Entries — D
137 entries
Daberath — pasture, a Levitical town of Issachar (Joshua 19:12; 21:28), near the border of Zebulum. It is the modern smal…
Daemon — the Greek form, rendered “devil” in the Authorized Version of the New Testament. Daemons are spoken of as spir…
Daemoniac — one “possessed with a devil.” In the days of our Lord and his apostles, evil spirits, “daemons,” were mysterio…
Dagon — little fish; diminutive from dag = a fish, the fish-God; the national God of the Philistines (Judges 16:23). T…
Dagon’s — house (1 Samuel 5:2), or Beth-dagon, as elsewhere rendered (Joshua 15: 41; 19:27), was the sanctuary or temple…
Daily Sacrifice — (Daniel 8:12; 11:31; 12:11), a burnt offering of two lambs of a year old, which were daily sacrificed in the n…
Dalmanutha — a place on the west of the Sea of Galilee, mentioned only in Mark 8:10. In the parallel passage it is said tha…
Dalmatia — a mountainous country on the eastern shore of the Adriatic, a part of the Roman province of Illyricum. It stil…
Daily Sacrifice — (Daniel 8:12; 11:31; 12:11), a burnt offering of two lambs of a year old, which were daily sacrificed in the n…
Dalmanutha — a place on the west of the Sea of Galilee, mentioned only in Mark 8:10. In the parallel passage it is said tha…
Dalmatia — a mountainous country on the eastern shore of the Adriatic, a part of the Roman province of Illyricum. It stil…
Damaris — a heifer, an Athenian woman converted to Christianity under the preaching of Paul (Acts 17:34). Some have supp…
Damascus — activity, the most ancient of Oriental cities; the capital of Syria (Isaiah 7:8; 17:3); situated about 133 mil…
Damnation — in Romans 13:2, means “condemnation,” which comes on those who withstand God’s ordinance of magistracy. This s…
Dan — a judge. (1.) The fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s maid (Genesis 30:6, “God hath judged me”…
Dance — found in Judges 21:21, 23; Psalm 30:11; 149:3; 150:4; Jeremiah 31:4, 13, etc., as the translation of hul, whic…
DANIEL God — is my judge, or judge of God. (1.) David’s second son, “born unto him in Hebron, of Abigail the Carmelitess” (…
Dan-Jaan — woodland Dan, a place probably somewhere in the direction of Dan, near the sources of the Jordan (2 Samuel 24:…
Dannah — murmuring, a city (Joshua 15:49) in the mountains of Judah about 8 miles south-west of Hebron.…
Darda — pearl of wisdom, one of the four who were noted for their wisdom, but whom Solomon excelled (1 Kings 4:31).…
Daric — in the Revised Version of 1 Chronicles 29:7; Ezra 2:69; 8:27; Nehemiah 7:70-72, where the Authorized Version h…
Darius — the holder or supporter, the name of several Persian kings. (1.) Darius the Mede (Daniel 11:1), “the son of Ah…
DARKNESS The — plague (the ninth) of darkness in Egypt (Exodus 10:21) is described as darkness “which may be felt.” It covere…
DARLING Psalm — 22:20; 35:17) means an “only one.”…
Dart — an instrument of war; a light spear. “Fiery darts” (Ephesians 6:16) are so called in allusion to the habit of …
Date — the fruit of a species of palm (q.v.), the Phoenix dactilifera. This was a common tree in Palestine (Joel 1:12…
Dathan — welled; belonging to a fountain, a son of Eliab, a Reubenite, who joined Korah (q.v.) in his conspiracy, and w…
DAUGHTER This — word, besides its natural and proper sense, is used to designate, (1.) A niece or any female descendant (Genes…
David — beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in …
Day The Jews — reckoned the day from sunset to sunset (Leviticus 23:32). It was originally divided into three parts (Psalm 55…
DAY’S JOURNEY The — usual length of a day’s journey in the East, on camel or horseback, in six or eight hours, is about 25 or 30 m…
Daysman — an umpire or arbiter or judge (Job 9:33). This word is formed from the Latin diem dicere, i.e., to fix a day f…
Dayspring — (Job 38: 12; Luke 1:78), the dawn of the morning; daybreak. (Comp. Isaiah 60:1, 2; Malachi 4:2; Revelation 22:…
Daystar — which precedes and accompanies the sun-rising. It is found only in 2 Peter 1:19, where it denotes the manifest…
DEACON Anglicized — form of the Greek word diaconos, meaning a “runner,” “messenger,” “servant.” For a long period a feeling of mu…
DEACONESS Romans — 1 6: 1 , 3, 12; Phil. 4:2, 3; 1 Timothy 3:11; 5:9, 10; Titus 2:3, 4). In these passages it is evident that fem…
DEAD Sea — the name given by Greek writers of the second century to that inland sea called in Scripture the “salt sea” (G…
Dearth — a scarcity of provisions (1 Kings 17). There were frequent dearths in Palestine. In the days of Abram there wa…
Death — may be simply defined as the termination of life. It is represented under a variety of aspects in Scripture: (…
Debir — oracle town; sanctuary. (1.) One of the eleven cities to the west of Hebron, in the highlands of Judah (Joshua…
Deborah — a bee. (1.) Rebekah’s nurse. She accompanied her mistress when she left her father’s house in Padan-aram to be…
DEBT The Mosaic — law encouraged the practice of lending (Deuteronomy 15:7; Psalm 37:26; Matthew 5:42); but it forbade the exact…
DEBTOR Various — regulations as to the relation between debtor and creditor are laid down in the Scriptures. (1.) The debtor wa…
Decalogue — the name given by the Greek fathers to the ten commandments; “the ten words,” as the original is more literall…
Decapoils — ten cities=deka, ten, and polis, a city, a district on the east and south-east of the Sea of Galilee containin…
DECREES OF God — “The decrees of God are his eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once al…
Dedan — low ground. (1.) A son of Raamah (Genesis 10:7). His descendants are mentioned in Isaiah 21:13, and Ezekiel 27…
Dedanem — the descendants of Dedan, the son of Raamah. They are mentioned in Isaiah 21: 13 as sending out “travelling co…
Deep — used to denote (1) the grave or the abyss (Romans 10:7; Luke 8:31); (2) the deepest part of the sea (Psalm 69:…
DEHAyiTES — villagers, one of the Assyrian tribes which Asnapper sent to repopulate Samaria (Ezra 4:9). They were probably…
Delaiah — freed by Jehovah. (1.) The head of the twenty-third division of the priestly order (1 Chronicles 24:18). (2.) …
Delilah — languishing, a Philistine woman who dwelt in the valley of Sorek (Judges 16:4-20). She was bribed by the “lord…
D El Uge — the name given to Noah’s flood, the history of which is recorded in Genesis 7 and 8. It began in the year 2516…
Demas — a companion and fellow-labourer of Paul during his first imprisonment at Rome (Philemon 1:24; Colossians 4:14)…
Demetrius — (1.) A silversmith at Ephesus, whose chief occupation was to make “silver shrines for Diana” (q.v.), Acts 19:2…
Den — a lair of wild beasts (Psalm 10:9; 104:22; Job 37:8); the hole of a venomous reptile (Isaiah 11:8); a recess f…
Deputy — in 1 Kings 22:47, means a prefect; one set over others. The same Hebrew word is rendered “officer;” i.e., chie…
Derbe — a small town on the eastern part of the upland plain of Lycaonia, about 20 miles from Lystra. Paul passed thro…
Desert — (1.) Hebrews midbar, “pasture-ground;” an open tract for pasturage; a common (Joel 2:22). The “backside of the…
Desire Of All Nations — (Hag. 2:7), usually interpreted as a title of the Messiah. The Revised Version, however, more correctly render…
Destroyer — (Exodus 12:23), the agent employed in the killing of the first-born; the destroying angel or messenger of God.…
Destruction — in Job 26:6, 28:22 (Hebrews abaddon) is sheol, the realm of the dead.…
DEUTERONOMY In — all the Hebrew manuscripts the Pentateuch (q.v.) forms one roll or volume divided into larger and smaller sect…
Devil — (Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man’s spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Revelation 2:10; Zechariah 3…
Dew — “There is no dew properly so called in Palestine, for there is no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled…
Diadem — the tiara of a king (Ezekiel 21:26; Isaiah 28:5; 62:3); the turban (Job 29:14). In the New Testament a careful…
Dial — for the measurement of time, only once mentioned in the Bible, erected by Ahaz (2 Kings 20:11; Isaiah 38:8). T…
Diamond — (1.) A precious gem (Hebrews yahalom’, in allusion to its hardness), otherwise unknown, the sixth, i.e., the t…
Diana — so called by the Romans; called Artemis by the Greeks, the “great” goddess worshipped among heathen nations un…
DlBLAIM — doubled cakes, the mother of Gomer, who was Hosea’s wife (Hos. 1:3).…
DlBLATHAIM — two cakes, a city of Moab, on the east of the Dead Sea (Numbers 33:46; Jeremiah 48:22).…
DlBON — pining; wasting. (1.) A city in Moab (Numbers 21:30); called also Dibon-gad (33:45), because it was built by G…
DlDYMUS — (Gr. twin = Hebrews Thomas, q.v.), John 11:16; 20:24; 21:2.…
DlMNAH — dunghill, a city of Zebulun given to the Merarite Levites (Joshua 21:35). In 1 Chronicles 6:77 the name “Rimmo…
Dinah — judged; vindicated, daughter of Jacob by Leah, and sister of Simeon and Levi (Genesis 30:21). She was seduced …
Dine — (Genesis 43:16). It was the custom in Egypt to dine at noon. But it is probable that the Egyptians took their …
DlNHABAH — robbers’ den, an Edomitish city, the capital of king Bela (Genesis 36:32). It is probably the modern Dibdiba, …
Dionysius — the Areopagite, one of Paul’s converts at Athens (Acts 17:34).…
DlOTREPHES — Jove-nourished, rebuked by John for his pride (3 John 1:9). He was a Judaizer, prating against John and his fe…
Disciple — a scholar, sometimes applied to the followers of John the Baptist (Matthew 9:14), and of the Pharisees (22:16)…
Dish — for eating from (2 Kings 21:13). Judas dipped his hand with a “sop” or piece of bread in the same dish with ou…
DlSHAN — antelope, the youngest son of Seir the Horite, head of one of the tribes of Idumaea (Genesis 36:21, 28, 30).…
Dispensation — (Gr. oikonomia, “management,” “economy”). (1.) The method or scheme according to which God carries out his pur…
Dispersion — (Gr. diaspora, “scattered,” James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1) of the Jews. At various times, and from the operation of d…
Distaff — (Hebrews pelek, a “circle”), the instrument used for twisting threads by a whirl (Proverbs 31:19).…
Divination — of false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:10, 14; Micah 3:6, 7, 1 1), of necromancers (1 Samuel 28:8), of the Philisti…
DIVORCE The — dissolution of the marriage tie was regulated by the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). The Jews, after the Capt…
DlZAHAB — region of gold, a place in the desert of Sinai, on the western shore of the Elanitic gulf (Deuteronomy 1:1). I…
Doctor — (Luke 2:46; 5:17; Acts 5:34), a teacher. The Jewish doctors taught and disputed in synagogues, or wherever the…
Dodai — loving, one of David’s captains (1 Chronicles 27:4). (See DODO [ 2 ].)…
Dodanim — leaders, a race descended from Javan (Genesis 10:4). They are known in profane history as the Dardani, origina…
Dodo — amatory; loving. (1.) A descendant of Issachar (Judges 10:1). (2.) An Ahohite, father of Eleazar, who was one …
Doeg — fearful, an Edomite, the chief overseer of Saul’s flocks (1 Samuel 21:7). At the command of Saul he slew the h…
Dog — frequently mentioned both in the Old and New Testaments. Dogs were used by the Hebrews as a watch for their ho…
Doleful Creatures — (occurring only Isaiah 13:21. Hebrews ochim, i.e., “shrieks;” hence “howling animals”), a general name for scr…
DOOR-KEEPER This — word is used in Psalm 84:10 (R.V. marg., “stand at the threshold of,” etc.), but there it signifies properly “…
Door — -POSTS The Jews were commanded to write the divine name on the posts (mezuzoth’) of their doors (Deuteronomy 6…
Doors — moved on pivots of wood fastened in sockets above and below (Proverbs 26:14). They were fastened by a lock (Ju…
Dophkah — knocking, an encampment of the Israelites in the wilderness (Numbers 33:12). It was in the desert of Sin, on t…
Dor — dwelling, the Dora of the Romans, an ancient royal city of the Canaanites (Joshua 11:1, 2; 12:23). It was the …
Dorcas — a female antelope, or gazelle, a pious Christian widow at Joppa whom Peter restored to life (Acts 9:36-41). Sh…
Dothan — two wells, a famous pasture-ground where Joseph found his brethren watching their flocks. Here, at the suggest…
Dough — (batsek, meaning “swelling,” i.e., in fermentation). The dough the Israelites had prepared for baking was carr…
Dove In — their wild state doves generally build their nests in the clefts of rocks, but when domesticated “dove-cots” a…
Dove’S Dung — (2 Kings 6:25) has been generally understood literally. There are instances in history of the dung of pigeons …
Dowry — (mohar; i.e., price paid for a wife, Genesis 34:12; Exodus 22:17; 1 Samuel 18:25), a nuptial present; some gif…
Dragon — (l.) Hebrews tannim, plural of tan. The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins (Job …
Dragon Well — (Nehemiah 2:13), supposed by some to be identical with the Pool of Gihon.…
DRAM The Authorized Version — understood the word ‘adarkonim (1 Chronicles 29:7; Ezra 8:27), and the similar word darkomnim (Ezra 2:69; Nehe…
Draught-House — (2 Kings 10:27). Jehu ordered the temple of Baal to be destroyed, and the place to be converted to the vile us…
Drawer Of Water — (Deuteronomy 29:11; Joshua 9:21, 23), a servile employment to which the Gibeonites were condemned.…
DREAM God — has frequently made use of dreams in communicating his will to men. The most remarkable instances of this are …
Dregs — (Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17, 22), the lees of wine which settle at the bottom of the vessel.…
Dress — (1.) Materials used. The earliest and simplest an apron of fig-leaves sewed together (Genesis 3:7); then skins…
DRINK The — drinks of the Hebrews were water, wine, “strong drink,” and vinegar. Their drinking vessels were the cup, gobl…
Drink-Offering — consisted of wine (Numbers 15:5; Hos. 9:4) poured around the altar (Exodus 30:9). Joined with meat-offerings (…
Dromedary — (Isaiah 60:6), an African or Arabian species of camel having only one hump, while the Bactrian camel has two. …
Dropsy — mentioned only in Luke 14:2. The man afflicted with it was cured by Christ on the Sabbath.…
Dross — the impurities of silver separated from the one in the process of melting (Proverbs 25:4; 26:23; Psalm 119:119…
DROUGHT From — the middle of May to about the middle of August the land of Palestine is dry. It is then the “drought of summe…
Drown — (Exodus 15:4; Amos 8:8; Hebrews 11:29). Drowning was a mode of capital punishment in use among the Syrians, an…
DRUNK The — first case of intoxication on record is that of Noah (Genesis 9:21). The sin of drunkenness is frequently and …
Drusilla — third and youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I. (Acts 12:1-4, 20-23). Felix, the Roman procurator of Judea, in…
Duke — derived from the Latin dux, meaning “a leader;” Arabic, “a sheik.” This word is used to denote the phy larch o…
Dulcimer — (Hebrews sumphoniah), a musical instrument mentioned in Daniel 3:5, 15, along with other instruments there nam…
Dumah — silence, (comp. Psalm 94: 17), the fourth son of Ishmael; also the tribe descended from him; and hence also th…
Dumb — from natural infirmity (Exodus 4:11); not knowing what to say (Proverbs 31:8); unwillingness to speak (Psalm 3…
Dung — (1.) Used as manure (Luke 13:8); collected outside the city walls (Nehemiah 2:13). Of sacrifices, burned outsi…
Dungeon — different from the ordinary prison in being more severe as a place of punishment. Like the Roman inner prison …
Dung-Gate — (Nehemiah 2:13), a gate of ancient Jerusalem, on the south-west quarter. “The gate outside of which lay the pi…
Dung-Hill — to sit on a, was a sign of the deepest dejection (1 Samuel 2:8; Psalm 113:7; Lamentations 4:5).…
Dura — the circle, the plain near Babylon in which Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image, mentioned in Daniel 3:1. The…
Dust Storms — of sand and dust sometimes overtake Eastern travellers. They are very dreadful, many perishing under them. Jeh…
Dwarf — a lean or emaciated person (Leviticus 21:20).…
DWELL Tents — were in primitive times the common dwellings of men. Houses were afterwards built, the walls of which were fre…
DWELLINGS The — materials used in buildings were commonly bricks, sometimes also stones (Leviticus 14:40, 42), which were held…
DYE The — art of dyeing is one of great antiquity, although no special mention is made of it in the Old Testament. The H…