pi-be'-seth (pi-be'seth;(pi-bheceth; Septuagint Bubastos; Egyptian Pi-Basht, "the house of Basht," the cat-headed goddess; the Egyptian form is usually Ha-Basht; it is doubtful if the form Pi-Basht has yet been found): A city of ancient Egypt. The only occurrence of the name of this place in the Old Testament is in Ezek 30:17; where it is coupled with Aven, i.e. On (Heliopolis).
Pi-beseth was on the western bank of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, about 40 miles North of Memphis, about 15 miles Northeast of On. Herodotus found the city of Bubastis very beautiful in his day. The annual festival of the goddess, Basht, was celebrated here with revolting license, similar to that of the festival of Syyid el-Bedawer now kept in TanTa.
Pi-beseth was explored by Professor Naville under the Egyptian Exploration Society in 1887-90. There were uncovered ruins of Egypt from the IVth Dynasty of the Old Empire, from the Middle Empire, an important Hyksos settlement, and ruins from the New Empire down to the end, and even from Roman times. The most unique discovery at Pi-beseth, one of the most unique in all Egypt, is the cemetery of cats. These cats, the animal sacred to Basht, were mummified at other places in Egypt, but at Pibeseth they were burned and the ashes and bones gathered and buried in great pits lined with brick or hardened clay. Bones of the ichneumon were also found mixed with those of the cats in these pits (Egypt Exploration Fund Report, 1891).
M. G. Kyle
pi-ha-hi'-roth (pi-ha-chiroth (Ex 14:2-9; Nu 33:7-8)):
Nothing is known of the meaning of the name. Pi-Hahiroth Some attempts toward an Egyptian etymology for it have been made, but without much success. Since the meaning of the name is unknown and no description of the place or its use is given, it is impossible to determine anything concerning the character of Pi-Hahiroth, whether a city, a sanctuary, a fortress, or some natural feature of the landscape.
Neither Pi-Hahiroth nor any other place mentioned with it can be exactly located. A recent discovery of manuscripts in Egypt furnishes a mention of this place, but affords very little assistance in locating it, nothing comparable to the account in the Bible itself. If any one of the places mentioned in connection with the crossing of the Red Sea could be located approximately, all the others could, also, be similarly located by the description given in the account in Exodus. The route beyond the Sea has been made out with almost positive certainty. A journey along the way is so convincing that hardly anything can shake the conviction which it produces. This identification of the route of the exodus beyond the Sea requires the place of the crossing to be within 3 days' journey of Marah, which puts it somewhere near the modern Suez. It may be anywhere within 10 miles of that point. This approximately locates all the other places mentioned in connection with the crossing: Migdol must be Ras 'Ataqah, or some other high point in the mountains of the western deserts, where might be placed a watchtower. Pi-Hahiroth is between this point and the Sea and Baal-zephon near the opposite eastern shore. This puts Pi-Hahiroth at some point along the old shore line of the Sea within 10 miles of the site of modern Suez.
M. G. Kyle
pik'-tur: This word (in the plural) is found 3 times in the King James Version, namely, Nu 33:52; Isa 2:16; Prov 25:11. In Numbers and Proverbs "pictures" represents the Hebrew word maskith, "showpiece" "figure." The context in Numbers suggests that the "pictures" or "carved figures" (the Revised Version (British and American) "figured stones") which the Israelites were to destroy were symbols of Canaanite worship and therefore foreign to the religion of Yahweh. In Proverbs for the King James Version "pictures of silver," the English Revised Version has "baskets (the American Standard Revised Version "network") of silver," but a more probable translation is "carvings of silver." "Pictures" stands for a slightly different word (but from the same root) in Isaiah, namely, sekhuyoth; the Revised Version (British and American) renders "imagery" (the Revised Version margin "watchtowers"). The prophet probably alludes to carved figures (of gods in animal or human shapes) on the prows of vessels.
T. Lewis
pes: In the King James Version the word (singular and plural) represents a large number of different Hebrew words, many of which have more or less the same significance, e.g. piece of meat or flesh (Gen 15:10; 2 Sam 6:19; Ezek 24:4); of bread or cake (1 Sam 2:36; 30:12; Jer 37:21); of ground or land (2 Sam 23:11); of wall (Neh 3:11,19 ff); of an ear (Am 3:12); of cloth or garment (1 Ki 11:30); of millstone (Jdg 9:53). It is used frequently in paraphrastic renderings of various Hebrew verbs: "break," "tear," "cut," etc., in pieces (Gen 44:28, etc.).
In the New Testament "piece" renders epiblema, "piece" or "patch of cloth" (Mt 9:16; Mk 2:21; Lk 5:36). It is also found in paraphrastic renderings--broken in pieces (Mk 5:4), pulled in pieces (Acts 23:10).
T. Lewis
The word "pieces" is supplied in 2 Ki 5:5 (story of Naaman), "6,000 pieces of gold," where the Revised Version margin more correctly suggests "shekels" (compare 1 Ki 10:16).
See MONEY .
Two words are thus rendered in the King James Version (qesiTah; stater). the Revised Version (British and American) gives only the first this rendering (Job 49:11). It is supposed to be from Arabic qassaT, "to divide equally by weight," and hence, something weighed; a piece of silver weighed for money, and perhaps stamped with its weight. The stater is the well-known Greek weight and coin (Mt 17:27 the King James Version, margin, "stater," the Revised Version (British and American) "shekel"). In gold it was equal to about a guinea or five dollars, but in silver only to about 66 cents (in 1915).
Two words are thus rendered in the Old Testament (ratstse-khaceph, and qesiTah) and two in the New Testament argurion, and drachme). The first expression means pieces of silver broken off from bars or larger pieces (Ps 68:30). The second is used for money in Josh 24:32, and is so rendered in the Revised Version (British and American). The pieces were not coins, but perhaps bore a stamp. See MONEY . In other passages of the Old Testament where pieces of silver are mentioned, the Hebrew has simply a numeral joined with keTeph, "silver," as in the account of the selling of Joseph (Gen 37:28). In Isa 7:23 the word silverlings means small pieces of silver, and they were no doubt shekels. In the New Testament the Greek arguria (Mt 26:15; 27:3-9), is translated as pieces of silver, but probably means shekels. In Acts 19:19 the same word occurs, but in this case the reference is probably to the denarius or drachma (compare Lk 15:8 f). Thus, the 30 pieces of Matthew would be equal to about 4 British pounds or $20 (in 1915), and the 50,000 of Acts to about 2,000 British pounds or $10,000 (in 1915).
H. Porter
pi'-e-ti: Only in 1 Tim 5:4: "Let them learn first to show piety toward their own family," where "let them show piety" represents a single Greek verb (eusebeo), in its only other occurrence (Acts 17:23) being rendered "worship." In Elizabethan English "piety" (like the Latin pietas) could be used of devotion to one's parents (as still in the phrase "filial piety"), as well as of devotion to God. Hence, there is no explicit statement here that filial devotion is one form of divine worship.
pij'-un (yonah; peristera; Latin pipire): A bird of the family Columbidae. See DOVE . The Hebrew yonah seems to be translated either pigeon or dove, yet almost every reference made to these birds proves that there were distinct branches of the family recognized, and one or the other or both are designated. On the other hand, some of the translations read doves, where the remainder of the text makes it very clear that pigeons were the birds intended, The Latin pipire means "to cheep," and refers to the unusually clamorous young in the nest. The old birds coo, moan and wail as doves. The birds are almost 12 inches long, have full, plump bodies that are delicious food, and beautifully marked and shaded plumage. They feed principally on grain, seeds, small buds and fruit. Beyond question wild pigeons were the first birds domesticated and taught to home with man. They appeared in a state of such complete domestication, that they flew free, yet homed and bred in places provided by man at the time of the very first attempts at keeping records of history. At the time the earliest Biblical accounts were written, pigeons were so domesticated that in all known countries of the East they were reckoned when an estimate was made of a man's wealth.
The rich provided large and expensive cotes of molded pottery for their birds, each section big enough for the home of one pair of birds, the regular rows of openings resembling lattice work, so that Isaiah refers to them as "windows" (Isa 60:8). Septuagint reads sun nossois, literally, "with young" or "fledglings" (see below). The middle classes modeled cotes of oven-baked clay, and the very poor cut holes in the walls, over the doors, and allowed the birds to enter and live with the family.
In wild estate, rock and wood pigeons swarmed in countless numbers through rocky caves and caverns and over the plains of Gennesaret, the forests of Gilead and the woody slopes of Carmel. They remained throughout the season, breeding at all times. The doves were migratory, and were kept in confinement only as caged pets or to be held for sale for sacrifice. For these purposes, it appears that the dove was slightly preferred. When only one bird was to be used, a dove is always specified; where two, almost in every case the dove is mentioned first. Where one or the other will suffice, the dove seems to have been given preference. This may have been because it required greater effort to procure a dove, and so it was considered a greater sacrifice. Everyone having a home of any sort had pigeons they could use, or they could be taken wild at any time. The dove is first mentioned in Gen 15:9: "And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon."
It will be observed that the dove is mentioned first, and it is specified that the pigeon was to be young. It is probable that the people protected their domesticated pigeons by using the wild for sacrifice, whenever possible. Young birds could be taken from a nest at almost any time. The old birds, among the wild, were shy creatures and far more difficult to capture in nets or snares than doves that came close to cities and villages to live, and exhibited much less fear of man than the wild pigeons. The next reference is in Lev 5:7: "And if his means suffice not for a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass-offering for that wherein he hath sinned, two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, unto Yahweh; one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering." Here two birds of each kind were to be offered, if the person making the sacrifice could not afford a lamb. Again in Lev 12:6: "And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb a year old for a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sinoffering, unto the door of the tent of meeting, unto the priest." Here is a rare instance where the text or the translators place the pigeon first.
"And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting" (Nu 6:10). In Song 2:14:
"O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock,
In the covert of the steep place,
Let me see thy countenance,
Let me hear thy voice;
For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely."
Here the text reads "dove," but the description of the location and the implication of the text prove the bird to have been a rock pigeon--a tender, loving thing, yet shy and timid, that peeps with eyes of bright concern over the rocks of its chosen home, down at the intruder. Isa 60:8: "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?" Here is another place where the wrong bird is used. Doves were wild and migratory. They had no "windows." But the tile pots massed in one diamond-shaped cote appeared at a little distance, like latticed windows. This should read "pigeons" instead of "doves." For the same reason see Jer 48:28: "O ye inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock; and be like the dove that maketh her nest over the mouth of the abyss." Again the bird intended is the rock pigeon. Lk 2:24: "A sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." This describes the sacrifice offered in the temple by Mary following the birth of Jesus.
Gene Stratton-Porter
See following article, 4, andAPOCRYPHAL GOSPELS .
pi'-lat, pi'-lat, pon'-shi-us (Pontios Peilatos):
1. Name and Office
2. Pilate's Procuratorship
3. Pilate and Jesus Christ
4. Pilate in Tradition and Legend
5. Character of Pilate
LITERATURE
The nomen Pontius indicates the stock from which Pilate was descended. It was one of the most famous of Samnite names; it was a Pontius who inflicted on a Roman army the disgrace of the Caudine Forks. The name is often met with in Roman history after the Samnites were conquered and absorbed. Lucius Pontius Aquila was a friend of Cicero and one of the assassins of Julius Caesar. The cognomen Pilatus indicates the familia, or branch of the gens Pontius, to which Pilate belonged. It has been derived from pileus, the cap worn by freedmen; this is improbable, as Pilate was of equestrian rank. It has also been derived from pilum, a spear. Probably the name was one that had descended to Pilate from his ancestors, and had long lost its meaning. The praenomen is nowhere mentioned. Pilate was 5th procurator of Judea. The province of Judea had formerly been the kingdom of Archclaus, and was formed when he was deposed (6 AD) Speaking roughly, it took in the southern half of Palestine, including Samaria. Being an imperial province (i.e. under the direct control of the emperor), it was governed by a procurator (see PROCURATOR ;PROVINCE ). The procurator was the personal servant of the emperor, directly responsible to him, and was primarily concerned with finance. But the powers of procurators varied according to the appointment of the emperor. Pilate was a procurator cum porestate, i.e. he possessed civil, military, and criminal jurisdiction. The procurator of Judea was in some way subordinate to the legate of Syria, but the exact character of the subordination is not known. As a rule a procurator must be of equestrian rank and a man of certain military experience. Under his rule, the Jews were allowed as much self-government as was consistent with the maintenance of imperial authority. The Sanhedrin was allowed to exercise judicial functions, but if they desired to inflict the penalty of death, the sentence had to be confirmed by the procurator.
We have no certain knowledge of Pilate except in connection with his time of rule in Judea. We know nothing of his birth, his origin, or his earlier years. Tacitus, when speaking of the cruel punishments inflicted by Nero upon the Christians, tells us that Christ, from whom the name "Christian" was derived, was put to death when Tiberius was emperor by the procurator Pontius Pilate (Annals xv.44). Apart from this reference and what is told us in the New Testament, all our knowledge of him is derived from two Jewish writers, Josephus the historian and Philo of Alexandria.
Pilate was procurator of Judea, in succession to Gratus, and he held office for 10 years. Josephus tells (Ant., XVIII, iv, 2) that he ruled for 10 years; that he was removed from office by Vitellius, the legate of Syria, and traveled in haste to Rome to defend himself before Tiberius against certain complaints. Before he reached Rome the emperor had passed away. Josephus adds that Vitellius came in the year 36 AD to Judea to be present at Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. It has been assumed by most authorities (so HDB and EB) that Pilate had departed before this visit of Vitellius. They accordingly date the procuratorship of Pilate as lasting from 26 to 36 AD. As against this view, yon Dobschutx points out (RE under the word "Pilate") that by this reckoning Pilate must have taken at least a year to get to Rome; for Tiberius died on March. 16, 37 AD. Such delay is inconceivable in view of the circumstances; hence, von Dobschutz rightly dates the period of his procuratorship 27-37 AD. The procurator of Judea had no easy task, nor did Pilate make the task easier by his actions. He was not careful to conciliate the religious prejudices of the Jews, and at times this attitude of his led to violent collisions between ruler and ruled.
On one occasion, when the soldiers under his command came to Jerusalem, he caused them to bring with them their ensigns, upon which were the usual images of the emperor. The ensigns were brought in privily by night, put their presence was soon discovered. Immediately multitudes of excited Jews hastened to Caesarea to petition him for the removal of the obnoxious ensigns. For five days he refused to hear them, but on the sixth he took his place on the judgment seat, and when the Jews were admitted he had them surrounded with soldiers and threatened them with instant death unless they ceased to trouble him with the matter. The Jews thereupon flung themselves on the ground and bared their necks, declaring that they preferred death to the violation of their laws. Pilate, unwilling to slay so many, yielded the point and removed the ensigns (Josephus, Ant, XVIII, iii, 1; BJ, II, ix, 2, 3).
At another time he used the sacred treasure of the temple, called corban (qorban), to pay for bringing water into Jerusalem by an aqueduct. A crowd came together and clamored against him; but he had caused soldiers dressed as civilians to mingle with the multitude, and at a given signal they fell upon the rioters and beat them so severely with staves that the riot was quelled (Josephus, Ant, XVIII, iii, 2; BJ, II, ix, 4).
Philo tells us (Legatio ad Caium, xxxviii) that on other occasion he dedicated some gilt shields in the palace of Herod in honor of the emperor. On these shields there was no representation of any forbidden thing, but simply an inscription of the name of the donor and of him in whose honor they were set up. The Jews petitioned him to have them removed; when he refused, they appealed to Tiberius, who sent an order that they should be removed to Caesarea.
Of the incident, mentioned in Lk 13:1, of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, nothing further is known.
Josephus (Ant., XVIII, iv, 1, 2) gives an account of the incident which led to Pilate's downfall. A religious pretender arose in Samaria who promised the Samaritans that if they would assemble at Mt. Gerizim, he would show them the sacred vessels which Moses had hidden there. A great multitude assembled in readiness to ascend the mountain, but before they could accomplish their aim they were attacked by Pilate's cavalry, and many of them were slain. The Samaritans thereupon sent an embassy to Vitellius, the legate of Syria, to accuse Pilate of the murder of those who had been slain. Vitellius, who desired to stand well with the Jews, deposed Pilate from office, appointed Marcellus in his place, and ordered Pilate to go to Rome and answer the charges made against him before the emperor. Pilate set out for Rome, but, before he could reach it, Tiberius had died; and it is probable that, in the confusion which followed, Pilate escaped the inquisition with which he was threatened. From this point onward history knows nothing more of Pilate.
The shortest and simplest account of Pilate's dealings with Jesus Christ is given in the Gospel of Mark. There we are told that Jesus was delivered to Pilate; that Pilate asked Him if He was the king of the Jews, receiving an affirmative answer; that, to Pilate's surprise, Jesus answered nothing to the accusations of the chief priests; that Pilate tried to release Jesus according to an ancient custom; that the multitude, in spite of the protest of Pilate, demanded the release of Barabbas, and cried out that Jesus should be crucified; that Pilate scourged Jesus and delivered Him to be crucified; and that Jesus, when He had been scourged and mocked, was led away to be crucified. Mark tells further how Joseph of Arimathea begged of Pilate the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised that Jesus died so quickly, and questioned the centurion about it. Pilate's surprise and question are peculiar to Mark. Being satisfied on this point, Pilate granted the body to Joseph. Matthew adds the dream and message of Pilate's wife (27:19); it also tells how Pilate washed his hands before the people, disclaiming responsibility for the death of Jesus, and how the people accepted the responsibility (27:24 f); also how Pilate granted a guard for the tomb (27:62-66). Luke alone narrates the sending of Jesus to Herod (23:6-12), and reports Pilate's three times repeated asseveration that he found no fault in Jesus (23:4,14,22). John gives by far the fullest narrative, which forms a framework into which the more fragmentary accounts of the Synoptics can be fitted with perfect ease. Some critics, holding that Mark alone is trustworthy, dismiss the additional incidents given in Matthew and Luke as apologetic amplifications; and many dismiss the narrative of Jn as wholly unworthy of credence. Such theories are based on preconceived opinions as to the date, authorship and reliability of the various Gospels. The reader who holds all the Gospels to be, in the main, authentic and trustworthy narratives will have no difficulty in perceiving that all four narratives, when taken together, present a story consistent in all its details and free from all difficulty. See GOSPELS . It should be noted that John evidently had special opportunities of obtaining exacter knowledge than that possessed by the others, as he was present at every stage of the trial; and that his narrative makes clear what is obscure in the accounts of the Synoptics.
The parts may be fitted together thus: Jesus is brought to Pilate (Mt 27:2; Mk 15:1; Lk 23:1; Jn 18:28). Pilate asks for a specific accusation (Jn 18:29-32). Pilate enters the praetorium, questions Jesus about His alleged kingship, and receives the answer that He rules over the kingdom of truth, and over the hearts of men who acknowledge the truth. Pilate asks: "What is truth?" (reported briefly in Mt 27:11; Mk 15:2; Lk 23:3, and with more detail Jn 18:33-38). Pilate brings Him forth (this is the only detail that needs to be supplied in order to make the harmony complete, and in itself it is probable enough), and many accusations are made against Him, to which, to Pilate's surprise, He makes no reply (Mt 27:12-14; Mk 15:3-5). Pilate affirms His innocence, but the charges are repeated (Lk 23:4 f). Pilate sends Him to Herod, who in mockery clothes Him in shining raiment, and sends Him back (Lk 23:6-12). Pilate declares that neither Herod or himself can find any fault in Him, and offers to scourge Him and let Him go (Lk 23:13-16; Jn 18:38b). Pilate offers to release Jesus in accordance with an ancient custom (Mt 27:15-18; Mk 15:6-10; Jn 18:39). Pilate's wife sends him a message warning him not to harm Jesus because she has suffered many things in a dream because of Him (Mt 27:19). The people, persuaded thereto by the chief priests and elders, choose Barabbas, and, in spite of the repeated protests of Pilate, demand that Jesus shall be crucified (Mt 27:20-23; Mk 15:11-14; Lk 23:18-23; Jn 18:40). Pilate washes his hands before the people, and they take the guilt of the deed upon themselves and their children (Mt 27:24 f). Pilate releases Barabbas and orders Jesus to be scourged (Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15; Lk 23:24 f). Jesus is scourged and mocked, buffered and spit upon (Mt 27:27-31a; Mk 15:16-20a; Jn 19:1-3). Pilate again declares the innocence of Jesus, brings Him out, and says: "Behold the man!" The chief priests and officers cry out: "Crucify him!" They accuse Him of making Himself the Son of God. Pilate, becoming more afraid at this saying, once more interviews the prisoner in the praetorium. He again tries to release Him, but is accused of treachery to the emperor. Overborne by this, Pilate sits on the judgment seat (see GABBATHA ), and says: "Behold your King!" Again the cry goes up: "Away with him, crucify him!" Pilate says: "ShallI crucify your King?" The chief priests answered with a final renunciation of all that God had given them, saying: "We have no king but Caesar" (Jn 19:4-15). Pilate sentences Jesus and gives Him up to be crucified, and He is led away (Mt 27:31b; Mk 15:20b; Lk 23:26a; Jn 19:16). Pilate writes a title for the cross, and refuses to alter it (Jn 19:19-22). The Jews ask of Pilate that the legs of the three who were crucified might be broken (Jn 19:31). Joseph of Arimathea begs the body of Jesus from Pilate (Mt 27:57,58a; Mk 15:42 f; Lk 23:50-52; Jn 19:38a). Pilate is surprised that Jesus has died so soon, and questions the centurion (Mk 15:44). He gives up to Joseph the body of Jesus (Mt 27:58b; Mk 15:45; Jn 19:38b). The chief priests and the Pharisees obtain permission from Pilate to take precautions against any theft of the body of Jesus (Mt 27:62-66).
Pilate is mentioned three times in Acts: in a speech of Peter (3:13), in a thanksgiving of the church (4:27), and in a speech of Paul (13:28). He is also mentioned in 1 Timothy (6:13) as the one before whom Christ Jesus witnessed the good confession.
4. Pilate in Tradition and Legend:
Eusebius, who lived in the 4th centuries, tells us (Historia Ecclesiastica, II) on the authority of certain Greek historians that Pilate fell into such calamities that he committed suicide. Various apocryphal writings have come down to us, written from the 3rd to the 5th centuries, with others of a later date, in which legendary details are given about Pilate. In all these a favorable view is taken of his character; hence, the Coptic church came to believe that he became a Christian, and enrolled him among the number of its saints. His wife, to whom tradition gives the name of Claudia Procula, or Procla, is said to have been a Jewish proselyte at the time of the death of Jesus, and afterward to have become a Christian. Her name is honored along with Pilate's in the Coptic church, and in the calendar of saints honored by the Greek church her name is found against the date October 27.
We find not unkindly references to Pilate in the recently discovered fragment of the Gospel of Peter, which was composed in the 2nd century. In the so-called Gospel of Nicodemus, which belongs to the 4th or 5th century, we find in the first part, called the Acts of Pilate, a long account of the trial of Jesus. It tells how the standards in the hall of judgment bowed down before Jesus, in spite of the efforts of the standard-bearers, and others who attempted it, to hold them erect. It tells also how many of those who had been healed by Jesus bore testimony to Him at the trial (see APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS ). There has also come down to us, in various forms (e.g. in the Acts of Peter and Paul), a letter, supposed to be the report of Pilate to Tiberius, narrating the proceedings of the trial, and speaking of Jesus in the highest terms of praise. Eusebius, when he mentions this letter, avers that Tiberius, on perusing it, was incensed against the Jews who had sought the death of Jesus (Historia Ecclesiastica, II, 2). Elsewhere (Historia Ecclesiastica, IX, 5) he recounts that under Maximin forged Acts of Pilate, containing blasphemies against Christ, were circulated with consent of the emperor. None of these, if they ever existed, have come down to us. In the Paradosis Pilati we read that Caesar, being angry with Pilate for what he had done, brought him to Rome as a prisoner, and examined him. When the Christ was named, all the gods in the senate-chamber fell down and were broken. Caesar ordered war to be made on the Jews, and Pilate, after praying to Jesus, was beheaded. The head was taken away by an angel, and Procla, seeing this, died of joy. Another narrative, of late date, recounts that Pilate, at his trial, wore the seamless robe of Jesus; for this reason Caesar, though filled with anger, could not so much as say a harsh word to Pilate; but when the robe was taken off, he condemned Pilate to death. On hearing this, Pilate committed suicide. The body was sunk in the Tiber, but such storms were raised by demons on account of this that it was taken up and sunk in the Rhone at Vienne. The same trouble recurred there, and the body was finally buried in the territory of Losania (Lausanne). Tradition connects Mt. Pilatus with his name, although it is probable that the derivation is from pileatus, i.e. the mountain with a cloud-cap.
Philo (Legatio ad Caium, xxxviii) speaks of Pilate in terms of the severest condemnation. According to him, Pilate was a man of a very inflexible disposition, and very merciless as well as obstinate. Philo calls him a man of most ferocious passions, and speaks of his corruption, his acts of insolence, his rapine, his habit of insulting people, his cruelty, his continual murders of people untried and uncondemned, and his never-ending and most grievous inhumanity. This is very highly colored and probably much exaggerated; certainly the instances given do not bear out this description of the man. Much of what he says of Pilate is in direct opposition to what we learn of him in the Gospels. There he appears to us as a man who, in spite of many undoubted faults, tries hard to conduct the trial with fairness. Pilate had the ethics of his class, and obviously tried to act up to the standard which he had formed. There was in him, however, no deep moral basis of character, as is shown by the utter skepticism of his question, "What is truth?" When he found that the doing of strict justice threatened to endanger his position, he reluctantly and with a great deal of shame gave way to the demands of the Jews. He sent Jesus to the cross, but not before he had exhausted every expedient for saving Him, except the simple and straightforward one of dismissing the case. He had the haughtiness of the dominant race, and a profound contempt for the people over which he ruled. This contempt, as we have seen, continually brought him into trouble. He felt deeply humiliated at having to give way to those whom he utterly despised, and, in the manner of a small mind, revenged himself on them by calling Christ their king, and by refusing to alter the mocking inscription on the cross. It is certain that Pilate, in condemning Jesus, acted, and knew that he acted against his conscience. He knew what was right, but for selfish and cowardly reasons refused to do it. He was faced by a great moral emergency, and he failed. We rest on the judgment of our Lord, that he was guilty, but not so guilty as the leaders of the chosen people.
LITERATURE.
The Gospels; Philo, Legatio ad Caium; Josephus, Josephus, Antiquities and BJ; the Annals of Tacitus; Eusebius, HE; Walker, Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, and Revelations in the "Ante-Nicene Christian Library," and for the Gospel according to Peter, volume IX of the same series err, New Testament Apocryphal Writings ("Temple Bible Series"), gives the text of the Gospel of Nicodemus and the Gospel of Peter.
There is a great mass of literature on the subject, but there is no English monograph on Pontius Pilate. In German there is G.A. Muller, Pontius Pilatus der funfe Prokurator von Judaa (Stuttgart, 1888). See also the various articles on Pilate in books of reference on the New Testament, notablyRE (von Dobschiitz),HDB (G. T. Purves), DCG (A. Souter), and Encyclopedia Biblica (W. J. Woodhouse). For the name of-Pilate see the articles on "Pontius Pilatus et les Pontii" by Ollivier in Review Biblical, volume V. For the Apocryphal Gospels see article on "Gospel of Nicodemus" inHDB , also article "Apocryphal Gospels," in the supplementary volume ofHDB ; Orr, New Testament Apocryphal Writings; Zahn, Geschichte des New Testament Kanons; Harnack, Altchristliche Litteraturgeschichte. For the trial of Jesus see Lives of Christ by Keim, Edersheim, Stalker, Andrews and others; Taylor Innes, Trial of Jesus Christ, a Legal Monograph, 1899; and for the historical background, Schurer,HJP .
J. Macartney Wilson
pil'-dash (pildash, "steely"): Nephew of Abram (Gen 22:22).
pil (medhurah, from dur, "heap up"): Isa 30:33, "The pile thereof is fire and much wood"; Ezek 24:9,10, "I also will make the pile great. Heap on the wood, make the fire hot." Isa 30:33 may be paraphrased, `the pyre thereof is of much wood, burning fiercely.'
See TOPHETH .
pil'-e-ha, pi'-le-ha.
See PILHA .
pil'-grim, pil'-grimaj: "Pilgrim" in English Versions of the Bible for parepidemos (Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 2:11). "Pilgrimage" for maghor (Gen 47:9 (the Revised Version margin "sojournings"); Ps 119:54; and (the King James Version) Ex 6:4 (the Revised Version (British and American) "sojournings")). Both the Hebrew (see GER ) and Greek words contain the idea of foreign residence, but it is the residence and not travel that is implied. Consequently "pilgrim" is a poor translation, and "sojourner," "sojourning" should have been used throughout. In the New Testament passages heaven is thought of as the contrasted permanent dwelling-place, while the Old Testament usages seem to be without a contrast definitely in mind.
pil'-ha (pilcha', "ploughman" (plowman); the King James Version Pileha): One of those who signed Nehemiah's covenant (Neh 10:24).
See PEEL .
pil'-ar (matstsebhah, `ammudh; stulos): In a good many cases the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "pillars" for the King James Version "images" (matstsebhoth, Ex 34:13; Dt 7:5; 1 Ki 14:23, etc.). In Gen 19:26, where "pillar of salt" is given, the word is netsibh; in 1 Sam 2:8 it is matsuq; while in most other single uses the Revised Version margin gives variant renderings, as in Jdg 9:6 (mutstsabh), the Revised Version margin "garrison"; in 1 Ki 10:12 (mic`adh), the Revised Version margin "`a railing,' Hebrew `a prop'"; in 2 Ki 18:16 ('omenoth), the Revised Version margin "doorposts." The matstsebhoth were (1) memorial pillars, as in the "pillars" of Jacob at Bethel (Gen 28:18,22; compare 31:13; 35:14), in covenant with Laban (Gen 31:45 ff), at Rachel's grave (Gen 35:20); Absalom's pillar (2 Sam 18:18). Such pillars were legitimate (theory of a fetishistic character is not grounded); it is predicted in Isa 19:19 that such a pillar would be set up to Yahweh at the border of Egypt. (2) Idolatrous pillars, in Canaanitish and other heathen worships. These were to be ruthlessly broken down (the King James Version "images," see above; Ex 23:24; 34:13; Dt 7:5, etc.; compare Lev 26:1). See IMAGES . The other word, `ammudh, is used of the pillar of cloud and fire (see below); of the pillars of the tabernacle and temple (see under the word); of the two pillarsJACHIN AND BOAZ (which see); poetically of the "pillars" of heaven, of earth (Job 9:6; 26:11; Ps 75:3; 99:7), etc. In the few instances of the word in the New Testament, the use is figurative. James, Cephas and John were reputed to be pillars" of the church at Jerusalem (Gal 2:9); the church is "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim 3:15); he that overcomes is made "a pillar" in the temple of God (Rev 3:12); a strong angel had feet "as pillars of fire" (Rev 10:1).
Pillar of Cloud and Fire:
The visible manifestation of the divine presence in the journeyings of Israel at the time of the Exodus. Yahweh, it is narrated, went before the people "by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light ..... The pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people" (Ex 13:21,22; compare 14:19,24; Nu 14:14). When the congregation was at rest, the cloud abode over the tabernacle (Ex 40:36; Nu 9:17; 14:14). When Yahweh wished to communicate His will to Moses, the pillar descended to the door of the Tent of Meeting (Ex 33:9-11; Nu 12:5; Dt 31:15). These descriptions are not to be rationalistically explained; what is depicted is a true theophany. Criticism has sought to establish discrepancies between the allusions to the cloud in the JE and the P parts of the narrative, but these are not made out without straining; e.g. it is not the case that JE alone represents Yahweh as speaking with Moses in the cloud at the door of the tabernacle. The same representation is found in Ex 29:42,43, ascribed to Pillar. An acute discussion of the alleged discrepancies may be seen in H.M. Wiener, Essays in Pentateuchal Criticism, 82 ff.
James Orr
See PLAIN OF THE PILLAR .
See ASTRONOMY , sec. III, 2.
pil'-o.
pi'-lot.
See SHIPS AND BOATS .
pil'-ti, pil-ta'-i (pilTay, probably "Yahweh delivers"): One of the priests, described as "the chiefs of the fathers," in the days of Joiakim (Neh 12:17).
(yathedh, from yathadh, "to drive in a peg"(?)): A cylindrical piece of wood or metal (e.g. brass, Ex 27:19) such as that used by weavers in beating up the woof in the loom (Jdg 16:14, where Delilah fastened Samson's hair with the "pin"); or as a peg for hanging (Ezek 15:3; compare Isa 22:23 f; Ezr 9:8); or as a tent-pin, such as those used in the tabernacle (Ex 27:19; 35:18; 38:20,31; 39:40; Nu 3:37; 4:32; Jdg 4:21, where the King James Version translates "nail," the Revised Version (British and American) "tent-pin"; compare Jdg 5:26, where Hebrew has the same word, English Versions of the Bible "nail"). The tent-pin, like that of today, was probably sharpened at one end (Jdg 4:21) and so shaped at the other as to permit the attaching of the cords so frequently mentioned in the same connection (Ex 35:18; 39:40; Nu 3:37; 4:32; compare Isa 33:20). From the acts of driving in the tent-pin (Taqa`) and pulling it out (nasa') are derived the technical Hebrew terms for pitching a tent and for breaking camp.
See also CRISPING PINS (Isa 3:22, the Revised Version (British and American) "satchels"); STAKE.
Nathan Isaacs
pin.
See PINING SICKNESS .
pin tre: (1) `ets shemen, translated the Revised Version (British and American) "wild olive," the King James Version "pine" (Neh 8:15); the Revised Version (British and American) "oil-tree," m "oleaster" (Isa 41:19); "olive-wood" (1 Ki 6:23,31-33). See OIL TREE . (2) tidhhar (Isa 41:19, margin "plane"; 60:13); peuke, "fir." Lagarde, from similarity of tidhhar to the Syriac deddar, usually the "elm," considers this the best translation. Symmachus also translated tidhhar (Isa 41:19) by ptelea, the "elm." The elm, Ulmus campestris, is rare in Palestine and the Lebanon, though it is found today N. of Aleppo. Post (HDB, III, 592-93) considers that (1) should be translated as "pine," which he describes as a "fat wood tree"; it is perhaps as probably a correct translation for (2), but great uncertainty remains. Two species of pine are plentiful in the Lebanon and flourish in most parts of Palestine when given a chance. These are the stone pine, Pinus pinea, and the Aleppo pine, P. halepensis; all the highlands looking toward the sea are suited to their growth.
E. W. G. Masterman
pin'-ing, sik'-nes: In the account of the epileptic boy in Mk 9:18 it is said that "he pineth away." The verb used here (xeraino) means "to dry up," and is the same which is used of the withering of plants, but seldom used in this metaphorical sense. The English word is from the Anglo-Saxon pinjan and is often found in the Elizabethan literature, occurring 13 times in Shakespeare. In the Old Testament it is found in Lev 26:39 (bis) and in Ezek 24:23 and 33:10. In the Revised Version (British and American) it replaces "consume" in Ezek 4:17. In all these passages it is the rendering of the Hebrew maqaq, and means expressly being wasted on account of sin. In Lev 26:16 "pine away" is used in the Revised Version (British and American) to replace "cause sorrow of heart," and is the translation of the Hebrew dubh; and in Dt 28:65 "sorrow of mind" is also replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by "pining of soul," the word so rendered being de'abhon, which in these two passages is expressive of homesickness. In Isa 24:16 the reduplicated exclamation, "my leanness," of the King James Version is changed into "I pine away," the word being razi. The starving people in Lam 4:9 are said to pine away, the word so translated being zubh. All these Hebrew words have a general meaning of to dry or to waste or wear away, or to be exhausted by morbid discharges.
Pining sickness in Isa 38:12 the King James Version is a mistranslation, the word so rendered, dallah, meaning here the thrum by which the web is tied to the loom. The figure in the verse is that Hezekiah's life is being removed from the earth by his sickness as the web is removed from the loom by having the thrums cut, and being then rolled up. Both the King James Version margin and the Revised Version margin have the correct reading, "from the thrum." Septuagint has erithou eggizouses ektemein, and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) dum adhuc ordirer, succidit me. The other reading is due to another interpretation of the word which in a few passages, as Jer 52:15, like its root dal, means something small, poor, and decaying or weak, such as the lean kine of Pharaoh's dream (Gen 41:19).
Alexander Macalister
pin'-yun ('ebher, 'ebhrah): the Revised Version (British and American) has translated these Hebrew words uniformly by "pinion," where the King James Version uses either "wing" or "feathers," with which words they stand in parallelism in all passages. The shorter Hebrew word is found only once, in Yahweh's parable to Ezekiel: "A great eagle with great wings and long pinions (the King James Version "longwinged"), full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar" (Ezek 17:3). The feminine form ('ebhrah) is used of the wings of the dove (Ps 68:13), of the ostrich (Job 39:13) and of the eagle (Dt 32:11). Once (Ps 91:4) it stands in a figurative expression for the protective care of Yahweh, which is bestowed on those that trust in Him.
H. L. E. Luering
pin'-a-k'-l (pterugion (Mt 4:5; Lk 4:9, the Revised Version margin "wing")): "The pinnacle of the temple" is named as the place to which the devil took Jesus, and there tempted Him to cast Himself down. It is not known what precise elevated spot is meant, whether a part of the roof of the temple itself, or some high point in the adjacent buildings overlooking the deep ravine. It was more probably the latter.
pi'-non (pinon, "darkness"): One of the "chiefs of Edom" (Gen 36:41; 1 Ch 1:52).
pip.
See CANDLESTICK ;LAMP ;MUSIC .
pi'-ra (hoi ek Peirds (1 Esdras 5:19)): Thought to be a repetition of CAPHIRA (which see) earlier in the verse.
pi'-ram (pir'am, "indomitable"): King of Jarmuth, one of the five Amorite kings who leagued themselves against Joshua's invasion (Josh 10:3 ff).
pir'-a-thon, pir'-a-thon-it (pir`athon, pir`athoni; Codex Vaticanus Pharathom; Codex Alexandrinus Phraathom, Pharathuneites): The home of Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite (Jdg 12:13 ff the King James Version), where also he was buried, "in the land of Ephraim in the mount of the Amalekites." The latter name may have clung to a district which at some former time had been held by the Amalekites. From this town also came Benaiah, one of David's chief captains (2 Sam 23:30; 1 Ch 11:31; 27:14). It is probably to be identified with Fer`ata, about 6 miles Southwest of Nablus. A possible rival is Fir`on, 15 miles West of Nablus. G.A. Smith suggests a position at the head of Wady Far`ah (HGHL, 355). Moore thinks it may have been in Benjamin, Abdon being a Benjamite family (1 Ch 8:23,30; 9:36). It is just possible that the place may be identical with Pharathon, one of the towns fortified by Bacchides (1 Macc 9:50).
W. Ewing
piz'-ga (ha-picgah; Phasga, to lelaxeumenon, he laxeute): This name, which has always the definite article, appears only in combination either with ro'sh, "head," "top," or 'ashdoth, not translated in the King James Version save in Dt 4:49, where it is rendered "springs" the Revised Version (British and American) uniformly "slopes," the Revised Version margin "springs."
Pisgah is identified with Nebo in Dt 34:1; compare 3:27. "The top of Pisgah, which looketh down upon the desert" marks a stage in the march of the host of Israel (Nu 21:20). Hither Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim (Nu 23:14). Here Moses obtained his view of the Promised Land, and died. See NEBO . Many scholars (e.g. Buhl, GAP, 122; Gray, "Numbers," ICC, 291) take Pisgah as the name applying to the mountain range in which the Moab plateau terminates to the West, the "top" or "head" of Pisgah being the point in which the ridge running out westward from the main mass culminates. The summit commands a wide view, and looks down upon the desert. The identification is made surer by the name Tal'at es-Sufa found here, which seems to correspond with the field of Zophim.
'Ashdoth is the construct plural of 'ashedhah (singular form not found), from 'eshedh, "foundation," "bottom," "lower part" (slope); compare Assyrian ishdu, "foundation." Some would, derive it from Aramaic 'ashadh, "to pour," whence "fall" or "slope" (OHL, under the word). Ashdoth-pisgah overlooked the Dead Sea from the East (Dt 3:17; 4:49; Josh 12:3; 13:20). There can be no reasonable doubt that Ashdoth-pisgah signifies the steep slopes of the mountain descending into the contiguous valleys.
It is worthy of note that Septuagint does not uniformly render Pisgah by a proper name, but sometimes by a derivative of laxeuo, "to hew" or "to dress stone" (Nu 21:20; 23:14; Dt 3:27; 4:49). Jerome (Onomasticon, under the word Asedoth) gives abscisum as the Latin equivalent of Fasga. He derives Pisgah from pacagh, which, in new Hebrew, means "to split," "to cut off." This suggests a mountain the steep sides of which give it the appearance of having been "cut out." This description applies perfectly to Jebel Neba as viewed from the Dead Sea.
W. Ewing
pi'-shon pi'-son (pishon; the King James Version): A river of EDEN (which see), said to compass the whole land of Havilah where there is gold, bdellium and onyx stone (Gen 2:11), most probably identified with the Karun River which comes down from the mountains of Media and formerly emptied into the Persian Gulf.
pi-sid'-i-a (ten Pisidian (Acts 14:24); in Acts 13:14, Codices Sinaitica, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi give Antiocheian ten Pisidian, "the Pisidian Antioch," the other manuscripts, Antiocheian tes Pisidias, "Antioch of Pisidia." The former, but not the latter, reading correctly describes the condition of affairs at the time when Paul traveled in the country; see below):
Pisidia, as a strict geographical term, was the name given to the huge block of mountain country stretching northward from the Taurus range where the latter overlooked the Pamphylian coast land, to the valleys which connected Apamea with Antioch, and Antioch with Iconium. It was bounded by Lycia on the West, by the Phrygian country on the North, and by Isauria on the East; but there is no natural boundary between Pisidia and Isauria, and the frontier was never strictly drawn. The name is used in its geographical sense in the Anabasis of Xenophon, who informs us that the Pisidians were independent of the king of Persia at the end of the 5th century BC. Alexander the Great had difficulty in reducing the Pisidian cities, and throughout ancient history we find the Pisidian mountains described as the home of a turbulent and warlike people, given to robbery and pillage. The task of subjugating them was entrusted by the Romans to the Galatian king Amyntas, and, at his death in 25 BC, Pisidia passed with the rest of his possessions into the Roman province Galatia. Augustus now took seriously in hand the pacification of Pisidia and the Isaurian mountains on the East Five military colonies were founded in Pisidia and the eastern mountains--Cremna, Comama, Olbasa, Parlais and Lystra--and all were connected by military roads with the main garrison city Antioch, which lay in Galatian Phrygia, near the northern border of Pisidia. An inscription discovered in 1912 shows that Quirinius, who is mentioned in Lk 2:2 as governor of Syria in the year of Christ's birth, was an honorary magistrate of the colony of Antioch; his connection with Antioch dates from his campaign against the Homonades--who had resisted and killed Amyntas--about 8 BC (see Ramsay in The Expositor, November, 1912, 385 ff, 406). The military system set up in Pisidia was based on that of Antioch, and from this fact, and from its proximity to Pisidia, Antioch derived its title "the Pisidian," which served to distinguish it from the other cities called Antioch. It is by a mistake arising from confusion with a later political arrangement that Antioch is designated "of Pisidia" in the majority of the manuscripts.
Pisidia remained part of the province Galatia till 74 AD, when the greater (southern) part of it was assigned to the new double province Lycia-Pamphylia, and the cities in this portion of Pisidia now ranked as Pamphylian. The northern part of Pisidia continued to belong to Galatia, until, in the time of Diocletian, the southern part of the province Galatia (including the cities of Antioch and Iconium), with parts of Lycaonia and Asia, were formed Into a province called Pisidia, with Antioch as capital. Antioch was now for the first time correctly described as a city "of Pisidia," although there is reason to believe that the term "Pisidia" had already been extended northward in popular usage to include part at least of the Phrygian region of Galatia. This perhaps explains the reading "Antioch of Pisidia" in the Codex Bezae, whose readings usually reflect the conditions of the 2nd century of our era in Asia Minor. This use of the term was of course political and administrative; Antioch continued to be a city of Phrygia in the ethnical sense and a recently discovered inscription proves that the Phrygian language was spoken in the neighborhood of Antioch as late as the 3rd century of our era (see also Calder in Journal of Roman Studies, 1912, 84).
Paul crossed Pisidia on the journey from Perga to Antioch referred to in Acts 13:14, and again on the return journey, Acts 14:24. Of those journeys no details are recorded in Acts, but it has been suggested by Conybeare and Howson that the "perils of rivers" and "perils of robbers" mentioned by Paul in 2 Cor 11:26 refer to his journeys across Pisidia, and Ramsay has pointed out in confirmation of this view that a considerable number of Pisidian inscriptions refer to the armed policemen and soldiers who kept the peace in this region, while others refer to a conflict with robbers, or to an escape from drowning in a river (The Church in the Roman Empire, 23 f; compare Journal of Roman Studies, 1912, 82 f). Adada, a city off Paul's route from Perga to Antioch, is called by the Turks Kara Baulo; "Baulo" is the Turkish pronunciation of "Paulos," and the name is doubtless reminiscent of an early tradition connecting the city with Paul. Pisidia had remained unaffected by Hellenic civilization, and the Roman occupation at the time of Paul was purely military. It is therefore unlikely that Paul preached in Pisidia. Except on the extreme Northwest, none of the Christian inscriptions of Pisidia--in glaring contrast with those of Phrygia--date before the legal recognition of Christianity under Constantine.
LITERATURE.
Murray, Handbook of Asia Minor, 150 ff; Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, 18 ff; Lanckoronski, Stadte Pamphyliens und Pisidiens; Sterrett, Epigraphical Journey and Wolfe Expedition. A few inscriptions containing Pisidian names with native inflections have been published by Ramsay in Revue des universites du midi, 1895, 353 ff.
W. M. Calder
pi'-son.
See PISHON .
pis'-pa (picpa', "dipersion," the King James Version Pispah): A son of Jether, an Asherite (1 Ch 7:38).
The word translates different Hebrew words of which the most important are: (1) bor, "pit" or "cistern," made by digging, (Gen 37:20); hence, "dungeon" (Jer 38:6, margin "pit"); (2) be'er, "pit" or "well" made by digging (Gen 21:25); (3) she'ol, generally rendered "hell" in the King James Version (see HELL ); (4) shachath, a pit in the ground to catch wild animals. (1), (2) and (4) above are used metaphorically of the pit of the "grave" or of "sheol" (Ps 28:1; 30:3; Job 33:24). the King James Version sometimes incorrectly renders (4) by "corruption." (5) pachath, "pit," literally (2 Sam 17:9), and figuratively (Jer 48:43). In the New Testament "pit" renders bothunos (Mt 15:14), which means any kind of hole in the ground. In the corresponding passage Lk (14:5 the King James Version) has phrear, "well," the same as (2) above. For "bottomless pit" (Rev 9:1, the King James Version, etc.).
See ABYSS .
T. Lewis
pich: The translation of the noun kopher, and the verb kaphar, in Gen 6:14 and of the noun zepheth, in Ex 2:3; Isa 34:9. In Gen 6:14 the words are the ordinary forms for "covering," "cover," so that the translation "pitch" is largely guesswork, aided by the Septuagint, which reads asphaltos, "bitumen," here, and by the fact that pitch is a usual "covering" for vessels. The meaning of zepheth, however, is fixed by the obvious Dead Sea imagery of Isa 34:9-15--the streams and land of Edom are to become burning bitumen, like the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Ex 2:3 zepheth is combined with chemar, which also means bitumen (Gen 14:10; see SLIME ), and the distinction between the words (different consistencies of the same substance?) is not clear.
Burton Scott Easton
pich'-er (kadh; keramion): The word is found chiefly in the Old Testament in the story of Rebekah in Gen 24:13 ff; but Gideon's men also had their lamps in pitchers (Jdg 7:16,19). Ecclesiastes speaks of the pitcher broken at the fountain (12:6). The single use in the New Testament is in Mk 14:13 parallel Lk 22:10. The pitcher was an earthenware vessel (compare Lam 4:2, nebhel), with one or two handles, used for carrying water, and commonly borne upon the head or shoulder (compare Gen 24).
pi'-thom (pithom; Peitho (Ex 1:11)):
Champollion (Gesenius, Lexicon, under the word) considered this name to mean "a narrow place" in Coptic, but it is generally explained to be the Egyptian Pa-tum, or "city of the setting sun." It was one of the cities built by the Hebrews (see RAAMSES ), and according to Wessel was the Thoum of the Antonine Itinerary.
Brugsch (History of Egypt, 1879, II, 343) says that it was identical with "Heracleopolis Parva, the capital of the Sethroitic nome in the age of the Greeks and Romans .... half-way on the great road from Pelusium to Tanis (Zoan), and this indication given on the authority of the itineraries furnishes the sole means of fixing its position." This is, however, disputed. Tum was worshipped at Thebes, at Zoan, and probably at Bubastis, while Heliopolis (Brugsch, Geogr., I, 254) was also called Pa-tum.
There were apparently several places of the name; and Herodotus (ii.158) says that the Canal of Darius began a little above Bubastis, "near the Arabian city Patournos," and reached the Red Sea.
In 1885 Dr. E. Naville discovered a Roman milestone of Maximian and Severus, proving that the site of Heroopolis was at Tell el MachuTah ("the walled mound") in Wady Tumeilat. The modern name he gives as Tell el Maskhutah, which was not that heard by the present writer in 1882. This identification had long been supposed probable. Excavations at the site laid bare strong walls and texts showing the worship of Tum. None was found to be older than the time of Rameses II--who, however, is well known to have defaced older inscriptions, and to have substituted his own name for that of earlier builders. A statue of later date, bearing the title "Recorder of Pithom," was also found at this same site. Dr. Naville concluded that this city must be the Old Testament Pithom, and the region round it Succoth--the Egyptian T-k-u (but see SUCCOTH ). Brugsch, on the other hand, says that the old name of Heropolis was Qes (see GOSHEN ), which recalls the identification of the Septuagint (Gen 46:28); and elsewhere (following Lepsius) he regards the same site as being "the Pa-Khetam of Rameses II" (see ETHAM ), which Lepsius believed to be the Old Testament Rameses (seeRAAMSES ) mentioned with Pithom (Brugsch, Geogr., I, 302, 262). Silvia in 385 AD was shown the site of Pithom near Heroopolis, but farther East, and she distinguishes the two; but in her time, though Heroopolis was a village, the site of Pithom was probably conjectural. In the time of Minepthah, son of Rameses II (Brugsch, History, II, 128), we have a report that certain nomads from Aduma (or Edom) passed through "the Khetam (or fort) of Minepthah-Hotephima, which is situated in T-k-u, to the lakes (or canals) of the city Pi-tum of Minepthah-Hotephima, which are situated in the land of T-k-u, in order to feed themselves and to feed their herds."
These places seem to have been on the eastern border of Egypt, but may have been close to the Bitter Lakes or farther North (see SUCCOTH ), whereas Tell el MachuTah is about 12 miles West of Ism'ailieh, and of Lake Timsah. The definition of the Pithom thus noticed as being that of Minepthah suggests that there was more than one place so called, and the Patoumos of Herodotus seems to have been about 30 miles farther West (near Zagazig and Bubastis) than the site of Heropolis, which the Septuagint indentifies with Goshen and not with Pithom. The latter is not noticed as on the route of the Exodus, and is not identified in the Old Testament with Succoth. In the present state of our knowledge of Egyptian topography, the popular impression that the Exodus must have happened in the time of Minepthah, because Pithom was at Heropolis and was not built till the time of Rameses II, must be regarded as very hazardous. See EXODUS . The Patoumos of Herodotus may well have been the site, and may still be discovered near the head of Wady Tumeildt or near Bubastis.
C. R. Conder
pi'-thon (pithon): A grandson of Meribbaal, or Mephibosheth (1 Ch 8:35; 9:41).
pit'-i-fool: As found in Scripture, means "full of pity"; it is expressed by rachamani, from rachamim (plural of racham), "bowels," "compassion" (Lam 4:10 the King James Version, its only occurrence in the Old Testament), "The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children." In Jas 5:11, we have the beautiful saying, The Lord is very pitiful (the Revised Version (British and American) "full of pity") and of tender mercy," where "very pitiful" is the translation of polusplagchnos, literally, "of many bowels," a word which does not occur elsewhere; it might be translated "large-hearted" or "tender-hearted." In Ecclesiasticus 2:11, we have "The Lord, is .... very, pitiful" (oiktirmon); eusplagchnos, well-hearted," "compassionate," "full of pity," occurs in 1 Pet 3:8, "Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous," the Revised Version (British and American) "loving as brethren, tenderhearted, humble-minded." The word is found in The Prayer of Manasseh 7; Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Zeb 8 2.
W. L. Walker
pit'-i (chamal, chuc; eleeo): "Pity," probably contracted from "piety," is tender feeling for others in misery or distress. It is allied to compassion (which see), but differs in respect of the object that causes the distress (or feeling). The feeling of pity is excited chiefly by the weakness, miserable or degraded condition of the object; compassion by his uncontrollable and inevitable misfortunes: "We pity a man of weak understanding who exposes his weakness; we compassionate the man who is reduced to a state of beggary and want" (Crabb, English Synonyms). Pity often becomes allied to contempt; "a pity" is something to be regretted. See PITIFUL . In the Old Testament "pity" is closely akin to "mercy." It is most frequently the translation of chamal, "to pity," "to spare," e.g. in Nathan's parable of the poor man's one lamb, it is said that the rich man was worthy to die because he had "no pity" (2 Sam 12:6).
In Jer 13:14 we have, "I will not pity nor spare, nor have mercy," the Revised Version (British and American) "compassion"; compare 21:7; Lam 2:2; Ezek 5:11; 7:4, in all of which passages "pity" stands in a negative connection; we have it positively attributed to God in Ezek 36:21, "I had pity for mine holy name," the Revised Version (British and American) "regard"; Joel 2:18; chuc, probably meaning, primarily, "to cover," "protect," hence, to pity, to spare, is translated "pity" (Dt 7:16; 13:8; Ezek 16:5, etc., all negative; Jon 4:10, positive: "Thou hast had pity on the gourd (the Revised Version (British and American) "regard for") and should not I spare (the Revised Version (British and American) "have regard for," chuc) Nineveh," etc.); chanan, "to incline, toward," "be gracious," "pity," is thrice rendered "pity" (Job 19:21, "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me"; Prov 19:17; 28:8, "he that hath pity upon the poor"); racham, "to feel warm," "to love," twice (Ps 103:13, "like as a father pitieth his children"; Isa 13:18, "no pity"); once in plural rachamim (Am 1:11); other words once so translated are chemlah, "pity" (Isa 63:9); checedh, "loving-kindness" (Job 6:14, the Revised Version (British and American) "kindness"); machmal, "object of pity" (Ezek 24:21); nudh," to move," "bemoan" (Ps 69:20). In the New Testament "pity" occurs once only as the translation of eleeo, "to be kind," "tender" (Mt 18:33, the Revised Version (British and American) "mercy"). In 2 Macc 3:21 we have (the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)) "pitied" in the obsolete sense of exciting pity, "Then it would have pitied (eleein) a man to see the multitude," etc.
The Revised Version (British and American) has "pity" for "mercy" (Prov 14:21); "have pity on" for "spare" (Ps 72:13); for "favour" (Ps 109:12; 102:13,14), "Have pity upon her dust."
See MERCY ;COMPASSION .
W. L. Walker