- DEDAN low ground. (1.) A son of Raamah (Genesis 10:7). His
descendants are mentioned in Isaiah 21:13, and Ezekiel 27:15. They
probably settled among the sons of Cush, on the north-west coast of the
Persian Gulf.
(2.) A son of Jokshan, Abraham’s son by Keturah (1 Chronicles 1:32). His
descendants settled on the Syrian borders about the territory of Edom.
They probably led a pastoral life.
- DEDANIM the descendants of Dedan, the son of Raamah. They are
mentioned in Isaiah 21:13 as sending out “travelling companies” which
lodged “in the forest of Arabia.” They are enumerated also by Ezekiel
(27:20) among the merchants who supplied Tyre with precious things. - DEDICATION, FEAST OF THE (John 10:22, 42), i.e., the feast of the
renewing. It was instituted B.C. 164 to commemorate the purging of the
temple after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes (B.C. 167), and the
rebuilding of the altar after the Syrian invaders had been driven out by
Judas Maccabaeus. It lasted for eight days, beginning on the 25th of the
month Chisleu (December), which was often a period of heavy rains (Ezra
10:9, 13). It was an occasion of much rejoicing and festivity.
But there were other dedications of the temple. (1) That of Solomon’s
temple (1 Kings 8:2; 2 Chronicles 5:3); (2) the dedication in the days of
Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29); and (3) the dedication of the temple after the
Captivity (Ezra 6:16).
- DEEP used to denote (1) the grave or the abyss (Romans 10:7; Luke
8:31); (2) the deepest part of the sea (Psalm 69:15); (3) the chaos
mentioned in Genesis 1:2; (4) the bottomless pit, hell (Revelation 9:1, 2;
11:7; 20:13). - DEGREES, SONG OF song of steps, a title given to each of these fifteen
psalms, 120-134 inclusive. The probable origin of this name is the
circumstance that these psalms came to be sung by the people on the
ascents or goings up to Jerusalem to attend the three great festivals
(Deuteronomy 16:16). They were well fitted for being sung by the way
from their peculiar form, and from the sentiments they express. “They are
characterized by brevity, by a key-word, by epanaphora [i.e, repetition],
and by their epigrammatic style...More than half of them are cheerful, and
all of them hopeful.” They are sometimes called “Pilgrim Songs.” Four of