The righteousness of Christ is correlative to that of the Father, and consists in the active and passive obedience by which he perfectly fulfilled the law and propitiated the justice of God. His mission was "to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness." (Dan. 9. 24.) Hence, when the atoning sacrifice for sin was about to be completed by his death on the cross, he exclaimed, "It is finished."

Righteousness is imputed to man only through the merits and mediation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, apprehended and applied by faith. "We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith and not for our own works or deservings." (IXth Article of Religion). Hence the Christian law of righteousness by faith is opposed to that law of righteousness by the works of the law, through which the Jews sought to be justified; and hence, also, Christ is called, "The Lord our righteous(Jerem. 23. 6.) C.

ness."

I. RIMMON, a city appropriated to Judah, (Josh. 15. 32,) but afterwards with others transferred to Simeon. (Josh. 19. 7; 1Chron. 4. 32.) In Joshua it is called a city, gnair; but in 1Chronicles, a village, 3 chalzer. Whence it would appear to have declined in importance from the time of Joshua to the time of the writing of the Chronicles; a period of about nine hundred years. At the end of the same verse, in 1Chronicles 4. 32, the word "city" is used; as if in remembrance of its having formerly ranked as such.

II. Rimmon, a city belonging to Zebulun, (1Chron. 6. 77,) which Dr. Robinson thinks is still to be traced in the village of Rummaneh, not far from Nazareth. Biblical Researches in Palestine, vol. iii., sect. xiv.

III. Rimmon, a rock in the wilderness, south of Jerusalem, (Zech. 14. 10,) whither the Benjamites fled for safety after the great defeat of their tribe by that of Judah. (Judges 20. 45.) Dr. Robinson is certain of its being identical with a conical chalky hill, in the neighbourhood of Jeba, (formerly Gibeah,) on the top of which stands the village of Rimmon, where the ridge rises steeply on the north side of the valley. Biblical Researches, vol. ii., sect. ix.

IV. Rimmon, a native of Beeroth, a town of Benjamin. It is not improbable that the Rock of Rimmon was named after him, as he seems to have been a man of some note, being repeatedly mentioned in 2Samuel 4. 2. He was the father of Baanah and Rechab, captains of David, who treacherously slew Ishbosheth, son of Saul.

V. Rimmon, a god of the Syrians, whose principal temple was at Damascus. (2Kings 5. 18.) No certain account of this deity can be found: but some have conjectured by the word Rimmon signifying a pomegranate, which was dedicated to Venus, that this was the Syrian Venus; but that goddess, it is well known, was called Astarte, or Ashtaroth. Others derive the word from the root rúm, "to be high," and conceive Rimmon to have been the Supreme God of the Syrians, answering to Jupiter the Thunderer of the Romans. Parkhurst mentions, from Achilles Tatius, that in a temple at Pelusium, in Egypt, was a statue of Zeus (Jupiter), holding a pomegranate in his hand. It is not stated in Scripture that Rimmon was worshipped by

Him followed Rimmon, whose delightful seat
Was fair Damascus, on the fertile banks
Of Abana and Pharphar, lucid streams.
He also against the house of God was bold:
A leper once he lost, and gained a king;
Ahaz, his sottish conqueror, whom he drew
God's altar to disparage, and displace,
For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn
His odious offerings, and adore the gods
Whom he had vanquished.

RING, лy tabaath, an ornament for the hand;

not merely used for decoration, but as a badge of authority; and for a signet, chatam. Pharaoh when constituting Joseph governor of Egypt, (Gen. 41. 42,) invests him with his ring, (most probably his signet,) evidently as a mark of authority; and to enable him to confirm his decrees by sealing them. So Ahasuerus (Esth. 3. 10) gave to Haman, when sanctioning his designs against the Jews, the ring with which he had sealed the decrees, (ver. 12,) and afterwards transferred it to Mordecai when the decrees were reversed. (Esth. 8. 2.) The father also who received the penitent prodigal, put a ring on his finger, apparently not only as a decoration, but as a mark of restoration to authority in the household. (Luke 15. 22.)

The use of the ring is so ancient that Pliny says it was not known who first wore it. But most probably it was the Hebrews; as we find the signet ring, DON chatam, mentioned so early as Genesis 38, when Judah gave his to Tamar as a pledge, which was more than seventeen hundred years B.C. That this chatam, was a ring for the finger, we are assured by comparing with Jeremiah 22. 24, "As I live, saith the Lord, if Coniah, the son of Jechoniah, were the signet on my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence." The Septuagint and Vulgate also render the "signet" of Genesis 38. 22, as amulus and SaкTUMOV. From the above verse in Jeremiah ch. 22, we learn, that the Jews wore their rings on their right hand.

Rings were anciently of iron, silver, or gold; sometimes the ring, or hoop, was of iron, and the signet part gold. That rings were early set with gems we see in Canticles 5. 14: "His hands are as gold rings set with beryl."

It is not easy to say when the ring was first used in marriage. We do not read of it in Scripture: but the Jews have been long in the habit of using it; and it is more probable that they received it from their forefathers, than that such a bigoted people copied it from the Christians. The words used by the Jewish bridegroom when putting the ring on his wife's finger are, "With this ring thou art wedded to me, according to the law of Moses and of Israel." Buxtorf, Syn. Jud. c. 30.

The ring was said to have been introduced as a substitute for the pieces of gold, or silver, paid by the bridegroom in purchase of his bride, according to an ancient custom called co-emption, alluded to in Genesis 24. 12, and other places, In the Prayer Book of King Edward VI. it is directed, after the delivery of the ring, to present pieces of gold and silver as tokens of espousal. In the marriages of the Maronites in Syria, a piece of gold money is put on the head of the bride.

The wedding-ring was made of gold, the least corruptible of metals, to indicate purity and durability: by its round form it is symbolical of eternity; and it was

placed on the fourth finger of the left hand from an idea, (since proved erroneous,) that a vein ran from the heart to that finger. Rush rings were at one time used in Europe, in marriages between parties who had transgressed the rules of virtue. The episcopal ring delivered to bishops as a type of spiritual espousals, is of an antiquity prior to the seventh century; being mentioned in the decrees of the Council of Toledo, A.D. 633.

Rings of brass were ordered to be made to receive the staves for carrying the altar of burnt offering, (Exod. 27. 4,) and of gold for carrying the ark, (Exod. 25. 12,) and the altar of incense, (Exod. 30. 4.) Rings of silver suspended the hangings in Ahasuerus' palace. (Esth. 1. 16.) The rings which Ezekiel saw in his vision, (Ezek. 1. 18,) must have been the rims, or circumferences of the visioned wheels: the word used is not a tabaath, as in other places, but gabion (from 2 gabah," to be high,") the high superstice of anything. M.

RITES, RITUAL OF THE LAW, Chuckath Hathorah. In the age of the patriarchs the worship of God was very unrestrained, and no ceremonies seem to have been enjoined. A tenth of the produce of labour was consecrated to Jehovah, vows were made, prayers offered, and altars erected for sacrifice. From the occurrence of the word ya shabuah, for "week," it seems probable that the Sabbath, or seventh day, was in some way distinguished from other days, but generally the devotion of the patriarchs was spontaneous; a ritual became necessary when there was a danger of falling into idolatry. During their bondage in Egypt, the Hebrews became addicted to the worship of the gods of that country, and notwithstanding their miraculous deliverance, they frequently lapsed into idolatry. Jehovah offered himself as their king; and hence the worship which Moses introduced, united in itself the obedience due to a monarch, and the reverence which belongs to the Creator. Religion and government being thus united, formed a theocracy, and the rites established by Moses must be regarded as the regulations for the government of God's kingdom. Of these the most important were the rite of circumcision (q. v.) which was at once initiatory unto God's church, and submissive to his dominion; the observance of the Sabbath, (q. v.) the Jubilee, (q. v.) the Feasts of the Passover, Tabernacles, and Pentecost, (q. v.) and the minute regulations respecting Sacrifices and Purifications, (q. v.) Particular forms of words to be used in prayer are not found among the institutions of Moses, probably because they might have been corrupted into charms and incantations such as were used by the surrounding idolatrous nations. Several of the Mosaic rites were typical, (see TYPES,) for "the law was a schoolmaster to the Jews to bring them unto Christ."

the elbows; the hands were then lowered and held down, and water poured over the arms, until it streamed over the fingers. The second phrase, "unless they wash," (éáv un BarтCovтa,) refers to the rite tabal, used by those who had departed from their house; such persons were expected to take a bath, or at least to go through the preceding ablution with the fingers distended.

In the Jewish and Mohammedan rituals there is a permission to use sand when water cannot be procured. Cedrenus mentions an instance of sand having been used ❘ for a Christian baptism.

The Ritual of the synagogue commenced with a doxology, after which a section was read from the Mosaic Law. A second doxology was then sung, and a portion of the prophets read. When the portions of Scripture were read in Hebrew, an interpreter rendered them into the vernacular tongue, after which the reader or some other person addressed a few words of exhortation to the people. The forms of prayer used by the modern Jews do not appear to have been in existence in the time of Christ, with the exception of that called yow keri shema, taken from Deuteronomy 6. 49, which, however, partakes more of the nature of a creed, than of a prayer.

The Apostles, in founding the first Christian churches, retained the ritual of the synagogue, superadding the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper, as a new institution, as Christ had commanded.

Those who held an official station in the Church were the regular instructors, but laymen were sometimes permitted to exhort the congregation, or to sing hymns, as in the synagogues. Women were forbidden to speak, unless when impelled by some supernatural influence, and then they were directed not to lay aside their veils. The reader and the speaker stood; the congregation stood, except during prayer, when all rose. An interpreter explained to the people whatever was stated in a foreign tongue. Stated religious meetings were held on the first day of the week, which was called "the Lord's day." The Greek Christians uncovered the head during divine service, but the Orientals adhered to the ancient custom of having the head covered. Indeed, it is the practice among the Eastern Christians of the present day not to uncover their heads in their religious meetings, except when they receive the Eucharist.

The right of every Church to establish its own ceremonies, provided that they are not inconsistent with Scripture, and that they contribute to edification, arises from the fact of a Church being an organized society, as is fully set forth in the preface to the Book of Common Prayer.

RIVER. In the economy of nature, a river is the means of supplying to the seas and oceans the water which is raised from them by evaporation. The vapours raised by the heat of the sun form clouds, which being

densed and absorbed into the earth, through which they percolate, until several little channels uniting together form a spring or well-head. As the stream flows from the spring, its volume of waters is increased by deposits of rain-water in channels or cavities, and by the junetion of other streams, until it attains a considerable size, when it is called a river. Although the sea is salt, the water raised from it by the heat of the sun is fresh, and is, therefore, by the process of evaporation, fitted to support animal and vegetable life, neither of which could be sustained without a constant and regular supply of fresh water. Hence all the early settlements of mankind were formed in the vicinity of rivers; it is particu

larly mentioned that Eden was watered by four rivers; the early prosperity of Egypt was owing to the Nile, as that of Babylon was to the Euphrates, and in the description of the heavenly Jerusalem it is stated, "There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High." (Psalm 46. 4.)

As rivers owe their origin to the condensation of the clouds, and their increase of volume to the rains, both circumstances may be expected to have a considerable influence on their economy. Where the condensation is nearly regular and continuous, and where there is no very great variation in the fall of rain at different seasons, the flow of rivers will be nearly equable; but where the direction of the wind which blows the clouds from the coast to the feeding hills, and where likewise the fall of rain depends on periodical seasons, the volume of water will be at one time so low as to leave the bed of the river nearly empty, and, at another time, the supply will be so exuberant as to overflow the banks. Palestine may be regarded as a country under the former circumstances, and Egypt under the latter. From its numerous hills and mountains, many of which are almost perpetually enveloped in clouds, a constant supply of water was obtained in numerous streams and rivulets; "It is," says Moses, "a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven." (Deut. 11. 10.) Egypt, on the other hand, possesses but one river, fed from mountain streams in the interior of Africa, which vary their amount of supply according to the monsoons, or periodical winds, and the periodical falls of rain. (See NILE.) The circumstances which determined the rise and fall of the Nile were unknown to the ancient Egyptians, who had never penetrated to the sources of the river; indeed they can scarcely be said to be accurately ascertained even in our own day. At all times, however, the Egyptians have been sensible of their absolute dependence upon their river, and the mysterious swellings of its waters; this feeling, combined with the natural tendency of man to superstition, induced the ancient Egyptians to deify the Nile, and assign it priests, festivals, and sacrifices; an abundant irrigation was ascribed to the benignant influence of the national god; a deficient supply was ascribed to the interference of some malignant dæmon. Even now, under the strict

prohibition of idolatry by the Mohammedan religion, extraordinary reverence is shown to the "Most Holy River," as it is usually called; and solemn forms of prayer and thanksgiving are appointed for the days on which its waters begin to rise.

While the overflowing of a river in most lands is the signal of calamity, and diffuses universal consternation, the rising of the water of the Nile is the promise of fertility, and is, therefore, hailed by benedictions and thanksgivings. The inundation was typified by the figure of Cneph, the father of the gods, pouring forth water from a vase, by which the fertilizing influence of the river and its presumed celestial source were represented. This shows to us how terrific the first plague inflicted on, the Egyptians by Moses at the Divine command must have been; especially if we recollect that Pharaoh's visit to the river was probably to observe the rising of the waters; a custom which has been invariably observed by the rulers of Egypt whatever was their origin.

Rivers are chiefly mentioned in Scripture in reference to irrigation and the agricultural advantages they confer; because there is no river in Palestine of sufficient size to be important as a channel of commercial communication. Notice, however, is sometimes taken of the traffic on the Nile and the Euphrates, but more frequently those riversare viewed as means of defence against marauders and invaders. Thus the prophet Nahum, when denouncing Divine vengeance against Nineveh, compares the favourable position of that city with the Egyptian Thebes: "Art thou greater than populous No, (Thebes,) that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?" (Nahum 3. 8.) And Isaiah, describing the future greatness of Jerusalem, declares that the protection of Jehovah will supply the place of the defence which rivers afforded to other cities: "Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities; thine eye shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken. down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby." (Isaiah 33. 20,21.) See NILE, EUPHRATES, JORDAN, &c. T.

ROAD. Artificial roads, such as those to which we are accustomed, were scarcely known in the East, until they were partially introduced by the Romans. The tracks trampled by caravans were the only roads previously known, and their course was marked by the stations or halting-places. We find, that in Palestine, such stations were frequently in the vicinity of "threshing-floors," which thus became geographical points, scarcely of less importance than cities: indeed, it is probable that they were prepared at the joint expense of several communities, and formed a kind of centre of union for the surrounding districts. Hence threshingfloors are always mentioned in the Old Testament as places universally known, and as the land-marks by which travellers were to be directed on their road. Thus in the account of the burial of Jacob, we find the halting-place of the funeral procession identified by a threshing-floor, whose name was changed in consequence of the solemnities by which the patriarch's loss was deplored: "And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation; and he made a mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians; wherefore the name of it was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond Jordan." (Gen. 50. 10,11.) T.

ROAST. The usual form of dressing meat in the East is by roasting it; boiling is a process which marks some antecedent progress in civilization, and many nations are ignorant of it at the present day. The culinary preparations of the patriarchs were the most simple that could well be imagined; the animal was killed at the moment that the flesh was required, and the joints, after some part had been selected for sacrifice, were then roasted or broiled over the glowing embers of a woodfire. Homer's description of the sacrifice and banquet at the restoration of Chryseis, may be taken as a very fair specimen of ancient cookery.

And now the Greeks their hecatomb prepare ;
Between their horns the salted barley threw,
And with their heads to heaven the victims slew:
The limbs they sever from the enclosing hide,
The thighs, selected to the gods, divide;
On these, in double cawls involved with art,
The choicest morsels lay for every part;
The priest himself before his altar stands,
And burns the offering with his holy hands;
Pours the black wine, and sees the flames aspire;
The youth with instruments surround the fire:
The thighs thus sacrificed and entrails dressed,
The assistants part, transfix and roast the rest:
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his seat and each receives his share.

Food thus prepared, was of course, sodden and tasteless; hence we may account for Isaac's anxiety to obtain some of "the savoury meat" prepared by his son Esau. C.

ROBBER. In the Mosaic Law robbery and theft were not punishable by death, except in the case of stealing a man to sell as a slave, (Exod. 21. 16;) | but a house-breaker detected in the fact at night, might be slain on the spot with impunity. (Exod. 22. 2.) | The penalty for dishonest appropriation was restitution, generally double, (Exod. 22. 4,7,) or otherwise, according to particular circumstances, four-fold, or fivefold. (Exod. 22. 1.) If the thief could make no restitution, he was himself to be sold. (Exod. 22. 3.) It appears from various parts of Scripture, that Palestine and the adjoining regions were much infested with persons who lived by violence, and took refuge in the

many large caves and mountain fastnesses which the country afforded them. The unsettled state of affairs, the frequent wars, and intestine divisions, were very favourable to such banditti, who continued to increase, so that at last the road to Jericho from Jerusalem was so overrun by them, that it was called "the bloody way." In the time of Antigonus, Herod, son of Antipater, was obliged to have recourse to the Roman soldiers to extirpate them. The robbers lived with their families in caves, on the steep faces of the mountain precipices, guarded with sharp rocks, and apparently inaccessible to invaders. Herod caused large wooden chests to be made, and let down by an iron chain from an engine on the top of the mountains, till they came on a level with the mouth of each cave. The chests contained soldiers well armed, and provided with long hooks. They slew with their darts and spears as many of the robbers as they could reach at the entrance of the caves, and pulled out others with their hooks, and cast them down headlong; and they set fire to the bushes, &c. about the caves, and smothered many more; so by these means the mountain robbers were extirpated. Josephus, Antiquities, lib. 24. c. 15.

There were in and about Palestine, from early times, persons who lived a wild and violent life, but were not indiscriminate robbers; rather a kind of independent marauding chiefs, carrying on a predatory warfare only against those tribes or people with whom they were at open hostility. Of such were Ishmael and his descendants, and Esau and his bands about Mount Seir, of whom it was foretold, that he should live by the sword. (Gen. 27. 40.)

Adullam, (1 Sam. 22. 2,) though in great degree to be considered outlaws, were not robbers; as we see by their not only abstaining from plundering the flocks and shepherds of Nabal, but even protecting them from the banditti of the country. (1 Sam. 25. 15, 16.) M.

The bands that gathered to David at the cave of

ROBE. See DRESS.

ROCK. Palestine is a mountainous and rocky country, abounding in caves and fastnesses where the inhabitants sought shelter from sudden invasions of enemies, and where bands of robbers frequently formed their dens. Thus when the Benjamites were overcome they secured themselves in the rock Rimmon, and David hid himself from Saul in the caves of Adullam, Engedi, and Maon. These ravines furnish a great number of defensible positions, which have been the scene of many deadly struggles, from the days of the Canaanites down to the present hour. The prevailing rock is a dark grey limestone, which, though it has a most saddening aspect of barrenness and desolation, is very susceptible of cultivation, being easily worked into terraces, which give support to the soil, and facilitate the fertilizing process of irrigation. Travellers who now visit the land, are disposed, at the first view, to doubt the ancient accounts of its fertility; they can scarcely bring themselves to believe that these barren wastes were the promised land "flowing with milk and honey;" but a more attentive examination of the country affords abundant evidence that its present sterility is owing to the nature of its government, which, affording no security either for life or property, prevents the husbandman from tilling the soil when he is uncertain whether he shall reap its fruits. Indeed, it may be generally said that a country of limestone-rock, will be found one of the best in rewarding the labour of cultivation, and one of the worst in spontaneous produce.

There appears every probability that many of the rock