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•CHALDEES or Chaldeans, the inhabitants of the country of which Babylon was the capital. They were so called till the time of the Captivity (2 Kings 25; Isaiah 13:19; 23:13), when, particularly in the Book of Daniel (5:30; 9:1), the name began to be used with special reference to a class of learned men ranked with the magicians and astronomers. These men cultivated the ancient Cushite language of the original inhabitants of the land, for they had a “learning” and a “tongue” (1:4) of their own. The common language of the country at that time had become assimilated to the Semitic dialect, especially through the influence of the Assyrians, and was the language that was used for all civil purposes. The Chaldeans were the learned class, interesting themselves in science and religion, which consisted, like that of the ancient Arabians and Syrians, in the worship of the heavenly bodies. There are representations of this priestly class, of magi and diviners, on the walls of the Assyrian palaces.
•CHAMBER “on the wall,” which the Shunammite prepared for the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4:10), was an upper chamber over the porch through the hall toward the street. This was the “guest chamber” where entertainments were prepared (Mark 14:14). There were also “chambers within chambers” (1 Kings 22:25; 2 Kings 9:2). To enter into a chamber is used metaphorically of prayer and communion with God (Isaiah 26:20). The “chambers of the south” (Job 9:9) are probably the constelations of the southern hemisphere. The “chambers of imagery”, i.e., chambers painted with images, as used by Ezekiel (8:12), is an expression denoting the vision the prophet had of the abominations practised by the Jews in Jerusalem.
•CHAMBERING (Romans 13:13), wantonness, impurity.
•CHAMBERLAIN a confidential servant of the king (Genesis 37:36; 39:1). In Romans 16:23 mention is made of “Erastus the chamberlain.” Here the word denotes the treasurer of the city, or the quaestor, as the Romans styled him. He is almost the only convert from the higher ranks of whom mention is made (comp. Acts 17:34). Blastus, Herod’s “chamberlain” (Acts 12:20), was his personal attendant or valet-de-chambre. The Hebrew word saris, thus translated in Esther 1:10, 15; 2:3, 14, 21, etc., properly means an eunuch (as in the marg.), as it is rendered in Isaiah 39:7; 56:3.