$$T0003450
\Sirah\
retiring, a well from which Joab's messenger brought back Abner
(2 Sam. 3:26). It is now called 'Ain Sarah, and is situated
about a mile from Hebron, on the road to the north.

$$T0003451
\Sirion\
a breastplate, the Sidonian name of Hermon (q.v.), Deut. 3:9;
Ps. 29:6.

$$T0003452
\Sisera\
(Egypt. Ses-Ra, "servant of Ra"). (1.) The captain of Jabin's
army (Judg. 4:2), which was routed and destroyed by the army of
Barak on the plain of Esdraelon. After all was lost he fled to
the settlement of Heber the Kenite in the plain of Zaanaim.
Jael, Heber's wife, received him into her tent with apparent
hospitality, and "gave him butter" (i.e., lebben, or curdled
milk) "in a lordly dish." Having drunk the refreshing beverage,
he lay down, and soon sank into the sleep of the weary. While he
lay asleep Jael crept stealthily up to him, and taking in her
hand one of the tent pegs, with a mallet she drove it with such
force through his temples that it entered into the ground where
he lay, and "at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed,
there he fell down dead." The part of Deborah's song (Judg.
5:24-27) referring to the death of Sisera (which is a "mere
patriotic outburst," and "is no proof that purer eyes would have
failed to see gross sin mingling with Jael's service to Israel")
is thus rendered by Professor Roberts (Old Testament Revision):

  "Extolled above women be Jael,
  The wife of Heber the Kenite,
  Extolled above women in the tent.
  He asked for water, she gave him milk;
  She brought him cream in a lordly dish.
  She stretched forth her hand to the nail,
  Her right hand to the workman's hammer,
  And she smote Sisera; she crushed his head,
  She crashed through and transfixed his temples.
  At her feet he curled himself, he fell, he lay still;
  At her feet he curled himself, he fell;
  And where he curled himself, there he fell dead."

  (2.) The ancestor of some of the Nethinim who returned with
Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:53; Neh. 7:55).

$$T0003453
\Sitnah\
strife, the second of the two wells dug by Isaac, whose servants
here contended with the Philistines (Gen. 26:21). It has been
identified with the modern Shutneh, in the valley of Gerar, to
the west of Rehoboth, about 20 miles south of Beersheba.

$$T0003454
\Sitting\
the attitude generally assumed in Palestine by those who were
engaged in any kind of work. "The carpenter saws, planes, and
hews with his hand-adze, sitting on the ground or upon the plank
he is planning. The washerwoman sits by the tub; and, in a word,
no one stands when it is possible to sit. Shopkeepers always
sit, and Levi sitting at the receipt of custom (Matt. 9:9) is
the exact way to state the case.", Thomson, Land and Book.

$$T0003455
\Sivan\
a Persian word (Assyr, sivanu, "bricks"), used after the
Captivity as the name of the third month of the Jewish year,
extending from the new moon in June to the new moon in July
(Esther 8:9).

$$T0003456
\Skin, Coats made of\
(Gen. 3:21). Skins of rams and badgers were used as a covering
for the tabernacle (Ex. 25:5; Num. 4:8-14).

$$T0003457
\Skull, The place of a\
See GOLGOTHA ¯T0001522.

$$T0003458
\Slave\
Jer. 2:14 (A.V.), but not there found in the original. In Rev.
18:13 the word "slaves" is the rendering of a Greek word meaning
"bodies." The Hebrew and Greek words for slave are usually
rendered simply "servant," "bondman," or "bondservant." Slavery
as it existed under the Mosaic law has no modern parallel. That
law did not originate but only regulated the already existing
custom of slavery (Ex. 21:20, 21, 26, 27; Lev. 25:44-46; Josh.
9:6-27). The gospel in its spirit and genius is hostile to
slavery in every form, which under its influence is gradually
disappearing from among men.

$$T0003459
\Slime\
(Gen. 11:3; LXX., "asphalt;" R.V. marg., "bitumen"). The vale of
Siddim was full of slime pits (14:10). Jochebed daubed the "ark
of bulrushes" with slime (Ex. 2:3). (See PITCH ¯T0002966.)

$$T0003460
\Sling\
With a sling and a stone David smote the Philistine giant (1
Sam. 17:40, 49). There were 700 Benjamites who were so skilled
in its use that with the left hand they "could sling stones at a
hair breadth, and not miss" (Judg. 20:16; 1 Chr. 12:2). It was
used by the Israelites in war (2 Kings 3:25). (See ARMS
¯T0000315.)

  The words in Prov. 26:8, "As he that bindeth a stone in a
sling," etc. (Authorized Version), should rather, as in the
Revised Version, be "As a bag of gems in a heap of stones," etc.

$$T0003461
\Smith\
The Hebrews were not permitted by the Philistines in the days of
Samuel to have a smith amongst them, lest they should make them
swords and spears (1 Sam. 13:19). Thus the Philistines sought to
make their conquest permanent (comp. 2 Kings 24:16).

$$T0003462
\Smyrna\
myrrh, an ancient city of Ionia, on the western coast of Asia
Minor, about 40 miles to the north of Ephesus. It is now the
chief city of Anatolia, having a mixed population of about
200,000, of whom about one-third are professed Christians. The
church founded here was one of the seven addressed by our Lord
(Rev. 2:8-11). The celebrated Polycarp, a pupil of the apostle
John, was in the second century a prominent leader in the church
of Smyrna. Here he suffered martyrdom, A.D. 155.

$$T0003463
\Snail\
(1.) Heb. homit, among the unclean creeping things (Lev. 11:30).
This was probably the sand-lizard, of which there are many
species in the wilderness of Judea and the Sinai peninsula.

  (2.) Heb. shablul (Ps. 58:8), the snail or slug proper.
Tristram explains the allusions of this passage by a reference
to the heat and drought by which the moisture of the snail is
evaporated. "We find," he says, "in all parts of the Holy Land
myriads of snail-shells in fissures still adhering by the
calcareous exudation round their orifice to the surface of the
rock, but the animal of which is utterly shrivelled and wasted,
'melted away.'"

$$T0003464
\Snare\
The expression (Amos 3:5), "Shall one take up a snare from the
earth?" etc. (Authorized Version), ought to be, as in the
Revised Version, "Shall a snare spring up from the ground?" etc.
(See GIN ¯T0001492.)

$$T0003465
\Snow\
Common in Palestine in winter (Ps. 147:16). The snow on the tops
of the Lebanon range is almost always within view throughout the
whole year. The word is frequently used figuratively by the
sacred writers (Job 24:19; Ps. 51:7; 68:14; Isa. 1:18). It is
mentioned only once in the historical books (2 Sam. 23:20). It
was "carried to Tyre, Sidon, and Damascus as a luxury, and
labourers sweltering in the hot harvest-fields used it for the
purpose of cooling the water which they drank (Prov. 25:13; Jer.
18:14). No doubt Herod Antipas, at his feasts in Tiberias,
enjoyed also from this very source the modern luxury of
ice-water."

$$T0003466
\So\
(Nubian, Sabako), an Ethiopian king who brought Egypt under his
sway. He was bribed by Hoshea to help him against the Assyrian
monarch Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17:4). This was a return to the
policy that had been successful in the reign of Jeroboam I.

$$T0003467
\Soap\
(Jer. 2:22; Mal. 3:2; Heb. borith), properly a vegetable alkali,
obtained from the ashes of certain plants, particularly the
salsola kali (saltwort), which abounds on the shores of the Dead
Sea and of the Mediterranean. It does not appear that the
Hebrews were acquainted with what is now called "soap," which is
a compound of alkaline carbonates with oleaginous matter. The
word "purely" in Isa. 1:25 (R.V., "throughly;" marg., "as with
lye") is lit. "as with _bor_." This word means "clearness," and
hence also that which makes clear, or pure, alkali. "The
ancients made use of alkali mingled with oil, instead of soap
(Job 9:30), and also in smelting metals, to make them melt and
flow more readily and purely" (Gesenius).

$$T0003468
\Socho\
a fence; hedge, (1 Chr. 4:18; R.V., Soco)=So'choh (1 Kings 4:10;
R.V., Socoh), Sho'choh (1 Sam. 17:1; R.V., Socoh), Sho'co (2
Chr. 11:7; R.V., Soco), Sho'cho (2 Chr. 28:18; R.V., Soco), a
city in the plain or lowland of Judah, where the Philistines
encamped when they invaded Judah after their defeat at Michmash.
It lay on the northern side of the valley of Elah (Wady
es-Sunt). It has been identified with the modern Khurbet
Shuweikeh, about 14 miles south-west of Jerusalem. In this
campaign Goliath was slain, and the Philistines were completely
routed.

$$T0003469
\Sodom\
burning; the walled, a city in the vale of Siddim (Gen. 13:10;
14:1-16). The wickedness of its inhabitants brought down upon it
fire from heaven, by which it was destroyed (18:16-33; 19:1-29;
Deut. 23:17). This city and its awful destruction are frequently
alluded to in Scripture (Deut. 29:23; 32:32; Isa. 1:9, 10; 3:9;
13:19; Jer. 23:14; Ezek. 16:46-56; Zeph. 2:9; Matt. 10:15; Rom.
9:29; 2 Pet. 2:6, etc.). No trace of it or of the other cities
of the plain has been discovered, so complete was their
destruction. Just opposite the site of Zoar, on the south-west
coast of the Dead Sea, is a range of low hills, forming a mass
of mineral salt called Jebel Usdum, "the hill of Sodom." It has
been concluded, from this and from other considerations, that
the cities of the plain stood at the southern end of the Dead
Sea. Others, however, with much greater probability, contend
that they stood at the northern end of the sea. [in 1897].

$$T0003470
\Sodoma\
(Rom. 9:29; R.V., "Sodom"), the Greek form for Sodom.

$$T0003471
\Sodomites\
those who imitated the licentious wickedness of Sodom (Deut.
23:17; 1 Kings 14:24; Rom. 1:26, 27). Asa destroyed them "out of
the land" (1 Kings 15:12), as did also his son Jehoshaphat
(22:46).

$$T0003472
\Solemn meeting\
(Isa. 1:13), the convocation on the eighth day of the Feast of
Tabernacles (Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35, R.V., "solemn assembly;"
marg., "closing festival").  It is the name given also to the
convocation held on the seventh day of the Passover (Deut.
16:8).

$$T0003473
\Solomon\
peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David's second son by Bathsheba,
i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was
probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded
his father on the throne in early manhood, probably about
sixteen or eighteen years of age. Nathan, to whom his education
was intrusted, called him Jedidiah, i.e., "beloved of the Lord"
(2 Sam. 12:24, 25). He was the first king of Israel "born in the
purple." His father chose him as his successor, passing over the
claims of his elder sons: "Assuredly Solomon my son shall reign
after me." His history is recorded in 1 Kings 1-11 and 2 Chr.
1-9. His elevation to the throne took place before his father's
death, and was hastened on mainly by Nathan and Bathsheba, in
consequence of the rebellion of Adonijah (1 Kings 1:5-40).
During his long reign of forty years the Hebrew monarchy gained
its highest splendour. This period has well been called the
"Augustan age" of the Jewish annals. The first half of his reign
was, however, by far the brighter and more prosperous; the
latter half was clouded by the idolatries into which he fell,
mainly from his heathen intermarriages (1 Kings 11:1-8; 14:21,
31).

  Before his death David gave parting instructions to his son (1
Kings 2:1-9; 1 Chr. 22:7-16; 28). As soon as he had settled
himself in his kingdom, and arranged the affairs of his
extensive empire, he entered into an alliance with Egypt by the
marriage of the daughter of Pharaoh (1 Kings 3:1), of whom,
however, nothing further is recorded. He surrounded himself with
all the luxuries and the external grandeur of an Eastern
monarch, and his government prospered. He entered into an
alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre, who in many ways greatly
assisted him in his numerous undertakings. (See HIRAM
¯T0001791.)

  For some years before his death David was engaged in the
active work of collecting materials (1 Chr. 29:6-9; 2 Chr.
2:3-7) for building a temple in Jerusalem as a permanent abode
for the ark of the covenant. He was not permitted to build the
house of God (1 Chr. 22:8); that honour was reserved to his son
Solomon. (See TEMPLE ¯T0003610.)

  After the completion of the temple, Solomon engaged in the
erection of many other buildings of importance in Jerusalem and
in other parts of his kingdom. For the long space of thirteen
years he was engaged in the erection of a royal palace on Ophel
(1 Kings 7:1-12). It was 100 cubits long, 50 broad, and 30 high.
Its lofty roof was supported by forty-five cedar pillars, so
that the hall was like a forest of cedar wood, and hence
probably it received the name of "The House of the Forest of
Lebanon." In front of this "house" was another building, which
was called the Porch of Pillars, and in front of this again was
the "Hall of Judgment," or Throne-room (1 Kings 7:7; 10:18-20; 2
Chr. 9:17-19), "the King's Gate," where he administered justice
and gave audience to his people. This palace was a building of
great magnificence and beauty. A portion of it was set apart as
the residence of the queen consort, the daughter of Pharaoh.
From the palace there was a private staircase of red and scented
sandal wood which led up to the temple.

  Solomon also constructed great works for the purpose of
securing a plentiful supply of water for the city (Eccl. 2:4-6).
He then built Millo (LXX., "Acra") for the defence of the city,
completing a line of ramparts around it (1 Kings 9:15, 24;
11:27). He erected also many other fortifications for the
defence of his kingdom at various points where it was exposed to
the assault of enemies (1 Kings 9:15-19; 2 Chr. 8:2-6). Among
his great undertakings must also be mentioned the building of
Tadmor (q.v.) in the wilderness as a commercial depot, as well
as a military outpost.

  During his reign Palestine enjoyed great commercial
prosperity. Extensive traffic was carried on by land with Tyre
and Egypt and Arabia, and by sea with Spain and India and the
coasts of Africa, by which Solomon accumulated vast stores of
wealth and of the produce of all nations (1 Kings 9:26-28;
10:11, 12; 2 Chr. 8:17, 18; 9:21). This was the "golden age" of
Israel. The royal magnificence and splendour of Solomon's court
were unrivalled. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred
concubines, an evidence at once of his pride, his wealth, and
his sensuality. The maintenance of his household involved
immense expenditure. The provision required for one day was
"thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,
ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an
hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and
fatted fowl" (1 Kings 4:22, 23).

  Solomon's reign was not only a period of great material
prosperity, but was equally remarkable for its intellectual
activity. He was the leader of his people also in this uprising
amongst them of new intellectual life. "He spake three thousand
proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake
of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the
hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts,
and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes" (1 Kings
4:32, 33).

  His fame was spread abroad through all lands, and men came
from far and near "to hear the wisdom of Solomon." Among others
thus attracted to Jerusalem was "the queen of the south" (Matt.
12:42), the queen of Sheba, a country in Arabia Felix. "Deep,
indeed, must have been her yearning, and great his fame, which
induced a secluded Arabian queen to break through the immemorial
custom of her dreamy land, and to put forth the energy required
for braving the burdens and perils of so long a journey across a
wilderness. Yet this she undertook, and carried it out with
safety." (1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chr. 9:1-12.) She was filled with
amazement by all she saw and heard: "there was no more spirit in
her." After an interchange of presents she returned to her
native land.

  But that golden age of Jewish history passed away. The bright
day of Solomon's glory ended in clouds and darkness. His decline
and fall from his high estate is a sad record. Chief among the
causes of his decline were his polygamy and his great wealth.
"As he grew older he spent more of his time among his
favourites. The idle king living among these idle women, for
1,000 women, with all their idle and mischievous attendants,
filled the palaces and pleasure-houses which he had built (1
Kings 11:3), learned first to tolerate and then to imitate their
heathenish ways. He did not, indeed, cease to believe in the God
of Israel with his mind. He did not cease to offer the usual
sacrifices in the temple at the great feasts. But his heart was
not right with God; his worship became merely formal; his soul,
left empty by the dying out of true religious fervour, sought to
be filled with any religious excitement which offered itself.
Now for the first time a worship was publicly set up amongst the
people of the Lord which was not simply irregular or forbidden,
like that of Gideon (Judg. 8:27), or the Danites (Judg. 18:30,
31), but was downright idolatrous." (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings
23:13.)

  This brought upon him the divine displeasure. His enemies
prevailed against him (1 Kings 11:14-22, 23-25, 26-40), and one
judgment after another fell upon the land. And now the end of
all came, and he died, after a reign of forty years, and was
buried in the city of David, and "with him was buried the
short-lived glory and unity of Israel." "He leaves behind him
but one weak and worthless son, to dismember his kingdom and
disgrace his name."

  "The kingdom of Solomon," says Rawlinson, "is one of the most
striking facts in the Biblical history. A petty nation, which
for hundreds of years has with difficulty maintained a separate
existence in the midst of warlike tribes, each of which has in
turn exercised dominion over it and oppressed it, is suddenly
raised by the genius of a soldier-monarch to glory and
greatness. An empire is established which extends from the
Euphrates to the borders of Egypt, a distance of 450 miles; and
this empire, rapidly constructed, enters almost immediately on a
period of peace which lasts for half a century. Wealth,
grandeur, architectural magnificence, artistic excellence,
commercial enterprise, a position of dignity among the great
nations of the earth, are enjoyed during this space, at the end
of which there is a sudden collapse. The ruling nation is split
in twain, the subject-races fall off, the pre-eminence lately
gained being wholly lost, the scene of struggle, strife,
oppression, recovery, inglorious submission, and desperate
effort, re-commences.", Historical Illustrations.

$$T0003474
\Solomon, Song of\
called also, after the Vulgate, the "Canticles." It is the "song
of songs" (1:1), as being the finest and most precious of its
kind; the noblest song, "das Hohelied," as Luther calls it. The
Solomonic authorship of this book has been called in question,
but evidences, both internal and external, fairly establish the
traditional view that it is the product of Solomon's pen. It is
an allegorical poem setting forth the mutual love of Christ and
the Church, under the emblem of the bridegroom and the bride.
(Compare Matt. 9:15; John 3:29; Eph. 5:23, 27, 29; Rev. 19:7-9;
21:2, 9; 22:17. Compare also Ps. 45; Isa. 54:4-6; 62:4, 5; Jer.
2:2; 3:1, 20; Ezek. 16; Hos. 2:16, 19, 20.)

$$T0003475
\Solomon's Porch\
(John 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12), a colonnade, or cloister
probably, on the eastern side of the temple. It is not mentioned
in connection with the first temple, but Josephus mentions a
porch, so called, in Herod's temple (q.v.).

$$T0003476
\Songs\
of Moses (Ex. 15; Num. 21:17; Deut. 32; Rev. 15:3), Deborah
(Judg. 5), Hannah (1 Sam. 2), David (2 Sam. 22, and Psalms),
Mary (Luke 1:46-55), Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79), the angels (Luke
2:13), Simeon (Luke 2:29), the redeemed (Rev. 5:9; 19), Solomon
(see SOLOMON, SONGS OF ¯T0003474).

$$T0003477
\Son of God\
The plural, "sons of God," is used (Gen. 6:2, 4) to denote the
pious descendants of Seth. In Job 1:6; 38:7 this name is applied
to the angels. Hosea uses the phrase (1:10) to designate the
gracious relation in which men stand to God.

  In the New Testament this phrase frequently denotes the
relation into which we are brought to God by adoption (Rom.
8:14, 19; 2 Cor. 6:18; Gal. 4:5, 6; Phil. 2:15; 1 John 3:1, 2).
It occurs thirty-seven times in the New Testament as the
distinctive title of our Saviour. He does not bear this title in
consequence of his miraculous birth, nor of his incarnation, his
resurrection, and exaltation to the Father's right hand. This is
a title of nature and not of office. The sonship of Christ
denotes his equality with the Father. To call Christ the Son of
God is to assert his true and proper divinity. The second Person
of the Trinity, because of his eternal relation to the first
Person, is the Son of God. He is the Son of God as to his divine
nature, while as to his human nature he is the Son of David
(Rom. 1:3, 4. Comp. Gal. 4:4; John 1:1-14; 5:18-25; 10:30-38,
which prove that Christ was the Son of God before his
incarnation, and that his claim to this title is a claim of
equality with God).

  When used with reference to creatures, whether men or angels,
this word is always in the plural. In the singular it is always
used of the second Person of the Trinity, with the single
exception of Luke 3:38, where it is used of Adam.

$$T0003478
\Son of man\
(1.) Denotes mankind generally, with special reference to their
weakness and frailty (Job 25:6; Ps. 8:4; 144:3; 146:3; Isa.
51:12, etc.).

  (2.) It is a title frequently given to the prophet Ezekiel,
probably to remind him of his human weakness.

  (3.) In the New Testament it is used forty-three times as a
distinctive title of the Saviour. In the Old Testament it is
used only in Ps. 80:17 and Dan. 7:13 with this application. It
denotes the true humanity of our Lord. He had a true body (Heb.
2:14; Luke 24:39) and a rational soul. He was perfect man.

$$T0003479
\Soothsayer\
one who pretends to prognosticate future events. Baalam is so
called (Josh. 13:22; Heb. kosem, a "diviner," as rendered 1 Sam.
6:2; rendered "prudent," Isa. 3:2). In Isa. 2:6 and Micah 5:12
(Heb. yonenim, i.e., "diviners of the clouds") the word is used
of the Chaldean diviners who studied the clouds. In Dan. 2:27;
5:7 the word is the rendering of the Chaldee gazrin, i.e.,
"deciders" or "determiners", here applied to Chaldean
astrologers, "who, by casting nativities from the place of the
stars at one's birth, and by various arts of computing and
divining, foretold the fortunes and destinies of individuals.",
Gesenius, Lex. Heb. (See SORCERER ¯T0003482.)

$$T0003480
\Sop\
a morsel of bread (John 13:26; comp. Ruth 2:14). Our Lord took a
piece of unleavened bread, and dipping it into the broth of
bitter herbs at the Paschal meal, gave it to Judas. (Comp. Ruth
2:14.)

$$T0003481
\Sopater\
the father who saves, probably the same as Sosipater, a kinsman
of Paul (Rom. 16:21), a Christian of the city of Berea who
accompanied Paul into Asia (Acts 20:4-6).

$$T0003482
\Sorcerer\
from the Latin sortiarius, one who casts lots, or one who tells
the lot of others. (See DIVINATION ¯T0001047.)

  In Dan. 2:2 it is the rendering of the Hebrew mekhashphim,
i.e., mutterers, men who professed to have power with evil
spirits. The practice of sorcery exposed to severest punishment
(Mal. 3:5; Rev. 21:8; 22:15).

$$T0003483
\Sorek\
choice vine, the name of a valley, i.e., a torrent-bed, now the
Wady Surar, "valley of the fertile spot," which drains the
western Judean hills, and flowing by Makkedah and Jabneel, falls
into the sea some eight miles south of Joppa. This was the home
of Deliah, whom Samson loved (Judg. 16:4).

$$T0003484
\Sosipater\
(See SOPATER ¯T0003481.)

$$T0003485
\Sosthenes\
safe in strength, the chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth,
who was seized and beaten by the mob in the presence of Gallio,
the Roman governor, when he refused to proceed against Paul at
the instigation of the Jews (Acts 18:12-17). The motives of this
assault against Sosthenes are not recorded, nor is it mentioned
whether it was made by Greeks or Romans. Some identify him, but
without sufficient grounds, with one whom Paul calls "Sosthenes
our brother," a convert to the faith (1 Cor. 1:1).

$$T0003486
\South\
Heb. Negeb, that arid district to the south of Palestine through
which lay the caravan route from Central Palestine to Egypt
(Gen. 12:9; 13:1, 3; 46:1-6). "The Negeb comprised a
considerable but irregularly-shaped tract of country, its main
portion stretching from the mountains and lowlands of Judah in
the north to the mountains of Azazemeh in the south, and from
the Dead Sea and southern Ghoron the east to the Mediterranean
on the west." In Ezek. 20:46 (21:1 in Heb.) three different
Hebrew words are all rendered "south." (1) "Set thy face toward
the south" (Teman, the region on the right, 1 Sam. 33:24); (2)
"Drop thy word toward the south" (Negeb, the region of dryness,
Josh. 15:4); (3) "Prophesy against the forest of the south
field" (Darom, the region of brightness, Deut. 33:23). In Job
37:9 the word "south" is literally "chamber," used here in the
sense of treasury (comp. 38:22; Ps. 135:7). This verse is
rendered in the Revised Version "out of the chamber of the
south."

$$T0003487
\Sovereignty\
of God, his absolute right to do all things according to his own
good pleasure (Dan. 4:25, 35; Rom. 9:15-23; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev.
4:11).

$$T0003488
\Spain\
Paul expresses his intention (Rom. 15:24, 28) to visit Spain.
There is, however, no evidence that he ever carried it into
effect, although some think that he probably did so between his
first and second imprisonment. (See TARSHISH ¯T0003588.)

$$T0003489
\Sparrow\
Mentioned among the offerings made by the very poor. Two
sparrows were sold for a farthing (Matt. 10:29), and five for
two farthings (Luke 12:6). The Hebrew word thus rendered is
_tsippor_, which properly denotes the whole family of small
birds which feed on grain (Lev. 14:4; Ps. 84:3; 102:7). The
Greek word of the New Testament is _strouthion_ (Matt.
10:29-31), which is thus correctly rendered.

$$T0003490
\Spicery\
Heb. nechoth, identified with the Arabic naka'at, the gum
tragacanth, obtained from the astralagus, of which there are
about twenty species found in Palestine. The tragacanth of
commerce is obtained from the A. tragacantha. "The gum exudes
plentifully under the heat of the sun on the leaves, thorns, and
exteremity of the twigs."

$$T0003491
\Spices\
aromatic substances, of which several are named in Ex. 30. They
were used in the sacred anointing oil (Ex. 25:6; 35:8; 1 Chr.
9:29), and in embalming the dead (2 Chr. 16:14; Luke 23:56;
24:1; John 19:39, 40). Spices were stored by Hezekiah in his
treasure-house (2 Kings 20:13; Isa. 39:2).

$$T0003492
\Spider\
The trust of the hypocrite is compared to the spider's web or
house (Job 8:14). It is said of the wicked by Isaiah that they
"weave the spider's web" (59:5), i.e., their works and designs
are, like the spider's web, vain and useless. The Hebrew word
here used is _'akkabish_, "a swift weaver."

  In Prov. 30:28 a different Hebrew word (semamith) is used. It
is rendered in the Vulgate by stellio, and in the Revised
Version by "lizard." It may, however, represent the spider, of
which there are, it is said, about seven hundred species in
Palestine.

$$T0003493
\Spies\
When the Israelites reached Kadesh for the first time, and were
encamped there, Moses selected twelve spies from among the
chiefs of the divisions of the tribes, and sent them forth to
spy the land of Canaan (Num. 13), and to bring back to him a
report of its actual condition. They at once proceeded on their
important errand, and went through the land as far north as the
district round Lake Merom. After about six weeks' absence they
returned. Their report was very discouraging, and the people
were greatly alarmed, and in a rebellious spirit proposed to
elect a new leader and return to Egypt. Only two of the spies,
Caleb and Joshua, showed themselves on this occasion
stout-hearted and faithful. All their appeals and remonstrances
were in vain. Moses announced that as a punishment for their
rebellion they must now wander in the wilderness till a new
generation should arise which would go up and posses the land.
The spies had been forty days absent on their expedition, and
for each day the Israelites were to be wanderers for a year in
the desert. (See ESHCOL ¯T0001248.)

  Two spies were sent by Joshua "secretly" i.e., unknown to the
people (Josh. 2:1), "to view the land and Jericho" after the
death of Moses, and just before the tribes under his leadership
were about to cross the Jordan. They learned from Rahab (q.v.),
in whose house they found a hiding-place, that terror had fallen
on all the inhabitants of the land because of the great things
they had heard that Jehovah had done for them (Ex. 15:14-16;
comp. 23:27; Deut. 2:25; 11:25). As the result of their mission
they reported: "Truly Jehovah hath delivered into our hands all
the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint
because of us."

$$T0003494
\Spikenard\
(Heb. nerd), a much-valued perfume (Cant. 1:12; 4:13, 14). It
was "very precious", i.e., very costly (Mark 14:3; John 12:3,5).
It is the root of an Indian plant, the Nardostachys jatamansi,
of the family of Valeriance, growing on the Himalaya mountains.
It is distinguished by its having many hairy spikes shooting out
from one root. It is called by the Arabs sunbul Hindi, "the
Indian spike." In the New Testament this word is the rendering
of the Greek nardos pistike. The margin of the Revised Version
in these passages has "pistic nard," pistic being perhaps a
local name. Some take it to mean genuine, and others liquid. The
most probable opinion is that the word pistike designates the
nard as genuine or faithfully prepared.

$$T0003495
\Spirit\
(Heb. ruah; Gr. pneuma), properly wind or breath. In 2 Thess.
2:8 it means "breath," and in Eccl. 8:8 the vital principle in
man. It also denotes the rational, immortal soul by which man is
distinguished (Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 5:5; 6:20; 7:34), and the soul
in its separate state (Heb. 12:23), and hence also an apparition
(Job 4:15; Luke 24:37, 39), an angel (Heb. 1:14), and a demon
(Luke 4:36; 10:20). This word is used also metaphorically as
denoting a tendency (Zech. 12:10; Luke 13:11).

  In Rom. 1:4, 1 Tim. 3:16, 2 Cor. 3:17, 1 Pet. 3:18, it
designates the divine nature.

$$T0003496
\Spirit, Holy\
See HOLY GHOST ¯T0001805.

$$T0003497
\Sponge\
occurs only in the narrative of the crucifixion (Matt. 27:48;
Mark 15:36; John 19:29). It is ranked as a zoophyte. It is found
attached to rocks at the bottom of the sea.

$$T0003498
\Spouse\
(Cant. 4:8-12; Hos. 4:13, 14) may denote either husband or wife,
but in the Scriptures it denotes only the latter.

$$T0003499
\Spring\
(Heb. 'ain, "the bright open source, the eye of the landscape").
To be carefully distinguished from "well" (q.v.). "Springs"
mentioned in Josh. 10:40 (Heb. 'ashdoth) should rather be
"declivities" or "slopes" (R.V.), i.e., the undulating ground
lying between the lowlands (the shephelah) and the central range
of hills.