2. A city in the desert of Arabia, on the route of the Israelites (Deut. :I) ; perhaps identical with their twenty-first halting place, Libnah (Num. xxxiii :20).
LABOR (15'bEr), (Heb. 71,4, ab-a-dawl, is the execution of a definite task.
(1) Not an Evil. In Gen. iii :19, labor is set forth as a part of the primeval curse, 'In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread' ; and doubtless there is a view of labor which exhibits it in reality as a heavy, sometimes a crushing burden. But labor is by no means exclusively an evil, nor is its prosecution a dishonor.
(2) Of Herdsman. The Hebrews, like other primitive nations, appear to have been herdsmen before they were agriculturists (Gen. iv:2, 12, r7, 22) ; and the practice of keeping flocks and herds continued in high esteem and constant ob servance as a regular employment and a social condition (Judg. v Jer. xxxiii :12 ; Luke ii :8). The culture of the soil came in course of time, introducing the discovery and exercise of the practical arts of life, which eventually led to those refinements, both as to processes and to applica tions, which precede, if they do not create the fine arts (Gen. v:29; xxvi :12; XXXiii :19).
(3) Agriculture. Agriculture, indeed, became the chief employment of the Hebrew race after their settlement in Canaan, lay at the very basis of the constitution, both civil and religious, which Moses gave them, was held in great honor, and was carried on by the high as well as the humble in position (Judg. vi ; I Sam. xi:5; Kings
(4) Horticulture. No small care was stowed on the culture of the vine, which grew luxuriously on the hills of Palestine (Is. V :2, 5; Matt. xxi :33; Num. xiii :24). The vintage was a season of jubilee (Judg. ix:27; Jer. xxv :3o; Is. xvi:io). The hills of Palestine were also adorned with well cultured olive-gardens, which produced fruit useful for food, for anointing, and for medi cine. (Is. xvii :6; xxiv:r3; Deut. xxiv :2o; Ezek. xxvii :17 ; Kings iv:25; Hos. xiv :6, 7). Atten tion was also given to the culture of the fig-tree (2 Kings xx :7; Chron. xxvii:28), as well as of the date-palm (Lev. xxiii.4o; Judg. i:16; iv:5; iii: 13; Deut. xxxiv:3), and also of balsam (Gen. xIiii:11; Ezek. xxvii:17; Jer. viii:22). For the rise and progress of various kinds of hand labor amung the people of Israel, see HANDICRAFT, J. R. B.
LACE (las), Heb. fiaw-theef, from a verb "to twist," translated thread in Judg. xvi:9, line in Ezek. x I:3, wire (of gold) in Exod. xxxix :3, ribband in Num. xv:38, and bracelets in Gen. xxxviii:18, 25, where it denotes the string by which the signet-ring was hung about the neck. (See Exod. xxviii:28.)