Tower
Tower
is the rendering in the A. V. of the following Heb. and Gr. words:
1. , and (Sept. ),from , to search, explore, a searcher or watcher; and hence the notion of a watch-tower. In Isa 32:14 the tower of Ophel is probably meant (Neh 3:26).
2. and or (;’ turris), from to become great, a-lofty tower; used sometimes as a proper noun. SEE MIGDOL,
3. ( munitio), a strong fortification; only once tower (Hab 2:1). SEE EGYPT.
4. (;’ domus), only in 2Ki 5:24. SEE OPHEL.
5. , usually corner, twice only tower (Zep 1:16; Zep 3:6; ; angulus).
6. (:specula), watch-tower. SEE MIZPAH.
7. (; robur), a refuge, only in poetry. SEE MISGAH.
8. , the general term in the New Test. SEE FORTIFICATION.
Isolated watch towers or fortified posts in frontier or exposed situations are mentioned in Scripture, as the tower of Edar, etc. (Gen 35:21; Mic 4:8; Isa 21:5; Isa 21:8; Isa 21:11; Hab 2:1; Jer 6:27; Son 7:4); the tower of Lebanon, perhaps one of David’s garrisons (.netsib, 2Sa 7:6; Raumrer, Polaest. p. 29). Such towers or outposts for the defence of wells, and the protection of flocks and of commerce, were built by Uzziah in the pasture grounds (midbar), SEE DESERT, and by his son Jotham in the forests (choreshim) of Judah (2Ch 26:10; 2Ch 27:4). Remains of such fortifications may still be seen, which, though not perhaps themselves of remote antiquity, yet very probably have succeeded to more ancient structures built in the same places for like purposes (Robinson, Bibl. Res. 2, 81, 85,180; Roberts, Sketches, pl. 93). Besides these military structures, we read in Scripture of towers built in vineyards as an almost necessary appendage to them (Isa 5:2 : Mat 21:33; Mar 12:1). Such towers are still in use in Palestine in vineyards, especially near Hebron. and are used as lodges for the keepers of the vineyards. During the vintage they are filled with the persons employed in the work of gathering the grapes (Robinson, Bibl. Res. 1, 213; 2, 81; Martineau,. East. Lif, p. 434; De Saulcy, Travels, 1, 546; Hackett, Ilustr. of Script. p. 163, 171). SEE LODGE.
Mural towers were in all antiquity built as part of the fortifications of towns, especially at the corners of the walls and the gates (2Ch 14:7; 2Ch 26:9; 2Ch 26:15; 2Ch 32:5; 1Ma 5:55; 1Ma 13:33; 1Ma 13:43, etc.; comp. Isa 23:3; Isa 30:25; Eze 26:4; Eze 26:9; see Pliny, 11. N. 6:22, 1). Also in the interior of cities towers served as citadels (Jdg 9:46 sq.). Jerusalem (q.v.) was especially provided with towers of this description, many of which had special names (Neh 3:11; Neh 12:38; Jer 31:38, etc.). Those on the walls and at the gates were used for sentries (2Ki 9:17; 2Ki 17:9; 2Ki 18:8;, Eze 27:11). The Temple (q.v.) was likewise supplied with numerous towers. The tower in Siloam (q.v.) (Luk 13:4) was probably some mural defense near that fountain. SEE GATE; SEE WALL.
Among many ancient nations, especially the Babylonians, towers were employed in the siege of cities, as appears from the prophet’s account of the divination used by the king of Babylon to determine his line of march into the kingdom of Judah: At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering-rams against the gate, and to build a tower (Eze 21:22). SEE BATTERING-RAM. In the Maccabaean age, towers borne on elephants were used to carry warriors in battle (1Ma 6:37; comp. Pliny, H. N. 11:1 turrigeri elephantorum humeri). In Roman sieges the tower (vinea, from the vine-branches with which it was often thatched), run on wheels along an artificial causeway (agger), was proverbial (Luk 19:43). SEE MOUNT.
In the figurative language of Scripture, towers are used for defenders and protectors, whether by counsel or strength, in peace or in war (Psa 18:10; Psalms 61, 3). SEE WAR.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Tower
TOWER.Tower () is mentioned three times in the Lords teaching: in the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (Mat 21:33, Mar 12:1), in the allusion to an accident in Siloam which led to the loss of eighteen lives (Luk 13:4), and in the illustration of the builder who was unable to complete his undertaking (Luk 14:28). Two, if not three, kinds of tower may be referred to in these passages:(1) The builder who exposed himself to ridicule by beginning what he could not finish (Luk 14:28) may be thought of as building a house. The larger houses in the Holy Land are sometimes provided at one end with a tower-like annex. A good representation of one in the neighbourhood of Sidon is given in the Polychrome Bible (Judges, p. 59). The alyyh or upper storey, seen from a little distance, must suggest a tower rather than a dwelling-house (see also Land and Book, ed. 1874, p. 160). (2) The tower in Siloam ( , Luk 13:4) may have been connected with some fortifications. The walls of ancient Oriental cities were generally provided with towers at frequent intervals. Many illustrations could be given from Assyrian sculptures, and the old wall in the Jerusalem of the 1st cent. a.d. had sixty towers (Josephus BJ v. iv. 3), two of which, Hippicus and Phasaelus, are probably represented to some extent by two of the towers of the modern citadel, the latter being partly preserved in the so-called Davids Tower (Picturesque Palestine, i. pp. 1, 5, 711). Edersheim (Life of Jesus the Messiah, ii. 222) suggests that the tower may have been connected with the building of the aqueduct constructed by Pilate with money taken from the temple treasury (Josephus Ant. xviii. iii. 2; BJ ii. ix. 4); but that is unsupported conjecture. If the Tower was situated literally in Siloam, the nature of the ground may help to explain the accident. The village of Silwn, which represents the ancient Siloam, is built on a steep escarpment of rock, on which a building with good foundations would stand for ever; ill-laid foundations would drop their superstructure to the very bottom of the valley (Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , art. Tower). For the Tower of Antonia see art. Jerusalem. (3) The vineyard tower referred to in the two other passages (Mat 21:33, Mar 12:1; cf. Is 5:2) can be illustrated from ancient ruins and modern practice. Tristram remarks (Eastern Customs in Bible Lands, p. 139 f.) that in many cases we still find the remains of the solidly-built tower which commanded a view of the whole enclosure, and was probably the permanent residence of the keeper through the summer and autumn. Dr. W. Wright observes that every vineyard and garden in Syria has its tower (Palmyra and Zenobia, p. 332 f.). A representation is given in that work (p. 279) of a stone tower in the Hauran constructed of black basalt, with a stone loft at the height of 14 feet, reached by a spiral staircase (see also Porter, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Bethany, p. 18; Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, 421).
Literature.Besides the authorities cited above, see Heber-Percy, Bashan and Argob, p. 123 ff.; Swete on Mark 12.
W. Taylor Smith.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Tower
TOWER.See Fortification and Siegecraft, 2, 4. For Tower of Babel see Tongues [Confusion of].
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Tower
We meet with an account of many towers in the word of God. The tower of Babel. (Gen 11:9) The tower of Edar. (Gen 35:21) The Migdol at Pihahiroth. (Exo 14:2) The tower of Shechem, (Jdg 9:46) and the like. And we meet with the word tower sometimes made use of by way of figure, such as the tower of the flock, and God is my high tower, etc. The Hebrews called every tower by the general name of Migdol. The church is beautifully compared by Christ to a tower in one of the Songs, Son 4:4 “Thy neck (said Jesus) is like the tower of David, builded for an armoury; whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.” What a gracious act in the Lord Jesus was it thus to speak of his church under such a comparison! The tower of David, it is well known, was the strong hold of Zion which he took from the Jebusites, which anciently possessed what was not their right, Jerusalem. Now then as David here typified Christ driving out the strong man armed, who possessed the Lord’s Zion not by right, but by deceit; so when the church was put in possession by her conquering Lord, her neck, by which may be considered all her members united to the head, even the Lord Jesus, becomes like a tower, impregnable, and which Christ, the true David, builded for an armoury (for it is Christ that builds all, and supports and gives life and strength, to all). Here then on him and his building they hang all their bucklers and shields, even to a thousand and ten thousand; for all is founded in him, and to him, and by him; on him himself they hang all the glory of his Father’s house? And what endears the whole is, that the humblest and east, as well as the highest and the best, are like this neck, like the tower of David, united to the head. For in this gospel day to which the whole refers; he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David, and the house of David shall be as God, as the Angel of the Lord before them, (Isa 22:22-25; Zec 12:8) It is very blessed to behold Jesus using such strong and beautiful figures to shew his people’s union and oneness with him, and their everlasting safety and security in him.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Tower
touer. See FORTIFICATION, I., 5.; CITY, II., 1.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Tower
Often referred to in scripture as a place of security, and also as a place of defence, on which watchmen were stationed. There were such on the walls of Jerusalem. Psa 48:12; Psa 61:3; 2Ki 9:17. The term is also used symbolically: “the name of Jehovah is a strong tower.” Pro 18:10.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Tower
Of Babel
Gen 11:1-9
Of Edar
Gen 35:21
Of Penuel
Jdg 8:8-9; Jdg 8:17
Of Shechem
Jdg 9:46; Jdg 9:49
Of Meah
Neh 3:1; Neh 12:39
Of Hananeel
Neh 3:1; Neh 12:39; Jer 31:38; Zec 14:10
Of David
Son 4:4
Of Syene
Eze 29:10
Of Siloam
Luk 13:4
In the walls of Jerusalem
2Ch 26:9; 2Ch 32:5; Neh 12:38-39
Of other cities
2Ch 14:7
In the desert
2Ch 26:10
For watchmen or sentinels
2Ki 9:17; 2Ki 18:8
As fortress
Mat 21:33
Parable of
Luk 14:28-29 Fort
Figurative of divine protection
2Sa 22:3; 2Sa 22:51; Psa 18:2; Psa 61:3; Psa 144:2; Pro 18:10
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Tower
Tower. Watch-towers, or fortified posts, in frontier, or exposed situations, are mentioned in Scripture, as the tower of Edar, etc., Gen 35:21; Isa 21:5; Isa 21:8; Isa 21:11 Mic 4:8; etc.; the tower of Lebanon. 2Sa 8:6. Besides these military structures, we read in Scripture, of towers built in vineyards, as an almost necessary appendage to them. 1Sa 5:2; Mat 22:33; Mar 12:1. Such towers are still in use in Palestine, in vineyards, especially near Hebron, and are used as lodges, for the keepers of the vineyards.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Tower
is used of “a watchtower in a vineyard,” Mat 21:33; Mar 12:1; probably, too, in Luk 14:28 (cp. Isa 5:2); in Luk 13:4, of the “tower in Siloam,” the modern Silwan, which is built on a steep escarpment of rock.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Tower
The tower of the flock, or the tower of Ader, Mic 4:8. It is said this tower was in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, Gen 35:21, and that the shepherds to whom the angels revealed the birth of our Saviour were near to this tower, Luk 2:8; Luk 2:15. Many interpreters assert, that the passage of Micah: in which mention is made of the tower of the flock: And thou tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, is to be understood of the city of Bethlehem, out of which our Saviour was to come. Others maintain, that the prophet speaks of the city of Jerusalem, in which there was a tower of this name, through which the flocks of sheep were driven to the sheep-market. From the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city, 2Ki 17:9. This form of speaking expresses in general all the places of the country, from the least to the greatest. The towers of the watchmen, or of the shepherds, stood alone in the midst of the plain, in which the shepherds and herdsmen who looked after the flocks, or watchmen, might lodge. King Uzziah caused several towers to be built for the shepherds in the desert, and made many cisterns there, because he had a great number of flocks, 2Ch 26:10.
The tower of the flock, and that which Isa 5:2, notices, which was built in the midst of a vineyard, were of the same kind.
TOWER OF BABEL. See BABEL.
TOWER OF SHECHEM was a citadel, or fortress, standing upon a higher ground than the rest of the city, and capacious enough to contain above a thousand persons. This tower, filled with the inhabitants of Shechem, was burned by Abimelech down to the very ground, together with those who had taken refuge in it.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Tower
2Sa 22:51 (b) The tower is a type of the high and safe place occupied by the children of GOD who hide in CHRIST and dwell in the secret place of the Most High. (See also Psa 18:2; Psa 61:3; Psa 144:2; Pro 18:10).
Son 7:4 (a) Ivory is very valuable and beautiful. A tower is firm and substantial. These qualities are evidently referred to as characteristic of the bride. The tower of Lebanon was evidently a lookout tower, facing Syria where the watchman could discern quickly the coming of the enemy. It probably means that the bride had a great sense of discernment and could easily and quickly discern that which was evil or wrong, or was from the enemy.
Jer 6:27 (a) Jeremiah was the center of GOD’s work and power among the people of Israel. From him came the words of warning and entreaty. Through him GOD sent His messages, His commands, and made known His desires.
Mic 4:8 (a) Mount Zion is a high, rocky fortress, quite difficult to ascend, very steep. It was recognized as the very center of the defense of Jerusalem and of Judah.
Mat 21:33 (b) This tower probably represents Mount Zion in the midst of Israel, and of Jerusalem, and was a watch-tower from which the enemy could be seen for many miles away. CHRIST is referring partly to the history of Israel, and partly to the present time when He is away in the far country.
Luk 14:28 (b) This is a type of any great work of GOD which a man of GOD builds for the honor of the Lord JESUS CHRIST. This is illustrated in the great school built by Moody in Chicago, the great work in China built by Hudson Taylor, and the wonderful work in the Sudan built by R. V. Bingham. GOD would have all His children building something for His glory.