ever the same, the removal of sin, the sanctifying effects of grace in the
heart.
Under the Jewish dispensation, church and state were identical. No one
could be a member of the one without also being a member of the other.
Circumcision was a sign and seal of membership in both. Every
circumcised person bore thereby evidence that he was one of the chosen
people, a member of the church of God as it then existed, and
consequently also a member of the Jewish commonwealth.
- CISTERN the rendering of a Hebrew word bor, which means a receptacle
for water conveyed to it; distinguished from beer, which denotes a place
where water rises on the spot (Jeremiah 2:13; Proverbs 5:15; Isaiah 36:16),
a fountain. Cisterns are frequently mentioned in Scripture. The scarcity of
springs in Palestine made it necessary to collect rain-water in reservoirs
and cisterns (Numbers 21:22). (See WELL.)
Empty cisterns were sometimes used as prisons (Jeremiah 38:6;
Lamentations 3:53; Psalm 40:2; 69:15). The “pit” into which Joseph was
cast (Genesis 37:24) was a beer or dry well. There are numerous remains
of ancient cisterns in all parts of Palestine.
- CITIZENSHIP the rights and privileges of a citizen in distinction from a
foreigner (Luke 15:15; 19:14; Acts 21:39). Under the Mosaic law
non-Israelites, with the exception of the Moabites and the Ammonites and
others mentioned in Deuteronomy 23:1-3, were admitted to the general
privileges of citizenship among the Jews (Exodus 12:19; Leviticus 24:22;
Numbers 15:15; 35:15; Deuteronomy 10:18; 14:29; 16:10, 14).
The right of citizenship under the Roman government was granted by the
emperor to individuals, and sometimes to provinces, as a favour or as a
recompense for services rendered to the state, or for a sum of money (Acts
22:28). This “freedom” secured privileges equal to those enjoyed by
natives of Rome. Among the most notable of these was the provision that
a man could not be bound or imprisoned without a formal trial (Acts
22:25, 26), or scourged (16:37). All Roman citizens had the right of appeal
to Caesar (25:11).
- CITY The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was
built by Cain (Genesis 4:17). After the confusion of tongues, the
descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12). Next, we have a