$$T0001000
\Decapolis\
ten cities=deka, ten, and polis, a city, a district on the east
and south-east of the Sea of Galilee containing "ten cities,"
which were chiefly inhabited by Greeks. It included a portion of
Bashan and Gilead, and is mentioned three times in the New
Testament (Matt. 4:25; Mark 5:20; 7:31). These cities were
Scythopolis, i.e., "city of the Scythians", (ancient Bethshean,
the only one of the ten cities on the west of Jordan), Hippos,
Gadara, Pella (to which the Christians fled just before the
destruction of Jerusalem), Philadelphia (ancient Rabbath-ammon),
Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Raphana, and Damascus. When the Romans
conquered Syria (B.C. 65) they rebuilt, and endowed with certain
privileges, these "ten cities," and the province connected with
them they called "Decapolis."

$$T0001001
\Decision, Valley of\
a name given to the valley of Jehoshaphat (q.v.) as the vale of
the sentence. The scene of Jehovah's signal inflictions on
Zion's enemies (Joel 3:14; marg., "valley of concision or
threshing").

$$T0001002
\Decrees of God\
"The decrees of God are his eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise,
and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that
ever were or will be in their causes, conditions, successions,
and relations, and determining their certain futurition. The
several contents of this one eternal purpose are, because of the
limitation of our faculties, necessarily conceived of by us in
partial aspects, and in logical relations, and are therefore
styled Decrees." The decree being the act of an infinite,
absolute, eternal, unchangeable, and sovereign Person,
comprehending a plan including all his works of all kinds, great
and small, from the beginning of creation to an unending
eternity; ends as well as means, causes as well as effects,
conditions and instrumentalities as well as the events which
depend upon them, must be incomprehensible by the finite
intellect of man. The decrees are eternal (Acts 15:18; Eph. 1:4;
2 Thess. 2:13), unchangeable (Ps. 33:11; Isa. 46:9), and
comprehend all things that come to pass (Eph. 1:11; Matt. 10:29,
30; Eph. 2:10; Acts 2:23; 4:27, 28; Ps. 17:13, 14).

  The decrees of God are (1) efficacious, as they respect those
events he has determined to bring about by his own immediate
agency; or (2) permissive, as they respect those events he has
determined that free agents shall be permitted by him to effect.

  This doctrine ought to produce in our minds "humility, in view
of the infinite greatness and sovereignty of God, and of the
dependence of man; confidence and implicit reliance upon wisdom,
rightenousness, goodness, and immutability of God's purpose."

$$T0001003
\Dedan\
low ground. (1.) A son of Raamah (Gen. 10:7). His descendants
are mentioned in Isa. 21:13, and Ezek. 27:15. They probably
settled among the sons of Cush, on the north-west coast of the
Persian Gulf.

  (2.) A son of Jokshan, Abraham's son by Keturah (1 Chr. 1:32).
His descendants settled on the Syrian borders about the
territory of Edom. They probably led a pastoral life.

$$T0001004
\Dedanim\
the descendants of Dedan, the son of Raamah. They are mentioned
in Isa. 21:13 as sending out "travelling companies" which lodged
"in the forest of Arabia." They are enumerated also by Ezekiel
(27:20) among the merchants who supplied Tyre with precious
things.

$$T0001005
\Dedication, Feast of the\
(John 10:22, 42), i.e., the feast of the renewing. It was
instituted B.C. 164 to commemorate the purging of the temple
after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes (B.C. 167), and the
rebuilding of the altar after the Syrian invaders had been
driven out by Judas Maccabaeus. It lasted for eight days,
beginning on the 25th of the month Chisleu (December), which was
often a period of heavy rains (Ezra 10:9, 13). It was an
occasion of much rejoicing and festivity.

  But there were other dedications of the temple. (1) That of
Solomon's temple (1 Kings 8:2; 2 Chr. 5:3); (2) the dedication
in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chr. 29); and (3) the dedication of
the temple after the Captivity (Ezra 6:16).

$$T0001006
\Deep\
used to denote (1) the grave or the abyss (Rom. 10:7; Luke
8:31); (2) the deepest part of the sea (Ps. 69:15); (3) the
chaos mentioned in Gen. 1:2; (4) the bottomless pit, hell (Rev.
9:1, 2; 11:7; 20:13).

$$T0001007
\Degrees, Song of\
song of steps, a title given to each of these fifteen psalms,
120-134 inclusive. The probable origin of this name is the
circumstance that these psalms came to be sung by the people on
the ascents or goings up to Jerusalem to attend the three great
festivals (Deut. 16:16). They were well fitted for being sung by
the way from their peculiar form, and from the sentiments they
express. "They are characterized by brevity, by a key-word, by
epanaphora [i.e, repetition], and by their epigrammatic
style...More than half of them are cheerful, and all of them
hopeful." They are sometimes called "Pilgrim Songs." Four of
them were written by David, one (127) by Solomon, and the rest
are anonymous.

$$T0001008
\Dehavites\
villagers, one of the Assyrian tribes which Asnapper sent to
repopulate Samaria (Ezra 4:9). They were probably a nomad
Persian tribe on the east of the Caspian Sea, and near the Sea
of Azof.

$$T0001009
\Delaiah\
freed by Jehovah. (1.) The head of the twenty-third division of
the priestly order (1 Chr. 24:18).

  (2.) A son of Shemaiah, and one of the courtiers to whom
Jeremiah's first roll of prophecy was read (Jer. 36:12).

  (3.) The head of one of the bands of exiles that returned
under Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:60; Neh. 7:62).

$$T0001010
\Delilah\
languishing, a Philistine woman who dwelt in the valley of Sorek
(Judg. 16:4-20). She was bribed by the "lords of the
Philistines" to obtain from Samson the secret of his strength
and the means of overcoming it (Judg. 16:4-18). She tried on
three occasions to obtain from him this secret in vain. On the
fourth occasion she wrung it from him. She made him sleep upon
her knees, and then called the man who was waiting to help her;
who "cut off the seven locks of his head," and so his "strength
went from him." (See SAMSON ¯T0003208.)

$$T0001011
\Deluge\
the name given to Noah's flood, the history of which is recorded
in Gen. 7 and 8.

  It began in the year 2516 B.C., and continued twelve lunar
months and ten days, or exactly one solar year.

  The cause of this judgment was the corruption and violence
that filled the earth in the ninth generation from Adam. God in
righteous indignation determined to purge the earth of the
ungodly race. Amid a world of crime and guilt there was one
household that continued faithful and true to God, the household
of Noah. "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations."

  At the command of God, Noah made an ark 300 cubits long, 50
broad, and 30 high. He slowly proceeded with this work during a
period of one hundred and twenty years (Gen. 6:3). At length the
purpose of God began to be carried into effect. The following
table exhibits the order of events as they occurred:

  In the six hundredth year of his life Noah is commanded by God
to enter the ark, taking with him his wife, and his three sons
with their wives (Gen. 7:1-10).

  The rain begins on the seventeenth day of the second month
(Gen. 7:11-17).

  The rain ceases, the waters prevail, fifteen cubits upward
(Gen. 7:18-24).

  The ark grounds on one of the mountains of Ararat on the
seventeenth day of the seventh month, or one hundred and fifty
days after the Deluge began (Gen. 8:1-4).

  Tops of the mountains visible on the first day of the tenth
month (Gen. 8:5).

  Raven and dove sent out forty days after this (Gen. 8:6-9).

  Dove again sent out seven days afterwards; and in the evening
she returns with an olive leaf in her mouth (Gen. 8:10, 11).

  Dove sent out the third time after an interval of other seven
days, and returns no more (Gen. 8:12).

  The ground becomes dry on the first day of the first month of
the new year (Gen. 8:13).

  Noah leaves the ark on the twenty-seventh day of the second
month (Gen. 8:14-19).

  The historical truth of the narrative of the Flood is
established by the references made to it by our Lord (Matt.
24:37; comp. Luke 17:26). Peter speaks of it also (1 Pet. 3:20;
2 Pet. 2:5). In Isa. 54:9 the Flood is referred to as "the
waters of Noah." The Biblical narrative clearly shows that so
far as the human race was concerned the Deluge was universal;
that it swept away all men living except Noah and his family,
who were preserved in the ark; and that the present human race
is descended from those who were thus preserved.

  Traditions of the Deluge are found among all the great
divisions of the human family; and these traditions, taken as a
whole, wonderfully agree with the Biblical narrative, and agree
with it in such a way as to lead to the conclusion that the
Biblical is the authentic narrative, of which all these
traditions are more or less corrupted versions. The most
remarkable of these traditions is that recorded on tablets
prepared by order of Assur-bani-pal, the king of Assyria. These
were, however, copies of older records which belonged to
somewhere about B.C. 2000, and which formed part of the priestly
library at Erech (q.v.), "the ineradicable remembrance of a real
and terrible event." (See NOAH ¯T0002741; CHALDEA ¯T0000758.)

$$T0001012
\Demas\
a companion and fellow-labourer of Paul during his first
imprisonment at Rome (Philemon 1:24; Col. 4:14). It appears,
however, that the love of the world afterwards mastered him, and
he deserted the apostle (2 Tim. 4:10).

$$T0001013
\Demetrius\
(1.) A silversmith at Ephesus, whose chief occupation was to
make "silver shrines for Diana" (q.v.), Acts 19:24,i.e., models
either of the temple of Diana or of the statue of the goddess.
This trade brought to him and his fellow-craftsmen "no small
gain," for these shrines found a ready sale among the countless
thousands who came to this temple from all parts of Asia Minor.
This traffic was greatly endangered by the progress of the
gospel, and hence Demetrius excited the tradesmen employed in
the manufacture of these shrines, and caused so great a tumult
that "the whole city was filled with confusion."

  (2.) A Christian who is spoken of as having "a good report of
all men, and of the truth itself" (3 John 1:12).

$$T0001014
\Demon\
See DAEMON ¯T0000956.

$$T0001015
\Den\
a lair of wild beasts (Ps. 10:9; 104:22; Job 37:8); the hole of
a venomous reptile (Isa. 11:8); a recess for secrecy "in dens
and caves of the earth" (Heb. 11:38); a resort of thieves (Matt.
21:13; Mark 11:17). Daniel was cast into "the den of lions"
(Dan. 6:16, 17). Some recent discoveries among the ruins of
Babylon have brought to light the fact that the practice of
punishing offenders against the law by throwing them into a den
of lions was common.

$$T0001016
\Deputy\
in 1 Kings 22:47, means a prefect; one set over others. The same
Hebrew word is rendered "officer;" i.e., chief of the
commissariat appointed by Solomon (1 Kings 4:5, etc.).

  In Esther 8:9; 9:3 (R.V., "governor") it denotes a Persian
prefect "on this side" i.e., in the region west of the
Euphrates. It is the modern word _pasha_.

  In Acts 13:7, 8, 12; 18:12, it denotes a proconsul; i.e., the
governor of a Roman province holding his appointment from the
senate. The Roman provinces were of two kinds, (1) senatorial
and (2) imperial. The appointment of a governor to the former
was in the hands of the senate, and he bore the title of
proconsul (Gr. anthupatos). The appointment of a governor to the
latter was in the hands of the emperor, and he bore the title of
propraetor (Gr. antistrategos).

$$T0001017
\Derbe\
a small town on the eastern part of the upland plain of
Lycaonia, about 20 miles from Lystra. Paul passed through Derbe
on his route from Cilicia to Iconium, on his second missionary
journey (Acts 16:1), and probably also on his third journey
(18:23; 19:1). On his first journey (14:20, 21) he came to Derbe
from the other side; i.e., from Iconium. It was the native place
of Gaius, one of Paul's companions (20:4). He did not here
suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:11).

$$T0001018
\Desert\
(1.) Heb. midbar, "pasture-ground;" an open tract for pasturage;
a common (Joel 2:22). The "backside of the desert" (Ex. 3:1) is
the west of the desert, the region behind a man, as the east is
the region in front. The same Hebrew word is rendered
"wildernes," and is used of the country lying between Egypt and
Palestine (Gen. 21:14, 21; Ex. 4:27; 19:2; Josh. 1:4), the
wilderness of the wanderings. It was a grazing tract, where the
flocks and herds of the Israelites found pasturage during the
whole of their journey to the Promised Land.

  The same Hebrew word is used also to denote the wilderness of
Arabia, which in winter and early spring supplies good pasturage
to the flocks of the nomad tribes than roam over it (1 Kings
9:18).

  The wilderness of Judah is the mountainous region along the
western shore of the Dead Sea, where David fed his father's
flocks (1 Sam. 17:28; 26:2). Thus in both of these instances the
word denotes a country without settled inhabitants and without
streams of water, but having good pasturage for cattle; a
country of wandering tribes, as distinguished from that of a
settled people (Isa. 35:1; 50:2; Jer. 4:11). Such, also, is the
meaning of the word "wilderness" in Matt. 3:3; 15:33; Luke 15:4.

  (2.) The translation of the Hebrew _Aribah'_, "an arid tract"
(Isa. 35:1, 6; 40:3; 41:19; 51:3, etc.). The name Arabah is
specially applied to the deep valley of the Jordan (the Ghor of
the Arabs), which extends from the lake of Tiberias to the
Elanitic gulf. While _midbar_ denotes properly a pastoral
region, _arabah_ denotes a wilderness. It is also translated
"plains;" as "the plains of Jericho" (Josh. 5:10; 2 Kings 25:5),
"the plains of Moab" (Num. 22:1; Deut. 34:1, 8), "the plains of
the wilderness" (2 Sam. 17:16).

  (3.) In the Revised Version of Num. 21:20 the Hebrew word
_jeshimon_ is properly rendered "desert," meaning the waste
tracts on both shores of the Dead Sea. This word is also
rendered "desert" in Ps. 78:40; 106:14; Isa. 43:19, 20. It
denotes a greater extent of uncultivated country than the other
words so rendered. It is especially applied to the desert of the
peninsula of Arabia (Num. 21:20; 23:28), the most terrible of
all the deserts with which the Israelites were acquainted. It is
called "the desert" in Ex. 23:31; Deut. 11:24. (See JESHIMON
¯T0002050.)

  (4.) A dry place; hence a desolation (Ps. 9:6), desolate (Lev.
26:34); the rendering of the Hebrew word _horbah'_. It is
rendered "desert" only in Ps. 102:6, Isa. 48:21, and Ezek. 13:4,
where it means the wilderness of Sinai.

  (5.) This word is the symbol of the Jewish church when they
had forsaken God (Isa. 40:3). Nations destitute of the knowledge
of God are called a "wilderness" (32:15, _midbar_). It is a
symbol of temptation, solitude, and persecution (Isa. 27:10,
_midbar_; 33:9, _arabah_).

$$T0001019
\Desire of all nations\
(Hag. 2:7), usually interpreted as a title of the Messiah. The
Revised Version, however, more correctly renders "the desirable
things of all nations;" i.e., the choicest treasures of the
Gentiles shall be consecrated to the Lord.

$$T0001020
\Desolation, Abomination of\
(Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14; comp. Luke 21:20), is interpreted of
the eagles, the standards of the Roman army, which were an
abomination to the Jews. These standards, rising over the site
of the temple, were a sign that the holy place had fallen under
the idolatrous Romans. The references are to Dan. 9:27. (See
ABOMINATION ¯T0000053.)

$$T0001021
\Destroyer\
(Ex. 12:23), the agent employed in the killing of the
first-born; the destroying angel or messenger of God. (Comp. 2
Kings 19:35; 2 Sam. 24:15, 16; Ps. 78:49; Acts 12:23.)

$$T0001022
\Destruction\
in Job 26:6, 28:22 (Heb. abaddon) is sheol, the realm of the
dead.

$$T0001023
\Destruction, City of\
(Isa. 19:18; Heb. Ir-ha-Heres, "city of overthrow," because of
the evidence it would present of the overthrow of heathenism),
the ideal title of On or Heliopolis (q.v.).

$$T0001024
\Deuteronomy\
In all the Hebrew manuscripts the Pentateuch (q.v.) forms one
roll or volume divided into larger and smaller sections called
_parshioth_ and _sedarim_. It is not easy to say when it was
divided into five books. This was probably first done by the
Greek translators of the book, whom the Vulgate follows. The
fifth of these books was called by the Greeks Deuteronomion,
i.e., the second law, hence our name Deuteronomy, or a second
statement of the laws already promulgated. The Jews designated
the book by the two first Hebrew words that occur, _'Elle
haddabharim_, i.e., "These are the words." They divided it into
eleven _parshioth_. In the English Bible it contains thirty-four
chapters.

  It consists chiefly of three discourses delivered by Moses a
short time before his death. They were spoken to all Israel in
the plains of Moab, in the eleventh month of the last year of
their wanderings.

  The first discourse (1-4:40) recapitulates the chief events of
the last forty years in the wilderness, with earnest
exhortations to obedience to the divine ordinances, and warnings
against the danger of forsaking the God of their fathers.

  The seond discourse (5-26:19) is in effect the body of the
whole book. The first address is introductory to it. It contains
practically a recapitulation of the law already given by God at
Mount Sinai, together with many admonitions and injunctions as
to the course of conduct they were to follow when they were
settled in Canaan.

  The concluding discourse (ch. 27-30) relates almost wholly to
the solemn sanctions of the law, the blessings to the obedient,
and the curse that would fall on the rebellious. He solemnly
adjures them to adhere faithfully to the covenant God had made
with them, and so secure for themselves and their posterity the
promised blessings.

  These addresses to the people are followed by what may be
called three appendices, namely (1), a song which God had
commanded Moses to write (32:1-47); (2) the blessings he
pronounced on the separate tribes (ch. 33); and (3) the story of
his death (32:48-52) and burial (ch. 34), written by some other
hand, probably that of Joshua.

  These farewell addresses of Moses to the tribes of Israel he
had so long led in the wilderness "glow in each line with the
emotions of a great leader recounting to his contemporaries the
marvellous story of their common experience. The enthusiasm they
kindle, even to-day, though obscured by translation, reveals
their matchless adaptation to the circumstances under which they
were first spoken. Confidence for the future is evoked by
remembrance of the past. The same God who had done mighty works
for the tribes since the Exodus would cover their head in the
day of battle with the nations of Palestine, soon to be invaded.
Their great lawgiver stands before us, vigorous in his hoary
age, stern in his abhorrence of evil, earnest in his zeal for
God, but mellowed in all relations to earth by his nearness to
heaven. The commanding wisdom of his enactments, the dignity of
his position as the founder of the nation and the first of
prophets, enforce his utterances. But he touches our deepest
emotions by the human tenderness that breathes in all his words.
Standing on the verge of life, he speaks as a father giving his
parting counsels to those he loves; willing to depart and be
with God he has served so well, but fondly lengthening out his
last farewell to the dear ones of earth. No book can compare
with Deuteronomy in its mingled sublimity and tenderness."
Geikie, Hours, etc.

  The whole style and method of this book, its tone and its
peculiarities of conception and expression, show that it must
have come from one hand. That the author was none other than
Moses is established by the following considerations: (1.) The
uniform tradition both of the Jewish and the Christian Church
down to recent times. (2.) The book professes to have been
written by Moses (1:1; 29:1; 31:1, 9-11, etc.), and was
obviously intended to be accepted as his work. (3.) The
incontrovertible testimony of our Lord and his apostles (Matt.
19:7, 8; Mark 10:3, 4; John 5:46, 47; Acts 3:22; 7:37; Rom.
10:19) establishes the same conclusion. (4.) The frequent
references to it in the later books of the canon (Josh. 8:31; 1
Kings 2:9; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chr. 23:18; 25:4; 34:14; Ezra 3:2;
7:6; Neh. 8:1; Dan. 9:11, 13) prove its antiquity; and (5) the
archaisms found in it are in harmony with the age in which Moses
lived. (6.) Its style and allusions are also strikingly
consistent with the circumstances and position of Moses and of
the people at that time.

  This body of positive evidence cannot be set aside by the
conjectures and reasonings of modern critics, who contended that
the book was somewhat like a forgery, introduced among the Jews
some seven or eight centuries after the Exodus.

$$T0001025
\Devil\
(Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man's spiritual
interest (Job 1:6; Rev. 2:10; Zech. 3:1). He is called also "the
accuser of the brethen" (Rev. 12:10).

  In Lev. 17:7 the word "devil" is the translation of the Hebrew
_sair_, meaning a "goat" or "satyr" (Isa. 13:21; 34:14),
alluding to the wood-daemons, the objects of idolatrous worship
among the heathen.

  In Deut. 32:17 and Ps. 106:37 it is the translation of Hebrew
_shed_, meaning lord, and idol, regarded by the Jews as a
"demon," as the word is rendered in the Revised Version.

  In the narratives of the Gospels regarding the "casting out of
devils" a different Greek word (daimon) is used. In the time of
our Lord there were frequent cases of demoniacal possession
(Matt. 12:25-30; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 4:35; 10:18, etc.).

$$T0001026
\Dew\
"There is no dew properly so called in Palestine, for there is
no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled into dew-drops
by the coldness of the night. From May till October rain is
unknown, the sun shining with unclouded brightness day after
day. The heat becomes intense, the ground hard, and vegetation
would perish but for the moist west winds that come each night
from the sea. The bright skies cause the heat of the day to
radiate very quickly into space, so that the nights are as cold
as the day is the reverse, a peculiarity of climate from which
poor Jacob suffered thousands of years ago (Gen. 31:40). To this
coldness of the night air the indispensable watering of all
plant-life is due. The winds, loaded with moisture, are robbed
of it as they pass over the land, the cold air condensing it
into drops of water, which fall in a gracious rain of mist on
every thirsty blade. In the morning the fog thus created rests
like a sea over the plains, and far up the sides of the hills,
which raise their heads above it like so many islands. At
sunrise, however, the scene speedily changes. By the kindling
light the mist is transformed into vast snow-white clouds, which
presently break into separate masses and rise up the
mountain-sides, to disappear in the blue above, dissipated by
the increasing heat. These are 'the morning clouds and the early
dew that go away' of which Hosea (6:4; 13:3) speaks so
touchingly" (Geikie's The Holy Land, etc., i., p. 72). Dew is a
source of great fertility (Gen. 27:28; Deut. 33:13; Zech. 8:12),
and its withdrawal is regarded as a curse from God (2 Sam. 1:21;
1 Kings 17:1). It is the symbol of a multitude (2 Sam. 17:12;
Ps. 110:3); and from its refreshing influence it is an emblem of
brotherly love and harmony (Ps. 133:3), and of rich spiritual
blessings (Hos. 14:5).

$$T0001027
\Diadem\
the tiara of a king (Ezek. 21:26; Isa. 28:5; 62:3); the turban
(Job 29:14). In the New Testament a careful distinction is drawn
between the diadem as a badge of royalty (Rev. 12:3; 13:1;
19:12) and the crown as a mark of distinction in private life.
It is not known what the ancient Jewish "diadem" was. It was the
mark of Oriental sovereigns. (See CROWN ¯T0000929.)

$$T0001028
\Dial\
for the measurement of time, only once mentioned in the Bible,
erected by Ahaz (2 Kings 20:11; Isa. 38:8). The Hebrew word
(ma'aloth) is rendered "steps" in Ex. 20:26, 1 Kings 10:19, and
"degrees" in 2 Kings 20:9, 10, 11. The _ma'aloth_ was probably
stairs on which the shadow of a column or obelisk placed on the
top fell. The shadow would cover a greater or smaller number of
steps, according as the sun was low or high.

  Probably the sun-dial was a Babylonian invention. Daniel at
Babylon (Dan. 3:6) is the first to make mention of the "hour."

$$T0001029
\Diamond\
(1.) A precious gem (Heb. yahalom', in allusion to its
hardness), otherwise unknown, the sixth, i.e., the third in the
second row, in the breastplate of the high priest, with the name
of Naphtali engraven on it (Ex. 28:18; 39:11; R.V. marg.,
"sardonyx.")

  (2.) A precious stone (Heb. shamir', a sharp point) mentioned
in Jer. 17:1. From its hardness it was used for cutting and
perforating other minerals. It is rendered "adamant" (q.v.) in
Ezek. 3:9, Zech. 7:12. It is the hardest and most valuable of
precious stones.

$$T0001030
\Diana\
so called by the Romans; called Artemis by the Greeks, the
"great" goddess worshipped among heathen nations under various
modifications. Her most noted temple was that at Ephesus. It was
built outside the city walls, and was one of the seven wonders
of the ancient world. "First and last it was the work of 220
years; built of shining marble; 342 feet long by 164 feet broad;
supported by a forest of columns, each 56 feet high; a sacred
museum of masterpieces of sculpture and painting. At the centre,
hidden by curtains, within a gorgeous shrine, stood the very
ancient image of the goddess, on wood or ebony reputed to have
fallen from the sky. Behind the shrine was a treasury, where, as
in 'the safest bank in Asia,' nations and kings stored their
most precious things. The temple as St. Paul saw it subsisted
till A.D. 262, when it was ruined by the Goths" (Acts
19:23-41)., Moule on Ephesians: Introd.

$$T0001031
\Diblaim\
doubled cakes, the mother of Gomer, who was Hosea's wife (Hos.
1:3).

$$T0001032
\Diblathaim\
two cakes, a city of Moab, on the east of the Dead Sea (Num.
33:46; Jer. 48:22).

$$T0001033
\Dibon\
pining; wasting. (1.) A city in Moab (Num. 21:30); called also
Dibon-gad (33:45), because it was built by Gad and Dimon (Isa.
15:9). It has been identified with the modern Diban, about 3
miles north of the Arnon and 12 miles east of the Dead Sea. (See
Moabite Stone.)

  (2.) A city of the tribe of Judah, inhabited after the
Captivity (Neh. 11:25); called also Dimonah (Josh. 15:22). It is
probably the modern ed-Dheib.

$$T0001034
\Didymus\
(Gr. twin = Heb. Thomas, q.v.), John 11:16; 20:24; 21:2.

$$T0001035
\Dimnah\
dunghill, a city of Zebulun given to the Merarite Levites (Josh.
21:35). In 1 Chr. 6:77 the name "Rimmon" is substituted.

$$T0001036
\Dinah\
judged; vindicated, daughter of Jacob by Leah, and sister of
Simeon and Levi (Gen. 30:21). She was seduced by Shechem, the
son of Hamor, the Hivite chief, when Jacob's camp was in the
neighbourhood of Shechem. This led to the terrible revenge of
Simeon and Levi in putting the Shechemites to death (Gen. 34).
Jacob makes frequent reference to this deed of blood with
abhorrence and regret (Gen. 34:30; 49:5-7). She is mentioned
among the rest of Jacob's family that went down into Egypt (Gen.
46:8, 15).

$$T0001037
\Dine\
(Gen. 43:16). It was the custom in Egypt to dine at noon. But it
is probable that the Egyptians took their principal meal in the
evening, as was the general custom in the East (Luke 14:12).

$$T0001038
\Dinhabah\
robbers' den, an Edomitish city, the capital of king Bela (Gen.
36:32). It is probably the modern Dibdiba, a little north-east
of Petra.

$$T0001039
\Dionysius\
the Areopagite, one of Paul's converts at Athens (Acts 17:34).

$$T0001040
\Diotrephes\
Jove-nourished, rebuked by John for his pride (3 John 1:9). He
was a Judaizer, prating against John and his fellow-labourers
"with malicious words" (7).

$$T0001041
\Disciple\
a scholar, sometimes applied to the followers of John the
Baptist (Matt. 9:14), and of the Pharisees (22:16), but
principally to the followers of Christ. A disciple of Christ is
one who (1) believes his doctrine, (2) rests on his sacrifice,
(3) imbibes his spirit, and (4) imitates his example (Matt.
10:24; Luke 14:26, 27, 33; John 6:69).

$$T0001042
\Dish\
for eating from (2 Kings 21:13). Judas dipped his hand with a
"sop" or piece of bread in the same dish with our Lord, thereby
indicating friendly intimacy (Matt. 26:23). The "lordly dish" in
Judg. 5:25 was probably the shallow drinking cup, usually of
brass. In Judg. 6:38 the same Hebrew word is rendered "bowl."

  The dishes of the tabernacle were made of pure gold (Ex.
25:29; 37:16).

$$T0001043
\Dishan\
antelope, the youngest son of Seir the Horite, head of one of
the tribes of Idumaea (Gen. 36:21, 28, 30).

$$T0001044
\Dispensation\
(Gr. oikonomia, "management," "economy"). (1.) The method or
scheme according to which God carries out his purposes towards
men is called a dispensation. There are usually reckoned three
dispensations, the Patriarchal, the Mosaic or Jewish, and the
Christian. (See COVENANT ¯T0000916, Administration of.) These
were so many stages in God's unfolding of his purpose of grace
toward men. The word is not found with this meaning in
Scripture.

  (2.) A commission to preach the gospel (1 Cor. 9:17; Eph.
1:10; 3:2; Col. 1:25).

  Dispensations of Providence are providential events which
affect men either in the way of mercy or of judgement.

$$T0001045
\Dispersion\
(Gr. diaspora, "scattered," James 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1) of the Jews.
At various times, and from the operation of divers causes, the
Jews were separated and scattered into foreign countries "to the
outmost parts of heaven" (Deut. 30:4).

  (1.) Many were dispersed over Assyria, Media, Babylonia, and
Persia, descendants of those who had been transported thither by
the Exile. The ten tribes, after existing as a separate kingdom
for two hundred and fifty-five years, were carried captive (B.C.
721) by Shalmaneser (or Sargon), king of Assyria. They never
returned to their own land as a distinct people, although many
individuals from among these tribes, there can be no doubt,
joined with the bands that returned from Babylon on the
proclamation of Cyrus.

  (2.) Many Jews migrated to Egypt and took up their abode
there. This migration began in the days of Solomon (2 Kings
18:21, 24; Isa. 30:7). Alexander the Great placed a large number
of Jews in Alexandria, which he had founded, and conferred on
them equal rights with the Egyptians. Ptolemy Philadelphus, it
is said, caused the Jewish Scriptures to be translated into
Greek (the work began B.C. 284), for the use of the Alexandrian
Jews. The Jews in Egypt continued for many ages to exercise a
powerful influence on the public interests of that country. From
Egypt they spread along the coast of Africa to Cyrene (Acts
2:10) and to Ethiopia (8:27).

  (3.) After the time of Seleucus Nicator (B.C. 280), one of the
captains of Alexander the Great, large numbers of Jews migrated
into Syria, where they enjoyed equal rights with the
Macedonians. From Syria they found their way into Asia Minor.
Antiochus the Great, king of Syria and Asia, removed 3,000
families of Jews from Mesopotamia and Babylonia, and planted
them in Phrygia and Lydia.

  (4.) From Asia Minor many Jews moved into Greece and
Macedonia, chiefly for purposes of commerce. In the apostles'
time they were found in considerable numbers in all the
principal cities.

  From the time of Pompey the Great (B.C. 63) numbers of Jews
from Palestine and Greece went to Rome, where they had a
separate quarter of the city assigned to them. Here they enjoyed
considerable freedom.

  Thus were the Jews everywhere scattered abroad. This, in the
overruling providence of God, ultimately contributed in a great
degree toward opening the way for the spread of the gospel into
all lands.

  Dispersion, from the plain of Shinar. This was occasioned by
the confusion of tongues at Babel (Gen. 11:9). They were
scattered abroad "every one after his tongue, after their
families, in their nations" (Gen. 10:5, 20,31).

  The tenth chapter of Genesis gives us an account of the
principal nations of the earth in their migrations from the
plain of Shinar, which was their common residence after the
Flood. In general, it may be said that the descendants of
Japheth were scattered over the north, those of Shem over the
central regions, and those of Ham over the extreme south. The
following table shows how the different families were dispersed:


|       - Japheth
|          - Gomer
|              Cimmerians, Armenians
|          - Magog
|              Caucasians, Scythians
|          - Madal
|              Medes and Persian tribes
|          - Javan
|              - Elishah
|                  Greeks
|              - Tarshish
|                  Etruscans, Romans
|              - Chittim
|                  Cyprians, Macedonians
|              - Dodanim
|                  Rhodians
|          - Tubal
|              Tibareni, Tartars
|          - Mechech
|              Moschi, Muscovites
|          - Tiras
|              Thracians
|
|       - Shem
|          - Elam
|              Persian tribes
|          - Asshur
|              Assyrian
|          - Arphaxad
|              - Abraham
|                  - Isaac
|                      - Jacob
|                          Hebrews
|                      - Esau
|                          Edomites
|                  - Ishmael
|                      Mingled with Arab tribes
|          - Lud
|              Lydians
|          - Aram
|              Syrians
|
|       - Ham
|          - Cush
|              Ethiopans
|          - Mizrain
|              Egyptians
|          - Phut
|              Lybians, Mauritanians
|          - Canaan
|              Canaanites, Phoenicians


$$T0001046
\Distaff\
(Heb. pelek, a "circle"), the instrument used for twisting
threads by a whirl (Prov. 31:19).

$$T0001047
\Divination\
of false prophets (Deut. 18:10, 14; Micah 3:6, 7, 11), of
necromancers (1 Sam. 28:8), of the Philistine priests and
diviners (1 Sam. 6:2), of Balaam (Josh. 13:22). Three kinds of
divination are mentioned in Ezek. 21:21, by arrows, consulting
with images (the teraphim), and by examining the entrails of
animals sacrificed. The practice of this art seems to have been
encouraged in ancient Egypt. Diviners also abounded among the
aborigines of Canaan and the Philistines (Isa. 2:6; 1 Sam. 28).
At a later period multitudes of magicians poured from Chaldea
and Arabia into the land of Israel, and pursued their
occupations (Isa. 8:19; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chr. 33:6). This
superstition widely spread, and in the time of the apostles
there were "vagabond Jews, exorcists" (Acts 19:13), and men like
Simon Magus (Acts 8:9), Bar-jesus (13:6, 8), and other jugglers
and impostors (19:19; 2 Tim. 3:13). Every species and degree of
this superstition was strictly forbidden by the law of Moses
(Ex. 22:18; Lev. 19:26, 31; 20:27; Deut. 18:10, 11).

  But beyond these various forms of superstition, there are
instances of divination on record in the Scriptures by which God
was pleased to make known his will.

  (1.) There was divination by lot, by which, when resorted to
in matters of moment, and with solemnity, God intimated his will
(Josh. 7:13). The land of Canaan was divided by lot (Num. 26:55,
56); Achan's guilt was detected (Josh. 7:16-19), Saul was
elected king (1 Sam. 10:20, 21), and Matthias chosen to the
apostleship, by the solem lot (Acts 1:26). It was thus also that
the scape-goat was determined (Lev. 16:8-10).

  (2.) There was divination by dreams (Gen. 20:6; Deut. 13:1, 3;
Judg. 7:13, 15; Matt. 1:20; 2:12, 13, 19, 22). This is
illustrated in the history of Joseph (Gen. 41:25-32) and of
Daniel (2:27; 4:19-28).

  (3.) By divine appointment there was also divination by the
Urim and Thummim (Num. 27:21), and by the ephod.

  (4.) God was pleased sometimes to vouch-safe direct vocal
communications to men (Deut. 34:10; Ex. 3:4; 4:3; Deut. 4:14,
15; 1 Kings 19:12). He also communed with men from above the
mercy-seat (Ex. 25:22), and at the door of the tabernacle (Ex.
29:42, 43).

  (5.) Through his prophets God revealed himself, and gave
intimations of his will (2 Kings 13:17; Jer. 51:63, 64).

$$T0001048
\Divorce\
The dissolution of the marriage tie was regulated by the Mosaic
law (Deut. 24:1-4). The Jews, after the Captivity, were reguired
to dismiss the foreign women they had married contrary to the
law (Ezra 10:11-19). Christ limited the permission of divorce to
the single case of adultery. It seems that it was not uncommon
for the Jews at that time to dissolve the union on very slight
pretences (Matt. 5:31, 32; 19:1-9; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18).
These precepts given by Christ regulate the law of divorce in
the Christian Church.

$$T0001049
\Dizahab\
region of gold, a place in the desert of Sinai, on the western
shore of the Elanitic gulf (Deut. 1:1). It is now called Dehab.