NECK

having brushed aside the force with which Josiah endeavoured to oppose him at Uegiddo, and slain that king. Eeturning, he deposed Jehoahaz, the son and successor of Josiah, at Riblah, substituted for him his elder brother Eliakim, whose name he changed to Jehoiakim, and exacted tribute from the new king at the expense of the people. But Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, was now secure enough in the east to send his son Nebuchadrezzar to dispute the prize with the Egyptian king. Nebuchadrezzar routed Necho's forces at Carchemish (in b.c. 605), and took from him all his Syrian possessions, from 'the brook of Egypt unto the liver Euphrates.' F. Ll. Griffith.

NEOK. — The most usual words are ' Breph and tsamar in Heb., and trachelos in Greek. Chains upon the neck were a common ornament (Pr 1» etc., Ezk 16"). To fall upon one another's neck has from old time been an affectionate form of greeting in the East (Gn 33' etc.). The neck under yoke meant subjection and servitude (Dt 28" etc.); breaking of the yoke meant deliverance (Gn 27", Jer 30*). Stiff or hard of neck (Dt 31" etc.) signified one difficult to guide, Uke a hard-necked bullock in the furrow. To put the foot upon the neck of a foe, meant his utter overthrow (Jos 10^ etc.). To put the neck to work (Neh 3>) was a phrase equivalent to our own 'put a hand to.' W. Ewing.

NECKLACE.— See Ornaments, § 3. NECROMANCY.— See Magic Divination and

SORCEBT.

NEDABIAH.— A descendant of David (1 Ch 3"). NEEDLE'S EYE.— See Camel, ad fin. NEEDLEWORK.— See Embboidekt.

NEESING. — The vb. 'to neese' (mod. 'sneeze') occurs in the 1611 ed. of AV at 2 K i^, ' the child neesed seven times.' But the 'neesing' (Job 41'*) of leviathan (the crocodile) means hard breathing, snorting, and does not come from the same A.S. verb as 'neese' meaning 'to sneeze.'

NEGEB, originally meaning 'the dry land,' is in most passages in the OT the name of a definite geographical area (Dt 1' 34f, Jos 10*° 12s etc.); the word is, however, used also in the sense of 'South' (Gn 13"). The Negeb was often the scene of Abraham's wanderings (Gn 12" 13'- ^ 20') ; here Hagar was succoured by the angel (Gn 16'- "); Isaac (Gn 24»2) and Jacob (Gn 37' 46') both dwelt there; through this district passed the spies (Nu 13"- ^2). in Nu 13^8 the Negeb is described as belonging to the Amalekites. Later the land was allotted to Simeon, and its cities are enumerated (Jos. 19' -») ; later they reverted to Judah (Jos 15^' -52). David was stationed by Achish at Ziklag on the borders of the Negeb (IS 27°). At this time the Negeb is described as of several parts, the Negeb of Judah, of the Jerahmeelites, and of the Kenites (1 S 27'°); while in 1 S 30'* we read of the Negeb of the Cherethites and of Caleb. Jeremiah (13") prophesied trouble as coming on the cities of this region, but on the return from captivity they too were to participate in the blessings (32" 33'°).

The district in question was an ill-defined tract of country lying S. of Hebron, and extending some 70 miles to the Tik or desert. It was bounded on the E. by the Dead Sea and the 'Arabah, while W. it faded away into the Maritime Plain. It was a pastoral region, wedged between the cultivated lands on the N. and the wilder-ness, and formed a most efficient barrier to the land of Israel towards the South. Attacks of large armed forces could not come from this direction, but only by the 'Arabah to the S.E. (Gn 14), via Gaza on S.W., or by the E. of the Jordan. The Israelites themselves were compelled to take the last route. The country consists of a series of mountainous ridges running in a general direction E. and W., with open wadys in which a certain amount of water collects even now; in ancient

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NEHEMIAH

days dams were constructed in places to collect and store the rainfall, which to-day soon runs off. Though now little better than a wilderness, the numerous ruins of towns and broken terraces witness to days of large population and good cultivation; the OT, too, in the stories of Saul's and David's captures from the Amalekites (1 S 15° 27°), witnesses to a great wealth of cattle. In Byzantine times the land attained its highest prosperity. Under neglect it has become again little better than a desert: the Bedouin of these parts are known in Palestine for their skill in making rough cisterns on the hillsides to catch the surface water, and have in recent years been employed to construct many such in the 'wilderness of Judsea.' Beersheba and the district around have recently been greatly improved: a rough carriage road has been made from there to Gaza. E. W. G. Masterman.

NEGINAH, NEGINOTH.— See Psalms, p. 772«.

NEHELAIUITE.— An epithet applied to Shemaiah, a false prophet who opposed Jeremiah (Jer 29°<- s'- '^). According to analogy the word should mean ' an inhabit-ant of Nehelam, ' but there is no place of that name mentioned in the Bible.

NEHEMIAH.— 1. One of the twelve heads of the Jewish community (Ezr 22 = Neh 7'), 1 Es 5'Nehemias. 2 . One of those who helped to repair the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 3"). 3. See the following article. "

NEHEMIAH.— Son of Hacaliah and cupbearer to king Artaxerxes. Our sole source of information regarding this great Jewish patriot is the book that bears his name. According to this, in the 20th year of Artaxerxes {i.e., as usually understood, of Artaxerxes i. Longimanus, 464-424), B.C. 445-444, Nehemiah is at Susa, the chief city of Elam and the winter residence of the Persian court. Here, in consequence of a report that reaches him regarding the ruined condition of Jerusalem and its people, Nehemiah is, on his own initiative, appointed governor (pechah) of the province of Judaea by the king. He is granted a limited leave of absence by the latter, furnished with royal letters and an escort to assure his safe passage; and also ^ith a royal rescript to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forests, commanding that he shall be furnished with sufficient supplies of timber. On arriving at Jerusalem, having satisfied himself as to the ruinous condition of the city walls, he energetically begins the task of re-building them, and, in spite of much opposition from without (from Sanballat and others), he, with the aid of the entire Jewish population drawn from the outlying villages, successfully accomplishes his undertaking within two months (Neh 1-7). All this, according to the usually accepted chronology, happened in the year 444. The wall was ' finished ' on the 2Sth day of the 6th month (6'°), and on the first day of the following month the events of the religious reform described in chs. 8-10 apparently began. The Book of the Law was read by Ezra in the presence of Nehemiah before the people in solemn assembly; the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated (8'°-'°); national confession of sin was made (ch. 9) ; and the ' covenant ' was sealed, the people pledging themselves to observe its obUgations (ch. 10). In 12"-" a description of the solemn dedication of the completed walls is given. If 2 Mac 1'° can be relied on as preserving a true tradition, the dedication took place on the 25th ol Chislev (December), i.e. three months after the completion, and two months after the reading of the Law and the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles.

The exact sequence of these events is uncertain. Some would place the reading of the Law, etc., subsequent to the Dedication, in the following year. Rawlineon proposed to place the Dedication 12 years later, in Nehemiah s second governorship. But this view is improbable.

Shortly after these events, it would seem, Nehemiah