476 O M A 
fable text;” alfo the pofition, &c. of the phrafe “I am 
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the fir ft 
and the laft,” in our Scripture. It occurs three times, 
and in the jirjl and left chapters of the Revelation of St. 
John. But on thefe, and many other fimilar, and proba¬ 
bly accidental, points, that might be hence myftically 
ct milked out as it were,” vve have, perhaps, faid enough 
to (how why thefe triverbal, See. phrafes, Should have been 
deemed fo myfterious by enthufiaftic individuals, prone 
to regard every thing obfeure as myfterious, and every 
thing myfterious as profound. 
It may be doubted if the received translation of the im¬ 
portant text in Exodus, iii. 14. be the beft that could have 
been adopted. The Hebrew having wo prefent tenfe, “I 
am,” conjugatively, feems unauthorized by the original. 
Any literal translation into Englifh would perhaps be 
equally liable to objection : “ I will be what I have been,” 
to wit, a father, a protedtor, a God, unto them, has been 
paraphraltically Suggested. The conclusion of the verfe, 
however, appears to imply that HTIN was not meant as 
any part of the conjugation of a verb : “ Thus (halt thou 
fay unto the children of Il'rael; I AM hath fent me unto 
you.” The important word in the English verfion occurs 
again in capitals. In this fenfe of a facred cognomen 
many divines have received it: “ The Eternal Almighty 
I AM hath fent me,” was an expreflion of Whitefield, the 
enthufiaftic itinerant preacher, (Gillies’s Life of White- 
field ;) and Shows that he, among others, received it in 
this light. Jofephus exprefsly fays that it was not lawful 
to Speak of the name by which God revealed himfelf to 
Mofes. This was believed to have been Jehovah, for 
which the ancient Jews had a profound veneration; and 
foon after the BabyloniSh captivity it ceafed to be uttered, 
its true pronunciatition being Suppofed to be loft or un¬ 
known. When the facred books were read in the fyna- 
gogues, the reader, whenever this facred name occurred, 
did not attempt to pronounce it, butfubftituted for Jeho¬ 
vah the other word, which anfwers to the English word 
Lord. (Horfeley’s Sermons, vol. iii.) It was refpedtfully 
alluded to as “The Name, The Ineffable Name, The 
Name of Four Letters and in the Talmud curfes are de¬ 
nounced againft thofe who Should utter it. This we fee is 
in unifon with the Hindoo prejudices in regard to the un¬ 
utterable OM, which they pre-eminently call “ The Mo- 
nofyllable,” to be mentally revolved, but never articulated. 
OM, a river of Ruffia, which runs into the Irtifch at 
©mfk. 
OM el KU'SUR, a town of Egypt, on the left bank 
of the Nile : two miles Couth of Cufiie. 
OM el MIS'K, a fmall island in the Red Sea, near the 
coaft of Arabia. Lat. 22. 35. N. 
O'MA, one of the Molucca islands, about nine miles 
long, and fix wide; containing n villages, and about 
5000 inhabitants. The principal village goes by the fame 
name. 
OM'ACHIS, a river of Canada, which runs into Lake 
St. Pierre in lat. 46. 16. N. Ion. 72. 42. W. 
OMA'GH, a town of Ireland, in the county of Tyrone: 
fourteen miles fouth of Strabane, and twenty-two north- 
eaft of Ennifkillen. 
OMAGUA'CA, a town of South-America, in the pro¬ 
vince of Tucuman: fifty miles north of St. Salvador de 
jujui. 
OMAGUA'CA RIV'ER. See Jujui, vol. xi. 
OMA'GUAS, a tribe of Indians, inhabiting the banks 
of the river Amazon, and converted to Christianity in the 
year 1686, by father Fritz, a Spanish miffionary. They 
flatten the hinder and fore part of the heads of their chil¬ 
dren, and thus give them a monftrous appearance. They 
treat the people of other nations with ridicule, calling 
them calabaSh-heads. 
OMA'GUAS, or St. Joachim de Omaguas, a town 
of South-America, in the audience of Quito, on the river 
Amazon : 400 miles fouth-eaft of Quito. Lat. 4. 40. S. 
Ion. 72. 30.W. 
O M A 
O'MAN, a province of Arabia, bounded on the eaft by 
the Ocean, on the north by the PerSian Gulf, and on the 
weft and fouth by extenfive deferts. It is poffeffed by a 
number of petty fovereigns, the mod confiderable of 
whom is the imam of Oman, or MaSkat. Several of thefe 
fovereigns bear the title of fcheik. The whole weftern fide 
of Oman is a fandy plain, a day’s journey in length, and 
extending from the village of Sib to the town of Sohar. 
The imam’s territories are mountainous to the brink of 
the Shore. The rivers continue to flow throughout the 
year, except that near which Sohar (lands ; which, tra¬ 
versing an arid plain, lofes itfelf among the fands, and 
reaches the feaonly in the rainy feafon. The country af¬ 
fords plenty of cheefe, barley, lentils, and different forts of 
grapes. Dates are fo abundant, that feveral Ship-loads of 
them are annually exported; and there is a variety of 
other fruits, and of pulfe. Here are alfo lead and cop¬ 
per mines. FiShes are fo plentiful upon the coaft, and fo 
eafily caught, as to be ufed not only for feeding cows, affes, 
and other domeftic animals, but even as manure to the 
fields. The inhabitants are of different fedts in religion, 
and mutually regard one another as heretics : the Subjects 
of the imam follow one Muffulman dodtor, and thofe of 
the fcheiks another. The territory poffeffed by the imam 
of Oman is pretty extenfive, and contains feveral towns, 
fuch as Oman, Roftak, Kalbat, Kiloa, and Sinsjibar, but 
the mod important and beft known city is Mascat, 
which fee, vol. xiv. p.463. 
To eke out his Scanty revenue, the imam does not him¬ 
felf dil'dain to deal in trade: he keeps four Ships of war, 
and a n umber of fmall veffels, which, in time of peace, he 
employs in the conveyance of goods, chiefly to and from 
the eastern coaft of Africa. Some other Ships are kept to 
guard the coaft ; which is done fo negligently or timidly, 
that pirates venture even into the road of Mafcat. The 
inhabitants of Oman, although not fond of fea-fights, are 
neverthelefs the beft mariners in all Arabia. They have 
feveral good harbours, and employ many fmall velfels in 
the navigation between Jidda and BaSra. To the laft town 
they fend annually fifty veffels, called treenkis, which are 
fewed together without nails, the planks being bound 
with cords. Two numerous tribes of Arabs are chiefly 
employed in carrying coffee by fea. One of thefe tribes 
once inhabited the Shores of the Perfian Gulf; but, being 
haraffed by turbulent neighbours, khey at length Sought 
refuge in the dominions of the imam of Oman. 
O'MAN, a town of Arabia, and capital of the above 
province : fixty miles north-weft of Mafcat. Lat. 24. N. 
Ion. 57. 20. E. 
O'MAR I. [Arab, a Speaker.] The fecond of the ca¬ 
liphs or fucceflors of Mahomet. He was diftinguiShed, 
while a private perfon, for his love of justice, and his zeal 
for the prophet’s authority; of which the following in¬ 
stance is related, though it furely delerves a very different 
character: A Muffulman, having a difpute with a Jew, 
which was decided againft him by Mahomet,appealed from 
him to Omar, then in high authority for his integrity and 
piety. Omar deiired the parties to Slay awhile; and, with¬ 
drawing into his houfe, returned with a feymitar, when he 
inftantly clove down the Mulfulman with his weapon, 
exclaiming, “ This is the reward of him who refufes to 
Submit to the judgment of God and his apoSlle !” On 
this account, Mahomet gave him the appellation of Al- 
Farovl;, Signifying both the Divider and the DiftinguiSher, 
thus doubly alluding to his adtion, and the difeernment 
that prompted it. Such was his reputation among the 
Modems, that Abubeker, in his lait illnefs, nominated 
him his fucceffor; and he fucceeded without opposition. 
Omar, like his predeceffor, was a man of peace, and 
employed himfelf at home in the civil and religious func¬ 
tions of his office ; but his reign was the era of Some of 
the greatest acceffions made to the Arabian empire, of 
which an account has been given under the article 
Arabia. His arms appear to have been particularly fuc- 
cefsful: the Perflans he conquered, and Jerufalem Sub¬ 
mitted 
