(Ex. 33:6); the construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings and the making of the priestly garments (Ex. 36:8–39:43); the installation of the priesthood and the beginning of its services at the tabernacle (Lev. 8:4–9:24; Num. 28:6); the execution of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu by fire from Jehovah for offering illegitimate fire (Lev. 10:1-3); the first registration of Israelite males for the army (Num. 1:1-3), and the initial celebration of the Passover outside of Egypt.—Num. 9:1-5.

SINEW

A tendon of the body. Man is said to be woven together with bones and sinews. (Job 10:11; see also Job 40:15-18; BEHEMOTH.) In a figurative sense the Israelites were said to have a neck as “an iron sinew,” meaning that they were rigid, stubborn, stiff-necked. (Isa. 48:4; compare Exodus 32:9.) God’s spiritual revival of his people was pictured by the bringing together of bones and the putting of flesh and sinews upon them.—Ezek. 37:6-8.

During Jacob’s grappling with an angel, the angel touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh joint, causing it to get out of place. The account written later by Moses says: “That is why the sons of Israel are not accustomed to eat the sinew of the thigh nerve, which is on the socket of the thigh joint, down to this [Moses’] day, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh joint by the sinew of the thigh nerve.” (Gen. 32:32) Many Jews still adhere to this custom, removing the sciatic nerve together with arteries and tendons before eating the animal. This precept is considered by some Jewish commentators to be a reminder of God’s providence to Israel as exemplified in the experience of the patriarch Jacob, father of the twelve tribes.

SINGERS, SINGING

See Music.

SINGLENESS

The state of being unmarried. In the beginning, after creating the man Adam, “Jehovah God went on to say: ‘It is not good for the man to continue by himself. I am going to make a helper for him, as a complement of him.’” (Gen. 2:18, 21-24) Thereafter, marriage was the normal way of life among mankind and exceptions were rare and for special reasons.—See MARRIAGE.

One such special case was that of Jeremiah. He was under divine command to remain single and not to father children, since there were desperate circumstances coming on that nation in which children would be ruthlessly slaughtered by a cruel conqueror. (Jer. 16:1-4) Jephthah’s daughter was another exception. Out of respect for her father’s vow she willingly remained single in full-time service at Jehovah’s house.—Judg. 11:34-40.

The apostle Paul discussed the benefits of singleness, provided one is not under excessive pressure, not “inflamed with passion” and therefore in danger of committing fornication or adultery. The course of singleness is “better” in that it allows one to serve God “without distraction.” (1 Cor. 7:1, 2, 8, 9, 29-38; 9:5) Whether the four daughters of Philip the evangelizer married later in life is not stated, but at the time Luke wrote his account they were mentioned as “virgins, that prophesied.”—Acts 21:8, 9.

Christ Jesus, like Jeremiah, remained unmarried. In conversation with his disciples about the question of whether singleness was to be preferred over the state of marriage, Jesus said, “Not all men make room for the saying, but only those who have the gift . . . and there are eunuchs that have made themselves eunuchs on account of the kingdom of the heavens. Let him that can make room for it make room for it.”—Matt. 19:10-12.

Singleness, then, is a gift having as its basic advantage the freedom afforded the possessor. Jesus here used figurative language. Men “make room for it,” not by literal self-emasculation, but in their hearts, by willingly resolving to keep themselves physically in the unmarried state, whether for a lifetime or for a more limited period of time, maintaining this status by self-control.

The teaching and practice of compulsory celibacy by certain religious sects, however, finds no support in Scripture. To the contrary, it is written, “In later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, . . . forbidding to marry.” (1 Tim. 4:1-3) Notably, many or most of the apostles were married men. (1 Cor. 9:5) What keeps those with the gift of singleness from marrying need not be a vow of celibacy but their desire and ability to apply themselves to the service of God in the single state.

SINIM, LAND OF

(Siʹnim),

A country from which, it was foretold, scattered Israelites would come, to dwell in and rehabilitate their homeland. (Isa. 49:12) Reference to the N and W in the same verse suggests that Sinim was S or E of Palestine. Instead of “Sinim,” the Septuagint reads “land of the Persians” (Bagster), which could include Elam, called Si-nim in Old Akkadian. (Compare Isaiah 11:11.) The Targums and the Vulgate, on the other hand, read “[land] to the south.” Certain scholars have suggested identification with the wilderness of Sin or the cities of Syene or Sin (Pelusium?), all generally S of the Promised Land. (Ex. 16:1; Ezek. 30:6, 15) Some have even suggested distant Sinae (China), but the presence of Israelites there is said to date only from a later time, the third century B.C.E. Hence, there is uncertainty as to Sinim’s location.

SINITE

(Siʹnite).

A branch of Canaan’s descendants, and one of the seventy post-Flood families. (Gen. 10:15, 17; 1 Chron. 1:15) Several Lebanese locations of similar name are noted in various ancient writings, but the exact place where the Sinites settled remains uncertain.

SIN OFFERING

See OFFERINGS.

SION

(Siʹon) [elevated, towering].

Another, perhaps older, name for Mount Hermon. (Deut. 4:48) Sion (not Zion), like the Amorite name Senir, may have designated a particular part of Mount Hermon.—Compare Deuteronomy 3:9; 1 Chronicles 5:23; The Song of Solomon 4:8; see HERMON.

SIPHMOTH

(Siphʹmoth) [possibly, fruitful].

A Judean city to which David sent a “gift blessing” of the spoils of his victory over the Amalekites. While a fugitive, he and his men had free access to the city. (1 Sam. 30:26-31) Its location is today unknown.—Compare 1 Chronicles 27:27; SHIPHMITE.

SIPPAI

(Sipʹpai).

Equivalent name of Saph, a man among those born of the Rephaim. He was struck down by Sibbecai.—1 Chron. 20:4; 2 Sam. 21:18.

SIRAH, CISTERN OF

(Siʹrah),

Abner was at the cistern of Sirah when Joab’s messengers had him return to Hebron (where he was subsequently murdered). (2 Sam. 3:26, 27) Sirah may correspond to ʽAin Sarah, a spring or well about a mile and a half (2.4 kilometers) NW of Hebron. Josephus claims that Sirah (which he calls Besira) was twenty furlongs (or less than two and a half statute miles [c. 4 kilometers]) from Hebron.—Antiquities of the Jews, Book VII, chap. I, par. 5.

SIRION

(Sirʹi·on) [cuirass, coat of mail].

The old Sidonian name for Mount Hermon, called Senir by the Amorites. (Deut. 3:9) The names “Sirion” and “Senir” appear in the Ugaritic texts found at Ras Shamra in northern Syria, and in the documents from the Turkish village Boghazkevi, thus corroborating the Bible’s exactness. Like Senir, Sirion perhaps