Jeremiah Dixon

Jeremiah Dixon FRS (27 July 1733 – 22 January 1779) was an English surveyor and astronomer who is best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason-Dixon line.

Dixon was born in Cockfield, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, in 1733, the fifth of seven children, to Sir George Fenwick Dixon 5th Bt. and Lady Mary Hunter. His father was a wealthy Quaker coal mine owner of the Northumberland Landed Gentry. His great grandfather was Robertus Dixon. His mother came from Newcastle, and was said to have been "the cleverest woman" to ever marry into the Dixon family. Dixon became interested in astronomy and mathematics during his education at Barnard Castle. Early in life he made acquaintances with the eminent intellectuals of Southern Durham: mathematician William Emerson, and astronomers John Bird and Thomas Wright. In all probability it was John Bird, who was an active Fellow of the Royal Society, who recommended Dixon as a suitable companion to accompany Mason.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah (/dʒɛrᵻˈmaɪ.ə/;Hebrew: יִרְמְיָהוּ, Modern: Yirmeyahu  [jiʁmeˈjahu], Tiberian: Yirmĭyāhū; Greek: Ἰερεμίας; Arabic: إرميا‎ Irmiyā) meaning "Yah Exalts", also called the "Weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament). Jeremiah is traditionally credited with authoring the Book of Jeremiah, 1 Kings, 2 Kings and the Book of Lamentations, with the assistance and under the editorship of Baruch ben Neriah, his scribe and disciple.

Judaism considers the Book of Jeremiah part of its canon, and regards Jeremiah as the second of the major prophets. Christianity also regards Jeremiah as a prophet and he is quoted in the New Testament.Islam too considers Jeremiah a prophet, and he is listed as a major prophet in Ibn Kathir's Qisas Al-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets).

About a year after King Josiah of Judah had turned the nation toward repentance from the widespread idolatrous practices of his father and grandfather, Jeremiah's sole purpose was to reveal the sins of the people and explain the reason for the impending disaster (destruction by the Babylonian army and captivity), "And when your people say, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'" God's personal message to Jeremiah, "Attack you they will, overcome you they can't," was fulfilled many times in the Biblical narrative: Jeremiah was attacked by his own brothers, beaten and put into the stocks by a priest and false prophet, imprisoned by the king, threatened with death, thrown into a cistern by Judah's officials, and opposed by a false prophet. When Nebuchadnezzar seized Jerusalem in 586 BC, he ordered that Jeremiah be freed from prison and treated well.

Jeremiah (I)

R. Jeremiah (Hebrew: רבי ירמיה) was a Tanna sage of the last generation and an Amora sage of the first generation, active in the Land of Israel during the transition period between the Tannaic and Amora sages eras. In Tractate Sukkah it is storied that that one of his pupils was a sage called Hezekiah, R. Rabbi Yehudah be-Rabbi Kalonymus mi-Speyer, the author of Sefer Yiḥusei Tanna'im ve-Amora'im, raises the question whether it was Hezekiah the son of R. Hiyya or whether it was Hezekiah the son of the daughter of Rab.

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Jeremiah (III)

R. Yirmeyah (or R. Jeremiah (iii) or Jeremiah ben Abba;Hebrew: רבי ירמיה‎, read as Rabbi Yirmeyah) was a prominent Jewish Amora sage of the Land of Israel, of the fourth generation of the Amora era (4th century). He was born in Babylon and made Aliyah to the Land of Israel while he was still young. In The Land of Israel he learned under R. Yochanan bar Nafcha's disciples, mainly under Rav Zeira. He stood out with his many questions, many of which that were left unanswered. In the Talmud it is storied that he was once ejected from a Beth Midrash because of his questions concerning border line cases that required accuracy on determining the exact definition of the border line. His exceptional questions gained publicity, and some use the phrase a Jeremiah question to refer to rare or out of the ordinary questions. After he was taken out of the Beth Midrash, the prominent sages of the generation sent him Halakhahic questions, and his answers made them decide to return him back to the Beth Midrash. Yirmeyah was known for his love of the Land of Israel, and used to denounce the Babylonians. His Beth Midrash was located in Tiberias.