termed Palastu and Pilista in the Assyrian inscriptions. They occupied the five cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath, in the south-western corner of Canaan, which belonged to Egypt up to the closing days of the Nineteenth Dynasty. The occupation took place during the reign of Rameses III. of the Twentieth Dynasty. The Philistines had formed part of the great naval confederacy which attacked Egypt, but were eventually repulsed by that Pharaoh, who, however, could not dislodge them from their settlements in Palestine. As they did not enter Palestine till the time of the Exodus, the use of the name Philistines in Gen. 26:1 must be proleptic. Indeed the country was properly Gerar, as in ch. 20. They are called Allophyli, "foreigners," in the Septuagint, and in the Books of Samuel they are spoken of as uncircumcised. It would therefore appear that they were not of the Semitic race, though after their establishment in Canaan they adopted the Semitic language of the country. We learn from the Old Testament that they came from Caphtor, usually supposed to be Crete. From Philistia the name of the land of the Philistines came to be extended to the whole of "Palestine." Many scholars identify the Philistines with the Pelethites of 2 Sam. 8:18. |
Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
SEA | The Hebrews give the name of sea to any large collection of water, Job 14:11; as to the lakes of Tiberias and Asphaltites, and also to the rivers Nile and Euphrates, Isa 11:15 18:2 21:1 Jer 51:36,42. The principal seas mentioned in Scripture are the following: 1. The GREAT SEA, the Mediterranean, called also the Hinder or Western Sea. Indeed, the Hebrew word for sea, meaning the Mediterranean, is often put for the west. The Great Sea is 2,200 miles long, and in the widest part 1,200 miles in width. In many places it is so deep as to give no soundings. It is little affected by tides, but is often agitated by violent winds. The prevailing direction of the wind in spring is from the southeast and southwest and from the northeast and northwest the rest of the year. 2. The RED SEA, Ex 10:19 13:18 Ps 106:7,9,22, derived its name from Edom, which lay between it and Palestine; or from the hue of the mountains on its western coast, or of the animalcule which float in masses on its surface. It lies between Arabia on the east and northeast, and Abyssinia and Egypt on the west and southwest, and extends from the straits of Babelmandel to Suez, a distance of about 1,400 miles, with an average width of 150 miles, and a depth of 1,800 feet. At the northern end it is divided into the two gulfs Suez and Akaba, anciently called the Gulf of Heroopolis and the Elanitic Gulf. The first of these is 190 miles in length and the second is 100 miles. Between these gulfs lies the celebrated peninsula of Mount Sinai. That of Akaba is connected with the Dead Sea by the great sand valley El Arabah described under the article JORDAN. It is only these gulfs of the Red Sea that are mentioned in Scripture. The Israelites, in their exodus out of Egypt, miraculously crossed the western gulf south of Suez, and then, after many years of sojourning and wandering in the deserts of the peninsula and north of it, they came to Ezion-geber, at the extremity of the eastern gulf. See EXODUS and WANDERINGS. In Zec 10:11, both the Red Sea and the Nile appear to be mentioned. 3. The DEAD SEA, also called The Salt sea, Ge 14:3; The sea of the Plain, De 4:40; The Eastern sea, Zec 14:8; by the Greeks and Romans, lake Asphaltites; and by the modern Arabs, The sea of Lot. It lay at the southeast corner of the Holy Land, and receives the wastes of the Jordan from the north, and of the Arnon and several smaller streams from the east. It is over forty miles long, and eight or nine miles wide, and lies as in a chaldron between bare limestone cliffs, which rise on the west side 1,200 or 1,500 feet above its surface, and on the east side 2,000 feet or more. At the south end is a broad and low valley, overflowed after the annual rains. The general aspect of the region is dreary, sterile, and desolate; but at a few points there are brooks or fountains of fresh water, which in their way to the sea pass through spots of luxuriant verdure, the abode of birds in great numbers. The waters of the Dead Sea are clear and limpid, but exceedingly salt and bitter. Their specific gravity exceeds that of all other waters known, being one-fifth or one-fourth greater than that of pure water. They are found by repeated analyses to contain one-fourth their weight of various salts, chiefly the chlorides of magnesium and sodium. Salt also is deposited by evaporation on the shore, or on garments wet in the sea. In the bed of the sea it is found in crystals and near the shore in incrustation deposited on the bottom. No fish can live in these acrid waters, and those which are brought down by the Jordan quickly die. Compare Eze 47:8-10, where the healing of this deadly sea, and its abounding in fish, as well as the new fertility and beauty of the dreary wilderness between it and Jerusalem?by means of the healing power of the Kidron flowing from beside that altar of God?forcibly illustrate the healing and renovating power of gospel grace. A person unacquainted with the art of swimming floats at ease upon the surface of lake Asphaltites, and it requires an effort to submerge the body. The boat of Lieutenant Lynch met with a gale on entering it from the Jordan; and "it seemed at if the bows, so dense was the water, were encountering the sledgehammers of the Titans, instead of the opposing waves of an angry sea." At times, and especially after earthquakes, quantities of asphaltum are dislodged from the bottom, rise and float on the surface, and are driven to the shores, where the Arabs collect them for various uses. Sulphur is likewise found on the shores and a kind of stone or coal, called Musca by the Arabs, which on being rubbed exhales an intolerable odor. This stone, which also comes from the neighboring mountains, is black, and takes a fine polish. Maundrell saw pieces of it two feet square, in the convent of St. John in the Wilderness, carved in bas-relief, and polished to as great a lustre as black marble is capable of. The inhabitants of the country employ it in other places of public resort. In the polishing its disagreeable odor is lost. When placed by Mr. King upon hot coals, a strong stench of sulphur issued from it, and it soon began to blaze. The blaze rose four or five inches high, and continued about two minutes. An uncommon love of exaggeration is observable in all the older narratives, and in some of modern date, respecting the nature and properties of the Dead Sea. Chateaubriand speaks of a "dismal sound proceeding from this lake of death, like the stifled clamors of the people ingulfed in its water," and says that its shores produce a fruit beautiful to the sight, but containing nothing but ashes; and that the heavy metals float on the surface of the sea. Others allege that black and sulphurous exhalations are constantly issuing from the water, and that birds attempting to fly across it are struck dead by its pestiferous fumes. These legends are corrected by more reliable accounts, which show that the birds fly over or float upon the sea uninjured; that no vapor is exhaled from its surface, except that caused by the rapid evaporation or its waters under the hot sun; and that the low level and excessive heat of the valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea account for the diseases prevailing there, without imagining any more fearful cause. The "apostle of Sodom" above referred to by Chateaubriand, and described by Josephus and others answer, with some exaggerations, to fruits now growing around the Dead Sea. In 1848, Lieutenant Lynch of the United States' navy passed down the Jordan from the Sea of Tiberias, with two metallic boats, and spent three weeks in a survey of the Sea of Sodom. He found it nearly 1,300 feet deep and its surface more than 1,300 feet below the level of the Mediterranean. From the eastern side, some eight miles from the south end, a low promontory projects three-fourths of the way towards the western cliffs, and sends up a point five miles towards the north. Below this point the lake becomes suddenly shallow, the southern bay not averaging more than twelve or fifteen feet in depth, Jos 15:2. This lower part is believed to cover the sites of the cities destroyed by fire from heaven, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim. The vale of Siddim was once a smiling plain, well-watered, and like a garden of the Lord, Ge 13:10; it is now, and for all future ages, a monument of his just indignation, De 29:23, and an awful warning to reckless sinners that the day of the Lord will come upon them also suddenly and without remedy, Mt 10:15 11:22-24 2Pe 2:4-9 Jude 1:7. The bottom of the shallow bay is a deep slimy mud, Ge 14:10. On its southwest border lies a mountain or ridge composed chiefly of rock salt, and called Usdum or Sodom, between which and the sea stands a round pillar of salt forty feet high, reminding one of Lot's wife. At present the Dead Sea has no perceptible outlet, and the waters poured into it by the Jordan are probably evaporated by the intense heat of the unclouded sun, or in part absorbed in the earth. It is thought by some that the northern and principal part of the sea was the product of some convulsion of nature, long before that which destroyed Sodom and formed the south bay; that the Jordan at first flowed into the Red Sea through the remarkable crevasse which extends from its sources to the Gulf of Akabah; and that at some period beyond the reach of history, its bed and valley sunk down to their present level and formed the Dead Sea. Lieutenant Lynch in sounding discovered a ravine in the bed of the sea, corresponding to the channel of the Jordan in its valley north of the sea. See JORDAN. 4. The SEA OF TIBERIAS or of Galilee; the lake of Gennesareth, or of Cimmereth, Nu 34:11, is so called from the adjacent country, or from some of the principal cities on its shores. It resembles, in its general appearance, the Lake of Geneva in Switzerland, though not so large. The Jordan passes through it from north to south. It is twelve or fourteen miles long, six or seven miles in breadth, and 165 feet deep. Its waters lie in a deep basin, surrounded on all sides by rounded and beautiful hills, from 500 to 1,000 feet high, except the narrow entrance and outlet of the Jordan at either end. Its sheltered location protects it in some degree from the wind, but it is liable to sudden squalls and whirlwinds, and many travellers on its shores have met with violent tempests-reminding them of those encountered by Christ and his disciples. A strong current marks the passage of the Jordan through the middle of the lake, on its way to the Dead Sea. The volcanic origin of the basin of this lake is strongly inferred from numerous indications, such as the black basaltic rocks which abound, frequent and violent earthquakes, and several hot springs. According to Lieutenant Symonds, it is 328 feet below the level of the Mediterranean. Lieutenant Lynch makes it 653 feet below. Its waters are clear and sweet, and contain various kinds of excellent fish in great abundance. The appearance of the sea from the hills on the western shore is far less grand and more beautiful than that of the Dead Sea. It should be seen in spring, when the hills around it are clothed with grain and festooned wit flowers. The towns that once crowed its shores with a teeming population, the groves and shrubbery that covered its hills, and the boats and galleys that studded its surface are gone. But the sea remains, hallowed by many scenes described in the gospels. The Saviour of mankind often looked upon its quiet beauty and crossed it in his journeys; he stilled its waves by a word, and hallowed its shores by his miracles and teachings. Here several of the apostles were called to become "fishers of men," Mt 4:18 14:22 Lu 8:22 Joh 21:1. |
Word | King James Dictionary - Definition |
SEA | Large basin. |
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