JETHER

precepts of the Sermon on the Mount. They endure wrongs meekly, do not strike back, and are incapable of sustaining a feud. But it may still be, and actually is, a great thing for a strong man to do from principle what a weakUng does from indolence or cowardice. The objection that the Christian ethic is impracticable Is more frequently heard, at least in Great Britain. Even the Church finds it impracticable to act on our Lord's principle of secrecy in the matter of giving, while It would seem that the individual who carried out His precepts in business would be ruined, and that the nation which followed His programme of non-resistance would perish. The weight of the objection is so far reduced by the observation that our Lord's precepts are designed to be followed, not in the letter, but in the spirit — so that, e.g., the really important thing is, not to give to a thief who may have stolen a coat a doak in addition, but to cherish kindly feelings for him, and to act In his best interests, which may mean putting him in gaol. Similarly, our duty to the poor is to give wise expression to our love of them, which may very properly take account of the experience that indiscriminate charity increases the distress which it professes to relieve. The really essential thing is that brotherly love should prevail, that that which is to a large extent a fact In the sphere of the family should become truly operative in the class, the community, the nation, and among the peoples of the earth. It is to be remembered, too, that every ideal which has become practicable was once deemed impracticable — there have been states of society in which it seemed impossible to be honest, or temperate, or chaste; and though the Christian ideal towers high above the general practice of our generation, it may be that that 'practice vrill one day be looked back on as belonging to the half-savage practice of the world's youth. And in the present it has often been made sublimely practicable for those whom the Holy Spirit touched, and whose hearts were set aflame with a Christ-like love of man. W. P. Paterson.

JETHER.— 1. Father-tn-law of Moses (RVm of Ex 4'8 E), prob. a mistake for Jethro. 2. Eldest son of Gideon (Jg S"). 3. An IshmaeUte, father of Amasa (1 K 25- K, 1 Ch 2". See Ithka). i. 5. Two men of Judah (1 Ch 232 4"). 6. A man of Asher (1 Ch 7"); called in v." Ithran, the name of an Edomlte clan (Gn 362«).

JETHETH.— An Edomlte clan (Gn 36" = 1 Ch 16').

JETHRO {once. Ex 4i8« Jether).— An Arab sheik and priest of the Sinaitlc Peninsula, the father-in-law of Moses; referred to by this name in Ex 3' 4" and 18'- ™-(E), as Reuel in the present text of Ex 2i8 (J), and as Hobab in Nu lO^' (also J). He welcomed Moses and received him Into his family (Ex 2»), and many years later visited him at Sinai (Ex ISi*-), heard with wonder and delight of the doings of Jahweh on behalf of Israel (v.«-), and gave advice about administration (vv."-"). Later still he probably acted as guide to the Israelites

JEWELS AND PRECIOUS STONES

(Nu lO""-; cf. the AV of Jg 1" and 4"). As to the two or three names, it may be noted that Arabic inscriptions (Mineean) repeatedly give a priest two names. The name Jethro (Heb. Yithrd) may mean 'pre-eminence.' See art. Hobab. W. Taylob Smith.

JETUR.— See Itur^a.

JEUEL.— 1. A Judahite (1 Ch 9«). 2. A Levitical family name (2 Ch 29"). 3. A contemporary of Ezra (Ezr 8"). In 2 and 3 QerS has Jeiel.

JEUSH. — 1. A son of Esau by Ohollbamah; also the eponym of a Horlte clan (Gn 36'- "■ " = 1 Ch 1»). 2. A Benjamite chief (7"). 3. A descendant of Saul (1 Ch 8"). 4. The name of a Levitical family (1 Ch 23'»'). 5. A son of Rehoboam (2 Ch 11").

JETTZ. — The eponym of a Benjamite family (1 Ch S").

JEW. — The name by which the descendants of Israel have been known for many centuries. It is corrupted from Judah. After the division of the kingdom in b.c. 937, the southern portion was called by the name of the powerful tribe of Judah, which composed most of its inhabitants. It was in this king-dom that the Deuteronomic reform occurred, which was the first step in the creation of an organized religion sharply differentiated from the other religions of the world. This religion, developed during the Exile, bore the name of the kingdom of Judah. All Israelites who maintained their Identity were its adherents, hence the name 'Jew' has absorbed the name 'Israel.' For their history, see Israel (I. 21-30) and Dispersion. For their reUgion, see Israel (II. 5. 6).

On the special meaning of 'the Jews' in Jn. see p. 481'' f. George A. Barton.

JEWEL. — Gn 2i^ 'the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.' They were not jewels set in silver and in gold. Ornaments made of gold or silver were in older English called jewels. Now the word is confined to precious stones.

JEWELS AND PRECIOUS STONES.— The greater number of the precious stones in the Bible occur in three lists which it will be instructive to tabulate at the outset. These are: (A) the stones in the high priest's breastplate (Ex 28"-'" 39i»-"); (B) those in the 'cover-ing' of the king of Tyre (Ezk 28"); (C) those in the foundation of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21"- *"). The three lists are to some extent mutually connected. A contains 12 stones. B in Heb. has 9, all taken from A, with traces of A's order in their arrangement. InLXX the two lists are identical, and possibly the Heb. of B is corrupt. C also has 12 stones, and is evidently partly dependent on the LXX of A and B.

It seems Ukely that in List A as well as in List B the LXX iaspis corresponds to the Heb. yashepheh, and that the sixth and twelfth names In the Heb. of A have been interchanged.

Reference to these tables will simplify the use of the following notes, which include other precious stones of

2G

465