249 S. I. Curtiss, _op. cit._ p. 152. As to these “holy men,” see further C. R. Conder, _Tent-work in Palestine_ (London, 1878), ii. 231 _sq._: “The most peculiar class of men in the country is that of the Derwîshes, or sacred personages, who wander from village to village, performing tricks, living on alms, and enjoying certain social and domestic privileges, which very often lead to scandalous scenes. Some of these men are mad, some are fanatics, but the majority are, I imagine, rogues. They are reverenced not only by the peasantry, but also sometimes by the governing class. I have seen the Kady of Nazareth ostentatiously preparing food for a miserable and filthy beggar, who sat in the justice-hall, and was consulted as if he had been inspired. A Derwîsh of peculiar eminence is often dressed in good clothes, with a spotless turban, and is preceded by a banner-bearer, and followed by a band, with drum, cymbal, and tambourine.... It is natural to reflect whether the social position of the Prophets among the Jews may not have resembled that of the Derwîshes.” M59 The licence accorded to such “holy men” may be explained by the desire of women for offspring. 250 S. I. Curtiss, _op. cit._ pp. 116 _sq._ 251 S. I. Curtiss, _op. cit._ pp. 118, 119. In India also some Mohammedan saints are noted as givers of children. Thus at Fatepur-Sikri, near Agra, is the grave of Salim Chishti, and childless women tie rags to the delicate tracery of the tomb, “thus bringing them into direct communion with the spirit of the holy man” (W. Crooke, _Natives of Northern India_, London, 1907, p. 203). M60 Belief that men and women may be the offspring of a god. 252 1 Samuel i. 253 Genesis vi. 1-3. In this passage “the sons of God (or rather of the gods)” probably means, in accordance with a common Hebrew idiom, no more than “the gods,” just as the phrase “sons of the prophets” means the prophets themselves. For more examples of this idiom, see Brown, Driver, and Briggs, _Hebrew and English Lexicon_, p. 121. 254 For example, all Hebrew names ending in _-el_ or _-iah_ are compounds of El or Yahwe, two names of the divinity. See G. B. Gray, _Studies in Hebrew Proper Names_ (London, 1896), pp. 149 _sqq._ 255 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, _Hebrew and English Lexicon_, p. 1028. But compare _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. 3285, iv. 4452. 256 A trace of a similar belief perhaps survives in the narratives of Genesis xxxi. and Judges xiii., where barren women are represented as conceiving children after the visit of God, or of an angel of God, in the likeness of a man. 257 J. Spieth, _Die Ewe-Stämme_ (Berlin, 1906), pp. 446, 448-450.