Plain
PLAIN
See CANAAN, and OAK.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Plain
I. This term, either in the singular or plural, does duty in the A.V. for no less than seven distinct Hebrew words, each of which had its own independent and individual meaning, and could not be-at least is not- interchanged with any other. We frequently find two, three, and even more equivalents for the same Hebrew term; and, besides, some of the words are manifestly mistranslated, and some of them are proper names. SEE TOPOGRAPHICAL TERMS.
1. , abel, like the Arabic abala, signifies moisture and the verdure produced by it, as in a meadow, to which last term it chiefly corresponds. Hence it came to be applied to a low green plain. It occurs frequently as a proper name in Scripture; chiefly, however, in composition, as Abel-beth- maachah (2Ki 15:29; 1Ki 15:20), Abel-meholah (Jdg 7:22), Abel-maim (2Ch 16:4), Abel-shittim (Num 33:49); also alone, as in 2Sa 20:14; 2Sa 20:18. In 1Sa 6:18 the A. V. reads unto the great stone of Abel; but the Hebrew is , unto Abel the great. Several MSS. read , stone (the Sept. has ), and this is probably the true reading (De Rossi, Var. Lect. ad loc.). Jdg 11:33 is the only passage in which it is rendered plain, and he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith… and unto the plain of the vineyards ( ; Sept. , v. r. ; Abel qua est vineis consita). There can scarcely be a doubt that this is a proper name, and it should be rendered Abel-keramim. Eusebius and Jerome mention it as a village of the Ammonites still existing in their day, situated six miles from Philadelphia, in the midst of vineyards (Onomnast. s.v. Abelavinearum). SEE ABEL.
2. , elon. This word is derived from the root , to be strong; and hence it is used in Scripture to signify a strong tree, and most probably the oak, which grows to a great size in central and southern Palestine (Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 42, 50, 51). In the A.V. it is rendered plain (Gen 12:6; Gen 13:18, etc.), or plains’ (18, 1; Deu 11:30), but in one place the margin has oak (Jdg 9:6). It is difficult to account for this rendering. Probably it was adopted from the Vulgate, which translates convallis in four places, vallis in two, and quercus in three. The Sept. has , except in Jdg 9:9, where it has ; and Jdg 9:37, ,I. The word should always be rendered oak. It was considered a sacred tree. Under the oak of Moreh, at Manure, Abraham pitched his tent, and worshipped God (Stanley, S. and P. p. 508). SEE OAK.
3. , bik’ah, is from the root , to cleave asunder, and signifies literally a cleft, or place formed by dividing mountains, then a valley between mountains; It is equivalent to the Arabic buk’ah. It is generally used in the Bible to denote a low widely extended plain: as the plain of Shinar (Gen 11:2; Sept. ; campus); the valley of Jericho (Deu 34:3); the valley of Megiddo (2Ch 35:22; Zec 12:1-1); the valley of Lebanon (Jos 11:17, called in Amo 1:5 the plain of Aven), which is now called el-Bukaa; the plain of Ono (Neh 6:2), which appears to have been a portion of southern Sharon, where the town of Ono was situated. This word is rendered plain in the following passages: Gen 11:2; Neh 6:2; Isa 40:4; Eze 3:22-23; Eze 8:4; Amo 1:5; elsewhere it is translated valley. It is generally rendered in the Sept. and campus in the Vulgate. , bik’a, the Chaldee form of , found only in Daniel 3. Nebuchadnezzar set up the golden image in the plain of Dura. SEE VALLEY.
4. , kikkar, seems to be equivalent to , from the root , to move in a circle; therefore signifies a circuit, or the region round about any place (allied to which are , circus, and circle; Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 717). Hence, with the article , hakkikkar, it was applied topographically to the region of the Jordan, especially the southern part of it, in which the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah once stood. It is so used seven times in Genesis (Gen 13:10-12; Gen 19:17; Gen 19:25; Gen 19:28-29); also in 2Sa 18:23; 1Ki 7:46; 2Ch 4:17; and apparently in Neh 3:22; Neh 12:28. Reland suggests that the name may have been derived from the windings of the river (Palaest. p. 274; comp. Stanley, S. tad P. p. 278). Though uniformly rendered plain in the A. V., and or in the Sept., it appears to have all the definiteness of a proper name. It must be confessed that it is not easy to trace any connection between a circular form and the nature or aspect of the Jordan valley, and it is difficult not to suspect that kikk-ar is an archaic term which existed before the advent of the Hebrews, and was afterwards adopted into their language. SEE JORDAN.
The word is also very frequently used in Scripture to signify a piece of money, generally a talent in the A. V. (Exo 25:39; 1Ch 20:2, etc.); also a cake or loaf of bread (1Sa 10:3; Pro 6:26). Their circular form doubtless suggested the name.
5. . mishor, with the article . This word comes from the root , to be straight or even; hence mishor signifies a plain or level country; thus in Psa 26:12, My foot standeth in an even place, that is, in a plain; also, figuratively, rectitude or justice, as in Psa 67:4, Thou shalt judge the people righteously (with justice). With the article it has a topographical signification, and has usually the definiteness of a proper name. In the A. V. it is uniformly rendered plain. It occurs in the Bible in the following passages: Deu 3:10; Deu 4:43; Jos 13:9; Jos 13:16-17; Jos 13:21; Jos 20:8; 1Ki 20:23; 1Ki 20:25; 2Ch 26:10; Jer 48:8; Jer 48:21. In each of these, with one exception, it is used for the district in the neighborhood of Heshbon and Dibonthe Belka of the modern Arabs, their most noted pasture-ground; a district which, from the scanty descriptions we possess of it, seems to resemble the Downs of England in the regularity of its undulations, the excellence of its turf, and its fitness for the growth of flocks.
There is no difficulty in recognizing the same district in the statement of 2Ch 26:10. It is evident from several circumstances that Uzziah had been a great conqueror on the east of Jordan, as well as on the shore of the Mediterranean (see Ewald’s remarks, Geschichte, 3, 588, note), and he kept his cattle ion the rich pastures of Philistines on the one hand, and Ammonites on the other. Thus in all the passages quoted above the word mishbo seems to be restricted to one special district, and to belong to it as exclusively as shephelah did to the low land of Philistia, or arabah to the sunken district of the Jordan valley. It is therefore puzzling to find it used in one passage (1Ki 20:23; 1Ki 20:25) apparently with the mere general sense of low land, or rather flat land, in which chariots could be maneuvered-as opposed to uneven mountainous ground. There is some reason to believe that the scene of the battle in question was on the east side of the Sea of Gennesareth, in the plain of Jaulan; but this is no explanation of the difficulty, because we are not warranted in extending the mishor farther than the mountains which bounded it on the north, and where the districts began which bore, like it, their own distinctive names of Gilead, Bashan, Argob, Golan, Hauran, etc. Perhaps the most feasible explanation is that the word was used by the Syrians of Damascus without any knowledge of his strict signification, in the same manner indeed as it was employed in the later Syro-Chaldee dialect, in which meshra is the favorite term to express several natural features which in the older and stricter language were denominated each by its own special name. SEE MISHOK.
6. , arabah, pl. (from the root , to be dry), signifies an arid region. In poetry it is applied to any dry pastureland, like Midbar; but with the article it means the valley of the Jordan, and has the force of a proper name. In the A.V. it is commonly rendered plain (Deu 1:1; Deu 1:7, etc.); but in Deu 11:30, champaign; in Eze 47:8, desert; and, in Jos 15:6; Jos 18:18, Arabah (Gesen. Thesaur. p. 1066; Stanley, S. and P. p. 481). The Sept. usually has , but sometimes . SEE ARABAH.
7. , shephelah, a low plain, from the root , to be depressed. In the A. V. it is rendered plain in Jer 17:26; Oba 1:19; Zec 7:7; low plains in 1Ch 27:28; 2Ch 9:27; but elsewhere vale or valley. It has all the definiteness of a proper name, being the specific designation of the maritime plain of Philistia. To the Hebrews this, and this only, was the Shephelah. Shephelah has some claims of its own to notice. It was one of the most tenacious of these old Hebrew terms. It appears in the Greek text and in the A. V. of the book of Maccabees (1Ma 12:38), and is preserved on each of its other occurrences, even in such corrupt dialects as the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch, and the Targums of Pseudo-Jonathan and of rabbi Joseph. And although it would appear to be no longer known in its original seat, it has transferred itself to other countries, and appears in Spain as Seville, and on the east coast of Africa as SoJala. SEE SHEPHELAH.
The plain of Esdraelon, which to the modern traveler in the Holy Land forms the third of its three most remarkable depressions, is designated in the original by neither of the above terms, but by , mek, an appellative noun frequently employed in the Bible for the smaller valleys of the country the valley of Jezreel. Perhaps Esdraelon may anciently have been considered as consisting of two portions: the valley of Jezreel, the eastern and smaller; the plain of Megiddo, the western and more extensive of the two. SEE ESDRAELON.
II. The following are the principal plains of Palestine alluded to in the Bible, proceeding from north to south:
1. The great plain or valley of Caele-Syria, the hollow land of the Greeks, which separates the two ranges of Lebanon and Antilebanon, is the most remarkable of them all. It is called in the Bible the Bika’ath Aven (Amo 1:5), and also probably the Bika’ath Lebanon (Jos 11:17; Jos 12:7) and Bika’ath Mizpeh (Jos 11:8), and is still known throughout Syria by its old name, as el Beka’a, or and el-Beka’a. A long valley, though broad, says Dr. Pusey (Comment. on Amo 1:5), if seen from a height looks like a cleft; and this is eminently the case with the valley of Lebanon when approached by the ordinary roads from north or south. It is of great extent, more than sixty miles long by about five in average breadth, and the two great ranges shut it in on either hand, Lebanon especially, with a very wall-like appearance. SEE COELE-SYRIA.
2. The plain (called ) of Jezreel or Esdraelon, which runs from the bay of Ptolemais to the Jordan, dividing the mountains of Galilee from those of Ephraim. It is well watered and grassy. SEE JEZRREEL.
3. The flat along the Mediterranean from Carmel to the brook of Egypt (whose northern part near Joppa is called Sharon, , the southern part Shephelah, ). The plain of the tribe of Judah stood in connection with the latter (1Ma 3:24; 1Ma 3:40; 1Ma 13:13). SEE SHARON.
4. The meadow of Jordan, or the plain on both sides of that river, from the Sea of Gennesareth to the Dead Sea, usually called simply The Plain (). In the neighborhood of Jericho this valley widens out into a great plain, thence called , The Plains of Jericho (Jos 4:13; Joshua 5, 10; 2Ki 25:5; Jer 39:5), as the Dead Sea is called the Sea of the Plain (Deuteronomy 3, 17; Deu 4:49). SEE JORDAN.
5. The elevated plain () in the tribe of Reuben, in which lay Bezer and Medeba (Jos 13:16; Jos 20:8; Deu 4:43). It belongs to the large but rather dry (Burckhardt, 2, 626) plateau of modern Belka (Ritter, 2, 368). SEE MOAB.
6. For the plains of Jericho, SEE JERICHO. Plain Song (canto fermo, cantus planus) is’ one of the terms applied to the monotonic recitative melody in ancient chants of the liturgy. In later times it became one of the parts in elaborate pieces, services, and anthems, originally the tenor, but afterwards assigned to the treble. The Cantus Prophetarum Epistolarum et Evanzgelii admitted certain inflections; the Cantus Psalmorum adopted inflections in the middle and end of the verse. An unrestricted melody was used in prefaces, anthems, and hymns, and the plain song is this cantus collectarunz. Staunton, Eccles. Dict. p. 536.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Plain
(1.) Heb. ‘abel (Judg. 11:33), a “grassy plain” or “meadow.” Instead of “plains of the vineyards,” as in the Authorized Version, the Revised Version has “Abel-cheramim” (q.v.), comp. Judg. 11:22; 2 Chr. 16:4.
(2.) Heb. ‘elon (Gen. 12:6; 13:18; 14:13; 18:1; Deut. 11:30; Judg. 9:6), more correctly “oak,” as in the Revised Version; margin, “terebinth.”
(3.) Heb. bik’ah (Gen. 11:2; Neh. 6:2; Ezek. 3:23; Dan. 3:1), properly a valley, as rendered in Isa. 40:4, a broad plain between mountains. In Amos 1:5 the margin of Authorized Version has “Bikathaven.”
(4.) Heb. kikar, “the circle,” used only of the Ghor, or the low ground along the Jordan (Gen. 13:10-12; 19:17, 25, 28, 29; Deut. 34:3; 2 Sam. 18:23; 1 Kings 7:46; 2 Chr. 4:17; Neh. 3:22; 12:28), the floor of the valley through which it flows. This name is applied to the Jordan valley as far north as Succoth.
(5.) Heb. mishor, “level ground,” smooth, grassy table-land (Deut. 3:10; 4:43; Josh. 13:9, 16, 17, 21; 20:8; Jer. 48:21), an expanse of rolling downs without rock or stone. In these passages, with the article prefixed, it denotes the plain in the tribe of Reuben. In 2 Chr. 26:10 the plain of Judah is meant. Jerusalem is called “the rock of the plain” in Jer. 21:13, because the hills on which it is built rise high above the plain.
(6.) Heb. ‘arabah, the valley from the Sea of Galilee southward to the Dead Sea (the “sea of the plain,” 2 Kings 14:25; Deut. 1:1; 2:8), a distance of about 70 miles. It is called by the modern Arabs the Ghor. This Hebrew name is found in Authorized Version (Josh. 18:18), and is uniformly used in the Revised Version. Down through the centre of this plain is a ravine, from 200 to 300 yards wide, and from 50 to 100 feet deep, through which the Jordan flows in a winding course. This ravine is called the “lower plain.”
The name Arabah is also applied to the whole Jordan valley from Mount Hermon to the eastern branch of the Red Sea, a distance of about 200 miles, as well as to that portion of the valley which stretches from the Sea of Galilee to the same branch of the Red Sea, i.e., to the Gulf of Akabah about 100 miles in all.
(7.) Heb. shephelah, “low ground,” “low hill-land,” rendered “vale” or “valley” in Authorized Version (Josh. 9:1; 10:40; 11:2; 12:8; Judg. 1:9; 1 Kings 10:27). In Authorized Version (1 Chr. 27:28; 2 Chr. 26:10) it is also rendered “low country.” In Jer. 17:26, Obad. 1:19, Zech. 7:7, “plain.” The Revised Version renders it uniformly “low land.” When it is preceded by the article, as in Deut. 1:7, Josh. 11:16; 15:33, Jer. 32:44; 33:13, Zech. 7:7, “the shephelah,” it denotes the plain along the Mediterranean from Joppa to Gaza, “the plain of the Philistines.” (See VALLEY)
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Plain
PLAIN.This word is given by the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] as the equivalent of 8 different terms, 7 Heb 1:1-14 Greek; but is retained by the RV [Note: Revised Version.] in the case of 4 only, all Hebrew.
(1) biqh is translated in the RV [Note: Revised Version.] by plain in Gen 11:2, Neh 6:2, Isa 40:4, Eze 3:22-23; Eze 8:4, Dan 3:1 but elsewhere by valley. It generally designates a broad vale between hills; among the localities to which it was applied the most notable are the pass between Lebanon and Hermon (the valley of Lebanon, Jos 11:17; Jos 12:7), and the plain of Esdraelon (the valley of Megiddo, 2Ch 35:22, Zee 12:11).
(2) mshr is usually translated by plain or plain country, sometimes accompanied by the mg. table land (Deu 3:10, Jos 13:9, 1Ki 20:23 etc.); but in the poetical and prophetical books by even place (Psa 26:12) or straight (Isa 40:4). 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.
(3) rbh is ordinarily rendered in the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] by plain (plains) and desert (or wilderness), but in Jos 18:18 it is transliterated Arabah. The RV [Note: Revised Version.] also sometimes translates by plain (s) and desert (Jos 4:13, Isa 33:9 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) kikkr, 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 [Note: Revised Version margin.] in Gen 13:10) Cf. next article. In Neh 3:22; Neh 12:28 it seems to refer to a district around Jerusalem, and is translated in RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] by circuit.
(5) Of the other Heb. words sometimes rendered in the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] by plain, one (shephlah) is uniformly translated in the RV [Note: Revised Version.] by lowland, and designates a group of low hills on the E. of the Maritime Plain, which are separated from the hills of Juda and Ephraim by a series of valleys (Deu 1:7, Jos 10:40 etc.). Of the remaining two, one (bl) is transliterated in the RV [Note: Revised Version.] (Jdg 11:38), and the other (ln) is rendered by oak (mg. terebinth) (Gen 12:8; Gen 13:18 etc.).
(6) The only passage where the word plain is employed in the NT occurs in St. Lukes account (Luk 6:17) of one of our Lords discourses, which, ace. to St. Matthew, was delivered on a mountain (Mat 5:1); the RV [Note: Revised Version.] substitutes a level place.
G. W. Wade.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Plain
plan ((1) , kikkar, circle talent, or round loaf; (2) , mshor, from , yashar, to be level; compare Arabic maisur, that which is easy; (3) , bkah; compare Arabic bakat, a plot of ground or a wet meadow; (4) , arabhah; (5) , shephelah; (6) , topos pedinos (Luk 6:17); (7) , ‘elon; compare , ‘elah, and , ‘allon oak (Gen 35:4, Gen 35:8, etc.); also , ‘elah, Elah (1Sa 17:2); (8) , ‘abhel): See NATURAL FEATURES.
(1) Kikkar, when meaning plain usually refers to the alluvial plain about Jericho near the north end of the Dead Sea: Plain (the Revised Version margin circle) of the Jordan (Gen 13:10, Gen 13:11; 1Ki 7:46; 2Ch 4:17); Plain of the valley of Jericho (Deu 34:3); cities of the Plain (Gen 13:12; Gen 19:29); all the Plain (Gen 19:17, Gen 19:25); by the way of the Plain (2Sa 18:23); but the plain round about Jerusalem (Neh 12:28). See CICCAR; CIRCLE.
(2) Mshor, English Versions of the Bible plain, the Revised Version margin usually table-land, clearly refers in most places to the highlands of Gilead and Moab, East of the Jordan and the Dead Sea; e.g. Jos 13:9, the plain (the Revised Version margin table-land) of Medeba.
(3) Bikah is more often translated valley (which see).
(4) Arabhah is in the Revised Version (British and American) often translated the Arabah, denoting the whole Jordan-Dead-Sea-Arabah depression = Arabic Ghaur (Ghor). In Deu 11:30, the King James Version has champaign (which see). The plains of Moab (Num 22:1; Num 26:3, Num 26:13; Num 31:12; Num 33:48, Num 33:49, Num 33:50; Num 35:1; Num 36:13; Deu 34:1, Deu 34:8; Jos 13:32) and plains of Jericho (Jos 4:13; Jos 5:10; 2Ki 25:5; Jer 39:5; Jer 52:8) are the low plain or ghaur North of the Dead Sea. Arabhah is here equivalent to kikkar (see above). Note the distinction between mshor used of the highlands, and kikkar and arabhah used of the ghaur. See ARABAH.
(5) Shephelah is by the Revised Version (British and American) throughout translated lowland (which see), and includes the western slopes of the Judean hills and the maritime plain.
(6) Topos pedinos occurs only in Luk 6:17.
(7) ‘Elon is translated plain in the King James Version: plain of Moreh (Gen 12:6; Deu 11:30); plain (or plains) of Mamre (Gen 13:18; Gen 14:13; Gen 18:1); plain of Zaanaim (Jdg 4:11); plain of the pillar (Jdg 9:6); plain of Meonenim (Jdg 9:37); plain of Tabor (1Sa 10:3). the Revised Version (British and American) has throughout oak, the Revised Version margin terebinth; compare oak (Gen 35:4, Gen 35:8, etc.) and vale of Elah (1Sa 17:2, 1Sa 17:19; 1Sa 21:9).
(8) ‘Abhel keramm (Jdg 11:33) is in the King James Version the plain of the vineyards, the Revised Version (British and American) Abel-cheramim, the Revised Version margin the meadow of vineyards. Elsewhere in English Versions of the Bible ‘abhel is Abel or Abel. See ABEL-CHERAMIM; MEADOW.