commonwealth itself, the war-like Ammonites of patriarchal times, and the
moral majesty of the Messianic age, are all compared to the towering cedar,
in its royal loftiness and supremacy (Isaiah 2:13; Ezekiel 17:3, 22, 23,
31:3-9; Amos 2:9; Zechariah 11:1, 2; Job 40:17; Psalm 29:5; 80:10; 92:12,
etc).”, Groser’s Scrip. Nat. Hist. (See BOX-TREE.)
- CEDRON the black torrent, the brook flowing through the ravine below
the eastern wall of Jerusalem (John 18:1). (See KIDRON.) - CEILING the covering (1 Kings 7:3,7) of the inside roof and walls of a
house with planks of wood (2 Chronicles 3:5; Jeremiah 22:14). Ceilings
were sometimes adorned with various ornaments in stucco, gold, silver,
gems, and ivory. The ceilings of the temple and of Solomon’s palace are
described 1 Kings 6:9, 15; 7:3; 2 Chronicles 3:5,9. - CELLAR a subterranean vault (1 Chronicles 27:28), a storehouse. The
word is also used to denote the treasury of the temple (1 Kings 7:51) and
of the king (14:26). The Hebrew word is rendered “garner” in Joel 1:17,
and “armoury” in Jeremiah 50:25. - CENCHREA millet, the eastern harbour of Corinth, from which it was
distant about 9 miles east, and the outlet for its trade with the Asiatic
shores of the Mediterranean. When Paul returned from his second
missionary journey to Syria, he sailed from this port (Acts 18:18). In
Romans 16:1 he speaks as if there were at the time of his writing that
epistle an organized church there. The western harbour of Corinth was
Lechaeum, about a mile and a half from the city. It was the channel of its
trade with Italy and the west. - CENSER the vessel in which incense was presented on “the golden altar”
before the Lord in the temple (Exodus 30:1-9). The priest filled the censer
with live coal from the sacred fire on the altar of burnt-offering, and having
carried it into the sanctuary, there threw upon the burning coals the sweet
incense (Leviticus 16:12, 13), which sent up a cloud of smoke, filling the
apartment with fragrance. The censers in daily use were of brass (Numbers
16:39), and were designated by a different Hebrew name, miktereth (2
Chronicles 26:19; Ezekiel 8:11): while those used on the day of Atonement
were of gold, and were denoted by a word (mahtah) meaning “something to
take fire with;” LXX. pureion = a fire-pan. Solomon prepared for the
temple censers of pure gold (1 Kings 7:50; 2 Chronicles 4:22). The angel in
the Apocalypse is represented with a golden censer (Revelation 8:3, 5).