M. O. Evans LEAGUE
6. ANTI-LEBANON:
Anti-Libanus (Judith 1:7; Joshua 13:5; Song 7:4) is an extension northward of the great mountain system facing on the East the great geological fault
most conspicuous in the valley of the Jordan (see JORDAN, VALLEY OF), extending from the Gulf of Akabah to Antioch on the Orontes River.
The system begins at the Barada River just North of Mt. Hermon, and, running parallel to Mt. Lebanon for 65 miles, terminates at Chums, the
“entering in of Hamath.” The highest points of the range reach an elevation of over 8,000 ft. Eastward the range merges into the plateau of the great Syrian desert. South of Ba`albek the Yahfufah, a stream of considerable importance, empties into the Litany, while the Barada (the “Abana” of Scripture), rising in the same plateau, flows eastward to Damascus, its volume being greatly increased by fountains coming in from the base of the dissected plateau.
LITERATURE.
The geographical and geological descriptions are largely obtained by the writer from an extended excursion through the region in the company of Professor Day of the Protestant College at Beirut, whose knowledge of the region is most intimate and comprehensive. For more detailed information see Robinson, BRP2, II, 435 ff, 493; G. A. Smith, HGHL, 45 ff; Burton and Drake, Unexplored Syria; Benjamin W. Bacon, and G.F. Wright in Records of the Past, 1906, V, 67-83, 195-204; Baedeker-Socin, Palestine.
George Frederick Wright LEBAOTH
<le-ba’-oth>, <-oth> (twOab;l] [lebha’oth]): An unidentified city in the South of the territory of Judah (Joshua 15:32). It is the same as
Bethlebaoth of Joshua 19:6, which, by a clerical error appears in 1 Chronicles 4:31 as “Beth-biri.”
LEBBAEUS
<le-be’-us> ([Lebbai~ov, Lebbaios]): Mentioned in Matthew 10:3 the King James Version as “Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus” (the Revised Version (British and American) omits); one of the twelve apostles.
See THADDAEUS.
LEBONAH
<le-bo’-na> (hn:wObl] [lebhonah]): A place on the great north road between Shiloh and Shechem (Judges 21:19). It is represented by the modern Khan el-Lubban, about 3 miles West-Northwest of Seilun
(“Shiloh”), on the way to Nablus. It is a wretched village lying on the slope of a hill, with many rock tombs in the vicinity.
LECAH
<le’-ka> (hk;le [lekhah]): A descendant of Judah (1 Chronicles 4:21).
LEDGE
<lej> (bl;v; [shalabh]): The word in the sense of side-projection is used in 1 Kings 7:28,29 in connection with the bases of Solomon’s MOLTEN SEA (which see); in 7:35,36, where the King James Version uses the same word, the Revised Version (British and American) has “stay” ([yadh], literally, “hand”). The Revised Version (British and American) likewise has
“ledge” (round) for the King James Version “compass” ([karkobh]) in the description of the altar in Exodus 27:5; 38:4 (see ALTAR), and the American Standard Revised Version substitutes “ledge” for “settle”
([`azarah]) in Ezekiel 43:14,17,20; 45:19.
See TEMPLE.
LEEKS
<leks> (ryxj; [chatsir]; [ta< pra>sa, ta prasa]): This word, elsewhere translated “grass,” is in Numbers 11:5 rendered “leeks” in all the ancient VSS, on account of its association with garlic and onions; such a use of the word occurs in the Talmud The leek (Allium porrum) is much grown today in Palestine, while in ancient Egypt this vegetable was renowned.
LEES
<lez>.
See WINE.
LEFT
<left> (lam”c; [sama’l], “to go to the left,” “to turn to the left,”
lwamoc] , lamoc] [semo’l], “the left hand,” yliam;c] [sema’li],
“belonging to the left,” “situated on the left”; [ajristero>v, aristeros], and euphemistically [eujw>numov, euonumos], literally, “having a good name,”
“of good omen”): The words are chiefly used in orientation with or
without the addition of the word “hand.” So Abraham says to Lot: “If thou wilt take the left hand ([semo’l]), then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left ([sama’l])” (Genesis 13:9).
Frequently in Hebrew idiom the right hand and the left are mentioned together in order to express the idea “everywhere,” “anywhere,”
“altogether” (Genesis 24:49; Exodus 14:22,29; Numbers 22:26;
Deuteronomy 2:27; 5:32; 2 Corinthians 6:7). In the geographical sense the left is synonymous with north (Genesis 14:15; Joshua 19:27; Ezekiel 16:46;
Acts 21:3). While the left hand is considered as weaker than the right (see LEFTHANDED), it is the hand which holds the bow (Ezekiel 39:3). The left hand is the side from which bad omens come, and therefore less lucky and less honored than the right hand (see HAND, note).
H. L. E. Luering LEFTHANDED
<left’-hand-ed> (ˆymiy:Ady’ rFeai [’iTTer yadh-yamin]; Septuagint [ajmfoterode>xiov, amphoterodexios], i.e. “ambidextrous”): The Hebrew presents a combination of words signifying literally, a man whose right hand is impeded or lame, who therefore uses the left hand instead, or one who by habit prefers the use of the left hand, where others use the right. It is interesting to note that in both instances, where the expression occurs in the Scripture, it refers to individuals belonging to the tribe of Benjamin (which name itself signifies “a son of the right hand”!). The first is Ehud, son of Gera, who killed Eglon, king of Moab, and thereby delivered Israel from paying tribute to the Moabites (Judges 3:15). The other instance is that of the 700 selected Benjamites, who, though lefthanded, “could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss” (Judges 20:16; of 1 Chronicles 12:2).
H. L. E. Luering
LEG
(1) qwOv [shoq], Aramaic qv; [shoq];
(2) [r’K; [kara`], dual µyI[“r:K] [kera`ayim];
(3) lg<r< [reghel]; [ske>lov, skelos]; the King James Version translates also lb,vo [shobhel], and hd:[;x] [tse`adhah], with “leg,” but
mistakenly):
(1) The first Hebrew word ([shoq]) denotes the upper leg, and is therefore synonymous with THIGH (which see). It expresses
metaphorically the muscular strength, and the pride of the runner. “He taketh no pleasure in the legs of a man” (Psalm 147:10). “His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold” (Song 5:15). If the legs have lost their strength as in the lame or the Beri-beri patient, they become a metaphor for anything useless, inefficient or disappointing:
“The legs of the lame hang loose; so is a parable in the mouth of fools”
(Proverbs 26:7). The Aramaic form is found in the description of the image of Nebuchadnezzar, “its legs of iron” (Daniel 2:33).
(2) [Kara`], dual [kera`ayim], the “leg,” “respecting the legs,”
mentioned as a portion of the paschal lamb (Exodus 12:9), or, usually, in connection with the head and the inwards, as a sacrificial portion (Exodus 29:17; Leviticus 1:9,13; Amos 3:12). The word designates also the legs of leaping insects of the orthopterous family, locusts, etc., which were permitted as food to the Israelites (Leviticus 11:21).
(3) Reghel, literally, “foot” (which see), found in this sense only once:
“He (Goliath) had greaves of brass upon his legs” (1 Samuel 17:6).
Two passages of wrong translation in the King James Version have been corrected by the Revised Version (British and American). The virgin daughter of Babylon is addressed: “Make bare the leg, uncover the thigh”
(Isaiah 47:2), the Revised Version (British and American) renders: “Strip off the train (shobhel), uncover the leg,” the idea being that the gentle maid, who has been brought up in affluence and luxury, will have to don the attire of a slave girl and do menial work, for which her former garments are unsuited. The other passage is in Isaiah 3:20, where the King James Version reads: “the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs,” the Revised
Version (British and American) corrects: “the headtires ([ts`adhah]), and the ankle chains.”
In the New Testament the word “leg” is found only in connection with the breaking of the legs of the persons crucified with the Saviour (John
19:31,32,33). We know from Roman and Greek authors that this was done as a coup de grace to shorten the miseries of criminals condemned to die on the cross. The practice bore the technical name of [skelokopi>a, skelokopia], Latin crurifragium. The verb [skelokopei~n, skelokopein]
(“to break the legs”), is found in the apocryphal Gospel of Peter (1 Peter 4:14), where it is distinctly stated that the legs of Jesus were not broken, that His sufferings on the cross might be extended, while the two
malefactors crucified with Him were mercifully dispatched in this way. The crurifragium consisted of some strokes with a heavy club or mallet, which always materially hastened the death of the sufferer, and often caused it almost immediately.
Edersheim, in LTJM, II, 613, suggests that the breaking of legs was an additional punishment, and that it was always followed by a coup de grace, the perforatio or percussio sub alas, a stroke with sword or lance into the side. This, however, is not borne out by any classical information which is known to me, and is contradicted by the statement of the evangelist that Jesus received the percussio, while the malefactors endured the
crurifragium. Compare on this subject, especially for parallels from classical authors, Sepp, Das Leben Jesu, VII, 441, and Keim, Jesus von Nazara (English translation), VI, 253, note 3.
H. L. E. Luering LEGION
<le’-jun>.
See ARMY; ARMY, ROMAN.
LEGISLATION, OF SANCTITY
<lej-is-la’-shun>.
See ASTRONOMY, I, 5.
LEHABIM
<le-ha’-bim> (µybih;l; [lehdbhim]): Named in Genesis 10:13; 1 Chronicles 1:11 as descendants of Mizraim. They are probably to be identified with the LUBIM (which see), and the one word may be a corruption of the other.
LEHI
<le’-hi>.
See RAMATH-LEHI.
LEMUEL
<lem’-u-el> (laeWml] [lemu’el], or laewOml] [lemo’-el]): A king whose words, an “oracle (taught him by his mother),” are given in Proverbs 31:1-9; and possibly the succeeding acrostic poem (31:10-31) is from the same source. Instead of translating the word after this name as “oracle” some propose to leave it as a proper name, translating “king of Massa,” and referring for his kingdom to Massa (Genesis 25:14), one of the sons of Ishmael, supposedly head of a tribe or sheikh of a country. It is to be noted, however, that the words of Agur in the previous chapter are similarly called massa’, “oracle” with not so clear a reason for referring it to a country. See for a suggested reason for retaining the meaning “oracle”
in both places, PROVERBS, BOOK OF, II, 6.
John Franklin Genung LEND, LOAN
<lon>: The translation of 7 Hebrew and 2 Greek vbs.: