Rock (Hastings' Dictionary)

In the OT this is the AV tr. of the following terms : — 1. ^'P^n, properly ' flint.' AV renders oy ' rock ' only in Job 28' ' he (the miner) putteth forth his hand upon the rock (RV ' flint,' AVm ' fiinty rock '), he overturneth the mountains by the roots' (cf. v.'" 'he cutteth out channels among the rocks,' n\-tii). The combination 'n iis ' rock of flint ' (so A V and RV, LXX rirpa dspiro/ios, cf. Wis \\*) occurs in Dt 8", and ts 'n (|| y^c), lit.

' Hint of rock ' (AV and KV ' flinty rock,' LXX dTtpei. irirpa) in 32". In the only other two instances in wliicli the Heb. word occurs, 'n stands alone: Ps 114" (|| -hs ; AV and RV 'fiint,' LXX iKp6Tojios}, Is 50', where it is used as a symbol of lirmness, ' therefore have I set my face like a flint' {(TTtpei wirpa; cf. Ezk 3* 'as an adamant harder than flint [is, jrdrpa] have I made thy fore- head '). See, further, art. Flint. 2. [';:] only in plur. o-fj.

Tliis, which is per- haps an Aram, loan-word (ke'S kcphd, cf. the NT Ki'phns, see art. Peti:u in vol. iii. p. 756), occurs only in Jer 4^ 'they climb up upon the rocks' (for refuge ; LXX -rirpai), and in Job 30" of one of the dwelling-places of a race of outcasts (|| onn ' caves ' ; on cave, dwellers or Troglodytes, see Driver, Deul. 37 f.), cf. 24' 'they embrace the rock (Ts, Trirpa) for want of a shelter.'

In 30" tlie LXX has a shorter text than the Hebrew, the whole verse reading Citf ol oUoi aOrdv ficrav rpiIryXat vfTpCiv. 3. I'll'? is once rendered ' rock ' by AV, namely Jg 6^ ' build an altar upon the top of this rock ' (m. ' strong place,' RV ' strong hold, IJ rb MaoviK, A t4 {pos Maiix)- The reference is probably to a natural stronghold rather than to a fortilication (Moore).

The word I'lyo 'place of refuge' (if from ^ nv) or ' strong place ' (if from iiv) occurs elsewhere only in the Prophetical books (21 times) and in Proverbs (once) and Psalms (9 times). For I'lvp ts, applied to God, see below. Cf. also art. Mauzzim. 4. y^r, the nearest English equivalents of which are ' cliil' and ' crag.' The ideas of steepness and inaccessibility are connected with the word, at least in earlier passages, although in later ones it has at times a more general sense.

In the follow- ing pa-ssagcs Vjy is used (LXX, wherever 'rock' is expressed, has irlrpa, unle.ss otherwise noted) : Nu 2(j»'"'- K"""- II [all 1"], Nch 9", Ps 78" (v.'» to), of the rock struck by Moses ; in the similar narra- tive, Ex 17«"" [E'l lis is used, and so in Dt 8", Ps 78" (v.'« yi?5)« 105" 114', Is 48-'"' [on the later Jewish legends regarding this rock, see below on 1 Co 10*].

In Nu 24-' [J F,] the words of Balaam with reference to the I;wenites, ' strong is thy dwelling-place, and thy nest (ken, a characteristic word-play) is set in the rock,' allude to the safety " llald la nt Scand. oriKln. Raid, savs Skeat, was the northern Bonier wor<l, 'road" being used in the south; but the flrst quoutlon above Is Scottish, and yet ' road ' is used. VOL. IV. — 19 of birds and their nests on inaccessible clifl's, cf., for the same figure, Ca 2", Jer 48 [Gr. '28] »* 49 [Gr.

29] '«, Ob», Job 39-^ Dt 32'» [JE] ' He made him to smk honey out of the crag ' (y^y ; || ' oil out of the rock of flint,' c''C|'n nis) has in view the stores of honey that are found in Palestine in the caves and lissures of the dry limestone rocks (cf. Ps 81" ■Hi), and the fact that the olive flourishes even in rocky soil (cf. Job 29" ts, LXX rd 6pri) ; see Driver, Dcui. ad loc. The y^n of J^ !*>, 2 Iv 14', Is 16' 42" (in the tirst two passages with the art.

in both MT and LXX) is very frequently taken to be Petra, the rockl)uilt capital of Edom (see art. Sela). But while this might suit the two passages in Isaiah (but see Dillm. ad he), and is very appro- priate to 2 K 14', it appears quite impossible to fit such an identification to the situation of Jg 1". There are strong reasons for taking ' the eliU' in this last passage to be some prominent cliff near the south end of the Dead Sea. perhiips the modern e^-SaJieh (see Buhl, Gesch. d. Edom.

20, and Moore, Judges, ad loc). In Jg (i™ (probably a late inter- polation) ySs, but in v." n!s (and so in 13" of Manoah's sacrifice), is used of the rock on which Gideon oliered his sacrilice ; the Assure of the cliff Etam was one of Samson's places of refuge, Jg 158. 11.

i»_ ef 20«- •" 21 '3 the crag KiMMON to which the Benjamites fled, 1 S 13° the crags where the Israelites took refuge from the Philistines, 23* the crag in the Wilderness of Maon to which David fled from Saul [on Sela-hainmahlekoth of v.^ see art. under tliat name], 1 Ch 11'° the rock at Adullam, Is '2-' (|| -ns, and so in w.'"- ") the crags to which men are to flee from before the Loud, Jer IC" the refuge from which the Israelites are to be hunted, 48 [Gr.

31]^ the crags for which Moab is to abandon her cities (cf. 21"). Crags are sjioken of as the haunt of bees Is 7'° (cf. Dt 32'^ above), conies (Hyrax S>/rineu.i) Pr 30-", wild goats Job 39', Ps 104'«, cf. 1 S 24'^ (i!s) ; sepulchres are hewn in rocks. Is 22"; a rock is a type of hardness, Jer 5' 'they have made their faces harder than a rock ' ; precipitation from a rock appears as a form of execution in 2 Ch -25'= {Kpr,)iv6%), cf. (?) Jer 51 [Gr. 28]'», and see art. Hanging in vol. ii. p.

298'' ; the feet set upon a rock typify security, Ps 403|=t, cf. 27° 61i-» (both •wi) ; crags were splintered by the storm in Elijah's vision, 1 K 19" ; the shadow of a great crag is grateful in a weary land. Is 32- ; clifis are strong places of defence. Is 33'" [for the two crags of 1 S 14 see BozEZ and Senf.h] ; the clefts of the rocks in the wadis were the scene of the sacrifice of children.

Is 57° ; in a hole of the rock Jeremiah was to hide his girdle, Jor 13* ; the word of the Lord is comi)ared to a hammer that breaketh a crag in pieces, Jer 23-'« ; in ICzk 24' the blood of Jeru.salem's idolatrous sacrilices is compared to blood shed upon a bare rock [ivl Xeunrerpiav), which does not sink into the earth but continues to cry to heaven for vengeance, cf. the threatening in the following ver.

se ; Ezk 20'- '* declare that Tj'ro is to become a bare rock (y^o rjx^, Xeuirfrpfo), there being here a punning allusion to the name of the city (Tyre = Ti = "iis= ' rock ') ; the question 'do horses run upon crags ?' introduces in Am 6'^ a re- proach for conduct of a thoroughly unnatural kind. S. -H'i is best reproduced by ' rock,' having all the senses (except, 01 course, the geological one) which that word bears in English. lu many instances it is synonymous with y'?

y (see the numerous parallel occurrences of the two terms quoted above), but there are some passages where "iix occurs in which y,p could not nave been suitably used, at least by early writers.

Besides the occurrences of the word which have been already noted, T» is \ised : of the rock where Moses had a partial vision of the glory of Jahweh, Ex 33"- " 290 EOCK ROCK [J] ; of the rocky summit {Kopv</>^ ifiiav) from which Balaam looked down upon the camp of Israel, Nu 23' [JE] ; of the rock OnEB where the Midian- ite prince Oreb was slain, Jg 7^ {Zoip), Is 10-" ; of the rock where Saul's seven sons were ' hanged ' (see Hangino in vol. ii. p.

298'') by the Gibeonites, and where Rizpah kept her ghastly watch, 2 8 21'°; in Job 14" the removing of the rock out of its place is an accomiianinient of the wearing do\vn of a mountain by slow natural forces, whue in 18* the question ' shall the rock (to. tprri) be removed out of its place ? ' is tantamount to ' shall the con- stitution of the world be subverted ?

' ; the custom of cutting inscriptions on rocks, of which so many examples are known, is referred to in Job 19^ ; rocks are the shelter of a class of outcasts. Job 24*, Bee under No. 2, above ; in Pr 30'" the waj' of a serpent over a rock (i.e.

its mysterious movements, witliout the aid of feet) is one of the four things which the writer cannot understand ; Jehovah is to be a stone of stumbling (^JJ |;:n) and a rock of offence (Viiyzp nss) to both the houses of Israel ; in Is 5P Abraham is called the rock (see vol. iii. p.

TOS"", ' Additional Note ') whence Israel was hewn ; the perennial snow on the rocky summit of Lebanon is mentioned in Jer 18' ; the rocks are broken asunder (Nowack [emending the text] 'kindled') by the fury of the LORD, when it is poured out like fire, Nah 1'. We have reserved till now those passages in which the term rock ' is figuratively used of God. These are the following. The word vho is used in 2 S 22' [ = Ps IS^W (oTcp^u/ia)] 31*l'l (KpaTo'lw/xa) 42"' W ('\vtl.

XtJ/chttwp) 71' (oT-ep^u/ta). The term employed is iis in Dt 32- "• 18. so. si (^u g^f,,^ ^.^ ySt^^ 1 S 2^ (? SUaios), 2S 22» (0t'Xaf) 82 (xWo-rTjs) [ = P8 IS' ("I ((»e6s)] " (<!>v\ai) [ = Ps 18-"H«) (Se6s)] 23' (Bebs), Ps 19i»l"i (|3or,Ws) 28' (fleis) 31» W («f 4s vTrepaffirtaHis) 62' <-l- '(«1- 8(71 (all eeds) 71' (»e6s {nrepa(nn<rr-f,^) 73=» (Ofis) 78'» (/3o7;«6s) 89" l=«l (a.vTi\i„j.Trruip) 92" ('"» (fleis) 94, (/SoTjffA?) 95' 144' (both 9e4s), Is 17'" (/3o7796s) 26'' (? a^tos) .

SO^^ (Oe6s) 44' (LXX om.), Hab 1'^ (LXX om.) In some of these passages it has been contended that zur has the force of a proper (Divine) name. Hommel, for instance, in support of his claim that a certain class of personal names found in P, which have been widely suspected of being late and artificial, are bona fde ancient Hebrew survivals, brings forward two compound names to show the exist- ence in early times of a Divine name Zur. These are Zuri-'nddana, from a S.

Arabian inscription not later than B.C. 800, and Bir- (or Bar-) Ztir, from Zinjerli (8th cent. B.C.)

But, while Hommel has rendered a service by calling attention to these names, one does well to rememoer that, whatever they may prove for the period and the place to which they belong, it is very questionable whether they justify the inference that Zur was used in a similar sense by the early Hebrews, and it remains as doubtful as before whether names like Pedahzur, Elizur, Zuriel, and Zuri-shaddai, Nu l"- «• '» 3» [why are these the only instances in the OT of compounds with zur, and why are they confined to P?]

, were at any time, and much more in early times, prevalent in Israel. To the present writer the probability appears to be that, as far as the OT is concerned, Dt 32 is the source to which all the above passages may be traced back ; and neither in Dt 32*- " nor in Hab 1", the passages which plead most strongly in favo\ir of Hommel's view, does it seem to be neceswary to take zur as a Dirine name in the proper sense.

The circum- stance that seta' and zur are both employed in the sense we are examining (sometimes even side by side, e.y. Ps 18' <" [cf. v."] 71'), strengthens the conclusion that in all the instances cited we have to do simply with one of those metaphors of which Hebrew writers are so fond.

' It (zur) designates Jehovah, by a forcible and expressive figure, aa the unchangeable support or refuge of His servants, and is used with evident appropriateness where the thought is of God's unvarying attitude towards His people. The figure is, no doubt, like crag, stronghold, high place, etc., derived from the natural scenery or Palestine' (Driver, Dcut. 350; similarly Bertliolet and Steuemagel. Homniel'a contentions will be found stated in his AHT, pp. 300, 319 f.

, where he opposes the views of G. Buch.anan Gray contained in IIPN, 195 f.j Gray replies to Hommel in tlie Expositor, Sept 1897, p. 173 ff. : cf. also Whitehou.se's Wew, .as expressed in art. Pillar in the present work, vol. iii. p. SSI"). In the NT ' rock ' always represents vlrpa.

Its occurrences are as follows : Mt 7''''"- II Lk Q^ as a type of a sure foundation, in Jesus' simile of the two buildings ; Mt 16" ' upon this rock I -nTll build my church' [this passage is exhaustively discussed in art. PETER in vol. iii. p. 758] ; Mt 27' tlie rocks were rent by the earthquake at the Crucifixion ; Mt 27 II Mk 15* Joseph's tomb was hewn out in the rock, cf.

Is 22"* ; Lk 8'- " part of the seed scattered by the sower fell i-rrl t^v irirpav, ' upon rock,' which is interpreted by the ivl t4 nFrpJiS-ri of Mt 13'-^ [the expression means places where only a thin coatintj of soil covered the underlying rock, hence R\ appropriately 'rocky places ; AV infelicitously 'stony places,' whicn suggests ground in which a number of loose stones were found] ; Ro 9" ' As it is written.

Behold I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling {\t6ov TrpoaKd/i/iaTos] and a rock of offence {■n-^pav (XKavSaXov),' where Is S' and 28" appear to be in view as in 1 P 2-' ; in Rev 6'"- the caves and rocks of the mountains play the same part as in Is 2"- and as the moun- tains and hills in Hos 10' (cf. Lk 23'"). Finally, there is 1 Co 10, where St.

Paul says of the Israelites who were led by Moses through the wilderness that ' they did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them : and the rock was Christ ' (Ittikok yap iK TTvev/MirtKTJs dKoXovdoOff-rj^ Tr^rpas, i] irh'pa 5^ ^v 6 Xpurrds). Not only does St. Paul here spiritualize the smitten rock and the water that flowed from it, giving to these a Eucharistic sense (cf.

the foreshadowing of Baptism which he discovers in the Passage of the Red Sea and the Pillar of Cloud, y.', and St. Peter's treatment of the Deluge and the Ark, 1 P 3™-'),t but he has drawn unon later Jewish expansions of the OT story. Neither in Ex il^"- nor in Nu 20'- is it hinted even that the water continued to How from the rock after the temporary occasion for it had passed (contrast the case of Jg 15'°).

Jewish haggdda, however, went much beyond this, describing how the rock accom- panied tlie Israelites all throu";h their march (cf. St. Paul's dKoXovOoi'xTTi w(Tpa), and how, wherever the Tabernacle was pitched, the princes came and sang to the rock, 'Spring up,0 well, sing ye unto it,' where- upon the waters gushed forth afresh [Bammidbar rabba Nu 21'"-; Delitzsch in ZA'IC, 1882, p. 455ff.; Driver, Expos. Jan. 1899, p. 15 ft'. ; Thackeray, St. Paul and Contemp. Jew. Thought, 204 ff.

; the Comm. on 1 Corinthians; cf., forinstancesof similar Jewish fancies, Sdiurer, GJV ii. 343 [HJP II. i. 344]). RV substitutes 'rocky ground' for AV 'rocks' in Ac 27^ as tr. of TpoxE's T6)roi (lit. ' rough places'), and ' hidden rocks ' for AV ' spots ' ( Vulg. maculce) in Jude " as tr. of (nriXdSes [the AV rendering, was, no doubt, inrtuenced by the parallel passage 2 P 2" ; see the Comm. ad loc.] J. A. Selbie.

• In the lafit clause of this verse the true reading is iik n KxXait olM^Bfjjriedau «wTii (RV ' because it had lieen well buiided X not Tit>HLi'X/T ykp ii Tti» »fT(»«» (AV ' for it wfta founded upon ft rook ), which has been introduced from Mt 725. t St. Paul follows similar methods of iDterpretatioo uA argumeDt in Ro 10°K and Gal 42» ROD RODAXIM 291