Index 


Dulcimer (Heb. sumphoniah ), a musical instrument mentioned in Dan 3:5, Dan 3:15, along with other instruments there named, as sounded before the golden image. It was not a Jewish instrument. In the margin of the Revised Version it is styled the "bag-pipe." Luther translated it "lute," and Grotius the "crooked trumpet." It is probable that it was introduced into Babylon by some Greek or Western-Asiatic musician. Some Rabbinical commentators render it by "organ," the well-known instrument composed of a series of pipes, others by "lyre." The most probable interpretation is that it was a bag-pipe similar to the zampagna of Southern Europe.

Dumah Silence, (compare Psa 94:17), the fourth son of Ishmael; also the tribe descended from him; and hence also the region in Arabia which they inhabited (Gen 25:14; Ch1 1:30). There was also a town of this name in Judah (Jos 15:52), which has been identified with ed-Domeh, about 10 miles southwest of Hebron. The place mentioned in the "burden" of the prophet Isaiah (Isa 21:11) is Edom or Idumea.

Dumb From natural infirmity (Exo 4:11); not knowing what to say (Pro 31:8); unwillingness to speak (Psa 39:9; Lev 10:3). Christ repeatedly restored the dumb (Mat 9:32, Mat 9:33; Luk 11:14; Mat 12:22) to the use of speech.

Dung (1.) Used as manure (Luk 13:8); collected outside the city walls (Neh 2:13). Of sacrifices, burned outside the camp (Exo 29:14; Lev 4:11; Lev 8:17; Num 19:5). To be "cast out as dung," a figurative expression (Kg1 14:10; Kg2 9:37; Jer 8:2; Psa 18:42), meaning to be rejected as unprofitable. (2.) Used as fuel, a substitute for firewood, which was with difficulty procured in Syria, Arabia, and Egypt (Eze 4:12), where cows' and camels' dung is used to the present day for this purpose.

Dung-gate (Neh 2:13), a gate of ancient Jerusalem, on the south-west quarter. "The gate outside of which lay the piles of sweepings and off-scourings of the streets," in the valley of Tophet.

Dung-hill To sit on a, was a sign of the deepest dejection (Sa1 2:8; Psa 113:7; Lam 4:5).

Dungeon Different from the ordinary prison in being more severe as a place of punishment. Like the Roman inner prison (Act 16:24), it consisted of a deep cell or cistern (Jer 38:6). To be shut up in, a punishment common in Egypt (Gen 39:20; Gen 40:3; Gen 41:10; Gen 42:19). It is not mentioned, however, in the law of Moses as a mode of punishment. Under the later kings imprisonment was frequently used as a punishment (Ch2 16:10; Jer 20:2; Jer 32:2; Jer 33:1; Jer 37:15), and it was customary after the Exile (Mat 11:2; Luk 3:20; Act 5:18, Act 5:21; Mat 18:30).

Dura The circle, the plain near Babylon in which Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image, mentioned in Dan 3:1. The place still retains its ancient name. On one of its many mounds the pedestal of what must have been a colossal statue has been found. It has been supposed to be that of the golden image.

Dust Storms of sand and dust sometimes overtake Eastern travelers. They are very dreadful, many perishing under them. Jehovah threatens to bring on the land of Israel, as a punishment for forsaking him, a rain of "powder and dust" (Deu 28:24). To cast dust on the head was a sign of mourning (Jos 7:6); and to sit in dust, of extreme affliction (Isa 47:1). "Dust" is used to denote the grave (Job 7:21). "To shake off the dust from one's feet" against another is to renounce all future intercourse with him (Mat 10:14; Act 13:51). To "lick the dust" is a sign of abject submission (Psa 72:9); and to throw dust at one is a sign of abhorrence (Sa2 16:13; compare Act 22:23).

Dwarf A lean or emaciated person (Lev 21:20).