Bank (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. A raised earthwork from which to storm a city,, 2 S 20'" ' they cast up a b. against the city' (n^V^ sulClah, from S^j to raise up, RV 'mount'), so 2 K 19-=, Is 37^ (Amer. RV 'mound'). The RV has changed ' thine enemies Bhall cast a trench about thee,' Lk 19^, into 'thine enemies shall cast up a bankabou. thee,' although the Revisers did not read nttpifi^akourt with L marg., T, WH ; but accepted wipi$i^Xiu9i9 of TR. On the reading; see Plununer's Luke, This meaning, now obsoL, is nearer the original sense of ' bank ' than the next, but the oldest of all is seen in Ca 5" RV 'banks of sweet herbs.' np, 47/. ij^ 2. The margin of a river, Heb. (a) nry sdph^i/i, " " in 41", Dt 4«, Jos 12 13'- '», 2 K 2'^ Ezk Dn 12"' (RV gives 'brink' at Gn 41", Dn 12»- », 'edge' in Dt 4«, Jos 12" 13'- '«, leaving the rest unchanged, and turning ' brink ' into ' bank ' in Ezk 47). (6) ni; gddhah, perhaps meaning ' cut away,' Jos 3" 4'°, Is 8', always of banks ovei, JJowed. (c) .i;"!? (ace. to kethibh, kerS .17;) gidhynh, only 1 Ch 12', also of banks overflowed. 3. The table of a money-changer or money-dealer ; then his office or shop. It occurs only Lk 19^ (Gr. Tpdwtia, the ordinary word for a table). RV gives bankers for 'exchangers' in Mt 25'-'' (Gr. rpant- ^Lttis [-elTT,, T, WH]). J. Hastings. BANNAS (Bdi/voi, AV Bannas), 1 Es 5".— A name occurring among the Levites who returned with Zerub. The names Bannas and Sudias answer to Bene-IIodaviali in Ezr '2, of which they are per- haps a eorrujition. The corresponding words in Neh 10» are ' Shebaniah, Hodiali {^afiaifla, 'fiSowd). H. St. J. Thackeray. BANNEAS (Ban-afai, AV Baanias), 1 Es 9 = Benaiaii (Ezr 10^), which see. BANNER, ENSIGN. STANDARD.— 1. Vn degel, ' banner, standard.' This was to be used to mark the separate place of each tribe in the camp in the wilderness (Nu 2'^). The Sliulammite in her beauty, which overcomes the beholder, is compared (Ca 6-'°) to forces encamped (or posxiblij, marching) in order under banners (mSj-ij; kanniilgdlfith). A degel is properly ' that which is meant to be seen ' ; dfigdlu m Assyrian being the common word for ' to see.' 2. Dj nf^, ' ensign,' possibly means either that which .?/iine.9 (033 = [•!;)) or that which is lifted up (cc: = Ni;';). The brazen serpent was put upon a n<?^ (Nu 21"), I.e. po.ssibly upon the aigel of one of the tribes. The common use made of the »w'.< was to set it upon some high hill as a signal to assemble (Is 11'^ and 13'^). In Is 10" ('They, i.e. the Assyrians, shall be as when a standard-bearer, ntfMy, fainteth ') nearly all modern authorities (not RV tfxt) render, 'As when a sick man pineth away.' The old rendering is, however, defensible, if we niaj' supply the word ' heart ' ; c:3 3S 0-D3, ' as when the lieart of a standard ■ bearer fainteth.' Again in Is 59" ('When the enemy shall come in like a Hood, the 238 BANNUS BAPTISM Sjiirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him') modern scholars allow no reference to a standard. Yet the rendering ' the Spirit of the Lord raiseth a standard against him' may be defended by Is ll'". On the Assjrrian reliefs, standards are shown carried into battle borne on the chariots of the Assyrians. One such standard (of which a good engraving is given in Madame Ragozin's Assyria, p. 252) has the device of an archer, probably the god Asshur, standing above two bulls. The fact that an ensign might thus be a religious symbol gives point to Is 11" '[J"] shall set up an ensign for the nations.' The Roman standards also, since they bore the image of the emperor, had a religious character, o>ving to the worship paid to the emperors. The Jews regarded them as idols (Jos. Ant. XVIII. iii. 1), and the Roman soldiers, on one occasion at least, sacrificed to them (Jos. War, VI. vi. 1 : Koij.laavT(s rds ariixalat fls t& Upiv Kal 64jJ.evoi ttjs ivaTo\iKTJs ttvXtjs &vTiKpv^ idvaav ai/rais avrhOt,), This sacrifice was offered in honour of Titus, the emperor's son, after the capture of the temple. W. E. Barnes. BANNUS (^avvoM), 1 Es 9«— Either Bani or BiNNUl in Ezr 10*. (See these names.) BANQUET In the 17th cent, and earlier, b. frequently signified, not the general feast, but the wine that came after ; not eating and drinking, but drinking only. Bring in the banquet quicldy ; wine enough Cleopatra's health to drink.' Shake. Ant. and, Cleop. L U. 11. We11 dine in the great room, but let the muaio And banquet be prepared here.' Massinger, Unnat. Comb. lil. 1. This is the meaning of b. wherever it occurs in AV. The Heb. and Gr. words are — 1. nnrp to^sA^cA, ' a drinkuig,' from ntiy ' to drink ' (Est 5^- '• "• • "• '■' 6" T"- '• », Dn 5'"). 2. nov shdthah. Est 7' ' So the king and Haman came to b.' (lit. 'to drink'). 3. I" yayin, ' wine,' Ca 2 ' He brought me to the banqueting house ' (lit. ' house of wine '). 4. a\)inr6(ri.ov=' drinking together,' Sir 32* 49' ' a b. of wine ' ; 1 Mac 16'", 2 Mac 2". 5. 7r6Tot, ' drink- in"' [Jth 12'»], 1 Mac 16", 1 P 4' ' banquetings ' (KV ' carousings '). The only possible exceptions are Job 41' 'Shall the companions make a b. of him ? ' (RV ' make traffic of him,' Heb. nij kArah ' to bargain ' ; and Am 6' 'the b. (RV 'revelry') of them that stretched themselves' (Heb. cp? mirzeafi, from root = to scream, ' here used of yells of joy ' — Orelli). But in these passages also, though b. is not the best tr., its meaning was no doubt the same. See Feast. J. Hastinqs.