synagogue at Jerusalem (Acts 6:9). Paul visited it soon after his conversion
(Galatians 1:21; Acts 9:30), and again, on his second missionary journey
(15:41), “he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.” It
was famous for its goat’s-hair cloth, called cilicium. Paul learned in his
youth the trade of making tents of this cloth.
- CINNAMON Hebrews kinamon, the Cinnamomum zeylanicum of
botanists, a tree of the Laurel family, which grows only in India on the
Malabar coast, in Ceylon, and China. There is no trace of it in Egypt, and
it was unknown in Syria. The inner rind when dried and rolled into
cylinders forms the cinnamon of commerce. The fruit and coarser pieces of
bark when boiled yield a fragrant oil. It was one of the principal ingredients
in the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23). It is mentioned elsewhere only in
Proverbs 7:17; Cant. 4:14; Revelation 18:13. The mention of it indicates a
very early and extensive commerce carried on between Palestine and the
East. - CINNERETH a harp, one of the “fenced cities” of Naphtali (Joshua 19:35;
comp. Deuteronomy 3:17). It also denotes, apparently, a district which
may have taken its name from the adjacent city or lake of Gennesaret,
anciently called “the sea of Chinnereth” (q.v.), and was probably that
enclosed district north of Tiberias afterwards called “the plain of
Gennesaret.” Called Chinneroth (R.V., Chinnereth) Joshua 11:2. The
phrase “all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali” in 1 Kings 15:20 is
parallel to “the store-houses of the cities of Naphtali” (R.V. marg.) in 2
Chronicles 16:4. - CIRCUIT the apparent diurnal revolution of the sun round the earth
(Psalm 19:6), and the changes of the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:6). In Job 22:14,
“in the circuit of heaven” (R.V. marg., “on the vault of heaven”) means the
“arch of heaven,” which seems to be bent over our heads. - CIRCUMCISION cutting around. This rite, practised before, as some
think, by divers races, was appointed by God to be the special badge of
his chosen people, an abiding sign of their consecration to him. It was
established as a national ordinance (Genesis 17:10, 11). In compliance with
the divine command, Abraham, though ninety-nine years of age, was
circumcised on the same day with Ishmael, who was thirteen years old
(17:24-27). Slaves, whether home-born or purchased, were circumcised
(17:12, 13); and all foreigners must have their males circumcised before