ir (`ir): A descendant of Benjamin (1 Ch 7:12), called Iri in 1 Ch 7:7.
ir-ha-he'-rez (`ir haherec, according to the Massoretic Text, Aquila, Theodotion, Septuagint, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American); according to some Hebrew manuscripts, Symmachus, and the Vulgate, `ir ha-cherec): A city of Egypt referred to in Isa 19:18. Jewish quarrels concerning the temple which Onias built in Egypt have most probably been responsible for the altering of the texts of some of the early manuscripts, and it is not now possible to determine absolutely which have been altered and which accord with the original. This difference in manuscripts gives rise to different opinions among authorities here to be noted. Most of the discussion of this name arises from this uncertainty and is hence rather profitless.
The starting-point of any proper discussion of Ir-ha-h is that the words are by Isaiah and that they are prophecy, predictive prophecy. They belong to that portion of the prophecies of Isaiah which by nearly all critics is allowed to the great prophet. Nothing but unfounded speculation or an unwillingness to admit that there is any predictive prophecy can call in question Isaiah's authorship of these words. Then the sense of the passage in which these words occur imperatively demands that they be accounted predictive prophecy. Isaiah plainly refers to the future, "shall be called"; and makes a definite statement concerning what shall take place in the future (19:18-24). The reality of predictive prophecy may be discussed by those so inclined, but that the intention of the author here was to utter predictive prophecy does not seem to be open to question. For the verification of this prediction by its fulfillment in history we shall inquire concerning: (1) the times intended: "that day"; (2) the "five cities"; (3) "Ir-ha-heres."
1. The Times Intended: "That Day":
The prophet gives a fairly specific description of "that day." It was at least to begin when "there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Yahweh of hosts" (Isa 19:18), and "In that day shall there be an altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Yahweh" (Isa 19:19). There was to be also some inroad made upon the heathenism of Egypt by the message of the Lord (Isa 19:21 f), and about that time a deliverer should arise in Egypt (Isa 19:20), and all this should take place before the power of the land of Assyria should pass away (Isa 19:23 f) .
The first historical fulfillment of these words is found at the period when Onias built his imitation of the Temple of Jerusalem at the place called by the Greeks Leontopolis (Tell el-Yehudiyeh), and the worship of Yahweh was set up at Elephantine, and the Jews were a great power at Alexandria and at Tahpanhes. While any of these latter three might have contained the "pillar," the "altar" would thus be either at Leontopolis or the other one of the "five cities" which cannot be named with much probability. The great deliverer would seem to be Alexander. Some think that the conversion of the Egyptians indicated in Isa 19:21,22 is furthered, though still not completed, in the Christian invasion of the 1st century, and again in the success of modern Christian missions in Egypt.
It will be seen that it does not follow from what has been said that Leontopolis was Ir-ha-h as some seem to think. It is not said by the prophet that the place where was the "altar" was called Ir-ha-h, even if it were certain that the altar was at Leontopolis. Nevertheless, Leontopolis may be Ir-ha-h. The problem is not in the first place the identification of the name, but the determination of which one of the "five cities" was destroyed. The expression "shall be called the city of destruction" seems clearly to indicate that Ir-ha-h is not a name at all, but merely a descriptive appellation of that city which should "be destroyed." It still remains to inquire whether or not this was an independent appellation, or whether, more probably, it bore some relation to the name of that city at the time at which the prophet wrote, a play upon the sound, or the significance of the name or both of these, either through resemblance or contrast. If Gesenius is right, as he seems to be, in the opinion that "in the idiom of Isa Ir-ha-h means simply `the city that shall be destroyed,' " then the original problem of finding which one of the cities was destroyed seems to be the whole problem. Still, in the highly-wrought language of Isaiah and according to the genius of the Hebrew tongue, there is probably a play upon words. It is here that the consideration of the name itself properly comes in and probably guides us rightly. Speculation, by Gesenius, Duhm, Cheyne and others, has proposed various different readings of this name, some of them requiring two or three changes in the text to bring it to its present state. Speculation can always propose readings. On was sometimes called "Heres" and meant "house of the sun," which would be both translated and transliterated into Hebrew ha-cherec and might have `ir ("city") prefixed. Naville, through his study of the great Harris papyrus, believed that the old Egyptian city which later was called Leontopolis (Tell el-Yehudiyeh) was immediately connected with On and called "House of Ra," also "House of the Sun." Thus, this name might be both transliterated and translated into the Hebrew ha-cherec and have `ir prefixed. The difference between this expression and "Ir-ha-h" which Isaiah used is only the difference between "h" and "ch." So that Ir-ha-h is most probably a predictive prophecy concerning the disaster that was to overtake one of the "five cities," with a play upon the name of the city, and that city is either On, the later Heliopolis, or the ancient sacred city about 4 miles to the North of On, where Onias was to build his temple and which later became Leontopolis (Tellel-Yehudiyeh). No more positive identification of Ir-ha-h is yet possible.
M. G. Kyle
ur-na'-hash, ir-na'-hash (`ir nachash): A town of Judah of which Tehinnah is called the "father," probably meaning "founder" (1 Ch 4:12). English Versions of the Bible margin suggests the translation "city of Nahash."
ur-she'-mesh, ir-she'-mesh (`ir shemesh, "city of the sun").
See BETH-SHEMESH ;HERES .
i'-ra (`ira'; Eiras):
(1) A person referred to in 2 Sam 20:26 as "priest" (so the Revised Version (British and American) correctly; the King James Version "a chief ruler," the American Standard Revised Version "chief minister") unto David. The translation of the Revised Version (British and American) is the only possible one; but, according to the text, Ira was "a Jairite," and thus of the tribe of Manasseh (Nu 32:41) and not eligible to the priesthood. On the basis of the Peshitta some would correct "Jairite" of 2 Sam 20:26 into "Jattirite," referring to Jattir, a priestly city within the territory of Judah (Josh 21:14). Others point to 2 Sam 8:18 margin, "David's sons were priests," as an indication that in David's time some non-Levites were permitted to serve--in some sense--as priests.
(2) An "Ithrite," or (with a different pointing of the text) a "Jattirite," one of David's "thirty" (2 Sam 23:38 parallel 1 Ch 11:40); possibly identical with (1).
(3) Another of David's "thirty," son of Ikkesh of Tekoa (2 Sam 23:26; 1 Ch 11:28) and a captain of the temple guard (1 Ch 27:9).
F. K. Farr
i'-rad (`iradh; Septuagint Gaidad): Grandson of Cain and son of Enoch (Gen 4:18).
i'-ram (`iram; Septuagint variously in Gen): A "chief" of Edom (Gen 36:43 parallel 1 Ch 1:54).
i'-ri (`iri).
i-ri'-ja (yir'iyayh, "Yah sees"): A captain at the gate of Benjamin in Jerusalem, who arrested Jeremiah the prophet on suspicion of intending to desert to the Chaldeans (Jer 37:13,14).
i'-urn (barzel; sideros): It is generally believed that the art of separating iron from its ores and making it into useful forms was not known much earlier than 1000 BC, and that the making of brass (bronze) antedates it by many centuries, in spite of the frequent Biblical references where brass and iron occur together. This conjecture is based upon the fact that no specimen of worked iron has been found whose antiquity can be vouched for. The want of such instruments, however, can be attributed to the ease with which iron corrodes. Evidence that iron was used is found, for example, in the hieroglyphics of the tomb of Rameses III, where the blades of some of the weapons are painted blue while others are painted red, a distinction believed to be due to the fact that some were made of iron or steel and some of brass. No satisfactory proof has yet been presented that the marvelous sculpturing on the hard Egyptian granite was done with tempered bronze. It seems more likely that steel tools were used. After the discovery of iron, it was evidently a long time in replacing bronze. This was probably due to the difficulties in smelting it. An old mountaineer once described to the writer the process of iron smelting as it was carried on in Mt. Lebanon in past centuries. As a boy he had watched his father, who was a smelter, operate one of the last furnaces to be fired. For each firing, many cords of wood, especially green oak branches, were used, and several days of strenuous pumping at the eight bellows was necessary to supply the air blast. As a result a small lump of wrought iron was removed from the bottom of the furnace after cooling. The iron thus won was carried to Damascus where it was made into steel by workers who kept their methods secret. This process, which has not been worked now for years, was undoubtedly the same as was used by the ancients. It is not at all unlikely that the Lebanon iron, transformed into steel, was what was referred to as "northern iron" in Jer 15:12 (the King James Version). In many districts the piles of slag from the ancient furnaces are still evident.
Aside from the limited supply of iron ore in Mt. Lebanon (compare Dt 8:9), probably no iron was found in Syria and Palestine. It was brought from Tarshish (Ezek 27:12) and Vedan and Jayan (Ezek 27:19), and probably Egypt (Dt 4:20).
The first mention of iron made in the Bible is in Gen 4:22, where Tubal-Cain is mentioned as "the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron." It is likely that the Jews learned the art of metallurgy from the Phoenicians (2 Ch 2:14) (see CRAFTS ). Iron was used in Biblical times much as it is today. For a description of a smith at work see Ecclesiasticus 38:28. Huge city gates, overlaid with strips of iron (Ps 107:16; Isa 45:2), held in place by crude square-headed nails (1 Ch 22:3), are still a familiar sight in the larger cities of Palestine and Syria (Acts 12:10). Threshing instruments were made of iron (Am 1:3); so also harrows (2 Sam 12:31), axes (ib; 2 Ki 6:6; see Ax), branding irons (1 Tim 4:2), and other tools (1 Ki 6:7). There were iron weapons (Nu 35:16; Job 20:24), armor (2 Sam 23:7), horns (1 Ki 22:11), fetters (Ps 105:18), chariots (Josh 17:16), yokes (Jer 28:14), breastplates (Rev 9:9), pens (chisels) (Job 19:24; Jer 17:1), sheets or plates (Ezek 4:3), gods (Dan 5:4), weights (1 Sam 17:7), bedsteads (Dt 3:11). Iron was used extensively in building the temple.
See METALS .
Figurative: "The iron furnace" is used metaphorically for affliction, chastisement (Dt 4:20; Ezek 22:18-22). Iron is also employed figuratively to represent barrenness (Dt 28:23), slavery ("yoke of iron," Dt 28:48), strength ("bars of iron," Job 40:18), severity ("rod of iron," Ps 2:9), captivity (Ps 107:10), obstinacy ("iron sinew," Isa 48:4), fortitude ("iron pillar," Jer 1:18), moral deterioration (Jer 6:28), political strength (Dan 2:33), destructive power ("iron teeth," Dan 7:7); the certainty with which a real enemy will ever show his hatred is as the rust returning upon iron (Ecclesiasticus 12:10 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "brass"); great obstacles ("walls of iron," 2 Macc 11:9).
James A. Patch
i'-ron (yir'on): One of the fenced cities in the territory of Naphtali, named with Migdal-el and En-hazor (Josh 19:38). It is represented by the modern Yarun, a village with the ruins of a synagogue, at one time used as a monastery, fully 6 miles West of Qedes.
ur'-pe-el, ir'-pe-el (yirpe'el): An unidentified city in Benjamin (Josh 18:27). It may possibly be represented by Rafat, a ruin to the North of el-Jib, the ancient Gibeon.
i-rev'-er-ens.
ir-i-ga'-shun: No equivalent for this word is found in Biblical writings, although the use of irrigation for maintaining vegetable life is frequently implied (Eccl 2:5,6; Isa 58:11). To one familiar with the methods of irrigation practiced in Palestine, Syria and Egypt, the passage, "where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs" (Dt 11:10), is easily explained. The water is brought in channels to the gardens, where it is distributed in turn to the different square plots bounded by banks of earth, or along the rows of growing vegetables planted on the sides of the trenches. In stony soil the breach in the canal leading to a particular plot is opened and closed with a hoe. Any obstruction in the trench is similarly removed, while in the soft, loamy soil of the coastal plain or in the Nile valley these operations can be done with the foot; a practice still commonly seen.
The remains of the great irrigation works of the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians leave no doubt as to the extent to which they used water to redeem the deserts. In Palestine and Syria there was less need (Dt 10:7; 11:11) for irrigation. Here there is an annual fall of from 30 to 40 inches, coming principally during the winter. This is sufficient for the main crops. The summer supply of vegetables, as well as the fruit and mulberry trees, requires irrigation. Hardly a drop of many mountain streams is allowed to reach the sea, but is used to water the gardens of the mountain terraces and plains. This supply is now being supplemented by the introduction of thousands of pumps and oil engines for raising the water of the wells sufficiently to run it through the irrigation canals. Where a spring is small, its supply is gathered into a birket, or cistern, and then drawn off through a large outlet into the trenches, sometimes several days being required to fill the cistern. In Eccl 2:6, Solomon is made to say, "I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest." This passage helps to explain the uses of the so-called Pools of Solomon, South of Jerusalem. In this same district are traces of the ancient terraces which were probably watered from these pools.
See AGRICULTURE ;GARDEN .
James A. Patch
i'-roo (`iru): Eldest son of Caleb (1 Ch 4:15); probably to be read Ir, the syllable "-u" being the conjunction "and" belonging to the following word.