only twice again, once on the Sea of Galilee with the seven disciples, where he is ranked next after
Peter, (John 21:2) and again in the assemblage of the apostles after the ascension. (Acts 1:13) The
earlier traditions, as believed in the fourth century, represent him as preaching in Parthia or Persia,
and as finally buried at Edessa. The later traditions carry him farther east, His martyrdom whether
in Persia or India, is said to have been occasioned by a lance, and is commemorated by the Latin
Church on December 21 the Greek Church on October 6, and by the Indians on July 1.
Thorns
and Thistles. There appear to be eighteen or twenty Hebrew words which point to different
kinds of prickly or thorny shrubs. These words are variously rendered in the Authorized Version
By “thorns,” “briers,” “thistles,” etc. Palestine abounded in a great variety of such plants. (“Travellers
call the holy land ’a land of thorns.’ Giant thistles, growing to the height of a man on horseback,
frequently spread over regions once rich and fruitful, as they do on the pampas of South America;
and many of the most interesting historic spats and ruins are rendered almost inaccessible by thickets
of fiercely-armed buckthorns. Entire fields are covered with the troublesome creeping stems of the
spinous ononis, while the bare hillsides are studded with the dangerous capsules of the puliuris and
tribulus. Roses of the most prickly kinds abound on the lower slopes of Hermon; while the
sub-tropical valleys of Judea are choked up in many places by the thorny lycium .”— Biblical
Things not generally Known.) Crown of thorns.—The crown which was put in derision upon our
Lord’s head before his crucifixion, is by some supposed to have been the Rhamnus, or Spina Christi
; but although abundant in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, it cannot be the plant intended, because
its thorns are so strong and large that it could not have been woven into a wreath. The large-leaved
acanthus (bear’s-foot) is totally unsuited for the purpose. Had the acacia been intended, as some
suppose, the phrase would have been ex akanthes. Obviously some small, flexile, thorny shrub is
meant; perhaps Cappares spinosae. Hasselquist (“Travels,” p. 260) says that the thorn used was
the Arabian nabk. “It was very suitable for their purpose, as it has many sharp thorns, which inflict
painful wounds; and its flexible, pliant and round branches might easily be plaited in the form of
a crown.” It also resembles the rich dark crown green of the triumphal ivy-wreath, which would
give additional pungency to its ironical purpose.
Three Taverns
A station on the Appian Road, along which St. Paul travelled from Puteoli to Rome. (Acts
28:15) The distances, reckoning southward from Rome are given as follows in the Antonine Itinerary:
“to Aricia, 16 miles; to Three Taverns, 17 miles; to Appii Forum, 10 miles;” and, comparing this
with what is still observed along the line of road, we have no difficulty in coming to the conclusion
that “Three Taverns” was near the modern Cisterna. Just at this point a road came in from Antium
on the coast. There is no doubt that “Three Taverns” was a frequent meeting-place of travellers.
Threshing
[Agriculture]
Threshold
Of the two words so rendered is the Authorized Version, one,miphthan,,seems to mean sometimes
a projecting beam or corbel. (Ezekiel 9:3; 10:4,18)
Thresholds, The
This word, Asuppe, appears to be inaccurately rendered in (Nehemiah 12:25) though its real
force has perhaps not yet been discovered. The “house of Asuppim,” or simply “the Asuppim,” is
mentioned in (1 Chronicles 26:15,17) as a part, probably a gate of the enclosure of the “house of
frankie
(Frankie)
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