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, 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. 27:16-26; Mark 15:7 — 15; Luke 23:18-25; John 18:40).
Barak. (lightning) was the son of Abinoam, of Kedesh-Naphtali, a city of refuge in Galilee (Josh. 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 23:4-21; comp. 1 Corinthians 5:7, 15:23, and Acts 2:1; 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, where his name occurs for the first time. He and Paul were set apart by divine direction (Acts 13:2), and hence he is termed an “apostle,” or sent one (Acts 14:12, 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. 13:37) 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.
Bartimeus (son of Timeus), the blind beggar who sat by the wayside when Jesus and His disciples went out of Jericho, and who, when called, “casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus,” saying, “Lord, that I might receive my sight.” When the Lord had given him sight, “he followed Jesus in the way” (Mark 10:46-52).
Baruch, (blessed), the son of Neriah, of the tribe of Judah (Jer. 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. 45:5).
Barzillai, a wealthy old man, eighty years of age, an inhabitant of Rogelim in Gilead, who prided King David with sustenance when he fled beyond the Jordan from his son Absolom (see 2 Samuel 17:27; 19:32).
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 2:13; Zech. 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. 32:14; Ezek. 39:18; Psa. 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, 5; 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 14:5 (compare Josh. 12:4), and in this region, also, Golan, one of the cities of refuge (Deut. 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, 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, 33); but it was recovered by Joash, in three battles, from Ben-hadad his son (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 25:13).
Bat (Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18; Isa. 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.
Bath-sheba (daughter of oath), or Bath-shua (daughter of help or salvation), the wife of Uriah, and afterward of David, was a daughter of Eliam or Ammiel, and a granddaughter of Ahithophel (2 Sam. 11:3; 1 Chron. 3:5). Her name also occurs in Matthew’s genealogy of Christ (ch. 1:6), and in 1 Chronicles 3:5, and 1 Kings 2:19.
Bdel’lium (Heb. bedolach) is twice mentioned in Scripture, viz., in Genesis 2:12, as a product of Havilah, and in Numbers 11:7, where the manna is compared to it in color (see Ex. 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, 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.
Beans are named in 2 Samuel 17:28, and Ezekiel 4:9, and are very commonly grown and eaten in Syria. The ancient Italians and others were in the habit of making bread of bean-meal, or of bean-meal mixed with rye or wheat flour; but it was heavy and indigestible like the pease bread of Scotland unless thus mixed.
Bear (1 Sam. 17:34; 2 Sam. 17:8; 2 Kings 2:24; Prov. 17:12, 28:15; Isa. 11:7; Lam. 3:10; Hos. 13:8; Amos 5:19). — The Syrian bear is closely allied to and differs but little from the brown bear, which is the most dangerous of the Old World species. It is still found in the elevated woody parts of Lebanon.