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Bible Dictionaries
Chain
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
or Of gold on Joseph's neck (Genesis 41:42). Was the badge of a judge, and a prime minister, in Egypt. Judges wore the image of Thmei, or truth, attached from their neck (compare Proverbs 1:9). Daniel was given by Belshazzar a chain of gold about his neck, a token of investiture as "the third ruler in the kingdom" of Babylon (Daniel 5:7; Daniel 5:29). Secondly, chares , besides the necklace, were used for ornament, hanging down to the waist (Ezekiel 16:11; Isaiah 3:19).
"Chains," hanetiphot , from naataph , to drop; pendants about the neck, dropping on the breast. Some had ornamental miniature lunettes attached (Isaiah 3:18), "round tires like the moon," such as the Midianites adorned their camels' necks with (Judges 8:21-26; compare Numbers 31:50); the chumarah or crescent is still worn in front of the headdress in western Asia; (Isaiah 3:20) "tablets" or scentbottles, lit. houses of the breath or soul, were often suspended by chains. "Tinkling ornaments," i.e. step chains attached to ankle rings, shortened the step so as to give a tripping (margin) gait (Isaiah 3:16; Isaiah 3:18).
Prisoners were chained to one or even two guards, by a chain from each hand, as Peter (Acts 12:6-7). Paul's right hand was chained to the soldier's left (Acts 28:20). Originally he was bound with two chains (Acts 21:33). Joseph's "feet they hurt with fetters, he was laid in (margin his soul, came into) iron," i.e. his soul suffered more pain than even the fetters caused to his body. As the Hebrew verb is feminine, and "the iron" masculine, the Prayer-Book version, "the iron entered into his soul," is wrong (Psalms 105:18).
These files are public domain.
Fausset, Andrew R. Entry for 'Chain'. Fausset's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/fbd/c/chain.html. 1949.
