PLAINS. There are no less than eight He brew svoids which the translators of our A. V. have represented by the English plain,' or its pl. plains. Their rendering is not uniform. We frequently find two, three, and even more equiva lents for the same Hebrew term ; and, besides, some of the words are manifestly mistranslated, and some of them are proper names. This tends to create confusion, and to prevent the ordinary reader from fully understanding God's word. It is with a desire to throw light upon some obscure passages that the several Hebrew words translated plain' are here arranged and explained. They are taken in alphabetical order.
e, 1. Szt,, Abel, like the Arabic JA, signifies ' moisture' and the verdure' produced by it, as in a meadow. Hence it came to be applied to a low green plain. It occurs frequently as a proper name in Scripture ; chiefly, however, in composition, as Abel-beth-maachak (2 Kings xv. 29 ; 1 Kings xv. 20), Abel-meholah (Judg. vii. 22), Abel-maim (2 Chron. xvi. 4), Abel-shitti (Num. Mail 49) also alone, as in 2 Sam. xx. 14, 18. [ABEL.] In I Sam. vi. 18 the A. V. readsunto the great stone of Abel ;' but the Hebrew is r&rIrl 531.4 1Y, unto Abel the great.' Several MSS. read 13N, stone' (the LXX. has XiSov), and this is probably the true reading (De Rossi, Var. Lett., ad loc.) Judg. xi. 33 is the only passage in which it is rendered plain," and he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith ... and unto the plain of the vineyards' (y110 1y ; gun'El3c7s. Alex. 'ApZX cilarEXilywv ; Abel qua est vineis consita). There can scarcely be a doubt that this is a proper name, and it should be rendered Abel -kerarnim. Eusebius and Jerome mention it as a village of the Ammonites still existing in their day, situated six miles from Philadelphia in the midst of vineyards (Onomast., s. v. Abelavinearum).
1; 2. ,* EV's. This word is derived from the root 51N, 'to be strong ;' and hence it is used in Scripture to signify a strong tree,' and most pro bably the oak,' which grows to a great size in central and southern Palestine (Gescnius, Thes., pp. 42, and 5o, 51). In the A. V. it is rendered plain' (Gen. xii. 6 ; xiii. 18, etc.), or plains' (xviii. 1 ; Dent. xi. 30), but in one place the margin has oak' ( Judg. ix. 6). It is difficult to account for this rendering. Probably it was adopted from the Vulgate, which translates tonvallis in four places, vallis in two, and quereus in three. The LXX. has bpi; except in Judg. ix. 6, where it has pdXavos •, and ver. 37, 'HXieppawpcvtl.i. The word should be always rendered oak.' It was con sidered a sacred tree. Under the oak of Moreh,' at Mature, Abraham pitched his tent, and wor shipped God (Stanley, S. and P., p. 5o8). [MANIRE.] 3. tim, Bik'll, the Chaldee form of rwpz, found only in Dan iii. Nebuchadnezzar set up the golden image in the plain of Dura.' 4. rgie;, Bivon, is from the root to cleave asunder,' and signifies literally 'a cleft,' or place formed by dividing mountains, then a valley between mountains. It is equivalent to the Arabic xit and It is generally used in the Bible to denote a low widely-extended plain : as the plain' of Shinar (Gen. xi. 2 ; LXX. re5lov ; campus) ; ' the valley of Jericho' (Dent. xxxiv. 3) ; the valley of Megiddo' (2 Chron. xxxv. 22; Zech. xii. ri) ;
the valley of Lebanon' (Josh. xi. [7, called in Amos i. 5 plain of Aven'), which is now called d-Bukda the plain of Ono' (Neh. vi. 2), which appears to have been a portion of southern Sharon, where the town of Ono was situated. [ONo.] This word is rendered plain' in the following passages :—Gen. xi. 2 ; Neh. vi. 2 ; Is. xl. 4; Ezek.
iii. 22, 23 ; viii. 4 ; Amos i. 5 ; elsewhere it is translated valley.' It is generally rendered irglov in the LXX., and campus in the Vulgate.
5. 1p, Kikkar, seems to be equivalent to in-o, from the root TIM, to move in a circle ;' therefore signifies a circuit,' or the region round about any place' (allied to which are dam, circus, and circle; Gesen. Thes., p. 717). Hence, with the article 1=1, Ha-kikkar, it was applied topo graphically to the region of the Jordan,' especially the southern part of it, in which the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah once stood. It is so used seven times in Genesis (xiii. to, I1, 12 ; xix. 17, 25, 28, 29) ; also in 2 Sam. xviii. 23 ; 1 Kings vii. 46 ; 2 Chron. iv. 17 ; and apparently in Neh. iii. 22 ; xii, 28. Reland suggests that the name may have been derived from the windings of the river (Pal., p. 274 ; cf. Stanley, S. and P., p. 278). Though uniformly rendered plain in the A. V., and rept xwpos or repioucos in the LXX., it appears to have all the definiteness of a proper name.
The word is also very frequently used in Scrip ture to signify a piece of money,' generally a talent' in the A. V. (Exod. xxv. 39 ; 1 Chron. xx. 2, etc.) ; also a cake' or 'loaf of bread' (I Sam. x. 3 ; Prov. vi. 26). Their circular form doubtless suggested the name.
6. MY.Shar, with the article itrtnn.
This word comes from the root to be straight or even ;' hence Itlishor signifies 'a plain,' or 'level country ;' thus in Ps. xxvi. 12, My foot standeth in an even place,' that is, in a plain ;' also, figu ratively, rectitude' or justice,' as in Ps. lxvii. 4, Thou shalt judge the people righteously' (with notice). With the article it has a topographical signification, and has usually the definiteness of a proper name, as has already been shown in the article MISHOR. In the A. V. it is uniformly rendered plain.
7. rinr, Arabak, pl. rit-ir (from the root nil!,
8. r6Dui, Shephelah, a low plain,' from the root mt)), to be depressed.' In the A. V. it is rendered 'plain' in Jer. xvii. 26 ; Obad. 19 ; Zech. vii. 7 ; low plains' in 1 Chron. xxvii. 28 ; 2 Chron. ix. 27 ; but elsewhere vale' or 'valley.' It has all the definiteness of a proper name, being the specific designation of the maritime plain of Philis tia ; it is therefore described in a separate article. [SHEPHELAH.]---J. L. P.