Parnaeh
(delicate), father or ancestor of Elizaphan prince of the tribe of Zebulun. (Numbers 34:25) (B.C.
before 1452.)
Parshandatha
(given by prayer), the eldest of Haman’s ten sons who were slain by the Jews in Shushan.
(Esther 9:7) (B.C. 473.)
Parthians
This name occurs only in (Acts 2:9) where it designates Jews settled in Parthia. Parthia proper
was the region stretching along the southern flank of the mountains which separate the great Persian
desert from the desert of Kharesm. It lay south of Hyrcania, east of Media and north of Sagartia.
The ancient Parthians are called a “Scythic” race, and probably belonged to the great Turanian
family. After being subject in succession to the Persians and the Seleucidae, they revolted in B.C.
- and under Arsaces succeeded in establishing their independence. Parthia, in the mind of the
writer of the Acts, would designate this empire, which extended from India to the Tigris and from
the Chorasmian desert to the shores of the Southern Ocean; hence the prominent position of the
name Parthians in the list of those prevent at Pentecost. Parthia was a power almost rivalling
Rome—the only existing power which had tried its strength against Rome and not been worsted
in the encounter. The Parthian dominion lasted for nearly five centuries, commencing in the third
century before and terminating in the third century after our era. The Parthians spoke the Persian
language.
Partridge
(Heb. kore) occurs only (1 Samuel 26:20) and Jere 17:11 The “hunting this bird upon the
mountains,” (1 Samuel 26:20) entirely agrees with the habits of two well-known species of partridge,
viz. Caccabis saxatilis, the Greek partridge (which is the commonest partridge of the holy land),
and Ammoperdix heyii. Our common partridge, Perdix cinerea, does not occur in Palestine. (The
Greek partridge somewhat resembles our red-legged partridge in plumage, but is much larger. In
every part of the hill country it abounds, and its ringing call-note in early morning echoes from
cliff to cliff alike amid the barrenness of the hills of Judea and in the glens of the forest of Carmel.
Tristram’s Nat. Hist. of Bible. The flesh of the partridge and the eggs are highly esteemed as food,
and the search for the eggs at the proper time of the year is made a regular business.-ED.)
Paruah
(flourishing), the father of Jehoshaphat, Solomon’s commissariat officer in Issachar. (1 Kings
4:17) (B.C. about 1017.)
Parvaim
(Oriental regions), the name of an unknown place or country whence the gold was procured
for the decoration of Solomon’s temple. (2 Chronicles 3:6) We may notice the conjecture that it is
derived from the Sanscrit purva, “eastern,” and is a general term for the east.
Pasach
(cut off), son of Japhlet, of the tribe of Asher. (1 Chronicles 7:33)
Pasdammim
(boundary of blood). [EPHES-DAMMIM]
Paseah
(lame).
•Son of Eshton, in an obscure fragment of the genealogies of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:12)