the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Encyclopedias
Bray
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or signifying in Old English to pound, stands in the Auth. Vers. at Proverbs 27:22, for כָּתִשׁ, ka. thash', to beat to pieces in a mortar (q.v.). This punishment is still in use among Oriental nations. Roberts observes, " Cruel as it is, this is a punishment of the state; the poor victim is thrust into the mortar, and beaten with the pestle. The late King of Kandy compelled one of the wives of his rebellious chiefs thus to beat her own infant to death. Hence the saying, 'Though you beat that loose woman in a mortar, she will not leave her ways;' which means, though you chastise her ever so much, she will never improve." (See PUNISHMENT').
As the appropriate word for the voice of the ass, " bray" represents, in Job 6:5 (figuratively in 30:7), נָהִק, nahak'. See Ass.
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Bray'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/b/bray.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
