DIADEM Th et: I Ii lirew words are thus translatell 1. Ttaw-neef 111 el).7;7i, something woundabout the head!, spoken of the turban of men (Job. xxix i4).
2. Thefee-raw' (I cin let, Is, xxviii:5), a royal tiara.
3. (I lel). r, the tiara of the high priest, Ezek. xxi 26).
The distinctive idea of `diadem' is that of roy alty, or regal power ; while that of 'crown' is the reward of victory in the games, the crown of civic worth, military valor, nuptial joy, festal glad ness; but not the emblem of sovereignty (Rev. xii :3 ; xiii :1 ; xix :12). See Trench, Syn. of the New Testament. (See CROWN.) DIAL (di'al) (Heb. mah-al-aw', step).
The invention of the sun-dial belongs most prob ably to the Babylonians.
Herodotus affirms that the Greeks derived from them the pole (supposed to mean the dial-plate), the gnomon and the division of the day into twelve parts (ii:509). The first mention in Scripture of the 'hour' is made by Daniel, at Babylon (ch. iii :6). The circumstances connected with the dial of Ahaz (2 Kings xx :it; Is. xxxviii :8), which is perhaps the earliest of which we have any clear mention, entirely concur with the derivation of gnomonics from the Babylonians. Ahaz had formed an alliance with Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, (2 Kings xvi:7, 9) ; he was a man of taste and was ready to adopt foreign improve ments, as appears from his admiration of the altar at Damascus and his introduction of a copy of it into Jerusalem (2 Kings xvi:io). 'The princes of Babylon sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land' (2 Chron. xxxii:3t). Hence the dial also, which was called after his name, was probably an importation from Babylon. Different conjectures have been formed respect ing the construction of this instrument.
On the whole, the dial of Ahaz seems to have been a distinct contrivance rather than any part of a house. It would also seem probable, from the circumstances, that it was of such a size, and so placed, that Hezekiah, now convalescent (Is. xxxviii:21, 22), but not perfectly recovered, could witness the miracle from his chamber or pavilion. May it not have been situate 'in the middle court,' mentioned 2 Kings xx :4? A dial has been dis covered in Hindostan, near Delhi, the ancient cap ital of the Mogul empire, whose construction would well suit the circumstances recorded of the dial of Ahaz. It seems to have answered the double purpose of an observatory and a dial—a rectangular hexangle, whose hypothenuse is a staircase, apparently parallel to the axis of the earth, bisects a zone or coping of a wall, which wall connects the two terminating towers right and left. The coping itself is of a circular form, and accurately graduated to mark, by the shadow of the gnomon above, the sun's progress both be fore and after noon ; for when the sun is in the zenith he shines directly on the staircase and the shadow falls beyond the coping. A fiat surface on
the top of the staircase, and a gnomon, fitted the building for the purpose of an observatory. Ac cording to the known laws of refraction, a cloud or body of air of different density from the com mon atmosphere, interposed between the gnomon and the coping of the dial plate below, would, if the cloud were denser than the atmosphere, cause the shadow to recede from the perpendicular height of the staircase and, of course, to re-ascend the steps on the coping, by which it had before noon gone down ; and if the cloud were rarer a contrary effect would take place. (See Bishop Stock's Translation of Isaiah, Bath, 1803, p. i09., The phenomenon on the dial of Ahaz, however, was doubtless of a miraculous nature, even should such a medium. of the miracle be admitted ; noth ing less than a Divine communication could have enabled Isaiah to predict its occurrence at that time and place; besides he gave the king his own choice whether the shadow should advance or re tire ten degrees, There seems, however, to be no necessity for seeking any medium for this mira cle, and certainly no necessity for supposing any actual interference with the revolution of the earth or the position. of the sun. In the more dis tinct and ample account of it in 2 Kings xx :9 it is simply said that the Lord, at the prayer of Isaiah, brought the shadow ten degrees backward.
The words in Is. xxxviii :8, 'and the sun went back ten degrees,' are wanting in three of Dr. Kennicott's MSS., and originally in two of De Rossi's. Thus the miracle, from all the accounts of it, might consist only of the retrogression of the shadow ten degrees by a simple act of Al mighty power, without any medium, or, at most, by that of refracting those rays only which fell upon the dial. It is not said that any time was lost to the inhabitants of the world at large; it was not even observed by the astronomers of Babylon, for the deputation came to inquire con cerning the wonder that was done in the land. It was temporary, local, and confined to the ob servation of Ilezekialt and his court, being de signed chiefly for the satisfaction of that mon arch. It is remarkable that no instrument for keeping time is mentioned in the Scripture before the dial of Ahaz (B. C. 700); nor does it appear that the Jews generally, even after this period, divided their day into hours. The dial of Ahaz was probably an object only of curious recrea tion, or served at most to regulate the occupations of the palace.—Gumpach, Sonnenceiger des Alias; Keil and Delitzsche, Buecher der 1C6nige, p. 345; Hopkins, Plumbline Papers, i ch. ii.
J. F. D.