effaced by the broad end of a but in every thing they are productive of that which they im-style. Afterwards, the leaves of the palm-tree were used instead of wooden planks; and also the finest and thinnest bark of trees, such as the lime, the ash, the maple, the elm: hence the word liber, which denotes the inner bark of trees, signifies also a book. As these barks were rolled up, to be more readily carried about, the rolls were called volumen, a volume; a name given likewise to rolls of paper, or of parchment. The ancients wrote likewise on linen. port. The blessings of men are only good wishes, personal or official, and, as it were, a peculiar kind of prayer to the Author of all good, for the welfare of the subject of them. God's blessings extend into the future life; but no gift of one man to another can exceed the limits of the present state. Blessing, on the part of man, is an act of thanksgiving to God for his mercies; or, rather, for that special mercy, which, at the time, occasions the act of bless-But the oldest material commonly ing; as for food, for which thanks || are rendered to God, or for any other good. BLOOD, Avenger of, see REFUGE. employed for writing upon, appears to have been the papyrus, a reed very common in Egypt, and other places. At a later period, parchment from skins was invented in Pergamos, and was there used for rolls or volumes. The making of paper from linen, in its present modern form, was first known in Europe about A. D. 1300. The art of printing was introduced about 150 years later. BOANERGES, that is, Sons of Thunder; a name given by our Saviour to James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Mark 3:17, on the occasion, probably, of their request that he would call for fire from heaven, and destroy a certain village of the Samaritans,|| which had refused to entertain The papyrus reed is still them. Luke 9:53,54. It is ap-known in Sicily; and there is a plied to them no where else. BOOK. Several sorts of materials were anciently used in making books. Plates of lead or copper, the bark of trees, brick, stone and wood, were originally employed to engrave such things and documents upon, as men desired to transmit to posterity. God's laws were written on stone; and Solon's laws on wooden planks. Tablets of wood, box and ivory were common among the ancients: when they were of wood only, they were oftentimes coated over with wax, which received the writing inscribed on them with the point of a style, or iron pen; and what was written might be small manufactory of it near Syracuse. It has been also found in great plenty in Chaldea, in the fens at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. Another country affording ancient papyri, was, as already stated, Egypt. (See EGYPT.) Scrolls of it containing inscriptions were found by the French, during their invasion of that country; and Denon has given plates of more than one. He says, "I was assured of the proof of my discovery, by the possession of a manuscript, which I found in the hand of a fine mummy, that was brought me. perceived in its right hand, and resting on the left arm, a roll of papyrus, on which was a manu I script, the oldest of all the books || in the known world. The papyrus on which it is written is prepared in the same way as that of the Greeks and Romans; that is to say, of two layers of the medulla of this plant glued to each other, with the fibres made to cross, to give more consistence to the leaf. The writing goes from right to left, beginning at the top of the page." Book of Life, or of the Living. Ps. 69:28. It is probable, that these descriptive phrases, which are frequent in Scripture, are taken from the custom observed generally in the courts of princes, of keeping a list of persons who are in their service, of the provinces which they govern, of the officers of their armies, of the number of their troops, and sometimes even of the names of their soldiers. It is probable, also, that the primitive Christian churches kept lists of their members, in which those recently admitted were enrolled: these would take a title analogous to that of the book of life, or the Lamb's book of life; and as this term occurs principally in the Revelation, it seems likely to be derived from such a custom. If a higher and spiritual sense, and in the figurative style of oriental poetry, God is represented as inscribing the names and destinies of men in a volume; and the volume in which are thus entered the names of those who are chosen to salvation, is the book of life. Phil. 4:3. BOOTH, a shelter, made usually of poles fixed upright in the ground, and covered over with green boughs. Lev. 23:40. The great feast of the tabernacles, or booths, had its name from the circumstance, that the Jews were directed by their law to dwell in booths during the seven days of this feast. Lev. 23:42. Neh. 8:14. See under TABERNACLE. BOSOM, the front of the upper part of the body, the breast. The orientals generally wore long, wide and loose garments; and when about to carry any thing away that their hands would not contain, they used for the purpose a fold in the bosom of their robe. Our Saviour is said to carry his lambs in his bosom, which beautifully represents his tender care and watchfulness over them. Isa. 40:11. See also under LAZARUS II. BOSSES, the thickest and strongest parts of a buckler. Job 15:26. BOTTLE. The difference is so great between the properties of glass bottles, such as are in common use among us, and bottles made of skin, which were used anciently by most nations, and still are used in the East, that when we read of bottles, without carefully distinguishing in our minds one kind of bottle from the other, mistake is sure to "the goat-skins were new, they had given the water a reddish color, and an exceedingly loathsome taste." (Miss. Herald, 1824, pp. 34, 35.) See also under WINE. Sam. 1:18, we read in the English version, "Also he (David) bade them teach the children of shows, very clearly, the form and nature of an ancient bottle, out of which a woman is pouring wine into a cup. It appears from this figure, that after the skin has been stripped off from the animal, and properly dressed, BOW, a kind of weapon well the places where the legs had known. When there is mention been are closed up; and where the in Scripture of bending the bow, neck was, is the opening left for the verb tread under foot is genreceiving and discharging the erally used; because it was the contents of the bottle. This idea custom to put the feet upon the is very simple and conspicuous bow to bend it. The phrase a in the figure. Such bottles, when deceitful bow, to which the people full, in which state this is repre- of Israel are compared, Ps. 78:57. sented, differ, of course, from the Hos. 7:16, means a bow which same when empty; being, when shoots the arrow in a wrong difull, swollen, round and firm;rection, not as it is aimed. In 2 when empty, flaccid, weak and bending. By receiving the liquor poured into it, a skin bottle must be greatly swelled and distended, and, no doubt, it must be further swelled by the fermentation of the liquor within it, while advancing to ripeness; so that, in this state, if no vent be given to it, the liquor may overpower the strength of the bottle; or, by searching every crevice and weaker part, if it find any defect, it may ooze out by that. Hence arises the propriety of putting new wine into new bottles, which, BOWELS are often put by being in the prime of their the Hebrew writers for the interstrength, may resist the expan-nal parts generally, the inner sion, the internal pressure of man, just as we often use the their contents, and preserve the word heart. Hence the bowels wine to maturity; while old bot- are often represented as the seat of mercy, tenderness, compassion, &c. 1 K. 3:26. Is. 63:15. Jer. 31:20. tles Judah the use of the bow." Here the words "the use of" are not in the Hebrew, and convey a sense entirely false to the English reader. It should be, "teach them the bow," i. e. the song of THE BOW, the lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, which follows; and which is called, by way of distinction, THE BOW, from the mention of this weapon in verse 22. BOZRAH, a famous city, afterwards called Bostra. It belonged to Edom, but was situated in the Haouran, eastward of Bashan. Such bottles, or skins, are still universally employed at the present day in travelling in the East. Mr. King mentions, when departing from Cairo for Jerusa- BRACELET, properly an orlem, that they "purchased four nament for the arm; but somegoat-skins and four leather bot-times used also in the Bible to iles to carry water." Three signify an ornament, i. e. a ring days after, they found that, as or clasp, worn on the leg. Is 3:19. Num. 31:50. The women | paste they apply to the outside of Syria and Arabia at this day of the pitcher. It is baked in an wear great rings round their legs, instant, and being dried, is taken to which are fastened many other off in thin, fine pieces, like our lesser rings, which make a tink-wafers. Niebuhr says, "The ling noise, like little bells, when Arabs of the desert use a plate they walk or stir. These rings of iron for baking their cakes of are fixed above the ankle, and bread; or they lay a round are of gold, silver, copper, glass, lump of dough among hot coals or even of varnished earth, of wood or of camel's dung, and according to the substance and cover it over with them entirely, condition of the wearer. The till, as they suppose, the bread is princesses wear large hollow enough baked; they then knock rings of gold, within which are off the ashes from it, and eat it enclosed little pebbles, that tinkle.hot. The Arabs of the cities BRASS is frequently mention-have ovens not unlike our own. ed in the English Bible; but These also are not without wheat there is little doubt that copper is bread. It has likewise the form intended, brass being a mixed and size of a dough-nut, or a metal, for the manufacture of middling sized apple, and is selwhich we are indebted to the dom sufficiently baked." In Germans. The ancients knew another place he remarks, that nothing of the art. See COPPER. "the principal sustenance of the BREAD, a word which in orientals in general is new bread, Scripture is taken for food in just baked in this manner; and general. Gen. 3:19. 18:5. 28:20. on this account they furnish Ex. 2:20. Manna is called bread themselves on their journeys in from heaven. Ex. 16:4. the desert especially with meal." The ancient Hebrews had sev- As the Hebrews generally eral ways of baking bread: they made their bread very thin, and often baked it under the ashes, in the form of little flat cakes, or upon the hearth, upon round cop-wafers, they did not cut it with a per plates, or in pans or stoves knife, but broke it; which gave made on purpose. The Arabians rise to that expression so usual and other oriental nations, among in Scripture, of breaking bread, whom wood is scarce, often bake to signify eating, sitting down to their bread between two fires table, taking a repast. In the made of cow-dung, which burns institution of the Lord's Supper, slowly, and bakes the bread very our Saviour broke the bread leisurely. The crumb of it is which he had consecrated; very good, if it be eaten the same whence, to break bread, and day; but the crust is black and breaking of bread, in the N. T. burnt, and retains a smell of the are used for celebrating the fuel used in baking it. This exLord's Supper. See under plains Ezek. 4:9,10,12,15. The Hebrews, and other eastern people, have a kind of oven, called tanour, which is like a large pitcher, of gray stone, open at top, in which they make a fire. When it is well heated, they mingle flour in water, and this EATING. Shew-bread (Heb. bread of presence) was bread offered every sabbath day to God on the golden table which stood in the holy place. Ex. 25:30. The shew-bread could be lawfully eaten by none but the priests; nev them on the sabbath day. Matt. 12:3, &c. ertheless, David, having received some of these loaves from the high-priest Abimelech, ate of BREASTPLATE, a piece of them, without scruple, in his ne- embroidery, about ten inches cessity, 1 Sam. 21:6-9; and our square, Ex. 28:15, &c. of very Saviour uses his example to jus-rich work, which the high-priest tify the apostles, who had bruised wore on his breast. It was made ears of corn, and were eating of two pieces of the same rich |