PORPOISE por'-pus (the Revised Version margin has "porpoise-skin" for `or tachash, the Revised Version (British and American) "sealskin," the King James Version "badgers' skins" (Exodus 25:5; 26:14; 35:7,23; 36:19; 39:34; Numbers 4:6,8,10,11,12,14,25; Ezekiel 16:10)): The word denotes leather used in the furnishings of the tabernacle (for shoes in

PORPHYRY por'-fi-ri (in Esther 1:6, the Revised Version margin has "porphyry" (the King James Version margin "porphyre") for bahaT, English Versions of the Bible "red (marble)"; the Septuagint has smaragdtes, which was a green stone): Porphyry is an igneous rock containing distinct crystals of feldspar in a feldspathic matrix. It may be purple or

PORCIUS FESTUS por'-shus. See FESTUS. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'PORCIUS FESTUS'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

PORCUPINE por'-ku-pin (qippodh (Isaiah 14:23; 34:11; Zechariah 2:14) the King James Version "bittern," the Revised Version (British and American) "porcupine"; Septuagint echinos "hedgehog"; qippoz (Isaiah 34:15), the King James Version "great owl," the English Revised Version "arrow-snake," the American Standard Revised Version "dart-snake"; Septua

PORCH porch: Chiefly in the Old Testament 'alam, used of the temples of Solomon and Ezekiel (see TEMPLE); once micderon, a "vestibule," in Judges 3:23. In the New Testament, the word occurs in connection with the high priest's palace (Matthew 26:71, pulon; Mark 14:68, proaulion), and as the rendering of stoa, a "portico," in John 5:2 (pool of Beth

PORCH, PORTICO, SOLOMON'S por'-ti-ko, (he stoa he kaloumene Solomontos): This important element of Herod's temple, preserving in its name a traditional connection with Solomon, is thrice referred to in the New Testament, namely, in John 10:23; Acts 3:11, "the porch that is called Solomon's"; and Acts 5:12. In these passages the Greek word stoa is

PORATHA po-ra'-tha, por'-a-tha (pora-tha'): One of the sons of Haman (Esther 9:8). The etymology is uncertain; perhaps from the Persian purdata, "given by fate." Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'PORATHA'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915

POPLAR pop'-lar (libhneh, "whiteness"; sturakinos, "storax" (Genesis 30:37), leuke, "poplar" (Hosea 4:13) (libhneh is so similar to the Arabic libna, the storax, that the latter certainly has the first claim to be the true translation)): "Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar," margin "storax tree" (Genesis 30:37). "They .... burn incense upon the h

POOLS OF SOLOMON poolz. See CISTERN; POOL. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'POOLS OF SOLOMON'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

POOR poor ('ebhyon, dal, `ani, rush; ptochos): I. In the Old Testament. The poor have great prominence in the Bible; it is said, indeed, that there should be no poor among the Hebrews because Yahweh should so greatly bless them (Deuteronomy 15:4 the Revised Version (British and American) and the King James Version margin); but this was only to be

POOL; POND; RESERVOIR pool, pond, rez'-er-vwar, rez'-er-vwar ((1) berekhah, "pool"; compare Arabic birkat, "pool"; compare berakhah, "blessing," and Arabic barakat, "blessing"; (2) agham, "pool," "marsh," "reeds"; compare Arabic 'ajam, "thicket," "jungle"; (3) miqwah, "reservoir," the King James Version "ditch" (Isaiah 22:11); (4) miqweh, "pond," t

PONTIUS pon'-shi-us, pon'-ti-us. See PILATE. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'PONTIUS'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

PONTUS pon'-tus (Pontos): Was an important province in the northeastern part of Asia Minor, lying along the south shore of the Black Sea. The name was geographical, not ethnical, in origin, and was first used to designate that part of Cappadocia which bordered on the "Pontus," as the Euxine was often termed. Pontus proper extended from the Halys R

PONDER pon'-der: Occurs in the King James Version 5 times in the Book of Proverbs and nowhere else in the Old Testament. In each case it means "to consider carefully," "to weigh mentally." In Proverbs 4:26 and 5:21, the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "make level." In Proverbs 5:6, it drops out entirely in the Revised Version (B

POND See CISTERN; POOL. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'POND'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

POMEGRANATE pom'-gran-at, pom-gran'-at, pum'-gran-at (rimmon (tree and fruit); the Hebrew name is similar to the Arabic, Aramaic and Ethiopic; rhoa): 1. A Tree Characteristic of Palestine: One of the most attractive and most characteristic of the fruit trees of Syria, probably indigenous to Persia, Afghanistan and the neighborhood of the Caucasus

POMMEL pum'-el (2 Chronicles 4:12,13): the Revised Version (British and American) reads "bowl" (which see). Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'POMMEL'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

POLLUX pol'-uks. See CASTOR AND POLLUX. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'POLLUX'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

POLYGAMY po-lig'-a-mi: 1. Meaning of the Term 2. Origin of Polygamy 3. The Old Testament and Polygamy 4. Polygamy Unnatural The Eunuch 5. Weakness of Polygamy 1. Meaning of the Term: Polygamy has been and is the open blazon by the human race of sex vice. The very term is a misnomer. Since man became moralized he has apprehended that the pro

POLLUTION po-lu'-shun (ga'al, "to pollute"; alisgema, "contamination"): In Malachi 1:7, "Ye offer polluted bread," i.e. not actually unclean, but worthless, common (compare Ezra 2:62), bread here being used metonymically for sacrificial offerings generally (compare Leviticus 21:6; Matthew 6:11). The phrase in Acts 15:20, "the pollutions of idols,"