them were written by David, one (127) by Solomon, and the rest are
anonymous.
- DEHAVITES villagers, one of the Assyrian tribes which Asnapper sent to
repopulate Samaria (Ezra 4:9). They were probably a nomad Persian tribe
on the east of the Caspian Sea, and near the Sea of Azof. - DELAIAH freed by Jehovah. (1.) The head of the twenty-third division
of the priestly order (1 Chronicles 24:18).
(2.) A son of Shemaiah, and one of the courtiers to whom Jeremiah’s first
roll of prophecy was read (Jeremiah 36:12).
(3.) The head of one of the bands of exiles that returned under Zerubbabel
to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:60; Nehemiah 7:62).
- DELILAH languishing, a Philistine woman who dwelt in the valley of
Sorek (Judges 16:4-20). She was bribed by the “lords of the Philistines” to
obtain from Samson the secret of his strength and the means of overcoming
it (Judges 16:4-18). She tried on three occasions to obtain from him this
secret in vain. On the fourth occasion she wrung it from him. She made him
sleep upon her knees, and then called the man who was waiting to help
her; who “cut off the seven locks of his head,” and so his “strength went
from him.” (See SAMSON.) - DELUGE the name given to Noah’s flood, the history of which is
recorded in Genesis 7 and 8.
It began in the year 2516 B.C., and continued twelve lunar months and ten
days, or exactly one solar year.
The cause of this judgment was the corruption and violence that filled the
earth in the ninth generation from Adam. God in righteous indignation
determined to purge the earth of the ungodly race. Amid a world of crime
and guilt there was one household that continued faithful and true to God,
the household of Noah. “Noah was a just man and perfect in his
generations.”
At the command of God, Noah made an ark 300 cubits long, 50 broad, and
30 high. He slowly proceeded with this work during a period of one
hundred and twenty years (Genesis 6:3). At length the purpose of God
began to be carried into effect. The following table exhibits the order of
events as they occurred: