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PiltaiAid to Bible Understanding
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PILTAI
(Pilʹtai) [Jah is deliverance].
Postexilic head of the priestly paternal house of Moadiah in the days of Jeshua’s successor Joiakim.—Neh. 12:12, 17.
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PimAid to Bible Understanding
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PIM
The price that the Philistines charged the Israelites for sharpening various metal implements. (1 Sam. 13:20, 21) The pim apparently was a weight, but its modern equivalent cannot be definitely established. Several stone weights found in Palestinian excavations bear the consonants of “pim” in ancient Hebrew characters and vary from 7.18 to 8.13 grams (.231 to .261 ounce troy). On this basis the pim would be approximately two-thirds of a shekel.
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PinonAid to Bible Understanding
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PINON
(Piʹnon) [darkness].
One of the sheiks of Esau (Edom). (Gen. 36:40-43; 1 Chron. 1:51, 52) Some think these names are listings of places or settlements rather than individuals or that the names came to apply to the particular regions or cities ruled by the sheiks (“These are the sheiks of Edom according to their dwellings in the land”).—See TIMNA No. 3.
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PipeAid to Bible Understanding
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PIPE
The exact identification of the musical instrument termed in Hebrew ʽu·ghavʹ is uncertain, since the Bible does not describe it; however, modern Bible translations generally render it “pipe.” (Job 21:12; 30:31; Ps. 150:4; AS, Da, NW, RS) The pipe, if this is indeed the correct rendering, is the first wind instrument (likely, woodwind) mentioned in the Scriptures. (Gen. 4:21) Jubal, the seventh generation from Adam, is identified as “the founder [literally, father] of all those who handle . . . the pipe.” This possibly indicates the establishment of a profession, either of craftsmen making the instruments or of those playing them.
Although the ʽu·ghavʹ was never listed as one of the temple instruments, some scholars believe that this name became a general term, designating any woodwind. Originally, though, it may have been a specific instrument, perhaps a series of multitoned pipes all closed at one end and blown across the open ends. The instrument in Nebuchadnezzar’s orchestra specified by the Aramaic expression mash·roh·qi·thaʼʹ (“pipe,” Daniel 3:5, 7, 10, 15; AT, Da, Mo, NW, RS) appears to correspond to the Hebrew ʽu·ghavʹ.
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PiramAid to Bible Understanding
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PIRAM
(Piʹram) [probably wild ass].
The Amorite king of Jarmuth at the time Israel entered the Promised Land. Piram joined with four other Amorite kings in a conspiracy against the Gibeonites, who had made peace with Joshua. In the battle that followed, Piram and the other kings took refuge in a cave at Makkedah, which the Israelites sealed up until the fighting was over. Piram and the others were then slain, hung on stakes until evening and entombed in the same cave.—Josh. 10:1-27.
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PirathonAid to Bible Understanding
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PIRATHON
(Pirʹa·thon), Pirathonite (Pirʹa·thon·ite).
Pirathon was a town of Ephraim “in the mountain of the Amalekite.” Evidently an inhabitant of Pirathon was known as a “Pirathonite,” as were Hillel and, later, Benaiah, one of David’s mighty men. Hillel’s son Judge Abdon was buried there. (Judg. 12:13, 15; 2 Sam. 23:8, 30; 1 Chron. 11:31; 27:14) Farʽata, about six miles (10 kilometers) W-SW of the suggested location for Shechem, has been suggested as a possible identification.
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PisgahAid to Bible Understanding
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PISGAH
(Pisʹgah) [possibly from a root meaning “to cut or cleave”; hence, perhaps, a cutoff piece or cleft].
The first mention of this place is in connection with the campsites along the line of Israel’s march toward the Promised Land. (Num. 21:20) It was located in the southern part of that territory taken in the conquest of the Amorites after their king, Sihon, refused to let the Israelites pass through the land. (Deut. 4:46, 49; Josh. 12:1-3) Later, Balak the king of Moab, took Balaam “to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah,” in a vain attempt to have the Israelites cursed.—Num. 23:14.
Pisgah, however, is best remembered in connection with Moses’ extensive view of the Promised Land shortly before his death. (Deut. 3:27; 34:1-3) Pisgah was designated as part of Reuben’s tribal territory.—Deut. 3:16, 17; Josh. 13:15, 20.
Wherever the name Pisgah occurs in the Bible it is always qualified by such expressions as “the head of,” “the top of,” or “the slopes of” Pisgah. As a consequence it is frequently referred to as Mount Pisgah, though not so in the Scriptures.
The exact location of Pisgah in the northern section of the Abarim mountain range immediately E of the Dead Sea is unknown. Bible references to this elevated lookout are not in conflict with its suggested identity with Ras en-Siyaghah, a headland located about ten miles (16 kilometers) E of where the Jordan empties into the Dead Sea. Ras en-Siyaghah is a little NW of Jebel en-Neba, the summit traditionally known as Mount Nebo.
The physical features of these two elevations are in agreement with the Bible’s brief description. Ras en-Siyaghah is about a hundred meters (330 feet) lower in elevation than Jebel en-Neba and separated from the latter by a slight depression or saddle, which suggests a cutoff piece or cleft, the possible meaning of Pisgah. Though slightly lower than its neighbor summit, Ras en-Siyaghah is closer to Jericho and affords an unobstructed view of the Dead Sea some 3,700 feet (1,128 meters) below, as well as a splendid view of the Jordan valley, the central range on which Hebron, Bethlehem and Jerusalem are situated, and Mount Hermon over a hundred miles (161 kilometers) to the N.
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PishonAid to Bible Understanding
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PISHON
(Piʹshon) [meaning uncertain; apparently from root meaning “to make wide, become full”].
One of the four rivers branching out from the “river issuing out of Eden” and thereafter encircling the entire land of Havilah, a land stated to be the source of gold, bdellium gum and onyx stone. (Gen. 2:10-12) The identification of the Pishon River is conjectural, suggestions ranging from certain rivers in Armenia all the way to the Ganges River of India.
In the articles on EDEN and CUSH (No. 2) we have considered the suggestion that the global Flood probably obliterated the evidence for positive identification of the Pishon and Gihon Rivers today. This, of course, does not eliminate the possibility that these rivers were still in existence and known in Moses’ day when the book of Genesis was recorded. His reference to the “land of Havilah” is not likely to be understood as meaning that a region was so named prior to the Flood, even as is the case with his reference to the “land of Cush.” (Gen. 2:13) Rather, Moses’ references to these lands are evidently to places so named in post-Flood times and serve as geographical points commonly known in his day. In addition to whatever changes the Flood wrought, the ability of earthquakes to change the course of rivers or to wipe out sections thereof must also be given consideration. Such could have occurred in post-Flood times; Armenia, the probable location of Eden, is in an earthquake belt.—See HAVILAH No. 1.
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PisidiaAid to Bible Understanding
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PISIDIA
(Pi·sidʹi·a).
An interior region of southern Asia Minor. It was a mountainous section, taking in the western portion of the Taurus range, lying N of Pamphylia and S of Galatian Phrygia, with Caria and Lycia on the W and Lycaonia on the E. The region is believed to have been about 120 miles (192 kilometers) from E to W and about fifty miles (80 kilometers) in breadth. It had many lofty ridges cut by valleys and mountain rivers; there were forests and pasturelands.
The people of Pisidia were wild and warlike, forming tribal bands of robbers. These mountaineers were difficult to control and slow to be affected by Hellenic or Roman culture. The Romans assigned Galatian King Amyntas the task of subjugating them, but he died before accomplishing it. Pisidia became part of
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