(6) The Voice of the Prophets. The prophets, who were alive to these consequences, often raised their voices against such dangerous connections (1 Kings xx :38 ; 2 Chron. xvi :7 ; xix :2 ; xxv :7, etc.; Is. vii :17) ; but it was found a difficult matter to induce even the best kings to place such absolute faith in Jehovah, the head of their state, as to neglect altogether those human resources and alliances by which other nations strengthened themselves against their enemies.
(7) Blood Covenant. From the time of the patriarchs a covenant of alliance was sealed by the blood of some victim. A heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon were immolated in confirmation of the co venant between the Lord and Abraham (Gen. xv:9). The animal or animals sacrificed were cut in two (except birds, \Tr. to), to typify the doom of perjurers. This usage often recurs in the prophets, and there are allusions to it in the New Testament ( Jer. xxxiv :18 ; Dan. xiii :55; Matt. xxiv :51 ; Luke xii :46). The perpetuity of covenants of alliance thus contracted is expressed by calling them 'covenants of salt' (Num. xviii : ; 2 Chron. xiii :5), salt being the symbol of incorruption.
(8) Scrupulous Adherence. The case of the Gibeonites affords an exemplary instance, scarcely equaled in the annals of any nation, of scrupulous adherence to such engagements. The Israelites had been absolutely cheated into the alliance, but, having been confirmed by oaths, it was deemed to be inviolable (Josh. ix :r9). Long afterwards, the treaty having been violated by Saul, the whole nation was punished for the crime by a horrible famine in the time of David (2 Sam. xxi:t, sqq). The prophet Ezekiel (xvii: 13-16) pours terrible denunciations upon king Zedekiah for acting contrary to his sworn cove nant with the king of Babylon. In this respect the Jews were certainly most favorably distin guished among the ancient nations, and, from nu merous intimations in Josephus, it appears that their character for fidelity to their engagements was so generally recognized after the captivity as often to procure for them highly favorable consideration from the rulers of Western Asia and of Egypt.
ALLON (51'1on), (Heb al-lone', oak; Vulg.,
Quercus; Auth. Vers., oak).
1. The Hebrew word, thus pointed, as it occurs in Gen. xxxv:8; Josh. xix:32; Is. ii:i3; vi-13; xliv:i4l Hos. iv:13; Amos ii:o; Zech. xi:2, was understood by the ancient translators, and has been supposed by most interpreters, to denote the oak, and there is no reason to disturb this conclusion. In our version other words are also rendered by 'oak,' particularly Alah, which more probably denotes the terebinth-tree. The oak is, in fact, less fre quently mentioned in the original than in the A. V., where it occurs so often as to suggest that the oak is as conspicuous and as common in Pal estine as in this country. But in Syria oaks are by no means common, except in hilly regions, where the elevation gives the effect of a more northern climate, and even in such circumstances it does not attain the grandeur in which it often appears in our latitudes. The 'oaks of Bashan' are in Scripture mentioned with peculiar distinction (Is. ii:3; Ezek. xxvii:6; Zech. x1:2), as if in the hills beyond the Jordan the oaks had been more abun dant and of larger growth than elsewhere. This is the case even at the present day. In the hilly regions of Bashan and Gilead, Burckhardt repeat edly mentions forests of thick oaks, thicker than any forests he had seen elsewhere in Syria. (See OAK.) 2. A town on the border of Naphtali, between Keleph and Zaanannim (Josh. xix:33), but perhaps only some remarkable tree as a landmark.
3. The son of Jedaiah and father of Shiphi Chron. iv:37).
(51'Ion-baeuth), (Heb.
1*1.3, al-lone'baw-kooth', oak of weeping), the oak beneath which Deborah, Rachel's nurse, was buried (Gen. xxxv:8).
ALLOW (51-lou'). 'Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers' (Luke xi 48).
Allow has here the sense of approving or praising,—that ye approve the deeds of your fathers. In modern English it means merely to permit. However, allow has the meaning of praise in its original root (Latin allaudare, and that from "laus." praise. Compare our laud.) The less he is worthy, the more art thou there fore allowed of God, and the more art thou com mended of Christ (Homilies against Contention). —Swinton's Bib. Hand Bk.