SAPPHIRA. The wife of Ananias, and his accomplice in the sin for which he died. Acts v. 1-10. See ANANIAS. SAPPHIRE. It is a pellucid gem, second only to the diamond in lustre, hardness, and value. The choicest specimens are of a deep azure; others are paler, exhibiting shades of all degrees between that and a pure crystal brightness, without the least tinge of colour. It was the fifth stone on the breastplate of the highpriest. Exod. xxviii. 17, 18; Ezek. i. 26; x. 1; Rev. xxi. 18-21. SARAH, a princess. Sarah is the feminine form of SAR, a prince. The etymology of SARAI is doubtful. Ewald says, quarrelsome; the change to an honourable designation may imply something objectionable in the former name. Two opinions are held as to her parentage. One, that she was the niece of Abraham, being the daughter of Haran, Abraham's eldest brother, and in that case the sister of Lot. Jewish writers suppose she is Iscah. See Gen. xi. 29. The other, that she was his half-sister, according to the statement Gen. xx. 12. The colloquial usage of the Hebrews renders it easy to understand that he might call a niece "sister," and a grandaughter "daughter." In ordinary discourse, "daughter" comprised any female descendant, and "sister" any female relation by blood. The history of Sarah is found recorded in that of Abraham. SARDIS. Rev. i. 11. A city of Lydia, in Asia Minor, situated at the foot of Mount Tmolus, and one of the seven churches addressed by St. John. At one time it ranked among the most splendid and wealthy cities of the East. Croesus, its king, was proverbial for his wealth. After it had passed over to the Romans, it rapidly declined in rank and importance. In the time of Tiberias, it was destroyed by an earthquake, but afterwards rebuilt. It is now a heap of ruins, presenting remains of its former splendour. It is called Sart; and is composed of a few miserable cottages. There are to be seen the ruins of the theatre, the stadium, and some churches. The Acropolis is a marked object; being a tall rock of sandstone, rent as if by an earthquake. Countless numbers of sepulchral hillocks heighten the desolateness of the place. The inhabitants in ancient times were addicted to a voluptuous mode of life, to which there seems to be an allusion in the epistle addressed to the church: "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments." Rev. iii. 4. SARDIUS. Ezek. xxviii. 13. SARDINE. Rev. iv. 3. The stone now called cornelian. The Hebrew word is ODEM, and signifies red; and the brighter the red, the more valuable the stone. It is capable of a high polish, and has been more frequently engraved on than any other stone. Its name is derived from Sardis, the | capital of Lydia, because it was first found there. It has also been obtained from Arabia and Babylon. A SARDONYX. Rev. xxi. 20. precious stone, combining the appearance of the sardius and the onyx. It is a species of chalcedony, and found in Judæa it is streaked with black and red colours. SAREPTA. Luke iv. 26. Hebrew, ZAREPHATH. 1 Kings xvii. 9. A Phoenician town, lying on the shores of the Mediterranean, between Tyre and Sidon. Elijah went to dwell here, and performed the miracle of multiplying the meal and oil, and also here raised the widow's son. A large village, called Sarafend, occupies the site, or is in the neighbourhood. SATAN, one lying in wait, an adversary. The name usually given in the Scriptures to the devil. The two names, Satan and devil, are used more frequently than any others; the former being employed about forty times, and the latter about fifty times. See DEVIL and DEMONIACS. SATYRS. Isai. xiii. 21. The Hebrew word means hairy, shaggy monsters. Luther renders the word FELDGEISTER, field-ghost, demon of the wood. The French, LUTIN, hobgoblin. The satyr is a fabulous animal in the Greek mythology, composed of man and goat. It is questionable whether any allusion is made by Isaiah to the popular belief in the East on this subject; and it is more natural to suppose that a real animal is intended. Henderson renders it wild goats. Coverdale has apes. Some suppose the orangoutang. The expression, "Satyrs shall dance there," means that the place shall become a rude uncultivated waste, the habitation of wild creatures. SAUL, asked. The son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, and the first king of the Israelites. 1 Sam. ix. 1, 2, et seq. He went to seek the strayed asses of his father, and on the third day reached the place where Samuel resided. Samuel made known to him privately the designs of God, anointed him with oil to the kingly office, and, to convince Saul that this appointment was of the Lord, told him what should befall him on his way home,-events which he could only have known by revelation from God. 1 Sam. x. 2-6. In a few days Samuel went to Mizpeh, summoned the people to meet him there, and announced to them the appointment of Saul. The various events of his life are related in 1 Sam. ix.-xxxi.; namely, his victory over the Ammonites; his rash sacrifice in the absence of Samuel; his equally rash curse; his victories over the Philistines and Amalekites; his sparing Agag and the spoil, and the judgment denounced against him as the result; his jealousy and persecution of David; his barbarous massacre of the priests and people at Nob; his repeated confessions of the injustice of his conduct to David. He reigned forty years, and exhibited to posterity a melancholy example of a monarch having cast off the fear of God, and gradually becoming the slave of jealousy, duplicity, treachery, and the most malignant and diabolical tempers. His conduct towards David was of the basest kind. Twice he endeavoured to assassinate him with his own hand: he proposed that David should marry his elder daughter, and yet gave her to another; and then his younger daughter, that the procuring the dowry might prove fatal to David: then he sought to make his daughter an instrument of her husband's destruction. It seems probable that, unless prevented, he would have imbrued his hands in the blood of the venerable Samuel, 1 Sam. xix. 18; and intimations are given that his son Jonathan was not safe from his fury. 1 Sam. xx. 33. His slaughter of Ahimelech the priest, under the pretence of his being a partisan of David, and of eighty-five other priests of the house of Eli, was an atrocity scarcely ever exceeded. 1 Sam. xxii. His going to consult the witch of Endor, that he might obtain from her direction which Jehovah refused to afford him, was an act of direct treason against the God of Israel, and precipitated his downfal: he seemed thereby to fill up the measure of his iniquity, and, soon afterwards, de feated in battle and disgraced, he put an end to his own life. "So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse." Chron. x. 13, 14. SAVIOUR. A title of the Lord Jesus Christ, and eminently applicable to him, because he saves men from the guilt, power, pollution, and consequences of sin. In order to save, he must be the Mediator; as such, he consists of a divine and human nature, so united as to form one undivided Christ. The humanity consists of a true body and a rational soul. Divinity and humanity are united without mixture and confusion: the Deity not humanised by its connection with the manhood, the humanity not deified by its connection with the Godhead. He was without sin; personal guilt would have rendered him disqualified for his great undertaking. This absolute purity was secured by his miraculous conception; and, as to his character and life, he was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. His divinity was essential to his mediation. No creature could ever have been invested with the trust. He who is to maintain the honour and glory of the divine throne must himself be divine. He must be one who can claim to be Jehovah's fellow, and who thinks it no robbery to be equal with God. The end to be accomplished by Christ as a Saviour was twofold: it related to two parties, to men, and to God. The nature of the Mediator must be in harmony with this twofold end, the glory of God and the salvation of man. He is man, that he may obey and suffer: he is God, that his death may have a sufficiency of atoning merit. The expiatory sufferings were endured in the nature that had sinned; while the association of the nature sinned against with the sinning nature, renders them worthy of the divine acceptance. Human sufferings thus became divine, and of infinite value. The Bible reveals a divine Mediator, a divine Substitute, a divine Priest, a divine Victim. The mercy of God in the atonement is now made known. Jesus "is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Heb. vii. 25. See CHRIST JESUS, JESUS CHRIST, MEDIATOR. SCAPE-GOAT. See ATONEMENT, DAY OF. SCARLET. 2 Sam. i. 24. A brilliant colour often associated with purple and blue. The colour is obtained from the coccus ilicis of Linnæus; an insect which deposits its eggs in the leaves of the quercus cocciferus, found in Spain and other countries bordering on the Mediterranean sea. The insect attains the size and form of a pea, is of a violetblack colour, covered with a whitish powder, adhering to plants, and so closely resembling grains, that its insect-nature was not generally known for centuries. The Hebrew word TOLA denotes a worm; and the epithet vermiculatus was applied to it when the fact became generally understood: hence, probably, our name vermilion (VERMIS, a worm). It is called by the Arabs KERMEZ, from which we have crimson. Scarlet was used as the emblem of luxury, Rev. xvii. 3, 4; of honour and prosperity, Prov. xxxi. 21; of cruelty and crime, Isai. i. 18: just as white was the emblem of purity. SCEPTRE. The Hebrew word means a staff or rod, which ancient kings and chiefs bore as an ensign of honour and office. It was usually overlaid with gold, and variously decorated. It originated in the shepherd's staff, since the patriarchal chiefs were shepherds as well as princes. The spear of Saul seems to have been his sceptre. Inclining the sceptre was a mark of kingly favour, and kissing it a token of submission. Esther iv. 11; v. 2. SCEVA. Acts xix. 14. A Jew residing at Ephesus, and "chief of the priests" there: probably a person holding some post of distinction in the national council. He had seven sons | PROPHETS. About the time of Christ, who practised exorcism, and who, after they had seen the miracles of Paul, presumed to adjure an evil spirit by Jesus, whom Paul preached. The person possessed with the devil fell upon them, stripped and wounded them, and compelled them to flee away out of the house. The attempted imposture was overruled for the furtherance of the Gospel. See EPHESUS. SCHISM, a rent or fissure. Used in the New Testament to signify a division in a church when disturbed or agitated by internal commotions. The First Epistle to the Corinthians explains its nature. See 1 Cor. i. 10. The contrary of schism is "that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." From this it appears to be an uncharitable division of sentiment and affection, attended with corresponding language. It is evident from the entire Epistle that it does not consist of outward separations from the church, but dangerous divisions and contentions within; for, while guilty of the sin, the Corinthians 66 came together in the church," they "came together into one place." When division is carried so far that the parties concerned entirely break off all intercourse and communion with one another, and form distinct connections for the purpose of promoting their spiritual benefit, this is certainly something different from schism. SCHOOLMASTER. Gal. iii. 24. Previously to the exile, elementary instruction among the Jews was not very common; but subsequently, many of the Jews learned to read and write, and we may conclude that such attainments were common to every class above the lowest. Several of our Lord's disciples who were fishermen could read and write, (and we may presume that others in a similar station of life could do the same,) and yet they were considered to be unlearned men. Acts iv. 13. Schools were established under the supervision of the prophets, where young men were trained to be expounders of the law, and were qualified to fill the priestly and prophetical offices. See colleges seem to have been conducted by doctors of the law and learned men: at the head of one was Gamaliel, a celebrated and distinguished scholar and tutor. cients, the schoolmaster was a person Among the anto whom the children were entrusted to be taught the rudiments. He was the pedagogue of the children, the preparatory teacher or superintendent of the nursery, till they were transferred to a more dignified teacher. "The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." We are no longer in the infancy of our training, but are turned over from the figures and types of the Old-Testament dispensation to the instructions of the great Teacher. The words are literally, "The law was our schoolmaster till Christ." Its SCORPION. Hebrew, AKRAB; Greek, σκορπιός. Luke x. 19. A venomous creature, allied to the spider, but so much like a lobster in appearance, that the Arabs call the latter AKERB D'ELBAHAR, the sea-scorpion. ordinary length is two inches; but in tropical climates it is sometimes found six or eight inches, and some say even a foot, in length. It has several joints or divisions in its tail, which are supposed to be indicative of its age: thus, if it have five, it is considered to be five years old. The poison of this animal is in its tail, at the end | says Lamy, is very like an egg, as its of which is a small, curved, sharp- head can scarcely be distinguished; pointed sting, similar to the prickle especially if it be a scorpion of the of a buckthorn-tree; the curve being white kind, which is the first species downwards, it turns its tail upwards mentioned by Elian, Avicenna, and when it strikes a blow. The scorpion others. Bochart has produced testidelights in stony places and in old monies to prove that the scorpions in ruins. Some are of a yellow colour, Judæa were about the size of an egg. others brown, and some black. The So the similitude is preserved between yellow possess the strongest poison; the thing asked and given. There is but the venom of each affects the a chain of hills in the southern part wounded with frigidity, which border of Judah greatly infested with takes place soon after the sting has serpents and scorpions, hence called been inflicted. Dioscorides thus Akrabbim. See AKRABBIM. describes the effect produced: "Where the scorpion has stung, the place becomes inflamed and hardened; it reddens by tension, and is painful at intervals, being now chilly, now burning. The pain soon rises high, and rages, sometimes more, sometimes less. A sweating succeeds, attended by a shivering and trembling; the extremities of the body become cold; the groin swells; the hair stands on end; the visage becomes pale; and the skin feels, throughout it, the sensation of perpetual prickling, as if by needles.' This description strikingly illustrates Rev. ix. 35, 10, in its mention of "the torment of a scorpioň, when he striketh a man." Some writers consider the scorpion as a species of serpent, because the poison of it is equally powerful: so the sacred writers commonly join the scorpion and serpent together in their descriptions. Thus Moses, in his farewell address to Israel, Deut. viii. 15, reminds them that God "led them through the great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions." We find them again united in the commission of our Lord to his disciples, Luke x. 19, "I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy;" and in his directions concerning the duty of prayer, Luke xi. 11, 12, "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ?" The scorpion is contrasted with an egg, on account of the oval shape of its body. The body of the scorpion, SCOURGE. The punishment of the scourge was very common among the Jews. Deut. xxv. 1-3. The instrument was usually formed of three cords or thongs of leather, so that thirteen strokes were equal to thirtynine lashes of a single cord; and not more than forty could be given by law. 2 Cor. xi. 24. The sufferer was tied by the arms to a pillar, his back laid bare, and his body inclined forward. Sometimes knots of iron, or sharp points of metal, were fastened to the end of the thongs, so as to render the sufferings more fearful. The blessed Saviour was subjected to the dreadful and ignominious punishment of scourging. He gave his "back to the smiters," and his "cheeks to them that plucked off the hair." See Isai. 1. 6. The beating with rods was another kind of punishment. SCRIBES. The Hebrew word for scribe, SEPHER, is derived from a root signifying to number. The scribes were a body of learned men, whose influence was great in the Jewish nation. They were employed in writings, numbers, and in transcribing and interpreting the books of the law. The word is used to describe those who were employed about any kind of civil writings or records, and also those whose business it was to transcribe, study, and explain the Scriptures. The scribes of the New Testament were of the latter class, and are the same as the lawyers mentioned frequently in the Gospels. They were students of the law, and were well skilled in the traditions which at that time were held in such reverence. Matt. xv. 1-6. It was their |