She´ba, Sabeans. As much confusion has been introduced by the variety of meanings which the name Sabeans has been made to bear, it may be proper to specify in this place their distinctive derivations and use. In our Authorized Version of Scripture the term seems to be applied to three different tribes. First, to the Sebaiim, the descendants of Seba or Saba, son of Cush, who ultimately settled in Ethiopia. Second, to the Shebaiim, the descendants of Sheba, son of Joktan, the Sabœi of the Greeks and Romans, who settled in Arabia Felix. They are the 'Sabeans' of , to whom the Jews were to sell the captives of Tyre. Third, to another tribe of Shebans, a horde of Bedouin marauders in the days of Job (); for whether we place the land of Uz in Idumea or in Ausitis, it is by no means likely that the Arabs of the south would extend their excursions so very far. We must, therefore, look for this tribe in Desert Arabia; and it is singular enough, that besides the Seba of Cush, and the Shaba of Joktan, there is another Sheba, son of Jokshan, and grandson of Abraham, by Keturah (); and his posterity appear to have been 'men of the wilderness,' as were their kinsmen of Midian, Ephah, and Dedan.
Yet, as if to increase the confusion in the use of this name of 'Sabeans,' it has also been applied—Fourth, to the ancient star-worshippers of Western Asia, though they ought properly to be styled Tsabians, and their religion not Sabaism but Tsabaism. Fifth, the name of Sabeans, or Sabians, has also been given to a modern sect in the East, the Mandaites, or, as they are commonly but incorrectly called, the 'Christians' of St. John; for they deny the Messiahship of Christ, and pay superior honor to John the Baptist.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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