Hushai quick, "the Archite," "the king's friend" (1 Chr. 27:33). When David fled from Jerusalem, on account of the rebellion of Absalom, and had reached the summit of Olivet, he there met Hushai, whom he sent back to Jerusalem for the purpose of counteracting the influence of Ahithophel, who had joined the ranks of Absalom (2 Sam. 15:32, 37; 16:16-18). It was by his advice that Absalom refrained from immediately pursuing after David. By this delay the cause of Absalom was ruined, for it gave David time to muster his forces.
Husk In Num. 6:4 (Heb. zag) it means the "skin" of a grape. In 2 Kings 4:42 (Heb. tsiqlon) it means a "sack" for grain, as rendered in the Revised Version. In Luke 15:16, in the parable of the Prodigal Son, it designates the beans of the carob tree, or Ceratonia siliqua. From the supposition, mistaken, however, that it was on the husks of this tree that John the Baptist fed, it is called "St. John's bread" and "locust tree." This tree is in "February covered with innumerable purple-red pendent blossoms, which ripen in April and May into large crops of pods from 6 to 10 inches long, flat, brown, narrow, and bent like a horn (whence the Greek name keratia, meaning 'little horns'), with a sweetish taste when still unripe. Enormous quantities of these are gathered for sale in various towns and for exportation." "They were eaten as food, though only by the poorest of the poor, in the time of our Lord." The bean is called a "gerah," which is used as the name of the smallest Hebrew weight, twenty of these making a shekel.
Hymn occurs only Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16. The verb to "sing an hymn" occurs Matt. 26:30 and Mark 14:26. The same Greek word is rendered to "sing praises" Acts 16:25 (R.V., "sing hymns") and Heb. 2:12. The "hymn" which our Lord sang with his disciples at the last Supper is generally supposed to have been the latter part of the Hallel, comprehending Ps. 113-118. It was thus a name given to a number of psalms taken together and forming a devotional exercise.
The noun hymn is used only with reference to the services of the Greeks, and was distinguished from the psalm. The Greek tunes required Greek hymns. Our information regarding the hymnology of the early Christians is very limited.
Hypocrite one who puts on a mask and feigns himself to be what he is not; a dissembler in religion. Our Lord severely rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16). "The hypocrite's hope shall perish" (Job 8:13). The Hebrew word here rendered "hypocrite" rather means the "godless" or "profane," as it is rendered in Jer. 23:11, i.e., polluted with crimes.
Hyssop (Heb. 'ezob; LXX. hyssopos), first mentioned in Ex. 12:22 in connection with the institution of the Passover. We find it afterwards mentioned in Lev. 14:4, 6, 52; Num. 19:6, 18; Heb. 9:19. It is spoken of as a plant "springing out of the wall" (1 Kings 4:33). Many conjectures have been formed as to what this plant really was. Some contend that it was a species of marjoram (origanum), six species of which are found in Palestine. Others with more probability think that it was the caper plant, the Capparis spinosa of Linnaeus. This plant grew in Egypt, in the desert of Sinai, and in Palestine. It was capable of producing a stem three or four feet in length (Matt. 27:48; Mark 15:36. Comp. John 19:29).
Ibhar chosen, one of David's sons (1 Chr. 3:6; 2 Sam. 5:15).
Ibleam people-waster, a city assigned to Manasseh (Josh. 17:11), from which the Israelites, however, could not expel the Canaanites (Judg. 1:27). It is also called Bileam (1 Chr. 6:70). It was probably the modern Jelamah, a village 2 1/2 miles north of Jenin.
Ibzan illustrious, the tenth judge of Israel (Judg. 12:8-10). He ruled seven years.
Ice frequently mentioned (Job 6:16; 38:29; Ps. 147:17, etc.). (See CRYSTAL.)
Ichabod When the tidings of the disastrous defeat of the Israelites in the battle against the Philistines near to Mizpeh were carried to Shiloh, the wife of Phinehas "was near to be delivered. And when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed" (1 Sam. 4:19-22). In her great distress she regarded not "the women that stood by her," but named the child that was born "Ichabod" i.e., no glory, saying, "The glory is departed from Isreal;" and with that word on her lips she expired.
