ROOF (roof). See HOUSE.
Figurative. To receive beneath one's roof denotes hospitality (see Gen. xix :8; Matt. viii :8).
ROOM (room), (Ps. xxxi:8), space, place. In Luke xiv:7-lo, by room is meant a place at a table. (See HOUSE.) ROOT (rat), (Heb. sho'res/z; Gr. hritt zah).
1. That part of a plant which is fastened in the earth (Job xiv :8).
2. A foundation which establishes what is built on it (Job xxviii :9).
Figurative. (t) That from which anything proceeds ; so the love of money is the root or cause of all evil (I Tim. vi :to). (2) A wicked person, or vile error, is a root of bitterness, which secretly infects and corrupts others with the poison of sin (Dent. xxix :18). (3) Christ is called the Root of Jesse, or David, as he is the author of their being, and immutably establishes the glory of their family (Is. xi:to; Rev. v:5, and xii:16). (4) lj the root be holy, so are the branches; if the ancient patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the parents of the Hebrews, were in covenant with God, their children must be consecrated to his service, and not cast off forever (Rom. xi :16). (5) The root of nations goes up os rottenness, and their blossoms as dust, and they have neither root nor branch left, when there is an utter destruction both of parents and children (Is. v :24 ; Mal. i :4). (6) To be rooted and grounded in Christ, is to be firmly united to him, and well established in the faith and expe rience of his truth (Col. ii :7). (7) The root of the matter is in one when he has a real habit or principle of grace, and a firm belief of the funda• mental doctrines of the gospel, from which the fruit of good works proceeds ( Job xix :28). (8) To take root, spread out the roots, or to have the root by great waters, is to become seemingly fixed in great prosperity (2 Kings xix :30 ; Job xxix : Ezek. xxxi :7). (9) The roots of hypocrites are wrapped about the heap, and he seeth the place of stones; his condition is seemingly established, and though he has no proper root of grace, he expects a high raised happiness ( Job viii :17). The royal family of Judah had their roots under the king of Egypt, and towards the king of Babylon ; by submission to Pharaoh-necho, Je hoiakim obtained the kingdom, and by solemn en gagement of subjection, Zedekiah got the crown from Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek. xvii :6, 7). ( ) To
be rooted out, plucked up by the roots, or to have the roots dried, or killed with famine, is to meet with fearful destruction, that ruins the principal men, and overturns the constitution of the state (Deut. xxix :28 ; Hos. ix :t6; Is. xiv :3o).
ROPE (rop), (Heb. kkeh'bel, twisted; ntl'e ab-oth', twined; Gr. axowtop, skhoy-nee'on, grass withe). Ropes, strings, and various kinds of twine were made by the ancients of flax and other ma terials.
The Scripture references to rope are but few : The binding of Samson with them by Delilah ( Judg. xvi 12) ; in Ahithopel's counsel to drag down with ropes the supposed place of Da vid's retreat (2 Sam. xvii :/ 3) ; the servants of the defeated Syrian king, Ben-hadad, coming to Ahab with ropes round their necks (1 Kings xx 31, 32), as a sign of absolute surrender ; and in the account of Paul's shipwreck (Acts xxvii :32).
Figurative. Isaiah directs a woe against those guilty of impiety, thus : "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope" (v:18). "There is a bit ter sarcasm involved in the bold figure employed. They were proud of their unbelief, but this unbe lief was like a halter with which, like beasts of burden, they were harnessed to sin, and therefore to the punishment of sin, which they went on drawing farther and farther, in ignorance of the wagon behind them" (Delitzsch, Com., under the subject cited).
ROSE (riiz), (Heb. khab-ats-tseh'leth).
The meaning of the original excludes from our consideration the true rose and several other plants suggested. It is the opinion of some of the best authorities that the polyanthus narcissus (Narcissus tazetta) is intended in Cant. ii :1, and s. xxxv :1. where alone the rose is mentioned. This beautiful and fragrant narcissus grows in the plain of Sharon, as is required by these refer ences, and during its season of bloom is sold in the bazaars of the East and carried by everybody as a specially favorite flower.