Samuel 18:6, 8). It lay on the east of Jordan, not far from Mahanaim, and
was some part of the great forest of Gilead.
- EPHRATAH fruitful. (1.) The second wife of Caleb, the son of Hezron,
mother of Hur, and grandmother of Caleb, who was one of those that were
sent to spy the land (1 Chronicles 2:19, 50).
(2.) The ancient name of Bethlehem in Judah (Genesis 35:16, 19; 48:7). In
Ruth 1:2 it is called “Bethlehem-Judah,” but the inhabitants are called
“Ephrathites;” in Micah 5:2, “Bethlehem-Ephratah;” in Matthew 2:6,
“Bethlehem in the land of Judah.” In Psalm 132:6 it is mentioned as the
place where David spent his youth, and where he heard much of the ark,
although he never saw it till he found it long afterwards at Kirjath-jearim;
i.e., the “city of the wood,” or the “forest-town” (1 Samuel 7:1; comp. 2
Samuel 6:3, 4).
- EPHRATHITE a citizen of Ephratah, the old name of Bethlehem (Ruth
1:2; 1 Samuel 17:12), or Bethlehem-Judah. - EPHRON fawn-like. (1.) The son of Zohar a Hittite, the owner of the
field and cave of Machpelah (q.v.), which Abraham bought for 400 shekels
of silver (Genesis 23:8-17; 25:9; 49:29, 30).
(2.) A mountain range which formed one of the landmarks on the north
boundary of the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:9), probably the range on the
west side of the Wady Beit-Hanina.
- EPICUREANS followers of Epicurus (who died at Athens B.C. 270), or
adherents of the Epicurean philosophy (Acts 17:18). This philosophy was
a system of atheism, and taught men to seek as their highest aim a pleasant
and smooth life. They have been called the “Sadducees” of Greek
paganism. They, with the Stoics, ridiculed the teaching of Paul (Acts
17:18). They appear to have been greatly esteemed at Athens. - EPISTLES the apostolic letters. The New Testament contains
twenty-one in all. They are divided into two classes. (1.) Paul’s Epistles,
fourteen in number, including Hebrews. These are not arranged in the New
Testament in the order of time as to their composition, but rather
according to the rank of the cities or places to which they were sent. Who
arranged them after this manner is unknown. Paul’s letters were, as a rule,
dictated to an amanuensis, a fact which accounts for some of their