burst asunder a dragon by feeding him with lumps of pitch. [See APOCRYPHA.] DARNELL [där 'nell], R. V. margin, Mat. 13. 25, for "tares." [See TARES.]

DAVID [da'vid] (Heb. "beloved"), the second and greatest king over Israel, was the youngest son of Jesse, and was born at Bethlehem, where his early youth was spent as a shepherd. While still a stripling he slew the Philistine giant Goliath, and was admitted to the court and service of King Saul, whose melancholy he soothed by his skilful playing on the harp. Saul's daughter Michal became his wife, and Saul's son Jonathan was united to him in a lifelong friendship. Fleeing from the deadly jealousy of Saul, he first escaped to the country of the Philistines. Then, gathering at the cave of Adullam a band of 400 (afterwards 600) men, he contrived to avoid Saul by moving hither and thither in the south country. For a year and four months he lived at Ziklag, as a vassal of the king of Gath. After the death of Saul and Jonathan at Gilboa, David reigned over Judah at Hebron for seven and a half years, and after the death of Saul's son Ishbosheth he became king over all Israel. He took the stronghold Jebus, on the hill of Zion (the "city of David"), from the Jebusites, and built a palace there, with a tent beside it, in which the ark of the covenant was placed (2 Sam. 6), until a temple should be built for it by his successor. In addition to his old guard of 600 gibborim (or "heroes"), now largely recruited from foreigners, especially "Cherethites and Pelethites (most probably Cretans and Philistines), he had, according to Chronicles, 288,000 fighting men, of whom 24,000 were under arms each month in the year. A few years' successful war made David master of the whole territory from the Euphrates to the Egyptian frontier (2 Sam. 8). In the latter part of his reign of thirty-two years in Jerusalem, his favorite son Absalom rebelled against him and was slain, to his father's great sorrow; and shortly before his death (which has been variously dated 1015, 980, and 977 B.C.) another son, Adonijah, attempted by means of a revolt to frustrate the king's choice of Solomon as his

successor.

David, while he was the hero of the people, refused to lift his hand against "the Lord's anointed," even in his own defence, contenting himself with an appeal to the Divine judgment.

He is contrasted with Saul as "the man after God's own heart." Heroic confidence in God sustained him in all the difficulties of his life and of his reign. "He executed judgment and justice unto all his people," and established the monarchy on a sound civil and religious basis. The greatest stain upon his character was his foul wrong done to Uriah, followed by his indirect murder, sins of which he bitterly repented. The last song of "the sweet psalmist of Israel" expresses the spirit of his life and of his rule (2 Sam. 23. 1-7). In the darkest days of the nation's history men felt that the promises of God could only be fulfilled under another David. The memory of the "sure mercies of David" (2 Sam. 7. 12-16), and the "everlasting covenant" God made with him (2 Sam. 23. 5), quickened their Messianic hope of One who should be given "for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people" (Isa. 55.3,4; cf. Acts 13.34). DAY OF ATONEMENT [å-tone'ment]. [See ATONEMENT, DAY OF.]

DEACON [dea'con] (Gr. "servant "), in the New Testament, the name of a class of congregational office-bearers, first mentioned about 63 A.D. (at Philippi, Phil. 1. 1). St. Paul gives their qualifications in 1 Tim. 3. 8-13. Their work seems to have chiefly been the visiting and relief of the poor.

Though Irenæus, about 150 A.D., calls Stephen "the first deacon," none of the seven named in Acts 6. 5 are called deacons in the New Testament. It is clear that their office and qualifications were next to those of the apostleship (Acts 6. 3; cf. 1 Tim. 3. 8-13), and that at least Stephen and Philip were specially active as preachers and evangelists (Acts 21. 8). The early church, regarding Acts 6. 1-6 as the record of the institution of the order of deacons, appointed seven in every church, and assigned to them the special care of the sick and of the poor.

DEACONESSES [dea'con-ess-es], women specially charged with the care of the poor and the sick of their own sex (Rom. 16. 1, 3, 12; Phil. 4. 2, 3). Female assistants of the deacons are mentioned in 1 Tim. 3. 11, and widows who devoted themselves to the church's service are spoken of as being "enrolled," and constituting a special class (1 Tim. 5. 9, 10; cf. Titus 2. 3-5).

DEAD SEA [dead sea], the great salt lake in the south of Palestine, into which the Jordan flows; called in the Old Testament" the salt sea" (Gen

terranean, and the depth of its greater part is 1,300 feet. There is a ridge of rock-salt ("the Ridge of Sodom") on the southern shore, 7 miles long and 300 feet high.

DEBORAH [deb'o-råh] ("bee"), a heroine of the tribe of Naphtali, who as a "mother in Israel" (Judg. 4. 4, 14; 5. 7) administered justice on Mount Ephraim, and was numbered among the judges. When the Canaanite king Jabin, and Sisera, the leader of his army, oppressed Israel, she summoned Barak from Kadesh to lead 10,000 men of the northern tribes to a victorious struggle with the enemy. Her glorious song of victory (Judg. 5) is one of the earliest extant productions of

Hebrew poetry. It gives God the glory, and shows in a time of national disunion a living faith that the scattered tribes of Israel form one people of Jehovah.

DECAPOLIS [de-cap'o-lIs] (Mat. 4. 25; Mark 5. 20; 7. 31), a region of " ten cities," allied to each other, in Bashan and Gilead, and including Beth-shean, in the Jordan valley.

DELUGE [děl'uge], the overflowing of the earth with water in the time of Noah, for the punishment of sin (Gen. 6.9). Traditions of such a flood are found among the Chinese, among the natives of North and South America, and most primitive races. The account of the deluge discovered in

1872 in the remains of the library of Assur-bani- | pal (668-626) strikingly resembles that of Genesis. That king had it copied from a cuneiform inscription derived from Erech (Warka), of a date not later than the seventeenth century B.C. Xisuthros, the Chaldæan Noah, was rescued along with his family, servants, and goods, on account of his righteousness. The deluge lasted seven days, and all life perished except that which was in the ark. Xísuthros sent forth in succession a dove, a swallow, and a raven. The ship or ark grounded on "the mountain of Nizir," to the north-east of Assyria. Xisuthros and his wife were then translated to the skies. DEUTERONOMY [deu'ter-on'o-my] (Gr. "second law"), the name of the fifth of the Mosaic books, which is substantially identical with the book found by the priests in the reign of Josiah, 621 B.C. (2 Kings 22, and 2 Chr. 34). Its discovery led to a great religious reform in the kingdom of Judah. [See PENTATEUCH.]

DIAMOND [di'à-mond] (Heb. gahalom, Gr.

adamas). One form of crystallized carbon, usually colorless, remarkable for its brilliancy and exceptional hardness. This gem was known to the Romans at least as early as the first centur of our era, but probably not to the Jews in Old Testament times. It cannot have been used for the high-priest's breastplate, because the art of engraving upon, or even of cutting, the stone was a discovery of much later date. Some think the gahalom may have been a sapphire (q..), but in this case also the great hardness would be a difficulty; others a sardonyx (q.v.). DILL [dril] [See ANISE.]

DISPERSION [dis-per'sion] (Gr. diaspora), technical term for the Jews living outside of Palestine (John 7. 35); afterwards also for Christians living among the Gentiles (James 1. 1; 1 Pet. 1. 1).

DIVORCE [di-võrçe']. The Hebrew name for husband, baal, meant owner," and in primitive Israel dissolution of marriage might take place at the husband's will. The Book of the Covenant

shows that the wife so put away retained the right to be fed and clothed by the husband (Ex. 21.7-11), unless she was redeemed by her own relatives, and thus set free to marry another man. In Deut. 24. 1-4 it is enacted that the husband must give a dismissed wife a "bill of divorcement," a document releasing her from all claims on his part, and setting her free to marry again.

Our Lord teaches that marriage rests on the original creative ordinance of God, making the bond between man and wife indissoluble, and that the Mosaic legislation with regard to divorce was a concession to natural hardness of heart, and did not correspond to its divine idea (Mat. 19. 49; 5. 31 ff.). Divorce was only permissible in the case of unfaithfulness (Mat. 5. 32; 19. 9). DOG [dog], mentioned about forty times in Scripture, almost always in a tone of contempt. The Jews, not being a hunting people, did not train the dog, except to guard their flocks (Job 30. 1). They had not the noble mastiffs and wolfhounds which we find carved on Assyrian monuments, nor the varied breeds of hunting dogs portrayed on the Egyptian walls. Their dogs were, doubtless, as they are still in Palestine, pariah or ownerless dogs, of a type not unlike the Scottish collie. Their nocturnal habits are referred to in Ps. 59. 14, 15. In the East they are the scavengers of the towns. The term "dog" is still hurled in reproach by the Jew at the Gentile, and by the Moslem at the Christian. DOUAY BIBLE [dqu'ay bi'ble]. [See under RHEIMS TESTAMENT.]

DRAGON [drag'on], a huge, powerful creature of indefinite shape. In Ezek. 29. 3, the "great dragon" is the crocodile.

DRESS [dress] among the Jews consisted mainly of an inner garment, called a coat (q.v.) or tunic, and an outer, called a cloke (q.v.) or mantle. The fullest list of women's dress is in Isa. 3. 18-24. [See also HEADDRESS, ORNAMENTS, and SANDAL.

DROMEDARY [drôm'è-da-ry] (Isa. 60. 6 and Jer. 2. 23), a finer and swifter race of camel, differing from the ordinary camel as a race-horse does from a cart-horse. According to an Arabic proverb, "Men are like camels-not one in a hundred is a dromedary."

E

EBIONITES [ē br-onites]. [See JUDAIZERS.] EBONY [eb'on-y](Ezek. 27.15), black heart-wood of various trees. ECCLESIASTES ele'si-as'tes].

[eeThe title of the book in Hebrew is Kohe'leth, which the Greek translator rendered Ecclesiastes, one who speaks in the ecclesia or assembly. It is composed of two elements, the author's theoretical and practical philosophy. The theoretical philosophy is briefly: All is vanitythere is no gain or result in human life; it is without result, like the whole order of things, which goes on in an eternal round, accomplishing nothing. All the events of human life are in the hand of God; man has no power over

them more than he has

to rejoice in his works, for that is his portion. Even over this man has no power; it, also is in the determination of God (7. 13, 14). Power to enjoy what good there is in life is the gift of God (2. 24, 25; 3. 13; 5. 19). The Preacher is, of course, no sensualist. The "good," enjoyment of which he recommends, consists of the simple pleasures of life-eating and drinking, the pleasure to be derived from activity in work or business (9. 7-10; 11. 1-6, 9, 10). He is a God-fearing man, and ends as he begins, with inculcating "the fear of God" (3. 14; 5. 7; 12. 13). The Preacher prepares for Christianity by showing the need of it, and the insufficiency of the Old Testament, if arrested before it reaches its true goal. He's a voice "crying in the night," and his cry may justly be called prophetic.

The book, ascribed by tradition to Solomon, does not expressly mention his name. Luther thought that the aim of the whole poem was expressed in 8. 15, and many scholars are of his opinion, that it belongs to the latest of the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Some place it between 320 and 217 B.C.

ECCLESIASTICUS [ee-ele'şi-as 'ti-eus], or the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, is a companion to the Wisdom of Solomon (q.v.), but is inferior to it in literary and spiritual worth. A number of its sayings have become proverbiale.g. ch. 2. 1 has been rendered familiar by its use in the Imitatio Christi, "My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thyself for temptation."

The work was originally written in Hebrew, and was paraphrased into Greek in Alexandria in 132 B.C. Towards the close, the writer makes a rapid sketch of the heroes of Judaism, beginning with Enoch and ending with Simon the high priest. [See APOCRYPHA.

EDEN [e'den], Garden of. The "plain" of Babylonia was called Edin in the ancient Sumerian language. The Persian Gulf was regarded as a river, the "Salt River;" and as the Euphrates, Tigris, Kerkha, and Karun flowed into it by separate mouths in the early days of Babylonian civilization, the tide caused these mouths to be also considered "heads." Hiddekel is Idikla, the Sumerian name of the Tigris. The tree of life is often represented in Assyrian sculptures between two winged cherubim, who have some

EDOM ['dom], the Land of (Gen. 36. 16), or Idumæa (Isa. 34. 5, 6), a mountainous land between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akabah, and extending into Arabia Petræa. Its chief city was Sela or Petra. The Edomites were Semites, closely related to the Israelites. They were frequently at war with the Israelites. They were conquered by David (2 Sam. 8. 14), and by Amaziah (2 Chr. 25. 11, 12). They at last fell under the power of the Assyrians, and disappeared as a nation.

EGYPT [e'gypt], the name applied since the time of Homer to the land of the Nile, in the north-east of Africa. Egypt consists geographically of two halves-the northern being the Delta, and the southern Upper Egypt, between Cairo and the First Cat act. The Hebrews called it Mizraim, the "land of Ham," and Rahab. The Egyptians belonged to the white race and their original home is still a matter of dispute. The ancient Egyptian language, of which the latest form is Coptic, is distantly connected with the Semitic family of speech. The civilization of Egypt goes back to a remote antiquity. The two kingdoms of the north and south were united by Menes, founder of the first historical dynasty of kings. The first six dynasties, lasting 1,478 years, constitute what is known as the Old Empire, which had its capital at Memphis, south of Cairo (the Old Testament Moph or Noph). The native name was Mennofer, "the good place." The Pyramids were tombs of the monarchs of the Old Empire- those of Gizeh being erected in the time of the Fourth Dynasty. After the fall of the Old Empire came a period of decline and obscurity, followed by the Middle Empire, the most powerful dynasty of which was the Twelfth. The Fayyûm was rescued for agriculture by the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, and two obelisks were erected in front of the temple of the Sun-god at On or Heliopolis (near Cairo), one of which is still standing. The capital of the Middle Empire was Thebes, in Upper Egypt.

The Middle Empire was overthrown by the Hyksos (haq'schas, "Bedawin chieftains") or Shepherd princes from Asia, whose three dynasties ruled over Northern Egypt for several centuries. They had their capital at Zoan or Tanis (now Sân), in the north-eastern part of the Delta. In their time Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph entered Egypt. The Hyksos were finally expelled about 1600 B.C. by the hereditary princes of Thebes, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty, and carried the war into Asia. Canaan, Syria, and Cyprus were subdued, and the boundaries of the Egyptian Empire were fixed at the Euphrates. The Soudan, which had been conquered by the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, was again annexed to Egypt, and the eldest son of the Pharaoh took the title of "prince of Cush" (q.v.).

One of the later kings of the dynasty, Amenôphis IV., taking the name Khu-n-Aten ("spirit of the sun"), endeavored to supplant the ancient state religion of Egypt by a pantheistic monotheism derived from Asia, the one supreme god being adored under the image of the solar disk. The attempt led to religious and civil war, and the Pharaoh retreated from Thebes to Central Egypt, where he built a new capital, on the site of the present Tel el-Amarna (q.v.). The cuneiform tablets that were found here in 1887 represent his foreign correspondence (about 1400 B.C.). He surrounded himself with officials and courtiers of Asiatic, and more especially Canaanitish, extraction; but the native party succeeded eventually in overthrowing the government; the capital of Khu-n-Aten was destroyed, and the foreigners were driven out of the country-those that remained being reduced to serfdom.

The national triumph was marked by the rise of the Nineteenth Dynasty, in the founder of

which, Ramses I., we must see the "new king. who knew not Joseph." His grandson, Ramses II., reigned sixty-seven years (1348-1281 B.C.), and was an indefatigable builder. As Pithom, excavated by Dr. Naville in 1883, was one of the cities he built, he must have been the Pharaoh of the Oppression. The Pharaoh of the Exodus may have been one of his immediate successors, whose reigns were short. Under them Egypt lost its empire in Asia, and was itself attacked by barbarians from Libya and the north.

The Nineteenth Dynasty soon afterwards came to an end, Egypt was distracted by civil war, and for a short time a Canaanite, Arisu, ruled over it. Then came the Twentieth Dynasty, the second Pharaoh of which, Ramses III., restored the power of his country. In one of his campaigns he overran the southern part of Palestine, where the Israelites had not yet settled. They must at the time have been still in the wilderness. But it was during the reign of Ramses III. that Egypt finally lost Gaza and the adjoining cities to the Philistines.

After Ramses III., Egypt fell into decay. Solomon married the daughter of one of the last kings of the Twenty-first Dynasty, which was overthrown by Shishak I., the general of the Libyan mercenaries, who founded the Twentysecond Dynasty (1 Kings 11. 40; 14. 25, 25). A list of the places he captured in Palestine is engraved on the outside of the south wall of the temple of Karnak.

In the age of Hezekiah, Egypt was conquered by Ethiopians from the Soudan, who constituted the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. The third of them was Tirhakah (2 Kings 19. 9). In 674 B.C. it was conquered by the Assyrians, who divided it into twenty satrapies, and Tirhakah was driven back to his ancestral dominions. Fourteen years later it successfully revolted under Psammetichus I. of Sais, the founder of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. Among his successors were Necho (2 Kings 23. 29) and Hophra, or Apries (Jer. 37. 5, 7, 11). The dynasty came to an end in 525 B.C. when the country was subjugated by Cambyses. Soon afterwards it became a Persian satrapy.

The title of Pharaoh, given to the Egyptian king, is the Egyptian Peraa, or "Great House," which may be compared with that of "Sublime Porte." It is found in very early Egyptian texts. Egyptian religion was a strange mixture of