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PisidiaAid to Bible Understanding
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the Roman province of Galatia in 25 B.C.E., and in 6 B.C.E. colonies in the area were garrisoned to hold the people in check. These colonies were directed from Antioch, a city near the border between Pisidia and Phrygia. (See ANTIOCH No. 2.) In 74 C.E. the southern part of Pisidia was combined with Pamphylia and Lycia into a Roman province. The northern section remained part of the province of Galatia until, in post-apostolic times, it was enlarged in a separate province bearing the name of Pisidia.
The apostle Paul passed through Pisidia on his first missionary tour, traveling from coastal Pamphylia over the mountains to Pisidian Antioch. (Acts 13:13, 14) He also passed through Pisidia on the return trip. (Acts 14:21, 24) The bandits and rushing mountain rivers of the area might well have been a basis for Paul’s statement that he had been in “dangers from rivers, in dangers from highwaymen.”—2 Cor. 11:26; see map on page 147.
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PispahAid to Bible Understanding
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PISPAH
(Pisʹpah).
A leading Asherite; son of Jether.—1 Chron. 7:38, 40.
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Pistachio NutAid to Bible Understanding
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PISTACHIO NUT
The Hebrew word bot·nimʹ is generally understood to designate the fruit of the Pistacia vera tree. This deciduous tree thrives in dry areas and seldom reaches a height in excess of thirty feet (9 meters). The nuts measure about one-half to three-fourths of an inch (1.3 to 1.9 centimeters) in length and grow in large clusters. The thin, but hard, light-colored shell of ripe pistachio nuts is covered with a somewhat wrinkly husk. Each nut contains one yellow-green kernel surrounded by thin reddish skin. The kernel has a mild, sweet flavor, and is commonly eaten raw or fried. Sometimes kernels are pressed for oil, and ground kernels are used for confectionery items.
Pistachio nuts were among the “finest products of the land” of Canaan that were brought as a gift by Jacob’s sons to one who was a ruler in Egypt. (Gen. 43:11) Even in modern times large quantities of pistachio nuts have been exported from parts of the Middle East.
The city of Betonim, situated E of the Jordan in the territory of Gad, appears to have been named after pistachio nuts.—Josh. 13:24, 26.
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PitAid to Bible Understanding
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PIT
A deep or sunken place, either natural or artificial. The pits of bitumen into which the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell were evidently natural sunken places in the area (Gen. 14:10); whereas the pit into which Joseph’s brothers threw him was evidently a man-made waterpit.—Gen. 37:20-29.
The Hebrew word sheʼohlʹ is translated “pit” three times in the Authorized Version. (Num. 16:30, 33; Job 17:16) While Sheol actually refers to the common grave of all mankind rather than to an individual grave, the word “pit” does convey to some extent the meaning of Sheol, which is that of a “hollow place.” In Job 17:13-16 we find Sheol and the pit used in a parallel sense by Job as places of darkness and dust. Similarly, David’s prayer to God at Psalm 30:3 says: “O Jehovah, you have brought up my soul from Sheol itself; you have kept me alive, that I should not go down into the pit.” In Psalm 88:3-5 reference is made to Sheol, the pit, and the burial place in that order.—See also Job 33:18-30; Psalm 30:3, 9; 49:7-10, 15; 88:6; 143:7; Proverbs 1:12; Isaiah 14:9-15; 38:17, 18; 51:14; see GRAVE; SHEOL.
Jonah also used the word for “pit” in a figurative sense when he referred to his position in the belly of the great fish as the “pit,” as well as calling it the “belly of Sheol.”—Jonah 2:2-6.
Such association of the pit with death and the grave was quite natural in view of the ancient custom of using or excavating a pit as a grave site.
Pits were evidently used as a means of trapping or ensnaring an enemy or for catching animals, and so are used in a figurative sense to stand for dangerous situations or intrigues besetting God’s servants. (Ps. 7:15; 40:2; 57:6; Prov. 26:27; 28:10; Jer. 18:20, 22) Sometimes the pits were netted to enmesh the victim caught in them. (Ps. 35:7, 8) According to the Law, if a domestic animal fell into an excavated pit, the owner of the pit was required to make compensation to the owner if the animal died.—Ex. 21:33, 34.
In a similar sense a prostitute and the “mouth of strange women” are spoken of as a “deep pit.”—Prov. 22:14; 23:27.
The cisterns used by the Hebrews and other Orientals to store water were basically excavated pits. These were often bottle-shaped; the mouth was generally narrow, only a foot or so wide for the first three or four feet down, and then the lower part widened out into a bulbous-shaped cavity.
The Greek word phreʹar, “pit,” in the expression at Revelation 9:1, 2, “pit of the abyss,” is the same word that John uses in his Gospel account to describe the “well” at Jacob’s fountain where Jesus met the Samaritan woman. (John 4:11, 12) Phreʹar in its simplest meaning refers to such a well or pit dug in the earth, and, thus, may be used in referring to any pit or abyss, including the unfathomable one from which the locusts of the Revelation ascend.—Rev. 9:3; see ABYSS.
Peter, in 2 Peter 2:4, speaks of the demon angels as confined to “pits of dense darkness.”—See TARTARUS.
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PitchAid to Bible Understanding
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PITCH
The Hebrew word zeʹpheth is generally believed to refer to mineral pitch, the sticky and liquid form of bitumen. Bitumen is the solid state of this dark-colored hydrocarbon similar to what is generally called tar.—See BITUMEN.
Mineral pitch is highly flammable and, unless kept well supplied with air, gives off great quantities of smoke when burning. Filling Edom’s torrents with pitch and causing the land to become “burning pitch” with smoke ascending to time indefinite, would be a fitting picture of devastating destruction. (Isa. 34:9, 10) This description also helps to identify the substance, for Edom was near the Dead Sea, and even today bitumen is occasionally washed up on its shores, evidently coming from deposits now covered by the sea.
According to Exodus 2:3 the papyrus ark in which Moses was concealed was coated with both “bitumen and pitch.” Jewish commentator Rashi suggested that this meant bitumen on the inside and pitch on the outside. Or it could mean a mixture of two different consistencies of the same basic substance. For instance, in The Land and the Book (Vol. I, 1859 ed., p. 336) W. M. Thomson suggests that Exodus 2:3 “reveals the process by which they prepared the bitumen. The mineral, as found in this country, melts readily enough by itself; but then, when cold, it is as brittle as glass. It must be mixed with tar while melting, and in that way it forms a hard, glassy wax, perfectly impervious to water.” The Greek Septuagint uses the single term a·sphal·toʹpis·sa, a compound of asphalt and pitch. In parts of the Near East mineral pitch has been used even in recent times as a coating for certain sailing vessels.
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PithomAid to Bible Understanding
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PITHOM
(Piʹthom).
One of two storage cities built by the enslaved Israelites in Egypt, the other being Raamses. (Ex. 1:11) The name Pithom is generally thought to have some relation to the Egyptian name Pr-Tm, meaning “house of (the god) Tem.” On this basis two locations have been suggested for Pithom, both in the Wadi Tumilat of the eastern delta region. From 1883 on, as a result of excavations there, Tell el-Maskhutah in the eastern end of this wadi was considered the most likely location. Ramses II is supposed to have built or rebuilt the city located on that site. However, in more recent years some of the claims made for this place have been found doubtful, as, for example, the supposed evidence for large storage chambers, later Egyptologists holding that these were only foundation structures of a fortress. At present, scholars generally favor Tell el-Ratabah, a few miles to the W of Tell el-Maskhutah. This location is preferred on the basis of an inscription on a Latin milestone found referring to Ero (an apparent abbreviation of Heroonpolis, thought to be the Greek translation of Pr-Tm). It seems clear, however, that no positive conclusion can be reached on the basis of these conjectures. The archaeologists have apparently been influenced in their conclusions by the popular view that the Pharaoh of the Israelite oppression was Ramses II, a view that is not soundly founded.—See EXODUS; RAAMSES, RAMESES.
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PithonAid to Bible Understanding
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PITHON
(Piʹthon).
A descendant of Saul through Jonathan and Merib-baal (Mephibosheth).—1 Chron. 8:33-35; 9:39-41.
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PlagueAid to Bible Understanding
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PLAGUE
The original-language words rendered “plague” or “scourge” often designate blows dealt by Jehovah God as a punishment for rebellious murmuring (Num. 16:41-50), refusal to comply with his will (Zech. 14:12, 15, 18), the profane use of something sacred (1 Sam. 5:1–6:4), touching his anointed ones (Gen. 12:17; Ps. 105:15) and unfaithfulness or violations of his law. (Lev. 26:21; Num. 14:36, 37; 31:16; Deut. 28:59-61; 1 Chron. 21:17, 22; 2 Chron. 21:12-15) Such blows might be administered by angelic or human means. (2 Sam. 24:17; Jer. 19:1-8; 25:8, 9; 49:17; 50:13, 14) Prayers of intercession by Jehovah’s servants or sincere prayers by repentant ones were required for the removal of plagues from God.—Gen. 20:17, 18; 1 Ki. 8:37, 38; 2 Chron. 6:28, 29.
A plague could also result from the natural outworking of a person’s sin. (Prov. 6:32, 33) It could be an affliction, such as the “plague of leprosy” (Lev. 13:2), or an adversity resulting from time and circumstance.—Ps. 38:11; 73:5, 14.
The plagues Jehovah visited upon Egypt in the time of Moses were manifestations of his great power and caused his name to be declared among the nations. (Ex. 9:14, 16) For generations afterward their effects were talked about by other peoples. (Josh. 9:9; 1 Sam. 6:6; compare 1 Samuel 4:17.) Also, these plagues proved that the gods of Egypt were powerless.—Ex. 12:12; Num. 33:4; see GODS AND GODDESSES, page 670.
The plagues mentioned in the book of Revelation evidently are expressions of God’s anger and symbolically point to the result or effect of his judicial decisions.—Rev. 9:18, 20; 11:6; 15:1, 6, 8; 16:9, 21; 18:4, 8; 21:9; 22:18.
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PlainAid to Bible Understanding
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PLAIN
Relatively level land, in contrast to hilly or mountainous country. The Hebrew Scriptures are quite explicit in their use of different words to identify or describe various types of land.
The Hebrew term ʽara·vahʹ is used both as a name for a specific area and a word descriptive of a certain type of land. (See ARABAH.) When used without the definite article, ʽara·vahʹ indicates a desert plain or steppe, such as those of Moab and Jericho. (Num. 22:1; 35:1; Josh. 5:10; 13:32; Jer. 52:8) Though there might be rivers to provide some water for the area, ʽara·vahʹ generally emphasizes that the plain is an arid one. Thus it would be quite a reversal for the fertile, watered plain of Sharon to become like the desert plain (Isa. 33:9), or for torrents of water to come to the desert plain.—Isa. 35:1, 6; 51:3.
The word biq·ʽahʹ indicated a wide plain bounded by mountains. It comes from a root meaning “to cleave, to rend, to divide,” and can be accurately rendered “valley plain.” Even today the broad valley plain between the Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon mountains is known as el-Biqaʽ. (Josh. 11:17) Often in the Scriptures biq·ʽahʹ or “valley plain” is set in contrast to mountains or hills (Deut. 8:7; 11:11; Ps. 104:8; Isa. 41:18) or to rugged or rough ground. (Isa. 40:4) The related Aramaic word appearing at Daniel 3:1 is frequently translated just “plain,” referring to the place where Nebuchadnezzar erected the gold image.
A long low plain was designated in Hebrew ʽeʹmeq. The word signifies “a long broad sweep between parallel ranges of hills of less extent than the preceding term [biq·ʽahʹ], . . . [ʽeʹmeq] having the idea of lowness and breadth rather than precipitateness or confinement.” (M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopaedia, Vol. X, p. 703) The Hebrew word is applied to many different localities, such as “the low plain of Achor,” “the low plain of Aijalon” and “the low plain of Rephaim.”—Josh. 7:26; 10:12; 1 Chron. 11:15.
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Plane TreeAid to Bible Understanding
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PLANE TREE
[Heb., ʽar·mohnʹ].
The name of this tree in Hebrew evidently comes from the root word ʽa·rahʹ, meaning “nakedness,” or the word ʽa·ramʹ, meaning “stripped.” At Genesis 30:37, 38 Jacob is described as placing staffs from this tree, along with those of other trees, before the flocks of Laban at Haran in Syria. The staffs were peeled, “laying bare” or revealing “white places.” The plane tree (Platanus orientalis) annually peels off its outer bark in strips or sections, exposing the smooth whitish inner bark beneath.
The plane tree is of stately appearance, growing to a height of seventy feet (21.3 meters) or more, with wide spreading branches and broad dark-green, vine-like leaves affording splendid shade. The girth of the trunk often reaches as much as forty feet (12.2 meters). It was, therefore, a tree worthy of comparison with, but not actually being a match for, the majestic cedar of Lebanon, which Ezekiel used as a figure of the king of Assyria in his message to Pharaoh. (Ezek. 31:8) In all respects, then, the plane tree satisfactorily fits the Biblical description, whereas the “chestnut tree” of the Authorized Version does not. The Vulgate and the Septuagint both give “plane” tree at Genesis 30:37, as do most modern translations.
Plane trees are found along the rivers and streams throughout Syria and in the region of ancient Assyria, as well as to a lesser degree in Palestine and Lebanon.
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PlasterAid to Bible Understanding
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PLASTER
A coating for walls and partitions that was commonly made of clay mixed with straw. At times the mixture included lime, ashes, pulverized pottery fragments, or pounded shells or limestone.—Lev. 14:42; Ezek. 13:10-16; Dan. 5:5; see MORTAR, II.
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PlatterAid to Bible Understanding
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PLATTER
See VESSELS.
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PledgeAid to Bible Understanding
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PLEDGE
An object of personal property, such as a ring or garment, surrendered by a debtor to his creditor as a guarantee of the future repayment of a loan. The Mosaic law’s regulations concerning pledges protected the interests of impoverished and defenseless members of the nation. They showed that God appreciated the difficulties of the poor and widows.
If a poor man gave his outer garment as a pledge or security on a loan, the creditor was not to keep it overnight. (Ex. 22:26, 27; Deut. 24:12, 13) A poor person would likely use his outer garments for covering at night; if he were deprived of it, he might suffer from the cold. For a person to ignore this law would mark him as greedy and heartless. (Job 22:6; 24:9) Yet, during Israel’s apostasy, some persons not only seized garments from the poor as pledges but used them during their false religious feasts.—Amos 2:8.
Not returning “a pledged thing” was listed in Ezekiel 18:10-13 along with robbing and shedding blood as things combining to prove an unrepentant sinner as worthy of death. On the other hand, a wicked one who abandoned his sins by, among other things, returning “the very thing pledged” would “positively keep living.” (Ezek. 33:14-16) It was also forbidden to take a hand mill or its upper grindstone as a pledge, for bread was usually baked daily and to take the implements necessary for grinding the grain would mean seizing “a soul” or life.—Deut. 24:6.
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