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(Created page with "Scythian <ref name="term_16709" /> <p> </p> <p> Fig. 313—1. A Scythian. 2. A Scythian General </p> <p> Scyth´ian, a name which occurs only in . It was anciently applie...") |
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== Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_57217" /> == | |||
<p> </p> <p> | <p> (Σκύθης) </p> <p> The [[Scythians]] were a barbarous nomadic tribe of [[Indo-Germanic]] origin living in the region between the [[Caucasus]] Mountains and the Caspian Sea. The [[Greek]] colonists who settled on the northern shores of the [[Black]] [[Sea]] in the 7th cent. b.c. found the South Russian steppe in their possession. Their name ‘Scythians’ is first found in [[Hesiod]] (Strabo, VII. iii. 7, 8), while [[Herodotus]] (iv. 1-82, 97-142) gives a great deal of information regarding the people, although the fact that the [[Greeks]] soon came to extend the name ‘Scythian’ to all the nations to the north and north-east of the Black Sea makes some of the statements of Greek writers regarding them questionable. </p> <p> The Scythians proper were a purely nomadic race living on the South Russian steppe the usual life of nomads, moving from place to place as the needs of their flocks demanded. Herodotus (iv. 46, 114, 121) tells us that the men rode on horseback while the women were conveyed in wagons drawn by oxen. They lived on boiled flesh, mares’ milk, and cheese. Like most barbarians, they existed in a condition of filth, never washing themselves, and the women daubed themselves with paste containing the dust of fragrant woods and removing it the second day (iv. 75). [[Hippocrates]] (ed. Littré, ii. 72) informs us that they were not a very hardy race, suffering greatly from dysentery and rheumatism, and being soft and flabby in body. </p> <p> The cruelty of the whole race and the despotism of their kings were notorious in the ancient world. When the king put a man to death all the male relations of the unfortunate victim were slain as well, for fear of blood revenge. When engaged in battle, the [[Scythian]] warrior drank the blood of the first of the foe he slew, using the skull as a drinking cup. No one was allowed to share in the booty who did not bring the head of a foeman to the king. The scalps of those slain in battle were tanned and hung on the bridle of the warrior (Herod. iv. 64 f.). The eyes of those taken captive and held as slaves were put out. The kings were invested with absolute despotic powers. On their death a vast multitude of slaves and even free-born servants were slain and buried in great funeral mounds along with horses and vessels of gold and silver. </p> <p> The Scythians first come into history in connexion with their invasion of [[Asia]] and particularly of [[Media]] in the 7th cent. b.c. At this time there took place one of those great movements among the uncivilized peoples of the north which the Germans call a Völkerwanderung. [[Pressed]] on by Asiatic tribes, the Scythians seem to have driven the [[Cimmerians]] into Asia Minor and invaded Media. Herodotus speaks (i. 103-105) of a great victory of the Scythians over [[Cyaxares]] and the [[Medes]] which compelled the latter to raise the siege of Nineveh. Thereafter the victorious hordes overran all Asia, plundering at will for thirty years, from 634-604 b.c., till the Medes again under Cyaxares destroyed most of them after making them drunk at a banquet (i. 106). He also tells (i. 105) of king Psammetichus, who died 611 b.c., buying off these northern invaders who had come as far south as Philistia. The panic of these invading hordes reached Palestine, and several times the land seems to have been threatened and actually overrun with marauding bands. The reports of warriors fighting on horseback with bow and arrows, and drinking the blood of the slain, were fitted to appeal to the imagination of the [[Hebrew]] prophets, who thought of the messengers of God’s wrath on a sinful nation. Jeremiah’s description of ‘the evil coming from the north’ (1:13, 4:6, 5:15ff., 6:1) and of the mighty nation of riders and bowmen, as well as Zephaniah’s picture of the Day of the Lord, was probably suggested by the Scythian invasion and the terror it inspired. The memory of this invasion was perpetuated in the name Scythopolis, which was given to the old town Beth-shean (Σκύθων πόλις, [[Judith]] 3:10; cf. Σκυθωπολεῖται, 2 [[Maccabees]] 12:30), which was probably taken, and, as Pliny (Historia Naturalis (Pliny)v. 16) and G. [[Syncellus]] (Chronographia, ed. P. J. Goar, Venice, 1729, p. 171) state, rebuilt by the remnant of the Scythians who remained after the main body was bought off by the king of Egypt. </p> <p> To the [[Jews]] the name ‘Scythian’ became synonymous with ‘barbarian.’ Just as terrors which are only partially known assume gigantic proportions, so these Scythians, by their rapid descent on Palestine, their unwonted appearance, their savage cruelty, and their short sojourn, impressed the imagination. They became the symbol of savagery, inhumanity, barbarity, treachery, cruelty, and perhaps under the names [[Gog]] and [[Magog]] (q.v.[Note: .v. quod vide, which see.]) became types of the evil world-powers opposed to the [[Kingdom]] of God. Thus [[Josephus]] (Ant. I. vi. 1) identifies Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38, 39 with the Scythians. When the apostle [[Paul]] is speaking of the absolute way in which the gospel of [[Christ]] abolishes all racial distinctions, he mentions in the list ‘Greek and [[Jew]] … barbarian, Scythian’ (Colossians 3:11), where undoubtedly ‘Scythian’ is referred to as being universally regarded as the lowest in the scale of humanity, the most savage of barbarians-‘Scythae barbaris barbariores’ (Bengal) (cf. J. B. Lightfoot, Colossians2, 1879, p. 216). Even Scythians, the [[Apostle]] maintains, can be renewed unto the knowledge of [[Jesus]] Christ and become one in Him along with members of other races. [[Justin]] Martyr, the apologist (Dial. 28), in extolling Christianity, refers to its having room for Scythians and Persians, the ferocity of the former and the licentiousness of the latter being notorious, while the pseudo-Lucian (Philopatris, 17) satirizes [[Christianity]] for suggesting that Scythians should have any place in heaven. The opponents of Christianity, such as [[Celsus]] and the pseudo-Lucian, could not understand a religion which had a place for those so low in the scale of humanity as the Scythians. The Apostle, on the other hand, gloried in a religion which could redeem and elevate the most degraded. </p> <p> Literature.-Herodotus, iv. 1-82, 97-142; Hippocrates, de Aëre, aquis et locis, xvii.-xxii., ed. P. M. E. Littré, 10 vols., Paris, 1839-61, ii. 66-82; J. C. Zeuss, [[Die]] Deutschen und die Nachbarstämme, 1837; K. Neumann, Die Hellenen im Skythenlande, 1855; G. Grote, History of Greece, 10 vols., new ed., 1888; H. Ewald, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, iii.3 [1866] 742-748; J. B. Lightfoot, Colossians2, 1879, p. 216; articles ‘Scythian’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the [[Bible]] (5 vols)and Encyclopaedia Biblica, and article‘Scythia’ in Encyclopaedia Britannica9. </p> <p> W. F. Boyd. </p> | ||
== Webster's Dictionary <ref name="term_172093" /> == | |||
<p> (1): </p> <p> (n.) A native or inhabitant of Scythia; specifically (Ethnol.), one of a Slavonic race which in early times occupied [[Eastern]] Europe. </p> <p> (2): </p> <p> (n.) The language of the Scythians. </p> <p> (3): </p> <p> (a.) Of or pertaining to Scythia (a name given to the northern part of Asia, and [[Europe]] adjoining to Asia), or its language or inhabitants. </p> | |||
== Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_74708" /> == | |||
<p> Scyth'ian. Occurs in Colossians 3:11 as a generalized term for rude, ignorant, degraded. The name often included all the nomadic tribes, who dwelt mostly on the north of the [[Black]] and the Caspian Sea, stretching, thence, indefinitely into inner Asia, and were regarded, by the ancients, as standing extremely low, in point of intelligence and civilization. </p> | |||
== Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_68508" /> == | |||
<p> This word, being associated with the term 'barbarian,' signifies a most uncultivated person. Colossians 3:11 . Happily such a one has the same reception as the most cultivated: such is the grace of God. 'In [[Christ]] Jesus' all distinctions are lost. As a race, the [[Scythians]] were located north of the Caspian and [[Black]] Seas. They were esteemed by the ancients as very low in intelligence and culture. </p> | |||
== Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_37590" /> == | |||
<p> Colossians 3:11. More barbarian heretofore than the barbarians. The unity of the divine life shared in by all believers counterbalances differences as great as that between the polished "Greek" and the rude "Scythian." [[Christianity]] is the true spring of sound culture, social and moral. </p> | |||
== People's Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_70792" /> == | |||
<p> [[Scythian]] (sĭth'i-an). [[Wandering]] tribe or tribes north of the [[Black]] and Caspian Seas. Colossians 3:11. </p> | |||
== King James Dictionary <ref name="term_62904" /> == | |||
<p> SCYTH'IAN, a. Pretaining to Scythia, a name given to the northern part of Asia, and [[Europe]] adjoining to Asia. </p> <p> SCYTH'IAN, n. See Scot. A native of Scythia. </p> | |||
== Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_33372" /> == | |||
[[Genesis]] 9:27Colossians 3:11 | |||
== Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_59889" /> == | |||
<p> (Σκύθης ) occurs in Colossians 3:11 as a generalized term for a rude, ignorant, degraded person. In the Gospel, says Paul, "there is neither [[Greek]] nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but [[Christ]] is all and in all." It was anciently applied sometimes to a particular people, and sometimes to all the nomad tribes which had their seat to the north of the [[Black]] and Caspian seas, stretching indefinitely eastward into the unknown regions of Asia. It had thus much the same latitude as "Tartars," and was in like manner synonymous with [[Barbarian]] (Βάρβαρος ). The same view of [[Scythian]] barbarism appears in 2 [[Maccabees]] 4:47 and 3 Maccabees 7:5, also in [[Josephus]] (Cont. Apion. ii, 37) and Parmenio (ap. Athen. v, 221). For other similar testimonies, see Wettstein, Nov. Test. ii, 292. </p> <p> The [[Scythians]] were, in fact, the ancient representatives of the modern Tartars, and, like them, moved from place to place in carts drawn by oxen. It is from this circumstance that they, or a tribe nearly allied to them, may be recognised on the monuments of Egypt. In the latter part of the 7th century B.C., they had become well known as a formidable power through the whole of [[Western]] Asia. [[Forced]] from their original quarters north of the Caucasian range by the inroads of the Massagetee, they descended into [[Asia]] Minor, where they took [[Sardis]] (B.C. 629), and maintained a long war with the [[Lydian]] monarchs; thence they spread into [[Media]] (B.C. 624), where they defeated Cyaxares. They then directed their course to Egypt, and were bribed off by Psammetichus; on their return they attacked the [[Temple]] of [[Venus]] [[Urania]] at Ascalon. They were finally ejected B.C. 596, after having made their name a terror to the whole [[Eastern]] world (Herod. i, 103 sq.). The name of Seythopolis, by which Beth-shean was known in our Saviour's time, was regarded as a trace of the Scythian occupation (Pliny, v, 16). This, however, is </p> | |||
== Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_16709" /> == | |||
<p> Fig. 313—1. A Scythian. 2. A [[Scythian]] General </p> <p> Scyth´ian, a name which occurs only in . It was anciently applied sometimes to a particular people, and sometimes to all the nomad tribes which had their seat to the north of the [[Black]] and Caspian seas, stretching indefinitely eastward into the unknown regions of Asia. It had thus much the same latitude as 'Tartars,' and was in like manner synonymous with Barbarian. </p> <p> The [[Scythians]] were, in fact, the ancient representatives of the modern Tartars, and like them moved from place to place in carts drawn by oxen. </p> | |||
==References == | ==References == | ||
<references> | <references> | ||
<ref name="term_57217"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/scythian Scythian from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref> | |||
<ref name="term_172093"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/webster-s-dictionary/scythian Scythian from Webster's Dictionary]</ref> | |||
<ref name="term_74708"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/scythian Scythian from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref> | |||
<ref name="term_68508"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/scythian Scythian from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref> | |||
<ref name="term_37590"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/scythian Scythian from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref> | |||
<ref name="term_70792"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/people-s-dictionary-of-the-bible/scythian Scythian from People's Dictionary of the Bible]</ref> | |||
<ref name="term_62904"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/king-james-dictionary/scythian Scythian from King James Dictionary]</ref> | |||
<ref name="term_33372"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/scythian Scythian from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref> | |||
<ref name="term_59889"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/scythian Scythian from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref> | |||
<ref name="term_16709"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/scythian Scythian from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref> | <ref name="term_16709"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/scythian Scythian from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref> | ||
</references> | </references> | ||
