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Daniel, and other holy men ; and the Mohammedans are named after their 
Prophet and saints, and also after some attribute of God, of which there are 
no less than a hundred. In the case of the latter, for instance, we have 
Abd-Alhameed, the name of the present Sultan of Turkey, which means 
‘‘the slave of the Praiseworthy” ; and the name of his late father was “ Abd- 
Almajeed,’’ or “ slave of the Glorious one,” while the name of his uncle, the 
late murdered Sultan, “ Abd-Alazees,” means “the slave of the Precious 
one.” Whether we go to the centre of Africa, Central Asia, or the Arabian 
or African Sahara, we shall find amongst the Moslem races names such as 
these I have mentioned ; but the Bedouin Arabs are sometimes called after 
animals, the heavenly host, or take other fancy names. There is also the 
name of “ Mariami,” which the learned lecturer mentioned, which means 
“my Mary,” and is even now in common use, and appreciated by the females. 
With regard to the different definitions given to the name of Abraham, I 
need not remind you that the Bible has been very often assailed, especially 
in these latter days, and many excellent Christians have unwittingly (with- 
out reflecting whether such interpretation is confirmed or sanctioned by Holy 
Writ) preferred the explanations of the so-called scientific and learned men of 
the world for the meaning of Biblical names and mysteries, against what we 
are plainly shown in the Bible. As far as I am concerned, I have always 
found the Word of God, after no end of assaults, to shine forth with greater 
brilliancy and truth, and exhibit to us the right understanding after all. It 
will be found, whatever scientific and literary men say to the contrary, 
that Abraham means the exalted father, as “ Ab” means in the Hebrew and 
other Semitic languages, father ; and “ram” high or exalted, which word is 
in Arabic an attribute of God. Then again as to the word of Beersheba or 
Bethsheba, I would prefer the W ord of God before any other saying or writing, 
AVe have been told that “ Sheba” means seven, and so it is, but the Bible 
tells us that it means “ oath,” and such I must take it, especially as it is 
understood in this sense in Hebrew. We now come to the word “Babel,” 
which has always been understood by Christians, Jews, and Moslems, as 
derived from the word “ confusion ” ; and the Bible tells us plainly that this is 
the meaning of it, but nowadays we are made to believe that the real 
meaning of it is the “ gate of God,” derived from “ bab,” gate, and “ El,” 
God,* because, forsooth, these words have been discovered in some cuneiform 
inscription; and even the late Dean Stanley followed that anti-Biblical 
belief, by quoting this error in his History of the Jewish Church. Well, I 
ask you, gentlemen, would it be right to take that interpretation before the 
AVord of God, seeing that if you go amongst the Arabs, who know nothing 
about the Bible, and ask them what “ Babel” means, they will tell you that 
God had confused the tongue of the people of old, and that was the reason 
the monument of the first unbelief was called “Babel”? It is very remark- 
able that in the time of Nebuchadnezzar the Jewish names of Daniel, 
* “ Bab” has the same meaning in Arabic and Assyrian, and EL is the 
same in Hebrew, Chaldean, and Assyrian. — H. Bassam, 
