Biblical Encyclopedia: N

Naam Noom

(pleasantness, comeliness) (1 Chron. 4:15)—one of the sons of Caleb, mentioned in the genealogy in the Book of Chronicles.

Naamah

(beautiful, comely):

Naamah

(pleasant, beautiful) (Gen. 4:22)—daughter of Lamech by his second wife Zillah, and sister of Tubal-cain. She is regarded as the inventor of women’s finery and adornments—see under the description of the circumstances of the latter’s life. See Ruth.

Naaman

(pleasant) (Gen. 46:21)—one of the sons of Bela, son of Benjamin, who accompanied Jacob and his sons into Egypt. From Naaman descended the family of the Naamites (Num. 26:40).

Naaman

(pleasantness, comeliness) (2 Kings 5:1, 2)—a Syrian commander, a contemporary of the prophet Elisha, who turned to him with a request to heal him of the leprosy from which he grievously suffered. The pleasures which he enjoyed by virtue of his high position were embittered by this monstrous disease. All remedies for its cure proved fruitless; and so it happened that a certain maidservant, a captive Israelite girl, who lived in his house, said to Naaman’s wife: “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria, he would recover him of his leprosy.” These words were reported to Naaman, and he told the king.

The king permitted him to go to Samaria and sent with him a letter to the king of Israel, that he should heal him of his leprosy. Such a strange request seemed to the king of Israel, who did not possess the gift of healing, a pretext for war. “He rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive?” The prophet Elisha, hearing of this, told him to send Naaman to him. The nobleman arrived with his horses and his chariot and stood at the entrance of Elisha’s house. The prophet sent word to him: “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.” Such treatment of the Syrian nobleman by the prophet, such a seemingly empty piece of advice, such a simple remedy, seemed insulting to Naaman; he was enraged and said, “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?

may I not wash in them, and be clean?” But his servants came near and said to him: “My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?” On the advice of his sensible servants, Naaman went to the Jordan, plunged into it seven times, and his flesh became completely clean. Deeply struck by this miracle, he offered Elisha his gifts, but the prophet, notwithstanding all his urging, accepted nothing.

Then Naaman asked the prophet’s permission to take with him some earth of the land of Israel, so that in Damascus he might build on it an altar to the true God, since he would no longer offer sacrifice to any other gods except the God of Israel; and at the same time he asked forgiveness beforehand from the prophet, on behalf of the LORD, in that, in the course of his duty, accompanying the king to the temple of Rimmon, he would of necessity have to bow down there together with the king, when the king leaned upon his hand and prostrated himself before the idol.

The prophet reassured him: “Go in peace,” he said (2 Kings 5:1–19). According to Jewish tradition, Naaman was the very man who, at the battle of Ramoth-gilead, struck Ahab a mortal blow with an arrow shot at random. Perhaps it is precisely to this event that the following phrase in the Second Book of Kings refers: through him (that is, through Naaman) the LORD gave victory to the Syrians. The Lord allows us to see, in Naaman, a man of true faith, presenting him as an example for the Israelites of his time. “Many lepers were in Israel in the time of the prophet Eliseus,” says the Lord, “and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:27).

Naamathite

(Job 2:11)—an appellation applied to Zophar, one of Job’s friends, as coming from the city of Naamah, of the tribe of Judah.

Naarah

(young girl, maiden)—one of the wives of Ashhur, father of Tekoa (1 Chron. 4:5).

Naarai

(young man, servant) (1 Chron. 11:37)—son of Ezbai, and one of David’s chief warriors. In 2 Samuel (23:35) he is read as Naarai.

Naaran Sychem

(youthful, boyish) (1 Chron. 7:28)—a city in the tribe of Ephraim. The proper form of this name is Naarath, evidently a simple variation of the word Naarah. This place must have been located not very far from Jericho, and several miles north or northeast of Jerusalem, but no traces of its location have as yet been discovered (Josh. 16:7).

Naash

(serpent)—name of four persons and of one city:

Naath

. See 2 Ezra 9:31. In 1 Ezra 10:30 it is read: Pahath-moab.

Nabal

(foolish) (1 Sam. 25:3 and others)—a man of Carmel, from Maon, a very wealthy man who had many flocks on Mount Carmel, but coarse, willful, and ungrateful. His name occurs in Holy Scripture in connection with one very interesting episode from the life of David, the details of which are set forth in the First Book of Samuel (ch. 25). Nabal had extensive possessions on Mount Carmel, on which grazed the enormous flocks of his sheep under the watch of his shepherds. During his sojourn in the wilderness, David sent ten young men to Nabal, who at that time was engaged in the customary annual shearing of his sheep, with an earnest request that he send him provisions, and at the same time, through the young men, reminded him of the protection which his shepherds had received from David while on Carmel.

Nabal rudely refused to give provisions and, moreover, insulted David in the process, calling him a servant fleeing from his master (1 Sam. 25:9). David, having received this insulting reply, resolved to avenge himself on Nabal without delay, and for this purpose, arming about four hundred of his men, set out toward Nabal’s tents. But on the way he was met by Abigail, who had been forewarned by the shepherds of David’s intention, and who therefore went out to meet him with gifts, to soften his anger and prevent bloodshed.

Her intercession was so successful that David gave up his revenge, and moreover, after Nabal’s death, offered Abigail to be his wife, to which she, with complete submissiveness, immediately expressed her consent. Nabal died ten days after David’s expedition. “The LORD smote Nabal,” says the sacred historian.

Nabat

(a look, a glance)—name of two persons:

Nabatean

. See Nebaioth.

Nabateans, or Nabuthites Nabathites

(1 Macc. 5:25, Gen. 25:13, Is. 60:7)—a nomadic people in Stony Arabia, tracing their lineage from the eldest son of Ishmael, Nebaioth. The prophet Isaiah (60:7) mentions the flocks of Nebaioth together with the flocks of Kedar, which shall come up with acceptance as an offering upon the altar of the Lord—that is, he speaks of the Nabateans as one of the nomadic peoples who, in time, are to enter into the Church of Christ. The Nabateans of the apocryphal books were undoubtedly an Arabian tribe and lived between the Euphrates and the Red Sea (1 Macc. 5:25, 9:35).

They are mentioned by Josephus, Plutarch, Strabo, Ovid, Lucan, and Juvenal. In recent times they have drawn particular attention on account of the following two circumstances: first, owing to the discovery of the so-called very ancient Nabatean literature. This theory was first put forward by the Petersburg professor Chwolson (Remains of Ancient Babylonian Literature, 1859). The other circumstance, which places the Nabateans in a particular light, is the supposition that the famous inscriptions on the rocks of Sinai were produced chiefly by them—an opinion defended with particular force by many German scholars.

In more recent times the name of the Nabateans has been applied to a small tribe inhabiting the marshy country of Chaldea, or Arabian Iraq, a tribe engaged in agriculture but very ignorant. An ancient tradition of the Eastern Church, transmitted by Assemani (Bibliotheca Orientalis, vol. III, pt. II, p. 4), testifies that the Gospel was preached to the Nabateans in apostolic times.

Nablus

. See Shechem.

Naboth

(height) (1 Kings 21:1, 2 Kings 9:26)—a devout Israelite of Jezreel, who would not sell to Ahab his vineyard adjoining the king’s palace, and for this, at the instigation of Jezebel, was publicly slandered as guilty of blasphemy and treason and stoned to death. The full account of this event may be read in the First Book of Kings, chapter 21. See also Ahab, Jezebel, Jehoram.

Nachon

(level, smooth) (2 Sam. 6:6)—the ancient name of the threshing floor where Uzzah was struck down during the procession of the Ark, on the way from Kiriath-jearim to Jerusalem, on which occasion David called this threshing floor Perez-uzzah. Its location is unknown, but it probably lay a short distance west of Jerusalem.

Nadab

(willing, zealous)—name of five persons:

Nadabath Nadabatha

(1 Macc. 9:37)—a border city of the tribe of Reuben (Josh. 13:9–16), taken from the Amorites (Num. 21:30), afterward held by the Ammonites and Moabites (1 Chron. 19:7). In Maccabean times it was probably again under the power of the Moabites and was, at that time, occupied by the Nabateans. In Eusebius’s time the ancient name of this city was known, near Heshbon, and at present in that locality is found the small town of Madaba, with several ruins.

Naem

. See 2 Ezra 5:32. In 1 Ezra 2:54 it stands: Neziah.

Nahalal

(pasture) (Josh. 19:15, 21:35)—one of the cities of the tribe of Zebulun, given to the Levites. In the Book of Judges (1:30) it is read as Nahalol. According to Roland, it was later called Mahalul, and to this day there still exists a small town, Malul, four or five miles southwest of Nazareth.

Nahaliel Naaliel

(river, or valley, of God) (Num. 21:19)—one of the encampments of the Israelites in the wilderness between Mattanah and Bamoth, east of the Dead Sea. It was, it seems, located not far from the Arnon; perhaps this is the present-day locality of Wadi Waleh or Wadi Enkeileh.

Nahamani

(compassionate) (Neh. 7:7)—one of those who accompanied Zerubbabel to Jerusalem at the end of the captivity. In 2 Ezra (5:8) it stands: Enenius.

Nahor

(snorting, hoarse)—name of three persons:

Nahshon

(soothsayer, enchanter) (Num. 1:7, Ex. 6:23, Ruth 4:20, Matt. 1:4, Luke 3:32)—son of Amminadab, prince and head of the sons of Judah, who took part in the numbering of the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai. His sister, Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, was the wife of Aaron.

Nahum

(comfort) (Nah. 1:1)—one of the twelve minor prophets. We have no information about him except what is said in the first chapter of his book, namely, that he was by origin an Elkoshite. The place Elkosh, from which he was surnamed the Elkoshite, is, in the opinion of some, located in Galilee, and in the opinion of others, at Alqosh, near Mosul. According to the testimony of Benjamin of Tudela, the tomb of Nahum was located at Ain Sifta; according to the opinion of more recent writers, it is located at Alqosh, where the Jews annually celebrate his memory for a period of fourteen days.

But wherever he lived, and wherever he died, one thing is certain: that he prophesied before the fall of Nineveh, and after the destruction of the Egyptian city of No, or No-amon (Nah. 3:8). It appears that he also prophesied after the captivity of the tribes of Israel and before the captivity of the tribes of Judah. Everything in the book indicates that Nahum lived about the time of the prophets Isaiah and Micah. The memory of the prophet Nahum is celebrated on December 1.

Naid

. See 2 Ezra 9:21.

Nain

(the meaning of this word is rather uncertain; it may be “dwellings,” “pastures,” or, perhaps, “beautiful”). The town of Nain was the site of one of the great miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ, namely, the raising of the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11). It still exists to this day, under the more recent name of Nein, and is located at the northwest extremity of Jebel Duhy, or Little Hermon, south of Mount Tabor and not far from Capernaum. It is now a small settlement, situated on a hill amid the valleys, consisting of a few small houses, with scattered ruins around it, several caves in the rocks, and a small mosque.

Naioth

(1 Chron. 19:18, 19, 20:1) (dwelling, habitation)—a place near the city of Ramah, where at one time the prophet Samuel and David dwelt. Here, it seems, there was a school of the prophets, thought to have been located at Nebi Samwil, several English miles northwest of Jerusalem, but traces of this place have not yet been discovered.

Nakedness; Naked

(Gen. 2:25)—complete lack of clothing or, in some biblical contexts, the absence of an outer garment. Saul’s being “naked” among the prophets and Isaiah’s symbolic walking “naked and barefoot” need not imply total nudity but conspicuous stripping of ordinary dress (1 Sam. 19:24; Isa. 20:2-4). Figuratively, nakedness can mean poverty, shame, exposure, or defenselessness (Gen. 42:9; Jas. 2:15-16; Rev. 3:17-18). Scripture also regulates mourning practices and forbids ritual cutting for the dead (Lev. 19:28; Deut. 14:1), preserving reverence for the body and distinguishing Israel from surrounding cults.

Name

—in biblical usage a name may record circumstances of birth, physical traits, parental hopes, calling, or divine promise (Gen. 25:25-26; 29:31-35; 35:18; 1 Sam. 1:20; 4:21). Families sometimes favored ancestral names, though relatives participated in the choice, as the naming of John the Baptist shows (Luke 1:59-63). A changed name can mark a new vocation or covenant identity, as with Abram/Abraham, Jacob/Israel, and Simon/Peter.

Namessi, or Nimshi

(drawn out, or one who reveals secrets, God) (1 Kings 19:16, 2 Kings 9:2)—grandfather of Jehu, king of Israel.

Nanea

(2 Macc. 1:13, 15)—a deity of the Assyrians, Persians, and other eastern peoples, depicted on the coins of the Sassanids in a Muslim-style garment with folds, with a crown around her head and a lotus flower in her right hand. In the Persian city of Elymais a magnificent temple was built in honor of this goddess.

Naphania

(given by God) (2 Ezra 9:34). In 1 Ezra (10:39) it stands: Nathan.

Naphish

(refreshment, or, according to Fürst, numerous) (Gen. 25:15)—a son, or descendant, of Ishmael, evidently of that tribe which lived beyond the Jordan.

Naphoth-dor

(an elevated place, a height) (Josh. 11:2)—an ancient Canaanite city, whose king, having joined with Jabin, king of Hazor, against Joshua the son of Nun, was defeated by him. Although this city was located in the tribe of Asher, it was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh (Josh. 17:11). The Israelites for a long time could not drive out its ancient inhabitants, the Phoenicians (Judg. 1:27), and did not gain possession of it until the days of David. Solomon set over it as governor a certain Ben-abinadab (1 Kings 4:11).

Besieged and destroyed by Antiochus Sidetes, it was afterward rebuilt by Gabinius, the Roman general, and for many years was one of the most notable cities. Naphoth-dor was the seat of a bishop in the early centuries of Christianity, but Jerome, in the fourth century, already found it in ruins. At present there is here a small settlement, Tantura, or Tortura, situated nine English miles from Caesarea on the road to Ptolemais.

Naphtali

(my struggle, my wrestling) (Gen. 30:7, 8)—sixth son of Jacob and one of the twelve patriarchs. His mother, Bilhah, was Rachel’s maidservant. This name was given to him by Rachel, as a sign of her victory over her sister. At the time of the patriarch Jacob’s departure into Egypt, Naphtali already had four sons (Gen. 46:24). Blessing his children before his death, the dying Jacob spoke the following words, among others, concerning Naphtali: “Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words” (Gen. 49:21).

In the blessing of Moses it is said: “O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south” (Deut. 33:23). This is all that is said in the Bible concerning Naphtali as a person separate from his tribe.

Narcissus

(Rom. 16:11)—according to the tradition of the Eastern Church, one of the seventy apostles, who afterward was bishop in Athens. Among his household were believers in Christ, to whom the Apostle also sends his greeting. His memory is kept on January 4 and October 31.

Narcissus

(Song of Songs 2:1, Is. 35:1)—a bulbous, fragrant plant, resembling a tulip, of the amaryllis family, growing for the most part wild in Western Europe and Asia Minor. In ancient times it adorned the fields of Palestine and the plain of Sharon. “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys,” says the mysterious Bridegroom of Himself in the Song of Songs (2:1). Narcissi are still found in abundance to this day on the plain of Sharon and in Egypt. Among us, narcissi are cultivated as an early winter and spring plant for indoor use, and come in white, yellow, pink, and other colors.

Nard

—a well-known fragrant plant of the East, of the valerian family, considered precious (John 12:3, 5). Nard was well known to the ancients and highly valued by them. It was exported chiefly from India. In Palestine and neighboring countries, nard is found in great abundance in the mountains and plains. The Hebrews obtained nard ointment from Asia Minor in small alabaster vessels; the finest nard ointment was made in Tarsus. Pure nard ointment was highly prized among the Hebrews; a small vessel of such ointment cost more than three hundred denarii (Mark 14:3–5, John 12:3–5), that is, more than sixty of our silver rubles. Nard is also mentioned in the Song of Songs (4:14) together with saffron, calamus, and cinnamon, products of Syria, Persia, and India.

Nasar

(1 Macc. 11:67)—a plain in the tribe of Naphtali, south of Kedesh and west of Lake Merom. At this city Jonathan, brother of Judas Maccabeus, won a great victory over the Syrians.

Nasbas

(Tobit 11:17)—nephew of Ahiqar, the nephew of Tobit, who was cupbearer, keeper of the signet, and household steward to King Esarhaddon.

Nathan

(giver)—name of the following persons:

Nathanael

(gift of God)—name of the following persons:

Nation, nations

(Gen. 10:5) (Deut. 32:6, Acts 17:26 and others). “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation,” says the holy Apostle Paul to the Athenians on the Areopagus (Acts 17:26). Concerning the beginning of the formation and division of the nations, Holy Scripture itself gives us a brief account in its table of nations after the flood (Gen. ch. 10). This table constitutes a chief and inexhaustible source for the historian.

According to it, all nations, differing from one another in languages and other features, arose and were formed from the families and generations of one common ancestor. The common ancestor of the whole human race is Adam (Gen. 3:20), and since the antediluvian world was destroyed by God in the universal flood, except for Noah and his family, Noah and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—became the ancestors of all nations (Gen. 6:17, 18, 9:1 and others). They gave their names both to the peoples who descended from them and to the countries where their descendants settled.

Nativity of Christ

(Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-21)—the birth of the incarnate Son of God. Matthew relates that Mary, while betrothed to Joseph and before they lived together as husband and wife, was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Joseph resolved to dismiss her quietly, but an angel of the Lord told him not to fear taking Mary as his wife. Her son was to be named Jesus, “for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew sees the event as fulfilling the promise of Emmanuel, “God with us.”

Nature or the Universe

(2 Pet. 2:12; Rom. 2:27; 1 Cor. 11:14–15). Scholars divide the objects of nature chiefly into three kingdoms: minerals, plants, and animals. Genesis 1:1–27 sets forth the order of creation: after the heavens and heavenly lights, the sacred writer passes from inanimate matter to plants, then to animal life, and finally to the rational creature, humanity.

Navariah

. See 2 Ezra 9:34. In Nehemiah (8:4), instead of Navariah stands: Hashbaddanah.

Navdeil

(Gen. 25:3 and others, 1 Chron. 1:32)—one of the sons of Dedan, son of Jokshan, son of Abraham by Keturah.

Nazareth

(a branch, an offshoot, or a protected place) (Matt. 2:23, Mark 1:9, Luke 1:26, John 1:45–48 and others) (in Arabic, En-Nasira, or Nazira)—a city in Galilee, in the tribe of Zebulun, situated southwest of Capernaum and west of the southern end of the Sea of Tiberias, six or seven English miles west of Mount Tabor, with more than 3,000 inhabitants, consisting of Greeks, Catholics, Muslims, and others. Nazareth stands in a mountain valley, from which opens a beautiful view over the Valley of Jezreel and the mountains of Tabor, Gilboa, Carmel, and others, and over the Mediterranean Sea. Its population in gospel times was poor and small, and the inhabitants, it seems, were not distinguished by good morals—at least they did not enjoy a good reputation among others.

“Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” This expression became, as it were, a proverb. Nazareth has acquired worldwide fame as the place where the righteous Joseph, the betrothed of the Most Holy Virgin, lived, and especially as the place of the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to the Most Holy Virgin concerning the birth from Her of the Son of God (Luke 1:26). To Nazareth Jesus, Mary, and Joseph returned after their sojourn in Egypt (Matt. 2:23). In Nazareth passed all the childhood, adolescence, and subsequent life of Jesus, up to His very entrance upon His open ministry for the salvation of mankind (Luke 2:39–51).

Here, in the synagogue of Nazareth, He once read and expounded the Holy Scripture. After this, all who were in the synagogue were filled with wrath, and, driving Jesus out of the city, led Him to the brow of the hill on which Nazareth was built, that they might throw Him down, but He, passing through the midst of them, went His way (Luke 4:30). Owing to the circumstance that the Lord Jesus lived long in Nazareth, He was called Jesus of Nazareth (John 19:19). Even to this day the eastern name for Christians is Nozrani, or Nazarenes.

The chief point of interest in Nazareth is the site of the Annunciation, now occupied by a Latin monastery. The chief adornment of the Church of the Annunciation is the modest dwelling of the Most Holy Virgin, located beneath the main (central) part of the church and consisting of three rooms. Another tradition of the local Greeks

Nazarite, Nazariteship

(Num. 6:2)—a word meaning, from the Hebrew language: to separate, to set apart. “All the days of the vow of his separation,” it is said in the Book of Numbers, “…until the days be fulfilled, for the which he separated himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy” (6:8). A Nazarite, whether man or woman, could pronounce the vow of Naziriteship, that is, to drink no wine or other strong drink, to let the hair grow, to enter no house in which there was a dead body, and finally, not to be present at funerals.

If any man or woman happened to die in the presence of one of the Nazarites, then he had to observe again the whole term of his vow, that is, of his Naziriteship. This vow was generally taken for eight days, sometimes for a month, and sometimes for one’s whole life. When the term of it came to an end, the Nazarite offered a sacrifice in the temple, and then the priest cut off a portion of his hair and burned it upon the altar, after which the Nazarite was freed from his vow and could drink wine again (Num. ch. 6).

Some Nazarites were dedicated to God for their whole lives by their parents, from the very cradle, and remained such until their very death: throughout their whole lives they drank no wine and did not cut their hair. Such, for instance, were Samson, the prophet Samuel, and John the Baptist (Judg. 13:4, 5, Luke 1:15, 1 Sam. 1:11). Persons who had pronounced the vow of Naziriteship outside of Palestine, and who had no opportunity to appear at the temple upon the completion of their vow, contented themselves with keeping the abstinence required by the law, and with the cutting of their hair at home, in that locality in which

Neapolis

(new city) (Acts 16:11)—the name of several places in ancient times. Neapolis, in Holy Scripture, was a city and Macedonian port, on the Strymonian Gulf, located not far from the city of Philippi and on the borders of Thrace. The holy Apostle Paul, on his way to Neapolis from Samothrace, stopped here for a time and then proceeded on to the city of Philippi, where at that time the harbor was located. Neapolis is now called Kavalla, where to this day there are still visible traces of many considerable buildings and structures.

Neariah

(servant of Jehovah)—name of two persons:

Nebaioth

(perhaps, elevation) (Gen. 25:13)—firstborn of Ishmael, son of Abraham by Hagar. From Nebaioth takes its origin the numerous tribe of the Nabateans.

Nebo

(mountain)—name of the following places:

Nebuchadnezzar

(prince, or lord, of Nebo) (2 Kings 24:1)—king of Babylon, son and successor of Nabopolassar. He lived 600 years before Christ and shared the reins of government with his father for two years before his death. Nebuchadnezzar’s first war was with Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, who not long before had defeated Josiah, king of Judah, at Megiddo, and, taking advantage of his victory, had taken possession of the whole country from the Euphrates to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar met his forces and defeated them at Carchemish, thereby putting an end to Egyptian power in Asia. Advancing further southward, he took Jerusalem in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, and took from there Daniel with the rest of the captives, along with some of the sacred vessels of the temple, as trophies of his victory.

When his father, Nabopolassar, died, Nebuchadnezzar hastened across the desert with part of his forces to Babylon and ascended his father’s throne about 604 B.C. About three years afterward, Jehoiakim rebelled against him, and Phoenicia also revolted. Nebuchadnezzar invaded Tyre and advanced upon Jerusalem with part of his forces, and after a long resistance took it. According to the testimony of Josephus, he put the king to death and raised Jehoiakim to the throne. On account of a new revolt against Nebuchadnezzar, Jerusalem was again besieged and taken, the temple of Jerusalem was plundered, and the princes and the mass of the people were led away to Babylon; only the poorest class of the people remained in Jerusalem.

Zedekiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had set upon the throne, after a nine-year vassal reign, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and, in order to fight against him, entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt. The consequence of this was the fourth, two-year siege of Jerusalem, the final destruction of the city, and the depopulation of the country; the leading men of the city were brought to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah and put to death there by the cruel conqueror. Tyre also fell after a thirteen-year siege.

Almost simultaneously victories were won in Egypt, and all the peoples of Assyria, Phoenicia, Palestine, and Egypt bowed before the victorious standards of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was renowned, however, not only for his victories but also for the construction of various enormous, magnificent buildings. He adorned his capital, fortified it with an enormous stone wall, developed agriculture, built aqueducts, constructed a multitude of canals and roads, and so on. In his reign, Babylon became a new capital.

His riches, acquired from conquered countries, grew to enormous proportions; he had in his service millions of foreign captives, whom he employed for architectural and, in general, for construction work. On all the bricks of his time, in the enormous stone ruins, is read a single inscription: Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also built an enormous palace, rebuilt the temple of Bel and the temple of Merodach in Borsippa, and constructed hanging gardens for his wife, the Median Nitocris, considered among the ancients wonders of the world and commonly ascribed to Semiramis, and so on.

Yet equal to the glory of his reign was also his excessive pride. “The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” it is said in the Book of the prophet Daniel. “While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee” (4:27, 28 [as cited]). And so it came to pass: “he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws” (v. 30 [as cited]).

Undoubtedly this was a kind of madness, in the fits of which he considered himself an ox. On the so-called Babylonian Standard Inscription, in which Nebuchadnezzar enumerates all his gigantic undertakings, there is contained a remarkable paragraph that indirectly points to a temporary derangement of the king of Babylon. “Four years already,” it says there, among other things, “has the seat of my kingdom been in this city… which, however, does not gladden my heart. In all my dominions I have not raised up one high place of power and might; I have not stored up precious treasures of my kingdom in the treasuries.

In Babylon, in the service of Merodach, my lord and the joy of my heart (?!), I have not sung hymns of praise nor offered him sacrifices upon his altars.” How clearly one hears in all this disillusionment, repentance, and a gloomy state of mind! At the end of those days (that is, seven years), the prophet Daniel continues in his book, speaking in the person of the king: “I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High… whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation” (v. 31 [as cited]).

Upon the return of his reason, Nebuchadnezzar soon died, after a reign of forty-three years, about 561 B.C. After his death the kingdom of Babylon began to decline. He was succeeded by his son, Evil-merodach, who probably had already governed the kingdom during his father’s illness. During the long reign of Nebuchadnezzar, God revealed many wonders. The upbringing of Daniel and his three companions, the dream of Nebuchadnezzar interpreted by Daniel, the miraculous deliverance of the three youths from the fire in the heated furnace of Babylon, the miraculous deliverance of Daniel from the den of lions—all this clearly showed the pagans that there is a Most High Hand which governs the destinies of men and human kingdoms.

Nebuzaradan

(2 Kings 25:8, Jer. 39:10)—captain of the bodyguard of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who burned the temple of Jerusalem and the king’s palace, and led the inhabitants into captivity in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah. He left in Jerusalem only the poor, who had nothing of their own, and led all the rest out of the city he had destroyed into the region of Babylon, abounding in fields and vineyards. By the command of Nebuchadnezzar, he took care for the protection of the prophet Jeremiah, who was in danger of perishing at the taking of the city (Jer. 39:11–14).

He was also charged with seeking out the chief instigators of the revolt against Nebuchadnezzar in the reign of Zedekiah, who are listed in the Second Book of Kings (25:18, 19) and in the Book of the prophet Jeremiah (52:24, 25), and with bringing them to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar was at that time. Nebuchadnezzar put them to death together with the sons of Zedekiah.

Necho

(2 Kings 23:29-35 and others)—Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, a contemporary of Josiah, king of Judah, who defeated King Josiah at Megiddo and was afterward himself defeated by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish. This Egyptian king built up a considerable fleet, caused the Phoenicians to sail around Africa, and considerably extended the borders of his domains.

Necromancers, sorcerers

(Lev. 20:6, and elsewhere) — magicians, who occupied themselves with calling up and questioning the dead, in order to learn from them the hidden secrets of the future. Among their number especially well known is the sorceress of Endor, who called up for Saul the shade of the prophet Samuel (see Saul). No sin is condemned so strictly in Holy Scripture as sorcery, necromancy, and the questioning of the dead (Deut. 18:10, 14), and this not only in the Old, but also in the New Testament (Gal. 5:20).

Nehemiah

(whom Jehovah comforts)—

Nehemiah and Azariah

(2 Ezra 5:40). In the parallel passage (1 Ezra 2:63), instead of Nehemiah and Azariah, only “Tirshatha” is read.

Nehemiah, otherwise Tirshatha

(Neh. 8:9). Tirshatha was the title of the ruler, or governor, of Persia in Judea, used in the sacred books with reference to Zerubbabel and to Nehemiah.

Nehum

(comfort) (Neh. 7:7)—one of the heads of the people who accompanied Zerubbabel to Jerusalem at the end of the captivity.

Nehushta Nestha

(bronze) (2 Kings 24:8)—daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem and mother of Jehoiachin, king of Judah.

Nehushtan Neesthan

(of bronze) (2 Kings 18:4)—the name given to the bronze serpent which the Israelites worshiped—burned incense to as a deity—until the reign of Hezekiah.

Neiel Chobamasomel

(dwelling of God) (Josh. 19:27)—a small town on the borders of the tribe of Asher. It is mentioned only in the cited passage, but from its connection with Cabul it is certain that it was located in the same region.

Nekoda

(marked) (1 Ezra 2:48, Neh. 7:50, 62)—the sons of Nekoda are spoken of twice in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. In the first instance they are mentioned in the list of the Nethinim who accompanied Zerubbabel from Babylon, and then among those persons who came from Tel-melah and other places, but could not show their fathers’ house nor their lineage, whether they were of Israel, or prove that they truly belonged to the chosen people.

Nemuel

(day of God)—name of two persons:

Nepheg

(a shoot, an offshoot) (2 Sam. 5:15)—one of the sons of David, born in Jerusalem.

Nepheg

(offshoot) (Ex. 6:21)—one of the sons of Izhar, grandson of Kohath.

Nephisim

(1 Ezra 2:50)—of the Nethinim. His sons are listed among those who returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel.

Nephtoah Naphtho

(an opening, a mouth) (Josh. 15:9)—the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, located on the border of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, probably not far distant from Jerusalem.

Ner

(light) (1 Sam. 14:50-51)—father of Abner and of Kish, and consequently uncle of King Saul.

Nereus

(Rom. 16:15)—one of the Roman Christians whom the holy Apostle Paul greets in his epistle to the Romans.

Nergal

(the planet Mars, deity of war) (2 Kings 17:30)—this word, in the opinion of most, ordinarily denotes a cock, and it has generally been thought that Nergal, as an idol, was represented on statues and images that bore some resemblance to this bird. At present, however, most suppose that this was the planet Mars. This deity was especially worshiped at Cuthah, and in the Second Book of Kings it is said that the men of Cuthah made Nergal their god, who was depicted as a winged lion with a human head. Images of this pagan deity are still found on Assyrian monuments.

Nergal-sharezer

(chief of Mars) (Jer. 39:3)—one of the princes of Nebuchadnezzar, chief of the magi, at the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem by him.

Neri

(2 Chron. 36:5) [as printed]—father of Zebudah, mother of Jehoiakim, king of Judah.

Neriah

(the LORD is holy) (Jer. 32:12, 36:4)—father of the prophet Baruch, friend of Jeremiah.

Net

(Prov. 1:17)—a woven device for catching fish, birds, or animals. Egyptian and Near Eastern art preserves many scenes of net fishing and hunting. Scripture frequently uses the net figuratively for concealed danger, entrapment, hostile schemes, or judgment (Ps. 9:15; Eccles. 7:26; Ezek. 12:13). In Jesus’ parable, the kingdom is like a net gathering fish of every kind, which are separated at the end of the age (Matt. 13:47-50).

Netophah

(a dripping) (1 Ezra 2:22)—a city in the tribe of Judah or Benjamin. Its inhabitants returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel (1 Ezra 2:22). Many think that it was located not far from Bethlehem or from Jerusalem, perhaps thirteen miles from the latter.

Netsiah

(victory) (1 Ezra 2:54, Neh. 7:56)—an ancestor of the family of the Nethinim who returned from the Babylonian captivity.

Netsiv

(planted) (Josh. 15:43)—a city of the tribe of Judah in the lowlands. Here now is the village of Beit Nasib.

Nettle

(Prov 24:31; Zeph 2:9) - a familiar wild plant whose leaves bear stinging hairs that cause sharp itching and a sensation like burning. Soaked or wilted leaves lose this force. An abundance of nettles marks neglected, uncultivated ground. Solomon says, 'I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof' (Prov 24:30-31). Zephaniah declares that Moab shall be as Sodom and Ammon as Gomorrah, 'the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation' (Zeph 2:9). Isaiah 34:13 and Hosea 9:6 use the plant similarly. Nettles grow around dwellings, waste ground, fences, and gardens, flowering from mid-June until late autumn.

Nevai

(fruitful) (Neh. 10:19)—one of the heads of the people of Israel, who lived in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.

New Moon

(Num. 10:10, Lev. 23:24 and others)—the celebration of the new moon appears to have prevailed in the Old Testament. It was distinguished by a special offering (Num. 28:11-15); it was proclaimed and accompanied by the sound of the trumpet (Ps. 81:3). The days of the new moons, as joyful days, were celebrated with a gathering and offerings morning and evening in the temple (Is. 1:13 and others, 2 Kings 4:20, 24) and with feasting in the family (1 Sam. 20:1-5). On the days of the new moons fasting was set aside (Judith 8:6), and trade and public business ceased (Amos 8:5).

But the life and moral condition of the Jews often did not correspond at all to these festivals, any more than to the sabbaths and other feasts, and for this the prophets reproved them. “Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth,” says the prophet Isaiah in the name of the Lord; “they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them” (Is. 1:13-14). And the Apostle Paul writes that all these feasts had only a temporary significance, being but shadows of things to come, and that therefore, with the coming of Christ, they were to cease and give place to a higher order of things (Col. 2:16, Gal. 4:9-11, Heb. ch. 8 and others).

New Testament Pascha

—the highest, most joyful, and at the same time most ancient Christian feast: the Resurrection of Christ. The events of the Lord’s death on the Cross and resurrection from the dead are the foundation and center of all Christianity. The apostles began their preaching with this event; upon it they based everything, and in it they united everything (Acts 2:22–24; 3:12–26; 4:10–12). Around the Savior’s death and resurrection the Apostle Paul gathers all the loftiest doctrines of our faith and all our highest hopes (1 Cor. 15).

Nezallat

(to be strong) (Neh. 11:34)—so was called a city of the tribe of Benjamin; it is thought to be the present-day ruins of Beit Nabala, lying northeast of Ramleh or Lydda.

Nicanor

(seeing victory)—name of the following persons:

Nicodemus

(the people is victor) (John 3:1-21)—a renowned Pharisee, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Brief information about him may be read in the Gospel of John. The first occasion on which his name is mentioned was soon after the first expulsion of the merchants from the temple. He visited Jesus by night, evidently with the purpose of learning the light of Christ’s teaching more fully and freely, and during this nighttime conversation the Lord revealed to him with full clarity the chief foundations of the teaching of the Gospel: the necessity of a new birth from the Holy Spirit, and the mystery of redemption through the cross-sufferings of the God-man for the attainment of eternal life and salvation.

Afterward his name occurs in the seventh chapter of the Gospel of John (50-52). The chief priests and Pharisees had ordered their officers to seize Jesus Christ and bring Him to them. The officers were unable to carry out the order given them because, as they said, “never man spake like this man” (v. 46). To this explanation of the officers Nicodemus added his own voice. He said, “Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?” (v. 51). Finally, after the sufferings and death of the Savior, Nicodemus openly paid his last respects to His body together with Joseph of Arimathea, namely bringing a hundred pounds’ weight of a mixture of myrrh and aloes to anoint His body (John 19:38-42).

According to tradition, he afterward received baptism from the apostles, and lived and died in the country house of Gamaliel, his kinsman. His memory is kept on August 28.

Nicolas

(victory of the people) (Acts 6:5)—a native of Antioch, converted, it is thought, from paganism to the Christian faith, one of the deacons of the apostolic Church, ordained by the apostles together with Stephen the first martyr to minister to the poor. Some consider him the founder of the sect of the Nicolaitans, but it is difficult to agree that a man filled with the Holy Spirit could have been the founder of so immoral a sect.

Nicopolis

(city of victory) (Titus 3:12)—the name of several ancient cities, one of which is mentioned by the Apostle Paul as the place where he intended to spend the winter. Judging by the postscript to this epistle, it must have been located in Macedonia. The ancient city now lies in enormous ruins.

Nimrah

—this name occurs in the Book of Numbers (32:3), but the place in question appears, in other passages of Holy Scripture, to be called Beth-nimrah. It was one of the cities of the tribe of Gad and was located on the eastern side of the Jordan, and if its name signifies “lair of leopards or panthers,” then there is some ground for supposing that it was frequented by these animals in ancient times. At present, on the site of the city of Nimrah, are found the ruins of Nimrin, eight English miles to the northeast of Jericho and on the borders of Wadi Nimrin.

Nimrim Nemerim

(clear, fresh, wholesome waters) (Is. 15:6)—a small stream near the city of Nimrin, flowing into the Dead Sea and known at present among the Arabs by the name of Wadi en-Numeirah.

Nimrod

(rebellious, seditious) (Gen. 10:8-9)—son of Cush, distinguished in a special way among his other sons in the Book of Genesis. This name may have been given to him by the peoples whom he oppressed. Among other things, he was regarded as one of the mighty hunters. The expression “he was a mighty hunter before the LORD (God)” signifies that he possessed a particular skill in hunting wild beasts. The words “before the LORD” are no more than an allegorical phrase, signifying “exceedingly powerful.” The Hebrews look upon him as the leader of those persons who undertook the building of the Tower of Babel. In the opinion of the Eastern Christians, he was the first person who introduced idolatry. He occupied himself especially with the building of

Nineveh

(dwelling or city of Ninus) (Gen. 10:11). The earliest mention of Nineveh is contained in the following words of the Book of Genesis: "Out of that land (Shinar) went forth Asshur

Niphis Nephis

. See 1 Ezra 5:21.

Nisan

(month of flowers) (Neh. 2:1). See Abib.

Nisroch

(2 Kings 19:37)—the name of an idol, in whose temple at Nineveh Sennacherib was killed by his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer. In the opinion of some, this word signifies “great eagle,” since the Assyrian deity in question was depicted with an eagle’s head.

Noadiah Noadia

(the LORD gathers)—name of two persons:

Noah

(flattering, caressing) (Num. 26:33)—second of the five daughters of Zelophehad, of the tribe of Manasseh.

Noah

(rest, repose) (Gen. 6:8, Matt. 24:37, Heb. 11:7 and others)—the tenth and last of the antediluvian patriarchs in the direct line from Adam. Son of Lamech, and consequently grandson of Methuselah, Noah was born, according

Nob, otherwise Nomva Nomba

(a hill, an elevation) (1 Sam. 21:1, 22:9 and others)—a priestly city in the tribe of Benjamin, the dwelling place of the high priest Ahimelech, at the time when David came to him and received from him the shewbread and the sword of Goliath. Learning of this, Saul ordered the destruction of all the priests of Nob and of the city itself with all its inhabitants (ch. 22). The city was probably located near Jerusalem, and from it, according to Jewish tradition, the whole of Jerusalem could be seen.

Nocha

(rest, repose) (1 Chron. 8:2)—one of the sons of Benjamin, mentioned only in the cited passage.

Nod

(land of exile) (Gen. 4:16)—the name of the land to which Cain withdrew; it lay to the east of Eden. But all attempts to determine what land this was and where exactly in the East it lay have thus far remained unsuccessful.

Noev

. See 2 Ezra 5:31.

Nogah

(brightness) (1 Chron. 3:7)—one of the sons of David, born to him in Jerusalem after his accession to the throne.

Non

(fish) (1 Chron. 7:27)—father of Joshua the son of Nun, son of Elishama. In the Russian translation he is everywhere read as: Navin (Nun).

Nophah

(breath, spirit) (Num. 21:30)—a Moabite city in the tribe of Reuben, probably one and the same as the city of Nobah mentioned in the Book of Judges (8:11).

Nose

—nose rings were known in the ancient Near East and could be made of precious metal (Gen. 24:22, 47; Isa. 3:21). Proverbs compares a beautiful woman without discretion to a gold ring in a pig’s snout (Prov. 11:22), turning an ornament of beauty into an image of incongruity. The source’s claim that women normally pierced only the left nostril is not established by the biblical texts.

Novach

(barking) (Num. 32:42)—name of a man of the tribe of Manasseh. He took possession of the city of Kenath on the other side of the Jordan and called it after his own name: Novach (1 Chron. 2:23).

Numbers

—so called from the two numberings of the people described in it, contains thirty-six chapters and describes the adventures of the Hebrew people, sets forth in detail the law given to it during its wandering in the wilderness of Arabia, and also tells of the wars which the Hebrews had with the kings of the Amorites and the Midianites.

Numenius

(1 Macc. 12:16)—son of Antiochus, one of the envoys sent by the Jews to the Romans to renew friendship with them in 124 and 122 BC, under Jonathan and the high priest Simon.

Nun

(fish) (Ex. 33:11 and others, Josh. 1:1 and others)—father of Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ successor. Besides this mention, nothing further is reported of him.

Nun

. See Non.

Nymphas

(bridegroom) (Col. 4:15)—a member of the Laodicean Church, whom the holy Apostle Paul greets at the end of his epistle to the Colossians.