< Previous | Contents | Next >

1 Kings 1:11; 2:13). She took a prominent part in securing the succession of Solomon to the throne (1 Kings 1:11, 16-21).

BATTERING-RAM (Ezekiel 4:2; 21:22), a military engine, consisting of a long beam of wood hung upon a frame, for making breaches in walls. The end of it which was brought against the wall was shaped like a ram’s head.

BATTLE-AXE a mallet or heavy war-club. Applied metaphorically (Jeremiah 51:20) to Cyrus, God’s instrument in destroying Babylon.

BATTLE-BOW the war-bow used in fighting (Zechariah 9:10; 10:4). “Thy bow was made quite naked” (Habakkuk 3:9) means that it was made ready for use. By David’s order (2 Samuel 1:18) the young men were taught the use, or rather the song of the bow. (See ARMOUR, BOW.)

BATTLEMENT a parapet wall or balustrade surrounding the flat roofs of the houses, required to be built by a special law (Deuteronomy 22:8). In Jeremiah 5:10, it denotes the parapet of a city wall.

BAY denotes the estuary of the Dead Sea at the mouth of the Jordan (Joshua 15:5; 18:19), also the southern extremity of the same sea (15:2). The same Hebrew word is rendered “tongue” in Isaiah 11:15, where it is used with reference to the forked mouths of the Nile.

Bay in Zechariah 6:3, 7 denotes the colour of horses, but the original Hebrew means strong, and is here used rather to describe the horses as fleet or spirited.