March, Dictionary of the Bible.

Ba’lak, (empty or emptier), son of Zippor, was king over the Moabites in the time of Moses (Num. 22, 23, and 24). He and his people were so terrified at the near approach of the victorious Israelites, that they sent out elders to Pethor, in Mesopotamia, with a message from Balak to Salaam, the son of Beor, praying him to come over and curse the people (See BALAAM).
Balm. — This substance is mentioned in Genesis 37:25, 43:11; Jeremiah 8:22, 46:11, 51:8; Ezekiel 27:17,17Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. (Ezekiel 27:17) as a medicinal aromatic. The balm or balsam tree, having been often described by Travelers in Arabia, is now pretty well known. It is a middle-sized tree, with a smooth ash-colored bark and with spreading boughs, which have small thorn-like branches upon them, on which very short branchlets appear, bearing at their ends the leaves and flowers. It produces a kind of pointed berry, from which some kinds of balm are prepared. Sometimes the small twigs are used, as in Egypt and India, from which countries large quantities are exported. But the best way of gathering the balm appears to be by making incisions in the bark in July, August, and the beginning of September, at which times the juice is in its strongest circulation. The quantity of this substance yielded by the balsam-tree is but small, as the reader will well understand, when he is told that, when Selim in 1516 conquered Egypt and Arabia, three pounds of balm were ordered to be sent yearly as a tribute to Constantinople.
Bar, a Hebrew word, meaning son, which is found in several of the proper names in the New Testament, as Bar-timeus, which means son of the blind, or of Timeus.
Barabbas, a rebel and murderer, and, therefore, condemned both by Roman and Jewish law, but whom the Jews chose to pardon rather than Christ (Matt. 27:16-2616And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. 17Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? 18For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. 19When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. 20But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. 21The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. 22Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. 23And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. 24When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. 25Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. 26Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. (Matthew 27:16‑26); Mark 15:77And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. (Mark 15:7) — 15; Luke 23:18-2518And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas: 19(Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.) 20Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. 21But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. 22And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. 23And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. 24And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. 25And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will. (Luke 23:18‑25); John 18:4040Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. (John 18:40)).
Barak. (lightning) was the son of Abinoam, of Kedesh-Naphtali, a city of refuge in Galilee (Josh. 21:3232And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammoth-dor with her suburbs, and Kartan with her suburbs; three cities. (Joshua 21:32)). He was summoned by the prophetess Deborah, to take the lead in a revolt against Jabin, King of Canaan, who for twenty years had “mightily oppressed the children of Israel.” With 10,000 men of the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun he fought against the mighty host which Sisera, Jabin’s commander-in-chief, had called together, and destroyed them to a man (Judg. 4).
Barbarian. — This term, as used in the New Testament, and by classical writers, seems to denote those nations of the Roman empire speaking any other language than the Grecian or Latin.
Barley was the only grain usually given to cattle and horses, though bread was sometimes made from it for the use of the poorer classes of people. It was planted at the time of the latter or autumnal rains, October — November, and then again in early spring. The first crop was gathered in during the month of Abib (March―April), at the time of the Passover, and this, being the largest crop, is called in Scripture the barley harvest (see Leviticus 23:4-214These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. 5In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover. 6And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 9And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 10Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: 11And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord. 13And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. 14And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 15And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. 17Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord. 18And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor unto the Lord. 19Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. (Leviticus 23:4‑21); comp. 1 Corinthians 5:7, 15:23, and Acts 2:11And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (Acts 2:1); James 1:1818Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:18)).
Barnabas (son of prophecy or exhortation) was of the tribe of Levi and a native of Cyprus. His original name was Joses, and he received the surname Barnabas from the apostles. He was an early convert to the Christian faith, as is shown by Acts 4:36, 37,36And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, 37Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. (Acts 4:36‑37) where his name occurs for the first time. He and Paul were set apart by divine direction (Acts 13:22As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. (Acts 13:2)), and hence he is termed an “apostle,” or sent one (Acts 14:12, 1412And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. (Acts 14:12)
14Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, (Acts 14:14)). After the account, in Acts 15, of his contention with the Apostle Paul, he went to his native island, and his name disappears from the narrative.
Bartholomew (son of Talmai; see 2 Sam. 13:3737But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day. (2 Samuel 13:37)) was one of the apostles of our Lord, and supposed by some to be the same as the Nathanael of John’s gospel, because, in the first three gospels, Philip and Bartholomew are always named together, while Nathanael is not mentioned; and in St. John’s gospel Philip and Nathanael are so conjoined, while Bartholomew is not spoken of.
Baruch, (blessed), the son of Neriah, of the tribe of Judah (Jer. 32:1212And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. (Jeremiah 32:12)), and the friend and scribe of Jeremiah the prophet, to whom he dictated all his prophecies, that he might record them in “a roll of a book,” and read them in the ears of the people in the temple. He faithfully performed this duty, and when the King Jehoiakim cut up and burned the roll, he rewrote the whole from. Jeremiah’s mouth, with additional prophecies (Jer. 36). Baruch was carried captive with Jeremiah by the rebellious Jews into Egypt, after which we know nothing of his history, except that the Lord had promised that He would give him his “life for a prey” whithersoever he went (Jer. 45:55And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest. (Jeremiah 45:5)).
Ba’shan, the region beyond the Jordan, given to the half tribe of Manasseh. The peculiar richness of the soil in this province is often alluded to in the Scriptures, as well as by Travelers both in ancient and modern times. The oaks of Bashan are coupled (in Isaiah 2:1313And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, (Isaiah 2:13); Zech. 11:22Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. (Zechariah 11:2)) with the cedars of Lebanon, and the pasturage was so rich that the “strong bulls” and the rams and goats of Bashan were always celebrated (Deut. 32:1414Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. (Deuteronomy 32:14); Ezek. 39:1818Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. (Ezekiel 39:18); Psa. 22:1212Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. (Psalm 22:12)). In the description of Ezekiel 27, of the glories of proud Tyre, we read (vs. 6), “Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars.”
When Og, the King of Bashan, attacked Israel, and was so thoroughly defeated by them, Argob, one of his provinces, contained sixty great cities, all fenced with high walls, gates, and bars, besides unwalled towns a great many (Deut. 3:4, 54And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many. (Deuteronomy 3:4‑5); 1 Kings 4:1313The son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars: (1 Kings 4:13)). These were all taken and possessed by Israel, and all the men, women, and children utterly destroyed. Part of this region is mentioned in Genesis 14:55And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, (Genesis 14:5) (compare Josh. 12:44And the coast of Og king of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, (Joshua 12:4)), and in this region, also, Golan, one of the cities of refuge (Deut. 4:4343Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites. (Deuteronomy 4:43)), was situated. Solomon appointed “twelve officers over all Israel” to furnish supplies, “each man’ his month in a year,” for the king and his household; to the son of Geber he allotted “the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead,” and the region of Argob (1 Kings 4:7, 137And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision. (1 Kings 4:7)
13The son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars: (1 Kings 4:13)) in Bashan. Towards the close of the reign of Jehu, Hazael, King of Syria, came and smote the Israelites in all their eastern territory, “even Gilead and Bashan” (2 Kings 10:32, 3332In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel; 33From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan. (2 Kings 10:32‑33)); but it was recovered by Joash, in three battles, from Ben-hadad his son (2 Kings 13:24, 2524So Hazael king of Syria died; and Ben-hadad his son reigned in his stead. 25And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel. (2 Kings 13:24‑25)), as Elisha (vs. 19) had foretold. After the captivity, Bashan became divided into Trachonitis, Auranitis, Gaulanitis, and Batanæa, the latter being only the Latinized form of the original name of the whole region — Bashan. All these provinces were granted by Augustus to Herod the Great, and on his death Batanæa formed a part of Philip’s tetrarchy. It next became a part of the empire of Tiberius (A.D. 34); but in A.D. 37 it was given by Caligula to Herod Agrippa, son of Aristobulus (see Acts 12). From the time of his death, which occurred in A.D. 44, until the year 53 it belonged to the Romans, but it was then restored by Claudius to Agrippa II. (Acts 25:1313And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus. (Acts 25:13)).
Bat (Lev. 11:1919And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. (Leviticus 11:19); Deut. 14:1818And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. (Deuteronomy 14:18); Isa. 2:2020In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; (Isaiah 2:20)). — The Hebrew word (othelaph) implies flying in the dark, which, when the 18th and 19th verses of the 14th of Deuteronomy are connected, as they should be, clearly indicates the kind of animal referred to, and shows our translation to be here correct: “and the bat and every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten.” At first sight it might appear incredible or strange that so small, lean, and repugnant an animal should have been mentioned in a list of rules concerning food; but it cannot be doubted that the bat, or some animal closely allied to it, is referred to, and it is worthy of notice that, in the great Australasian islands, the Pteropi, a kind of harpi called by English seamen the “flying-dog,” is used as an article of food by the natives to this day.
Bdel’lium (Heb. bedolach) is twice mentioned in Scripture, viz., in Genesis 2:12,12And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. (Genesis 2:12) as a product of Havilah, and in Numbers 11:7,7And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium. (Numbers 11:7) where the manna is compared to it in color (see Ex. 16:3131And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. (Exodus 16:31)); but it is not certain what substance is alluded to. The Jewish Rabbins translate it pearl, but the Hebrew word for pearl occurs only in Esther 1:6,6Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble. (Esther 1:6) and is quite distinct from this one: so others identify it with the aromatic gum called by the Arabians bdellium, which appears to be only the modern form of the original word bedolach. The Persians called it Budleyuon, and the best kind (which is obtained from India) is of a whitish color, that of a dark color being adulterated, or the product of different sorts of trees. The bdellium of India and Persia is said to be the product of the Amyris comiphora, a native of Assam and Silhet as well as of Madagascar, and it is probably gathered in other lands from different varieties of Amyrideae.