A well known small industrious insect; whose form, propagation, economy, and singular instinct and ingenuity, have attracted the attention of the most inquisitive and laborious inquirers into nature. To the toil and industry of this admirable insect, we are indebted for one of the most delicious substances with which the palate can be regaled. From the nectareous juices of flowers it collects its roscid honey. Were it not for "nature's confectioner," the busy bee, these sweets would all be lost in the desert air, or decline with the fading blossom. Bees were very numerous in the East. Serid or Seriad, means "the land of the hive;" and Canaan was celebrated as (6 a land flowing with milk and honey." The wild bees formed their comb in the crevices of the rocks, and in the hollows of decayed trees. I have already mentioned that the Septuagint, after describing the prudence and foresight of the ant, Prov. vi. 8, directs the sluggard also to inspect the labours of the bees; to observe with what wonderful art they construct their cells, how their work is regulated, and how diligent and profitable their toil. This passage is quoted by Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromata, lib. 1; Origen, in Numb. bomilia, 27, and in Isai. hom. 2; Basil, in hexameron, homil. 8; Ambrose, lib. v. c. 21; Jerom, in Ezek. c. iii. 1.; Theodoret, de Providentia, Orat. 5; Antiochus, abbas sabbæ, homil. 36; and Joh. Damascenus, lib. ii. paral. c. 89: and though Jerom observes that this is not in the Hebrew text; neither is it in the Chaldee nor Syriac version; yet we may sup-t pose that the Greek interpreters translated it from some copy then in use. 13 Bochart 13 quotes several authors, who celebrate conjointly the labours and the skill of the ant and the bee; as Ælian, Plutarch, Phocilides, Cicero, and others. One or two instances must suffice here. "Sola byemi metuens, latebroso pumice condit Idem amor atque apibus eadem experientia parcis." Pontanus, lib. i. de stellis. "Formica et apis utraque deponunt in annum. Scaliger, in Carm. "Avara Milit." "Formica et apis nos operariæ docebunt Ib. in titulo, "Labor pater fruitionis." The passage in Isai. vii. 8. which mentions the hissing for the bee, is supposed to involve an allusion to the practice of calling out the bees from their hives, by a hissing or whistling sound, to their labour in the fields, and summoning them again to return when the heavens begin to lour, or the shadows of evening to 13 Hieroz. part ii. 1. iv. c. 14. p. 366. fall. In this manner Jehovah threatens to rouse the enemies of Judah, and lead them to the prey. However widely scattered, or far remote from the scene of action, they should hear his voice, and with as much promptitude as the bee that has been taught to recognise the signal of its owner and obey his call, they should assemble their forces; and, although weak and insignificant as a swarm of bees, in the estimation of a proud and infatuated people, they should come, with irresistible might, and take possession of the rich and beautiful region which had been abandoned by its terrified inhabitants. The bee is represented by the ancients as a vexatious and even a formidable enemy; and the experience of every person who turns his attention to the temper and habits of this insect attests the truth of their assertion. The allusion, therefore, of Moses to their fierce hostility, Deut. i. 44, is both just and beautiful. "The Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain came out against you, and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir even unto Hormah." The Amorites, it appears, were the most bitter adversaries to Israel of all the nations of Canaan. Like bees that are easily irritated, that attack with great fury and increasing numbers the person that dares to molest their hive, and persecute him in his flight to a considerable distance, the incensed Amorites had collected their hostile bands, and chased the Israelites from their territory. The Psalmist also complains that his enemies compassed him about like bees; fiercely attacking him on every side. The author of the book of Ecclesiasticus, xi. 3, says, "the bee is little among such as fly, but her fruit is the chief of sweet things." See HONEY. BEETLE. CHARGOL. The word occurs only Levit. xi. 22. A species of locust is thought to be there spoken of. The word yet remains in the Arabic, and is derived from an original, alluding to the vast number of their swarms. Golius explains it of the locust without wings. There is a story of this locust, that it fights against serpents; and such is the import of its name in Greek, opioμaxys1 This arose, perhaps, from finding the insect preying upon the putrid bodies of dead snakes. Some have supposed it the Gryllus verrucivorus of Linnæus. 14 The Egyptians paid a superstitious worship to the beetle. Blatta Egyptiaca, Lin. Mr. Molyneaux, in the "Philosophical 14 So rendered in the Septuagint. See an account of this insect in Aristot. Hist. Anim. lib. ix. c. 6. "Notandum est opioμaxny in Lege poni pro Hebræo chargol, aut argol; nam ex usu veterum potest utroque modo scribi sic nomen puto veteres scripsisse, adspiratione dempta. Atque inde natam esse fabulam de argolis ophiomachis, quos pro locustis serpentes fuisse nugantur, et ideo dictos argolas, quod ex Argo Pelasgico in Ægyptum ab Alexandro translati sint, ut Aspides interficerent. Ita refert Suidas, Αργολαι είδος οφεων, ως ηνεγκε Μακεδων ο Αλέξανδρος εκ το Αργος το Πελασγικό εις Αλεξανδριαν, και ενέβαλεν εις τον ποταμον, προς αναίρεσιν των ασπίδων. Bochart, Hieroz. v. 3. p. 264. Transactions," No. 23415, says, "It is more than probable that this destructive beetle we are speaking of was that very kind of Scarabæus, which the idolatrous Egyptians of old had in such high veneration, as to pay divine worship unto it, and so frequently engrave its image upon their obelisks, &c. as we see at this day 16. For nothing can be supposed more natural than to imagine a nation, addicted to polytheism as the Egyptians were, in a country frequently suffering great mischief and scarcity from swarms of devouring insects, should, from a strange sense and fear of evil to come (the common principle of superstition and idolatry), give sacred worship to the visible authors of these their sufferings, in hopes to render them more propitious for the future. Thus it is allowed on all hands, that the same people adored as gods, the ravenous crocodiles of the Nile; and thus the Romans, though more polite and civilized in their idolatry, "febrem ad minus nocendum verebantur, eamque variis templis extractis colebant." Valer. Maxim. 1. ii. c. 5. See under the articles FLY and LOCUST. BEEVES. bukre. BEKAR. The Arabic generical name is Al The generical name for clean animals, such as had hoofs completely divided into two parts only. Collectively, herds. The following arrangement of this class of clean animals may gratify the curious. Ox, or beeve, in ALLUPH. The chief of all cattle, and indeed of all clean beasts. Psal. viii. 17; cxliv. 14; Jerem. xi. 1917. BULL, SHUR; Chaldee, taur; Arabic, al-taur; Latin, taurus. YOUNG BULL, PAR. Job, xxi. 10; 1 Sam. vi. 7, 10; Psal. Ixix. 32. HEIFER, PARAH. CALF, OGEL; Arabic, adjel. ZEBU, IN THAU; the little Barbary cow; Arabic, beker el wash. But Shaw and Michaelis suppose this word, which occurs only in Deut. xiv. 5, and Isai. li. 20, to be the Buffalo. See BULL. .בהמות .BEHEMOTH "This term (says Mr. Good 18) has greatly tried the ingenuity 15 Lowthorp's Abridgm. v. ii. p. 779. 16 Scarabees are even now seen sculptured on stones in the royal sepulchres of Biban el Moluk: those monuments are considered as more ancient than the pyramids. 17 Bochart supposes the word alluph, Jer. xi. 19, to be an adjective, and renders the former part of the sentence thus, "I was brought as a tame sheep to the slaughter;" probably with an idea that it might be a parallel proverbial speech with Isai. liii. 7. But we may well admit the common translation, the disjunctive particle being understood, as it is in Ps. Ixix. 21, and Isa. xxxviii. 14. 18 Book of Job literally translated, with Dissertations, Notes, &c. by John Mason Good, F. R. S. Lond. 1712. page 473. Notes. of the critics. By some, among whom are Bythner and Reiske, it is regarded in Job, xl. 16, as a plural noun for beasts in general: the peculiar name of the animal immediately described not being mentioned, as unnecessary, on account of the description itself so easily applied at the time. And in this sense it is translated in various passages in the Psalms. Thus 1. 10, in which it is usually rendered cattle, as the plural of n it means unquestionably a beast or brute, in the general signification of these words: 'For every beast of the field is mine, and the cattle (behemoth) upon a thousand hills.' So again Isai. lxxiii. 22. So foolish was I, and ignorant, I was as a beast (behemoth) before thee.' It is also used in the same sense in ch. xxxv. 11. of the present poem; who teacheth us more than the beasts (behemoth) of the earth.' The greater number of critics, however, have understood the word behemoth in the singular number, as the peculiar name of the quadruped here described, of whatever kind or nature it may be; although they have materially differed upon this last point, some regarding it as the hippopotamus, or river horse, and others as the elephant. Among the chief supporters of the former opinion, are Bochart, Scheuchzer, Shaw, Calmet, and Dr. Stock; among the principal advocates for the latter interpretation are Schultens and Scott19." In the first edition of this work I took some pains to prove that the elephant was intended; but a more critical examination of the subject has changed my opinion. "The author of the book of Job has delineated highly finished poetical pictures of two remarkable animals, BEHEMOTH and LEVIATHAN. These he reserves to close his description of animated nature, and with these he terminates the climax of that discourse which he puts into the mouth of the Almighty. He even interrupts that discourse, and separates as it were by that interruption these surprising creatures from those which he had described before; and he descants on them in a manner which demonstrates the poetic animation with which he wrote. The two creatures evidently appear to be meant as companions; to be reserved as fellows and associates. We are then to inquire what animals were likely to be thus associated in early ages, and 19 To the above authorities in favour of the Elephant may be added, Franzius, Bruce, Guzzetius, in Comment. ling hebr. Pfeiffer, in dubiis vexatis, p. 519. J. D. Michaelis in Notis Jobi, et Suppl. Lex. Heb. par. 1. page 146. Huffnagel, in not. Jobi. Schoder in Specim. i. Hieroz. p. 1. Those who assert it to be the Hippopotamus are Ludolph, Hist. Æthiop. 1. 1. c. xi. H. S. Reimarus, Herder de genio Poes. Hebr. p. 1. p. 130. The learning of Bochart seems inexhaustible on this subject. Mr. Good, however, says, “It is most probable that the Behemoth (unquestionably a pachydermatous quadruped, or one belonging to the order of this name, to which both the elephant and hippopotamus appertain in the Cuverian system), is at present a genus altogether extinct, like the mastodonton or mammoth, and at least two other enormous genera, all belonging to the same class and order." in countries bordering on Egypt, where the scene of this poem is placed. "I believe that it is generally admitted that the leviathan is the crocodile; his fellow, then, could not be the elephant, which was not known in Egypt; was not, at least, peculiar to that country, though inhabiting the interior of Africa. "If we had any Egyptian poems, or even writings come down to us, we might possess a chance of meeting in them something to guide our inquiries; but of these we are totally deprived. We however may esteem ourselves fortunate, that by means of Egyptian representations we can determine this question, and identify the animal. "In the great work published under the authority of the king of Naples, containing prints from antiquities found in Herculaneum, are some pictures of Egyptian landscapes, in which are figures of the crocodile lying among the reeds, and of the Hippopotamus browsing on the aquatic plants of an island 20." And in that famous piece of antiquity, commonly called the "Prænestine pavement," the crocodile and river-horse are associated 21; as they are also on the base of the famous statue of the Nile. The hippopotamus is nearly as large as the rhinoceros. The male has been found seventeen feet in length, fifteen in circumference, and seven in height. The head is enormously large, and the jaws extend upwards two feet, and are armed with four cutting teeth, each of which is twelve inches in length. The body is of a lightish colour, thinly covered with hair. The legs are three feet long. Though amphibious, the hoofs, which are quadrifid, are unconnected with membranes. The hide is so thick and tough as to resist the edge of a sword or sabre. Although an inhabitant of the waters, the hippopotamus is well known to breathe air like land animals. On land indeed he 20 Scripture Illustr. in addition to Calmet, No. lxv. 21 This most curious and valuable piece of antiquity was found in the ruins of the Temple of Fortune at Palestine, the ancient Præneste, about twenty-one miles from Rome. It is formed of small stones of different colours, disposed with such art and neatness as to make it comparable to some of the finest paintings. It represents Egypt and a part of Ethiopia; though not laid down in a geographical manner, nor according to the rules of perspective. It exhibits tracts of land, mountains, valleys, branches of the Nile, lakes, quadrupeds, and fish of various kinds, and a great many birds. Several of the beasts have names [written near them in Greek letters] not found in historians; though it is probable that some of these are corrupted through the ignorance of copyists. It represents the huntsmen and fishermen, galleys, boats, men, and women, in different dresses, great and small buildings of different kinds, obelisks, arbours, trees, and plants, with a great variety of the most curious particulars, relative to the times in which it was formed; and presents us with a greater number of objects, relative to the civil and natural history of Egypt and Ethiopia than are any where else to be met with. A history of this most instructive piece of antiquity is to be found in Montfaucon's Antiquities, vol. xiv. in Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 423-427. edit. 2. 4to. with an elaborate explication, and a large plate; and in Harmer's Observations, vol. 4. Dr. Adam Clarke's edition, p. 63–90. |