When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad. Or when the verse has four members; of which the first and third correspond to the second and fourth e. g. Psalm 31: 10. For my life is spent with grief, And my bones are consumed. Or the verse may have four parallel members; as Psalm 1:1. Blessed is the man Who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, The preceding principles refer solely to the rhythm of Hebrew poetry. Besides this, there are other peculiarities; e. g. the strophe, as in Ps. 42, 43, where verses 5, 11 and 5, are a burden or refrain, repeated at the end of each strophe. So also the alphabetic psalms and poems; (see LETTERS;) and the psalms of degrees, in which the chief words of each verse are taken up and repeated at the beginning of the next verse. See DEGREES. POMEGRANATE, the punica granatum of Linnæus; called also malum granatum, that is, granate apple, (pomme granate,) whence its name. The tree grows wild in Palestine and Syria, as generally in the south of Europe, and north of Africa. It is low, with a straight stem, reddish Nor standeth in the way of sinners, bark, many and spreading Nor sitteth in the seat of scorners. We may name Psalms 2 and 15 as affording examples of most of the species of poetic parallelism. In the common manuscripts and editions of the Hebrew Bible, the members of the parallelisms in the poetical parts are not written or printed separately; but the accents serve to divide them. In other editions, however, the members are printed separately. It is matter of regret, that this mode was not adopted in our English version; since the common reader has now often no means of distinguishing whether that which he reads is Hebrew poetry or Hebrew prose. Indeed, a good translation ought to adhere closely to the form of the original, and not give it a foreign costume. Hence the mere parallelism should be exhibited, without metre, and generally without feet. branches, lancet-formed leaves, bearing large and beautiful red blossoms. The fruit is of the size of an orange, of a tawny brown, with a thick, astringent coat, containing abundance of seeds, each enveloped in a distinct, very juicy, crimson coat, whose flavor, in a wild state, is a pure and very strong acid; but in the cultivated plant, sweet and highly grateful. Comp. Cant. 4:13. Num. 13:23. Deut. 8:8. Artificial pomegranates were used as ornaments on the robe of the high-priest, Ex. 28:33, and also as an architectural ornament, 1 K. 7:18. PONTUS, the north-eastern province of Asia Minor, bounded north by the Euxine sea, west by Galatia and Paphlagonia, south by Cappadocia and part of Armenia, and east by Colchis. It was originally governed by kings, and was in its most flourishing state under Mithridates the Great, who waged a long and celebrated war with the Romans, but was at length subdued by Pompey; after which Pontus became a province of the Roman empire. Acts 2:9. 1 Pet. 1:1. POTSHERD, a broken fragment or piece of an earthen vessel; not merely a brittle pot, but a piece of a pot; a pot already broken. Isa. 45:9. POTTER'S-FIELD, a piece of ground that was bought with the money for which Judas sold our Saviour, but which he brought back again to the temple. See ACELDAMA. POWER. For the use of this word in 1 Cor. 11:10, see the article VEIL. PRAYER is the lifting up of the heart and soul to God, in the name and through the mediation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is the communion of the heart with God, and is to the Christian the very life of the soul. Without this filial spirit, no one can be a Christian. In all ages God has delighted in the prayers of his saints. From the promulgation of the law, the Hebrews did not intermit public prayer in the tabernacle, or in the temple, as opportunity returned. It consisted in offering the evening and morning sacrifices, every day, accompanied with prayers by the priests and Levites in that holy edifice. Every day they offered sacrifices, incense, offerings and first-fruits; they performed ceremonies for the redemption of the first-born, or the purification of pollutions; in a word, the people came thither from all parts to discharge their vows, and to perform their devotions, not only on great and solemn days, but also on ordinary days; but nothing of this was performed without prayer. In the later Jewish prayers we may observe their length and their tedious repetitions. These Christ reproves in Matt. 6:7, and gives to his disciples the form of the Lord's prayer as a beautiful model. In Eph. 6:18. 1 Thess. 5:17. 1 Tim. 2:8, Paul directs that believers should pray in all places and at all times, lifting up pure hands towards heaven, and blessing God for all things, whether in eating, drinking, or any other action; and that every thing be done to the glory of God. 1 Cor. 10:31. In a word, our Saviour has recommended to us to pray without ceasing. Luke 18:1. 21:36. PRESS. This word is often used in Scripture not only for the machine by which grapes are squeezed, but also for the vessel, or vat, into which the wine runs from the press; that in which it is received and preserved. Whence proceed these expressions: he digged a wine-press in his vineyard, Matt. 21:33; your presses shall run over with wine, Prov. 3:10; to draw out of the press, &c. Hag. 2:16. It was a kind of subterraneous cistern, in which the wine was received and kept, till it was put into jars or vessels of earth or wood. PRETORIUM, a name given in the Gospels to the house in which dwelt the Roman governor of Jerusalem. Mark 15:16. Comp. Matt. 27:27. John 18:28, 33. Here he sat in his judicial capacity, and here Jesus was brought before him. This was properly the palace of Herod at Jerusalem, near the tower of Antonia, with which it had communication. Here the Roman procurators resided whenever they visited Jerusalem; their head, quarters being properly at Cæsarea. The pretorium or palace of Herod (Eng. tr. judgment- || hall) at Cæsarea is also mentioned, Acts 23:35. Paul speaks also of the pretorium (Eng. tr. palace) at Rome, in which he gave testimony to Christ. Phil. 1:13. Some think, that by this he means the palace of the emperor Nero; and others, that he means the place where the Roman prætor sat to administer justice, that is, his tribunal. Others have maintained, with greater probability, that under the name of the pretorium at Rome, Paul would express the camp of the pretorian soldiers, whither he might have been carried by the soldier that always accompanied him, and who was fastened to him by a chain, as the manner was among the Ro mans. PRICKS. The Greek word signifies properly a stimulus, a goad, with which oxen were driven from behind. Hence the proverbial expression, to kick against the goad, applied to those who rashly offer resistance to one who is more powerful than themselves, and thus expose themselves to severe retribution. Acts 9:5. 26:14. The expression was common to the Greeks, Romans and Hebrews. PRIEST, one who officiates in performing the public worship of God. In the O.T. the priesthood was not annexed to a certain family, till after the promulgation of the law by Moses. Before that time, the first-born of each family, the fathers, the princes, the kings, were priests in their own cities, and in their own houses. Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham and Job, Abimelech and Laban, Isaac and Jacob, offered, personally, their own sacrifices. In the solemnity of the covenant made by the Lord with his people, at the foot of The Lord having reserved to himself the first-born of Israel, because he had preserved them from the hand of the destroying angel in Egypt, by way of exchange and compensation, he accepted the tribe of Levi for the service of his tabernacle. Num. 3:41. Thus the whole tribe of Levi was appointed to the sacred ministry, but not all in the same manner; for of the three sons of Levi, Gershom, Kohath and Merari, the heads of the three great families, the Lord chose the family of Kohath, and out of this family the house of Aaron, to exercise the functions of the priesthood. All the rest of the family of Kohath, even the children of Moses and their descendlants, remained among the Levites. The high-priest was at the head of all religious affairs, and was the ordinary judge of all difficulties that belonged thereto, and even of the general justice and judgment of the Jewish nation, as being at the head of all the priests by whom this was administered. Deut. 17:8-12. 19:17. 21:5. 33:8,10. Ezek. 44:24. He only had the privilege of entering the sanctuary once a year, on the day of solemn expiation, to make atonement for the sins of the whole people. Lev. 16:2, &c. He was to be born of one of his own tribe, whom his father had married a virgin; and was to be exempt from corporal defect. Lev. 21:13. In general, no priest who had any defect of this kind could offer sacrifice, or enter the holy place to present the shew-bread. But he was to be maintained by the sacrifices offered at the tabernacle. Lev. 21:17-22. God also appropriated to the person of the high-priest the oracle of his truth; so that when he was habited in the proper ornaments of his dignity, and with the urim and thummim, he answered questions proposed to him, and God discovered to him secret and future things. He was forbidden to mourn for the death of any of his relations, even for his father or mother; or to enter into any place where a dead body lay, that he might not contract or hazard the contraction of uncleanness. Lev. 21:10 -12. The ordinary priests served immediately at the altar, killed, skinned and offered the sacrifices. They kept up a perpetual fire on the altar of burnt-sacrifices, and in the lamps of the golden candlestick in the sanctuary: they kneaded the loaves of shew bread, baked them, offered them on the golden altar in the sanctuary, and changed them every sabbath day. Every day, night and morning, a priest, appointed by casting of lots at the beginning of the week, brought into the sanctuary a smoking censer of incense, and set it on the golden table, otherwise called the altar of incense. Luke 1:9. The Lord had given no lands of inheritance to the tribe of Levi, in the Land of Promise. He intended that they should be supported by the tithes, the firstfruits, the offerings made in the temple, and by their share of the sin-offerings and thanksgivingofferings sacrificed in the temple; of which certain parts were appropriated to them. In the peaceofferings they had the shoulder and the breast, Lev. 7:33,34; in the sin-offerings they burnt on the altar the fat that covers the bowels, the liver and the kidneys; the rest belonged to themselves. Lev. 7:6,10. The skin or fleece of every sacrifice also belonged to them; and this alone was no mean allowance. When an Israelite killed any animal for his own use, he was to give the priest the shoulder, the stomach and the jaws. Deut. 18:3. He had also a share of the wool when sheep were shorn. Deut. 18:4. Thus, though the priests had no lands or inheritances, they lived in great plenty. God also provided them houses and accommodations, by appointing fortyeight cities for their residence. Num. 35:1-7. In the precincts of these cities they possessed a thousand cubits beyond the walls. Of these forty-eight cities, six were appointed as cities of refuge for those who had committed casual and involuntary manslaughter. The priests had thir teen of these cities; the others belonged to the Levites. Josh. 21:10. A principal employment of the priests, next to attending on the sacrifices and the temple service, was the instruction of the people and the deciding of controversies; distinguishing the several sorts of leprosy, divorce causes, the waters of jealousy, vows, causes relating to the law and uncleannesses, &c. They publicly blessed the people in the name of the Lord. In time of war their duty was to carry the ark of the covenant, to consult the Lord, to sound the holy trumpets, and to encourage the army. Num. 10:8,9. Deut. 20:2. The Christian priesthood is the substance and truth of which that of the Jews was but a shadow and figure. Christ, the everlasting priest, according to the order of Melchisedec, abides forever, as Paul observes; whereas the priests according to the order of Aaron were mortal, and, therefore, could not continue long. Heb. 7:23, &c. The Lord, to express to the Hebrews what great favors he would confer on them, says he would make them kings and priests. Ex. 19:6. And Peter repeats this promise to Christians, or rather he tells them that they are in truth what Moses promised to Israel. 1 Pet. 2:9. See also Rev. 1:6. the people. Paul, Tit. 1:12, quoting a heathen poet, calls him a prophet. Scripture does not withhold the name of prophet from impostors, although they falsely boasted of inspiration. As true prophets, when filled by the energy of God's Spirit, were sometimes agitated violently, similar motions were called prophesying when exhibited by persons who were filled with a good or evil spirit. Saul, being moved by an evil spirit, prophesied in his house. 1 Sam. 18:10. The term prophesy is also used, 1 Cor. 11:4,5. 14:1, &c. for "explaining Scripture, speaking to the church in public;" probably because they who exercised these functions were regarded as under the direction of the Holy Spirit. So it is said in Acts 13:1, that Judas and Silas were prophets; that there were in the church at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; that is, official instructers. God has set in the church, first, apostles, then prophets. 1 Cor. 12:28. See also Eph. 2:20. Rev. 18:20. Acts 21:9. The usual way by which God communicated his will to the prophets was by inspiration, which consisted in illuminating the mind, and exciting them to proclaim what the Lord had dictated. In this sense we acknowledge, as prophets, all the authors of the canonical books of Scrip PRISCA, or PRISCILLA, the wife of Aquila. See AQUILA. PROPHET. The words proph-ture, both of the Old and New et and to prophesy, are used in Scripture in a wide sense. The proper meaning of prophet is a foreteller of future events. But sometimes it means simply one inspired of God to speak, &c. God says to Moses, Ex. 7:1, "Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet;" ke shall explain thy sentiments to Testaments. God also communicated information to the prophets by dreams and visions. Joel, 2:28, promises to the people of the Lord that their young men should see visions, and their old men have prophetic dreams. Peter, Acts 10:11,12, fell into a trance at noon-day, and had a |