trophy of a conqueror was to assert that evil, physical and spiritual, had been overcome, and thus
help to strengthen the weak faith of the Israelites in a victory over both. Others look upon the
uplifted serpent as a symbol of life and health, it having been so worshipped in Egypt. The two
views have a point of contact, for the serpent is wisdom. Wisdom, apart from obedience to God,
degenerates to cunning, and degrades and envenoms man’s nature. Wisdom, yielding to the divine
law, is the source of healing and restoring influences, and the serpent form thus became a symbol
of deliverance and health; and the Israelites were taught that it would be so with them in proportion
as they ceased to be sensual and rebellious. Preserved as a relic, whether on the spot of its first
erection or elsewhere the brazen serpent, called by the name of Nehushtan, became an object of
idolatrous veneration, and the zeal of Hezekiah destroyed it with the other idols of his father. ( 2
Kings 18:4) [Nehushtan]
Serug
(branch), son of Reu and great grandfather of Abraham. His age is given in the Hebrew Bible
as 230 years. (Genesis 11:20-23) (B.C. 2180.)
Servant
[Slave]
Seth
(compensation), (Genesis 4:25; 6:3; 1 Chronicles 1:1) the third son of Adam, and father of
Enos. (B.C. 3870.) Adam handed down to Seth and his descendants the promise of mercy, faith in
which became the distinction of God’s children. (Genesis 4:26)
Sethur
(hidden), the Asherite spy, son of Michael. (Numbers 13:13) (B.C. 1490.)
Seven
The frequent recurrence of certain numbers in the sacred literature of the Hebrews is obvious
to the most superficial reader, but seven so far surpasses the rest, both in the frequency with which
it recurs and in the importance of the objects with which it is associated, that it may fairly be termed
the representative symbolic number. The influence of the number seven was not restricted to the
Hebrews; it prevailed among the Persians, ancient Indians, Greeks and Romans. The peculiarity
of the Hebrew view consists in the special dignity of the seventh, and not simply in that of seen.
The Sabbath being the seventh day suggested the adoption of seven as the coefficient, so to say,
for their appointment of all sacred periods; and we thus find the 7th month ushered in by the Feast
of Trumpets, and signalized by the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Great Day of
Atonement; 7 weeks as the interval between the Passover and the Pentecost; the 7th year as the
sabbatical year; and the year: succeeding 7X7 years as the Jubilee year. Seven days were appointed
as the length of the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles; 7 days for the ceremonies of the consecration
of priests, and so on; 7 victims to be offered on any special occasion, as in Balaam’s sacrifice.
(Numbers 23:1) and especially at the ratification of a treaty, the notion of seven being embodied
in the very term signifying to swear, literally meaning to do seven times. (Genesis 31:28) Seven is
used for any round number, or for completeness, as we say a dozen, or as a speaker says he will
say two or three words.
Shaalbim, Or Shaalabbin
(home of foxes), a town in the allotment of Dan. (Joshua 19:42; Judges 1:35; 1 Kings 4:9) By
Eusebius and Jerome it is mentioned in the Onomasticon as a large village in the district of Sebaste
(i.e. Samaria), and as then called Selaba.
frankie
(Frankie)
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