OSPRAY

war against Elam was the conclusion of a great conflict with Babylonia, with which country Elam on the east and most of the western subject States, including .Tudah, were in alliance. And it was before Ashurbanipal, as victorious king of Babylonia, that the rebel Judahite Manasseh was brought in fetters to Babylonia, as related in 2 Ch 33" — an event whose historicity has been unnecessarily called In question. J. F. M' Curdy.

OSPRAY Coznlvyah, Lv 11", Dt I412).— Probably the fish-eating Pandion haliaetus, which is still found in the Plain of Acre and at the Huleh. The Heb. name may have included also one or more of the smaller eagles.

E. W. G. Mastehman.

0SSIFBA6E (peres ='the breaker,' Lv 11", Dt 14", RV gier eagle). — This is the Lammergeier (Gypaetxis barbatus), a great bird with a spread of ten feet across, distinguished from the true vultures by its neck being covered by dirty-white feathers. It occurs !n the ravines around the Dead Sea, but is apparently gradually becoming extinct in Palestine. The Heb. peres and Latin osslfragus are both due to its habit of carrying large bones, tortoises, etc., to a great height and then dropping them upon the ground in order that it may get access to the soft contents.

E. W. G. Mastehman.

OSTRICH.—

1. bath ya'andh, Lv 11", Dt 14", Job 3(P, Is IS^" 3413 432(i_ Jer 5CF, and Mic 1'. In all these references AV has 'owl," but RV 'ostrich.' Lit. tr. of Heb. is ' daughter of greed.'

2. 2/?'eni77i, ostriches,' La 4'.

3. i^indnlm, Job 39" AV 'peacocks,' RV 'ostrich.' (In same veise diaslddh 'kindly' is in AV mistranslated 'ostrich.')

The ostrich (Struthio camelus) still exists in the deserts to E. and S.E. of Syria; a Uve specimen was brought into Jerusalem a few years ago, and their eggs are from time to time offered for sale by the Bedouin.

The popular view of the ostrich's neglect of her eggs appears in Job 39"-", but the following is her real habit. The ostrich Is polygamous, and a group of three or four hens, jealously guarded by a cock, lay some thirty or forty eggs in a common nest in the ground, covering them over with sand. During the day the heat of the sun is a sufficient incubator, but at night the birds take turns in keeping the eggs warm. A few scattered eggs, said to be used for food for the young chicks, are laid after the nest is closed, and these have given rise to the popular view. The feathers (Job 39"), the svrift pace (v. '8), and the mournful cry (Mic 1^) of the ostrich are all referred to in Scripture, and in Job 3C its cry is associated with that other melancholy night-cry — the 'waiUng' of the jackals.

E. W. G. Mastekman.

OTHNI.— A son of Shemaiah (1 Ch 26').

OTHNIEL (meaning unknown). — According to Jg 1" the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. As a reward for taking Kiriath-sepher, he receives Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, for his wife. Othniel is the first mentioned among the 'Judges' of Israel; Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, had oppressed the Israelites for eight years, when Jahweh 'raised up a saviour' in the person of Othniel, who fought against the oppressor and overcame him, thus bringing rest to the land. W. O. E. Obsterlet.

OTHONIAS (1 Es 92s) =Mattaniah in Ezr 10".

OUCH.— The word ' ouch ' is used in AVf or the setting of a jewel, but it is also used in Old Eng. for the jewel itself. See Breastplate (of the High Priest).

OZNI

OVEN.— See Bread. OWL.—

1. bath va'andh.KV 'ostrich' (wh. see).

2. yanshti/pk, Lv 11". Dt 14", 'great owl'; lyanshoph], Is,34" owl,' RVm 'bittern'; commonly thought to be the ibis.

3. Ms, Lv 11", Dt 14", 'little owl'; Ps 102« 'owl.' 4.qippdz, Is 34«, AV 'great owl,' RV 'arrowsnake.'

The description ' make her nest, and lay, andhatCh ' certainly seems to point to some bird, but what kind is uncertain

5. tinahemeth, Lv 11", Dt 14", AV 'swan,' RV 'homed owl.' See Swan.

6. lUith, Is 34", AV 'screech owl,' AVm and RV 'night monster,' RVm 'Lilith,' the fabulous monster which ia m Jewish folklore such an enemy of children.

Owls are very plentiful in Palestine. Most common of aU is the little bSmeh {Athene glaux), whose melancholy cry can be heard anywhere in the open country when twilight begins. It is a general favourite and very tame. The great Egyptian eagle-owl, the next most common species, is a large bird, nearly two feet long, with long ear tufts (see No. 5). It haunts ruins, and has a prolonged and desolate cry.

E. W. G. Masterman.

OX. — An ancestor of Judith (Jth 8').

OX, OXEH, HERD, CATTLE.—

1. shor, Gn 32=, 1 S 221= etc.; Aram, tor (cf. Arab-Oumr) is used in Ezr 6'- " 7" and Dn 4^- ^2- a; ahor is used collectively and alsof or a single memberof the bovine species of any^age and either sex.

2. 'aldphlm (only in pi.); a general term for 'oxen,' Dt 7" 28<- "• '1, Ps 8', Pr 14«, Is 30".

3. par 'young bull,' 'bullock'; and paroA 'young cow.' See Hezfer.

4. 'abblr (in plur.) 'bulls' in Ps 22" 50", Is 34'; but 'strong ones' or 'horses' elsewhere.

5. teo, Dt 14« AV 'wild ox,' RV 'antelope'; to. Is 61«i AV 'wild bull,' RV 'antelope.'

6. 'edAerherd; in Jl 1" conjoined with 6agar = herds of oxen; and in same veise with toon = herds (EV 'flocks') of small cattle (sheep and goats).

7. rtiianeh usually tr. 'cattle'; in Gn 47^' conjoined with feogar = herds' (AV and RVm 'cattle of the herds').

8. beh^tnah 'cattle'; in Gn47^8 conjoined with mi3neA = 'herds of cattle.'

Oxen are specially valuable in Palestine for ploughing (Dt 22'», 1 K 19") and for threshing, i.e. 'treading out the corn' (Dt 25<, Hos 10"). They were used for carts (Nu 7'); the Circassians, recently settled In Palestine, use them extensively in this way, but not the feUahm. In 1 Ch 12" oxen are also mentioned as burden-bearers. Their use for sacrifice is repeatedly referred to (see 1 K 8M, 2 Ch 29=3). The cattle of Palestine are small and mostly lean, owing to poor food and much work. They are most plentiful in Galilee, where the pasturage is better; and a much larger breed, the cows of which give excellent milk, flourishes around Damascus. In several parts of the Jordan Valley, notably in el-Batiha, N. of Lake of Tiberias, and near Lake Huleh, the buffalo or jatims (.Bosbubcdus) is kept by the Bedouin; it yields excellent milk.

For the 'wild ox' (RV tr. oi re'im), see Unicorn. E. W. G. Masterman.

OX -GOAD. — See Agriculture, § 1.

OZEM.— 1. An elder brother of David (1 Ch 2"). 2. A son of Jerahmeel (1 Ch ^).

OZIAS. — 1. 1 Es 8^ 2 Es 1^ an ancestor of Ezra. 2. 1 Es 5" =TJzza, Ezr 2", Neh 7". 3. The son of Micah (Jth 6" 7^ 8'»- 28. 38 10").

OZIEL.— An ancestor of Judith (Jth 8>).

OZNI. — See Ezbon, 1.

671