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THE

CYCLOPÆDIA

OF

BIBLICAL LITERATURE. .

EDITED BY

JOHN KITTO, D.D., F.S.A.,

AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE," EDITOR OF
66 THE PICTORIAL BIBLE," &C. &C.

ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

TENTO EDITION.

NEW YORK:

PUBLISHED BY MARK H. NEWMAN & CO.,

199 BROADWAY.

1851

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CYCLOPEDIA

OF

BIBLICAL LITERATURE.

IBZAN.

IBZAN (1, illustrious; Sept. 'Aßaiooár), the tenth 'judge of Israel.' He was of Bethlehem, probably the Bethlehem of Zebulun and not of Judah. He governed seven years. The prosperity of Ibzan is marked by the great number of his children (thirty sons and thirty daughters), and his wealth, by their marriages-for they were all married. Some have held, with little probability, that Ibzan was the same with Boaz: B.C. 1182 (Judg. xii. 8).

I-CHABOD (TİŞ, where is the glory; Sept. 'Axirúß), son of Phinehas and grandson of Eli. He is only known from the unhappy circumstances of his birth, which occasioned this name to be given to him. The pains of labour came upon his mother when she heard that the ark of God was taken, that her husband was slain in battle, and that these tidings had proved fatal to his father Eli. They were death-pains to her; and when those around sought to cheer her, saying, 'Fear not, for thou hast borne a son,' she only answered by giving him the name of I-chabod, adding, The glory is departed from Israel' (1 Sam. iv. 19-22): B.C. 1141. The name again occurs in 1 Sam. xiv. 3 [ELI].

ICONIUM CIKóviov), a town, formerly the capital of Lycaonia, as it is now, by the name Konieh, of Karamania, in Asia Minor. It is situated in N. lat. 37° 51′, E. long. 32° 40', about one hundred and twenty miles inland from the Mediterranean. It was visited by St. Paul in A.D. 45, when many Gentiles were converted; but some unbelieving Jews excited against him and Barnabas a persecution, which they escaped with difficulty (Acts xiii. 51; xiv. 1, &c.). He undertook a second journey to Iconium in A.D. 51. The church planted at this place by the apostle continued to flourish, until, by the persecutions of the Saracens, and afterwards of the Seljukians, who made it one of their sultanies, it was nearly extinguished. But some Christians of the Greek and Armenian churches, with a Greek metropolitan bishop, are still found in the suburbs of the city, not being permitted to reside within the walls.

Konieh is situated at the foot of Mount Taurus, upon the border of the lake Trogitis, in a fertile plain, rich in valuable productions, particularly apricots, wine, cotton, flax, and grain. The circumference of the town is between

VOL. 11.

IDDO.

two and three miles, beyond which are suburbs not much less populous than the town itself. The walls, strong and lofty, and flanked with square towers, which, at the gates, are placed close together [see cut, No. 317], were built by the Seljukian Sultans of Iconium, who seem to have taken considerable pains to exhibit the Greek inscriptions, and the remains of architecture and sculpture, belonging to the ancient Iconium, which they made use of in building the walls. The town, suburbs, and gardens, are plentifully supplied with water from streams which flow from some hills to the westward, and which, to the north-east, join the lake, which varies in size with the season of the year. In the town carpets are manufactured, and blue and yellow leathers are tanned and dried. Cotton, wool, hides, and a few of the other raw productions which enrich the superior industry and skill of the manufacturers of Europe, are sent to Smyrna by caravans.

The most remarkable building in Konieh is the tomb of a priest highly revered throughout Turkey, called Hazreet Mevlana, the founder of the Mevlevi Dervishes. The city, like all those renowned for superior sanctity, abounds with dervishes, who meet the passenger at every turning of the streets, and demand paras with the The bazaars greatest clamour and insolence. and houses have little to recommend them to notice (Kinneir's Travels in Asia Minor; Leake's Geography of Asia Minor; Arundell's Tour in Asia Minor).

1. IDDO (i, seasonable; Sept.'Addú), a prophet of Judah, who wrote the history of Rehoboam and Abijah; or rather perhaps, who, in conjunction with Seraiah, kept the public rolls during their reigns. It seems from 2 Chron. xiii. 22 that he named his book, Midrash, or Exposition. Josephus (Antiq. viii. 9. 1) states that this Iddo was the prophet who was sent to Jeroboam at Bethel, and consequently the same that was slain by a lion for disobedience to his instructions (1 Kings xiii.); and many commentators have followed this statement.

2. IDDO, grandfather of the prophet Zechariah (Zech. i. I; Ezr. v. 1; vi. 14).

3. IDDO (TN), chief of the Jews of the captivity established at Casiphia, a place of which it is difficult to determine the position. It was to

B

him that Ezra sent a requisition for Levites and Nethinim, none of whom had yet joined his caravan. Thirty-eight Levites and 250 Nethinim responded to his call (Ezra viii. 17-20), B.C. 457. It would seem from this that Iddo was a chief person of the Nethinim, descended from those Gibeonites who were charged with the servile labours of the tabernacle and temple. This is one of several circumstances which indicate that the Jews in their several colonies under the Exile were still ruled by the heads of their nation, and allowed the free exercise of their worship.

4. IDDO (1, lovely; Sept. 'Iadat), a chief of the half tribe of Manasseh beyond the Jordan (1 Chron. xxvii. 21).

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IDLE. The ordinary uses of this word require no illustration. But the very serious passage in Matt. xii. 36 may suitably be noticed in this place. In the Authorized Version it is translated, I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment.' The original is, "Отι пâν ¿âμa аpyóv, d éàv raλhowow of ἄνθρωποι, ἀποδώσουσι περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγον ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως. The whole question depends upon the meaning or rather force of the term nua apyóv, rendered idle word,' concerning which there has been no little difference of opinion. Many understand it to mean wicked and injurious words,' as if ȧpyóv were the same as Tovηpów, which is indeed found as a gloss in Cod. 126. The sense is there taken to be as follows:Believe me, that for every wicked and injurious word men shall hereafter render an account.' And our Lord is supposed to have intended in this passage to reprehend the Pharisees, who had spoken impiously against Him, and to threaten them with the severest punishments; inasmuch as every one of their injurious and impious words should one day be judged. This interpretation of the word dpyóv is, however, reached by a somewhat circuitous process of philological reasoning, which is examined with much nicety by J. A. H. Tittmann, and shown to be untenable. He adds: This interpretation, moreover, would not be in accordance with what precedes in verses 33-35, nor with what follows in verse 37. For it is not any wicked discourse which is there represented; but the feigned piety of the Pharisees, and their affected zeal for the public welfare. In order to avoid a charge of levity and indifference, they had demanded "a sign," onueîor; as if desirous that both they and others might know whether Jesus was truly the Messiah. Against this dissimulation in those who uttered nothing sincerely and from the heart, Jesus had inveighed in severe and appropriate terms in verses 33-35, using the comparison of a tree, which no one judges to be good and useful unless it bears good fruit, and from which, if it be bad, no one expects good fruit. But if now the sense of verse 36 is such as these interpreters would make it, there is added in it a sentiment altogether foreign to what precedes, and ȧpyóv becomes not only destitute of effect and force, but involves a sentiment incongruous with that in verse 37. For where our Lord says that hereafter every one shall be judged according to his words, He cannot be understood to mean that every one will be capable of prov

ing his integrity and goodness merely by His words alone-a sentiment surely as far as possible from the intention of our Divine Master. We must, therefore, necessarily understand a certain kind of words or discourse, which, under the appearance of sincerity or candour, is often the worst possible, and karadikáţei tòv åveрwñov, “condemns a man," because it is uttered with an evil purpose. If, then, we interpret apyóv according to established Greek usage, there arises a natural and very appropriate sense, namely, apyóv is the same as άepyov, otiosus, vain, idle; then, void of effect, without result, followed by no corresponding event. Therefore piua apyóv is empty and to which the event does not correspond. In or vain words or discourse, i. e. void of truth, short, it is the empty, inconsiderate, insincere language of one who says one thing and means another; and in this sense àpyós is very frequently employed by the Greeks." This Tittmanı confirms by a number of citations; and then deduces from the whole that the sense of the passage under review is: Believe me, he who uses false and insincere language shall suffer grievous punishment: your words, if uttered with sincerity and ingenuousness, shall be approved; but if they are dissembled, although they bear the strongest appearance of sincerity, they shall be condemned' (See Tittmann, On the Principal Causes of Forced Interpretations of the New Testament, in Am. Bib. Repository for 1831, pp. 481-484).

IDOLATRY. In giving a summary view of the forms of idolatry which are mentioned in the Bible, it is expedient to exclude all notice of those illegal images which were indeed designed to bear some symbolical reference to the worship of the true God, but which partook of the nature of idolatry; such, for example, as the golden calf of Aaron (cf. Neh. ix. 18); those of Jeroboam; the singular ephods of Gideon and Micah (Judg. viii. 27; xvii. 5); and the Teraphim.

Idolatry was the most heinous offence against the Mosaic law, which is most particular in defining the acts which constitute the crime, and severe in apportioning the punishment. Thus, it is forbidden to make any image of a strange God; to prostrate oneself before such an image, or before those natural objects which were also worshipped without images, as the sun and moon (Deut, iv. 19); to suffer the altars, images, or groves of idols to stand (Exod. xxxiv. 13); or to keep the gold and silver of which their images were made, and to suffer it to enter the house (Deut. vii. 25, 26); to sacrifice to idols, most especially to offer human sacrifices; to eat of the victims offered to idols by others; to prophesy in the name of a strange god; and to adopt any of the rites used in idolatrous worship, and to transfer them to the worship of the Lord (Deut. xii. 30, 31). As for punishment, the law orders that if an individual committed idolatry he should be stoned to death (Deut. xvii. 2-5); that if a town was guilty of this sin, its inhabitants and cattle should be slain, and its spoils burnt together with the town itself (Deut. xiii. 12-18). To what degree also the whole spirit of the Old Testament is abhorrent from idolatry, is evident (besides legal prohibitions, prophetic denunciations, and energetic appeals like that in Isa. xliv. 9-20) from the literal sense of the terms which are used as synonymes for idols and

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