MIGDOL

el-Mejdel, a thriving village 2i miles N.E. of Ashkelon. The name ' Tower of Gad ' probably points to its having been a seat of idolatry, vfhere the Canaanites worshipped Gad — 'Good Luck' or 'Fortune.' W. Ewinq.

MIGDOL. — A Semitic word meaning 'tower,' bor-rowed by the Egyptians of the New Kingdom, and common as a word and in place-names. 1. Ex 142, Nu33', on the border of Egypt, near the spot where the Israel-ites crossed the Red Sea: probably a mere guardhouse on the road. 2. Ezk 29"' 30', where 'from Migdol to Syene' is the true reading, instead of 'from the tower of Seveneh.' Here Migdol is the N.E. extremity of Egypt, as Seveneh is the S. It may be identical with Magdolo in a Roman itinerary, perhaps at the now deserted site of Tell el-Her, 12 miles south of Pelusium. 3. In Jer 44' 46" Migdol is mentioned with Tahpanhes and Noph (Memphis) as a habitation of the Jews, and is probably the same as No. 2. F. Ll. GRiFriTH.

UIGROK. — One of the places mentioned in Isaiah's description of the march of the Assyrians on Jerusalem. The direction of the march is from north to south: hence Migron (Is 10^') lay north of Michmash (wh. see), and north of the Wady es-Suwinit, which is the 'pass' of Is 10™. The name perhaps survives in Makrun, a ruined site situated a mile or two N.W. of Makh-mS-s (Michmash). In 1 S 14^ Saul, whose army was en-camped south of the Wady es-Suwinit, is said to have dwelt in 'the uttermost part of Geba (so read) under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron.' Probably 'in Migron' should rather be translated 'in the thresh-ing-floor'; if not, we must infer that there were two places not many miles apart, one north and the other south of the Wady es-Suwentt, bearing the same name. This southern Migron has not been identified.

G. B. Gray.

MUAIVrnr. — l. one of those who had married a foreign wife (Ezr lO^s); called in 1 Es 9» Maelus. 2. Eponym of the 6th of the priestly courses (1 Ch 24'). This family returned with Zerub. (Neh 12'), and was represented at the sealing of the covenant (10') = Uiniamin of Neh 12".

TVTTKT.OTH.— 1. A son of Jeiel (1 Ch 832=9"'). 2. An officer of David (1 Ch 27<).

MTKWEIAH.— A gate-keeper of the ark (1 Ch 15").

TWTT.AT.AT — The eponym of a priestly family (Neh 12a).

UILCAH. — 1. Daughter of Haran and wife of Nahor (On ll"). The names of her children are given in 222I"-. Rebekah was her granddaughter (24"- ". "). 2. Daughter of Zelophehad, Nu 263« 27' 36", Jos 17' (aU P).

MILCOM. — The national deity of Ammon. Solomon established a sanctuary for him on the Mount of Olives, which seems to have continued till it was destroyed by Josiah (1 K lis- as, 2 K 23'3). In 2 S 12'", 1 Ch 20', Jer 49', and Zeph 1' Malcam ('their king') is probably an incorrect vocalization of Milcom. The name is from the common Semitic root malk, melek ('king' or 'prince'), probably with an inflectional termination. The traditional identification of Milcom with Molech is based only upon 1 K 11', a verse which is probably corrupt. See Molech. W. M. Nesbit.

MILDEW (v^aqSn, Dt 28« 1 K 8", 2 Ch &>, Am 4', Hag 2") is a disease of grain due to various fungi: it is produced by damp, and is in the above passages associated with shidddphBn, 'blasting,' the opposite condition produced by excessive drought.

E. W. G. Mastebman.

MILE. — See Weiohts and Measuhes.

MILETUS. — The southernmost of the twelve colonies forming the Ionian confederacy of Asia Minor. It lay on the S. coast of the Latonian Gulf, which penetrated Carta S. of the peninsula of Mycale, and received the

MILK

waters of the Maeander. The silt of this river filled up the gulf, and Miletus is now 5 miles from the sea, while the former island of Lade, which helped to make its harbour. Is now a hill rising in the alluvial plain.

Two visits of St. Paul to Miletus are mentioned. The first (Ac 20") took place when he was returning to Jerusalem at the end of the Third Missionary Journey. He stayed long enough to send for the elders of Ephesus, and give them the farewell charge recorded in Ac 20. This probably needed two days. The second visit is mentioned in 2 Ti i'" 'Trophimus I left at Miletus sick.' This must have been between St. Paul's first and second imprisonment at Rome. In neither case are we told of any attempt to found a church at Miletus. Miletus was already unimportant by comparison with Ephesus, ' which now received the trade of the Maander valley, and shared with Smyrna the trade that came along the great road through the centre of Asia Minor. Ephesus was recognized by the Romans as the southern capital of the province of Asia. Formerly Miletus had led Ionia. Its trade was mainly in wool, and it had founded numerous colonies on the Black Sea and Propontis (Sinope, Trapezus, Abydos, Cyzicus), besides Naueratis in Egypt. It had led the Ionian revolt, the fate of which was determined by the battle of Lade and the capture of Miletus, b.c. 494. It had defended itself on behalf of the Persian power against Alexander in b.c. 334. Its ruins are now called Palatia. They seem to include few Christian remains, but Miletus was a bishopric, and from the Sth cent, an archbishopric.

A. E. HlLLAHD.

MILE. — Milk was at all times an important article of diet among the Hebrews, and by ben-Sira is rightly assigned a prominent place among the principal things necessary for man's life (Sir 39^). It was supplied by the females of the 'herd' and of the 'flock,' the latter term including both sheep and goats (Dt 32'^, where render 'sour milk [diem'ah] of the herd, and milk [chSlab'] of the flock'), probably also by the milch camels (Gn 32"). At the present day goats' milk is preferred to every other.

In Bible times, as now, milk slightly soured or fer-mented was a favourite beverage. The modern Bedouin prepares this sour milk, or leben, as it is called, by pour-ing the fresh milk into a skin (ct. Jg 4" ' she opened the milk-skin (EV 'a bottle of milk'), and gave him drink'), to the sides of which clots of sour milk from a previous milking still adhere. The skin is shaken for a Uttle, when the process of fermentation speedily commences, and the milk is served ' with that now gathered sourness which they think the more refreshing ' (Doughty, Arabia Deserta, I. 263). Such was the refreshment with which Jael supplied Sisera. 'He asked water, she gave him milk; she brought him sour mUk (cftem'Sft) in a lordly dish' (Jg 5^, where EV has 'butter,' but one does not drink butter; cf. 4" cited above).

In several OT passages, however, this word, chem'Sh, does evidently signify butter, as in Pr 30" ' the churn-ing (Ut. as RVm 'pressing') of milk bringeth forth butter.' So Ps 55^ RV, 'his mouth was smooth as butter,' where 'sour milk' is clearly out of place. The former passage suggests the procedure of the Arab housewife whom Doughty describes (op. cit. ii. 67) as ' rocking her blown-up milk-skin upon her knees till the butter came; they find it in a clot at the mouth of the skin.' Butter cannot be kept sweet under the cUmatic conditions of Palestine, but must be boiled, producing the samn or clarified butter universally prized throughout the East.

Cheese is mentioned three times in our AV (1 S 17", 2 S 17^°, Job 10'°); in each case the original has a different word. The clearest case is the last cited; the text of 2 S H'", on the other hand, is admittedly in disorder, and we should perhaps read, by a slight change of consonants, ' dried curds' ; these, when rubbed down and mixed with water, yield a refreshing

617