Halys, others the Jorak or Acampis, others the Jaab, the Indus, the
Ganges, etc.
- PIT a hole in the ground (Exodus 21:33, 34), a cistern for water (Genesis
37:24; Jeremiah 14:3), a vault (41:9), a grave (Psalm 30:3). It is used as a
figure for mischief (Psalm 9:15), and is the name given to the unseen place
of woe (Revelation 20:1, 3). The slime-pits in the vale of Siddim were
wells which yielded asphalt (Genesis 14:10). - PITCH (Genesis 6:14), asphalt or bitumen in its soft state, called “slime”
(Genesis 11:3; 14:10; Exodus 2:3), found in pits near the Dead Sea (q.v.).
It was used for various purposes, as the coating of the outside of vessels
and in building. Allusion is made in Isaiah 34:9 to its inflammable
character. (See SLIME.) - PITCHER a vessel for containing liquids. In the East pitchers were
usually carried on the head or shoulders (Genesis 24:15-20; Judges 7:16,
19; Mark 14:13). - PITHOM Egyptian, Pa-Tum, “house of Tum,” the sun-God, one of the
“treasure” cities built for Pharaoh Rameses II. by the Israelites (Exodus
1:11). It was probably the Patumos of the Greek historian Herodotus. It
has now been satisfactorily identified with Tell-el-Maskhuta, about 12
miles west of Ismailia, and 20 east of Tel-el-Kebir, on the southern bank of
the present Suez Canal. Here have recently (1883) been discovered the
ruins of supposed grain-chambers, and other evidences to show that this
was a great “store city.” Its immense ruin-heaps show that it was built of
bricks, and partly also of bricks without straw. Succoth (Exodus 12:37) is
supposed by some to be the secular name of this city, Pithom being its
sacred name. This was the first halting-place of the Israelites in their
exodus. It has been argued (Dr. Lansing) that these “store” cities “were
residence cities, royal dwellings, such as the Pharaohs of old, the Kings of
Israel, and our modern Khedives have ever loved to build, thus giving
employment to the superabundant muscle of their enslaved peoples, and
making a name for themselves.” - PLAGUE a “stroke” of affliction, or disease. Sent as a divine chastisement
(Numbers 11:33; 14:37; 16:46-49; 2 Samuel 24:21). Painful afflictions or
diseases, (Leviticus 13:3, 5, 30; 1 Kings 8:37), or severe calamity (Mark
5:29; Luke 7:21), or the judgment of God, so called (Exodus 9:14). Plagues
of Egypt were ten in number.