• Stylus
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • STYLUS

      A writing instrument used in making impressions on materials such as clay or wax. (Ps. 45:1; Isa. 8:1; Jer. 8:8) The stylus used for cuneiform writing had either a square or a wedge-shaped tip, and was commonly made of reed or hardwood.

      A stylus or chisel of metal or some other hard material was needed to cut or carve letters into stone or metal. The patriarch Job declared: “O that now my words were written down! O that in a book they were even inscribed! With an iron stylus and with lead, forever in the rock O that they were hewn!” (Job 19:23, 24) Apparently it was Job’s desire that his words be cut into rock and the inscribed letters filled with lead to make them more enduring. Centuries later, Jehovah spoke of Judah’s sins as being written down with an iron stylus, that is, indelibly recorded.—Jer. 17:1.

  • Succoth
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • SUCCOTH

      (Sucʹcoth) [booths, covered stalls].

      1. A place where, after his meeting with Esau, Jacob built himself a house and made covered stalls for his herd; hence the name Succoth. (Gen. 33:16, 17) The statement that his next stopping place, Shechem, was “in the land of Canaan” implies that Succoth was not in Canaan proper.—Vs. 18.

      Other references also indicate a location E of the Jordan River, since they likely refer to the same place. Thus, Succoth is named as one of the cities in the inheritance of the tribe of Gad E of the Jordan. (Josh. 13:24, 25, 27) Gideon, pursuing remnants of Midianite forces, crossed the Jordan and came to Succoth, where the city princes refused his request for food for his troops, as did the men at nearby Penuel. On his return trip, Gideon obtained the names of seventy-seven princes and elders of Succoth (indicating that it was a city of considerable size) and punished them for their failure to support his God-directed military action. (Judg. 8:4-16) When the temple was built by Solomon, the copper items were cast in the District of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zarethan.—1 Ki. 7:46.

      On the basis of these references, Succoth is generally identified with a site at or near Tell Deirʽalla, about three miles (4.8 kilometers) E of the Jordan River and just a little N of the Jabbok River at the point where it issues forth from the hills. The nearby Tell el-Ekshas may perpetuate the original name, for it is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew Succoth. Tell Deirʽalla overlooks a fertile plain that may be the “low plain of Succoth” spoken of at Psalms 60:6; 108:7.

      2. The first stopping point mentioned in the Israelite march toward the Red Sea. (Ex. 12:37) Since the location of Rameses, the starting point of the march, and that of Etham, the camping site after Succoth, are both unknown today, the location of Succoth is also uncertain. (Ex. 13:20) Some scholars have endeavored to connect it with Thuku (Egyptian Tkw), tentatively placed as at Tell el-Maskhutah, about fifty miles (80.5 kilometers) S of the Mediterranean coastal city of Port Said. This identification of Succoth, however, would bring the Israelites right to the border of the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula, whereas the record shows that it was not until the next stage, at Etham, that they were on the ‘border of the wilderness.’ (Ex. 13:20) As others have pointed out, it seems unusual that a Hebrew word as common as Succoth (booths or covered stalls) should be used to transliterate the Egyptian Thuku. Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. IV, p. 626) states: “. . . whether the name was used by [the Israelites] in imitation of a similarly sounding Egyptian word, or because they then began to dwell in booths, may be left an open question.” At best, it can be said that Succoth was evidently about a day’s journey (twenty to thirty miles [c. 32 to 48 kilometers]) away from the wilderness of Etham, which is believed to extend along the northwestern side of the Sinai Peninsula.

  • Succoth-benoth
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • SUCCOTH-BENOTH

      (Sucʹcoth-beʹnoth) [booths of daughters].

      A deity worshiped by the Babylonians whom the king of Assyria brought into the cities of Samaria after his taking the Israelites of the ten-tribe kingdom into exile. (2 Ki. 17:30) Some authorities suggest that the name “Succoth-benoth” is a Hebraized form of Sarpanitu, the consort of Merodach (Marduk). Others favor an identification with Merodach or Marduk on the basis that the name “Succoth-benoth” may be Sakut(h)banʼwat(h), meaning “the Counselor, creator of the land.” This title is understood to apply to Merodach, who was viewed by the Babylonians as the creator of the world.

  • Sukkiim
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • SUKKIIM

      (Sukʹki·im).

      A component force of the army of Egyptian King Shishak, who invaded Judah during Rehoboam’s reign. (2 Chron. 12:2, 3) Some scholars believe the Sukkiim are referred to on certain ancient Egyptian texts and that they were of Libyan origin.

  • Sulfur
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • SULFUR

      A yellow nonmetallic element occurring free or combined with other elements in sulfide and sulfate compounds. Its melting point is unusually low, 235° F. (113° C.). It readily burns with a yellowish flame and with a distinctive suffocating odor.

      The first historical reference to sulfur tells how destruction rained down on the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in the form of fire and sulfur. (Gen. 19:24; Luke 17:29) On the basis of geological evidence some suggest that this catastrophic execution from Jehovah was possibly in the form of a volcanic eruption in the southern region of the Dead Sea, accounting for the prevalence of sulfur in that area today.