Phin´ehas, (mouth of brass), son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the high-priest. An incident which illustrates the zealous and somewhat passionate character of Phinehas, occurred before the Israelites entered the Promised Land. The Israelites were encamped in the plains of Moab, and were lamenting the sin into which they had been seduced by the Midianites, when a prince of Judah named Zimri was beheld conducting a woman of Midian named Cozbi to his tent. The licentious effrontery of this act kindled the wrath of Phinehas, who hastened after them into the tent, and transfixed them both with his javelin (, sq.). This bold act pointed out Phinehas to Moses as a proper person to accompany as priest the expedition which was immediately after sent forth, under the command of Joshua, against the Midianites, and by which the cause of the deluded Israelites was abundantly avenged (, sq.). After the conquest of the Promised Land, when the warriors of the two and half tribes beyond the Jordan were permitted to return to their homes, Phinehas was at the head of the deputation sent after them to inquire and remonstrate concerning the altar which, on their way, they had set up on the bank of the Jordan; and it was he doubtless who pronounced the forcible address to the supposed offenders. He was certainly the first to express his satisfaction and joy at the explanation which was given, and which, with a lightened heart, he bore back to the tribes assembled at Shiloh (, sq.).
It appears that while his father lived Phinehas filled the post of superintendent or chief of the Levites, probably after Eleazar became high-priest (; ). At the death of his father he succeeded to the pontificate (); but the only case in which he appears officially in the Bible is in connection with the unhappy circumstances recorded at the end of the book of Judges, in which he comes forward as high-priest to consult Jehovah. This mention of his name enables us to conclude that the chronological place of these occurrences would be rather towards the beginning than at the latter end of the book in which they are found [JUDGES; PRIEST].
Phinehas, 2
Phinehas, son of Eli the high-priest, and brother of Hophni [ELI; HOPHNI; SAMUEL].
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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