CHEDOR-LAOMER

OHEDOR-LAOMER.— An early king of Elam, who, according to Gn 14, exercised dominion over a con-siderable part of Western Asia. His vassals, Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, and Tidal, king of Goiim, helped him to defeat the Canaanite princes of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiira, and Zoar, who had rebelled against him after having acknowledged his authority for twelve years. Chedor-laomer and his aUies defeated the Canaanite princes in the valley of Siddim, and sacked Sodom and Gomorrah. But the story relates that they were in turn defeated by ' Abram, the Hebrew,' who surprised them by night and recovered the spoil of Sodom and his nephew Lot. The name of Chedor-laomer is a purely Elamite name (Kudw-Lagamar or KuHr-Lagamar), though it has not yet been found upon the inscriptions as that of an early king of Elam. But the recent excavations of M. de Morgan at Susa conflrm the BibUcal story, by reveaUng the considerable part which Elam played in the early history of Western Asia. L. W. King.

CHEEK.— The seat of health and beauty (Ca l'» 5"). To be smitten on the cheek was the cUmax of insult and violence. That the command in Mt 6^' is not to be interpreted literally is shown by Christ's own protest in Jn 182S. C. W. Emmet.

CHEESE.— See Milk.

CHELAL. — One who had married a foreign wife (Ezr 103»).

CHELLIANS. — Probably the inhabitants of the town Chellus (wh. see). Cf. Jth 1' 2".

CHELLTJS. — From the text (Jth V) this place is sup-posed to have been situated S.W. of Jerus. near Betane and N. of Kadesh and the 'river of Egypt,' i.e. the Wady-el-'Arish; but any certain identification is im-possible.

CHELOD.— Jth l""" reads, not as AV and RV 'many nations of the sons of Chelod assembled themselves to battle,' but 'there came together many nations unto the array (or ranks) of the sons of Cheleul.' It is not certain whether the 'many nations' are aUies of Nebuchadrezzar or of Arphaxad, or whether they come to help or to fight the 'sons of Chelod.' Probably v.«i> summarizes v.'"; hence 'sons of Chelod' should be Nebuchadrezzar's army. But he is, in Jth., king of Assyrians, not Chaldseans. No probable conjecture as to Aram, original has been made.

CHELUB.— 1. A descendant of Judah (1 Ch 4"). 2. The father of Ezri, one of David's superintendents (1 Ch 27=«).

CHELUBAI (1 Ch a').- Another form of Caleb. Cf. 1 Ch 2"- *', and see Caleb, and Cakmi, No. 2.

CHELTTHI. — One of the sons of Bani who had married a foreign wife (Ezr 10'^).

CHEMARIM.— In EV this word is found only in Zeph 1' ; but the original of which it is the transUteration is used also at 2 K 23' and Hos 10', and in both instances Chemdrim is placed in the margin of AV and RV. ChSmer, of which Chemarim is the plural, is of Aram, origin, and when used in Syr. carries no unfavourable connotation. In the Heb. of the OT, however, Che-mSrim always has a bad sense; it is applied to the priests who conducted the worship of the calves (2 K 23', Hos 10*), and to those who served the Baalim (Zeph 1'). Kimchi believed the original significance of the verbal form was 'to be black,' and explained the use of the noun by the assertion that the idolatrous priests wore black garments. Others take the root to mean, 'to be sad,' the chumra being a sad, ascetic person, a monk or priest.

OHEMOSH.— The national god of the Moabites (Nu 212"; in Jg 11*^ probably 'Chemosh' is a scribal or other error for 'Milcom' [wh. see], who held the same position among the Ammonites). His rites seem

CHERUBIM

to have included human sacrifice (cf. 2 K 3"). It was for this 'abomination of Moab' that Solomon erected a temple (1 K 11'), later destroyed by Josiah (2 K 23").

N. KOENIG.

CHENAANAH.— 1. A Benjamite (1 Ch 7'"). 2. The father of Zedekiah the false prophet in the reign of Ahab (1 K 22", 2 Ch IS").

CHENANI.— A Levite (Neh 9«).

CHENANIAH.— Chief of the Levltes at the removal of the ark from the house of Obed-edom (1 Ch IS^^- "), named among the officers and judges over Israel (2629).

CHEPHAR-AMMONI {'village of the Ammonites,' Jos 18M). — A town of Benjamin. Probably the ruin Kefr ' Ana near Bethel.

CHEPHIRAH C viUage,' Jos 9" IS^*, Ezr 22«, Neh 7"). — One of the four Hivite cities which made peace with the Hebrews; re-peopled after the Captivity, having belonged to Benjamin; called in 1 Es 5" Caphira. Now Kefireh S.W. of Gibeon.

CHEQUER WORK.- See Spinning and Weaving.

CHERAN. — One of the children of Disbon, the son of Seir, the Horite (Gn 36^', 1 Ch 1").

CHERETHITES AND PELETHITES.— These were mercenary soldiers, who probably began to attach themselves to David whilst he was an outlaw (2 S 22* etc.), and subsequently became the king's bodyguard and the nucleus of his army (2 S S's IS'* 20'- *', 1 K 138. 44_ 1 Ch 18"). Benaiah, whom Josephus calls 'captain of the guard' (Ant. vii. xi. 8), was their commander. They accompanied David in his retreat from Jerusalem (2 S 15"), fought against Absalom (2 S 20'- ^'), acted as Solomon's bodyguard at his coronation (1 K l^'- "). The Cherethites were a Philistine clan (1 S 30"), dwelling on the coast (Ezk 25", Zeph 2') ; and the name Pdethites may have been a corrupt form of Philistines. Unwillingness to believe that foreigners stood so near the national hero led certain Jewish scholars to assert that the two clans were Israelites. The appellation 'Cherethite' seems to be connected with Crete, and there is good ground (but see Caphtor) for the belief that Caphtor, from which Am 9' says the PhiUstines came, is to be identified with Crete. The LXX of Ezk 25", Zeph 2' uses Cretans as the equivalent of Cherethites. J. Taylor.

CHERITH.— The 'brook' by which Elijah lived (1 K 173- ') was 'before,' i.e. on the E. of Jordan. The popular identification of Cherith with the Wady Kelt between Jerusalem and Jericho is unwarranted.

CHERUB (Ezr 2", Neh 7").— One of the places from which certain families, on the return from Babylon, failed to prove their register as genuine branches of the Israelite people. See Charaathalan.

CHERUBIM, — 1. The most important passage for determining-STre origin of the Hebrew conception of the cherubim is Ps 18'°. The poet, in describing a theophany of Jehovah, represents the God of Israel as descending to earth on the black thunder-cloud: 'He rode upon a cherub and did fly, yea, he soared on the wings of the wind.' According to this passage, the cherub is a personification of the storm-cloud, or, as others prefer to interpret, of the storm-wind which bears Jehovah from heaven to earth.

2. We shall next discuss the part the cherubim play in the religious symbolism of the OT. In the Tabernacle there were two small golden cherubim, one at each end of the mercy-seat. It was these figures that invested the ark with its special significance as an emblem of the immediate presence of Jehovah. Cherubic figures were embroidered on the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place, and on the other tapestries of the sanctuary. In the ITemple two huge cherubim of olive wood, overlaid with gold, overshadowed the ark with

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