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•SOSTHENES safe in strength, the chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, who was seized and beaten by the mob in the presence of Gallio, the Roman governor, when he refused to proceed against Paul at the instigation of the Jews (Acts 18:12-17). The motives of this assault against Sosthenes are not recorded, nor is it mentioned whether it was made by Greeks or Romans. Some identify him, but without sufficient grounds, with one whom Paul calls “Sosthenes our brother,” a convert to the faith (1 Corinthians 1:1).
•SOUTH Hebrews Negeb, that arid district to the south of Palestine through which lay the caravan route from Central Palestine to Egypt (Genesis 12:9; 13:1, 3; 46:1-6). “The Negeb comprised a considerable but irregularly-shaped tract of country, its main portion stretching from the mountains and lowlands of Judah in the north to the mountains of Azazemeh in the south, and from the Dead Sea and southern Ghoron the east to the Mediterranean on the west.” In Ezekiel 20:46 (21:1 in Hebrews
) three different Hebrew words are all rendered “south.” (1) “Set thy face toward the south” (Teman, the region on the right, 1 Samuel 33:24); (2) “Drop thy word toward the south” (Negeb, the region of dryness, Joshua 15:4); (3) “Prophesy against the forest of the south field” (Darom, the region of brightness, Deuteronomy 33:23). In Job 37:9 the word “south” is literally “chamber,” used here in the sense of treasury (comp. 38:22; Psalm 135:7). This verse is rendered in the Revised Version “out of the chamber of the south.”
•SOVEREIGNTY of God, his absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure (Daniel 4:25, 35; Romans 9:15-23; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 4:11).
•SPAIN Paul expresses his intention (Romans 15:24, 28) to visit Spain. There is, however, no evidence that he ever carried it into effect, although some think that he probably did so between his first and second imprisonment. (See TARSHISH.)