Decrees Of God
“The decrees of God are his eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be in their causes, conditions, successions, and relation…
Dedan
Low ground. (1.) A son of Raamah (Gen. 10:7). His descendants are mentioned in Isa. 21:13, and Ezek. 27:15. They probably settled among the sons of Cush, on the north-west coast of the Persian Gulf. …
Dedanim
The descendants of Dedan, the son of Raamah. They are mentioned in Isa. 21:13 as sending out “travelling companies” which lodged “in the forest of Arabia.” They are enumerated also by Ezekiel (27:20)…
Dedicate
DED'ICATE,DEDICA'TION, a religious ceremony by which any person, place, or thing is set apart for the service of God or to some sacred use. Num 7; 2 Sam 8:11; 1 Kgs 8. Cities, walls, gates, and priva…
Dedicate,dedication,
DED'ICATE,DEDICA'TION, a religious ceremony by which any person, place, or thing is set apart for the service of God or to some sacred use. Num 7; 2 Sam 8:11; 1 Kgs 8. Cities, walls, gates, and priva…
Dedication, Feast Of The
(John 10:22, 42), i.e., the feast of the renewing. It was instituted B.C. 164 to commemorate the purging of the temple after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes (B.C. 167), and the rebuilding of the…
Deep
Used to denote (1) the grave or the abyss (Rom. 10:7; Luke 8:31); (2) the deepest part of the sea (Ps. 69:15); (3) the chaos mentioned in Gen. 1:2; (4) the bottomless pit, hell (Rev. 9:1, 2; 11:7; 20…
Deep, The
DEEP, THE, in Luke 8:31 and Rom 10:7, does not refer to the sea, but to the abyss, the place where lost spirits await their final doom. The same word is rendered the "bottomless pit" in Rev 9:1-2, Re…
Deer
[FALLOW-DEER]
Defile
DEFILE'. Under the Jewish law, many blemishes of person and conduct were regarded as defilements or pollutions, rendering those upon whom they were found unclean, and subjecting them, for the time be…
Degree
DEGREE'. This word is used to signify rank or station. Ps 62:9; 1 Tim 3:13. The phrase "song, or psalm of degrees," which forms the title to Psalms 120-134 inclusive, has been variously interpreted; …
Degrees, Song Of
Song of steps, a title given to each of these fifteen psalms, 120-134 inclusive. The probable origin of this name is the circumstance that these psalms came to be sung by the people on the ascents or…
Degrees, Songs Of
a title given to fifteen Psalms, from 120 to 134 inclusive. Four of them are attributed to David, one is ascribed to the pen of Solomon, and the other ten give no indication of their author. With res…
Dehavites,
DEHA'VITES, supposed by Herodotus to be a Persian tribe, and, as some think, the same who are mentioned as from Ava. Ezr 4:9; 2 Kgs 17:24.
Dekar
(a lancer). The son of Dekar, i.e. Ben Dekar, was Solomon’s commissariat officer in the western part of the hill-country of Judah and Benjamin, Shaalbim and Bethshemesh. (1 Kings 4:9) (B.C. before 10…
Delaiah
Freed by Jehovah. (1.) The head of the twenty-third division of the priestly order (1 Chr. 24:18). (2.) A son of Shemaiah, and one of the courtiers to whom Jeremiah’s first roll of prophecy was read …
Delilah
Languishing, a Philistine woman who dwelt in the valley of Sorek (Judg. 16:4-20). She was bribed by the “lords of the Philistines” to obtain from Samson the secret of his strength and the means of ov…
Delilah, Or Delilah
(languishing) a woman who dwelt in the valley Of Sorek, beloved by Samson. (Judges 16:4-18) There seems to be little doubt that she was a Philistine courtesan. [SAMS0N] (B.C. 1141.)
Deluge
The name given to Noah’s flood, the history of which is recorded in Gen. 7 and 8. It began in the year 2516 B.C., and continued twelve lunar months and ten days, or exactly one solar year. The cause …
Demas,
DE'MAS, a zealous disciple and fellow-laborer of Paul, Phile 24; Col 4:14, who afterward left him through inordinate love of the world, 2 Tim 4:10. The name is most probably a contraction from "Demet…
Demetrius
(1.) A silversmith at Ephesus, whose chief occupation was to make “silver shrines for Diana” (q.v.), Acts 19:24, i.e., models either of the temple of Diana or of the statue of the goddess. This trade…
Demon
See DAEMON.
Demoniacs
This word is frequently used in the New Testament, and applied to persons suffering under the possession of a demon or evil spirit, such possession generally showing itself visibly in bodily disease …
Den
A lair of wild beasts (Ps. 10:9; 104:22; Job 37:8); the hole of a venomous reptile (Isa. 11:8); a recess for secrecy “in dens and caves of the earth” (Heb. 11:38); a resort of thieves (Matt. 21:13; M…
Denarius,
DENA'RIUS, a Roman silver coin nearly equivalent to the Greek drachma, and worth about 15 cents; translated in Roman Denarius. (From Eielwi.) the A.V. "penny," which makes the impression of a very sm…
Deputy
In 1 Kings 22:47, means a prefect; one set over others. The same Hebrew word is rendered “officer;” i.e., chief of the commissariat appointed by Solomon (1 Kings 4:5, etc.). In Esther 8:9; 9:3 (R.V.,…
Derbe
A small town on the eastern part of the upland plain of Lycaonia, about 20 miles from Lystra. Paul passed through Derbe on his route from Cilicia to Iconium, on his second missionary journey (Acts 16…
Desert.
DES'ERT. The popular conception of the term must not be applied to all passages in the English Bible, in which the word is the translation of four Hebrew words denoting definite localities. It is app…
Desire Of All Nations
(Hag. 2:7), usually interpreted as a title of the Messiah. The Revised Version, however, more correctly renders “the desirable things of all nations;” i.e., the choicest treasures of the Gentiles sha…
Desolation
DESOLATION, ABOMINA'TION OF. See Abominable.