to make his ways ready,” he wore clothing made from the hair of an “unclean” animal. (Luke 1:76; Matt. 3:4; Lev. 11:4) All this tends to indicate that the distinction of clean and unclean was simply dietary, though at times also with reference to sacrifice, and did not require that the Israelites regard “unclean” animals with general abhorrence. (Lev. 11:46, 47) Also, these, like the “clean” animals, were created by God and therefore good, not loathsome in themselves.—Gen. 1:21, 25.

HOW OBTAINABLE BY ISRAELITES

If the taʹhhash of the Bible does designate a kind of seal, then a question may arise as to how it was possible for the Israelites to obtain sealskins. While seals are generally associated with Arctic and Antarctic regions, some seals favor warmer climates. Today monk seals still inhabit part of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as other warmer waters. Over the centuries man has greatly reduced the number of seals, and in Bible times these animals may have been abundant in the Mediterranean and in the Red Sea. As late as 1832 Calmet’s Dictionary of the Holy Bible (p. 139) observed: “On many of the small islands of the Red sea, around the peninsula of Sinai, are found seals.”

The ancient Egyptians engaged in commerce on the Red Sea and, of course, received goods from many of the Mediterranean regions. So the Egyptians would have had access to sealskins. Hence, when the Israelites left Egypt, they might have taken with them the sealskins they already had, along with others obtained when the Egyptians gave into their hands an abundance of valuable things.—Ex. 12:35, 36.

SEA MONSTER

This generally translates the Hebrew word tan·ninʹ (tan·nimʹ at Ezekiel 29:3, “sea monster”; 32:2, “marine monster,” NW). This term is rendered “big snake” (NW) when not mentioned in connection with the sea or water (Jer. 51:34), or when a reference to snakes is definitely indicated by the context. (Ex. 7:9, 12; compare Exodus 4:2, 3) Undoubtedly tan·ninʹ includes a variety of large marine animals (Gen. 1:21; Ps. 148:7), but this term is usually employed in a figurative sense. The destruction of Pharaoh and his hosts appears to be alluded to by the phrase: “You [Jehovah] broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.” (Ps. 74:13) At Isaiah 51:9, “sea monster” appears in parallel with Rahab (Egypt; compare Isaiah 30:7) and hence may denote Egypt, as is probably also the case at Isaiah 27:1 (compare Isaiah 27:12, 13), or the reference is to Pharaoh, as in Ezekiel 29:3 and 32:2. Faithful Job asked whether he himself was a “sea monster” that had to have a guard set over him.—Job 7:12; see LEVIATHAN.

SEASONS

A season is a period when a specific type of agricultural work is normal or a certain kind of weather prevails; a suitable or appointed time for something.

As the earth revolves around the sun, the tilt of the earth’s axis at an angle to the plane of the ecliptic produces a cycle of weather seasons. As markers of the passing of time, the heavenly bodies serve as indicators of seasons. (Gen. 1:14) Genesis 8:22 says that the earth’s seasons will “never cease.” For a correlation of the months of the Jewish and Gregorian calendars and the festival, weather and agricultural seasons, see pages 278 and 279.

Closely connected with the agricultural seasons were the annual “festival seasons” when the festivals established by the Mosaic law were celebrated. (1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 31:3) Hence, when Paul counseled some Jewish Christians who were “scrupulously observing days and months and seasons,” he meant the festival seasons that were a part of the Law, not simply weather or agricultural seasons.—Gal. 4:10.

“Season” can therefore refer to a fixed or an appointed time or a period possessed of certain characteristics. (Acts 3:19; Rom. 8:18; Gal. 6:9; see APPOINTED TIMES OF THE NATIONS.) In time what constituted healthful teaching and proper conduct were made very clear to Christians. Accordingly, it was the “season” to be awake. (Rom. 13:11-14) The “times or seasons” or periods when Jehovah’s will in certain matters would take place were of real interest to his worshipers (Acts 1:7), who understood them as they were progressively revealed.—1 Thess. 5:1.

In regard to the dwelling of nations on the earth, God “decreed the appointed seasons” (Acts 17:26; “fixed the epochs of their history,” NE) in that he determined when certain changes should occur, such as when the divinely appointed time came to uproot the Canaanite inhabitants of the Promised Land.—Gen. 15:13-21; Jer. 25:8-11; Dan. 2:21; 7:12.

SEBA

(Seʹba).

1. One of the five sons of Cush.—Gen. 10:7; 1 Chron. 1:9.

2. A people of E Africa. At Isaiah 43:3 Seba is linked with Egypt and more particularly with Ethiopia (Cush), as being given as a ransom in place of Jacob. In a similar listing Isaiah 45:14 has “Sabeans” in place of “Seba,” indicating that the people of Seba were called Sabeans. These verses suggest that Seba bordered on or was included in Ethiopia. This is supported by Josephus, who says that the name applied to the city of Meroe on the Nile and to the large section (Isle of Meroe) between the Nile, Blue Nile and Atabara Rivers. The reference to these Sabeans as “tall men” (Isa. 45:14) is borne out by Herodotus, who speaks of the Ethiopians as “the tallest and handsomest men in the whole world.”—See CUSH Nos. 1 and 2.

Meroe was long an important trading place. Among the distant places mentioned in Psalm 72 in describing the dominion and influence of Jehovah’s king, Seba and Sheba are named as places whose kings would present a gift.—Ps. 72:10; Joel 3:8.

SEBAM

(Seʹbam).

Apparently an alternate name for Sibmah.—Num. 32:3, 38; see SIBMAH.

SECACAH

(Se·caʹcah) [thicket, cover].

A City of Judah in the wilderness. (Josh. 15:20, 61) Secacah is often identified with Khirbet es-Samrah, on a hill about four miles (6 kilometers) W of the northern part of the Dead Sea. This is in the heart of el-Buqeʽah, a barren plateau, in the northern section of the Judean wilderness.

SECRETARY

Usually an appointed official skilled at writing and keeping records. The Hebrew word so·pherʹ can be rendered in a number of ways, such as “secretary,” “scribe” and “copyist.”

At least at times in Israel there was a trusted court official of high rank called the “secretary of the king,” or the “secretary.” (2 Chron. 24:11; 2 Ki. 19:2) He was not simply a scribe such as would be employed in merely making documents, or a copyist of the Law. (Judg. 5:14; Neh. 13:13; compare 2 Samuel 8:15-18; 20:23-26; see COPYIST; SCRIBE.) On occasion the secretary of the king handled financial matters (2 Ki. 12:10, 11) and spoke as a representative of the king, in a capacity similar to that of a ‘foreign secretary.’ (Isa. 36:2-4, 22; 37:2, 3) Under Solomon’s rule two of the “princes” are named as secretaries.—1 Ki. 4:2, 3; compare 2 Chronicles 16:11; 34:13.

In addition to the “secretary of the king,” the Bible mentions the secretary “of the house of Jehovah” (2 Ki. 22:3), “of the chief of the army” (2 Ki. 25:19; Jer. 52:25) and “of the Levites.” (1 Chron. 24:6) Baruch was a scribal secretary for Jeremiah.—Jer. 36:32.

SECRETARY’S INKHORN

See RECORDER’S INKHORN.

SECT

The Greek word (haiʹre·sis, from which comes the English “heresy”) thus translated means “a choice” (Lev. 22:18, LXX) or “that which is chosen,” hence “a body of men separating themselves from others and following their own tenets [a sect or party].” This term is applied to the adherents of the two prominent branches of Judaism, the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Acts 5:17; 15:5; 26:5) Non-Christians also called Christianity a “sect” or “the sect of the Nazarenes,” possibly viewing it as a faction of Judaism.—Acts 24:5, 14; 28:22.

The founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ, prayed that unity might prevail among his followers (John 17:21), and the apostles were vitally interested in preserving the oneness of the Christian congregation. (1 Cor. 1:10; Jude 17-19) Disunity in belief could give rise to fierce disputing, dissension and even enmity. (Compare Acts 23:7-10.) So sects were to be avoided, being among the works of the flesh. (Gal. 5:19-21) Christians were warned against becoming promoters of sects or of being led astray by false teachers. (Acts 20:28; 2 Tim. 2:17, 18; 2 Pet. 2:1) In his letter to Titus, the apostle Paul directed that, after being admonished twice, a man who continued promoting a sect be rejected, evidently meaning that he be expelled from the congregation. (Titus 3:10) Those who refused to become involved in creating divisions within the congregation or in supporting a particular faction would distinguish themselves by their faithful course and give evidence of having God’s approval. This is apparently what Paul meant when telling the Corinthians: “There must also be sects among you, that the persons approved may also become manifest among you.”—1 Cor. 11:19.

SECU

(Seʹcu) [possibly, lookout place, or, outlook].

Apparently the name of a site with a great cistern where Saul inquired as to the whereabouts of David and Samuel. (1 Sam. 19:21, 22) Secu was near Ramah, but its exact location is now unknown. Instead of the proper name “Secu,” some scholars, following certain Greek and Latin manuscripts, prefer such expressions as “the threshing-floor on the bare hill [height].”—JB, AT.

SECUNDUS

(Se·cunʹdus) [second].

A Thessalonian Christian who accompanied Paul through Macedonia into Asia Minor on the return leg of the apostle’s third missionary journey, in the spring of 56 C.E. How far Secundus went with Paul is not stated.—Acts 20:3-5.

SEDITION

[Gr., staʹsis, a standing up or standing off, uprising, such as a popular commotion, an insurrection, sedition, uproar (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19, 25); or, in a more private sense, dissension, controversy, sometimes embracing the idea of violence (Acts 15:2; 23:7, 10)].

It was a capital offense under Roman law to engage in sedition or to promote or take part in a riot. Thus the city recorder was alerting the riotous mob in Ephesus of their peril when he said: “We are really in danger of being charged with sedition over today’s affair, no single cause existing that will permit us to render a reason for this disorderly mob.” (Acts 19:40) And Tertullus’ accusation before Roman Governor Felix that Paul was “stirring up seditions among all the Jews” was a very serious one. If found guilty, Paul would have been punished with death.—Acts 24:5.

SEED

[Heb., zeʹraʽ; Gr., sperʹma].

The Hebrew and Greek words appear many times in the Scriptures, with the following uses or applications: (a) agricultural and botanical, (b) physiological, (c) metaphorical for “offspring.”

AGRICULTURAL, BOTANICAL

Israel’s economy was primarily agricultural, hence much is said about sowing, planting and harvesting, and “seed” is mentioned frequently, the first instance being in the record of earth’s third creative day. Jehovah commanded: “Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth, vegetation bearing seed, fruit trees yielding fruit according to their kinds, the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:11, 12, 29) Here the Creator revealed his purpose to clothe the earth with vegetation by reproduction through seed, keeping the various created kinds separate, so that each brings forth “according to its kind” through its own distinctive seed.

PHYSIOLOGICAL

The Hebrew term zeʹraʽ is used in a physiological sense at Leviticus 15:16-18; 18:20, with reference to an emission of semen. At Leviticus 12:2 the causative form of the verb za·raʽʹ, (“to cause to sow”) is rendered in many translations by the English expressions “conceive” or “conceive seed.” At Numbers 5:28 a passive form of za·raʽʹ appears with zeʹraʽ and is rendered “made pregnant with semen” (NW); “sown with seed” (Yg); “conceive seed” (AV).

METAPHORICAL USE

In the majority of instances in which the word zeʹraʽ appears in the Bible it is used with reference to offspring or posterity. Animal offspring are designated by this term at Genesis 7:3. Human offspring (of Noah) are referred to at Genesis 9:9; those of the woman Hagar at Genesis 16:10. God commanded Abram and his natural “seed” to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant God was making with them.—Gen. 17:7-11.

The Greek word sperʹma is used in the same applications as the Hebrew zeʹraʽ. (Compare Matthew 13:24; 1 Corinthians 15:38; Hebrews 11:11; John 7:42.) Jesus Christ used the related word spoʹros, “thing sown,” to symbolize the word of God.—Luke 8:11.

A SACRED SECRET

At the time God judged Adam and Eve he spoke a prophecy that gave hope to their offspring, saying to the serpent: “I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.” (Gen. 3:15) From the beginning, the identity of the promised “seed” was a sacred secret of God.

This prophetic statement revealed that there would be a deliverer who would destroy the one really represented by the serpent, namely, the great serpent and enemy of God, Satan the Devil. (Rev. 12:9) it also indicated that the Devil would have a “seed.” It would require time for the two seeds to be brought forth and for enmity to develop between them.

The ‘seed of the serpent’

We note that when the Bible speaks of “seed” in a symbolic sense it does not refer to literal children or offspring but to those who follow the pattern of their symbolic “father,” having his spirit or disposition. Adam and Eve’s first son Cain is an example of one of the serpent’s offspring. The apostle John writes enlighteningly on this point: “The children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: Everyone who does not carry on righteousness does not originate with God, neither does he who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should have love for one another; not like Cain, who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother. And for the sake of what did he slaughter him? Because his own works were wicked, but those of his brother were righteous.”—1 John 3:10-12; compare John 8:44.

Thus the seed of the serpent throughout the centuries consisted of those who had the spirit of the Devil, who hated God and fought God’s people, and included particularly the religious persons claiming to serve God, but who were actually false, hypocrites. Jesus identified the Jewish religious leaders of his day as a part of the serpent’s seed, saying to them: “Serpents, offspring [Gr., gen·neʹma·ta, “generated ones”] of vipers, how are you to flee from the judgment