Room (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. Space to slay in : Gn 24'^ ' Is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in ? ' ; so 24.15.81 (^]i [,,p_^ from Dip to rise up, stand; RV adds Is 5' for same Heb., AV 'place'); Ps 31' 'Thou hast set my feet in a large room ' (3rri7, from aOT to be spacious ; KV ' place ') ; Lk 2' ' There was no room for them in the inn,' and 14^ ' Yet there is room ' (both t-ottos) ; cf. Mai 3'° ' there shall not be room enough to receive it' (no Heb.), Mk 2'^ •So that there was no room to receive them' (fiffre liriKiri xwpf '". RV ' 80 that there was no longer room for them') ; Lk 12" ' I have no room where to be.-itow my fruits ' {ovk fx« "■<>'', RV ' I have not where'). In this sense is the phrase 'make room,' Gn 26", Pr 18" (both 3m) ; to which IlVm adds 2 Co 7' 'make room for us' (Gr. x^P')''"" i)^lat, AV 'Receive us,' RV 'Open your hearts to us') Similarly Ps 80° 'Thou preparedst room before it' (no Heb.). Cf. Dt .33^ Tind. 'Blessed is the rowmmaker Gad ' (AV ' Blessed be he that enlargelh Gad') ; aod Milton, PL viL 488— ' First crept The pareimoaloufl emmet, provident Of future. In small room large heart enclosed.' 8. A defnite position to be occupied : To 2, Wis 13'» (both oiKTitia.) ; 1 Co 14" ' he that occupieth the room of the unlearned' (A avaTrXrfpQiv riii rtnrov tov ISiuToy, Vulg. qui supplet lucum idioUc). Cf. Mel rill. Diary, 0, 'I durst na wayes waver or mint away, bot stand stedfast in that roum and station wlier He haid placed me ' ; Calderwood, Hist. 12,S, 'Displacing ot the Minister of Glasgow out of his roome, which witliout reproach he hath occupied these many years.' This is the meaning of 'room' wlien in AV irpwroKXiula is tr'' 'upper- most room' (Mt 23'' Mk 12^-', RV both 'chief place'), or 'chief room' (Lk 14', RV 'chief seat,' 20'«, RV 'chief place '), or ' highest room ' (Lk 14", RV 'chief seat '). The Gr. word means the place of highest honour at table. See FOOD, vol. ii. p. 43". Cf. Knox, Jlist. 380, 'But, said hee (turning his face towards the Room where such men as had so alhrmed sate), if I bee not able to prove the Masse to bee the most abominable Idolatry that ever was used from the beginning of the world, I oiler my selfe to sull'er the punishment appointed by God to a false Preacher ' ; Lever, Sermons, 107, 'Then who can de.syre a better master tlien the Lorde God or a higher roume then a steward- shyppe in the house of Christ ' ; and Ps 63" in metre — ■ Who seek my soul to spill shall sink Dowu to earth's lowest room.' So in the frequent phrase ' in the room of or ' in his room,' the Heb. being n.-n (2 S 19", 1 K 2=="'" 51. 0 gjo^ 2 K 15-^ '23»', 2 Ch 26' ; R V adds 2 K 14=' for AV ' instead of ') ; and the Gr. dvrl (Mt 2, ). So Ac 24-'' ' Porcius Festus came into Felix' room ' {IXa^e SiaSoxov 6 ^^Xif UipKiov <l>^<rTor, RV ' Felix was suc- ceeded by Porcius Festus'). Cf. Melvill, Diary, 129, ' The Generall Assemblie commandit the Pres- byterie of Edinbruche to keipe his roum frie, and place nan thairin'; Calderwood, Hist. 110, 'It pertaines to the Office of a Christian Magistrate . . . to see that the Kirk be not invaded, nor hurt by iaUe Teachers and Hirelings, nor the roomes thereof occupied by dumb doggs or idle bellies.' Tlie plu. 'in their rooms' is found in 1 K 20= (RV ' room ') and 1 Ch 4" (RV ' stead '), Heb. in both places on-gija Cf. Dt 2^ Tind. ' The Caphthorvms which came out of Caphllior de- stroyed them and dwelt in their rowmes.' This is the meaning in the phrase 'give room,' which has been changed into 'give place' in AV where- ever it occurs in earlier VSS ; thus Gal 2° Tind. ' To whom we gave no roume, no not for the space of an houre,' so Gen. NT 1557, but 1560 ' gave not place.' Cf. Tindale, Works, i. 227, ' Dearly be- loved, avenge not yourselves, but give room unto the wrath of God ; and Pent. (Prologe) 'Isaac when his welles which he had digged were taken from him, geveth rowme and resisleth not.' 8. The ' upper room ' of Mk 14'°, Lk 22'^ (Gr. avi- yatov, TR di'iJ7£0>'), and of Ac l"(Gr. inrtpi^ov, RV ' upper chamber ') is a room in the upper storey of the house, 'a roof-chamber' (see Moore on Jg 3-'°; Driver, Daniel , p. 74 ; Thomson, Land and Book', ii. 634, 636 [witli illustration] ; and cf. House in vol. ii. p. 433"). RV adds 1 Ch 28" (Heb. n^Yj^ AV ' upi" 1 cliamber '), 4. In Gn 6''' it is said that Noah's ark had 'rooms' made in it. The Heb. (D';p) is lit. 'nests," and is usually understood to mean small divisions or cells. J. Hastings. ROSE (n^pq IMhazzeleth, Ca 2', Is 35' RVm in both ' autumn crocus.' — Some have derived this word from Vj; bdzal, the same as the Arab, basal = ' onion,' and secondarily 'bulb.' This theory rests on the supposition that the initial n is a mistake for n. Apart, however, from the fact that there is no critical support for this theory, it pains no probability from the ancient versions. The Syriac, for examnle, hnmznllditii, gives the n also instead of n. The 'I'.irgum on Ca 2' ex- plains lidbhazzeleth by cip-.3 = narcissus (Celsius, Uicrob. i. 48ii). An Assyrian word of similar form, hahasillatu, signifies a ' marsh plant or reed.' Notwithstanding the authority of Gesenius, Michaelis, and Kosennmller, we are inclined to accept nru-cissus as the correct translation. Two species of this genus grow in Palestine and Syria, N. Tazetia, L., (lowering from November to March, and ..Y. serotinus, L., flowering in autumn. Tlie former has larger and more sweetly scented flowers than the latter. They are of the familiar pattern, with a white perigoniuiu, and yellow, tup-shaped crown. The scape bears from three to tun flowers. The mention of tlie 'narcissus of Sharon ' in parallelism with the ' lily (shoshannCih) of the valleys' increases the probability that they are allied plants. iVids/i/oinaA is doubtless generic, and may include \'arious species of Iris, Colchicum, Crocus, Pancratium, Ixiolirion, Tulipa, FritUlaria, Hyacinthus, Asphodeline, ete. (see Lily), any or all of which would go well in a parallelism with narcissus. For the tr" 'rose' we have only the authority of Ben Melech (Cels. Hierob. i. 488). The LXX ivdoi and KpLvov give it no support. The rose is mentioned in several places ia the Apocrypha. Sirach speaks of <j>\rra. pbSov iv 'lepixv, ' a rose plant in Jericho ' (24'^, cf. 39"). Seven species of rose exist in Pal. and Syria — Hosa lutea, L., the Yellow Bose, which grows only in N. Syria ; R. glutinosa, S. et S., and R. Thurcti, Barnat et Gremli, both Alpine species; B. canina, L., the Dog Rose, a mountain species ; B. dunictorum, Thuill., a species growing from Lebanon and Anti- lebanon northward ; B. Arabica, Crep., a Sinaitic species ; and B. Phcenicea, Boiss. The latter is almost universal. The present writer has not met with any of these species at Jericho, but the last might easily grow there in hedges. There is nothing in the context to prevent the 'rose plant in Jericho ' being a cultivated one. It has nothing to do with the traditional 'rose of Jericho.' This is a low, annual Crucifer, Anastatica hierochun- tina, L. The so-called rose in this case is the entire plant, which, after maturing, dries up, and its branches curl inward, forming a brown hemi- sphere, 3 to 4 in. broad. On placing the root in water, it absorbs moisture, and the dry branches expand, and spread open. It has no resemblance to a rose, except in its round contour. Roses are everywhere cultivated in Pal. and Syria, and passionately admired by the people. The name Wardeh = 'Rose, is a favourite girl's name in Arabic (cf. NT Rhoda). One of the industries for which Damascus is noted is the distilling of rose- water and an essential oil (attar of roses), as well as the making of syrup of roses. Large plantations of rosebushes are to be seen there and in other parts of the country. G. £. Post.