REGISTER

This also, like tiie preceding stages, is a Divine worls: (Jn 16"- '6, 2 Co i"). Even witti tliis, iiowever, the worlc ol regeneration is not complete. The will of God for man's salvation has not only to be understood, it has also to be obeyed. There is the vriU to be laid hold of — the will, the centre and citadel of the being. So the worlj of the Holy Spirit is directed, finally, to the renewing of the will. It is directed to the renewing of the will, first of ail, in the form of persuasion, for the Holy Spirit does none of His worlj by violence. Everything that God accomplishes is accomplished in accordance with the nature He has given us; but God most graciously, most lovingly, brings His per-suasions to bear upon our wills, and by the power of appropriate motives draws us to the acceptance of Christ (Jn 6"). With this there goes what, in the next place, may be called the potentiation of tlie will — the enabling of it, or imparting to it the power needful in order to lay hold on Christ with full and fast faith (Eph 4"). Last of all, this work of regeneration is completed when the soul is brought to the point of absolute surrender of itself to Christ — when, drawn and persuaded, and at length enabled by the Spirit, it yields itself up entirely to Christ as its Saviour, and lays hold on Christ for a complete salvation. There is now union with Christ by faith, and, with that, entrance into the life — the experience — of the new- born child of God. 'If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new' (2 Co S"). James Orh.

REGISTER {i.e. genealogical record).— See Gene-AliOQT, 2.

REHABIAH.— A Levitioal family (1 Ch 23" 242' 26M).

RBHOB.— 1. A town at the northern end of the valley of the Jordan (Nu 1321, 2 S 10«), most probably the same as Beth-rehob, of which the exact site is un-known. 2, 3. Two Asherite towns, neither of which has been identified (Jos 192a 21», 1 Ch 6™, Jos 19™, Jg 1"). 4. The father of Hadadezer (2 S 8'- «). 5. A signatory to the covenant (Neh 10").

REHOBOAM, son of Solomon, is said to have reigned seventeen years. The statement that his mother was Naamah, the Ammonitess (1 K 142'), has nothing im-probable about it. The LXX may even be right in calling her a daughter of Nahash, the Ammonite king. In the history of Rehoboam the chief point is his indis-creet treatment of the tribes at his accession — treatment which resulted in the revolt of the best part of the nation and the establishment of a rival kingdom (1 K 12). The coherence of the tribes was evidently imperfect under Solomon. Ephraim, which had always been conscious of its own strength, was not minded to re-cognize the young king without some concessions on his part. For this reason Rehoboam went to Shechem to be crowned. Here the hereditary chiefs demanded that he should lighten the yoke. In this they had reference particularly to the forced labour exacted by Solomon. Rehoboam's arrogant answer is well known, and the result.

It was natural that an effort should be made to reduce the rebel tribes to subjection. But Rehoboam seems not to have had either adequate resources or military capacity. The brief notice that there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually is all that we are told. Besides this, the Biblical author describes the religious condition of the people in this reign in dark colours. This condition, however, is no more than pre-vailed under Solomon. The chief event in the secular history of the time was the invasion of the country by Shishak, king of Egypt. This monarch claims to have reduced the whole country to subjection, probably reviving ancient claims to suzerainty. The author of our Books of Kings is chiefly concerned at the Egyptian's plundering the Temple (1 K 14211), while the Chronicler (2 Ch 12) as usual is ready to make an edifying

REPENTANCE

story out of the incident. It would interest us to know whether Egypt maintained its claims on the successors of Rehoboam, but on this point we are left in the dark.

H. P. Smith. REHOBOTH.— 1. A well dug by the servants of Isaac and finally conceded to him, after two others, dug also by them, had become a subject of quarrel with Abimelech, king of Gerar (Gn 2622). Several identifica-tions have been proposed, of which the most probable is that made by Palmer with er-Ruhaibeh, about 20 miles S. of Beersheba. 2. The name of a king of Edom in Gn 36", where lie is called ' Rehoboth of the River." ' The River' here may not be, as usually, the Euphrates, but the ' River of Egypt' (see Egypt [Riveb of]).

J. F. lU'CUBDY.

REHOBOTH-IR (lit. 'broad places of the city').— One of the four cities in Assyria built by Nimrod (Gn 10") . It immediately follows Nineveh, and might mean a suburb of that city, originally separate from it, but later annexed and containing some of its most spacious streets or market-places. A suitable identification has been found in the Assyr. rSKt Nina (' broad places of Nineveh'), mentioned by kingEsarhaddon(B.c. 681-668) . This is the exact equivalent of the Biblical name. In taking it over, ' the city' was substituted for ' Nineveh.'

J. F. M'CUKDY.

REHXJM.— 1. One of the twelve heads of the Jewish community (Ezr 22; in Neh 7', perhaps by a copyist's error, Nehum ; in 1 Es 5^ Roimus). 2. ' The chancellor' (Ezr 48- »■ "■ 2S; in 1 Es 2" Rathumus). See Beel-TETHMUS. 3. A Levite who helped to repair the wall (Neh 3"). 4. One of those who sealed the covenant (Neh 1025 <28)). 5. The eponym of a priestly family (Neh 123). See Habim, 2.

REI (' J" is a friend'). — The name is given to one of the supporters of Solomon at the time of Adonijah's attempt to secure the throne (1 K 1'). He is mentioned along with Shlmei, and was likely an officer in the royal guard. These troops seem to have had an enormous influence in determining the succession to the throne.

The reading, however, is not above suspicion, and Jos. (Ant. VII. xiv. 4) reads 'Siiimei, the friend of David,' and thus gets rid of Rei as a personal name (so Lucian) . Several attempts have been made to identify him with other figures, as Ira or Jair (Wiuckler, Gesch. ii. 247) or Raddai (Ewald, Gesch. iii. p. 266 note). W. F. Boyd.

REINS.— See Kidneys.

REKEM.— 1. One of the five kinglets of Midian slain by Moses (Nu SI', Jos 1321). 2. A Calebite family (1 Ch 2<3). 3. A clan of Machir (1 Ch 7'5 [AV and RV Rakem, but this is simply the pausal form of the Heh. name]). 4. An unidentified city of Benjamin (Jos 182').

RELIGIOK. — The word ' religion,' wherever it occurs in AV, signifies not the inner spirit of the religious life, but its outward expression. It is thus used of one form of religion as distinguished from another; as in 2 Mac 14'*, where the same word is translated in the middle of the verse 'Judaism,' and in the end of it 'the religion of the Jews.' It is also used by St. James (12«- 2;) to contrast moral acts with ritual forms.

REMALIAH.— The father of Pekah (2 K 152««-16'- ', 2 Ch 288, Is 71II- 8»).

REMETH.— See Ramoth, 1.

REMNANT.— See Israel, p. 387''.

REMPHAN.— See Rephan.

REPENTANCE. — Repentance, in the sense of turning from a purpose, is frequently predicated of God in the OT (Gn 6"- ', Ex 32'< etc.). Repentance for sin is commonly expressed by 'turn' or 'return' (e.g. Dt i'". Is 55', Ezk 32, Hos 142). Repentance has a prominent place in the NT, alone (Mt 4", Lk 15', Ac 2'» etc.), or in conjunction with faith (Mk 1", Ac 20*' etc.), as an indispensable condition of salvation. The word

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