diameter of two or three inches (5 or 7.6 centimeters) at the base and grows to a height of eight feet (2.4 meters) or more. The leaves measure from one to three feet (.3 to. 9 meter) in length. Even in recent times this reed has been used as a measuring rod.—See Ezekiel 40:3, 5; Revelation 11:1; 21:15, 16.

In mockery, Roman soldiers placed a reed, representative of a royal scepter, in Jesus’ right hand, and later hit him with it. Also, a reed was used to convey a sponge soaked with sour wine to the impaled Jesus.—Matt. 27:29, 30, 48; see HYSSOP.

Figuratively, “reed” is used in the Bible to represent instability and frailty. (1 Ki. 14:15; Ezek. 29:6, 7) Egypt was compared to a crushed reed, the sharp, pointed slivers of which would penetrate the palm of anyone leaning upon it. (2 Ki. 18:21; Isa. 36:6) Concerning John the Baptist, Jesus said: “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed being tossed by a wind?” (Matt. 11:7) These words may have been intended to show that John the Baptist was not a person wavering or vacillating, but firm, stable and upright. At Matthew 12:20 (Isa. 42:3), the “bruised reed” seems to represent oppressed people like the man with the withered hand whom Jesus healed on the sabbath.—Matt. 12:10-14; see Matthew 23:4; Mark 6:34; CALAMUS, CANE.

REELAIAH

(Re·el·aiʹah) [perhaps, Jehovah has shaken].

One whose name occurs with those of such prominent men as Zerubbabel and Jeshua at the beginning of the list of those returning from Babylon to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E. (Ezra 2:1, 2) The name is spelled Raamiah (meaning, perhaps, Jehovah has thundered) at Nehemiah 7:7.

REFINE, REFINER

The art of separating and purifying metals and the craftsman who does it. By repeated melting in clay refining pots called crucibles, the slag and impurities were removed from the desired metal. (Ps. 12:6; Prov. 17:3; 27:21) Remnants of slag dumps have been found in the region around ancient Succoth, where some of Solomon’s mining and smelting operations were located. Sometimes impurities were burned off; at other times refiner’s lye (see LAUNDRYMAN) was used to amalgamate the scummy dross so it could be skimmed off the surface. (Isa. 1:25; Mal. 3:2) The refiner sat in front of his furnace and supplied the charcoal fire with a forced draft by means of bellows.—Jer. 6:29; Mal. 3:3.

Gold frequently has silver with it in varying amounts. How these were separated in Bible times is not known, but a distinction in the methods of treating the two seems to be noted in Proverbs 17:3 and 27:21: “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold.” Nitric acid was evidently not discovered until the ninth century C.E.; so, previously gold was purified by other means. For example, if lead were present with the gold, the impurities could be fluxed off as a slag while the gold would be held by the lead. Then by slowly boiling off the lead (an operation known as cupeling) pure gold would remain behind. This process requires considerable skill, for if the temperature is too high or the boiling off too rapid, the gold is carried away with the lead. The operator learns to judge and control the refining by the color of the molten metal. (Compare Psalm 12:6; Jeremiah 6:28-30; Ezekiel 22:18-22.) The use of lye in the refining of silver is alluded to in the Scriptures.—Mal. 3:2, 3.

If the copper-bearing ore was an oxide or carbonate, mixing the crushed ore with charcoal and burning it freed the copper in the metallic state. However, if the copper was a sulfide, preliminary roasting was necessary first to burn off the sulfur as sulfur dioxide and at the same time convert the copper to copper oxide. Then it could be reduced with charcoal to obtain the free metal.

Extraction of iron was more difficult, due to the tremendous heat required. Iron melts at 2795° F. (1535° C.) The ancients, however, built smelting furnaces equipped with bellows to give a forced draft similar to present-day blast furnaces. (Deut. 4:20; Jer. 6:29; Ezek. 22:20-22) There are no details as to Hebrew iron furnaces, but they may have been similar to those known to have existed in ancient India. Made of clay, pear-shaped, about four feet (c. 1.2 meters) in diameter at the bottom, narrowing to one foot (.3 meter) at the top, they had goatskin bellows equipped with bamboo nozzles attached to clay tubes that supplied air to the bottom of the furnace. Charged with charcoal, the fire was started and the ore was added. Another layer of charcoal was then added on top and the forced heat was continued for three or four hours. With the run completed, the front of the furnace was broken down to remove the bloom of metal.

It is a simple two-step matter to win lead from its common ore, galena, that is, lead sulfide. First the ore is roasted with an injection of air to reduce the lead sulfide to lead oxide, the sulfur being volatized off as sulfur dioxide. The lead oxide is then mixed with charcoal, charged into a blast furnace and the carbon dioxide is driven off, leaving the liquid lead behind in the crucible.

FIGURATIVE USE

Jehovah himself is referred to as a refiner. His Word is highly refined. (2 Sam. 22:31; Ps. 18:30; 119:140; Prov. 30:5) This tried and tested Word is one means by which God purifies his people in removing all sinful dross of uncleanness. (Ps. 17:3; 26:2; 66:10; 105:19; Jer. 9:7; Dan. 12:9, 10; Mal. 3:3) Fiery trials also refine the faithful. (Isa. 48:10; Dan. 11:35; Zech. 13:9; 1 Cor. 3:13; compare 1 Peter 1:6, 7.) The wicked, on the other hand, are judged as nothing more than scummy dross, fit only for the worthless slag heap.—Ps. 119:119; Prov. 25:4, 5; Ezek. 22:18-20.

REFUGE

See CITIES OF REFUGE.

REGEM

(Reʹgem) [friend].

First-named son of Jahdai in the Calebite branch of Judah’s genealogy.—1 Chron. 2:3, 42, 47.

REGEM-MELECH

(Regʹem-melʹech) [perhaps, friend of the king].

One of two leading men sent by the people of postexilic Bethel to “soften the face of Jehovah” and to inquire about continuing the customary fasting. This was more than two years before the rebuilt temple was completed.—Zech. 7:1-3; Ezra 6:15.

REGISTRATION

Enrollments mentioned in the Bible were usually by name and lineage according to tribe and household, and involved more than a simple census or count of heads. These national registrations served various purposes, such as for taxation, assignments of military service, or (for those Levites included) appointments to duties at the sanctuary.

AT SINAI

At Jehovah’s command the first registration took place during the encampment at Sinai in the second month of the second year following the exodus from Egypt. Not only were all males listed who were twenty years old and upward—eligible for service in the army—but the Law also placed on the registered ones a head tax of half a shekel for the service of the tabernacle. (Ex. 30:11-16; Num. 1:1-3, 18, 19) The total number listed amounted to 603,550, excluding the Levites, who had no inheritance in the land. These paid no tabernacle tax and were not required to serve in the army.—Num. 1:44-47; 2:32, 33; 18:20, 24.

The record in the book of Numbers shows that a count was also made of the number of firstborn males from the twelve tribes, and of all the Levite males, from a month old and upward. (Num. 3:14, 15) This was because Jehovah had bought the firstborn ones as his when he saved them from the destruction of the firstborn in Egypt. Now he desired to use the Levites as his specially sanctified ones for sanctuary service. The Levites were therefore to be given to Jehovah by Israel to redeem the firstborn of the other tribes. The count showed that there were 22,000 male Levites and 22,273 non-Levite firstborn. (Num. 3:11-13, 39-43) To redeem the 273 firstborn in excess of the Levites, a five-shekel payment to the sanctuary was required for each.—Num. 3:44-51.

Also the Kohathites, Gershonites and Merarites between thirty and fifty years of age were numbered. These were given special assignments of service at the sanctuary. (Num. 4:34-39) To assist Moses in this undertaking a chieftain was selected out of each tribe to take the responsibility and oversight of the registration in his tribe.—Num. 1:4-16.

ON THE PLAINS OF MOAB

A second recorded registration is the one taken on the plains of Moab, after the scourge because of Israel’s sin in connection with Baal of Peor. It was found then that the number of men twenty years old and upward was 601,730, a decrease of 1,820 from the census taken nearly thirty-nine years earlier. (Num. 26:1, 2, 51) The decrease was in great measure due to God’s decree at the time the spies brought back a bad report. (Num. 13:30-33; 14:28-30) The count of Levites from a month old and upward was 23,000, or 1,000 more than the first census.—Num. 26:57, 62.

DAVID’S CALAMITOUS REGISTRATION

A registration taken toward the end of King David’s reign is also recorded, one that brought calamity. The account at 2 Samuel 24:1 reads: “And again the anger of Jehovah came to be hot against Israel, when one incited David against them, saying: ‘Go, take a count of Israel and Judah.’” The original Hebrew allows for part of this verse to be rendered “when he incited David against them.” (NW, 1955 ed., ftn.) The translation of the verse in The Bible in Basic English reads: “Again the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and moving David against them, he said, Go, take the number of Israel and Judah.” Hence, some commentators consider that the “one” or “he” who incited David to take the census was Jehovah. His ‘anger against Israel,’ according to this view, predated the census, and was due to their recent rebellions against Jehovah and his appointed king, David, when they followed first ambitious Absalom, then the good-for-nothing Sheba the son of Bichri in opposition to David.—2 Sam. 15:10-12; 20:1, 2.

The parallel account at 1 Chronicles 21:1, however, reads: “And Satan [or, “a resister”] proceeded to stand up against Israel and to incite David to number Israel.” (NW, 1955 ed., ftn.) Of course, this could be harmonized with the view that Jehovah “incited” David if the incitement is viewed as something that Jehovah purposely allowed, as by removing his protection or restraining hand so that Satan could incite David to this action. (Compare 1 Kings 22:21-23; 1 Samuel 16:14; see FOREKNOWLEDGE, FOREORDINATION, page 598, paragraphs 4-6.) On the other hand, the “resister,” the “one” moving David to decide on this calamitious course, may have been some bad counselor. On David’s part, there may have been wrong motive due to pride and trust in the numbers of his army, hence a failing to manifest full reliance on Jehovah. In any case, it is clear that David’s motive in this instance was not to glorify God.

Objected to by Joab

When ordered to take the registration, David’s general Joab objected, saying, “May Jehovah your God even add to the people a hundred times as many as they are while the very eyes of my lord the king are seeing it. But as for my lord the king, why has he found delight in this thing?” (2 Sam. 24:3) Joab’s words imply that the national strength did not depend on numbers, but on Jehovah, who could supply numbers if that was his will. Joab, at David’s insistence, took the census, but unwillingly, the report stating: “Levi and Benjamin he did not register in among them, because the king’s word had been detestable to Joab” (Levi not being counted, in accord with the law at Numbers 1:47-49). Joab either stopped before registering Benjamin or delayed the progress of the registration and David came to his senses and called a halt to it before Joab had completed it. (1 Chron. 21:6) Joab may have avoided Benjamin because he did not want to stir up this tribe that was the tribe of Saul, which had fought David’s army under Joab before uniting with the other tribes under David. (2 Sam. 2:12-17) No doubt because the making of the count was wrong, it was not entered into the “account of the affairs of the days of King David.”—1 Chron. 27:24.

The count revealed that Israel had 1,100,000 men and Judah had 470,000, according to the record at 1 Chronicles 21:5. The report at 2 Samuel 24:9 says 800,000 men of Israel and 500,000 men of Judah. Some believe that a scribal error exists. But it is unwise to ascribe error to the record when the circumstances, methods of counting, and so forth, are not fully understood. The two accounts may have reckoned the number from different viewpoints. For example, it is possible that members of the standing army and/or their officers were counted, or omitted. And different methods of reckoning may have caused a variation in the listing of certain men, as to whether they were under Judah or Israel. We find what may be such an instance at 1 Chronicles chapter 27. Here twelve divisions of the army are listed, naming all the tribes except Gad and Asher, and naming Levi and the two half tribes of Manasseh. This may have been because the fighting men of Gad and Asher were combined under other heads at the time, or for other reasons not stated.

Jehovah’s judgment

Jehovah’s prophet Gad was sent to David, giving David, the authorizer of the census, a choice of one of three forms of punishment: a famine for three years, the sword of Israel’s enemies overtaking Israel for three months, or a pestilence for three days. David, leaning on God’s mercy rather than man’s, chose “to fall into the hand of Jehovah”; in the pestilence that followed, 70,000 persons died.—1 Chron. 21:10-14.

Here another variation is found between the Samuel and Chronicles accounts. Whereas 2 Samuel 24:13 says seven years of famine, 1 Chronicles 21:12 says three. (The Septuagint Version reads “three” in the Samuel account.) One proffered explanation is that the seven years referred to at Second Samuel would, in part, be an extension of the three years of famine that came due to the sin of Saul and his house against the Gibeonites. (2 Sam. 21:1, 2) The current year (the registration took nine months and twenty days [2 Sam. 24:8]) would be the fourth, and three years to come would make seven. Although the difference may have been due to a copyist’s error, it may be said again that a full knowledge of all the facts and circumstances should be had before reaching such a conclusion.

FOR THE TEMPLE SERVICE

Sometime later David, who was now quite old, had the Levites numbered for future temple service, with Jehovah’s apparent approval. This count revealed that there were 38,000 Levites thirty years of age and upward, all able-bodied men. They were listed as follows: 24,000 supervisors, 6,000 officers and judges, 4,000 gatekeepers and 4,000 musicians.—1 Chron. 23:1-5.

In connection with the building of the temple we read: “Then Solomon took a count of all the men that were alien residents, who were in the land of Israel, after the census that David his father had taken of them; and there came to be found a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. So he made seventy thousand of them burden bearers and eighty thousand cutters in the mountain and three thousand six hundred overseers for keeping the people in service.”—2 Chron. 2:17, 18.

LATER REGISTRATIONS

Other registrations were taken by succeeding kings of Israel and Judah. In the days of King Amaziah the men in Judah and Benjamin from twenty years upward numbered 300,000. (2 Chron. 25:5) In King Uzziah’s registration the army forces were 307,500 men, with 2,600 of the heads of the paternal houses over them.—2 Chron. 26:11-13.

The returning exiles under Zerubbabel, in 537 B.C.E., were also enumerated, totaling 49,897, made up of 42,360 of the congregation apart from 7,337 slaves and 200 singers (the Masoretic text of Nehemiah says 245 singers).—Ezra 2:64, 65; Neh. 7:66, 67; see NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF.

AT THE TIME OF JESUS’ BIRTH

Two registrations are mentioned in the Christian Greek Scriptures as taking place after Judea came under subjection to Rome. Such were not merely to ascertain population figures but, rather, were mainly for purposes of taxation and conscription of men for military service. Concerning the first of these we read: “Now in those days [c. 2 B.C.E.] a decree went forth from Caesar Augustus for all the inhabited earth to be registered; (this first registration took place when Quirinius was governor of Syria;) and all people went traveling to be registered, each one to his own city.” (Luke 2:1-3) This edict of the emperor proved providential, for it compelled Joseph and Mary to journey from the city of Nazareth to Bethlehem in spite of the fact that Mary was then heavy with child; thus Jesus was born in the city of David in fulfillment of prophecy.—Luke 2:4-7; Mic. 5:2.

Two registrations under Quirinius

Bible critics have said that the only census taken while Publius Sulpicius Quirinius was governor of Syria was about 6 C.E., which event sparked a rebellion by Judas the Galilean and the Zealots. (Acts 5:37) This was really the second registration under Quirinius, for inscriptions discovered at Rome and Antioch revealed that some years earlier Quirinius had served as the emperor’s legate in Syria at the time Saturninus was proconsul. Concerning this, the Dictionnaire du Nouveau Testament in Crampon’s French Bible (1939 ed., p. 360) says: “The scholarly researches of Zumpt (Commentat. epigraph., II, 86-104; De Syria romana provincia, 97-98) and of Mommsen (Res gestœ divi Augusti) place beyond doubt that Quirinius was twice governor of Syria.” Many scholars locate the time of Quirinius’ first governorship as somewhere between the years 4 to 1 B.C.E., probably from 3-2 B.C.E. Their method of arriving at these dates, however, is not solid and the actual period of governorship remains indefinite. (See QUIRINIUS.) His second governorship ran from 759 to 765 [6 to 12 C.E.], as Josephus expressly attests.

So historian and Bible writer Luke was correct when he said concerning the registration at the time of Jesus’ birth: “this first registration took place when Quirinius was governor of Syria,” distinguishing it from the second, which occurred later under the same Quirinius and to which Gamaliel makes reference as reported by Luke at Acts 5:37.

REHABIAH

(Re·ha·biʹah) [Jehovah has made wide].

Grandson of Moses, only son of Eliezer, and founder of a family of Levites that still existed when David was king.—1 Chron. 23:15, 17; 24:21; 26:25.

REHOB

(Reʹhob) [open space or market].

1. Father of Hadadezer the king of Zobah against whom David warred victoriously.—2 Sam. 8:3-12.

2. One of the Levites or the forefather of one attesting by seal a covenant in the tine of Nehemiah and Ezra.—Neh. 10:1, 9, 11.

3. A place or city mentioned in the exploration of Canaan by the twelve Hebrew spies sent out by Moses. (Num. 13:21) It is probably the same place as “Rehob” and “Beth-rehob” mentioned at 2 Samuel 10:6, 8.—See BETH-REHOB.

4. The name of at least one and perhaps two cities in the territory of Asher. (Josh. 19:24, 28, 30) While some authorities consider both references to denote the same city, other related texts appear to indicate separate sites. Thus, Judges 1:31, 32 says that “Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of . . . Rehob,” so that the Asherites were obliged to dwell among the Canaanites of the land, whereas Joshua 21:27, 31 and 1 Chronicles 6:71, 75 state that Rehob was given to the sons of Gershom as a Levitical city. Those favoring but one site consider these texts to mean that the task of evicting the Canaanites from Rehob was hindered originally but was accomplished at a later time, thus allowing for its occupation by the Levites. Those favoring two sites suggest one town as remaining in Canaanite hands, the other as among those initially captured by Asher and given to the Levites. For the two, sites, these suggest an identification with Khirbet el-ʽAmri, about two and a half miles (4 kilometers) NE of Achzib, for the Rehob of Joshua 19:28, and for that of the other texts, they suggest Tell el-Gharbi, about six miles (10 kilometers) E-SE of Acco. This latter site is the one preferred by those who consider the name to refer to but one town.

REHOBOAM

(Re·ho·boʹam) [the people is (has) enlarged, or, who enlarges the people].

Son of Solomon by his Ammonite wife Naamah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 997 B.C.E. at the age of forty-one and reigned for seventeen years. (1 Ki. 14:21; 1 Chron. 3:10; 2 Chron. 9:31) Rehoboam had the distinction of being the last king of the united monarchy and the first ruler of the southern two-tribe kingdom of Judah and Benjamin, for shortly after he was crowned king at Shechem by all Israel, the united kingdom of David and Solomon was divided. Ten tribes withdrew their support of Rehoboam and made Jeroboam their king, even as Jehovah by the prophet Ahijah had foretold.—1 Ki. 11:29-31; 12:1; 2 Chron. 10:1.

This separation took place after a delegation of the people, with Jeroboam as their spokesman, pleaded with Rehoboam to remove some of the oppressive measures laid upon them by Solomon. Rehoboam took the matter under advisement. First he consulted the older men, who counseled him to heed the cry of the people and reduce their burdens, thereby proving himself a wise king, loved by his people. But Rehoboam spurned this mature advice and sought the counsel of young men with whom he had grown up. They told the king he should in effect make his little finger as thick as his father’s hips, increasing their yoke burden and chastising them with scourges instead of whips.—1 Ki. 12:2-15; 2 Chron. 10:3-15; 13:6, 7.

This arrogant, high-handed attitude adopted by Rehoboam completely alienated from him the majority of the people. The only tribes continuing to support the house of David were Judah and Benjamin, while the priests and Levites of both kingdoms, as well as isolated individuals of the ten tribes, also gave support.—1 Ki. 12:16, 17; 2 Chron. 10:16, 17; 11:13, 14, 16.

Subsequently, when King Rehoboam and Adoram (Hadoram), who was over the conscripted forced laborers, entered the territory of the secessionists, Adoram was stoned to death but the king managed to escape with his life. (1 Ki. 12:18; 2 Chron. 10:18) Rehoboam then mustered an army of 180,000 from among Judah and Benjamin, determined that the ten tribes would be forcibly brought under his subjection. But Jehovah through the prophet Shemaiah forbade them to fight against their brothers, since God himself had decreed the division of the kingdom. Though open warfare on the battlefield was thus avoided, hostilities between the two factions continued all the days of Rehoboam.—1 Ki. 12:19-24; 15:6; 2 Chron. 10:19; 11:1-4.

For a time Rehoboam walked quite closely to the laws of Jehovah, and early in his reign he built and