to describe Jehovah’s action toward the sins of his people, wiping their transgressions out “just as with a cloud.” (Isa. 44:22) Conversely, he blocks the approach of those who are rebellious as with a cloud mass that their prayer may not pass through.—Lam. 3:44.

Transitoriness, unreliableness

The misty morning clouds that quickly vanish away are used metaphorically for the fickle, short-lived loving-kindness of Ephraim and Judah toward God, as well as for the short-livedness Ephraim would experience for turning to false worship. (Hos. 6:4; 13:3) The man who boasts about giving, but who never does so, is as disappointing as a cloud with no rain. (Prov. 25:14) Those who apostatize from Christianity and those who are professed Christians but who carry on immorality, practicing corruption and contaminating the congregation, are likened, in their avid following of fleshly desires, to unstable clouds, mists, tossed by the wind and waterless, unfruitful, unprofitable and deserving only of extinction.—Jude 12; 2 Pet. 2:17.

Christians are reminded to take Jehovah into account in all their plans, not bragging about what they will do, but remembering the transitoriness and uncertainty of life in the present system of things, that they are like a mist that quickly disappears.—Jas. 4:14.

CNIDUS

(Cniʹdus).

A city situated on a peninsula extending out from the SW corner of Asia Minor into the Aegean Sea, between the islands of Rhodes and Cos. Part of the city was built on a small island connected to the mainland by a causeway and bridge. According to Greek geographer Strabo (of the first century C.E.), the waters on each side of the causeway served the city as twin harbors, and this made Cnidus’ location of great commercial importance, a fact further indicated by impressive ruins found there in the last century.

Though Cnidus is not named on either occasion, the apostle Paul likely passed the city when returning from his second missionary journey, in the spring of 52 C.E. (Acts 18:21, 22), and again toward the close of his third trip, in 56 C.E., when his ship came to Rhodes and Cos. (Acts 21:1) However, it is specifically mentioned in Acts chapter 27 in connection with Paul’s voyage in 58 C.E. to appear before Emperor Nero in Rome. Leaving Myra (vss. 5, 6), the ship on which Paul and other prisoners were traveling came to Cnidus (vs. 7). With favorable winds this trip of about 130 geographical miles (209.2 kilometers) might be only a day’s voyage, but the adverse wind mentioned in the account explains why “quite a number of days” were involved for that particular run. The “boat from Alexandria” on which they were sailing was a grain boat (vs. 38), perhaps one of many that regularly brought agricultural products from Egypt to Rome and which may have ordinarily sailed on a more direct route from Alexandria across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome. However, the strong wind mentioned in verses four and seven may have obliged this boat to alter course and put in at Myra. A large unwieldy craft loaded with grain would make slow progress against the wind and, understandably, would finally arrive at Cnidus “with difficulty.”

After referring to the arrival at Cnidus the record states that “because the wind did not let us get on, we sailed under the shelter of Crete at Salmone.” (Vs. 7) Some have understood this to mean that the wind did not allow the boat to make harbor and anchor at one of Cnidus’ well-equipped harbors, obliging them to continue on. However, the meaning may rather be that they could not “get on” with their proposed route of crossing the Aegean Sea past the southern tip of Greece and then on to Rome, being forced by the adverse winds to take a southerly route to Crete and sail under lee of its shores. At any rate, as verse nine shows, it was the fall of the year and those in charge of the vessel doubtless felt the need of urgency to make as much progress as possible before seasonal conditions made sailing even more hazardous.

Cnidus was, like Chios, a free city in Paul’s day. Jewish settlers are said to have been there in the second century B.C.E.

COAT OF MAIL

See ARMS, ARMOR.

COBRA

[Heb., peʹthen].

An extremely poisonous snake of Asia and Africa. The cobra mentioned in six passages of the Bible is undoubtedly the Egyptian cobra or asp, one commonly used in snake charming, both in Bible times and today. Like the common cobra of India and the Asiatic king cobra, the Egyptian cobra inflates its neck when angered. In fact, this species is known for being a quick and irritable serpent, and it will rear and hiss when even slightly disturbed. The Egyptian cobra has a misleading name, since it has a wide range outside Egypt; in fact, it has the widest range of any cobra in Africa. It is not limited to Africa, however; and Raymond Ditmars in his book Reptiles of the World says that this cobra is common not only in countries bordering the Sahara Desert but also in Arabia. The Egyptian cobra, however, is now extremely rare in southern Palestine.

The Israelites were thus well acquainted with this snake, not only while they were in Egypt, but also during their wandering through the wilderness. Moses, in addressing the Israelites in the wilderness, referred to the cobra’s venom, “the cruel poison of cobras.” (Deut. 32:33) The term “cruel” aptly describes the effect of the cobra’s venom, concerning which H. W. Parker says in his book Snakes (p. 133): “The symptoms immediately following a bite are pain out of all proportion to the damage caused merely by the wounds, followed at once by much local swelling with blood and serum oozing from the fang punctures. These symptoms, produced by the tissue-destroying and anti-coagulant substances, may appear within thirty seconds, and they spread as the venom disperses through the body, with haemorrhages developing at other points. Simultaneously the nerve poisons begin to take effect; weakness of the legs, drooping of the head and eyelids, paralysis of the tongue, lips and throat . . . nausea and increasing difficulty in breathing follow in succession with, though not inevitably, death from respiratory and heart failure.”

The cobra’s poison acts on the nerves and causes a paralysis of the respiratory system and is frequently fatal to man, unless antivenom is promptly given. Zophar speaks of “the gall of cobras” and “the venom of cobras.”—Job 20:14, 16.

The cobra strikes with a forward sweep of its raised body accompanied by a sharp hiss. When biting, the cobra’s jaw grasps the object tenaciously and then begins a peculiar chewing motion; that is necessary because the fangs are relatively short and a larger amount of poison can enter the wound with the longer contact. Because of this biting habit and the extreme toxicity of the venom, cobras are among the most dangerous of all creatures. Thus the psalmist, using figurative speech, links the cobra with the lion and says concerning those who have made Jehovah their trust: “Upon the young lion and the cobra you will tread; you will trample down the maned young lion and the big snake.” (Ps. 91:13) Isaiah, in speaking of the regathering of Jehovah’s people, prophesies of changed conditions for them, describing a time when “the sucking child will certainly play upon the hole of the cobra; and upon the light aperture of a poisonous snake will a weaned child actually put his own hand.”—Isa. 11:8, 11, 12.

The Bible refers to the cobra’s ear and alludes to the cobra’s ability to “listen to the voice of