NAMES, CHARACTERISTICS, AND GLORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. Wrestlers, The spirits of just men made perfect, He. 12. 23. XIX-JESUS CHRIST-THE HOLY ONE. 2 Ti. 2. 8, 4. 1 Ti. 1. 18; 2 Co. 10. 3. Ep. 6. 12; Ge. 32. 24, 25. Ca. 6. 18. 1 Ti. 6. 12. Terrible as an army with banners, Ca. 6.10. Ac. 20. 32; He. 10. 14. Conquerors with God, He that sanctifieth, and they who are Sanctified through the offering of the body Sanctified by faith in Jesus, Sanctified by God the Father, Sanctified by the blood of the covenant, The spiritual, Redeemed from all iniquity, Purified to Himself, Zealous of good works, The saints, the excellent, God's delight, He. 2. 11. He. 10. 10. 1 Co. 1. 2. Ro. 15. 16. Jude 1. He. 10. 29. 1 Co. 6. 11. 2 Ti. 2. 21. Ep. 1. 4. Is. 62. 12. Gal. 6. 1. Tit. 2. 14. Ps. 16. 3. 2 Pe. 1. 21. Saints, Ps. 149. 1; Ro. 12. 13; 15. 26, 81; Col. 1. 2; Phile. 5; The saints of the Most High, My saints, who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice,. Ps. 50. 5. Ps. 30. 4. Peace in believing,, Col. 1. 12. Faultless before the presence of God's glory, Jude 24. Peace the fruit of the Spirit, Ph. 4. 7. Ro. 15. 13, 33. Peace from Him that is, was, and is to come, Peace in Christ, God hath called us to peace, Called unto His eternal glory, 1 Pe. 5. 10; Tit. 2. 13. Appearing with Him in glory, Ro. 8. 17. Col. 3. 4. Christ in them the hope of glory, Col. 1. 27. out all ages, world without end, Amen, Ep. 3. 21. XXIV.-JESUS CHRIST-THE JUDGE. Ps. 50. 3-6. Mat.24.31-40. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."-1 Cor. ii. 9, 10. THE JEWISH AND OTHER SECTS AND FACTIONS MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES, ABRIDGED FROM THE "COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE." THE PHARISERS most probably derived their name פרישין,peruahim, in the Chaldee dialect פרושים from perishin, and D. perishaya, and in Syriac, la, pherishai, which signifies persons who are separated from others; which name they assumed because they pretended to a more than ordinary sanctity, and strictness in religious observances. (Acts chap. xxvi. 6.) In the time of our Saviour, it would appear that the great mass of the common people, attracted by their exterior sanctity, their zeal, and their religious mysteries, were Pharisees. The leading distinction of character in this sect, however, arose from their holding the traditions of the elders; which they not only set upon an equal footing with the law of God, but, in many cases, explained away the latter by the former. The SADDUCEES most probably derive their name from Sadok, a pupil of Antigonus Sochæus, president of the great Sanhedrin about 260 years before Christ, who inculcated upon his scholars the duty of serving God out of pure love to him, and not in a servile manner, under the fear of punishment, or with the hope of reward. Sadok, misunderstanding this spiritual doctrine, concluded that there was no future state of rewards and punishments; and accordingly taught and propagated that error after his master's death. Hence they held, that "there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit" (Mat. xxii. 23. Ac. xxiii. 8), and that the soul perishes with the body at death: they rejected all traditions, adhering strictly to the letter of Scripture, but preferring the books of Moses; and they denied the superintending providence of God, and held that man enjoyed the most ample freedom of action, having the absolute power of doing either good or evil as he thought proper, and having his prosperity or adversity placed within his own control, being respectively the effects of his wisdom or folly. The ESSENES probably derive their name from the Syriac Lol, , eso, in Pacl, asi, to heal or cure; for PHILO calls those who lived a contemplative life epaTEνTα, Physicians, not because they studied physic, but because they applied themselves to the cure of the diseases of the soul. These Therapeuta were exceedingly abstemious in their diet, their food being plain and coarse, and their drink water. Their houses were mean; their clothes made of undyed wool, which they never changed till worn out; and they neglected all bodily ornaments, and would not so much as anoint themselves with oil. They lived in societies, and had all their goods in common; they were very exemplary in their morals; and were most rigid in their observance of the sabbath. They held, among other tenets, the immortality of the soul, (though they denied the resurrection,) the existence of angels, and a future state of rewards and punishments; and believed every thing to be ordered by an eternal fatality, or chain of causes. The STOICS were the followers of Zeno, and held that all human affairs were governed by fate: they denied the resurrection of the body, and the immortality of the soul, The EPICUREANS were the followers of Epicurus; who acknowledged no gods except in name, and denied that they exercised any government over the world; and held that the chief good consisted in the gratification of the appetites. They also denied the resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul. OF THE CHIEF POLITICAL FACTIONS The SAMARITANS, so called from the country they inhabited, which derived its name from the city of Samaria, were originally heathens, of various nations, to whom the king of Assyria gave the cities and lands of the Israelites after their captivity. When they first settled in the country, they practised only the idolatrous rites of the several nations whence they came; but afterwards they incorporated the worship of the true God with the several customs and modes of worship to which they had been accustomed; and while Jehovah was feared, because of his supposed influence in the land, all the other gods of the Babylonians, Cuthites, Hamathites, Avites, and Sepharvites, were paid divine honours. (2 Ki. xvii. 24, &c.) This monstrous mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God continued till after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity. The HERODIANS, rendered in the Syriac version, Li A, devaith herodes, "those of the house (i. e. the domestics) of Herod," most probably derived their name from Herod the Great; and were distinguished from the other Jews by concurring with Herod's scheme of subjecting himself and his dominions to the Romans; and likewise by complying with him in many heathen practices, such as erecting temples with images for idolatrous worship, building theatres, and instituting pagan games, and placing a golden eagle over the gate of the temple of Jehovah. This symbolising with idolatry, upon views of interest and worldly policy, was probably the leaven of Herod, against which our Lord cautioned his disciples. (Mar. viii. 15.) It is also probable, that the Herodians, in their doctrinal tenets, were chiefly of the sect of the Sadducees, who were the most indifferent to religion of any of the Jews; for that which is called by one evangelist, "the leaven of Herod,” (Mar. viii. 15,) is by another styled "the leaven of the Sadducees." (Mat. xvi. 6.) The GALILEANS, or Gaulonites, were a faction raised up and headed by Judas the Galilean, or Gaulonite, against the Roman government, on occasion of the tax which Augustus levied in Judea, when he reduced it to the form of a Roman province. He exhorted them to shake off this yoke, telling them that tribute was due to God alone, and consequently should not be paid to the Romans; and that religious liberty, and the authority of the divine laws, were to be defended by force of arms. The ZEALOTS, of which we read so much in JOSEPHUS'A account of the Jewish war, if not the followers of Judas, closely resembled them in their principles and practices. The SICARII, Zukapiot, rendered murderers, in Ac. xxi. 38, were properly assassins, who derived their name from their using poniards like the Roman sica, which they concealed under their garments, and with which thoy privately stabbed the objects of their malice. THE JEWISH AND OTHER MEASURES, WEIGHTS, AND COINS, MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES. I. THE names of the smaller Measures of length among the Hebrews have been borrowed from some of the members of the human body, as digit, handbreadth, or palm, span, foot, cubit. The following are the measures of length mentioned in Scripture: 1. The digit, or fingerbreadth, ya, etzba, is said to contain the breadth of six barleycorns, where thickest, and equal to 0.912 inch, or rather more than threefourths of an inch. 2. The handbreadth, or palm, D, tophach, is the width of a man's four fingers laid flat, i. e. four digits, or rather more than 34 inches. 3. The span, t, zereth, is the measure from the thumb to the little finger expanded, equal to three palms, or about 10 inches. 4. The cubit, DN, ammah, is the measure of a man's arm, from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger, equal to about 1 foot 8 inches; though some compute it at 1 foot 9 inches, and others at 1 foot 6 inches, or even less. 5. The fathom, apyvia, is the distance between the hands stretched out, including the breast, equal to four cubits, or about 6 feet 8 inches. 6. The reed, p, kaneh, was six cubits and a handbreadth, or about 10 feet 10 inches. 7. The stadium, oradiov, contained 400 cubits, or about 145 paces, nearly equal to a furlong, or the eighth part of an English mile. 8. A mile, uλtov, so called from mille, a thousand, contained in the East 10 stadia, or about one-fifth more than an English mile. II. Of Measures of capacity, some of which were for liquids, and some for things dry, the following are mentioned in Scripture: 1. The log,, the smallest measure for liquids, was one-fourth of a cab, and one-seventy-second of an ephah, about three-fourths of a pint. 2. The cab, p, kaßos, was one-sixth of a seah, and contained 24 eggs, or 33 pints English. 3. The omer, y, was a measure for things dry (Ex. xvi. 36), about 6 pints English. 4. The hin, , was a measure of liquids (Ex. xxix. 40; xxxx. 24, &c.), equal to two Attic choas, i. e. one gallon and a half English. 5. The seah, ND, or σatov, was a measure of things dry, containing of an ephah, and equal to about two gallons and a half English. 6. The ephah, 15, was a measure of dry things, containing three sæta, or seahs, equal to about 7 gallons and a half English. 7. The bath, na, or Baros (Lu. xvi. 6), was a measure of liquids, of the same capacity as the ephah, "the tenth part of an homer" (Eze. xlv. 14). 8. The lethech,, was a measure of dry things, and contained fifteen seahs, as EPIPHANIUS states, equal to 16 pecks English. 9. The homer, or chomer,, a measure of dry things, contained ten ephahs (Eze. xlv. 11), equal to 32 pecks, 1 pint, English. 10. The cor,, or kopos, was a measure both for liquids and solids, of the same capacity as the homer (Eze. xlv. 14. Lu, xvi. 7). BESIDES these measures, peculiar to the Hebrews, there are three others mentioned in the New Testament, belonging to other nations. 1. The sextarius, or feorns, rendered a pot (Mar. vii. 4), was a Roman measure of liquids, equal to about a pint and a half English. 2. The chanix, xowik, rendered a measure (Re. vi. 6), was a Grecian measure of capacity, about a pint and a half, corn-measure. 3. The metretes, μeтρηrns, rendered firkin (Jno. ii. 6), is supposed to be equal to the Hebrew bath, i. e. about seven gallons and a half. III. As the Hebrew Coins were originally Weights, and as it is by their respective weight that their value is ascertained, it will be necessary to treat of both at once. 1. The gerah,, rendered a piece of money, was onetwentieth of a shekel (Ex. xxx. 13), weighing nearly 11 grains, in value about ltd. 2. The beka, ypa, was a half shekel (Ge. xxiv. 22. Ex. xviii. 26), weighing about 4 dwt. 131 grains, in value rather more than 1s. 1d. 3. The shekel, pw, according to which all the other weights and coins are computed, has been variously estimated at from 218 grains and four-sevenths to 273 grains and three-fifths; and consequently in value from 28.3d. to 38. Bp. CUMBERLAND states that the weight of the shekel was half a Roman ounce, or 219 grains, Troy weight; according to which, supposing the value of silver to be five shillings an ounce, its value in English money must be 28. 3d., for which fraction, we may, for convenience in computation, use, the difference being only little more than one-fifth of a farthing. 4. The maneh, , or mina, in gold was equal in weight to 100 shekels (comp. 1 Ki. x. 17 with 2 Ch. ix. 17), or about 3lb. 9 oz. 1'dwt. 3 grains; and consequently, reckoning gold at 4 an ounce, was in value rather more than £180. But, in silver, it weighed only 60 shekels (Eze. xlv. 12), or 2lb. 3 oz. 7 dwt. 12 grains; and as a coin it was only equal to 50 shekels, or about 5 148. 5. The talent,, kikkar, weighed 3000 shekels, or 114 lb. 15 dwt.; and was in value about £342 38. 9d. BESIDES these coins, proper to the Hebrew nation, the following Greek and Roman coins are mentioned in the New Testament: 1. The mite, or AETTоv, called by the later Jews DINE, peruta, the eighth, i. e. of an assarium, was equal to half a quadrans (Mar. xi. 42), or about three-eighths of a farthing. 2. The farthing, кodрavтns, or quadrans, so called from quatuor, four, was a Roman brass coin, in value about three-fourths of a farthing. 3. The assarium, aσoapiov, or as, rendered a farthing (Mat. x. 29), and called by the Rabbins D', isor, who say that it contained eight mites, was equal to the tenth part of a denarius, about 3 farthings and one-tenth of our money. 4. The penny, or denarius, dnvaptov, so called because in ancient times it consisted denis assibus, of ten asses, was a Roman silver coin, equal to about 74d. of our money. 5. The drachma, Spayun, of Attica, was equal in value to the Roman denarius (Lu. xv. 8). 6. The didrachma, dispaɣpov, or double drachm, rendered by our translators tribute money (Mat. xvii. 24), was consequently equal to 18. 3jd. 7. The stater, σTarp, a Grecian coin, was, as appears from Mat. xvij. 27, equal in value to two didrachmas, or four Attic drachms, and consequently to 2s. 78. JEWISH CALENDAR. The CIVIL year, from which the Jews "computed their jubilees, dated all contracts, and noted the birth of children and the reigns of kings." The ECCLESIASTICAL, or SACRED year, from which the festivals were computed. This mode of reckoning is the one generally adopted by the sacred writers. The following table shows the correspondence of both the civil and sacred calendars with The Hebrew months being lunar ones of twenty-nine and thirty days each, their year was eleven days shorter than ours, and therefore the several divisions of each could not precisely coincide. This deficiency of eleven days was compensated for by adding a thirteenth month every three years. This supplementary month they called Ve-Adar. Their day was twofold: the natural, consisting of twenty-four hours, which commenced at sunset, and the artificial, beginning at sunrise, and ending at sunset, which was divided into twelve equal parts, or hours. See John xi. 9. Their night was divided into four parts or watches, each consisting of three hours. The first began at sunset; the second at nine o'clock; the third at midnight; the fourth at three in the morning, and continued until sunrise. Their artificial day was divided into four equal parts. The first began at sunrise, and continued until nine o'clock; the second began at nine, and continued till noon; the third began at noon, and ended at three in the afternoon (which is sometimes termed the ninth hour); the fourth began at three, and continued till sunset. Six seasons appear to have been recognised. They are enumerated in Genesis viii. 22. They may be compared with our months, as follows: 1. SEED-TIME, middle of October to middle of December. In the beginning of our year, therefore, we find ourselves advanced about a fortnight into the Jewish season of winter.-Bible Months, by W. H. GROSER, B. Sc., published by the Sunday School Union. TABLES OF MEASURES, WEIGHTS, AND COINS, CHIEFLY DERIVED FROM DR. ARBUTHNOT'S TABLES. 5. GREEK AND ROMAN MONEY REDUCED TO ENGLISH. & Mite (λeπrov), about 4 | As (aσσapiov), or farthing 8 80 The Italian mina, or Roman libra or pound, was ninety-six denarii, equal to Note. In the preceding Tables, silver is valued at 58. and gold at 44 per oz. 6. JEWISH MEASURES FOR THINGS LIQUID. N00000 0 10.38 4 133 9 8 8 114 7 12 15 0 193 15 0 0 0 0 10000-24D 20 |