POOL, POND

POOL, POND.— 'offom, a collectionof standing water, is distinguished from miqweh, a place into wliicti water flows, or is led (Ex T''). Tlie former may denote ttie water left in the hollows when the inundation of the Nile subsides, and the latter, reservoirs (cf. Gn 1", Lv 11««). AV tr. 'Sffom 'pond,' in Ex 7" 8»; RV uniformly 'pool' (Is li" etc.). berikah (2 S 2" i'^ etc..) is = Arab. Mrkeh, an artificial pond or tank. It is applied to great reservoirs constructed to furnish water for cities, or for irrigation, like that at Gibeon (2 S 2"), those at Hebron (2 S 4"), and at Jerusalem (2 K 18"), etc.; and also to large basins, such as lend freshness to the courts of the houses in Damascus. The usual LXX equivalent is kolumbMhra, the word used in NT for the pools of Bethesda and Siloam (Jn S* 9'). In Is ig'" read with RV 'all they that work for hire shall be grieved in soul.' See also Heshbon. W. Ewinq.

POOR.— See Povebtt.

POPLAR Qibneh [root meaning 'white'), Gn 30"-RVm 'storax'; Hos 4". The Heb. is very similar to Arab, lubna meaning 'storax,' which is the LXX tr. in Gn 30"; on the other hand, in Hos 4" the LXX has leuKS ['white'], i.e. the 'poplar'). — The poplar may easily have furnished Jacob with white rods. There are two kinds of poplar in Syria, Populus alba and P. euphratica; they both flourish round Damascus, where their trunks are much used in making supports for the mud roofs. E. W. G. Mastebman.

PORATHA.— The fourth son of Haman (Est 9').

PORCH. — This word is a doublet of 'portico' (from Lat . porticus) .both originally denoting a covered entrance to a building. When the front of this entrance is supported on pillars, the porch becomes a portico. porticus, like the Gr. stoa, was extended to signify a roofed colonnade running round a public building such as a temple, or enclosing an open space, like the cloisters of a mediEBval monastery. The most famous of these 'porches' — a sense in which the word is now obsolete — were the ' painted porch ' — the Porch par excellence-r at Athens, and Solomon's porch at Jerusalem (see below).

In the OT a porch is named chiefly in connexion with the Temple (see below), or with the palace (wh. see) of Solomon. The pillars of the temple of Dagon at Gaza which Samson pulled down, or rather slid from their stone bases, were probably two of those supporting the portico, as ingeniously explained by Macalister, Bible Sidelights, etc., ch. vii. (see House, § 6). The word rendered ' porch ' in Jg 3^ is of quite uncertain meaning and even of doubtful authenticity.

In the NT, in connexion with the trial of Jesus, mention is made of a 'porch' or, as RVm, 'forecourt' (Mk 14"), as distinguished from the 'court' (v.™ RV) of the high priest's palace, for which Mt 26" (EV ' porch ') has a word elsewhere rendered 'gate.' In both cases the covered gateway leading from the street to the court is probably meant.

Solomon's porch (Jn 10», Ac 3" S'^) was a covered colonnade or cloister running along the east side of the Temple enclosure (see Temple, § 1 (a), where the triple colonnade of Herod's temple — the 'Royal Porch' of Josephus — is also discussed. For detaUs see ExpT, Nov. 1908, p. 68). A similar colonnade enclosed the pool of Bethesda (Jn S'). A. R. S. Kennedy.

PORCUPINE.— See Bittekn.

PORPOISE.— Ex 25S, Ezk le"" RVm. See Badgers' Skins.

PORT. — The 'port' of Neh 2" is a 'gate,' the same Heb. word being translated ' gate' in the same verse. Cf. Pr.-Bk. version of Ps 9" 'Within the ports of the daughter of Sion.'

PORTER in EV has always the sense of ' doorkeeper' (see House, § 6) or 'gatekeeper' (see Fobtification AND SiEGECEAFT, § 6, end). In Jn 10' the porter is the man left in charge of a sheepfold by the shepherd or

POSSESSION

shepherds whose sheep are there housed for the night. In private houses the doorkeeper might be a woman (2 S 4« as restored from LXX, Ac 12"). In OT, how-ever, porters are most frequently named in the Books of Chron., Ezr., and Neh. in connexion with the Temple (1 Ch 9"'- onwards), where they had charge of the various gates (see Temple, § 6, Pbiests and Levites, §111. 1.2). The same word is rendered doorkeepers in AV 1 Ch IS^i-, and in several other places in RV (15" etc.). It is to be regretted that this term was not substituted throughout. In Ps 84"i the original is different, and should probably be rendered: ' I had rather be [standing or lying] at the threshold in the house of my God.'

A. R. S. Kennedy.

POSIDONITTS. — An envoy sent by Nicanor to Judas (2 Mac 1419).

POSSESSION.—! . Ueaning of the term.— The central idea in the word is the coercive seizing of the spirit of a man by another spirit, viewed as superhuman, with the result that the man's will is no longer free but is controlled, often against his wish, by this indwelling person or power. In Scripture the idea is associated with both phases of moral character; and a man may be possessed by Christ or the Holy Spirit, or by a or the devil. Later usage has confined the word mainly, though not exclusively, to possession by an evil spirit. Of the better possession there are several kinds of instances in both Testaments. It is sometimes repre-sented, according to the more material psychology of early times, as the seizure of a man by an external power, though the internal occupation is implied, and the control is none the less complete (1 S lO'", Is 61'; cf. the frequent 'the hand of the Lord was upon' him, 1 K 18": so of an evil spirit, 1 S 18"). The inspiration of the prophets is in some places described as effected by a supernatural agency occupying the seat of person-ality within the prophet, and controlling or moving him (Lk 1", 1 P 1", 2 P la, 2 Es 1422). in personal re-ligion not only is the transference of authority within to the indwelling Christ spoken of (Jn 17^3, Gal 22"), but the Holy Spirit also may seize and possess a man (Ac 2', Lk 1", Ro 8", Eph 6"), and should rule in him (Eph 4»»). But this involves a welcome and glad submission to the sway of a spirit within, though personal wishes may be thwarted or crossed (Ac 16'). Demoniacal possession, on the other hand, is characterized by the reluctance of the sufferer, wlio is often conscious of the hateful tyranny under which he is held and against which his will rebels in vain.

2. Features of demoniacal possession. — In such possession two features may generally be traced. It is allied with and yet distinct from physical disease, and there is almost always something abnormal with respect to the psychical development or defect of the sufferer. It is given as the explanation in cases of dumbness (Mt 9^2, Lk 11"), of deafness and dumbness (Mk 92*), of dumbness and blindness (Mt 1222), of curvature of the spine (Lk 13"), and of epilepsy (Mk 126). Elsewhere such complaints are referred to as merely disease, and no suggestion is made that they were caused or com-plicated by the action of an evil spirit (Mt 16™, Mk 752, Lk 18"). Sometimes possession and disease are even distinguished by different enumeration (Mt 10*, Mk I'*, Lk 6'"- 72' 13*2) ; and once at least epileptics (or lunatics) and palsied occupy a different category from demoniacs (Mt 42<). The right conclusion seems to be that the same disease was in some cases ascribed to ordinary causes and in others to possession, the distinguishing feature being possibly intractability due to the violence of permanence of the symptoms. Evidence that the disorder was at the same time of a psychical or nervous character is plentiful. According to Arab belief, some-thing abnormal in the appearance, such as a strange look in the eyes or an unusual catching in the throat, was an invariable symptom, and both are indications

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