On
ON
See HELIOPOLIS.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
On
the name of a man, and also of a city.
1. (Heb. id. , strength, as Job 18:7; Sept. .) A son of Peleth, and a chief of the tribe of Reuben, who was one of the accomplices of Korah in the revolt against the authority of Moses and Aaron. B.C. cir. 1637. He is mentioned among the leaders of this conspiracy in the first instance (Num 16:1), but does not appear in any of the subsequent transactions, and is not by name included in the final punishment. Possibly he repented; and indeed there is a Rabbinical tradition to the effect that he was prevailed upon by his wife to withdraw from his’ accomplices. Abendana’s note is, Behold On is not mentioned again, for he was separated from their company after Moses spake with them. And our rabbins of blessed memory said that his wife saved him.’ Josephus (Ant. 4:2, 2) omits the name of On, but retains that of his father in the form , thus apparently identifying Peleth with Phallu, the son of Relluen.
2. An important city in Egypt. In the following account we depend largely upon the elucidation which modern researches have afforded.
Name. This in the Heb. is the same as the above, , Gen 41:50, or in the condensed form , Gen 41:45; Gen 41:50; Gen 46:20 (Sept. ; Vulg. Heliopolis), which is doubtless of Coptic etymology. But in Eze 30:17, it is Hebraized , A ven (q.v.), i.e. wickedness (Sept. and Vulg. as before). The same city is also mentioned in the Bible as BETH-SHEMESH, (Jer 43:13), corresponding to the ancient Egyptian sacred name HA-RA, the abode of the sun; and perhaps it is likewise spoken of as IR- HA-HERES, , or , the second part being, in this case, either the Egyptian sacred name, or else the Hebrew , but we prefer to read a city of destruction. The two names were known to the translator or translators of Exodus in the Sept., where On is explained to be Heliopolis ( , 1:11); but in Jeremiah this version seems to treat Beth-shemesh as the name of a temple ( , ), 43:13, Sept. 1, 13). The Coptic version gives On as the equivalent of the names in the Sept., but whether as an Egyptian word or such a word Hebraized can scarcely be determined. The latter is perhaps more probable, as the letter we represent by A is not commonly changed into the Coptic O, unless indeed one hieroglyphic form of the name should be read ANU, in which case the last vowel might have been transposed and the first incorporated with it. Brugsch (Geogr. Inschr. 1:254) supposes AN and ON to be the same, as the Egyptian A often had a sound intermediate between a and o. But this does not admit of the change of the a vowel to the long vowel o, from which it was as distinct as from the other long vowel i, respectively like and , , and .
The ancient Egyptian common name is written AN or AN-T, and perhaps ANU; but the essential part of the word is AN, and probably no more was pronounced. There were two towns called AN: Heliopolis, distinguished as the northern, AN-MEHIT, and Hermonthis, in Upper Egypt, as the southern, AN-RES (Brugsch Geogr. -nschr. 1:254, 255, Nos. 1217 a, b, 1218. 870,1225). As to the meaning, we can say nothing certain. Cyril, who, as bishop of Alexandria, should be listened to on such a question, says that On signified the sun ( , ad Hosea p. 145), and the Coptic Ouoini (Memphitic), Ouein, Ouoein (Sahidic), light, has therefore been compared (see La Croze Lex. p. 71, 189), but the hieroglyphic form is UBEN, shining, which has no connection with AN.
Scriptural Notices. The first mention of this place in the Bible is in the history of Joseph, to whom we read Pharaoh gave to wife Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On (Gen 41:45. comp. Gen 41:50; and Gen 46:20). Joseph was possibly governor of Egypt under a king of the fifteenth dynasty, of which Memphis was, at least for a time, the capital. In this case he would doubtless have lived for part of the year at Memphis, and therefore near to Heliopolis. The name. of Asenath’s father was appropriate to a Heliopolite, and especially to a priest of that place (though according to some he may have been a prince), for it means Belonging to Ra, or the sun. The name of Joseph’s master Potiphar is the same, but with a slight difference in the Hebrew orthography. According to the Sept. On was one of the cities built for Pharaoh by the oppressed Israelites, for it mentions three strong cities instead of the two treasure cities of the Heb., adding On to Pithom and Raamses ( , , , , , Exo 1:11). If it be intended that these cities were founded by the labor of the people, the addition is probably a mistake, although Heliopolis may have been ruined, and rebuilt; but it is possible that they were merely fortified, probably as places for keeping stores. Heliopolis lay at no great distance from the land of Goshen and from Raamses, and probably Pithom also.
Isaiah has been supposed to speak of On when he prophesies that one of the five cities in Egypt that should speak the language of Canaan should be called Ir-ha-heres, which may .mean the City of the Sun, whether we take heres to be a Hebrew or an Egyptian word; but the reading a city of destruction seems preferable; and we have no evidence that there was any large Jewish settlement at Heliopolis, although there may have been at one time from its nearness to the town of Onias (q.v.). Jeremiah speaks of On under the name Beth-shemesh, the house of the sun (comp. oppidum solis, Pliny, Hist. Nat. v. 11), where he predicts of Nebuchadnezzar, He shall break also the pillars [? , but perhaps statues] of Bethshemesh, that [is] in .the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire (43:13). By the word we have rendered pillars, obelisks are reasonably supposed to be: meant, for the number of which before the temple of the sun Heliopolis must have been famous; and perhaps by the houses of the gods, the temples of this place are intended, as their being burned would be a proof of the powerlessness of Ra and Atum, both forms of the sun, Shu, the god of light, and Tafnet, a fire-goddess, to save their dwellings from the very element over which they were supposed to rule. Perhaps it was on account of the many false gods of Heliopolis that, in Ezekiel, On is written Aven, by a change in the punctuation, if we can here depend on the Masoretic text, and so made to signify vanity, and especially the vanity of idolatry. The prophet foretells, The young men of Aven and of Pi-be-seth shall fall by the sword: and these [cities] shall go into captivity (30:17). Pibeseth, or Bubastis, is doubtless spoken of with Heliopolis as in the same part of Egypt, and so to be involved in a common calamity at the same time when the land should be invaded. After the age of the prophets we hear no more in Scripture of Heliopolis. Local tradition, however, points it out as a place where our Lord and the Virgin came, when Joseph brought them into Egypt, and a very ancient sycamore is shown as a tree beneath which they rested. The Jewish settlements in this part of Egypt, and especially the town of Onias, which was probably only twelve miles distant from Heliopolis in a northerly direction, but a little to the eastward (Modern Egypt and Thebes, 1:297, 298), then flourished, and were nearer to Palestine than the heathen towns, like Alexandria, in which there was any large Jewish population, so that there is much probability in this tradition. And perhaps Heliopolis itself may have had a Jewish quarter, although we do not know it to have been the Ir-ha-heres of Isaiah.
Monumental History. The oldest monument of the town is the obelisk, which was set up late in the reign of Sesertesen I, head of the 12th dynasty, dating B.C. cir. 2050. According to Manetho, the bull Mnevis was first worshipped here in the reign of Kaiechos, second king of the 2d dynasty (B.C. cir. 2400). In the earliest times it must have been subject to the first dynasty so long as their sole rule lasted, which was perhaps for no more than the reigns of Menes (B.C. cir. 2717), and Athothis; it doubtless next came under the government of the Memphites, of the 3d (B.C. cir. 2640), 4th, and 6th dynasties; it then passed into the hands of the Diospolites of the 12th dynasty and the Shepherds of the 15th; but whether the former or the latter held it first, or it was contested between them, we cannot as yet determine. During the long period of anarchy that followed the rule of the 12th dynasty, when Lower Egypt was subject to the Shepherd kings, Heliopolis must have been under the government of the strangers. With the accession of the 18th dynasty it was probably recovered by the Egyptians, during the war which Aahmes, or Amosis, head of that line, waged with the Shepherds, and thenceforward held by them, though perhaps more than once occupied by invaders (comp. Chabas, Papyrus Magique Harris), before the Assyrians conquered Egypt. Its position near the eastern frontier must have made it always a post of especial importance. SEE NO-AMON.
The chief object of worship at Heliopolis was the sun, under the forms Ra, the sun simply, whence the sacred name of the place, HA-RA, the abode of the sun, and Atum, the setting sun, or sun of the nether world. Probably its chief temple was dedicated to both. Shu, the son of Atum, and Tafnet, his daughter, were also here worshipped, as well as the bull Minevis, sacred to Ra, Osiris, and His; and the Phoenix, Bennu, probably represented by a living bird of the crane kind. (On the mythology, see Brugsch, p. 254 sq.) The temple of the sun, described by Strabo (17, p. 805, 806), is now only represented by the single beautiful obelisk, which is of red granite, 68 feet 2 inches high above the pedestal, and bears a: dedication showing that it was sculptured in or after his 30th year (cir. 2050) by Sesertesen I. first king of the 12th dynasty (B.C. cir. 2080-2045). There were probably far more than a usual number of obelisks before the gates of this temple, on the evidence of ancient writers, and the inscriptions of some yet remaining elsewhere, and no doubt the reason was that these monuments were sacred to the sun. From the extent of the mounds it seems to have been always a small town.
An imperfect monumental inscription of the time of Thothmes III mentions the city of On in the following terms: In his thirty-fifth year the king (Thothmes III) sent forth an army of ten full cohorts against Heth. Then he marched against the city of On, where the unclean race were assembled . . alluding perhaps to the Shepherds, whom Thothmes finally expelled from Egypt. There are other indications of this Pharaoh having been at Heliopolis or On. Two of the obelisks removed by the Romans from that ancient city bear the well-known cartouche of Thothmes III. The one stands upright before the cathedral of St. John at Rome, the other in the Atmeidan at Constantinople. Osburn declares that it becomes a historical fact that the patron of Joseph, Pharaoh Apophis, had possession of Heliopolis, and for a long period held his regal state there (Monuma. Hist. of Egypt, 2:87). SEE EGYPT.
Later Notices. The traces of this city which are found in classic authors correspond with the little of it that we know from the brief intimations of Holy Writ. According to Herodotus (2:59), Heliopolis was one of the four great cities that were rendered famous in Egypt by being the centers of solemn religious festivals, which were attended by splendid processions and homage to the gods. In Heliopolis the observance was held in honor of the sun. The majesty of these sacred visits may be best learned now by a careful study of the temples (in their ruins) in which the rites were performed (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt.). Heliopolis had its priesthood, a numerous and learned body, celebrated before other Egyptians for their historical and antiquarian lore, and occupying extensive, buildings around the temple; it long continued the university of the Egyptians, the chief seat of their science (Kenrick, Herod. 2:3; Wilkinson); the priests dwelt as a holy community in a spacious structure appropriated to their use. In Strabo’s time the halls were to be seen in which Eudoxus and Plato had studied under the direction of the priests of Heliopolis. A detailed description of the temple, with its long alleys of sphinxes. obelisks, etc., may be found in Strabo (17; Josephus, c.’Apion. 3 2), who says that the mural sculpture in it was very similar to the old Etruscan and Grecian works. In the temple a bullock was fed a symbol of the god Mnevis. The city suffered severely by the Persian invasion. From the time of Shaw- and Pococke the place has been described by many travelers. At an early period remains of the famous temple were found. Abdallatif (A.D. 1200) saw many colossal sphinxes, partly prostrate, partly standing. He also saw the gates or propylaea of the temple covered with inscriptions; he describes two immense obelisks whose summits were covered with massive brass, around which were others one half or one third the size of the first, placed in so thick a mass that they could scarcely be counted, most of them thrown down. This city furnished works of art to Augustus for adorning Rome, and to Constantine for adorning Constantinople. Ritter (Erdkunde, 1:823) says that the sole remaining obelisk bears hieroglyphics which remind the beholder of what Strabo terms the Etruscan style. The figure of the cross which it bears (crux ansata) has attracted the special notice of Christian antiquaries (Ritter).
Heliopolis was situate on the east side of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, just below the point of the Delta, and about twenty miles north-east of Memphis. It was before the Roman time the capital of the Heliopolitic Nome, which was included in Lower Egypt (Pliny, Hist. Nat. v. 9; Ptolem. 4:5). Now its site is above the point of the Delta, which is the junction of the Phatmetic, or Damietta branch, and the Bolbitine, or Rosetta, and about ten miles to the north-east of Cairo. The site is now marked by low mounds, enclosing a space about three quarters of a mile in length by half a mile in breadth, which was once occupied by houses and by the celebrated Temple of the Sun. This area is at present a plowed field, a garden of herbs; and the solitary obelisk which still rises in the midst of it is the sole remnant of the former splendors of the place. In the days of Edrisi and Abdallatif the place bore the name of Ain Shems; and in the neighboring village, Matariyeh, is still shown an ancient well bearing the same name. Near by it is the above-mentioned very old sycamore, its trunk straggling and gnarled, under which legendary tradition relates that the holy family once rested (Robinson, Biblical Researches, 1:36).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
On
light; the sun, (Gen. 41:45, 50), the great seat of sun-worship, called also Bethshemesh (Jer. 43:13) and Aven (Ezek. 30:17), stood on the east bank of the Nile, a few miles north of Memphis, and near Cairo, in the north-east. The Vulgate and the LXX. Versions have “Heliopolis” (“city of the sun”) instead of On in Genesis and of Aven in Ezekiel. The “city of destruction” Isaiah speaks of (19:18, marg. “of Heres;” Heb. ‘Ir-ha-heres, which some MSS. read Ir-ha-heres, i.e., “city of the sun”) may be the name given to On, the prophecy being that the time will come when that city which was known as the “city of the sun-god” shall become the “city of destruction” of the sun-god, i.e., when idolatry shall cease, and the worship of the true God be established.
In ancient times this city was full of obelisks dedicated to the sun. Of these only one now remains standing. “Cleopatra’s Needle” was one of those which stood in this city in front of the Temple of Tum, i.e., “the sun.” It is now erected on the Thames Embankment, London.
“It was at On that Joseph wooed and won the dark-skinned Asenath, the daughter of the high priest of its great temple.” This was a noted university town, and here Moses gained his acquaintance with “all the wisdom of the Egyptians.”
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
On (1)
Son of Peleth, chief of Reuben; took part with Korah, Dathan, etc., against Moses (Num 16:1). Since his name is not repeated, he probably renounced the conspiracy. The rabbis say that his wife saved him.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
On (2)
Heliopolis in the Septuagint. Beth Shemesh (“house of the sun”) in Jer 43:13. “Nebuchadnezzar shall break the standing images of Beth Shemesh in Egypt.” The “standing images” may mean “obelisks,” for which the On sun temple was famed; they stood before the temple gates. “The houses of the gods shall he burn with fire.” Shu “the god of light”, Tafnet “the fire goddess”, and Ra “the sun god”, could not save their own dwellings from the element which they were thought to rule! E. of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, 30 miles N.E. of Memphis, Ephraem Syrus says the statue rose 60 cubits high, the base 10, above was a mitre 1,008 lbs. weight. The obelisk of red granite there now is 68 ft. high above the pedestal, the oldest and one of the finest in Egypt. It was part of the temple of the sun; its sculptured dedication is by Osirtasin I of the 12th dynasty. Josephus (Ant 10:9, section 7) says Nebuchadnezzar, the fifth year after Jerusalem’s fall, left the siege of Tyre to march against Egypt. (See HOPHRA.)
Ezekiel (Eze 30:17) calls it Aven; perhaps a play on the name, meaning “vanity”, because of its idolatry. Re-Athom is the Egyptian hieroglyphical designation, the sun (Ra) the father of the gods, as Adam or Athom was of mankind. Manetho says Mnevis “the bull” was first worshipped here under the second king of the second dynasty. Atum is represented as “the setting sun,” the “sun of the nether world” (Gen 41:45; Gen 41:50). In Isa 19:18, “five cities in Egypt shall speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called the ‘city of destruction’ ” (Ha-Heres). Onias who fled into Egypt, in disappointment at not getting the high priesthood, and rose to rank under Ptolemy Philometor, read “city of the sun” (Ha-Cheres). He persuaded Philometor to let him build a temple (149 B.C.) at Leontopolis in the “prefecture” (nome) of Heliopolis, on the ground that it would induce Jews to reside there, and that Isaiah almost 600 years before foretold the site. “City of destruction,” if referring to this temple, will mean censure of it, as violating God’s law that sanctioned only the one temple at Jerusalem. Gesenius translated “city of deliverance,” God “sending them a saviour” to “deliver them because of the oppressors” (Isa 19:20). (See IR-HA-HERES.)
Ha-ra is the Egyptian sacred name, “abode of the sun”; An is the Egyptian common name; Cyril of Alexandria says On means “the sun”; the hieroglyphic uben, related to aven, means “shining”. Reputed the oldest capital in Egypt, it and Memphis are mentioned in very early inscriptions as the two seats of justice; Thebes is added in hieroglyphics of the 18th dynasty; “the three seats of justice of both Egypts.” Under the Greek rulers, On, Memphis, and Thebes sent forth ten justices to the surrounding districts. Shu, son of Atum, and Tafnet his daughter, were worshipped, as well as Ra to whom Mnevis was sacred, also Bennu “the phoenix”, represented by a living bird of the crane kind; the rising from its ashes indicated symbolically a recommencing cycle of time. On was famed for learning. It was the ecclesiastical metropolis of Lower Egypt, where the Greek historians and philosophers obtained their information about Egypt. Plato studied under its priests. (See JOSEPH.) Tradition makes On the place visited by Joseph, Mary, and our Lord, and a sycamore is shown under which they rested in their flight (Hos 11:1; Mat 2:15). The Septuagint adds On to the cities which Israel built, i.e. fortified, for the Egyptians (Exo 1:11).
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
On
ON.A Reubenite associated with Dathan and Abiram (Num 16:1) [text doubtful].
ON.The city of Heliopolis, On also in Egyptian, Gen 41:45; Gen 41:50; Gen 46:20. The same name in Eze 30:17 has been intentionally misvocalized as Aven, i.e. idolatry; in Jer 43:13 it is called Beth-shemesh, meaning House of the Sun, like its Egyp. sacred name P-R, and the Gr. Heliopolis. The city lay on the east border of the Delta, a little below the fork of the river. As the centre of sun-worship in Egypt, its temple was of the highest importance: it was favoured by the kings and served by the most learned priesthood in the land. Tradition makes Plato and other Greek philosophers study in Heliopolis; later, the foundation of the Alexandrian library, on the one hand, deprived Heliopolis of the glory of learning, and, on the other, the old traditions of royal descent from the Sun-god had little weight with the Ptolemys. Early in the Roman period Heliopolis is described by Strabo as almost deserted. Besides enclosure walls of crude brick and mounds of rubbish, the site of the temple is now marked by one conspicuous monument, an obelisk set up by Senwosri i. about b.c. 2000.
F. Ll. Griffith.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
On
Son of Peleth, (Num 16:1) The word means pain.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
On (1)
on (, ‘on; Egyptian An, Ant., Annu, probably pronounced An only, as this is often all that is written, a stone or stone pillars): Later called Hellopolis. The name On occurs only in Gen 41:45, Gen 41:50; Gen 46:20. It occurs in one other place in the Septuagint (Exo 1:11), where On is mentioned with Pithom and Raamses as strong cities which the Israelites built. Hebrew slaves may have worked upon fortifications here, but certainly did not build the city. On is possibly referred to as , r ha-heres, in Isa 19:18 (see IR-HA-HERES). On may also be mentioned by Jeremiah (Jer 43:13) under the name Beth-shemesh. Ezekiel speaks of an Aven (, ‘awen) (Eze 30:17), where it is mentioned with Pibeseth (Bubastis). Aven in this passage is almost certainly the same as On in Gen 41:45; Gen 46:20, as the letters of both words are the same in the Hebrew. Only the placing of the vowel-points makes any difference. If there is a mistake, it is a mistake of the Massoretes, not of the Hebrew writer.
1. Location and Description:
There were two Ons in Egypt: one in Upper Egypt, An-res (Hermonthis); the other in Lower Egypt, An-Meheet (Brugsch, Geogr. Inschr., 254, 255, numbers 1217, a, b, 1218, 8708, 1225). The latter is the On referred to in the Bible. It lay about 20 miles North of the site of old Memphis, about 10 miles Northeast of the location of modern Cairo. It has left until this time about 4 square miles of ruins within the old walls. Little or nothing remains outside the walls.
On was built at the edge of the desert, which has now retreated some 3 or 4 miles eastward, the result of the rising of the bed of the Nile by sediment from the inundation, and the broadening of the area of infiltration which now carries the water of the Nile that much to the East. The land around On has risen about 10 ft., and the waters of infiltration at the time of lowest Nile are now about 1 1/2 ft. above the floor-level of the temple.
2. History:
The history of On is very obscure, yet its very great importance is in no doubt. No clear description of the ancient city or sanctuary has come down to us, but there are so many incidental references, and so much is implied in ancient records, that it stands out as of the very first importance, both as capital and sanctuary. The city comes from the Ist Dynasty, when it was the seat of government, and indeed must have been founded by the Ist Dynasty or have come down to it from pre-historic time. From the IIIrd to the VIth Dynasty the seat of government was shifted from On to Memphis, and in the XIIth Dynasty to Diospolis. Throughout these changes On retained its religious importance. It had been the great sanctuary in the time of the Pyramid Texts, the oldest religious texts of Egypt, and judging from the evident great development of the temple of On at the time of the writing of the texts, the city must have antedated them by considerable time (Budge, History of Egypt, II, 83, 84, 108; Breasted, Development of Religion and Thought in Egypt, chapters i, ii). The myth of Osiris makes even the charge against Set for the murder of Osiris to have been preferred at Heliopolis (Breasted, op. cit., 34). This certainly implies a very great age for the sanctuary at On. It contained a temple of the sun under the name Ra, the sun, and also Atum, the setting sun, or the sun of the Underworld. There was also a Phoenix Hall and asacred object called a ben, probably a stone, and the origin of the name An, a stone or pillar (compare Breasted, op. cit., 76, 11, and 71). Though the XIIth Dynasty removed the capital to Diospolis, Usertsen I (Senwesret) of that Dynasty erected a great obelisk at On in front of the entrance to the temple. The situation of this obelisk in the templearea indicates that the great temple was already more than a half-mile in length as early as the XIIth Dynasty. The mate of this obelisk on the opposite side of the entrance seems not to have been erected until the XVIIIth Dynasty. Its foundations were discovered in 1912 by Petrie. Some scraps of the granite of the obelisk bear inscriptions of Thothmes III. A great Hyksos wall, also discovered by Petrie in 1912, exactly similar to that of the fortified camp at Tel el Yehudiyeh, 4 miles North, makes it quite certain that these usurpers between the Old Empire and the New fortified On as the capital once more. The manifest subserviency of the priests of On in the story of Joseph makes it most probable that the old capital at On had already been subjugated in Joseph’s time, and that within this old fortification still existing Joseph ruled as prime minister of Egypt. Merenptah in his 5th year began to fortify On. Sheshonk III called himself divine prince of Annu, and seems to have made On one of the greatest sanctuaries of his long reign. On still figured in Egyptian history in the rebellion against Ashurbanipal. The city has been deserted since the Persian invasion of 525 BC. Tradition makes the dwelling-place of Joseph and Mary with the child Jesus, while in Egypt, to have been near Heliopolis.
The exploration of On was attempted by Schiaparelli, but was not carried out, and his work has not been published. In 1912 Petrie began a systematic work of excavation which, it is expected, will continue until the whole city has been examined. The only great discovery of the first season was the Hyksos wall of fortification. Its full import can only be determined by the continuance of the exploration.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
On (2)
(, ‘on; , Aun): A Reubenite, son of Peleth, who took part with Dathan and Abiram in their revolt against Moses (Num 16:1).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
On
On, 1
On (strength), a chief of the tribe of Reuben, who was one of the accomplices of Korah in the revolt against the authority of Moses and Aaron. He is mentioned among the leaders of this conspiracy in the first instance (Num 16:17), but does not appear in any of the subsequent transactions, and is not by name included in the final punishment. The Rabbinical tradition is, that the wife of On persuaded her husband to abandon the enterprise.
On, 2
On, one of the oldest cities in the world, situated in Lower Egypt, about two hours N.N.E. from Cairo. The Septuagint translates the name On by Heliopolis, which signifies ‘city of the sun;’ and in Jer 43:13, it bears a name, Beth-shemesh, of equivalent import. On is a Coptic and ancient Egyptian word, signifying light and the sun. The site is now marked by low mounds, enclosing a space about three-quarters of a mile in length by half a mile in breadth, which was once occupied by houses and by the celebrated Temple of the Sun. This area is at present a plowed field, a garden of herbs; and the solitary obelisk which still rises in the midst of it is the sole remnant of the former splendors of the place. In the days of Edrisi and Abdallatif the place bore the name of Ain Shems; and in the neighboring village, Matariyeh, is still shown an ancient well bearing the same name. Nearby it is a very old sycamore, its trunk straggling and gnarled, under which legendary tradition relates that the holy family once rested. Heliopolis was the capital of a district or nomos bearing the same name.
The place is mentioned in Gen 41:45, where it is said that Pharaoh gave to Joseph a wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On (Gen 41:50). From the passage in Jeremiah it may be inferred that it was distinguished for idolatrous worship. The names, ‘City of the Sun,’ ‘Temples of the Sun,’ connected with the place, taken in conjunction with the passage just alluded to, seem to refer the mind to the purer form of worship which prevailed at a very early period in Egypt, namely, the worship of the heavenly bodies, and thence to carry the thoughts to the deteriorations which it afterwards underwent in sinking to the adoration of images and animals.
The traces of this city which are found in classic authors correspond with the little of it that we know from the brief intimations of Holy Writ. According to Herodotus, Heliopolis was one of the four great cities that were rendered famous in Egypt by being the centers of solemn religious festivals, which were attended by splendid processions and homage to the gods. In Heliopolis the observance was held in honor of the sun. It had its priesthood, a numerous and learned body, celebrated before other Egyptians for their historical and antiquarian lore; it long continued the university of the Egyptians, the chief seat of their science; the priests dwelt as a holy community in a spacious structure appropriated to their use. The city suffered heavily by the Persian invasion. At an early period remains of its famous temple were found. An obelisk which the Emperor Augustus caused to be carried to Rome, and placed in the Campus Martius, is held by Zoega to have been brought from Heliopolis, and to have owed its origin to Sesostris. This city furnished works of art to Augustus for adorning Rome, and to Constantine for adorning Constantinople. Ritter says that the sole remaining obelisk is from 60 to 70 feet high, of a block of red granite, bearing hieroglyphics which remind the beholder of what Strabo terms the Etruscan style. ‘The figure of the cross which it bears has attracted the special notice of Christian antiquaries.’
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
On
1. The ‘city of the Sun,’ in Egypt. Poti-pherah, the father of Asenath, Joseph’s wife, was priest of the city. Gen 41:45; Gen 41:50; Gen 46:20. It is regarded as the same as BETH-SHEMESH in Jer 43:13, and as AVEN in Eze 30:17; and is supposed to be alluded to in Isa 19:18; see margin . Identified with the ruins of Heliopolis, 30 8′ N, 31 23′ E: about ten miles N.E. of Cairo. On has been found in the inscriptions as AN and AN-T.
2. Son of Peleth, a Reubenite: he joined with Korah in murmuring against Moses and Aaron. Num 16:1. He is not mentioned after verse 1. The Jews say he separated from the guilty company and was saved.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
On
H203 H204
1. Capital of lower Egypt
Gen 41:45; Gen 46:20
2. A leader of the Reubenites who rebelled against Moses
Num 16:1
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
On
On (n), sun, light. A noted city of Lower Egypt, Gen 41:45; Gen 41:50; called Beth-shemesh, or “house of the sun,” Jer 43:13, and known to the Greeks as Heliopolis, or “city of the sun.” Eze 30:17, A. V., margin. Some suppose it to be referred to as the “city of destruction” in Isa 19:18-19. On was situated upon the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, about 20 miles northeast of ancient Memphis, and 6 miles north from Cairo. The origin and founder of On are unknown, but it has an obelisk which has been standing about 4000 years. It has been considered the Rome and the Athens of ancient Egypt, the centre of its religion and learning. In it stood the great temple of Ra, with one exception the most famous ancient shrine in Egypt, its companies of priests and attendants are reputed to have numbered over 12,000. The legend of the wonder-bird Phoenix, early used to illustrate the doctrine of the resurrection, arose here; to this city Joseph, delivered from prison, came with royal honors to marry the daughter of Potipherah, “dedicated to Ra.” Josephus reports that On was the home of Jacob on his arrival in Egypt. In its grandeur it was the resort of men of learning from all countries. In its schools and universities Moses, according to Manetho, was instructed in all the learning of the Egyptians, and hither came Plato, Eudoxus, and Herodotus. The site of this once famous city is now marked with a few ruins of massive walls, fragments of sphinxes, a noted obelisk of red granite of Syene (one of the two which stood before the temple of the Sun), An Obelisk from On is now in Rome, another on the Thames in London, one in Constantinople, and one in Central Park, N. Y. The obelisk, bearing the name of Usurtesen I., and rising amid the desolation at On, is 66 feet high. 2. Name of a person. Num 16:1.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
On
On. 1. the son of Peleth, and one of the chiefs, of the tribe of Reuben, who took part with Korah, Dathan and Abiram in their revolt against Moses. Num 16:1. (B.C. 1491). His name does not again appear in the narrative of the conspiracy, nor is he alluded to when reference is made to the final catastrophe.
(abode or city of the sun).
2. A town of lower Egypt, called Beth-Shemesh in Jer 43:13. On is better known, under its Greek name, Heliopolis. It was situated on the east side of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, just below the point of the Delta, and about twenty miles northeast of Memphis. The chief object of worship at Heliopolis was the sun, whose temple, described by Strabo, is now only represented by the single beautiful obelisk, of red granite, 80 feet 2 inches high, above the pedestal which has stood for more than 4000 years, having been erected by Usirtesen, the second king of the twelfth dynasty.
Heliopolis was anciently famous for its learning, and Eudoxus and Plato studied under its priests. The first mention of this place in the Bible, is in the history of Joseph, to whom we read, Pharaoh gave “to wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On.” Gen 41:45. Compare Gen 41:60 and Gen 46:20.
(On is to be remembered, not only as the home of Joseph, but as the traditional place to which, his far-off namesake took Mary and the babe Jesus in the flight to Egypt.
The two famous obelisks, long called “Cleopatra’s Needles,” one of which now stands in London, and the other in Central Park in New York city, once stood before this city, and were seen by the children of Israel, before the Exodus, having been quarried at Syene on the Nile, erected at On, (Heliopolis), by Thothmes III, B.C. 1500, and inscriptions added by Rameses II, (Sesostris), two hundred years later. They were taken to Alexandria, by Augustus Caesar A.D. 23, from which they were removed, to their present places. — Editor).
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
ON
Heliopolis (?)
Gen 41:45; Gen 46:20
Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
On
* For ON see +, p. 9
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
On
or AVEN, a city of Egypt, situated in the land of Goshen, on the east of the Nile, and about five miles from the modern Cairo. It was called Heliopolis by the Greeks, and Bethshemeth by the Hebrews, Jer 43:13; both of which names, as well as its Egyptian one of On, imply the city or house of the sun. The inhabitants of this city are represented by Herodotus as the wisest of the Egyptians; and here Moses resided, and received that education which made him learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. But notwithstanding its being the seat of the sciences, such were its egregious idolatries, that it was nicknamed Aven, or Beth-Aven, the house of vanity, or idolatry, by the Jews. A village standing on part of its site, at the present day, is called Matarea; while the spring of excellent water, or fountain of the sun, which is supposed to have given rise to the city, is still called Ain Shems, or fountain of the sun, by the Arabs. This is one of the most ancient cities of the world of which any distinct vestige can now be traced. It was visited eighteen hundred and fifty years ago by Strabo, whose description proves it to have been nearly as desolate then as now. Most of the ruins of this once famous city, described by that geographer, are buried in the accumulation of the soil: but that which marks its site, and is, perhaps, the most ancient work at this time existing in the world, in a perfect state, is a column of red granite, seventy feet high, and covered with hieroglyphics. Dr. E. D. Clarke has given a very good representation of this column; to whom, also, the curious reader is referred for a learned dissertation on the characters engraved upon it.
The city On, according to Josephus, was given to the Israelites to dwell in, when they first went into Egypt; and it was a daughter of a priest of the temple of the sun at this place, who was given in marriage to Joseph by Pharaoh. Here, also, in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, leave was obtained of that king by Onias, high priest of the Jews, to build a temple, when dispossessed of his office by Antiochus; which was long used by the Hellenist Jews. It was predicted by Jer 43:13, and by Eze 30:17, that this place, with its temples and inhabitants, should be destroyed; which was probably fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar. See NOPH.