Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/eastons/t0002700

Text File | 1993-10-09 | 33KB | 723 lines

$$T0002700
\Nehushtan\
of copper; a brazen thing a name of contempt given to the
serpent Moses had made in the wilderness (Num. 21:8), and which
Hezekiah destroyed because the children of Israel began to
regard it as an idol and "burn incense to it." The lapse of
nearly one thousand years had invested the "brazen serpent" with
a mysterious sanctity; and in order to deliver the people from
their infatuation, and impress them with the idea of its
worthlessness, Hezekiah called it, in contempt, "Nehushtan," a
brazen thing, a mere piece of brass (2 Kings 18:4).

$$T0002701
\Neiel\
dwelling-place of God, a town in the territory of Asher, near
its southern border (Josh. 19:27). It has been identified with
the ruin Y'anin, near the outlet of the Wady esh Sha-ghur, less
than 2 miles north of Kabul, and 16 miles east of Caesarea.

$$T0002702
\Nekeb\
cavern, a town on the boundary of Naphtali (Josh. 19:33). It has
with probability, been identified with Seiyadeh, nearly 2 miles
east of Bessum, a ruin half way between Tiberias and Mount
Tabor.

$$T0002703
\Nemuel\
day of God. (1.) One of Simeon's five sons (1 Chr. 4:24), called
also Jemuel (Gen. 46:10). (2.) A Reubenite, a son of Eliab, and
brother of Dathan and Abiram (Num. 26:9).

$$T0002704
\Nephilim\
(Gen. 6:4; Num. 13:33, R.V.), giants, the Hebrew word left
untranslated by the Revisers, the name of one of the Canaanitish
tribes. The Revisers have, however, translated the Hebrew
gibborim, in Gen. 6:4, "mighty men."

$$T0002705
\Nephtoah\
opened, a fountain and a stream issuing from it on the border
between Judah and Benjamin (Josh. 15:8, 9; 18:15). It has been
identified with 'Ain Lifta, a spring about 2 1/2 miles
north-west of Jerusalem. Others, however, have identified it
with 'Ain' Atan, on the south-west of Bethlehem, whence water is
conveyed through "Pilate's aqueduct" to the Haram area at
Jerusalem.

$$T0002706
\Ner\
light, the father of Kish (1 Chr. 8:33). 1 Sam. 14:51 should be
read, "Kish, the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner,
were the sons of Abiel." And hence this Kish and Ner were
brothers, and Saul and Abner were first cousins (comp. 1 Chr.
9:36).

$$T0002707
\Nereus\
a Christian at Rome to whom Paul sent his salutation (Rom.
16:15).

$$T0002708
\Nergal\
the great dog; that is, lion, one of the chief gods of the
Assyrians and Babylonians (2 Kings 17:30), the god of war and
hunting. He is connected with Cutha as its tutelary deity.

$$T0002709
\Nergal-sharezer\
Nergal, protect the king! (1.) One of the "princes of the king
of Babylon who accompanied him in his last expedition against
Jerusalem" (Jer. 39:3, 13).

  (2.) Another of the "princes," who bore the title of "Rabmag."
He was one of those who were sent to release Jeremiah from
prison (Jer. 39:13) by "the captain of the guard." He was a
Babylonian grandee of high rank. From profane history and the
inscriptions, we are led to conclude that he was the Neriglissar
who murdered Evil-merodach, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, and
succeeded him on the throne of Babylon (B.C. 559-556). He was
married to a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. The ruins of a palace,
the only one on the right bank of the Euphrates, bear
inscriptions denoting that it was built by this king. He was
succeeded by his son, a mere boy, who was murdered after a reign
of some nine months by a conspiracy of the nobles, one of whom,
Nabonadius, ascended the vacant throne, and reigned for a period
of seventeen years (B.C. 555-538), at the close of which period
Babylon was taken by Cyrus. Belshazzar, who comes into notice in
connection with the taking of Babylon, was by some supposed to
have been the same as Nabonadius, who was called
Nebuchadnezzar's son (Dan. 5:11, 18, 22), because he had married
his daughter. But it is known from the inscriptions that
Nabonadius had a son called Belshazzar, who may have been his
father's associate on the throne at the time of the fall of
Babylon, and who therefore would be the grandson of
Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews had only one word, usually rendered
"father," to represent also such a relationship as that of
"grandfather" or "great-grandfather."

$$T0002710
\Nero\
occurs only in the superscription (which is probably spurious,
and is altogether omitted in the R.V.) to the Second Epistle to
Timothy. He became emperor of Rome when he was about seventeen
years of age (A.D. 54), and soon began to exhibit the character
of a cruel tyrant and heathen debauchee. In May A.D. 64, a
terrible conflagration broke out in Rome, which raged for six
days and seven nights, and totally destroyed a great part of the
city. The guilt of this fire was attached to him at the time,
and the general verdict of history accuses him of the crime.
"Hence, to suppress the rumour," says Tacitus (Annals, xv. 44),
"he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished with the most
exquisite tortures, the persons commonly called Christians, who
are hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of that
name, was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate,
procurator of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius; but the
pernicious superstition, repressed for a time, broke out again,
not only throughout Judea, where the mischief originated, but
through the city of Rome also, whither all things horrible and
disgraceful flow, from all quarters, as to a common receptacle,
and where they are encouraged. Accordingly, first three were
seized, who confessed they were Christians. Next, on their
information, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much on the
charge of burning the city as of hating the human race. And in
their deaths they were also made the subjects of sport; for they
were covered with the hides of wild beasts and worried to death
by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and, when day
declined, burned to serve for nocturnal lights. Nero offered his
own gardens for that spectacle, and exhibited a Circensian game,
indiscriminately mingling with the common people in the habit of
a charioteer, or else standing in his chariot; whence a feeling
of compassion arose toward the sufferers, though guilty and
deserving to be made examples of by capital punishment, because
they seemed not to be cut off for the public good, but victims
to the ferocity of one man." Another Roman historian, Suetonius
(Nero, xvi.), says of him: "He likewise inflicted punishments on
the Christians, a sort of people who hold a new and impious
superstition" (Forbes's Footsteps of St. Paul, p. 60).

  Nero was the emperor before whom Paul was brought on his first
imprisonment at Rome, and the apostle is supposed to have
suffered martyrdom during this persecution. He is repeatedly
alluded to in Scripture (Acts 25:11; Phil. 1:12, 13; 4:22). He
died A.D. 68.

$$T0002711
\Net\
in use among the Hebrews for fishing, hunting, and fowling. The
fishing-net was probably constructed after the form of that used
by the Egyptians (Isa. 19:8). There were three kinds of nets.
(1.) The drag-net or hauling-net (Gr. sagene), of great size,
and requiring many men to work it. It was usually let down from
the fishing-boat, and then drawn to the shore or into the boat,
as circumstances might require (Matt. 13:47, 48). (2.) The
hand-net or casting-net (Gr. amphiblestron), which was thrown
from a rock or a boat at any fish that might be seen (Matt.
4:18; Mark 1:16). It was called by the Latins funda. It was of
circular form, "like the top of a tent." (3.) The bag-net (Gr.
diktyon), used for enclosing fish in deep water (Luke 5:4-9).

  The fowling-nets were (1) the trap, consisting of a net spread
over a frame, and supported by a stick in such a way that it
fell with the slightest touch (Amos 3:5, "gin;" Ps. 69:22; Job
18:9; Eccl. 9:12). (2) The snare, consisting of a cord to catch
birds by the leg (Job 18:10; Ps. 18:5; 116:3; 140:5). (3.) The
decoy, a cage filled with birds as decoys (Jer. 5:26, 27).
Hunting-nets were much in use among the Hebrews.

$$T0002712
\Nethaneel\
given of God. (1.) The son of Zuar, chief of the tribe of
Issachar at the Exodus (Num. 1:8; 2:5).

  (2.) One of David's brothers (1 Chr. 2:14).

  (3.) A priest who blew the trumpet before the ark when it was
brought up to Jerusalem (1 Chr. 15:24).

  (4.) A Levite (1 Chr. 24:6).

  (5.) A temple porter, of the family of the Korhites (1 Chr.
26:4).

  (6.) One of the "princes" appointed by Jehoshaphat to teach
the law through the cities of Judah (2 Chr. 17:7).

  (7.) A chief Levite in the time of Josiah (2 Chr. 35:9).

  (8.) Ezra 10:22.

  (9.) Neh. 12:21.

  (10.) A priest's son who bore a trumpet at the dedication of
the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 12:36).

$$T0002713
\Nethaniah\
given of Jehovah. (1.) One of Asaph's sons, appointed by David
to minister in the temple (1 Chr. 25:2, 12).

  (2.) A Levite sent by Jehoshaphat to teach the law (2 Chr.
17:8).

  (3.) Jer. 36:14.

  (4.) 2 Kings 25:23, 25.

$$T0002714
\Nethinim\
the name given to the hereditary temple servants in all the
post-Exilian books of Scripture. The word means given, i.e.,
"those set apart", viz., to the menial work of the sanctuary for
the Levites. The name occurs seventeen times, and in each case
in the Authorized Version incorrectly terminates in "s",
"Nethinims;" in the Revised Version, correctly without the "s"
(Ezra 2:70; 7:7, 24; 8:20, etc.). The tradition is that the
Gibeonites (Josh. 9:27) were the original caste, afterwards
called Nethinim. Their numbers were added to afterwards from
captives taken in battle; and they were formally given by David
to the Levites (Ezra 8:20), and so were called Nethinim, i.e.,
the given ones, given to the Levites to be their servants. Only
612 Nethinim returned from Babylon (Ezra 2:58; 8:20). They were
under the control of a chief from among themselves (2:43; Neh.
7:46). No reference to them appears in the New Testament,
because it is probable that they became merged in the general
body of the Jewish people.

$$T0002715
\Netophah\
distillation; dropping, a town in Judah, in the neighbourhood,
probably, of Bethlehem (Neh. 7:26; 1 Chr. 2:54). Two of David's
guards were Netophathites (1 Chr. 27:13, 15). It has been
identified with the ruins of Metoba, or Um Toba, to the
north-east of Bethlehem.

$$T0002716
\Nettle\
(1.) Heb. haral, "pricking" or "burning," Prov. 24:30, 31 (R.V.
marg., "wild vetches"); Job 30:7; Zeph. 2:9. Many have supposed
that some thorny or prickly plant is intended by this word, such
as the bramble, the thistle, the wild plum, the cactus or
prickly pear, etc. It may probably be a species of mustard, the
Sinapis arvensis, which is a pernicious weed abounding in
corn-fields. Tristram thinks that this word "designates the
prickly acanthus (Acanthus spinosus), a very common and
troublesome weed in the plains of Palestine."

  (2.) Heb. qimmosh, Isa. 34:13; Hos. 9:6; Prov. 24:31 (in both
versions, "thorns"). This word has been regarded as denoting
thorns, thistles, wild camomile; but probably it is correctly
rendered "nettle," the Urtica pilulifera, "a tall and vigorous
plant, often 6 feet high, the sting of which is much more severe
and irritating than that of our common nettle."

$$T0002717
\New Moon, Feast of\
Special services were appointed for the commencement of a month
(Num. 28:11-15; 10:10). (See FESTIVALS »T0001325.)

$$T0002718
\New Testament\
(Luke 22:20), rather "New Covenant," in contrast to the old
covenant of works, which is superseded. "The covenant of grace
is called new; it succeeds to the old broken covenant of works.
It is ever fresh, flourishing, and excellent; and under the
gospel it is dispensed in a more clear, spiritual, extensive,
and powerful manner than of old" (Brown of Haddington). Hence is
derived the name given to the latter portion of the Bible. (See
TESTAMENT »T0003623.)

$$T0002719
\Neziah\
victory; pure, Ezra 2:54; Neh. 7:56.

$$T0002720
\Nezib\
a town in the "plain" of Judah. It has been identified with Beit
Nuzib, about 14 miles south-west of Jerusalem, in the Wady Sur
(Josh. 15:43).

$$T0002721
\Nibhaz\
barker, the name of an idol, supposed to be an evil demon of the
Zabians. It was set up in Samaria by the Avites (2 Kings 17:31),
probably in the form of a dog.

$$T0002722
\Nibshan\
fertile; light soil, a city somewhere "in the wilderness" of
Judah (Josh. 15:62), probably near Engedi.

$$T0002723
\Nicanor\
conqueror, one of the seven deacons appointed in the apostolic
Church (Acts 6:1-6). Nothing further is known of him.

$$T0002724
\Nicodemus\
the people is victor, a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin.
He is first noticed as visiting Jesus by night (John 3:1-21) for
the purpose of learning more of his doctrines, which our Lord
then unfolded to him, giving prominence to the necessity of
being "born again." He is next met with in the Sanhedrin
(7:50-52), where he protested against the course they were
taking in plotting against Christ. Once more he is mentioned as
taking part in the preparation for the anointing and burial of
the body of Christ (John 19:39). We hear nothing more of him.
There can be little doubt that he became a true disciple.

$$T0002725
\Nicolaitanes\
The church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:6) is commended for hating the
"deeds" of the Nicolaitanes, and the church of Pergamos is
blamed for having them who hold their "doctrines" (15). They
were seemingly a class of professing Christians, who sought to
introduce into the church a false freedom or licentiousness,
thus abusing Paul's doctrine of grace (comp. 2 Pet. 2:15, 16,
19), and were probably identical with those who held the
doctrine of Baalam (q.v.), Rev. 2:14.

$$T0002726
\Nicolas\
the victory of the people, a proselyte of Antioch, one of the
seven deacons (Acts 6:5).

$$T0002727
\Nicopolis\
city of victory, where Paul intended to winter (Titus 3:12).
There were several cities of this name. The one here referred to
was most probably that in Epirus, which was built by Augustus
Caesar to commemorate his victory at the battle of Actium (B.C.
31). It is the modern Paleoprevesa, i.e., "Old Prevesa." The
subscription to the epistle to Titus calls it "Nicopolis of
Macedonia", i.e., of Thrace. This is, however, probably
incorrect.

$$T0002728
\Niger\
black, a surname of Simeon (Acts 13:1). He was probably so
called from his dark complexion.

$$T0002729
\Night-hawk\
(Heb. tahmas) occurs only in the list of unclean birds (Lev.
11:16; Deut. 14:15). This was supposed to be the night-jar
(Caprimulgus), allied to the swifts. The Hebrew word is derived
from a root meaning "to scratch or tear the face," and may be
best rendered, in accordance with the ancient versions, "an owl"
(Strix flammea). The Revised Version renders "night-hawk."

$$T0002730
\Nile\
dark; blue, not found in Scripture, but frequently referred to
in the Old Testament under the name of Sihor, i.e., "the black
stream" (Isa. 23:3; Jer. 2:18) or simply "the river" (Gen. 41:1;
Ex. 1:22, etc.) and the "flood of Egypt" (Amos 8:8). It consists
of two rivers, the White Nile, which takes its rise in the
Victoria Nyanza, and the Blue Nile, which rises in the
Abyssinian Mountains. These unite at the town of Khartoum,
whence it pursues its course for 1,800 miles, and falls into the
Mediterranean through its two branches, into which it is divided
a few miles north of Cairo, the Rosetta and the Damietta branch.
(See EGYPT »T0001137.)

$$T0002731
\Nimrah\
pure, a city on the east of Jordan (Num. 32:3); probably the
same as Beth-nimrah (Josh. 13:27). It has been identified with
the Nahr Nimrin, at one of the fords of Jordan, not far from
Jericho.

$$T0002732
\Nimrim, Waters of\
the stream of the leopards, a stream in Moab (Isa. 15:6; Jer.
48:34); probably the modern Wady en-Nemeirah, a rich, verdant
spot at the south-eastern end of the Dead Sea.

$$T0002733
\Nimrod\
firm, a descendant of Cush, the son of Ham. He was the first who
claimed to be a "mighty one in the earth." Babel was the
beginning of his kingdom, which he gradually enlarged (Gen.
10:8-10). The "land of Nimrod" (Micah 5:6) is a designation of
Assyria or of Shinar, which is a part of it.

$$T0002734
\Nimshi\
saved. Jehu was "the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi" (2
Kings 9:2; comp. 1 Kings 19:16).

$$T0002735
\Nineveh\
First mentioned in Gen. 10:11, which is rendered in the Revised
Version, "He [i.e., Nimrod] went forth into Assyria and builded
Nineveh." It is not again noticed till the days of Jonah, when
it is described (Jonah 3:3; 4:11) as a great and populous city,
the flourishing capital of the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 19:36;
Isa. 37:37). The book of the prophet Nahum is almost exclusively
taken up with prophetic denunciations against this city. Its
ruin and utter desolation are foretold (Nah.1:14; 3:19, etc.).
Zephaniah also (2:13-15) predicts its destruction along with the
fall of the empire of which it was the capital. From this time
there is no mention of it in Scripture till it is named in
gospel history (Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32).

  This "exceeding great city" lay on the eastern or left bank of
the river Tigris, along which it stretched for some 30 miles,
having an average breadth of 10 miles or more from the river
back toward the eastern hills. This whole extensive space is now
one immense area of ruins. Occupying a central position on the
great highway between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean,
thus uniting the East and the West, wealth flowed into it from
many sources, so that it became the greatest of all ancient
cities.

  About B.C. 633 the Assyrian empire began to show signs of
weakness, and Nineveh was attacked by the Medes, who
subsequently, about B.C. 625, being joined by the Babylonians
and Susianians, again attacked it, when it fell, and was razed
to the ground. The Assyrian empire then came to an end, the
Medes and Babylonians dividing its provinces between them.
"After having ruled for more than six hundred years with hideous
tyranny and violence, from the Caucasus and the Caspian to the
Persian Gulf, and from beyond the Tigris to Asia Minor and
Egypt, it vanished like a dream" (Nah. 2:6-11). Its end was
strange, sudden, tragic. It was God's doing, his judgement on
Assyria's pride (Isa. 10:5-19).

  Forty years ago our knowledge of the great Assyrian empire and
of its magnificent capital was almost wholly a blank. Vague
memories had indeed survived of its power and greatness, but
very little was definitely known about it. Other cities which
had perished, as Palmyra, Persepolis, and Thebes, had left ruins
to mark their sites and tell of their former greatness; but of
this city, imperial Nineveh, not a single vestige seemed to
remain, and the very place on which it had stood was only matter
of conjecture. In fulfilment of prophecy, God made "an utter end
of the place." It became a "desolation."

  In the days of the Greek historian Herodotus, B.C. 400, it had
become a thing of the past; and when Xenophon the historian
passed the place in the "Retreat of the Ten Thousand," the very
memory of its name had been lost. It was buried out of sight,
and no one knew its grave. It is never again to rise from its
ruins.

  At length, after being lost for more than two thousand years,
the city was disentombed. A little more than forty years ago the
French consul at Mosul began to search the vast mounds that lay
along the opposite bank of the river. The Arabs whom he employed
in these excavations, to their great surprise, came upon the
ruins of a building at the mound of Khorsabad, which, on further
exploration, turned out to be the royal palace of Sargon, one of
the Assyrian kings. They found their way into its extensive
courts and chambers, and brought forth form its hidded depths
many wonderful sculptures and other relics of those ancient
times.

  The work of exploration has been carried on almost
continuously by M. Botta, Sir Henry Layard, George Smith, and
others, in the mounds of Nebi-Yunus, Nimrud, Koyunjik, and
Khorsabad, and a vast treasury of specimens of old Assyrian art
has been exhumed. Palace after palace has been discovered, with
their decorations and their sculptured slabs, revealing the life
and manners of this ancient people, their arts of war and peace,
the forms of their religion, the style of their architecture,
and the magnificence of their monarchs. The streets of the city
have been explored, the inscriptions on the bricks and tablets
and sculptured figures have been read, and now the secrets of
their history have been brought to light.

  One of the most remarkable of recent discoveries is that of
the library of King Assur-bani-pal, or, as the Greek historians
call him, Sardanapalos, the grandson of Sennacherib (q.v.). (See
ASNAPPER »T0000347.) This library consists of about ten thousand
flat bricks or tablets, all written over with Assyrian
characters. They contain a record of the history, the laws, and
the religion of Assyria, of the greatest value. These strange
clay leaves found in the royal library form the most valuable of
all the treasuries of the literature of the old world. The
library contains also old Accadian documents, which are the
oldest extant documents in the world, dating as far back as
probably about the time of Abraham. (See SARGON »T0003227.)

  "The Assyrian royalty is, perhaps, the most luxurious of our
century [reign of Assur-bani-pa]...Its victories and conquests,
uninterrupted for one hundred years, have enriched it with the
spoil of twenty peoples. Sargon has taken what remained to the
Hittites; Sennacherib overcame Chaldea, and the treasures of
Babylon were transferred to his coffers; Esarhaddon and
Assur-bani-pal himself have pillaged Egypt and her great cities,
Sais, Memphis, and Thebes of the hundred gates...Now foreign
merchants flock into Nineveh, bringing with them the most
valuable productions from all countries, gold and perfume from
South Arabia and the Chaldean Sea, Egyptian linen and
glass-work, carved enamels, goldsmiths' work, tin, silver,
Phoenician purple; cedar wood from Lebanon, unassailable by
worms; furs and iron from Asia Minor and Armenia" (Ancient Egypt
and Assyria, by G. Maspero, page 271).

  The bas-reliefs, alabaster slabs, and sculptured monuments
found in these recovered palaces serve in a remarkable manner to
confirm the Old Testament history of the kings of Israel. The
appearance of the ruins shows that the destruction of the city
was due not only to the assailing foe but also to the flood and
the fire, thus confirming the ancient prophecies concerning it.
"The recent excavations," says Rawlinson, "have shown that fire
was a great instrument in the destruction of the Nineveh
palaces. Calcined alabaster, charred wood, and charcoal,
colossal statues split through with heat, are met with in parts
of the Nineveh mounds, and attest the veracity of prophecy."

  Nineveh in its glory was (Jonah 3:4) an "exceeding great city
of three days' journey", i.e., probably in circuit. This would
give a circumference of about 60 miles. At the four corners of
an irregular quadrangle are the ruins of Kouyunjik, Nimrud,
Karamless and Khorsabad. These four great masses of ruins, with
the whole area included within the parallelogram they form by
lines drawn from the one to the other, are generally regarded as
composing the whole ruins of Nineveh.

$$T0002736
\Nisan\
month of flowers, (Neh. 2:1) the first month of the Jewish
sacred year. (See ABIB »T0000026.) Assyrian nisannu,
"beginning."

$$T0002737
\Nisroch\
probably connected with the Hebrew word _nesher_, an eagle. An
Assyrian god, supposed to be that represented with the head of
an eagle. Sennacherib was killed in the temple of this idol (2
Kings 19:37; Isa. 37:38).

$$T0002738
\Nitre\
(Prov. 25:20; R.V. marg., "soda"), properly "natron," a
substance so called because, rising from the bottom of the Lake
Natron in Egypt, it becomes dry and hard in the sun, and is the
soda which effervesces when vinegar is poured on it. It is a
carbonate of soda, not saltpetre, which the word generally
denotes (Jer. 2:22; R.V. "lye").

$$T0002739
\No\
or No-A'mon, the home of Amon, the name of Thebes, the ancient
capital of what is called the Middle Empire, in Upper or
Southern Egypt. "The multitude of No" (Jer. 46:25) is more
correctly rendered, as in the Revised Version, "Amon of No",
i.e., No, where Jupiter Amon had his temple. In Ezek. 30:14, 16
it is simply called "No;" but in ver. 15 the name has the Hebrew
Hamon prefixed to it, "Hamon No." This prefix is probably the
name simply of the god usually styled Amon or Ammon. In Nah. 3:8
the "populous No" of the Authorized Version is in the Revised
Version correctly rendered "No-Amon."

  It was the Diospolis or Thebes of the Greeks, celebrated for
its hundred gates and its vast population. It stood on both
sides of the Nile, and is by some supposed to have included
Karnak and Luxor. In grandeur and extent it can only be compared
to Nineveh. It is mentioned only in the prophecies referred to,
which point to its total destruction. It was first taken by the
Assyrians in the time of Sargon (Isa. 20). It was afterwards
"delivered into the hand" of Nebuchadnezzar and Assurbani-pal
(Jer. 46:25, 26). Cambyses, king of the Persians (B.C. 525),
further laid it waste by fire. Its ruin was completed (B.C. 81)
by Ptolemy Lathyrus. The ruins of this city are still among the
most notable in the valley of the Nile. They have formed a great
storehouse of interesting historic remains for more than two
thousand years. "As I wandered day after day with ever-growing
amazement amongst these relics of ancient magnificence, I felt
that if all the ruins in Europe, classical, Celtic, and
medieval, were brought together into one centre, they would fall
far short both in extent and grandeur of those of this single
Egyptian city." Manning, The Land of the Pharaohs.

$$T0002740
\Noadiah\
meeting with the Lord. (1.) A Levite who returned from Babylon
(Ezra 8:33).

  (2.) A false prophetess who assisted Tobiah and Sanballat
against the Jews (Neh. 6:14). Being bribed by them, she tried to
stir up discontent among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and so to
embarrass Nehemiah in his great work of rebuilding the ruined
walls of the city.

$$T0002741
\Noah\
rest, (Heb. Noah) the grandson of Methuselah (Gen. 5:25-29), who
was for two hundred and fifty years contemporary with Adam, and
the son of Lamech, who was about fifty years old at the time of
Adam's death. This patriarch is rightly regarded as the
connecting link between the old and the new world. He is the
second great progenitor of the human family.

  The words of his father Lamech at his birth (Gen. 5:29) have
been regarded as in a sense prophetical, designating Noah as a
type of Him who is the true "rest and comfort" of men under the
burden of life (Matt.11:28).

  He lived five hundred years, and then there were born unto him
three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Gen. 5:32). He was a "just
man and perfect in his generation," and "walked with God" (comp.
Ezek. 14:14,20). But now the descendants of Cain and of Seth
began to intermarry, and then there sprang up a race
distinguished for their ungodliness. Men became more and more
corrupt, and God determined to sweep the earth of its wicked
population (Gen. 6:7). But with Noah God entered into a
covenant, with a promise of deliverance from the threatened
deluge (18). He was accordingly commanded to build an ark
(6:14-16) for the saving of himself and his house. An interval
of one hundred and twenty years elapsed while the ark was being
built (6:3), during which Noah bore constant testimony against
the unbelief and wickedness of that generation (1 Pet. 3:18-20;
2 Pet. 2:5).

  When the ark of "gopher-wood" (mentioned only here) was at
length completed according to the command of the Lord, the
living creatures that were to be preserved entered into it; and
then Noah and his wife and sons and daughters-in-law entered it,
and the "Lord shut him in" (Gen.7:16). The judgment-threatened
now fell on the guilty world, "the world that then was, being
overflowed with water, perished" (2 Pet. 3:6). The ark floated
on the waters for one hundred and fifty days, and then rested on
the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:3,4); but not for a considerable
time after this was divine permission given him to leave the
ark, so that he and his family were a whole year shut up within
it (Gen. 6-14).

  On leaving the ark Noah's first act was to erect an altar, the
first of which there is any mention, and offer the sacrifices of
adoring thanks and praise to God, who entered into a covenant
with him, the first covenant between God and man, granting him
possession of the earth by a new and special charter, which
remains in force to the present time (Gen. 8:21-9:17). As a sign
and witness of this covenant, the rainbow was adopted and set
apart by God, as a sure pledge that never again would the earth
be destroyed by a flood.

  But, alas! Noah after this fell into grievous sin (Gen. 9:21);
and the conduct of Ham on this sad occasion led to the memorable
prediction regarding his three sons and their descendants. Noah
"lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years, and he
died" (28:29). (See DELUGE »T0001011).

  Noah, motion, (Heb. No'ah) one of the five daughters of
Zelophehad (Num.26:33; 27:1; 36:11; Josh. 17:3).

$$T0002742
\Nob\
high place, a city of the priests, first mentioned in the
history of David's wanderings (1 Sam. 21:1). Here the tabernacle
was then standing, and here Ahimelech the priest resided. (See
AHIMELECH »T0000143.) From Isa. 10:28-32 it seems to have been
near Jerusalem. It has been identified by some with el-Isawiyeh,
one mile and a half to the north-east of Jerusalem. But
according to Isa. 10:28-32 it was on the south of Geba, on the
road to Jerusalem, and within sight of the city. This
identification does not meet these conditions, and hence others
(as Dean Stanley) think that it was the northern summit of Mount
Olivet, the place where David "worshipped God" when fleeing from
Absalom (2 Sam. 15:32), or more probably (Conder) that it was
the same as Mizpeh (q.v.), Judg. 20:1; Josh. 18:26; 1 Sam. 7:16,
at Nebi Samwil, about 5 miles north-west of Jerusalem.

  After being supplied with the sacred loaves of showbread, and
girding on the sword of Goliath, which was brought forth from
behind the ephod, David fled from Nob and sought refuge at the
court of Achish, the king of Gath, where he was cast into
prison. (Comp. titles of Ps. 34 and 56.)

$$T0002743
\Nobah\
howling. (1.) Num. 32:42.

  (2.) The name given to Kenath (q.v.) by Nobah when he
conquered it. It was on the east of Gilead (Judg. 8:11).

$$T0002744
\Nobleman\
(Gr. basilikos, i.e., "king's man"), an officer of state (John
4:49) in the service of Herod Antipas. He is supposed to have
been the Chuza, Herod's steward, whose wife was one of those
women who "ministered unto the Lord of their substance" (Luke
8:3). This officer came to Jesus at Cana and besought him to go
down to Capernaum and heal his son, who lay there at the point
of death. Our Lord sent him away with the joyful assurance that
his son was alive.

$$T0002745
\Nod\
exile; wandering; unrest, a name given to the country to which
Cain fled (Gen.4:16). It lay on the east of Eden.

$$T0002746
\Nodab\
noble, probably a tribe descended from one of the sons of
Ishmael, with whom the trans-Jordanic tribes made war (1
Chr.5:19).

$$T0002747
\Nogah\
splendour, one of David's sons, born at Jerusalem (1 Chr. 3:7).

$$T0002748
\Noph\
the Hebrew name of an Egyptian city (Isa. 19:13; Jer.2:16; 44:1;
46:14, 19; Ezek. 30:13, 16). In Hos. 9:6 the Hebrew name is
Moph, and is translated "Memphis," which is its Greek and Latin
form. It was one of the most ancient and important cities of
Egypt, and stood a little to the south of the modern Cairo, on
the western bank of the Nile. It was the capital of Lower Egypt.
Among the ruins found at this place is a colossal statue of
Rameses the Great. (See MEMPHIS »T0002478.)

$$T0002749
\Nophah\
blast, a city of Moab which was occupied by the Amorites (Num.
21:30).