in the breastplate of the high priest, with the name of Naphtali engraven on
it (Exodus 28:18; 39:11; R.V. marg., “sardonyx.”)
(2.) A precious stone (Hebrews shamir’, a sharp point) mentioned in
Jeremiah 17:1. From its hardness it was used for cutting and perforating
other minerals. It is rendered “adamant” (q.v.) in Ezekiel 3:9, Zechariah
7:12. It is the hardest and most valuable of precious stones.
- DIANA so called by the Romans; called Artemis by the Greeks, the
“great” goddess worshipped among heathen nations under various
modifications. Her most noted temple was that at Ephesus. It was built
outside the city walls, and was one of the seven wonders of the ancient
world. “First and last it was the work of 220 years; built of shining marble;
342 feet long by 164 feet broad; supported by a forest of columns, each 56
feet high; a sacred museum of masterpieces of sculpture and painting. At
the centre, hidden by curtains, within a gorgeous shrine, stood the very
ancient image of the goddess, on wood or ebony reputed to have fallen
from the sky. Behind the shrine was a treasury, where, as in ‘the safest
bank in Asia,’ nations and kings stored their most precious things. The
temple as St. Paul saw it subsisted till A.D. 262, when it was ruined by
the Goths” (Acts 19:23-41)., Moule on Ephesians: Introd. - DIBLAIM doubled cakes, the mother of Gomer, who was Hosea’s wife
(Hos. 1:3). - DIBLATHAIM two cakes, a city of Moab, on the east of the Dead Sea
(Numbers 33:46; Jeremiah 48:22). - DIBON pining; wasting. (1.) A city in Moab (Numbers 21:30); called
also Dibon-gad (33:45), because it was built by Gad and Dimon (Isaiah
15:9). It has been identified with the modern Diban, about 3 miles north of
the Arnon and 12 miles east of the Dead Sea. (See Moabite Stone.)
(2.) A city of the tribe of Judah, inhabited after the Captivity (Nehemiah
11:25); called also Dimonah (Joshua 15:22). It is probably the modern
ed-Dheib.
- DIDYMUS (Gr. twin = Hebrews Thomas, q.v.), John 11:16; 20:24; 21:2.
- DIMNAH dunghill, a city of Zebulun given to the Merarite Levites
(Joshua 21:35). In 1 Chronicles 6:77 the name “Rimmon” is substituted. - DINAH judged; vindicated, daughter of Jacob by Leah, and sister of
Simeon and Levi (Genesis 30:21). She was seduced by Shechem, the son of