SAfi
&
SAB
SA Confonanr, and the Eighteenth Letter of the Alphabet. 'Tis accounted one of the four hiffing Confbnants; the other three being Z, ^ J, and Cfel. 'Tis al(b held a Semi-vowel, as forming a kind of imperfect Sound without the Afliftance of any Vowel. Some of the Ancients a- voided all Ufe of the S very ftudiouflyj particularly 'Pindar, who fcarce has it once in all his Verfes. And hence alfb in 'Plautus, and ibme others of the Latin Po- ets, we find it cut abruptly off, as in dignu\ omnibu\ &c. Others, on the contrary, affected the Die of it every where, inferring it where 'twas not wanted ; as Caimence for Camen<c, duimofe for dumofte, cgina for c<ena, &c. Of all others, 'tis the neareft a-kin to the r; whence it was frequently changed, by reafon of its difagreeable Sound, into r. Thus the Valerii, Furii, ckc. were at firft call'd Valefti* Fufii, &c. and what we now call ara, arena, car- men, ferice, lares, Sec, were anciently wrote aid, a^ena, caftnen, fm<e, lafes. Add to this, that the Latin Nouns now terminated in or, as arbor, labor, &c. anciently end- ed in s, as arbos, labos, &c. In the Inflections, 'tis va- rioufly changed; Sometimes into rs, as flos, fiotis, fbme- times into 11, as favguh fanguhh, fbmetimes into d, as fes pedis ; fometimes into t, as Nepos Neftotis. On the contrary, in Verbs, 'tis frequently put for other Letters, fotb, as in jubeo jttsfl$ fore, as in farco fani-^ for d, as in lu&o kisi; forg, as in fpargo fparsi, &c. The La- tins frequently changed the Greek s into /, as Atvi$a,s Annibal-j into d, as ^ww medium, &c. The double s was frequently changed into x, as m<r<ra. ftx ; and ibme- times even the fingle one, as "Aim Ajax. The old and the new Orthography of the French, differ chiefly on the Ufe of the 5; the latter omitting it in writing where 'tis not heard in the Pronunciation, and the former retaining it ; thus the Followers of the one, particularly the Academy in their Dictionary, write tempefte, huiftre, ftufte ; thole of the other, terafiete, huitre, flute, &c.
The S was a Numerical Letter among the Ancients, fignifying Seven : according to the Verfe,
S Veto feptenos ?mmeratos jignificabit.
In Books of Navigation, &c. S. fignifies South, S. E. South- Baft, S. W. South-Weft, S. S. E. South South-Baft, &c. See Wind. S. A. is frequently ufed in Medicinal Prefcription as an Abbrevation of Secundum Artem, Accor - ding to the Rules of Art. Sometimes it alfb {lands for Socilis, Fellow, Member, and fbmetimes for Societal, as R. S. S. Regies Sccietatis Socius, Fellow of the Royal Society.
SAJLEANS, a Seel of Idolaters, much ancienter than Mofes and the Jewijjj Law, call'd alio Sabians, Sabaites, Zab<eans, tffabttans, &c. See Sabaism. The Sabaans were very numerous throughout the Eaft. In later Times they have mixed fbmething of Chriftianity with their Su- pervision. They let a great Value on the Baptifm of St. Joisn; whence they have been alfo denominated Chri- ftians of St. John. Some, indeed, doubt whether the Sa- bdans be the fame with the Chriftians of St. John ; but Father Angeh de St.Jofeph, ^Carmelite Miffionary, and Maraci, in his Notes on the Alcoran, aflert it exprefly. Be this as it will, Mahomet, in his Alcoran, and the Ara- bian Authors fince him, make frequent mention of them. Seidavius, in his Comment on the Alcoran, makes them a kind of Mean between the Chriftians and the Magu- fians, who are the Followers of the Magi, among the 'Per- Jians. He adds, That they pretend to be of the Religion dNoah, and Keffeus .- That they pretend to be in PofTeffi- on of the Books of Seth and Enoch ; though they own none of the Books of Scripture. Some charge them with worfhipping the Stars, and others the Angels, or ^Demons. Maimonides attributes both to them 5 as is obferved under the Article Sabaifm.
Abu JofephAfcheus, and Kejfieus place the Sabaans about Charan, or Charres, and Ghezira i n Mefopotamia ; wh i ch Op i- nion is confirmed by this that their Books are in the Chaldee Tongue, tho' in a Character very different from the Chal- dee. Hottinger lets afide the common Derivation of Sa- ltan from ansr Militia, H0J1 fj and will not have it the Mame of a Seel of Religion, but of a People in Arabia Felix, the Defendants of Saba, Grand-fon of Cham. But the Criticks, to a Man, cenfpire againft this Opinion.
SABAISM, a Kind of Idolatry very ancient; the firft that ever entered into the World. Sabaifm confifted in the Worfhip and Adoration of the Stars, as the Scrip- tures call n^ou; fco* 2fihtf Schamaim, or Seba Scha-
maim, Hoft or Militia of the Heavens ; whence iforafc of the Moderns have formed the Word Sabaifm for the Worfhip of the heavenly Bodies, and Sabmns for the Worfhippers. But as the Hebrew Word, whence thefe are form'd, is wrote with a a- Tzade, which fome exprels in the modern Tongues by an s, fome by a z, others by ts\ and others by tz ; hence arifes a great many different Manners of writing the Word, among different Authors. Some writing it SabccanS, others Zabiens, or Zabaans 7 or zabdifts, as Suxtorf, others Tfabians, and others. Tj'abteans. Maimonides makes frequent mention of this Idolatry in his More Nebuihin: 'twas very gene- ral, he obferves, in the Time of Mofes. The Re- tainers htreto taught, That God was the Spirit of the Sphere, that is the Soul of the World 3 Abraham, he adds; was brought up in the Doclrme of the Sabaans, who admitted no other Gods but the Stars, and who in their Books, many of which have been translated into Arabic^ maintain exprefly, That the fixed Stars and Planets, are inferior Gods, and the Sun and Moon the fuperior ones. Abraham at length, he tells us, oppofing thefe Errors, firft afferted the Exiflence of a Creator diftincl from the Sun. The King of the Cuthaans clapt him up in Prifbn} but he ftill perfifting, that Prince, from an Apprehenfiori of his difturbing the State by teaching a new Religion; confiscated his Goods, and banifhed him to the Extre- mities of the Eaft. This Relation, he tells us, is found in a Book intitled, rrtosan rqiDyn, the Religion of the Nabathieans. And adds further, That theSabtcans, to the Adoration of the Stars, joined a great RefpecT: for Agri- culture -j fet a great Value on Cattle and Sheep ; and taught, That it was unlawful to kill them. He even adds; That they worfhipp'd Demons, under the Form of GoatSj and eat the Blood of Animals, (tho 1 they judged it un- clean,) merely becaufe they imagined it was the Food of Demons. This is an Abridgment of what that Rabbin gives us of Sabaifm j from whence, 'tis eafy judging of what fome People tell us, that Sabaifm is a Mixture of Judaifm, Chriftianity, Mahomet anifm, and 'Pagamfm. The Truth is, The Worfhip of the Stars was eitablifhed long before not only Chriftianity, but even before the Law of Mofes. Indeed fome of the latter Sabmns have given into fome Articles of almoft all Religions. See Sab^ans.
SABATHIANS, a Sea of Hereticks thus called from Sabathius, their Leader, who lived under Xicclepan, was firft a Jew, then converted, and made a Prieft by Mar- dan j but afterwards left the Se£t of Marcianites, on Account of the Celebration of Eafter-, wheh he would have on the Fourteenth Day of the Moon; whence he, and his Adherents were called ghiartodecimans ; Which fee. The S bathians are recorded by Eccle- fiaftical Hiftorians, as having a great Abhorrence of the" Left hand; fb as to make it a Point of Religion, not to receive any Thing therewith. This Cuftom, which is now become a Piece of Manners among us, was then efteemed fb fingular, that the Sabathians "were thence de- nominated Arifteri, q. d. Siniftri, left-handed.
SABBATARIANS, a Seel of Anabaptifts, in the XVIth Century ; thus called, becaufe they held the Jeiv- ip or Saturday- Sabbath ; from a Perfuafion that it was never abrogated in the New Teftament by \ the Instituti- on of any other. See Anabaptist.
SABBATH, the Seventh Day of the Week, held as a Feaft among the Je-ivs, in Memory of God's refling on the Seventh Day of the Creation. See Week. The Word is pure Hebrew, and fignifies Ceffatipn or Reft. Thilo calls it, Ta wry* yiviaiov, The World s Birth-day. 'Twas appoint- ed from the Beginning by God himfelf, Gen. ii. 2, 3. and by him let apart for the Commemoration of the great Work of the Creation ; and when it had fallen into Ne- glecl after the Flood, was re-eltabliflied by him, upon his fettling the Je-wiftj Polity after the Return out q$ Egypt. The Chriftians alfo apply it, by Exteni-on, to the firft Day of the Week, popularly called Sunday, or Zcrfs- Days as inftituted by the Apoftles to take Place of the Jewip Sabbath, and by us obferved in Remembrance, not of the Creation, but of the Work of Redemption, be- ing compleated by our Saviour's Refurreclion on that Day. The Jews had alfb their Sabatick-Tear, which was every Seventh Year; Wherein they were obliged to fet their Slaves at Liberty, and to let their Lands lie idle.
Thole who difpute the Divine Appoiurment of a Chri-
ftian Sabbath, yet allow the Moral Necefllty thereof, as a
wife Defignation of Time for the recruiting of our Bodies,
and at the fame Time, keeping up a Senfc of the great
[A} Benefits
