William Henry Bennett

“ Religious thought about the angels during the middle ages was much influenced by the theory of the angelic hierarchy set forth in the De Hierarchia Celesti, written in the 5th century in the name of Dionysius the Areopagite and passing for his. The creeds and confessions do not formulate any authoritative doctrine of angels; and modern rationalism has tended to deny the existence of such beings, or to regard the subject as one on which we can have no certain knowledge. The principle of continuity, however, seems to require the existence of beings intermediate between man and God. ”

“ The Old Testament has no theory of sacrifice; in connexion with sin the sacrifice was popularly regarded as payment of penalty or compensation. Lev. xvii. 11 suggests a mystic or symbolic explanation by its statement “the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your lives: [6] for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life.” The Old Testament nowhere explains why this importance is attached to the blood, but the passage is often held to mean that the life of the victim represented the forfeited life of the offerer. ”

“ Balaam, the son of Beor, was a Gentile seer; he appears in the history of the Israelites during their sojourn in the plains of Moab, east of Jordan, at the close of the Forty Years' wandering, shortly before the death of Moses and the crossing of the Jordan. Israel had conquered two kings of eastern Palestine—Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan. Balak, king of Moab, became alarmed, and sent for Balaam to curse Israel; Balaam came after some hesitation, but when he sought to curse Israel Yahweh compelled him to bless them. ”

“ There is a natural relation between God and man in which God looks favourably upon man. (b) This relation has been disturbed so that God regards man’s character and conduct with disapproval, and inflicts suffering upon him by way of punishment. In the higher religions the disturbance is due, as just implied, to unsatisfactory conduct on man’s part, i.e. sin. (c) The normal relation may be restored, i.e. sin may be forgiven; and this restoration is the atonement.
The problem of the atonement is the means or condition of the restoration of man to God’s favour ”

“ So, too, the angels are styled “holy ones,” [2] and “watchers,” [3] and are spoken of as the “host of heaven” [4] or of “Yahweh.” [5] The “hosts,” צְבֶאוֹת‎ Sebāōth in the title Yahweh Sebaoth, Lord of Hosts, were probably at one time identified with the angels. [6] The New Testament often speaks of “spirits,” πνεύματα. [7] In the earlier periods of the religion of Israel, the doctrine of monotheism had not been formally stated, so that the idea of “angel” in the modern sense does not occur, but we find the Mal’akh Yahweh, Angel of the Lord, or Mal’akh Elohim, Angel of God. ”

“ Genesis x. exhibits in the form of genealogies the political, racial and geographical relations of the peoples known to Israel; as it was compiled from various sources and has been more than once edited, it does not exactly represent the situation at any given date, [1] but Ham seems to stand roughly for the south-western division of the world as known to Israel, which division was regarded as the natural sphere of influence of Egypt. Ham is held to be the Egyptian word Khem (black) which was the native name of Egypt ”

“ Others hold that the effect of the atoning death of Christ is not to propitiate God, but to reconcile man to God; it manifests righteousness, and thus reveals the heinousness of sin; it also reveals the love of God, and conveys the assurance of His willingness to forgive or receive the sinner; thus it moves men to repentance and faith, and effects their salvation ”

“ GOMER, the biblical name of a race appearing in the table of nations (Gen. x. 2) , as the “eldest son” of Japheth and the “father” of Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah; and in Ezek. xxxviii. 6 as a companion of “the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north,” and an ally of Gog; both Gomer and Togarmah being credited with “hordes,” [1] E.V., i.e. “bands” or “armies.” The “sons” of Gomer are probably tribes of north-east Asia Minor and Armenia, and Gomer is identified with the Cimmerians. ”

“ God appears to him in a dream and forbids him to go. The princes return and report to Balak, who sends them back to put further pressure on Balaam. God in another dream permits him to go, on condition that he speaks what God tells him. He goes with the princes of Moab. Balak meets them, and Balaam warns him that he can only speak what God tells him.
xxii. 40, 41, xxiii. 1-6, 11-17. Balak offers sacrifices, but Yahweh inspires Balaam with a blessing on Israel. Balak remonstrates and Balaam explains. ”

“ The name Nimrod has not been found in any ancient (say older than 500 B.C.) non-Israelite document or inscription; and there is no conclusive evidence for identifying Nimrod with any of the names found in such documents. In the absence of evidence, the theories are naturally endless, especially as both the legendary and the historical heroes of the ancient East were often “mighty hunters.” Nimrod would suggest to a Jew or Syrian the idea of “rebel,” mrd = rebel ”

“ At the age of 105 he begat Enos; he lived in all 912 years. Seth was born after the murder of Abel, and in iv. 25 a popular etymology is given of his name—Adam's wife called his name Seth, “For God,” saith she, “hath appointed, shéth, me another seed instead of Abel.” It is further said that after Enos was born, men began to worship Yahweh. Apparently Gen. iv. 25, 26 had no original connexion with J.’s story of the creation, which speaks of Yahweh freely from the outset. As Enos is a Hebrew word for man, it is probably derived from a tradition in which Enos was the first man. ”

“ The idea of vicarious atonement appears in the Old Testament in different forms. The nation suffers for the sin of the individual; [9] and the individual for the sin of his kinsfolk [10] or of the nation. [11] Above all the Servant of Yahweh [12] appears as atoning for sinners by his sufferings and death. Again, the Old Testament speaks of the restoration of heathen nations, and of the salvation of the heathen; [13] but does not formulate any theory of atonement in this connexion. The Old Testament, however, only prepares the way for the Christian doctrine of the atonement ”

“ In the later development of the religion of Israel, ’Elohim is almost entirely reserved for the one true God; but in earlier times ’Elohīm (gods) , bnē ’Elohim, bnē Elim (sons of gods, i.e. members of the class of divine beings) were general terms for superhuman beings. Hence they came to be used collectively of superhuman beings, distinct from Yahweh, and therefore inferior, and ultimately subordinate. ”

“ The Mahommedans, also, have various fables concerning Balaam. He was one of the Anakim, or giants of Palestine; he read the books of Abraham, where he got the name Yahweh, by virtue of which he predicted the future, and got from God whatever he asked. It has been conjectured that the Arabic wise man, commonly called Luqmān (q.v.) , is identical with Balaam. The names of their fathers are alike, and “Luqman” means devourer, swallower, a meaning which might be got out of Balaam by a popular etymology. ”

“ This view, however, leads to a dilemma; if the law of righteousness is simply an expression of the divine will, satisfaction to law is equivalent to propitiation offered to God; if the law has an independent position, the view is inconsistent with pure monotheism. ”

“ The name Noah is explained in Gen. v. 29 as connected with the root nhm “comfort,” but this is etymologically impossible. As a Hebrew word it might connect with nûah, “rest”; and the Septuagint has, “he will give us rest,” instead of “he will comfort us”; and this is sometimes accepted as the original reading.
As the tenth patriarch Noah corresponds to the tenth prehistoric Babylonian king, Xisuthros in Berossus, Ut-napistim or Atrahasis in the cuneiform tablets, the hero of the Babylonian flood story. ”

“ In Tobit, too, we find the idea of the demon or evil angel. In the canonical Old Testament angels may inflict suffering as ministers of God, and Satan may act as accuser or tempter; but they appear as subordinate to God, fulfilling His will ”

“ In Ezekiel xxxvi. 25-31, repentance is called forth by the divine forgiveness.
Sacrifice and other rites are also spoken of as conditions of the restoration of man to happy relations with God. The Priestly Code (Leviticus and allied passages) seems to confine the efficacy of sacrifice to ritual, venial and involuntary sins, [4] and requires that the sacrifices should be offered at Jerusalem by the Aaronic priests; but these limitations did not belong to the older religion; and even in later times popular faith ascribed a larger efficacy to sacrifice. ”

“ Out of that land he went forth into Assyria, [1] and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (the same is the great city) .” The general statement that Assyria was originally an offshoot and dependence of Babylon is substantially in accordance with Assyrian and Babylonian authorities. ”

“ Naturally angels are most prominent in the Apocalypse. The New Testament takes little interest in the idea of the angelic hierarchy, but there are traces of the doctrine. The distinction of good and bad angels is recognized ”

“ In the New Testament we meet with Beelzebul, [7] which some of the versions, especially the Vulgate and Syriac, followed by the Authorized Version, have changed to Beelzebub, under the influence of 2 Kings. In Matt. x. 25, Christ speaks of men calling the master of the house, i.e. Himself, Beelzebul. [8] In Mark iii 22-27, [9] the scribes explain that Jesus is possessed by Beelzebul [10] and is thus enabled to cast out devils. The passage speaks of Beelzebul as Satan and as the prince of the demons. ”

“ In polytheism the grades of superhuman beings are continuous; but in monotheism there is a sharp distinction of kind, as well as degree, between God on the one hand, and all other superhuman beings on the other; the latter are the “angels.” ”

“ His work is an expression of God’s love to man; [17] the redeeming power of Christ’s death is also explained by his solidarity with humanity as the second Adam, [18] —the redeemed sinner has “died with Christ.” ”

“ Bibl., article “Nimrod,” are generally regarded as far too sweeping. Ball, Sacred Books of the Old Testament, marks verse 9, which describes Nimrod as “a mighty hunter,” as a later addition, giving a mistaken explanation of the gibbôr of verse 8. ”

“ No place Zebub, however, is known; and it has been objected that the Baal of some other place would hardly be the god of Ekron. These objections are hardly conclusive.
Usually Zebub is identified with a Hebrew common noun zebub = flies, [1] occurring twice in the Old Testament, [2] so that Baalzebub “is the Baal to whom flies belong or are holy. As children of the summer they are symbols of the warmth of the sun, to which . ”

“ The guardian angels of the nations in Daniel probably represent the gods of the heathen, and we have there the first step of the process by which these gods became evil angels, an idea expanded by Milton in Paradise Lost. The development of the doctrine of an organized hierarchy of angels belongs to the Jewish literature of the period 200 B.C. to A.D. 100. In Jewish apocalypses especially, the imagination ran riot on the rank, classes and names of angels ”

“ A. Jeremias, Das Alte Testament im Lichte des alten Orients, p. 278, adopts Marquart’s view that the “River” (nahar) is the so-called “River” (better “Ravine” nahal) of Egypt or Musri, on the southern frontier of Judea. ”

“ BEELZEBUB, Beelzebul, Baalzebub. In 2 Kings i. we read that Ahaziah ben Ahab, king of Israel, fell sick, and sent to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of the Philistine city Ekron, whether he should recover. There is no other mention of this god in the Old Testament. Baal, “lord,” is the ordinary title or word for a deity, especially a local deity, cf. ”

“ Baal stands in close relation. Divination by means of flies was known at Babylon.” [3] There are other cases of names compounded of Baal and an element equivalent to a descriptive epithet, e.g. Baalgad, the Baal of Fortune. ”

“ For the analysis into earlier documents, see also the Oxford Hexateuch, Estlin Carpenter and Harford-Battersby. (W. H. Be.)
↑ Quoted Neh. xiii. 1 f. ↑ Josh. xxiv. 9, 10. E; cf. Micah vi. 5. ↑ Num. xxxi. 8 (quoted Josh. xiii. 22) , 16. These references are not necessarily inconsistent with JE; but they are probably based on an independent tradition. The date of the Priestly Code is ca. 400 B.C. ↑ Gen. xxxvi. 32. ↑ For names and reasons, see Gray, Numbers, 314. ↑ 2 Peter ii. 16, 17 (also refer to the ass speaking) , Jude xi. ↑ Ant. iv. 6. ↑ Quod. Det. ”

“ Asc. of Isaiah, iv. 18; Slav. Enoch, iv. 1. ↑ Rev. xiv. 18, xvi. 5; possibly Gal. iv. 3; Col. ii. 8, 20. ↑ Ps. lxviii. 17; Dan. vii. 10. ↑ Matt. xviii. 10; Acts xii. 15. ↑ Gal. iii. 19; Heb. ii. 2; LXX. of Deut. xxxiii. 2. ”