Pillar
PILLAR
Sometimes means a monumental column, Gen 35:20 2Sa 18:18 ; or a column of cloud or smoke, Exo 13:21 Jdg 20:40 . The stately column which adorns and supports the front of a temple, Jdg 16:25-30 Job 9:6 26:11, illustrates the position of prophets, Jer 1:18, apostles, Gal 2:9, believers, Jer 3:12, and the church itself, respecting the truth, 1Ti 3:15 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Pillar
The pillar () is the symbol of stability and firmness, that which upholds and sustains. Its figurative use is confined to the NT, in the following passages.
1. Gal 2:9.- , , James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars. , which was used quite commonly as a descriptive title for the great Rabbis, here refers to those already mentioned (Gal 2:2) who were of repute-the recognized leaders, and (v. 6) those who were reputed to be somewhat-considerable persons, those who are the great authorities with you Galatians now (Ellicott, in loc.).
2. 1Ti 3:15.- (sc. ) , , which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground (stay) of the truth. is . in both classical and NT Greek. House of God in the OT denoted, in the first place, the Temple, and then, by metonymy, the covenant people-familia Dei. Here it stands for the congregation of believers among whom God dwells. Hort (The Christian Ecclesia, p. 172 ff.) renders, a household of God, which is an Ecclesia of a living God, a pillar and stay of the truth, and contends that the absence of the article is not immaterial, and says, in opposition to the rendering in the RV : There is no clear evidence that the rare word ever means ground = foundation. It is rather, in accordance with the almost universal Latin rendering firmamentum, a stay or bulwark. St. Pauls idea then is that each living society of Christian men is a pillar and stay of the truth as an object of belief and a guide of life for mankind, each such Christian society bearing its part in sustaining and supporting the one truth common to all (cf. ExpT_ viii. [1896-97] 471). The reference would then be to the local Church of Ephesus. But a large body of interpreters favour the rendering of the AV_ and the RV_-the whole society of believers, the Church universal, is regarded as the ground and stay of the truth (cf. J. Strachan, Westminster NT, The Captivity and the Pastoral Epistles, London, 1910, p. 218). The Church is first pictured as a house, inhabited by a living God, and then, by a quick change of metaphor, is described as , holding up the truth, the saving truth of the gospel. Attempts have been made to avoid the mixture of metaphor by referring pillar and stay to Timothy himself. But, though there is no insuperable objection to this, it is not needful. There is no intolerable mixture of metaphors in speaking of Christians first as a house and then as a pillar, any more than in speaking of any one as both a pillar and a basis. In 1Ti 6:9 we have the covetous falling into a snare and hurtful lusts such as drown men (A. Plummer, Expositors Bible, The Pastoral Epistles, London, 1888, p. 131 n._).
3. Rev 3:12.- , , He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple (sanctuary) of my God, and he shall go out thence no more. The letter to the Church of Philadelphia gives the pledge of safety from the hour of trial, of steadiness like the pillar of a temple, of everlasting guarantee against disaster and eviction, of exaltation above the enemies who now contemn and insult. It was always in dread of the last hour of trial, and was always kept from it. It stood like a pillar, the symbol of stability and strength (Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, p. 411 f.). The history of Philadelphia does not belie the splendid promise made to its church. It stood like a pillar against the troubles of the times, and a bulwark of civilization. The town is still largely Christian (cf. EBi_ iii. 3692). Philadelphia alone has been saved by prophecy, or courage. Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect, a column in a scene of ruins: a pleasing example that the paths of honour and safety may sometimes be the same (E. Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vii.2 [1902] p. 27). It has been said that among the few ruins of Philadelphia there are four strong marble pillars standing in one spot, and on the sides of these pillars inscriptions are found. W. M. Ramsay (op. cit.) traces in the promise to this church suggestive references, which, he thinks, a Philadelphian could not fail to discover, e.g. to the disasters and earthquakes common to the district: he that overcometh shall never again require to go out and take refuge in the open country. The city which had suffered so much and so long from instability was to be rewarded with the Divine firmness and steadfastness.
Augustine (quoted by R. C. Trench, Commentary on the Epistles to the Seven Churches in Asia3, London, 1867, p. 188) says: Quis non desideret illam civitatem, unde amicus non exit, quo inimicus non intrat?
The majority of commentators, followed by the RV_, take the name as written upon the victor and not on the pillar (the metaphor being dropped), but De Wette adopts the latter rendering, so that become also . As to the inscription itself, Ramsay (op. cit.) contends that there are not three names, but one which has all three characters, and is at once the name of God, the name of the Church, and the new name of Christ.
Literature.-F. J. A. Hort, The Christian Ecclesia, London, 1897; W. M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, do., 1904; P. Brooks, The Candle of the Lord, do., 1881, p. 60 f.; C. J. Ellicott, NT Commentary, 1884, in loc.
W. M. Grant.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
pillar
In architecture, a detached vertical supporting member. The term has wider application than column, and a pillar may be composed of several shafts.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Pillar
is a term frequently occurring in the Scriptures, especially of the O.T., where it is used in different senses, and as the rendering of several Heb. and Gr. words, which need to be distinguished both in their meaning and application.
I. Original Words so Translated.
1. From the root , natsdb, to station, come the following: , Matstsebh (rendered pillar everywhere in Genesis, and in Exo 24:4; Deu 12:3; Isa 19:19; elsewhere image), a column or image of stone; , matstsebeth, a monumental pillar (Gen 35:14; Gen 35:20; 2Sa 18:18), once the trunk or stump of a tree (substance, Isa 6:13); , mutstsab, according to some a military post (as in Isa 29:3, mount), or garrison, according to others a terminal mark (Jdg 9:6); , netsib, a statue (only Gen 19:26, pillar), or military officer or garrison (as elsewhere rendered).
2. From other roots: , ammnud, lit. something upright (from , to stand), a column (the usual word for pillar, and invariably so rendered in the A. V., but meaning an elevated stand or platform in 2Ki 11:14; 2Ki 23:3); , mis’dd, a support (from , to prop), a balustrade (only 1Ki 10:12); , matsuk, a column (from , to set up) as a support (fig. 1Sa 2:8), or tropically a crag (situate, 1Sa 14:5); omenah (from , to stay up), a column (only 2Ki 18:16); and , timerah, a column, in the form of an artificial palm-tree (Son 3:6; Joe 2:30 [Heb. 3; 3]).
3. In the N.T.: only , a column or support (Gal. 2, 9; 1 Tim. 3, 15; Rev 3:12; Rev 10:1).
II. Uses. The essential notion of a pillar is that of a shaft or isolated pile, either supporting or not supporting a roof.
1. Monumental. Perhaps the votive object was the earliest application of the pillar. This in primitive times consisted of nothing but a single stone or pile of stones. Instances are seen in Jacob’s pillars (Gen 28:18; Gen 31:46; Gen 31:51-52; Gen 35:14); in the twelve pillars set up by Moses at Mount Sinai (Exo 24:4); the twenty-four stones erected by Joshua (Jos 4:8-9; see also Isa 19:19, and Jos 24:27). SEE STONE. The trace of a similar notion may probably be found in the holy stone of Mecca (Burckhardt, Trav. 1, 297). The erection of columns or heaps of stone to commemorate any remarkable event was universal before the introduction of writing or inscription, and it is still employed for that purpose by many savage nations. SEE GALEED. Monumental pillars have thus been common in many countries and in various styles of architecture. Such were perhaps the obelisks of Egypt (Fergusson, p. 6, 8, 115, 246, 340; Ibn- Batuta, Trav. p. 111; Strabo, 3, 171, 172; Herod. 2, 106; Amm. Marc. 17, 4; Josephus, Ant. 1, 2, 3, the pillars of Seth). SEE PYRAMID.
The stone Ezel (1Sa 20:19) was probably a terminal stone or a waymark. SEE EBENEZER.
The place set up by Saul (1Sa 15:12) is explained by St. Jerome to be a trophy, Vulg. fornicem triumphalem (Jerome, Quaest. Hebr. in lib. 1, Reg. 3, 1339). ,The word used is the same as that for Absalom’s pillar, , yad (lit. a hand), called by Josephus (Ant. 7:10, 3), which was clearly of a monumental or memorial character, but not necessarily carrying any representation of a hand in its structure, as has been supposed to be the case. So also Jacob set up a pilla: over Rachel’s grave (Gen 35:20; and Robinson, 1, 218). The monolithic tombs and obelisks of Petra are instances of similar usage (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 422; Roberts, Sketches, p. 105; Irby and Mangles, Travels, p. 125). SEE ABSALOM’S TOMB.
2. Architectural. Pillars form an important feature in Oriental architecture, partly perhaps as a reminiscence of the tent with its supporting poles, and partly also from the Use of flat roofs, in consequence of which the chambers were either narrower or divided into portions by columns (Jdg 16:25). The tent-principle is exemplified in the open halls of Persian and other Eastern buildings, of which the fronts, supported by pillars, are shaded by curtains or awnings fastened to the ground outside by pegs, or to trees in the garden-court (Est 1:6; Chardin, Voy. 7:387; 9:469, 470, and plates 39,81; Layard, Nin. and Bab. p. 530, 648; Burckhardt, Notes on Bed. 1, 37). Thus Moses was commanded to spread the veil of the tabernacle on four pillars (Exo 26:32, etc.). Thus also a figurative mode of describing heaven is as a tent or canopy supported by pillars (Psa 104:2; Isa 40:22), and the earth as a flat surface resting on pillars (1Sa 2:8; Psa 75:3). SEE TENT.
It has already been remarked that the word place, in 1Sa 15:12, is in Hebrew hand. In the Arab tent two of the posts are called yed or hand (Burckhardt, Bed. 1, 37). SEE HAND.
The general practice in Oriental buildings of supporting flat roofs by pillars, or of covering open spaces by awnings stretched from pillars, led to an extensive use of them in construction. In Indian architecture an enormous number of pillars, sometimes amounting to 1000, is found. A similar principle appears to have been carried out at Persepolis. At Nineveh the pillars were probably of wood, SEE CEDAR, and it is very likely that the same construction prevailed in the house of the forest of Lebanon, with its hall and porch of pillars (1Ki 7:2; 1Ki 7:6). The chapters of the two pillars Jachin (q.v.) and Boaz resembled the tall capitals of the Persepolitan columns (Layard, Nin. and Bab. p. 252, 650; Nineveh, 2, 274; Fergusson, Handb. p. 8, 174, 178, 188, 190, 196, 198, 231-233; Roberts, Sketches, No. 182, 184, 190, 198; Euseb. Vit. Const. 3, 34, 38; Burckhardt, Trav. in Arabia, 1, 244, 245). SEE HOUSE.
3. Idolatrous. The word Matstsebh, pillar, is generally rendered statue or image (e.g.Deu 7:5; Deu 12:3; Deu 16:22; Lev 26:1; Exo 23:24; Exo 34:13; 2Ch 14:3; 2Ch 31:1; Jer 43:13; Hos 3:4; Hos 10:1; Mic 5:13). This agrees with the usage of heathen nations, practiced, as we have seen, by the patriarch Jacob, of erecting blocks or piles of wood or stone, which in later times grew into ornamental pillars in honor of the deity (Clem. Alex. Coh. ad Gent. c. 4; Strom. 1, 24). Instances of this are seen in the Attic Hermae (Pausan. 4:33, 4), seven pillars significant of the planets (3, 21, 9; also 7:17, 4, and 22, 2; 8:37); and Arnobius mentions the practice of pouring libations of oil upon them, which again recalls the case of Jacob (Adv. Gent. 1, 335, ed. Gauthier). SEE ASHERAH; SEE PHALLUS.
The termini or boundary-marks were originally, perhaps always, rough stones or posts of wood, which received divine honors (Ovid, Fast. 2, 641, 684). SEE IDOL.
But other circumstances contributed to make stones an object of worship. Such phenomena as the rocking stones worshipped by the British Druids would naturally excite the astonishment of an ignorant people, and many commentators are of opinion that the , eben mashkith, image of stone, which the Jews were forbidden to erect (Lev 26:1), was one of those bowing or rocking stones, especially as the phrase is used in opposition to , matstsebh which signifies a standing pillar. Those rare phenomena, aroliths, still more easily became objects of idolatry; they were generally of a similar kind to that mentioned by Herodian, as being consecrated to the sun under his name of Elaiagabalos, and preserved in his magnificent temple in Syria; in which, says the historian, there stands not any image made with hands, as among the Greeks and Romans, to represent the god, but there is a very large stone, round at the bottom, and terminating in a point of a conical form, and a black color, which they say fell down from Jupiter. SEE DIOPETES. Sacred pillars or stones were indeed frequently worshipped instead of statues by idolatrous nations, and traces of this preposterous veneration may still be found in various countries. SEE DIANA. The erection of monoliths or monumental pillars was forbidden to the Israelites, but it appears that they were permitted to erect cairns or piles of stone to preserve the recollection of great events, as Joshua did at Gilgal (q.v.), that it might be a memorial of his miraculous passage over the Jordan. SEE CROMLECH.
4. Lastly, the figurative use of the term pillar, in reference to the cloud and fire accompanying the Israelites on their march (Exo 33:9-10; Neh 9:12; Psa 99:7), or as in Son 3:6 and Rev 10:1, is plainly derived from the notion of an isolated column not supporting a roof. SEE PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE. A pillar is also an emblem of firmness and steadfastness (Jer 1:18; Rev 3:12), and of that which sustains or supports (Gal 2:9; 1Ti 3:15). In the Apocrypha we find a similar metaphor (Sir 36:24): He that getteth a wife beginneth a possession, a help like unto himself, and a pillar of rest. SEE ARCHITECTURE.
PILLAR is in architectural language the column supporting the arch. In the Norman style the pillars are generally massive, and are frequently circular, with capitals either of the same form or square; they are sometimes ornamented with channels, orfiutes, in various forms, spiral, zigzag, reticulated, etc. In plain buildings a square or rectangular pillar, or pier, is occasionally found; a polygonal, usually octagonal, pillar is also used, especially towards the end of the style, and is generally of lighter proportions than most of the other kinds. But, besides these, clustered or compound pillars are extremely numerous and much varied; the simplest of them consists of a square with one or more rectangular recesses at each corner, but a more common form is one resembling these, with a small circular shaft in each of the recesses, and a larger one, semicircular, on two (or on each) of the faces: most of the compound pillars partake of this arrangement, though other varieties are by no means rare.
In the Early English style plain circular or octagonal shafts are frequently used, especially in plain buildings, but many other and more complicated kinds of pillars are employed; the commonest of these consists of a large central shaft, which is generally circular, with smaller shafts (usually four) round it; these are frequently made of a finer material than the rest, and polished, but they are often worked in courses with the central part of the pillar, and are sometimes filleted; in this style the pillars are very constantly banded.
In the Decorated style the general form of clustered pillars changes from a circular to a lozenge-shaped arrangement, or to a square placed diagonally, but many other varieties are also to be met with. They sometimes consist of small shafts surrounding a larger one, and are sometimes molded; the small shafts and some of the moldings are often filleted; plain octagonal pillars are also very frequently employed in village churches: towards the end of this style a pillar consisting of four small shafts separated by a deep hollow and two fillets is common, as it is also in the Perpendicular style, but the hollows are usually shallower, and the disposition of the fillets is different.
A plain octagonal pillar continues in use throughout the Perpendicular style, though it is not so frequent as at earlier periods, and its sides are occasionally slightly hollowed. In Decorated work a few of the moldings of the piers occasionally run up into the arches and form part of the archivolt, as at Bristol Cathedral, but in Perpendicular buildings this arrangement is much more common, and in some cases the whole of the moldings of the pillars are continued in the arches without any capital or impost between them: the forms are various, but in general arrangement they usually partake of a square placed diagonally; sometimes, however, they are contracted in breadth so as to become narrower between the archways (from east to west) than in the opposite direction: the small shafts attached to the pillars in this style are usually plain circles, but are occasionally filleted, and in some instances are hollow-sided polygons.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Pillar
used to support a building (Judg. 16:26, 29); as a trophy or memorial (Gen. 28:18; 35:20; Ex. 24:4; 1 Sam. 15:12, A.V., “place,” more correctly “monument,” or “trophy of victory,” as in 2 Sam. 18:18); of fire, by which the Divine Presence was manifested (Ex. 13:2). The “plain of the pillar” in Judg. 9:6 ought to be, as in the Revised Version, the “oak of the pillar”, i.e., of the monument or stone set up by Joshua (24:26).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Pillar
PILLAR.1. With two or three unimportant exceptions, pillar in OT is the rendering of two very distinct Heb. terms, ammd and mazzbh. The former denotes in most casesfor a conspicuous exception see Jachin and Boaza pillar or column supporting the roof or other part of a building (Jdg 16:25 f., 1Ki 7:2 f.), also the pillars from which the hangings of the Tabernacle were suspended (Exo 26:32 and oft.). From this sense the transition is easy to a column of smoke (Jdg 20:40), and to the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire of the Exodus and the Wanderings (Exo 13:21 etc.). The further transition to the figurative use of the term pillar, which alone prevails in NT (Gal 2:9, 1Ti 3:15, Rev 3:12; Rev 10:1), may be seen in Job 9:6; Job 26:11passages reflecting an antique cosmogony in which the pillars of earth and heaven were actual supports.
2. It is with the second of the two terms above cited, the mazzbh, that this article has mainly to deal. Derived from a root common to the Semitic family, mazzbh denotes something set up on end, in particular an upright stone, whether it he a megalithic monument, such as the stones known to contemporary archology as menhirs or standing stones, or a less imposing funerary stele. Three varieties of mazzbhs may be distinguished in OT.
(a) For reasons that will appear at a later stage, our survey may start from the stone erected over a grave or elsewhere as a memorial of the dead. The mazzbh set up by Jacob upon the grave of Rachel (Gen 35:20) was of this kind. This was the prevailing application of the term among the Phnicians (see Cooke, Text-book of N. Sem. Inscrips. 60). To this category may also be reckoned the memorial pillar which Absalom erected for himself in his own lifetime (2Sa 18:18).
(b) In a second group may be placed the stones set up to commemorate, or, in Biblical phrase, for a witness of, some important incident (Gen 31:44 f., Jos 24:27)in particular the appearance or manifestation of a Divine being (a theophany) at a given spot. Such, in the present form of the storyfor the probable original form, see 4 belowwas the stone which Jacob set up and anointed at Bethel (Gen 28:18; Gen 28:22; cf. Gen 31:13; Gen 35:14). Other examples of mazzbhs, interpreted by the Heb. historians as commemorative monuments, are the stone Ebenezer of 1Sa 7:12, and the cromlech (gilgal) set up by Joshua after the crossing of the Jordan for a memorial unto the children of Israel (Jos 4:7).
(c) The third and most important class of mazzbhs comprises the pillar-stones which stood beside the altar at every Canaanite sanctuary (see High Place). For this class AV [Note: Authorized Version.] has the misleading term image (except Deu 12:3), for which RV [Note: Revised Version.] has substituted pillar, with obelisk in the margin. That the local sanctuaries, in most cases taken over from the Canaanites, at which the Hebrews worshipped J [Note: Jahweh.] were provided with such pillar-stones, is evident both from the references in Hos 3:4; Hos 10:1 f., and from the repeated condemnation of them in the successive law codes (Exo 34:13; Exo 23:24, Deu 7:5; Deu 12:3 etc.), and by the Deuteronomic historians (1Ki 14:23, 2Ki 18:4; 2Ki 23:14 [for Judah] 2Ki 17:10 [Israel]).
A special variety of pillar associated with idolatrous worship emerges in the later writings, the chammnm or sun-pillars (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] images, RV [Note: Revised Version.] sun-images). They were probably connected with sun-worship (Lagrange, tudes sur les relig. Smit.2 314 f.).
3. The OT evidence for the mazzbhs as an indispensable part of the furnishing of a Canaanite high place has been confirmed in a remarkable degree by the excavations of recent years, in the course of which pillar-stones of diverse shapes and sizes have been brought to light. Even to summarize the archological evidence would extend this article beyond due limits (see Vincent, Canaan daprs lexploration rcente [1907], 102115; Benzinger, Heb. Arch. 2 [1907], 321 ff.; Kittel, Studien zur heb. Arch. [1908], 126 ff.). It must suffice to refer briefly to the magnificent series of mazzbhs which formed part of the high place at Gezer (for full details see PEFSt [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1903, 23 ff., and Macalister, Bible Sidelights, etc., 54 ff.). Originally ten in number, eight of them are still standing in situ. They are unhewn blocks, simply set on end and supported at the base by smaller stones and range in height from 10 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 5 in. The smaller dimensions are those of the second stone of the series, which is supposed to have been the original beth-el (see next ) of the high place. The fact that this stone, alone of the group, has its top smooth and polished, as if by long-continued anointing on the part of the worshippers, is greatly in favour of this view. Several of the larger stones are provided with cavities, either at the top or in one side. This provision, which is also characteristic of the mazzbhs found at Taanach and Megiddo, must evidently, as will presently appear, have some relation to the ritual of the worship of these ancient sanctuaries.
4. It now remains to deal with a question which may be thus formulated, What significance did the Canaanites, and the Hebrews after them, attach to these mazzbhs, and what place did they hold in the ancient cult? This question can hardly be approached without a reference to the still unsolved problem of the religious significance of standing stones all the world over. This world-wide phenomenon must rest on some cause which was operative in all primitive religions (W. R. Smith, RS [Note: S Religion of the Semites.] 2 209). It will probably be found, on consideration of all the conditions to be satisfied, that the desire to appease the spirit of the dead lies at the beginning, while the conception of the pillar-stone as a representation of the deity, beside the altar dedicated to his worship, comes at the end of a long process of evolution. On this view, a stone, over or beside the grave of the dead, afforded, to the primitive mind, a convenient abode for the departed spirit, when it chose to return to receive the homage and offerings of the living. The blood of the sacrifice was poured over the stone, and thus brought into contact with the indwelling spirit (cf. the cup-marks on the cap-stones of the dolmens on the east of the Jordan and elsewhere). With this desire to do honour to the dead, the idea of keeping alive his memory by a conspicuous or upright stone was sooner or later associated. When and where higher ideas of the spirit world prevailed, the mazzbh became a memorial stone and nothing more, as in group (a) above.
The belief that a stone might become the abode of any numen marked a distinct step in advance. In Gen 28:1-22 it is admitted that we have a later adaptation of a Canaanite temple myth, which explained the origin of the sanctuary at Bethel, and especially the sanctity attaching to the original beth-el, i.e., the abode of an el or numen (Gen 28:22), round which the sanctuary grew up. In the original form of the story the anointing of the stone was an offering to the indwelling numen. The second of the Gezer mazzbhs shows an exact counterpart to this. The cavities in the other recently discovered mazzbhs, above mentioned, were no doubt originally intended to receive similar offerings of blood, wioe, or oil (cf. Gen 35:14).
When this fetish worship had been outgrown, the mazzbh became merely a symbol or representation of the deity, who had his horme elsewhere. The conical pillar standing in the court of the temple of Astarte, as represented on the coins of Byblus, is an illustration of this higher conception. We may be sure that the worshippers of J [Note: Jahweh.] regarded the Canaanite mazzbhs in this light from the first. But the danger of contamination was great (see High Place, 6), and the condemnation of the mazzbhs is a recurring feature of all the law codes (reff. above).
5. Another unsolved problem may be mentioned in conclusion. What is the relation of the mazzbh to the altar? Shall we say, with the distinguished author of the Religion of the Semites 9 (p. 204), that the altar is a differentiated form of the primitive rude stone pillar, the nosb or massebah; or, with the latest investigator, that the massebah is nothing else than the artificial substitute for the sacrificial stone (Kittel, op. cit. 129, 134)? If the views expressed in the previous section are correct, the second alternative offers the more probable solution. The pillar will then be a differentiated form of the most ancient altar (Altar, 1. 2), the cause of the differentiation, as we have seen, being the desire to commemorate, as well as to appease, the dead.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Pillar
The pillar of cloud, and the pillar of fire in the wilderness, which went before and followed Israel, were among the symbols of the divine presence. I do not presume to say as much, or to decide upon a subject of such infinite importance; but, when we take into one mass of particulars, all that we read of the Lord Jesus Christ in those early ages of the church, methinks I cannot hesitate to believe, that it was Christ that they went before, and that thus surrounded his people during their whole eventful history. Jacob at Bethel, and Moses at the bush, had real views of JEHOVAH’S glory and fulness in Christ. The manifestation made on both occasions as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, plainly shows that the covenant of redemption, in the seed of the woman, was the great and leading cause of all. And as the Holy Ghost hath graciously been pleased in so many words to tell the church, that the Rock which followed Israel was Christ; (1Co 10:4) it should seem as if this was intended by the blessed Spirit, to act as a key for opening; similar manifestation to the church in those other tokens of divine, love, which appear in their wonderful history. Nothing can be more blessed in confirmation of the Redeemer’s love to his church and people, than thus beholding him in the “pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of are by night,” conducting and guarding them through all their journey: And as then, so now, every manifestation, under all the various forms of it, was intended to show the church the love he bore to them, and to lead his people into the most endearing views of love and good will. And hence; the sacred writers, through the several parts of sacred Scriptures, keep up the remembrance of those manifestations in the wilderness, as so many proofs of the Lord’s presence with his people. We are told that “when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, all the people rose up, and stood every man at, his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.” (Exo 33:8-9) So again the Psalmist saith, that “he spake unto them in the cloudy pillar.” (Psa 99:7) Who was it spake unto them but, God in Christ? Surely all that we hear from God is received in him, and by him, and through him, who is the only Mediator, the Glory-man Christ Jesus. For the Holy Ghost, by John the apostle, tells the church that no man hath seen God at any time; but he graciously adds, that “the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” (Joh 1:18) And what then can be more plain and evident in proof that Christ is the visible JEHOVAH, and by whom alone all revelations are made? I need not add what endearing representations all those things made of his person and his love to his church, when taken into one mass of particulars, which we read of Christ under such a vast variety of manifestations which he hath made of himself.
The word pillar is sometimes used in the language of Scripture to denote the church of the Lord Jesus, Thus the Holy Ghost, by Paul, calls the church “the pillar and ground of truth.” (1Ti 3:15) And it is not a violence to the expression to consider this as in allusion to her Lord, who is the Head of his body the church. For if Jesus be the pillar of cloud, and the pillar of fire; and if, as it is said, “the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night,” (Isa 4:5) -surely there is a great propriety that his church should be called after the name of her Lord, He is the pillar of cloud and of fire; and she by him is made the pillar and ground of truth; and hence his servants who minister in his name shall be called pillars in his temple. “Him that overcometh, saith Jesus, will I make a pillar in the temple of my God.” (Rev 3:11) (See Pro 9:1) Hence the Lord saith to Jeremiah, (Jer 1:18) “Behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar.” (See Gal 2:9) And very blessed it is to see, that while Christ is the foundation stone JEHOVAH hath laid in Zion, all his redeemed ones are built upon this foundation, and are lively stones and pillars in this spiritual house, “to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ.” (1Pe 2:5)
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Pillar
pilar (, maccebhah, , ammudh; , stulos): In a good many cases the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes pillars for the King James Version images (maccebhoh, Exo 34:13; Deu 7:5; 1Ki 14:23, etc.). In Gen 19:26, where pillar of salt is given, the word is necbh; in 1Sa 2:8 it is macuk; while in most other single uses the Revised Version margin gives variant renderings, as in Jdg 9:6 (muccabh), the Revised Version margin garrison; in 1Ki 10:12 (misadh), the Revised Version margin ‘a railing,’ Hebrew ‘a prop’; in 2Ki 18:16 (‘omenoth), the Revised Version margin doorposts. The maccebhoh were (1) memorial pillars, as in the pillars of Jacob at Bethel (Gen 28:18, Gen 28:22; compare Gen 31:13; Gen 35:14), in covenant with Laban (Gen 31:45 ff), at Rachel’s grave (Gen 35:20); Absalom’s pillar (2Sa 18:18). Such pillars were legitimate (theory of a fetishistic character is not grounded); it is predicted in Isa 19:19 that such a pillar would be set up to Yahweh at the border of Egypt. (2) Idolatrous pillars, in Canaanitish and other heathen worships. These were to be ruthlessly broken down (the King James Version images, see above; Exo 23:24; Exo 34:13; Deu 7:5, etc.; compare Lev 26:1). See IMAGES. The other word, ammudh, is used of the pillar of cloud and fire (see below); of the pillars of the tabernacle and temple (see under the word); of the two pillars JACHIN AND BOAZ (which see); poetically of the pillars of heaven, of earth (Job 9:6; Job 26:11; Psa 75:3; Psa 99:7), etc. In the few instances of the word in the New Testament, the use is figurative. James, Cephas and John were reputed to be pillars of the church at Jerusalem (Gal 2:9); the church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1Ti 3:15); he that overcomes is made a pillar in the temple of God (Rev 3:12); a strong angel had feet as pillars of fire (Rev 10:1).
Pillar of Cloud and Fire:
The visible manifestation of the divine presence in the journeyings of Israel at the time of the Exodus. Yahweh, it is narrated, went before the people by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light …. The pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people (Exo 13:21, Exo 13:22; compare Exo 14:19, Exo 14:24; Num 14:14). When the congregation was at rest, the cloud abode over the tabernacle (Exo 40:36; Num 9:17; Num 14:14). When Yahweh wished to communicate His will to Moses, the pillar descended to the door of the Tent of Meeting (Exo 33:9-11; Num 12:5; Deu 31:15). These descriptions are not to be rationalistically explained; what is depicted is a true theophany. Criticism has sought to establish discrepancies between the allusions to the cloud in the JE and the P parts of the narrative, but these are not made out without straining; e.g. it is not the case that JE alone represents Yahweh as speaking with Moses in the cloud at the door of the tabernacle. The same representation is found in Exo 29:42, Exo 29:43, ascribed to Pillar. An acute discussion of the alleged discrepancies may be seen in H.M. Wiener, Essays in Pentateuchal Criticism, 82 ff.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Pillar
There are several Hebrew words translated ‘pillar’: the principal are
1. matstsebah, from ‘to set, put, place;’ and hence anything that is set up. It is used for the stone that Jacob had had for a pillow, which he set up, and on which he poured oil and made his vow. Also for the heap of stones he raised when Laban and he parted. Gen 28:18; Gen 28:22; Gen 31:13; Gen 31:45-52; Gen 35:14; Gen 35:20; Exo 24:4; Isa 19:19. From Deu 12:3 it would appear that pillars of some sort were also connected with idolatry. These may resemble the cairns often found in what were idolatrous lands. Absalom raised up for himself a pillar to keep his name in remembrance because he had no son. 2Sa 18:18.
2. The word ammud occurs many times for the pillars of the tabernacle and the temple. It is also used for the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire; also symbolically for the pillars of the heavens and the pillars of the earth. Exo 13:21; Exo 27:10-17; 1Ki 7:2-42; Job 9:6; Job 26:11; Psa 75:3; Eze 40:49; Eze 42:6.
In the N.T. the word is , ‘a pillar or column.’ James, Cephas and John seemed to be ‘pillars’ in the church at Jerusalem – those to whom matters were referred, as they were afterwards to Paul. Gal 2:9. The church of God is “the pillar and ground of the truth” – the witness that maintains the truth on earth. 1Ti 3:15. The word occurs also in Rev 3:12; Rev 10:1.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Pillar
Of Solomon’s temple
1Ki 7:13-22; 2Ki 25:17
Broken and carried to Babylon
2Ki 25:13; Jer 52:17; Jer 52:20-21
Of Solomon’s palaces
1Ki 7:6
Used to mark roads
Jer 31:21
Pillar of salt, Lot’s wife turned to
Gen 19:26; Luk 17:32
Monuments erected to commemorate events:
– By Jacob, his vision of angels
Gen 28:18; Gen 31:13; Gen 35:14
– By Jacob, his covenant with Laban
Gen 31:45
– By Moses, the covenant between Jehovah and Israel
Exo 24:4
– By Joshua, the passing over Jordan
Jos 4:1-9; Deu 27:2-6; Jos 8:30
– At Shechem
Jos 24:25-27; Jdg 9:6
– By Samuel, the discomfiture of the Philistines
1Sa 7:12
– By Absalom, to keep his name in remembrance
2Sa 18:18
Other purposes of:
– Other purposes of:
Jos 15:6; Jos 18:17
– As a waymark
1Sa 20:19
– As a landmark
2Sa 20:8; 1Ki 1:9
Prophecy of one in Egypt
Isa 19:19
Monuments of Idolatry, to be destroyed
Deu 12:3 Cloud, Pillar of
Figurative
Rev 3:12
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Pillar
Pillar. The notion of a pillar is of a shaft or isolated pile either supporting or not supporting a roof. But, perhaps, the earliest application of the pillar was the votive or monumental. This, in early times, consisted of nothing but a single stone or pile of stones. Gen 28:18; Gen 31:40; etc.
The stone Ezel, 1Sa 20:19, was probably a terminal stone or a way-mark. The “place” set up by Saul, 1Sa 15:12, is explained by St, Jerome to be a trophy. So also, Jacob set up a pillar over Rachel’s grave. Gen 36:20.
The monolithic tombs and obelisks of Petra are instances of similar usage. Lastly, the figurative use of the term “pillar,” in reference to the cloud and fire, accompanying the Israelites on their march, or as in Son 3:6, and Rev 10:1, is plainly derived from the notion, of an isolated column, not supporting a roof.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
PILLAR
Pillar is a support and ornament of a building, and symbolically signifies the chief prop of a family, city, or state. St. Paul, Gal 2:9, uses the symbol, in speaking of the apostles James, Cephas, and John.
In Euripides, the pillars of families are the male children.f1 In the Oneirocritics,f2 pillars signify the princes or nobles in a kingdom.
Pillar of iron, the symbol of great firmness and duration, and as such, used in the prophet Jer 1:18.
Pillars burning with a clear fire, without being destroyed, signify, according to Artemidorus, Lib. ii. c. 10, ” That the children of the dreamer shall grow better and more illustrious.” For fire implies persecution and torment; and as fire trieth gold, so does adversity the good and valiant.
This interpretation of pillars burning with fire without being consumed, greatly illustrates the symbol of the bush burning with fire, and remaining unconsumed, in Exo 3:2. For this at once set forth the miraculous preservation of the Israelites in the Egyptian fiery furnace, or their state of oppression there; and their wonderful deliverance from thence.
F1 Enrip. Iphigen. Taur.
F2 The Persian and Egyptian, c. cxlvii., and all the Interpreters, c. clx.
Fuente: A Symbolical Dictionary
Pillar
“a column supporting the weight of a building,” is used (a) metaphorically, of those who bear responsibility in the churches, as of the elders in the church at Jerusalem, Gal 2:9; of a local church as to its responsibility, in a collective capacity, to maintain the doctrines of the faith by teaching and practice, 1Ti 3:15; some would attach this and the next words to the statement in 1Ti 3:16; the connection in the Eng. versions seems preferable; (b) figuratively in Rev 3:12, indicating a firm and permanent position in the spiritual, heavenly and eternal Temple of God; (c) illustratively, of the feet of the angel in the vision in Rev 10:1, seen as flames rising like columns of fire indicative of holiness and consuming power, and thus reflecting the glory of Christ as depicted in Rev 1:15; cp. Eze 1:7.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Pillar
properly means a column raised to support a building; but in Scripture the term mostly occurs in a metaphorical or figurative sense. Thus we have a pillar of cloud, a pillar of fire, a pillar of smoke, &c; signifying a cloud, a fire, a smoke raised up toward heaven in the form or shape of a pillar, Exo 13:21; Jdg 20:40. Job speaks of the pillars of heaven and the pillars of the earth, Job 9:6; Job 26:11; which are strong metaphorical expressions, that suppose the heavens and the earth to be an edifice raised by the hand of the almighty Creator, and founded upon its basis. St. Paul speaks of the Christian church under the similitude of a pillar or column on which the truth, or doctrine of the glorious Gospel is inscribed, 1Ti 3:15.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Pillar
Exo 33:9 (a) This wonderful cloud so mysterious in its composition, and its actions undoubtedly represents the Holy Spirit. He went with Israel, guiding them before, and protecting them behind. This pillar is more fully revealed as the Holy Spirit in the book of Ezekiel. (See also Psa 99:7).
Job 9:6 (b) This probably represent the uncertainty of life. In this figurative language, Job is describing the mighty power of GOD. In the midst of his own unusual losses, he is realizing that GOD can shake the Heaven and the earth, and break all laws that pertain to the hanging of the earth in space. (See also Psa 75:3).
Pro 9:1 (a) The seven pillars mentioned here probably are knowledge, discretion, judgment, understanding, equity, righteousness, justice. It is upon these substantial, basic principles that our civilization rests secure and progress is made possible.
Son 3:6 (c) This peculiar figure may represent the case and the certainty of the presence of GOD in one’s life. The pillar of smoke drifts easily, without noise, and without effort. So we realize the loving presence of the living GOD.
Son 5:15 (a) It is said that athletes must have firm, substantial legs in order to endure whether it be in wrestling or prize fighting or on the track. Our Lord must be telling us here that the legs of marble represent the stability, firmness and untiring endurance of the Lord JESUS in all His ministry for us, to us, and with us.
Joe 2:30 (b) The chronology of this passage is uncertain. It probably refers to the time of the end when GOD’s judgment will be poured out on the physical earth, and it will be burned up with terrific heat because of the wickedness of rebellious men.
Gal 2:9 (a) This is a symbol of the substantial and stalwart character of the man of GOD who occupies a prominent and responsible place in the church.
Rev 3:12 (a) Here we see a type of the blessed position and condition which will be granted to the Christian who lives for GOD, honors His Name, and fulfills His requirements as mentioned in this passage.