PISPAH

Pisidia. The civilization of tlie district seems to haye been eifected by about a.d. 74. Until then it was dealt with as part ol the province of Galatia, but at that date Vespasian attached a considerable portion of it to Pamphylia, in which province no great military force was maintained,

Paul and Barnabas traversed the district twice in the first missionary journey (Ac 13'' 142<). It was probably still a dangerous locality, and it is plausibly conjectured that St. Paul refers to it when he speaks of 'perils of robbers' (2 Co ll^'). The route which they followed is uncertain, but the most likely theory la that of Prof. Ramsay (see Church in the Roman Empire, ch. ii. 2), that they went through Adada, the ruins of which bear the name Kara Bavlo (i.e. Paulo). The dedication of the church to St. Paul may have been due to some surviving tradition of his passing by that way, but we are not informed that he preached at all in Pisidia. There is no evidence that Christianity made any progress in Pisidia before the time of Constantine. From the time of Diocletian we find the name Pisidia applied differently, namely, to a Roman province inclu-ding PhrygiaGalatica, Lycaonia, andthepartof Phrygia round Apamea. A. E. Hillakd.

PISPAH.— An Asherite (1 Ch 7").

PIT. — Of the dozen Heb. words, besides two Gr. words in NT, rendered 'pit' in EV, the following are the most important.

1. The term bar is responsible for nearly half of all the OT occurrences. It is the usual word for the cistern with which almost every house in the towns was supplied (see Cistern). Disused cisterns in town and country are the 'pits' mentioned in Gn 372""- (that into which Joseph was cast [cf. art. Prison]), 1 S 13' (RVra 'cisterns' etc.). In some passages, indeed, the context shows that 'cistern,' not 'pit,' is the proper rendering, as in Lv 11", Ex 21'3'. with reference to an uncovered and unprotected cistern; cf. Lk 14=, RV 'well' for AV 'pit.' The systematic exploration of Palestine has brought to light many aeries of underground caves which were used at various periods as dwelling-places (cf. 1 S 13'); hence by a natural figure, 'pit' became a synonym of Sheol, the under world (Is 14", Ps 28', Pr 1'2, and oft.; cf. Rev 9i«- and Sheol).

2. A second word rendered 'pit' (shachaiK) seems to have denoted originally a pit in which, after concealing the mouth by a covering of twigs and earth, hunters trapped their game (Ezk 19*- *). Like the preceding, it is frequently used in a figurative sense of the under world; so five times in Job 33 (RV).

3. A hunter's pit, denoted by pachath, also supplied the figure of Is 24i"- and its parallels Jer 48"'- and La 3" RV — note the association with 'snare.' Such a pit served as a place of concealment (2 S 17') and of burial (18").

4. In Mk 12> RV rightly recognizes 'a pit for the winepress,' where the reference is to what the Mishna calls ' a cement- vat,' i.e. a pit dug in the soil for a wine-vat (cf. Mt 26", where the same expression 'digged' is used), as contrasted with the usual rock-hewn vats (see Wine and Strong Drink, § 2).

A. R. S. Kennedy.

PITCH. — See Bitumen.

PITCHER. — The earthenware jar (cf. La 4^ 'earthen pitchers ') in which in all ages the women and maidens of Palestine have drawn and carried the water from the village well (Gn 24'«-). In wealthy households this task was performed by a slave or other menial (Mk 14", Lk 22"'). For illustrations of water-jars found in ancient cisterns, see Macalister, Bible Sidelights, etc., fig. 22, and the works cited under House, § 9.

A. R. S. Kennedy.

PITHOM. — One of the 'treasure cities' built by the Israelites in Egypt (Ex 1" etc.). It is the Egyptian Petdm ('House of Et5m'), the site of which is now

PLAGUES OF EGYPT

marked by Tell el-Maskhuta in the Wady Tumilat. The researches of Naville and Petrie indicate that the city dates as far back as the 12th Dyn., and was occupied down to very late times. It was capital of the 8th nome of Lower Egypt, and in it was worshipped a form of the sun-god under the name of Etsm.

F. Lii. Griffith.

PITHON.— A grandson of Merib-baal (1 Ch 8» 9«).

PITY. — This word is entirely synonymous with compassion both in OT and NT, except, perhaps, in 1 P 3', where 'sympathetic' would better express the meaning of the original word (see RVm). Pity was regarded by OT writers as holding an essential place in the relations of God and His people (see Ps 7838 se'* 103" 111* 112' 145=, Is 63»; cf. Ja 5"). One of the ways in which this Divine feeling became active on their behalf reveals an incipient belief in the dealings of Jehovah with nations other than Israel; for He is often represented as infusing compassion for His chosen into the hearts of their enemies (cf . 1 K 8»°, 2 Ch 30', Ps 106", Ezr 9', Neh 1", Jer 42"). An objective manifestation of the feeling of pity in the heart of God was recognized in the preservation of His people from destruction (La 3™'), and in the numerous instances which were regarded as the interventions of mercy on their behalf (cf. Ex 15", Nu 14", Dt 13" 30», 2 K 13^5, 2 Ch 36"). The direct result of this belief was that Israelites were expected to display a similar disposi-tion towards their brethren (cf. Mic 6=, Is 1", Jer 21", Pr 19"). They were not required, however, to look beyond the limits of their ovm race (Dt 7", Zee 7') except in the case of individual aliens who might at any time be living within their borders (see Ex 22^' 23', Dt 10"«- etc.).

In the parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Jesus inculcates the exercise of pity in men's dealings with each other, and teaches the sacredness of its character by emphasizing its identity with God's compassion for sinners (Mt 18"; cf. Lk 6», Mt 5' 9"). The teaching of Jesus, moreover, broadened its conception in the human mind by insisting that henceforth it could never be confined to the members of the Jewish nation (cf. the parable of the Good Samaritan, Lk lO^s-"). At the same time His own attitude to the thronging multitudes surrounding Him was characterized by profound pity for their weaknesses (Mt 15=2 =Mk 8^; cf. Mt 9^ 14"). Under His guidance, too. Divine pity for the world was transmuted into that Eternal Love which resulted in the Incarnation (Jn 3"). Side by side with this develop-ment, and in exact correspondence with it, Jesus evolves out of human pity for frailty the more fundamental, because it is the more living, quality of love, which He insists will be active even in the face of enmity (Mt S«'-, Lk 6"ff). J. R. Willis.

PLACE OF TOLL.— In AV 'receipt of custom.' See Customs and Tribute, 2.

PLAGUE.— See Medicine, p. 598''.

PLAGUES OF EGYPT.— There are not many refer-ences in the Bible to the plagues outside the Book of Exodus. They are epitomized in Ps 78"-" and lOS^'-". In Ro 9"-2* God's treatment of Pharaoh is dwelt upon, to show His absolute right to do what He will with the creatures of His own handiwork. And in Rev 8. 9. 16 much of the imagery in the visions of the trumpets and the bowls is based upon the plagues — hail and fire (87 16"'), water becoming blood, and the death of the creatures that were in it (8«'- 16"-), darkness (8" 16"i), locusts (9'-"), boils (162), frogs (16").

The narratives of the plagues demand study from three points of view: (1) their literary history; (2) the relation of the several plagues to natural phenomena; (3) their religious significance.

1. The sources. — For a fuU discussion of the reasons for the literary analysis reference must be made to

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