American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

55

Dispensation

The charge of proclaiming the gospel of Christ, 1Co 9:17Eph 3:2. Also the scheme or plan of God’s dealings with men. In the Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian dispensations, God...

56

Divination

The Eastern people were fond of divination, magic, and the pretended art of interpreting dreams and acquiring a knowledge of futurity. When Moses published the law, this disposi...

57

Divorce

Was tolerated by Moses for sufficient reasons, De 24:1-4; but our Lord has limited it to the single case of adultery, Mt 5:31,32.

58

Doctor Of The Law

May perhaps be distinguished fromSCRIBE, as rather teaching orally, than giving written opinions, Lu 2:46. It implies one learned in the divine law. Doctors of the law were most...

59

Dodanim

OrRODANM, 1Ch 1:7, a people descended from Japhet through Javan, Ge 10:4. They are associated, by the above passage, and by dim etymological inferences, with the island of Rhode...

60

Doeg

An Edomite, overseer of Saul’s flocks. At Nob he witnessed the relief kindly furnished to David when fleeing from Saul, by Ahimelech the high priest, and carried a malicious and...

61

Dogs

Were held in great contempt by the Jews, but were worshipped, as well as cats, by the Egyptians. Among the Jews, to compare a person to a dog was the most degrading expression p...

62

Dor

A royal city of the Canaanites, on the Mediterranean between Caesarea and mount Carmel; after the conquest it was assigned to Manasseh, Jos 11:2; 12:23; 17:11; 1Ki 4:11; 1Ch 7:2...

63

Dorcas

In Greek, the same asTABITHAin Syriac, that is, gazalle, the name of a pious and charitable woman at Joppa, whom Peter raised from the dead, Ac 9:36-42.

64

Dothan

OrDOTHAIN, the place where Josephus was sold to the Ishmaelites, Ge 37:17, and where the Syrians were smitten with blindness at Elisha’s word, 2Ki 6:13. It was on the caravan-ro...

65

Doves

Were clean according to the Mosaic ritual, and were offered in sacrifice, especially by the poor, Ge 15:9Le 5:7 12:6-8 Lu 2:24. Several kinds of doves or pigeons frequented the ...

66

Doves’ Dung

It is said, 2Ki 6:25, that during the siege of Samaria, "the fourth part of a cab," little more than half a pint, "of doves’ dung was sold for five pieces of silver," about two ...

67

Dowry

In eastern countries the bridegroom was required to pay the father of his betrothed a stipulated portion, in money or other valuables, portion, in money or other valuables, prop...

68

Dragon

Answers, in the English Bible, the Hebrew word signifying a sea-monster, huge serpent, etc. Thus in De 32:33Jer 51:34Re 12:1-17, it evidently implies a huge serpent; in Isa 27:1...

69

Dragon-Well

Ne 2:13; probably the fountain of Gihon, on the west side of Jerusalem.

70

Dram

Ezr 2:69, a gold coin of Persia, worth about five dollars.

71

Draught

A cesspool or receptacle for filth, 2Ki 10:27; Mt 15:17. Also, all the fishes taken at one drawing of a net, Lu 5:9.

72

Dream

The orientals, and in particular the Jews, greatly regarded dreams, and applied for their interpretation to those who undertook to explain them. We see the antiquity of this cus...

73

Dregs

SeeLEES.

74

Dresses

SeeGARMENTS.

75

Drink-Offering

A small quantity of wine, part of which was to be poured on the sacrifice or meat offering, and the residue given to the priests, Ex 29:40; Le 23:18; Nu 15:5,7. It may have been...

76

Dromedary

SeeCAMEL.

77

Drought

Was an evil to which Palestine was naturally subject, as no rain fell from May to September. During these months of summer, the ground became parched and cleft, the streams and ...

78

Drunkenness

Is referred to in the Bible both in single instances and as a habit. Its folly is often illustrated, Ps 107:27Isa 19:14 24:20 28:7,8, its guilt denounced, Isa 5:22, its ill resu...

79

Drusilla

The youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I, and sister of the younger Agrippa and Bernice, celebrated for her beauty and infamous for her licentiousness. She was first espoused to...

80

Duke

In Ge 36:15-43, is a long list of "dukes" of Edom; but the word duke, from the Latin dux, merely signifies a leader, and not an order of nobility; and the word chief or sheikh w...

81

Dulcimer

Da 3:5,10, an instrument of music, which the rabbins describe as a sort of bagpipe, composed of two pipes connected with a leathern sack, and of a harsh, screaming sound. The mo...