CHAMPION. This term is connected with the Teutonic word kamp, denoting combat. The champion, in ancient warfare, was one who challenged a foe to single combat, in the presence of contending armies (1 Sam. xvii. 4), The issue of the battle was sometimes staked on such an encounter. Thus, Xanthus, sovereign of Boeotia, challenged the king of Attica, and fell in the struggle. Goliath, too, bade defiance to all the armies of Israel in vaunting terms (1 Sam. xvii. 8-10). The tones of the braggart were not lost on his enemies-"They were dismayed and greatly afraid." The youthful David accepted the haughty challenge of his gigantic and disdainful adversary, and won an easy victory-"And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled." An old form is yet kept up at the coronation of the kings of Britain. An armed champion appears at Westminster during the ceremony, and proclaims by a herald, that if any should deny the king's title to the crown, he is ready to defend it by single combat.

CHANCE (1 Sam. vi. 9) might be better rendered occurrence, and is so rendered in several ancient versions. In Eccl. ix. 1-11 the sacred writer is illustrating the weakness and blindness of man, and showing that all the events and occurrences of his life are appointed by infinite wisdom and power. In the passage first cited the word implies simply this, that if the cattle, without any guidance of man, should leave their calves and their pastures, and the roads which they were accustomed to go in, and should draw the ark towards Bethshemesh (the nearest point of the land of Israel), then the Philistines might infer from this supernatural occurrence that God's hand had afflicted them as a punishment for detaining the ark; but if nothing like this should appear, they might suppose that their singular affliction was the result of natural though unknown causes. What men speak of as happening by chance, are those occurrences which take place without any apparent cause; as in Luke x. 31, "It so happened that a priest,” &c. ; i. e., he had no design to pass by the wounded man, &c.; though they are not the less actually the result of divine appointment. The word, in its atheistical use, is as unphilosophical as it is impious.

CHANCELLOR (Ezra iv. 17)—a distinguished officer of the Persian court, of whose particular functions we have now no knowledge. He was virtually a royal prefect. CHANGEABLE SUITS OF APPAREL. (See CLOTHES.)

CHANGES OF RAIMENT. CLOTHES.)

(See

CHANGERS OF MONEY, or MONEY. CHANGERS (Matt. xxi. 12; John ii. 14). When Judea became a province of Rome, the Jews were required to pay taxes in Roman currency, and at the same time the annual tribute for the service of the sanctuary was the half shekel of Jewish currency. To exchange these, one for the other, was the employment of the money-changers, like the busi

ness of some modern brokers. To obtain trade they stationed themselves in the courts of the temple, the place of general resort for strangers from every part of Judea, and their oppressive and fraudulent practices probably justified the allusion of our Saviour to a "den of thieves." Perhaps they were also accustomed to pay and receive interest on loans, and this practice is recognized in Matt. xxv. 16-27. (See MONEY.) CHANT. (See VIOL.)

CHAPEL (Amos. vii. 13), or SANCTUARY-a place of worship. Bethel is called the king's chapel by one of the idol priests, because there the kings of Israel paid idolatrous worship to the golden calves. (See BETHEL.)

CHAPITERS (Exod. xxxvi. 38), or CAPITALS (as they are called in modern architecture), are the upper or ornamental part of a column. (See PALM TREES.)

CHAPMEN (2 Chr. ix. 14) are called in the corresponding passage (1 Ki. x. 15) spicemerchants. They might be distinguished as the merchants and grocers of modern days. The revenue to the king was probably in the form of duties on their imports. (See MERCHANTS.) CHARAN. (See HARAN.)

CHARGER (Num. vii. 13; Ezra i. 9; Matt. xiv. 8, 11)-a shallow bowl or basin, used for receiving the blood at the preparation of the sacrifices; and sometimes a common basin, somewhat large, and flat in form. (See CENSER.)

CHARIOT (Gen. xli. 43; xlvi. 29; 2 Ki. x. 15; Acts viii. 28). Until within 300 or 400 years the convenience and even luxury of modern vehicles of pleasure were unknown. The chariots of the early ages were probably little superior in style or convenience to modern carts or waggons. Travellers describe a clumsy carriage used in Asia at the present day, which is formed like a large wicker basket, 8 feet long, supported by four solid wheels, convex on each side. These carriages were made of wood, and were often burnt in war (Ps. xlvi. 9; Nah. ii. 13). The "chariot" in Song of Solomon iii. 9, 10 was probably a palanquin. One of these in use by an Indian king is thus described by Quintus Curtius:-"When the king shows himself in public, his servants go before him with silver censers, which fill the air throughout the way along which he is borne in the palanquin, with delicious odour. He himself is reclining upon a golden couch, covered with pearls and veiled with purple curtains, embroidered with gold; the life guard bring up the rear. The chariots of the nobility were in this way ornamented with very costly decorations. Homer thus describes Juno's car,

"Hebe to the chariot rolled
The brazen wheels, and joined them to the smooth
Steel axle: twice four spokes divided each,
Shot from the centre to the verge. The verge
Was gold, by fellies of eternal brass

Guarded, a dazzling show. The shining naves
Were silver; silver cords, and cords of gold
The seat upbore

The pole was argent all, to which she bound
The golden yoke."

making chariots, and the Hebrews, in Solomon's time, seem to have imitated them.

Where chariots are mentioned as of iron (Josh. xvii. 18), it is probable that the iron instruments with which they were often heavily armed gave them such a designation. The word chariot is used for the horses by which it is drawn (2 Sam. viii. 4; x. 18), and again for the riders of horses and other animals (Isa. xxi. 7-9).

CHARIOTS, CAPTAINS OF (Exod. xv. 4), or, literally, mounted three-standers. This expression, in an English translation, might be supposed to denote the officer or officers who had charge of the chariot forces; but it probably refers to an old custom or arrangement in which three men stood upon the chariot, two of whom are prepared for action, while the third manages the horses. They were probably selected for their valour, and perhaps formed by themselves a distinct division of the army, and each had its distinct officer (Exod. xiv. 7). On state occasions the third person held the characteristic royal umbrella, as is often seen on the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments.

CHARIOT OF THE CHERUBIMS (1 Chr. xxviii. 18) means the frame work on which the cherubims rested, and one pattern of which might resemble the body of a chariot. (See AMMINIDAB, WAR, HARNESS.)

CHARIOT CITIES (2 Chr. i. 14), or cities so designated because in them were stored up the chariots of war during the time of peace, as magazines and arsenals of modern times are used.

CHARIOT HORSES (2 Ki. vii. 14)-horses that were peculiarly fitted, by size, spirit, docility, or special training, for service in chariots; as carriage, draught, and saddlehorses of later days.

CHARIOT MAN (2 Chr. xviii. 33)-driver or charioteer.

CHARIOTS OF THE SUN (2 Ki. xxiii. 11)

"

vehicles was common, especially in Persia. These horses do not seem to have been always sacrificed to the sun, but to be yoked to the chariots dedicated to this luminary. In the olden mythology the sun is represented as driving through the heavens his burning car with fiery coursers. This notion may have given rise to the superstition referred to. Thus, in the sacred books of the ancient Persians (Zendavesta, part ii., p. 264), it is said, "Praise to the sun that drives with four horses in his rapid course. In a solemn procession described by Xenophon (Cyropedia, b. viii. cap. 3, § 6) after four incomparably fine bulls, which were sacrificed to Jupiter, followed the horses to be sacrificed to the sun. Curtius (b. iii. c. 5, §8) describes a similar procession, in which he says, "The chariot consecrated to Jupiter was drawn by white horses; it was followed by a horse of extraordinary size, which they called the horse of the sun.' Herodotus (i., p. 216) says of the Massageta-"Of the gods, they worship the sun alone, to which they sacrifice horses. The reason of this custom is, to give to the swiftest of all the gods the swiftest of all animals."

Isidore of Seville observes (Orig. lib. xviii. cap. 36), "The Romans gave the sun a chariot drawn by four horses, which, by their colours, were to represent the four seasons and the four elements." Sir W. Jones, in his Essay on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India (Works, i., p. 268) says, that "among the Hindoos, Phoebus or the personified orb of the sun, is adored as the god Surya. Their poets and painters describe his chariot as drawn by seven green horses." The Rabbins maintain that the horses destroyed by Josiah had been by his idolatrous ancestors yoked to such sacred cars, and that the king and his courtiers drove out in them every morning, to a certain point, to meet and salute the rising sun.

CHARIOTS (OF WAR) (Judg. iv. 3). One class of chariots thus denominated were used as the common vehicles of princes and generals. These, as we learn from Homer, were often Another class of warhighly ornamented. chariots formed the most terrible of military engines, and were employed in great numbers (1 Sam. xiii. 5; 1 Chr. xviii. 4). Like other

ancient carriages, they had usually only two wheels, and iron scythes, strong and sharp,

recent work to show that something like charming is still practised in Egypt, though mingled up with a good deal of mystery and imposture:-"The Psylli, or Egyptian serpent charmers, came to my house (in Thebes) one day when I was absent, and apparently succeeded in attracting a serpent and two scorpions from their hiding-places. They are said to be hidden in the innermost recesses of the walls. They afterwards went to a tomb where Mr. Bonomi resided, and seemed to charm from their holes another serpent and some scorpions, but failed in enticing a fine serpent which Mr. Bonomi kept in a tin case. The lid of the case was on this occasion purposely kept open; therefore, had their incantations really possessed any influence, except over the reptiles which had been trained to obey their call, this horned snake would most assuredly have made its appearance. Many travellers have believed in the power of these jugglers, because they have not succeeded in detecting their artifices. I do not pretend to understand their tricks; but it seems to me highly probable that the serpents and scorpions which they profess to find are only those that they have themselves let loose, and which have been previously accustomed to be summoned in some peculiar manner to receive their food. The Psylli engage for a certain sum of money to initiate others into their secrets-that is, so far as to

Serpent Charmers.

render them insensible to poison. They mutter over them in Arabic several invocations to prophets and saints no one ever heard of before, and various prayers in a language which has certainly no affinity to any other, and which, in plain terms, would be called gibberish. They administer a draught of water, in which they mix a powder, and render it more efficacious by spitting into it; and a serpent, which they apply to the stranger's ear, having bitten it until the blood flows, he is then declared to be initiated into the mysteries of their craft,

and ever after safe from the venom of serpents, scorpions, or any other hurtful reptiles." Hoskins' Visit to the Great Oasis, pp. 4, 5. CHARRAN. (See HARAN.)

CHATTER. (See CRANE, SWALLOW.) CHEBAR (Ezek. i. 1, 3)-a river in the land of the Chaldeans. A colony of the Jews resided here, and the prophet Ezekiel also, with whose predictions the place has very interesting associations. It is called Habor in 2 Ki. xvii. 6, and it is the Chaborras of the Greeks. It waters a rich and fertile country, and empties itself into the Euphrates, not far from Circesium. But others suppose it to be the Euphrates; and others still conjecture it to be the royal river or great canal which was excavated by Nebuchadnezzar.

CHEDORLAOMER (Gen. xiv. 1, 5)-one of the kings who formed an alliance against the five cities of the plain, and whose spoils were taken from them by Abram. (See ABRAM.) He has been identified with Kudur-mapula, whose title is "Ravager of the West; " but the identification has not been fully proved.

CHEEKBONE (Ps. iii. 7). The figurative language of this passage presents the psalmist surrounded by his enemies as by a herd of wild beasts, and denotes their complete deprivation of the power of seizing upon or devouring their prey.

CHEESE (1

Sam. xvii. 18), or the pressed curd of milk, was a common article of food among the Jews, and is now among many nations of the East. The word occurs but three times in our Scriptures, and in each of them the original term is different (2 Sam. xvii. 29; Job x. 10). Travellers tell us that new cheese, or the curd of cream salted, was a luxury of the richest tables. The milk was separated by a rude sort of churning (see BUTTER), was coagulated in summer by the flowers of the wild artichoke, and the curd was placed in a close-woven rush or wicker basket, and so pressed as to retain its form. Still it was only, after all, but a kind of soft curd, which stiffened and grew hard with age; and each cheese was seldom more than 2 or 3 pounds in weight. Ten baskets of curds of this kind were not an unsuitable present for Jesse to make even to an officer of Saul's army. (See MILK.) In a pastoral country such as Palestine, cheese-making must have been both a common and constant employment. One portion of Jerusalem is called the "cheesemaker's valley," or Tyro-pæon. (See BUTTER.)

CHEMARIMS (Zeph. i. 4)-the priests of idol-gods, as in 2 Ki. xxiii. 5, and Hos. x. 5, where the same word is translated idolatrous priests. The term is supposed to come from a