beginning of the eleventh month, to the seventh day of the twelfth month, in the fortieth year after the Israelites' departure from Egypt; that is, about six weeks. That part which mentions the death of Moses was added afterwards; very probably by Joshua. DEVIL, a fallen angel; and applied more particularly to the chief of them, the devil, or Satan. He is the great principle of evil in the world; and it is his grand object to counteract the good which God desires to do. He exerts himself, especially with his angels, the devils or demons, to draw away the souls of men from embracing salvation through Jesus Christ. they were obliged to quit. Can this be merely delusion? Christ alleges, as proof of his mission, that the devils are cast out; he promises his apostles the same power that he himself exercised against those wicked spirits. Can all this be nothing but chimera? DEW. The dews in Palestine and some other oriental countries are very copious, and serve very greatly to sustain and promote vegetation in places where little or no rain falls. Judg. 6:38. The dew furnishes many beautiful allusions to the sacred penmen. Comp. Gen. 27:28. Deut. 32:2. Hos. 14:5. DIANA, a celebrated goddess of the heathen, and one of the There are many examples in twelve superior deities. In the the N. T. of persons possessed heavens she was Luna, (the by devils. These are often call-moon,) on earth Diana, in hell ed demoniacs. Some have sup- || Hecate. She was invoked by posed that these were only natural diseases, and that it is a mere chimera to suppose them possessed by devils. But our Saviour speaks to,and commands the devils, who actuated the possessed; which devils answered, and obeyed, and gave proofs of their presence by tormenting those miserable creatures, whom women in child-birth under the Di CIAN worshipped particularly at Ephesus, and had there a most splen stoned who pretended to have a familiar spirit, or the spirit of div did temple, of which the preced-ination, Deut. 18:9-12; and the ing figure represents the front. This temple was 220 years in building, and was reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world. It was burnt in the year 356 B. C. by Herostratus, in order to immortalize his name; but was afterwards rebuilt with still greater splendor at the ex pense of all the Grecian states The "silver shrines for Diana," made by Demetrius, were probably miniature models of the temple at Ephesus, containing a small statue of the goddess, which were often carried about on journeys, &c. Acts 19:24, &c. DIONYSIUS, the Areopagite, or judge in the court of Areopagus, a convert of Paul, Acts 17: 34, and supposed to have been a citizen of Athens. Dionysius is fabled to have been made the first bishop of Athens, and after having labored and suffered much in the gospel, to have been burnt at Athens, A. D. 95. The works attributed to him are spu rious. DISCIPLE signifies in the N. T. a believer, a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. prophets are full of invectives against the Israelites who consulted such, as well as against false prophets, who seduced the people. See SORCERERS. Divination was of several kinds; by water, fire, earth, air; by the flight of birds, and their singing; by lots, dreams, arrows, &c. DIVORCE was tolerated by Moses, for sufficient reasons, Deut. 24:1-4; but our Lord has limited it to the single case of adultery. Matt. 5:31,32. DOCTOR OF THE LAW may, perhaps, be distinguished from scribe, as rather teaching orally, than giving written opinions. Luke 2:46. It is difficult, when the expression "counsel learned in the law" is used among us, to divest ourselves of the idea of the political law and its administration; but if we could waive that idea, and restrict the phrase to learned in the divine law, we should, probably, not be far from a just conception of what the doctors of the law were in Judea. Doctors of the law were mostly of the sect of the Pharisees; but are distinguished from that sect in Luke 5:17, where it appears that the novelty of our Sa DIVINATION. The eastern people were always fond of divination, magic, the art of interpreting dreams, and of acquir-viour's teaching drew together a ing a foreknowledge of futurity. great company both of Pharisees When Moses published the law, and doctors of the law. this disposition had long been DOGS were held in great concommon in Egypt and the neigh-tempt by the Jews; but were boring countries, and to correct worshipped, as well as cats, by the Israelites' inclination to con- the Egyptians. Among the Jews, sult diviners, wizards, fortune- to compare a person to a dog tellers, and interpreters was the most degrading expresdreams, it was forbidden them, sion possible. 1 Sam. 24:14. 2 under very severe penalties; Sam. 9:8. The state of dogs and the true spirit of prophecy among the Jews was the same as was promised to them as infinite- it now is in the East, where, havly superior. They were to be ing no owners, they run about the of streets in troops, and are fed by charity or caprice, or they live on such offal as they can pick up. The orientals, Mr. Harmer says, "do not suffer them in their houses, and even with care avoid touching them in the streets, which would be considered as a defilement. One would imagine, then, that, as dogs do not appear by any means to be necessary in their cities, however important they may be to those that feed flocks, there should be very few of these creatures found in those places. They are, notwithstanding, there in great numbers, and crowd the streets. They do not appear to belong to particular persons, as our dogs do, nor to be fed distinctly by such as might claim some interest in them, but get their food as they can. At the same time, people consider it as right to take some care of them, and charitable persons frequently give money every week or month, to butchers and bakers, to feed the dogs at stated times; and some leave legacies at their deaths, for the same purpose." Dogs in the East being thus left to prowl about without masters, and get their living general ly as they can, from the offals which are cast into the gutters, are often on the point of starvation; and then they devour corpses, and in the night even attack living men. Ps. 59:6,14, 15. 1 K. 14:11. DORCAS in Greek, the same as TABITHA in Syriac, i. e. gazelle, the name of a pious female at Joppa whom Peter raised from the dead. Acts 9:36. DOVES' DUNG. It is said, 2 K. 6:25, that during the siege of Samaria," the fourth part of a cab (little more than half a pint) of doves' dung was sold for five pieces of silver;" about two and a half dollars. It is well known that doves' dung is not a nourishment for man, even in the most extreme famine; and hence the general opinion is, that it was a kind of chick-pea, lentil, or tare, which has very much the appearance of doves' dung, whence it might be named. Great quantities of these are sold in Cairo, to the pilgrims going to Mecca; and at Damascus there are many shops where nothing else is done but preparing chickpeas. These, parched in a copper pan, and dried, are of great service to those who take long journeys. It may be, however, that the sacred writer means only to say, that the famine was so severe, and every thing so exorbitantly dear, that an instance occurred when an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, or $40; and a cab of doves' dung for $24. Such instances of famine have not been unknown also in Egypt. DOWRY. Nothing distinguishes more the nature of marriage among us in Europe, from the same connection when forming in the East, than the different methods of proceeding between the father-in-law and the intended bridegroom. Among us, the father usually gives a portion to his daughter, which becomes the property of her husband; and which often makes a considerable part of his wealth; but in the East, the bridegroom offers to the father of his bride a sum of money, or value to his satisfaction, before he can expect to receive his daughter in marriage. Of this procedure we have instances from the earliest times. When Jacob had nothing which he could immediately give for a wife, he purchased her by his services to her father Laban. Gen. 29:18. So in many other || awake, retained possession of his instances. Gen. 34:12, &c. DRAGON answers, in the English Bible, to the Hebrew word signifying a sea monster, huge serpent, &c. Thus in Deut. 32:33. Jer. 51:34, and Rev. c. 12, it evidently implies a huge serpent; in Ezek. 29:3, it may mean the crocodile, or any large sea-monster; while in Job 30:29, it seems to refer to some wild animal of the desert, most probably the jackal. The animal known to modern naturalists under the name of dragon, is a harmless species of lizard, found in Asia and Africa. God DREAM. The orientals, and in particular the Jews, greatly regarded dreams, and applied for their interpretation to those who undertook to explain them. || We see the antiquity of this custom in the history of Pharaoh's butler and baker, Gen. c. 40, and Pharaoh himself, and Nebuchadnezzar, are also instances. expressly forbade his people from observing dreams, and from consulting explainers of them. He condemned to death all who pretended to have prophetic dreams, and to foretell events, even though what they foretold came to pass, if they had any tendency to promote idolatry. Deut. 13:1 -3. But they were not forbidden, when they thought they had a significant dream, to address the prophets of the Lord, or the high-priest in his ephod, to have it explained. The Lord frequently discovered his will in dreams, and enabled persons to explain them. Dreams should be carefully distinguished from visions: the former occurred during sleep, and, therefore, were liable to much ambiguity and uncertainty; the latter, when the person, being natural powers and faculties. God spake to Abimelech in a dream, but to Abraham by vision. DRESSES, see GARMENTS. DROMEDARY, see under CAMEL. DRUSILLA, the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I. and sister of the younger Agrippa and of Bernice, celebrated for her beauty and infamous for her licentiousness. She was first espoused to Epiphanes, son of Antiochus, king of Comagena, on condition of his embracing the Jewish religion; but as he afterwards refused to be circumcised, Drusilla was given in marriage by her brother to Azizus, king of Emessa. When Felix came as governor of Judea, he persuaded her to abandon her husband and her religion, and become his wife. Paul bore testimony before them to the truth of the Christian religion. Acts 24:24. DUKE. This word, being a title of honor in use in Great Britain, and signifying a higher order of nobility, is apt to mislead the reader, who, in Gen. 36:15-43, finds a long list of dukes of Edom: but the word duke, from the Latin dux, merely signifies a leader or chief, and the word chief ought rather to have been preferred in our translation. 1 Chr. 1:51. DULCIMER, Dan. 3:5,10, an instrument of music, as is usually thought; but the original word, which is Greek, sumponya, i. e. symphony, renders it doubtful whether it really means a musical instrument, or a musical strain, chorus, or accompaniment of many voices, or instruments, in concert and harmony. The rabbins describe the sumponya of Daniel as a sort of bagpipe, composed of two pipes connected with a leathern sack, and of a harsh, screaming sound. Even at the present day, the common pipe, or shalm of the common people, (nearly resembling the hautboy,) is in Italy called zampogna, and in Asia Minor sambonya. The dulcimer, by which the Hebrew is improperly rendered in the English version, is an instrument of a triangular form, strung with about fifty wires, and struck with an iron [key, while lying on the table before the performer. It is confined mostly to puppet shows and itinerant musicians. E. EAGLE, a large and very || powerful bird of prey, hence called the king of birds. There are several species of eagle described by naturalists, and it is probable that this word in the Bible comprehends more than one of these. The largest and noblest species with which we are acquainted, is that called by Mr. Bruce," the golden eagle," and by the Ethiopians, "Abou Auch'n," or father long-beard, from a tuft of hair which grows below his beak. From wing to wing, this bird measures eight feet four inches; and from the tip of his tail to the point of his beak, when dead, four feet seven inches. Of all known birds, the eagle flies not only the highest, but also with the greatest rapidity. To this circumstance there are several striking allusions in the sacred volume. Among the evils threatened to the Israelites in case of their disobedience, the prophet names one in the following terms: “The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth." Deut. 28:49. The march of Nebuchadnezzar against DUMAH, a tribe and country of the Ishmaelites in Arabia. Gen. 25:14. Isa. 21:11. This is doubtless the same which is still called by the Arabs Duma the stony, the Syrian Duma, situated on the confines of the Arabian and Syrian desert, with a fortress. The eagle, it is said, lives to a great age; and like other birds of prey, sheds his feathers in the beginning of spring. After this season, he appears with fresh strength and vigor, and his old age assumes the appearance of youth. To this David alludes, when gratefully reviewing the mercies of Jehovah : "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." Psalm 103:5. The eagle is remarkable for his keen sight and scent. Like all birds of prey, the eagle was unclean to the Jews; and is never eaten by any body, unless in cases of necessity. EAR, EARING, an old agricultural term for ploughing. Thus, in Is. 30:24, it is said, "The oxen also, and the young asses which ear (i. e. plough) the ground." So also in Gen. 45:6. Ex. 34:21, &c. |