EPHESUS

This Epistle was written during the earlier part of the Apostle's imprisonment at Rome, at the same time with that to the Colossians [COLOSSIANS, EPISTLE TO THE].

EPHESUS, an old and celebrated city, capital of Ionia, one of the twelve Ionian cities in Asia Minor in the Mythic times. It lay on the river Cayster, not far from the coast of the Icarian sea, between Smyrna and Miletus. It was also one of the most considerable of the Greek cities in Asia Minor; but while, about the epoch of the introduction of Christianity, the other cities declined, Ephesus rose more and more. It owed its prosperity in part to the favour of its governors, for Lysimachus named the city Arsinoe, in honour of his second wife, and Attalus Philadelphus furnished it with splendid wharfs and docks; in part to the favourable position of the place, which naturally made it the emporium of Asia on this side the Taurus. Under the Romans Ephesus was the capital not only of Ionia, but of the entire province of Asia, and bore the honourable title of the first and greatest metropolis of Asia. In the days of Paul Jews were found settled in the city in no inconsiderable number, and from them the Apostle collected a Christian community (Acts xviii. 19; xix. 1; xx, 16), which, being fostered and extended by the hand of Paul himself, became the centre of Christianity in Asia Minor. On leaving the city the Apostle left Timothy there (1 Tim. i. 3): at a later period, according to a tradition which prevailed extensively in ancient times, we find the Apostle John in Ephesus, where he employed himself most diligently for the spread of the Gospel, and where he not only died, at a very old age, but was buried, with Mary the mother of the Lord. In the book of Revelations (ii. 1) a favourable testimony is borne to the Christian churches at Ephesus.

The classic celebrity of this city is chiefly owing to its famous temple, and the goddess in whose honour it was built, namely, Diana of the Ephesians.' This goddess has been already noticed, and a figure given of her famous image at Ephesus [DIANA].

Around the image of the goddess was afterwards erected, according to Callimachus, a large and splendid temple. This temple was burnt down on the night in which Alexander was born, by an obscure person of the name of Eratostratus, who thus sought to transmit his name to posterity; and, as it seemed somewhat unaccountable that the goddess should permit a place which redounded so much to her honour to be thus recklessly destroyed, it was given out that Diana was so engaged with Olympias, in aiding to bring Alexander into the world, that she had no time nor thought for any other concern. At a subsequent period, Alexander made an offer to rebuild the temple, provided he was allowed to inscribe his name on the front, which the Ephesians refused. Aided, however, by the whole of Asia Minor, they succeeded in erecting a still more magnificent temple, which the ancients have lavishly praised and placed among the seven wonders of the world. It took two hundred and twenty years to complete. It was built of cedar, cypress, white marble, and even gold, with which it glittered. Costly and magnificent offerings of various kinds were made to the

goddess, and treasured in the temple; such as paintings, statues, &c., the value of which almost exceeded computation. The fame of the temple, of the goddess, and of the city itself, was spread not only through Asia but the world, a celebrity which was enhanced and diffused the more readily because sacred games were practised there, which called competitors and spectators from every country. Among his other enormities Nero is said to have despoiled the temple of Diana of much of its treasure. It continued to conciliate no small portion of respect, till it was finally burnt by the Goths in the reign of Gallienus. The silver shrines' of the Ephesian Artemis, mentioned in Acts xix. 24, have been already noticed [DEMETRIUS, 3].

Ephesus was celebrated for the constant use of those arts which pretend to lay open the secrets of nature, and arm the hand of man with supernatural powers, no less than for the refinements of a voluptuous and artificial civilization. Indeed, in the age of Jesus and his Apostles, adepts in the occult sciences were numerous: they travelled from country to country, and were found in great numbers in Asia, deceiving the credulous multitude and profiting by their expectations. They were sometimes Jews, who referred their skill and even their forms of proceeding to Solomon, who is still regarded in the East as head or prince of magicians (Acts viii. 9; xiii. 6, 8). In Asia Minor Ephesus had a high reputation for magical arts.

The books mentioned Acts xix. 19, were doubtless books of magic. How extensively they were in use may be learnt from the fact that the price of them' was fifty thousand pieces of silver.' Very celebrated were the Ephesian letters, which appear to have been a sort of magical formula written on paper or parchment, designed to be fixed as amulets on different parts of the body, such as the hands and the head. Erasmus says that they were certain signs or marks which rendered their possessor victorious in everything.

The ruins of Ephesus lie two short days' journey from Smyrna, in proceeding from which towards the south-east the traveller passes the pretty village of Sedekuy; and two hours and a half onwards he comes to the ruined village of Danizzi, on a wide, solitary, uncultivated plain, beyond which several burial-grounds may be observed; near one of these, on an eminence, are the supposed ruins of Ephesus, consisting of shattered walls, in which some pillars, architraves, and fragments of marble have been built. The soil of the plain appears rich. It is covered with a rank, burnt-up vegetation, and is everywhere deserted and solitary, though bordered by picturesque mountains. A few corn-fields are scattered along the site of the ancient city, which is marked by some large masses of shapeless ruins and stone walls. Towards the sea extends the ancient port, a pestilential marsh. Along the slope of the mountain and over the plain are scattered fragments of masonry and detached ruins, but nothing can now be fixed upon as the great temple of Diana. There are some broken columns and capitals of the Corinthian order of white marble: there are also ruins of a theatre, consisting of some circular seats and numerous arches, supposed to be the one in which Paul was

preaching when interrupted by shouts of, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians.' A splendid circus or stadium remains tolerably entire, and there are numerous piles of buildings seen alike at Pergamus and Troy as well as here, by some called gymnasia, by others temples; by others again, with more propriety, palaces. They all came with the Roman conquest. No one but a Roman emperor could have conceived such structures. In Italy they have parallels in Adrian's villa near Tivoli, and perhaps in the pile upon the Palatine. Many other walls remain to show the extent of the buildings of the city, but no inscription or ornament is to be found, cities having been built out of this quarry of worked marble. The ruins of the adjoining town, which rose about four hundred years ago, are entirely composed of materials from Ephesus. There are a few huts within these ruins (about a mile and a half from Ephesus), which still retain the name of the parent city, Asalook-a Turkish word, which is associated with the same idea as Ephesus, meaning the City of the Moon. A church dedicated to St. John is thought to have stood near, if not on the site of, the present mosque. The tomb of St. John was in or under his church.

Though Ephesus presents few traces of human life, and little but scattered and mutilated remains of its ancient grandeur, yet the environs, diversified as they are with hill and dale, and not scantily supplied with wood and water, present many features of great beauty.

When Dr. Chandler visited Ephesus in 1764, 'Its population consisted of a few Greek peasants, living in extreme wretchedness, dependence, and insensibility, the representatives of an illustrious people, and inhabiting the wreck of their

greatness-some the substructure of the glorious edifices which they raised; some beneath the vaults of the stadium, once the crowded scene of their diversions; and some in the abrupt precipice, in the sepulchres which received their ashes. Such are the present citizens of Ephesus, and such is the condition to which that renowned city has been reduced. However much the Church at Ephesus may (Rev. ii. 2), in its earliest days, have merited praise for its works, labour, and patience,' yet it appears soon to have left its first love,' and to have received in vain the admonition Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. If any repentance was produced by this solemn warning, its effects were not durable, and the place has long since afforded an evidence of the truth of prophecy, and the certainty of the divine threatenings, as well as a

melancholy subject for thought to the contemplative Christian. Its fate is that of the onceflourishing seven churches of Asia: its fate is that of the entire country-a garden has become a desert. Busy centres of civilization, spots where the refinements and delights of the age were collected, are now a prey to silence, destruction, and death. Consecrated first of all to the purposes of idolatry, Ephesus next had Christian temples almost rivalling the pagan in splendour, wherein the image of the great Diana lay prostrate before the cross; and, after the lapse of some centuries, Jesus gives place to Mahomed, and the crescent glittered on the dome of the recently Christian church. A few more scores of years, and Ephesus has neither temple, cross, crescent, nor city, but is a desolation, a

EPHRAIM

dry land, and a wilderness.' Even the sea has | retired from the scene of devastation, and a pestilential morass, covered with mud and rushes, has succeeded to the waters which brought up ships laden with merchandise from every part of the known world.

E'PHOD, an article of dress worn by the Hebrew priests. [PRIESTS.]

EPHRAIM (fruitfulness), the younger son of Joseph, but who received precedence over the eider in and from the blessing of Jacob (Gen. xli. 52; xlviii. 1). That blessing was an adoptive act, whereby Ephraim and his brother Manasseh were counted as sons of Jacob in the place of their father; the object being to give to Joseph, through his sons, a double portion in the brilliant prospects of his house. Thus the descendants of Joseph formed two of the tribes of Israel, whereas every other of Jacob's sons counted but as one. There were thus, in fact, thirteen tribes of Israel; but the number twelve is usually preserved, either by excluding that of Levi (which had no territory), when Ephraim and Manasseh are separately named, or by counting these two together as the tribe of Joseph, when Levi is included in the account. The intentions of Jacob were fulfilled, and Ephraim and Manasseh counted as tribes of Israel at the departure from Egypt, and as such shared in the territorial distribution of the Promised Land (Num. i. 33; Josh. xvii. 14; 1 Chron. vii. 20).

were

At the departure from Egypt the population of the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh together amounted to 72,700 men capable of bearing arms, greatly exceeding that of any single tribe, except Judah, which had somewhat more. During the wandering their number increased to 95,200, which placed the two tribes much higher than even Judah. At the Exode, Ephraim singly had 40,500, and Manasseh only 32,200; but a great change took place in their relative numbers during the wandering. Ephraim lost 8000, and Manasseh gained 20,500; so that just before entering Canaan, Ephraim stood at 32,500, and Manasseh at 52,700.

One of the finest and most fruitful parts of Palestine, occupying the very centre of the land, was assigned to this tribe. It extended from the borders of the Mediterranean on the west to the Jordan on the east: on the north it had the half tribe of Manasseh, and on the south Benjamin and Dan (Josh. xvi. 5, sq.; xvii. 7, sq.). This fine country included most of what was afterwards called Samaria, as distinguished from Judæa on the one hand, and from Galilee on the other. The tabernacle and the ark were deposited within its limits, at Shiloh; and the posSession of the sacerdotal establishment, which was a central object of attraction to all the other tribes, must in no small degree have enhanced its importance, and increased its wealth and population. The domineering and haughty spirit of the Ephraimites is more than once indicated (Josh. xvii. 14; Judg. viii. 1-3; xii. 1) before the establishment of the regal government; but the particular enmity of Ephraim against the other great tribe of Judah, and the rivalry between them, do not come out distinctly until the establishment of the monarchy. In the election of Saul from the least considerable tribe in Israel, there was nothing to excite the jealousy of

Ephraim; and, after his heroic qualities had conciliated respect, it rendered the new king true allegiance and support. But when the great tribe of Judah produced a king in the person of David, the pride and jealousy of Ephraim were thoroughly awakened, and it was doubtless chiefly through their means that Abner was enabled to uphold for a time the house of Saul; for there are manifest indications that by this time Ephraim influenced the views and feelings of all the other tribes. They were at length driven by the force of circumstances to acknowledge David upon conditions; and were probably not without hope that, as the king of the nation at large, he would establish his capital in their central portion of the land. But when he not only established his court at Jerusalem, but proceeded to remove the ark thither, making his native Judah the seat both of the theocratical and civil government, the Ephraimites became thoroughly alienated, and longed to establish their own ascendancy. The building of the temple at Jerusalem, and other measures of Solomon, strengthened this desire; and although the minute organization and vigour of his government prevented any overt acts of rebellion, the train was then laid, which, upon his death, rent the ten tribes from the house of David, and gave to them a king, a capital, and a religion suitable to the separate views and interests of the tribe. Thenceforth the rivalry of Ephraim and Judah was merged in that between the two kingdoms; although still the predominance of Ephraim in the kingdom of Israel was so conspicuous as to occasion the whole realm to be called by its name, especially when that rivalry is mentioned.

2. EPHRAIM, a city in the wilderness of Judæa, to which Jesus withdrew from the persecution which followed the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead (John xi. 54). It is placed by Eusebius eight Roman miles north of Jerusalem. This indication would seem to make it the same with the Ephrain which is mentioned in 2 Chron. xiii. 19, along with Bethel and Jeshanah, as towns taken from Jeroboam by Abijah.

3. EPHRAIM, a mountain or group of mountains in central Palestine, in the tribe of the same name, on or towards the borders of Benjamin (Josh. xvii. 15; xix. 50; xx. 7; Judg. vii. 24; xvii. 1; 1 Sam. ix. 4; 1 Kings iv. 8). From a comparison of these passages it may be collected that the name of Mount Ephraim was applied to the whole of the ranges and groups of hills which occupy the central part of the southernmost border of this tribe, and which are prolonged southward into the tribe of Benjamin. In the time of Joshua these hills were densely covered with trees (Josh. xvii. 18), which is by no means the case at present.

4. EPHRAIM, THE FOREST OF, in which Absalom lost his life (2 Sam. xviii. 6-8), was in the country east of the Jordan, not far from Mahanaim. How it came to bear the name of a tribe on the other side the river is not known.

see.

EPH'RATAH, otherwise BETHLEHEM, which

E'PHRON, a Hittite residing in Hebron, who sold to Abraham the cave and field of Machpelah as a family sepulchre (Gen. xxiii. 6).

EPISTLES. In directing our inquiry first of

all towards the relation in which the Epistles stand to the other component parts of the New Testament, we find that both the Old and New Testament have been arranged by divine wisdom after one and the same plan. All the revelations of God to mankind rest upon history. Therefore in the Old, as well as in the New Testament, the history of the deeds of God stands FIRST, as being the basis of Holy Writ; thereupon follow the books which exhibit the doctrines and internal life of the men of God-in the Old Testament the Psalms, the writings of Solomon, &c., and in the New Testament the Epistles of the Apostles; finally, there follow in the Old Testament the writings of the prophets, whose vision extends into the times of the New Testament; and at the conclusion of the New Testament stands its only prophetic book, the Revelation of John.

In this also we must thankfully adore divine wisdom, that the Epistles, which lay down the doctrines of the Christian religion, originate, not from one Apostle alone, but from all the four principal Apostles; so that one and the same divine truth is presented to our eyes in various forms as it were in various mirrors, by which its richness and manifold character are the better displayed. The Epistles of the New Testament divide themselves into two parts-the PAULINE and the so-called CATHOLIC.

The PAULINE Epistles are thirteen in number; or fourteen, if we add to them the Epistle to the Hebrews. The very peculiar character of the Pauline Epistles is so striking as to leave not the least doubt of their genuineness. Depth of thought, fire of speech, firmness of characterthese manly features, joined withal to the indulgence of feelings of the most devoted love and affection, characterize these Epistles. The amiable personal character of the Apostle may be most beautifully traced in his Epistles to the Philippians and to Philemon.

All the Epistles, except the one to the Romans, were called forth by circumstances and particular occasions in the affairs of the communities to which they were addressed. Not all, however, were preserved; it is, at least, evident, from 1 Cor. v. 9, that a letter to the Corinthians has been lost; from Col. iv. 16, it has also been concluded -though probably erroneously, since there perhaps the letter to the Ephesians is referred to that another letter to the community of Laodicea has likewise been lost. Press of business usually compelled Paul-what was, besides, not uncommon in those times to use his companions as amanuenses. He mentions (Gal. vi. 11), as something peculiar, that he had written this letter with his own hand. Paul himself exhorted the communities mutually to impart to each other his letters to them, and read them aloud in their assemblies (Col. iv. 16). It is therefore probable that copies of these letters had been early made by the several communities, and deposited in the form of collections.

The letters of Paul may be chronologically arranged into those written before his Roman imprisonment, and those written during and after it; thus beginning with his first letter to the Thessalonians, and concluding with his second to Timothy, embracing an interval of about ten years (A.D. 54-64). In our Bibles, however, the letters are arranged according to the pre-eminent parts

ESAU

and stations of the communities to whom they were addressed, and conclude with the Epistles to the two bishops and a private letter to Phile

mon.

THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES.-There is, in the first instance, a diversity of opinion respecting their name: some refer it to their WRITERS (letters from all the other Apostles who had entered the stage of authorship along with Paul); some, again, to their CONTENTS (letters of no special but general Christian tenor); others, again, to the RECEIVERS (letters addressed to no community in particular). This last opinion is most decidedly justified by passages from the ancient writers. The Pauline Epistles had all their particular directions, while the letters of Peter, James, 1 John, and Jude were circular epistles. The Epistles 2 and 3 John were subsequently added, and included on account of their shortness, and to this collection was given the name CATHOLIC LETTERS, in contradistinction to the PAULINE.

ERAS TUS, a Corinthian, and one of Paul's disciples, whose salutations he sends from Corinth to the Church at Rome as those of the chamberlain of the city' (Rom. xvi. 23). The words so rendered denote the city treasurer or steward, an officer of great dignity in ancient times. We find this Erastus with Paul at Ephesus, whence he was sent along with Timothy into Macedonia (Acts xix. 22). They were both with the Apostle at Corinth when he wrote, as above, from that city to the Romans: at a subsequent period Erastus was still at Corinth (2 Tim. iv. 20 which would seem to have been the usual place

of his abode.

E'RECH, one of the cities which formed the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom in the plain of Shinar (Gen. x. 10). It is not said that he built these cities, but that he established his power over them; from which we may conclude that they previously existed. Bochart seeks the name in the Aracca or Aracha of the old geographers, which was on the Tigris, upon the borders of Babylonia and Susiana. Rosenmüller happily conjectures that Erech probably lay nearer to Babylon than Aracca; and this has been lately confirmed by Col. Taylor, the British resident at Bagdad, who is disposed to find the site of the ancient Erech in the great mounds of primitive ruins, indifferently called Irak, Irka, and Sen kerah, by the nomade Arabs: and sometimes El Asayiah, the place of pebbles.' These mounds, which are now surrounded by the almost per petual marshes and inundations of the lower Euphrates, lie some miles east of that stream, about midway between the site of Babylon and its junction with the Tigris.

E'SAR-HADDON. [ASSYRIA.]

E'SAU (hairy, rough). The origin and meaning of the name are not quite free from ambiguity; Simon deriving it from a word signifying covered with hair; and some such reason as this implies, seems involved in the passage Gen. XXV. 25. Cruden, however, explains the name as meaning one who does, an actor or agent. His surname of Edom (red) was given him, it appears (Gen. xxv. 30), from the red pottage which be asked of Jacob. Esau was the eldest son of 'Isaac, Abraham's son' (Gen. xxv. 19) by Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.'

ESAU

The marriage remaining for some time (about 19 years; compare xxv. 20, 26) unproductive, Isaac entreated Jehovah, and she became pregnant. Led by peculiar feelings to inquire of Jehovah,' Rebekah was informed that she should give birth to twins, whose fate would be as diverse as their character, and, what in those days was stranger still, that the elder should serve the younger. On occasion of her delivery the child that was born first was red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.' Immediately afterwards Jacob was born.

In process of time the different natural endowments of the two boys began to display their effects in dissimilar aptitudes and pursuits. While Jacob was led by his less robust make and quiet disposition to fulfil the duties of a shepherd's life, and pass his days in and around his tent, Esau was impelled by the ardour and lofty spirit which agitated his bosom, to seek in the toils, adventures, and perils of the chace, his occupation and sustenance: and, as is generally the case in natures like his, he gained high repute by his skill and daring.

A hunter's life is of necessity one of uncertainty as well as hardship; days pass in which the greatest vigilance and the most strenuous exertions may fail even to find, much less capture, game. Esau had on one occasion experienced such a disappointment, and, wearied with his unproductive efforts, exhausted for want of sustenance, and despairing of capturing any prey, he was fain to turn his steps to his father's house for succour in his extremity. On reaching home he found his brother enjoying a carefully prepared dish of pottage: attracted by the odour of which he besought Jacob to allow him to share in the meal. His brother saw the exigency in which Esau was, and determined not to let it pass unimproved. Accordingly he puts a price on the required food. Esau was the elder, and had in consequence immunities and privileges which were of high value. The surrender of these to himself Jacob makes the condition of his complying with Esau's petition. Urged by the cravings of hunger, alarmed even by the fear of instant death, Esau sold his birth-right to his younger brother, confirming the contract by the sanction of an oath. Jacob having thus got his price, supplied the famishing Esau with needful refreshments.

Arrived now at years of maturity, Esau, when 40 years of age, married two wives, Judith and Bashemath. Some unhappy feelings appear to have previously existed in the family; for while Esau was a favourite with his father, in consequence, it appears, of the presents of venison which the youth gave him, Jacob was regarded with special affection by the mother. These partialities, and their natural consequences in unamiable feelings, were increased and exaggerated by Esau's marriage. Even his father's preference of him may have been injuriously affected. The way was thus in some measure smoothed for the transference of the coveted birthright to the younger son.

The time for the fulfilment of the compact between the brothers at length arrived. Isaac is 'sick unto death. His appetite, as well as his strength, having failed, is only to be gratified by provocatives. He desires some savoury venison,

ESAU

299 and gives the requisite instructions to Esau, who accordingly proceeds in quest of it. On this Rebekah begins to feel that the critical time has come. If the hated Hittites are not to enter with her less favoured son into possession of the family property, the sale of the birthright must now in some way be confirmed and consummated. One essential particular remained-the father's blessing. If this should be given to Esau, all hope was gone; for this, like our modern wills, would hand the inheritance and the accompanying headship of the tribe to Esau and his wives.

Isaac, however, had lost his sight-indeed, all his senses were dull and feeble. It was therefore not very difficult to pass off Jacob upon him as Esau. Rebekah takes her measures, and, notwithstanding Jacob's fears, succeeds. Isaac, indeed, is not without suspicion, but a falsehood comes to aid Jacob in his otherwise discreditable personation of Esau. The blessing is pronounced, and thus the coveted property and ascendancy are secured. The affectionate endearments which pass between the deceiver and the abused old blind father, stand in painful contrast with the base trickery by which mother and son had accomplished their end.

Esau, however, returns from the field, approaches his decrepid and sightless father, declaring who he is. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him?-yea, and he shall be blessed.' On this Esau becomes agitated, and entreats a blessing for himself- Bless me, even me also, O my father.' Urging this entreaty again and again, even with tears, Isaac at length said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; and by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck' (Gen. xxvii.).

Thus, deprived for ever of his birthright, in virtue of the irrevocable blessing, Esau but too naturally conceived and entertained a hatred of Jacob, and even formed a resolution to seize the opportunity for slaying him, which the days of mourning consequent on the approaching decease of their father would be likely to afford. Words to this effect, which Esau let drop, were repeated to his mother, who thereupon prevailed on her younger son to flee to his uncle Laban, who lived in Haran, there to remain until time, with its usual effect, might have mitigated Esau's wrath. Meanwhile Esau had grown powerful in Idumæa, and when, after many years, Jacob intended to return within the borders of the Jordan, he feared lest his elder brother might intercept him on his way, to take revenge for former injuries. He accordingly sent messengers to Esau, in order, if possible, to disarm his wrath. Esau appears to have announced in reply, that he would proceed to meet his returning brother. When, therefore, Jacob was informed that Esau was on his way for this purpose with a band of four hundred men, he was greatly distressed, in fear of that hostility which his conscience told him he had done something to deserve. What then must have been his surprise when he saw Esau running with extended