Ranges

This is an article from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. This article is written from a nineteenth century Christian viewpoint, and may not reflect modern opinions or recent discoveries in Biblical scholarship. Please help the Wikipedia by bringing this article up to date.

Ranges - (1.) Lev. 11:35. Probably a cooking furnace for two or more pots, as the Hebrew word here is in the dual number; or perhaps a fire-place fitted to receive a pair of ovens.

(2.) 2 Kings 11:8. A Hebrew word is here used different from the preceding, meaning "ranks of soldiers." The Levites were appointed to guard the king's person within the temple (2 Chr. 23:7), while the soldiers were his guard in the court, and in going from the temple to the palace. The soldiers are here commanded to slay any one who should break through the "ranks" (as rendered in the R.V.) to come near the king. In 2 Kings 11:15 the expression, "Have her forth without the ranges," is in the Revised Version, "Have her forth between the ranks;" i.e., Jehoiada[?] orders that Athaliah[?] should be kept surrounded by his own guards, and at the same time conveyed beyond the precincts of the temple.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)