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coarse garments (Isaiah 20:2; Zechariah 13:4; Matthew 3:4).
•APPEAL a reference of any case from an inferior to a superior court. Moses established in the wilderness a series of judicatories such that appeals could be made from a lower to a higher (Exodus 18:13-26.)
Under the Roman law the most remarkable case of appeal is that of Paul from the tribunal of Festus at Caesarea to that of the emperor at Rome (Acts 25:11, 12, 21, 25). Paul availed himself of the privilege of a Roman citizen in this matter.
•APPHIA increasing, a female Christian at Colosse (Philemon 1:2), supposed by some to have been the wife of Philemon.
•APPLE (Hebrews tappuah, meaning “fragrance”). Probably the apricot or quince is intended by the word, as Palestine was too hot for the growth of apples proper. It is enumerated among the most valuable trees of Palestine (Joel 1:12), and frequently referred to in Canticles, and noted for its beauty (2:3, 5; 8:5). There is nothing to show that it was the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Dr. Tristram has suggested that the apricot has better claims than any other fruit-tree to be the apple of Scripture. It grows to a height of 30 feet, has a roundish mass of glossy leaves, and bears an orange coloured fruit that gives out a delicious perfume. The “apple of the eye” is the Hebrews ishon, meaning manikin, i.e., the pupil
of the eye (Proverbs 7:2). (Comp. the promise, Zechariah 2:8; the prayer, Psalm 17:8; and its fulfilment, Deuteronomy 32:10.)
The so-called “apple of Sodom” some have supposed to be the Solanum sanctum (Hebrews hedek), rendered “brier” (q.v.) in Micah 7:4, a thorny plant bearing fruit like the potato-apple. This shrub abounds in the Jordan valley. (See ENGEDI.)