MINGLED PEOPLE; (MIXED MULTITUDE)

min'-g'-ld pe'-pl:

(1) "Mixed multitude" occurs in Numbers 11:4 as a translation of asaphcuph, "collection," "rabble." The same phrase in Exodus 12:38 Nehemiah 13:3 is the rendition of erebh. "Mingled people" is used also to translate `erebh, and is found in Jeremiah 25:20, 24; Jeremiah 50:37 Ezekiel 30:5, and in 1 Kings 10:15 the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version "Arabia"; compare the American Revised Version margin). In the last case both revised versions have followed the pointing of the Massoretic Text, and this pointing alone distinguishes "mingled people" (`erebh) from "Arabia" (`arabh); in the unvocalized text both words are equally `-r-b. Now "the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mingled people, and of the governors of the country" is very awkward, and the correction into "Arabia," as in the Massoretic Text (and English Versions of the Bible) of the parallel 2 Chronicles 9:14, is indicated. Probably the same change should be made in Ezekiel 30:5, reading "Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and Arabia, and Cub." A similar textual confusion seems to be responsible for either "and all the kings of Arabia" or "and all the kings of the mingled people" in Jeremiah 25:24. On all these verses see the commentaries.

(2) In Jeremiah 25:20; Jeremiah 50:37, "mingled people" is a term of contempt for the hybrid blood of certain of Israel's enemies. Something of this same contempt may be contained in Exodus 12:38, where a multitude of non-Israelite camp-followers are mentioned as accompanying the children of Israel in the exodus, and in Numbers 11:4 it is this motley body that seduced Israel to sin. But who they were, why they wished or were permitted to join in the exodus, and what eventually became of them or of their descendants is a very perplexing puzzle. In Nehemiah 13:3, the "mixed multitude" consists of the inhabitants of Palestine whom the Jews found there after the return from the exile (see SAMARIA). In accord with the command of Deuteronomy 23:3-5, the Jews withdrew from all religious intercourse whatever had been established with these.

NOTE.-The Hebrew noun for "mingled people" may or may not be connected with the verb translated "mingle" in Ezra 9:2 Psalm 106:35 Daniel 2:43. On this see the lexicons.

Burton Scott Easton

PEOPLE

pe'-p'-l: In English Versions of the Bible represents something over a dozen Hebrew and Greek words. Of these, in the Old Testament, `am, is overwhelmingly the most common (about 2,000 times), with le'om, and goy, next in order; but the various Hebrew words are used with very little or no difference in force (e.g. Proverbs 14:28; but, on the other hand, in Psalm 44 contrast verses 12 and 14). Of the changes introduced by the Revised Version (British and American) the only one of significance (cited explicitly in the Preface to the English Revised Version) is the frequent use of the plural "peoples" (strangely avoided in the King James Version except Revelation 10:11; Revelation 17:15), where other nations than Israel are in question. So, for instance, in Psalm 67:4 Isaiah 55:4; Isaiah 60:2, with the contrast marked in Psalm 33:10 and 12; Psalm 77:14 and 15, etc. In the New Testament, laos, is the most common word, with ochlos, used almost as often in the King James Version. But in the Revised Version (British and American) the latter word is almost always rendered "multitude," "people" being retained only in Luke 7:12 Acts 11:24, 26; Acts 19:26, and in the fixed phrase "the common people" (ho polus ochlos) in Mark 12:37 John 12:9, 12 margin (the retention of "people" would have been better in John 11:42, also), with "crowd" (Matthew 9:23, 25 Acts 21:35). The only special use of "people" that calls for attention is the phrase "people of the land." This may mean simply "inhabitants," as Ezekiel 12:19; Ezekiel 33:2; Ezekiel 39:13; but in 2 Kings 11:14, etc., and the parallel in 2 Chronicles, it means the people as contrasted with the king, while in Jeremiah 1:18, etc., and in Ezekiel 7:27; Ezekiel 22:29; Ezekiel 46:3, 9, it means the common people as distinguished from the priests and the aristocracy. A different usage is that for the heathen (Genesis 23:7, 12, 13 Numbers 14:9) or half-heathen (Ezra 9:1, 2; Ezra 10:2, 11 Nehemiah 10:28-31) inhabitants of Palestine. From this last use, the phrase came to be applied by some rabbis to even pure-blooded Jews, if they neglected the observance of the rabbinic traditions (compare John 7:49 the King James Version). For "people of the East" see CHILDREN OF THE EAST.

Burton Scott Easton