154 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 



does make a decided difference. I have proved that when riding 

 with one's back to the east, I have been able to tell that the star 

 had risen by the difference in the light. 



There are just two points in Colonel Mackinlay's paper that I 

 should like to draw attention to with a view to getting a little 

 information from any Hebrew scholars who may be present. In 

 connection with the points of the compass, the Bedouins and the 

 Arabic speaking peoples evidently originally fixed their points of 

 the compass ' by the way they were looking, that is to say, to the 

 east. The universal word for north in all Arab dialects is the word 

 for left hand, and in certain parts the word for the right hand also 

 indicates the south. In connection with this see the ve^se in the 

 xxiii chapter of Job, quoted by the lecturer. It is extremely 

 probable that the points of the compass are here indicated, and some 

 versions (including modern Arabic) translate accordingly. But I 

 should like the opinion of Hebrew scholars as to whether we should 

 take the south as the place of hiding. I do not know very much 

 about Hebrew, but it seems to me that the north is the place of 

 hiding. The common word for north, tsdphdn, means hidden. It is 

 strange that the same idea should be connected with the south. 

 In the passage in Job ix, 9, we get two words both meaning south. 

 We get cheder and temdn ; tertian must mean the south ; cheder is 

 given by the lecturer as one of the words used for south, and 

 it also means a secret place or chamber. 



And then the second point was with reference to " yam," the sea, 

 which usually means west. In this particular passage in Psalm cvii, 

 3, it is translated south. There is no doubt that it means south. 

 How does it come to have this meaning 1 It is connected with the 

 word north, tsaphon, and the same collocation occurs in Isaiah xlix, 

 12, where our translators translate it north and west. But it 

 struck me at once on looking at this, and I think it is an idea 

 that is supported by some scholars, that the word " yam " here is 

 really a contraction of " yamin," which is the ordinary word for 

 south. Possibly as this is the only instance in which " yam " seems to 

 mean south, that might be the explanation. One would like to hear 

 what Hebrew scholars have to say about it. 



Commander W. F. Caborne, C.B., K.N.R.— While glad of the 

 opportunity afforded me for saying a few words in appreciation of 

 Colonel Mackinlay's thoughtful, valuable, and interesting paper, I 



