The Israelites were twice relieved in their privation by
a miraculous supply of quails,
1. in the wilderness of Sin Ex 16:13 and
2. again at Kibroth-hattaavah (q.v.), Nu 11:31 God
"rained flesh upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of
the sea" Ps 78:27 The words in Nu 11:31 according to the Authorized
Version, appear to denote that the quails lay one above another to the
thickness of two cubits above the ground. The Revised Version, however, reads,
"about two cubits above the face of the earth", i.e., the quails flew
at this height, and were easily killed or caught by the hand. Being thus
secured in vast numbers by the people, they "spread them all abroad"
Nu 11:32 in order to salt and dry them. These birds (the Coturnix vulgaris of
naturalists) are found in countless numbers on the shores of the Mediterranean,
and their annual migration is an event causing great excitement.
A mountain some 1,200 feet high, about 7 miles north-west
of Jericho, the traditional scene of our Lord's temptation Mt 4:8
1. The "Royal Quarries" (not found in
Scripture) is the name given to the vast caverns stretching far underneath the
northern hill, Bezetha, on which Jerusalem is built. Out of these mammoth
caverns stones, a hard lime-stone, have been quarried in ancient times for the
buildings in the city, and for the temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod.
Huge blocks of stone are still found in these caves bearing the marks of pick
and chisel. The general appearance of the whole suggests to the explorer the
idea that the Phoenician quarrymen have just suspended their work. The
supposition that the polished blocks of stone for Solomon's temple were sent by
Hiram from Lebanon or Tyre is not supported by any evidence (comp.) 1Ki 5:8
Hiram sent masons and stone-squarers to Jerusalem to assist Solomon's workmen
in their great undertaking, but did not send stones to Jerusalem, where,
indeed, they were not needed, as these royal quarries abundantly testify.
2. The "quarries" (Heb. pesilim) by Gilgal Jud
3:19 from which Ehud turned back for the purpose of carrying out his design to
put Eglon king of Moab to death, were probably the "graven images"
(as the word is rendered by the LXX. and the Vulgate and in the marg. A.V. and
R.V.), or the idol temples the Moabites had erected at Gilgal, where the
children of Israel first encamped after crossing the Jordan. The Hebrew word is
rendered "graven images" in De 7:25 and is not elsewhere translated
"quarries."
Fourth, a Corinthian Christian who sent by Paul his
salutations to friends at Rome Ro 16:23
A band of four soldiers. Peter was committed by Herod to
the custody of four quaternions, i.e., one quaternion for each watch of the
night Ac 12:4 Thus every precaution was taken against his escape from prison.
Two of each quaternion were in turn stationed at the door Ac 12:6 and to two
the apostle was chained according to Roman custom.
1. No explicit mention of queens is made till we read of
the "queen of Sheba." The wives of the kings of Israel are not so
designated. In Ps 45:9 the Hebrew for "queen" is not _malkah_, one
actually ruling like the Queen of Sheba, but _shegal_, which simply means the
king's wife.
2. In 1Ki 11:19 Pharaoh's wife is called "the queen,
"but the Hebrew word so rendered (g'birah) is simply a title of honour,
denoting a royal lady, used sometimes for "queen-mother" 1Ki 15:13
2Ch 15:16
3. In So 6:8,9 the king's wives are styled
"queens" (Heb. melakhoth).
4. In the New Testament we read of the "queen of the
south", i.e., Southern Arabia, Sheba Mt 12:42 Lu 11:31 and the "queen
of the Ethiopians" Ac 8:27 Candace.
Jer 7:18 44:17,25 the moon, worshipped by the Assyrians
as the receptive power in nature.
Found only in Ac 27:17 the rendering of the Greek Syrtis.
On the north coast of Africa were two localities dangerous to sailors, called
the Greater and Lesser Syrtis. The former of these is probably here meant. It
lies between Tripoli and Barca, and near Cyrene. The Lesser Syrtis lay farther
to the west.
1. The sheath for arrows. The Hebrew word (aspah) thus
commonly rendered is found in Job 39:23 Ps 127:5 Isa 22:6 49:2 Jer 5:16 La 3:13
2. In Ge 27:3 this word is the rendering of the Hebrew
_teli_, which is supposed rather to mean a suspended weapon, literally
"that which hangs from one", i.e., is suspended from the shoulder or
girdle.
From the Old Testament in the New, which are very
numerous, are not made according to any uniform method. When the New Testament was
written, the Old was not divided, as it now is, into chapters and verses, and
hence such peculiarities as these: When Luke Lu 20:37 refers to Ex 3:6 he
quotes from "Moses at the bush", i.e., the section containing the
record of Moses at the bush. So also Mark Mr 2:26 refers to 1Sa 21:1-6 in the
words, "in the days of Abiathar; "and Paul Ro 11:2 refers to 1Ki 17:1
ff in the words, "in Elias", i.e., in the portion of the history
regarding Elias. In general, the New Testament writers quote from the Septuagint
(q.v.) version of the Old Testament, as it was then in common use among the
Jews. But it is noticeable that these quotations are not made in any uniform
manner. Sometimes, e.g., the quotation
does not agree literally either with the LXX. or the Hebrew text. This occurs
in about one hundred instances. Sometimes the LXX. is literally quoted (in
about ninety instances), and sometimes it is corrected or altered in the
quotations (in over eighty instances). Quotations are sometimes made also
directly from the Hebrew text Mt 4:15,16 Joh 19:37 1Co 15:54 Besides the
quotations made directly, there are found numberless allusions, more or less
distinct, showing that the minds of the New Testament writers were filled with
the expressions and ideas as well as historical facts recorded in the Old.
There are in all two hundred and eighty-three direct quotations from the Old
Testament in the New, but not one clear and certain case of quotation from the
Apocrypha (q.v.). Besides quotations in the New from the Old Testament, there
are in Paul's writings three quotations from certain Greek poets, Ac 17:28 1Co
15:33 Ti 1:12 These quotations are memorials of his early classical education.