of freeing a prisoner at each Passover festival. Instead, the crowd, incited by their religious leaders, clamored for the release of Barabbas, a thief, murderer and seditionist. Repeated attempts by Pilate to free the accused brought only an increase in the shouting for Jesus’ impalement. Fearing a riot and seeking to placate the crowd, Pilate acceded to their wishes, washing his hands with water as though cleansing them from bloodguilt. Sometime prior to this point Pilate’s wife had advised him of her troublesome dream concerning “that righteous man.”—Matt. 27:19.

Pilate now had Jesus whipped and the soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head and dressed him with royal robes. Again Pilate appeared before the crowd, renewed his disavowal of finding any guilt in Jesus and had Jesus come out before them with his robes and crown of thorns. At Pilate’s cry, “Look! The man!,” the leaders of the people renewed their demand for impalement, now revealing for the first time their charge of blasphemy. Their reference to Jesus as making himself God’s son added to Pilate’s apprehension, and he took Jesus inside for further questioning. Final efforts at releasing him brought the warning by the Jewish opposers that Pilate was becoming vulnerable to the charge of opposing Caesar. Hearing this threat, Pilate, bringing Jesus forth, now seated himself on the judgment seat. Pilate’s cry, “See! Your king!” only revived the clamor for impalement and brought the declaration: “We have no king but Caesar.” Pilate then handed Jesus over to them to be impaled.—Matt. 27:1-31; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28-40; 19:1-16.

Jewish writers, such as Philo, paint Pilate as an inflexible, arrogant, merciless man. However, it may be that the actions of the Jews themselves were largely responsible for the strong measures the governor had taken against them. At any rate the Gospel accounts give some accurate insight into the man’s makeup. His approach to matters was typical of the Roman ruler, his speech terse and blunt. Outwardly expressing the skeptical attitude of the cynic, as in saying “What is truth?” he, nevertheless, showed fear, likely a superstitious fear, upon hearing that he was dealing with one who claimed to be God’s son. Though obviously not the condescending type, he displayed the politician’s lack of integrity. He was concerned primarily as to his position, as to what his superiors would say if they heard of further disturbances in his province, fearful of appearing to be overly lenient toward those accused of sedition. Pilate recognized Jesus’ innocence and the envy that motivated his accusers. Yet he gave in to the crowd and turned an innocent victim over for them to slaughter rather than risk damage to his political career.

As part of the “superior authorities” Pilate exercised power by divine tolerance. (Rom. 13:1) He bore responsibility for his decision, responsibility that water could not wash away. His wife’s dream was evidently of divine origin, even as were the earthquake, the unusual darkness and the rending of the curtain that took place on that day. (Matt. 27:45, 51-54; Luke 23:44, 45) Her dream should have warned Pilate that this was no ordinary trial, no ordinary defendant. Yet, as Jesus said, the one delivering him to Pilate ‘bore the greater guilt of sin.’ (John 19:10, 11) Judas, who originally betrayed Jesus, was called the “son of destruction.” (John 17:12) Those Pharisees who were guilty of complicity in the plot against Jesus’ life were described as ‘subjects for Gehenna.’ (Matt. 23:13, 33; compare John 8:37-44.) And particularly the high priest, who headed the Sanhedrin, was responsible before God for handing over God’s Son to this Gentile ruler for sentencing to death. (Matt. 26:63-66) Pilate’s guilt did not equal theirs; yet his act was extremely reprehensible.

Pilate’s distaste for the promoters of the crime evidently was reflected in the sign he had placed over the impaled Jesus, identifying him as the “King of the Jews,” as well as his curt refusal to change it, saying: “What I have written I have written.” (John 19:19-22) When Joseph of Arimathea requested the dead body, Pilate, after first displaying the thoroughness of a Roman official by making sure Jesus was dead, granted the request. (Mark 15:43-45) The concern of the chief priests and Pharisees over the possibility of theft of the body brought the terse reply: “You have a guard. Go make it as secure as you know how.”—Matt. 27:62-65.

REMOVAL AND DEATH

Josephus reports that Pilate’s later removal from office resulted from complaints lodged by the Samaritans with Pilate’s immediate superior, the governor of Syria, Vitellius. The complaint was about Pilate’s slaughter of a number of Samaritans who were deluded by an impostor into assembling at Mount Gerizim in hopes of uncovering sacred treasures supposedly hidden there by Moses. Vitellius ordered Pilate to Rome to appear before Tiberius and put Marcellus in his place. Tiberius died in 37 C.E. while Pilate was still on his way to Rome. History gives no reliable data as to the ultimate results of his trial. The Christian historian and bishop Eusebius of the late third and early fourth centuries claims that Pilate was obliged to commit suicide during the reign of Tiberius’ successor Gaius (Caligula).

PILDASH

(Pilʹdash).

Sixth named of the eight sons of Abraham’s brother Nahor by his wife Milcah.—Gen. 22:21-23; 11:29.

PILES

Hemorrhoids; swellings of veins at the anus, frequently accompanied by bleeding. In this often painful disorder, there are vascular tumors beneath the mucous membrane of the rectum, either within the external sphincter (internal hemorrhoids) or on its outer side (external hemorrhoids), or both. Piles were among the disorders that Jehovah warned the Israelites they would suffer for disobedience. (Deut. 28:15, 27) He afflicted the Philistines of Ashdod and its territories, Gath and Ekron, with piles while the sacred Ark was in their possession.—1 Sam. 5:6-12.

The Hebrew word rendered “piles” (Harkavey; NW), “hemorrhoids” (Le), “emerods” (AV; Yg), “tumors” (AS; RS) and “plague-boils” (AT), as at 1 Samuel 5:6, is ʽopha·limʹ, denoting rounded swellings or eminences, hemorrhoids, or tumors at the anus. At 1 Samuel 6:11, 17 in the Masoretic text, the swellings afflicting the Philistines are referred to as t^ehho·rimʹ, meaning “tumors” or “plague boils.” In all six Scriptural occurrences of ʽopha·limʹ (piles), the Jewish Masoretes pointed this word with the vowels for t^ehho·rimʹ (tumors) and showed this latter term in the margin as the word to be read instead of ʽopha·limʹ, which they evidently considered an immodest word.

The five Philistine axis lords returned the Ark to Israel with a guilt offering to Jehovah, consisting partly of five golden images of the piles, that is, representations of these swellings. (1 Sam. 6:4, 5, 11, 17) In a somewhat similar manner, certain ancient peoples (particularly the Greeks and the Romans) invoked their deities for cures by presenting to them replicas of afflicted body parts, or they presented models thereof in gratitude for supposed cures.

Since jerboas (mouselike jumping rodents) were bringing the land to ruin (1 Sam. 6:5), some scholars believe the Philistines were afflicted with bubonic plague, a highly fatal infectious disease marked by such symptoms as fever, chills, prostration and painful enlargement of the lymphatic glands, or buboes. This plague is transmitted chiefly through bites by fleas that have bitten dying or dead infected rats or other rodents. “A death-dealing confusion” occurred when the Ark was in Ekron, where “the men that did not die had been struck with piles.” (1 Sam. 5:10-12) Both pile and jerboa images are mentioned at 1 Samuel 6:4, where the Philistine priests and diviners are quoted as saying, “every one of you and your axis lords have the same scourge.” But this may mean only that the entire nation, the axis lords and people alike, had suffered a common calamity, the, “same scourge,” not necessarily that the rodents and the piles were associated in one epidemic disease or plague. The Bible seems to indicate only that the jerboas destroyed vegetation throughout Philistia, thus ruining the land, and does not specifically state that they were carriers of infection to the Philistines stricken by Jehovah.

PILHA

(Pilʹha) [millstone].

A family head of Israel or a representative of a family of that name attesting the postexilic “trustworthy arrangement.’”—Neh. 9:38; 10:1, 14, 24.

PILLAR

An upright structural support or column, or something resembling or comparable to such a supporting column.

Some ancient peoples of the Near East set up sacred pillars in connection with their false religion; quite likely these involved phallic symbolism. The Israelites, upon entering the Promised Land, were to destroy such sacred pillars, and they were forbidden to set up pillars of that sort. (Deut. 7:5; 16:22) However, at times they took up heathen religion and used sacred pillars.—1 Ki. 14:23; 2 Ki. 3:2; see SACRED PILLAR.

Quite apart from the improper use of pillars hated by God, the Hebrew Scriptures mention the setting up of pillars or stones of a commemorative nature. Such pillars were not objects of idolatrous worship nor symbolic of sex organs. They served to recall historic acts or events.

On two occasions Jacob set up stone pillars at Bethel. Both instances involved taking note of Jehovah’s dealing with Jacob in a special way at that place. (Gen. 28:18, 19, 22; 31:13; 35:14, 15) The pillar Jacob stationed over Rachel’s grave was no doubt stone and still existed in Moses’ day. (Gen. 35:19, 20) When the Israelites accepted the laws Moses had received from God, Moses built an altar and “twelve pillars corresponding with the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Ex. 24:4) Joshua gave similar instruction involving stones to represent the tribes, though the account does not call them pillars. These were to serve as a memorial to Israel and would give occasion for fathers to explain to their sons what the twelve stories meant.—Josh. 4:1-9, 20-24.

A covenant or a victory could be marked by setting up a stone, often a pillar. (Gen. 31:44-53; Josh. 24:26; 1 Sam. 7:10-12) After his victory over the Amalekites, King Saul ‘erected a monument for himself at Carmel.’ (1 Sam. 15:12) The Hebrew word here translated “monument” is usually rendered “hand,” but it is also used at 2 Samuel 18:18 in connection with the “pillar” Absalom raised up called “Absalom’s Monument” (RS, NW, AT), so evidently Saul erected a victory monument or pillar.—Compare Isaiah 56:5; see ABSALOM’S MONUMENT.

The idea of a pillar as being a commemorative monument may be involved in the prophecy at Isaiah 19:19. Written in the eighth century B.C.E., it dealt with circumstances after the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. Some of the Jews who were left in their land by the Babylonians fled to Egypt and dwelt in Egyptian cities, as foretold in Isaiah 19:18. (Jer. 43:4-7; 44:1) Thus the promise that there would be “a pillar to Jehovah” beside Egypt’s boundary has been understood by many commentators to mean that Jehovah would be taken note of or commemorated in Egypt, whether there was a literal pillar or not.—Compare Isaiah 19:20-22.

STRUCTURAL PILLARS

Biblical references and archaeological discoveries show pillars of wood, stone and brick being used in the Near East as structural supports. Often the roof beams or upper stories of a building were held up by vertical columns. (Prov. 9:1; Judg. 16:25, 29; 1 Ki. 7:2) The wood or brick pillars might rest on stone bases. Solomon’s House of the Forest of Lebanon contained rows of cedarwood pillars supporting the beams and upper chambers. Apparently the fact that the cedar was from Lebanon or the resemblance of the pillars to a forest resulted in the building’s name. The nearby Porch of Pillars was obviously also noted for its abundant pillars, though the record does not give their number or material. (1 Ki. 7:1-6; compare Ezekiel 40:16, 48, 49.) Marble pillars were used in the courtyard of Ahasuerus’ palace.—Esther 1:6.

The most noteworthy pillars in Solomon’s temple were two huge copper pillars named Jachin and Boaz at the porch. (1 Ki. 7:15; 2 Ki. 25:17; Jer. 52:21; see CAPITAL.) The New Bible Dictionary edited by J. D. Douglas suggests that the king stood by one of these pillars on ceremonial occasions, but that cannot be confirmed, for the Bible merely says the king was “standing by his pillar at the entry.” (2 Chron. 23:13; 2 Ki. 11:14; 23:3) He could have been standing at a gate of the inner court or some other elevated place for addressing the people.

Smaller pillars were used in the tabernacle, four of acacia wood to support the curtain between the Holy and Most Holy and five to hold up the screen at the entrance. (Ex. 26:32-37) Sixty other pillars supported the linen hangings around the courtyard and the screen at the gate of the courtyard.—Ex. 27:9-16.

Small, ornamental pillars of silver apparently supported the canopy of Solomon’s litter.—Song of Sol. 3:9, 10.

FIGURATIVE USE

The material and function of structural pillars made them fitting symbols of sturdy support. They would illustrate that which securely upholds. The Christian congregation could be called a “pillar and support of the truth,” for through it Christians learn and gain understanding about the truths of God’s Word. (1 Tim. 3:15) It upholds the truth in contrast to religious error. James, Cephas and John were spoken of as ‘seeming to be pillars’ in the early congregation; they were solidly fixed and strong supporters of it. (Gal. 2:9) Christians who conquer will be made pillars in the “temple” of God, gaining a permanent position in the spiritual structure. (Rev. 3:12) The idea of the sturdiness of a pillar is found in the allusions to pillars in describing the feet of a strong angel. (Rev. 10:1) The legs of the shepherd lover of the Shulammite girl were like “pillars of marble,” being beautiful as well as strong.—Song of Sol. 5:15.

PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE

Jehovah miraculously guided the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness, “going ahead of them in the daytime in a pillar of cloud . . . and in the nighttime in a pillar of fire to give them light to go.” (Ex. 13:21) This was, not two pillars, but one “pillar of fire and cloud” that would normally appear as a cloud in the daytime and as fire at night. (Ex. 14:24) When the Egyptians pursued the Israelites, the pillar moved to the rear, perhaps spreading out like a wall. (Ps. 105:38, 39) It caused darkness on the Egyptian side, but shed light on the Israelite side. (Ex. 14:19, 20) When the tabernacle was set up, the pillar above it served as a sign that Jehovah was in his holy place. (Ex. 40:35) The pillar represented Jehovah and he spoke out of it. (Num. 14:14; 12:5; Ps. 99:7) The last historical notice of the pillar was just before Israel entered the Promised Land. (Deut. 31:15) When they were settled in their land the guiding pillar was not needed as it had been during their wandering.—Compare Exodus 40:38; Isaiah 4:5.

PILLORY

(pilʹlo·ry).

This translates the Hebrew word tsi·noqʹ (Jer. 29:26, NW; Da, ftn.) and seems to designate a device for confining the neck and perhaps also the arms. But the meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain. Among the other ways it has been rendered are “prison” (Dy), “dungeon” (LXX, Bagster, 36:26), “shackles” (AS) and “collar.”—RS.