- MAOCH compressed, the father of Achish, king of Gath (1 Samuel
27:2). Called also Maachah (1 Kings 2:39). - MAON habitation, a town in the tribe of Judah, about 7 miles south of
Hebron, which gave its name to the wilderness, the district round the
conical hill on which the town stood. Here David hid from Saul, and here
Nabal had his possessions and his home (1 Samuel 23:24, 25; 25:2). “Only
some small foundations of hewn stone, a square enclosure, and several
cisterns are now to be seen at Maon. Are they the remains of Nabal’s great
establishment?” The hill is now called Tell M’ain. - MARA bitter; sad, a symbolical name which Naomi gave to herself
because of her misfortunes (Ruth 1:20). - MARAH bitterness, a fountain at the sixth station of the Israelites
(Exodus 15:23, 24; Numbers 33:8) whose waters were so bitter that they
could not drink them. On this account they murmured against Moses,
who, under divine direction, cast into the fountain “a certain tree” which
took away its bitterness, so that the people drank of it. This was probably
the ‘Ain Hawarah, where there are still several springs of water that are
very “bitter,” distant some 47 miles from ‘Ayun Mousa. - MARALAH trembling, a place on the southern boundary of Zebulun
(Joshua 19:11). It has been identified with the modern M’alul, about 4
miles south-west of Nazareth. - MARANATHA (1 Corinthians 16:22) consists of two Aramean words,
Maran’athah, meaning, “our Lord comes,” or is “coming.” If the latter
interpretation is adopted, the meaning of the phrase is, “Our Lord is
coming, and he will judge those who have set him at nought.” (Comp. Phil.
4:5; James 5:8, 9.) - MARBLE as a mineral, consists of carbonate of lime, its texture varying
from the highly crystalline to the compact. In Esther 1:6 there are four
Hebrew words which are rendered marble:, (1.) Shesh, “pillars of marble.”
But this word probably designates dark-blue limestone rather than marble.
(2.) Dar, some regard as Parian marble. It is here rendered “white marble.”
But nothing is certainly known of it. (3.) Bahat, “red marble,” probably
the verd-antique or half-porphyry of Egypt. (4.) Sohareth, “black marble,”
probably some spotted variety of marble. “The marble pillars and tesserae
of various colours of the palace at Susa came doubtless from Persia itself,
kiana
(Kiana)
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