PLAIN

9th Plague. — Only a fragment of J's narrative has been preserved, which relates the effect of the ' darkness ' upon Pharaoh. E, as before, says that it was due to the lifting of the staff by Moses. But it is not impossible that it was a further consequence of the west wind. Dr. A. Macalister (art. 'Plagues of Egypt' in Hastings' DB iii.) writes: 'The condition of darkness referred to is strikingly like that brought about by the severer form of the electrical wind liamsin. This is a S. or S.W. wind that is so named because it is liable to blow during the 25 days before and the 25 days after the vernal equinox (ftamsin =50). It is often not so much a storm or violent wind as an oppressive hot blast charged with so much sand and fine dust that the air is darkened. It causes a blackness equal to the worst of London fogs, while the air is so hot and full of dust that respiration is impeded. . . . Denon says that it sometimes travels as a narrow stream, so that one part of the land is light while the rest is dark.' And he adds that three days is not an uncommon duration for the hamsin.

10th Plague. — Malignant epidemics have at all times been the scourge of Bible lands; and it is worthy of note that many authorities state that pestilence is often worst at the time of the hamsin wind. In the Hebrew narratives, however, aU thought of a ' natural ' occur-rence has passed away. Only the firstborn are smitten, as a just retribution for Pharaoh's attempt to destroy the firstborn of the Israelites.

3. Religious value. — This is manifold. Considered from the point of view of natural phenomena, the nar-ratives teach the all-important truth that God's prov-idential care of men is not confined to 'miracles' in the commonly accepted sense of the term, else were God's providential actions unknown to-day. The lifting of Moses' staff to bring the plagues, and his successive entreaties for their removal, teach that prayer is not out of place or unavailing in cases where natural laws can be co-ordinated and guided by God to bring about the wished-for result. And from whatever point of view the plagues are regarded, the same great facts shine through the narratives — that J" is supreme in power over the world which He made; that He has an absolute right, if He so wills, to punish Pharaoh in order to show forth in him His power; that He does so, however, only because Pharaoh is impenitent, and consequently 'fitted for destruction,' for 3" is a God who hates sin; that if a man hardens his heart, the result will be as inevitable as results in the natural world — so inevitable that it may truly be said that J" hardens his heart; that the sin of Pharaoh, and so of any other man, may entail sufferings upon many innocent men and animals; and finally, that J" is mindful of His own, and delivers them from the 'noisome pestilence,' 'the pestilence that walketh in darkness,' and 'the destruction that wasteth at noonday,' so that 'no plague can come nigh their dwelling' (Ps 91).

A. H. M'Neile.

PLAIN. — This word is given by the AV as the equiva-lent of 8 different terms, 7 Heb. and 1 Greek; but is retained by the RV in the case of 4 only, all Hebrew.

(1) biq'ah is translated in the RV by 'plain' in Gn 112, Neh 6^, Is 40S Ezk 3«- ^ S', Dn 3i; but else-where by 'valley.' It generally designates a broad vale between hiUs; among the localities to which it was applied the most notable are the pass between Lebanon and Hermon ('the valley of Lebanon,' Jos 11" 12'), and the plain of Esdraelon ('the valley of Megiddo,' 2 Ch 36»2, Zee 12").

(2) mishor is usually translated by 'plain' or 'plain country,' sometimes accompanied by the mg. 'table land' (Dt 3'», Jos 13», 1 K 20'' etc.); but m the poetical and prophetical books by 'even place' (Ps 26") or ' straight ' (Is 40*) . Its primary sense is level land ; and the word, with the article, was specifically used of the high plateau on the E. of the Dead Sea.

734

PLAIN, CITIES OF THE

(3) ' drabah is ordinarily rendered in the AV by 'plain' ('plains') and 'desert' (or 'wilderness'), but in Jos 18" it is transliterated 'Arabah.' The RV also sometimes translates by 'plain(s)' and 'desert' (Jos 41s, Is 339 etc.), but retains the Heb. expression wherever it denotes the deep valley running N. and S. of the Dead Sea. The distinctive sense of the word is that of a bare, sterile plain, or (if between hills) an unfertile floor.

(4) kikkar, unlike the preceding, characterizes not the surface of the locality to which it is applied, but its shape. It is used specifically of the lower part of the bed of the Jordan, where it flows into the Dead Sea, and possibly also of the depression S. of the same sea; and should be rendered by 'circle' rather than by 'plain' (as in RVm in Gn 13'°). Cf. next article. In Neh 3» 122« it seems to refer to a district around Jerusalem, and is translated in RVm by 'circuit.'

(5) Of the other Heb. words sometimes rendered in the AV by 'plain,' one (shephelah) is uniformly translated in the RV by 'lowland,' and designates a group of 'low hills ' on the E. of the Maritime Plain, which are sepa-rated from the hills of Judaea and Ephraim by a series of valleys (Dt 1', Jos 10'° etc.). Of the remaining two, one ('3650 is transliterated in the RV (Jg ll^'), and the other CeWn) is rendered by 'oak' (mg. 'terebinth') (Gn 128 13" etc.).

(6) The only passage where the word 'plain' is employed in the NT occurs in St. Luke's account (6") of one of our Lord's discourses, which, ace. to St. Matthew, was de-livered on a moimtain (Mt 5'); the RV substitutes 'a level place.' G. W. Wade.

PLAIN, CITIES OP THE .—These were five in number, namely, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (or Zoar), situated in the plain ('circle') of Jordan. ■Their inhabitants being guilty of great wickedness, the first four of the above-named five were overthrown by fire. Lot, the nephew of Abraham, who had made his home in Sodom, was warned by the Lord to withdraw from the city before it was destroyed; and he accordingly escaped to Zoar, which, at his entreaty, was spared the fate of its neighbours (Gn 18. 19).

The situation of the five cities has been variously placed at the N. and the S. end of the Dead Sea. The Biblical statements are generally in favour of the former site, which is supported by the facts: (1) that the circle of the Jordan, which is also called the circle of the valley of Jericho (Dt 34'), is appropriate only to the broad basin of the Jordan, near its mouth; (2) that it was visible from near Bethel (Gn 13'-'»); (3) that the cities were N. of Hazazon-tamar (usually identified with En-gedi), since this place was passed by Amraphel when he marched from Kadesh against the king of Sodom and his allies (Gn 14'- 8). On the other hand, (1) it is implied in Ezk 16" that Sodom was on the right (i.e. south) of Jerusalem, whereas if it were at the N. end of the Dead Sea it would be almost due E.; (2) Zoar, which must have been near the other cities (Gn 19"), is placed by Josephus in Arabia (.BJ iv. viii. 4), and by Eusebius at the opposite end of the Dead Sea to Jericho; (3) the name Sodom is generally identified with Jebel Usdum, a cliff of rock-salt near the S.W. corner of the Dead Sea; (4) Hazazon-tamar may be, not En-gedi, but the Taraar of Ezk 47", which has been identified with a locality 20 m. W.S.W. of the lake, and therefore on the road between Kadesh and Sodom if the latter were at its S. end. If this view is right, the site of the cities is probably the marshy flat es-Sebkha, E. of Jebel Usdum. But the statement that the plain (or circle) of Jordan was near Jericho seems incompatible with a situation S. of the Dead Sea; and if the name Sodom survives in Jebel Usdum, that of Gomorrah seems to linger in that of Tubk Amriyeh, a place at the N.W. corner of the lake; so that, though the evidence is conflicting, the preponderant weight appears to support a N. site. (For