POLISHED pol'-isht. See CORNER-STONE, (2). Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'POLISHED'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

POLL pol: The word (on the derivation of which see Skeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 360) has been eliminated as a verb in the American Standard Revised Version. In the King James Version and English Revised Version it represents the Hebrew verbs kacam, literally "to shear" (Ezekiel 44:20), gazaz, literally, "to pull

POLICY pol'-i-si: Literally "method of government," and so "ability to manage affairs." In a bad sense, "cunning," "craft," in Daniel 8:25 (sekhel, "understanding"); in a good sense in 1 Macc 8:4 (boule, "counsel"); also in the King James Version 2 Macc 13:18; 14:29,31 (methodos, strategema, strategeo), where the Revised Version has "stratagem." P

POLE pol: Numbers 21:8,9 the King James Version for nes, Revised Version "standard." Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'POLE'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

POINTS points: The word occurs in Ecclesiastes 5:16, "In all points (`ummah) as he came, so shall he go"--a man leaves the world in all regards as helpless as he entered it, no matter what he may have gained or accomplished during his life. Also in Hebrews 4:15, "In all points (kata panta, "in all things," as in His human nature (Hebrews 2:14), s

POISON poi'-z'-n (chemah, ro'-sh; thumos, ios): Residents in Palestine must, from the first, have been acquainted with venomous serpents. Six species of these are widely diffused in the land, and at least three of them are fairly common in places. Besides, there are scorpions, centipedes and the large spider, which are as much dreaded by the fella

POETRY, HEBREW po'-et-ri: I. IS THERE POETRY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT? Poetry Defined: 1. In Matter, Concrete and Imaginative 2. In Form, Emotional and Rhythmical II. NEGLECT OF HEBREW POETRY: CAUSES III. CHARACTERISTICS OF HEBREW POETRY, EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL 1. External or Formal Characteristics (1) Vocabulary (2) Grammar (3) Rhythm (4) P

POETRY, NEW TESTAMENT No one questions the presence of poetry of a high order in the Old Testament. The Study of the Old Testament as the literature of the ancient Hebrews has been critically made, and the attention of even the ordinary reader of the Scriptures called to the beauty and wealth of its poetic passages. The message of the New Testament

POET po'-et (poietes, "a maker"): Occurs in this sense only in Acts 17:28, where Paul quotes from the general expression of Greek mythology. The quotation if intended to be exact is probably from Aratus, as the words of Paul in his speech at Athens precisely agree with the opening words of the Phaenomena by Aratus. A similar but not identical expr

PLUMB-LINE; PLUMMET plum'-lin, plum'-et, plum'-it. See TOOLS. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'PLUMB-LINE; PLUMMET'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

POCHERETH-HAZZEBAIM pok'-e-reth, po'-ke-reth, po-ke'-reth, -ha-ze-ba'-im (pokhereth hatstsebhayim (Ezra 2:57), or pokhereth ha-tsebhayim (Nehemiah 7:59), "binder (feminine) of the gazelles"): Name of the head of a post-exilic family. The first word is a feminine Kal participle; compare qoheleth ("preacher"), the Hebrew title of the Book of Eccl. B

PLUCKING OFF THE HAIR pluk'-ing. See HAIR, 7; PUNISHMENTS. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'PLUCKING OFF THE HAIR'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

PLEROMA ple-ro'-ma. See FULLNESS. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'PLEROMA'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

PLOW plou (charash; arotrioo): No implement of the Bible is more frequently illustrated today than the plow. This is partly because there is every reason to believe that the plows still used throughout Egypt, Palestine, and Syria are counterparts of the ancient ones. The first plows were probably an adaptation of the ancient Egyptian hoe, where th

PLEIADES pli'-a-dez, ple'-ya-dez, ple'-a-dez. See ASTROLOGY, 10; ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 10. Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'PLEIADES'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.

PLEASURE plezh'-ur (chephets, ratson; eudokia, hedone: "Pleasure" is the translation of various Hebrew words, chiefly of chephets, "inclination," hence, "pleasure," "delight" (Job 21:21, "What pleasure hath he in his house?" the American Standard Revised Version "what careth he for"; Job 22:3, "Is it any pleasure to the Almighty?"; Psalms 111:2; E

PLEDGE plej (verbs chabhal (10 times), `arabh (2 Kings 18:23 equals Isaiah 36:8); nouns chahal (Ezekiel 18:12,16; 33:15), chabcholah (Ezekiel 18:7), `arubbah), (1 Samuel 17:18), erabhon (Genesis 38:17,18,20); also abhoT (Deuteronomy 24:10-13) and (the Revised Version (British and American) only) abhTiT (Habakkuk 2:6)): All these words have about t

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

PLEAD pled: In modern non-legal English is a synonym of "pray" or "beseech," but in legal phraseology "plea," "plead," and "pleading" have a great variety of technical meanings, with "present a case before the court" as the idea common to all. All the uses of "plead" in English Versions of the Bible are connected with this legal sense, so that out

PLATTER plat'-er: (1) qe`arah, "a deep dish" (Numbers 7:13,84,85). In the King James Version and the English Revised Version "charger," the American Standard Revised Version "platter" (compare Exodus 25:29; 37:16); the Septuagint trublion, and in the New Testament rendered "dish" (Matthew 26:23; Mark 14:20). In Ezra 1:9, the American Standard Revi