Pannag (Eze 27:17; marg. R.V., "perhaps a kind of confection") the Jews explain as the name of a kind of sweet pastry. Others take it as the name of some place, identifying it with Pingi, on the road between Damascus and Baalbec. "Pannaga" is the Sanscrit name of an aromatic plant (Compare Gen 43:11).
Paper The expression in the Authorized Version (Isa 19:7), "the paper reeds by the brooks," is in the Revised Version more correctly "the meadows by the Nile." The words undoubtedly refer to a grassy place on the banks of the Nile fit for pasturage. In Jo2 1:12 the word is used in its proper sense. The material so referred to was manufactured from the papyrus, and hence its name. The papyrus (Heb. gome ) was a kind of bulrush (q.v.). It is mentioned by Job (Job 8:11) and Isaiah (Isa 35:7). It was used for many purposes. This plant (Papyrus Nilotica) is now unknown in Egypt; no trace of it can be found. The unaccountable disappearance of this plant from Egypt was foretold by Isaiah (Isa 19:6, Isa 19:7) as a part of the divine judgment on that land. The most extensive papyrus growths now known are in the marshes at the northern end of the lake of Merom.
Paphos The capital of the island of Cyprus, and therefore the residence of the Roman governor. It was visited by Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary tour (Act 13:6). It is new Paphos which is here meant. It lay on the west coast of the island, about 8 miles north of old Paphos. Its modern name is Baffa.
Parable (Gr. parabole ), a placing beside; a comparison; equivalent to the Heb. mashal , a similitude. In the Old Testament this is used to denote: (1.) a proverb (Sa1 10:12; Sa1 24:13; Ch2 7:20), (2.) a prophetic utterance (Num 23:7; Eze 20:49), (3.) an enigmatic saying (Psa 78:2; Pro 1:6). In the New Testament: (1.) a proverb (Mar 7:17; Luk 4:23), (2.) a typical emblem (Heb 9:9; Heb 11:19), (3.) a similitude or allegory (Mat 15:15; Mat 24:32; Mar 3:23; Luk 5:36; Luk 14:7); (4.) ordinarily, in a more restricted sense, a comparison of earthly with heavenly things, "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning," as in the parables of our Lord. Instruction by parables has been in use from the earliest times. A large portion of our Lord's public teaching consisted of parables. He himself explains his reasons for this in his answer to the inquiry of the disciples, "Why speakest thou to them in parables?" (Mat 13:13; Mar 4:11, Mar 4:12; Luk 8:9, Luk 8:10). He followed in so doing the rule of the divine procedures, as recorded in Mat 13:13. The parables uttered by our Lord are all recorded in the synoptical (i.e., the first three) Gospels. The fourth Gospel contains no parable properly so called, although the illustration of the good shepherd (John 10:1-16) has all the essential features of a parable. (See Table Parables Recorded in the Old Testament and Table of Parables Recorded in the Gospels.)
Paradise A Persian word (pardes), properly meaning a "pleasure-ground" or "park" or "king's garden." (See EDEN.) It came in course of time to be used as a name for the world happiness and rest hereafter (Luk 23:43; Co2 12:4; Rev 2:7). For "garden" in Gen 2:8 the LXX. has "paradise."
Parah The heifer, a town in Benjamin (Jos 18:23), supposed to be identical with the ruins called Far'ah , about 6 miles north-east of Jerusalem, in the Wady Far'ah , which is a branch of the Wady Kelt.
Paran Abounding in foliage, or abounding in caverns, (Gen 21:21), a desert tract forming the north-eastern division of the peninsula of Sinai, lying between the 'Arabah on the east and the wilderness of Shur on the west. It is intersected in a north-western direction by the Wady el-'Arish . It bears the modern name of Badiet et-Tih , i.e., "the desert of the wanderings." This district, through which the children of Israel wandered, lay three days' march from Sinai (Num 10:12, Num 10:33). From Kadesh, in this wilderness, spies (q.v.) were sent to spy the land (Num 13:3, Num 13:26). Here, long afterwards, David found refuge from Saul (Sa1 25:1, Sa1 25:4).
Paran, Mount Probably the hilly region or upland wilderness on the north of the desert of Paran forming the southern boundary of the Promised Land (Deu 33:2; Hab 3:3).
Parbar (Ch1 26:18), a place apparently connected with the temple, probably a "suburb" (q.v.), as the word is rendered in Kg2 23:11; a space between the temple wall and the wall of the court; an open portico into which the chambers of the official persons opened (Ch1 26:18).
Parched Ground (Isa 35:7), Heb. sharab , a "mirage", a phenomenon caused by the refraction of the rays of the sun on the glowing sands of the desert, causing them suddenly to assume the appearance of a beautiful lake. It is called by the modern Arabs by the same Hebrew name serab .