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The Old and New Testaments: Selah

The Word "Selah." The translators of the Bible have left the Hebrew word Selah, which occurs so often in the Psalms, as they found it. It is a matter in regard to which the most learned have by no means been of one mind. The Targums, and most of the Jewish commentators, give to the word the meaning of eternally forever. Rabbi Kimchi regards it as a sign to elevate the voice. The authors of the Septuagint translation appear to have considered it a musical or rhythmical note. Herder inclines to the opinion that it indicates a change of tone, which is expressed either by increase of force, or by transition into another time and mode. Matheson thinks it is a musical note, equivalent, perhaps, to the word repeat. According to Luther and others, it means silence. Gesenius explains it to mean "Let the instruments play and the singers stop." Wocher regards it as equivalent to sursum corda-up my soul! Sommer, after examining all the seventy-four passages in which the word occurs, recognizes in every case "an actual appeal or summons to Jehovah." They are calls for aid, and prayers to be heard, expressed either with entire directness, or if not in the imperative, Hear Jehovah! or Awake, Jehovah! and the like, still, earnest addresses to God that he would remember and hear, etc. The word itself he considers indicative of a blast of trumpets by the priests, Selah being an abridged expression for Higgaion, and Higgaion indicating the sound of the stringed instruments, and Selah a vigorous blast of trumpets. The Seven Bibles of the World. The seven Bibles of the world are the Koran of the Mohommedans, the Eddas of the Scandinavians, the Try Pitikes of the

Buddhists, the Five Kings of the Chinese, the three Vedas of the Hindoos, the

Zendavesta, and the Scriptures of the Christians. The Koran is not older than the 7th century of our era. It is a compound of quotations from the Old and New Testaments, the Talmud, and the Gospel of St. Barnabas. The Eddas of the Scandinavians were published in the 11th century, and are the most recent of these seven Bibles. The Pitikes of the Buddhists contain sublime morals and pure aspirations; their author lived and died in the 7th century before Christ. There is nothing of excellence in these sacred books not found in the Bible. The sacred writings of the Chinese are called the Five Kings, "king" meaning web of cloth or the warp that keeps the threads in their place. They contain the best sayings of the best sages on the ethico-political duties of life. These sayings cannot be traced to a period higher than the 11th century B. c. The three Vedas are the most ancient books of the Hindoos, and it is the opinion of Max Müller, Wilson, Johnson, and Whitney, that they are older than 11th century B. C. The Zendavesta of the Persians is the grandest of all the sacred books next to our Bible. Zoroaster, whose sayings it contains, was born in the 12th century B. c.

Animals and Birds of the Bible. The animals mentioned in the Holy Scriptures are the following:-Antelope, ape, ass (tame and wild), bear, bull (domestic and wild), camel, chamois, coney, deer, dog, dolphin, fallow-deer, ferret, fox, gazelle, goat (he and wild), greyhound, hare, hart, hind, horse, hippopotamus, leopard, lion, molerat, mouse, mule, ox, ram, rhinoceros, sheep, wild sheep, swine, unicorn, weasel, and wolf. The following are not mentioned by name, but are inferred from the evidence of the text : -Cat, elephant, hedgehog, hyæna, and jackal. The birds mentioned specifically are:-Bat, bittern, cormorant, crane, crow, cuckoo, dove, eagle, "fatted fowl" (probably geese), glede, hawk, hen, heron, hoopoe, kite, lapwing, owl (great, little, and screech), osprey, ossifrage, ostrich, partridge, peacock, pelican, pigeon, quail, raven, sparrow, stork, swallow, swan, swift, turtledove, and vulture. There were others, however, in the Holy Land and Egypt. The cock is also spoken of in the Bible. Reptiles of the Bible. In the Bible reptiles are a connecting link between beasts and fishes. They are divided into "moving creatures of the sea" among fish, and the "creeping things" of the land. The six orders of modern reptilia are all represented in Scripture, but they are not very clearly distinguished. The following is a list of those referred to :-Adder, asp, caterpillar, chameleon, cockatrice, crocodile, dabba, (tortoise), dragon (meaning the crocodile), frog, gecko (lizard), horseleech, leviathan (crocodile), lizard, scorpion, serpent, snail, tortoise, viper, worm (earth, palmer, canker, and crimson).

Fishes of the Bible. Beyond mention of the fact of the creation of fish generally, the Mosaic division of their species into clean and unclean, their incidental mention in our Lord's history as an article of food, and of the occupation of fishing as a parabolic illustration, fish enter but little into the phraseology of the Bible, and not a single species is named if we except the whale. The following is the list:-Jonah's fish, probably a shark, as whales have too contracted throats to swallow a man, but sharks capable of doing so are not uncommon in the Mediterranean; Tobit's fish, probably a crocodile; onychia, a shell fish; pearls, purple, a shell fish that furnished this color; the whale. Insects of the Bible. This list, those not included in the above paragraphs:-Ant, bee, beetle, flea, fly, gnat, grasshopper, hornet, lice, locust, moth, and spider. Trees, Plants, and Flowers of the Bible. Almond, almug, algum, aloe, anise, apple, ash, balsam, barley, bay-tree, bean, box, bramble, bulrush, burning bush, calamus, camphire, cane (sweet), cassia, cedar, chestnut, cinnamon, cockle ( probably wild grape), coriander, corn, cucumber, cummin, cypress, ebony, elm, fig-tree, fir, fitches, flax, frankincense, galbanum, gall, garlick, gopher, gourd, grass, grove, hazel, hay, heath, hemlock, herb and bitter herb, (meaning lettuce, endive, chicory, or mint), husks (the fruit of the locust-tree), hyssop, juniper, leeks, lentiles, lily, mallow, mandrake, mastick-tree, mellon, millet, mint, mulberry, mustard, myrrh, myrtle, nard, nettle, nuts, oak, oil-tree, olive, onion, palm-tree, pannag (a spice), pine pomegranate, poplar, pulse (probably peas), rose, rue, rye, saffron, seaweed, shittah-tree, vine of Sodom, (probably the colocynth), spicery (probably the gum tragacanth), stacte, the storax, sycamine, the black mulberry, sycamore, tares (a kind of rye-grass), teil or terpentine tree, thick tree (the myrtle), thistle, thyine wood, vine, wild vine, wheat, willow, with, wormwood. It is worthy of note in this connection that the fauna and flora, arts and sciences of the Bible, accord with its assumed geography and chronology; the animals and cereals belong specially to Mesopotamia and the country east of Palestine, and the musical instruments to the earliest ages of human history. Those of Pentateuch are generally such as have their origin in Egypt and the Sinaitic peninsula; those of the historical books and of most of the prophets belong more particularly to Palestine in an advanced state of civilization; while the animals mentioned in Job have received more illustration from the Assyrian records and monuments than from anything found in Egypt, Arabia, or Canaan. The marked omission of aquatic pursuits and industries and of marine products from the Bible narrative, accords with the historical fact that the sea coast was never occupied by the Hebrews.

Mineral Substances and Metals of the Bible. The following mineral substances are mentioned in the Bible:-Bitumen, clay, earth, nitre, salt, sand, and sulphur. Metals:-Amber, copper, gold, iron and steel, lead, silver, and tin. Precious Stones of the Bible. The following are the precious stones and gems mentioned in the pages of Holy Writ:-Adamant, agate, amethyst, beryl, carbuncle, chalcedony, chrysolite, chrysophrase, diamond, emerald, jacinth, jasper, ligure, onyx, sapphire, sardius, sardonyx, and topaz. Musical Instruments of the Bible. String-Harp, sackbut, and viol. Wind-Cornet, dulcimer, flute, organ (Pan pipes), trumpets (various); also bells, cymbals, and tabrets (tambourines).

NOTES.

It is estimated that there are now 148,000,000 copies of the Bible in circulation, as against 5,000,000 copies at the commencement of the present century.

The British and Foreign Bible Society, since its formation in 1804, has had a share, direct or indirect, in translating the Bible into more than 300 languages or dialects. It has put into circulation more than 104 million Bibles and Testaments, while its expenditure for this purpose has amounted to almost 10 millions sterling. In more than 30 instances languages have for the first time been reduced to writing, in order to give the people speaking them the privilege of reading the Bible. DICTIONARY OF