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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

DU


DUALISM

du'-al-iz'-m.

See PHILOSOPHY .


DUE

du.

See DUTY .


DUKE

duk: The rendering in the King James Version in Gen 36:15 ff; Ex 15:15, and 1 Ch 1:51 ff of 'alluph (the American Standard Revised Version and the English Revised Version, margin "chief"), and in Josh 13:21 of necikhim ("dukes," the Revised Version (British and American) "princes"). It occurs also, as the rendering of strategos, in 1 Macc 10:65 (the Revised Version (British and American) "captain"). Elsewhere necikhim is translated "princes" or "principal men." The fact that with two exceptions the term is applied in English Versions of the Bible only to the chiefs of Edom has led to the impression that in the family of Esau the chiefs bore a special and hereditary title. But 'alluph was a general term for tribal chief or prince (compare Zec 9:7; 12:5,6; the Revised Version (British and American) "chieftains," the King James Version "governors").

Moreover, at the time the King James Version was made the word "duke" was not used as a title in England: the term had the same general force as dux, the word employed in the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) So Sir T. Elyot (died 1546) speaks of "Hannibal, duke of Carthage" ( The Governor, II, 233); Shakespeare, Henry V, III, 2, 20, "Be merciful, great duke, to men of mould" (compare Midsummer Night's Dream, I, 1, 21); Sylvester (1591) Du Bartas, "The great Duke, that (in dreadful aw) (Upon Mt. Horeb learn'd th' eternal law." In a still earlier age Wycliff uses the word of the Messiah (Mt 2:6); and in Select Works, III, 137, "Jesus Christ, duke of oure batel."

Yet in all probability the Hebrew word was more specific than "chief" or "duke" in the broad sense. For if 'alluph is derived from 'eleph, "thousand," "tribe," the term would mean the leader of a clan, a "chiliarch" (compare Septuagint, Zec 9:7; 12:5,6). the American Standard Revised Version has eliminated the word "duke."

See CHIEF .

J. R. Van Pelt


DULCIMER

dul'-si-mer.

See MUSIC under Nebhel and Sumphonia.


DUMAH

du'-ma (dumah, "silence"): This word occurs in the Old Testament with the following significations: (1) the land of silence or death, the grave (Ps 94:17; 115:17); (2) a town in the highlands of Judah between Hebron and Beersheba, now ed-Daume (Josh 15:52); (3) an emblematical designation of Edom in the obscure oracle (Isa 21:11,12); (4) an Ishmaelite tribe in Arabia (Gen 25:14; 1 Ch 1:30). According to the Arabic geographies this son of Ishmael rounded the town of Dumat-el-Jandal, the stone-built Dumah, so called to distinguish it from another Dumah near the Euphrates. The former now bears the name of the Jauf ("belly"), being a depression situated half-way between the head of the Persian Gulf and the head of the gulf of Akaba. Its people in the time of Mohammed were Christians of the tribe of Kelb. It contained a great well from which the palms and crops were irrigated. It has often been visited by European travelers in recent times. See Jour. Royal Geog. Soc., XXIV (1854), 138-58; W. G. Palgrave, Central and Eastern Arabia, chapter ii. It is possible that the oracle in Isa (number 3 above) concerns this place.

Thomas Hunter Weir


DUMB

dum (alam, 'illem, literally, "tied in the tongue"; kophos): Used either as expressing the physical condition of speechlessness, generally associated with deafness, or figuratively as meaning the silence produced by the weight of God's judgments (Ps 39:2-9; Dan 10:15) or the oppression of external calamity (Ps 38:13). As an adjective it is used to characterize inefficient teachers destitute of spirituality ("dumb dogs," Isa 56:10). The speechlessness of Saul's companions (Acts 9:7) was due to fright; that of the man without the wedding garment was because he had no excuse to give (Mt 22:12). Idols are called mute, because helpless and voiceless (Hab 2:18,19; 1 Cor 12:2). The dumbness of the sheep before the shearer is a token of submission (Isa 53:7; Acts 8:32).

Temporary dumbness was inflicted as a sign upon Ezekiel (3:26; 24:27; 33:22) and as a punishment for unbelief upon Zacharias (Lk 1:22). There are several cases recorded of our Lord's healing the dumb (Mt 15:30; Mk 7:37; Lk 11:14, etc.). Dumbness is often associated with imbecility and was therefore regarded as due to demoniac possession (Mt 9:32; 12:22). The evangelists therefore describe the healing of these as effected by the casting out of demons. This is especially noted in the case of the epileptic boy (Mk 9:17). The deaf man with the impediment in his speech (Mk 7:32) is said to have been cured by loosening the string of his tongue. This does not necessarily mean that he was tongue-tied, which is a condition causing lisping, not stammering; he was probably one of those deaf persons who produce babbling, incoherent and meaningless sounds. I saw in the asylum in Jerusalem a child born blind and deaf, who though dumb, produced inarticulate noises.

In an old 14th-century psalter "dumb" is used as a verb in Ps 39: "I doumbed and meked and was ful stille."

Alexander Macalister


DUNG; DUNG GATE

dung ('ashpoth, domen, peresh; skubalon, etc.): Nine different words occurring in the Hebrew have been translated "dung" in the Old Testament. The word used to designate one of the gates of Jerusalem ('ashpoth, Neh 2:13; 3:14) is more general than the others and may mean any kind of refuse. The gate was probably so named because outside it was the general dump heap of the city. Visitors in recent years riding outside the city walls of Jerusalem, on their way to the Mt. of Olives or Jericho, may have witnessed such a dump against the wall, which has existed for generations.

The first mention made of dung is in connection with sacrificial rites. The sacred law required that the dung, along with what parts of the animal were not burned on the altar, should be burned outside the camp (Ex 29:14; Lev 4:11; 8:17; 16:27; Nu 19:5).

The fertilizing value of dung was appreciated by the cultivator, as is indicated by Lk 13:8 and possibly Ps 83:10 and Isa 25:10.

Dung was also used as a fuel. Ezek 4:12,15 will be understood when it is known that the dung of animals is a common fuel throughout Palestine and Syria, where other fuel is scarce. During the summer, villagers gather the manure of their cattle, horses or camels, mix it with straw, make it into cakes and dry it for use as fuel for cooking, especially in the winter when wood or charcoal or straw are not procurable. It burns slowly like peat and meets the needs of the kitchen. In Mesopotamia the writer saw it being used with forced draft to fire a steam boiler. There was no idea of uncleanness in Ezekiel's mind, associated with the use of animal dung as fuel (Ezek 4:15).

Figuratively: Dung was frequently used figuratively to express the idea (a) of worthlessness, especially a perishable article for which no one cares (1 Ki 14:10; 2 Ki 6:25; 9:37; Job 20:7; Ps 83:10; Jer 8:2; 9:22; 16:4; 25:33; Zeph 1:17; Phil 3:8 (the American Standard Revised Version "refuse")). Dunghill was used in the same way (1 Sam 2:8; Ezr 6:11; Ps 113:7; Isa 25:10; Dan 2:5; 3:29; Lk 14:35; Lam 4:5); (b) as an expression of disgust (2 Ki 18:27; Isa 36:12); (c) of rebuke (Mal 2:3).

James A. Patch


DUNGEON

dun'-jun.

See PRISON .


DUNGHILL

dung'-hil ('ashpoth, 1 Sam 2:8, madhmenah, etc., with other words; kopria, Lk 14:35): Dung heap, or place of refuse. To sit upon a dunghill (1 Sam 2:8; Ps 113:7; Lam 4:5) is significant of the lowest and most wretched condition. To turn a house into a dunghill (Dan 2:5; 3:29), or be flung upon a dunghill (Lk 14:35), marks the extreme of ignominy.

See also DUNG .


DURA

du'-ra (dura'): The name of the plain on which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, set up the great golden image which all his subjects were ordered to worship (Dan 3:1). Oppert placed it to the Southeast of Babylon, near a small river and mounds bearing the name of Douair or Duair, where, also, was what seemed to be the base of a great statue (Exped. scientifique en Mesopotamie, I, 238 f). Others have believed that name to indicate a portion of the actual site of Babylon within the great wall (duru) of the city--perhaps the rampart designated dur Su-anna, "the rampart (of the city) Lofty-defense," a name of Babylon. The fact that the plain was within the city of Babylon precludes an identification with the city Duru, which seems to have lain in the neighborhood of Erech (Hommel, Grundriss, 264, note 5). It is noteworthy that the Septuagint substitutes Deeira, for Dura, suggesting that the Greek translators identified it with the Babylonian Deru, a city which apparently lay toward the Elamite border. It seems to have been called also Dur-ili, "god's rampart." That it was at some distance is supported by the list WAI, IV, 36 [38], where Duru, Tutul and Gudua (Cuthah), intervene between Deru or Dur-ili and Tindir (Babylon). "The plain of the dur" or "rampart" within Babylon would therefore seem to be the best rendering.

T. G. Pinches


DURE

dur (proskairos): Used for "endure" (which see), the King James Version Mt 13:21 (the Revised Version (British and American) "endureth").


DUST

dust (`aphar; koniortos, chous): Small particles of earth. The word has several figurative and symbolic meanings: (1) Dust being the material out of which God is said to have formed man (Gen 2:7), it became a symbol of man's frailty (Ps 103:14, "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust"; compare Gen 18:27; Job 4:19, etc.), and of his mortality (Gen 3:19, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return"; compare Job 34:15; Ps 104:29; Eccl 3:20; 12:7, etc.) Hence, it is used figuratively for the grave (Ps 22:15,29; 30:9; Dan 12:2). (2) Such actions as to lie in the dust, to lick the dust, to sprinkle dust on the head, are symbols expressive of deep humiliation, abasement or lamentation (e.g. Job 2:12; 42:6, Ps 72:9; Isa 2:10; 47:1; 49:23; Lam 2:10; 3:29; Ezek 27:30; Mic 7:17; Rev 18:19). Hence, such expressions as "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust," i.e. out of their state of lowliness (1 Sam 2:8; Ps 113:7). (3) Throwing dust was an act expressive of execration. Thus, Shimei "cursed" David and "threw stones at him, and cast dust," literally, "dusted (him) with dust" (2 Sam 16:13). So the crowd which Paul addressed at Jerusalem manifested their wrath against him by tossing about their garments and casting dust into the air (Acts 22:23). (4) Shaking the dust off one's feet against anyone (Mt 10:14; Mk 6:11; Lk 9:5; 10:11; Acts 13:51) is symbolic of renunciation, as we would say "washing one's hands of him," an intimation that all further intercourse was at an end. It was practiced by the Pharisees on passing from Gentileto Jewish soil, it being a rabbinical doctrine that the dust of a heathen land defiles. (5) It is also used figuratively for an innumerable multitude (e.g. Gen 13:16; 28:14; Job 27:16; Ps 78:27). (6) The expression "Yahweh will make the rain of thy land powder and dust" (Dt 28:24) means the dust in consequence of the drought shall fall down instead of rain on the dry ground. In Judea and vicinity during a sirocco, the air becomes filled with sand and dust, which are blown down by the wind with great violence.

D. Miall Edwards


DUTY

du'-ti (dabhar; opheilo): The word duty occurs only three times in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament. In the Old Testament it is the translation of dabhar, which, meaning originally "speech," or "word," came to denote any particular "matter" that had to be attended to. In the two places where it is rendered "duty" (2 Ch 8:14; Ezr 3:4) the reference is to the performance of the Temple services--praise and sacrifice--and it is probably from these passages that the phrase "taking duty" in church services is derived. In other passages we have different words employed to denote the priests' dues: the King James Version Lev 10:13,14, hok ("statutory portion"); Dt 18:3, mishpat ("judgment"). In Prov 3:27, we have a reference to duty in the moral sense, "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due," ba`-al (i.e. as in the King James Version margin, "from the owners thereof"). In Ex 21:10 we have the "duty of marriage" (`onah), that which was due to the wife.

In the New Testament "duty" is expressed by opheilo, "to owe," "to be due." In Lk 17:10, we have "Say, ... we have done that which it was our duty to do," and in Rom 15:27 the King James Version, it is said of the Gentiles with reference to the Jewish Christians, "Their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things," the American Standard Revised Version "they owe it." In Mt 18:34 we have "till he should pay all that was due" (opheilo, "owing"), and in 1 Cor 7:3 the King James Version, "Render unto the wife due opheile benevolence," the American Standard Revised Version "her due."

See also ETHICS .

W. L. Walker



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