Threshold (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. In Neh 12=» D"iv?ri -spst (AV 'thresholds of the gates') undoubtedly means • storehouses of the gates' (so RV ; cf. RV 'store- house ' as tr. of c'5j:>!^ n'3 [A V ' house of Asuppira '] in 1 Ch 26'°, and of cspK alone [AV' ' Asuppim '] in v."). The te.\t of the LXX is in this verse defective, but the words ir t<} (rwayayeti' /le Toi)j iri/Xupoi'S obviously represent oii't-'n 'scxs. 2. IP : Jg 19" the Levite's concubine was found in the niornin" dead, with her hands upon the threshold ; 1 K 14" Jeroboam's wife had just reached the threshold of the pal.ace at Tirzah when her .son died ; Am 9' ' Smite the chapiters [of the columns supporting the temple roof) till the thresholds shake'; Is 6 'the foundations of the tliresholds were moved at the voice of him that cried ' ; Ezk 43', referring to the circumstance that the royal palace and Solomon's temple were within the same enclosure and formed one set of build- ings, God makes it a matter of reproach that they have set ' their threshold by my threshold, and their door post beside my door post ' ; Zeph 2''' 'desolation [n-jn ; but Wellh., Now , et al., after LXX KipaKes, resid lii! 'raven(s)'] shall be on the thresholds (of ruined Nineveh).' A cla.ss of temple oliicials were ' keepers of the threshold ' (irn -irr) : Jer 35 [in sing.], 2 K 12i° 22 (=2 Ch 34") • 23 25'8 [ = Jer 52"] ; 2 Ch 23 [isn nj;i?] ; in 1 Ch D'"-" These \eepers of the door are in 2 K 12i<i 'priests' ; to 2 Ch 849 they cbtractcristically become • Levite».' [in the latter verse 153 0'i;;lr] similar officials ar« provided for the tabernacle ; the office is a seculai one in Est 2-' 6'-, answering more to that of body- fuard (cf. the LXX a.px'<!'^l^<'.To4>v\aKes in 2-'). Id s 84" the pilj^vim declares that he prefers being at the threshold (B irapapnrTeiffSai) in the house of God to dwelling in the tents of wickedness. The other occurrences of 1P are : Ezk 40« ">• ' 41'» "', 2 Ch 3'. The principal LXX renderings of "JD not noticed above are: re trpiUufc, Jg 1927, 1 K 141', Ezk 43s ; to i^ifUufst, Is K ; rk T/!iiTt-x«, Am 91 ; t! ii/kitu, Zeph 21-', 2 Ch 3' ; (» ji/ia^c-a.. or «J ifi/XtiO-a-ovTl,-) T,,t ctiki.t, Jer 35 (42)J, or ri. <rTi=()fti», 2 K 1210 (9| 224 2.S18, or Ti. riin., 2 Ch 349, or tt,. iSi,, Jer 62^-i, or n, i\(rcin, 1 Cl» 918 ; (liV Tit «-iX«j) Tit •;«■»»•.., 2 Ch -234 ; ivpilK, Ezk 4116. 3. \-tv : 1 S 5' ' Dagon was found prostrate before the ark, with his head and hands cut oft' upon the threshold ; hence, it is said, the worshippers of Dagon leap over the threshold, to avoid contact with a spot rendered sacred by having been the resting-place of these members of the god. It is impossible to decide whether it is this (Philistine) custom that is referred to in Zeph 1^ ' every one who leaps over [or ' upon,' ?»] the threshold.' See art. Cherethites, vol. i. p. 377. The threshold of the temple is referred to in Ezk 9' 10- " 46- 47' (in the last named passage as the source of the stream which is seen in vision to flow forth to fertilize the " Arabah). The usual LXX equivalent for J^fp is «.>■«. : Ezk 93 10»- 18 471 ; in 402 and 1 S 6 rpiSupn ; in 1 S S ^miiM ; in Zeph 1» 9p&Tuy.m. For Trumbull's view (Tlie Threshold Covenant, 303 fr.) of the Passover as a threshold cross-over sacrifice, see art. Passoveu, vol. iii. p. 689. Cf. also art. FOUNDATION. J. A. Selbie. THRONE is OT rendering of the Heb. xd3 [in 1 K 10'" "', , Job 26» n;5 ; in Dn 5 7" '" Aram, ksi;], which is used for any seat of honour or state, e.g. of the high priest, 1 S 1" 4'^- '" ; of an honoured guest, 2 K 4'" ; of the pehah beyond the River, Neh 3' ; of a judge, Ps 94-" ; of a military officer, Jer 1'^ ; but far more usually of a king, Gn 41-"' [E], Ex 11» li-'s [both J], 1 K 2'», Is 47', Ezk 26'«, Est 5'. Solomon's throne is described in 1 K 10'"^ [ = 2 Ch 9"'"]. It was overlaid with ivory and the finest gold (see Kittel, Konige, ad loc. ), and was ascended by six steps, with twelve lions standing upon them. For figures of Assyrian and Egj'ptian thrones see Rielim, HWB- ii. 1106, 1684. God as the heavenly King has His throne: Is 6', Ezk l^" 10', 1 K 22'" [ = 2 Ch 18'8], Job 26', Ps 11; heaven is called His throne in Is 66' (cf. Mt 5"), Jerus. in Jer 3", the sanctuary in 17'- and Ezk 43'. 'Throne' is frequently used as = royal dignity, authority, power, e.g. 1 K 2* ('the throne of David shall be established,' cf. 2 S 7" [= 1 Ch 17']), Is 16». Pr 16'^ ; of God, La 5'», Ps 47" 89" 93- 97^ 103'», Jer 14^'. For the cult of ' empty thrones' see Reichel, Ucbcr vorhellcnische Gofterkulte (Wien, 1897), and Budde's art. 'Imageless Worship in Antiquity' in Expos, Times, ix. (18',)8) 396 ft'. Similar is the use of 'throne' (dpbvm; once Ac 12-' ^^/ta, lit. 'judgment-seat,' of Herod) in NT; almost always [the exceptions are Mt 19-' || Lk •2'2' 'ye shall sit upon twelve thrones,' etc.. Col 1" ' thrones ' as a rank of angels (? ; see art. Dominion), Rev 20 ' I saw thrones, and they (the assessors of the heavenly Judge) sat upon them '] of the throne of God or o"f Christ : Mt 5" (li Lk 23'^) 19^^ (;i Lk 22™), Lk 1»2, Ac 2" 7», He 1 4" 8' 12^ Rev 1 3'-' and very often. In Pa 45' the Heb. text 'n D'H^JN JINIJS ('thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever ' ; LXX < «fnK ct-j, i But, followed in He 18) is probably corrupt. In addition to the tr. of EV the following renderings have been proposed : (1) 'Thy throne is Ciod '(Doder- lein, supported most recently by Wtstcott (on He isj and Hort) ; (2) ' thy throne of God ' [' thy God's throne '1 (Ges. Jet. i. THUilB THYATIEA 757 V- S65); (3) 'thythrone is (a throne)of Ood'(Ahon Ezra, Hitdg, Cwald, Baeth^en). To all these renderinf^s there are either gnimmatical or exe^jetical objectionB. Bickell and Cheyne would insert iD'pn imiD' n:iD: 'thy throne [its foundation Ib Qruily fixed], God [Lutli established it].' Perhaps the simplest solution is to substitute ^^^« (or Q''''^^ ('thy throne shall be lor ever). This orit^ual nin- might easily be misread mn (JahwehX which in turn would be intentionally changed into O'.-Sff. So Giesebrecht, ^\ellh. ('Psalms' in SBOT, following Bruston, Vu tcxte primtti/ ilts Psaiiines, Paris, 1873), Duhiu (in Kurzrr HiUom.)- See, further, Driver, Heb. Tenses^ 5 194, Obe. ; Cheyne, OP 182. J. A. SELBIE. THUMB (l^S [in ,!<; l-' plur. rtiha, as if from sing, pi::, the form used throughout the Sam. Pent.] joined with i; ' hand ' means ' thumb,' while with '7J"; ' foot ' it means 'great toe'). — In all the Scriptnre passages where 'thumb' occurs, it is coupled with 'great toe.' In tlie consecration of Aaron and his sons, blood was sprinlcled upon the tip of the riglit ear, upon the thumb of the right hand, and upon the great toe of the right foot (E.\ 29', Lv 8-"- "). It has been generally held (Dillm., Bacntsch, et al., ad Inc., Nowack, Ueb. Arch. ii. 1'23) tliat this procedure symbolized the consecration of the organs of hearing, handling, and walking, tlie priests becoming thus litted to hear God's voice, to liandle holj' things, and to tread holy ground. This explanation fails, how- ever, to account for the selection of these three organs alone, and it does not harmonize well with the circumstance that the cleansed leper was similarly sprinkled (Lv H"- "• ^- ^). There is more probability in the view of Holzinger (Exodus, ad /oc.) that, like the horns of tlie altar, the extremities of the human body, with inclusive sense, are chosen for consecration. — The cutting off of Adoni- be^ek's thumbs and great toes (Jg 1"), a mutilation which he declares he had himself practised on seventy kings (v.'), disabled him from lighting, and possibly disqualified him from reigning (see Moore, ad loc, where parallels from classical writers are cited; cf. also art, Adonibezek). J. A. Sklbik.