Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/eastons/t0003700

Text File | 1993-10-09 | 28KB | 619 lines

$$T0003700
\Tooth\
one of the particulars regarding which retaliatory punishment
was to be inflicted (Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21).
"Gnashing of teeth" =rage, despair (Matt. 8:12; Acts 7:54);
"cleanness of teeth" =famine (Amos 4:6); "children's teeth set
on edge" =children suffering for the sins of their fathers
(Ezek. 18:2).

$$T0003701
\Topaz\
Heb. pitdah (Ezek. 28:13; Rev. 21:20), a golden yellow or
"green" stone brought from Cush or Ethiopia (Job 28:19). It was
the second stone in the first row in the breastplate of the high
priest, and had the name of Simeon inscribed on it (Ex. 28:17).
It is probably the chrysolite of the moderns.

$$T0003702
\Tophel\
lime, a place in the wilderness of Sinai (Deut. 1:1), now
identified with Tafyleh or Tufileh, on the west side of the
Edomitish mountains.

$$T0003703
\Tophet\
=Topheth, from Heb. toph "a drum," because the cries of children
here sacrificed by the priests of Moloch were drowned by the
noise of such an instrument; or from taph or toph, meaning "to
burn," and hence a place of burning, the name of a particular
part in the valley of Hinnom. "Fire being the most destructive
of all elements, is chosen by the sacred writers to symbolize
the agency by which God punishes or destroys the wicked. We are
not to assume from prophetical figures that material fire is the
precise agent to be used. It was not the agency employed in the
destruction of Sennacherib, mentioned in Isa. 30:33...Tophet
properly begins where the Vale of Hinnom bends round to the
east, having the cliffs of Zion on the north, and the Hill of
Evil Counsel on the south. It terminates at Beer 'Ayub, where it
joins the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The cliffs on the southern side
especially abound in ancient tombs. Here the dead carcasses of
beasts and every offal and abomination were cast, and left to be
either devoured by that worm that never died or consumed by that
fire that was never quenched." Thus Tophet came to represent the
place of punishment. (See HINNOM »T0001790.)

$$T0003704
\Torches\
On the night of his betrayal, when our Lord was in the garden of
Gethsemane, Judas, "having received a band of men and officers
from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with
lanterns and torches and weapons" (John 18:1-3). Although it was
the time of full moon, yet in the valley of the Kidron "there
fell great, deep shadows from the declivity of the mountain and
projecting rocks; there were there caverns and grottos, into
which a fugitive might retreat; finally, there were probably a
garden-house and tower, into whose gloom it might be necessary
for a searcher to throw light around." Lange's Commentary.
(Nahum 2:3, "torches," Revised Version, "steel," probably should
be "scythes" for war-chariots.)

$$T0003705
\Torment\
Gr. basanos (Matt. 4:24), the "touch-stone" of justice; hence
inquisition by torture, and then any disease which racks and
tortures the limbs.

$$T0003706
\Tortoise\
(Heb. tsabh). Ranked among the unclean animals (Lev. 11:29).
Land tortoises are common in Syria. The LXX. renders the word by
"land crocodile." The word, however, more probably denotes a
lizard, called by the modern Arabs _dhabb_.

$$T0003707
\Tow\
(Judg. 16:9). See FLAX »T0001352.

$$T0003708
\Tower of the furnaces\
(Neh. 3:11; 12:38), a tower at the north-western angle of the
second wall of Jerusalem. It was probably so named from its
contiguity to the "bakers' street" (Jer. 37:21).

$$T0003709
\Towers\
of Babel (Gen. 11:4), Edar (Gen. 35:21), Penuel (Judg. 8:9, 17),
Shechem (9:46), David (Cant. 4:4), Lebanon (7:4), Syene (Ezek.
29:10), Hananeel (Zech. 14:10), Siloam (Luke 13:4). There were
several towers in Jerusalem (2 Chr. 26:9; Ps. 48:12). They were
erected for various purposes, as watch-towers in vineyard (Isa.
5:2; Matt. 21:33) and towers for defence.

$$T0003710
\Trachonitis\
a rugged region, corresponds to the Heb. Argob (q.v.), the Greek
name of a region on the east of Jordan (Luke 3:1); one of the
five Roman provinces into which that district was divided. It
was in the tetrarchy of Philip, and is now called the Lejah.

$$T0003711
\Tradition\
any kind of teaching, written or spoken, handed down from
generation to generation. In Mark 7:3, 9, 13, Col. 2:8, this
word refers to the arbitrary interpretations of the Jews. In 2
Thess. 2:15; 3:6, it is used in a good sense. Peter (1 Pet.
1:18) uses this word with reference to the degenerate Judaism of
the "strangers scattered" whom he addresses (comp. Acts 15:10;
Matt. 15:2-6; Gal. 1:14).

$$T0003712
\Trance\
(Gr. ekstasis, from which the word "ecstasy" is derived) denotes
the state of one who is "out of himself." Such were the trances
of Peter and Paul, Acts 10:10; 11:5; 22:17, ecstasies, "a
preternatural, absorbed state of mind preparing for the
reception of the vision", (comp. 2 Cor. 12:1-4). In Mark 5:42
and Luke 5:26 the Greek word is rendered "astonishment,"
"amazement" (comp. Mark 16:8; Acts 3:10).

$$T0003713
\Transfiguration, the\
of our Lord on a "high mountain apart," is described by each of
the three evangelists (Matt. 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36).
The fullest account is given by Luke, who, no doubt, was
informed by Peter, who was present on the occasion. What these
evangelists record was an absolute historical reality, and not a
mere vision. The concurrence between them in all the
circumstances of the incident is exact. John seems to allude to
it also (John 1:14). Forty years after the event Peter
distinctly makes mention of it (2 Pet. 1:16-18). In describing
the sanctification of believers, Paul also seems to allude to
this majestic and glorious appearance of our Lord on the "holy
mount" (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18).

  The place of the transfiguration was probably Mount Hermon
(q.v.), and not Mount Tabor, as is commonly supposed.

$$T0003714
\Treasure cities\
store cities which the Israelites built for the Egyptians (Ex.
1:11). (See PITHOM »T0002968.) Towns in which the treasures of
the kings of Judah were kept were so designated (1 Chr. 27:25).

$$T0003715
\Treasure houses\
the houses or magazines built for the safe keeping of treasure
and valuable articles of any kind (Ezra 5:17; 7:20; Neh. 10:38;
Dan. 1:2).

$$T0003716
\Treasury\
(Matt. 27:6; Mark 12:41; John 8:20). It does not appear that
there was a separate building so called. The name was given to
the thirteen brazen chests, called "trumpets," from the form of
the opening into which the offerings of the temple worshippers
were put. These stood in the outer "court of the women." "Nine
chests were for the appointed money-tribute and for the
sacrifice-tribute, i.e., money-gifts instead of the sacrifices;
four chests for freewill-offerings for wood, incense, temple
decoration, and burnt-offerings" (Lightfoot's Hor. Heb.).

$$T0003717
\Tree of life\
stood also in the midst of the garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9; 3:22).
Some writers have advanced the opinion that this tree had some
secret virtue, which was fitted to preserve life. Probably the
lesson conveyed was that life was to be sought by man, not in
himself or in his own power, but from without, from Him who is
emphatically the Life (John 1:4; 14:6). Wisdom is compared to
the tree of life (Prov. 3:18). The "tree of life" spoken of in
the Book of Revelation (Rev. 2:7; 22:2, 14) is an emblem of the
joys of the celestial paradise.

$$T0003718
\Tree of the knowledge of good and evil\
stood in the midst of the garden of Eden, beside the tree of
life (Gen. 2, 3). Adam and Eve were forbidden to take of the
fruit which grew upon it. But they disobeyed the divine
injunction, and so sin and death by sin entered our world and
became the heritage of Adam's posterity. (See ADAM »T0000077.)

$$T0003719
\Trespass offering\
(Heb. 'asham, "debt"), the law concerning, given in Lev.
5:14-6:7; also in Num. 5:5-8. The idea of sin as a "debt"
pervades this legislation. The _asham_, which was always a ram,
was offered in cases where sins were more private. (See OFFERING
»T0002770.)

$$T0003720
\Tribe\
a collection of families descending from one ancestor. The
"twelve tribes" of the Hebrews were the twelve collections of
families which sprang from the sons of Jacob. In Matt. 24:30 the
word has a wider significance. The tribes of Israel are referred
to as types of the spiritual family of God (Rev. 7). (See
ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF »T0001909; JUDAH, KINGDOM OF »T0002126.)

$$T0003721
\Tribulation\
trouble or affiction of any kind (Deut. 4:30; Matt. 13:21; 2
Cor. 7:4). In Rom. 2:9 "tribulation and anguish" are the penal
sufferings that shall overtake the wicked. In Matt. 24:21, 29,
the word denotes the calamities that were to attend the
destruction of Jerusalem.

$$T0003722
\Tribute\
a tax imposed by a king on his subjects (2 Sam. 20:24; 1 Kings
4:6; Rom. 13:6). In Matt. 17:24-27 the word denotes the temple
rate (the "didrachma," the "half-shekel," as rendered by the
R.V.) which was required to be paid for the support of the
temple by every Jew above twenty years of age (Ex. 30:12; 2
Kings 12:4; 2 Chr. 24:6, 9). It was not a civil but a religious
tax.

  In Matt. 22:17, Mark 12:14, Luke 20:22, the word may be
interpreted as denoting the capitation tax which the Romans
imposed on the Jewish people. It may, however, be legitimately
regarded as denoting any tax whatever imposed by a foreign power
on the people of Israel. The "tribute money" shown to our Lord
(Matt. 22:19) was the denarius, bearing Caesar's superscription.
It was the tax paid by every Jew to the Romans. (See PENNY
»T0002891.)

$$T0003723
\Trinity\
a word not found in Scripture, but used to express the doctrine
of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons.
This word is derived from the Gr. trias, first used by
Theophilus (A.D. 168-183), or from the Lat. trinitas, first used
by Tertullian (A.D. 220), to express this doctrine. The
propositions involved in the doctrine are these: 1. That God is
one, and that there is but one God (Deut. 6:4; 1 Kings 8:60;
Isa. 44:6; Mark 12:29, 32; John 10:30). 2. That the Father is a
distinct divine Person (hypostasis, subsistentia, persona,
suppositum intellectuale), distinct from the Son and the Holy
Spirit. 3. That Jesus Christ was truly God, and yet was a Person
distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit. 4. That the Holy
Spirit is also a distinct divine Person.

$$T0003724
\Troas\
a city on the coast of Mysia, in the north-west of Asia Minor,
named after ancient Troy, which was at some little distance from
it (about 4 miles) to the north. Here Paul, on his second
missionary journey, saw the vision of a "man of Macedonia," who
appeared to him, saying, "Come over, and help us" (Acts
16:8-11). He visited this place also on other occasions, and on
one of these visits he left his cloak and some books there (2
Cor. 2:12; 2 Tim. 4:13). The ruins of Troas extend over many
miles, the site being now mostly covered with a forest of oak
trees. The modern name of the ruins is Eski Stamboul i.e., Old
Constantinople.

$$T0003725
\Trogyllium\
a town on the western coast of Asia Minor, where Paul "tarried"
when on his way from Assos to Miletus, on his third missionary
journey (Acts 20:15).

$$T0003726
\Trophimus\
a foster-child, an Ephesian who accompanied Paul during a part
of his third missionary journey (Acts 20:4; 21:29). He was with
Paul in Jerusalem, and the Jews, supposing that the apostle had
brought him with him into the temple, raised a tumult which
resulted in Paul's imprisonment. (See TEMPLE, HEROD'S
»T0003611.) In writing to Timothy, the apostle says, "Trophimus
have I left at Miletum sick" (2 Tim. 4:20). This must refer to
some event not noticed in the Acts.

$$T0003727
\Trumpets\
were of a great variety of forms, and were made of divers
materials. Some were made of silver (Num. 10:2), and were used
only by the priests in announcing the approach of festivals and
in giving signals of war. Some were also made of rams' horns
(Josh. 6:8). They were blown at special festivals, and to herald
the arrival of special seasons (Lev. 23:24; 25:9; 1 Chr. 15:24;
2 Chr. 29:27; Ps. 81:3; 98:6).

  "Trumpets" are among the symbols used in the Book of
Revelation (Rev. 1:10; 8:2). (See HORN »T0001821.)

$$T0003728
\Trumpets, Feast of\
was celebrated at the beginning of the month Tisri, the first
month of the civil year. It received its name from the
circumstances that the trumpets usually blown at the
commencement of each month were on that occasion blown with
unusual solemnity (Lev. 23:23-25; Num. 10:10; 29:1-6). It was
one of the seven days of holy convocation. The special design of
this feast, which is described in these verses, is not known.

$$T0003729
\Truth\
Used in various senses in Scripture. In Prov. 12:17, 19, it
denotes that which is opposed to falsehood. In Isa. 59:14, 15,
Jer. 7:28, it means fidelity or truthfulness. The doctrine of
Christ is called "the truth of the gospel" (Gal. 2:5), "the
truth" (2 Tim. 3:7; 4:4). Our Lord says of himself, "I am the
way, and the truth" (John 14:6).

$$T0003730
\Tryphena and Tryphosa\
two female Christians, active workers, whom Paul salutes in his
epistle to the Romans (16:12).

$$T0003731
\Tubal\
(1.) The fifth son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2).

  (2.) A nation, probably descended from the son of Japheth. It
is mentioned by Isaiah (66:19), along with Javan, and by Ezekiel
(27:13), along with Meshech, among the traders with Tyre, also
among the confederates of Gog (Ezek. 38:2, 3; 39:1), and with
Meshech among the nations which were to be destroyed (32:26).
This nation was probably the Tiberini of the Greek historian
Herodotus, a people of the Asiatic highland west of the Upper
Euphrates, the southern range of the Caucasus, on the east of
the Black Sea.

$$T0003732
\Tubal-cain\
the son of Lamech and Zillah, "an instructor of every artificer
in brass and iron" (Gen. 4:22; R.V., "the forger of every
cutting instrument of brass and iron").

$$T0003733
\Turtle, Turtle-dove\
Its peculiar peaceful and gentle habit its often referred to in
Scripture. A pair was offered in sacrifice by Mary at her
purification (Luke 2:24). The pigeon and the turtle-dove were
the only birds permitted to be offered in sacrifice (Lev. 1:14;
5:7; 14:22; 15:14, 29, etc.). The Latin name of this bird,
_turtur_, is derived from its note, and is a repetition of the
Hebrew name _tor_. Three species are found in Palestine, (1) the
turtle-dove (Turtur auritus), (2) the collared turtle (T.
risorius), and (3) the palm turtle (T. Senegalensis). But it is
to the first of these species which the various passages of
Scripture refer. It is a migratory bird (Jer. 8:7; Cant. 2:11,
12). "Search the glades and valleys, even by sultry Jordan, at
the end of March, and not a turtle-dove is to be seen. Return in
the second week of April, and clouds of doves are feeding on the
clovers of the plain. They overspread the whole face of the
land." "Immediately on its arrival it pours forth from every
garden, grove, and wooded hill its melancholy yet soothing ditty
unceasingly from early dawn till sunset. It is from its
plaintive and continuous note, doubtless, that David, pouring
forth his heart's sorrow to God, compares himself to a
turtle-dove" (Ps. 74:19).

$$T0003734
\Tychicus\
chance, an Asiatic Christian, a "faithful minister in the Lord"
(Eph. 6:21, 22), who, with Trophimus, accompanied Paul on a part
of his journey from Macedonia to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4). He is
alluded to also in Col. 4:7, Titus 3:12, and 2 Tim. 4:12 as
having been with Paul at Rome, whence he sent him to Ephesus,
probably for the purpose of building up and encouraging the
church there.

$$T0003735
\Type\
occurs only once in Scripture (1 Cor. 10:11, A.V. marg.). The
Greek word _tupos_ is rendered "print" (John 20:25), "figure"
(Acts 7:43; Rom. 5:14), "fashion" (Acts 7:44), "manner" (Acts
23:25), "form" (Rom. 6:17), "example" or "ensample" (1 Cor.
10:6, 11; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:7; 2 Thess. 3:9; 1 Tim. 4:12).
It properly means a "model" or "pattern" or "mould" into which
clay or wax was pressed, that it might take the figure or exact
shape of the mould. The word "type" is generally used to denote
a resemblance between something present and something future,
which is called the "antitype."

$$T0003736
\Tyrannus\
prince, a Greek rhetorician, in whose "school" at Ephesus Paul
disputed daily for the space of two years with those who came to
him (Acts 19:9). Some have supposed that he was a Jew, and that
his "school" was a private synagogue.

$$T0003737
\Tyre\
a rock, now es-Sur; an ancient Phoenician city, about 23 miles,
in a direct line, north of Acre, and 20 south of Sidon. Sidon
was the oldest Phoenician city, but Tyre had a longer and more
illustrious history. The commerce of the whole world was
gathered into the warehouses of Tyre. "Tyrian merchants were the
first who ventured to navigate the Mediterranean waters; and
they founded their colonies on the coasts and neighbouring
islands of the AEgean Sea, in Greece, on the northern coast of
Africa, at Carthage and other places, in Sicily and Corsica, in
Spain at Tartessus, and even beyond the pillars of Hercules at
Gadeira (Cadiz)" (Driver's Isaiah). In the time of David a
friendly alliance was entered into between the Hebrews and the
Tyrians, who were long ruled over by their native kings (2 Sam.
5:11; 1 Kings 5:1; 2 Chr. 2:3).

  Tyre consisted of two distinct parts, a rocky fortress on the
mainland, called "Old Tyre," and the city, built on a small,
rocky island about half-a-mile distant from the shore. It was a
place of great strength. It was besieged by Shalmaneser, who was
assisted by the Phoenicians of the mainland, for five years, and
by Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 586-573) for thirteen years, apparently
without success. It afterwards fell under the power of Alexander
the Great, after a siege of seven months, but continued to
maintain much of its commercial importance till the Christian
era. It is referred to in Matt. 11:21 and Acts 12:20. In A.D.
1291 it was taken by the Saracens, and has remained a desolate
ruin ever since.

  "The purple dye of Tyre had a worldwide celebrity on account
of the durability of its beautiful tints, and its manufacture
proved a source of abundant wealth to the inhabitants of that
city."

  Both Tyre and Sidon "were crowded with glass-shops, dyeing and
weaving establishments; and among their cunning workmen not the
least important class were those who were celebrated for the
engraving of precious stones." (2 Chr. 2:7,14).

  The wickedness and idolatry of this city are frequently
denounced by the prophets, and its final destruction predicted
(Isa. 23:1; Jer. 25:22; Ezek. 26; 28:1-19; Amos 1:9, 10; Zech.
9:2-4).

  Here a church was founded soon after the death of Stephen, and
Paul, on his return from his third missionary journey spent a
week in intercourse with the disciples there (Acts 21:4). Here
the scene at Miletus was repeated on his leaving them. They all,
with their wives and children, accompanied him to the sea-shore.
The sea-voyage of the apostle terminated at Ptolemais, about 38
miles from Tyre. Thence he proceeded to Caesarea (Acts 21:5-8).

  "It is noticed on monuments as early as B.C. 1500, and
claiming, according to Herodotus, to have been founded about
B.C. 2700. It had two ports still existing, and was of
commercial importance in all ages, with colonies at Carthage
(about B.C. 850) and all over the Mediterranean. It was often
attacked by Egypt and Assyria, and taken by Alexander the Great
after a terrible siege in B.C. 332. It is now a town of 3,000
inhabitants, with ancient tombs and a ruined cathedral. A short
Phoenician text of the fourth century B.C. is the only monument
yet recovered."

$$T0003738
\Tyropoeon Valley\
(i.e., "Valley of the Cheesemongers"), the name given by
Josephus the historian to the valley or rugged ravine which in
ancient times separated Mount Moriah from Mount Zion. This
valley, now filled up with a vast accumulation of rubbish, and
almost a plain, was spanned by bridges, the most noted of which
was Zion Bridge, which was probably the ordinary means of
communication between the royal palace on Zion and the temple. A
fragment of the arch (q.v.) of this bridge (called "Robinson's
Arch"), where it projects from the sanctuary wall, was
discovered by Robinson in 1839. This arch was destroyed by the
Romans when Jerusalem was taken.

  The western wall of the temple area rose up from the bottom of
this valley to the height of 84 feet, where it was on a level
with the area, and above this, and as a continuance of it, the
wall of Solomon's cloister rose to the height of about 50 feet,
"so that this section of the wall would originally present to
view a stupendous mass of masonry scarcely to be surpassed by
any mural masonry in the world."

$$T0003739
\Ucal\
the name of a person to whom Agur's words are addressed (Prov.
30:1).

$$T0003740
\Ulai\
the Eulaus of the Greeks; a river of Susiana. It was probably
the eastern branch of the Choasper (Kerkhan), which divided into
two branches some 20 miles above the city of Susa. Hence Daniel
(8:2,16) speaks of standing "between the banks of Ulai", i.e.,
between the two streams of the divided river.

$$T0003741
\Ummah\
vicinity, a town of Asher (Josh. 19:30).

$$T0003742
\Unction\
(1 John 2:20,27; R.V., "anointing"). Kings, prophets, and
priests were anointed, in token of receiving divine grace. All
believers are, in a secondary sense, what Christ was in a
primary sense, "the Lord's anointed."

$$T0003743
\Unicorn\
described as an animal of great ferocity and strength (Num.
23:22, R.V., "wild ox," marg., "ox-antelope;" 24:8; Isa. 34:7,
R.V., "wild oxen"), and untamable (Job 39:9). It was in reality
a two-horned animal; but the exact reference of the word so
rendered (reem) is doubtful. Some have supposed it to be the
buffalo; others, the white antelope, called by the Arabs rim.
Most probably, however, the word denotes the Bos primigenius
("primitive ox"), which is now extinct all over the world. This
was the auerochs of the Germans, and the urus described by
Caesar (Gal. Bel., vi.28) as inhabiting the Hercynian forest.
The word thus rendered has been found in an Assyrian inscription
written over the wild ox or bison, which some also suppose to be
the animal intended (comp. Deut. 33:17; Ps. 22:21; 29:6; 92:10).

$$T0003744
\Unni\
afficted. (1.) A Levite whom David appointed to take part in
bringing the ark up to Jerusalem from the house of Obed-edom by
playing the psaltery on that occasion (1 Chr. 15:18, 20).

  (2.) A Levite who returned with Zerubbabel from the Captivity
(Neh. 12:9).

$$T0003745
\Upharsin\
and they divide, one of the words written by the mysterious hand
on the wall of Belshazzar's palace (Dan. 5:25). It is a pure
Chaldean word. "Peres" is only a simple form of the same word.

$$T0003746
\Uphaz\
probably another name for Ophir (Jer. 10:9). Some, however,
regard it as the name of an Indian colony in Yemen, southern
Arabia; others as a place on or near the river Hyphasis (now the
Ghana), the south-eastern limit of the Punjaub.

$$T0003747
\Ur\
light, or the moon city, a city "of the Chaldees," the
birthplace of Haran (Gen. 11:28,31), the largest city of Shinar
or northern Chaldea, and the principal commercial centre of the
country as well as the centre of political power. It stood near
the mouth of the Euphrates, on its western bank, and is
represented by the mounds (of bricks cemented by bitumen) of
el-Mugheir, i.e., "the bitumined," or "the town of bitumen," now
150 miles from the sea and some 6 miles from the Euphrates, a
little above the point where it receives the Shat el-Hie, an
affluent from the Tigris. It was formerly a maritime city, as
the waters of the Persian Gulf reached thus far inland. Ur was
the port of Babylonia, whence trade was carried on with the
dwellers on the gulf, and with the distant countries of India,
Ethiopia, and Egypt. It was abandoned about B.C. 500, but long
continued, like Erech, to be a great sacred cemetery city, as is
evident from the number of tombs found there. (See ABRAHAM
»T0000054.)

  The oldest king of Ur known to us is Ur-Ba'u (servant of the
goddess Ba'u), as Hommel reads the name, or Ur-Gur, as others
read it. He lived some twenty-eight hundred years B.C., and took
part in building the famous temple of the moon-god Sin in Ur
itself. The illustration here given represents his cuneiform
inscription, written in the Sumerian language, and stamped upon
every brick of the temple in Ur. It reads: "Ur-Ba'u, king of Ur,
who built the temple of the moon-god."

  "Ur was consecrated to the worship of Sin, the Babylonian
moon-god. It shared this honour, however, with another city, and
this city was Haran, or Harran. Harran was in Mesopotamia, and
took its name from the highroad which led through it from the
east to the west. The name is Babylonian, and bears witness to
its having been founded by a Babylonian king. The same witness
is still more decisively borne by the worship paid in it to the
Babylonian moon-god and by its ancient temple of Sin. Indeed,
the temple of the moon-god at Harran was perhaps even more
famous in the Assyrian and Babylonian world than the temple of
the moon-god at Ur.

  "Between Ur and Harran there must, consequently, have been a
close connection in early times, the record of which has not yet
been recovered. It may be that Harran owed its foundation to a
king of Ur; at any rate the two cities were bound together by
the worship of the same deity, the closest and most enduring
bond of union that existed in the ancient world. That Terah
should have migrated from Ur to Harran, therefore, ceases to be
extraordinary. If he left Ur at all, it was the most natural
place to which to go. It was like passing from one court of a
temple into another.

  "Such a remarkable coincidence between the Biblical narrative
and the evidence of archaeological research cannot be the result
of chance. The narrative must be historical; no writer of late
date, even if he were a Babylonian, could have invented a story
so exactly in accordance with what we now know to have been the
truth. For a story of the kind to have been the invention of
Palestinian tradition is equally impossible. To the unprejudiced
mind there is no escape from the conclusion that the history of
the migration of Terah from Ur to Harran is founded on fact"
(Sayce).

$$T0003748
\Uriah\
the Lord is my light. (1.) A Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba,
whom David first seduced, and then after Uriah's death married.
He was one of the band of David's "mighty men." The sad story of
the curel wrongs inflicted upon him by David and of his mournful
death are simply told in the sacred record (2 Sam. 11:2-12:26).
(See BATHSHEBA »T0000474; DAVID »T0000982.)

  (2.) A priest of the house of Ahaz (Isa. 8:2).

  (3.) The father of Meremoth, mentioned in Ezra 8:33.

$$T0003749
\Uriel\
God is my light. (1.) A Levite of the family of Kohath (1 Chr.
6:24).

  (2.) The chief of the Kohathites at the time when the ark was
brought up to Jerusalem (1 Chr. 15:5, 11).

  (3.) The father of Michaiah, one of Rehoboam's wives, and
mother of Abijah (2 Chr. 13:2).