Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/305

LEFT JEBBOA 249 JEROBOAM II. Daughter"; "The Admirable Tinker"; "The Horned Shepherd"; "Pollyooly"; "Garthoyle Gardens"; "The Night Hawk"; "Esther Lawes." JEBSOA (jer-bo'a), a rodent mam- mal, with a body six inches long and a tail about eight, occurring in Egypt, Nubia, Arabia, and some other parts of Western Asia. They are lively little creatures, living in underground gal- leries in the desert. JEBEMIAH, the name of eight men mentioned in the Old Testament, the pnly very notable one being Jeremiah the prophet. He was of priestly descent, and born or resident at Anathoth, about 3 miles from Jerusalem. His father's name was Hilkiah. When called to the prophetic office, in the 13th year of King Josiah, B. C. 629 or 625, he calls himself a child. His prophetic life spanned the 11th of King Zedekiah, about B. c. 588, a period of 37 or 41 years. At that time Judah found itself between two powerful kingdoms, Babylon on the E. and Egypt on the S. Josiah espoused the Babylonian alliance, and lost his life fighting against the Egyptians. Jere- miah also was on the Babylonian side, and, when Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah was treated with kindness by the conqueror, being offered the option of an honorable posi- tion in Babylon or permission to remain in his own land. Jeremiah elected to stay, and found Gedaliah appointed ruler by the Chaldeans. On the murder of that governor the assassins and their sympathizers fled to Egypt, taking Jere- miah with them. Tradition says that he was put to death in Egypt for preaching against idolatry. He wrote two Old Testament books, the prophecies of Jere- miah and the Lamentations. Many ra- tionalistic critics attribute to him also the book of Deuteronomy. The Prophecies of Jeremiah. — One of the canonical books of the Old Testa- ment, the second of the greater prophets. The several predictions are not in chrono- logical order, though it is believed by some critics that an arrangement of an- other character is discernible. The con- cluding chapter, an historical one, is evi- dently from another hand — the Hebrew and Septuagint differ considerably. Jeremiah xxxi: 15 is quoted in the New Testament in Matt, ii : 18, and Jer. xxxi : 31-34, in Heb. viii: 8-12. The quota- tion from Jeremy the prophet in Matt, xxvii: 9 is now found onlv in Zech. xi: 12, 13. JERICHO, a city of the Canaanites, in, a plain on the W. side of the Jordan, near its mouth. It was destroyed by Joshua, rebuilt in the time of the judges, and formed an independent frontier for- tress of Judaea. It was again destroyed by Vespasian, rebuilt under Hadrian, and finally destroyed during the crusades. The site of Jericho has usually been fixed at Rihah, a mean and foul Arab hamlet of some 200 inhabitants. Recent travel- ers, however, show that the probable lo- cation of Jericho was 2 miles W. of Rihah, at the mouth of Wady Kelt, and where the road from Jerusalem de- bouches into the plain. On the W. and N. of Jericho rise high limestone hills, one of which, the dreary Quarantana de- rives its name from the modern tradi- tion that it was the scene of our Lord's 40 days' fast and temptation. Jericho was captured by British forces under Gen. Allenby in February, 1918. JERICHO, ROSE OE, popular name of Anastatica hierochuntina, a genus of plants belonging to the order Brassica- cese, or crucifers. It is an annual, in- habiting the Egyptian desert. It is so highly hygrometric that when fully de- veloped it contracts its rigid branches so as to constitute a ball. Exposed then to the action of the vidnd, it is driven hither and thither. If, however, it be brought in contact with water, the ball- form vanishes, and the branches again acquire their natural expansion. It is said to have first bloomed on Christmas eve, and continued in flower till Easter; at its birth heralding the advent of the Redeemer, and immediately before its departure honoring His resurrection. JEROBOAM, the 1st King of Israel, an officer in the service of Solomon, who had created him governor of the States of Ephraim and Manasseh. While ful- filling these offices it was predicted that he should yet rule over 10 instead of 2 of the tribes. Solomon, alarmed at the effect of such a report, sent out his offi- cers to secure Jeroboam; but he, receiv- ing timely warning, left his post and fled into Egypt, where, for the rest of Solo- mon's reign, he remained in retirement. On the death of that monarch, 977 B. c, and the revolt of the 10 tribes from the house of Judah, Jeroboam returned to his native land; and the revolted tribes having formed themselves into a sepa- rate kingdom, under the name of Israel, elected Jeroboam as their first king. After an unholy and idolatrous reign of 22 years he died in 954 B. c. JEROBOAM II., King of Israel, and son of Joash. succeeded that king in 825 B. c. After some signal victories over the Assyrians he fell into the prac-