November, Dictionary of the Bible.

Car’mel, fruitful place, or vineyards. — This name was given to a range of hills running about six miles north-west from the plains of Esdraelon to the Bay of Acre. The height is about 1,500 feet. On the north-east, at the foot of the mountain, runs the brook Kishon, and the river Belus, a little farther north. Carmel well deserves its name, as it, is entirely covered with verdure. Oaks and pines grow on its summit, and olive and laurel trees lower down. It is everywhere well watered, and numberless little brooks spring from it, hurrying to the Kishon. It abounds also with caverns, said to be more than a thousand in number. One series, called the Monks’ Caverns, consists of as many as four hundred close to each other, having windows and sleeping places hewn in the rock. Upon the summit there is a convent of the ancient order of Carmelite monks. The Carmel mentioned Joshua 15:5555Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah, (Joshua 15:55); 1 Samuel 15:12; 25:212And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. (1 Samuel 15:12)
2And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. (1 Samuel 25:2); is described by Jerome and Eusebius as being in their day a village with a Roman garrison, ten miles from Hebron. It is now called Kurmul, and is utterly desolate, although the extent of the ruins show that it was once a town of importance. A ruined castle stands in the midst of what was once the town.
Car’pus, the disciple with whom Paul left the cloak at Troas, mentioned 2 Tim. 4-13.
Carbuncle. — Two words are thus rendered in our version. One (Nophech) occurs Exodus 28:18, 39:11; Ezekiel 28:13,13Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. (Ezekiel 28:13) and seems to have been a kind of ruby, or perhaps an oriental garnet, which is a transparent red stone with a violet shade and strong glossy luster. The other word (Ekdach) is in Isaiah 54:12,12And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. (Isaiah 54:12) and is evidently some stone of fiery brilliancy, but of what particular kind cannot be decided.
Car’chemish, mentioned Isaiah 10:9,9Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus? (Isaiah 10:9) among other places in Syria, conquered by an Assyrian king. It appears to have been a frontier town and fortress on the Euphrates (Jer. 46:22Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. (Jeremiah 46:2)), and probably the kirkesion of the Greeks, which fortified city, and was the remotest outpost of the Roman empire on the western bank of the Euphrates.
Car’ia, a country at the south-western extremity of Asia Minor. Its principal towns were Halicarnassus, the birthplace of Herodotus, Myndus, and Cnidus, mentioned Acts 27:7,7And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone; (Acts 27:7) in the account of Paul’s voyage to Rome.
Caper’naum, a city supposed to have stood northwest of the Sea of Galilee on the border of the tribe of Zebulun and Naphtali, but it has been so completely brought to ruin that its true site is quite uncertain (Matt. 11:2323And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. (Matthew 11:23)).
Cappado’cia, a mountainous province of Asia Minor, bounded on the east by the Euphrates and Armenia. Tiberius made it a Roman province. Cappadocian Jews were present at Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:99Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, (Acts 2:9)), and Peter addressed Jewish believers there in his first epistle (1 Peter 1:11Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (1 Peter 1:1)).
Cas’tor and Pol’lux were in heathen mythology the sons of Jupiter and Leda. They were supposed to have a special care over persons shipwrecked, for which reason their figures were often adopted as the “sign” from which a ship had its name (Acts 28:1111And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. (Acts 28:11)).
Cater’pillar, mentioned. 1 Kings 8:3737If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; (1 Kings 8:37); 2 Chron. 6:2828If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be: (2 Chronicles 6:28); Psalms 78:46; 105:3446He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labor unto the locust. (Psalm 78:46)
34He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, (Psalm 105:34); Isaiah 33:44And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them. (Isaiah 33:4); Jeremiah 51:14-2714The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee. 15He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. 16When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 17Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 18They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 19The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name. 20Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; 21And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; 22With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; 23I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. 24And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord. 25Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. 26And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the Lord. 27Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. (Jeremiah 51:14‑27); Joel 1:4; 2:254That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. (Joel 1:4)
25And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. (Joel 2:25); and generally taken to mean the locust in its various states or transformations from the egg to the perfect insect.
Caves were very numerous in Palestine, owing to the geological formation being chiefly limestone. Some of these caverns are of immense extent, one being mentioned by Strabo as capable of holding 4,000 men. The cave of Machpelah, which Abraham bought for a burying-place (his only possession on earth) is said to be now under a Mahometan mosque, called The Harem. That this is really the burial-place of the patriarchs is well supported by evidence. It is mentioned Genesis 25:3,10; 49:31; 13And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. (Genesis 25:3)
10The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. (Genesis 25:10)
31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. (Genesis 49:31). 13. Some of the caves mentioned in Scripture were formed by art (Judg. 6:22And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. (Judges 6:2)). Vast numbers are found in the rocks and valleys around Wady Musa. The Horites, ancient inhabitants of Idumea Proper, were dwellers in caves, and even at the present day any persons live in caverns, as was formerly the case (see Numbers 24:2121And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock. (Numbers 24:21); {s 12176}Song of Solomon 2:1414O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. (Song of Solomon 2:14); Jeremiah 41:9; 49:169Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain. (Jeremiah 41:9)
16Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 49:16); Obadiah; 1 Samuel 13:66When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. (1 Samuel 13:6); Isaiah 2:1919And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. (Isaiah 2:19)). Pits or large wells were sometimes made, having excavations in the sides leading into chambers. These were also used as prisons (Isa. 24:22; 51:1422And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. (Isaiah 24:22)
14The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. (Isaiah 51:14); Zech. 9:1111As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. (Zechariah 9:11)). Many of these vaulted pits still exist. The strongholds of Engedi (1 Sam. 23:29; 24:129And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En-gedi. (1 Samuel 23:29)
1And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi. (1 Samuel 24:1)) are well known even now, and are called Ain Tidy by the Arabs, which means the same as the Hebrew name, viz.; “The Fountain of the Kid.” In that same region, which abounds with caverns, many outlaws still find their retreat. The Cave of Adullam, (1 Sam. 22:1, 2; 24:41David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. 2And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. (1 Samuel 22:1‑2)
4And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. (1 Samuel 24:4)) is an immense natural cavern at Wady Khureitun. It is so large that David and his men might easily remain in the sides of the cave and not be observed. Some fortified caverns were situated in almost inaccessible places on a mountain side, having only a narrow precipitous path by which they were reached from below, and overhung above by rocks. Josephus relates how Herod attacked some of these strong-holds by lowering soldiers down in large boxes with long hooks in their hands, with which they pulled out the robbers and hurled them down the precipices, then got into the caverns, and slew those who retreated, and set fire to the contents.
Cedar. — The cedar of Lebanon is generally from fifty to eighty feet high, its branches often spreading to a distance greater than its height, and growing horizontally in layers decreasing in length as they approach the top, where they form a head something in the shape of a broad pyramid. The branchlets are fan-like, and the leaves, growing in tufts, are about an inch in length and taper to a point. The cones are from two and a half to five inches long, and abound with resin. The true cedar of Lebanon is said to be very scarce, but some very ancient trees remain. It is said that the worm will not attack the true cedar, and that a chest made of it will protect its contents from the ravages of the moth.
The cedar is often mentioned in Scripture, and its wood was applied to various uses. See 2 Samuel 5:11; 7:2-711And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house. (2 Samuel 5:11)
2That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. 3And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee. 4And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, 5Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? 6Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? (2 Samuel 7:2‑7); 1 Kings 5:6, 8, 10; 6:9, 10, 15-20; 7:2, 3, 7, 11, 12; 9:11; 10:276Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. (1 Kings 5:6)
8And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. (1 Kings 5:8)
10So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire. (1 Kings 5:10)
9So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar. 10And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar. (1 Kings 6:9‑10)
15And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. 16And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place. 17And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long. 18And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. 19And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 20And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar. (1 Kings 6:15‑20)
2He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. 3And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row. (1 Kings 7:2‑3)
7Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other. (1 Kings 7:7)
11And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars. 12And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the Lord, and for the porch of the house. (1 Kings 7:11‑12)
11(Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. (1 Kings 9:11)
27And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance. (1 Kings 10:27); 1 Chronicles 17:66Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars? (1 Chronicles 17:6); 2 Chronicles 2:8; 9:27; 25:188Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants, (2 Chronicles 2:8)
27And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance. (2 Chronicles 9:27)
18And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. (2 Chronicles 25:18); Psalms 29:5; 80:10; 92:12; 104:16; 148:95The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. (Psalm 29:5)
10The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. (Psalm 80:10)
12The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. (Psalm 92:12)
16The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; (Psalm 104:16)
9Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: (Psalm 148:9); Song of Solomon 1:1717The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir. (Song of Solomon 1:17); verse 15; 8:9; Isaiah 2:13; 9:8-10; 14:8; 37:24; 41:9; 44:1413And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, (Isaiah 2:13)
8The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. 9And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, 10The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. (Isaiah 9:8‑10)
8Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. (Isaiah 14:8)
24By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. (Isaiah 37:24)
9Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. (Isaiah 41:9)
14He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. (Isaiah 44:14); Jeremiah 22:7-237And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. 8And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? 9Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. 10Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. 11For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: 12But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. 13Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; 14That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. 15Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? 16He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord. 17But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it. 18Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! 19He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. 20Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed. 21I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. 22The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. 23O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail! (Jeremiah 22:7‑23); Ezekiel 17:3, 22, 23; 27:5; 313And say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: (Ezekiel 17:3)
22Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: 23In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. (Ezekiel 17:22‑23)
5They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. (Ezekiel 27:5); Amos 9; Zephaniah 2:1414And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work. (Zephaniah 2:14); Zechariah 11:1, 2,1Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 2Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. (Zechariah 11:1‑2)