• Ozni
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • OZNI

      (Ozʹni) [my hearing, or, my ear].

      A son of Gad and founder of the tribal family of Oznites numbered in the second wilderness registration of Israel. (Num. 26:15, 16) Ozni is called Ezbon in the first list of Gad’s sons, some of whose names are written somewhat differently in Numbers.—Gen. 46:16.

  • Paddan
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • PADDAN

      (Padʹdan) [plain, flatland].

      The shortened form of “Paddan-aram” (Gen. 35:9; 48:7); apparently the same as the “field of Syria [Aram].” (Gen. 28:6, 7; Hos. 12:12) Paddan was a region around the city of Haran in northern Mesopotamia. (Gen. 28:7, 10; 29:4) Though some consider Paddan and Aram-naharaim to be identical, it seems more likely that Paddan was a part of Aram-naharaim. (Gen. 24:10; 25:20; NW, 1953 ed., ftns.) This may be inferred from the fact that Aram-naharaim (meaning “Aram of the two rivers”) included mountainous territory, something that could not be true of Paddan, if its name is correctly understood to mean “plain,” “flatland.”—Num. 23:7; Deut. 23:4; NW, 1950 ed., ftns.

      The patriarch Abraham resided temporarily at Haran in Paddan. (Gen. 12:4; 28:7, 10) Later, from among the offspring of his relatives there, his son Isaac and then his grandson Jacob got their wives. (Gen. 22:20-23; 25:20; 28:6) Jacob personally spent twenty years at Paddan in the service of his father-in-law Laban. (Gen. 31:17, 18, 36, 41) While there, he became father to Dinah and eleven sons. (Gen. 29:20–30:24) His twelfth son, Benjamin, was born in Canaan.—Gen. 35:16-18, 22-26; 46:15; 48:7.

  • Pahath-moab
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • PAHATH-MOAB

      (Paʹhath-moʹab) [governor of Moab].

      Founder of a family in Israel. If he was an official over Moab, as his name might imply, it was probably during the time when Moab was under Judah’s domination. His holding such a position remains uncertain, however, as nothing is said of him personally in the Scripture record.

      Pahath-moab’s descendants noted in Ezra and Nehemiah are all postexilic. Some of them comprised the second most numerous family to return with Zerubbabel in 537 B.C.E. (Ezra 2:1, 2, 6; Neh. 7:11) By the time of Ezra’s return in 468, with more descendants of Pahath-moab accompanying him, some of the first group (or their offspring) had taken foreign wives, but responded to Ezra’s admonition to dismiss them. (Ezra 8:1, 4; 10:30, 44) Another of this family, Hasshub, helped Nehemiah to repair Jerusalem’s wall, and a descendant or representative of theirs also attested by seal the agreement of faithfulness that was put forward shortly thereafter.—Neh. 3:11; 9:38; 10:1, 14.

  • Pain
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • PAIN

      On account of exhausting labor in cultivating cursed ground (Gen. 3:17-19; 5:29), because of injurious words (Prov. 15:1), the unresponsiveness of others to good (Rom. 9:2), disease and other adversities (Job 2:13; 16:6), humans have experienced mental, emotional and physical pain. Dreadful or frightening situations, whether real or visionary, have likewise given rise to pain.—Ps. 55:3, 4; Isa. 21:1-3; Jer. 4:19, 20; Ezek. 30:4, 9; see LABOR PAINS.

      ‘NO MORE PAIN’

      Although unpleasant, the physical sensation of pain serves a beneficial purpose by alerting a person to danger as regards bodily damage and thereby enables him to take steps to avoid serious injury. The fulfillment of God’s promise that “neither will . . . pain be any more” (Rev. 21:4), therefore, could not mean that humans would become insensitive to or incapable of experiencing pain. Rather, mental, emotional and physical pain that has resulted from sin and imperfection (Rom. 8:21, 22) will ‘be no more’ in the sense that its causes (such as disease and death) will be removed. That bodily perfection does not of itself require absolute painlessness is verified by the fact that even the perfect man Jesus experienced physical and emotional pain in connection with his death and the unresponsiveness of those to whom he ministered. (Matt. 26:37; Luke 19:41) He was even foretold to be a “man meant for pains.” (Isa. 53:3) By curing those “distressed with various diseases and torments” (Matt. 4:24), Jesus bore the pains of others.—Isa. 53:4.

      FIGURATIVE USE

      Often the Scriptures refer to pain in a figurative sense. Depending upon the context, it may denote hard work (Prov. 5:10) or a wholesome fear and awesome regard for Jehovah God. (1 Chron. 16:30; Ps. 96:9; 114:7) Waters, mountains and the earth, when in a state of agitation, are described as being in pain. (Ps. 77:16; 97:4; Jer. 51:29; Hab. 3:10) Jehovah viewed unfaithful Judah as having an incurable pain, one threatening death.—Jer. 30:15.

      Pains or pangs can also denote something that serves as a restraint. With reference to Jesus Christ, the apostle Peter stated: “God resurrected him by loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to continue to be held fast by it.” (Acts 2:24) Ropes, when tightly drawn and constricting the limbs, produce sharp pain or pangs. Therefore, while dead, Jesus was held, as it were, by figurative ropes or pangs of death.—Compare Psalm 18:4, 5; 116:3.