NAIDUS

Bible-reader, as though the story of Nineveh had little connexion with the progress of the Kingdom of God, and were merely a complete and isolated tact of the past with no relation to present needs. Yet it Nahum is not a religious teacher like Micah or Isaiah, he focuses the truth ot God's moral government of the world, concentrating the Ught upon a single typical instance; and he does not fail to defend confidence in God as the eventual Avenger ot wrong and the perpetual defence ot those who love Him. Where he differs chiefly from the other prophets is in the complete outwardness of his gaze. He has no eye for the short-coming or sin of Judah, and no revelation to make of the inner history or moral character of his own generation. In this respect he contrasts especially with his contemporary Zephaniah, who also looked for the collapse of the Assyrian kingdom, but saw clearly a similar fate about to overtake the sinners of Israel. For Nahum, Nineveh Ms up the whole canvas. The prophecy is a stern song ot war, a shout of triumph over the conquered and slain; and though thereby it stands in contrast with the kindher temper and spirit of the NT, in which no citation from the book occurs, it accords well with the traditions of its own age. And its great lesson, from which attention is not allowed to be diverted, is that the mills of God grind ' exceeding small,' and for nations as for individuals ' sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death ' (Ja 1").

R. W. Moss. NAIDUS (1 Es 95>) apparently =Benaiah, Ezr lO^n.

NAIL. — 1. Among the ancient Arabs it was the custom for a widow to allow her nails to grow during her term ot mourning. To pare them was a formal indication that this period was at an end. From Dt 21'^ and 2 S 19=» (LXX) it may be inferred that such was also the custom among the Hebrews. The former passage, however, refers only to the case ot a foreign captive whom a Hebrew might take to wife after a month's seclusion, during which the care ot the person was neglected in token of mourning for the captive's condition. The latter passage in its better Gr. form (see Cent. Bible, in loc.) tells us that Mephib-osheth showed his sympathy with David by, inter alia, omitting to trim his 'toe-nails and his finger-nails' during the latter's absence from Jerusalem.

2. The Heb. word most frequently rendered 'nail' is properly a tent-peg, or, as Jg 421 RV, tent-pin. This is also the better rendering in Zee 10^, where it is synony-mous with 'comer-stone,' both terms signifying the princes or leading men of the State as its supports. The figure of Is 22'^- ^, on the other hand, is derived from the custom ot driving a nail into the house-wall upon which to hang (v.^^) domestic utensils or the like.

A. R. S. Kennedy.

NAIN. — The town where Jesus raised the widow's son to Ute (Lk 7"). The name is found in the modern Neln, a small, squalid village, 6 miles S.E. ot Nazareth, on the N. slope of the Hill ot Moreh, the so-called 'Little Hermon.' The summit of the hill is 1690 feet high, with a white-domed sanctuary, the tomb of the saint from whom the mountain takes its modern name, Jd>el ed-Duhy. The village is 744 feet above the sea. Sir W. M. Ramsay thinks 'there can be little doubt that the ancient city was on the top' of the hill (The Education of Christ, Preface, ix), but the evidence is not stated. The present village is insignificant. Ruins stretch to the north, showing that the place was once ot some importance; but they are comparatively modern. The rock-cut tombs to the East, however, bespeak a much higher antiquity. The small sanctuary, Maqam Sldna 'Isa, 'Place of our Lord Jesus,' on the north, doubtless commemorates the visit ot the Saviour. There is no trace of city walla. Tristram was misled by the shape ot the ruins (Land of Israel, 125). 'The Gate' was probably the usual entrance from that direc-tion. The site commands an interesting view. Across

NAME, NAMES

a narrow bay of Esdraelon rises Mt. Tabor, over the eastern shoulder of which the white summit of Hermon is visible; while to the N.W. and W. the eye ranges over the hills of Lower Galilee, and the rolling breadths ot the great plain, to Mt. Carmel by the sea.

W. EwiNO.

NAIOTH. — A place 'in Ramah,' where was a 'com-pany ot the prophets.' Here David fled to Samuel after Saul had attacked him with a javelin; hither Saul pursued him, and was seized with an ecstatic fit ot some kind (1 S 1918-m). Nothing is known of the situation of the place. It is not even absolutely certain that Naioth is a proper name; but opinions differ respect-ing its possible meaning. R. A. S. Macausteb.

NAME, NAMES.— 1. The names o£ God.— See God, p. 299 f. _ 2. Personal names, — From the earliest times the name given to a child was supposed to indicate some character-istic of the person; of the circumstances, trivial or momentous, connected with Ws or her birth; ot the hopes, beUet s, or feelings of the parents. This is evident from the etymologies (Gn 213- = 27», Ex 2i«, 1 S 421 2525 etc.), not always reliable, but testifying to the impression that name and facts should correspond. There are many indications of the persistence of this idea. For instance, there is the frequency of names denoting personal qualities, Adin, Amasai, Jaddua, Korah, Solomon, etc.; or pointing to occupations, Asa, Sophereth, etc. Again, an Isaiah (7* 8^) or a Hosea (24. 6. 9) ig quite ready to bestow symboUcal names on his children; a Jeremiah (20') predicts the change from Pashhw to Magor-missabib, because the latter will more accurately correspond to the surroundings; and the same prophet sums up all his hopes tor the future in the title which he bestows on the Messianic King and the holy city (23« 33"; cf. Rev 19"). The new name promised to the faithful (Rev 2") corresponds to the fresh glory bestowed on him, which differs in each recipient and is known only to himself (Rev 14i).

Analogous convictions prevailed among other Eastern nations. Nomen et omen was an influential conception. When a man was wanted to milk a camel, Mohammed dis- qualified one applicant after another till a man came whosd name meant 'Long Life'; if one of his converts was called 'Rough,' he called'^him 'Smooth'; he was even guided in his strategy by the names of the places en route (Margoliouth, Mohammed, p. 61 f.).

Generally the name was fixed immediately alter birth, as it still is with the Arabs. The mother usually exer-cised this privilege (Gn i^ IQs"- 29««- 30««- '«=• SS's, 1 S Vo *a. Is 7"), sometimes the father (Gn i^ le's 17" 21=, Ex 222, 2 S 122«, Hos 1™), occasionally other interested persons (Ru 4", Lk l"-*'). Some names were bestowed indifferently on men and women: Abiah, (1 K 143', I ch 2*'); Abihail (Nu 3^, 1 Ch 229); Zibiah (2 K 122, 1 Ch 8»).

Beginning at a fairly early date, there are a moderate number of names derived from the vegetable world: Elah ('terebinth'), Zuph ('sedge'), Tama,r ('palm-tree'), etc. The majority, however, belong to more recent documents: Asnah ('bramble'), Coz ('thorn'), Hadassah ('myrtle'), Susannah ('lily'), Shamir ('thorn'), etc. Other natural objects are also drawn upon: Geshem ('rain'), Barak ('lightning'), etc.; curiously enough, Jorah ('autumn-rain,' Ezr 2") is identical with Hariph ('autumn,' Neh T*). A tew, of peculiarly difficult interpretation, point to family relationships: j4fto6='father's brother,' but the question is whether it signifies 'uncle' or whether it is an indication that the child closely resembles his father or is to be as a brother to him. .Aft6an=' brother is son,' Ahiam='a, maternal uncle,' belong to this class. But Moses, if, as is most probable, ot Egyptian origin and signifying 'son,' is a shortened form of a theophorous name; cf. Moseb, ad init.

Names which have a religious import are more char-

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