< Previous | Contents | Next >

•DEDANIM the descendants of Dedan, the son of Raamah. They are mentioned in Isaiah 21:13 as sending out “travelling companies” which lodged “in the forest of Arabia.” They are enumerated also by Ezekiel (27:20) among the merchants who supplied Tyre with precious things.‌

•DEDICATION, FEAST OF THE (John 10:22, 42), i.e., the feast of the renewing. It was instituted B.C. 164 to commemorate the purging of the temple after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes (B.C. 167), and the rebuilding of the altar after the Syrian invaders had been driven out by Judas Maccabaeus. It lasted for eight days, beginning on the 25th of the month Chisleu (December), which was often a period of heavy rains (Ezra 10:9, 13). It was an occasion of much rejoicing and festivity.

But there were other dedications of the temple. (1) That of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:2; 2 Chronicles 5:3); (2) the dedication in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29); and (3) the dedication of the temple after the Captivity (Ezra 6:16).

•DEEP used to denote (1) the grave or the abyss (Romans 10:7; Luke 8:31); (2) the deepest part of the sea (Psalm 69:15); (3) the chaos mentioned in Genesis 1:2; (4) the bottomless pit, hell (Revelation 9:1, 2; 11:7; 20:13).

•DEGREES, SONG OF song of steps, a title given to each of these fifteen psalms, 120-134 inclusive. The probable origin of this name is the circumstance that these psalms came to be sung by the people on the ascents or goings up to Jerusalem to attend the three great festivals (Deuteronomy 16:16). They were well fitted for being sung by the way from their peculiar form, and from the sentiments they express. “They are characterized by brevity, by a key-word, by epanaphora [i.e, repetition], and by their epigrammatic style...More than half of them are cheerful, and all of them hopeful.” They are sometimes called “Pilgrim Songs.” Four of

< Previous | Contents | Next >