PREVIOUS CHAPTER - NEXT CHAPTER - HELP - GR VIDEOS - GR YOUTUBE - TWITTER - SD1 YOUTUBE To the Students of the Words, Works and Ways of God: P PAARAI <pa’-a-ri > ([ yr”[\P” , pa`aray ], “devotee of Peor”): One of David’s valiant men ( 2 Samuel 23:35). Doubtless the “Naarai” of Chronicles 11:37. PACATIANA <pa-ka-ti-a’-na > , <pak-a-ti’-a-na > ([ Pakatianh>, Pakatiane ]): About 295 AD, when the province of Asia was broken up, two new provinces were formed, Phrygia Prima (Pacatiana), of which Laodicea was “the chiefest city” (subscription to 1 Timothy the King James Version), and Phrygia Secunda (Salutaris). See PHRYGIA, and HDB, III, 865. PACE <pas > ([ d[“x” , tsa`adh ]): A step in 2 Samuel 6:13, hence, about one yard. PACHON <pa’-kon > ([ Pacw>n, Pachon ]): The name of a month mentioned in Macc 6:38. PADDAN <pad’-an > ( Genesis 48:7; the King James Version Padan, padan). See next article. PADDAN-ARAM <pad’-an-a’-ram > or <p.-ar’-am > ([ µr;a\ ˆD”P” , paddan ‘aram ]; Septuagint [ Mesopotami>a th~v Suri>av, Mesopotamia tes Surias ]; the King James Version Padan-aram): In Genesis 48:7, Paddan stands alone, but as the Septuagint, Sam, and Peshitta read “Aram” also, it must in this verse have dropped out of the Massoretic Text. In the time of Abraham, padanu occurs on the Babylonian contract-tablets as a land measure, to which we may compare the Arabic feddan or “ox-gang.” In the Assyrian syllabaries it is the equivalent of iklu, “a field,” so that Paddanaram would mean “the field of Aram,” and with this we may compare Hosea 12:12 (Hebrew 12:13) and the use of the Hebrew sadheh in connection with Moab and Edom ( Judges 5:4; Ruth 1:6). Furthermore, padanu and harranu are given as synonyms with the meaning of “road.” Paddan-aram occurs only in the Priestly Code (P), but it corresponds to the “Haran” of the older documents. The versions agree in translating both as Mesopotamia, and identify with the home of the patriarchs and the scene of Jacob’s exile the district of Haran to the East of the Upper Euphrates valley. More in harmony with the length of Jacob’s flight, as indicated by the time given ( Genesis 31:22,23), is Harran-el-`Awamid, an ancient site 10 miles to the East of Damascus, which satisfies all the demands of history. See ARAM. W .M. Christie PADDLE <pad’-’-l > ([ dtey; , yathedh ]): Deuteronomy 23:13 (Hebrew 14), the Revised Version margin “shovel.” PADON <pa’-don > ([ ˆwOdP; , padhon ], “redemption”): One of the Nethinim ( see NETHINIM) who returned with Zerubbabel ( Ezra 2:44; Nehemiah 7:47); the “Phaleas” of 1 Esdras 5:29 (margin “Padon”). PAGIEL <pa’-gi-el > , <pa’-ji-el > , <pa-gi’-el > ([ laey[ig]P” , pagh`i’el ], “God’s intervention”): Son of Ocran, of the tribe of Asher, among those enrolled by Moses at the numbering of Israel ( Numbers 1:13; 2:27). When the tabernacle was set up, the heads of the families of Israel “brought their offerings” in rotation, and Pagiel, as prince of his tribe, came on the 11th day ( Numbers 7:72). Numbers 7:72-77 describes his offering. In the journeyings of Israel he was “over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher” ( Numbers 10:26), and possibly standard-bearer (compare Numbers 10:14,22,25). Henry Wallace PAHATH-MOAB <pa’-hath-mo’-ab > ([ ba;wOmAtj”P” , pachath mo’abh ], “sheik of Moab”; in I Esdras 5:11; 8:31, “Phaath Moab”): A Jewish clan probably named after an ancestor of the above title. Part of the clan returned with Zerubbabel ( Ezra 2:6; compare Nehemiah 7:11) under two family names, Jeshua and Joab; and a part came back with Ezra ( Ezra 8:4). Hashub, a “son of Pahath-moab,” is named among the repairers of both the wall and the “tower of the furnaces” at Jerusalem ( Nehemiah 3:11). It is the name of one of the signatories “sealing” the “sure covenant” of Nehemiah 9:38 ( Nehemiah 10:14). Some of the sons of this name had taken “strange wives” ( Ezra 10:30) Henry Wallace PAI <pa’-i > ([ y[iP; , pa`i ]; [ Fogw>r, Phogor ]): The royal city of Hadad or Hadar, king of Edom ( 1 Chronicles 1:50). The name is given as “Pau” ([ W[P; , pa`u ]) in Genesis 36:39. There is no indication of its position. It is not identified. PAIN <pan > ([ lWj , chul ], [ lyji , chil ], [ lb,je , chebhel ], [ hl;j; , chalah ], [ hl;j;l]j” , chalchalah ], [ baeK; , ka’-ebh ], [ baeK] , ke’ebh ], [ rx”me , metsar ], [ baok]m” , makh’obh ], [ lm;[; , `amal ], [ ryxi , tsir ]; [basani>zw, basanizo ], [po>nov, ponos ], [wjdi>n, odin ]): These words signifying various forms of bodily or mental suffering are generally translated “pain”; 28 out of the 34 passages in which the word is used are in the poetical or prophetical books and refer to conditions of mental disquiet or dismay due to the punishment of personal or national sin. There is only one instance where the word is used as a historic record of personal physical pain: the case of the wife of Phinehas ( 1 Samuel 4:19), but the same word tsir is used figuratively in Isaiah 13:8; 21:3; Daniel 10:16, and translated “pangs” or “sorrows.” In other passages where we have the same comparison of consternation in the presence of God’s judgments to the pangs of childbirth, the word used is chebhel , as in Isaiah 66:7; Jeremiah 13:21; 22:23; 49:24. In some of these and similar passages several synonyms are used in the one verse to intensify the impression, and are translated “pain,” “pangs,” and “sorrows,” as in Isaiah 13:8. The word most commonly used by the prophets is some form of chul or chil , sometimes with the addition “as of a woman in travail,” as in Psalm 48:6; Isaiah 26:18; Jeremiah 6:24; 22:23; Micah 4:10. This pain is referred to the heart ( Psalm 55:4) or to the head ( Jeremiah 30:23; compare 30:5,6). In Ezekiel 30:4, it is the penal affliction of Ethiopia, and in 30:16, the King James Version “Sin (Tanis) shall have great pain” (the Revised Version (British and American) “anguish”); in Isaiah 23:5 Egypt is sorely pained at the news of the fall of Tyre. Before the invading host of locusts the people are much pained ( Joel 2:6 the King James Version). Pain in the sense of toil and trouble in Jeremiah 12:13 is the translation of chalah a word more frequently rendered grieving or sickness, as in 1 Kings 14:1; Proverbs 23:35; Song of Solomon 2:5; Jeremiah 5:3. The reduplicated form chalchalah is especially used of a twisting pain usually referred to the loins ( Isaiah 21:3; Ezekiel 30:4,9; Nahum 2:10). Pain in the original meaning of the word (as it has come down to us through the Old French from the Latin poena) as a penalty inflicted for personal sin is expressed by the words ka’ebh or ke’abh in Job 14:22; 15:20, and in the questioning complaint of the prophet ( Jeremiah 15:18). As a judgment on personal sin pain is also expressed by makh’obh in Job 33:19; Jeremiah 51:8, but this word is used in the sense of afflictions in Isaiah 53:3 in the expression “man of sorrows.” The Psalmist ( Psalm 25:18) praying for deliverance from the afflictions which weighed heavily on him in turn uses the word `amal, and this word which primarily means “toil” or “labor,” as in Ecclesiastes 1:3, or “travail” as in Isaiah 53:11, is translated “painful” in Psalm 73:16, as expressing Asaph’s disquiet due to his misunderstanding of the ways of Providence. The “pains of hell” ( <19B603> Psalm 116:3 the King James Version), which got hold of the Psalmist in his sickness, is the rendering of the word metsar; the same word is translated “distress” in <19B805> Psalm 118:5. Most of these words have a primary physical meaning of twisting, rubbing or constricting. In the New Testament, odin is translated “pain” (of death, the Revised Version (British and American) “pang”) in Acts 2:24. This word is used to express any severe pain, such as that of travail, or (as in Aeschylus, Choephori, 211) the pain of intense apprehension. The verb from this, odunomai, is used by the Rich Man in the parable to describe his torment (the Revised Version (British and American) “anguish”) ( Luke 16:24). The related verb sunodino is used in Romans 8:22 and is translated “travailing in pain together.” In much the same sense, the word is used by Euripides (Helena, 727). In Revelation 12:2 the woman clothed with the sun (basanizomene ) was in pain to be delivered; the verb (basanizo ) which means “to torture” is used both in Matthew 8:6 in the account of the grievously tormented centurion’s servant, and in the description of the laboring of the apostles’ boat on the stormy Sea of Galilee ( Matthew 14:24). The former of these seems to have been a case of spinal meningitis. This verb occurs in Thucydides vii.86 (viii.92), where it means “being put to torture.” In the two passages in Revelation where pain is mentioned the word is ponos , the pain which affected those on whom the fifth vial was poured (16:10), and in the description of the City of God where there is no more pain (21:4). The primary meaning of this word seems to be “toil,” as in Iliad xxi.525, but it is used by Hippocrates to express disease (Aphorisma iv.44). Alexander Macalister PAINFULNESS <pan’-fool-nes > ([mo>cqov, mochthos ]): In the summary of his missionary labors in 2 Corinthians 11:27 the King James Version, Paul uses this word. The Revised Version (British and American) renders it “travail,” which probably now expresses its meaning more closely, as in modern usage “painfulness” is usually restricted to the condition of actual soreness or suffering, although we still use “painstaking” in the sense of careful labor. The Greek word is used for toil or excessive anxiety, as in Euripides (Medea , 126), where it refers to that care for her children which she had lost in her madness. Tyndale uses “painfulness” in 1 John 4:18 as the translation of [ko>lasiv, kolasis ], which the King James Version renders “torment” and the Revised Version (British and American) “punishment.” Alexander Macalister PAINT <pant > (from Old French peinctre, frequentative of peindre, Latin pingo, “to paint”): (1) From Hebrew verb [ jv”m; , mashach ], “to smear,” “to anoint,” “to paint,” describing the painting of interiors with vermilion, perhaps resembling lacquer: “ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion” ( Jeremiah 22:14). The shields of the Ninevite soldiers were red, presumably painted ( Nahum 2:3). (2) From noun [ ËWP, pukh ], “paint,” “antimon,” “stibium,” “black mineral powder” used as a cosmetic, to lend artificial size and fancied beauty to the eye, always spoken of as a meretricious device, indicating light or unworthy character. Jezebel “painted her eyes, and attired her head” ( Kings 9:30, literally, “put pukh into her eyes”). To the harlot city Jerusalem, Jeremiah (4:30) says, “deckest thee ...., enlargest thine eyes with paint” (pukh ). the King James Version renders “rentest thy face,” as if the stain were a cut, or the enlarging done by violence. (3) From verb [ lj”K; , kachal ], “to smear,” “to paint.” Ezekiel says to Oholah-Oholibah (Judah-Israel), “didst wash thyself, paint (kachal ) thine eyes,” as the adulteress prepares herself for her paramour ( Ezekiel 23:40). The antimony, in an extremely fine powder (Arabic kuchl , from kachal ), is placed in the eye by means of a very fine rod, bodkin, or probe, drawn between the edges of the eyelids. This distends the eye, and also increases its apparent size, the effect being increased by a line of stain drawn from the corner, and by a similar line prolonging the eyebrow. See EYEPAINT; COLOR. Philip Wendell Crannell PAINTING <pan’-ting > . See CRAFTS, II, 12. PAIR <par > : The margin of Song of Solomon 4:2 (but not of the parallel 6:6) reads, “which are all of them in pairs,” while the text has, “whereof every one hath twins.” The Hebrew [ twOmyait]m” , math’imoth ], is from the root, ta’am , “to be double,” and is perhaps susceptible of either meaning. But the description is of sheep, and the margin gives no comprehensible figure, while the text points to the exceedingly sleek and healthy appearance. “Pairs” seems to result from confusing the figure with the thing figured — the teeth, where each upper is paired with the corresponding lower. PALACE <pal’-as > : In Hebrew chiefly [ ˆwOmr]a” , ‘armon ], in the Revised Version (British and American) text translated “castle” in 1 Kings 16:18; Kings 15:25; [ hr;yBi , birah ], [ lK;he , hekhal ], the same word often rendered “temple”; in Greek [aujlh>, aule ], in the Revised Version (British and American) translated “court” ( Matthew 26:3,18,69; Mark 14:54,66; Luke 11:21; John 18:15). On the other hand, “palace” takes the place in the Revised Version (British and American) of the King James Version “common hall” or “judgment hall” (praitorion , Matthew 27:27; John 18:28,33; 19:9; Acts 23:35). See JUDGMENT, HALL OF. A description of Solomon’s palace is given in 1 Kings 7:1-12 ( see TEMPLE). Archaeology has brought to light the remains of great palaces in Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria (Sargon, Sennacherib, Assurbanipal, etc.), Susa, etc. See HOUSE. James Orr PALAESTRA, PALESTRA <pa-les’-tra > . See GAMES, II, 3, (i). PALAL <pa’-lal > ([ ll;P; , palal ], “judge”): Son of Uzai, and one of the repairers of the wall ( Nehemiah 3:25). PALANQUIN <pal-an-ken’ > : In Song of Solomon 3:9 occurs [ ˆwOyr]Pia” , ‘appiryon ], a word that has no Semitic cognates and is of dubious meaning. In form, however, it resembles the Sanskrit paryanka , and still more closely the Greek [forei~on, phoreion ], both of which mean “litter bed.” Hence, the Revised Version (British and American) “palanquin” (ultimately derived from paryanka ). The margin “car of state” and the King James Version “chariot” are mere guesses. PALESTINA <pal-es-ti’-na > ([ tv,l,P] , pelesheth ]): Exodus 15:14; Isaiah 14:29,31 the King James Version; changed in the Revised Version (British and American) to PHILISTIA (which see). PALESTINE <pal’-es-tin > ([ tv,l,P] , pelesheth ]; [ Fulistiei>m, Phulistieim ], [ jAllo>fuloi, Allophuloi ]; the King James Version Joel 3:4 (the Revised Version (British and American) “Philistia”), “Palestina”; the King James Version Exodus 15:14; Isaiah 14:29,31; compare Psalm 60:8; 83:7; 87:4; 108:9): The word properly means “Philistia,” but appears to be first used in the extended sense, as meaning all the “Land of Israel” or “Holy Land” ( Zechariah 2:12), by Philo and by Ovid and later Roman authors (Reland, Palestine Illustr., I, 38-42). 1. PHYSICAL CONDITIONS. The Bible in general may be said to breathe air of Palestine; and it is here intended to show how important for sound criticism is the consideration of its geography, and of the numerous incidental allusions to the natural features, fauna, flora, cultivation, and climate of the land in which most of the Bible books were written. With the later history and topography of Palestine, after 70 AD, we are not here concerned, but a short account of its present physical and geological conditions is needed for our purpose. 1. General Geographical Features: Palestine West of the Jordan, between Daniel and Beersheba, has an area of about 6,000 square miles, the length from Hermon southward being nearly 150 miles, and the width gradually increasing from 20 miles on the North to 60 miles on the South. It is thus about the size of Wales, and the height of the Palestinian mountains is about the same as that of the Welsh. East of the Jordan an area of about 4,000 square miles was included in the land of Israel. The general geographical features are familiar to all. (1) The land is divided by the deep chasm of the Jordan valley — an ancient geological fault continuing in the Dead Sea, where its depth (at the bottom of the lake) is 2,600 ft. below the Mediterranean. (2) West of the valley the mountain ridge, which is a continuation of Lebanon, has very steep slopes on the East and long spurs on the West, on which side the foothills (Hebrew [shephelah] or “lowland”) form a distinct district, widening gradually southward, while between this region and the sea the plains of Sharon and Philistia stretch to the sandhills and low cliffs of a harborless coast. (3) In Upper Galilee, on the North, the mountain ridge rises to 4,000 ft. above the Mediterranean. Lower Galilee, to the South, includes rounded hills less than 1,000 ft. above the sea, and the triangular plain of Esdraelon drained by the River Kishon between the Gilboa watershed on the East and the long spur of Carmel on the West. (4) In Samaria the mountains are extremely rugged, but a small plain near Dothan adjoins that of Esdraelon, and another stretches East of Shechem, 2,500 ft. above the level of the Jordan valley. In Judea the main ridge rises toward Hebron and then sinks to the level of the Beersheba plains about 1,000 ft. above the sea. The desert of Judah forms a plateau (500 ft. above sea-level), between this ridge and the Dead Sea, and is throughout barren and waterless; but the mountains — which average about 3,000 ft. above the sea — are full of good springs and suitable for the cultivation of the vine, fig and olive. The richest lands are found in the shephelah region — especially in Judea — and in the corn plains of Esdraelon, Sharon, and Philistia. (5) East of the Jordan the plateau of Bashan (averaging 1,500 ft. above the sea) is also a fine corn country. South of this, Gilead presents a mountain region rising to 3,600 ft. above sea-level at Jebel Osha`, and sloping gently on the East to the desert. The steep western slopes are watered by the Jabbok River, and by many perennial brooks. In North Gilead especially the wooded hills present some of the most picturesque scenery of the Holy Land. South of Gilead, the Moab plateau (about 2,700 ft. above sea-level) is now a desert, but is fitted for raising grain, and, in places, for vines. A lower shelf or plateau (about 500 to 1,000 ft. above sea-level) intervenes between the main plateau and the Dead Sea cliffs, and answers to the Desert of Judah West of the lake. 2. Water-Supply: The water-supply of Palestine is abundant, except in the desert regions above noticed, which include only a small part of its area. The Jordan runs into the Dead Sea, which has no outlet and which maintains its level solely by evaporation, being consequently very salt; the surface is nearly 1,300 ft. below the Mediterranean, whereas the Sea of Galilee (680 ft. below sealevel) is sweet and full of fish. The Jordan is fed, not only by the snows of Hermon, but by many affluent streams from both sides. There are several streams also in Sharon, including the Crocodile River under Carmel. In the mountains, where the hard dolomite limestone is on the surface, perennial springs are numerous. In the lower hills, where this limestone is covered by a softer chalky stone, the supply depends on wells and cisterns. In the Beersheba plains the water, running under the surface, is reached by scooping shallow pits — especially those near Gerar, to be noticed later. 3. Geological Conditions: The fertility and cultivation of any country depends mainly on its geological conditions. These are comparatively simple in Palestine, and have undergone no change since the age when man first appeared, or since the days of the Hebrew patriarchs. The country was first upheaved from the ocean in the Eocene age; and, in the subsequent Miocene age, the great crack in the earth’s surface occurred, which formed a narrow gulf stretching from that of the `Aqabah on the South almost to the foot of Hermon. Further upheaval, accompanied by volcanic outbreaks which covered the plateaus of Golan, Bashan, and Lower Galilee with lava, cut off the Jordan valley from the Red Sea, and formed a long lake, the bottom of which continued to sink on the South to its present level during the Pleiocene and Pluvial periods, after which — its peculiar fauna having developed meanwhile — the lake gradually dried up, till it was represented only, as it now is, by the swampy Chuleh, the pear-shaped Sea of Galilee, and the Dead Sea. These changes all occurred long ages before the appearance of man. The beds upheaved include: (1) the Nubian Sandstone (of the Greensand period), which was sheared along the line of the Jordan fault East of the river, and which only appears on the western slopes of Hermon, Gilead, and Moab; (2) the limestones of the Cretaceous age, including the hard dolomite, and softer beds full of characteristic fossils; (3) the soft Eocene limestone, which appears chiefly on the western spurs and in the foothills, the angle of upheaval being less steep than that of the older main formation. On the shores of the Mediterranean a yet later sandy limestone forms the low cliffs of Sharon. See GEOLOGY OF PALESTINE. 4. Fauna and Flora: As regards fauna, flora and cultivation, it is sufficient here to say that they are still practically the same as described throughout the Bible. The lion and the wild bull (Bos primigenius) were exterminated within historic times, but have left their bones in the Jordan gravels, and in caves. The bear has gradually retreated to Hermon and Lebanon. The buffalo has been introduced since the Moslem conquest. Among trees the apple has fallen out of cultivation since the Middle Ages, and the cactus has been introduced; but Palestine is still a land of grain, wine and oil, and famous for its fruits. Its trees, shrubs and plants are those noticed in the Bible. Its woods have been thinned in Lower Galilee and Northern Sharon, but on the other hand the copse has often grown over the site of former vineyards and villages, and there is no reason to think that any general desiccation has occurred within the last 40 centuries, such as would affect the rainfall. 5. Climate: The climate of Palestine is similar to that of other Mediterranean lands, such as Cyprus, Sicily or Southern Italy; and, in spite of the fevers of mosquito districts in the plains, it is much better than that of the Delta in Egypt, or of Mesopotamia. The summer heat is oppressive only for a few days at a time, when (espescially in May) the dry wind — deficient in ozone — blows from the eastern desert. For most of the season a moisture-laden sea breeze, rising about 10 AM, blows till the evening, and fertilizes all the western slopes of the mountains. In the bare deserts the difference between 90ø F. by day and 40ø F. by night gives a refreshing cold. With the east wind the temperature rises to 105ø F., and the nights are oppressive. In the Jordan valley, in autumn, the shade temperature reaches 120ø F. In this season mists cover the mountains and swell the grapes. In winter the snow sometimes lies for several days on the watershed ridge and on the Edomite mountains, but in summer even Hermon is sometimes quite snowless at 9,000 ft. above the sea. There is perhaps no country in which such a range of climate can be found, from the Alpine to the tropical, and none in which the range of fauna and flora is consequently so large, from the European to the African. 6. Rainfall: The rainfall of Palestine is between 20 and 30 inches annually, and the rainy season is the same as in other Mediterranean countries. The “former rains” begin with the thunderstorms of November, and the “latter rains” cease with April showers. From December to February — except in years of drought — the rains are heavy. In most years the supply is quite sufficient for purposes of cultivation. The plowing begins in autumn, and the corn is rarely spoiled by storms in summer. The fruits ripen in autumn and suffer only from the occasional appearance of locust swarms. There appears to be no reason to suppose that climate or rainfall have undergone any change since the times of the Bible; and a consideration of Bible allusions confirms this view. 7. Drought and Famine: Thus, the occurrence of drought, and of consequent famine, is mentioned in the Old Testament as occasional in all times ( Genesis 12:10; 26:2; 41:50; Leviticus 26:20; 2 Samuel 21:1; 1 Kings 8:35; Isaiah 5:6; Jeremiah 14:1; Joel 1:10-12; Haggai 1:11; Zechariah 14:17), and droughts are also noticed in the Mishna (Ta`anith, i. 4-7) as occurring in autumn, and even lasting throughout the rainy season till spring. Good rains were a blessing from God, and drought was a sign of His displeasure, in Hebrew belief ( Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24; Joel 2:23). A thunderstorm in harvest time (May) was most unusual ( 1 Samuel 12:17,18), yet such a storm does still occur as a very exceptional phenomenon. By “snow in harvest” ( Proverbs 25:13) we are not to understand a snowstorm, for it is likened to a “faithful messenger,” and the reference is to the use of snow for cooling wine, which is still usual at Damascus. The notice of fever on the shores of the Sea of Galilee ( Matthew 8:14) shows that this region was as unhealthy as it still is in summer. The decay of irrigation in Sharon may have rendered the plain more malarious than of old, but the identity of the Palestinian flora with that of the Bible indicates that the climate, generally speaking, is unchanged. 2. PALESTINE IN THE PENTATEUCH. 1. Places Visited by Abraham: The Book of Genesis is full of allusions to sites sacred to the memory of the Hebrew patriarchs. In the time of Abraham the population consisted of tribes, mainly Semitic, who came originally from Babylonia, including Canaanites (“lowlanders”) between Sidon and Gaza, and in the Jordan valley, and Amorites (“highlanders”) in the mountains ( Genesis 10:15-19; Numbers 13:29). Their language was akin to Hebrew, and it is only in Egypt that we read of an interpreter being needed ( Genesis 42:23), while excavated remains of seal-cylinders, and other objects, show that the civilization of Palestine was similar to that of Babylonia. (1) Shechem. The first place noticed is the shrine or “station” (maqom ) of Shechem, with the Elon Moreh, the Septuagint “high oak”), where Jacob afterward buried the idols of his wives, and where Joshua set up a stone by the “holy place” ( Genesis 12:6; 35:4; Joshua 24:26). Samaritan tradition showed the site near BalaTa (“the oak”) at the foot of Matthew. Gerizim. The “Canaanite was then in the land” (in Abraham’s time), but was exterminated ( Genesis 34:25) by Jacob’s sons. From Shechem Abraham journeyed southward and raised an altar between Bethel (Beitin) and Hal (Chayan), East of the town of Luz, the name of which still survives hard-by at the spring of Lozeh ( Genesis 12:8; 13:3; 28:11,19; 35:2). (2) The Negeb. But, on his return from Egypt with large flocks ( Genesis 12:16), he settled in the pastoral region, between Beersheba and the western Kadesh ( Genesis 13:1; 20:1), called in Hebrew the neghebh , “dry” country, on the edge of the cultivated lands. From East of Bethel there is a fine view of the lower Jordan valley, and here Lot “lifted up his eyes” ( Genesis 13:10), and chose the rich grass lands of that valley for his flocks. The “cities of the Plain” (kikkar ) were clearly in this valley, and Sodom must have been near the river, since Lot’s journey to Zoar ( Genesis 19:22) occupied only an hour or two ( Genesis 19:15,23) through the plain to the foot of the Moab mountains. These cities are not said to have been visible from near Hebron; but, from the hilltop East of the city, Abraham could have seen “the smoke of the land” ( Genesis 19:28) rising up. The first land owned by him was the garden of Mamre ( Genesis 13:18; 18:1; 23:19), with the cave-tomb which tradition still points out under the floor of the Hebron mosque. His tent was spread under the “oaks of Mamre” ( Genesis 18:1), where his mysterious guests rested “under the tree” ( Genesis 18:8). One aged oak still survives in the flat ground West of the city, but this tree is very uncommon in the mountains of Judah. In all these incidental touches we have evidence of the exact knowledge of Palestine which distinguishes the story of the patriarchs. (3) Campaign of Amraphel. Palestine appears to have been an outlying province of the empire of. Hammurabi, king of Babylon in Abraham’s time; and the campaign of Amraphel resembled those of later Assyrian overlords exacting tribute of petty kings. The route ( Genesis 14:5-8) lay through Bashan, Gilead and Moab to Kadesh (probably at Petra), and the return through the desert of Judah to the plains of Jericho. Thus Hebron was not attacked (see Genesis 14:13), and the pursuit by Abraham and his Amorite allies led up the Jordan valley to Daniel, and thence North of Damascus ( Genesis 14:15). The Salem whose king blessed Abraham on his return was thought by the Samaritans, and by Jerome, to be the city near the Jordan valley afterward visited by Jacob ( Genesis 14:18; 33:18). See JERUSALEM. (4) Gerar. Abraham returned to the southern plains, and “sojourned in Gerar” ( Genesis 20:1), now Umm Jerrar, 7 miles South of Gaza. The wells which he dug in this valley ( Genesis 26:15) were no doubt shallow excavations like those from which the Arabs still obtain the water flowing under the surface in the same vicinity (SWP, III, 390), though that at Beersheba ( Genesis 21:25-32), to which Isaac added another ( Genesis 26:23-25), may have been more permanent. Three masonry wells now exist at Bir es Seba`, but the masonry is modern. The planting of a “tamarisk” at this place ( Genesis 21:33) is an interesting touch, since the tree is distinctive of the dry lowlands. From Beersheba Abraham journeyed to “the land of Moriah” Septuagint “the high land”) to sacrifice Isaac ( Genesis 22:2); and the mountain, according to Hebrew tradition ( 2 Chronicles 3:1), was at Jerusalem, but according to the Samaritans was Gerizim near the Elon Moreh — a summit which could certainly have been seen “afar off” ( 2 Chronicles 3:4) on “the third day.” 2. Places Visited by Isaac: Isaac, living in the same pastoral wilderness, at the western Kadesh ( Genesis 25:11) and at Gerar ( Genesis 26:2), suffered like his father in a year of drought, and had similar difficulties with the Philistines. At Gerar he sowed grain ( Genesis 26:12), and the vicinity is still capable of such cultivation. Thence he retreated Southeast to Rehoboth (Rucheibeh), North of Kadesh, where ancient wells like those at Beersheba still exist ( Genesis 26:22). To Beersheba he finally returned ( Genesis 26:23). 3. Places Visited by Jacob: When Jacob fled to Haran from Beersheba ( Genesis 28:10) he slept at the “place” (or shrine) consecrated by Abraham’s altar near Bethel, and like any modern Arab visitor to a shrine — erected a memorial stone ( Genesis 28:18), which he renewed twenty years later ( Genesis 35:14) when God appeared to him “again” ( Genesis 35:9). (1) Haran to Succoth. His return journey from Haran to Gilead raises an interesting question. The distance is about 350 miles from Haran to the Galeed or “witness heap” ( Genesis 31:48) at Mizpah — probably Suf in North Gilead. This distance Laban is said to have covered in 7 days ( Genesis 31:23), which would be possible for a force mounted on riding camels. But the news of Jacob’s flight reached Laban on the 3rd day ( Genesis 31:22), and some time would elapse before he could gather his “brethren.” Jacob with his flocks and herds must have needed 3 weeks for the journey. It is remarkable that the vicinity of Mizpah still presents ancient monuments like the “pillar” ( Genesis 31:45) round which the “memorial cairn” (yegharsahadhutha ) was formed. From this place Jacob journeyed to Mahanaim (probably Machmah), South of the Jabbok river — a place which afterward became the capital of South Gilead ( Genesis 32:1 f; 1 Kings 4:14); but, on hearing of the advance of Esau from Edom, he retreated across the river ( Genesis 32:22) and then reached Succoth ( Genesis 33:17), believed to be Tell Der`ala, North of the stream. (2) From the Jordan to Hebron. Crossing the Jordan by one of several fords in this vicinity, Jacob approached Shechem by the perennial stream of Wady Far`ah, and camped at Shalem (Salim) on the east side of the fertile plain which stretches thence to Shechem, and here he bought land of the Hivites ( Genesis 33:18-20). We are not told that he dug a well, but the necessity for digging one in a region full of springs can only be explained by Hivite jealousy of water rights, and the well still exists East of Shechem (compare John 4:5 f), not far from the Elon Moreh where were buried the teraphim ( Genesis 35:4) or “spirits” (Assyrian, tarpu) from Haran ( Genesis 31:30) under the oak of Abraham. These no doubt were small images, such as are so often unearthed in Palestine. The further progress of Jacob led by Bethel and Bethlehem to Hebron ( Genesis 35:6,19,27), but some of his elder sons seem to have remained at Shechem. Thus, Joseph was sent later from Hebron ( Genesis 37:14) to visit his brethren there, but found them at Dothan. (3) Dothan. Dothan ( Genesis 37:17) lay in a plain on the main trade route from Egypt to Damascus, which crossed the low watershed at this point and led down the valley to Jezreel and over Jordan to Bashan. The “well of the pit” (SWP, II, 169) is still shown at Tell Dothan, and the Ishmaelites, from Midian and Gilead, chose this easy caravan route ( Genesis 37:25,28) for camels laden with the Gilead balm and spices. The plain was fitted for feeding Jacob’s flocks. The products of Palestine then included also honey, pistachio nuts, and almonds ( Genesis 43:11); and a few centuries later we find notice in a text of Thothmes III of honey and balsam, with oil, wine, wheat, spelt, barley and fruits, as rations of the Egyptian troops in Canaan (Brugsch, Hist Egypt, I, 332). 4. Mentioned in Connection with Judah: The episode of Judah and Tamar is connected with a region in the Shephelah, or low hills of Judea. Adullam (`Aid-el-ma), Chezib (`Ain Kezbeh), and Timnath (Tibneh) are not far apart ( Genesis 38:1,5,12), the latter being in a pastoral valley where Judah met his “sheep shearers.” Tamar sat at “the entrance of Enaim” (compare Genesis 38:14,22 the English Revised Version) or Enam ( Joshua 15:34), perhaps at Kefr `Ana, 6 miles Northwest of Timnath. She was mistaken for a qedheshah , or votary (sacred prostitute) of Ashtoreth ( Genesis 38:15,21), and we know from Hammurabi’s laws that such votaries were already recognized. The mention of Judah’s signet and staff ( Genesis 38:18) also reminds us of Babylonian customs as described by Herodotus (i.195), and signetcylinders of Babylonian style, and of early date, have been unearthed in Palestine at Gezer and elsewhere (compare the “Babylonian garment,” Joshua 7:21). 5. Review of the Geography of Genesis: Generally speaking, the geography of Genesis presents no difficulties, and shows an intimate knowledge of the country, while the allusions to natural products and to customs are in accord with the results of scientific discovery. Only one difficulty needs notice, where Atad ( Genesis 50:10) on the way from Egypt to Hebron is described as “beyond the Jordan.” In this case the Assyrian language perhaps helps us, for in that tongue Yaurdanu means “the great river,” and the reference may be to the Nile itself, which is called Yaur in Hebrew (ye’or ) and Assyrian alike. 6. Exodus and Leviticus: Exodus is concerned with Egypt and the Sinaitic desert, though it may be observed that its simple agricultural laws (Exodus 21 through 23), which so often recall those of Hammurabi, would have been needed at once on the conquest of Gilead and Bashan, before crossing the Jordan. In Leviticus 11 we have a list of animals most of which belong to the desert — as for instance the “coney” or hyrax ( Leviticus 11:5; <19A418> Psalm 104:18; Proverbs 30:26), but others — such as the swine ( Leviticus 11:7), the stork and the heron ( Leviticus 11:19) — to the `Arabah and the Jordan valley, while the hoopoe (the King James Version “lapwing,” Leviticus 11:19) lives in Gilead and in Western Palestine. In Deuteronomy 14 the fallow deer and the roe (14:5) are now inhabitants of Tabor and Gilead, but the “wild goat” (ibex), “wild ox” (buball), “pygarg” (addax) and “chamois” (wild sheep), are found in the `Arabah and in the deserts. 7. Numbers: In Numbers, the conquest of Eastern Palestine is described, and most of the towns mentioned are known (21:18-33); the notice of vineyards in Moab (21:22) agrees with the discovery of ancient rock-cut wine presses near Heshbon (SEP, I, 221). The view of Israel, in camp at Shittim by Balaam (22:41), standing on the top of Pisgah or Matthew. Nebo, has been shown to be possible by the discovery of Jebel Neba, where also rude dolmens recalling Balak’s altars have been found (SEP, I, 202). The plateau of Moab (32:3) is described as a “land for cattle,” and still supports Arab flocks. The camps in which Israel left their cattle, women and children during the wars, for 6 months, stretched (33:49) from Bethjeshimoth (Suweimeh), near the northeastern corner of the Dead Sea over Abel-shittim (“the acacia meadow” — a name it still bears) in a plain watered by several brooks, and having good herbage in spring. 8. Deuteronomy: (1) Physical Allusions. The description of the “good land” in Deuteronomy (8:7) applies in some details with special force to Matthew. Gilead, which possesses more perennial streams than Western Palestine throughout — “a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills”; a land also “of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates, a land of olive-trees and honey” is found in Gilead and Bashan. Palestine itself is not a mining country, but the words (8:9), “a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig copper,” may be explained by the facts that iron mines existed near Beirut in the 10th century AD, and copper mines at Punon North of Petra in the 4th century AD, as described by Jerome (Onomasticon, under the word “Phinon”). In Deuteronomy also (11:29; compare 27:4; Joshua 8:30) Ebal and Gerizim are first noticed, as beside the “oaks of Moreh.” Ebal the mountain of curses (3,077 ft. above sea-level) and Gerizim the mountain of blessings (2,850 ft.) are the two highest tops in Samaria, and Shechem lies in a rich valley between them. The first sacred center of Israel was thus established at the place where Abraham built his first altar and Jacob dug his well, where Joseph was buried and where Joshua recognized a holy place at the foot of Gerizim ( Joshua 24:26). The last chapters of Deuteronomy record the famous Pisgah view from Matthew. Nebo (34:1-3), which answers in all respects to that from Jebel Neba, except as to Daniel, and the utmost (or “western”) sea, neither of which is visible. Here we should probably read “toward” rather than “to,” and there is no other hill above the plains of Shittim whence a better view can be obtained of the Jordan valley, from Zoar to Jericho, of the watershed mountains as far North as Gilboa and Tabor, and of the slopes of Gilead. (2) Archaeology. But besides these physical allusions, the progress of exploration serves to illustrate the archaeology of Deuteronomy. Israel was commanded (12:3) to overthrow the Canaanite altars, to break the standing stones which were emblems of superstition, to burn the ‘asherah poles (or artificial trees), and to hew down the graven images. That these commands were obeyed is clear. The rude altars and standing stones are now found only in Moab, and in remote parts of Gilead, Bashan, and Galilee, not reached by the power of reforming kings of Judah. The ‘asherah poles have disappeared, the images are found, only deep under the surface. The carved tablets which remain at Damascus, and in Phoenicia and Syria, representing the gods of Canaan or of the Hittites, have no counterpart in the Holy Land. Again when we read of ancient “landmarks” ( Deuteronomy 19:14; Proverbs 22:28; 23:10), we are not to understand a mere boundary stone, but rather one of those monuments common in Babylonia — as early at least as the 12th century BC — on which the boundaries of a field are minutely described, the history of its grant by the king detailed, and a curse (compare Deuteronomy 27:17) pronounced against the man who should dare to remove the stone. See illustration under NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 3. PALESTINE IN THE HISTORIC BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 1. Book of Joshua: Joshua is the great geographical book of the Old Testament; and the large majority of the 600 names of places, rivers and mountains in Palestine mentioned in the Bible are to be found in this book. (1) Topographical Accuracy. About half of this total of names were known, or were fixed by Dr. Robinson, between 1838 and 1852, and about 150 new sites were discovered (1872-1878, 1881-1882) in consequence of the 1-in. trigonometrical survey of the country, and were identified by the present writer during this period; a few interesting sites have been added by M. Clermont-Ganneau (Adullam and Gezer), by A. Henderson (Kiriathjearim), by W.F. Birch (Zoar at Tell esh Shaghur), and by others. Thus more than three-quarters of the sites have been fixed with more or less certainty, most of them preserving their ancient names. It is impossible to study this topography without seeing that the Bible writers had personal knowledge of the country; and it is incredible that a Hebrew priest, writing in Babylonia, could have possessed that intimate acquaintance with all parts of the land which is manifest in the geographical chapters of Joshua. The towns are enumerated in due order by districts; the tribal boundaries follow natural lines — valleys and mountain ridges — and the character of various regions is correctly indicated. Nor can we suppose that this topography refers to conditions subsequent to the return from captivity, for these were quite different. Simeon had ceased to inhabit the south by the time of David ( 1 Chronicles 4:24), and the lot of Daniel was colonized by men of Benjamin after the captivity ( 1 Chronicles 8:12,13; Nehemiah 11:34,35). Tirzah is mentioned ( Joshua 12:24) in Samaria, whereas the future capital of Omri is not. Ai is said to have been made “a heap forever” ( Joshua 8:28), but was inhabited apparently in Isaiah’s time ( Isaiah 10:28 = Aiath) and certainly after the captivity ( Ezra 2:28; Nehemiah 7:32; 11:31 = Aija). At latest, the topography seems to be that of Solomon’s age, though it is remarkable that very few places in Samaria are noticed in the Book of Joshua. (2) The Passage of the Jordan. Israel crossed Jordan at the lowest ford East of Jericho. The river was in flood, swollen by the melting snows of Hermon ( Joshua 3:15); the stoppage occurred 20 miles farther up at Adam (ed-Damieh), the chalky cliffs at a narrow place being probably undermined and falling in, thus damming the stream. A Moslem writer asserts that a similar stoppage occurred in the 13th century AD, near the same point. (See JORDAN RIVER.) The first camp was established at Gilgal (Jilgulieh), 3 miles East of Jericho, and a “circle” of 12 stones was erected. Jericho was not at the medieval site (er Richa) South of Gilgal, or at the Herodian site farther West, but at the great spring `Ain es SulTan, close to the mountains to which the spies escaped ( Joshua 2:16). The great mounds were found by Sir C. Warren to consist of sun-dried bricks, and further excavations (see Mitteil. der deutschen Orient-Gesell., December, 1909, No. 41) have revealed little but the remains of houses of various dates. (3) Joshua’s First Campaign. The first city in the mountains attacked by Israel was Ai, near Chayan, miles Southeast of Bethel. It has a deep valley to the North, as described ( Joshua 8:22). The fall of Ai and Bethel ( Joshua 8:17) seems to have resulted in the peaceful occupation of the region between Gibeon and Shechem ( Joshua 8:30 through 9:27); but while the Hivites submitted the Amorites of Jerusalem and of the South attacked Gibeon (el Jib) and were driven down the steep pass of Beth-horon (Beit `Aur) to the plains ( Joshua 10:1-11). Joshua’s great raid, after this victory, proceeded through the plain to Makkedah, now called el Mughar, from the “cave” (compare Joshua 10:17), and by Libnah to Lachish (Tell el Chesy), whence he went up to Hebron, and “turned” South to Debir (edh Dhaheriyeh), thus subduing the shephelah of Judah and the southern mountains, though the capital at Jerusalem was not taken. It is now very generally admitted that the six letters of the Amorite king of Jerusalem included in Tell el-Amarna Letters may refer to this war. The ‘Abiri or Chabiri are therein noticed as a fierce people from Seir, who “destroyed all the rulers,” and who attacked Ajalon, Lachish, Ashkelon, Keilah (on the main road to Hebron) and other places. See EXODUS, THE. (4) The Second Campaign. The second campaign ( Joshua 11:1-14) was against the nations of Galilee; and the Hebrew victory was gained at “the waters of Merom” ( Joshua 11:5). There is no sound reason for placing these at the Chuleh lake; and the swampy Jordan valley was a very unlikely field of battle for the Canaanite chariots ( Joshua 11:6). The kings noticed are those of Madon (Madin), Shimron (Semmunieh), Dor (possibly Tell Thorah), “on the west,” and of Hazor (Chazzur), all in Lower Galilee. The pursuit was along the coast toward Sidon ( Joshua 11:8); and Merom may be identical with Shimron-meron ( Joshua 12:20), now Semmunieh, in which case the “waters” were those of the perennial stream in Wady el Melek, 3 miles to the North, which flow West to join the lower part of the Kishon. Shimron-meron was one of the 31 royal cities of Palestine West of the Jordan ( Joshua 12:9-24). The regions left unconquered by Joshua (13:2-6) were those afterward conquered by David and Solomon, including the Philistine plains, and the Sidonian coast from Mearah (el Mogheiriyeh) northward to Aphek (Afqa) in Lebanon, on the border of the Amorite country which lay South of the “land of the Hittites” ( Joshua 1:4). Southern Lebanon, from Gebal (Jubeil) and the “entering into Hamath” (the Eleutherus Valley) on the West, to Baal-gad (probably at `Ain Judeideh on the northwestern slope of Hermon) was also included in the “land” by David ( 2 Samuel 8:6-10). But the whole of Eastern Palestine ( Joshua 13:7-32), and of Western Palestine, except the shore plains, was allotted to the 12 tribes. Judah and Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh), being the strongest, appear to have occupied the mountains and the shephelah, as far North as Lower Galilee, before the final allotment. Thus, the lot of Simeon was within that inherited by Judah ( Joshua 19:1), and that of Daniel seems to have been partly taken from Ephraim, since Joseph’s lot originally reached to Gezer ( Joshua 16:3); but Benjamin appears to have received its portion early (compare Joshua 15:5-11; 16:1,2; 18:11-28). This lot was larger than that of Ephraim, and Benjamin was not then the “smallest of the tribes of Israel” ( 1 Samuel 9:21), since the destruction of the tribe did not occur till after the death of Joshua and Eleazar ( Judges 20:28). The twelve tribes were distributed in various regions which may here briefly be described. Reuben held the Moab plateau to the Arnon (Wady Mojub) on the South, and to the “river of Gad” (Wady Na`aur) on the North, thus including part of the Jordan valley close to the Dead Sea. Gad held all the West of Gilead, being separated from the Ammonites by the upper course of the Jabbok. All the rest of the Jordan valley East of the river was included in this lot. Manasseh held Bashan, but the conquest was not completed till later. Simeon had the neghebh plateau South of Beersheba. Judah occupied the mountains South of Jerusalem, with the shephelah to their West, and claimed Philistia South of Ekron. Benjamin had the Jericho plains and the mountains between Jerusalem and Bethel. The border ran South of Jerusalem to Rachel’s tomb ( 1 Samuel 10:2), and thence West to Kiriath-jearim (`Erma) and Ekron. Daniel occupied the lower hills West of Benjamin and Ephraim, and claimed the plain from Ekron to Rakkon (Tell er Raqqeit) North of Joppa. Manasseh had a large region, corresponding to Samaria, and including Carmel, Sharon and half the Jordan valley, with the mountains North of Shechem; but this tribe occupied only the hills, and was unable to drive the Cannanites out of the plains ( Joshua 17:11,16) Ephraim also complained of the smallness of its lot ( Joshua 17:15), which lay in rugged mountains between Bethel and Shechem, including however, the grain plateau East of the latter city. Issachar held the plains of Esdraelon and Dothan, with the Jordan valley to the East, but soon became subject to the Canaanites. Zebulun had the hills of Lower Galilee, and the coast from Carmel to Accho. Naphtali owned the mountains of Upper Galilee, and the rich plateau between Tabor and the Sea of Galilee. Asher had the low hills West of Naphtali, and the narrow shore plains from Accho to Tyre. Thus each tribe possessed a proportion of mountain land fit for cultivation of figs, olives and vines, and of arable land fit for corn. The areas allotted appear to correspond to the density of population that the various regions were fitted to support. The Levitical cities were fixed in the various tribes as centers for the teaching of Israel ( Deuteronomy 33:10), but a Levite was not obliged to live in such a city, and was expected to go with his course annually to the sacred center, before they retreated to Jerusalem on the disruption of the kingdom ( 2 Chronicles 11:14). The 48 cities ( Joshua 21:13-42) include 13 in Judah and Benjamin for the priests, among which Beth- shemesh ( 1 Samuel 6:13,15) and Anathoth ( 1 Kings 2:26) are early noticed as Levitical. The other tribes had 3 or 4 such cities each, divided among Kohathites (10), Gershonites (13), and Merarites (12). The six Cities of Refuge were included in the total, and were placed 3 each side of the Jordan in the South, in the center, and in the North, namely Hebron, Shechem and Kedesh on the West, and Bezer (unknown), Ramoth (Reimun) and Golan (probably Sachem el Jaulan) East of the river. Another less perfect list of these cities, with 4 omissions and 11 minor differences, mostly clerical, is given in 1 Chronicles 6:57-81. Each of these cities had “suburbs,” or open spaces, extending ( Numbers 35:4) about a quarter-mile beyond the wall, while the fields, to about half a mile distant, also belonged to the Levites ( Leviticus 25:34). 2. Book of Judges: (1) Early Wars. In Judges, the stories of the heroes who successively arose to save Israel from the heathen carry us to every part of the country. “After the death of Joshua” ( Judges 1:1) the Canaanites appear to have recovered power, and to have rebuilt some of the cities which he had ruined. Judah fought the Perizzites (“villagers”) at Berek (Berqah) in the lower hills West of Jerusalem, and even set fire to that city. Caleb attacked Debir (Jsg 1:12- 15), which is described (compare Joshua 15:15-19) as lying in a “dry” (the King James Version “south”) region, yet with springs not far away. The actual site (edh Dhaheriyeh) is a village with ancient tombs 12 miles Southwest of Hebron; it has no springs, but about 7 miles to the Northeast there is a perennial stream with “upper and lower springs.” As regards the Philistine cities ( Judges 1:18), the Septuagint reading seems preferable; for the Greek says that Judah “did not take Gaza” nor Ashkelon nor Ekron, which agrees with the failure in conquering the “valley” ( Judges 1:19) due to the Canaanites having “chariots of iron.” The Canaanite chariots are often mentioned about this time in the Tell el-Amarna Letters and Egyptian accounts speak of their being plated with metals. Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher and Naphtali, were equally powerless against cities in the plains ( Judges 1:27-33); and Israel began to mingle with the Canaanites, while the tribe of Daniel seems never to have really occupied its allotted region, and remained encamped in the borders of Judah till some, at least, of its warriors found a new home under Hermon ( Judges 1:34; 18:1-30) in the time of Jonathan, the grandson of Moses. (2) Defeat of Sisera. The oppression of Israel by Jabin II of Hazor, in Lower Galilee, appears to have occurred in the time of Rameses II, who, in his 8th year, conquered Shalem (Salim, North of Taanach), Anem (`Anin), Dapur (Deburieh, at the foot of Tabor), with Bethanath (`Ainitha) in Upper Galilee (Brugsch, History of Egypt, II, 64). Sisera may have been an Egyptian resident at the court of Jabin ( Judges 4:2); his defeat occurred near the foot of Tabor ( Judges 4:14) to which he advanced East from Harosheth (el Charathiyeh) on the edge of the sea plain. His host “perished at Endor” ( Psalm 83:9) and in the swampy Kishon ( Judges 5:21). The site of the Kedesh in “the plain of swamps” ( Judges 4:11) to which he fled is doubtful. Perhaps Kedesh of Issachar ( 1 Chronicles 6:72) is intended at Tell Qadeis, 3 miles North of Taanach, for the plain is here swampy in parts. The Canaanite league of petty kings fought from Taanach to Megiddo ( Judges 5:19), but the old identification of the latter city with the Roman town of Legio (Lejjun) was a mere guess which does not fit with Egyptian accounts placing Megiddo near the Jordan. The large site at Mugedd`a, in the Valley of Jezreel seems to be more suitable for all the Old Testament as well as for the Egyptian accounts (SWP, II, 90-99). (3) Gideon’s Victory. The subsequent oppression by Midianites and others would seem to have coincided with the troubles which occurred in the 5th, year of Minepthah ( see EXODUS, THE). Gideon’s home ( Judges 6:11) at Ophrah, in Manasseh, is placed by Samaritan tradition at Fer`ata, 6 miles West of Shechem, but his victory was won in the Valley of Jezreel ( Judges 7:1-22); the sites of Beth-shittah (ShaTTa) and Abel-meholah (`Ain Chelweh) show how Midian fled down this valley and South along the Jordan plain, crossing the river near Succoth (Tell Der`ala) and ascending the slopes of Gilead to Jogbehah (Jubeichah) and Nobah ( Judges 8:4-11). But Oreb (“the raven”) and Zeeb (“the wolf”) perished at “the raven’s rock” and “the wolf’s hollow” (compare Judges 7:25), West of the Jordan. It is remarkable (as pointed out by the present author in 1874) that, 3 miles North of Jericho, a sharp peak is now called “the raven’s nest,” and a ravine 4 miles farther North is named “the wolf’s hollows.” These sites are rather farther South than might be expected, unless the two chiefs were separated from the fugitives, who followed Zebah and Zalmunna to Gilead. In this episode “Matthew. Gilead” ( Judges 7:3) seems to be a clerical error for “Matthew. Gilboa,” unless the name survives in corrupt form at `Ain Jalud (“Goliath’s spring”), which is a large pool, usually supposed to be the spring of Harod ( Judges 7:1), where Gideon camped, East of Jezreel. The story of Abimelech takes us back to Shechem. He was made king by the “oak of the pillar” ( Judges 9:6), which was no doubt Abraham’s oak already noticed; it seems also to be called `the enchanter’s oak’ ( Judges 9:37), probably from some superstition connected with the burial of the Teraphim under it by Jacob. The place called Beer, to which Jotham fled from Abimelech ( Judges 9:21), may have been Beeroth (Bireh) in the lot of Benjamin. Thebez, the town taken by the latter ( Judges 9:50), and where he met his death, is now the village Tubas, 10 miles Northeast of Shechem. The Ammonite oppression of Israel in Gilead occurred about 300 years after the Hebrew conquest ( Judges 11:26), and Jephthah the deliverer returned to Mizpah ( Judges 11:29), which was probably the present village Cuf (already noticed), from his exile in the “land of Tob” ( Judges 11:3,6). This may have been near Taiyibeh, 9 miles South of Gadara, in the extreme North of Gilead — a place notable for its ancient dolmens and rude stone monuments, such as occur also at Mizpah. Jephthah’s dispute with the men of Ephraim ( Judges 12:1) indicates the northern position of Mizpah. Aroer ( Judges 11:33) is unknown, but lay near Rabbath-ammon ( Joshua 13:25; 2 Samuel 24:5); it is to be distinguished from Aroer (‘Ar`air) in the Arnon ravine, mentioned in Judges 11:26. The scene of Samson’s exploits lies in the shephelah of Judah on the borders of Philistia. His home at Zorah (Sur`ah) was on the hills North of the Valley of Sorek, and looked down on “the camp of Daniel” ( Judges 13:25 margin), which had been pitched in that valley near Beth-shemesh. Eshtaol (Eshu`a) was less than 2 miles East of Zorah on the same ridge. Timnath ( Judges 14:1) was only 2 miles West of Beth-shemesh, at the present ruin Tibneh. The region was one of vineyards ( Judges 14:5), and the name Sorek (Surik) still survives at a ruin 2 miles West of Zorah. Sorek signified a “choice vine,” and a rock-cut wine press exists at the site (SWP, III, 126). These 5 places, all close together, were also close to the Philistine grain lands ( Judges 15:5) in a region of vines and olives. Samson’s place of refuge in the “cleft of the rock of Etam” (see Judges 15:8) was probably at Beit `ATab, only 5 miles East of Zorah, but rising with a high knoll above the southern precipices of the gorge which opens into the Valley of Sorek. In this knoll, under the village, is a rock passage now called “the well of refuge” (Bur el Chasutah), which may have been the “cleft” into which Samson “went down.” Lehi ( Judges 15:9) was apparently in the valley beneath, and the name (“the jaw”) may refer to the narrow mouth of the gorge whence, after conference with the Philistines, the men of Judah “went down” ( Judges 15:11) to the “cleft of the rock of Etam” (SWP, III, 83, 137), which was a passage 250 ft. long leading down, under the town, to the spring. All of Samson’s story is connected with this one valley (for Delilah also lived in the “Valley of Sorek,” Judges 16:4) except his visit to Gaza, where he carried the gates to the `hill facing Hebron’ ( Judges 16:3), traditionally shown (SWP, III, 255) at the great mound on the East side of this town where he died, and where his tomb is (wrongly) shown. Another tomb, close to Zorah, represents a more correct tradition (16:31), but the legends of Samson at this village are of modern Christian origin. The appendix to Judges includes two stories concerning Levites who both lived in the time of the 2nd generation after the Hob conquest (18:30; 20:28), and who both “sojourned” in Bethlehem of Judah (17:8; 19:2), though their proper city was one in Matthew. Ephraim, In the first case Jonathan, the grandson of Moses, founded a family of idolatrous priests, setting up Micah’s image at Daniel (Tell el Qadi) beside the sources of the Jordan, where ancient dolmen altars still exist. This image may have been the cause why Jeroboam afterward established a calf-temple at the same place. It is said to have stood there till the “captivity of the ark” (St. Petersburg MS, Judges 18:30), “all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh” ( Judges 18:31). From this narrative we learn that the tribe of Daniel did not settle in its appointed lot ( Judges 18:1), but pitched in the “camp of Daniel,” west of Kiriath-jearim ( Judges 18:12). This agrees with the former mention of the site ( Judges 13:25) as being near Zorah; and the open valley near Beth-shemesh is visible, through the gorges of Lehi, from the site of Kiriath-jearim at `Erma. (4) Appendix: The Defeat of Benjamin. In the 2nd episode we trace the journey of the Levite from Bethlehem past Jerusalem to Gibeah (Jeba`), East of Ramah (er-Ram), a distance which could easily be traversed in an afternoon (compare Judges 19:8-14). Gibeah was no doubt selected as a halting-place by the Levite, because it was a Levitical city. The story of the great crime of the men of Gibeah was well known to Hosea ( Judges 9:9). Israel gathered against them at Mizpah (Tell en Nacbeh) on the watershed, 3 miles to the Northwest, and the ark was brought by Phinehas to Bethel (compare Judges 20:1,31; 18:26,27), 3 miles Northeast of Mizpah. The defeat of Benjamin occurred where the road to Gibeah leaves the main north road to Bethel ( Judges 18:31), West of Ramah. The survivors fled to the rock Rimmon (Rummon), 3 1/2 miles East of Bethel, on the edge of the “wilderness” which stretches from this rugged hill toward the Jordan valley. The position of Shiloh,9 miles North of this rock, is very accurately described ( Judges 21:19) as being North of Bethel (Beitin), and East of the main road, thence to Shechem which passes Lebonah (Lubban), a village 3 miles Northwest of Seilun or Shiloh. The “vineyards,” in which the maidens of Shiloh used to dance ( Judges 21:20) at the Feast of Tabernacles, lay no doubt where vineyards still exist in the little plain South of this site. It is clear that the writer of these two narratives had an acquaintance with Palestinian topography as exact as that shown throughout Jgs. Nor (if the reading “captivity of the ark” be correct) is there any reason to suppose that they were written after 722 BC. 3. Book of Ruth: The Book of Ruth gives us a vivid picture of Hebrew life “when the judges ruled” (1:1 the King James Version), about a century before the birth of David. Laws as old as Hammurabi’s age allowed the widow the choice of remaining with the husband’s family, or of quitting his house (compare 1:8). The beating out of gleanings (2:17) by women is still a custom which accounts for the rock mortars found so often scooped out on the hillside. The villager still sleeps, as a guard, beside the heap of winnowed grain in the threshing-floor (3:7); the head-veil, still worn, could well have been used to carry six measures of barley (3:15). The courteous salutation of his reapers by Boaz (2:4) recalls the common Arabic greeting (Allah ma`kum), “God be with you.” But the thin wine (2:14) is no longer drunk by Moslem peasants, who only “dip” their bread in oil. 4. Books of Samuel: (1) Samuel. The two Books of Samuel present an equally valuable picture of life, and an equally real topography throughout. Samuel’s father — a pious Levite ( 1 Chronicles 6:27) — descended from Zuph who had lived at Ephratah (Bethlehem; compare 1 Samuel 9:4,5), had his house at Ramah ( Samuel 1:19) close to Gibeah, and this town (er-Ram) was Samuel’s home also ( 1 Samuel 7:17; 25:1). The family is described as `Ramathites, Zuphites of Matthew. Ephraim’ ( 1 Samuel 1:1), but the term “Matthew. Ephraim” was not confined to the lot of Ephraim, since it included Bethel and Ramah, in the land of Benjamin ( Judges 4:5). As a Levite, Elkanah obeyed the law of making annual visits to the central shrine, though this does not seem to have been generally observed in an age when “every man did that which was right in his own eyes” ( Judges 21:25). The central shrine had been removed by Joshua from Shechem to the remote site of Shiloh ( Joshua 22:9), perhaps for greater security, and here the tabernacle ( Joshua 22:19) was pitched (compare 1 Samuel 2:22) and remained for 4 centuries till the death of Eli. The great defeat of Israel, when the ark was captured by the Philistines, took place not far from Mizpah ( 1 Samuel 4:1), within an easy day’s journey from Shiloh (compare 1 Samuel 4:12). Ekron, whence it was sent back ( Samuel 6:16), was only 12 miles from Beth-shemesh (`Ainshems), where the ark rested on a “great stone” (Septuagint, 1 Samuel 6:18); and Beth-shemesh was only 4 miles West of Kiriath-jearim ( 1 Samuel 6:21), which was in the mountains, so that its inhabitants “came down” from “the hill” ( 1 Samuel 6:21; 7:1) to fetch the ark, which abode there for years, till the beginning of Saul’s reign ( 1 Samuel 14:18), when, after the war, it may have been restored to the tabernacle at Nob, to which place the latter was probably removed after Eli’s death, when Shiloh was deserted. The exact site of Nob is not known, but probably (compare Isaiah 10:32) it was close to Mizpah, whence the first glimpse of Jerusalem is caught, and thus near Gibeon, where it was laid up after the massacre of the priests ( 1 Samuel 21:1; 22:9,18; 2 Chronicles 1:3), when the ark was again taken to Kiriath-jearim ( 2 Samuel 6:2). Mizpah (Tell en-Nacbeh) was the gathering-place of Israel under Samuel; and the “stone of help” (Eben-ezer) was erected, after his victory over the Philistines, “between Mizpah and Shen” ( 1 Samuel 7:12) — the latter place (see Septuagint) being probably the same as Jeshanah (`Ain Sinai), miles North of Mizpah which Samuel visited yearly as a judge ( Samuel 7:16). (2) Saul’s Search. The journey of Saul, who, “seeking asses found a kingdom,” presents a topography which has often been misunderstood. He started ( 1 Samuel 9:4) from Gibeah (Jeba’) and went first to the land of Shalisha through Matthew. Ephraim. Baal-shalisha ( 2 Kings 4:42) appears to have been the present Kefr Thilth, 18 miles North of Lydda and 24 miles Northwest from Gibeah. Saul then searched the land of Shalim — probably that of Shual ( 1 Samuel 13:17), Northeast of Gibeah. Finally he went south beyond the border of Benjamin ( 1 Samuel 10:2) to a city in the “land of Zuph,” which seems probably to have been Bethlehem, whence (as above remarked) Samuel’s family — descendants of Zuph — came originally. If so, it is remarkable that Saul and David were anointed in the same city, one which Samuel visited later ( 1 Samuel 16:1,2 ff) to sacrifice, just as he did when meeting Saul ( 1 Samuel 9:12), who was probably known to him, since Gibeah and Ramah were only 2 miles apart. Saul’s journey home thus naturally lay on the road past Rachel’s tomb near Bethlehem, and along the Bethel road ( 1 Samuel 10:2,3) to his home at Gibeah ( Samuel 10:5,10). It is impossible to suppose that Samuel met him at Ramah — a common mistake which creates great confusion in the topography. (3) Saul’s Coronation and First Campaign. Saul concealed the fact of his anointing ( 1 Samuel 10:16) till the lot fell upon him at Mizpah. This public choice by lot has been thought (Wellhausen, History of Israel, 1885, 252) to indicate a double narrative, but to a Hebrew there would not appear to be any discrepancy, since “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of Yahweh” ( Proverbs 16:33). Even at Mizpah he was not fully accepted till his triumph over the Ammonites, when the kingdom was “renewed” at Gilgal ( 1 Samuel 11:14). This campaign raises an interesting question of geography. Only 7 days’ respite was allowed to the men of Jabesh in Gilead ( 1 Samuel 11:3), during which news was sent to Saul at Gibeah, and messengers dispatched “throughout the borders of Israel” ( Samuel 11:7), while the hosts gathered at Bezek, and reached Jabesh on the 7th or 8th day ( 1 Samuel 11:8-10) at dawn. Bezek appears to be a different place from that West of Jerusalem ( Judges 1:4) and to have been in the middle of Palestine at Ibzik, 14 miles North of Shechem, and miles West of Jabesh, which probably lay in Wady Yabis in Gilead. The farthest distances for the messengers would not have exceeded 80 miles; and, allowing a day for the news to reach Saul and another for the march from Bezek to Jabesh, there would have been just time for the gathering of Israel at this fairly central meeting-place. The scene of the victory over the Philistines at Michmash is equally real. They had a `post’ in Geba (or Gibeah, 1 Samuel 13:3), or a governor (compare the Septuagint), whom Jonathan slew. They came up to Michmash (Mukhmas) to attack Jonathan’s force which held Gibeah, on the southern side of the Michmash valley, hard by. The northern cliff of the great gorge was called Bozez (“shining”) in contrast to the southern one (in shadow) which was named Seneh or “thorn” ( 1 Samuel 14:4). Josephus (BJ, V, ii, 2) says that Gibeah of Saul was by “the valley of thorns,” and the ravine, flanked by the two precipitous cliffs East of Michmash, is still called Wady es SuweiniT, or “the valley of little thorn trees.” Jonathan climbed the steep slope that leads to a small flat top ( Samuel 14:14 the King James Version), and surprised the Philistine `post.’ The pursuit was by Bethel to the Valley of Aijalon, down the steep Bethboron pass ( 1 Samuel 14:23,31); but it should be noted that there was no “wood” ( 1 Samuel 14:25,26) on this bare hilly ridge, and the word (compare Song of Solomon 5:1) evidently means “honeycomb.” It is also possible that the altar raised by Saul, for fulfillment of the Law ( Genesis 9:4; Exodus 20:25), was at Nob where the central shrine was then established. (4) David’s Early Life. David fed his flocks in the wilderness below Bethlehem, where many a silent and dreadful “Valley of Shadows” (compare Psalm 23:4) might make the stoutest heart fail. The lion crept up from the Jordan valley, and (on another occasion) the bear came down from the rugged mountains above ( 1 Samuel 17:34). No bears are now known South of Hermon, but the numerous references ( 2 Kings 2:24; Isaiah 59:11; Hosea 13:8; Proverbs 17:12; 28:15) show that they must have been exterminated, like the lion, in comparatively late times. The victory over Goliath, described in the chapter containing this allusion, occurred in the Valley of Elah near Shochoth (Shuweikeh); and this broad valley (Wady es SunT) ran into the Philistine plain at the probable site of Gath (Tell es Cafi) to which the pursuit led ( 1 Samuel 17:1,2,52). The watercourse still presents “smooth stones” ( 1 Samuel 17:40) fit for the sling, which is still used by Arab shepherds; and the valley still has in it fine “terebinths” such as those from which it took its name Elah. The bronze armor of the giant ( 1 Samuel 17:5,6) indicates an early stage of culture, which is not contradicted by the mention of an iron spearhead ( 1 Samuel 17:7), since iron is found to have been in use in Palestine long before David’s time. The curious note ( 1 Samuel 17:54) as to the head of Goliath being taken “to Jerusalem” is also capable of explanation. Jerusalem was not conquered till at least 10 years later, but it was a general practice (as late as the 7th century BC in Assyria) to preserve the heads of dead foes by salting them, as was probably done in another case ( 2 Kings 10:7) when the heads of Ahab’s sons were sent from Samaria to Jezreel to be exposed at the gate. David’s outlaw life began when he took refuge with Samuel at the “settlements” (Naioth) near Ramah, where the company of prophets lived. He easily met Jonathan near Gibeah, which was only 2 miles East; and the “stone of departure” (“Ezel,” 1 Samuel 20:19) may have marked the Levitical boundary of that town. Nob also ( 1 Samuel 20:1) was, as we have seen, not far off, but Gath ( 1 Samuel 20:10) was beyond the Hebrew boundary. Thence David retreated up the Valley of Elah to Adullam (`Aid-el-ma), which stood on a hill West of this valley near the great turn (southward) of its upper course. An inhabited cave still exists here (compare 1 Samuel 22:1), and the site meets every requirement (SWP, III, 311, 347, 361-67). Keilah ( 1 Samuel 23:1) is represented by the village Kila, on the east side of the same valley,3 miles farther up; and Hereth ( 1 Samuel 22:5) was also near, but “in Judah” ( 1 Samuel 23:3), at the village Kharas on a wooded spur 7 miles Northwest of Hebron. Thence David went “down” ( 1 Samuel 23:4) to Keilah 2 miles away to the West. As there was no safety for the outlaws, either in Philistia or in Judah, they had to retreat to the wilderness of Ziph (Tell ez Zif), miles Southeast of Hebron. The word “wood” (choresh) may more probably be a proper name, represented by the ruin of Khoreisa, rather more than a mile South of Ziph, while the hill Hachilah ( 1 Samuel 23:19) might be the long spur, over the Jeshimon or desert of Judah, miles East of Ziph, now called el Kola. Maon (M`ain) lay on the edge of the same desert still farther South, about 8 miles from Hebron. En-gedi ( 1 Samuel 23:29; 24:1,2) was on the precipices by the Dead Sea. The “wild goats” (ibex) still exist here in large droves, and the caves of this desert are still used as folds for sheep in spring ( 1 Samuel 24:3). The villagers South of Hebron are indeed remarkable for their large flocks which — by agreement with the nomads — are sent to pasture in the Jeshimon, like those of Nabal, the rich man of Carmel (Kurmul), a mile North of Maon ( 1 Samuel 25:2), who refused the customary present to David’s band which had protected his shepherds “in the fields” ( Samuel 25:15) or pastures of the wilderness. In summer David would naturally return to the higher ridge of Hachilah ( 1 Samuel 26:1) on the south side of which there is a precipitous gorge (impassable save by a long detour), across which he talked to Saul ( 1 Samuel 26:13), likening himself ( 1 Samuel 26:20) to the desert “partridge” still found in this region. (5) The Defeat and Death of Saul. The site of Ziklag is doubtful, but it evidently lay in the desert South of Beersheba ( Joshua 15:31; 19:5; 1 Chronicles 4:30; 1 Samuel 27:6-12), far from Gath, so that King Achish did not know whether David had raided the South of Judah, or the tribes toward Shur. Saul’s power in the mountains was irresistible; and it was for this reason perhaps that his fatal battle with the Philistines occurred far North in the plain near Jezreel. They camped ( 1 Samuel 28:4) by the fine spring of Shunem (Sulem), and Saul on Gilboa to the South. The visit to Endor (Andur) was thus a perilous adventure, as Saul must have stolen by night round the Philistine host to visit this place North of Shunem. He returned to the spur of Gilboa on which Jezreel stands ( 1 Samuel 29:1), and the spring noticed is a copious supply North of the village Zer`in. Beth-shan ( 1 Samuel 31:12) was at the mouth of the valley of Jezreel at Besian, and here the bodies of Saul and his sons were burned by the men of Jabesh-gilead; but, as the bones were preserved ( 1 Samuel 31:13; 2 Samuel 21:13), it is possible that the corpses were cremated in pottery jars afterward buried under the tree. Excavations in Palestine and in Babylonia show that this was an early practice, not only in the case of infants (as at Gezcr, and Taanach), but also of grown men. See PALESTINE (RECENT EXPLORATION). The list of cities to which David sent presents at the time of Saul’s death ( 1 Samuel 30:26-31) includes those near Ziklag and as far North as Hebron, thus referring to “all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.” (6) Wellhausen’s Theory of a Double Narrative. The study of David’s wanderings, it may be noted, and of the climatic conditions in the Jeshimon desert, does not serve to confirm Wellhausen’s theory of a double narrative, based on the secret unction and public choice of Saul, on the double visit to Hachilah, and on the fact that the gloomy king had forgotten the name of David’s father. The history is not a “pious make-up” without “a word of truth” (Wellhausen, Hist Israel, 248-49); and David, as a “youth” of twenty years, may yet have been called a “man of war”; while “transparent artifice” (p. 251) will hardly be recognized by the reader of this genuine chronicle. Nor was there any “Aphek in Sharon” (p. 260), and David did not “amuse himself by going first toward the north” from Gibeah (p. 267); his visit to Ramah does not appear to be a “worthless anachronistic anecdote” (p. 271); and no one who has lived in the terrible Jeshimon could regard the meeting at Hachilah as a “jest” (p. 265). Nor did the hill (“the dusky top”) “take its name from the circumstance,” but Wellhausen probably means the Sela`-ha-machleqoth (“cliff of slippings” or of “slippings away”), now Wady Malaqeh near Maon (compare 1 Samuel 23:19,24,28), which lay farther South than Ziph. (7) Early Years of David’s Reign. David, till the 8th year of his reign, was king of Judah only. The first battle with Saul’s son occurred at Gibeon ( 2 Samuel 2:13), where the “pool” was no doubt the cave of the great spring at el Jib; the pursuit was by the `desert Gibeon road’ ( 2 Samuel 2:24) toward the Jordan valley. Gibeon itself was not in a desert, but in a fertile region. Abner then deserted to David, but was murdered at the “well of Sirah” (`Ain Sarah) on the road a mile North of David’s capital at Hebron. Nothing more is said about the Philistines till David had captured Jerusalem, when they advanced on the new capital by the valley of Rephaim ( 2 Samuel 5:22), which apparently ran from South of Jerusalem to join the valley of Elah. If David was then at Adullam (“the hold,” 2 Samuel 5:17 the King James Version; compare 1 Samuel 22:5), it is easy to understand how he cut off the Philistine retreat ( 2 Samuel 5:23), and thus conquered all the hill country to Gezer ( 2 Samuel 5:25). After this the ark was finally brought from Baale-judah (Kiriath-jearim) to Jerusalem ( 2 Samuel 6:2), and further wars were beyond the limits of Western Palestine, in Moab ( 2 Samuel 8:2) and in Syria ( 2 Samuel 8:3-12); but for “Syrians” ( 2 Samuel 8:13) the more correct reading appears to be Edomites ( 1 Chronicles 18:12), and the “Valley of Salt” was probably South of the Dead Sea. Another war with the Syrians, aided by Arameans from East of the Euphrates, occurred East of the Jordan ( 2 Samuel 10:16-18), and was followed by the siege of Rabbath-ammon (`Amman), East of Gilead, where we have notice of the “city of waters” ( 2 Samuel 12:27), or lower town by the stream, contrasted, it seems, with the citadel which was on the northern hill. (8) Hebrew Letter-writing. In this connection we find the first notice of a “letter” ( 2 Samuel 11:14) as written by David to Joab. Writing is of course noticed as early as the time of Moses when — as we now know — the Canaanites wrote letters on clay tablets in cuneiform script. These, however, were penned by special scribes; and such a scribe is mentioned early ( Judges 8:14). David himself may have employed a professional writer (compare 2 Samuel 8:17), while Uriah, who carried his own fate in the letter, was probably unable to read. Even in Isaiah’s time the art was not general ( Isaiah 29:12), though Hebrew kings could apparently write and read ( Deuteronomy 17:18; 2 Kings 19:14); to the present day the accomplishment is not general in the East, even in the upper class. It should be noted that the first evidence of the use of an alphabet is found in the early alphabetic Psalms, and the oldest dated alphabetic text yet known is later than 900 BC. The script used in the time of Moses may have been cuneiform, which was still employed at Gezer for traders’ tablets in BC. The alphabet may have come into use first among Hebrews, through Phoenician influence in the time of David; and so far no script except this and the cuneiform has been unearthed in Palestine, unless it is to be recognized in signs of the Hittite syllabary at Lachish and Gezer. Another interesting point, as regards Hebrew civilization in David’s time, is the first mention of “mules” ( 2 Samuel 13:29; 18:9; 1 Kings 1:33,38), which are unnoticed in the Pentateuch. They are represented as pack animals on an Assyrian bas-relief; but, had they been known to Moses, they would probably have been condemned as unclean. The sons of David fled on mules from Baal-hazor (Tell `Acur) “beside Ephraim” (now probably Taiyibeh), North of Bethel, where Absalom murdered Amnon. (9) The Later Years of David’s Reign. On the rebellion of Absalom David retreated to Mahanaim, apparently by the road North of the Mount of Olives, if the Targum of Jonathan ( Samuel 16:5) is correct in placing Bahurim at Almon (`Almit), Northeast of Jerusalem. It is not clear where the “wood of Ephraim,” in which Absalom perished, may have been, but it was beyond Jordan in Gilead ( 2 Samuel 17:22; 18:6); and oak woods are more common there than in Western Palestine. The latest revolt, after Absalom’s death, was in the extreme north at Abel (Abil), in Upper Galilee ( 2 Samuel 20:14), after which Joab’s journey is the last incident to be studied in the Books of Samuel. For census purposes he went East of the Jordan to Aroer (perhaps the city on the Arnon), to the “river of Gad” (Wady Na`aur) near Jazer, and through Gilead. Tahtim-hodshi ( 2 Samuel 24:6) is believed (on the authority of three Greek manuscripts) to be a corruption of “the Hittites at Kadesh” (Qades), the great city on the Orontes ( see HITTITES), which lay on the northern boundary of David’s dominions, South of the kingdom of Hamath. Thence Joab returned to Zidon and Tyre, and after visiting all Judah to Beersheba reached Jerusalem again within 10 months. The acquisition of the temple-site then closes the book. 5. Books of Kings: (1) Solomon’s Provinces. The Books of Kings contain also some interesting questions of geography. Solomon’s twelve provinces appear to answer very closely to the lots of the twelve tribes described in Josh. They included ( 1 Kings 4:7-19) the following: (a) Ephraim, (b) Daniel, (c) Southern Judah (see Joshua 12:17), (d) Manasseh, (e) Issachar, (f) Northern Gilead and Bashan, (g) Southern Gilead, (h) Naphtali, (i) Asher, (j) part of Isaachar and probably Zebulun (the text is doubtful, for the order of 1 Kings 4:17 differs in the Septuagint), (k) Benjamin, (l) Reuben. The Septuagint renders the last clause (4:19), “and one Naseph (i.e. “officer”’) in the land of Judah” — probably superior to the other twelve. Solomon’s dominions included Philistia and Southern Syria, and stretched along the trade route by Tadmor (Palmyra) to Tiphsah on the Euphrates (4:21,24; compare 9:18 = Tamar; 2 Chronicles 8:4 = Tadmot). Another Tiphsah (now Tafsach) lay 6 miles Southwest of Shechem ( 2 Kings 15:16). Gezer was presented to Solomon’s wife by the Pharaoh ( Kings 9:16). (2) Geography of the Northern Kingdom. Jeroboam was an Ephraimite ( 1 Kings 11:26) from Zereda, probably Curdah, 2 miles Northwest of Bethel, but the Septuagint reads “Sarira,” which might be Carra, 1 1/2 miles East of Shiloh. After the revolt of the ten tribes, “Shishak king of Egypt” ( 1 Kings 11:40; 14:25) sacked Jerusalem. His own record, though much damaged, shows that he not only invaded the mountains near Jerusalem, but that he even conquered part of Galilee. The border between Israel and Judah lay South of Bethel, where Jeroboam’s calf-temple was erected ( 1 Kings 12:29), Ramah (er-Ram) being a frontier town with Geba and Mizpah ( 1 Kings 15:17,22); but after the Syrian raid into Galilee ( 1 Kings 15:20), the capital of Israel was fixed at Tirzah ( 1 Kings 15:21), a place celebrated for its beauty ( Song of Solomon 6:4), and perhaps to be placed at Teiacir, about miles Northeast of Shechem, in romantic scenery above the Jordan valley. Omri reigned here also for six years ( 1 Kings 16:23) before he built Samaria, which remained the capital till 722 BC. Samaria appears to have been a city at least as large as Jerusalem, a strong site 5 miles Northwest of Shechem, commanding the trade route to its west. It resisted the Assyrians for 3 years, and when it fell Sargon took away 27,290 captives. Excavations at the site will, it may be hoped, yield results of value not as yet published: See next article. The wanderings of Elijah extended from Zarephath (Curafend), South of Sidon, to Sinai. The position of the Brook Cherith ( 1 Kings 17:3) where — according to one reading — “the Arabs brought him bread and flesh” ( 1 Kings 17:6) is not known. The site of this great contest with the prophets of the Tyrian Baal is supposed to be at el Machraqah (“the place of burning”) at the southeastern end of the Carmel ridge. Some early king of Israel perhaps, or one of the judges (compare Deuteronomy 33:19), had built an altar to Yahweh above the Kishon ( 1 Kings 18:20,40) at Carmel; but, as the water ( 1 Kings 18:33) probably came from the river, it is doubtful whether this altar was on the “top of Carmel,” 1,500 ft. above, from which Elijah’s servant had full view of the sea ( Kings 18:42,43). Elijah must have run before Ahab no less than 15 miles, from the nearest point on Carmel ( 1 Kings 18:46) to Jezreel, and the journey of the Shunammite woman to find Elisha ( 2 Kings 4:25) was equally long. The vineyard of Naboth in Jezreel ( 1 Kings 21:1) was perhaps on the east of the city (now Zer`in), where rock-cut wine presses exist. In the account of the ascension of Elijah, the expression “went down to Bethel” ( 2 Kings 2:2) is difficult, if he went “from Gilgal” ( <120201> Kings 2:1). The town intended might be Jiljilia, on a high hill 7 miles North of Bethel. The Septuagint, however, reads “they came.” (3) Places Connected with Elisha. The home of Elisha was at Abel-meholah ( 1 Kings 19:16) in the Jordan valley ( Judges 7:22), probably at `Ain Chelweh, 10 miles South of Beth-shan. If we suppose that Ophel ( 2 Kings 5:24 the Revised Version margin), where he lived, was the present `Afuleh, it is not only easy to understand that he would often “pass by” Shunem (which lay between Ophel and Abel-meholah), but also how Naaman might have gone from the palace of Jezreel to Ophel, and thence to the Jordan and back again to Ophel ( 2 Kings 5:6,14,24), in the course of a single day in his chariot. The road down the valley of Jezreel was easy, and up it Jehu afterward drove furiously, coming from Ramoth in Gilead, and visible afar off from the wall of Jezreel ( 2 Kings 9:20). The `top of the ascents’ ( 2 Kings 9:13), at Ramoth, refers no doubt to the high hill on which this city (now Reimun) stood as a strong fortress on the border between Israel and the Syrians. The flight of Ahaziah of Judah, from Jezreel was apparently North by Gur (Qara), 4 miles West of Ibleam (Yebla), on the road to “the garden house” (Beit Jenn), and thence by Megiddo (Mujedda`) down the Jordan valley to Jerusalem ( 2 Kings 9:27,28). Of the rebellion of Moab ( <120101> Kings 1:1; 3:4) it is enough to point out here that King Mesha’s account on the Moabite Stone agrees with the Old Testament, even in the minute detail that “men of Gad dwelt in Ataroth from of old” (compare Numbers 32:34), though it lay in the lot of Reuben. 6. Post-exilic Historical Books: The topographical notices in the books written after the captivity require but short notice. The Benjamites built up Lod (Ludd), Ono (Kerr `Ana) and Aijalon (Yalo), which were in the lot of Daniel ( 1 Chronicles 8:12; Nehemiah 11:35), and it is worthy of note that Lod (Lydda) is not to be regarded as a new town simply because not mentioned in the earlier books; for Lod is mentioned (number 64) with Ono in the lists of Thothmes III, a century before the Hebrew conquest of Palestine The author of Chronicles had access to information not to be found elsewhere in the Old Testament. His list of Rehoboam’s fortresses ( 2 Chronicles 11:6-10) includes towns, most of which were on the frontiers of the diminished kingdom of Judah, some being noticed (such as Shoco and Adoraim) in the list of Shishak’s conquests. He speaks of the “valley of Zephathah” ( 2 Chronicles 14:10), now Wady Cafieh, which is otherwise unnoticed, and places it correctly at Mareshah (Mer`ash) on the edge of the Philistine plain. He is equally clear about the topography in describing the attack on Jehoshaphat by the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites. They camped at En-gedi (`Ain Jidi), and marched West toward Tekoa (Tequ`a); and the thanksgiving assembly, after the Hebrew victory, was in the valley of Beracah ( 2 Chronicles 20:1,20,26), which retains its name as Breikut, miles West of Tekoa. 4. PALESTINE IN THE POETIC BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 1. Book of Job: In Job the scene is distinctively Edomite. Uz ( Job 1:1; compare Genesis 22:21 the English Revised Version; Jeremiah 25:20; Lamentations 4:21) and Buz ( Job 32:2; compare Genesis 22:21) are the Assyrian Chazu and Bazu reached by Esarhaddon in 673 BC South of Edom. Tema and Sheba ( Job 6:19) are noticed yet earlier, by Tiglath-pileser III, and Sargon, who conquered the Thamudites and Nabateans. We have also the conjunction of snowy mountains and ice ( Job 6:16) with notice of the desert and the `Arabah valley (24:5), which could hardly apply to any region except Edom. Again, we have a nomad population dwelling close to a city (29:4-7) — perhaps Petra, or Ma`an in Edom. There were mines, not only in the Sinaitic desert, but at Punon in Northern Edom (compare 28:2-11). The white broom (30:4) is distinctive of the deserts of Moab and Edom. The wild donkey and the ostrich (39:5,13) are now known only in the desert East of Edom; while the stork (39:13 the Revised Version margin) could have been found only in the `Arabah, or in the Jordan valley. The wild ox (39:9 the Revised Version (British and American)), or Boa primi-genius, is now extinct Septuagint “unicorn,” Numbers 23:22; Deuteronomy 33:17), though its bones occur in Lebanon caves. It was hunted about 1130 BC in Syria by Tiglath-pileser I (compare Psalm 29:6), and is mentioned as late as the time of Isaiah (34:7) in connection with Edom; its Hebrew name (re’em ) is the Assyrian rimu, attached to a representation of the beast. As regards the crocodile (“leviathan,” Job 41:1), it was evidently well known to the writer, who refers to its strong, musky smell ( Job 41:31), and it existed not only in Egypt but in Palestine, and is still found in the Crocodile River, North of Caesarea in Sharon. Behemoth ( Job 40:15), though commonly supposed to be the hippopotamus, is more probably the elephant (on account of its long tail, its trunk, and its habit of feeding in mountains, Job 40:17,20,24); and the elephant was known to the Assyrians in the 9th century BC, and was found wild in herds on the Euphrates in the 16th century BC. The physical allusions in Job seem clearly, as a rule, to point to Edom, as do the geographical names; and though Christian tradition in the 4th century AD (St. Silvia, 47) placed Uz in Bashan, the Septuagint ( Job 42:18) defines it as lying “on the boundary of Edom and Arabia.” None of these allusions serves to fix dates, nor do the peculiarities of the language, though they suggest Aramaic and Arabic influences. The mention of Babylonians ( Job 1:17) (Kasdim) as raiders may, however, point to about 600 BC, since they could not have reached Edom except from the North, and did not appear in Palestine between the time of Amraphel (who only reached Kadesh-barnea), and of Nebuchadnezzar. It is at least clear ( Job 24:1-12) that this great poem was written in a time of general anarchy, and of Arab lawlessness. 2. Book of Psalms: In the Psalms there are many allusions to the natural phenomena of Palestine, but there is very little detailed topography. “The mountain of Bashan” ( Psalm 68:15) rises East of the plateau to 5,700 ft. above sealevel; but Zalmon ( Psalm 68:14) is an unknown mountain (compare Zalmon, Judges 9:48). This psalm might well refer to David’s conquest of Damascus ( 2 Samuel 8:6), as Psalm 72 refers to the time of Solomon, being the last in the original collection of “prayers of David” ( 2 Samuel 8:20). In Psalm 83 (verses 6-8) we find a confederacy of Edom, Ishmael, Moab and the Hagarenes (or “wanderers” East of Palestine; compare 1 Chronicles 5:18-22) with Gebal (in Lebanon), Ammon, Amalek, and Tyre, all in alliance with Assyria — a condition which first existed in 732 BC, when Tiglath-pileser III conquered Damascus. The reference to the “northern” (“hidden”) tribes points to this date ( Psalm 83:3), since this conqueror made captives also in Galilee ( 2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chronicles 5:26; Isaiah 9:1). 3. Book of Proverbs: In Proverbs the allusions are more peaceful, but not geographical. They refer to agriculture (3:10; 11:26; 12:11; 25:13), to trade (7:16; 31:14,24) and to flocks (27:23-27). The most remarkable passage (26:8) reads literally, “As he that packs a stone into the stone-heap, so is he that giveth honor to a fool.” Jerome said that this referred to a superstitious custom; and the erection of stone heaps at graves, or round a pillar ( Genesis 31:45,46), is a widely spread and very ancient custom (still preserved by Arabs), each stone being the memorial of a visitor to the spot, who thus honors either a local ghost or demon, or a dead man — a rite which was foolish in the eyes of a Hebrew of the age in which this verse was written (see Expository Times, VIII, 399, 524). 4. Song of Solomon of Songs: The geography of Canticles is specially important to a right understanding of this bridal ode of the Syrian princess who was Solomon’s first bride. It is not confined, as some critics say it is, to the north, but includes the whole of Palestine and Syria. The writer names Kedar in North Arabia ( Song of Solomon 1:5) and Egypt, whence horses came in Solomon’s time ( Song of Solomon 1:9; 1 Kings 10:28,29). He knows the henna (the King James Version “camphire”) and the vineyards of En-gedi ( Song of Solomon 1:14), where vineyards still existed in the 12th century AD. He speaks of the “rose” of Sharon ( Song of Solomon 2:1), as well as of Lebanon, with Shenir (Assyrian Saniru) and Hermon ( Song of Solomon 4:8) above Damascus ( Song of Solomon 7:4). He notices the pastoral slopes of Gilead. ( Song of Solomon 6:5), and the brown pool, full of small fish, in the brook below Heshbon ( Song of Solomon 7:4), in Moab. The locks of the “peaceful one” ( Song of Solomon 6:13, Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) pacifica) are like the thick copses of Carmel; `the king is caught in the tangles’ ( Song of Solomon 7:5). See GALLERY. She is “beautiful as Tirzah (in Samaria), comely as Jerusalem, terrible to look at” ( Song of Solomon 6:4 the King James Version). She is a garden and a “paradise” (“orchard”) of spices in Lebanon, some of which spices (calamus, cinnamon, frankincense and myrrh) have come from far lands ( Song of Solomon 4:12-15). Solomon’s vineyard — another emblem of the bride — ( Song of Solomon 1:6; 8:11) was in Baal-hamon, which some suppose to be Baalhermon, still famous for its vineyards. He comes to fetch her from the wilderness ( Song of Solomon 3:6); and the dust raised by his followers is like that of the whirlwind pillars which stalk over the dry plains of Bashan in summer. The single word “paradise” ( Song of Solomon 4:13 margin) is hardly evidence enough to establish late date, since — though used in Persian — its etymology and origin are unknown. The word for “nuts” (Hebrew ‘eghoz ) is also not Persian ( Song of Solomon 6:11), for the Arabic word jauz, is Semitic, and means a “pair,” applying to the walnut which abounds in Shechem. The “rose of Sharon” ( Song of Solomon 2:1), according to the Targum, was the white “narcisus; and the Hebrew word occurs also in Assyrian (chabacillatu), as noted by Delitzsch (quoting WAI, V, 32, number 4), referring to a white bulbous plant. Sharon in spring is covered still with wild narcissi, Arabic buceil (compare Isaiah 35:1,2). There is perhaps no period when such a poem is more likely to have been written than in the time of Solomon, when Israel “dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree” ( 1 Kings 4:25); when the roe and the fallow deer ( Song of Solomon 2:17; 1 Kings 4:23) abounded; and when merchants ( Song of Solomon 3:6) brought “powders” from afar; when also the dominion included Damascus and Southern Lebanon, as well as Western Palestine with Gilead and Moab. See also SONG OF SONGS. 5. PALESTINE IN THE PROPHETS. 1. Isaiah: Isaiah (1:8) likens Zion, when the Assyrian armies were holding Samaria, Moab and Philistia, to “a booth in a vineyard, a lodge in a garden of cucumbers.” He refers no doubt to a “tower” ( Matthew 21:33), or platform, such as is to be found beside the rock-cut wine press in the deserted vineyards of Palestine; and such as is still built, for the watchman to stand on, in vineyards and vegetable gardens. The chief topographical question ( Isaiah 10:28-32) refers to the Assyrian advance from the north, when the outposts covered the march through Samaria (whether in 732, 722, or 702 BC) to Philistia. They extended on the left wing to Ai (Chayan), Michmash (Mukhmas), and Geba, South of the Michmash valley (Jeba`), leading to the flight of the villagers, from Ramah (er-Ram) and the region of Gibeah — which included Ramah, with Geba ( 1 Samuel 22:6) and Migron ( 1 Samuel 14:2) or the precipice. They were alarmed also at Gallim (Beit Jala), and Anathoth (`Anata), near Jerusalem; yet the advance ceased at Nob (compare Nehemiah 11:32) where, as before noted, the first glimpse of Zion would be caught if Nob was at or near Mizpah (Tell en Nacbeh), on the main north road leading West of Ramah. Another passage refers to the towns of Moab ( Isaiah 15:1-6), and to Nimrim (Tell Nimrin) and Zoar (Tell esh Shaghur) in the valley of Shittim. The ascent of Luhith ( Isaiah 15:5) is the present Tal`at el Cheith, on the southern slope of Nebo (Jebel Neba). The curious term “a heifer of three years old” (compare Jeremiah 48:34 margin) is taken from Septuagint, but might better be rendered “a round place with a group of three” ( see EGLATH-SHELISHIYAH ). It is noticed with the “high places” of Moab ( Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:35), and probably refers to one of those large and ancient stone circles, surrounding a central group of three rude pillars, which still remain in Moab (SEP, I, 187, 203,233) near Nobo and Zoar. Sibmah — probably Sumieh, 2 miles Southwest of Heshbon (Chesban) — is said to have had vines reaching to Jazer (Sa`aur, 6 miles to the North); and rock-cut wine presses still remain at Sibmah ( Isaiah 16:8; Jeremiah 48:32). The Bozrah mentioned with Edom ( Isaiah 34:6; 63:1; Jeremiah 49:13,22; Micah 2:12) is probably Buceirah, near the southern border of Moab. In the last-cited passage there is a play on the words batsrah (“fortress”) and botscah for “sheepfold.” 2. Jeremiah: In Jeremiah 1:1, Anathoth (`Anata) is mentioned as a priests’ city (compare 1 Kings 2:26). The “place” or shrine of Shiloh was deserted ( Jeremiah 7:12), but the town seems still to have been inhabited ( Jeremiah 41:5). The “pit” at Mizpah ( Jeremiah 41:6-9) may have been the great rock reservoir South of Tell en-Nacbeh. The Moabite towns noticed ( Jeremiah 48:1-5,20-24,31-45; 49:3) with Rabbah (`Amman) have been mentioned as occurring in the parallel passages of Isaiah. The numerous petty kings in Edom, Moab, Philistia, Phoenicia, and Arabia ( Jeremiah 25:20-24) recall those named in Assyrian lists of the same age. Lamentations 4:3 recalls Job 39:14 in attributing to the ostrich want of care for her young, because she endeavors (like other birds) to escape, and thus draws away the hunter from the nest. This verse should not be regarded as showing that the author knew that whales were mammals, since the word “sea-monsters” (the King James Version) is more correctly rendered “jackals” (Revised Version) or “wild beasts.” 3. Ezekiel: In Ezekiel (chapter 27), Tyre appears as a city with a very widespread trade extending from Asia Minor to Arabia and Egypt, and from Assyria to the isles (or “coasts”) of the Mediterranean. The “oaks of Bashan” (27:6; Isaiah 2:13; Zechariah 11:2) are still found in the Southwest of that region near Gilead. Judah and Israel then provided wheat, honey, oil and balm for export as in the time of Jacob. Damascus sent white wool and the wine of Helbon (Chelbon), 13 miles North, where fine vineyards still exist. The northern border described (47:15-18) is the same that marked that of the dominions of David, running along the Eleutherus River toward Zedad (Cudud). It is described also in Numbers 34:8-11 as passing Riblah (Riblah) and including Ain (el `Ain), a village on the western slopes of the Anti-Lebanon, East of Riblah. In this passage (as in Ezekiel 47:18) the Hauran (or Bashan plain) is excluded from the land of Israel, the border following the Jordan valley, which seems to point to a date earlier than the time when the Havvoth-jair ( Numbers 32:41; Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 13:30; Judges 10:4; 1 Kings 4:13; 1 Chronicles 2:23), in Gilead and Bashan were conquered or built — possibly after the death of Joshua. The southern border of the land is described by Ezekiel (47:19) as reaching from Kadesh (-barnea) — probably Petra — to Tamar, which seems to be Tamrah, 6 miles Northeast of Gaza. 4. Minor Prophets: In the Minor Prophets there are fewer topographical notices. Hosea (12:11) speaks of the altars of Gilead and Gilgal as being “as heaps in the furrows of the fields.” He perhaps alludes to the large dolmen fields of this region, which still characterize the country East of the Jordan. He also perhaps speaks of human sacrifice at Bethel (13:2). In Joel (1:12) the apple tree (Hebrew tappuach , Arabic tuffach) is noticed (compare Song of Solomon 2:3,5; 8:5), and there seems to be no reason to doubt that the apple was cultivated, since el Muqaddasi mentions “excellent apples” at Jerusalem in the 10th century AD, though it is not now common in Palestine. The sycamore fig ( Amos 7:14), which was common in the plains and in the shephelah ( 1 Kings 10:27), grew also near Jericho ( Luke 19:4), where it is still to be found. In Micah (1:10-15), a passage which appears to refer to Hezekiah’s reconquest of the shephelah towns and attack on Gaza before 702 BC ( 2 Kings 18:8; 2 Chronicles 28:18) gives a list of places and a play on the name of each. They include Gath (Tell es Cafi), Saphir (es Safir), Lachish (Tell el-Chesy), Achzib (`Ain Kezbeh), and Mareshah (Mer`ash): “the glory of Israel shall come even unto Adullam” (`Aid-el-ma) perhaps refers to Hezekiah himself ( Micah 1:15). After the captivity Philistia ( Zechariah 9:5) was still independent. See PHILISTINES. The meaning of the “mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddon” ( Zechariah 12:11) is disputed. Jerome (see Reland, Palestine Illustr., II, 891) says that the former of these names referred to a town near Jezreel (Maximianopolis, now Rummaneh, on the western side of the plain of Esdraelon), but the mourning “for an only son” was probably a rite of the Syrian god called Hadad, or otherwise Rimmon, like the mourning for Tammuz ( Ezekiel 8:14). 6. PALESTINE IN THE APOCRYPHA. 1. Book of Judith: The Book of Judith is regarded by Renan (Evangiles, 1877, 29) as a Haggadha’ (legend), written in Hebrew in 74 AD. It is remarkable, however, that its geographical allusions are very correct. Judith was apparently of the tribe of Manasseh (8:2,3); and her husband, who bore this name, was buried between Dothaim (Tell Dothan) and Balamon (in Wady Belameh), East of Dothan. Her home at Bethulia was thus probably at Mithilieh, on a high hill (6:11,12), 5 miles Southeast of Dothan (SWP, II, 156), in the territory of Manasseh. The requirements of the narrative are well met; for this village is supplied only by wells (7:13,10), though there are springs at the foot of the hill to the South (7:7,12), while there is a good view over the valley to the North (10:10), and over the plain of Esdraelon to Nazareth and Tabor. Other mountains surround the village (15:3). The camp of the invaders reached from Dothart to Belmaim (Balamon) from West to East, and their rear was at Cyamon (Tell Qeimun), at the foot of Carmel. The Babylonians were allied with tribes from Carmel, Gilead and Galilee on the North with the Samaritans, and with others from Betane (probably Beth-anoth, now Belt `Ainun, North of Hebron), Chellus (Klalach — the later Elusa — 8 miles Southwest of Beersheba), and Kades (`Ain Qadis) on the way to Egypt. Among Samaritan towns South of Shechem, Ekrebel (`Aqrabeh) and Chusi (Kuzah) are mentioned, with “the brook Mochmur” (Wady el Chumr) rising North of Ekrebel and running East into the Jordan. 2. Book of Wisdom: The philosophical Book of Wisdom has no references to Palestine; and in Ecclesiasticus the only allusions are to the palm of En-gaddi (24:14), where palms still exist, and to the “rose plant in Jericho” (24:14; compare 39:13; 50:8); the description of the rose as “growing by the brook in the field” suggests the rhododendron (Tristram, NHB, 477), which flourishes near the Jordan and grows to great size beside the brooks of Gilead. 3. 1 Maccabees: Judas Maccabeus. — The first Book of Maccabees is a valuable history going down to 135 BC, and its geographical allusions are sometimes important. Modin, the home of Judas-Maccabaeus (1 Macc 2:15), where his brother Simon erected seven monuments visible from the sea (1 Macc 9:19; 13:25-30), was above the plain in which Cedron (Qatrah, 5 miles East of Jamnia) stood (1 Macc 15:40,41; 16:4,9), and is clearly the present village el Midieh on the low hills with a sea view, 17 miles from Jerusalem and 6 miles East of Lydda, near which latter Eusebius (Onom under the word “Modeim”) places Modin. The first victory of Judas (1 Macc 3:24) was won at Beth-horon, and the second at Emmaus (`Amwas) by the Valley of Aijalon — the scenes of Joshua’s victories also. The Greeks next attempted to reach Jerusalem from the South and were again defeated at Beth-zur (1 Macc 4:29), now Beit-cur, on the watershed, 15 miles South of Jerusalem, where the road runs through a pass. Judas next (after cleansing the temple in 165 BC) marched South of the Dead Sea, attacking the Edomites at Arabattine (perhaps Akrabbim) and penetrating to the Moab plateau as far North as Jazar (1 Macc 5:3-8). On his return to Judea the heathen of Gilead and Bashan rose against the Israelites of Tubias (1 Macc 5:13) or Tobit (Taiyibeh), and the Phoenicians against the Galilean Hebrews who were, for a time, withdrawn to Jerusalem until the Hasmoneans won complete independence (1 Macc 11:7,59). In the regions of Northern Gilead and Southern Bashan (1 Macc 5:26,36,37) Judas conquered Bosor (Bucr), Alema (Kerr el-ma), Caphon (Khisfin), Maged (perhaps el Mejd, North of `Amman), and Carnaim (Ashteroth-karnaim), now Tell Ashterah. The notice of a “brook” at the last-named place (1 Macc 5:42) is an interesting touch, as a fine stream runs South from the west side of the town. In 162 BC Judas was defeated at Bathzacharias (1 Macc 6:32), now Beit Skaria 9 miles South of Jerusalem, but the cause was saved by a revolt in Antioch; and in the next year he defeated Nicanor near Caphar-salama (perhaps Selmeh, near Joppa), and slew him at Adasah (`Adaseh), 8 miles Southeast of Bethhoron (1 Macc 7:31,40,45). The fatal battle in which Judas was killed (1 Macc 9:5,15) was fought also near Beth-horon. He camped at Eleasa (Il`asa), close by, and defeated the Greeks on his right, driving them to Matthew. Azotus (or Beth-zetho, according to Josephus (Ant., XII, xi, 2)), apparently near Bir-ez-Zeit, 4 miles Northwest of Bethel; but the Greeks on his left surrounded him during this rash pursuit. On the death of Judas, Bacchides occupied Judea and fortified the frontier towns (1 Macc 9:50,51) on all sides. Simon and Jonathan were driven to the marshes near the Jordan, but in 159 BC the Greeks made peace with Jonathan who returned to Michmash (1 Macc 9:73) and 7 years later to Jerns (1 Macc 10:1,7). Three districts on the southern border of Samaria were then added to Judea (1 Macc 10:30; 11:34), namely Lydda, Apherema (or Ephraim) now Taiyibeh, and Ramathem (er-Ram); and Jonathan defeated the Greeks in Philistia (1 Macc 10:69; 11:6). Simon was “captain” from the “Ladder of Tyre” (Ras en Naqurah), or the pass North of Accho, to the borders of Egypt (1 Macc 11:59); and the Greeks in Upper Galilee were again defeated by Jonathan, who advanced from Gennesaret to the plateau of Hazor (Chazzur), and pursued them even to Kedesh Naphtali (Qedes), northward (1 Macc 11:63,73). He was victorious even to the borders of Hamath, and the Eleutherus River (Nahr el Kebir), North of Tripoils, and defeated the Arabs, called Zabadeans (probably at Zebdany in Anti-Lebanon), on his way to Damascus (1 Macc 12:25,30,32). He fortified Adida (Chadditheh) in the shephelah (1 Macc 12:38), West of Jerusalem, where Simon awaited the Greek usurper Tryphon (1 Macc 13:13,20), who attempted to reach Jerusalem by a long detour to the South near Adoraim (Dura), but failed on account of the snow in the mountains. After the treacherous capture of Jonathan at Accho, and his death in Gilead (1 Macc 12:48; 13:23), Simon became the ruler of all Palestine to Gaza (1 Macc 13:43), fortifying Joppa, Gezer and Ashdod (1 Macc 14:34) in 140 BC. Five years later he won a final victory at Cedron (Qatrah), near Jamnia (Yebnah), but was murdered at Dok (1 Macc 16:15), near Jericho, which site was a small fort at `Ain Duk, a spring North of the city. 4. 2 Maccabees: The second Book of Maccabees presents a contrast to the first in which, as we have seen, the geography is easily understood. Thus the site of Caspis with its lake (2 Macc 12:13,16) is doubtful. It seems to be placed in Idumaea, and Charax may be the fortress of Kerak in Moab (2 Macc 12:17). Ephron, West of Ashteroth-karnaim (2 Macc 12:26,27), is unknown; and Beth-shean is called by its later name Scythopolis (2 Macc 12:29), as in the Septuagint ( Judges 1:27) and in Josephus (Ant., XII, viii, 5; vi, 1). A curious passage (1 Macc 13:4-6) seems to refer to the Persian burial towers (still used by Parsees), one of which appears to have existed at Berea (Aleppo), though this was not a Greek custom. See ASMONEANS. 7. PALESTINE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 1. Synoptic Gospels: We are told that our Lord was born in “Bethlehem of Judea”; and theory of Neubauer, adopted by Gratz, that Bethlehem of Zebulun ( Joshua 19:15) — which was the present Beit-Lachm, 7 miles Northwest of Nazareth — is to be understood, is based on a mistake. The Jews expected the Messiah to appear in the home of David ( Micah 5:2); and the Northern Bethlehem was not called “of Nazareth,” as asserted by Rix (Tent and Testament, 258); this was a conjectural reading by Neubauer (Geog. du Talmud, 189), but the Talmud (Talm Jerusalem, Meghillah 1 1) calls the place Bethlechem-ceridh (or “of balm”), no doubt from the storax bush (Styrax officinalis) or stacte ( Exodus 30:34), the Arabic `abhar, which still abounds in the oak wood close by. (1) Galilean Scenery. The greater part of the life of Jesus was spent at Nazareth in Zebulun, and the ministry at Capernaum in Naphtali (compare Matthew 4:13-15; Isaiah 9:1), with yearly visits to Jerusalem. The Gospel narratives and the symbolism of the parables constantly recall the characteristic features of Galilean scenery and nature, as they remain unchanged today. The “city set on a hill” ( Matthew 5:14) may be seen in any part of Palestine; the lilies of the field grow in all its plains; the “foxes have holes” and the sparrows are still eaten; the vineyard with its tower; the good plowland, amid stony and thorny places, are all still found throughout the Holy Land. But the deep lake surrounded by precipitous cliffs and subject to sudden storms, with its shoals of fish and its naked fishers; the cast nets and drag nets and small heavy boats of the Sea of Galilee, are more distinctive of the Gospels, since the lake is but briefly noticed in the Old Testament. (2) Nazareth. Nazareth was a little village in a hill plateau North of the plain of Esdraelon, and l,000 ft. above it. The name (Hebrew natsarah ) may mean “verdant,” and it had a fine spring, but it is connected ( Matthew 2:23) in the Gospels with the prophecy of the “branch” (netser , Isaiah 11:1) of the house of David. Its population was Hebrew, for it possessed a synagogue ( Luke 4:16). The “brow of the hill whereon their city was built” ( Luke 4:29) is traditionally the “hill of the leap” (Jebel Qafsi), miles to the South — a cliff overlooking the plain. Nazareth was not on any great highway; and so obscure was this village that it is unnoticed in the Old Testament, or by Josephus, while even a Galilean ( John 1:46) could hardly believe that a prophet could come thence. Jerome (Onomasticon, under the word) calls it a “village”; but today it is a town with 4,000 Christians and 2,000 Moslems, the former taking their Arabic name (Nacarah) from the home of their Master. (3) Capernaum. Capernaum ( Matthew 4:13; 9:1) lay on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, apparently ( Mark 14:34; John 6:17) in the little plain of Gennesaret, which stretches for 3 miles on the northwest side of the lake, and which has a breadth of 2 miles. It may have stood on a low cliff (though this is rendered doubtful by the Sinaiticus manuscript rendering of Matthew 11:23 — “Shalt thou be exalted unto heaven?”), and it was a military station where taxes were levied ( Matthew 9:9), and possessed a synagogue ( Mark 1:21; Luke 4:33; John 6:59). Christian tradition, since the 4th century AD, has placed the site at Tell Chum, where ruins of a synagogue (probably, however, not older than the 2nd century AD) exist; but this site is not in the plain of Gennesaret, and is more probably Kephar ‘Achim (Babylonian Talmud, Menachoth 85a). Jewish tradition (Midrash, Qoheleth, vii.20) connects Capernaum with minim or “heretics” — that is to say Christians — whose name may yet linger at `Ain Minyeh at the north end of the plain of Gennesaret. Josephus states (BJ, III, x, 8) that the spring of Capernaum watered this plain, and contained the catfish (coracinus) which is still found in `Ain el Mudawwerah (“the round spring”), which is the principal source of water in the Gennesaret oasis. (4) Chorazin. The site of Chorazin (Kerazeh) has never been lost. The ruined village lies about 2 1/4 miles North of Tell Chum and possesses a synagogue of similar character. Bethsaida (“the house of fishing”) is once said to have been in Galilee ( John 12:21), and Reland (Palestine Illustr., II, 553-55) thought that there were two towns of the name. It is certain that the other notices refer to Bethsaida, called Julias by Herod Philip, which Josephus (Ant., XVIII, ii, 1; iv, 6; BJ, III, x, 7) and Pliny (NH, v.15) place East of the Jordan, near the place where it enters the Sea of Galilee. The site may be at the ruin edition Dikkeh (“the platform”), now 2 miles North of the lake, but probably nearer of old, as the river deposit has increased southward. There are remains of a synagogue here also. The two miracles of feeding the 5,000 and the 4,000 are both described as occurring’ East of the Jordan, the former ( Luke 9:10) in the desert (of Golan) “belonging to the city called Bethsaida” (the King James Version). The words ( Mark 6:45 the King James Version), “to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida,” may be rendered without any straining of grammar, “to go to the side opposite to Bethsaida.” For the disciples are not said to have reached that city; but, after a voyage of at least 3 or 4 miles ( John 6:17,19), they arrived near Capernaum, and landed in Gennesaret ( Mark 6:53), about 5 miles Southwest of the Jordan. (5) Country of the Gerasenes. The place where the swine rushed down a steep place into the lake ( Matthew 8:32; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26) was in the country of the Gerasenes (see Codex Vaticanus MS), probably at Qersa on the eastern shore opposite Tiberias, where there is a steep slope to the water. It should be noted that this was in Decapolis ( Mark 5:20), a region of “ten cities” which lay (except Scythopolis) in Southwest Bashan, where a large number of early Greek inscriptions have been found, some of which (e.g. Vogue- Waddington, numbers 2412, 2413) are as old as the 1st century AD. There was evidently a Greek population in this region in the time of our Lord; and this accounts for the feeding of swine, otherwise distinctive of “a far country” ( Luke 15:13,15); for, while no Hebrew would have tended the unclean beast in Palestine, the Greeks were swine-herds from the time at least of Homer. (6) Magadan-Magdala. The site of Magadan-Magdala (Mejdel) was on the west shore at the Southwest end of the Gennesaret plain ( Matthew 15:39). In Mark 8:10 we find Dalmanutha instead. Magdala was the Hebrew mighdol (“tower”), and Dalmanutha may be regarded as the Aramaic equivalent (De’almanutha) meaning “the place of high buildings”; so that there is no necessary discrepancy between the two accounts. From this place Jesus again departed by ship to “the other side,” and reached Bethsaida ( Matthew 16:5; Mark 8:13,22), traveling thence up the Jordan valley to Caesarea Philippi ( Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27), or Banias, at the Jordan springs. There can be little doubt that the “high mountain apart” ( Matthew 17:1) was Hermon. The very name signifies “separate,” applying to its solitary dome; and the sudden formation of cloud on the summit seems to explain the allusion in Luke 9:34. (7) Other Allusions in the Synoptic Gospels. Other allusions in the Synoptic Gospels, referring to natural history and customs, include the notice of domestic fowls ( Matthew 23:37; 26:34), which are never mentioned in the Old Testament. They came from Persia, and were introduced probably after 400 BC. The use of manure ( Luke 13:8) is also unnoticed in the Old Testament, but is mentioned in the Mishna (Shebi`ith, ii.2), as is the custom of annually whitening sepulchers ( Matthew 23:27; Sheqalim, i.1). The removal of a roof ( Mark 2:4; compare Luke 5:19) at Capernaum was not difficult, if it resembled those of modern Galilean mud houses, though the Third Gospel speaks of “tiles” which are not now used. Finally, the presence of shepherds with their flocks ( Luke 2:8) is not an indication of the season of the nativity, since they remain with them “in the field” at all times of the year; and the “manger” ( Luke 2:7) may have been (as tradition affirmed even in the 2nd century AD) in a cave like those which have been found in ruins North and South of Hebron (SWP, III, 349, 369) and elsewhere in Palestine 2. Fourth Gospel: (1) The topography of the Fourth Gospel is important as indicating the writer’s personal knowledge of Palestine; for he mentions several places not otherwise noticed in the New Testament. Beth-abarah ( John 1:28, the Revised Version (British and American) “Bethany”; 10:40), or “the house of the crossing,” was “beyond the Jordan.” Origen rejected the reading “Bethania,” instead of Beth-abarah, common in his time, and still found in the three oldest uncial manuscripts in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. The place was a day’s journey from Cana (compare John 1:29,35,43; 2:1), which may have been at `Ain Qana, a mile North of Nazareth. It was two or three days’ distance from Bethany near Jerusalem ( John 10:40; 11:3,6,17), and would thus lie in the upper part of the Jordan valley where, in 1874, the surveyors found a ford well known by the name `Abarah, North of Beisan, in the required situation. John, we are told, baptized in “all the region round about the Jordan” ( Matthew 3:5), including the waters of “AEnon near to Salim” ( John 3:23). There is only one stream which answers to this description, namely that of Wady Far`ah, Northeast of Shechem, on the boundary of Judea and Samaria, where there is “much water.” AEnon would be `Ainun, 4 miles North, and Salim is Salim, 4 miles South of this perennial affluent of the Jordan. (2) The site of Sychar (Samaritan: Iskar, Arabic: `Askar) near Jacob’s well ( John 4:5,6) lay West of Salim, and just within the Samaritan border. The present village is only half a mile North of the well. Like the preceding sites, it is noticed only in the Fourth Gospel, as is Bethesda, while this Gospel also gives additional indications as to the position of Calvary. The town of Ephraim, “near to the wilderness” ( John 11:54), is noticed earlier ( 2 Samuel 13:23; compare Ephraim, 2 Chronicles 13:19 margin), and appears to be the same as Apherema (1 Macc 11:34), and as Ophrah of Benjamin ( Joshua 18:23; 1 Samuel 13:17). Eusebius (Onom under the word) places it 20 Roman miles North of Jerusalem, where the village Taiyibeh looks down on the desert of Judah. 3. Book of Acts: In the Book of Acts the only new site, unnoticed before, is that of Antipatris (23:31). This stood at the head of the stream (Me-jarkon) which runs thence to the sea North of Joppa, and it was thus the half-way station between Jerusalem and the seaside capital at Caesarea. The site is now called Ras el `Ain (“head of the spring”), and a castle, built in the 12th century, stands above the waters. The old Romans road runs close by (SWP, II, 258). Caesarea was a new town, founded by Herod the Great about 20 BC (SWP, II, 13-29). It was even larger than Jerusalem, and had an artificial harbor. Thence we may leave Palestine with Paul in 60 AD. The reader must judge whether this study of the country does not serve to vindicate the sincerity and authenticity of Bible narratives in the Old Testament and the New Testament alike. LITERATURE Though the literature connected with Palestine is enormous, and constantly increasing, the number of really original and scientific sources of knowledge is (as in other cases) not large. Besides the Bible, and Josephus, the Mishna contains a great deal of valuable information as to the cultivation and civilization of Palestine about the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The following 20 works are of primary importance. The Onomasticon of Eusebius and Jerome shows intimate acquaintance with Palestine in the 4th century AD, though the identification of Bible sites is as often wrong as right. The rabbinical geography is discussed by A. Neubauer (Lamentations geographie du Talmud, 1868), and the scattered notices by Greek and Roman writers were collected by H. Reland (Palaestina Exodus monumentis veteribus illustrata, 2 volumes, 1714). The first really scientific account of the country is that of Dr. E. Robinson (Biblical Researches, 1838, and Later Biblical Researches, 1852; in 3 volumes, 1856). The Survey of Western Palestine (7 volumes, 1883) includes the present writer’s account of the natural features, topography and surface remains of all ages, written while in command (1872-1878) of the 1-inch trigonometric survey. The Survey of Eastern Palestine (1 vol, 1889) gives his account of Moab and Southern Gilead, as surveyed in 1881-1882. The natural history is to be studied in the same series, and in Canon Tristram’s Natural History of the Bible, 1868. The geology is best given by L. Lartet (Essai sur la geologie de la Palestine) and in Professor Hull’s Memoir on the Geol. and Geog. of Arabia Petrea, etc., 1886. The Archaeological Researches of M. Clermont-Ganneau (2 volumes, 1896) include his discoveries of Gezer and Adullam. Much information is scattered through the PEFQ,(1864-1910) and in ZDPV. G. Schumacher’s Across the Jordan, 1885, Pella, 1888, and Northern ‘Ajlun, 1890, give detailed information for Northeast Palestine; and Lachish, by Professor Flinders Petrie, is the memoir of the excavations which he began at Tell el-Chesy (identified in 1874 by the present writer), the full account being in A Mound of Many Cities by F.J. Bliss, 1894. Other excavations, at Gath, etc., are described in Excavations in Palestine (1898-1900), by F.J. Bliss, R.A.S. Macalister, and Professor Wunsch; while the memoir of his excavations at Gezer (2 volumes) has recently been published by Professor Macalister. For those who have not access to these original sources, The Historical Geography of the Holy Land by Professor G.A. Smith, 1894, and the essay (300 pp.) by Professor D.F. Buhl (Geographie des alten Palastina, 1896) will be found useful. The best guide book to Palestine is still that of Baedeker, written by Dr. A. Socin and published in 18765, 1912. This author had personal acquaintance with the principal routes of the country. Only standard works of reference have been herein mentioned, to which French, German, American, and British explorers and scholars have alike contributed. See JERUSALEM. C. R. Conder PALESTINE (RECENT EXPLORATION, I.E. AS OF 1915) PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATION: Previous to the last century, almost the entire stock of knowledge concerning ancient Palestine, including its races, laws, languages, history and manners, was obtained from Josephus and the Bible, with a few brief additional references given by Greek and Roman authors; knowledge concerning modern Palestine was limited to the reports of chance travelers. The change has been due largely to the compelling interest taken in sacred history and the “Holy Oracles.” This smallest country in the world has aroused the spirit of exploration as no other country has or could. It has largely stimulated many of the investigations carried on in other lands. 1. ERA OF PREPARATION. 1. Outside of Palestine: Much direct information concerning ancient Palestine, absolutely essential to the success of modern exploration in that land, has come through discoveries in other countries; but due in many cases to Biblical influence. All the most important Hebrew and Greek manuscripts and versions of the Bible and most of the Jewish Talmud and apocryphal and Wisdom books were found outside of Palestine. The pictures of its population, cities, fortresses and armies give a color and perspective to its ancient history far more vivid than can be found on any of its own contemporary monuments. The records of Thothmes III (15th century BC) describing the capture of Megiddo in the plain of Esdraelon with its vast stores of “chariots wrought with gold,” bronze armor, silver and ebony statues, ivory and ebony furniture, etc., and of his further capture of 118 other Canaanite towns, many of which are well known from the Bible, and from which he takes an enormous tribute of war materials, golden ornaments and golden dishes, “too many to be weighed,” find no parallel in any indigenous record — such records even if written having been doomed to perish because of the soil, climate and character of the rocks West of the Jordan. So circa BC, the Tell el-Amarna Letters (discovered in 1887) mention by name many Biblical cities, and give much direct information concerning the political and social conditions at that period, with at least 6 letters from the governor of Jerusalem, who writes to the Pharaoh news that the Egyptian fleet has left the coast, that all the neighboring cities have been lost to Egypt, and that Jerusalem will be lost unless help can be had quickly against the invasion of the Khabiri. The literature of the XIXth Dynasty contains many Hebrew names with much information concerning Goshen, Pithom, Canaan, etc., while in one huge stele of Menephtah the Israelites are mentioned by name. Later Egyptian Pharaohs give almost equally important knowledge concerning Palestine, while the Assyrian texts are even more direct. The black obelisk of Shalmancser II (9th century) catalogues and pictures the tribute received from Jehu; almost every king of the 8th century tells something of his relations with the rulers of Jerusalem or Damascus, throwing immense light on local politics, and the later Bah records give vividly the conditions previous to and during the exile, while the edict of Cyrus gives the very decree by virtue of which the Jews could return to their native land. Later discoveries, like the Code of Hammurabi at Susa (1901), the Sendjirli and other Aramaic texts from Northern Syria (1890, 1908), and the Elephantine papyri, some of which are addressed to the “sons of Sanballat” and describe a temple in Egypt erected to Yahu (Yahweh) in the 5th century BC, may not give direct information concerning Palestine, but are important to present explorers because of the light thrown upon the laws of Palestine in patriarchal times; upon the thought and language of a neighboring Semitic community at the time of the Monarchy; upon the religious ritual and festivals of Nehemiah’s day, and upon the general wealth and culture of the Jews of the 5th century; opening up also for the first time the intimate relations which existed between Jerusalem and Samaria and the Jews of the Dispersion. So the vast amounts of Greek papyri found recently in the Fayyum not only have preserved the “Logia ” and “Lost Gospels” and fragments of Scripture texts, early Christian Egyptian ritual, etc., but have given to scholars for the first time contemporaneous examples of the colloquial language which the Jews of Palestine were using in the 1st century AD, and in which they wrote the “memoirs” of the apostles and the Gospels of Jesus. 2. In Palestine: (1) Early Christian Period. At this time, during the first three or four centuries the ancient sites and holy places were identified, giving some valuable information as to the topographical memories of the earlier church. By far the most valuable of these carefully prepared summaries of ancient Bible places, with their modern sites, and the distances between them, was the Onomasticon of Eusebius, as it was enlarged by Jerome, which attempted seriously the identification of some 300 holy places, most of these being vitally important for the modern student of the Bible. While some of these identifications were “curiously incorrect” (Bliss) and the distances even at the best only approximate, yet few satisfactory additions were made to the list for 1,500 years; and it was certainly a splendid contribution to Palestinian topography, for the list as a whole has been confirmed by the scientific conclusions of recent investigators. (2) Period of Cursory Observation. The earliest traveler who has left a record of his journey into Palestine was Sinuhit, who, perhaps a century after Abraham, mentions a number of places known to us from the Bible and describes Canaan as a “land of figs and vines, .... where wine was more plentiful than Water, .... honey and oil in abundance .... all kinds of fruit upon its trees, barley and spelt in the fields, and cattle beyond number”; each day his table is laden with “bread, wine, cooked flesh and roasted fowl .... wild game from the hills and milk in every sort of cooked dish” (Breasted, Ancient Records, I, 496). A few other Egyptian visitors (1300-1000 BC) add little to our knowledge. The report of the Hebrew spies (Numbers 13) records important observations, although they can only humorously be called “genuine explorers” (Bliss), and Joshua’s list of cities and tribes, although their boundaries are carefully described (Joshua 13 through 21), are naturally excluded from this review. The record of early Christian travel begins with the Bordeaux Pilgrim (332 AD), and during the next two centuries scores of others write out their observations in the Holy Land, but for 1,000 years there is scarcely a single visitor who looks at the country except through the eyes of the monks. A woman traveler of the 4th century reports some interesting facts about the early ritual of the Jerusalem church and the catechumen teaching, and surprises us by locating Pithom correctly (although the site was totally forgotten and only recovered in 1883), and the Epitome of Eucherius (5th century) gives a clear description of the holy places in Jerusalem; but almost the only other significant sign that anyone at this era ever made serious observations of value comes from the very large, fine mosaic of the 5th century recently discovered at Madeba, which gives a good impression of ancient Jerusalem with its buildings, and a careful bird’s-eye view of the surrounding country (see below II, 3). By the middle of the 6th century the old “Holy Places” were covered by churches, while new ones were manufactured or discovered in dreams, and relics of martyrs’ bones began to engross so much attention that no time was left in which to make any ordinary geographical or natural-history observations. A little local color and a few facts in regard to the plan of early churches and the persecution of Christians by Moslems constitute almost the sum total of valus to be gathered from the multitude of pilgrims between the 6th and 12th centuries. In the 12th century John of Wurzburg gives a few geographical notes of value; Theoderich notices certain inscriptions and tombs, describes accurately the churches and hospitals he visits, with their pictures and decorations, and outlines intelligently the boundaries of Judea and the salient features of the mountains encompassing Jerusalem; the Abbot Daniel notices the wild beasts in the Jordan forests and the customs at church feasts, and his account is important because of the light it throws on conditions in Palestine just after its conquest by the Crusaders, while in the 13th century Burchard of Matthew. Zion makes the earliest known medieval map of Palestine, mentions over 100 Scripture sites, and shows unexpected interest in the plant and animal life of the country — but this practically exhausts the valuable information from Christian sources in these centuries. The Moslem pilgrims and writers from the 9th to the 15th centuries show far more regard to geographical realities than the Christians. It is a Moslem, Istakhri, who in the 10th century makes the first effort at a systematic geography of Palestine, and in the 10th and 13th centuries, respectively, Muqaddasi, after 20 years of preparation, and Yaqut, in a “vast work,” publish observations concerning climate, native customs, geographical divisions, etc., which are yet valuable, while Nacir-i- Qhusran, in the 11th century, also gave important information concerning Palestinian botany, gave dimensions of buildings and gates, and even noticed to some extent the ancient arches and ruins — though in all these there are pitiful inaccuracies of observation and induction. One of the best Moslem writers thinks the water of Lake Tiberias is not fit to drink because the city sewerage has ceased to flow into it, and Christian writers from the 7th century down to modern times continually mention the Jor and Daniel as two fountains from which the Jordan rises, and continually report the most absurd stories about the Dead Sea and about its supernatural saltness never noticing the salt mountain near by and the other simple causes explaining this phenomenon. See DEAD SEA. In the 14th century Marino Sanuto gave a “most complete monograph” (Ritter) of Palestinian geography, his maps being really valuable, though, according to modern standards, quite inaccurate. The Jew, Estoai ben Moses ha-Phorhi, in this same century advanced beyond all Christian writers in a work of “real scientific knowledge” (Bliss), in which he correctly identified Megiddo and other ancient sites, though the value of his work was not recognized for 400 years. The great name of the 15th century is that of the Dominican, Father Felix Fabri, who in his large book, Wanderings in the Holy Land, was the first to notice monuments and ruins to which no Biblical traditions were attached (Bliss), and who, within a decade of the discovery of America, described most vividly the dangers and miseries of the sea voyages of that era, and in most modern fashion narrated his adventures among the Saracens; yet notwithstanding the literary value of the book and his better method of arranging his materials, Fabri actually explained the saltness of the Dead Sea as due to the sweat which flowed from the skin of the earth! In the 16th century travelers showed more interest in native customs, but the false traditional identification of sites was scarcely questioned; the route of travel was always the same, as it was absolutely impossible to get East of the Jordan, and even a short trip away from the caravan was dangerous. (3) Beginning of Scientific Observation. In the 17th century Michal Nau, for 30 years a missionary in Palestine, Deuteronomy la Roque and Hallifix showed a truly scientific veracity of observation and an increasing accuracy in the recording and verification of their notes, and Maundrell advanced beyond all his predecessors in noticing the antiquities on the seacoast, North of Beirut; but all of these, though possessing fine qualities as explorers, were forced to travel hastily and limit their study to a very narrow field. 2. ERA OF SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION. 1. Period of Individual Enterprise: (1) First Trained Explorers. True scientific exploration opened with the 18th century, as men began to think of this as itself an important life-work and not merely as a short episode in a life devoted to more serious pursuits. Th. Shaw (1722) carefully fitted himself as a specialist in natural history and physical geography, and scientifically reported a number of new facts, e.g. conditions and results of evaporation, etc., in the Dead Sea. Bishop Pococke (1738) had been well trained, was free from the bondage of tradition, and did for the antiquities of Palestine what Maundrell had done for those of Syria, making a large number of successful identifications of sites and contributing much to the general knowledge of Palestine. Volney (1783) was a brilliant literary man, in full sympathy with the scientific spirit, who popularized results and made a considerable number of original researches, especially in the Lebanon. Seetzen (1800-1807) and Burckhardt (1810-1812) are called by Bliss “veritable pioneers in the exploration of the ruins of Eastern and Southern Palestine.” The former opened Caesarea Philippi to light, visited a large unexplored district and made important observations in almost every field of knowledge, zoology, meteorology, archaeology; the latter, having become an Arab in looks and language, was able to go into many places where no European had ventured, one of his chief triumphs being the discovery of Petra and the scientific location of Matthew. Sinai. (2) The Climax of Individual Exploration. The climax of the era of scientific observation, unassisted by learned societies, was reached by the American clergyman and teacher, Edward Robinson. He spent parts of two years in Palestine (1838 and 1852) and in 1856 published 3 volumes of Biblical Researches. He strictly employed the scientific method, and showed such rare insight that scarcely one of his conclusions has been found incorrect. His knowledge was as extensive as minute, and although he gave, in all, only five months of steady labor to the specific task of exploration, yet in that time he “reconstructed the map of Palestine” (Bliss), and his conclusions henceforth “formed the ground work of modern research” (Conder). He studied Jerusalem, being the first to show that the ancient fragment of an arch (now “Robinson’s”) had been part of the bridge connecting the temple with Matthew. Zion, and was the first to trace with accuracy the windings of the tunnel leading from the Virgin’s Fount to the Pool of Siloam. All Judea, Galilee and Samaria were very well covered by him. He was the first to notice that the ruined building at Tell Chum was a synagogue; from the top of one hill he recognized seven Biblical sites which had been lost for at least 1,500 years; he identified correctly at least 160 new sites, almost all being Biblical places. Robinson’s results were phenomenal in number and variety, yet necessarily these have been constantly improved upon or added to in each generation since, for no man can cover the entire field or be a specialist in every department. W.M. Thomson in his Thomson, The Land and the Book (new edition, 1910) and G.E. Post, Flora of Syria, Palestine, and Sinai (1896), gave a needed popular resume of the manners, customs and folklore of the people, as these illustrated the Bible, and many books and articles since have added to this material. In 1848 the United States sent an expedition under Lieutenant Lynch to the Dead Sea, which ascertained the exact width, depth, currents, temperature, etc., and many parties since have added to this knowledge (see e.g. DEAD SEA; and also PEFS, 1911, XII, 7). From 1854 to 1862 Deuteronomy Vogue thoroughly examined the monuments of Central Syria and remained the sole authority on this section down to the American Archaeological Expedition of 1899. Tabler (1845-63) scientifically described Jerusalem and its environs, and the districts lying between Jaffa and the Jordan, and between Jerusalem and Bethel. Guerin who studied Palestine during periods covering 23 years (1852-75), though limited by lack of funds, covered topographically, with a minuteness never before attempted, almost the whole of Judea, Samaria and Galilee, gathering also many new records of monuments and inscriptions, the record of which was invaluable because many of these had been completely destroyed before the arrival of the next scientific party. A most sensational discovery was that of F. Klein in 1868, when he found at Dibon the huge basalt tablet set up by Mesha, king of Moab (9th century BC), on which in a language closely resembling the Hebrew, he gave honor to his god Chemosh by describing his successful revolt against a successor of Omri, the latter being mentioned by name with many well-known Biblical places. In style, thought and language this inscription greatly resembles the early Old Testament records. 2. Scientific Cooperative Surface Exploration: With the foundation of the Palestine Exploration Fund (1865) the work of exploration took on an entirely new phase, since in this case, not a single individual, but a large company of specialists entered the work, having behind them sufficient funds for adequate investigation in each necessary line of research, and with the British War Office furnishing its expert Royal Engineers to assist the enterprise. Under the auspices of this society during the next 15 years Jerusalem was explored as never before, and all Western Palestine was topographically surveyed (see below); a geological survey (1883-1884) of Sinai, Wady `Arabah and the Dead Sea, and later of Matthew. Seir (1885) was accomplished under Professor Edward Hull; the natural history of the country was treated with great thoroughness by several specialists; Palmer and Drake in the dress of Syrian natives, without servants, risked the dangerous journey through the Desert of the Tih in order to locate so far as possible the route of the Exodus; Clermont- Ganneau, who had previously made the discovery of the Jewish placard from the Temple, forbidding strangers to enter the sacred enclosure, added greatly to archaeological knowledge by gathering and deciphering many ancient inscriptions, uncovering buried cemeteries, rock-cut tombs and other monuments. He also laid down important criteria for the age of stone masonry (yet see PEFS, 1897, LXI); identified various sites including Adullam, found the “stone of Bethphage,” “Zoheleth,” etc., and made innumerable plans of churches, mosques, tombs, etc., and did an incredible amount of other important work. Capt., afterward Colossians., C.R. Conder did an equally important work, and as the head of the archaeological party could finally report 10,000 place-names as having been gathered, and 172 new Bible sites successfully identified, while the boundaries of the tribes had been practially settled and many vitally important Bible locations for the first time fixed. The excavations in Jerusalem under the same auspices had meanwhile been carried out as planned. After an introductory examination by Sir Charles Wilson, including some little excavating, Sir Charles Warren (1867-1870) and, later, Colossians. Conder (1872-1875) made thorough excavations over a large area, sinking shafts and following ancient walls to a depth of 80-150 ft. They uncovered the Temple-area from its countless tons of debris and traced its approximate outline; examined underground rock chambers; opened ancient streets; discovered many thousand specimens of pottery, glass, tools, etc., from Jewish to Byzantine periods; found the pier in the Tyropoeon Valley, where Robinson’s arch had rested, and also parts of the ancient bridge; traced the line of several important ancient walls, locating gates and towers, and fixed the date of one wall certainly as of the 8th century BC, and probably of the age of Solomon (G.A. Smith), thus accomplishing an epoch-making work upon which all more recent explorers have safely rested — as Maudslay (1875), in his masterly discovery and examination of the Great Scarp, and Guthe (1881), who made fine additional discoveries at Ophel, as well as Warren and Conder in their work afterward (1884), when they published plans of the whole city with its streets churches, mosques, etc., 25 inches to the mile, which in that direction remains a basis for all later work. See JERUSALEM. Perhaps, however, the greatest work of all done by this society was the Topographical Survey (1881-1886), accomplished for Judea and Samaria by Colossians. Conder, and for Galilee by Lord Kitchener, resulting in a great map of Western Palestine in 26 sheets, on a scale of an inch to the mile (with several abridged additions), showing all previous identifications of ancient places. These maps, with the seven magnificent volumes of memoirs, etc., giving the other scientific work done by the various parties, marked such an epoch-making advance in knowledge that it has been called “the most important contribution to illustrate the Bible since its translation into the vulgar tongue.” In addition to the above the Palestine Exploration Fund established a Quarterly Statement and Society of Biblical Archaeology from which subscribers could keep in touch with the latest Biblical results, and published large quantities of translations of ancient texts and travels and of books reporting discoveries as these were made. Altogether more advance was made during these 15 years from 1865-1880 than in the 15 centuries before. 3. Most Recent Results in Surface Exploration: The next ten years (1880-90) did not furnish as much new material from Palestine exploration, but in 1880 the Siloam Inscription (compare Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:30) was accidentally found in Jerusalem, showing the accuracy with which the engineers of Hezekiah’s day could, at least occasionally, cut long tunnels through the rock (see also Clermont- Ganneau, Archaeological Researches, 313); and in 1881-1885 Conder and Schumacher attempted their difficult task of making a scientific topographical map of Eastern Palestine. In 1881 H. Clay Trumbull rediscovered and properly described Kadesh-barnea, settling authoritatively its location and thus making it possible to fix previously obscure places mentioned in the account of the Exodus wanderings. Since 1890 continued investigations in small districts not adequately described previously have taken place, new additions to the zoological, botanical, geological and meteorological knowledge of Palestine have been frequent; studies of irrigation and the water-supply have been made, as well as investigations into the customs, proverbs, folklore, etc., of the Arabs; many districts East of the Jordan and through Petra down into Sinai have yielded important results, and many discoveries of surface tombs, ossuaries, mosaics, seals and manuscripts have been made in many parts of Palestine. This has been done perhaps chiefly by the Palestine Exploration Fund, but much by individuals and some by the newly organized excavation societies (see below). The most surprising discoveries made by this method of surface exploration (a method which can never become completely obsolete) have been the finding at different times of the four Boundary Stones of Gezer (1874, 1881, 1889) by Clermont-Ganneau, and, in 1896, of the very large mosaic at Madeba by Father Cleopas, librarian of the Greek Patriarch. The latter proved to be part of the pavement of a 6th-century basilica and is a “veritable map of Palestine,” showing its chief cities, the boundaries of the tribes, and especially the city of Jerusalem with its walls, gates, chief buildings, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and chief streets, notably one long straight street intersecting the city and lined with colonnades. As Madeba lies near the foot of Matthew. Nebo, it is thought the artist may have intended to represent ideally a modern (6th-cent.) vision of Moses. George Adam Smith (HGHL, 7th edition, 1901); Jerusalem (2 volumes, 1910), and E. Huntington, Palestine and Its Transformation (1911), have given fine studies illustrating the supreme importance of accurate topographical knowledge in order to understand correctly the Bible narratives and the social life and politics of the Hebrews. 3. ERA OF SCIENTIFIC EXCAVATION. 1. Southern Palestine: (1) Tell el-Chesy. (Palestine Exploration Fund). — Exploration must always continue, but excavation is a vast advance. The modern era in Palestinian study begins with Petrie at LACHISH (which see) in 1890. Though Renan was actually the first man to put a spade into the soil (1860), yet his results were practically confined to Phoenicia. From Renan’s time to 1890 there had been no digging whatever, except some narrow but thorough work in Jerusalem, and a slight tickling of the ground at Jericho and at the so-called Tombs of the Kings. Nothing was more providential than this delay in beginning extensive excavations in Palestine, such as had been previously so profitably conducted in Egypt and elsewhere. The results could not have been interpreted even two years earlier, and even when these excavations were commenced, the only man living who could have understood what he found was the man who had been selected to do the work. Nearly two centuries before, a traveler in Palestine (Th. Shaw) had suggested the possibility of certain mounds (“tells”) being artificial (compare Joshua 8:28; Jeremiah 30:18); but not even Robinson or Guerin had suspected that these were the cenotaphs of buried cities, but had believed them to be mere natural hills. The greatest hour in the history of exploration in Palestine, and perhaps in any land, was that in which on a day in April, 1890, W.M. Flinders Petrie climbed up the side of Tell el-Chesy, situated on the edge of the Philistine plain, circa 30 miles Southwest of Jerusalem, and 17 miles Northeast from Gaza, and by examining its strata, which had been exposed by the stream cutting down its side, determined before sunset the fact, from pieces of pottery he had seen, that the site marked a city covering 1,000 years of history, the limits of occupation being probably 1500 BC to 500 BC. This ability to date the several occupations of a site without any inscription to assist him was due to the chronological scale of styles of pottery which he had originated earlier and worked out positively for the Greek epochs at Naukratis a year or two before, and for the epochs preceding 1100 BC at Illahun in the Fayyum only a month or two before. The potsherds were fortunately very numerous at Tell el-Chesy, and by the end of his six weeks’ work he could date approximately some eight successive occupations of the city, each of these being mutually exclusive in certain important forms of pottery in common use. Given the surface date, depth of accumulation and rate of deposit as shown at Lachish, and a pretty sure estimate of the history of other sites was available. Not only was this pottery scale so brilliantly confirmed and elaborated at Tell el- Chesy that all excavators since have been able accurately to date the last settlement on a mound almost by walking over it; but by observations of the methods of stone dressing he was able to rectify many former guesses as to the age of buildings and to establish some valuable architectural signs of age. He proved that some of the walls at this site were built by “the same school of masons which built the Temple of Solomon,” and also that the Ionic volute, which the Greeks borrowed from the Asiatics, went back in Palestine at least to the 10th century BC, while on one pilaster he found the architectural motif of the “ram’s horn” (compare <19B827> Psalm 118:27). He also concluded, contrary to former belief, that this mound marked the site of Lachish ( Joshua 10:31; 2 Kings 18:14), as by a careful examination he found that no other ruins near could fill the known historic conditions of that city, and the inscription found by the next excavator and all more recent research make this conclusion practically sure. Lachish was a great fortress of the ancient world. The Egyptian Pharaohs often mention it, and it is represented in a picture on an Assyrian monument under which is written, “Sennacherib .... receives the spoil of Lachish” (see 2 Kings 18:14). It was strategically a strong position, the natural hill rising some ft. above the valley and the fortification which Sennacherib probably attacked being over 10 ft. thick. The debris lay from 50-70 ft. deep on top of the hill. Petrie fixed the directions of the various walls, and settled the approximate dates of each city and of the imported pottery found in several of these. One of the most unexpected things was an iron knife dug up from a stratum indicating a period not far from the time when Israel must have entered Canaan, this being the earliest remnant of iron weapons ever found up to-this date (compare Joshua 17:16). The next two years of scientific digging (1891-1892), admirably conducted by Dr. F.G. Bliss on this site, wholly confirmed Petrie’s general inductions, though the limits of each occupation were more exactly fixed and the beginning of the oldest city was pushed back to 1700 BC. The work was conducted under the usual dangers, not only from the Bedouin, but from excessive heat (104 degrees in the shade), from malaria which at one time prostrated 8 of the 9 members of the staff, scarcity of water, which had to be carried 6 miles, and from the sirocco (see my report, PEFS, XXI, 160- 70 and Petrie’s and Bliss’s journal, XXI, 219-46; XXIII, 192, etc.). He excavated thoroughly one-third of the entire hill, moving nearly a million cubic feet of debris. He found that the wall of the oldest city was nearly ft. thick, that of the next city 17 ft. thick, while the latest wall was thin and weak. The oldest city covered a space 1,300 ft. square, the latest one only about 200 ft. square. The oldest pottery had a richer color and higher polish than the later, and this art was indigenous, for at this level no Phoenician or Mycenaean styles were found. The late pre-Israelitish period (1550-800 BC) shows such importations and also local Cypriote imitations. In the “Jewish” period (800-300 BC) this influence is lost and the new styles are coarse and ungraceful, such degeneration not being connected with the entrance of Israel into Canaan, as many have supposed, but with a later period, most probably with the desolation which followed the exile of the ten tribes (Bliss and Petrie). In the pre-Israelite cities were found mighty towers, fine bronze implements, such as battle-axes, spearheads, bracelets, pins, needles, etc., a wine and treacle press, one very large building “beautifully symmetrical,” a smelting furnace, and finally an inscribed tablet from Zimrida, known previously from the Tell el-Amarna Letters to have been governor of Lachish, circa 1400 BC. Many Jewish pit ovens were found in the later ruins and large quantities of pottery, some containing potters’ marks and others with inscriptions. Clay figures of Astarte, the goddess of fertility, were found in the various layers, one of these being of the unique Cypriote type, with large earrings, and many Egyptian figures, symbols and animal forms. See also LACHISH. (2) Excavations in Jerusalem. During 1894:1894-1897, notwithstanding the previously good work done in Jerusalem (see above) and the peculiar embarrassments connected with the attempt to dig in a richly populated town, Dr. Bliss, assisted by an expert architect, succeeded in adding considerably to the sum of knowledge. He excavated over a large area, not only positively confirming former inductions, but discovering the remains of the wall of the empress Eudocia (450 AD), and under this the line of wall which Titus had destroyed, and at a deeper level the wall which surrounded the city in the Herodian age, and deeper yet that which must probably be dated to Hezekiah, and below this a construction “exquisitely dressed, with pointed masonry,” which must be either the remains of a wall of Solomon or some other preexilic fortification not later than the 8th century. He found gates and in ancient times paved streets and manholes leading to ancient sewer systems, and many articles of interest, but especially settled disputed questions concerning important walls and the levels of the ancient hills, thus fixing the exact topography of the ancient city. H. G. Mitchell and others have also carefully examined certain lines of wall, identifying Nehemiah’s Dung Gate, etc., and making a new surveyor certain parts of underground Jerusalem, the results of the entire work being a modification of tradition in a few particulars, but corroborative in most. The important springs and reservoirs, valleys and hills of the ancient Jerusalem have been certainly identified. It is now settled that modern Jerusalem “still sits virtually upon her ancient seat and at much the same slope,” though not so large as the Jerusalem of the kings of Judah which certainly extended over the Southwestern Hill. Matthew. Zion, contrary to tradition which located it on the Southwestern Hill where the citadel stands, probably lay on the Eastern Hill above the Virgin’s Spring (Gihon). On this Eastern Hill at Ophel lay the Temple, and South of the Temple on the same hill “above Gihon” lay the old Jebusite stronghold (David’s City). The ancient altar of burnt offering was almost surely at es-Sakhra. The evidence has not been conclusive as to the line of the second wall, so that the site of Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre cannot certainly be determined (see George Adam Smith’s exhaustive work, Jerusalem,2 volumes, 1907; Sir Charles Wilson, Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre, 1906; and compare Selah Merrill, Ancient Jerusalem, 1908; C.R. Conder, City of Jerusalem, 1909; P.H. Vincent, Underground Jerusalem, 1911). (3) Excavations in the Shephelah. (Palestine Exploration Fund). — During 1898-1900 important work was done by Bliss and Macalister at 4 sites on the border land between Philistia and Judea, while five other small mounds were tunneled, but without important results. The four chief sites were Tell Zakariya, lying about midway between Jerusalem and Tell el-Chesy; Tell ec Cafi, 5 miles W. of Tell Zakariya, and Tell Sandachannah, about 10 miles South; while Tell ej- Judeideh lay between Tell Zakariya and Tell Sandachannah. As Tell ej- Judeideh was only half-excavated and merely confirmed other results, not being remarkable except for the large quantity of jar inscriptions found (37) , we omit further mention of it. (a) Tell Zakariya: From this height, 1,214 ft. above the sea, almost all Philistia could be seen. A pre-Israelitish town was found under some 20 ft. of debris, containing pre-Israelitish, Jewish and Seleucidan pottery. Many vaulted cisterns, partly hewn from the rock, were found in the lowest level. In later levels Jewish pit ovens were found and inscribed jar-handles with winged Egyptian symbols, implements of bronze, iron, bone and stone, and Egyptian images of Bes and the Horus eye, etc., besides a strange bronze figure of a woman with a fish’s tail which seems to represent Atargatis of Ashkelon. The ancient rampart was strengthened, perhaps in Rehoboam’s time, and towers were added in the Seleucidan era. Only half of this site was excavated. (b) Tell es-Safi: The camp was pitched near here in the Vale of Elah. From a depth of 21 ft. to the rock, was found the characteristic pre-Israelitish pottery and much imported pottery of the Mycenaean type. A high place was also found here, containing bones of camels, sheep, cows, etc., and several monoliths of soft limestone in situ, and near by a jar-burial. In an ancient rubbish heap many fragments of the goddess of fertility were found. Many old Egyptian and later Greek relics were also found, and four Babylonian seals and the usual pottery from Jewish and later periods. With strong probability this site was identified as Gath. (c) Tell Sandachannah: This was situated circa 1,100 ft. above sea-level. The town covered about 6 acres and was protected by an inner and outer wall and occasional towers. The strongest wall averaged 30 ft. thick. The work done here “was unique in the history of Palestinian excavation” (Bliss). At Tell el-Chesy only one-third of each stratum was excavated; at Tell Zakariya only onehalf; at Jerusalem the work was confined to the enclosures of the temple, a few city walls and a few churches, pools, streets, etc., but at Tell Sandachannah “we recovered almost an entire town, probably the ancient Mareshah ( Joshua 15:44), with its inner and outer walls, its gates, streets, lanes, open places, houses, reservoirs, etc.” (Bliss). Nearly vessels absolutely intact and unbroken were found. It was a Seleucidan town of the 3rd and 2nd century BC, with no pre-Israelitish remains. The town was built with thin brick, like blocks of soft limestone, set with wide joints and laid in mud with occasionally larger, harder stones chisel-picked. The town was roughly divided into blocks of streets, some of the streets being paved. The houses were lighted from the street and an open court. Very few rooms were perfectly rectangular, while many were of awkward shape. Many closets were found and pit ovens and vaulted cisterns, reached by staircases, as also portions of the old drainage system. The cisterns had plastered floors, and sometimes two heavy coats of plaster on the walls; the houses occasionally had vaulted roofs but usually the ordinary roof of today, made of boards and rushes covered with clay. No religious building was found and no trace of a colonnade, except perhaps a few fragments of ornament. An enormous columbarium was uncovered (1906 niches). No less than 328 Greek inscriptions were found on the handles of imported wine jars. Under the Seleucidan town was a Jewish town built of rubble, the pottery of the usual kind including stamped jarhandles. An Astarte was found in the Jewish or Greek stratum, as also various animal forms. The Astarte was very curious, about 11 inches high, hollow, wearing a long cloak, but with breasts, body and part of right leg bare, having for headdress a closely fitting sunbonnet with a circular serrated top ornament in front and with seven stars in relief. A most striking find dating from about the 2nd century AD was that of 16 little human figures bound in fetters of lead, iron, etc., undoubtedly representing “revenge dolls” through which the owners hoped to work magic on enemies, and 49 fragments of magical tablets inscribed in Greek on white limestone, with exorcisms, incantations and imprecations. It ought to be added that the four towns as a whole supplement each other, and positively confirm former results. No royal stamps were found at Tell el-Chesy, but 77 were found in these 4 sites, in connection with 2- or 4-winged symbols (Egyptian scarabaeus or winged sundisk). Writing-materials (styli) were found in all strata, their use being “continuous from the earliest times into the Seleucidan period” (Bliss). From the four towns the evolution of the lamp could be traced from the pre-Israelite, through the Jewish to the Greek period. Some 150 of the labyrinthine rock-cut caves of the district were also examined, some of which must be pre-Christian, as in one of these a million cubic feet of material had been excavated, yet so long ago that all signs of the rubbish had been washed away. (4) Painted “Tombs of Marissa.” In 1902 John P. Peters and Hermann Thiersch discovered at Belt Jibrin (adjoining Tell Sandachannah) an example of sepulchral art totally different from any other ever found in Palestine. It was a tomb containing several chambers built by a Sidonian, the walls being brilliantly painted, showing a bull, panther, serpent, ibex, crocodile with ibis (?) on its back, hunter on horseback, etc., with dated inscriptions, the earliest being 196 BC (see John P. Peters, Painted Tombs in Necropolis of Marissa, 1905). The writer (April 18, 1913) found another tomb here of similar character, decorated with grapes, birds, two cocks (life size), etc. Perhaps most conspicuous was a wreath of beautiful flowers with a cross in its center. Nothing shows the interrelations of that age more than this Phoenician colony, living in Palestine, using the Greek language but employing Egyptian and Libyan characteristics freely in their funeral article 2. Northern Palestine: (1) Tell Ta`annek. (Austrian Government and Vienna Academy). — During short seasons of three years (1902-4) Professor Ernst Sellin of Vienna made a rapid examination of this town (the Biblical Taanach), situated in the plain of Esdraelon in Northern Palestine, on the ancient road between Egypt and Babylon. Over 100 laborers were employed and digging was carried on simultaneously at several different points on the mound, the record being kept in an unusually systematic way and the official reports being minute and exhaustive. Only a general statement of results can be given, with an indication of the directions in which the “findings” were peculiar. The absence of Phoenician and Mycenaean influence upon the pottery in the earliest levels (100-1600 BC) is just as marked as at other sites, the kind of pottery and the presence of Semitic matstsebhoth ( see IMAGES) in the Jewish periods are just as in previous sites, and the development in mason work and in pottery is identically the same in this first city to be excavated in Northern Palestine as in Southern Palestine. “The buildings and antiques might be interchanged bodily without any serious confusion of the archaeological history of Palestine. . . . Civilization over all Western Palestine is thus shown to have had the same course of development, whether we study it North or South” (Macalister). This is by far the most important result of this excavation, showing that, notwithstanding divergences in many directions, an equivalent civilization, proving a unity in the dominating race, can be seen over all parts of Palestine so far examined. Iron is introduced at the same time (circa 1000 BC), and even the toys and pottery decorations are similar, and this continues through all the periods, including the Jewish. Yet foreign intercourse is common, and the idols, even from the earliest period, “show religious syncretism” (Sellin). From almost the oldest layer comes a curious seal cylinder containing both Egyptian and Babylonian features. On one pre-Israelite tablet are pictures of Hadad and Baal. The Astarte cult is not quite as prominent here as in Southern Palestine. No figures of the goddess come from the earliest strata, but from 1600 BC to circa 900-800 BC they are common; after this they cease. The ordinary type of Astarte found in Babylonia and Cyprus as well as in Palestine — with crown, necklace, girdle, anklets, and hands clasped on breasts — is found most frequently; but from the 12th to the 9th century other forms appear representing her as naked, with hips abnormally enlarged, to show her power of fecundity. One figure is of a peculiarly foreign type, wearing excessively large earrings, and this is in close connection with one of the most unique discoveries ever made in Palestine — a hollow terra cotta Canaanite or Israelite ( 2 Kings 16:10) altar (800-600 BC), having no bottom but with holes in its walls which admitted air and insured draft when fire was kindled below; in its ornamentation showing a mixture of Babylonian and Egyptian motives, having on its right side winged animals with human heads by the side of which is a man (or boy) struggling with a serpent the jaws of which are widely distended in anger; at its top two ram’s (?) horns, and between them a sacrificial bowl in which to receive the “drink offering”; on its front a tree (of life), and on each side of it a rampant ibex. A bronze serpent was found near this altar, as also. near the high place at Gezer. Continuous evidence of the gruesome practice of foundation sacrifices, mostly of little children, but in one case of an adult, was found between the 13th and 9th centuries BC, after which they seem to cease. In one house the skeletons of a lady and five children were found, the former with her rings and necklace of gold, five pearls, two scarabs, etc. Many jar-burials of new-born infants, in one place, were found, and, close to this deposit, a rock-hewn altar with a jar of yellow incense (?). Egyptian and Babylonian images were found of different eras and curious little human-looking amulets (as were also found at Lachish) in which the parental parts are prominent, which Sellin and Bliss believe to be “teraphim” ( Genesis 31:19,34; but see Driver, Modern Research, 57, etc.), such as Rachel, being pregnant, took with her to protect her on the hard journey from Haran to Palestine (Macalister). The high place, with one or more steps leading up to it, suggesting “elevation, isolation and mystery” (Vincent), is represented here as in so many other Palestinian ruins, and the evidence shows that it continued long after the entrance of Israel into Canaan. When Israel entered Palestine, no break occurred in the civilization, the art development continuing at about the same level; so probably the two races were at about the same culturelevel, or else the Hebrew occupation of the land was very gradual. In the 8th century there seems to be an indication of the entrance of a different race, which doubtless is due to the Assyrian exile. A most interesting discovery was that of the dozen cuneiform tablets found in a terra cotta chest or jar (compare Jeremiah 32:14) from the pre-Israelite city. These few letters cannot accurately be called “the first library found in Palestine”; but they do prove that libraries were there, since the personal and comparatively unimportant character of some of these notes and their easy and flowing style prove that legal, business and literary documents must have existed. These show that letter-writing was used not only in great questions of state between foreign countries, but in local matters between little contiguous towns, and that while Palestine at this period (circa 1400 BC) was politically dependent on Egypt, yet Babylonia had maintained its old literary supremacy. One of these letters mentions “the finger of Ashirat,” this deity recalling the ‘asherah or sacred post of the Old Testament ( see IMAGES ); another note is written by Ahi-Yawi, a name which corresponds to Hebrew [Ahijah] (“Yah is Brother”), thus indicating that the form of the Divine name was then known in Canaan, though its meaning (i.e. the essential name; compare Exodus 6:3; 34:6; Nehemiah 1:9; Jeremiah 44:26), may not have been known. Ahi- Yawi invokes upon Ishtar-washur the blessing of the “Lord of the Gods.” On the same level with these letters were found two subterranean cells with a rock-hewn chamber in front and a rock-hewn altar above, and even the ancient drain which is supposed to have conveyed the blood from the altar into the “chamber of the dead” below. It may be added that Dr. Sellin thinks the condition of the various walls of the city is entirely harmonious with the Bible accounts of its history ( Joshua 12:21; 17:11; Judges 1:27; 5:19-21; 1 Kings 4:12; 9:15; 1 Chronicles 7:29). So far as the ruins testify, there was no settled city life between circa 600 BC and AD, i.e. it became a desolation about the time of the Babylonian captivity. An Arab castle dates from about the 10th century AD. (2) Tell el-Mutesellim. (Megiddo, Joshua 12:21; Judges 5:19; 2 Kings 9:27). — This great commercial and military center of Northern Palestine was opened to the world in 1903-1905 by Dr. Schumacher and his efficient staff, the diggings being conducted under the auspices of His Majesty the Kaiser and the German Palestine Society. The mound, about 5 miles Northwest from Ta`anach, stood prominently 120 ft. above the plain, the ruins being on a plateau 1,020 X 750 ft. in area. An average of 70 diggers were employed for the entire time. The debris was over 33 ft. deep, covering some eight mutually excluding populations. The surrounding wall, 30 X 35 ft. thick, conformed itself to the contour of the town. The excavations reached the virgin rock only at one point; but the oldest stratum uncovered showed a people living in houses, having fire, cooking food and making sacrifices; the next city marked an advance, but the third city, proved by its Egyptian remains to go back as far as the 20th century BC, showed a splendid and in some directions a surprising civilization, building magnificent city gates (57 X 36 ft.), large houses and tombs with vaulted roofs, and adorning their persons with fine scarabs of white and green steatite and other jewelry of stone and bronze. It was very rich in colored pottery and little objects such as tools, seals, terra cotta figures and animals, including a bridled horse, and some worked iron is also said to have been found. In one pile of bodies were two children wearing beautiful bronze anklets. The city lying above this begins as early as the 15th century BC, as is proved by a scarab of Thothmes III and by other signs, although the scarabs, while Egyptian in form, are often foreign in design and execution. Anubis, Bes, Horus and other Egyptian figures appear, also 32 scarabs in one pot, much jewelry, including gold ornaments, and some very long, sharp bronze knives. One tomb contained 42 vessels, and one skeleton held 4 gold-mounted scarabs in its hand. One remarkable fragment of pottery contained a colored picture of pre-Israelite warriors with great black beards, carrying shields (?). A most interesting discovery was that of the little copper (bronze?) tripods supporting lamps, on one of which is the figure of a flute-player, being strikingly similar to pictures of Delphic oracles and to representations lately found in Crete (MNDPV, 1906, 46). This city was destroyed by a fearful conflagration, and is separated from the next by a heavy stratum of cinders and ashes. The fifth city is remarkable for a splendid palace with walls of stone from 3-5 ft. thick. This city, which probably begins as early as Solomon’s time, shows the best masonry. An oval, highly polished seal of jasper on which is engraved a Hebrew name in script closely resembling the Moabite Stone, suggests a date for the city, and casts an unexpected light upon the Hebrew culture of Palestine in the days of the monarchy. The seal is equal to the best Egyptian or Assyrian work, clearly and beautifully engraved, and showing a climax of article In the center is the Lion (of Judah), mouth wide open, tail erect, body tense. Upon the seal is carved: “To Shema, servant of Jeroboam.” This name may possibly not refer to either of the Biblical kings (10th or 8th century BC), but the stratum favors this dating. The seal was evidently owned by some Hebrew noble at a prosperous period when some Jeroboam was in power, and so everything is in favor of this being a relic from the court of one of these kings, probably the latter (Kautzsch, M u. N, 1904, 81). We have here, in any case, one of the oldest Hebrew inscriptions known, and one of the most elegant ever engraved (see MNDPV, 1906, 33). After seeing it the Sultan took it from the museum into his own private collection. A second seal of lapis lazuli, which Schumacher and Kautzsch date from about the 7th century BC, also contains in Old Hebrew the name “Asaph” (compare M u. N, 1906, 334; MNDPV, 1904, 147). There are several other remarkable works of art, as e.g. a woman playing the tambourine, wearing an Egyptian headdress; several other figures of women besides several Astartes, and especially a series of six terra cotta heads, one with a prominent Semitic nose, another with Egyptian characteristics, another quite un-Egyp, with regular features, vivacious eyes, curls falling to her shoulders and garlanded with flowers. The sixth stratum might well be called the temple-city, for here were found the ruins of a sanctuary built of massive blocks in which remained much of the ceremonial furniture — sacrificial dishes, a beautiful basalt pot with three feet, a plate having a handle in the form of a flower, etc. Seemingly connected with the former town, three religious stones were found covered by a fourth, and one with a pyramidal top; so here several monoliths were found which would naturally be thought of as religious monuments — though, since they have been touched with tools, this is perhaps doubtful ( Exodus 20:25). One incense altar, carved out of gray stone, is so beautiful as to be worthy of a modern Greek cathedral. The upper dish rests on a support of carved ornamental leaves painted red, yellow and cobalt blue, in exquisite taste, the colors still as fresh as when first applied. A blacksmith’s shop was found in this stratum, containing many tools, including iron plowshares, larger than the bronze ones in the 3rd and 4th layers. Allegorical figures were found, which may possibly belong to the former town, representing a man before an altar with his hands raised in adoration, seemingly to a scorpion, above which are a 6-pointed star, crescent moon, etc. Another most wonderful seal of white hard stone is engraved with three lines of symbols, in the first a vulture chasing a rabbit; in the second a conventional palm tree, with winged creatures on each side; in the third a lion springing on an ibex (?) under the crescent moon. Near by was found a cylinder of black jasper, containing hieroglyphs, and much crushed pottery. The 7th city, which was previous to the Greek or Roman eras, shows only a complex of destroyed buildings. After this the place remains unoccupied till the 11th century AD, when a poor Arab tower was erected, evidently to protect the passing caravans. These excavations were specially important in proving the archaeological richness of Palestine and the elegance of the native works of article They were reported with an unexampled minuteness — various drawings of an original design showing the exact place and altitude where every little fragment was found. (3) Tell Chum. (Capernaum), etc. — In April and May, 1905, the German Oriental Society excavated a Hebrew synagogue of the Roman era at Tell Chum. It was ft. long by 59 ft. wide, was built of beautiful white limestone, almost equal to marble, and was in every way more magnificent than any other yet found in Palestine, that in Chorazin being the next finest. Its roof was gableshaped and it was surprisingly ornamented with fine carvings representing animals, birds, fruits, flowers, etc., though in some cases these ornamentations had been intentionally mutilated. In January, 1907, Macalister and Masterman proved that Khan Minyeh was not the ancient Capernaum, as it contained no pottery older than Arab time, thus showing Tell Chum to be the ancient site, so that the synagogue just excavated may be the one referred to in Luke 7:5. At Samieh, 6 hours North of Jerusalem, two important Canaanite cemeteries were discovered by the fellahin in 1906, consisting of circular or oval tomb chambers, with roofs roughly dome-shaped, as at Gezer (see below). A large quantity of pottery and bronze objects, much of excellent quality, was found (Harvard Theological Review, I, 70-96; Masterman, Studies in Galilee; Henson, Researches in Palestine). 3. Eastern Palestine: Jericho (German Oriental Society). — During 1908-9, Dr. E. Sellin, assisted by a specialist in pottery, (Watzinger) and a professional architect (Langenegger), with the help of over 200 workmen, opened to view this famous Biblical city ( Joshua 6:1-24). Jericho was most strategically situated at the eastern gateway of Palestine, with an unlimited water-supply in the `Ain es-Sultan, having complete control of the great commercial highway across the Jordan and possessing natural provisions in its palm forest (Smith, HGHL). It was also set prominently on a hill rising some ft. above the plain. The excavations proved that from the earliest historic time these natural advantages had been increased by every possible artifice known to ancient engineers, until it had become a veritable Gibraltar. The oldest city, which was in the form of an irregular ellipse, somewhat eggshaped, with the point at the Southwest, was first surrounded with a rampart following the contour of the hill, a rampart so powerful that it commands the admiration of all military experts who have examined it. The walls even in their ruins are some 28 ft. high. They were built in three sections: (a) a substratum of clay, gravel and small stones, making a deposit upon the rock about 3 or 4 ft. deep, somewhat analogous to modern concrete; (b) a rubble wall, 6 to 8 ft. thick, of large stones laid up to a height of 16 ft. upon this conglomerate, the lowest layers of the stone being enormously large; (c) upon all this a brick wall over 6 ft. thick, still remaining, in places, 8 ft. high. Not even Megiddo, famous as a military center throughout all the ancient world, shows such workmanship (compare Joshua 2:1; Numbers 13:28). “These were masters in stone work and masonry” (The Builder); “Taken as a whole it may justly be regarded as a triumph of engineering skill which a modern builder, under the same conditions, could scarcely excel” (Langenegger); “It is as well done as a brilliant military engineer with the same materials and tools could do today” (Vincent). All the centuries were not able to produce a natural crevice in this fortification. At the North, which was the chief point of danger, and perhaps along other sections also, a second wall was built about 100 ft. inside the first, and almost as strong, while still another defense (“the citadel”), with 265 ft. of frontage, was protected not only by another mighty wall but by a wellconstructed glacis. The old pre-Israelite culture in Jericho was exactly similar to that seen in the southern and northern cities, and the idolatry also. In its natural elements Canaanite civilization was probably superior to that of the Hebrews, but the repugnant and ever-present polytheism and fear of magic led naturally to brutal and impure manifestations. It cannot be doubted that, at least in some cases, the infants buried in jars under the floors represent foundation sacrifices. Some of the pottery is of great excellence, comparing favorably with almost the best examples from Egypt; a number of decorative figures of animals in relief are specially fine; the bronze utensils are also good; especially notable are the 22 writingtablets, all ready to be used but not inscribed. Somewhere near the 15th century the old fortifications were seriously damaged, but equally powerful ones replaced them. The German experts all believed that a break in the city’s history was clearly shown about the time when, according to the pottery, Israel ought to have captured the city, and it was confidently said that the distinctively Canaanite pottery ceased completely and permanently at this point; but further research has shown that at least a portion of the old town had a practically continuous existence (so Joshua 16:7; Judges 1:16; 3:13; 2 Samuel 10:5). No complete Israelite house was preserved, but the Israelite quarter was located close to the spring and no little furniture of the usual kind was found, including dishes, pots, grainmills, lamps, etc., many iron instruments and terra cotta heads of men and animals. The pottery is quite unlike the old Canaanite, being closely allied to the Greek-Phoenician ware of Cyprus. It is noticeable that, as in other Palestinian towns, in the Jewish era, little Babylonian influence is discernible; the Aegean and Egyptian influence is not as marked as in the cities dug up near the Mediterranean coast. One large edifice (60 by 80 ft.) is so like the dwellings of the 7th century BC at Sendjirli that “they seem to have been copied from Syrian plans” (Vincent). Absolutely unique was the series of 12 Rhodian jar-handles stamped in Aramaic, “To Yahweh” (Yah, Yahu). Vincent has suggested that as during the monarchy (7th to 6th century) “To the King” meant probably “For His Majesty’s Service,” so in post-exilic time the Divine name meant “For the Temple” (Rev. biblique). After the exile the city had about 3 centuries of prosperity; but disappears permanently in the Maccabean era (MNDPV, 1907; MDOG, 1908-9; PEFS, 1910; Rev. biblique, 1907-9). 4. Central Palestine: (1) Jerusalem. See above, III, 1, (2). (2) Samaria. (Harvard Expedition). — Although the ancient capital of the Northern Kingdom, yet Samaria was Centrally located, being 20 miles from the Mediterranean coast and only about 30 miles North of Jerusalem. Ancient Samaria was very famous in Israel for its frivolity and wealth, special mention being made of its ointments, instruments of music, luxurious couches, and its “ivory palace” ( Amos 6:4-6; 1 Kings 16:24). Its history is known so fully that the chronological sequences of the ruins can be determined easily. The citadel and town originated with Omri, circa BC ( 1 Kings 16:24); the Temple of Baal and palace were constructions of Ahab ( 1 Kings 16:32; 22:39); it continued prosperous down to the Assyrian exile, 722 BC (1 Kings 22 to 2 Kings 17); Sargon and Esarhaddon established a Babylonian colony and presumably forrifled the town (720-670 BC); Alexander the Great captured it in 331 BC, and established there a Syrio-Maccabean colony; it was destroyed by John Hyrcanus in 109 BC, but rebuilt by Pompey in 60 BC, and again by Herod (30-1 BC). All of these periods are identified in the excavations, Herod’s work being easily recognized, and Josephus’ description of the town being found correct; the Greek work is equally well defined, so that the lower layers of masonry which contained the characteristic Jewish pottery, and which in every part of the ruin lay immediately under the Babylonian and Greek buildings, must necessarily be Hebrew, the relative order of underlying structures thus being “beyond dispute” (Reisner). During 1908- 9 George A. Reisner with a staff of specialists, including David G. Lyon of the Harvard Semitic Museum, G. Schumacher, and an expert architect, undertook systematically and thoroughly to excavate this large detached “tell” lying 350 ft. above the valley and 1,450 ft. above sea-level, its location as the only possible strategic stronghold proving it to be the ancient Samaria. This was a “gigantic enterprise” because of the large village of 800 population (Sebastiyeh), and the valuable crops which covered the hill. Some $65,000 were spent during the two seasons, and the work finally ceased before the site was fully excavated. The following statement is an abridgment, in so far as possible in their words, of the official reports of Drs. Reisner and Lyon to the Harvard Theological Review: An average of 285 diggers were employed the first season and from 230-260 the second. Hundreds of Arabian lamps, etc., were found close to the surface, and then nothing more until the Roman ruins. Many fine Roman columns still remained upright, upon the surface of the hill. The road of columns leading to the Forum and ornamental gate (oriented unlike the older gates), the great outer wall “20 stadii in circuit” (Jos), the hippodrome, etc., were all found with inscriptions or coins and pottery of the early Roman Empire. Even the old Roman chariot road leading into the Forum was identified. Adjoining the Forum and connected with it by a wide doorway was a basilica, consisting of a large open stone-paved court surrounded by a colonnade with mosaic floor. An inscription in Greek on an architrave in the courtyard dates this to 12-15 AD. The plan of the Herodian temple consisted of a stairway, a portico, a vestibule and a cella with a corridor on each side. The staircase was about 80 ft. wide, composed of 17 steps beautifully constructed, the steps being quite modern in style, each tread overlapping the next lower by several inches. The roof was arched and the walls very massive and covered with a heavy coat of plaster still retaining traces of color. A few Greek graffiti were found near here, and 150 “Rhodian” stamped amphora handles and many fragments of Latin inscriptions. A complete inscription on a large stele proved to be a dedication from some Pannonian soldiers (probably 2nd or 3rd century AD) to “Jupiter Optimus Maximus.” Near this was found a torso of heroic size carved in white marble, which is much finer than any ever before discovered in Palestine, the work “bringing to mind the Vatican Augustus” (Vincent), though not equal to it. Close to the statue was a Roman altar (presumably Herodian) circa 13 by 7 ft., rising in six courses of stone to a height of 6 ft. Beneath the Roman city was a Seleucid town (circa 300-108 BC), with its fortifications, gateway, temples, streets, and great public buildings and a complex of private houses, in connection with which was a large bath house, with mosaic floor, hot and cold baths, water closet, etc., which was heated by a furnace. Underneseath the Greek walls, which were connected with the well-known red-figured Greek ware of circa 400 BC, were brick structures and very thick fortress walls built in receding courses of small stones in the Babylonian style. In the filling of the construction trench of this Babylonian wall were found Israelite potsherds and a Hebrew seal with seemingly Babylonian peculiarities, and one fragment of a cuneiform tablet. Below these Babylonian constructions “there is a series of massive walls beautifully built of large limestone blocks founded on rock and forming a part of one great building, which can be no other than the Jewish palace.” It consisted of “great open courts surrounded by small rooms, comparable in plan and even in size with the Babylonian palaces and is certainly royal in size and architecture.” Its massive outlines which for the first time reveal to the modern world the masonry of an Israelite palace show that unexpected material resources and technical skill were at the command of the kings of Israel. An even greater discovery was made when on the palace hill was found an alabaster vase inscribed with the cartouche of Osorkon II of Egypt (874-853 BC), Ahab’s contemporary; and at the same level, about 75 fragments of pottery, not jar-handles but ostraca, inscribed with records or memorials in ancient Hebrew. The script is Phoenician, and according to such experts as Lyon and Driver, practically identical with that of the Siloam Inscription (circa 700 BC) and Moabite Stone (circa 850 BC). “The inscriptions are written in ink with a reed pen in an easy flowing hand and show a pleasing contrast to the stiff forms of Phoenician inscriptions cut in stone. The graceful curves give evidence of a skill which comes only with long practice” (Lyon). The ink is well preserved, the writing is distinct, the words are divided by dots or strokes, and with two exceptions all the ostraca are dated, the reigning king probably being Ahab. The following samples represent the ordinary memoranda: “In the 11th year. From ‘Abi`ezer. For ‘Asa, ‘Akhemelek (and) Ba`ala. From ‘Elnathan (?). .... In 9th yr. From Yasat. For `Abino`am. A jar of old wine. .... In 11th yr. For Badyo. The vineyard of the Tell.” Baal and El form a part of several of the proper names, as also the Hebrew Divine name, the latter occurring naturally not in its full form, YHWH, but as ordinarily in compounds YW (Lyon, Harvard Theol. Rev., 1911, 136-43; compare Driver, PEFS, 1911, 79-83). In a list of 30 proper names all but three have Biblical equivalents. “They are the earliest specimens of Hebrew writing which have been found, and in amount they exceed by far all known ancient Hebrew inscriptions; moreover, they are the first Palestinian records of this nature to be found” (see especially Lyon, op. cit., I, 70-96; II, 102-13; III, 136-38; IV, 136-43; Reisner, ib, III, 248-63; also Theol. Literaturblatt, 1911, III, 4; Driver, as above; MNOP, 1911, 23-27; Rev. Bibique, VI, 435-45). (3) `Ain Shems (Beth-shemesh, 1 Samuel 6:1-21; 2 Kings 14:11). — In a short but important campaign, during 1911-12, in which from 36 to 167 workmen were employed, Dr. D. Mackenzie uncovered a massive double gate and primitive walls 12-15 ft. high, with mighty bastions, and found in later deposits Egyptian images, Syrian Astartes, imported Aegean vases and a remarkable series of inscribed royal jar-handles “dating from the Israelite monarchy” (Vincent), as also what seemed to be an ancient Semitic tomb with fatsade entrance. The proved Cretan relations here are especially important. The town was suddenly destroyed, probably in the era of Sennacherib (PEFS, 1911, LXIX, 172; 1912, XII, 145). (4) Gezer (Palestine Exploration Fund). — Tell ej-Jezer occupies a conspicuous position, over 250 ft. above the plain, and 750 ft. above the sea, on a ridge of hills some 20 miles Northwest of Jerusalem, overlooking the plain toward Jaffa, which is 17 miles distant. It is in plain sight of the two chief trade caravan roads of Southern Palestine which it controlled. The ancient Gezer was well known from many references to it on the Egyptian records, the names of several governors of Gezer being given in letters dating from circa 1400 BC and Menephtah (circa 1200 BC) calling himself “Binder of Gezer,” etc. The discovery of the boundary stones of Gezer (see above) positively identified it. It was thoroughly excavated by R.A. Stewart Macalister in 1902-5, 1907-9, during which time 10,000 photographs were made of objects found. No explorations have been so long continued on one spot or have brought more unique discoveries or thrown more light upon the development of Palestinian culture and religion, and none have been reported as fully (Excavations of Gezer, 1912, 3 volumes; History of Civilization in Palestine, 1912). Ten periods-are recognized as being distinctly marked in the history of the mound — which broadly speaking represents the development in all parts of Pal: (a) pre-Semitic period (circa 3000-2500 BC), to the entrance of the first Semites; (b) first Semitic city (circa 2500-1800 BC), to the end of the XIIth Egyptian Dynasty; (c) second Semitic city (circa 1800-1400 BC), to the end of the XVIIIth Egyptian Dynasty; (d) third Semitic city (circa 1400-1000 BC), to the beginning of the Hebrew monarchy; (e) fourth Semitic city (circa 1000-550 BC), to the destruction of the monarchy and the Babylonian exile; (f) Persian and Hellenistic period (550-100 BC), to the beginning of the Roman dominion; (g) Roman (100 BC-350 AD); (h) Byzantine (350-600 AD); (i) and (j) early and modern Arabian (350 AD to the present). The last four periods have left few important memorials and may be omitted from review. (a) The aboriginal non-Semitic inhabitants of Gezer were troglodytes (compare Genesis 14:6) living in the caves which honeycomb this district (compare ZDPV, 1909, VI, 12), modifying these only slightly for home purposes. They were a small race 5 ft. 4 inches to 5 ft. 7 in. in height, slender in form, with rather broad heads and thick skulls, who hunted, kept domestic animals (cows, sheep, goats); had fire and cooked food; possessed no metals; made by hand a porous and gritty soft-baked pottery which they decorated with red lines; and were capable of a rude art — the oldest in Palestine — in which drawings of various animals are given. They prized certain bars of stone (possibly phallic); they probably offered sacrifices; they certainly cremated their dead, depositing with the ashes a few food vessels. The crematory found was 31 ft. long by 24 wide, and in it the bodies were burned whole, without regard to orientation. Many cup marks in the rocks suggest possible religious rites; in close connection with these markings were certain remains, including bones of swine (compare Leviticus 11:7). (b) The Semites who displaced this population were more advanced in civilization, having bronze tools and potter’s wheels, with finer and more varied pottery; they were a heavier race, being 5 ft. 7 inches to 5 ft. inches tall, larger-boned, thicker-skulled, and with longer faces. They did not burn but buried their dead carelessly upon the floor of the natural caves. The grave deposits are the same as before; occasionally some beads are found with the body. The former race had surrounded their settlement with a wall 6 ft. high and 8 ft. thick, mostly earth, though faced with selected stones; but this race built a wall of hammered stones, though irregularly cut and laid, the wall being 10 ft. thick, and one gateway being 42 ft. wide, flanked by two towers. While huts were always the common residences (as in later eras), yet some buildings of stone were erected toward the close of this period and one large palace was found, built of stone and having a row of columns down the center, and containing a complex of rooms, including one rectangular hall, 40 ft. long by 25 ft. wide. Most remarkable of all were their works of engineering. They hewed enormous constructions, square, rectangular and circular, out of the soft chalk and limestone rocks, one of which contained 60 chambers, one chamber being 400 by 80 ft. The supreme work, however, was a tunnel which was made circa 2000 BC, passing out of use circa 1450-1250 BC, and which shows the power of these early Palestinians. It was 200-250 ft. long and consisted of a roadway cut through the hill of rock some 47 1/2 ft. to an imposing archway 23 ft. high and 12 ft. 10 inches broad, which led to a long sloping passage of equal dimensions, with the arch having a vaulted roof and the sides well plumb. This led into a bed of much harder rock, where dimensions were reduced and the workmanship was poorer, but ultimately reached, about 130 ft. below the present surface of the ground, an enormous living spring of such depth that the excavators could not empty it of the soft mud with which it was filled. A well-cut but wellworn and battered stone staircase, over 12 ft. broad, connected the spring with the upper section of the tunnel 94 ft. above. Beyond the spring was a natural cave 80 by 25 ft. Dr. Macalister asks, “Did a Canaanite governor plan and Canaanite workmen execute this vast work? How did the ancient engineers discover the spring?” No one can answer; but certainly the tunnel was designed to bring the entrance of the water passage within the courtyard protected by the palace walls. Another great reservoir, 57 by 46 ft., at another part of the city was quarried in the rock to a depth of 29 1/2 ft., and below this another one of equal depth but not so large, and narrowing toward the bottom. These were covered with two coats of cement and surrounded by a wall; they would hold 60,000 gals. (c) The second Semitic city, built on the ruins of the first, was smaller, but more luxurious. There were fewer buildings but larger rooms. The potter’s wheel was worked by the foot. Pottery becomes much finer, the styles and decoration reaching a climax of grace and refinement. Foreign trade begins in this period and almost or quite reaches its culmination. The Hyksos scarabs found here prove that under their rule (XVIth and XVIIth Dynastles) there was close intercourse with Palestine, and the multitudes of Egyptian articles show that this was also true before and after the Hyksos. The Cretan and the Aegean trade, especially through Cyprus, introduced new art ideas which soon brought local attempts at imitation. Scribes’ implements for writing in wax and clay begin here and are found in all strata hereafter. While the pottery is elaborately painted, it is but little molded. The older “combed” ornament practically disappears, while burnished ornament reaches high-water mark. Animal figures are common, the eyes often being elaborately modeled and stuck on; but it is infantile article Burials still occur in natural caves, but also in those hewn artificially; the bodies are carelessly deposited on the floor without coffins, generally in a crouching position, and stones are laid around and over them without system. Drink offerings always and food offerings generally are placed with the dead. Scarabs are found with the skeletons, and ornaments of bronze and silver, occasionally gold and beads, and sometimes weapons. Lamps also begin to be deposited, but in small numbers. (d) During this period Menephtah “spoiled Gezer,” and Israel established itself in Canaan. The excavations have given no hint of Menephtah’s raid, unless it be found in an ivory pectoral bearing his cartouche. About BC a great wall, 4 ft. thick, was built of large and well-shaped stones and protected later by particularly fine towers, perhaps, as Macalister suggests, by the Pharaoh who captured Gezer and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, wife of King Solomon. A curious fact, which seemingly illustrates Joshua 16:10, is the large increase of the town shortly after the Hebrew invasion. “The houses are smaller and more crowded and the sacred area of the high place is built over.” “There is no indication of an exclusively Israelite population around the city outside” (Macalister, v. Driver, Modern Research, 69). That land was taken for building purposes from the old sacred enclosure, and that new ideas in building plans and more heavily fortified buildings were now introduced have been thought to suggest the entrance among the ancient population of another element with different ideas. The finest palace of this period with very thick walls (3-9 ft.) carefully laid out at right angles, and certainly built near “the time of the Hebrew invasion,” was perhaps the residence of Horam ( Joshua 10:33). At this period seals begin (10 being found here, as against 28 in the next period, and 31 in the Hellenistic) and also iron tools; the use of the carpenter’s compass is proved, the bow drill was probably in use, bronze and iron nails appear (wrought iron being fairly common from circa BC); a cooking-pot of bronze was found, and spoons of shell and bronze; modern methods of making buttons and button holes are finest from this period, pottery buttons being introduced in the next city. One incidental Bible reference to the alliance between Gezer and Lachish ( Joshua 10:33) finds unexpected illustration from the fact that a kind of pottery peculiar to Lachish, not having been found in any other of the Southern Palestinian towns, was found at Gezer. The pottery here in general shows the same method of construction as in the 3rd stratum, but the decoration and shapes deteriorate, while there is practically no molding. It shows much the same foreign influence as before, the styles being affected from Egypt, Crete, the Aegean, and especially Cyprus. From this period come 218 scarabs, 68 from the period previous and 93 from the period following. Ornamental colored specimens of imported Egyptian glass also occur, clear glass not being found till the next period. Little intercourse is proved with Babylon at this era: as against 16 Babylonian cylinders found in the previous period, only 4 were found in this and 15 in the next period. There is no marked change in the method of disposing of the dead, but the food vessels are of smaller size and are placed in the graves in great numbers, most of these being broken either through the use of poor vessels because of economy or with the idea of liberating the spirit of the object that it might serve the deceased in the spirit world. Lamps are common now in every tomb but there is a marked decrease in the quantity and value of ornamental objects. Religious emblems occur but rarely. The worship of Astarte ( see ASHTORETH), the female consort of Baal, is most popular at this era, terra cotta figures and plaques of this goddess being found in many types and in large numbers. It is suggestive that these grow notably less in the next stratum. It is also notable that primitive idols are certainly often intentionally ugly (Vincent). So to this day Arabs ward off the evil eye. (e) This period, during which almost the entire prophetic literature was produced, is of peculiar interest. Gezer at this time as at every other period was in general appearance like a modern Arab village, a huge mass of crooked, narrow, airless streets, shut inside a thick wall, with no trace of sanitary conveniences, with huge cisterns in which dead men could lie undetected for centuries, and with no sewers. Even in the Maccabean time the only sewer found ran, not into a cesspool, but into the ground, close to the governor’s palace. The mortality was excessively high, few old men being found in the cemeteries, while curvature of the spine, syphilis, brain disease, and especially broken, unset bones were common. Tweezers, pins and needles, kohl bottles, mirrors, combs, perfume boxes, scrapers (for baths) were common in this stratum and in all that follow it, while we have also here silver earrings, bracelets and other beautiful ornaments with the first sign of clear glass objects; tools also of many kinds of stone, bronze and iron, an iron hoe just like the modern one, and the first known pulley of bronze. The multitude of Hebrew weights found here have thrown much new light on the weight-standards of Palestine (see especially Macalister, Gezer, II, 287-92; E. J. Pilcher, PEFS, 1912; A. R. S. Kennedy, Expository Times, XXIV). The pottery was poor in quality, clumsy and coarse in shape and ornament, except as it was imported, the local Aegean imitations being unworthy. Combed ornament was not common, and the burnished as a rule was limited to random scratches. Multiple lamps became common, and a large variety of styles in small jugs was introduced. The motives of the last period survive, but in a degenerate form. The bird friezes so characteristic of the 3rd Semitic period disappear. The scarab stamp goes out of use, but the impressions of other seals “now become fairly common as potter’s marks.” These consist either of simple devices (stars, pentacles, etc.) or of names in Old Hebrew script. These Hebrew-inscribed stamps were found at many sites and consist of two classes, (i) those containing personal names, such as Azariah, Haggai, Menahem, Shebaniah, etc., (ii) those which are confined to four names, often repeated — Hebron, Socoh, Ziph, Mamshith — in connection with a reference to the king, e.g. “For (or Of) the king of Hebron.” These latter date, according to Dr. Macalister’s final judgment, from the Persian period. He still thinks they represent the names of various potters or potters’ guilds in Palestine (compare 1 Chronicles 2; 4; 5, and see especially Bible Side-Lights from Gezer, 150, etc.), but others suppose these names to represent the local measures of capacity, which differed in these various districts; others that these represented different tax-districts where wine jars would be used and bought. At any rate, we certainly have here the work of the king’s potters referred to in 1 Chronicles 4:23. Another very curious Hebrew tablet inscription is the so-called Zodiacal Tablet, on which the signs of the Zodiac are figured with certain other symbols which were at first supposed to express some esoteric magical or religious meaning, but which seem only to represent the ancient agricultural year with the proper months indicated for sowing and reaping — being the same as the modern seasons and crops except that flax was cultivated in ancient times. An even more important literary memorial from this period consists of two cuneiform tablets written about three-quarters of a century after the Ten Tribes had been carried to Assyria and foreign colonies had been thrown into Israelite territory. This collapse of the Northern Kingdom was not marked by any local catastrophe, so far as the ruins indicate, any more than the collapse of the Canaanite kingdom when Israel entered Palestine; but soon afterward we find an Assyrian colony settled in Gezer “using the Assyrian language and letters .... and carrying on business with Assyrian methods.” In one tablet (649 BC), which is a bill of sale for certain property, containing description of the same, appeared the name of the buyer, seals of seller and signature of 12 witnesses, one of whom is the Egyptian governor of the new town, another an Assyrian noble whose name precedes that of the governor, and still another a Western Asiatic, the others being Assyrian. It is a Hebrew “Nethaniah,” who the next year, as the other tablet shows, sells his field, his seal bearing upon it a lunar stellar emblem. Notwithstanding the acknowledged literary work of high quality produced in Palestine during this period, no other hint of this is found clear down to the Greek period except in one neo- Babylonian tablet. The burials in this period were much as previously, except that the caves were smaller and toward the end of the period shelves around the walls received the bodies. In one Semitic tomb as many as 150 vessels were found. Quite the most astonishing discovery at this level was that of several tombs which scholars generally agree to be “Philistine.” They were not native Canaanite, but certainly Aegean intruders with relations with Crete and Cyprus, such as we would expect the Philistines to have ( see PHILISTINES). The tombs were oblong or rectangular, covered with large horizontal slabs, each tomb containing but a single body, stretched out with the head to the East or West One tomb was that of a girl of 18 with articles of alabaster and silver about her, and wearing a Cretan silver mouth plate; another was a man of 40 with agate seal of Assyrian design, a two-handled glass vessel, etc.; another was a woman surrounded by handsome ornaments of bronze, lead, silver and gold, with a basalt scarab between her knees. The richest tomb was that of a girl whose head had been severed from the body; with her was a hemispherical bowl, ornamented with rosette and lotus pattern, and a horde of beautiful things. The iron in these tombs was noticeable (compare 1 Samuel 17:7), and in one tomb were found two ingots of gold, one of these being of the same weight almost to a fraction as that of Achan ( Joshua 7:21). The most impressive discovery was the high place. This began as early as 2500-2000 BC, and grew by the addition of monoliths and surrounding buildings up to this era. The eight huge uncut pillars which were found standing in a row, with two others fallen (yet compare Benzinger, Hebrew Archaeology, 320), show us the actual appearance of this ancient worshipping-place so famous in the Bible ( Deuteronomy 16:22; 2 Kings 17:9,11; 23:8). The top of one of these monoliths had been worn smooth by kisses; another was an importation, being possibly, as has been suggested, a captured “Aril”; another stone, near by, had a large cavity in its top, nearly 3 ft. long and ft. broad and 1 ft. 2 inches deep, which is differently interpreted as being the block upon which the ‘asherah, so often mentioned in connection with the matstsebhoth, may have been erected, or as an altar, or perhaps a layer for ritual ablutions. Inside the sacred enclosure was found a small bronze cobra ( 2 Kings 18:4), and also the entrance to an ancient cave, where probably oracles were given, the excavators finding that this cave was connected with another by a small, secret passage — through which presumably the message was delivered. In the stratum underlying the high place was a cemetery of infants buried in large jars. “That the sacrificed infants were the firstborn, devoted in the temple, is indicated by the fact that none were over a week old” (Macalister). In all the Semitic strata bones of children were also found in corners of the houses, the deposits being identical with infant burials in the high place; and examination showed that these were not stillborn children. At least some of the burials under the house thresholds and under the foundation of walls carry with them the mute proofs of this most gruesome practice. In one place the skeleton of an old woman was found in a corner where a hole had been left just large enough for this purpose. A youth of about 18 had been cut in two at the waist and only the upper part of his body deposited. Before the coming into Palestine of the Israelites, a lamp began to be placed under the walls and foundations, probably symbolically to take the place of human sacrifice. A lamp and bowl deposit under the threshold, etc., begins in the 3rd Semitic period, but is rare till the middle of that period. In the 4th Semitic period it is common, though not universal; in the Hellenic it almost disappears. Macalister suspects that these bowls held blood or grape juice. In one striking case a bronze figure was found in place of a body. Baskets full of phalli were carried away from the high place. Various types of the Astarte were found at Gezer. When we see the strength and popularity of this religion against which the prophets contended in Canaan, “we are amazed at the survival of this world-religion,” and we now see “why Ezra and Nehemiah were forced to raise the `fence of the law’ against this heathenism, which did in fact overthrow all other Semitic religions” (George Adam Smith. PEFS, 1906, 288). (f) During the Maccabean epoch the people of Gezer built reservoirs (one having a capacity of 4,000,000 gallons) used well-paved rooms, favored complex house plans with pillars, the courtyard becoming less important as compared with the rooms, though domestic fowls were now for the first time introduced. The architectural decorations have all been annihilated (as elsewhere in Pal) except a few molded stones and an Ionic volute from a palace, supposed to be that of Simon Maccabeus because of the references in Josephus and because of a scribbled imprecation found in the courtyard: “May fire overtake (?) Simon’s palace.” This is the only inscription from all these post-exilic centuries, to which so much of the beautiful Bible literature is ascribed, except one grotesque animal figure on which is scrawled a name which looks a little like “Antiochus.” Only a few scraps of Greek bowls, some Rhodian jar-handles, a few bronze and iron arrow heads, a few animal figures and a fragment of an Astarte, of doubtful chronology, remain from these four centuries. The potsherds prove that foreign imports continued and that the local potters followed classic models and did excellent work. The ware was always burnt hard; combed ornament and burnishing were out of style; molded ornament was usually confined to the rope design; painted decorations were rare; potter’s marks were generally in Greek, though some were in Hebrew, the letters being of late form, and no names appearing similar to those found in Scripture. The tombs were well cut square chambers, with shafts hewn in the rock for the bodies, usually nine to each tomb, which were run into them head foremost. The doorways were well cut, the covers almost always being movable flat slabs, though in one case a swinging stone door was found — circular rolling stones or the “false doors” so often found in the Jerusalem tombs being unknown here. Little shrines were erected above the forecourt or vestibule. When the body decayed, the bones in tombs having these kukhin, shafts, were collected into ossuaries, the inscriptions on these ossuaries showing clearly the transition from Old Hebrew to the square character. After the Maccabean time the town was deserted, though a small Christian community lived here in the 4th century AD. See also GEZER. LITERATURE. Most Important Recent Monographs: Publications of Palestine Exploration Fund, especially Survey of Western Palestine (9 volumes, 1884); survey of Eastern Palestine (2 Volumes, 1889); “Palestinian Pilgrim’s Text Society’s Library” (13 vols) and the books of W.M. Flinders Petrie, F.J. Bliss and R.A.S. Macalister; also Bliss, Development of Palestine Exploration (1906), and Macalister, Bible Side- Lights from the Mound of Gezer (1906); Ernst Sellin, Tell Ta`annek (1904); Eine Nachlese auf dem Tell Ta`annek (1905); C. Steuernagel, Tell el-Mutesellim (1908); Mommert, Topog. des alten Jerusalem (1902-7); H. Guthe, Bibelatlas (1911). Most Important Periodicals: PEFS; ZDPV; Mitteilungen Und Nachrichten des deutschen Palastina- Vereins; Palastina-Jahrbuch (MNDPV); Revue Biblique. Most Important General Works: L.B. Paton, Early History of Syria and Palestine (1902); Cuinet, Syrie, Liban et Palestine (1896-1900); H.V. Hilprecht, Explorations in Bible Lands during the 19th Century. (1903); P.H. Vincent, Canaan, d’apres l’exploration recente (1907); G.A. Smith, Jerusalem (1908); S. R. Driver, Modern Research as Illustrating the Bible (1909). Camden M. Cobern PALLU, PALLUITES <pal’-u > , <pal’-u-its > ([ aWLP” , pallu’ ], “distinguished”): A son of Reuben ( Genesis 46:9 (“Phallu”); Exodus 6:14; Numbers 26:5,8; 1 Chronicles 5:3). Perhaps Peleth of Numbers 16:1 is the same. Palluites, the patronymic, occurs in Numbers 26:5. PALM (OF THE HAND) <pam > ([ tK” , kaph ]): The Hebrew word which is used in a variety of senses ( see HAND; PAW ) is usually translated “hand” in English Versions of the Bible, but the translation “palm” is found in 5 passages of the Old Testament, in 3 of which the Hebrew text adds the word [ dy; , yadh] (“hand,” 1 Samuel 5:4; 2 Kings 9:35; Daniel 10:10). It would properly mean the “hollow hand” (root kaphaph, “to bend,” “to curve”), which receives or grasps things. It is therefore used in reference to filling the priest’s hands with sacrificial portions ( Leviticus 14:15,26). The palms of the hands of Dagon are mentioned as cut off, when the idol was found mutilated in the presence of the ark of Yahweh ( 1 Samuel 5:4), from which may be inferred that this idol probably was represented with hands spread out in blessing, as we find in numerous Babylonian representations of divinities. In a beautiful metaphor God answers the repentant people of Jerusalem, who thought Yahweh had forgotten and forsaken them: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands” ( Isaiah 49:16; see also Ecclesiasticus 18:3). Daniel is touched upon the palms of his hands to wake him from sleep ( Daniel 10:10). In the New Testament we find the phrase, “to smite with the palms of the hands,” as a translation of the Greek verb [rJapi>zw, rhapizo ] ( Matthew 26:67; see also 5:39 and Septuagint Hosea 11:4; 1 Esdras 4:30), and, derived from the same verb, [rJa>pisma, rhapisma ], a blow of the palm on the cheek, etc. ( Mark 14:65; John 18:22; 19:3, where, however, in English Versions of the Bible the word “palm” has not been given). The marginal translation “to smite or strike with rods” ( Matthew 26:67; John 18:22; 19:3) and “strokes of rods” ( Mark 14:65 margin) does not seem to be applicable to the Greek text of the Old Testament and New Testament, while it is a frequent meaning of the words in classical language. It would therefore be better to eliminate these marginal additions. H. L. E. Luering PALM TREE <pam’-tre > ([ rm;T; , tamar ], same as the Aramaic and Ethiopic, but in Arabic = “date”; [foi>nix, phoinix ] ( Exodus 15:27; Leviticus 23:40; Numbers 33:9; Deuteronomy 34:3; Judges 1:16; 3:13; Chronicles 28:15; Nehemiah 8:15; Psalm 92:12; Song of Solomon 7:7 f; Joel 1:12); [ rm,To , tomer ], Deborah “dwelt under the palm-tree” ( Judges 4:5); “They are like a palm-tree (margin “pillar”), of turned work” ( Jeremiah 10:5); [ hr;moTi , timorah ] (only in the plural), the palm tree as an architectural feature ( 1 Kings 6:29,32,35; 7:36; Chronicles 3:5; Ezekiel 40:16); Greek only Ecclesiasticus 50:12; John 12:13; Revelation 7:9): 1. PALM TREES: The palm, Phoenix dactylifera (Natural Order Palmeae ), Arabic nakhl, is a tree which from the earliest times has been associated with the Semitic peoples. In Arabia the very existence of man depends largely upon its presence, and many authorities consider this to have been its original habitat. It is only natural that such a tree should have been sacred both there and in Assyria in the earliest ages. In Palestine the palm leaf appears as an ornament upon pottery as far back as 1800 BC (compare PEF, Gezer Mere., II, 172). In Egypt the tall palm stem forms a constant feature in early architecture, and among the Hebrews it was extensively used as a decoration of the temple ( 1 Kings 6:29,32,35; 7:36; 2 Chronicles 3:5). It is a symbol of beauty ( Song of Solomon 7:7) and of the righteous man: “The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree: He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of Yahweh; They shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and green” ( Psalm 92:12-14). The palm tree or branch is used extensively on Jewish coinage and most noticeably appears as a symbol of the land upon the celebrated Judea Capta coins of Vespasian. A couple of centuries or so later it forms a prominent architectural feature in the ornamentation of the Galilean synagogues, e.g. at Tell Chum (Capernaum). The method of artificial fertilization of the pistillate (female) flowers by means of the staminate (male) flowers appears to have been known in the earliest historic times. Winged figures are depicted on some of the early Assyrian sculptures shaking a bunch of the male flowers over the female for the same purpose as the people of modern Gaza ascend the tall trunks of the fruit-bearing palms and tie among the female flowers a bunch of the pollen-bearing male flowers. 2. THEIR ANCIENT ABUNDANCE IN PALESTINE: In Palestine today the palm is much neglected; there are few groves except along the coast, e.g. at the bay of Akka, Jaffa and Gaza; solitary palms occur all over the land in the courtyards of mosques (compare Psalm 92:13) and houses even in the mountains. Once palms flourished upon the Mount of Olives ( Nehemiah 8:15), and Jericho was long known as the “city of palm-trees” ( Deuteronomy 34:3; Judges 1:16; 3:13; Chronicles 28:15; Josephus BJ, IV, viii, 2-3), but today the only palms are scarce and small; under its name Hazazon-tamar ( 2 Chronicles 20:2), En-gedi would appear to have been as much a place of palms in ancient days as we know it was in later history. A city, too, called Tamar (“date palm”) appears to have been somewhere near the southwestern corner of the Dead Sea ( Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28). Today the numerous saltencrusted stumps of wild palm trees washed up all along the shores of the Dead Sea witness to the existence of these trees within recent times in some of the deep valleys around. 3. PALM BRANCHES: Branches of palms have been symbolically associated with several different ideas. A palm branch is used in Isaiah 9:14; 19:15 to signify he “head,” the highest of the people, as contrasted with the rush, the “tail,” or humblest of the people. Palm branches appear from early times to have been associated with rejoicing. On the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles the Hebrews were commanded to take branches of palms, with other trees, and rejoice before God ( Leviticus 23:40; compare Nehemiah 8:15; Macc 10:7). The palm branch still forms the chief feature of the lulabh carried daily by every pious Jew to the synagogue, during the feast. Later it was connected with the idea of triumph and victory. Simon Maccabeus entered the Akra at Jerusalem after its capture, “with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and with harps, and cymbals, and with viols, and hymns, and songs: because there was destroyed a great enemy out of Israel” (1 Macc 13:51 the King James Version; compare 2 Macc 10:7). The same idea comes out in the use of palm branches by the multitudes who escorted Jesus to Jerusalem ( John 12:13) and also in the vision of the “great multitude, which no man could number .... standing before the .... Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands” ( Revelation 7:9). Today palms are carried in every Moslem funeral procession and are laid on the new-made grave. See also TAMAR as a proper name. E. W. G. Masterman PALMER-WORM <pam’-er-wurm > ([ µz;G; , gazam ]; Septuagint [ka>mph, kampe ] ( Amos 4:9; Joel 1:4; 2:25)): “Palmer-worm” means “caterpillar,” but the insect meant is probably a kind of locust. See INSECT; LOCUST. PALSY; PARALYSIS <pol’-zi > , <pa-ral’-i-sis > ([para>lusiv, paralusis ]): The English word “palsy” is derived from the Old French paralesie, which in Middle English was shortened into palesie, the form in which it appears in Wycliff’s version. In the 16th century it appears as “palsy,” the form used in the King James Version. This, however, is seldom used at the present day, the Latinized Greek form “paralysis” being more frequently employed, both in modern literature and in colloquial English “Sick of the palsy” is the translation either of the adjectiveparalutikos or of the participle of the verb paraluomai . The disease is one characterized by extreme loss of the power of motion dependent on some affection either of the motor centers of the brain or of the spinal cord. It is always serious, usually intractable, and generally sudden in onset (1 Macc 9:55 f). Miraculous cures by our Lord are related in general terms, as in Matthew 4:24; Acts 8:7. Aeneas ( Acts 9:33) was probably a paralytic eight years bedridden. Though the Lord addressed the paralytic let down through the roof ( Matthew 9:6; Mark 2:3; Luke 5:18) as “son,” it was not necessarily a proof that he was young, and though He prefaces the cure by declaring the forgiveness of sin, we need not infer that the disease was the result of an evil life, although it may have been. Bennett conjectures that the centurion’s palsied servant grievously tormented was suffering from progressive paralysis with respiratory spasms ( see PAIN). The substantive paralusis is only once used in the Septuagint in Ezekiel 21:10, but here it refers to the loosing of the sword, not to the disease. Alexander Macalister PALTI <pal’-ti > ([ yfl]P” , palTi ], “Yah delivers”): (1) One of the “searchers” of Canaan sent by Moses ( Numbers 13:9), representing Benjamin in the expedition (13:9). (2) The man to whom Saul gave Michal, David’s wife, after the estrangement ( 1 Samuel 25:44). He is “the captain of the people” of Esdras 5:16 (“Phaltiel,” margin “Psaltiel”). In 2 Samuel 3:15, he is named “Phaltiel” (the King James Version), “Paltiel” (the Revised Version), and is there mentioned in connection with David’s recovery of Michal. PALTIEL <pal’-ti-el > ([ laeyfil]P” , palTi’el ], “God’s deliverance”): (1) A prince of Isaachar ( Numbers 34:26). (2) Same as PALTI, (2) (which see). PALTITE <pal’-tit > ([ yfil]P” , palTi ] (as Palti); The Septuagint has: Codex Vaticanus [ Kelwqei>, Kelothei ]; Codex Alexandrinus [ Fellwnei>, Phellonei ]): The description occurs but once in this form and is then applied to Helez, one of David’s 30 valiant men ( 2 Samuel 23:26). Helez’ name, however, occurs in 1 Chronicles 11:27 and 27:10 as the “Pelonite.” Doubtless there is some confusion of words. The word may be given as a patronymic of Palti, or it may designate a native of the village of Beth-pelet mentioned in Joshua 15:27 and Nehemiah 11:26 as being in Lower Judah. Helez, however, is described as “of the children of Ephraim” in 1 Chronicles 27:10. PAMPHYLIA <pam-fil’-i-a > ([ Pamfuli>a, Pamphulia ]): A country lying along the southern coast of Asia Minor, bounded on the North by Pisidia, on the East by Isauria, on the South by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the West by Lycia ( Acts 2:10; 27:5). 1. PHYSICAL FEATURES: In the earliest time, Pamphylia was but a narrow strip of low-lying land between the base of the mountains and the sea, scarcely more than 20 miles long and half as wide. A high and imposing range of the Taurus Mountains practically surrounds it upon three sides, and, jutting out into the sea, isolates it from the rest of Asia Minor. Its two rivers, the Cestrus and the Cataractes, are said by ancient writers to have been navigable for several miles inland, but now the greater part of their water is diverted to the fields for irrigating purposes, and the general surface of the country has been constantly changed by the many rapid mountain streams. The level fertile coast land is therefore well watered, and the moist air, which is excessively hot and enervating, has always been laden with fever. Several roads leading from the coast up the steep mountain to the interior existed in ancient times; one of them, called the Kimax or the Ladder, with its broad stair-like steps 2,000 ft. high, may still be seen. Beyond the steps is the high land which was once called “Pisidia,” but which the Romans, in 70 AD, made a part of Pamphylia. 2. IMPORTANCE: Pamphylia, unless in pre-historic times, was never an independent kingdom; it was subject successively to Lydia, Persia, Macedonia, Pergamos and Rome. Because of its comparatively isolated position, civilization there was less developed than in the neighboring countries, and the Asiatic influence was at most times stronger than the Greek As early as the 5th century BC a Greek colony settled there, but the Greek language which was spoken in some of its cities soon became corrupt; the Greek inscriptions, appearing upon the coins of that age, were written in a peculiar character, and before the time of Alexander the Great, Greek ceased to be spoken. Perga then became an important city and the center of the Asiatic religion, of which the Artemis of Perga, locally known as Leto, was the goddess. Coins were struck also in that city. Somewhat later the Greek city of Attalia, which was rounded by Attalus III Philadelphus (159-138 BC), rose to importance, and until recent years has been the chief port of entry on the southern coast of Asia Minor. About the beginning of our era, Side became the chief city, and issued a long and beautiful series of coins, possibly to facilitate trade with the pirates who found there a favorable market for their booty. Pamphylia is mentioned as one of the recipients of the “letters” of 1 Macc 15:23. 3. INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY: Christianity was first introduced to Pamphylia by Paul and Barnabas ( Acts 13:13; 14:24), but because their stay in the country was brief, or because of the difficulty of communication with the neighboring countries, or because of the Asiatic character of the population, it was slow in being established. See also ATTALIA; PERGA; SIDE, the chief cities of Pamphylia. E. J. Banks PAN Name of a utensil used in the preparation or the serving of food, and representing several words in the original. Passing over the use of the word in connections like 1 Chronicles 9:31, “things baked in pans,” where the Hebrew word chabhittim refers, not to the pan itself, but to the cakes baked in the flat pan or griddle which was called machabhath (see below), and the “firepans” (machtah ) ( Exodus 27:3; 1 Kings 7:50, etc.) which seem to have been used to carry burning coals, we note the following words: (1) [ tb”j\m” , machabhath ], “pan” the King James Version, “bakingpan” the Revised Version (British and American), a dish of uncertain shape and size which was used in the preparation of the minchah or vegetable offering. See Leviticus 2:5; 6:21; 7:9; 1 Chronicles 23:29. On the basis of Ezekiel 4:3 it might be assumed that the pan was rectangular in shape and of good size. (2) [ rwOYKo , kiyyor ], rendered “pan” in 1 Samuel 2:14. The same word is used in the phrase, “pan of fire” the Revised Version (British and American), “hearth of fire” the King James Version ( Zechariah 12:6); and it is also translated “laver” in the descriptions of the furnishing of tabernacle and temple ( Exodus 30:18; 1 Kings 7:30, etc.). As it held water and was used for boiling meat and the like, it must have been a kind of pot or kettle. (3) [ trec]m” , masreth ], ( 2 Samuel 15:9). The connection gives no clue as to shape or size except that it must have been small enough to serve food in, and of the proper shape to hold a substance which could be poured out. Some authorities suggest a connection with the root [ raoc] , se’or ], “leaven,” and think that this pan was like the kneading-trough in shape. (4) [ rysi , sir ], rendered “pan” in Exodus 27:3 the King James Version, “pot” the Revised Version (British and American). See POT. (5) [ rWrP; , parur ], “pan” in Numbers 11:8 the King James Version, “pot” the Revised Version (British and American). See POT. (6) [ hj;l;xe , celachah ] ( 2 Chronicles 35:13). Some kind of dish or pot. Slightly different forms of the same root are rendered “cruse” ( 2 Kings 2:20 (tselochith ), “dish” ( 2 Kings 21:13 (tsallachath ); and also in the Revised Version (British and American) in Proverbs 19:24; 26:15, instead of the probably incorrect “bosom” of the King James Version. (7) [le>bhv, lebes ] translated “pan” in 1 Esdras 1:12 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) “cauldron”). (8) [th>ganon, teganon ], 2 Macc 7:3,5, with the verb [thgani>zw, teganizo ], 7:5, is the usual Greek word for “frying-pan,” but here a large sheet of metal must be meant (compare 4 Macc 8:13; 12:10,20). LITERATURE. Whitehouse, Primer of Hebrew Antiquities,76, 77; Benzinger, Hebraische Archaologie, 70, 71; Nowack, Hebraische Archdologie, I, 144. Walter R. Betteridge PANNAG <pan’-ag > ([ gN”P” , pannagh ]; [kasi>a, kasia ]; Ezekiel 27:17 margin, “Perhaps a kind of confection”): One of the articles of commerce of Judah and Israel. The kasia of the Septuagint is said to be a shrub similar to the laurel. Nothing is known of the nature of pannag. Cheyne (EB, 3555) thinks the Hebrews letters have got misplaced and should be [ ˆp,G, , gephen ], “vine,” and he would join to it the [ vb”D] , debhash ], “honey,” which follows in the verse, giving a translation “grape honey,” the ordinary dibbs of Palestine — an extremely likely article of commerce. See HONEY. PANOPLY <pan’-o-pli > : 1 Macc 13:29 the Revised Version margin. See ARMOR. PAP ([ dv” , shadh ], [ dvo , shodh ], “breast” ( Ezekiel 23:21); [masto>v, mastos ], “the breast” ( Luke 11:27; 23:29; Revelation 1:13)): The English word, which goes back to Middle English “pappe” (see Skeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 327) and is now obsolete, has been replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by “breast.” The Hebrew word signifies the “female breast”; the Greek word has a wider signification, including the male chest. PAPER <pa’-per > . See CRAFTS, 11, 13; PAPYRUS; REED; WRITING. PAPER REEDS <redz > : In Isaiah 19:7 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) “meadows”). PAPHOS <pa’-fos > : 1. SITE: The name of two towns, Old ([ Palaia< Pa>fov, Palaia Paphos ], or [ Palai>pafov, Palaipaphos ]) and New Paphos [ Ne>a Pa>fov, Nea Paphos ]), situated at the southwestern extremity of Cyprus. Considerable confusion is caused by the use of the single name Paphos in ancient writers to denote now one, now the other, of these cities. That referred to in Acts 13:6,13 is strictly called New Paphos (modern Baffa), and lay on the coast about a mile South of the modern Ktima and some 10 miles Northwest of the old city. The latter (modern Kouklia ) is situated on an eminence more than a mile from the sea, on the left bank of the Diarrizo , probably the ancient Bocarus. 2. HISTORY OF OLD PAPHOS: It was founded by Cinyras, the father of Adonis, or, according to another legend, by Aerias, and formed the capital of the most important kingdom in Cyprus except that of Salamis. Its territory embraced a considerable portion of Western Cyprus, extending northward to that of Soli, southward to that of Curium and eastward to the range of Troodus. Among its last kings was Nicocles, who ruled shortly after the death of Alexander the Great. In 310 BC Nicocreon of Salamis, who had been set over the whole of Cyprus by Ptolemy I of Egypt, was forced to put an end to his life at Paphos for plotting with Antigonus (Diodorus xx. 21, who wrongly gives the name as Nicocles; see Athenische Mitteilungen, XXII, 203 ff), and from that time Paphos remained under Egyptian rule until the Roman annexation of Cyprus in 58 BC. The growth of New Paphos brought with it the decline of the old city, which was also ruined by successive earthquakes. Yet its temple still retained much of its old fame, and in AD Titus, the future emperor of Rome, turned aside on his journey to Jerusalem, which he was to capture in the following year, to visit the sacred shrine and to inquire of the priests into the fortune which awaited him (Tacitus History ii.2-4; Suetonius Titus 5). 3. HISTORY OF NEW PAPHOS: New Paphos, originally the seaport of the old town, was founded, according to tradition, by Agapenor of Arcadia (Iliad ii.609; Pausan. viii.5, 2). Its possession of a good harbor secured its prosperity, and it had several rich temples. According to Dio Cassius (liv.23) it was restored by Augustus in 15 BC after a destructive earthquake and received the name Augusta (Greek Sebaste). Under the Roman Empire it was the administrative capital of the island and the seat of the governor. The extant remains all date from this period and include those of public buildings, private houses, city walls and the moles of the harbor. 4. THE TEMPLE AND CULT: But the chief glory of Paphos and the source of its fame was the local cult, of which the kings and their descendants remained hereditary priests down to the Roman seizure of Cyprus. The goddess, identified with the Greek Aphrodite, who was said to have risen from the sea at Paphos, was in reality a Nature-goddess, closely resembling the Babylonian Ishtar and the Phoenician Astarte, a native deity of Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands. Her cult can be traced back at Paphos to Homeric times (Odyssey viii.362) and was repeatedly celebrated by Greek and Latin poets (Aeschylus Suppl. 555; Aristoph. Lys. 833; Virgil Aen. i.415; Horace Odes i.19 and 30; iii.26; Statius Silvae i.2, 101, etc.). The goddess was represented, not by a statue in human form, but by a white conical stone (Max. Tyr. viii.8; Tacitus History ii.3; Servius Ad Aen. i.724), of which models were on sale for the benefit of pilgrims (Athenaeus xv.18); her worship was sensuous in character and she is referred to by Athanasius as the deification of lust (Contra Genres 9). Excavation has brought to light at Old Paphos a complex of buildings belonging to Roman times and consisting of an open court with chambers or colonnades on three sides and an entrance on the East only, the whole forming a quadrilateral enclosure with sides about 210 ft. long. In this court may have stood the altar, or altars, of incense (Homer speaks of a single altar, Virgil of “a hundred altars warm with Sabean frankincense”); no blood might be shed thereon, and although it stood in the open it was “wet by no rain” (Tacitus, loc. cit.; Pliny, NH, ii.210). On the south side are the ruins of another building, possibly an earlier temple, now almost destroyed save for the western wall (Journal of Hellenic Studies, IX, 193-224). But the fact that no remains or inscriptions have been found here earlier than the Roman occupation of Cyprus militates against the view that the sanctuary stood at this spot from prehistoric times. Its site may be sought at Xylino, a short distance to the North of Kouklia (D.G. Hogarth, Times, August 5, 1910), or possibly on the plateau of Rhantidi, some 3 miles Southeast of the village, where numerous inscriptions in the old Cyprian syllabic script were found in the summer of 1910 (M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Times, July 29, 1910). 5. THE APOSTLES’ VISIT: After visiting Salamis and passing through the whole island, about miles in length, Barnabas, Paul and Mark reached Paphos, the residence of the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus (for the title see CYPRUS). Here too they would doubtless begin by preaching in the synagogue, but the governor — who is probably the same Paulus whose name appears as proconsul in an inscription of Soli (D.G. Hogarth, Devia Cypria, 114) — hearing of their mission, sent for them and questioned them on the subject of their preaching. A Jew named Bar-Jesus or Elymas, who, as a Magian or soothsayer, “was with the proconsul,” presumably as a member of his suite, used all his powers of persuasion to prevent his patron from giving his adherence to the new faith, and was met by Paul (it is at this point that the name is first introduced) with a scathing denunciation and a sentence of temporary loss of sight. The blindness which at once fell on him produced a deep impression on the mind of the proconsul, who professed his faith in the apostolic teaching. From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed in a northwesterly direction to Perga in Pamphylia ( Acts 13:6-13). Paul did not revisit Paphos, but we may feel confident that Barnabas and Mark would return there on their 2nd missionary journey ( Acts 15:39). Of the later history of the Paphian church we know little. Tychicus, Paul’s companion, is said to have been marryred there, and Jerome tells us that Hilarion sought in the neighborhood of the decayed and almost deserted town the quiet and retirement which he craved (Vita Hilar. 42). The Acta Barnabae speak of a certain Rhodon, who was attached to the temple service at Old Paphos, as having accepted the Christian faith. LITERATURE. Besides the works already referred to, see Journal of Hellenic Studies, IX, 175-92 (citation of passages from ancient authors relating to Old Paphos, together with a list of medieval and modern authorities), 225-271 (inscriptions and tombs), and the bibliography appended to article CYPRUS. Marcus N. Tod PAPYRUS <pa-pi’-rus > (Cyperus papyrus; [bu>blov, bublos ], [bi>blov, biblos ], whence [bibli>on, biblion ], a roll, [ta< bibli>a, ta biblia ], “the Books” = the Bible): A marsh or water plant, abundant in Egypt in ancient times, serving many purposes in antiquity. The papyrus tuft was the emblem of the Northern Kingdom in Egypt. Like the lotus, it suggested one of the favorite capitals of Egyptian architecture. Ropes, sandals, and mats were made from its fibers (see Odyssey xxi.391; Herod. ii.37, 69), and bundles of the long, light stalks were bound together into light boats ( Isaiah 18:2; Breasted, History of the Egyptians, 91). 1. PAPYRUS PAPER: Most importantly, from it was made the tough and inexpensive paper which was used from very ancient times in Egypt and which became the common writing-material of the ancient world. The white cellular pith of the long triangular papyrus stalk was stripped of its bark or rind and sliced into thin strips. Two layers of these strips were laid at right angles to each other, pasted together (Pliny says with the aid of Nile water), dried and smoothed. The sheets thus formed were pasted one to another to form a roll of any length desired. The process and the product are described by Pliny the EIder (NH,.xiii.11-13). 2. EGYPTIAN PAPYRI: Egyptian papyrus rolls are in existence dating from the 27th century BC, and no doubt the manufacture of papyrus had been practiced for centuries before. The Egyptian rolls were sometimes of great length and were often beautifully decorated with colored vignettes (Book of the Dead). Egyptian documents of great historical value have been preserved on these fragile rolls. The Papyrus Ebers of the 16th century BC sums up the medical lore of the Egyptians of the time of Amenhotep I. The Papyrus Harris, 133 ft. long, in 117 columns, dates from the middle of the 12th century BC and records the benefactions and achievements of Ramses III. For the XIXth, XXth and XXIst dynasties, indeed, papyri are relatively numerous, and their contribution important for Egyptian history, life and religion. By the year 1000 BC, papyrus had doubtless come to be used for writing far beyond the limits of Egypt. The Wenamon Papyrus (11th century) relates that 500 rolls of papyrus were among the gifts sent from the Delta to the Prince of Biblus, but except in the rarest instances papyri have escaped destruction only in Upper Egypt, where climatic conditions especially favored their preservation. 3. ARAMAIC PAPYRI: In very recent years (1898, 1904, 1907) several Aramaic papyri have been found on the Island of Elephantine, just below the First Cataract, dating from 494 to 400 BC. They show that between 470 and 408 BC a flourishing colony of Jews existed there, doing business under Persian sway, and worshipping their god Yahu, not in a synagogue, but in a temple, in which they offered meal offerings, incense and burnt offerings. In 408, the Egyptians had destroyed their temple at Yeb, and the Jews appealed for redress to the Persian governor. It is well known that some Jews had taken refuge in Egypt in 586 BC, taking the prophet Jeremiah with them, and with some such band of refugees the Yeb colony may have originated, although it may have been much older (compare Jeremiah 44:1,15; Biblical World, XXIX, 1907, 305 ff; XXXI, 448 ff; chief publications by Euting, Sayce and Cowley, and especially Sachau, Drei aramdische Papyrusurkunden aus Elephantine, 2nd edition, 1908; Aramaische Papyrus und Ostraka, 1911). 4. GREEK PAPYRI: With Alexander’s conquest of Egypt (332 BC), and the subsequent Ptolemaic dynasty, Greeks came more than ever before into Egypt, and from Greek centers like Alexandria and Arsinoe in the Faytum the Greek language began to spread. Through the Ptolemaic (323-30 BC), Roman (30 BC-292/93 AD), and Byzantine periods (292/93-640 AD), that is, from the death of Alexander to the Arab conquest, Greek was much used in Upper and Lower Egypt, and Greek papyri from these times are now abundant. The 300 Aphrodito Greek and Coptic papyri published by Bell and Crum (1910) date from 698-722 AD, and show how Greek persisted in the Arab period. 5. THEIR DISCOVERY: The first important discovery of Greek papyri made in modern times was among the ruins of Herculaneum, near Naples, where in 1752 in the ruins of the house of a philosopher which had been destroyed and buried by volcanic ashes from Vesuvius (79 AD) a whole library of papyrus rolls was found, quite charred by the heat. With the utmost pains many of these have been unrolled and deciphered, and the first part of them was published in 1793. They consist almost wholly of works of Epicurean philosophy. In 1778 the first discovery of Greek papyri in Egypt was made. In that year some Arabs found 40 or 50 papyrus rolls in an earthen pot, probably in the Faytum, where Philadelphus settled his Greek veterans. One was purchased by a dealer and found its way into the hands of Cardinal Stefano Borgia; the others were destroyed as of no worth. The Borgia Papyrus was published 10 years later. It was a document of little value, recording the forced labor of certain peasants upon the Nile embankment of a given year. In 1820 another body of papyri was found by natives, buried, it was said, in an earthen pot, on the site of the Serapeum at Memphis, just above Cairo. These came for the most part from the 2nd century BC. They fell into various hands, and are now in the museums of London, Paris, Leyden, Rome and Dresden. With them the stream of papyri began to flow steadily into the British and Continental museums. In 1821 an Englishman, Mr. W.J. Bankes, bought an Elephantine roll of the xxivth book of the Iliad, the first Greek literary papyrus to be derived from Egypt. The efforts of Mr. Harris and others in 1847-1850 brought to England considerable parts of lost orations of Hyperides, new papyri of the 17th book of the Iliad, and parts of Iliad ii, iii, ix. In 1855 Mariette purchased a fragment of Alcman for the Louvre, and in 1856 Mr. Stobart obtained the funeral oration of Hyperides. The present period of papyrus recovery dates from 1877, when an immense mass of Greek and other papyri, for the most part documentary, not literary, was found in the Fayum, on the site of the ancient Arsinoe. The bulk of this collection passed into the hands of Archduke Rainer at Vienna, minor portions of it being secured by the museums of Paris, London, Oxford and Berlin. These belong largely to the Byzantine period. Another great find was made in 1892 in the Faytum; most of these went to Berlin some few to the British Museum, Vienna and Geneva. These were mostly of the Roman period. It will be seen that most of these discoveries were the work of natives, digging about indiscriminately in the hope of finding antiquities to sell to tourists or dealers. By this time, however, the Egypt Exploration Fund had begun its operations in Egypt, and Professor Flinders Petrie was at work there. Digging among Ptolemaic tombs at Gurob in 1889-90, Professor Petrie found many mummies, or mummy-casings, adorned with breastpieces and sandals made of papyri pasted together. The separation of these was naturally a tedious and delicate task, and the papyri when extricated were often badly damaged or mutilated; but the Petrie papyri, as they were called, were hailed by scholars as the most important found up to that time, for they came for the most part from the 3rd century BC. Startling acquisitions were made about this time by representatives of the British Museum and the Louvre. The British Museum secured papyri of the lost work of Aristotle on the Constitution of Athens, the lost Mimes of Herodas, a fragment of an oration of Hyperides, and extensive literary papyri of works already extant; while the Louvre secured the larger part of the Oration against Athenogenes, the masterpiece of Hyperides. In Bernard P. Grenfell, of Oxford, appeared in Egypt, working with Professor Petrie in his excavations, and securing papyri with Mr. Hogarth for England. In that year Pettie and Grenfell obtained from native dealers papyrus rolls, one more than 40 ft. in length, preserving revenue laws of Ptolemy Philadelphus, dated in 259-258 BC. These were published in by Mr. Grenfell, the first of many important works in this field from his pen. With Arthur S. Hunt, of Oxford, Mr. Grenfell excavated in 1896-1897, at Behnesa, the Roman Oxyrhynchus, and unearthed the greatest mass of Greek papyri of the Roman period thus far found. In 9 large quarto volumes, aggregating 3,000 pages, only a beginning has been made of publishing these Oxyrhynchus texts, which number thousands and are in many cases of great importance. The story of papyrus digging in Egypt since the great find of 1896-1897 is largely the record of the work of Grenfell and Hunt. At Tebtunis, in the Faytum; in 1900, they found a great mass of Ptolemaic papyri, comparable in importance with their great discovery at Oxyrhynchus. One of the most productive sources of papyri at Tebtunis was the crocodile cemetery, in which many mummies of the sacred crocodiles were found rolled in papyrus. Important Ptolemaic texts were found in 1902 at Hibeh, and a later visit to Oxyrhynchus in produced results almost as astonishing and quite as valuable as those of the first excavations there. The work of Rubensohn at Abusir in 1908 has exceptional interest, as it developed the first considerable body of Alexandrian papyri that has been found. The soil and climate of Alexandria are destructive to papyri, and only to the fact that these had in ancient times been carried off into the interior as rubbish is their preservation due. Hogarth, Jouguet, Wilcken and other Continental scholars have excavated in Egypt for papyri with varying degrees of success. The papyri are found in graves a few feet below the surface, in house ruins over which sand has drifted, or occasionally in earthen pots buried in the ground. Despite government efforts to stop indiscriminate native digging, papyri in considerable quantities have continued to find their way into the hands of native dealers, and thence into English, Continental, and even American collections. 6. CLASSICAL PAPYRI: Thus far upward of 650 literary papyri, great and small, of works other than Biblical have been published. The fact that about one-third of these are Homeric attests the great popularity enjoyed by the Homeric poems in Greek-Roman times. These are now so abundant and extensive as to make an important contribution to the Homeric text. Rather less than one-third preserve works of other ancient writers which were already known to us through later copies, medieval or modern. Among these are works of Plato, Demosthenes, Isocrates, Thucydides, Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschines, Herodotus and others. Rather more than one-third preserve works, or fragments of works, which have been either quite unknown or, oftener, regarded as lost. Such are portions of Alcman and Sappho, fragments of the comedies of Menander and the iambi of Callimachus, Mimes of Herodas, poems of Bacchylides, parts of the lost Antiope and Hypsipyle of Euripides, Aristotle On the Constitution of Athens, the Persac of Timotheus (in a papyrus of the 4th century BC, probably the oldest Greek book in the world), and six orations, one of them complete, of Hyperides. In 1906 Grenfell and Hunt discovered at Oxyrhynchus the unique papyrus of the lost Paeans of Pindar, in 380 fragments, besides the Hellenica of Theopompus (or Cratippus?), whose works were believed to have perished. 7. SEPTUAGINT PAPYRI: Of the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) more than 20 papyri have been discovered. Perhaps the most important of these is the Berlin Genesis (3rd or 4th century) (1) in a cursive hand, purchased at Akhmim in 1906. Other papyri preserving parts of Genesis among the Amherst (2), British Museum (3), and Oxyrhynehus (4), papyri date from the 3rd or 4th century. A Bodleian papyrus leaf (5) (7th or 8th century) preserves Song of Solomon 1:6-9. An Amherst papyrus (6) (7th century) contains Job 1:21 f; 2,3. There are several papyri of parts of the Psalms. An Amherst papyrus (7) (5th or 6th century) has Psalm 5:6-12. Brit. Mus. 37 (Fragmenta Londinensia, 6th or 7th century) (8), of thirty leaves, contains Psalm 10:2 through 18:6 and 20:14 through 34:6. This was purchased in 1836 and is one of the longest of Biblical papyri. Brit. Mus. (9) (3rd century) preserves Psalm 12:7 through 15:4. A Berlin papyrus (10) contains Psalm 40:26 through 41:4. Oxyrhynchus papyrus (11) (4th or 5th century) contains parts of Psalms 68; 70. Another Amherst papyrus (12) (7th century) shows parts of Psalms 108; 118; 135; 138 through 140. There is also a papyrus at Leipzig (13) which contains part of the Psalms. Of the Prophets the chief papyrus is the Heidelberg codex (14) (7th century), which contains Zechariah 4:6 through Malachi 4:5. Oxyrhynchus (15) (6th century) contains Amos 2. A gainer papyrus (16) (3rd century) preserves Isaiah 38:3-5,13-16, and a Bodleian (17) (3rd century) shows Ezekiel 5:12 through 6:3. The Rylands papyri include Deuteronomy 2; (18) (4th century); Job 1; 5; 6 (19) (6th or 7th century); Psalm (20) (5th or 6th century). Recent Oxyrhynchus volumes supply parts of Exodus 21; 22; (21; 22) (3rd century, O.P. 1074, 1075); and of Genesis (23) (3rd century, O.P. 1166), and Genesis (24) (4th century, O.P. 1167). The great antiquity of some of these documents gives especial interest to their readings. 8. NEW TESTAMENT PAPYRI: Twenty-three papyri containing parts of the Greek New Testament have thus far been published, nearly half of them coming from Oxyrhynchus (O.P. 2, 208, 209, 402, 657, 1008, 1009, 1078, 1079, 1170, 1171). The pieces range in date from the 3rd to the 6th century. Their locations, dates and contents are: 1. Philadelphia, Pa. 3rd or 4th century Matthew 11-9,12,13,14-20 (O.P. 2). 2. Florence. 5th or 6th century John 12:12-15. 3. Vienna. 6th century Luke 7:36-45; 10:38-42. 4. Paris. 4th century Luke 1:74-80; 5:3-8; 5:30 through 6:4. 5. London. 3rd or 4th century John 1:23-31,33-41; 20:11-17,19-25 (O.P. 208). 6. Strassburg. ? century John 11:45. 7. Kiew. ? century Luke 4:1,2. 8. Berlin. 4th century Acts 4:31-37; 5:2-9; 6:1-6,8-15. 9. Cambridge, Mass. 4th or 5th century 1 John 4:11-13,15,17 (O.P 402). 10. Cambridge, Mass. 4th century Romans 1:1-7 (O.P. 209). 11. Petersburg. 5th century 1 Corinthians 1:17-20; 6:13,18; 7:3,4,10- 14. 12. Didlington Hall. 3rd or 4th century Hebrews 1:1. 13. London. 4th century Hebrews 2:14 through 5:5; 10:8 through 11:13; 11:28 through 12:17 (O.P. 657). This is the most considerable papyrus of the New Testament, and doubly important because Codex Vaticanus breaks off with Hebrews 9:14. 14. Sinai. 5th century 1 Corinthians 1:25-27; 2:6-8; 3:8-10,20. 15 . Oxford. 4th century 1 Corinthians 7:18 through 8:4 (O.P. 1008). Philippians 3:9-17; 4:2-8 (O.P. 1009). 16. Manchester (Rylands). 6th or 7th century Romans 12:3-8. 17. Manchester (Rylands). 3rd century Titus 1:11-15; 2:3-8. 18. Oxford. 4th century Hebrews 9:12-19 (O.P. 1078). 19. Oxford. 3rd or 4th century Revelation 1:4-7 (O.P. 1079). 20. Oxford. 5th century Matthew 10:32 through 11:5 (O.P. 1170). 21. Oxford. 3rd century James 2:19 through 3:2,4-9 (O.P. 1171). 22. Florence. 7th century Matthew 25:12-15,20-23. 23. Florence. ? century John 3:14-18,31,32. Berlin Pap. 13,269 (7th century) is a liturgical paraphrase of Luke 2:8-14. Further details as to numbers 1-14 may be found in Gregory, Textkritik, 1084-92, and for numbers 1-23 in Kenyon, Handbook to Text. Crit. 2, or Milligan, New Testament Documents, 249-54. 9. THEOLOGICAL PAPYRI: Among other theological papyri, the Oxyrhynchus Sayings of Jesus (O.P. 1,654), dating from the 2nd and 3rd centuries, are probably the most widely known ( see LOGIA). Other Oxyrhynchus pieces preserve parts of the Apocalypse of Baruch (chapters 12 through 14; 4th or 5th century; O.P. 403); the Gospel according to the Hebrews (? in its later form, if at all; 3rd century; O.P. 655); the Acts of John (4th century; O.P. 850, compare 851); the Shepherd of Hermas (3rd or 4th century; O.P. 404); Irenaeus, Adv. Haer., iii.9 (3rd century; O.P. 405). Other small fragments of the Shepherd and Ignatius are among the Amherst and Berlin papyri. Early Christian hymns, prayers and letters of interest have also been found. 10. DOCUMENTARY PAPYRI: We have spoken thus far only of literary papyri, classical and theological. The overwhelming jority of the papyri found have of course been documentary — private letters, accounts, wills, receipts, contracts, leases, deeds, complaints, petitions, notices, invitations, etc. The value of these contemporary and original documents for the illumination of ancient life can hardly be overestimated. The life of Upper Egypt in Ptolemaic and Roman times is now probably better known to us than that of any other period of history down to recent times. Many papyrus collections have no literary papyri at all, but are rich in documents. Each year brings more of these to light and new volumes of them into print. All this vast and growing body of material contributes to our knowledge of Ptolemaic and imperial times, often in the most intimate ways. Among the most important of these documentary papyri from Ptolemaic times are the revenue laws of Ptolemy Philadelphus (259 BC) and the decrees of Ptolemy Euergetes II, 47 in number (118 BC, 140-139 BC). Very recently (1910) a Hamburg papyrus has supplied the Constitutio Antoniniana, by which Roman citizenship was conferred upon the peregrini of the empire. The private documents in ways even more important illustrate the life of the common people under Ptolemaic and Roman rule. 11. CONTRIBUTION TO NEW TESTAMENT STUDY: It is not necessary to point out the value of all this for Biblical and especially New Testament study. The papyri have already made a valuable contribution to textual materials of both Old Testament and New Testament. For other early Christian literature their testimony has been of surprising interest (the Oxyrhynchus Logia and Gospel fragments). The discovery of a series of uncial manuscripts running through six centuries back of the Codex Vaticanus bridges the gap between what were our earliest uncials and the hand of the inscriptions, and puts us in a better position than ever before to fix the dates of uncial manuscripts. Minuscule or cursire hands, too, so common in New Testament manuscripts of the 10th and later centuries, appear in a new light when it is seen that such writing was not a late invention arising out of the uncial, but had existed side by side with it from at least the 4th century BC, as the ordinary, as distinguished from the literary, or book, hand. See WRITING. The lexical contribution of these documentary papyri, too, is already considerable, and is likely to be very great. Like the New Testament writings, they reflect the common as distinguished from the literary language of the times, and words which had appeared exceptional or unknown in Greek literature are now shown to have been in common use. The problems of New Testament syntax are similarly illuminated. Specific historical notices sometimes light up dark points in the New Testament, as in a British Museum decree of Gaius Vibius Maximus, prefect of Egypt (104 AD), ordering all who are out of their districts to return to their own homes in view of the approaching census (compare Luke 2:1-5). Most important of all is the contribution of the papyri to a sympathetic knowledge of ancient life. They constitute a veritable gallery of New Testament characters. A strong light is sometimes thrown upon the social evils of the time, of which Paul and Juvenal wrote so sternly. The child, the prodigal, the thief, the host with his invitations, the steward with his accounts, the thrifty householder, the soldier on service receiving his viaticum, or retired as a veteran upon his farm, the Jewish money-lender, the husbandman, and the publican, besides people in every domestic relation, we meet at first hand in the papyri which they themselves in many cases have written. The worth of this for the historical interpretation of the New Testament is very great. 12. CHIEF COLLECTIONS: The principal collections of Greek papyri with their editors are Schow, Herculaneurn Papyri; Peyron, Turin Papyri; Leemans, Leyden Papyri; Wessely, Rainer and Paris Papyri; Kenyon and Bell, British Museum Papyri; Mahaffy and Smyly, Pettie Papyri; Grenfell and Hunt, Oxyrhynchus, Amherst and Hibeh Papyri (with Hogarth), Faytum Papyri, and (with Smyly and Goodspeed) Tebtunis Papyri; Hunt, Rylands Papyri; Nicole, Geneva Papyri; Krebs, Wilcken, Viereck, Schubart and others, Berlin Papyri; Meyer, Hamburg and Giessen Papyri; Deissmann, Heidelberg Papyri; Vitelli and Comparetti, Florence Papyri; Mitteis, Leipzig Papyri; Preisigke, Strassburg Papyri; Reinach, Paris Papyri; Jouguet and Lesquier, Lille Papyri; Rubensohn, Elephantine Papyri; Maspero, Cairo Papyri; Goodspeed, Cairo and Chicago Papyri. The Munich papyri have been described by Wilcken. Milligan’s Greek Papyri, Kenyon’s Paleography of Greek Papyri, and Deissmann’s Light from the Ancient East are useful introductions to the general subject. Mayser has prepared a Grammatik der Ptolemaischen Papyri. 13. COPTIC, ARABIC, AND OTHER PAPYRI: Coptic, Arabic, Hebrew, and Demotic papyri are numerous; even Latin papyri are found. The Coptic have already made important contributions to early Christian literature. A considerable Coptic fragment of the Acts of Paul, and a Coptic (Akhmimic) codex of 1 Clement, almost complete, have recently been published by Carl Schmidt. Another much mutilated papyrus of 1 Clement, with James, complete, is at Strassburg. A Coptic text of Proverbs has been brought to Berlin from the same source which supplied the Clement codex (the White Convent, near Akhmim); indeed, Biblical papyri in Coptic are fairly numerous, and patristic literature is being rapidly enriched by such discoveries of Coptic papyri, e.g. the Deuteronomy, Jonah; Acts papyrus, 1912 (compare the Sahidic New Testament, Oxford, 1911). Arabic papyri first began to appear from Egypt in 1825, when three Arabic pieces were brought to Paris and published by Silvestre de Sacy. Two others, from the 7th century, were published by him in 1827. It was not until the great papyrus finds of 1877-1878, however, that any considerable number of Arabic papyri found their way into Europe. The chief collections thus far formed are at Vienna (Rainer Collection), Berlin and Cairo. Becker has published the Schott-Reinhardt Arabic papyri at Heidelberg, and Karabacek has worked upon those at Vienna. They belong of course to the period after the Arabic conquest, 640 AD. Edgar J. Goodspeed PAPYRUS, VESSELS OF See SHIPS AND BOATS, II, 2, (1). PARABLE <par’-a-b’-l > : 1. NAME: Etymologically the word “parable” ([paraba>llw, paraballo ]) signifies a placing of two or more objects together, usually for the purpose of a comparison. In this widest sense of the term there is practically no difference between parable and simile (see Thayer, Dictionary of New Testament Greek, under the word). This is also what substantially some of Christ’s parables amount to, which consist of only one comparison and in a single verse (compare Matthew 13:33,44-46). In the more usual and technical sense of the word, “parable” ordinarily signifies an imaginary story, yet one that in its details could have actually transpired, the purpose of the story being to illustrate and inculcate some higher spiritual truth. These features differentiate it from other and similar figurative narratives as also from actual history. The similarity between the last-mentioned and a parable is sometimes so small that exegetes have differed in the interpretation of certain pericopes. A characteristic example of this uncertainty is the story of Dives and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. The problem is of a serious nature, as those who regard this as actual history are compelled to interpret each and every statement, including too the close proximity of heaven and hell and the possibility of speaking from one place to the other, while those who regard it as a parable can restrict their interpretation to the features that constitute the substance of the story. It differs again from the fable, in so far as the latter is a story that could not actually have occurred (e.g. Judges 9:8 ff; 2 Kings 14:9; Ezekiel 17:2 f). The parable is often described as an extended metaphor. The etymological features of the word, as well as the relation of parables to other and kindred devices of style, are discussed more fully by Ed. Koenig, in HDB, III, 660 ff. 2. HISTOTICAL DATA: Although Christ employed the parable as a means of inculcating His message more extensively and more effectively than any other teacher, He did not invent the parable. It was His custom in general to take over from the religious and linguistic world of thought in His own day the materials that He employed to convey the higher and deeper truths of His gospels, giving them a world of meaning they had never before possessed. Thus, e.g. every petition of the Lord’s Prayer can be duplicated in the Jewish liturgies of the times, yet on Christ’s lips these petitions have a significance they never had or could have for the Jews. The term “Word” for the second person in the Godhead is an adaptation from the Logos-idea in contemporaneous religious thought, though not specifically of Philo’s. Baptism, regeneration, and kindred expressions of fundamental thoughts in the Christian system, are terms not absolutely new (compare Deutsch, article “Talmud” Literary Remains) The parable was employed both in the Old Testament and in contemporaneous Jewish literature (compare e.g. 2 Samuel 12:1-4; Isaiah 5:1-6; 28:24-28, and for details see Koenig’s article, loc. cit.). Jewish and other non-Biblical parables are discussed and illustrated by examples in Trench’s Notes on the Parables of our Lord, introductory essay, chapter iv: “On Other Parables besides Those in the Scriptures.” 3. CHRIST’S USE OF PARABLES: The one and only teacher of parables in the New Testament is Christ Himself. The Epistles, although they often employ rhetorical allegories and similes, make absolutely no use of the parable, so common in Christ’s pedagogical methods. The distribution of these in the Canonical Gospels is unequal, and they are strictly confined to the three Synoptic Gospels. Mark again has only one peculiar to this book, namely, the Seed Growing in Secret ( Mark 4:26), and he gives only three others that are found also in Matthew and Luke, namely the Sower, the Mustard Seed, and the Wicked Husbandman, so that the bulk of the parables are found in the First and the Third Gospels. Two are common to Matthew and Luke, namely the Leaven ( Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:21) and the Lost Sheep ( Matthew 18:12; Luke 15:3 ff). Of the remaining parables,18 are found only in Luke and 10 only in Matthew. Luke’s 18 include some of the finest, namely, the Two Debtors, the Good Samaritan, the Friend at Midnight, the Rich Fool, the Watchful Servants, the Barren Fig Tree, the Chief Seats, the Great Supper, the Rash Builder, the Rash King, the Lost Coin, the Lost Son, the Unrighteous Steward, the Rich Man and Lazarus, the Unprofitable Servants, the Unrighteous Judge, the Pharisee and Publican, and the Pounds. The 10 peculiar to Matthew are the Tares, the Hidden Treasure, the Pearl of Great Price, the Draw Net, the Unmerciful Servant, the Laborers in the Vineyard, the Two Sons, the Marriage of the King’s Son, the Ten Virgins, and the Talents. There is some uncertainty as to the exact number of parables we have from Christ, as the Marriage of the King’s Son is sometimes regarded as a different recension of the Great Supper, and the Talents of the Pounds. Other numberings are suggested by Trench, Julicher and others. 4. PURPOSE OF CHRIST IN USING PARABLES: It is evident from such passages as Matthew 13:10 ff (compare Mark 4:10; Luke 8:9) that Christ did not in the beginning of His career employ the parable as a method of teaching, but introduced it later. This took place evidently during the 2nd year of His public ministry, and is closely connected with the changes which about that time He made in His attitude toward the people in general. It evidently was Christ’s purpose at the outset to win over, if possible, the nation as a whole to His cause and to the gospel; when it appeared that the leaders and the great bulk of the people would not accept Him for what He wanted to be and clung tenaciously to their carnal Messianic ideas and ideals, Christ ceased largely to appeal to the masses, and, by confining His instructions chiefly to His disciples and special friends, saw the necessity of organizing an ecclesiola in ecclesia, which was eventually to develop into the world-conquering church. One part of this general withdrawal of Christ from a proclamation of His gospel to the whole nation was this change in His method of teaching and the adoption of the parable. On that subject He leaves no doubt, according to Matthew 13:11 ff; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10. The purpose of the parable is both to reveal and to conceal the truth. It was to serve the first purpose in the case of the disciples, the second in the case of the uncleserving Jews. Psychologically this difference, notwithstanding the acknowledged inferiority in the training and education of the disciples, especially as compared with the scribes and lawyers, is not hard to understand. A simple-minded Christian, who has some understanding of the truth, can readily understand figurative illustrations of this truth, which would be absolute enigmas even to an educated Hindu or Chinaman. The theological problem involved is more difficult. Yet it is evident that we are not dealing with those who have committed the sin against the Holy Ghost, for whom there is no possibility of a return to grace, according to Hebrews 6:4-10; 10:26 (compare Matthew 12:31,32; Mark 3:28-30), and who accordingly could no longer be influenced by an appeal of the gospel, and we have rather before us those from whom Christ has determined to withdraw the offer of redemption — whether temporarily or definitely and finally, remaining an open question — according to His policy of not casting pearls before the swine. The proper sense of these passages can be ascertained only when we remember that in Mark 4:12 and Luke 8:10, the [ I[na, hina ], need not express purpose, but that this particle is used here to express mere result only, as is clear too from the passage in Matthew 13:13, where the [o[ti, hoti ], is found. The word is to be withheld from these people, so that this preaching would not bring about the ordinary results of conversion and forgiveness of sins. Hence, Christ now adopts a method of teaching that will hide the truth from all those who have not yet been imbued by it, and this new method is that of the parable. 5. INTERPRETATION OF THE PARABLES: The principles for the interpretation of the parables, which are all intended primarily and in the first place for the disciples, are furnished by the nature of the parable itself and by Christ’s own method of interpreting some of them. The first and foremost thing to be discovered is the scope or the particular spiritual truth which the parable is intended to convey. Just what this scope is may be stated in so many words, as is done, e.g., by the introductory words to that of the Pharisee and the Publican. Again the scope may be learned from the occasion of the parable, as the question of Peter in Matthew 18:21 gives the scope of the following parable, and the real purpose of the Prodigal Son parable in Luke 15:11 ff is not the story of this young man himself, but is set over against the murmuring of the Pharisees because Christ received publicans and sinners, in 15:1 and 2, to exemplify the all-forgiving love of the Father. Not the Son but the Father is in the foreground in this parable, which fact is also the connecting link between the two parts. Sometimes the scope can be learned only from an examination of the details of the parable itself and then may be all the more uncertain. A second principle of the interpretation of the parables is that a sharp distinction must be made between what the older interpreters called the body (corpus) and the soul (anima) of the story; or, to use other expressions, between the shell or bark (cortex) and the marrow (medulla). Whatever serves only the purpose of the story is the “ornamentation” of the parable, and does not belong to the substance. The former does not call for interpretation or higher spiritual lesson; the latter does. This distinction between those parts of the parable that are intended to convey spiritual meanings and those which are to be ignored in the interpretation is based on Christ’s own interpretation of the so-called parabolae perfectae. Christ Himself, in Matthew 13:18 ff, interprets the parable of the Sower, yet a number of data, such as the fact that there are four, and not more or fewer kinds of land, and others, are discarded in this explanation as without meaning. Again in His interpretation of the Tares among the Wheat in Matthew 13:36 ff, a number of details of the original parable are discarded as meaningless. Just which details are significant and which are meaningless in a parable is often hard, sometimes impossible to determine, as the history of their exegesis amply shows. In general it can be laid down as a rule, that those features which illustrate the scope of the parable belong to its substance, and those which do not, belong to the ornamentation. But even with this rule there remain many exegetical cruces or difficulties. Certain, too, it is that not all of the details are capable of interpretation. Some are added of a nature that indeed illustrate the story as a story, but, from the standpoint of Christian morals, are more than objectionable. The Unjust Steward in using his authority to make the bills of the debtors of his master smaller may be a model, in the shrewd use of this world’s goods for his purpose, that the Christian may follow in making use of his goods for his purposes, but the action of the steward itself is incapable of defense. Again, the man who finds in somebody else’s property a pearl of great price but conceals this fact from the owner of the land and quietly buys this ground may serve as an example to show how much the kingdom of God is worth, but from an ethical standpoint his action cannot be sanctioned. In general, the parable, like all other forms of figurative expression, has a meaning only as far as the tertium comparationis goes, that is, the third thing which is common to the two things compared. But all this still leaves a large debatable ground in many parables. In the Laborers in the Vineyard does the “penny” mean anything, or is it an ornament? The history of the debate on this subject is long. In the Prodigal Son do all the details of his sufferings, such as eating the husks intended for swine, have a spiritual meaning? 6. DOCTRINAL VALUE OF THE PARABLES: The interpreters of former generations laid down the rule, theologia parabolica non eat argumentativa, i.e. the parables, very rich in mission thoughts, do not furnish a basis for doctrinal argument. Like all figurative expressions and forms of thought, the parables too contain elements of doubt as far as their interpretation is concerned. They illustrate truth but they do not prove or demonstrate truth. Omnia aimilia claudicunt, “all comparisons limp,” is applicable here also. No point of doctrine can be established on figurative passages of Scripture, as then all elements of doubt would not be eliminated, this doubt being based on the nature of language itself. The argumentative or doctrinal value of parables is found in this, that they may, in accordance with the analogy of Scripture, illustrate truth already clearly expressed elsewhere. Compare especially Trench, introductory essay, in Notes on the Parables of our Lord, chapter iii., 30- 43; and Terry, Biblical Hermeneutics, Part II, chapter vi: “Interpretation of Parables,” 188-213, in which work a full bibliography is given. Compare also the article “Parabel” in Hauck-Herzog, Realencyklopadie fur protestantische Theologie und Kirche. G.H. Schodde PARACLETE <par’-a-klet > : 1. WHERE USED: This word occurs 5 times in the New Testament, all in the writings of John. Four instances are in the Gospel and one in the First Epistle. In the Gospel the in the Epistle,1 John 2:1. “Paraclete” is simply the Greek word transferred into English. The translation of the word in English Versions of the Bible is “Comforter” in the Gospel, and “Advocate” in the Epistle. The Greek word is [para>klhtov, parakletos ], froth the verb [parakale>w, parakaleo ]. The word for “Paraclete” is passive in form, and etymologically signifies “called to one’s side.” The active form of the word is [paraklh>twr, parakletor ], not found in the New Testament but found in Septuagint in Job 16:2 in the plural, and means “comforters,” in the saying of Job regarding the “miserable comforters” who came to him in his distress. 2. GENERAL MEANING: In general the word signifies: (1) a legal advocate, or counsel for defense, (2) an intercessor, (3) a helper, generally. The first, or technical, judicial meaning is that which predominates in classical usage, corresponding to our word “advocate,” “counsel,” or “attorney.” The corresponding Latin word is advocatus, “advocate,” the word applied to Christ in English Versions of the Bible in the translation of the Greek word parakletos , in 1 John 2:1. There is some question whether the translation “Comforter” in the passages of John’s Gospel in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) is warranted by the meaning of the word. It is certain that the meaning “comforter” is not the primary signification, as we have seen. It is very probably, however, a secondary meaning of the word, and some of its cognates clearly convey the idea of comfort in certain connections, both in Septuagint and in the New Testament ( Genesis 37:35; Zechariah 1:13; Matthew 5:4; 2 Corinthians 1:3,4). In the passage in Corinthians the word in one form or another is used 5 times and in each means “comfort.” In none of these instances, however, do we find the noun “Paraclete,” which we are now considering. 3. IN THE TALMUD AND TARGUMS: Among Jewish writers the word “Paraclete” came to have a number of meanings. A good deed was called a paraclete or advocate, and a transgression was an accuser. Repentance and good works were called paracletes: “The works of benevolence and mercy done by the people of Israel in this world become agents of peace and intercessors (paracletes ) between them and their Father in heaven.” The sin offering is a paraclete; the paraclete created by each good deed is called an angel (Jewish Encyclopedia, IX, 514-15, article “Paraclete”). 4. AS EMPLOYED BY PHILO: Philo employs the word in several instances. Usually he does not use it in the legal, technical sense. Joseph is represented as bestowing forgiveness on his brethren who had wronged him and declaring that they needed “no one else as paraclete,” or intercessor (Deuteronomy Joseph c. 40). In his Life of Moses, iii.14, is a remarkable passage which indicates Philo’s spiritualizing methods of interpreting Scripture as well as reflects his philosophic tendency. At the close of a somewhat elaborate account of the emblematic significance of the vestments of the high priest and their jeweled decorations, his words are: “The twelve stones arranged on the breast in four rows of three stones each, namely, the logeum, being also an emblem of that reason which holds together and regulates the universe. For it was indispensable (anagkaion ) that the man who was consecrated to the Father of the world should have, as a paraclete, his son, the being most perfect in all virtue, to procure the forgiveness of sins, and a supply of unlimited blessings.” This is rather a striking verbal or formal parallel to the statement in 1 John 2:1 where Christ is our Advocate with the Father, although of course Philo’s conceptions of the Divine “reason” and “son” are by no means the Christian conceptions. 5. THE BEST TRANSLATION: If now we raise the question what is the best translation of the term “Paraclete” in the New Testament, we have a choice of several words. Let us glance at them in order. The translation “Comforter” contains an element of the meaning of the word as employed in the Gospels, and harmonizes with the usage in connection with its cognates, but it is too narrow in meaning to be an adequate translation. Dr. J. Hastings in an otherwise excellent article on the Paraclete in HDB says the Paraclete was not sent to comfort the disciples, since prior to His actual coming and after Christ’s promise the disciples’ sorrow was turned into joy. Dr. Hastings thinks the Paraclete was sent to cure the unbelief or half-belief of the disciples. But this conceives the idea of comfort in too limited a way. No doubt in the mind of Jesus the comforting aspect, of the Spirit’s work applied to all their future sorrows and trials, and not merely to comfort for their personal loss in the going of Christ to the Father. Nevertheless there was more in the work of the Paraclete than comfort in sorrow. “Intercessor” comes nearer the root idea of the term and contains an essential part of the meaning. “Advocate” is a closely related word, and is also suggestive of the work of the Spirit. Perhaps there is no English word broad enough to cover all the significance of the word “Paraclete” except the word “Helper.” The Spirit helps the disciples in all the above-indicated ways. Of course the objection to this translation is that it is too indefinite. The specific Christian conception is lost in the comprehensiveness of the term. Our conclusion, therefore, is that the term “Paraclete” itself would perhaps be the best designation of the Spirit in the passage in John’s Gospel. It would thus become a proper name for the Spirit and the various elements of meaning would come to be associated with the words which are found in the context of the Gospel. Christianity introduced many new ideas into the world for which current terms were inadequate media of expression. In some cases it is best to adopt the Christian term itself, in our translations, and let the word slowly acquire its own proper significance in our thought and life. If, however, instead of translating we simply transfer the word “Paraclete” as a designation of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel passages, we would need then to translate it in the passage in the Epistle where it refers to Christ. But this would offer no serious difficulty. For fortunately in the Epistle the word may very clearly be translated “Advocate” or “Intercessor.” 6. CHRIST’S USE OF THE WORD: We look next at the contents of the word as employed by Jesus in reference to the Holy Spirit. In John 14:16 the Paraclete is promised as one who is to take the place of Jesus. It is declared elsewhere by Jesus that it is expedient that He go away, for unless He go away the Paraclete will not come ( John 16:7). Is the Paraclete, then, the successor or the substitute for Christ as He is sometimes called? The answer is that He is both and neither. He is the successor of Christ historically, but not in the sense that Christ ceases to act in the church. He is the substitute for Christ’s physical presence, but only in order that He may make vital and actual Christ’s spiritual presence. As we have seen, the Paraclete moves only in the range of truths conveyed in and through Christ as the historical manifestation of God. A “Kingdom of the Spirit,” therefore, is impossible in the Christian sense, save as the historical Jesus is made the basis of the Spirit’s action in history. The promise of Jesus in 14:18, “I come unto,” is parallel and equivalent in meaning with the preceding promise of the Paraclete. The following are given as the specific forms of activity of the Holy Spirit: (1) to show them the things of Christ, (2) to teach them things to come, (3) to teach them all things, (4) to quicken their memories for past teaching, (5) to bear witness to Christ, (6) to dwell in believers, (7) other things shown in the context such as “greater works” than those of Christ (see John 14:16,17), (8) to convict of sin, of righteousness and judgment. It is possible to range the shades of meaning outlined above under these various forms of the Spirit’s activity. As Comforter His work would come under (1) , (2) , (3) and (6) ; as Advocate and Intercessor under (6) , (7) , (8) ; as Helper and Teacher under (1) , (2) , (3) , (4) , (5) , (6) , (7) , (8) . The manner of the sending of the Paraclete is of interest. In John 14:16 the Paraclete comes in answer to Christ’s prayer. The Father will give the Spirit whom the world cannot receive. In John 14:26 the Father will send the Spirit in Christ’s name. Yet in 15:26 Christ says, “I will send (him) unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth,” and in 16:7, “If I go, I will send him unto you.” See HOLY SPIRIT. 7. AS APPLIED TO CHRIST: It remains to notice the passage in 1 John 2:1 where the term “Paraclete” is applied to Christ: “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”; 2:2 reads: “and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.” Here the meaning is quite clear and specific. Jesus Christ the righteous is represented as our Advocate or Intercessor with the Father. His righteousness is set over against our sin. Here the Paraclete, Christ, is He who, on the basis of His propitiatory offering for the sins of men, intercedes for them with God and thus averts from them the penal consequences of their transgressions. The sense in which Paraclete is here applied to Christ is found nowhere in the passages we have cited from the Gospel. The Holy Spirit as Paraclete is Intercessor or Advocate, but not in the sense here indicated. The Spirit as Paraclete convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment. Jesus Christ as Paraclete vindicates believers before God. LITERATURE. Grimm-Thayer, Gr-Eng. Lexicon of the New Testament; Cremer, Biblico- Theol. Lexicon; HDB, article “Paraclete”; DCG, article “Paraclete”; EB, article “Paraclete”; Jew Encyclopedia, article “Paraclete”; Hare, Mission of the Comforter; Pearson, On the Creed; Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers; various comms., Westcott, Godet and others. See list of books appended to article on HOLY SPIRIT. E. Y. Mulhns PARADISE <par’-a-dis > ([ sDeriP” , pardec ]; [para>deisov, paradeisos ]): 1. ORIGIN AND MEANING: A word probably of Persian origin meaning a royal park. See GARDEN. The word occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures but 3 times: Song of Solomon 4:13, where it is translated “an orchard”; Nehemiah 2:8, where it is translated “a forest” (the Revised Version margin “park”); Ecclesiastes 2:5, where it is in the plural number (the King James Version “orchards,” the Revised Version (British and American) “parks”). But it was early introduced into the Greek language, being made specially familiar by Xenophon upon his return from the expedition of Cyrus the Younger to Babylonia (see Anab. i.2, section 7; 4, section 9; Cyrop. i.3, section 14). In Septuagint the word is of frequent use in translating other terms of kindred significance. The Garden of Eden became “the paradise of pleasure or luxury” ( Genesis 2:15; 3:23; Joel 2:3). The valley of the Jordan became `the paradise of God’ ( Genesis 13:10). In Ezekiel 31:8,9, according to Septuagint, there is no tree in the `paradise of God’ equal to that which in the prophet’s vision symbolizes the glory of Assyria. The figures in the first 9 verses of this chapter may well have been suggested by what the prophet had himself seen of parks in the Persian empire. 2. USE IN JEWISH LITERATARE: In the apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature the word is extensively used in a spiritual and symbolia sense, signalizing the place of happiness to be inherited by the righteous in contrast to Gehenna, the place of punishment to which the wicked were to be assigned. In the later Jewish literature “Sheol” is represented as a place where preliminary rewards and punishments are bestowed previous to the final judgment ( see APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE; ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; and compare 2 Esdras 2:19; 8:52). But the representations in this literature are often vague and conflicting, some holding that there were 4 divisions in Sheol, one for those who were marryred for righteousness’ sake, one for sinners who on earth had paid the penalty for their sins, one for the just who had not suffered martyrdom, and one for sinners who had not been punished on earth (En 102:15). But among the Alexandrian Jews the view prevailed that the separation of the righteous from the wicked took place immediately after death (see The Wisdom of Solomon 3:14; 4:10; 5:5,17; Josephus, Ant, XVIII, i, 3; B J, II, viii, 14). This would seem to be the idea underlying the use of the word in the New Testament where it occurs only 3 times, and then in a sense remarkably free from sensuous suggestions. 3. USED BY CHRIST: Christ uses the word but once ( Luke 23:43), when He said to the penitent thief, “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” ( see ABRAHAM’S BOSOM (compare HADES)). This was no time to choose words with dialectical precision. The consolation needed by the penitent thief suffering from thirst and agony and shame was such as was symbolized by the popular conception of paradise, which, as held by the Essenes, consisted of “habitations beyond the ocean, in a region that is neither oppressed with storms of rain, or snow, or with intense heat, but that this place is such as is refreshed by the gentle breathin of a west wind, that is perpetually blowing from the ocean” (Josephus, BJ, II, viii, 11). See ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 4. OTHER FORMS AND USES: Nowhere in His public teaching did Christ use the word “Paradise.” He does indeed, when speaking in parables, employ the figure of the marriage supper, and of new wine, and elsewhere of Abraham’s bosom, and of houses not made by hands, eternal in the heavens; but all these references are in striking contrast to the prevailing sensuous representations of the times (see 2 Esdras 2:19; 8:52), and such as have been introduced into Mohammedan literature. Likewise Paul ( 2 Corinthians 12:4) speaks of having been “caught up into Paradise” where he “heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” See ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. But in 2 Corinthians 12:2 this is referred to more vaguely as “the third heaven.” In Revelation 2:7 it is said to the members of the church at Ephesus who should overcome, “I (will) give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God,” where the Eden of Genesis 2:8 is made the symbol of the abode of the righteous, more fully described without the words in the last chapter of the book. The reticence of the sacred writers respecting this subject is in striking contrast to the profuseness and crudity both of rabbinical writers before Christ and of apocryphal writers and Christian commentators at a later time. “Where the true Gospels are most reticent, the mythical are most exuberant” (Perowne). This is especially noticeable in the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Acta Philippi, the writings of Tertullian (Deuteronomy Idol. c. 13; Deuteronomy Anim. c. 55; Tertullian’s treatise Deuteronomy Paradiso is lost), Clement of Alexandria (Frag. 51), and John of Damascus (Deuteronomy Orthod. Fid., ii, 11). In modern literature the conception of Paradise is effectually sublimated and spiritualized in Faber’s familiar hymn: “O Paradise, O Paradise, I greatly long to see The special place my dearest Lord Is destining for me; Where loyal hearts and true Stand ever in the light, All rapture thro’ and thro’, In God’s most holy sight.” LITERATURE. The articles in the great Dicts., especially Herzog, RE; HDB; Alger, Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life; Schodde, Book of Enoch; Lightfoot, Hor. Hebrews. on Luke 23:43; Salmond, The Christian Doctrine of Immortality, 346 ff. For a good account of Jewish and patristic speculation on Paradise, see Professor Plumptre’s article in Smith’s D.B, II, 704 ff. G. F. Wright PARAH <pa’-ra > , <par’-a > ([ hr;P;h” , ha-parah ]; Codex Vaticanus [ Fara>, Phara ]; Codex Alexandrinus [ jAfa>r, Aphar ]): A city named as in the territory of Benjamin between Avvim and Ophrah ( Joshua 18:23). It may with some confidence be identified with Farah on Wady Farah , which runs into Wady Suweinit , about 3 miles Northeast of `Anata . PARALYSIS, PARALYTIC <pa-ral’-i-sis > , <par-alit’-ik > . See PALSY. PARAMOUR <par’-a-moor > ([ vg,L,P, pilleghesh ], “a concubine,” masculine or feminine): A term applied in Ezekiel 23:20 to the male lover, but elsewhere translated “concubine.” PARAN, EL-PARAN <pa’-ran > , ([ ˆr;aP; , pa’ran ], [ ˆr;aP; , ‘el-pa’ran ]; [ Fara>n, Pharan ]): (1) El-paran ( Genesis 14:6) was the point farthest South reached by the kings. Septuagint renders [ lyae , ‘el ] by [tere>binqov, terebinthos ], and reads, “unto the terebinth of Paran.” The evidence is slender, but it is not unreasonable to suppose that this is the place elsewhere ( Deuteronomy 2:8; 1 Kings 9:26, etc.) called Elath or Eloth ([ lya , ‘el ] with feminine termination), a seaport town which gave its name to the Aelanitic Gulf (modern Gulf of `Aqaba ), not far from the wilderness of Paran (2) . (2) Many places named in the narrative of the wanderings lay within the Wilderness of Paran ( Numbers 10:12; 13:21; 27:14; compare 13:3,16, etc.). It is identified with the high limestone plateau of Ettih, stretching from the Southwest of the Dead Sea to Sinai along the west side of the Arabah. This wilderness offered hospitality to Ishmael when driven from his father’s tent ( Genesis 21:21). Hither also came David when bereaved of Samuel’s protection ( 1 Samuel 25:1). (3) Mount Paran ( Deuteronomy 33:2; Habakkuk 3:3) may be either Jebel Maqrah, 29 miles South of `Ain Kadis (Kadesh-barnea), and 130 miles North of Sinai (Palmer, Desert of the Exodus, 510); or the higher and more imposing range of mountains West of the Gulf of `Aqaba. This is the more probable if El-paran is rightly identified with Elath. (4) Some place named Paran would seem to be referred to in Deuteronomy 1:1; but no trace of such a city has yet been found. Paran in 1 Kings 11:18 doubtless refers to the district West of the Arabah. W. Ewing PARBAR <par’-bar > ([ rB;r]P” , parbar ] ( 1 Chronicles 26:18), and [ µyrw;r]P” , parwarim ], translated “precincts” (the King James Version “suburbs” in 2 Kings 23:11); Septuagint [farourei>m, pharoureim ]): In Chronicles 26:18 reference is made to the position of the gatekeepers, “for Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar.” The word is supposed to be of Persian origin, connected with Parwar, meaning “possessing light,” and hence, the meaning has been suggested of “colonnade” or “portico,” some place open to the light. In the plural form ( 2 Kings 23:11) the situation of the house of “Nathan-melech” is described, and the translation, “in the colonnades,” should, if the above origin is accepted, be more correct than English Versions of the Bible. It is difficult to understand the occurrence of a Persian word at this time, and it has been suggested (EB, col 3585) that the word is a description of the office of Nathan-melech, ba-parwarim being a misreading for ba-peradhim, meaning “who was over the mules.” E. W. G. Masterman PARCEL <par’-sel > : Properly “a little part,” in Elizabethan English being used in almost any sense. In the King James Version of Genesis 33:19; Joshua 24:32; Ruth 4:3; 1 Chronicles 11:13,14 it is the translation of [ hq;l]j, , chelqah ]; John 4:5 of [cwri>on, chorion ] — both the Greek and Hebrew words meaning a “piece of land.” the Revised Version (British and American) writes “plot” in 1 Chronicles 11:13,14, but if the change was needed at all, it should have been made throughout. PARCHED <parcht > : Four different root words have been translated “parched” in English Versions of the Bible: (1) [ hl;q; , qalah ], “roasted.” This word is applied to corn or pulse. It is a common practice in Palestine and Syria to roast the nearly ripe wheat for eating as a delicacy. A handful of heads of fully developed grain, with the stalks still attached, are gathered and bound together and then, holding the bunch by the lower ends of the stalks, the heads are toasted over a fire of straw or thorn bush. By the time most of the sheaths are blackened the grain is toasted, and, after rubbing off the husks between the hands, is ready to eat ( Leviticus 2:14). A form of pulse is toasted in the same way and is more sought after than the grain. In the larger towns and cities, venders go about the streets selling bunches of toasted chick-peas. The Bible references, however, are probably to another form of roasted grain. The threshed wheat or pulse is roasted over a fire on an iron pan or on a fiat stone, being kept in constant motion with a stirrer until the operation is finished. The grain thus prepared is a marketable article. Parched grain is not now so commonly met with as the pulse, which either roasted or unroasted is called chommoc (from Arabic “to roast” or “parch”). Parched pulse is eaten not only plain, but is often made into confection by coating the seeds with sugar. In Bible times parched wheat or pulse was a common food, even taking the place of bread ( Leviticus 23:14; Joshua 5:11; Ruth 2:14). It was a useful food supply for armies, as it required no further cooking ( 1 Samuel 17:17). It was frequently included in gifts or hostages ( 1 Samuel 25:18; 2 Samuel 17:28). (2) [ rrej; , charer ], “burned” or “parched” (compare Arabic chariq, “burned”), is used in the sense of dried up or arid in Jeremiah 17:6. (3) [ hj,xi , tsicheh ], is used in Isaiah 5:13, the King James Version “dried up” the Revised Version (British and American) “parched” [ hj;yjix] , tsechichah ] in Psalm 68:6, the King James Version “dry,” the Revised Version (British and American) “parched.” (4) [ br;v; , sharabh ], rendered “parched” in the King James Version, is “glowing” in the Revised Version (British and American). The word implies the peculiar wavy effect of the air above parched ground, usually accompanied by mirages (compare Arabic serdb, “mirage”) ( Isaiah 35:7; 49:10). In predicting a happy future for Zion the prophet could have chosen no greater contrast than that the hot glowing sands which produce illusive water effects should be changed into real pools. See MIRAGE. James A. Patch PARCHED CORN (GRAIN) <parcht > . See FOOD. PARCHMENT <parch’-ment > ([membra>na, membrana ] ( 2 Timothy 4:13)): The word “parchment “which occurs only once ( 2 Timothy 4:13), is derived from Latin pergamena (Greek [ Pergamenh>, Pergamene ]), i.e. pertaining to Pergamum, the name of an ancient city in Asia Minor where, it is believed, parchment was first used. Parchment is made from the skins of sheep, goats or young calves. The hair and fleshy portions of the skin are removed as in tanning by first soaking in lime and then dehairing, scraping and washing. The skin is then stretched on a frame and treated with powdered chalk, or other absorptive agent, to remove the fatty substances, and is then dried. It is finally given a smooth surface by rubbing with powdered pumice. Parchment was extensively used at the time of the early Christians for scrolls, legal documents, etc., having replaced papyrus for that purpose. It was no doubt used at even a much earlier time. The roll mentioned in Jeremiah 36 may have been of parchment. Scrolls were later replaced by codices of the same material. After the arabs introduced paper, parchment was still used for centuries for the book bindings. Diplomas printed on “sheepskins,” still issued by many universities, represent the survival of an ancient use of parchment. See following article. James A. Patch PARCHMENTS <parch’-ments > ([membra>nai, membranai ], “membranes,” “parchments,” “vellum”): The skins, chiefly of sheep, lambs, goats and calves, prepared so as to be used for writing on ( 2 Timothy 4:13). In Greek and Roman times parchment was much employed as a writing material. “At Rome, in the 1st century BC, and the 1st and 2d centuries AD, there is evidence of the use of vellum, but only for notebooks and for rough drafts or inferior copies of literary works. .... A fragment of a vellum MS, which may belong to this period, is preserved in British Museum Add. manuscript 34,473, consisting of two leaves of Demosthenes, Deuteronomy Fals. Leg., in a small hand, which pears to be of the 2nd cent.” (F. G. Kenyon in HDB, IV, 947). Paul directs Timothy that, when he comes from Ephesus to Rome, he is to bring “the books, especially the parchments.” These, as well as the “cloak,” which is also mentioned, had evidently been “left at Troas with Carpus.” What were these parchments? They are distinguished from “the books,” which were probably a few choice volumes or rolls, some portions of the Scriptures of the Old Testament, some volumes of the Law of Moses or of the Prophets or of the Psalms. Among “the books” there might also be Jewish exegetical works, or heathen writings, with which, as is made evident by references in his Epistles, Paul was well acquainted. The parchments were different from these, and were perhaps notebooks, in which the apostle had, from time to time, written what he had observed and wished to preserve as specially worthy of remembrance, facts which he had gathered in his study of the Old Testament or of other books. These notes may have been the result of many years’ reading and study, and he wished Timothy to bring them to him. Various conjectures have been made in regard to the contents of “the parchments.” It has been suggested by Kenyon (HDB, III, 673) that they contained the Old Testament in Greek; by Farrar, that the parchments were a diploma of Paul’s Roman citizenship; by Bull, that they were his commonplace books; by Latham, that the parchments were a copy of the Grundschrift of the Gospels, a volume containing the all-important narrative of the Saviour’s life and cross and resurrection. Workman (Persecution in the Early Church , 39) writes: “By tas membranas I understand the proofs of his citizenship.” Whatever their contents may have been, they were of such value that Paul wished to have them with him in his prison at Rome, so that, if life were spared for even a few weeks or months, the books and parchments might be at hand for reference. Perhaps in the fact that the books and the parchments and the cloak had been left at Troas with Carpus, there may be a hint that his final arrest by the Roman authorities took place at that city, and that was the suddenness of his arrest that caused him to be unable to carry his books and parchments and the cloak with him. “The police had not even allowed him time to find his overcoat or necessary documents” (Workman, op. cit., 39; see p. 1886, 14). Be this as it may, he desired to have them now. His well-disciplined mind, even in the near prospect of death by public execution, could find the most joyous labor in the work of the gospel, wherever his influence reached, and could also find relaxation among “the books, especially the parchments.” John Rutherfurd PARDON <par’-d’n > , <par’-dun > . See FORGIVENESS. PARE, (THE NAILS) <par > ([ hc;[; , `asah ], “to fix,” “manipulate”): The word, which in Hebrew has a very wide range of application, and which is of very frequent occurrence in the Hebrew Bible, is found in the above meaning in but one passage of English Versions of the Bible ( Deuteronomy 21:12; see NAIL). In a similar sense it is found in 2 Samuel 19:24, where it is used to express the dressing of the feet anti the trimming of the beard. PARENT <par’-ent > . See CHILDREN; CRIMES; EDUCATION; FAMILY; PUNISHMENTS. PARK <park > ([ sDer]P” , pardec ]; Septuagint [para>deisov, paradeisos ]; compare Arabic firdaus ): “I made me gardens and parks,” the King James Version “orchards” ( Ecclesiastes 2:5); “Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest,” the Revised Version margin “park” ( Nehemiah 2:8). The same word occurs in Song of Solomon 4:13, “Thy shoots are an orchard (the Revised Version margin “paradise”) of pomegranates.” according to Liddell and Scott, paradeisos occurs first in Xenophon, who always uses it of the parks of Persian kings and noblemen. Like many other quadriliterals the word is undoubtedly of eastern origin. It seems to connote an enclosure. It is used in Septuagint of the Garden of Eden. Compare Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7. See PARADISE. Alfred Ely Day PARLOR <par’-ler > : This word in the King James Version, occurring in Judges 3:20-25; 1 Samuel 9:22; 1 Chronicles 28:11, is in every instance changed in the Revised Version: in Judges into “upper room,” in 1 Samuel into “guest-chamber,” in 1 Chronicles into “chambers,” representing as many Hebrew words. See HOUSE. PARMASHTA <par-mash’-ta > ([ aT;v]m”r]P” , parmashta’ ]; Septuagint [ Marmasima>, Marmasima ], or [ Marmasimna>, Marmasimna ]): One of the sons of Haman (Est 9:9). PARMENAS <par’-me-nas > ([ Parmena~v, Parmenas ]): A Greek name, an abbreviated form of Parmenides. Parmenas was one of “the seven” chosen by the people and appointed by the apostles to superintend the daily distribution to the Christian poor of Jerusalem ( Acts 6:5). Tradition states that he was martyred at Philippi, in the reign of Trajan, but his name does not appear again in Scripture. PARNACH <par’-nak > ([ Ën;r]P” , parnakh ], “gifted”): Father of Elizaphan, the prince of Zebulun ( Numbers 34:25). PAROSH <pa’-rosh, par’-osh > ([ v[r]P” , par`osh ], “flea” (leap)): a family that in part returned under Zerubbabel ( Ezra 2:3; Nehemiah 7:8), and in part under Ezra ( Ezra 8:3; there spelt “Pharosh,” the King James Version). Some of the family had foreign wives ( Ezra 10:25). One descendant, Pedaiah ( see PEDAIAH, (3)), helped to rebuild the city walls ( Nehemiah 3:25), and others were among those who “sealed” the covenant of Nehemiah ( Nehemiah 10:1,14). In 1 Esdras 5:9; 8:30; 9:26, “Phoros.” PAROUSIA <pa-roo’-zhi-a > : 1. THE APOSTOLIC DOCTRINE. 1. Terms: The Second Coming of Christ (a phrase not found in the Bible) is expressed by the apostles in the following special terms: (1) “Parousia” ([parousi>a, parousia ]) a word fairly common in Greek, with the meaning “presence” ( 2 Corinthians 10:10; Philippians 2:12). More especially it may mean “presence after absence,” “arrival” (but not “return,” unless this is given by the context), as in 1 Corinthians 16:17; 2 Corinthians 7:6,7; Philippians 1:26. And still more particularly it is applied to the Coming of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:23; Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:1,8; James 5:7,8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4,12; 1 John 2:28 — in all 13 times, besides 2 Thessalonians 2:9, where it denotes the coming of Anti-christ. This word for Christ’s Second Coming passed into the early Patristic literature (Diognetus, vii.6, e.g.), but its use in this sense is not invariable. For instance the word in Ignatius, Philadelphians, ix.2, means the Incarnation. Or the Incarnation is called the first Parousia, as in Justin, Trypho, xiv. But in modern theology it means invariably the Second Coming. Recent archaeological discoveries have explained why the word received such general Christian use in the special sense. In Hellenistic Greek it was used for the arrival of a ruler at a place, as is evidenced by inscriptions in Egypt, Asia Minor, etc. Indeed, in an Epidaurus inscription of the 3rd century BC (Dittenberger, Sylloge (2) , Number 803, 34), “Parousia” is applied to a manifestation of Aesculapius. Consequently, the adoption by the Greekspeaking Christians of a word that already contained full regal and even Divine concepts was perfectly natural. (The evidence is well summarized in Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East3, 372-78, German edition, 281- 87.) (2) “Epiphany” [ejpifa>neia, epiphaneia ]), “manifestation,” used of the Incarnation in 2 Timothy 1:10, but of the Second Coming in Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13. The word was used like Parousia in Hellenistic Greek to denote the ceremonial arrival of rulers; compare Deissmann, as above. (3) “Apocalypse” [ajpoka>luyiv, apokalupsis ]), “revelation,” denotes the Second Coming in 1 Corinthians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Peter 1:7,13; 4:13. (4) “Day of the Lord, more or less modified, but referring to Christ in Corinthians 1:8; 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:14; Philippians 1:6,10; 2:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:2. The phrase is used of the Father in the strict Old Testament sense in Acts 2:20; 2 Peter 3:12; Revelation 1:6-14, and probably in 2 Peter 3:10. Besides, as in the Old Testament and the intermediate literature, “day of wrath,” “last day,” or simply “day” are used very frequently. See DAY OF THE LORD. Of the first three of the above terms, only Parousia is found in the Gospels, 4 times, all in Matthew 24:3,17,37,39, and in the last three of these all in the set phrase “so shall be the Parousia of the Son of Man.” As Christ spoke in Aramaic, the use of “Parousia” here is of course due to Matthew’s adoption of the current Greek word. 2. Data and Sources: The last of the 4 terms above brings the apostolic doctrine of the Parousia into connection with the eschatology (Messianic or otherwise) of the Old Testament and of the intermediate writings. But the connection is far closer than that supplied by this single term only, for newly every feature in the apostolic doctrine can be paralleled directly from the Jewish sources. The following summary does not begin to give complete references to even such Jewish material as is extant, but enough is presented to show how closely allied are the eschatologies of Judaism and of early Christianity. The end is not to be expected instantly. There are still signs to come to pass ( 2 Thessalonians 2:3), and in especial the determined number of martyrs must be filled up ( Revelation 6:11; compare 2 Esdras 4:35,36). There is need of patience ( James 5:7, etc.; compare 2 Esdras 4:34; Baruch 83:4). But it is at hand ( 1 Peter 4:7; Revelation 1:3; 22:10; compare 2 Esdras 14:17). “Yet a little while” ( Hebrews 10:37), “The night is far spent” ( Romans 13:12), “The Lord is at hand” ( Philippians 4:5). “We that are alive” expect to see it ( Thessalonians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 15:51; compare Baruch 76:5); the time is shortened henceforth ( 1 Corinthians 7:29; compare Baruch 20:1; 2 Esdras 4:26, and the commentaries on 1 Corinthians). Indeed, there is hardly time for repentance even ( Revelation 22:11, ironical), certainly there is no time left for self-indulgence ( 1 Thessalonians 5:3; 1 Peter 4:2; 2 Peter 3:11; Revelation 3:3; compare Baruch 83:5), and watchfulness is urgently demanded ( 1 Thessalonians 5:6; Revelation 3:3). An outpouring of the Spirit is a sign of the end ( Acts 2:17,18; compare Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Test. Levi 18:11; Sib Or 4:46, always after the consummation in the Jewish sources). But the world is growing steadily worse, for the godly and intense trials are coming (passim), although those especially favored may be spared suffering ( Revelation 3:10; compare Baruch 29:2). This is the beginning of Judgment ( 1 Peter 4:17; compare Enoch 99:10). Iniquity increases and false teachers are multiplied ( Jude 1:18; 2 Peter 3:3; 2 Timothy 3, especially 3:13; compare Enoch 80:7; Baruch 70:5; 2 Esdras 5:9,10). Above all there is to be an outburst of diabolic malevolence in the antichrist ( 1 John 2:18,22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10; Revelation 19:19; compare Baruch 36:8-10; Sib Or 3:63-70, and see ANTICHRIST), who will gather all nations to his ensign ( Revelation 19:19; Thessalonians 2:10 compare 2 Esdras 13:5; Enoch 56). Plagues fall upon men (Rev, passim; compare especially Philo, Execr.), and natural portents occur ( Acts 2:19,20; Rev, passim; compare 2 Esdras 5:4,5; Enoch 80:5- 8). But the conversion of the Jews ( Romans 11:26) is brought about by these plagues ( Revelation 11:13; in the Jewish sources, naturally, conversion of Gentiles, as in Sib Or 3:616-623; Enoch 10:21). Then Christ is manifested and Antichrist is slain or captured ( 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 19:20; compare 2 Esdras 13:10,11). In Revelation 20:3 the Millennium follows (compare 2 Esdras 7:28; 12; 34; Baruch 40:3, and often in rabbinical literature; the millennium in Slavic Enoch, chapter 33, is of very dubious existence), but other traces of millennial doctrine in the New Testament are of the vaguest (compare the commentaries to Corinthians 15:24, for instance, especially Schmiedel, J. Weiss, and Lietzmann, and see MILLENNIUM). The general resurrection follows ( see RESURRECTION for details). The Father holds the Judgment in Hebrews 10:30; 12:23; 13:4; James 4:11,12; 1 Peter 1:17; Revelation 14:7; 20:11, and probably in Jude 1:14,15. Christ is Judge in Acts 10:42; Corinthians 5:10; 2 Timothy 4:1. The two concepts are interwoven in Romans 14:9,10. God mediates judgment through Christ in Acts 17:31; Romans 2:16, and probably in Romans 2:2-6; 3:6. In Thessalonians Christ appears as the executor of punishment. For similar uncertainties in the Jewish schemes, compare, for instance, 2 Esdras 7:33 and Enoch 45:3. For the fate of the wicked see ESCHATOLOGY; HELL; Paul, rather curiously, has very little to say about this ( Romans 2:3; 1 Corinthians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 1:8,9). Then all Nature is renewed ( Romans 8:21; Enoch 45:4,5) or completely destroyed ( Corinthians 7:31; Hebrews 12:27; Revelation 21:1; compare Enoch 1:6; 2 Esdras 7:30); by fire in 2 Peter 3:10 (compare Sib Or 4:172-177), so as to leave only the eternal verities ( Hebrews 12:27; compare Esdras 7:30(?)), or to be replaced with a new heaven and a new earth ( Revelation 21:1; compare Slavic Enoch 33:1-2). And the righteous receive the New Jerusalem ( Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 3:12; 21:2,10; compare Baruch 4:2-6; 2 Esdras 7:26). 3. Consistency: It is of course possible, as in the older works on dogmatics, to reconcile the slight divergences of the above details and to fit them all into a single scheme. But the propriety of such an undertaking is more than dubious, for the traditional nature of these details is abundantly clear — a tradition that is not due solely to the fact that the Christian and the Jewish schemes have a common Old Testament basis. That the Jewish writers realized that the eschatological details were merely symbolic is made obvious by the contradictions that every apocalypse contains — the contradictions that are the despair of the beginner in apocalyptics. No writer seems to have thought it worth while to reconcile his details, for they were purely figures of dimly comprehended forces. And the Christian symbolism must be interpreted on the same principle. No greater injustice, for instance, could be done Paul’s thought than to suppose he would have been in the least disturbed by John’s interpretation of the Antichrist as many persons and all of them ordinary human beings ( 1 John 2:18,19). 4. Meaning of the Symbolism: The symbolism, then, in which the Parousia is described was simply that held by the apostles in their pre-Christian days. This symbolism, to be sure, has been thoroughly purified from such puerilities as the feast on Leviathan and Behemoth of Baruch 29, or the “thousand children” of Enoch 10:17, a fact all the more remarkable as 2nd-century Christianity has enough of this and to spare (e.g. Irenaeus, v.33). What is more important is that the symbolism of the Parousia is simply in the Jewish sources the symbolism of the coming of the Messiah (or of God in such schemes as have no Messiah). Now it is to be observed that among the apostles the Kingdom of God is almost uniformly regarded as a future quantity ( 1 Corinthians 6:9,10; 15:50; Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 5:5; 2 Timothy 4:1,18; 2 Peter 1:11; Revelation 11:15; 12:10), with a definitely present idea only in Colossians 1:13. Remembering again that the term “Messiah” means simply “the Bringer of the Kingdom,” the case becomes entirely clear. No apostle, of course, ever thought of Christ as anything but the Messiah. But neither did they think of His Messianic work as completed, or, if the most exact terminology be pressed, of the strict Messianic work as done at all. Even the Atonement belonged to the preliminary acts, viewed perhaps somewhat as Enoch 39:6 views the preexistent Messiah’s residence among the “church expectant.” This could come to pass more readily as the traditions generally were silent as to what the Messiah was to do before He brought the Kingdom, while they all agreed that He was not to be created only at that moment. Into this blank, especially with the aid of Isaiah 53, etc., our Lord’s earthly life and Passion fitted naturally, leaving the fact of His Second Coming to be identified with the coming of the Messiah as originally conceived. 2. THE TEACHING OF JESUS. 1. Critical Problems: It will be found helpful, in studying the bitter controversies that have raged around Christ’s teaching about the future, to remember that the apostolic idea of the word “Messiah” is the only definition that the word has; that, for instance, “Messiah” and “Saviour of the world” are not quite convertible terms, or that a redefinition of the Messiah as a moral teacher or an expounder of the will of God does not rest on “spiritualizing” of the term, but on a destruction of it in favor of “prophet.” Now the three expressions, “Messianic work,” “coming of the Kingdom,” and “Parousia” are only three titles for one and the same thing, while the addition of “Son of Man” to them merely involves their being taken in the most transcendental form possible. In fact, this is the state of affairs found in the Synoptists. Christ predicts the coming of the Kingdom. He claims the title of its king (or Regent under the Father). The realization of this expectation He placed on the other side of the grave, i.e. in a glorified state. And in connection with this evidence we find His use of the title Son of Man. From all this the doctrine of the Parousia follows immediately, even apart from the passages in which the regular apocalyptic symbolism is used. The contention may be made that this symbolism in the Gospels has been drawn out of other sources by the evangelists (the so-called “Little Apocalypse” of Mark 13:7-9,14-20,24-27,30-31 is the usual point of attack), but, even if the contention could be made out (and agreement in this regard is anything but attained), no really vital part of the case would be touched. Of course, it is possible to begin with the a priori assumption that “no sane man could conceive of himself as an apocalyptic being walking the earth incognito,” and to refer to later tradition everything in the Gospels that contradicts this assumption. But then there are difficulties. The various concepts involved are mentioned directly so often that the number of passages to be removed grows alarmingly large. Then the concepts interlock in such a way as to present a remarkably firm resistance to the critical knife; the picture is much too consistent for an artificial product. Thus, there are a number of indirect references (the title on the Cross, the “Palm-Sunday” procession, etc.) that contradict all we know of later growths. And, finally, the most undeterred critic finds himself confronted with a last stubborn difficulty, the unwavering conviction of the earliest church that Christ made the eschatological claims. It is conceivable that the apostles may have misunderstood Christ in other matters, but an error in this central point of all (as the apostles appraised things) is hardly in the realms of critical possibility. On the whole, such an attempt to force a way through the evidence of the documents would seem something surprisingly like the violence done to history by the most perverse of the older dogmatists. 2. Summary: The number of relevant passages involved is so large and the critical problems so intricate that any detailed discussion is prohibited here. Moreover, the symbolism presents nothing novel to the student familiar with the usual schemes. Forces of evil increase in the world, the state of the righteous grows harder, distress and natural portents follow, at the climax Christ appears suddenly with His angels, bringing the Kingdom of God, gathers the elect into the Kingdom, and dismisses the wicked into outer darkness (or fire). The Father is the Judge in Matthew 10:32,33, but the Son in the parallel Luke 12:8,9, and in Matthew 13:41; 16:27; 25:32; probably in Matthew 24:50 parallel Luke 12:46; Mark 8:38 and its parallel Luke 9:26 are uncertain. At all events, the eternal destiny of each man depends on Christ’s attitude, possibly with the Father’s (invariable) ratification considered. 3. Fall of Jerusalem: How far Christ connected the Parousia and the fall of Jerusalem, it is not easy to say. Various sayings of Christ about the future were certainly grouped by the evangelists; compare Matthew 24 with Mark 13 and Luke 17:20-37; or Luke 17:31 with Mark 13:15,16 (noting the inappropriateness of Luke 17:31 in its present context). The critical discussions of Mark 13 are familiar and those of Luke 21 (a still more complex problem) only less so. Remembering what the fall of Jerusalem or its immediate prospect would have meant to the apostles, the tendency to group the statements of Christ will be realized. Consequently, not too much stress should be laid on the connection of this with the Parousia, and in no case can the fall of Jerusalem be considered to exhaust the meaning of the Parousia. 4. Time: The most debated question is that of the time of the Parousia. Here Mark 13:30 parallel Luke 21:32 parallel Matthew 24:34 place it within Christ’s generation, Mark 9:1 parallel Luke 9:27 parallel Matthew 16:28 within the lifetime of some of His hearers, Matthew 10:23 before all the cities of Judea are closed to Christ’s apostles. (Only the first of these contains any reference to the fall of Jerusalem.) Then there is “ye shall see” of Mark 14:62; Luke 13:35 parallel Matthew 23:39. Agreeing with this are the exhortations to watchfulness ( Mark 13:33-37; Luke 12:40 parallel Matthew 24:44, etc., with many parables, such as the Ten Virgins). Now Mark 13:32 parallel Matthew 24:36 do not quite contradict this, for knowledge of the generation is quite consistent with ignorance of the day and hour; “It will be within your generation, but nothing more can be told you, so watch!” The real difficulty lies in Mark 13:10 parallel Matthew 24:14, the necessity of all Gentiles hearing the gospel ( Luke 21:24 is hardly relevant). To leave the question here, as most conservative scholars do, is unsatisfactory, for Mark 13:10 is of no deep value for apologetic service and this value is far outweighed by the real contradiction with the other passages. The key, probably, lies in Matthew 10:18, from which Mark 13:10 differs only in insisting on all Gentiles, perhaps with the apostles’ thought that “world” and “Roman Empire” were practically coextensive. With this assumption the data yield a uniform result. 3. JOHN’S EVALUATLON. 1. Solution of Problem: It appears, then, that Christ predicted that shortly after His death an event would occur of so transcendental a nature that it could be expressed only in the terms of the fullest eschatological symbolism. John has a clear interpretation of this. In place of the long Parousia discourses in the Synoptists, we have, in the corresponding part of the Fourth Gospel, John 13 through 17, dealing not only with the future in general but concretely with Christ’s coming and the Judgment. Christ indeed came to His own ( John 14:18), and not He only but the Spirit also (14:16), and even the Father (14:23). When the disciples are so equipped, their presence in the world subjects the world to a continual sifting process of judgment (16:11). The fate of men by this process is to be eternally fixed (3:18), while the disciples newly made are assured that they have already entered into their eternal condition of blessedness (11:25,26; 5:24; 10:28; 17:2,3). Equally directly the presence of Christ is conceived in Revelation 3:20. So in Paul, the glorified Christ has returned to His own to dwell in them ( Romans 8:9,10, etc.), uniting them into a body vitally connected with Him ( Colossians 1:18), so supernatural that it is the teacher of `angels’ ( Ephesians 3:10), a body whose members are already in the Kingdom ( Colossians 1:13), who even sit already in heavenly places ( Ephesians 2:6). The same thought is found in such synoptic passages ( Luke 7:28 parallel Matthew 11:11; Luke 17:21(?); see KINGDOM OF GOD) as represent the Kingdom as present. Already the eschatological promises were realized in a small group of men, even though they still lacked the transforming influence of the Spirit. Compare the continuous coming of Matthew 26:64 ( Luke 22:69). It is on these lines of the church as a supernatural quantity (of course not to be confused with any particular denomination) that the immediate realization of the Parousia promises is to be sought. Into human history has been “injected” a supernatural quantity, through which a Divine Head works, whose reaction on men settles their eternal destiny, and within which the life of heaven is begun definitely. 2. The Church a Divine Quantity: The force in this body is felt at the crises of human history, perhaps especially after the catastrophe that destroyed Jerusalem and set Christianity free from the swaddling clothes of the primitive community. This conception of the church as a divine quantity, as, so to speak, a part of heaven extended into earth, is faithful to the essentials of the predictions. Nor is it a rationalization of them, if the idea of the church itself be not rationalized. With this conception all realms of Christian activity take on a transcendental significance, both in life and (especially) death, giving to the individual the confidence that he is building better than he knows, for even the apostles could not realize the full significance of what they were doing. Generally speaking, the details in the symbolism must not be pressed. The purpose of revelation is to minister to life, not to curiosity, and, in teaching of the future, Christ simply taught with the formal language of the schools of the day, with the one change that in the supernatural process He Himself was to be the central figure. Still, the end is not yet. “The hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice” ( John 5:28; compare 6:40; 21:23; 1 John 2:28). In Christ human destiny is drawing to a climax that can be expressed only in spiritual terms that transcend our conceptions. See, further, ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. LITERATURE. This is overwhelming. For the presuppositions, GJV4 (HJP is antiquated); Volz, Judische Eschatologie; Bousset, Religion des Judentums (2) . General discussions: Mathews, The Messianic Hope in the New Testament (the best in English); Sanday, The Life of Christ in Recent Research; Holtzmann, Das messianische Bewusstein Jesu (a classic); von Dobschiitz, The Eschatology of the Gospels (popular, but very sound). Eschatological extreme: Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus (Von Reimarus zu Wrede), is quite indispensable; Tyrrell, Christianity at the Cross Roads (perverse, but valuable in parts); Loisy, Gospel and the Church (compare his Evangiles synoptiques). Anti-eschatological: Sharman, The Teaching of Jesus about the Future (minute criticism, inadequate premises, some astounding exegesis); Bacon, The Beginnings of Gospel Story (based on Wellhausen). For the older literature see Schweitzer, Sanday, Holtzmann, as above, and compare Fairweather, The Background of the Gospels, and Brown, “Parousia,” in HDB, III. Burton Scott Easton PARSHANDATHA <par-shan-da’-tha > , <par-shan’-da-tha > ([ at;D;n]V”riP” , parshandatha ]; Septuagint [ Farsa>n, Pharsan ], or [ Farsanesta>n, Pharsanestan ]; perhaps from the Persian fratsna-data, “given by prayer”): One of the sons of Haman (Est 9:7). PART <part > : “to part” as a verb is no longer in good use (except in a few special phrases, compare Ruth 1:17), but is obscure only in Proverbs 18:18, where the meaning is “break up their quarrel” (compare 2 Samuel 14:6). the Revised Version (British and American) has not changed the King James Version’s usage, except (strangely) in 1 Samuel 30:24, where “share” is written. For the noun see PORTION. PARTHIANS <par’-thi-anz > ([ Pa>rqoi, Parthoi ]): 1. COUNTRY AND EARLY HISTORY: A people mentioned in Acts 2:9 only, in connection with other strangers present at Jerusalem at Pentecost, from which we infer that they were Jews or proselytes from the regions included in the Parthian empire. This empire stretched from the Euphrates to the confines of India and the Oxus, and for centuries was the rival of Rome, and more than once proved her match on the battlefield. The Parthians are not mentioned in the Old Testament, but are frequently in Josephus, and they had an important connection with the history of the Jews, on account of the large colonies of the latter in Mesopotamia, and the interference of the Parthians in the affairs of Judea, once making it a vassal state. Parthia proper was a small territory to the Southeast of the Caspian Sea, about 300 miles long by 120 wide, a fertile though mountainous region, bordering on the desert tract of Eastern Persia. The origin of the Parthians is rather uncertain, though the prevailing opinion is that they were of Scythic stock or of the great Tartar race. We have no reference to them earlier than the time of Darius the Great, but they were doubtless among the tribes subdued by Cyrus, as they are mentioned by Darius as being in revolt. They seem to have remained faithful to the Persians after that, and submitted to Alexander without resistance. 2. THE SELEUCID KINGS: Next they came under the rule of the Seleucid kings of Syria, but revolted about 250 BC, in the reign of Antiochus II (Theos), and gained their independence under the lead of Arsaces I who established the dynasty of the Arsacidae, which continued for nearly 5 centuries. His capital was Hecatompylos, but his reign continued only about 3 years, and his brother Tridates succeeded him as Arsaces II and he consolidated the kingdom. The war between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies freed him from interference from that quarter until 237 BC, when Seleucus II (Callinicus) marched against him, but was completely defeated, and Parthian independence was secured. Artabanus I, who followed him, extended his dominions westward to the Zagros Mountains, but Antiochus III would not permit such an encroachment with impunity, and led an expedition against him, driving him back and even invading his ancestral dominion. But after a struggle of some years the Parthians remained still unsubdued, and the difficulties of the contest led Antiochus to conclude peace with him in which he acknowledged the independence of Parthia. For about a quarter of a century the king of Parthia remained quiet, but Phraates I (181-174 BC) recommenced aggressions on the Seleucid empire which Were continued by Mithridates I (174-137), who added to his dominions a part of Bactria, on the East, and Media, Persia and Babylonia on the West. This was a challenge to Demetrius II, of Syria, to whose empire the provinces belonged, and he marched against him with a large force, but was defeated and taken prisoner. He remained in Parthia some years, well treated by Phraates II, whose sister he married, and, when Phraates wished to create a diversion against Antiochus Sidetes, he set Demetrius at liberty and sent him back to Syria. Antiochus was at first successful, as his force of 300,000 men far outnumbered the Parthians, but he was at last defeated and slain in 129 BC and his army destroyed. This was the last attempt of the Seleucid kings to subdue Parthia, and it was acknowledged as the dominant power in Western Asia. But Phraates fell in conflict with the Scyths, whom he called in to aid him in his war with Sidetes, and his successor likewise, and it was only on the accession of Mithridates in BC that these barbarians were checked. The king then turned his attention toward Armenia, which he probably brought under his control, but its king Tigranes recovered its independence and even attacked the Parthians, and took from them two provinces in Mesopotamia. 3. IN CONTACT WITH ROME: Not long after, the power of Rome came into contact with armenia and Parthia. In 66 BC when, after subduing Mithridates of Pontus, Pompey came into Syria, Phraates III made an alliance with him against Armenia, but was offended by the way in which he was treated and thought of turning against his ally, but refrained for the time being. It was only a question of time when the two powers would come to blows, for Parthia had become an empire and could ill brook the intrusion of Rome into Western Asia. It was the ambition and greed of Crassus that brought about the clash of Rome and Parthia. When he took the East as his share of the Roman world as apportioned among the triumvirs, he determined to rival Caesar in fame and wealth by subduing Parthia, and advanced across the Euphrates on his ill-fated expedition in 53 BC. The story of his defeat and death and the destruction of the army and loss of the Roman eagles is familiar to all readers of Roman history. It revealed Parthia to the world as the formidable rival of Rome, which she continued to be for nearly centuries. After the death of Crassus, the Parthians crossed the Euphrates and ravaged Northern Syria, but retired the following year without securing any portion of the country, and thus ended the first war with Rome. In 40 BC, after the battle of Philippi, Pacorus, who was then king, invaded Syria a second time and took possession of it together with all Palestine, Tyre alone escaping subjection. He set Antigonus on the throne of Judea, deposing Hyrcanus for the purpose. Syria and Palestine remained in the hands of Parthia for 3 years, but the coming of Ventidius gave a new turn to affairs. He drove the Parthians out of Syria, and when they returned the following year, he defeated them again and Pacorus was slain. Parthia had to retire within her own borders and remain on the defensive. Antony’s attempt to subdue them proved abortive, and his struggle with Octavian compelled him to relinquish the project. The Parthians were unable to take advantage of the strife in the Roman empire on account of troubles at home. an insurrection led by Tiridates drove the king Phraates IV from the throne, but he recovered it by the aid of the Scyths, and Tiridates took refuge in Syria with the youngest son of the king. Augustus afterward restored him without ransom, and obtained the lost standards of Crassus, and thus peace was established between the rival empires. Each had learned to respect the power of the other, and, although contention arose regarding the suzerainty of armenia, peace was not seriously disturbed between them for about 130 years, or until the reign of Trajan. Parthia was not at peace with herself, however. Dynastic troubles were frequent, and the reigns of the kings short. Artabanus III, who reigned 16-42 AD, was twice expelled from his kingdom and twice recovered his throne. In his days occurred a terrible massacre of Jewish colonists in Mesopotamia, as narrated by Josephus (Ant., XVIII, ix). The contest with Rome over Armenia was settled in the days of Nero in a manner satisfactory to both parties, so that peace was not broken for 50 years. The ambition of Trajan led him to disregard the policy inaugurated by Augustus, adhered to, for the most part, by succeeding emperors, not to extend the limits of the empire. After the conquest of Dacia he turned his attention to the East and resolved on the invasion of Parthia. The Parthian king, Chosroes, endeavored to placate Trajan by an embassy bearing presents and proposals of peace, but Trajan rejected them and carried out his purpose. He subdued armenia, took Upper Mesopotamia, Adiabebe (Assyria), Ctesiphon, the capital, and reached the Pets Gulf, but was obliged to turn back by revolts in his rear and failed to reduce the fortress of Hatra. The conquered provinces were restored, however, by Hadrian, and the Parthians did not retaliate until the reign of Aurelius, when they overran Syria, and in 162 AD Lucius Verus was sent to punish them. In the following year he drove them back and advanced into the heart of the Parthian empire, inflicting the severest blow it had yet received. It was evident that the empire was on the decline, and the Romans did not meet with the resistance they had experienced in former times. Severus and Caracalla both made expeditions into the country, and the latter took the capital and massacred the inhabitants, but after his assassination his successor, Macrinus, fought a three days’ battle with the Parthians at Nisibis in which he was worsted and was glad to conclude a peace by paying an indemnity of some 1,500,000 British pounds (217 AD). 4. FALL OF THE EMPIRE: But this was the last achievement of the Parthians. It is evident that Artabanus had suffered severely in his conflict with the Romans, and was unable to put down the revolt of the Persians under the lead of Artaxerxes, who overthrew the Parthian empire and established the dynasty of the Sassanidae in its place (226 AD). 5. CULTURE: The Parthians were not a cultured people, but displayed a rude magnificence, making use, to some extent, of remains of Greek culture which they found within the regions they seized from the empire of Alexander. They had no native literature, as far as known, but made use of Greek in writing and on their coins. They were familiar with Hebrew or Syro-Chaldaic, and the later kings had Semitic legends on their coins. Josephus is said to have written his history of the Jewish War in his native tongue for Parthian readers. In their method of government they seem to have left the different provinces pretty much to themselves, so long as they paid tribute and furnished the necessary contingents. H. Porter PARTICULAR, PARTICULARLY <pir-tik’-u-lar > , <par-tik’-u-lar-li > : The adverbial phrase “in particular” occurs twice in the King James Version ( 1 Corinthians 12:27, [ejk me>rouv, ek merous ], the Revised Version (British and American) “severally,” the Revised Version margin “each in his part”; and Ephesians 5:33, [oiJ kaqj e[na, hoi kath’ hena ], the Revised Version (British and American) “severally”); in both cases it has the obsolete meaning of “severally,” “individually.” The adverb “particularly” occurs in the same sense in Acts 21:19 the King James Version, [kaqj e\n e[kaston, kath’ hen hekaston ], the Revised Version (British and American) “one by one,” and Hebrews 9:5 the King James Version, [kata< me>rov, kata meros ], the Revised Version (British and American) “severally.” We have the plural noun in the sense of “details” in 2 Macc 2:30: “to be curious in particulars”; 11:20, (the King James Version “Of the particulars I have given order,” the Revised Version (British and American) I have given order in detail); and the adjective “particular” in the sense of “special” in the first Prologue to Sirach (King James Version, Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) peculiares ; the whole section was omitted in the Revised Version (British and American)). D. Miall Edwards PARTITION, THE MIDDLE WALL OF <par-tish’-un > , <par-tish’-un > ([to< meso>toicon tou~ fragmou~, to mesotoichon tou phragmou ] ( Ephesians 2:14)): 1. THE BARRIER IN THE TEMPLE What Paul here asserts is that Christ is our peace, the peace of both Jewish and Gentile believers. He has made them both to be one in Himself, and has broken down the middle wall of partition which divided them from one another. Then the apostle regards Jew and Gentile as two, who by a fresh act of creation in Christ are made into one new man. In the former of these similes he refers to an actual wall in the temple at Jerusalem, beyond which no one was allowed to pass unless he were a Jew, the balustrade or barrier which marked the limit up to which a Gentile might advance but no farther. Curiously, this middle wall of partition had a great deal to do with Paul’s arrest and imprisonment, for the multitude of the Jews became infuriated, not merely because of their general hostility to him as an apostle of Christ and a preacher of the gospel for the world, but specially because it was erroneously supposed that he had brought Trophimus the Ephesian past this barrier into the temple ( Acts 21:29), and that he had in this manner profaned the temple ( Acts 24:6), or, as it is put in Acts 21:28, he had `brought Greeks into the temple and polluted this holy place.’ In the assault which they thereupon made on Paul they violently seized and dragged him out of the temple-dragged him outside the balustrade. The Levites at once shut the gates, to prevent the possibility of any further profanation, and Paul would have been torn in pieces, had not the Roman commander and his soldiers forcibly prevented. 2. HEROD’S TEMPLE; ITS DIVISIONS; THE COURTS: In building the temple Herod the Great had enclosed a large area to form the various courts. The temple itself consisted of the two divisions, the Holy Place, entered by the priests every day, and the Holy of Holies into which the high priest entered alone once every year. Immediately outside the temple there was the Court of the Priests, and in it was placed the great altar of burnt offering. Outside of this again was the Court of the Sons of Israel, and beyond this the Court of the Women. The site of the temple itself and the space occupied by the various courts already mentioned formed a raised plateau or platform. “From it you descended at various points down 5 steps and through gates in a lofty wall, to find yourself overlooking another large court — the outer court to which Gentiles, who desired to see something of the glories of the temple and to offer gifts and sacrifices to the God of the Jews, were freely admitted. Farther in than this court they were forbidden, on pain of death, to go. The actual boundary line was not the high wall with its gates, but a low stone barrier about 5 ft. in height, which ran round at the bottom of 14 more steps” (J. Armitage Robinson, D.D., Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, 59; see also Edersheim, The Temple, Its Ministry and Services as They Were at the Time of Jesus Christ,46). The middle wall of partition was called Coregh , and was built of marble beautifully ornamented. 3. THE COURT OF THE GENTILES: The Court of the Gentiles formed the lowest and the outermost enclosure of all the courts of the sanctuary. It was paved with the finest variegated marble. Its name signified that it was open to all, Jews or Gentiles alike. It was very large, and is said by Jewish tradition to have formed a square of 750 ft. It was in this court that the oxen and sheep and the doves for the sacrifices were sold as in a market. It was in this court too that there were the tables of the money-changers, which Christ Himself overthrew when He drove out the sheep and oxen and them that bought and sold in His Father’s house. The multitudes assembling in this court must have been very great, especially on occasions such as the Passover and Pentecost and at the other great feasts, and the din of voices must oftentimes have been most disturbing. As already seen, beyond this court no Gentile might go. See TEMPLE. In the year 1871, while excavations were being made on the site of the temple by the Palestine Exploration Fund, M. Clermont-Ganneau discovered one of the pillars which Josephus describes as having been erected upon the very barrier or middle wall of partition, to which Paul refers. This pillar is now preserved in the Museum at Constantinople and is inscribed with a Greek inscription in capital or uncial letters, which is translated as follows: NO MAN OF ANOTHER NATION TO ENTER WITHIN THE FENCE AND ENCLOSURE ROUND THE TEMPLE, AND WHOEVER IS CAUGHT WILL HAVE HIMSELF TO BLAME THAT HIS DEATH ENSUES While Paul was writing the Epistle to the Ephesians at Rome, this barrier in the temple at Jerusalem was still standing, yet the chained prisoner of Jesus Christ was not afraid to write that Christ had broken down the middle wall of partition, and had thus admitted Gentiles who were far off, strangers and foreigners, to all the privileges of access to God in ancient times possessed by Israel alone; that separation between Jew and Gentile was done away with forever in Christ. 4. THE THROWING DOWN OF THE BARRIER: If Paul wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians in 60 or 61 AD, then the actual barrier of stone remained in its position in the Court of the Gentiles not more than some 10 years, for it was thrown down in the burning of the temple by the Roman army. And out of those ruins a fragment has been excavated in our own day, containing the very inscription threatening death to the Gentileintruder, and reminding us that it is only in Christ Jesus that we now draw nigh unto God, and that we are thus one body in Christ, one new man. Christ has broken down the middle wall of partition, for He, in His own person, is our peace. John Rutherfurd PARTRIDGE <par’-trij > ([ areqo , qore ]; Latin perdix; Septuagint, 1 Samuel 26:20, [nuktiko>rax, nuktikorax ], “owl,” Jeremiah 17:11, [pe>rdix, perdix ]): a bird of the family Tetraonidae. The Hebrew word for this bird, qore’ , means “a caller,” and the Latin perdix is supposed to be an imitation of its cry, and as all other nations base their name for the bird on the Latin, it becomes quite evident that it was originally named in imitation of its call. The commonest partridge of Palestine, very numerous in the wilderness and hill country, was a bird almost as large as a pheasant. It had a clear, exquisite cry that attracted attention, especially in the mating season. The partridge of the wilderness was smaller and of beautifully marked plumage. It made its home around the Dead Sea, in the Wilderness of Judea and in rocky caverns. Its eggs were creamy white; its cry very similar to its relatives’. The partridge and its eggs were used for food from time immemorial. The first reference to it is found in 1 Samuel 26:20: “Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of Yahweh: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.” David in this dialogue with Saul clearly indicates that if he did not hunt the partridge himself, he knew how it was done. The birds were commonly chased up the mountains and stunned or killed with “throw sticks.” David knew how deft these birds were at hiding beside logs and under dry leaves colored so like them as to afford splendid protection; how swiftly they could run; what expert dodgers they were; so he compared taking them with catching a flea. The other reference is found in Jeremiah 17:11: “As the partridge that sitteth on eggs which she hath not laid, so is he that getteth riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.” If this reference is supposed to indicate that partridges are in the habit of brooding on the nest of their kind or of different birds, it fails wholly to take into consideration the history of the bird. Partridges select a location, carefully deposit an egg a day for from 10 to 15 days, sometimes 20, and then brood, so that all the young emerge at one time. But each bird knows and returns to its nest with unfailing regularity. It would require the proverbial “Philadelphia lawyer” to explain this reference to a “partridge sitting on eggs she had not laid.” No ornithologist ever could reconcile it to the habits or characteristics of the birds. the King James Version translated these lines, “As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not.” This was easy to explain clearly. The eggs of the partridge were delicious food, and any brooding bird whose nest was discovered after only a few days of incubation did not hatch, because she lost her eggs. Also the eggs frequently fall prey to other birds or small animals. Again, they are at the mercy of the elements, sometimes being spoiled by extremely wet cold weather. Poultry fanciers assert that a heavy thunder storm will spoil chicken eggs when hatchingtime is close; the same might be true with eggs of the wild. And almost any wild bird will desert its nest and make its former brooding useless, if the location is visited too frequently by man or beast. There is also a partridge reference in the Book of Ecclesiasticus 11:29 ff the Revised Version (British and American)): “Bring not every man into thine house; for many are the plots of the deceitful man. As a decoy partridge in a cage, so is the heart of a proud man; and as one that is a spy, he looketh upon thy falling. For he lieth in wait to turn things that are good into evil; and in things that are praiseworthy he will lay blame.” The reference is to confining a tame partridge in a hidden cage so that its calls would lure many of its family within range of arrows or “throw sticks” used by concealed hunters. Gene Stratton-Porter PARUAH <pa-roo’-a > ([ j”WrP; , paruach ] “blooming”): Father of Jehoshaphat, who was one of Solomon’s twelve victualers or providers, and had charge in Isaachar of this function ( 1 Kings 4:17). PARVAIM <par-va’-im > ([ µyiw;r]P” , parwayim ]; Septuagint [ Farouai>m, Pharouaim ]): The word occurs only in 2 Chronicles 3:6, as the place from which Solomon obtained gold for the decoration of his Temple. A derivation is given from the Sanskrit purva, “eastern,” so that the name might be a vague term for the East (Gesenius, Thesaurus, 1125). Whether there was such a place in arabia is doubtful. Farwa in Yemen has been suggested, and also Saq el Farwain in Yemamah. Some have considered the name a shortened form of Cepharvayim which occurs in the Syriac and Targum Jonathan for the “Sephar” of Genesis 10:30. A. S. Fulton PASACH <pa’-sak > ([ Ës”P; , pacakh ], “divider”): Son of Japhlet, descendant of Asher ( 1 Chronicles 7:33). PAS-DAMMIM <pas-dam’-im > . See EPHESDAMMIM. PASEAH <pa-se’-a > , <pas’-e-a > ([ j”sep; , paceach ] “limping”): (1) A son of Eshton, descendant of Judah ( 1 Chronicles 4:12). (2) The eponym of a family of Nethinim ( Ezra 2:49; Nehemiah 7:51, the King James Version “Phaseah” =“Phinoe” (1 Esdras 5:31). (3) Father of Joiada, who helped to repair the old gate ( Nehemiah 3:6). PASHHUR, PASHUR <pash’-hur > , <pash’-ur > ([ rWjv]P” , pashchur ], “splitter,” “cleaver”): The name of several persons difficult to individuate: (1) A priest, son of Immer, and “chief governor in the house of the Lord” ( Jeremiah 20:1), who persecuted Jeremiah, putting him in “the stocks” hard by the “house of Yahweh” in the “gate of Benjamin” ( Jeremiah 20:2). When released, Jeremiah pronounced Divine judgment on him and the people. Future captivity and an exile’s death are promised to Pashur whose name he changed from its masterful significance to a cowering one. “Terror on every side” (maghor miccabhibh ) is to take the place of “stable strength” ( Jeremiah 20:3 ff). (2) Son of Melchiah, a prince of Judah, and one of the delegation sent by Zedekiah, the king, to consult Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 21:1). It looks like a larger and later deputation, similarly sent, to which this Pashur belongs, whose record is given in Jeremiah 38:1-13. Accompanying them was one, Gedaliah, who was a son of (3) . (3) Another Pashur ( Jeremiah 38:1), who may be the person mentioned in 1 Chronicles 9:12; Nehemiah 11:12. (4) A priest, of those who “sealed” Nehemiah’s covenant ( Nehemiah 10:1,3), who may, however, be the same as (5) . (5) The chief of a priestly family called “sons of Pashur” ( Ezra 2:38; 10:22; Nehemiah 7:41; 1 Esdras 5:25 (“Phassurus,” margin “Pashhur”); 1 Esdras 9:22 (“Phaisur,” margin “Pashhur”)). Doubtless it is this Pashur, some of whose sons had “strange wives” ( Ezra 10:22). Henry Wallace PASS, PASSAGE, PASSENGER <pas > , <pas’-aj > , <pas’-en-Jeremiah > : “To pass” bears different meanings and corresponds to various words in Hebrew and Greek. It occurs frequently in the phrase “and it came to pass” (literally, “and it was”). This is simply a Hebrew idiom linking together the different paragraphs of a continuous narrative. As a rule “pass” renders the Hebrew word [ rb”[; , `abhar ]. This verb has various meanings, e.g. “to pass over” a stream ( Genesis 31:21); “to cross” a boundary ( Numbers 20:17); “to pass through,” or “traverse,” a country ( Numbers 21:22); “to pass on” ( Genesis 18:5); “to pass away,” “cease to exist” ( Job 30:15). The word is used metaphorically, “to pass over,” “overstep,” “transgress” ( Numbers 14:41). In the causative form the verb is used in the phrase “to cause to pass through fire” ( Deuteronomy 18:10; Kings 16:3). In the King James Version “pass” sometimes has the force of “surpass,” “exceed,” e.g. 2 Chronicles 9:22, “King Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom”; compare also Ephesians 3:19, “the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,” and Philippians 4:7, “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” Passage in the King James Version renders [ rb;[\m” , ma`abhar ], or [ hr;b;[\m” , ma`abharah ]. The former word denotes (1) the ford of a river ( Genesis 32:23 King James Version margin); (2) the pass of a mountain range ( 1 Samuel 13:23). In the only other instance of the use of the shorter form ( Isaiah 30:32 margin), the King James Version renders “where the grounded staff shall pass.” A more correct translation would be, “and every sweep (or stroke) of the appointed staff.” The longer form bears both meanings, namely, “ford” (e.g. Joshua 2:7; Judges 3:28, etc.) and “pass” ( 1 Samuel 14:4; Isaiah 10:29). In Joshua 22:11, the rendering `towards the region opposite the children of Israel’ would be more correct than the King James Version, “at the passage of the children of Israel.” In English Versions of the Bible of Numbers 20:21 “passage” seems to mean “right of way,” and renders the infinitive of the Hebrew verb. In Jeremiah 22:20 the King James Version the word rendered “passage” should be translated “from Abarim” (as in the Revised Version (British and American)), a mountain range in Moab, Northeast of the Dead Sea. Passenger in the King James Version means a “passer-by.” In Ezekiel 39:11,14,15 where the word occurs 4 times in the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) translates “them that pass through.” T. Lewis PASSING OF MARY, THE See APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. PASSION, PASSIONS <pash’-un > , <pash’-unz > : “Passion” is derived from Latin passio, which in turn is derived from the verb patior, with the root, pat-. The Latin words are connected with the Greek root, [paq, path ], which appears in a large number of derivatives. And in Greek, Latin, and English (with other languages in addition) words connected with this root, pat , path , are often susceptible of a great variety of meanings, for which the dictionaries must be consulted. For “passion,” however, as it appears in English Versions of the Bible, only three of these meanings need be considered. (1) Close to what seems to be the primary force of the root is the meaning “suffer,” and in this sense “passion” is used in Acts 1:3, “to whom he also showed himself alive after his passion.” This translation is a paraphrase (Greek: “after he had suffered”), due to the Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) (post passionem suam), and in English is as old as Wycliff, whom the subsequent English Versions of the Bible has followed. This is the only case in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) where “passion” has this meaning, and it can be so used in modern English only when referring (as here) to the sufferings of Christ (compare “Passion play”). (2) “Suffering,” when applied to the mind, came to denote the state that is controlled by some emotion, and so “passion” was applied to the emotion itself. This is the meaning of the word in Acts 14:15, “men of like passions,” and James 5:17, “a man of like passions,” Greek [oJmoiopaqh>v, homoiopathes ]; the Revised Version margin “of like nature” gives the meaning exactly: “men with the same emotions as we.” (3) From “emotion” a transition took place to “strong emotion,” and this is the normal force of “passion” in modern English the King James Version does not use this meaning, but in the Revised Version (British and American) “passion” in this sense is the translation of [pa>qov, pathos ], in its three occurrences: Romans 1:26 (the King James Version “affection”); Colossians 3:5 (the King James Version “inordinate affection”); 1 Thessalonians 4:5 (the King James Version “lust”). It is used also for two occurrences of [pa>qhma, pathema ] (closely allied to pathos) in Romans 7:5 (the King James Version “motions,” the King James Version margin “passions”) and in Galatians 5:24 (the King James Version “affection”). The fixing of the exact force in any of these cases is a delicate problem fully discussed in the commentaries. In Colossians 3:5 only does “passion” stand as an isolated term. The context here perhaps gives the word a slight sexual reference, but this must not be overstressed; the warning probably includes any violent overemotion that robs a man of his self-control. See AFFECTION; MOTION. Burton Scott Easton PASSION, GOSPEL OF THE. See APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. PASSOVER <pas’-o-ver > ([ js”P, , pecach ], from pacach , “to pass” or “spring over” or “to spare” ( Exodus 12:13,23,17; compare Isaiah 31:5]. Other conjectures connect the word with the “passing over” into a new year, with assyr pasahu, meaning “to placate,” with Hebrew pacah , meaning “to dance,” and even with the skipping motions of a young lamb; Aramaic [ aj;s]P” , paccha’ ], whence Greek [ Pa>sca, Pascha ]; whence English “paschal.” In early Christian centuries folk-etymology connected pascha with Greek pascho , “to suffer” (see PASSION), and the word was taken to refer to Good Friday rather than the Passover): 1. PECACH AND MATSTSOTH: The Passover was the annual Hebrew festival on the evening of the 14th day of the month of ‘Abhibh (Abib) or Nisan, as it was called in later times. It was followed by, and closely connected with, a 7 days’ festival of matstsoth, or unleavened bread, to which the name Passover was also applied by extension ( Leviticus 23:5). Both were distinctly connected with the Exodus, which, according to tradition, they commemorate; the Passover being in imitation of the last meal in Egypt, eaten in preparation for the journey, while Yahweh, passing over the houses of the Hebrews, was slaying the firstborn of Egypt ( Exodus 12:12 f; 13:2,12 ff); the matstsoth festival being in memory of the first days of the journey during which this bread of haste was eaten ( Exodus 12:14-20). 2. PECACH MITSRAYIM: The ordinance of pecach mitsrayim , the last meal in Egypt, included the following provisions: (1) the taking of a lamb, or kid without blemish, for each household on the 10th of the month; (2) the killing of the lamb on the 14th at even; (3) the sprinkling of the blood on doorposts and lintels of the houses in which it was to be eaten; (4) the roasting of the lamb with fire, its head with its legs and inwards — the lamb was not to be eaten raw nor sodden (bashal ) with water; (5) the eating of unleavened bread and bitter herbs; (6) eating in haste, with loins girded, shoes on the feet, and staff in hand; (7) and remaining in the house until the morning; (8) the burning of all that remained; the Passover could be eaten only during the night ( Exodus 12:1-23). 3. PECACH DOROTH: This service was to be observed as an ordinance forever ( Exodus 12:14,24), and the night was to be lel shimmurim, “a night of vigils,” or, at least, “to be much observed” of all the children of Israel throughout their generations ( Exodus 12:42). The details, however, of the pecach doroth , or later observances of the Passover, seem to have differed slightly from those of the Egyptian Passover (Mishna, Pesachim, ix.5). Thus, it is probable that the victim could be taken from the flock or from the herd ( Deuteronomy 16:2; compare Ezekiel 45:22). (3) , (6) and (7) disappeared entirely, and judging from Deuteronomy 16:7, the prohibition against seething (Hebrew bashal ) was not understood to apply (unless, indeed, the omission of the expression with water” gives a more general sense to the Hebrew word bashal , making it include roasting). New details were also added: for example, that the Passover could be sacrificed only at the central sanctuary ( Deuteronomy 16:5); that no alien or uncircumcised person, or unclean person could partake thereof, and that one prevented by uncleanness or other cause from celebrating the Passover in season could do so a month later ( Numbers 9:9 ff). The singing of the Hallel (Psalms 113 through 118), both while the Passover was being slaughtered and at the meal, and other details were no doubt added from time to time. 4. MATSTSOTH: Unleavened bread was eaten with the Passover meal, just as with all sacrificial meals of later times ( Exodus 23:18; 34:25; Leviticus 7:12), independently perhaps of the fact that the Passover came in such close proximity with the Feast of Unleavened Bread ( Exodus 12:8). Jewish tradition distinguishes, at any rate, between the first night and the rest of the festival in that the eating of matstsoth is an obligation on the first night and optional during the rest of the week (Pesachim 120a), although the eating of unleavened bread is commanded in general terms ( Exodus 12:15,18; 13:6,7; 23:15; 34:18; Leviticus 23:6; Numbers 28:17). The eating of leavened bread is strictly prohibited, however, during the entire week under the penalty of kareth, “excision” ( Exodus 12:15,19 f; 13:3; Deuteronomy 16:3), and this prohibition has been observed traditionally with great care. The 1st and 7th days are holy convocations, days on which no labor could be done except such as was necessary in the preparation of food. The festival of matstsoth is reckoned as one of the three pilgrimage festivals, though strictly the pilgrimage was connected with the Passover portion and the first day of the festival. During the entire week additional sacrifices were offered in the temple: an offering made by fire and a burnt offering, 2 young bullocks, 1 ram, lambs of the first year without blemish, together with meal offerings and drink offerings and a goat for a sin offering. 5. THE `OMER: During the week of the matstsoth festival comes the beginning of the barley harvest in Palestine (Menachoth 65b) which lasts from the end of March in the low Jordan valley to the beginning of May in the elevated portions. The time of the putting-in of the sickle to the standing grain ( Deuteronomy 16:9) and of bringing the sheaf of the peace offering is spoken of as the morrow after the Sabbath ( Leviticus 23:15), that is, according to the Jewish tradition, the day after the first day, or rest-day, of the Passover (Mend. 65b; Meg Ta`an. 1; Josephus, Ant, III, x, 5), and according to Samaritan and Boethusian traditions and the modern Karites the Sunday after the Passover. At this time a wave offering is made of a sheaf, followed by an offering of a lamb with a meal and drink offering, and only thereafter might the new grain be eaten. From this day 7 weeks are counted to fix the date of Pentecost, the celebration connected with the wheat harvest. It is of course perfectly natural for an agricultural people to celebrate the turning-points of the agricultural year in connection with their traditional festivals. Indeed, the Jewish liturgy of today retains in the Passover service the Prayer of Dew (Tal ) which grew up in Palestine on the basis of the needs of an agricultural people. 6. NON-TRADITIONAL THEORIES: Many writers, however, eager to explain the entire festival as originally an agricultural feast (presumably a Canaanitic one, though there is not a shred of evidence that the Canaanites had such a festival), have seized upon the `omer , or sheaf offering, as the basis of the hagh (festival), and have attempted to explain the matstsoth as bread hastily baked in the busy harvest times, or as bread quickly baked from the freshly exempted firstfruits. Wherein these theories are superior to the traditional explanation so consistently adhered to throughout the Pentateuch it is difficult to see. In a similar vein, it has been attempted to connect the Passover with the sacrifice or redemption of the firstborn of man and beast (both institutions being traditionally traced to the judgment on the firstborn of Egypt, as in Exodus 13:11-13; 22:29,30; 23:19; 34:19,20), so as to characterize the Passover as a festival of pastoral origin. Excepting for the multiplication of highly ingenious guesses, very little that is positive has been added to our knowledge of the Passover by this theory. 7. THE HIGHER CRITICISM: The Pentateuch speaks of the Passover in many contexts and naturally with constantly varying emphasis. Thus the story of the Exodus it is natural to expect fewer ritual details than in a manual of temple services; again, according to the view here taken, we must distinguish between the pecach mitsrayim and the pecach doroth . Nevertheless, great stress is laid on the variations in the several accounts, by certain groups of critics, on the basis of which they seek to support their several theories of the composition of the Pentateuch or Hexateuch. Without entering into this controversy, it will be sufficient here to enumerate and classify all the discrepancies said to exist in the several Passover passages, together with such explanations as have been suggested. These discrepancies, so called, are of three kinds: (1) mere omissions, (2) differences of emphasis, and (3) conflicting statements. The letters, J, E, D, P and H will here be used to designate passages assigned to the various sources by the higher criticism of today merely for the sake of comparison. (1) There is nothing remarkable about the omission of the daily sacrifices from all passages except Leviticus 23:8 (H) and Numbers 28:19 (P), nor in the omission of a specific reference to the holy convocation on the first day in the contexts of Deuteronomy 16:8 and Exodus 13:6, nor even in the omission of reference to a central sanctuary in passages other than Deuteronomy 16. Neither can any significance be attached to the fact that the precise day is not specified in Exodus 23 (E) where the appointed day is spoken of, and in Leviticus 23:15 (H) where the date can be figured out from the date of Pentecost there given. (2) As to emphasis, it is said that the socalled Elohist Covenant (E) (Exodus 23) has no reference to the Passover, as it speaks only of matstsh in Exodus 23:15, in which this festival is spoken of together with the other reghalim or pilgrimage festivals. The so-called Jehovistic source (Jahwist) ( Exodus 34:18-21,25) is said to subordinate the Passover to matstsoth, the great feast of the Jehovistic history (JE) ( Exodus 12:21- 27,29-36,38,39; 13:3-16); in Deuteronomy (D) the Passover is said to predominate over matstsoth, while in Leviticus (P and H) it is said to be of first importance. JE and P emphasize the historical importance of the day. Whether these differences in emphasis mean much more than that the relative amount of attention paid to the paschal sacrifice, as compared with matstsoth , depends on the context, is of course the fundamental question of the higher criticism; it is not answered by pointing out that the differences of emphasis exist. (3) Of the actual conflicts, we have already seen that the use of the words “flock” and “herd” in Deuteronomy and Hebrew bashal are open to explanation, and also that the use of the matstsoth at the original Passover is not inconsistent with the historical reason for the feast of matstsoth — it is not necessary to suppose that matstsoth were invented through the necessity of the Hebrews on their journey. There is, however, one apparent discrepancy in the Biblical narrative that seems to weaken rather than help the position of those critics who would ascribe very late dates to the passages which we have cited: Why does Ezekiel’s ideal scheme provide sacrifices for the Passover different from those prescribed in the so-called P ascribed to the same period ( Ezekiel 45:21)? 8. HISTORICAL CELEBRATIONS: OLD TESTAMENT TIMES: The children of Israel began the keeping of the Passover in its due season according to all its ordinances in the wilderness of Sinai ( Numbers 9:5). In the very beginning of their national life in Palestine we find them celebrating the Passover under the leadership of Joshua in the plains of Jericho ( Joshua 5:10). History records but few later celebrations in Palestine, but there are enough intimations to indicate that it was frequently if not regularly observed. Thus Solomon offered sacrifices three times a year upon the altar which he had built to Yahweh, at the appointed seasons, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread ( 1 Kings 9:25 = Chronicles 8:13). The later prophets speak of appointed seasons for pilgrimages and sacrifices (compare Isaiah 1:12-14), and occasionally perhaps refer to a Passover celebration (compare Isaiah 30:29, bearing in mind that the Passover is the only night-feast of which we have any record). In Hezekiah’s time the Passover had fallen into such a state of desuetude that neither the priests nor the people were prepared for the king’s urgent appeal to observe it. Nevertheless, he was able to bring together a large concourse in Jerusalem during the 2nd month and institute a more joyful observance than any other recorded since the days of Solomon. In the 18th year of King Josiah, however, there was celebrated the most memorable Passover, presumably in the matter of conformity to rule, since the days of the Judges ( 2 Kings 23:21; 2 Chronicles 35:1 ff). The continued observance of the feast to the days of the exile is attested by Ezekiel’s interest in it ( Ezekiel 45:18). In post-exilic times it was probably observed more scrupulously than ever before ( Ezra 6:19 ff). 9. HISTORICAL CELEBRATIONS: NEW TESTAMENT TIMES: Further evidence, if any were needed, of the importance of the Passover in the life of the Jews of the second temple is found in the Talmud, which devotes to this subject an entire tractate, Pecachim on which we have both Babylonian and Palestine gemara’ . These are devoted to the sacrificial side and to the minutiae of searching out and destroying leaven, what constitutes leaven, and similar questions, instruction in which the children of Israel sought for 30 days before the Passover. Josephus speaks of the festival often (Ant., II, xiv, 6; III, x, 5; IX, iv, 8; XIV, ii, 2; XVII, ix, 3; BJ, II, i, 3; V, iii, 1; VI, ix, 3). Besides repeating the details already explained in the Bible, he tells of the innumerable multitudes that came for the Passover to Jerusalem out of the country and even from beyond its limits. He estimates that in one year in the days of Cestius, 256,500 lambs were slaughtered and that at least 10 men were counted to each. (This estimate of course includes the regular population of Jerusalem. But even then it is doubtless exaggerated.) The New Testament bears testimony, likewise, to the coming of great multitudes to Jerusalem ( John 11:55; compare also 2:13; 6:4). At this great festival even the Roman officers released prisoners in recognition of the people’s celebration. Travel and other ordinary pursuits were no doubt suspended (Compare Acts 12:3; 20:6). Naturally the details were impressed on the minds of the people and lent themselves to symbolic and homiletic purposes (compare 1 Corinthians 5:7; John 19:34-36, where the paschal lamb is made to typify Jesus; and Hebrews 11:28). The best-known instance of such symbolic use is the institution of the Eucharist on the basis of the paschal meal. Some doubt exists as to Whether the Last Supper was the paschal meal or not. According to the Synoptic Gospels, it was ( Luke 22:7; Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:12); while according to John, the Passover was to be eaten some time following the Last Supper ( John 18:28). Various harmonizations of these passages have been suggested, the most in genious, probably, being on theory that when the Passover fell on Friday night, the Pharisees ate the meal on Thursday and the Sadducees on Friday, and that Jesus followed the custom of the Pharisees (Chwolson, Das letzte Passahmal Jesu, 2nd edition, Petersburg, 1904). Up to the Nicene Council in the year 325, the church observed Easter on the Jewish Passover. Thereafter it took precautions to separate the two, condemning their confusion as Arianism. 10. THE JEWISH PASSOVER: After the destruction of the temple the Passover became a home service. The paschal lamb was no longer included. Only the Samaritans have continued this rite to this day. In the Jewish home a roasted bone is placed on the table in memory of the rite, and other articles symbolic of the Passover are placed beside it: such as a roasted egg, said to be in memory of the free-will offering; a sauce called charoceth , said to resemble the mortar of Egypt; salt water, for the symbolic dipping (compare Matthew 26:23); the bitter herbs and the matstsoth . The cedher (program) is as follows: sanctification; washing of the hands; dipping and dividing the parsley; breaking and setting aside a piece of matstsah to be distributed and eaten at the end of the supper; reading of the haggadhah shel pecach , a poetic narrative of the Exodus, in answer to four questions asked by the youngest child in compliance with the Biblical command found 3 times in Exodus and once in Deuteronomy, “Thou shalt tell thy son on that day”; washing the hands for eating; grace before eating; tasting the matstsah ; tasting the bitter herbs; eating of them together; the meal; partaking of the matstsah that had been set aside as ‘aphiqomen or dessert; grace after meat; Hallel ; request that the service be accepted. Thereafter folk-songs are sung to traditional melodies, and poems recited, many of which have allegorical meanings. A cup of wine is used at the sanctification and another at grace, in addition to which two other cups have been added, the 4 according to the Mishna (Pecachim x.1) symbolizing the 4 words employed in Exodus 6:6,7 for the delivery of Israel from Egypt. Instead of eating in haste, as in the Egyptian Passover, it is customary to recline or lean at this meal in token of Israel’s freedom. The prohibition against leaven is strictly observed. The searching for hidden leaven on the evening before the Passover and its destruction in the morning have become formal ceremonies for which appropriate blessings and declarations have been included in the liturgy since the days when Aramaic was the vernacular of the Jews. As in the case of other festivals, the Jews have doubled the days of holy convocation, and have added a semi-holiday after the last day, the so-called ‘iccur chagh , in token of their love for the ordained celebration and their loathness to depart from it. Nathan Isaacs PASTOR <pas’-ter > ([ h[,ro , ro`eh ]; [poimh>n, poimen ]; literally, a helper, or feeder of the sheep (the King James Version Jeremiah 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 12:10; 17:16; 22:22; 23:1,2, and in Ephesians 4:11, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American))): Besides the literal sense the word has now a figurative meaning and refers to the minister appointed over a congregation. This latter meaning is recognized in the translation of the King James Version. See MINISTRY. PASTORAL, EPISTLES, THE <pas’-tor-al > , The First and Second Epistles to Timothy, and the Epistle to Titus form a distinct group among the letters written by Paul, and are now known as the Pastoral Epistles because they were addressed to two Christian ministers. When Timothy and Titus received these epistles they were not acting, as they had previously done, as missionaries or itinerant evangelists, but had been left by Paul in charge of churches; the former having the oversight of the church in Ephesus, and the latter having the care of the churches in the island of Crete. The Pastoral Epistles were written to guide them in the discharge of the duties devolving upon them as Christian pastors. Such is a general description of these epistles. In each of them, however, there is a great deal more than is covered or implied by the designation, “Pastoral” — much that is personal, and much also that is concerned with Christian faith and doctrine and practice generally. 1. GENUINENESS. 1. External Evidence: In regard to the genuineness of the epistles there is abundant external attestation. Allusions to them are found in the writings of Clement and Polycarp. In the middle of the 2nd century the epistles were recognized as Pauline in authorship, and were freely quoted. “Marcion indeed rejected them, and Tatian is supposed to have rejected those to Timothy. But, as Jerome states in the preface to his Commentary on Titus, these heretics rejected the epistles, not on critical grounds, but merely because they disliked their teaching. He says they used no argument, but merely asserted, This is Paul’s, This is not Paul’s. It is obvious that men holding such opinions as Marcion and Tatian held, would not willingly ascribe authority to epistles which condemned asceticism. So far, then, as the early church can guarantee to us the authenticity of writings ascribed to Paul, the Pastoral Epistles are guaranteed” (Marcus Dods, Introduction to the New Testament, 167). The external evidence is all in favor of the reception of these epistles., which were known not only to Clement and Polycarp, but also to Irenaeus, Tertullian, the author of the Epistle to the churches of Vienne and Lyons, and Theophilus of Antioch. The evidence of Polycarp, who died in AD, is remarkably strong. He says, “The love of money is the beginning of all trouble, knowing .... that we brought nothing into the world, neither can carry anything out” (compare 1 Timothy 6:7,10). It would be difficult to overthrow testimony of this nature. 2. Genuineness Questioned: The decision of certain critics to reject the Pastoral Epistles as documents not from the hand of Paul, “is not reached on the external evidence, which is perhaps as early an attestation as can be reasonably expected. They are included in the Muratorian Canon, and quoted by Irenaeus and later writers as Paul’s” (A.S. Peake, A Critical Introduction to the New Testament, 60). This admission is satisfactory. In recent times, however, the authenticity of these epistles has been called in question by Schmidt, Schleiermacher, Baur, Renan, and many others. Baur asserted that they were written for the purpose of combating the Gnosticism of the 2nd century, and of defending the church from it by means of ecclesiastical organization, and that the date of their composition was about the year 150 AD. 2. ALLEGED DIFFICULTIES AGAINST PAULINE AUTHORSHIP. Various difficulties have been alleged against the reception of the Pastoral Epistles as Pauline. The chief of these are: (1) the difficulty of finding any place for these letters in the life of Paul, as that is recorded in the Acts and in the Pauline Epistles written before the Pastorals; (2) the fact that there are said to be in them indications of an ecclesiastical organization, and of a development of doctrine, both orthodox and heretical, considerably in advance of the Pauline age; (3) that the language of the epistles is, to a large extent, different from that in the accepted epistles; (4) the “most decisive” of all the arguments against the Pauline authorship — so writes Dr. A.C. McGiffert (A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age, 402) — is that “the Christianity of the Pastoral Epistles is not the Christianity of Paul.” Where can a place be found for these epistles, in the life of Paul? The indications of the date of their composition given in the epistles themselves are these. 1. Relative to Paul’s Experiences: (1) Data in 1 Timothy In 1 Timothy 1:3 Paul had gone from Ephesus to Macedonia, and had left Timothy in Ephesus in charge of the church there. In the Acts and in the previously written Pauline epistles, it is impossible to find such events or such a state of matters as will satisfy these requirements. Paul had previously been in Ephesus, on several occasions. His 1st visit to that city is recorded in Acts 18:19-21. On that occasion he went from Ephesus, not into Macedonia, but into Syria. His 2nd visit was his 3 years’ residence in Ephesus, as narrated in Acts 19; and when he left the city, he had, previous to his own departure from it, already sent Timothy into Macedonia (19:22) — a state of matters exactly the reverse of that described in 1 Timothy 1:3. Timothy soon rejoined Paul, and so far was he from being left in Ephesus then, that he was in Paul’s company on the remainder of his journey toward Jerusalem ( Acts 20:4; 2 Corinthians 1:1). No place therefore in Paul’s life, previous to his arrest in Jerusalem, and his first Roman imprisonment, can be found, which satisfies the requirements of the situation described in 1 Timothy 1:3. “It is impossible, unless we assume a second Roman imprisonment, to reconcile the various historical notices which the epistle (2 Timothy) contains” (McGiffert, op. cit., 407). In addition to this, the language used by the apostle at Miletus, when he addressed the elders of the Ephesian church ( Acts 20:30) about the men speaking perverse things, who should arise among them, showed that these false teachers had not made their appearance at that time. There is, for this reason alone, no place for the Pastoral Epistles in Paul’s life, previous to his arrest in Jerusalem. But Paul’s life did not end at the termination of his first Roman imprisonment; and this one fact gives ample room to satisfy all the conditions, as these are found in the three Pastorals. Those who deny the Pauline authorship of these epistles also deny that he was released from what, in this article, is termed his 1st Roman imprisonment. But a denial of this latter statement is an assumption quite unwarranted and unproved. It assumes that Paul was not set free, simply because there is no record of this in the Acts. But the Acts is, on the very face of it, an incomplete or unfinished record; that is, it brings the narrative to a certain point, and then breaks off, evidently for the reason which Sir W.M. Ramsay demonstrates, that Luke meant to write a sequel to that book — a purpose, however, which he was unable, owing to some cause now unknown, to carry into execution. The purpose of the Acts, as Ramsay shows (St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen,23, 308), is to lead up to the release of Paul, and to show that the Christian faith was not a forbidden or illegal religion, but that the formal impeachment of the apostle before the supreme court of the empire ended in his being set at liberty, and thus there was established the fact that the faith of Jesus Christ was not, at that time, contrary to Roman law. “The Pauline authorship .... can be maintained only on the basis of a hypothetical reconstruction, either of an entire period subsequent to the Roman imprisonment, or of the events within some period known to us” (McGiffert, op. cit., 410). The one fact that Paul was set free after his 1st Roman imprisonment gives the environment which fits exactly all the requirements of the Pastoral Epistles. Attention should be directed to the facts and to the conclusion stated in the article PRAETORIUM (which see), Mommsen having shown that the words, “My bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole praetorian guard” ( Philippians 1:13), mean that at the time when Paul wrote the Epistle to the Philippians, the case against him had already come before the supreme court of appeal in Rome, that it had been partly heard, and that the impression made by the prisoner upon his judges was so favorable, that he expected soon to be set free. The indications to be drawn from other expressions in three of the epistles of the Roman captivity — Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon — are to the same effect. Thus, writing to the Philippians, he says that he hopes to send Timothy to them, so soon as he sees how matters go with him, and that he trusts in the Lord that he himself will visit them shortly. And again, writing to his friend Philemon in the city of Colosse, he asks him to prepare him a lodging, for he trusts that through the prayers of the Colossians, he will be granted to them. These anticipations of acquittal and of departure from Rome are remarkable, and do not in any degree coincide with the idea that Paul was not set free but was condemned and put to death at that time. “It is obvious that the importance of the trial is intelligible only if Paul was acquitted. That he was acquitted follows from the Pastoral Epistles with certainty for all who admit their genuineness; while even they who deny their Pauline origin must allow that they imply an early belief in historical details which are not consistent with Paul’s journeys before his trial, and must either be pure inventions or events that occurred on later journeys. .... If he was acquitted, the issue of the trial was a formal decision by the supreme court of the empire that it was permissible to preach Christianity; the trial, therefore, was really a charter of religious liberty, and therein lies its immense importance. It was indeed overturned by later decisions of the supreme court; but its existence was a highly important fact for the Christians” (Ramsay, op. cit., 308). “That he was acquitted is demanded both by the plan evident in Acts and by other reasons well stated by others” (ibid., 360). It should also be observed that there is the direct and corroborative evidence of Paul’s release, afforded by such writers as Cyril of Jerusalem, Ephrem Syriac., Chrysostom and Theodoret, all of whom speak of Paul’s going to Spain. Jerome (Vir. Ill., 5) gives it as a matter of personal knowledge that Paul traveled as far as Spain. But there is more important evidence still. In the Muratorian Canon, 1,37, there are the words, “profectionem Pauli ab urbe ad Spaniam proficiscentis” (“the journey of Paul as he journeyed from Rome to Spain”). Clement also in the epistle from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth, which was written not later than the year 96 AD, says in reference to Paul, “Having taught righteousness to the whole world, and having gone to the extremity of the west (epi to terma tes duseos elthon) and having borne witness before the rulers, so was he released from the world and went to the holy place, being the greatest example of endurance.” The words, “having gone to the extremity of the west,” should be specially noticed. Clement was in Rome when he wrote this, and, accordingly, the natural import of the words is that Paul went to the limit of the western half of then known world, or in other words, to the western boundary of the lands bordering the Mediterranean, that is, to Spain. Now Paul never had been in Spain previous to his arrest in Jerusalem, but in Romans 15:24,28 he had twice expressed his intention to go there. These independent testimonies, of Clement and of the Muratorian Canon, of the fact that after Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem he did carry into execution his purpose to visit Spain, are entitled to great weight. They involve, of course, the fact that he was acquitted after his 1st Roman imprisonment. Having been set free, Paul could not do otherwise than send Timothy to Philippi, and himself also go there, as he had already promised when he wrote to the Philippian church ( Philippians 2:19,24). As a matter of course he would also resume his apostolic journeys for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel. There is now ample room in his life for the Pastoral Epistles, and they give most interesting details of his further labors. The historical and geographical requirements in 1 Timothy are, in this way, easily satisfied. It was no great distance to Ephesus from Philippi and Colosse, where he had promised that he would “come shortly.” (2) Data in 2 Timothy The requirements in 2 Timothy are (a) that Paul had recently been at Troas, at Corinth, and at Miletus, each of which he mentions ( 2 Timothy 4:13,20); (b) that when he wrote the epistles he was in Rome (1:17); (c) that he was a prisoner for the cause of the gospel (1:8; 2:9), and had once already appeared before the emperor’s supreme court (4:16,17); (d) that he had then escaped condemnation, but that he had reason to believe that on the next hearing of his case the verdict would be given against him, and that he expected it could not be long till execution took place (4:6); (e) that he hoped that Timothy would be able to come from Ephesus to see him at Rome before the end (4:9,21). These requirements cannot be made to agree or coincide with the first Roman captivity, but they do agree perfectly with the facts of the apostle’s release and his subsequent second imprisonment in that city. (3) Data in Titus The data given in the Epistle to Titus are (a) that Paul had been in Crete, and that Titus had been with him there, and had been left behind in that island, when Paul sailed from its shores, Titus being charged with the oversight of the churches there ( Titus 1:5); and (b) that Paul meant to spend the next winter at Nicopolis (3:12). It is simply impossible to locate these events in the recorded life of Paul, as that is found in the other epistles, and in the Acts. But they agree perfectly with his liberation after his first Roman imprisonment. “As there is then no historical evidence that Paul did not survive the year 64, and as these Pastoral Epistles were recognized as Pauline in the immediately succeeding age, we may legitimately accept them as evidence that Paul did survive the year 64 — that he was acquitted, resumed his missionary labors, was again arrested and brought to Rome, and from this second imprisonment wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy — his last extant writing” (Dods, Introduction to the New Testament, 172). 2. Subject-Matter, Post-Pauline: The second difficulty alleged against the acceptance of these epistles as Pauline is that there are said to exist in them indications of an ecclesiastical organization and of a doctrinal development, both orthodox and heretical, considerably later than those of the Pauline age. (1) Difficulty Regarding Church Organization The first statement, that the epistles imply an ecclesiastical organization in advance of the time when Paul lived, is one which cannot be maintained in view of the facts disclosed in the epistles themselves. For directions are given to Timothy and to Titus in regard to the moral and other characteristics necessary in those who are to be ordained as bishops, elders, and deacons. In the 2nd century the outstanding feature of ecclesiastical organization was the development of monarchical episcopacy, but the Pastoral Epistles show a presbyterial administration. The office held by Timothy in Ephesus and by Titus in Crete was, as the epistles themselves show, of a temporary character. The directions which Paul gives to Timothy and Titus in regard to the ordaining of presbyters in every church are in agreement with similar notices found elsewhere in the New Testament, and do not coincide with the state of church organization as that existed in the 2nd century, the period when, objectors to the genuineness of the epistles assert, they were composed. “Everyone acquainted with ancient literature, particularly the literature of the ancient church, knows that a forger or fabricator of those times could not possibly have avoided anachronisms” (Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament, II, 93). But the ecclesiastical arrangements in the Pastoral Epistles coincide in all points with the state of matters as it is found in the church in the time of the apostles, as that is described in the Acts and elsewhere in the New Testament. It seems an error to suppose, as has often been done, that these epistles contain the germ of monarchical episcopacy; for the Christian church had already, from the day of Pentecost, existed as a society with special officers for the functions of extension, discipline and administration. The church in the Pastoral Epistles is a visible society, as it always was. Its organization therefore had come to be of the greatest importance, and especially so in the matter of maintaining and handing down the true faith; the church accordingly is described as “the pillar and stay of the truth” ( 1 Timothy 3:15 margin), that is, the immovable depository of the Divine revelation. (2) The Doctrinal Difficulty The other statement, that the epistles show a doctrinal development out of harmony with the Pauline age is best viewed by an examination of what the epistles actually say. In 1 Timothy 6:20, Paul speaks of profane and vain babblings and oppositions of gnosis (the Revised Version (British and American) “knowledge,” the King James Version “science”) falsely so called. In Titus 3:9, he tells Titus to avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings about the law. These phrases have been held to be allusions to the tenets of Marcion, and to those of some of the Gnostic sects. There are also other expressions, such as fables and endless genealogies ( 1 Timothy 1:3,4; 6:3), words to no profit but the subverting of the hearer ( 2 Timothy 2:14), foolish and unlearned questions which do gender strifes ( 2 Timothy 2:23), questions and strifes of words ( 1 Timothy 6:4,5), discussions which lead to nothing but word-battles and profane babbling. Such are the expressions which Paul uses. These, taken with what is even more clearly stated in the Epistle to the Colossians, certainly point to an incipient Gnosticism. But had the writer of the Pastoral Epistles been combating the Gnosticism of the 2nd century, it would not have been phrases like these that he would have employed, but others much more definite. Godet, quoted by Dods (Intro, 175), writes, “The danger here is of substituting intellectualism in religion for piety of heart and life. Had the writer been a Christian of the 2nd century, trying, under the name of Paul, to stigmatize the Gnostic systems, he would certainly have used much stronger expressions to describe their character and influence.” It should be observed that the false teachers described in 2 Timothy 3:6-9,13, as well as in other places in these epistles, were persons who taught that the Mosaic Law was binding upon all Christians. They laid stress upon rabbinic myths, upon investigations and disputations about genealogies and specific legal requirements of the Old Testament. What they taught was a form of piously sounding doctrine assuming to be Christian, but which was really rabbinism. “For a pseudo-Paul in the post-apostolic age — when Christians of Jewish birth had become more and more exceptions in the Gentile Christian church — to have invented a description of and vigorously to have opposed the heterodidaskaloi , who did not exist in his own age, and who were without parallel in the earlier epistles of Paul, would have been to expose himself to ridicule without apparent purpose or meaning” (Zahn, Introduction, II, 117). “A comparison of the statements in these epistles about various kinds of false doctrine, and of those portions of the same that deal with the organization and officers of the church, with conditions actually existing in the church, especially the church of Asia Minor, at the beginning and during the course of the 2nd century, proves, just as clearly as does the external evidence, that they must have been written at latest before the year 100. But they could not have been written during the first two decades after Paul’s death, because of the character of the references to persons, facts and conditions in Paul’s lifetime and his own personal history, and because of the impossibility on this assumption of discovering a plausible motive for their forgery. Consequently the claim that they are post-Pauline, and contain matter which is un-Pauline, is to be treated with the greatest suspicion” (Zahn, op. cit., II, 118). 3. Difficulty Relative to Language: The third difficulty alleged against the Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles is connected with the language employed, which is said to be, to a large extent, different from that in the accepted epistles. The facts in regard to this matter are that in 1 Timothy there are 82 words not found elsewhere in the New Testament; in 2 Timothy there are 53 such words, and in Titus there are 33. But, while the total of such words in the three epistles is 168, this number, large though it appears, may be compared with the words used only once in the other Epistles of Paul. In Romans, 1 Corinthians, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians and Philemon, the words of this description are 627 in number. So nothing can be built upon the fact of the 168 peculiar words in the Pastoral Epistles, that can safely be alleged as proof against their Pauline authorship. The special subjects treated in these epistles required adequate language, a requirement and a claim which would not be refused in the case of any ordinary author. The objections to the Pauline authorship of the Pastorals, based upon the dissimilarity of diction in them and in Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, cease to exist when theory is no longer persisted in, that the nucleus of the Pastoral Epistles was composed during the Roman imprisonment, which, according to this theory ended, not in the apostle’s release, but in his execution. The fact that he was writing to intimate and beloved friends, both on personal matters and on the subject of church organization, and on that of incipient Gnosticism, which was troubling the churches of Asia Minor, made it essential that he should, to a large extent, use a different vocabulary. 4. Is There “Another Gospel” in the Pastorals?: The “most decisive” of all the arguments against the Pauline authorship is that “the Christianity of the Pastoral Epistles is not the Christianity of Paul” (McGiffert, A History of Christianity, 402). “For the most part,” Dr. McGiffert writes, “there is no trace whatever of the great fundamental truth of Paul’s gospel — death unto the flesh and life in the Spirit.” Now this is not so, for the passages which Dr. McGiffert himself gives in a footnote ( 2 Timothy 1:9-11; 2:11 ff; Titus 3:4-7), as well as other references, do most certainly refer to this very aspect of the gospel. For example, the passage in 2 Timothy 2 contains these words, “If we died with him (Christ), we shall also live with him.” What is this but the great truth of the union of the Christian believer with Christ? The believer is one with Christ in His death, one with Him now as He lives and reigns. The objection, therefore, which is “most decisive of all,” is one which is not true in point of fact. Dr. McGiffert also charges the author of the Pastoral Epistles as being “one who understood by resurrection nothing else than the resurrection of the fleshly body” (p. 430). The body of our Lord was raised from the dead, but how very unjust this accusation is, is evident from such a passage as 1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen of angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.” Charges of this nature are unsupported by evidence, and are of the kind on which Dr. A.S. Peake (A Critical Introduction to the New Testament, 71) bases his rejection of the Pauline authorship — except for a Pauline nucleus — that he “feels clear.” More than an ipse dixit of this sort is needed. The theory that the Pastoral Epistles are based upon genuine letters or notes of Paul to Timothy and Titus is thus advocated by Peake, McGiffert, Moffatt and many others. It bears very hard upon 1 Timothy. “In Timothy not a single verse can be indicated, which clearly bears the stamp of Pauline origin” (Peake, op. cit., 70). “We may fairly conclude then in agreement with many modern scholars that we have here, in the Pastoral Epistles, authentic letters of Paul to Timothy and Titus, worked over and enlarged by another hand” (McGiffert, op. cit., 405). In regard to Timothy he writes, “It is very likely that there are scattered fragments of the original epistle in 1 Timothy, as for instance in 1:23. But it is difficult to find anything which we can be confident was written by Paul” (p. 407). Dr. McGiffert also alleges that in the Pastoral Epistles, the word “faith” “is not employed in its profound Pauline sense, but is used to signify one of the cardinal virtues, along with love, peace, purity, righteousness, sanctification, patience and meekness.” One of the Pauline epistles, with which he contrasts the Pastorals, is the Epistle to the Galatians; and the groundlessness of this charge is evident from Galatians 5:22, where “faith” is included in the list there given of the fruit of the Spirit, along with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness and selfcontrol. If the Pastoral Epistles are the work of Paul, then, Dr. McGiffert concludes, Paul had given up that form of the gospel which he had held and taught throughout his life, and descended from the lofty religious plane upon which he had always moved, to the level of mere piety and morality (op. cit., 404). But this charge is not just or reasonable, in view of the fact that the apostle is instructing Timothy and Titus how to combat the views and practices of immoral teachers. Or again, in such a passage as Timothy 1:12-17 the King James Version, the author of the epistle has not descended from the lofty plane of faith to that of mere piety and morality, when he writes, “The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” If such be the “most decisive” objection against the Pauline authorship, the other difficulties, as already seen, need not cause alarm, for they resolve themselves into the equally groundless charges that the historical requirements of the epistles cannot be fitted into any part of Paul’s life, and that the doctrine and ecclesiastical organization do not suit the Apostolic age. These objections have been already referred to. The real difficulty, writes Dr. Peake (A Critical Introduction, 68), is that “the old energy of thought and expression is gone, and the greater smoothness and continuity in the grammar is a poor compensation for the lack of grip and of continuity in the thought.” Dr. Peake well and truly says that this statement does not admit of detailed proof. Lack of grip and lack of continuity of thought are not the characteristics of such passages as Timothy 1:9-17, a passage which will bear comparison with anything in the acknowledged Pauline Epistles; and there are many other similar passages, e.g. Titus 2:11 through 3:7. What must be said of the dullness of the intelligence of Christian men and of the Christian church as a whole, if they could thus let themselves be imposed upon by epistles which purported to be Paul’s, but which were not written by him at all, but were the enlargement of a Pauline nucleus? Can it be believed that the church of the 2nd century, the church of the martyrs, was in such a state of mental decrepitude as to receive epistles which were spurious, so far as the greater portion of their contents is concerned? And can it be believed that this idea, so recently originated and so destitute of proof, is andequate explanation of epistles which have been received as Pauline from the earliest times? When placed side by side with sub-apostolic writings like the Didache, Clement of Rome, Polycarp, and Ignatius, “it is difficult to resist the idea which returns upon one with almost every sentence that .... the Pastorals are astonishingly superior” (Moffatt, The Historical New Testament, 556). Godet, quoted by R.D. Shaw (The Pauline Epistles, 441), writes, “When one has had enough of the pious amplifications of Clement of Rome, of the ridiculous inanities of Barnabas, of the general oddities of Ignatius, of the well-meant commonplaces of Polycarp, of the intolerable verbiage of Hermas, and of the nameless platitudes of the Didache, and, after this promenade in the first decade of the 2nd century, reverts to our Pastoral Epistles, one will measure the distance that separates the least striking products of the apostolic literature from what has been preserved to us as most eminent in the ancient patristic literature.” In the case of some modern critics, the interpolation hypothesis “is their first and last appeal, the easy solution of any difficulty that presents itself to their imaginations. Each writer feels free to give the kaleidoscope a fresh turn, and then records with blissful confidence what are called the latest results. .... The whole method postulates that a writer must always preserve the same dull monotone or always confine himself to the same transcendental heights. .... He must see and say everything at once; having had his vision and his dream, he must henceforth be like a star and dwell apart. .... To be stereotyped is his only salvation. .... On such principles there is not a writer of note, and there never has been a man in public life, or a student in the stream of a progressive science, large parts of whose sayings and doings could not be proved to be by some one else” (Shaw, The Pauline Epistles, 483). 3. DATE AND ORDER. 1. Date of the Epistles: In regard to the date of these epistles, external and internal evidence alike go to show that they belong to practically the same period. The dates of their composition are separated from each other by not more than three or four years; and the dates of each and all of them must be close to the Neronic persecution (64 AD). If Paul was executed 67 AD (see Ramsay, Paul, 396), there is only a short interval of time between his release in or 62, and his death in 67, that is a period of some 5 or 6 years, during which his later travels took place, and when the Pastoral Epistles were written. “Between the three letters there is an affinity of language, a similarity of thought, and a likeness of errors combated, which prevents our referring any of them to a period much earlier than the others” (Zahn, Introduction, II, 37). 2. Their Order: The order in which they were written must have been 1 Timothy, Titus, Timothy. It is universally acknowledged that 2 Timothy is the very last of Paul’s extant epistles, and the internal evidence of the other two seems to point out 1 Timothy as earlier than Titus. To sum up, the evidence of the early reception of the Pastoral Epistles as Pauline is very strong. “The confident denial of the genuineness of these letters — which has been made now for several generations more positively than in the case of any other Pauline epistles — has no support from tradition. .... Traces of their circulation in the church before Marcion’s time are clearer than those which can be found for Romans and 2 Corinthians” (Zahn, op. cit., II, 85). The internal evidence shows that all three are from the hand of one and the same writer, a writer who makes many personal allusions of a nature which it would be impossible for a forger to invent. It is generally allowed that the personal passages in Timothy 1:15-18; 4:9-22 are genuine. But if this is so, then it is not possible to cut and carve the epistles into fragments of this kind. Objections dating only a century back are all too feeble to overturn the consistent marks of Pauline authorship found in all three epistles, corroborated as this is by their reception in the church, dating from the very earliest period. The Pastoral Epistles may be used with the utmost confidence, as having genuinely come from the hand of Paul. LITERATURE. R. D. Shaw, The Pauline Epistles; A. S. Peake, A Critical Introduction to the New Testament; A. C. McGiffert, A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age; Theodor Zahn, An Introduction to the New Testament; Marcus Dods,.Introduction to the New Testament; Weiss, Einleitung in das New Testament (English translation); C. J. Ellicott, A Critical and Grammatical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles; Patrick Fairbairn, The Pastoral Epistles; John Ed. Huther, Critical and Exegetical Handbook of the Epistles of Paul to Timothy and Titus; George Salmon, A Historical Introduction to the Study of the Books of the New Testament; James Moffatt, The Historical New Testament; Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament; Adolf Julicher, An Introduction to the New Testament; Caspar Rene Gregory, Canon and Text of the New Testament. The “lives” of Paul may also be consulted, as they contain much that refers to these epistles, i.e. those by Conybeare and Howson, Lewin, Farrar and others. See also Ramsay’s Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen. John Rutherfurd PASTURAGE; PASTURE <pas’-tur-aj > , <pas’-tur > . See SHEEP-TENDING. PATARA <pat’-a-ra > ([ta< Pa>tara, ta Patara ): A coast city of ancient Lycia, from which, according to Acts 21:1, Paul took a ship for Phoenicia. Because of its excellent harbor, many of the coast trading ships stopped at Patara, which therefore became an important and wealthy port of entry to the towns of the interior. As early as 440 BC autonomous coins were struck there; during the 4th and the 3rd centuries the coinage was interrupted, but was again resumed in 168 BC when Patara joined the Lycian league. Ptolemy Philadelphus enlarged the city, and changed its name to Arsinoe in honor of his wife. The city was celebrated not only as a trading center, but especially for its celebrated oracle of Apollo which is said to have spoken only during the six winter months of the year. Among the ruins there is still to be seen a deep pit with circular steps leading to a seat at the bottom; it is supposed that the pit is the place of the oracle. In the history of early Christianity, Patara took but little part, but it was the home of a bishop, and the birthplace of Nicholas, the patron saint of the sailors of the East. Though born at Patara, Nicholas was a bishop and saint of Myra, a neighboring Lycian city, and there he is said to have been buried. Gelemish is the modern name of the ruin. The walls of the ancient city may still be traced, and the foundations of the temple and castle and other public buildings are visible. The most imposing of the ruins is a triumphal arch bearing the inscription: “Patara the Metropolis of the Lycian Nation.” Outside the city walls many sarcophagi may be seen, but the harbor, long ago choked by sand, has been converted into a useless swamp. See also MAYA. E. J. Banks PATE <pat > ([ dqod]q; , qodhqodh ]): The word usually translated “crown,” “crown of the head” ( Genesis 49:26; Deuteronomy 28:35; 33:16,20; Samuel 14:25; Job 2:7; Isaiah 3:17; Jeremiah 2:16; 48:45) and “scalp” ( Psalm 68:21) is rendered “pate” in Psalm 7:16 in agreement with earlier English translators since Coverdale: “His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violence shall come down upon his own pate.” The reason for the choice of the word lies evidently in the desire to make the Hebrew parallelism with “head” (ro’sh ) apparent. The same object has, however, been achieved differently in another poetical passage ( Genesis 49:26 parallel Deuteronomy 33:16), namely, by the juxtaposition of “head” and “crown of the head.” H. L. E. Luering PATH; PATHWAY <path > , <path’-wa > ([ jr”ao , orach ], [ hb;ytin] , nethibhah ], etc.; [tri>bov, tribos ], [trocia>, trochia ]): (1) In the Old Testament. — In addition to its obvious literal sense (e.g. Genesis 49:17), it has very frequently a figurative meaning. (a) As applied to man, a course or manner of life: (i) man’s outward lot in life, his career or destiny, whether of the just man ( Isaiah 26:7) or of the ungodly ( Job 8:13); (ii) frequently in an ethical sense, of men’s conduct or inward life-purpose, whether it be good or evil (e.g. Proverbs 2:15), generally accompanied by a term defining the moral quality of the conduct, either an abstract noun (e.g. “the paths of uprightness,” Proverbs 2:13; 4:11; “the paths of justice,” Proverbs 2:8; Isaiah 40:14; “the paths of life,” Psalm 16:11; Proverbs 2:19), or a concrete adjective or noun (e.g. “crooked paths,” Isaiah 59:8; “the paths of the righteous,” Proverbs 2:20; 4:18). (b) The term is also applied to God either (i) of the methods of the Divine Providence, God’s dealings with men ( Psalm 25:10; 65:11), or (ii) of the principles and maxims of religion and morality divinely revealed to man (“Show me thy ways, O Yahweh, teach me thy paths,” Psalm 25:4; compare Isaiah 2:3). (2) In the Apocrypha we have the “paths” of Wisdom (tribos , Baruch 3:21,31); the “path” shown to men by the Law (semita , 2 Esdras 14:22); and a man’s “paths” (tribos , Tobit 4:10). (3) In the New Testament the word occurs only in Matthew 3:3 and parallel passages Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4 (of the forerunner’s work), and in Hebrews 12:13 (in the Old Testament ethical sense). Pathway occurs in Proverbs 12:28 (derekh nethibhah ) and The Wisdom of Solomon 5:10 (atrapos ). See WAY. D. Miall Edwards PATHEUS <pa-the’-us > ([ Paqai~ov, Pathaios ], [ Faqai~ov, Phathaios ]): One of the Levites who had married a foreign wife (1 Esdras 9:23) = “Pethahiah” of Ezra 10:23. PATHROS <path’-ros > ([ swOrt]P” , pathros ]; Egyptian Pata resii, the “South land”; Septuagint [gh~ Paqourh~v, ge Pathoures ]): The Hebrew form of the Egyptian name for Upper Egypt ( Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 44:1,15; Ezekiel 29:14; 30:14). PATHRUSIM <path-roo’-sim > , <path-ru’-sim > ([ ysirut]P” , pathruci ], “an inhabitant of Pathros”; Septuagint [oiJ Patrosw>nieim, hoi Patrosonieim ]): The branch of the Egyptians who came from PATHROS (which see). They are represented as begotten of Mizraim, “Mizraim begat Zudim. .... and Pathrusim” ( Genesis 10:13 f; 1 Chronicles 1:11 f). PATIENCE <pa’-shens > ([uJpomonh>, hupomone ], [makroqumi>a, makrothumia ]): “Patience” implies suffering, enduring or waiting, as a determination of the will and not simply under necessity. As such it is an essential Christian virtue to the exercise of which there are many exhortations. We need to “wait patiently” for God, to endure uncomplainingly the various forms of sufferings, wrongs and evils that we meet with, and to bear patiently injustices which we cannot remedy and provocations we cannot remove. The word “patience” does not occur in the Old Testament, but we have “patiently” in Psalm 40:1 as the translation of qawah , “to wait,” “to expect,” which word frequently expresses the idea, especially that of waiting on God; in Psalm 37:7, “patiently” (“wait patiently”) is the translation of qul , one of the meanings of which is “to wait” or “to hope for” or “to expect” (of Job 35:14); “patient” occurs ( Ecclesiastes 7:8) as the translation of ‘erekh ruach , “long of spirit,” and ( Job 6:11) “that I should be patient” (ha’arikh nephesh ). Compare “impatient” ( Job 21:4). “Patience” occurs frequently in the Apocrypha, especially in Ecclesiasticus, e.g. 2:14; 16:13; 17:24; 41:2 (hupomone ); 5:11 (makrothumia ); 29:8 (makrothumeo , the Revised Version (British and American) “long suffering”); in The Wisdom of Solomon 2:19, the Greek word is anexikakia . In the New Testament hupomone carries in it the ideas of endurance, continuance ( Luke 8:15; 21:19; Romans 5:3,4, the American Standard Revised Version “stedfastness”; 8:25, etc.). In all places the American Revised Version margin has “stedfastness,” except James 5:11, where it has “endurance”; makrothumia is translated “patience” ( Hebrews 6:12; James 5:10); makrothumeo , “to bear long” ( Matthew 18:26,29; James 5:7; See LONGSUFFERING); the same verb is translated “be patient” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:14, the Revised Version (British and American) “longsuffering”; James 5:7,8, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) “patient”); makrothumos , “patiently” ( Acts 26:3); hupomeno ( 1 Peter 2:20); anexikakos is translated “patient” ( 2 Timothy 2:4, the Revised Version (British and American), the King James Version margin, “forbearing”); epieikes , “gentle” ( 1 Timothy 3:3, the Revised Version (British and American) “gentle”); hupomeno ( Romans 12:12, “patient in tribulation”). For “the patient waiting for Christ” ( 2 Thessalonians 3:5), the Revised Version (British and American) has “the patience of Christ.” Patience is often hard to gain and to maintain, but, in Romans 15:5, God is called “the God of patience” (the American Revised Version margin “stedfastness”) as being able to grant that grace to those who look to Him and depend on Him for it. It is in reliance on God and acceptance of His will, with trust in His goodness, wisdom and faithfulness, that we are enabled to endure and to hope stedfastly. See also GOD. W. L. Walker PATMOS <pat’-mos > ([ Pa>tmov, Patomos ]; Italian: San Giovanni di Patino): A Turkish island of the group Sporades, Southwest of Samos, mentioned once in the Bible, Revelation 1:9, “I, John .... was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” ([dia< to LITERATURE.
Tozer, The Islands of the Aegean (1890), 178-95; Walpole, Turkey (London, 1820), II, 43; E.D. Clark, Travels (London, 1818), VI, 2; Ross, Reisen (Stuttgart, 1840), II; Guerin, Description de l’Ile de Patmos (Paris, 1856). J. E. Harry PATRIARCH; PATRIACHS <pa’-tri-ark > , [patria>rchv, patriarches ]). The word occurs in the New Testament in application to Abraham ( Hebrews 7:4), to the sons of Jacob ( Acts 7:8,9), and to David ( Acts 2:29). In Septuagint it is used as the equivalent of the head of the fathers’ house, or of a tribe ( Chronicles 24:31; 27:32; 2 Chronicles 26:12). Commonly now the term is used of the persons whose names appear in the genealogies and covenant-histories in the periods preceding Moses (Genesis 5; 11, histories of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.; compare “patriarchal dispensation”).
The problems connected with the longevity ascribed to the patriarchs in the genealogies and narratives in Genesis are dealt with in special articles. See ANTEDILUVIAN PATRIARCHS; ANTEDILUVIANS GENEALOGY.
James Orr PATRIARCHS, TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, IV, 1.
PATRIMONY <pat’-ri-mo-ni > ([ twOba;h; , ha-’abhoth ], “the fathers”): A word occurring once in English Versions of the Bible ( Deuteronomy 18:8), meaning literally, “the fathers,” which, however, is obscure, probably by reason of abbreviation for some phrase, e.g. “house of the fathers.” It may indicate “some private source of income possessed by the Levite (who has come up from a country district to the central sanctuary) distinct from what he receives as a priest officiating at the central sanctuary” (Driver, “Deuteronomy,” ICC, in the place cited.). Beyond this one occurrence of the word the same idea is conveyed often by other words or phrases: “He divided unto them his living” ( Luke 15:13); “Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me” ( Luke 12:13). Full and specific directions were given in the Law for the division of the patrimony (Numbers 27; Deuteronomy 21, etc.) and for its redemption ( Ruth 4:1-12). The idea was frequently used with figurative and spiritual application: the land of Canaan was Israel’s patrimony, being inherited from Yahweh ( <19A511> Psalm 105:11); salvation because of its origin in grace was the believer’s patrimony ( Galatians 3:26 through 4:7). Contrariwise Israel was Yahweh’s inheritance ( Isaiah 19:25; 63:14; compare Psalm 33:12; and the whole earth is the Messiah’s patrimony, inherited from His Eternal Father ( Psalm 2:8). See BIRTHRIGHT; FAMILY; INHERITANCE; PROPERTY.
Edward Mack PATROBAS <pat’-ro-bas > ([ Patro>bav, Patrobas ]): The name of a member of the Christian community at Rome to whom Paul sent greetings ( Romans 16:14). The name is an abbreviated form of “Patrobius.” There was a wealthy freedman of Nero of the same name who was put to death by Galba (Tacitus, History i.49; ii.95). The Patrobas of Paul may have been a dependent of his.
PATROCLUS <pa-tro’-klus > ([ Pa>troklov, Patroklos )]: The father of the Syrian general Nicanor (2 Macc 8:9).
PATTERN <pat’-ern > ([ tynib]T” , tabhnith ], “model,” [ ha,r]m” , mar’eh ], “a vision” or “view”): The Old Testament words translated “pattern” do not necessarily indicate a drawing such as a modern constructor begins with, or the patterns made from these drawings for the guidance of workmen. In Exodus 25:9,40 the word “idea” or “suggestion” would possibly indicate more distinctly than “pattern” what Moses received in regard to the building of the tabernacle, etc. It is doubtful if any architect’s drawing was ever made of the temple. It is not the custom in Palestine and Syria today to work from any pattern more concrete than an idea. A man who wants a house calls the builder and says he wants to build so many rooms of such and such dimensions with, for example, a court 10 drahs (arm’s lengths) wide and 15 drahs long, made of sandstone and plastered inside and out. With these meager instructions the builder starts. The details are worked out as the building proceeds. When a piece of iron or brass work is to be made, the customer by gestures with his hands outlines the form the piece should take. “I want it haik wa haik” (“thus and thus”), he says, and leaves the metal worker to conceive the exact form. It is probable that directions similar to these were given by David to Solomon. “Then David gave Solomon his son the pattern (his conception) of the porch of the temple,” etc. ( 1 Chronicles 28:11). The above does not apply to Greek and Roman work in Syria. Their workmen, probably mostly native, were trained to work from models. Williams in the Architect, January, 1913, says of the works at Baalbek and Palmyra, “There is a machine-like resemblance betokening slavish copying.” At the present time native workmen coming under the influence of foreigners are beginning to work from models and plans, but they show little tendency to create models of their own.
Three Greek words have been translated in the New Testament: [tu>pov, tupos ], “type,” occurs in Titus 2:7 and Hebrews 8:5. In the first instance the Revised Version (British and American) reads “ensample.” [uJpotu>pwsiv, hupotuposis ], “outline,” has been similarly translated in 1 Timothy 1:16, but “pattern” in 2 Timothy 1:13. In Hebrews 9:24 the American Standard Revised Version. [ajnti>tupov, antitupos ], is rendered “like in pattern.” [uJpo>deigma, hupodeigma ], the King James Version “pattern,” is translated in the American Standard Revised Version “copy” ( Hebrews 8:5), “copies” ( Hebrews 9:23). At the time of the translation of the King James Version the word “pattern” meant either the thing to be copied or the copy. James A. Patch PAU <pa’u > . See PAI.
PAUL, THE APOSTLE <pol > , 1. SOURCES. 1. The Acts: For discussion of the historical value of the Acts of the Apostles see the article on that subject. It is only necessary to say here that the view of Sir W.M. Ramsay in general is accepted as to the trustworthiness of Luke, whose authorship of the Acts is accepted and proved by Harnack (Die Apostelgeschichte, 1908; The Acts of the Apostles, translation by Wilkinson, 1909; Neue Untersuch. zur Ap., 1911; The Date of the Acts and of the Synoptic Gospels, translations by Wilkinson, 1911). The proof need not be given again. The same hand appears in the “we” sections and the rest of the book. Even Moffatt (Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament, 311) admits the Lukan authorship though dating it in AD instead of 60-62 AD, against Harnack. The Acts is written independently of the Epistles of Paul, whether early or late, and supplements in a wonderful way the incidental references in the epistles, though not without lacunae and difficulties. 2. The Thirteen Epistles: (1) Pauline Authorship.
See the articles on each epistle for detailed criticism. It is here assumed that the Epistle to the Hebrews was not written by Paul, though Pauline in point of view. One cannot stop to prove every statement in an article like this, else a large book would be needed. Criticism is not an infallible science.
One can turn easily from the Hatch-Van Manen article on “Paul” in Encyclopedia Biblica (1902) to the Maclean article on “Paul the Apostle” in the 1-vol HDB (1909). Van-Manen’s part of the one denies all the thirteen, while Maclean says: “We shall, in what follows, without hesitation use the thirteen epistles as genuine.” It is certain that Paul wrote more epistles, or “letters,” as Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East, 225) insists on calling all of Paul’s epistles. Certainly Philera is a mere “letter,” but it is difficult to say as much about Romans. Deissmann (St. Paul,22) admits that portions of Romans are like “an epistolary letter.” At any rate, when Moffatt (Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament, 64- 82) carefully justifies the Pauline authorship of both 1 and 2 Thessalonians, it is clear that the case against them cannot be very strong, especially as Moffatt stands out against the genuineness of Ephesians (op. cit., 393) and the Pastoral Epistles (p. 414).
Bartlet, who was once at a loss to know what to do with the Pastorals on theory that Paul was not released from the Roman imprisonment (Apostolic Age, 1899, 200), is now quite willing to face the new facts set forth by Ramsay (Expos, VII, viii-ix, VIII, i), even if it means the admission of a second Roman imprisonment, a view that Bartlet had opposed. He now pleads for “the fresh approach from the side of experience, by men who are in touch with the realities of human nature in all its variety, as well as at home in the historical background of society in the early Roman empire, that has renovated the study of them and taken it out of the old ruts of criticism in which it has moved for the most part in modern times” (Expos, January, 1913, 29). Here Bartlet, again, now eloquently presents the view of common-sense criticism as seen by the practical missionary better than by a life “spent amid the academic associations of a professor’s chair,” though he pauses to note as an exception Professor P. Gardner’s The Religious Experience of Paul (1912).
We may quote Bartlet once more (Expos, January, 1913, 30): “In the recovery of a true point of view a vital element has been the newer conception of Paul himself and so of Paulinism. Paul the doctrinaire theologian, or at least the prophet of a one-sided gospel repeated with fanatical uniformity of emphasis under all conditions, has largely given place to Paul the missionary, full indeed of inspired insight on the basis of a unique experience, but also of practical instinct, the offspring of sympathy with living men of other types of training. When the Pastorals are viewed anew in the light of this idea, half their difficulties disappear.” One need not adopt Deissmann’s rather artificial insistence on “letters” rather than “epistles,” and his undue depreciation of Paul’s intellectual caliber and culture as being more like Amos than Origen (St. Paul, 1912, 6), in order to see the force of this contention for proper understanding of the social environment of Paul. Against Van Manen’s “historical Paul” who wrote nothing, he places “the historic Paul” who possibly wrote all thirteen. “There is really no trouble except with the letters to Timothy and Titus, and even there the difficulties are perhaps not quite so great as many of our specialists assume” (St. Paul,15). See PASTORAL EPISTLES.
Deissmann denies sharply that Paul was an “obscurantist” who corrupted the gospel of Jesus, “the dregs of doctrinaire study of Paul, mostly in the tired brains-of gifted amateurs” (p. 4). But A. Schweitzer boldly proclaims that he alone has the key to Paul and Jesus. It is the “exclusively Jewish eschatological” (Paul and His Interpreters, 1912, ix), conception of Christ’s gospel that furnishes Schweitzer’s spring-board (The Quest of the Historical Jesus). Thus he will be able to explain “the Hellenization of the gospel” as mediated through Paul. To do that Schweitzer plows his weary way from Grotius to Holtzmann, and finds that they have all wandered into the wilderness. He is positive that his eschatological discovery will rescue Paul and some of his epistles from the ruin wrought by Steck and Van Manen to whose arguments modern criticism has nothing solid to offer, and the meager negative crumbs offered by Schweitzer ought to be thankfully received (ibid, 249). (2) Lightfoot’s Grouping. (Compare Biblical Essays, 224.) There is doubt as to the position of Galatians. Some advocates of the South-Galatian theory make it the very earliest of Paul’s Epistles, even before the Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15. So Eramet, Commentary on Galatians (1912), ix, who notes (Preface) that his commentary is the first to take this position. But the North Galatian view still has the weight of authority in spite of Ramsay’s powerful advocacy in his various books (see Historical Commentary on Galatians), as is shown by Moffatt, Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament, 90 ff. Hence, Lightfoot’s grouping is still the best to use. (a) First Group (1 and 2 Thessalonians): 1 and 2 Thessalonians, from Corinth, 52-53 AD. Harnack’s view that Thessalonians is addressed to a Jewish Christian church in Thessalonica while 1 Thessalonians is addressed to a Gentilechurch is accepted by Lake (Earlier Epistles of Paul, 1911, 83 ff) but Frame (ICC, 1912, 54) sees no need for this hypothesis. Milligan is clear that 1 Thessalonians precedes Thessalonians (Commentary, 1908, xxxix) and is the earliest of Paul’s Epistles (p. xxxvi). The accent on eschatology is in accord with the position of the early disciples in the opening chapters of Acts. They belong to Paul’s stay in Corinth recorded in Acts 18. (b) Second Group (1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans): 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, 55-58 AD. This is the great doctrinal group, the four chief epistles of Baur. They turn about the Judaizing controversy which furnishes the occasion for the expansion of the doctrine of justification by faith in opposition to the legalistic contention of the Judaizing Christians from Jerusalem ( Acts 15:1-3; Galatians 2:1-10). The dates of these epistles are not perfectly clear. Corinthians was written shortly before the close of Paul’s 3 years’ stay at Ephesus ( Acts 20:31; 1 Corinthians 16:8; Acts 20:1 f). Corinthians was written a few months later while he was in Macedonia (2:13; 7:5,13; 8:16-24). Romans was written from Corinth (16:23; Acts 20:2 f) and sent by Phoebe of Cenchrea ( Romans 16:1). The integrity of Romans is challenged by some who deny in particular that chapter belongs to the epistle Moffatt (Intro, 134-38) gives an able, but unconvincing, presentation of the arguments for the addition of the chapter by a later hand. Deissmann (St. Paul,19) calls Romans 16 “a little letter” addressed to the Christians at Ephesus. Von. Soden (History of Early Christian Literature, 78) easily justifies the presence of Romans 16 in the Epistle to the Romans: “These greetings, moreover, were certainly intended by Paul to create bonds of fellowship between the Pauline Christians and the Roman community, and to show that he had not written to them quite exclusively in his own name.” A common-sense explanation of Paul’s personal ties in Rome is the fact that as the center of the world’s life the city drew people thither from all parts of the earth. So, today many a man has friends in New York or London who has never been to either city. A much more serious controversy rages as to the integrity of Corinthians. Semler took 2 Corinthians 10 through 13 to be a separate and later ep., because of its difference in tone from 2 Corinthians 1 through 9, but Hausrath put it earlier than chapters 1 through 9, and made it the letter referred to in 2:4. He has been followed by many scholars like Schmiedel, Cone, McGiffert, Bacon, Moffatt, Kennedy, Rendall, Peake, Plummer.
Von Soden (History of Early Christian Literature, 50) accepts the partition-theory of 2 Corinthians heartily: “It may be shown with the highest degree of probability that this letter has come down to us in <471001> Corinthians 10:1 through 13:10.” But the unity of the epistle on theory that the change in tone is a climax to the disobedient element of the church is still maintained with force and justice by Klopper, Zahn, Bachmann, Denhey, Bernard, A. Robertson, Weiss, Menzies. The place of the writing of Galatians turns on its date. Lightfoot (in loc.) argues for Corinth, since it was probably written shortly before Romans. But Moffatt (Introduction, 102) holds tentatively to Ephesus, soon after Paul’s arrival there from Galatia. So he gives the order: Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans. In so much doubt it is well to follow Lightfoot’s logical argument. Galatians leads naturally to Romans, the one hot and passionate, the other calm and contemplative, but both on the same general theme. (c) Third group (Philippians, Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians):
Philippians, Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians. Date 61-63, unless Paul reached Rome several years earlier. This matter depends on the date of the coming of Festus to succeed Felix ( Acts 24:27). It was once thought to be 60 AD beyond any doubt, but the whole matter is now uncertain. See “Chronology,” III, 2, (2) , below. At any rate these four epistles were written during the first Roman imprisonment, assuming that he was set free.
But it must be noted that quite a respectable group of scholars hold that one or all of these epistles were written from Caesarea (Schultz, Thiersch, Meyer, Hausrath, Sabatier, Reuss, Weiss, Haupt, Spitta, McPherson, Hicks). But the arguments are more specious than convincing. See Hort, Romans and Ephesians, 101-10. There is a growing opinion that Philemon, Colossians and Ephesians were written from Ephesus during a possible imprisonment in Paul’s stay of 3 years there. So Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East, 229; Paul,16); Lisco (Vincula Sanctorum, 1900); M. Albertz (Theol. Studien und Kritiken, 1910, 551 ff); B. W. Bacon (Journal of Biblical Lit., 1910, 181 ff). The strongest argument for this position is that Paul apparently did not know personally the readers of Ephesians (1:15); compare also Colossians 1:4. But this objection need not apply if the so-called Ephesian Epistle was a circular letter and if Paul did not visit Colosse and Laodicea during his 3 years at Ephesus. The theory is more attractive at first than on reflection. It throws this group before Romans — a difficult view to concede.
But even so, the order of these epistles is by no means certain. It is clear that Philemon, Colossians and Ephesians were sent together. Tychicus was the bearer of Colossians (4:7 f) and Ephesians (6:21 f). Onesimus carried the letter to Philemon (1:10,13) and was also the companion of Tychicus to Colosse ( Colossians 4:9). So these three epistles went together from Rome. It is commonly assumed that Philippians was the last of the group of four, and hence later than the other three, because Paul is balancing life and death ( Philippians 1:21 ff) and is expecting to be set free ( Philippians 1:25), but he has the same expectation of freedom when he writes Philemon (1:22). The absence of Luke ( Philippians 2:20) has to be explained on either hypothesis. Moffatt (Introduction, 159) is dogmatic, “as Philippians was certainly the last letter that he wrote,” ruling out of court Ephesians, not to say the later Pastoral Epistles. But this conclusion gives Moffatt trouble with the Epistle to the Laodiceans ( Colossians 4:16) which he can only call “the enigmatic reference” and cannot follow Rutherford (St. Paul’s Epistles to Colosse and Laodicea, 1908) in identifying the Laodicean Epistle with Ephesians, as indeed Marcion seems to have done. But the notion that Ephesians was a circular letter designed for more than one church (hence, without personalities) still holds the bulk of modern opinion.
Von Soden (History of Early Christian Literature, 294) is as dogmatic as Wrede or Van Manen: “All which has hitherto been said concerning this epistle, its form, its content, its ideas, its presuppositions, absolutely excludes the possibility of a Pauline authorship.” He admits “verbal echoes of Pauline epistles” Lightfoot puts Philippians before the other three because of its doctrinal affinity with the second group in chapter 3 as a reminiscence, and because of its anticipation of the Christological controversy with incipient Gnosticism in chapter 2. This great discussion is central in Colossians and Ephesians. At any rate, we have thus a consistent and coherent interpretation of the group. Philemon, though purely personal, is wondrously vital as a sociological document. Paul is in this group at the height of his powers in his grasp of the Person of Christ. (d) Fourth Group (1 Timothy, Titus, 2 Timothy): 1 Timothy, Titus, 2 Timothy. The Pastoral Epistles are still hotly disputed, but there is a growing willingness in Britain and Germany to make a place for them in Paul’s life. Von Soden bluntly says: “It is impossible that these epistles as they stand can have been written by Paul” (History of Early Christian Literature, 310). He finds no room for the heresy here combated, or for the details in Paul’s life, or for the linguistic peculiarities in Paul’s style. But he sees a “literary nicety” — this group that binds them together and separates them from Paul. Thus tersely he puts the case against the Pauline authorship. So Moffatt argues for the “sub-Pauline environment” and “sub-Pauline atmosphere” of these epistles with the advanced ecclesiasticism (Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament, ff). Wrede thrusts aside the personal details and argues that the epistles give merely the tendency of early Christianity (Ueber Aufgabe und Metbode der Sogen. New Testament Theologie, 1897, 357). The Hatch- Van Manen article in Encyclopedia Biblica admits only that “the Pastoral Epistles occupy themselves chiefly with the various affairs of the churches within `Pauline circles.’ “ Moffatt has a vigorous attack on these letters in EB, but he “almost entirely ignores the external evidence, while he has nothing to say to the remarkable internal evidence which immediately demands our attention” (Knowling, Testimony of Paul to Christ, 3rd edition, 1911, 129). Moffatt (Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament, 414) holds that the Pastoral Epistles came from one pen, but the personality and motives are very vague to him. The personal details in 2 Timothy 1:14-18; 4:9-22 are not on a paragraph with those in The Acts of Paul and Thekla in the 2nd century. Many critics who reject the Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles admit the personal details in 2 Timothy, but it is just in such matters that forgeries are recognizable. To admit these fragments is logically to admit the whole (Maclean in 1-vol HDB), as Moffatt sees (Intro, 414), however much he seeks to tone down the use of Paul’s name as “a Christian form of suasoriae,” and “a further and inoffensive development of the principle which sought to claim apostolic sanction for the expanding institutions and doctrines of the early church” (ibid., 415).
The objection against these epistles from differences in diction has been grievously overdone. As a matter of fact, each of the four groups has words peculiar to it, and naturally so. Style is a function of the subject as well as a mark of the man. Besides, style changes with one’s growth. It would have been remarkable if all four groups had shown no change in no change in vocabulary and style. The case of Shakespeare is quite pertinent, for the various groups of plays stand more or less apart. The Pastoral Epistles belong to Paul’s old age and deal with personal and ecclesiastical matters in a more or less reminiscential way, with less of vehement energy than we get in the earlier epistles, but this situation is what one would reasonably expect. The “ecclesiastical organization” argument has been greatly overdone. As a matter of fact, “the organization in the Pastoral Epistles is not apparently advanced one step beyond that of the church in Philippi in 61 AD” (Ramsay, The Expositor, VII, viii, 17). The “gnosis” met by these epistles ( 1 Timothy 6:20; Titus 1:14) is not the highly developed type seen in the Ignatian Epistles of the 2nd century. Indeed, Bartlet (“Historic Setting of the Pastoral Epistles,” The Expositor, January, 1913, 29) pointedly says that, as a result of Hort’s “Judaistic Christianity” and “Christian Ecclesia” and Ramsay’s “Historical Commentary on the Epistles of Timothy” (Expos, VII, vii, ix, VIII, i), “one feels the subject has been lifted to a new level of reality and that much criticism between Baur and Julicher is out of date and irrelevant.” It is now shown that the Pastoral Epistles are not directed against Gnosticism of advanced type, but even of a more Jewish type ( Titus 1:14) than that in Colossians. Ramsay (Expos, VIII, i, 263) sweeps this stock criticism aside as “from the wrong point of view.” It falls to the ground. Lightfoot (“Note on the Heresy Combated in the Pastoral Epistles,” Biblical Essays, 413) had insisted on the Jewish character of the Gnosticism attacked here. As a matter of fact, the main objection to these epistles is that they do not fit into the story in Acts, which breaks off abruptly with Paul in Rome. But it is a false premise to assume that the Pastoral Epistles have to fit into the events in Acts.
Harnack turns the objection that Paul in Acts 20:26 predicted that he would never see the Ephesian elders again into a strong argument for the date of Luke’s Gospel before 2 Timothy 4:21 (The Date of Acts and Synoptic Gospels, 103). Indeed, he may not have revisited Ephesus after all, but may have seen Timothy at Miletus also ( 1 Timothy 1:3).
Harnack frankly admits the acquittal and release of Paul and thus free play for the Pastoral Epistles Blass (Acta Apostolorum, 24) acknowledges the Pastoral Epistles as genuine. So also Findlay, article “Paul,” in HDB; Maclean in 1-vol HDB; Denney in Standard BD. Sanday (Inspiration, 364) comments on the strength of the external evidence for the Pastoral Epistles. Even Holtzmann (Einl (3) , 291) appears to admit echoes of the Pastoral Epistles in the Ignatian Epistles Lightfoot (Biblical Essays, “Date of the Pastoral Epistles,” 399-437) justifies completely the acceptance of the Pauline authorship. Deissman (St. Paul,15) has a needed word: “The delusion is still current in certain circles that the scientific distinction of a Bible scholar may be estimated in the form of a percentage according to the proportion of his verdicts of spuriousness. .... The extant letters of Paul have been innocently obliged to endure again a fair share of the martyrdom suffered by the historic Paul.” See further PASTORAL EPISTLES. (3) Paul’s Conception of His Epistles Assuming, therefore, the Pauline authorship of the thirteen epistles, we may note that they, reveal in a remarkable way the growth in Paul’s apprehension of Christ and Christianity, his adaptation to varied situations, his grasp of world-problems and the eternal values of life. Paul wrote other epistles, as we know. In 1 Corinthians 5:9 there is a clear reference to a letter not now known to us otherwise, earlier than 1 Corinthians. The use of “every epistle” in 2 Thessalonians 3:17 naturally implies that Paul had written more than two already. It is not certain to what letter Paul refers in 2 Corinthians 2:4 — most probably to one between 1 and Corinthians, though, as already shown, some scholars find that letter in Corinthians 10 through 13. Once more Paul ( Colossians 4:16) mentions an epistle addressed to the church at Laodicea. This epistle is almost certainly that which we know as Ephesians. If not, here is another lost epistle. Indeed, at least two apocryphal Epistles to the Laodiceans were written to supply this deficiency. As early as 2 Thessalonians 2:2 forgers were at work to palm, off epistles in Paul’s name, “or by epistle as from us,” to attack and pervert Paul’s real views, whom Paul denounces. It was entirely possible that this “nefarious work” would be continued (Gregory, Canon and Text of the New Testament, 1907, 191), though, as Gregory argues, Paul’s exposure here would have a tendency to put a stop to it and to put Christians on their guard and to watch for Paul’s signature to the epistles as a mark of genuineness ( 2 Thessalonians 3:17; Corinthians 16:21; Galatians 6:11; Colossians 4:18). This was all the more important since Paul evidently dictated his letters to amanuenses, as to Tertius in the case of Romans 16:22. In the case of Philem 1:19, Paul probably wrote the whole letter. We may be sure therefore that, if we had the other genuine letters of Paul, they would occupy the same general standpoint as the thirteen now in our possession. The point to note here is that the four groups of Paul’s Epistles fit into the historical background of the Acts as recorded by Luke, barring the fourth group which is later than the events in Acts. Each group meets a specific situation in a definite region or regions, with problems of vital interest. Paul attacks these various problems (theological, ecclesiastical, practical) with marvelous vigor, and applies the eternal principles of the gospel of Christ in such fashion as to furnish a norm for future workers for Christ. It is not necessary to say that he was conscious of that use. Deissmann (St. Paul, f) is confident on this point: “That a portion of these confidential letters should be still extant after centuries, Paul cannot have intended, nor did it ever occur to him that they would be.” Be that as it may, and granted that Paul’s Epistles are “survivals, in the sense of the technical language employed by the historical method” (ibid., 12), still we must not forget that Paul attached a great deal of importance to his letters and urged obedience to the teachings which they contained: “I adjure you by the, Lord that this epistle be read unto all the brethren” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:27). This command we find in the very first one preserved to us. Once more note 2 Thessalonians 3:14: “And if any man obeyeth not our word by this ep., note that man, that ye have no company with him.” Evidently therefore Paul does not conceive his epistles as mere incidents in personal correspondence, but authoritative instructions for the Christians to whom they are addressed. In 1 Corinthians 7:17, “And so ordain I in all the churches,” he puts his epistolary commands on a paragraph with the words of Jesus quoted in the same chapter. Some indeed at Corinth ( Corinthians 10:9 f) took his “letters” as an effort to “terrify” them, a thing that he was afraid to do in person. Paul ( 2 Corinthians 10:11) does not deny the authority of his letters, but claims equal courage when he comes in person (compare 2 Corinthians 13:2,10). That Paul expected his letters to be used by more than the one church to which they were addressed is clear from Colossians 4:16: “And when this epistle hath been read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye also read the epistle from Laodicea.” If the letter to Laodicea is our Ephesians and a sort of circular letter (compare Galatians), that is clear. But it must be noted that Colossians, undoubtedly a specific letter to Colosse, is likewise to be passed on to Laodicea. It is not always observed that in 1 Corinthians 1:2, though the epistle is addressed “unto the church of God which is at Corinth,” Paul adds, “with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours.” Philemon is, of course, a personal letter, though it deals with a sociological problem of universal interest. The Pastoral Epistles are addressed to two young ministers and have many personal details, as is natural, but the epistles deal far more with the social aspects of church life and the heresies and vices that were threatening the very existence of Christianity in the Roman empire. Paul is eager that Timothy shall follow his teaching ( 2 Timothy 3:10 ff), and “the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” ( 2 Timothy 2:2). It is this larger view of the future of Christianity that concerns Paul very keenly.
The very conception of his ministry to the Gentiles ( Romans 15:16; Ephesians 3:7 ff) led Paul to feel that he had a right to speak to all, “both to Greeks and to Barbarians” ( Romans 1:14), and hence, even to Rome ( Romans 1:15 f). It is a mistake to limit Paul’s Epistles to the local and temporary sphere given them by Deissmann. (4) Development in Paul’s Epistles For Paul’s gospel or theology see later. Here we must stress the fact that all four groups of Paul’s Epistles are legitimate developments from his fundamental experience of grace as conditioned by his previous training and later work. He met each new problem with the same basal truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, revealed to Paul on the way to Damascus. The reality of this great experience must here be assumed (see discussion later). It may be admitted that the Acts does not stand upon the same plane as the Pauline Epistles as a witness concerning Paul’s conversion (Fletcher, The Conversion of Paul, 1910, 5). But even so, the Epistles amply confirm Luke’s report of the essential fact that Jesus appeared to Paul in the same sense that He did to the apostles and Christians ( 1 Corinthians 15:4-9). The revelation of Christ to Paul and in Paul ([ejn ejmoi>, en emoi ], Galatians 1:16) and the specific call connected therewith to preach to the Gentiles gave Paul a place independent of and on a paragraph with the other apostles ( Galatians 1:16 f; 2:1-10). Paul’s first preaching ( Acts 9:20) “proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son of God.” This “primitive Paulinism” (Sabatier, The Apostle Paul, 1893, 113) lay at the heart of Paul’s message in his sermons and speeches in Acts. Professor P. Gardner regards Luke as a “careless” historian (“The Speeches of Paul in Acts,” Cambridge Biblical Essays, 1909, 386), but he quite admits the central place of Paul’s conversion, both in the Acts and the Epistles (ib; compare also The Religious Experience of Paul).
We cannot here trace in detail the growth of Paulinism. Let Wernle speak (Beginnings of Christianity, 1903, I, 224) for us: “The decisive factor in the genius of Paul’s theology was his personal experience, his conversion on the road to Damascus.” This fact reappears in each of the groups of the Epistles. It is the necessary implication in the apostolic authority claimed in 1 Thessalonians 2:4-6; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:6,14. “We might have claimed authority as apostles of Christ” ( 1 Thessalonians 2:6). For the second group we need only refer to 1 Corinthians 9:1 f and 15:1-11, where Paul justifies his gospel by the fact of having seen the risen Jesus.
His self-depreciation in 15:9 is amply balanced by the claims in 15:10. See also 2 Corinthians 10 through 13 and Galatians 1 and 2 for Paul’s formal defense of his apostolic authority. The pleasantry in Romans 15:14 does not displace the claim in 15:16,23 f. In the third group note the great passage in Philippians 3:12-14, where Paul pointedly alludes to his conversion: “I was laid hold of by Jesus Christ,” as giving him the goal of his ambition, “that I may lay hold”; “I count not myself yet to have laid hold.” This concentration of effort to come up to Christ’s purpose in him is the key to Paul’s life and letters, “I press on toward the goal.” So the golden cord reappears in Ephesians 3:2-13: “How that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ.” In the fourth group he still recalls how Christ Jesus took pity on him, the blasphemer, the persecutor, the chief of sinners, and put him into the ministry, “that in me as chief might Jesus Christ show forth all his longsuffering, for an ensample of them that should thereafter believe on him unto eternal life” ( 1 Timothy 1:16). He kept up the fight to the end ( 2 Timothy 4:6 f), for the Lord Jesus stood by him ( 2 Timothy 4:17), as on the road to Damascus. So the personal note of experience links all the epistles together.They reveal Paul’s growing conception of Christ. Paul at the very start perceived that men are redeemed by faith in Jesus as the Saviour from sin through His atoning death, not by works of the Law ( Acts 13:38 f). In the first group there are allusions to the “work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” ( 1 Thessalonians 1:3). He speaks of “election” ( Thessalonians 1:4) and “our gospel” ( 1 Thessalonians 1:5) and the resurrection of Jesus ( 1 Thessalonians 1:10). The Father, Son and Spirit cooperate in the work of salvation ( 2 Thessalonians 2:13 f), which includes election, belief, sanctification, glorification. It is not necessary to press the argument for the conception of salvation by faith in Christ, grace as opposed to works, in the second group. It is obviously present in the third and the fourth. We seem forced to the view therefore that Paul’s experience was revolutionary, not evolutionary. “If we consider the whole history of Paul as it is disclosed to us in his letters, are we not forced to the conclusion that his was a catastrophic or explosive, rather than a slowly progressive personality?” (Garvie, Studies of Paul and His Gospel, 1911, 32). “His gospel was included in his conversion, and it was meditation that made explicit what was thus implicit in his experience” (same place) . This is not to say that there was no “spiritual development of Paul” (Matheson, 1890). There was, and of the richest kind, but it was a growth of expression in the successive application of the fundamental Christian conception. The accent upon this or that phase of truth at different stages in Paul’s career does not necessarily mean that the truth is a new one to him. It may simply be that the occasion has arisen for emphasis and elaboration.
In a broad generalization the first group of the epistles is eschatological, the second soteriological, the third Christological, and the fourth pastoral (Garvie, Studies of Paul and His Gospel,22). But one must not get the notion that Paul did not have a full gospel of salvation in the first group, and did not come to the true motive of the person of Christ as Lord till the second, or understand the pastoral office till the fourth. See emphasis on Paul’s work as pastor and preacher in 1 Thessalonians 2 (first group), and the Lordship of Christ also ( 1 Thessalonians 1:1,3; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:13 f), on a paragraph with the Father.
There was a change of accent in each group on questions of eschatology, but in each one Paul cherishes the hope of the second coming of Christ up to the very end when he speaks of his own death ( 2 Timothy 4:8,18).
Paul has a whole gospel of grace in all his epistles, but he presses home the special phase of truth needed at the moment, always with proper balance and modification, though not in the form of a system of doctrine. In the first group he relieves the minds of the Thessalonian Christians from the misapprehension into which they had fallen concerning his position on the immediate coming of Christ. In the second group Paul vindicates the gospel of grace from the legalistic addition of the Judaizers who sought to rob the Gentiles of their freedom by insisting that they become Jews as well as Christians. This ringing battle is echoed in Acts 15 and is the mightiest conflict of Paul’s career. We hear echoes of it in Philippians 3, but he had won his contention. In the third group the battle with error has shifted to the province of Asia, especially the Lycus Valley, where a mystic mixture of Judaism (Essenism) and heathen mystery-religions and philosophies (incipient Gnosticism) was so rife in the 2nd century (the various forms of Gnosticism which combined with some aspects of Christianity). It is possible also that Mithraism was already a foe of Christianity. The central position and essential deity of Jesus Christ was challenged by these new and world-old heresies, and Paul attacks them with marvelous skill in Colossians and Ephesians and works out in detail his teaching concerning the person of Christ with due emphasis on the soteriological aspects of Christ’s work and on Christian life. Bruce (St. Paul’s Conception of Christianity) conceives that Paul gives us his entire conception of Christianity in the four great epistles of the second group, while B. Weiss (Biblical Theology of the New Testament) sees a more developed doctrine in the third group. He is in his prime in both groups. In the fourth group the same struggle lingers on with variations in Crete and even in Ephesus.
The Jewish phase of the heresy is more decided (perhaps Pharisaic), and recalls to some extent the Judaistic controversy in the second group. Paul is older and faces the end, and Christianity has enemies within and without.
He turns to young ministers as the hope of the future in the propagation of the gospel of the happy God. The fires have burned lower, and there is less passion and heat. The tone is now fierce, now tender. The style is broken and reminiscent and personal, though not with the rush of torrential emotion in 2 Corinthians, nor the power of logic in Galatians and Romans.
Each epistle fits into its niche in the group. Each group falls into proper relation to the stage in Paul’s life and justly reveals the changes of thought and feeling in the great apostle. It is essential that one study Paul’s Epistles in their actual historical order if one wishes to understand the mind of Paul.
Scholars are not agreed, to be sure on this point. They are not agreed on anything, for that matter. See two methods of presenting Paul’s Epistles in Robertson, Chronological New Testament (1904), and Moffatt, Historical New Testament (1901). 2. MODERN THEORIES ABOUT PAUL. 1. Criticism Not Infallible: Findlay (HDB, “Paul”) utters a needed warning when he reminds us that the modern historical and psychological method of study is just as liable to prepossession and prejudice as the older categories of scholastic and dogmatic theology. “The focus of the picture may be displaced and its colors falsified by philosophical no less than by ecclesiastical spectacles” (same place). Deissmann (St. Paul,4 f) sympathizes with this protest against the infallibility of modern subjective criticism: “That really and properly is the task of the modern student of Paul: to come back from the paper Paul of our western libraries, Germanized, dogmatised, modernized, to the historic Paul; to penetrate through the `Paulinism’ of our New Testament theologies to the Paul of ancient reality.” He admits the thoroughness and the magnitude of the work accomplished in the 19th century concerning the literary questions connected with Paul’s letters, but it is a “doctrinaire interest” that “has gone farther and farther astray.”
Deissmann conceives of Paul as a “hero of piety first and foremost,” not as a theologian. “As a religious genius Paul’s outlook is forward into a future of universal history.” In this position of Deissmann we see a return to the pre-Baur time. Deissmann would like to get past all the schools of criticism, back to Paul himself. 2. The Tubingen Theory: Baur started the modern critical attitude by his Pastoralbriefe (1835, p. 79), in which he remarked that there were only four epistles of Paul (Galatians and 2 Corinthians, Romans) which could be accepted as genuine. In his Paulus (1845) he expounded this thesis. He also rejected the Acts. From the four great epistles and from the pseudo-Clementine literature of the 2nd century, Baur argued that Paul and Peter were bitter antagonists. Peter and the other apostles were held fast in the grip of the legalistic conception of Christianity, a sort of Christianized Pharisaism. Paul, when converted, had reacted violently against this view, and became the exponent of Gentile freedom. Christianity was divided into two factions, Jewish Christians (Petrinists) and Gentile Christians (Paulinists). With this “key” Baur ruled out the other Pauline epistles and Acts as spurious, because they did not show the bitterness of this controversy. He called them “tendency” writings, designed to cover up the strife and to show that peace reigned in the camp. This arbitrary theory cut a wide swath for 50 years, and became a fetich with many scholars, but it is now dead. “It has been seen that it is bad criticism to make a theory on insecure grounds, and then to reject all the literature which contradicts it” (Maclean in 1-vol HDB). Ramsay (The First Christian Century, 1911, 195) contends that the perpetuation of the Baur standpoint in Moffatt’s Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament is an anachronism: “We are no longer in the 19th century with its negations, but in the 20th century with its growing power of insight and the power of belief that springs therefrom.” Van Marten (Encyclopedia Biblica) calls the Baur view that of the “old guard” of liberal theology in Germany, Switzerland, France, Holland, and, to some extent, in Britain. 3. Protest against Baur’s View: But even in Germany the older conservative view of Paul has always had champions. The most consistent of the recent opponents of Baur’s views in Germany is Th. Zahn (compare his Einlin das New Testament, 2 volumes, 1897-99; Introduction to the New Testament, 3 volumes, 1910). In Britain the true successor of Lightfoot as the chief antagonist of the Tubingen School is Sir W.M. Ramsay, whose numerous volumes (Church in the Roman Empire, 1893; Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, 1895; Paul the Traveler, 1896; Pauline and Other Studies, 1906; Cities of Paul, 1908; Luke the Physician and Other Studies, 1908; Pictures of the Apostolic Church, 1910; The First Christian Century, 1911) have given the finishing touches to the overthrow of Baur’s contention. 4. Successors to Baur: But even so, already the Baur school had split into two parts. The ablest representatives, like H. J. Holtzmann, Pfleiderer, Harnack, Julicher, Lipsius, von Soden, were compelled to admit more of Paul’s Epistles as genuine than the four principal ones, till there are left practically none to fight over but Ephesians and the Pastoral Epistles. This progress eliminated completely Baur’s thesis and approached very nearly to the position of Lightfoot, Ramsay and Zahn. Von Soden (Early Christian Literature, 324) still stands out against 2 Thessalonians, but Harnack has deserted him on that point. But the old narrow view of Baur is gone, and von Soden is eloquent in his enthusiasm for Paul (ibid., 119): “As we gaze upon the great literary memorials of the Greeks we may well question whether these Pauline letters are not equal to them — indeed, do not surpass them — in spiritual significance, in psychological depths and loftiness of ideal, above all in the art of complete and forcible expression.” The other wing of Baur’s school Findlay (HDB) calls “ultra-Baurians.” It is mainly a Dutch school with Loman and Van Manen as its main exponents, though it has support in Germany from Steck and Volter, and in America from W. B.
Smith. These writers do not say that Paul is a myth, but that our sources (Acts and the 13 epistles) are all legendary. It is a relentless carrying of Baur’s thesis to a reductio ad absurdum. Van Manen (Encyclopedia Biblica) says of “the historical, Paul” as distinct from “the legendary Paul”: “It does not appear that Paul’s ideas differed widely from those of the other disciples, or that he had emancipated himself from Judaism or had outgrown the law more than they.” When one has disposed of all the evidence he is entirely free to reconstruct the pictures to suit himself. Quite arbitrarily, Van Manen accepts the “we”-sections in Acts as authoritative.
But these give glimpses of the historical Jesus quite as truly as the Pauline Epistles, and should therefore be rejected by advocates of the mythical Jesus. So the pendulum swings back and forth. One school destroys the other, but the fact of Paul’s personality remains. “The new start is one of such importance that we must distinguish the pre-Pauline from the post- Pauline Christianity, or, what amounts to the same thing, the Palestinian sect and the world-religion” (Wernle, Beginnings of Christianity, I, 159). 5. Appeal to Comparative Religion: In his Paulus (1904), Wrede finds the explanation of Paul’s theology in late Jewish apocalyptic views and in the oriental mystery religions. Bousset (Die Religion des Judenthums im New Testament Zeitalter, 1903) seeks to find in the “late Jewish apocalyptic” “conceptions from the Babylonian and the Irano-Zarathustrian religions” (Schweitzer, Paul and His Interpreters, 173). According to Wrede’s view, Paul is one of the creators of “Christ” as distinct from the Jesus of history (compare “Jesus or Christ,” HJ, suppl., January, 1909). “Wrede’s object is to overthrow the view predominant in modern theology, that Paul loyally and consistently expounded and developed theology of Jesus” (J. Weiss, Paul and Jesus, 1909, 2). J. Weiss in this book makes a careful reply to Wrede as others have done; compare A. Meyer, Jesus or Paul (1909), who concludes (p. 134) dramatically: “Paul — just one who points the way to Jesus and to God!” See also Julicher, Paulus und Jesus (1907); Kaftan, Jesus und Paulus (1906); Kolbing, Die geistige Einwirkung der Person Jesu und Paulus (1906). The best reply to Wrede’s arguments about the mystery-religion is found in articles in the The Expositor for 1912-13 (now in book form) by H.A.A.
Kennedy on “St. Paul and the Mystery-Religions.” The position of Wrede is carried to its logical conclusion by Drews (Die Christus-Mythe, 1909), who makes Paul the creator of Christianity. W. B. Smith (Der vorchristliche Jesus, 1906) tries to show that “Jesus” was a pre-Christian myth or god. Schweitzer (Paul and His Interpreters, 235) sums the matter up thus: “Drews’s thesis is not merely a curiosity; it indicates the natural limit at which the hypothesis advanced by the advocates of comparative religion, when left to its own momentum, finally comes to rest.” 6. The Eschatological Interpretation: Schweitzer himself may be accepted as the best exponent of the rigid application of this view to Paul (Paul and His Interpreters, 1912) that he had made to Jesus (The Quest of the Historical Jesus, 1910). He glories in the ability to answer the absurdities of Steck, Loman and Van Manen and Drews by showing that the eschatological conceptions of Paul in his epistles are primitive, not late, and belong to the 1st century, not to the 2nd (Paul and His Interpreters, 249). He thus claims to be the true pupil of Baur, though reaching conclusions utterly different. There is undoubtedly an element of truth in this contention of Schweitzer, but he loses his case, when he insists that nothing but eschatology must be allowed to figure. “The edifice constructed by Baur has fallen,” he proclaims (p. viii), but he demands that in its place we allow the “exclusively Jewish-eschatological” (p. ix) interpretation. There he slips, and his theory will go the way of that of Baur. C. Anderson Scott (“Jesus and Paul,” Cambridge Biblical Essays, 365) admits that Paul has the same eschatological outlook as Jesus, but also the same ethical interest. It is not “either ..... or,” but both in each case. See a complete bibliography of the “Jesus and Paul” controversy in J.
G. Machens’ paper on “Jesus and Paul” in Biblical and Theological Studies (1912, 547 f). As Ramsay insists, we are now in the 20th century of insight and sanity, and Paul has come to his own. Even Wernle (Beginnings of Christianity, I, 163) sees that Paul is not the creator of the facts: “He merely transmits historical facts. God — Christ — Paul, such is the order.”
Saintsbury (History of Criticism, 152) says: “It has been the mission of the 19th century to prove that everybody’s work was written by somebody else, and it will not be the most useless task of the 20th to betake itself to more profitable inquiries.” 3. CHRONOLOGY OF PAUL’S CAREER. 1. Schemes: There is not a single date in the life of Paul that is beyond dispute, though several are narrowed to a fine point, and the general course and relative proportion of events are clear enough. Luke gave careful data for the time of the birth of Jesus ( Luke 2:1 f), for the entrance of the Baptist on his ministry ( Luke 3:1 f), and the age of Jesus when He began His work ( Luke 3:23), but he takes no such pains in the Acts with chronology.
But we are left with a number of incidental allusions and notes of time which call for some discussion. For fuller treatment see CHRONOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Garvie (Life and Teaching of Paul, 1910, 181) gives a comparative table of the views of Harnack, Turner, Ramsay and Lightfoot for the events from the crucifixion of Christ to the close of Acts. The general scheme is nearly the same, differing from one to four years here and there. Shaw (The Pauline Epistles, xi) gives a good chronological scheme. Moffatt (Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament, 62 f) gives theories of 23 scholars:
Turner, “Chronology,” in HDB; Neteler, Untersuchung New Testament Zeitverhaltnisse, 1894; O. Holtzmann, New Testament Zeitgeschichte, 1895, changed in 2nd edition, 1906; Bartlet, Apostolic Age, xiii f; Cornely (compare Laurent), New Testament Studien; Harnack, Chron. d. altchristl.
Lit. bis Eusebius, 233-329; McGiffert, Apostolic Age, 164, 172; Zahn, Intro, III, 450 f; Ramsay, “The Pauline Chronology,” Pauline and Other Studies, 345 f; Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, 213-33; Wendt, Acts, 53-60, Meyer, Commentary; Renan, Paul; Bornemann, Thessalonians, 17 f, Meyer, Comm.; Clemen, Paulus, I, 411; Giffert, Student’s Life of Paul, 242-59; Weiss, Intro, I, 154 f; Sabatier, Paul,13 f; Julicher, Einl6, 31 f; Findlay, “Paul” in HDB; Farrar, Paul, Appendix; Belser, Theol.
Quartalschrift; Steinmann, Abfassungszeit d. Galatians, 169; Hoennicke, Die Chronologie des Paulus.
Let us look at the dates given by ten of this list:
Turner Bartlet Harnack McGiffert Zahn Conversion 35-36 31-32 30 31-32 1st visit to Jerusalem 38 34-35 33 34-45 2nd visit to Jerusalem 46 46 44 45 1st missionary tour 47 47 45 before 45 50-51 Meeting in Jerusalem 49 49 46-47 45 2nd missionary tour 49 49 46-47 46 3rd missionary tour 52 52 50 49 Arrest in Jerusalem 56 56 53-54 53 Arrival in Rome 59 59 56-57 56 Death of Paul 64-65 61-62 64 58 66-67 Ramsay Lightfoot Clemen Findlay Hoennicke Conversion 32 34 31 36 33-35 1st visit to Jerusalem 34 37 34 39 36-38 2nd visit to Jerusalem 45 45 .. .. 45-46 1st missionary tour 46-48 48 46 46 49?
Meeting in Jerusalem 50 51 48 49 50-52 2nd missionary tour 50-53 51 49-52 49 .. 3rd missionary tour 53-57 54 53-59 53 ..
Arrest in Jerusalem 57 58 59 57 ..
Arrival in Rome 60 61 62 60 60-62 Death of Paul 67 67 64 67 ..
This table shows very well the present diversity of opinion on the main points in Paul’s life. Before expressing an opinion on the points at issue it is best to examine a few details. Paul himself gives some notes of time. He gives “after 3 years” ( Galatians 1:18) as the period between his conversion and first visit to Jerusalem, though he does not necessarily mean 3 full years. In Galatians 2:1, Paul speaks of another visit to Jerusalem “after the space of 14 years.” Then again Luke quotes him as saying to the Ephesian elders at Miletus that he had spent “3 years” at Ephesus ( Acts 20:31). These periods of time all come before Paul’s last visit and arrest in Jerusalem, and they do not embrace all the time between his conversion and arrest. There is also another note of time in Corinthians 12:2, where he speaks in an enigmatic way of experiences of his “14 years” ago from the writing of this epistle from Macedonia on the third tour. This will take him back to Tarsus before coming to Antioch at the request of Barnabas, and so overlaps a bit the other “14” above, and includes the “3 years” at Ephesus. We cannot, therefore, add these figures together for the total. But some light may be obtained from further details from Acts and the Epistles. 2. Crucial Points: (1) The Death of Stephen.
Saul is “a young man” ( Acts 7:58) when this event occurs. Like other young Jews he entered upon his life as a rabbi at the age of thirty. He had probably been thus active several years, especially as he was now in a position of leadership and may even have been a member of the Sanhedrin ( Acts 26:10). Pontius Pilate was not deposed from his procuratorship till 36 AD, but was in a state of uneasiness for a couple of years. It is more probable, therefore, that the stoning of Stephen would take place after his deposition in the interregnum, or not many years before, when he would be afraid to protest against the lawlessness of the Jewish leaders. He had shown timidity at the death of Jesus,29 or 30 AD, but some of the forms of law were observed. So nothing decisive is here obtained, though 35 AD seems more probable than 32 or 33. (2) The Flight from Damascus.
Paul locates this humiliating experience ( 2 Corinthians 11:32 f) when “the governor under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes.”
Aretas the Arabian, and not the Roman, has now control when Paul is writing. The likelihood is that Aretas did not get possession of Damascus till 37 AD, when Tiberius died and was succeeded by Caligula. It is argued by some that the expression “the city of the Damascenes” shows that the city was not under the control of Aretas, but was attacked by a Bedouin chieftain who lay in wait for Paul before the city. That to me seems forced.
Josephus (Ant., XVIII, v, 3; vi, 3) at any rate is silent concerning the authority of Aretas over Damascus from 35-37 AD, but no coins or inscriptions show Roman rule over the city between 35 and 62 AD.
Ramsay, however (“The Pauline Chronology,” Pauline and Other Studies, 364), accepts the view of Marquardt (Romische Staatsalterth., I, 404 f) that it was possible for Aretas to have had possession of Damascus before 37 AD. The flight from Damascus is the same year as the visit to Jerusalem, Paul’s first after his conversion ( Acts 9:26; Galatians 1:18). If we knew the precise year of this event, we could subtract two or three years and reach the date of his conversion. Lightfoot in his Commentary on Galatians gives 38 as the date of this first visit to Jerusalem, and 36 as the date of the conversion, taking “after 3 years” in a free way, but in his Biblical Essays, 221, he puts the visit in 37 and the conversion in 34, and says “ `after 3 years’ must mean three whole years, or substantially so.” Thus we miss a sure date again. (3) The Death of Herod Agrippa I.
Here the point of contact between the Acts (12:1-4,19-23) and Josephus (Ant., XIX, viii) is beyond dispute, since both record and describe in somewhat similar vein the death of this king. Josephus says that at the time of his death he had already completed the 3rd year of his reign over the whole of Judea (Ant., XIX, viii, 2). He received this dignity soon after Claudius began to reign in 41 AD, so that makes the date 44 AD. He died after the Passover in that year (44) , for Peter was imprisoned by him during that feast ( Acts 12:3). But unfortunately Luke sandwiches the narrative about Herod Agrippa in between the visit of Barnabas and Saul to Jerusalem from Antioch ( Acts 11:29 f) and their return to Antioch ( Acts 12:25). He does not say that the events here recorded were exactly synchronous with this visit, for he says merely “about that time.”
We are allowed therefore to place this visit before 44 AD or after, just as the facts require. The mention of “elders” in Acts 11:30 instead of apostles (compare both in 15:4) may mean that the apostles are absent when the visit is made. After the death of James ( Acts 12:1 f) and release of Peter we note that Peter “went to another place” ( Acts 12:17). But the apostles are back again in Jerusalem in Acts 15:4 ff.
Lightfoot (Biblical Essays, 216) therefore places the visit “at the end of 44, or in 45.” Once more we slip the connection and fail to fix a firm date for Paul. It is disputed also whether this 2nd visit to Jerusalem according to Acts (9:26; 11:29 f) is the same as the “again” in Galatians 2:1. Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveler, 59) identifies the visit in Galatians 2:1 with that in Acts 11:29 f, but Lightfoot (Biblical Essays, 221) holds that it “must be identified with the third of the Acts” (15:4 ff). In Galatians 1 and 2 Paul is not recording his visits to Jerusalem, but showing his independence of the apostles when he met them in Jerusalem. There is no proof that he saw the apostles on the occasion of the visit in Acts 11:29 f. The point of Lightfoot is well taken, hut we have no point of contact with the outside history for locating more precisely the date of the visit of Galatians 2:1 and Acts 15:4 ff, except that it was after the first missionary tour of Acts 13 and 14. (4) The First Missionary Tour.
Sergius Paulus is proconsul of Cyprus when Barnabas and Saul visit the island ( Acts 13:7). The proconsul Paulus is mentioned in a Greek inscription of Soloi (Hogarth, Devia Cypria, 1889, 114) and Lucius Sergius Paulus in CIL, VI, 31, 545, but, as no mention of his being proconsul is here made, it is probably earlier than that time. The Soloi inscription bears the date 53 AD, but Sergius Paulus was not proconsul in 51 or 52. Hence, he may have been proconsul in 50 or the early part of 51 AD.It could not be later and may have been earlier. (5) The First Visit to Corinth.
The point to note here is that Gallio becomes proconsul of Achaia ( Acts 18:12). Paul has been apparently in Corinth a year and six months when Gallio appears on the scene ( Acts 18:11). Aquila and Priscilla had “lately come from Italy” ( Acts 18:2) when Paul arrived there. They had been expelled from Rome by the emperor Claudius ( Acts 18:2). On the arrival of Gallio the Jews at once accuse Paul before him; he refuses to interfere, and Paul stays on for a while and then leaves for Syria with Aquila and Priscilla ( Acts 18:18). Deissmann (St. Paul, Appendix, I, “The Proconsulate of L. Junius Gallio”) has shown beyond reasonable doubt that Gallio, the brother of Seneca, became proconsul of Achaia about July, 51 AD (or possibly 52). On a stone found at Delphi, Gallio is mentioned as proconsul of Achaia according to the probable restoration of part of the text. But the stone mentions the fact that Claudius had been acclaimed imperator 26 times. By means of another inscription we get the 27th proclamation as imperator in connection with the dedication of an aqueduct on August 1, 52 AD. So thus the 26th time is before this date, some time in the earlier part of the year. We need not follow in detail the turns of the argument (see Deissmann, op. cit.). Once more we do not get a certain date as to the year. It is either. the summer of 51 or 52 AD, when Gallio comes. And Paul has already been in Corinth a year and a half. But the terminus ad quem for the close of Paul’s two years’ stay in Corinth would be the early autumn of 52 AD, and more probably 51 AD. Hence, the 2 Thessalonian Epistles cannot be later than this date. Before the close of 52 AD, and probably 51, therefore must come the 2nd missionary tour, the conference at Jerusalem, the first missionary tour, etc. Deissmann is justified in his enthusiasm on this point. He is positive that 51 AD is the date of the arrival of Gallio. (6) Paul at Troas according to Acts 20:6 f.
On this occasion Luke gives the days and the time of year (Passover).
Ramsay figures (St. Paul the Traveler, 289 f) that Paul had his closing service at Troas on Sunday evening and the party left early Monday morning. Hence, he argues back to the Passover at Philippi and concludes that the days as given by Luke will not fit into 56, 58, or 59 AD, but will suit 57. If he is correct in this matter, then we should have a definite year for the last trip to Jerusalem. Lewin (Fasti Sacri, numbers 1856, 1857) reaches the same conclusion. The conclusion is logical if Luke is exact in his use of days in this passage. Yet Lightfoot insists on 58 AD but Ramsay has the advantage on this point. See Pauline and Other Studies, 352 f. (7) Festus Succeeding Felix.
When was Felix recalled? He was appointed procurator in 52 AD (Schurer, Jewish People in the Time of Christ, I, ii, 174). He was already ruler “many years” ( Acts 24:10) when Paul appears before him in Caesarea. He holds on “two years” when he is succeeded by Festus ( Acts 24:27). But in the Chronicle of Eusebius (Armenian text) it is stated that the recall of Felix took place in the last year of Claudius, or 54 AD. But this is clearly an error, in spite of the support given to it by Harnack (Chronologie d.
Paulus), since Josephus puts most of the rule of Felix in the reign of Nero (Ant., XX, viii, 1-9; BJ, II, xii, 8-14), not to mention the “many years” of Paul in Acts 24:10. But the error of Eusebius has now been explained by Erbes in his Todestage Pauli und Petri, and is made perfectly clear by Ramsay in Pauline and Other Studies, 349 ff. Eusebius over-looked the interregnum of 6 years between the death of Herod Agrippa I in 44 AD and the first year of Herod Agrippa II in 50 AD. Eusebius learned that Festus came in the 10th year of Herod Agrippa II. Counting from 50 AD, that gives us 59 AD as the date of the recall of Felix. This date harmonizes with all the known facts. “The great majority of scholars accept the date for Festus; but they confess that it is only an approximate date, and there is no decisive argument for it” (Ramsay, Pauline and Other Studies, 351). For minute discussion of the old arguments see Nash, article “Paul” in new Sch-Herz Enc; Schurer, Hist of the Jewish People, I, ii, 182 ff. But if Erbes and Ramsay are correct, we have at last a date that will stand. So then Paul sails for Rome in the late summer of 59 AD and arrives at his destination in the early spring (“had wintered,” Acts 28:11) of 60 AD. He had been “two whole years in his own hired dwelling” ( Acts 28:30) when Luke closes the Acts. On the basis of his release in 63 or early 64 and the journeyings of the Pastoral Epistles, Paul’s death would come by early summer of 68 before Nero’s death, and possibly in 67. On this point see later. We can now count back from 59 AD with reasonable clearness to as the date of Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem. Paul spent at least a year and three months ( Acts 19:8,10) in Ephesus (called in round numbers three years in Acts 20:31). It took a year for him to reach Jerusalem, from Pentecost ( 1 Corinthians 16:8) to Pentecost ( Acts 20:16). From the spring of 57 AD we thus get back to the end of 53 as the time of his arrival in Ephesus ( Acts 19:1). We have seen that Gallio came to Corinth in the summer of 51 AD (or 52), after Paul had been there a year and a half ( Acts 18:11), leaving ample time in either case for the journeys from Corinth to Ephesus, to Caesarea, to Jerusalem apparently ( Acts 18:21 f), and to Ephesus ( Acts 19:1) from the summer of 51 (or 52) we go back two years to the beginning of the 2nd missionary tour ( Acts 16:1-6) as 49 (or 50). The Jerusalem Conference was probably in the same year, and the first missionary tour would come in the two (or three) preceding years 47 and 48 (48-49). The stay at Antioch ( Acts 14:28) may have been of some length. So we come back to the end of 44 or beginning of for the visit to Jerusalem in Acts 11:29 f. Before that comes the year in Antioch with Barnabas (11:26), the years in Tarsus in Cilicia, the “three years” after the conversion spent mostly in Arabia ( Galatians 1:17 f), Paul’s first appearance at the death of Stephen ( Acts 7:58). These early dates are more conjectural, but even so the facts seem to indicate 35 AD as the probable year of Saul’s conversion. The year of his birth would then be between 1 and 5 AD, probably nearer 1. If so, and if his death was in 67 or 68 AD, his age is well indicated. He was “Paul the Aged” (Philem 1:9) when he wrote to Philemon from Rome in 61-63 AD. 4. HIS EQUIPMENT.
Ramsay chooses as the title of chapter ii, in his Paul the Traveler, the words “The Origin of Paul.” It is not possible to explain the work and teaching of Paul without a just conception of the forces that entered into his life. Paul himself is still woefully misunderstood by some. Thus, A.
Meyer (Jesus or Paul, 1909, 119) says: “In spite of all that has been said, there is no doubt that Paul, with his peculiar personality, with his tendency to recondite Gnostic speculation and rabbinic argument, has heavily encumbered the cause of Christianity. For many simple souls, and for many natures that are otherwise constituted than himself, he has barred the way to the simple Christianity of Jesus.” That is a serious charge against the man who claimed to have done more than all the other apostles, and rightly, so far as we can tell ( 1 Corinthians 15:10), and who claimed that his interpretation of Jesus was the only true one ( Galatians 1:7-9).
Moffatt (Paul and Paulinism, 1910, 70) minimizes the effect of Paulinism: “The majority of Paul’s distinctive conceptions were either misunderstood, or dropped, or modified, as the case might be, in the course of a few decades.” “Paulinism as a whole stood almost as far apart from the Christianity that followed it as from that which preceded it” (ibid., 73). “The aim of some scholars seems to be to rob every great thinker of his originality” (Garvie, Studies of Paul and His Gospel,1). Ramsay (Pauline and Other Studies, 3 ff) boldly challenges the modern prejudice of some scholars against Paul by asking, “Shall we hear evidence or not?” Every successive age must study afresh the life and work of Paul (ibid., 27) if it would understand him. Deissmann (St. Paul,3 f) rightly sees that “St. Paul is spiritually the great power of the apostolic age.” Hence, “the historian, surveying the beginnings of Christianity, sees Paul as first after Jesus.”
Feine (Jesus Christus und Paulus, 1902, 298) claims that Paul grasped the essence of the ministry of Christ “auf das tiefste.” I own myself a victim to “the charm of Paul,” to use Ramsay’s phrase (Pauline and Other Studies, 27). In seeking to study “the shaping influences” in Paul’s career (Alexander, The Ethics of Paul, 1910, 27), we shall be in error if we seek to explain everything by heredity and environment and if we deny any influence from these sources. He is what he is because of original endowments, the world of his day, and his experience of Christ Jesus. He had both essential and accidental factors in his equipment (Fairbairn, Studies in Religion and Theology, 1910, 469 f). Let us note the chief factors in his religious development. 1. The City of Tarsus: Geography plays an important part in any life. John the Baptist spent his boyhood in the hill country of Judea in a small town ( Luke 1:39) and then in the wilderness. Jesus spent His boyhood in the town of Nazareth and the country round. Both John and Jesus show fondness for Nature in all its forms. Paul grew up in a great city and spent his life in the great cities of the Roman empire. He makes little use of the beauties of Nature, but he has a keen knowledge of men (compare Robertson, Epochs in the Life of Paul,12). Paul was proud of his great city ( Acts 21:39). He was not merely a resident, but a “citizen” of this distinguished city. This fact shows that Paul’s family had not just emigrated from Judea to Tarsus a few years before his birth, but had been planted in Tarsus as part of a colony with full municipal rights (Ramsay, Paul the Traveler, 31 f). Tarsus was the capital of Cilicia, then a part of the province of Syria, but it had the title of metropolis and was a free city, urbs libera (Pliny, NH, v.27). To the ancient Greek the city was his “fatherland” (Ramsay, Cities of Paul, 1908, 90).
Tarsus was situated on the river Cydnus, and in a wide plain with the hill country behind and the snow-covered Taurus Mountains in the distance. It was subject to malaria. Ramsay (ibid., 117 ff) from Genesis 10:4 f holds that the early inhabitants were Greeks mingled with Orientals. East and West flowed together here. It was a Roman town also with a Jewish colony (ibid., 169 ff), constituting a city tribe to which Paul’s family belonged. So then Tarsus was a typical city of the Greek-Roman civilization.
The religions of the times all met there in this great mart of business. But it was one of the great seats of culture also. Strabo (xiv.6,73) even says that “Tarsus surpassed all other universities, such as Alexandria and Athens, in the study of philosophy and educational literature in general.” “Its great preeminence,” he adds, “consists in this, that the men of learning here are all natives.” Accordingly, he and others have made up a long list of distinguished men who flourished at Tarsus in the late autumn of Greek learning: philosophers — of the Academy, of the Epicurean and Stoic schools — poets, grammarians, physicians. At Tarsus, one might say, “you breathed the atmosphere of learning” (Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, 205). But Ramsay (Cities of Paul, 231 f) cautions us not to misunderstand Strabo. It was not even one of the three great universities of the world in point of equipment, fame, students from abroad, or general standing. It was not on a paragraph with Athens and Alexandria, except that “it was rich in what constitutes the true excellence and strength of a university, intense enthusiasm and desire for knowledge among the students and great ability and experience among some at least of the teachers” (ibid., 233). Strabo was very fond of Athenodorus, for instance. No students from abroad came to Tarsus, but they went from Tarsus elsewhere. But Philostratus represents Apollonius of Tyana as disgusted with the university and the town, and Dio Chrysostom describes Tarsus as an oriental and non- Hellenic town.
Ramsay speaks of Tarsus in the reign of Augustus as “the one example known in history of a state ruled by a university acting through its successive principals.” “It is characteristic of the general tendency of university life in a prosperous and peaceful empire, that the rule of the Tarsian University was marked by a strong reaction toward oligarchy and a curtailment of democracy; that also belongs to the oriental spirit, which was so strong in the city. But the crowning glory of Tarsus, the reason for its undying interest to the whole world, is that it produced the apostle Paul; that it was the one city which was suited by its equipoise between the Asiatic and the Western spirit to mold the character of the great Hellenist Jew; and that it nourished in him a strong source of loyalty and patriotism as the citizen of no mean city” (Ramsay, op. cit., 235). The city gave him a schooling in his social, political, intellectual, moral, and religious life, but in varying degrees, as we shall see. It was because Tarsus was a cosmopolitan city with “an amalgamated society” that it possessed the peculiar suitability “to educate and mold the mind of him who would in due time make the religion of the Jewish race intelligible to the Greek-Roman world” (ibid., 88). As a citizen of Tarsus Paul was a citizen of the whole world. 2. Roman Citizenship: It was no idle boast with Paul when he said, “But I am a Roman born” ( Acts 22:28). The chief captain might well be “afraid when he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him” ( Acts 22:29).
Likewise the magistrates at Philippi “feared when they heard that they were Romans” ( Acts 16:39), and promptly released Paul and Silas and “asked them to go away from the city.” “To the Roman his citizenship was his passport in distant lands, his talisman in seasons of difficulties and danger. It shielded him alike from the caprice of municipal law and the injustice of local magistrates” (Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, 203). As a citizen of Rome, therefore, Paul stood above the common herd. He ranked with the aristocracy in any provincial town (Ramsay, Paul the Traveler, 31). He would naturally have a kindly feeling for the Roman government in return for this high privilege and protection. In its pessimism the Roman empire had come to be the world’s hope, as seen in the Fourth Eclogue of Virgil (Ramsay, Cities of Paul,49). Paul would seize upon the Roman empire as a fit symbol of the kingdom of heaven. “Our citizenship is in heaven” ( Philippians 3:20); “Ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints” ( Ephesians 2:19). So he interprets the church in terms of the body politic as well as in terms of the Israelite theocracy ( Colossians 2:19). “All this shows the deep impression which the Roman institutions made on Paul” (Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, 205). Ramsay draws a striking parallel under the heading, “Paulinism in the Roman Empire” (Cities of Paul,70 ff). “A universal Paulinism and a universal Empire must either coalesce, or the one must destroy the other.” It was Paul’s knowledge of the Roman empire that gave him his imperialism and statesmanlike grasp of the problems of Christianity in relation to the Roman empire. Paul was a statesman of the highest type, as Ramsay has conclusively shown (Pauline and Other Studies, 49-100). Moffatt (Paul and Paulinism, 66) does say: “His perspective was not imperialistic,” but he shows thereby a curious inability to understand Paul. The vision of Paul saw that the regeneration of the empire could come only through Christianity. Ramsay strikingly shows how the emperor dreaded the spiritual upheaval in Paulinism and fought it steadily till the time of Constantine, when “an official Christianity was victorious, but Pauline Christianity had perished, and Paul was now a mere saint, no longer Paul but Paul, forgotten as a man or a teacher, but remembered as a sort of revivification of the old pagan gods” (Cities of Paul, 78). But, as Ramsay says, “it was not dead; it was only waiting its opportunity; it revived when freedom of thought and freedom of life began to stir in Europe; and it guided and stimulated the Protestants of the Reformation.” Suffer Ramsay once more (Pauline and Other Studies, 100): “Barbarism proved too powerful for the Greek-Roman civilization unaided by the new religious bond; and every channel through which that civilization was preserved or interest in it maintained, either is now or has been in some essential part of its course Christian after the Pauline form.”
Paul would show the Roman genius for organizing the churches established by him. Many of his churches would be in Roman colonies (Antioch in Pisidia, Philippi, Corinth, etc.). He would address his most studied epistle to the church in Rome, and Rome would be the goal of his ministry for many years (Findlay, HDB). He would show his conversance with Roman law, not “merely in knowing how to take advantage of his rights as a citizen, but also in the use of legal terms like “adoption” ( Galatians 4:5 f), where the adopted heir becomes son, and heir and son are interchangeable. This was the obsolete Roman law and the Greek law left in force in the provinces (compare Galatians 3:15). But in Romans 8:16 f the actual revocable Roman law is referred to by which “heirship is now deduced from sonship, whereas in Galatians sonship is deduced from heirship; for at Rome a son must be an heir, but an heir need not be a son (compare Hebrews 9:15 ff which presupposes Roman law and the revocability of a will)” (Maclean in 1-vol HDB). So in Galatians 3:24 the tutor or pedagogue presents a Greek custom preserved by the Romans.
This personal guardian of the child (often a slave) led him to school, and was not the guardian of the child’s property in Galatians 4:2. See Ramsay, Galatians, 337-93; Ball, Paul and the Roman Law, 1901, for further discussion. As a Roman, Paul would have “nomen and praenomen, probably taken from the Roman officer who gave his family civitas; but Luke, a Greek, had no interest in Roman names. Paulus, his cognomen, was not determined by his nomen; there is no reason to think he was an AEmilius” (Ramsay, Paul the Traveler, 31). It is probable, though not certain, that Paul spoke Latin (see Souter, The Expositor, April, 1911). He was at any rate a “Roman gentleman” (Findlay, HDB), as is shown by the dignity of his bearing before governors and kings and the respect accorded him by the proconsul Sergius Paulus, the procurator Porcius Festus, and the centurion Julius, whose prisoner he was in the voyage to Rome. His father, as a Roman citizen, probably had some means which may have come to Paul before the appeal to Rome, which was expensive (Ramsay, Paul the Traveler, 310 ff). Though a prisoner in Rome, he made Rome “his best vantage ground and his adoptive home,” and it was here that he rose to “his loftiest conceptions of the nation and destiny of the universal church” (Findlay, HDB) as “an ambassador in chains” ( Ephesians 6:20).
As a Roman citizen, according to tradition, he was beheaded with the sword and not subjected to crucifixion, the traditional fate of Simon Peter.
He saw the true pax Romana to be the peace that passeth all understanding ( Philippians 4:7; compare Rostron, The Christology of Paul, 1912, 19). 3. Hellenism: It is not possible “to specify all the influences that worked on Paul in his youth” (Ramsay, Cities of Paul, 79). We do not know all the life of the times. But he was subject to all that life in so far as any other Jewish youth was. “He was master of all the education and the opportunities of his time.
He turned to his profit and to the advancement of his great purpose all the resources of civilization” (Ramsay, Pauline and Other Studies, 285). I heartily agree with this conception of Paul’s ability to assimilate the life of his time, but one must not be led astray so far as Schramm who, in 1710, wrote Deuteronomy stupenda eruditione Pauli (“On the Stupendous Erudition of Paul”). This is, of course, absurd, as Lightfoot shows (Biblical Essays, 206). But we must not forget Paul lived in a Greek city and possessed Greek citizenship also (Ramsay, Paul the Traveler, 33). Certainly the Greek traits of adaptability, curiosity, alertness, the love of investigation were marked features of his character, and Tarsus afforded wide opportunity for the acquiring of these qualities (The Ethics of Paul,39). He learned to speak the vernacular koine like a native and with the ease and swing displayed by no other New Testament writer save Luke and the author of He. He has a “poet’s mastery of language,” though with the passion of a soul on fire, rather than with the artificial rules of the rhetoricians of the day (Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, 239 f).
Blass (Die Rhythmen der asianischen und romischen Kunstprosa, 1905) holds that Paul wrote “rhythmically elaborated artistic prose — a singular instance of the great scholar’s having gone astray” (Deissmann, Light, etc., 64). But there is evidence that Paul was familiar with the use of the diatribe and other common rhetorical devices, though he was very far from being tinged with Atticism or Asianism. It is certain that Paul did not attend any of the schools of rhetoric and oratory. Heinrici (Vorrede to 1 Corinthians. in Meyer’s Krit. exeget. Komm.) argues that Paul’s methods and expressions conform more nearly to the cynic and Stoic diatribe than to the rabbinical dialectic; compare also Wendland und Kern Philo u. d. kynischstoische Diatribe, and Hicks, “St. Paul and Hellenism” in Stud. Biblical, IV.
How extensive was his acquaintance with Greek literature is in doubt.
Lightfoot says: “There is no ground for saying that Paul was a very erudite or highly-cultivated man. An obvious maxim of practical life from Menander ( 1 Corinthians 15:33), a religious sentiment of Cleanthes repeated by Aratus, himself a native of Tarsus ( Acts 17:28), a pungent satire of Epimenides ( Titus 1:12), with possibly a passage here and there which dimly reflects some classical writer, these are very slender grounds on which to build the supposition of vast learning” (Biblical Essays, 206); but Lightfoot admits that he obtained directly or indirectly from contact with Greek thought and learning lessons far wider and more useful for his work than a perfect style or a familiar acquaintance with the classical writers of antiquity. Even so, there is no reason to say that he made his few quotations from hearsay and read no Greek books (compare Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament, 52). Certainly he knew the Greek Old Testament and the Jewish Apocrypha and apocalypses in Greek Garvie is only willing to admit that Paul had such knowledge of Greek literature and philosophy as any Jew, living among Greeks, might pick up (Life and Teaching of Paul,2), and charges Ramsay with “overstating the influence of the Gentile environment on Paul’s development” (Studies of Paul and His Gospel,8). Ramsay holds that it is quite “possible that the philosophical school at Tarsus had exercised more influence on Paul than is commonly allowed” (St. Paul the Traveler, 354). Tarsus was the home of Athenodorus. It was a stronghold of Stoic thought. “At least five of the most eminent teachers of that philosophy were in the university” (Alexander, Ethics of Paul,47). It is not possible to say whether Paul artended these or any lectures at the university, though it is hard to conceive that a brilliant youth like Saul could grow up in Tarsus with no mental stimulus from such a university. Carvie (ibid., 6) asks when Paul could have studied at the university of Tarsus. He was probably too young before he went to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel. But it is not probable that he remained in Jerusalem continuously after completing his studies till we see him at the death of Stephen ( Acts 7:58). He may have returned to Tarsus meanwhile and taken such studies. Another possibility is that he took advantage of the years in Tarsus after his conversion ( Acts 9:30; Galatians 1:21) to equip himself better for his mission to the Gentiles to which he had been called. There is no real difficulty on the score of time.
The world was saturated with Greek ideas, and Paul could not escape them. He could not escape it unless he was innocent of all culture. Ramsay sees in Paul a love of truth and reality “wholly inconceivable in a more narrow Hebrew, and wholly inexplicable without an education in Greek philosophy” (“St. Paul and Hellenism,” Cities of Paul,34). Paul exhibited a freedom and universalism that he found in the Greek thought of the time which was not so decayed as some think. For the discussion between Garvie and Ramsay see The Expositor, April and December, 1911.
Pfleiderer (Urchristenthum, Vorwort, 174-178) finds a “double root” of Paulinism, a Christianized Hellenism and a Christianized Pharisaism.
Harnack is more nearly correct in saying that “notwithstanding Paul’s Greek culture, his conception of Christianity is, in its deepest ground, independent of Hellenism.” The Hellenistic influence on Paul was relative and subordinate (Wendland, Die hell.-rom. Kultur in ihren Beziehungen zu Judenthum und Christenthum, 3te Aufl, 1912, 245), but it was real, as Kohler shows (Zum Verstandnis des Apostels Paulus, 9). He had a “Gr inheritance” beyond a doubt, and it was not all unconscious or subliminal as Rostron argues (Christology of Paul,17). It is true that in Athens the Stoics and Epicureans ridiculed Paul as a “picker up of learning’s crumbs” — Browning’s rendering (An Epistle) of [spermolo>gov, spermologos ].
Paul shows a fine scorn of the sophistries and verbal refinements of the mere philosophers and orators in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, but all the same he reveals a real apprehension of the true significance of knowledge and life.
Dr. James Adam (The Religious Teachers of Greece, 360) shows instances of “the real kinship of thought between Plato and Paul.” He does not undertake to say how it came about. He has a Platonic expression, [ta< dia< tou~ sw>matov, ta dia tou somatos ], in 2 Corinthians 5:10, and uses a Stoic and cynic word in 2 Corinthians 9:8, [aujta>rkeian, autarkeian ].
Indeed, there are so many similarities between Paul and Seneca in language and thought that some scholars actually predicate an acquaintance or dependence of the one on the other. It is far more likely that Paul and Seneca drew upon the common phrases of current Stoicism than that Seneca had seen Paul’s Epistles or knew him personally. Lightfoot has a classic discussion of the matter in his essay on “St. Paul and Seneca” in the Commentary on Philippians (see also Carr, “St. Paul’s Attitude to Greek Philosophy,” The Expositor, V, ix). Alexander finds four Stoic ideas (Divine Immanence, Wisdom, Freedom, Brotherhood) taken and glorified by Paul to do service for Christ (Ethics of Paul, 49-55). Often Paul uses a Stoic phrase with a Christian content. Lightfoot boldly argues (Biblical Essays, 207) that the later Greek literature was a fitter handmaid for the diffusion of the gospel than the earlier.
Paul as the apostle to the Greek-Roman world had to “understand the bearings of the moral and religious life of Greece as expressed in her literature, and this lesson he could learn more impartially and more fully at Tarsus in the days of her decline than at Athens in the freshness of her glory” (same place). Ramsay waxes bold enough to discuss “the Pauline philosophy of history” (Cities of Paul, 10-13). I confess to sympathy with this notion and find it in all the Pauline Epistles, especially in Romans.
Moffatt (Paul and Paulinism, 66) finds “a religious philosophy of history” in Romans 9 through 11, throbbing with strong personal emotion. Paul rose to the height of the true Christian philosopher, though not a technical philosopher of the schools. Deissmann (St. Paul,53) admits his language assigns him “to an elevated class,” and yet he insists that he wrote “large letters” ( Galatians 6:11) because he had “the clumsy, awkward writing of a workman’s hand deformed by toil” (p. 51). I cannot agree that here Deissmann understands Paul. He makes “the world of Paul” on too narrow a scale. 4. The Mystery-Religions: Was Paul influenced by Mithraism? H.A.A. Kennedy has given the subject very careful and thorough treatment in a series of papers in The Expositor for 1912-13, already mentioned (see II, 5, above). His arguments are conclusive on the whole against the wild notions of W.B. Smith, Der vorchristliche Jesus; J.M. Robertson, Pagan Christs; A. Drews, Die Christus-Mythe; and Lublinski, Die Entstehung des Christenrums aus der antiken Kultur. A magic papyrus about 300 AD has “I adjure thee by the god of the Hebrew Jesu” (ll. 3019 f), but Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East, 256) refuses to believe this line genuine: “No Christian, still less a Jew, would have called Jesus `the god of the Hebrews.’ “ Clemen (Primitive Christianity and Its non-Jewish Sources, 1912, 336) endorses this view of Deissmann and says that in the 1st century AD “one cannot speak of non-Jewish influences on Christology.” One may dismiss at once the notion that Paul “deified” Jesus into a god and made Him Christ under the influence of pagan myths. Certainly pagan idolatry was forced upon Paul’s attention at every turn. It stirred his spirit at Athens to see the city full of idols ( Acts 17:16), and he caught eagerly at the altar to an unknown god to give him an easy introduction to the true God ( Acts 17:23); but no one can read Romans 1 and 2 and believe that Paul was carried away by the philosophy of vain deceit of his time. He does use the words “wisdom” and “mystery” often in 1 Corinthians, Colossians, and Ephesians, and in Philippians 4:12, “I (have) learned the secret,” he uses a word employed in the mystic cults of the time. It is quite possible that Paul took up some of the phrases of these mystery-religions and gave them a richer content for his own purposes, as he did with some of the Gnostic phraseology (Pleroma , “fullness,” for instance). But Schweitzer (Paul and His Interpreters, 191 f) deals a fatal blow against the notion that the mystery-religions had a formative influence on Paul. He urges, with point, that it is only in the 2nd century that these cults became widely extended in the Roman empire. The dates and development are obscure, but it “is certain that Paul cannot have known the mystery-religions in the form in which they are known to us, because in this fully developed form they did not exist.” Cumont (Lea religions orientales dana le paganisme romain, 2nd edition, 1909 (ET)) insists repeatedly on the difficulties in the way of assuming without proof that Mithraism had any influence on Paul. But in particular it is urged that Paul drew on the “mysteries” for his notions of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as having magical effects. Appeal is made to the magical use of the name of Jesus by the strolling Jewish exorcists in Ephesus ( Acts 18:13 ff). Kirsopp Lake (Earlier Epistles of Paul, 233) holds that at Corinth they all accepted Christianity as a mystery-religion and Jesus as “the Redeemer-God, who had passed through death to life, and offered participation in this new life to those who shared in the mysteries which He offered,” namely, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. But Kennedy (Expos, December, 1912, 548) easily shows how with Paul baptism and the Lord’s Supper are not magical sacraments producing new life, but symbolic pictures of death to sin and new life in Christ which the believer has already experienced. The battle is still raging on the subject of the mystery-religions, but it is safe to say that so far nothing more than illustrative material has been shown to be true of Paul’s teaching from this source.
There is nothing incongruous in the notion that Paul knew as much about the mystery-religions as he did about incipient Gnosticism. Indeed the two things may have been to some extent combined in some places. A passage in Colossians 2:18 has long bothered commentators: “dwelling in the things which he hath seen,” or (margin) “taking his stand upon the things,” etc. Westcott and Hort even suspected an early error in the text, but the same word, [ejmbateu>w, embateuo ], has been found by Sir W.M. Ramsay as a result of investigations by Makridi Bey, of the Turkish Imperial Museum, in the sanctuary of Apollo at Claros, a town on the Ionian coast.
Some of the initiates here record the fact and say that being “enquirers, having been initiated, they entered” (embateuo ). The word is thus used of one who, having been initiated, enters into the life of the initiate (compare Independent, 1913, 376). Clearly, then, Paul uses the word in that sense in Colossians 2:18.
For further discussion see Jacoby, Die antiken Mysterienreligionen und das Christentum; Glover, Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire; Reitzenstein, Die hell. Mysterienreligionen; Friedlander, Roman Life and Manners under the Early Empire, III; Thorburn, Jesus Christ, Historical or Mythical.
M. Bruckner (Der sterbende und auferstehende Gottheiland in den orientalischen Religionen und ihr Verhaltnis zum Christentum, 1908) says: “As in Christianity, so in many oriental religions, a belief in the death and resurrection of a Redeemer-God (sometimes as His Son), occupied a central place in the worship and cult.” To this Schweitzer (Paul and His Interpreters, 193) replies: “What manipulations the myths and rites of the cults in question must have undergone before this general statement could become possible! Where is there anything about dying and resurrection in Mithra?” There we may leave the matter. 5. Judaism: Paul was Greek and Roman, but not “pan-Babylonian,” though he was keenly alive to all the winds of doctrine that blew about him, as we see in Colossians, Ephesians, and the Pastoral Epistles. But he was most of all the Jew, that is, before his conversion. He remained a Jew, even though he learned how to be all things to all men ( 1 Corinthians 9:22). Even though glorying in his mission as apostle to the Gentiles ( Ephesians 3:8), he yet always put the Jew first in opportunity and peril ( Romans 2:9 f). He loved the Jews almost to the point of death ( Romans 9:3). He was proud of his Jewish lineage and boasted of it ( 2 Corinthians 11:16-22; Acts 22:3 ff; 26:4 ff; Philippians 3:4-6). “His religious patriotism flickered up within his Christianity” (Moffatt, Paul and Paulinism, 66). Had he not been a Roman citizen with some Greek culture and his rich endowments of mind, he would probably not have been the “chosen vessel” for the work of Christ among the Gentiles (Garvie, Studies of Paul and His Gospel,15). Had he not been the thorough Jew, he could not have mediated Christianity from Jew to Greek. “In the mind of Paul a universalized Hellenism coalesced with a universalized Hebraism” (Ramsay, Cities of Paul,43). Ramsay strongly opposes the notion of Harhack and others that Paul can be understood “as purely a Hebrew.” So in Paul both Hebraism and Hellenism meet though Hebraism is the main stock. He is a Jew in the Greek-Roman world and a part of it, not a mere spectator. He is the Hellenistic Jew, not the Aramaic Jew of Palestine (compare Simon Peter’s vision on the house-top at Joppa, for instance).
But Paul is not a Hellenizing Jew after the fashion of Jason and Menelaus in the beginning of the Maccabean conflict. Findlay (HDB) tersely says: “The Jew in him was the foundation of everything that Paul became.” But it was not the narrowest type of Judaism in spite of his persecution of the Christians. He belonged to the Judaism of the Dispersion. As a Roman citizen in a Greek city he had departed from the narrowest lines of his people (Ramsay, Cities of Paul,47). His Judaism was pure, in fact, as he gives it to us in Philippians 3:5. He was a Jew of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. He was a Hebrew, of the seed of Abraham ( Corinthians 11:22). He shared in full all the covenant blessings and privileges of his people ( Romans 9:1-5), whose crowning glory was, that of them came Jesus the Messiah. He was proud of the piety of his ancestors ( 2 Timothy 1:3), and made progress as a student of Judaism ahead of his fellows ( Galatians 1:14). His ancestry was pure, Hebrew of the Hebrews. ( Philippians 3:5), and so his family preserved the native Palestinian traditions in Tarsus. His name Saul was a proof of loyalty to the tribe of Benjamin as his cognomen Paul was evidence of his Roman citizenship. In his home he would be taught the law by his mother (compare Galatians 1:14), as was true of Timothy’s mother and grandmother ( 2 Timothy 1:5). In Tarsus he would go to the synagogue also. We know little of his father, save that he was a Roman citizen and so a man of position in Tarsus and possibly of some wealth; that he was a tent-maker and taught his son the same trade, as all Jewish fathers did, whatever their rank in life; that he was a Pharisee and brought up his son as a Pharisee ( Acts 23:6), and that he sent the young Saul to Jerusalem to study at the feet of Gamaliel ( Acts 22:3). Paul always considered himself a Pharisee as distinct from the Sadducaic scepticism ( Acts 23:6). Many of the Pharisaic doctrines were identical with those of Christianity. That Paul did not consider himself a Pharisee in all respects is shown later by his conflict with the Judaizers (Galatians 2; Acts 15; Corinthians 10 through 13). Paul says that he was reared as a strict Pharisee ( Acts 26:5), though the school of Gamaliel (grandson of Hillel) was not so hard and narrow as that of Shammai. But all Pharisees were stricter than the Sadducees. So Jerusalem played an important part in the training of Saul ( Acts 22:3), as Paul recognized. He was known in Jerusalem as a student. He knew Aramaic as well as Greek (and Latin), and could speak in it so as to attract the attention of a Jewish audience ( Acts 22:2). Paul was fortunate in his great teacher Gamaliel, who was liberal enough to encourage the study of Greek literature. But his liberality in defending the apostles against the Sadducees in Acts 5:34-39 must not be misinterpreted in comparison with the persecuting zeal of his brilliant pupil against Stephen (7:58). Stephen had opened war on the Pharisees themselves, and there is no evidence that Gamaliel made a defense of Stephen against the lawless rage of the Sanhedrin. It is common for pupils to go farther than their teachers, but Gamaliel did not come to the rescue. Still Gamaliel helped Saul, who was undoubtedly his most brilliant pupil and probably the hope of his heart for the future of Judaism.
Harnack (History of Dogma, I, 94) says: “Pharisaism had fulfilled its mission in the world when it produced this man.” Unfortunately, Pharisaism did not die; in truth has never died, not even from Christianity.
But young Saul was the crowning glory of Pharisaism. An effort has recently been made to restore Pharisaism to its former dignity. Herford (Pharisaism, Its Aim and Method, 1912) undertakes to show that the Gospels have slandered Pharisaism, that it was the one hope of the ancient world, etc. He has a chapter on “Pharisaism and Paul,” in which he claims that Paul has not attacked the real Pharisaism, but has aimed his blows at an unreal creation of his own brain (p. 222). But, if Paul did not understand Pharisaism, he did not understand anything. He knew not merely the Old Testament in the Hebrew and the Septuagint translation, for he quotes from both, though usually from the Septuagint, but he also knew the Jewish Apocrypha and apocalypses, as is shown in various ways in his writings (see articles on these subjects). Schweitzer (Paul and His Interpreters) carries too far his idea that Paul and Jesus merely moved in the circle of Jewish eschatology. He makes it explain everything, and that it cannot do. But Paul does show acquaintance with some of these books.
See Kennedy, Paul’s Conception of the Last Things (1904), for a sane and adequate discussion of this phase of the subject. Pfleiderer pursues the subject in his Paulinism, as does Kabisch in his Eschatologie. So Sanday and Headlam use this source in their Commentary on Romans. Paul knew Wisd, also, a book from the Jewish-Alexandrian theology with a tinge of Greek philosophy (see Goodrick, Book of Wisd, 398-403; compare also Jowett’s essay on “St. Paul and Philo” in his Epistles of Paul). Paul knew how to use allegory ( Galatians 4:24) in accord with the method of Philo. So then he knew how to use the Stoic diatribe, the rabbinical diatribe and the Alexandrian allegory. “In his cosmology, angelology, and demonology, as well as eschatology, he remains essentially Jewish” (Garvie, Studies of Paul and His Gospel,17). When he becomes a Christian he will change many of his views, for Christ must become central in his thinking, but his method learned in the rabbinical schools remains with him (Kohler, Zum Verstandnis, etc., 7). Here, then, is a man with a wonderfully rounded culture. What of his mental gifts? 6. Personal Characteristics: Much as we can learn about the times of Paul (compare Selden, In the Time of Paul, 1900, for a brief sketch of Paul’s world), we know something of the political structure of the Roman world, the social life of the 1st century AD, the religious condition of the age, the moral standards of the time, the intellectual tendencies of the period. New discoveries continue to throw fresh light on the life of the middle and lower classes among whom Paul chiefly labored. And, if Deissmann in his brilliant study (St. Paul, A Study in Social and Religious History) has pressed too far the notion that Paul the tent-maker ranks not with Origen, but with Amos the herdman (p. 6, on p. 52 he calls it a mistake “to speak of Paul the artisan as a proletarian in the sense which the word usually bears with us”), yet he is right in insisting that Paul is “a religious genius” and “a hero of piety” (p. 6). It is not possible to explain the personality and work of a man like Paul by his past and to refer with precision this or that trait to his Jewish or Greek training (Alexander, Ethics of Paul,58). “We must allow something to his native originality” (same place) . We are all in a sense the children of the past, but some men have much more the power of initiative than others.
Paul is not mere “eclectic patchwork” (Bruce, Paul’s Conception of Christ, 218). Even if Paul was acquainted with Philo, which is not certain, that fact by no means explains his use of Philo, the representative Jew of the Hellenistic age. “Both are Jews of the Dispersion, city-dwellers, with marked cosmopolitan traits. Both live and move in the Septuagint Bible.
Both are capable of ecstatic and mystical experiences, and have many points of contact in detail. And yet they stand in very strong contrast to one another, a contrast which reminds us of the opposition between Seneca and Paul. .... Philo is a philosopher, Paul the fool pours out the vials of his irony upon the wisdom of the world” (Deissmann, Paul, 110). Deissmann, indeed, cares most for “the living man, Paul, whom we hear speaking and see gesticulating, here playful, gentle as a father, and tenderly coaxing, so as to win the hearts of the infatuated children — there thundering and lightning with the passionate wrath of a Luther, with cutting irony and bitter sarcasm on his lips” (ibid., 16 f). (1) Personal Appearance.
We have no reliable description of Paul’s stature and looks. The Acts of Paul and Thecla (section3) have a protraiture thus: “Baldheaded, bowlegged, strongly built, a man small in size, with meeting eyebrows, with a rather large nose, full of grace, for at times he looked like a man and at times he had the face of an angel,” and Ramsay (Church in the Roman Empire, 32) adds: “This plain and unflattering account of the apostle’s personal appearance seems to embody a very early tradition,” and in chapter xvi he argues that this story goes back to a document of the 1st century. We may not agree with all the details, but in some respects it harmonizes with what we gather from Paul’s Epistles Findlay (HDB) notes that this description is confirmed by “the lifelike and unconventional figure of the Roman ivory diptych, `supposed to date not later than the 4th century.’ “ (Lewin’s Life and Epistles of Paul, Frontispiece, and II, 211).
At Lystra the natives took Barnabas for Jupiter and Paul for Hermes, “because he was the chief speaker” ( Acts 14:12), showing that Barnabas had the more impressive appearance, while Paul was his spokesman. In Malta the natives changed their minds in the opposite direction, first thinking Paul a murderer and then a god because he did not die from the bite of the serpent ( Acts 28:4-6). His enemies at Corinth sneered at the weakness of his bodily presence in contrast to the strength of his letters ( 2 Corinthians 10:9 f). The attack was really on the courage of Paul, and he claimed equal boldness when present ( Corinthians 10:11 f), but there was probably also a reflection on the insignificance of his physique. The terrible bodily sufferings which he underwent ( 2 Corinthians 11:23-26) left physical marks ([sti>gmata, stigmata ], Galatians 6:17) that may have disfigured him to some extent.
Once his illness made him a trial to the Galatians to whom he preached, but they did not scorn him ( Galatians 4:14). He felt the frailty of his body as an earthen vessel ( 2 Corinthians 4:7) and as a tabernacle in which he groaned ( 2 Corinthians 5:4). But the effect of all this weakness was to give him a fresh sense of dependence on Christ and a new influx of divine power ( 2 Corinthians 11:30; 12:9). But even if Paul was unprepossessing in appearance and weakened by illness, whether ophthalmia, which is so common in the East ( Galatians 4:15), or malaria, or recurrent headache, or epilepsy, he must have had a tough constitution to have endured such hardship to a good old age. He had one infirmity in particular that came upon him at Tarsus ( 2 Corinthians 12:1-9) in connection with the visions and revelations of the Lord then granted him. The affliction seems to have been physical ([sko>loy th~| sarki>, skolops te sarki ], “a stake in the flesh” or “for the flesh”), and it continued with him thereafter as a messenger of Satan to buffet Paul and to keep him humble. Some think that this messenger of Satan was a demon that haunted Paul in his nervous state. Others hold it to be epilepsy or some form of hysteria superinduced by the visions and revelations which he had had. Compare Krenkel, Beitrage (pp. 47-125), who argues that the ancients looked with such dread on epilepsy that those who beheld such attacks would “spit out so as to escape the evil (compare modern knocking on wood”); compare qui sputatur morbus in Plautus (Captivi, iii.4, 17).
Reference is made to Galatians 4:14, [oujde< ejxeptu>sate, oude exeptusate ], “nor did ye spit out,” as showing that this was the affliction of Paul in Galatia. But epilepsy often affects the mind, and Paul shows no sign of mental weakness, though his enemies charged him with insanity ( Acts 26:24; 2 Corinthians 5:13; 12:11). It is urged in reply that Julius Caesar, Alfred the Great, Peter the Great, and Napoleon all had epilepsy without loss of mental force. It is difficult to think headache or malaria could have excited the disgust indicated in Galatians 4:14, where some trouble with the eyes seems to be indicated. The ministers of Satan ( 2 Corinthians 11:15) do not meet the requirements of the case, nor mere spiritual sins (Luther), nor struggle with lust (Roman Catholic, stimulus carnis). Garvie (Studies of Paul and His Gospel,65, 80) thinks it not unlikely that “it was the recurrence of an old violent temptation,” rather than mere bodily disease. “Can there be any doubt that this form of temptation is more likely to assail the man of intense emotion and intense affection, as Paul was?” But enough of what can never be settled. “St.
Paul’s own scanty hints admonish to caution” (Deissmann, Paul,63). It is a blessing for us not to know, since we can all cherish a close bond with Paul. Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveler, 37 ff) calls special attention to the look of Paul. He “fastened his eyes on” the man ( Acts 13:9; 14:9). He argues that Paul had a penetrating, powerful gaze, and hence, no eye trouble. He calls attention also to gestures of Paul ( Acts 20:24; 26:2).
There were artists in marble and color at the court of Caesar, but no one of them cared to preserve a likeness of the poor itinerant preacher who turned out to be the chief man of the age (Deissmann, Paul,58). “We are like the Christians of Colesage and Laodicea, who had not seen his face in the flesh” ( Colossians 2:1). (2) Natural Endowments.
In respect to his natural endowments we can do much better, for his epistles reveal the mind and soul of the man. He is difficult to comprehend, not because he conceals himself, but because he reveals so much of himself in his epistles. He seems to some a man of contradictions. He had a manysided nature, and his very humanness is in one sense the greatest thing about him. There are “great polar contradictions” in his nature. Deissmann (St. Paul,62 ff) notes his ailing body and his tremendous powers for work, his humility and his self-confidence, his periods of depression and of intoxication with victory, his tenderness and his sternness; he was ardently loved and furiously hated; he was an ancient man of his time, but he is cosmopolitan and modern enough for today. Findlay (HBD) adds that he was a man possessed of dialectical power and religious inspiration. He was keenly intellectual and profoundly mystical (compare Campbell, Paul the Mystic, 1907). He was a theologian and a man of affairs. He was a man of vision with a supreme task to which he held himself. He was a scholar, a sage, a statesman, a seer, a saint (Garvie, Studies in Paul and His Gospel, 68-84). He was a man of heart, of passion, of imagination, of sensibility, of will, of courage, of sincerity, of vivacity, of subtlety, of humor, of adroitness, of tact, of genius for organization, of power for command, of gift of expression, of leadership — “All these qualities and powers went to the making of Jesus Christ’s apostle to the nations, the master-builder of the universal church and of Christian theology” (Findlay, HDB; see Lock, Paul the Master Builder, 1905; and M. Jones, Paul the Orator, 1910).
I cannot agree with Garvie’s charge of cowardice (Life and Teaching of Paul, 173,) in the matter of the purifying rites ( Acts 21:23) and the dividing of the Sanhedrin ( Acts 23:6). The one was a mere matter of prudence in a nonessential detail, the other was justifiable skill in resisting the attack of unscrupulous enemies. One does not understand Paul who does not understand his emotional nature. He was “quick, impetuous, strenuous, impassioned” (Bevan, Paul in the Light of Today, 1912, 26).
His heart throbs through his epistles, and he loves his converts like a mother or a lover (Findlay, HDB) rather than a pastor. We feel the surging emotion of his great spirit in 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philippians, 2 Timothy in particular. He had the spiritual temperament and reaches his highest flights in his moments of rhapsody. He has elasticity and rebound of spirit, and comes up with the joy of victory in Christ out of the severest trials and disappointments. His ambition is great, but it is to serve Christ his Lord. He is a man of faith and a man of prayer. For him to live is Christ. He has a genius for friendship and binds men to him with hooks of steel — men like Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Luke, Titus (Speer, The Man Paul, 1900, 111 ff). He is not afraid to oppose his friends when it is necessary for the sake of truth, as with Peter ( Galatians 2:11 ff) and with Barnabas ( Acts 15:35 ff). “While God made Paul like the other apostles out of the clay whereof ordinary men are fashioned, yet we may say that He took extraordinary pains with his education” (Fairbairn, Studies in Religion and Theology, 471). If ever a man, full-blooded and open-eyed, walked the earth, it was Paul. It is a debatable question whether Paul was married or not. He certainly was not when he wrote ( 1 Corinthians 7:7; 9:5). But, if he was a member of the Sanhedrin when he cast his vote against the disciples ( Acts 26:10), as his language naturally means, then he had been married.
There is in Paul the gift of leadership in a marked degree. He, though young, is already at the head of the opposition to Stephen ( Acts 7:58), and soon drives the disciples out of Jerusalem. (3) Supernatural gifts.
He had his share of them. He had all the gifts that others could boast of at Corinth, and which he lightly esteemed except that of prophecy ( Corinthians 14:18-29). He had his visions and revelations, but would not tell what he had seen ( 2 Corinthians 12:1-9). He did the signs of an apostle ( 2 Corinthians 12:12-14). He had the power to work miracles ( 1 Corinthians 4:19-21) and to exercise discipline ( 1 Corinthians 5:4 f; 2 Corinthians 13:1-3). But what he cared for most of all was the fact that Jesus had appeared to him on the road to Damascus and had called him to the work of preaching to the Gentiles ( 1 Corinthians 15:8). 7. Conversion: No other element in the equipment of Paul is comparable in importance to his conversion. (1) Preparation.
It was sudden, and yet God had led Saul to the state of mind when it could more easily happen. True, Saul was engaged in the very act of persecuting the believers in Jerusalem. His mind was flushed with the sense of victory.
He was not conscious of any lingering doubts about the truth of his position and the justice of his conduct till Jesus abruptly told him that it was hard for him to kick against the goad ( Acts 26:14). Thus suddenly brought to bay, the real truth would flash upon his mind. In later years he tells how he had struggled in vain against the curse of the Law ( Romans 7:7 f). It is probable though not certain, that Paul here has in mind his experience before his conversion, though the latter part of the chapter may refer to a period later. There is difficulty in either view as to the “body of this death” that made him so wretched ( Romans 7:24). The Christian keeps up the fight against sin in spite of defeat ( Romans 7:23), but he does not feel that he is “carnal, sold under sin” ( Romans 7:14). But when before his conversion did Paul have such intensity of conviction? We can only leave the problem unanswered. His reference to it at least harmonizes with what Jesus said about the goad. The words and death of Stephen and the other disciples may have left a deeper mark than he knew.
The question might arise whether after all the Nazarenes were right. His plea for his conduct made in later years was that he was conscientious ( Acts 26:9) and that he did it ignorantly in unbelief ( 1 Timothy 1:13). He was not willfully sinning against the full light as he saw it. It will not do to say with Holsten that Saul was half convinced to join the disciples, and only needed a jolt to turn him over. He was “yet breathing threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” ( Acts 9:1), and went to the high priest and asked for letters to Damascus demanding the arrest of the disciples there. His temper on the whole is distinctly hostile to Christ, and the struggle against his course was in the subconscious mind. There a volcano had gathered ready to burst out.
It is proper to ask whether Paul had known Jesus in the flesh, but it is not easy to give a categorical reply. It is possible, though hardly likely, that Paul had come to Jerusalem to study when Jesus as a boy of 12 visited the temple, and so heard Jesus and the doctors. That could be true only in case Paul was born 5 or 6 BC, which is quite unlikely. It is possible again that Paul may have remained in Jerusalem after his graduation the school of Gamaliel and so was present in Jerusalem at the trial and death of Jesus.
Some of the ablest of modern scholars hold that Paul knew Jesus in the flesh. It will at once seem strange that we have no express statement to this effect in the letters of Paul, when he shows undoubted knowledge of various events in the life of Christ (compare Wynne, Fragmentary Records of Jesus of Nazareth, 1887). It is almost certain, as J. Weiss admits (Paul and Jesus,41), that in 1 Corinthians 9:1 Paul refers to the Risen Jesus.
The passage in 2 Corinthians 5:16 is argued both ways: “Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more.” J. Weiss (ibid., 41-55) argues strongly for the view that he knew Jesus in the flesh. But in the first clause of the sentence above Paul means by “after the flesh,” not acquaintance, but standpoint. It is natural to take it in the same way as applied to Christ. He has changed his viewpoint of Christ and so of all men.
Weiss pleads (ibid., p. 40), at any rate, that we have no word saying that “Paul had not seen Jesus in person.” It may be said in reply that the fact that Jesus has to tell Paul who He is ( Acts 9:5) shows that Paul did not have personal acquaintance with Him. But the question may be left in abeyance as not vitally important. He certainly had not understood Jesus, if he knew Him. (2) Experience.
Space does not, permit a discussion of this great event of Paul’s conversion at all commensurate with its significance. A literature of importance has grown up around it besides the lengthy discussions in the lives and theologies of Paul (see e.g. Lord Lyttleton’s famous Observations on Saul’s Conversion, 1774; Fletcher’s A Study of the Conversion of Paul, 1910; Gardner, The Religious Experience of Paul, 1911; Maggs, The Spiritual Experience of Paul). All sorts of theories have been advanced to explain on naturalistic grounds this great experience of Christ in the life of Paul. It has been urged that Paul had an epileptic fit, that he had a sunstroke, that he fell off his horse to the ground, that he had a nightmare, that he was blinded by a flash of lightning, that he imagined that he saw Jesus as a result of his highly wrought nervous state, that he deliberately renounced Judaism because of the growing conviction that the disciples were right. But none of these explanations explains. Mere prejudice against the supernatural, such as is shown by Weinel in his Paulus, and by Holsten in his able book (Zum Evangelium d. Paulus und Petrus), cannot solve this problem. One must be willing to hear the evidence. There were witnesses of the bright light ( Acts 26:13) and of the sound ( Acts 9:7) which only Paul understood ( Acts 22:9), as he alone beheld Jesus. It is claimed by some that Paul had a trance or subjective vision, and did not see Jesus with his eyes. Denney (Standard Bible Dictionary) replies that it is not a pertinent objection. Jesus ( John 21:1) “manifested” Himself, and Paul says that he “saw” Jesus ( 1 Corinthians 9:1), that Jesus “appeared” ( 1 Corinthians 15:8) to him. Hence, it was both subjective and objective. But the reality of the event was as clear to Paul as his own existence. The account is given 3 times in Acts (chapters 9; 22; 26) in substantial agreement, with a few varying details. In Acts 9 the historical narrative occurs, in Acts 22 Paul’s defense before the mob in Jerusalem is given, and in Acts 26 we have the apology before Agrippa. There are no contradictions of moment, save that in chapter 26 Jesus Himself is represented as giving directly to Paul the call to the Gentiles while in chapters 9 and 22 it is conveyed through Ananias (the fuller and more accurate account). There is no need to notice the apparent contradiction between Acts 9:7 and 22:9, for the difference in case in the Greek gives a difference in sense, hearing the sound, with the genitive, and not understanding the sense, with the accusative. Findlay (HBD) remarks that the conversion of Paul is a psychological and ethical problem which cannot be accounted for save by Paul’s own interpretation of the change wrought in him. He saw Jesus and surrendered to Him. (3) Effect on Paul.
His surrender to Jesus was instantaneous and complete: “What shall I do, Lord?” ( Acts 22:10). He could not see for the glory of that light ( Acts 22:11), but he had already seen “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” ( 2 Corinthians 4:6). The god of this world could blind him no longer. He had seen Jesus, and all else had lost charm for Paul. There is infinite pathos in the picture of the blind Saul led by the hand ( Acts 9:8) into Damascus. All the pride of power is gone, all the lust for vengeance. The fierceness of the name of Saul is well shown in the dread that Ananias has and the protest that he makes to the Lord concerning him ( Acts 9:10-14). Ananias doubtless thought that the Lord had made a strange choice of a vessel to bear the message of Christ to the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel ( Acts 9:15), but there was hope in the promise of chastisement to him ( Acts 9:16). So he went, and calls him “Brother Saul.” Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit, the scales fell from his eyes, he was baptized. And now what next? What did the world hold in store for the proud scion of Judaism who had renounced power, place, pride for the lowly Nazarene? He dared not go back to Jerusalem. The Jews in Damascus would have none of him now.
Would the disciples receive him? They did. “And he was certain days with the disciples that were at Damascus” ( Acts 9:19). Ananias vouched for him by his vision. Then Saul took his courage in his hands and went boldly into the synagogues and “proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son of God” ( Acts 9:20). This was a public committal and a proclamation of his new creed. There was tremendous pith and point in this statement from Saul.
The Jews were amazed ( Acts 9:21). This is the core of Paul’s message as we see in his later ministry (Acts 13; 17:3). It rests at bottom on Paul’s own experience of grace. “His whole theology is nothing but the explanation of his own conversion” (Stalker, Life of Paul,45). We need not argue (Garvie, Studies of Paul and His Gospel,51) that Paul understood at once the full content of the new message, but he had the heart of it right. 5. WORK. 1. Adjustment: There was evidently a tumult in Paul’s soul. He had undergone a revolution, both intellectual and spiritual. Before he proceeded farther it was wise to think through the most important implications of the new standpoint. Luke gives no account of this personal phase of Paul’s career, but he allows room for it between Acts 9:21 and 22. It is Paul who tells of his retirement to Arabia ( Galatians 1:17 f) to prove his independence of the apostles in Jerusalem. He did not go to them for instruction or for ecclesiastical authority. He did not adopt the merely traditional view of Jesus as the Messiah. He knew, of course, the Christian contention well enough, for he had answered it often enough. But now his old arguments were gone an4t he must work his way round to the other side, and be able to put his new gospel with clearness and force. He was done with calling Jesus anathema ( 1 Corinthians 12:3). Henceforth to him Jesus is Lord.
We know nothing of Paul’s life in Arabia nor in what part of Arabia he was. He may have gone to Matthew. Sinai and thought out grace in the atmosphere of law, but that is not necessary. But it is clear that Paul grew in apprehension of the things of Christ during these years, as indeed he grew to the very end. But he did not grow away from the first clear vision of Christ. He claimed that God had revealed His Son in him that he might preach to the Gentiles ( Galatians 1:16). He claimed that from the first and to the very last. The undoubted development in Paul’s Epistles (see Matheson, Spiritual Development of Paul, and Sabatier, The Apostle Paul) is, however, not a changing view of Christ that nullifies Paul’s “original Christian inheritance” (Kohler, Zum Verstandnis des Apostels Paulus, 13).
Pfieiderer (Influence of the Apostle Paul on the Development of Christianity, 3rd edition, 1897, 217) rejects Colossians because of the advanced Christology here found. But the Christology of Colossians is implicit in Paul’s first sermon at Damascus. “It is impossible to escape the conclusion that the significance and value of the Cross became clear to him almost simultaneously with the certainty of the resurrection and of the Messiahship of Jesus” (Garvie, Studies, etc., 57). The narrow Jew has surrendered to Christ who died for the sins of the world. The universal gospel has taken hold of his mind and heart, and it will work out its logical consequences in Paul. The time in Arabia is not wasted. When he reappears in Damascus ( Acts 9:22) he has “developed faith” (Findlay, HDB) and energy that bear instant fruit. He is now the slave of Christ. For him henceforth to live is Christ. He is crucified with Christ. He is in Christ. The union of Paul with Christ is the real key to his life. It is far more than a doctrine about Christ. It is real fellowship with Christ (Deissmann, Paul, 123). Thus it is that the man who probably never saw Christ in the flesh understands him best (Wernle, Beginnings of Christianity, I, 159). 2. Opposition: Saul had “increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews that dwelt in Damascus, proving that this is the Christ” ( Acts 9:22). Now he not merely “proclaims” as before ( Acts 9:20); he “proves.” He does it with such marvelous skill that the Jews are first confounded, then enraged to the point of murder. Their former hero was now their foe. The disciples had learned to run from Saul. They now let him down in a basket through the wall by night and he is gone ( Acts 9:23 ff). This then is the beginning of the active ministry of the man who was called to be a chosen vessel to Gentiles, kings, and Jews, There was no need to go back to the wilderness. He had gotten his bearings clearly now. He had his message and it had his whole heart. He had not avoided Jerusalem because he despised flesh and blood, but because he had no need of light from the apostles since “the divine revelation so completely absorbed his interest and attention” (Garvie, Life and Teaching of Paul,33). No door was open as yet among the Gentiles. Sooner or later he must go to Jerusalem and confer with the leaders there if he was to cooperate with them in the evangelization of the world. Saul knew that he would be an object of suspicion to the disciples in Jerusalem. That was inevitable in view of the past. It was best to go, but he did not wish to ask any favors of the apostles. Indeed he went in particular “to visit Cephas” (margin, “to become acquainted with” Galatians 1:18). They knew each other, of course, as opponents. But Saul comes now with the olive branch to his old enemy. He expressly explains ( Galatians 1:19) that he saw no other apostle. He did see James, the Lord’s brother, who was not one of the Twelve. It seems that at first Peter and James were both afraid of Saul ( Acts 9:26), “not believing that he was a disciple.” If a report came 3 years before of the doings at Damascus, they had discounted it. All had been quiet, and now Saul suddenly appears in Jerusalem in a new role. It was, they feared, just a ruse to complete his work of old. But for Barnabas, Saul might not have had that visit of 15 days with Peter. Barnabas was a Hellenist of Cyprus and believed Saul’s story and stood by him. Thus, he had his opportunity to preach the gospel in Jerusalem, perhaps in the very synagogues in which he had heard Stephen, and now he is taking Stephen’s place and is disputing against the Grecian Jews ( Acts 9:29). He had days of blessed fellowship ( Acts 9:28) with the disciples, till the Grecian Jews sought to kill him as Saul had helped to do to Stephen ( Acts 9:29). It was a repetition of Damascus, but Saul did not wish to run again so soon. He protested to the Lord Jesus, who spoke in a vision to him, and recalls the fate of Stephen, but Jesus bids him go: “For I will send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles” ( Acts 22:17-21). One martyr like Stephen is enough. So the brethren took him down to Caesarea ( Acts 9:30). It was an ominous beginning for a ministry with so clear a call.
Where can he go now? 3. Waiting: They “sent him forth to Tarsus” ( Acts 9:30). Who would welcome him there? At Jerusalem he apparently avoided Gamaliel and the Sanhedrin. He was with the Christians and preached to the Hellenistic Jews. The Jews regarded him as a turncoat, a renegade Jew. There were apparently no Christians in Tarsus, unless some of the disciples driven from Jerusalem by Saul himself went that far, as they did go to Antioch ( Acts 11:19 f). But Saul was not idle, for he speaks himself of his activity in the regions of Syria and Cilicia during this “period of obscurity” (Denney, Standard Bible Dict.) as a thing known to the churches of Judea ( Galatians 1:21 f). He was not idle then. The way was not yet opened for formal entrance upon the missionary enterprise, but Saul was not the man to do nothing at home because of that. If they would not hear him at Damascus and Jerusalem, they would in the regions of Syria and Cilicia, his home province. We are left in doubt at first whether Paul preached only to Jews or to Gentiles also. He had the specific call to preach to the Gentiles, and there is no reason why he should not have done so in this province, preaching to the Jews first as he did afterward. He did not have the scruples of Simon Peter to overcome. When he appears at Antioch with Barnabas, he seems to take hold like an old hand at the business. It is quite probable, therefore, that this obscure ministry of some 8 or 10 years may have had more results than we know. Paul apparently felt that he had done his work in that region, for outside of Antioch he gives no time to it except that in starting out on the second tour from Antioch “he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches” ( Acts 15:41), churches probably the fruit of this early ministry and apparently containing Gentiles also. The letter from the Jerusalem conference was addressed to “the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia” ( Acts 15:23). Cilicia was now part of the Roman province of Syria. So then we conclude that Saul had a Gentileministry in this region. “Independently, under no human master, he learned his business as a missionary to the heathen” (Findlay, HDB). One can but wonder whether Saul was kindly received at home by his father and mother. They had looked upon him with pride as the possible successor of Gamaliel, and now he is a follower of the despised Nazarene and a preacher of the Cross. It is possible that his own exhortations to fathers not to provoke their children to wrath ( Ephesians 6:4) may imply that his own father had cast him out at this time. Findlay (HDB) argues that Saul would not have remained in this region so long if his home relations had been altogether hostile. It is a severe test of character when the doors close against one. But Saul turned defeat to glorious gain. 4. Opportunity: Most scholars hold that the ecstatic experience told by Paul in <471201> Corinthians 12:1-9 took place before he came to Antioch. If we count the years strictly, 14 from 56 AD would bring us to 42 AD. Paul had spent a year in Antioch before going up to Jerusalem ( Acts 11:29 f). Findlay (HDB) thinks that Paul had the visions before he received the call to come to Antioch. Garvie (Life and Teaching of Paul,41) holds he received the call first. “Such a mood of exaltation would account for the vision to which he refers in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4.” At any rate he had the vision with its exaltation and the thorn in the flesh with its humiliation before he came to Antioch in response to the invitation of Barnabas. He had undoubtedly had a measure of success in his work in Cilicia and Syria. He had the seal of the divine blessing on his work among the Gentiles. But there was a pang of disappointment over the attitude of the Jerusalem church toward his work.
He was apparently left alone to his own resources. “Only such a feeling of disappointment can explain the tone of his references to his relations to the apostles ( Galatians 1:11-24)” (Garvie, Life and Teaching of Paul,41).
There is no bitterness in this tone — but puzzled surprise. It seems that the 12 apostles are more or less absent from Jerusalem during this period with James the brother of the Lord Jesus as chief elder. A narrow Pharisaic element in the church was active and sought to shape the policy of the church in its attitude toward the Gentiles. This is clear in the treatment of Peter, when he returned to Jerusalem after the experience at Caesarea with Cornelius ( Acts 11:1-18). There was acquiescence, but with the notion that this was an exceptional case of the Lord’s doing. Hence, they show concern over the spread of the gospel to the Greeks at Antioch, and send Barnabas to investigate and report ( Acts 11:19-22). Barnabas was a Hellenist, and evidently did not share the narrow views of the Pharisaic party in the church at Jerusalem ( Acts 11:2), for he was glad ( Acts 11:23 f) of the work in Antioch. Probably mindful of the discipline attempted on Simon Peter, he refrained from going back at once to Jerusalem. Moreover, he believed in Saul and his work, and thus he gave him his great opportunity at Antioch. They had there a year’s blessed work together ( Acts 11:25 ff). So great was the outcome that the disciples received a new name to distinguish them from the Gentiles and the Jews.
But the term “Christian” did not become general for a long time. There was then a great Greek church at Antioch, possibly equal in size to the Jewish church in Jerusalem. The prophecy by Agabus of a famine gave Barnabas and Saul a good excuse for a visit to Jerusalem with a general collection — “every man according to his ability” — from the Greek church for the relief of the poverty in the Jerusalem church. Barnabas had assisted generously in a similar strain in the beginning of the work there ( Acts 4:36 f), unless it was a different Barnabas, which is unlikely. This contribution would help the Jerusalem saints to understand now that the Greeks were really converted. It was apparently successful according to the record in Acts. The apostles seem to have been absent, since only “elders” are mentioned in 11:30.
The incidents in Acts 12, as already noted, are probably not contemporaneous with this visit, but either prior or subsequent to it.
However, it is urged by some scholars that this visit is the same as that of Galatians 2:1-10 since Paul would not have omitted it in his list of visits to Jerusalem. But then Paul is not giving a list of visits, but is only showing his independence of the apostles. If they were absent from Jerusalem at that time, there would be no occasion to mention it. Besides, Luke in Acts does recount the struggle in Jerusalem over the problem of Gentileliberty.
If that question was an issue at the visit in Acts 11:30, it is quite remarkable that he should have passed it by, especially if the matter caused as much heat as is manifest in Galatians 2, both in Jerusalem and Antioch.
It is much simpler to understand that in Acts 15 and Galatians 2:1-10 we have the public and the private aspects of the same issue, than to suppose that Luke has slurred the whole matter over in Acts 11:30. The identification of the visit of Galatians 2 with that in Acts 11:30 makes it possible to place Galatians before the conference in Jerusalem in Acts and implies the correctness of the South Galatian theory of the destination of the epistle and of the work of Paul, a theory with strong advocates and arguments, but which is by no means established (see below for discussion at more length). So far as we can gather from Luke, Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem with John Mark ( Acts 12:25),” when they had fulfilled their ministration” with satisfaction. The Pharisaic element was apparently quiescent, and the outlook for the future work among the Gentiles seemed hopeful. Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveler, 62 ff) argues strongly for identifying the revelation mentioned in Paul’s speech in Acts 22:20 f with this visit in 11:30 (12:25), rather than with the one in Acts 9:29 f. There is a textual problem in 12:25, but I cannot concur in the solution of Ramsay. 5. The First Great Mission Campaign: Acts 13 and 14, 47 and 48 AD:
Paul had already preached to the Gentiles in Cilicia and Syria for some years. The work was not new to him. He had had his specific call from Jerusalem long ago and had answered it. But now an entirely new situation arises. His work had been individual in Cilicia. Now the Spirit specifically directs the separation of Barnabas and Saul to this work ( Acts 13:2).
They were to go together, and they had the sympathy and prayers of a great church. The endorsement was probably not “ordination” in the technical sense, but a farewell service of blessing and good will as the missionaries went forth on the world-campaign ( Acts 13:3). No such unanimous endorsement could have been obtained in Jerusalem to this great enterprise. It was momentous in its possibilities for Christianity.
Hitherto work among the Gentiles had been sporadic and incidental. Now a determined effort was to be made to evangelize a large section of the Roman empire. There is no suggestion that the church at Antioch provided funds for this or for the two later Campaigns, as the church at Philippi came to do. How that was managed this time we do not know. Some individuals may have helped. Paul had his trade to fall back on, and often had resort to it later. The presence of John Mark “as their attendant” ( Acts 13:5) was probably due to Barnabas, his cousin ( Colossians 4:10). The visit to Cyprus, the home of Barnabas, was natural. There were already some Christians there ( Acts 11:20), and it was near. They preach first in the synagogues of the Jews at Salamis ( Acts 13:5). We are left to conjecture as to results there and through the whole island till Paphos is reached. There they meet a man of great prominence and intelligence, Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul, who had been under the spell of a sorcerer with a Jewish name — Elymas Bar-jesus (compare Peter’s encounter with Simon Magus in Samaria). In order to win and hold Sergius Paulus, who had become interested in Christianity, Paul has to punish Bar-jesus with blindness ( Acts 13:10 ff) in the exercise of that apostolic power which he afterward claimed with such vigor ( Corinthians 5:4 f; 2 Corinthians 13:10). He won Sergius Paulus, and this gave him cheer for his work. From now on it is Paul, not Saul, in the record of Luke, perhaps because of this incident, though both names probably belonged to him from the first. Now also Paul steps to the fore ahead of Barnabas, and it is “Paul’s company” ( Acts 13:13) that sets sail from Paphos for Pamphylia. There is no evidence here of resentment on the part of Barnabas at the leadership of Paul. The whole campaign may have been planned from the start by the Holy Spirit as the course now taken may have been due to Paul’s leadership. John Mark deserts at Perga and returns to Jerusalem (his home), not to Antioch ( Acts 13:13). Paul and Barnabas push on to the tablelands of Pisidia. Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveler, 93) thinks that Paul had malaria down at Perga and hence desired to get up into higher land. That is possible. The places mentioned in the rest of the tour are Antioch in Pisidia ( Acts 13:14), and Iconium ( Acts 13:51), Lystra ( Acts 14:8), and Derbe ( Acts 14:20), cities of Lycaonia. These terms are ethnographic descriptions of the southern divisions of the Roman province of Galatia, the northern portion being Galatia proper or North Galatia. So then Paul and Barnabas are now at work in South Galatia, though Luke does not mention that name, using here only the popular designations. The work is wonderfully successful. In these cities, on one of the great Roman roads east and west, Paul is reaching the centers of provincial life as will be his custom. At Antioch Paul is invited to repeat his sermon on the next Sabbath ( Acts 13:42), and Luke records at length the report of this discourse which has the characteristic notes of Paul’s gospel as we see it in his epistles. Paul may have kept notes of the discourse. There were devout Gentiles at these services. These were the first to be won, and thus a wider circle of Gentiles could be reached. Paul and Barnabas were too successful at Antioch in Pisidia. The jealous Jews opposed, and Paul and Barnabas dramatically turned to the Gentiles ( Acts 13:45 ff). But the Jews reached the city magistrate through the influential women, and Paul and Barnabas were ordered to leave ( Acts 13:50 f). Similar success brings like results in Iconium. At Lystra, before the hostile Jews come, Paul and Barnabas have great success and, because of the healing of the impotent man, are taken as Mercury and Jupiter respectively, and worship is offered them. Paul’s address in refusal is a fine plea on the grounds of natural theology ( Acts 14:15-18). The attempt on Paul’s life after the Jews came seemed successful. In the band of disciples that “stood round about him,” there may have been Timothy, Paul’s son in the gospel. From Derbe they retrace their steps to Perga, in order to strengthen the churches with officers, and then sail for Seleucia and Antioch. They make their report to the church at Antioch. It is a wonderful story. The door of faith is now wide open for the Gentiles who have entered in great numbers ( Acts 14:27). No report was sent to Jerusalem. What will the Pharisaic party do now? 6. The Conflict at Jerusalem: Acts 15; Galatians 2,49 AD:
The early date of Galatians, addressed to these churches of Pisidia and Lycaonia before the Conference in Jerusalem does not allow time for a second visit there ( Galatians 4:13), and requires that the Judaizers from Jerusalem followed close upon the heels of Paul and Barnabas ( Galatians 1:6; 3:1) in South Galatia. Besides, there is the less likelihood that the matter would have been taken a second time to Jerusalem ( Acts 15:2 f) if already the question had been settled in Paul’s favor ( Acts 11:30). It is strange also that no reference to this previous conference on the same subject is made in Acts 15, since Peter does refer to his experience at Caesarea (15:9) and since James in Acts 21:25 specifically (“we wrote”) mentions the letter of Acts 15 in which full liberty was granted to the Gentiles. Once more, the attack on the position of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:1 is given as a new experience, and hence the sharp dissension and tense feeling. The occasion for the sudden outbreak at Antioch on the part of the self-appointed ( Acts 15:24) regulators of Paul and Barnabas lay in the reports that came to Jerusalem about the results of this campaign on a large scale among the Gentiles. There was peril to the supremacy of the Jewish element. They had assumed at first, as even Peter did who was not a Judaizer (Acts 10), that the Gentiles who became disciples would also become Jews. The party of the circumcision had made protest against the conduct of Peter at Caesarea (11:1 f) and had reluctantly acquiesced in the plain work of God (11:18). They had likewise yielded in the matter of the Greeks at Antioch (11:19 ff) by the help of the contribution (11:29 f). But they had not agreed to a campaign to Hellenize Christianity. The matter had to stop. So the Judaizers came up to Antioch and laid down the law to Paul and Barnabas. They did not wait for them to come to Jerusalem. They might not come till it was too late (compare Barnabas in Acts 11). Paul and Barnabas had not sought the controversy.
They had both received specific instructions from the Holy Spirit to make this great campaign among the Gentiles. They would not stultify themselves and destroy the liberty of the Gentiles in Christ by going back and having the Mosaic Law imposed on them by the ceremony of circumcision. They saw at once the gravity of the issue. The very essence of the gospel of grace was involved. Paul had turned away from this yoke of bondage. He would not go back to it nor would he impose it on his converts. The church at Antioch stood by Paul and Barnabas. Paul ( Galatians 2:2) says that he had a revelation to go to Jerusalem with the problem. Luke ( Acts 15:3) says that the church sent them. Surely there is no inconsistency here. It is not difficult to combine the personal narrative in Galatians 2 with the public meetings recorded in Acts 15. We have first the general report by Paul and Barnabas to the church in Jerusalem ( Acts 15:4 f) to which instant exception was made by the Judaizing element. There seems to have come an adjournment to prepare for the conflict, since in 15:6 Luke says again that “the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider of this matter.” Between these two public meetings we may place the private conference of Paul and Barnabas with Peter, John and James and other teachers ( Galatians 2:1-10). In this private conference some of the timid brethren wished to persuade Paul to have Titus, a Greek Christian whom Paul had brought down from Antioch (a live specimen!), offered as a sacrifice to the Judaizers (“false brethren”) and circumcised. But Paul stood his ground for the truth of the gospel and was supported by Peter, John and James. They agreed all around for Paul and Barnabas to go on with their work to the Gentiles, and Peter, John and James would push the work among the Jews (a division in sphere of work, like home and foreign missions, not a denominational cleavage). Here, then, for the first time, Paul has had an opportunity to talk the matter over with the apostolic teachers, and they agree. The Judaizers will have no support from the apostles. The battle was really won in their private conference. In the second public meeting ( Acts 15:6-29) all goes smoothly enough. Ample opportunity for free discussion is offered.
Then Peter shows how God had used him to preach to the Romans, and how the Jews themselves had to believe on Christ in order to be saved. He opposed putting a yoke on the Gentiles that the Jews could not bear. There was a pause, and then Barnabas and Paul (note the order here: courtesy to Barnabas) spoke again. After another pause, James, the president of the conference, the brother of the Lord Jesus, and a stedfast Jew, spoke. He cited Amos 9:11 f to show that God had long ago promised a blessing to the Gentiles. He suggests liberty to the Gentiles with the prohibition of pollution of idols, of fornication, things strangled, and blood. His ideas are embodied in a unanimous decree which strongly commends “our beloved Barnabas and Paul” and disclaims responsibility for the visit of the Judaizers to Antioch. The Western text omits “things strangled” from the decree. If this is correct, the decree prohibits idolatry, fornication and murder (Wilson, Origin and Aim of the Acts of the Apostles, 1912, 55). At any rate, the decision is a tremendous victory for Paul and Barnabas. If the other reading is correct, Jewish feelings about things strangled and blood are to be respected. The decision was received with great joy in Antioch ( Acts 15:30-35). Some time later Peter appears at Antioch in the fullest fellowship with Paul and Barnabas in their work, and joins them in free social intercourse with the Gentiles, as he had timidly done in the home of Cornelius, till “certain came from James” ( Galatians 2:11 f), and probably threatened to have Peter up before the church again ( Acts 11:2) on this matter, claiming that James agreed with them on the subject.
This I do not believe was true in the light of Acts 15:24, where a similar false claim is discredited, since James had agreed with Paul in Jerusalem ( Acts 15:19 ff; Galatians 2:9 f). The new ground for complaint was that they had not settled the question of social relations with the Gentiles in the Jerusalem conference and that Peter had exceeded the agreement there reached. Peter quailed before the accusation, “fearing them that were of the circumcision” Galatians 2:12) To make it worse, “even Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation” ( Galatians 2:13). Under this specious plea Paul was about to lose the fruit of the victory already won, and charged Peter to his face with Judaizing hypocrisy ( Galatians 2:11-14). It was a serious crisis. Peter had not changed his convictions, but had once more cowered in an hour of peril. Paul won both Barnabas and Peter to his side and took occasion to show how useless the death of Christ was if men could be saved by mere legalism ( Galatians 2:21). But the Judaizers had renewed the war, and they would keep it up and harry the work of Paul all over the world. Paul had the fight of his life upon his hands. 7. The Second Mission Campaign: Acts 15:36 through 18:22; 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 49-51 (or 52) AD:
The impulse to go out again came from Paul. Despite the difference in Galatians 2:13, he wished to go again with Barnabas ( Acts 15:36), but Barnabas insisted on taking along John Mark, which Paul was not willing to do because of his failure to stick to the work at Perga. So they agreed to disagree after “sharp contention” ( Acts 15:39 f). Barnabas went with Mark to Cyprus, while Paul took Silas, “being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.” Luke follows the career of Paul, and so Barnabas drops out of view (compare later 1 Corinthians 9:6). Paul and Silas go “through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches” ( Acts 15:41). They pass through the Cilician gates to Derbe, the end of the first tour, and go to Lystra. Here they pick up Timothy, who more than takes Mark’s place in Paul’s life. Timothy’s mother was a Jewess and his father a Greek. Paul decided therefore to have him circumcised since, as a half-Jew, he would be especially obnoxious to the Jews. This case differed wholly from that of Titus, a Greek, where principle was involved. Here it was a matter merely of expediency. Paul had taken the precaution to bring along the decrees of the Conference at Jerusalem in case there was need of them.
He delivered them to the churches. It has to be noted that in 1 Corinthians 8 through 10 and in Romans 14 and 15, when discussing the question of eating meats offered to idols, Paul does not refer to these decrees, but argues the matter purely from the standpoint of the principles involved.
The Judaizers anyhow had not lived up to the agreement, but Paul is here doing his part by the decision. The result of the work was good for the churches ( Acts 16:4).
When we come to Acts 16:6, we touch a crucial passage in the South- Galatian controversy. Ramsay (Christianity in the Roman Empire, chapters iii through vi; History and Geography of Asia Minor; Paul the Traveler, chapters v, vi, viii, ix; The Expositor, IV, viii, ix, “replies to Chase”; “Galatia,” HDB; Commentary on Galatians; The Cities of Paul; The Expositor T, 1912, 1913) has become by his able advocacy the chief champion of the view that Paul never went to Galatia proper or North Galatia, and that he addressed his epistle to South Galatia, the churches visited in the first tour. For a careful history of the whole controversy in detail, see Moffatt, Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament, 90-106, who strongly supports the view of Lightfoot, H.J. Holtzmann, Blass, Schurer, Denney, Chase, Mommsen, Steinmann, etc. There are powerful names with Ramsay, like Hausrath, Zahn, Barrlet, Garvie, Weizsacker, etc. The arguments are too varied and minute for complete presentation here. The present writer sees some very attractive features in the South-Galatian hypothesis, but as a student of language finds himself unable to overcome the syntax of Acts 16:6. The minor difficulty is the dropping of [kai>, kai ], between “Phrygia” and “Galatic region” by Ramsay. It is by no means certain that this is the idea of Luke. It is more natural to take the terms as distinct and coordinated by kai . In Paul the Traveler, 212, Ramsay pleads for the aorist of subsequent time, but Moulton (Prolegomena, 133) will have none of it. With that I agree. The aorist participle must give something synchronous with or antecedent to the principal verb. In Expository Times for February, 1913, 220 f, Ramsay comes back to the “construction of Acts 16:6.” He admits that the weight of authority is against the Textus Receptus of the New Testament and in favor of [dih~lqon .... kwluqe>ntev, dielthon .... koluthentes ]. He now interprets the language thus: “Paul, having in mind at Lystra his plan of going on to Asia from Galatia, was ordered by the Spirit not to preach in Asia. He therefore made a tour through the Phrygio-Galatic region, which he had already influenced so profoundly from end to end (13:49).”
But there is grave difficulty in accepting this interpretation as a solution of the problem. Ramsay here makes the narrative in 16:6 resumptive and takes us back to the standpoint of 16:1 at Lystra. The proper place for such a forecast was in 16:1, or at most before 16:4, which already seems to mark an advance beyond Lystra to Iconium and Antioch in Pisidia: “and as they went on their way through the cities.”
Besides, “the Phrygio-Galatic region” lay between Lystra and Asia, and, according to Ramsay, after the prohibition in Lystra, he went straight on toward Asia. This is certainly very artificial and unlike the usual procedure.
According to the other view, Paul had already visited the churches in Lycaonia and Pisidia on his former visit. He wished to go on west into Asia, probably to Ephesus, but was forbidden by the Holy Spirit, and as a result turned northward through Phrygia and the regions of Galatia, using both terms in the ethnographic sense. Paul was already in the province of Galatia at Derbe and Lystra. The matter has many “ins and outs” and cannot be argued further here. It is still in debate, but the present interpretation is in harmony with the narrative in Acts. See also GALATIA; GALATIANS, EPISTLE TO THE.
By this view Paul had not meant to stop in Galatia proper and did so only because of an attack of illness ( Galatians 4:13). It is possible that Luke may have come to his rescue here. At any rate, he finally pushes on opposite Mysia and Bithynia in the extreme north and was forbidden by the Spirit from going on into Bithynia. So they came down to Troas ( Acts 16:7 f) when Luke (“we,” Acts 16:10) appears on the scene and the Macedonian call comes to Paul. Thus Paul is led out of Asia into Europe and carries the gospel successively to Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth. The gospel is finally planted in the great provinces of Macedonia and Achaia. In Philippi, a Roman colony and military outpost, Paul finds few Jews and has to go out to a prayer-place to find a few Jewish women to whom he can tell the story of Jesus. But he gains a start with Lydia and her household, and soon arouses the hostility of a company of men who were making money out of a poor girl’s powers of divination.
But before Paul and Silas leave the jail, the jailer is himself converted, and a good church is established. At Thessalonica Paul has great success and arouses the jealousy of the Jews who gather a rabble and raise a disturbance and charge it up to Paul. At Philippi appeal was made to prejudice against Jews. At Thessalonica the charge is made that Paul preaches Jesus as a rival king to Caesar. In Berea Paul and Silas have even more success till the Jews come from Thessalonica and drive Paul out again. Timothy, who has come out from Philippi where Luke has remained, and Silas stay in Berea while Paul hurries on to Athens with some of the brethren, who return with the request for Timothy and Silas “to come to him with all speed.” Apparently Timothy did come ( 1 Thessalonians 3:1 f), but Paul soon sent him back to Thessalonica because of his anxiety about conditions there. Left alone in Athens, Paul’s spirit was stirred over the idolatry before his eyes. He preaches in the synagogues and argues with the Stoics and Epicureans in the Agora who make light of his pretensions to philosophy as a “babbler” ( Acts 17:18). But curiosity leads them to invite him to speak on the Areopagus. This notable address, all alive to his surroundings, was rather rudely cut short by their indifference and mockery, and Paul left Athens with small results for his work. He goes over to Corinth, the great commercial city of the province, rich and with bizarre notions of culture. Paul determined ( 1 Corinthians 2:1-5) to be true to the cross, even after his experience in Athens. He gave them, not the flashy philosophy of the sophists, but the true Wisdom of God in simple words, the philosophy of the cross of Christ ( 1 Corinthians 1:17 through 3:4). In Corinth Paul found fellow-helpers in Aquila and Priscilla, just expelled from Rome by Claudius. They have the same trade of tentmakers and live together ( Acts 18:1-4), and Paul preached in the synagogues. Paul is cheered by the coming of Timothy and Silas from Thessalonica ( Acts 18:5) with supplies from Philippi, as they had done while in Thessalonica ( Philippians 4:15 f). This very success led to opposition, and Paul has to preach in the house of Titus Justus. But the work goes on till Gallio comes and a renewed effort is made to have it stopped, but Gallio declines to interfere and thus practically makes Christianity a religio licita, since he treats it as a variety of Judaism. While here, after the arrival of Timothy and Silas, Paul writes the two letters to Thessalonica, the first of his 13 epistles. They are probably not very far apart in time, and deal chiefly with a grievous misunderstanding on their part concerning the emphasis placed by him on the Man of Sin and the Second Coming. Paul had felt the power of the empire, and his attention is sharply drawn to the coming conflict between the Roman empire and the kingdom of God. He treats it in terms of apocalyptic eschatology. When he leaves Corinth, it is to go by Ephesus, with Aquila and Priscilla whom he leaves there with the promise to return. He goes down to Caesarea and “went up and saluted the church” ( Acts 18:22), probably at Jetus (fourth visit), and “went down to Antioch.” If he went to Jerusalem, it was probably incidental, and nothing of importance happened. He is back once again in Antioch after an absence of some 3 or 4 years. 8. The Third Mission Campaign: Acts 18:23 through 21:14; 1 and 2 Corinthians; Galatians; Romans, (or 53)-57 (or 58) AD:
The stay of Paul at Antioch is described as “sometime” ( Acts 18:23).
Denney (Standard Bible Dictionary) conjectures that Paul’s brief stay at Jerusalem (see above) was due to the fact that he found that the Judaizers had organized opposition there against him in the absence of the apostles, and it was so unpleasant that he did not stay. He Suggests also that the Judaizers had secured letters of commendation from the church for their emissaries ( 2 Corinthians 3:1) to Corinth and Galatia, who were preaching “another Jesus” of nationalism and narrowness, whom Paul did not preach ( Galatians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 11:4). Both Denney and Findlay follow Neander, Wieseler, and Sabatier in placing here, before Paul starts out again from Antioch, the visit of certain “from James” ( Galatians 2:12), who overpowered Peter for the moment. But I have put this incident as more probably before the disagreement with Barnabas over Mark, and as probably contributing to that breach at the beginning of the second tour. It is not necessary to suppose that the Judaizers remained acquiescent so long.
Paul seems to have set out on the third tour alone — unless Timothy came back with him, of which there is no evidence save that he is with Paul again in Ephesus ( Acts 19:22). What became of Silas? Paul “went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples” ( Acts 18:23), the opposite order to Acts 16:6, “through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.” According to the North-Galatian view, here followed, he went through the northern part of the province, passing through Galatia proper and Phrygia on his way west to Ephesus. Luke adds, “Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus” ( Acts 19:1). The ministry of Apollos in Ephesus ( Acts 18:24-28) had taken place before Paul arrived, though Aquila and Priscilla were still on hand. Apollos passed over to Corinth and innocently became the occasion of such strife there (1 Corinthians 1 through 4) that he left and refused to return at Paul’s request ( 1 Corinthians 16:12). Paul has a ministry of 3 years, in round numbers, in Ephesus, which is full of excitement and anxiety from the work there and in Corinth. He finds on his arrival some ill-informed disciples of John the Baptist who are ignorant of the chief elements of John’s teaching about repentance, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit ( Acts 19:2-7), matters of which Apollos had knowledge, though he learned more from Priscilla and Aquila, but there is no evidence that he was rebaptized as was true of the 12 disciples of John (Robertson, John the Loyal, 290-303). The boldness of Paul in Ephesus led in 3 months to his departure from the synagogue to the schoolhouse of Tyrannus, where he preached for 2 years ( Acts 19:8-10) with such power that “all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord.” It is not strange later to find churches at Colosse and Hierapolis in the Lycus Valley (compare also Revelation 1:11). Paul has a sharp collision with the strolling Jewish exorcists that led to the burning of books of magic by the wholesale ( Acts 19:11-20), another proof of the hold that magic and the mysteries had upon the Orient. Ephesus was the seat of the worship of Diana whose wonderful temple was their pride. A great business in the manufacture of shrines of Diana was carried on here by Demetrius, and “this Paul” had hurt his trade so much that he raised an insurrection under the guise of piety and patriotism and might have killed Paul with the mob, if he could have got hold of him ( Acts 19:23-41). It was with great difficulty that Paul was kept from going to the amphitheater, as it was. But here, as at Corinth, the Roman officer (the town clerk) defended Paul from the rage of his enemies (there the jealous Jews, here the tradesmen whose business suffered). He was apparently very ill anyhow, and came near death ( Corinthians 1:9). All this seems to have hastened his departure from Ephesus sooner than Pentecost, as he had written to the Corinthians ( Corinthians 16:8). His heart was in Corinth because of the discussions there over him and Apollos and Peter, by reason of the agitation of the Judaizers ( 1 Corinthians 1:10-17). The household of Chloe had brought word of this situation to Paul. He had written the church a letter now lost ( 1 Corinthians 5:9). They had written him a letter ( 1 Corinthians 7:1). They sent messengers to Paul ( 1 Corinthians 16:17). He had sent Timothy to them ( 1 Corinthians 4:17; 16:10), who seems not to have succeeded in quieting the trouble. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians (spring of 56), and then sent Titus, who was to meet him at Troas and report results ( Corinthians 2:12 f). He may also have written another letter and sent it by Titus ( 2 Corinthians 2:3 f). The sudden departure from Corinth brought Paul to Troas ahead of time, but he could not wait for Titus, and so pushed on with a heavy heart into Macedonia, where he met him, and he had good and bad news to tell ( 2 Corinthians 2:12 ff; 7:5-13). The effect on Paul was instantaneous. He rebounded to hope and joy ( 2 Corinthians 2:14 ff) in a glorious defense of the ministry of Jesus (compare Robertson, The Glory of the Ministry; Paul’s Exultation in Preaching), with a message of cheer to the majority. of the church that had sustained Paul and with instructions (2 Corinthians 8 and 9) about the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem, which must be pushed to a completion by Titus and two other brethren (possibly also Luke, brother of Titus, and Erastus). Timothy and Erastus had been sent on ahead to Macedonia from Ephesus ( Acts 19:22), and Timothy sends greetings with Paul to the Corinthians in a letter (2 Corinthians) which Paul now forwards, possibly by Titus. The latter part of the epistle (1 Corinthians 10 through 13) deals with the stubborn minority who still resist the authority of Paul as an apostle. On the proposed treatment of these chapters as a separate epistle see the earlier part of this article. Paul seems to wait a while before going on to Corinth.
He wishes the opposition to have time to repent. During this period he probably went round about to Illyricum ( Romans 15:19). He spent three months in Greece ( Acts 20:2 f), probably the winter of 56 and 57.
We have placed Galatians in the early part of this stay in Corinth, though it could have been written while at Ephesus. Romans was certainly written while here, and they both treat the same general theme of justification by faith. Ramsay (Expos, February, 1913, 127-45) has at last come to the conclusion that Galatians belongs to the date of Acts 15:1 f. He bases this conclusion chiefly on the “absolute independence” of his apostleship claimed in Galatians 1 and 2, which, he holds, he would not have done after the conference in Acts 15, which was “a sacrifice of complete independence.” This is a curious interpretation, for in Galatians 2:1-10 Paul himself tells of his recognition on terms of equality by Peter, John and James, and of his going to Jerusalem by “revelation,” which was just as much “a sacrifice of complete independence” as we find in Acts 15.
Besides, in 2 Corinthians 11:5 and 12:11 Paul expressly asserts his equality (with all humility) with the very chiefest apostles, and in Corinthians 15:10 he claims in so many words to have wrought more than all the apostles. Perhaps messengers from Galatia with the contributions from that region report the havoc wrought there by the Judaizers. Galatians is a tremendous plea for the spiritual nature of Christianity as opposed to Jewish ceremonial legalism.
Paul had long had it in mind to go to Rome. It was his plan to do so while at Ephesus ( Acts 19:21) after he had gone to Jerusalem with the great collection from the churches of Asia, Galatia, Achaia, and Macedonia. He hoped that this collection would have a mollifying effect on the Jerusalem saints as that from Antioch had ( Acts 11:29 f). He had changed some details in his plans, but not the purpose to go to Jerusalem and then to Rome. Meanwhile, he writes the longest and most important letter of all to the Romans, in which he gives a fuller statement of his gospel, because they had not heard him preach, save his various personal friends who had gone there from the east (Acts 16). But already the shadow of Jerusalem is on his heart, and he asks their prayers in his behalf, as he faces his enemies in Jerusalem ( Romans 15:30-32). He hopes also to go on to Spain ( Romans 15:24), so as to carry the gospel to the farther west also. The statesmanship of Paul comes out now in great clearness. He has in his heart always anxiety for the churches that consumes him ( 2 Corinthians 11:28 f). He was careful to have a committee of the churches go with him to report the collection ( 2 Corinthians 8:19 f). Paul had planned to sail direct for Syria, but a plot on his life in Corinth led him to go by land via Macedonia with his companions ( Acts 20:2-4). He tarried at Philippi while the rest went on to Troas. At Philippi Paul is joined again by Luke, who stays with him till Rome is reached. They celebrate the Passover (probably the spring of 57) in Philippi ( Acts 20:6). We cannot follow the details in Acts at Troas, the voyage through the beautiful Archipelago, to Miletus. There Paul took advantage of the stop to send for the elders of Ephesus to whom he gave a wonderful address ( Acts 20:17-38). They change ships at Patara for Phoenicia and pass to the right of Cyprus with its memories of Barnabas and Sergius Paulus and stop at Tyre, where Paul is warned not to go on to Jerusalem. The hostility of the Judaizers to Paul is now common talk everywhere. There is grave peril of a schism in Christianity over the question of Gentile liberty, once settled in Jerusalem, but unsettled by the Judaizers. At Caesarea Paul is greeted by Philip the evangelist and his four daughters (prophetesses). At Caesarea Paul is warned in dramatic fashion by Agabus (compare Acts 11:28) not to go on to Jerusalem ( Acts 21:9 ff), but Paul is more determined than ever to go, even if he die ( Acts 20:13). He had had three premonitions for long ( Acts 20:22 ff), but he will finish his course, cost what it may. He finds a friend at Caesarea in Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, who was to be the host of Paul in Jerusalem ( Acts 21:16). 9. Five Years a Prisoner: Acts 21:17 through 28:31; Philippians; Philemon; Colossians; Ephesians, 57-62 (or 63) AD:
Paul had hoped to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost ( Acts 20:16). He seems to have done so. Luke gives the story of Paul in Jerusalem, Caesarea, and the voyage to Rome in much detail. He was with him and considered this period of his ministry very important. The welcome from the brethren in Jerusalem was surprisingly cordial ( Acts 21:17). On the very next day Paul and his party made a formal call on James and all the elders ( Acts 21:18 f), who gave a sympathetic hearing to the narrative of God’s dealings with Paul and the Gentiles. He presented the alms (collection) in due form ( Acts 24:17), though some critics have actually suggested that Paul used it to defray the expenses of the appeal to Caesar.
Ramsay’s notion that he may have fallen heir by now to his portion of his father’s estate is quite probable. But the brethren wish to help Paul set himself right before the rank and file of the church in Jerusalem, who have been imposed upon by the Judaizers who have misrepresented Paul’s real position by saying that he urged the Jewish Christians to give up the Mosaic customs ( Acts 21:21). The elders understand Paul and recall the decision of the conference at which freedom was guaranteed to the Gentiles, and they have no wish to disturb that ( Acts 21:25). They only wish Paul to show that he does not object to the Jewish Christians keeping up the Mosaic regulations. They propose that Paul offer sacrifice publicly in the temple and pay the vows of four men, and then all will know the truth ( Acts 21:23 f). Paul does not hesitate to do that ( Acts 21:26 ff). He had kept the Jewish feasts (compare Acts 20:6) as Jesus had done, and the early disciples in Jerusalem. He was a Jew. He may have had a vow at Corinth ( Acts 18:18). He saw no inconsistency in a Jew doing thus after becoming a Christian, provided he did not make it obligatory on Gentiles. The real efficacy of the sacrifices lay in the death of Jesus for sin.
Garvie (Life and Teaching of Paul, 173) calls this act of Paul “scarcely, worthy of his courage as a man or his faith in God.” I cannot see it in that light. It is a matter of practical wisdom, not of principle. To have refused would have been to say that the charge was true, and it was not. So far as the record goes, this act of Paul accomplished its purpose in setting Paul in a right light before the church in Jerusalem. It took away this argument from the Judaizers. The trouble that now comes to Paul does not come from the Judaizers, but from “the Jews from Asia” ( Acts 21:27). If it be objected that the Jerusalem Christians seem to have done nothing to help Paul during his years of imprisonment, it can be said that there was little to be done in a legal way, as the matter was before the Roman courts very soon. The attack on Paul in the temple was while he was doing honor to the temple, engaged in actual worship offering sacrifices. But then Jews from Ephesus hated him so that they imagined that he had Greeks with him in the Jewish court, because they had seen him one day with Trophimus in the city ( Acts 21:27 ff). It is a splendid illustration of the blindness of prejudice and hate. It was absolutely untrue, and the men who raised the hue and cry in the temple against Paul as the desecrator of the holy place and the Law and the people disappear, and are never heard of more ( Acts 24:18 f). But it will take Paul five years or more of the prime of his life to get himself out of the tangled web that will be woven about his head. Peril follows peril. He was almost mobbed, as often before, by the crowd that dragged him out of the temple ( Acts 21:30 f). It would remind Paul of Stephen’s fate. When the Roman captain rescued him and had him bound with two chains as a dangerous bandit, and had him carried by the soldiers to save his life, the mob yelled “Away with him” ( Acts 21:36 f), as they had done to Jesus. After the captain, astonished that “Paul the Egyptian assassin” can speak Greek, grants him permission to stand on the steps of the tower of Antonia to speak to the mob that clamored for his blood, he held their rapt attention by an address in Aramaic ( Acts 22:2) in which he gave a defense of his whole career. This they heard eagerly till he spoke the word “Gentiles,” at which they raged more violently than ever ( Acts 22:21 ff). At this the captain has Paul tied with thongs, not understanding his Aramaic speech, and is about to scourge him when Paul pleads his Roman citizenship, to the amazement of the centurion ( Acts 22:24 ff). Almost in despair, the captain, wishing to know the charge of the Jews against Paul, brings him before the Sanhedrin. It is a familiar scene to Paul, and it is now their chance for settling old scores. Paul makes a sharp retort in anger to the high priest Ananias, for which he apologizes as if he was so angry that he had not noticed, but he soon divides the Sanhedrin hopelessly on the subject of the resurrection (compare the immunity of the disciples on that issue when Gamaliel scored the Sadducees in Acts 5).
This was turning the tables on his enemies, and was justifiable as war. He claimed to be a Pharisee on this point, as he was still, as opposed to the Sadducees. The result was that Paul had to be rescued from the contending factions, and the captain knew no more than he did before ( Acts 23:1-10). That night “the Lord stood by him” and promised that he would go to Rome ( Acts 23:11). That was a blessed hope. But the troubles of Paul are by no means over. By the skill of his nephew he escaped the murderous plot of 40 Jews who had taken a vow not to eat till they had killed Paul ( Acts 23:12-24). They almost succeeded, but Claudius Lysias sent Paul in haste with a band of soldiers to Caesarea to Felix, the procurator, with a letter in which he claimed to have rescued Paul from the mob, “having learned that he was a Roman” ( Acts 23:26-30). At any rate he was no longer in the clutches of the Jews. Would Roman provincial justice be any better? Felix follows a perfunctory course with Paul and shows some curiosity about Christianity, till Paul makes him tremble with terror, a complete reversal of situations (compare Pilate’s meanness before Jesus).
But love of money from Paul or the Jews leads Felix to keep Paul a prisoner for two years, though convinced of his innocence, and to hand him over to Festus, his successor, because the Jews might make things worse for him if he released him (Acts 24). The case of the Sanhedrin, who have now made it their own (or at least the Sadducean section), though pleaded by the Roman orator Tertullus, had fallen through as Paul calmly riddied their charges. Festus is at first at a loss how to proceed, but he soon follows the steps of Felix by offering to play into the hands of the Jewish leaders by sending Paul back to Jerusalem, whereupon Paul abruptly exercises his right of Roman citizenship by appealing to Caesar ( Acts 25:1-12). This way, though a long one, offered the only ray of hope. The appearance of Paul before Agrippa and Bernice was simply by way of entertainment arranged by Festus to relieve his guests of ennui, but Paul seized the opportunity to make a powerful appeal to Agrippa that put him in a corner logically, though he wriggled out and declined to endorse Christianity, though confirming Paul’s innocence, which Festus also had admitted ( Acts 25:13 through 26:32). Paul was fortunate in the centurion Julius who took him to Rome, for he was kindly disposed to him at the start, and so it was all the way through the most remarkable voyage on record. Luke has surpassed his own record in Acts 27, in which he traces the voyage, stage by stage, with change of ship at Myra, delay at Fair Havens, Crete, and shipwreck on the island of Malta. More is learned about ancient seafaring from this chapter than from any other source (see the article PHOENIX, and Smith, Voyage and Shipwreck of Paul, 1866).
In it all Paul is the hero, both on the ships and in Malta. In the early spring of 60 another ship takes Paul and the other prisoners to Puteoli. Thence they go on to Rome, and enter by the Appian Way. News of Paul’s coming had gone on before (his epistle had come 3 years ago), and he had a hearty welcome. But he is now an imperial prisoner in the hands of Nero. He has more liberty in his own hired house ( Acts 28:16,30), but he is chained always to a Roman soldier, though granted freedom to see his friends and to preach to the soldiers. Paul is anxious to remove any misapprehensions that the Jews in Rome may have about him, and tries to win them to Christ, and with partial success ( Acts 28:17-28). And here Luke leaves him a prisoner for 2 years more, probably because at this point he finishes the Book of Acts. But, as we have seen, during these years in Rome, Paul wrote Philippians, Philemon, Colossians, and Ephesians. He still has the churches on his heart. They send messengers to him, and he writes back to them. The incipient Gnosticism of the East has pressed upon the churches at Colosse and Laodicea, and a new peril confronts Christianity. The Judaizing controversy has died away with these years (compare Philippians 3:1 ff for an echo of it), but the dignity and glory of Jesus are challenged. In the presence of the power of Rome Paul rises to a higher conception than even that of the person of Christ and the glory of the church universal. In due time Paul’s case was disposed of and he was once more set free. The Romans were proverbially dilatory. It is doubtful if his enemies ever appeared against him with formal charges. 10. Further Travels: The genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles is here assumed. But for them we should know nothing further, save from a few fragments in the early Christian writings. As it is, some few who accept the Pastoral Epistles seek to place them before 64 AD, so as to allow for Paul’s death in that year from the Neronian persecution. In that case, he was not released. There is no space here to argue the question in detail. We can piece together the probable course of events. He had expected when in Corinth last to go on to Spain ( Romans 15:28), but now in Rome his heart turns back to the east again. He longs to see the Philippians (1:23 ff) and hopes to see Philemon in Colosse (Philem 1:22). But he may have gone to Spain also, as Clement of Rome seems to imply (Clement ad Corinthians 5), and as is stated in the Canon of Muratori. He may have been in Spain when Rome was burned July 19, 64 AD. There is no evidence that Paul went as far as Britain. On his return east he left Titus in Crete ( Titus 1:5). He touched at Miletus when he left Trophimus sick ( 2 Timothy 4:20) and when he may have met Timothy, if he did not go on to Ephesus ( 1 Timothy 1:3).
He stopped at Troas and apparently expected to come back here, as he left his cloak and books with Carpus ( 2 Timothy 4:13). He was on his way to Macedonia ( 1 Timothy 1:3), whence he writes Timothy in 65-67 a letter full of love and counsel for the future. Paul is apprehensive of the grave perils now confronting Christianity. Besides the Judaizers, the Gnostics, the Jews and the Romans, he may have had dim visions of the conflict with the mystery-religions. It was a syncretistic age, and men had itching ears. But Paul is full of sympathy and tender solicitude for Timothy, who must push on the work and get ready for it. Paul expects to spend the winter in Nicopolis ( Titus 3:12), but is apparently still in Macedonia when he writes to Titus a letter on lines similar to those in 1 Timothy, only the note is sharper against Judaism of a certain type. We catch another glimpse of Apollos in Titus 3:13. Paul hits off the Cretans in 1:10 with a quotation from Epimenides, one of their own poetic prophets. 11. Last Imprisonment and Death: 68 (or 67) AD:
When Paul writes again to Timothy he has had a winter in prison, and has suffered greatly from the cold and does not wish to spend another winter in the Mamertine (probably) prison ( 2 Timothy 4:13,21). We do not know what the charges now are. They may have been connected with the burning of Rome. There were plenty of informers eager to win favor with Nero.
Proof was not now necessary. Christianity is no longer a religio licita under the shelter of Judaism. It is now a crime to be a Christian. It is dangerous to be seen with Paul now, and he feels the desertion keenly ( 2 Timothy 1:15 ff; 4:10). Only Luke, the beloved physician, is with Paul ( Timothy 4:11), and such faithful ones as live in Rome still in hiding ( Timothy 4:21). Paul hopes that Timothy may come and bring Mark also ( 2 Timothy 4:11). Apparently Timothy did come and was put into prison ( Hebrews 13:23). Paul is not afraid. He knows that he will die.
He has escaped the mouth of the lion ( 2 Timothy 4:17), but he will die ( 2 Timothy 4:18). The Lord Jesus stood by him, perhaps in visible presence ( 2 Timothy 4:17). The tradition is, for now Paul fails us, that Paul, as a Roman citizen, was beheaded on the Ostian Road just outside of Rome. Nero died June, 68 AD, so that Paul was executed before that date, perhaps in the late spring of that year (or 67). Perhaps Luke and Timothy were with him. It is fitting, as Findlay suggests, to let Paul’s words in Timothy 4:6-8 serve for his own epitaph. He was ready to go to be with Jesus, as he had long wished to be ( Philippians 1:23). 6. GOSPEL.
I had purposed to save adequate space for the discussion of Paul’s theology, but that is not now possible. A bare sketch must suffice.
Something was said (see above on his epistles and equipment) about the development in Paul’s conception of Christ and his message about Him.
Paul had a gospel which he called his own ( Romans 2:16). I cannot agree with the words of Deissmann (St. Paul,6): “St. Paul theologian looks backward toward rabbinism. As a religious genius Paul’s outlook is forward into a future of universal history.” He did continue to use some rabbinical methods of argument, but his theology was not rabbinical. And he had a theology. He was the great apostle and missionary to the heathen.
He was a Christian statesman with far-seeing vision. He was the loving pastor with the shepherd heart. He was the great martyr for Christ. He was the wonderful preacher of Jesus. But he was also “Paul theologian” (Garvie, Life and Teaching of Paul, chapter v) . There are two ways of studying his teaching. One is to take it by groups of the epistles, the purely historical method, and that has some advantages (compare Sabatier, The Apostle Paul). But at bottom Paul has the same message in each group, though with varying emphasis due to special exigencies. The same essential notes occur all through. The more common method, therefore, is to Study his gospel topically, using all the epistles for each topic. A measure of historical development may still be observed. Only the chief notes in Paul’s gospel can be mentioned here. Even so, one must not turn to his epistles for a complete system of doctrine. The epistles are “occasional letters, pieces de circonstance” (Findlay, HDB), and they do not profess, not even Romans, to give a full summary of Christian doctrine. They are vital documents that throb with life. There is no theological manual in them. But Paul’s gospel is adequately stated repeatedly. Paul’s message is Christocentric. Jesus as Messiah he preached at once on his conversion ( Acts 9:20,22). He knew already the current Jewish Messianism to which Jesus did not correspond. The acceptance of Jesus as He was (the facts about Him and teachings) revolutionized his Messianic conceptions, his view of God, and his view of man. “When he takes and uses the Messianic phraseology of his day, he fills it with a meaning new and rich” (Rostron, Christology of Paul,31). Paul was not merely a new creature himself, but he had a new outlook: “Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more. Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation” ( 2 Corinthians 5:16-19). Perhaps no single passage in Paul’s Epistles tells us more than this one of the change in Paul’s theological conceptions wrought by his conversion. His view of Christ as the revealer of God (God in Christ) and the manifestation of love for men (of God, who reconciled us to Himself, reconciling the world to Himself) and the means (through Christ) by whom God is able to forgive our sins (“not reckoning unto them their trespasses”) on the basis of the atoning death of Christ (“wherefore”; for this see 2 Corinthians 5:14 f just before 5:16) with whom the believer has vital union (“in Christ”) and who transforms the nature and views of the believer, is here thoroughly characteristic. Paul’s passion is Christ ( 2 Corinthians 5:14; Philippians 1:21). To gain Christ ( Philippians 3:8), to know Christ ( Philippians 3:10), to be found in Christ ( Philippians 3:9), to know Christ as the mystery of God ( Colossians 2:2 f), to be hid with Christ in God ( Colossians 3:3) — this with the new Paul is worth while. Thus Paul interprets God and man, by his doctrine of Christ. To him Jesus is Christ and Christ is Jesus. He has no patience with the incipient Cerinthian Gnosticism, nor with the docetic Gnosticism that denied the true humanity of Jesus. The real mystery of God is Christ, not the so-called mystery-religions. Christ has set us free from the bondage of ceremonial legalism. We are free from the curse of the law ( Galatians 3:13). Grace is the distinctive word for the gospel (Romans 3 through 5), but it must lead to sanctification (Romans through 8), not license (Colossians 3). Paul’s Christology is both theocentric and anthropocentric, but it is theocentric first. His notion of redemption is the love of God seeking a world lost in sin and finding love’s way, the only way consonant with justice, in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ His Son ( Romans 3:21-31). The sinner comes into union with God in Christ by faith in Christ as Redeemer and Lord. Henceforth he lives to God in. Christ by the help of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8; Galatians 5).
Paul presents God as Father of all in one sense ( Ephesians 4:6), but in a special sense of the believers in Christ ( Romans 8:15 f). Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the pre-incarnate Son of God ( 2 Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 2:5-10), who is both God and man ( Romans 1:3 f). With Paul the agent of creation is Jesus ( Colossians 1:15 f), who is also the head of the church universal ( Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22 f). In the work of Christ Paul gives the central place to the cross ( Corinthians 1:17 f; 2:2; Colossians 2:20; Ephesians 2:13-18). Sin is universal in humanity ( Romans 1:18 through 3:20), but the vicarious death of Christ makes redemption possible to all who believe ( Romans 3:21 ff; Galatians 3:6-11). The redeemed constitute the kingdom of God or church universal, with Christ as head. Local bodies (churches) are the chief means for pushing the work of the kingdom. Paul knows two ordinances, both of which present in symbolic form the death of Christ for sin and the pledge of the believer to newness of life in Christ. These ordinances are baptism ( Romans 6:1-11) and the Lord’s Supper ( Corinthians 11:17-34). If he knew the mystery-religions, they may have helped him by way of illustration to present his conception of the mystic union with Christ. Paul is animated by the hope of the second coming of Christ, which will be sudden ( 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11) and not probably at once (2 Thessalonians 2), but was to be considered as always imminent ( 1 Thessalonians 5:2 ff). Meanwhile, death brings us to Christ, which is a glorious hope to Paul ( 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Philippians 1:21 ff; 2 Timothy 4:18). But, while Paul was a theologian in the highest and best sense of the term, the best interpreter of Christ to men, he was also an ethical teacher. He did not divorce ethics from religion. He insisted strongly on the spiritual experience of Christ as the beginning and the end of it all, as opposed to mere ritualistic ceremonies which had destroyed the life of Judaism. But all the more Paul demanded the proof of life as opposed to mere profession. See Romans 6 through 8 in particular. In most of the epistles the doctrinal section is followed by practical exhortations to holy living. Mystic as Paul was, the greatest of all mystics, he was the sanest of moralists and had no patience with hypocrites or licentious pietists or idealists who allowed sentimentalism and emotionalism to take the place of righteoushess. His notion of the righteousness demanded by God and given by God included both sanctification and justification. In the end, the sinner who for Christ’s sake is treated as righteous must be righteous. Thus the image of God is restored in man by the regenerating work of the Spirit of God ( 2 Corinthians 3:18). Paul sees God in the face of Christ ( 2 Corinthians 4:6), and the vision of Christ brings God to all who see.
LITERATURE.
Out of the vast Pauline literature the following selections may be mentioned: (1) General Works: Addis, Christianity and the Roman Empire, 1893; Bartlet, The Apostolic Age, 1899; Bohlig, Die Geisteskultur yon Tarsos, 1913; Clemen, Primitive Christianity and Its Non-Jewish Sources, 1912; Cumont, Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, 1911; Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, 1910; Dewick, Primitive Christian Eschatology, 1912; Dollinger, Gentile and Jew in the Courts of the Temple of Christ, translation, 1862; Farrar, Early Days of Christianity, 1882, Darkness and Dawn, 1893; Ferrero, Greatness and Decline of Rome, 1908; Friedlander, Roman Life and Manners under the Early Empire; Glover, Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire, 1910; Gunkel, Zum religionsgeschichtlichen Verst. d. New Testament, 1903; Hausrath, Time of the Apostles, translation; Neander, Planting and Training of the Christian Church, translation; McGiffert, A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age, 1897; Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, 1893, Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, 1895, The First Christian Century, 1911; Reitzenstein, Die hellenistischen Mysterienreligionen, 1910; Ropes, The Apostolic Age, 1906; Schurer, HJP; Weizsacker, The Apostolic Age in the Christian Church, 1894-95. (2) Introductions: E. Burton, Chronicle of Paul’s Epistles; Clemen, Die Chron der Paulinischen Briefe, 1893, Die Einheitlichkeit der Paulinischen Briefe, 1894; Findlay, Epistles of Paul the Apostle, 1893; Gloag, Introduction to the Pauline Epistles, 1876; Gregory, Canon and Text of the New Testament, 1900; Herr, Prolegomena to Romans and Ephesians, 1895; Harnack, The Acts of the Apostles, 1909, Date of the Acts and the Synoptic Gospels, 1911, History of Early Christian Literature until Eusebius, 1897; Holtzmann, Einleitung3, 1892; James, Genuineness and Authorship of the Pastoral Epistles, 1906; Julicher, Introduction to the New Testament, 1903; Lake, Earlier Epistles of Paul, 1911; Moffatt, Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament, 1911; Peake, Critical Introduction to the New Testament, 1909; Salmon, Introduction to the New Testament, 1892; R. Scott, Epistles of Paul, 1909; Shaw, The Pauline Epistles, 1903; von Soden, History of Early Christian Literature, 1906; B.
Weiss, Present State of the Inquiry Concerning the Genuineness of Paul’s Epistles, 1897; Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament, 1909. (3) Commentaries: For exegetical commentaries on special epistles see special articles For the ancients see Chrysostom for the Greeks, and Pelagius for the Latins. For the Middle Ages see Thomas Aquinas. For the later time see Beza, Calvin, Colet, Estius, Grotius, Cornelius a Lapide, Wettstein, Bengel. Among the moderns note Alford, Beet (Romans-Colossians), Boise, Bible for Home and School, Cambridge Bible for Schools, Cambridge Greek Testament, New Century Bible; Drummond, Epistles of Paul, Ellicott (all but Romans and 2 Corinthians), Expositor’s Bible, Expositor’s Greek Testament; Holtzmann, Hand-Comm. zum New Testament; Jewett (1 and Thessalonians, Romans, Galatians), Lightfoot (Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and Notes), Lietzmann, Handbuch zum New Testament; Meyer (translation, revised German editions), Zahn, Kommentar zum New Testament. (4) Lives and Monographs: Albrecht, Paulus der Apestel Jesu Christi, 1903; Bacon, The Story of Paul, 1904; Bartlet, article in Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition; Baring- Gould, A Study of Paul, 1897; Baur, The Apostle Paul (2) , 1845; Bevan, Paul in the Light of Today, 1912; Bird, Paul of Tarsus, 1900; Campbell, Paul the Mystic, 1907; Chrysostom, Homiliae in Laude S. Pauli, Opera, volume II, edition Montf. (more critically in Field’s edition); Clemen, Paulus, 1904; Cone, Paul the Man, the Missionary, 1898; Cohu, Paul in the Light of Recent Research, 1910; Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of Paul (many editions); Deissmann, Paul, 1912; Drescher, Das Leben Jesu bei Paulus, 1900; Drury, The Prison Ministry of Paul, 1910; Eadie, Paul the Preacher, 1859; Farrar, Life and Work of Paul (various editions); Erbes, Die Todestage der Apostel Paulus und Petrus, 1899; Fletcher, A Study of the Conversion of Paul, 1911; Forbes, Footsteps of Paul in Rome, 1899; Fouard, Paul and His Mission, 1894, Last Years of Paul, 1897; Gardner, Religious Experience of Paul, 1911; Garvie, Life and Teaching of Paul, 1909, Studies of Paul and His Gospel, 1911; Gilbert, Student’s Life of Paul, 1899; Heim, Paulus, 1905; Honnicke, Chronologie des Lebens Pauli, 1904; Iverach, Paul, His Life and Time, 1890; Johnston, The Mission of Paul to the Roman Empire, 1909; M. Jones, Paul the Orator, 1910; Kennedy, Paul and the Mystery-Religions, 1913; Kohler, Zum Verstandnis d. Apostels Paulus, 1908; Lewin, Life and Epistles of Paul, 1875; Lock, Paul the Master Builder, 1905; Lyttleton, Observations on Saul’s Conversion, 1774; Myers, Saint Paul (various editions); Matheson, Spiritual Development of Paul, 1891; Means, Paul and the Ante-Nicene Church, 1903; Noesgen, Paulus der Apostel der Heiden, 1908; Paley, Horae Paulinae, 1790; Ramsay, Paul the Traveler, 1896, Pauline and Other Studies, 1906, Cities of Paul, 1908, Luke the Physician and Other Studies, 1908, Pictures of the Apostolic Church, 1910; Renan, Paul, 1869; A. T.
Robertson, Epochs in the Life of Paul, 1909, The Glory of the Ministry or Paul’s Exultation in Preaching, 1911; Sabatier, The Apostle Paul, 1896; Selden, In the Time of Paul, 1900; Schweitzer, Paul and His Interpreters, 1912; Smith, Voyage and Shipwreck of Paul4, 1880; Speer, The Man Paul, 1900; Stalker, Life of Paul, 1889; Taylor, Paul the Missionary, 1882; Underhill, Divine Legation of Paul, 1889; Weinel, Paul (translation, 1906); Whyte, The Apostle Paul, 1903; Wilkinson, Epic of Saul, 1891, Epic of Paul, 1897; Wrede, Paulus (2) , 1907 (translation); Wright, Cities of Paul, 1907; Wynne, Fragmentary Records of Jesus of Nazareth by a Contemporary, 1887. (5) Teaching: A.B.D. Alexander, The Ethics of Paul, 1910; S.A. Alexander, Christianity of Paul, 1899; Anonymous, The Fifth Gospel, 1906; R. Allen, Christelegy of Paul, 1912; M. Arnold, Paul and Protestantism, 1897; Ball, Paul and the Roman Law, 1901; Breitenstein, Jesus et Paul, 1908; Bruce, Paul’s Conception of Christianity, 1898; Bruckner, Die Entstehung der Paulinischen Christologie, 1903; Bultmann, Der Stil der Paulin. Predigt und die kyn. Diatribe, 1910; Chadwick, Social Teaching of Paul, 1907, Pastoral Teaching of Paul, 1907; M. Dibelius, Die Geisterwelt im Glauben des Paulus, 1909; Dickie, Culture of the Spiritual Life, 1905; Dickson, Paul’s Use of the Terms Flesh and Spirit, 1883; Du Bose, Gospel according to Paul, 1907; Dykes, Gospel according to Paul, 1888; Everett, Gospel of Paul, 1893; Feine, Paul as Theologian (translation, 1908); Greenough, Mind of Christ in Paul; Goguel, L’Apotre Paul et Jesus Christ, 1904; Harford, The Gospel according to Paul, 1912; Hicks, “St. Paul and Hellenism,” Stud. Bibl., IV; Holsten, Das Evangelium des Paulus, 1898; Julicher, Paulus und Jesus, 1907; Kaftan, Jesus und Paulus, 1906; Kennedy, Paul’s Conceptions of Last Things, 1904; Knowling, Testimony of Paul to Christ (3rd edition, 1911); A. Meyer, Jesus or Paul? 1909; Moffatt, Paul and Paulinism, 1910; Montet, Essai sur la christologie de Saint Paul, 1906; Nageli, Der Wortschatz des Apostels Paulus, 1905; Oehler, Paulus und Jesus, 1908; Paterson, The Pauline Theology, 1903; Pfleidercr, Paulinismus, 1873, Influence of the Apostle Paul on the Development of Christianity, 1885; Prat, Lamentations theologie de Saint Paul, 1907; Ramsay, The Teaching of Paul in Terms of the Present Day, 1913; Resch, Paulinismus und die Logia Jesu, 1904; Rostron, The Christology of Paul, 1912; Simon, Die Psychologie des Apostels Paulus, 1897; Somerville, Paul’s Conception of Christ, 1897; Stevens, The Pauline Theology, 1894; Thackeray, Relation of Paul to Contemporary Jewish Thought, 1900; J. Weiss, Paul and Jesus, 1909; Paul and Justification, 1913; Williams, A Plea for a Reconstruction of Paul’s Doctrine of Justification, 1912; Wustmann, Jesus und Paulus, 1907; Zahn, Das Gesetz Gottes nach der Lehre des Apostels Paulus (2) , 1892. A. T. Robertson PAUL, VOYAGE AND SHIPWRECK OF See PAUL THE APOSTLE, V, 9; PHOENIX.
PAULINE THEOLOGY <pol’-in > : 1. THE PREPARATION.
In order to understand the development of Paul’s theological system, it is necessary to begin with his beliefs as a Pharisee. The full extent of these beliefs, to be sure, is not now ascertainable, for Pharisaism was a rule of conduct rather than a system of dogmas, and great diversity of opinions existed among Pharisees. Yet there was general concurrence in certain broad principles, while some of Paul’s own statements enable us to specify his beliefs still more closely. 1. The Pharisee: Saul the Pharisee believed that God was One, the Creator of all things. In His relation to His world He was transcendent, and governed it normally through His angels. Certain of these angelic governors had been unfaithful to their trust and had wrought evil, although God still permitted them to bear rule for a time ( Colossians 2:15; compare Enoch 89:65). And evil had come into humanity through the transgression of the first man ( Romans 5:12; compare 2 Esdras 7:118). To lead men away from this evil God gave His Law, which was a perfect revelation of duty ( Romans 7:12), and this Law was illumined by the traditions of the Fathers, which the Pharisees felt to be an integral part of the Law itself.
God was merciful and would pardon the offender against the Law, if he completely amended his ways. But imperfect reformation brought no certain hope of pardon. To a few specially favored individuals God had given the help of His Spirit, but this was not for the ordinary individual.
The great majority of mankind (compare 2 Esdras 7:49-57), including all Gentiles, had no hope of salvation. In a very short time the course of the world would be closed. With God, from before the beginning of creation, there was existing a heavenly being, the Son of man of Daniel 7:13, and He was about to be made manifest. (That Saul held the transcendental Messianic doctrine is not to be doubted.) As the world was irredeemably bad, this Messiah would soon appear, cause the dead to rise, hold the Last Judgment and bring from heaven the “Jerus that is above” ( Galatians 4:26), in which the righteous would spend a blessed eternity. See PHARISEES; MESSIAH; PAROUSIA. 2. Saul and Sin: Romans 7:7-25 throws a further light on Saul’s personal beliefs. The Old Testament promised pardon to the sinner who amended his ways, but the acute moral sense of Saul taught him that he could never expect perfectly to amend his ways. The 10th Commandment was the stumblingblock.
Sins of deed and of word might perhaps be overcome, but sins of evil desires stayed with him, despite his full knowledge of the Law that branded them as sinful. Indeed, they seemed stimulated rather than suppressed by the divine precepts against them. With the best will in the world, Saul’s efforts toward perfect righteousness failed continually and gave no promise of ever succeeding. He found himself thwarted by something that he came to realize was ingrained in his very nature and from which he could never free himself. Human nature as it is, the flesh (not “the material of the body”), contains a taint that makes perfect reformation impossible ( Romans 7:18; compare 8:3, etc.). Therefore, as the Law knows no pardon for the imperfectly reformed, Saul felt his future to be absolutely black. What he longed for was a promise of pardon despite continued sin, and that the Law precluded. (Any feeling that the temple sacrifices. would bring forgiveness had long since been obsolete in educated Judaism.)
There is every reason to suppose that Saul’s experience was not unique at this period. Much has been written in recent years about the Jews’ confidence in God’s mercy, and abundant quotations are brought from the Talmud in support of this. But the surviving portions of the literature of the Daniel-Aqiba period (165 BC-135 AD) give a different impression, for it is predominantly a literature of penitential prayers and confessions of sin, of pessimism regarding the world, the nation and one’s self. In 2 Esdras, in particular, Saul’s experience is closely paralleled, and 2 Esdras 7 (of course not in the King James Version) is one of the best commentaries ever written on Romans 7. 3. Primitive Christianity: Saul must have come in contact with Christianity very soon after Pentecost, at the latest. Some personal acquaintance with Christ is in no way impossible, irrespective of the meaning of 2 Corinthians 5:16. But no one in Jerusalem, least of all a man like Saul, could have failed tq learn very early that there was a new “party” in Judaism. To his eyes this “party” would have about the following appearance: Here was a band of men proclaiming that the Messiah, whom all expected, would be the Jesus who had recently been crucified. Him the disciples were preaching as risen, ascended and sitting on God’s right hand. They claimed that He had sent on all His followers the coveted gift of the Spirit, and they produced miracles in proof of their claim. A closer investigation would show that the death of Jesus was being interpreted in terms of Isaiah 53, as a ransom for the nation. The inquirer would learn also that Jesus had given teaching that found constant and relentless fault with the Pharisees. Moreover, He had swept aside the tradition of the Fathers as worthless and had given the Law a drastic reinterpretation on the basis of eternal spiritual facts.
This inwardness must have appealed to Saul and he must have envied the joyous enthusiasm of the disciples. But to him Pharisaism was divine, and he was in a spiritual condition that admitted of no compromxses.
Moreover, the Law ( Galatians 3:13; compare Deuteronomy 21:23) cursed anyone who had been hanged on a tree, and the new party was claiming celestial Messiahship for a man who had met this fate. The system aroused Saul’s burning hatred; he appointed himself (perhaps stimulated by his moral desperation) to exterminate the new religion, and in pursuit of his mission he started for Damascus.
Saul must have gained a reasonable knowledge of Christ’s teachings in this period of antagonism. He certainly could not have begun to persecute the faith without learning what it was, and in the inevitable discussions with his victims he must have learned still more, even against his will. This fact is often overlooked. 2. THE CONVERSION. 1. Christ: The immediate content of Paul’s conversion was the realization that the celestial Messiah was truly Jesus of Nazareth. This was simply the belief of the primitive church and was the truth for which Christ had died ( Mark 14:62). But it involved much. It made Christ the Son of God ( Romans 8:32; Galatians 4:4, etc.), “firstborn of (i.e. “earlier than”) all creation” ( Colossians 1:15), “existing in the form of God” ( Philippians 2:6) and “rich” ( 2 Corinthians 8:9). In the Messiah are “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden” ( Colossians 2:3), to be manifested at the end of time when the Messiah shall appear as the Judge of all ( Corinthians 5:10, etc.), causing the resurrection of the dead ( Corinthians 15:45, etc.). All this was given by Paul’s former beliefs and had been claimed by Christ for Himself. That this Messiah had become man was a fact of the immediate past (the reality of the manhood was no problem at this period). As Messiah His sinlessness was unquestioned, while the facts of His life proved this sinlessness also. His teaching was wholly binding ( 1 Corinthians 7:10,11; that the writer of these words could have spared any effort to learn the teaching fully is out of the question). The conversion experience was proof sufficient of the resurrection, although for missionary purposes Paul used other evidence as well ( 1 Corinthians 15:1-11).
Faith in this Messiah brought the unmistakable experience of the Holy Spirit ( Romans 8:2; Galatians 3:2, etc.; compare Acts 9:17), demonstrating Christ’s Lordship ( 1 Corinthians 12:3; compare Acts 2:33). So “the head of every man is Christ” ( 1 Corinthians 11:3; compare Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22; 4:15), with complete control of the future ( 1 Corinthians 15:25), and all righteous men are His servants (“slaves,” Romans 1:1, etc.). To Him men may address their prayers ( 2 Corinthians 12:8; 1 Corinthians 1:2, etc.; compare Acts 14:23).
Further reflection added to the concepts. As the Lordship of Christ was absolute, the power of all hostile beings must have been broken also ( Romans 8:38; Philippians 2:9-11; Colossians 2:15; Ephesians 1:21-23, etc.). The Being who had such significance for the present and the future could not have been without significance for the past. “In all things” He must have had “the preeminence” ( Colossians 1:18). It was He who ministered to the Israelites at the Exodus ( 1 Corinthians 10:4,9). In fact He was not only “before all things” ( Colossians 1:17), but “all things have been created through him” ( Colossians 1:16). Wisdom and Logos concepts may have helped Paul in reaching these conclusions, which in explicit statement are an advance on Christ’s own words. But the conclusions were inevitable.
Fitting these data of religious fact into the metaphysical doctrine of God was a problem that occupied the church for the four following centuries.
After endless experimenting the only conclusion was shown to be that already reached by Paul in Romans 9:5 (compare Titus 2:13, the English Revised Version, the American Revised Version margin), that Christ is God. To be sure, Paul’s terminology, carried over from his pre- Christian days, elsewhere reserves “God” for the Father (and compare Corinthians 15:28). But the fact of this theology admits only of the conclusion that was duly drawn. 2. The Spirit: A second fact given directly by the conversion was the presence of the Spirit, where the actual experience transcended anything that had been dreamed of. Primarily the operation of the Spirit was recognized in vividly supernatural effects ( Romans 15:19; 1 Corinthians 12:5-11, etc.; compare 2 Corinthians 12:12; Acts 2:4), but Paul must at first have known the presence of the Spirit through the assurance of salvation given him, a concept that he never wearies of expressing ( Romans 8:16,23; Galatians 4:6, etc.). The work of the Spirit in producing holiness in the soul needs no comment (see HOLY SPIRIT; SANCTIFICATION), but it is characteristic of Paul that it is on this part of the Spirit’s activity, rather than on the miraculous effects, that he lays the emphasis. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,” etc. ( Galatians 5:22); the greatest miracles without love are more than useless ( 1 Corinthians 13:1-3); in such sayings Paul touched the depths of the purest teaching of Christ. To be sure, in the Synoptic Gospels the word “Spirit” is not often on Christ’s lips, but there is the same conception of a life proceeding from a pure center ( Matthew 6:22; 7:17, etc.) in entire dependence on God.
Further reflection and observation taught Paul something of the greatest importance for Christian theology. In prayer the Spirit appeared distinguished from the Father as well as from the Son ( Romans 8:26 f; compare 1 Corinthians 2:10 f), giving three terms that together express the plenitude of the Deity ( 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 1:3,6,13, etc.), with no fourth term ever similarly associated. See TRINITY. 3. The Unio Mystica: The indwelling of the divine produced by the Spirit is spoken of indifferently as the indwelling of the Spirit, or of the Spirit of Christ, or of Christ Himself (all three terms in Romans 8:9-11; compare Corinthians 2:12; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 3:17, etc.). The variations are in part due to the inadequacy of the Old terminology (so 2 Corinthians 3:17), in part to the nature of the subject. Distinctions made between the operations of the persons of the Trinity on the soul can never be much more than verbal, and the terms are freely interchangeable.
At all events, through the Spirit Christ is in the believer ( Romans 8:10; Galatians 2:20; 4:19; Ephesians 3:17), or, what is the same thing, the believer is in Christ ( Romans 6:11; 8:1; 16:7, etc.). “We have become united with him” ( Romans 6:5, sumphutoi , “grown together with”) in a union once and for all effected ( Galatians 3:27) and yet always to be made more intimate ( Romans 13:14). The union so accomplished makes the man “a new creature” ( 2 Corinthians 5:17). 4. Salvation: Paul now saw within himself a dual personality. His former nature, the old man, still persisted, with its impulses, liability to temptation, and inertnesses. The “flesh” still existed ( Galatians 5:17; Romans 8:12; 13:14; Ephesians 4:22; Philippians 3:12, etc.). On the other hand there was fighting in him against this former nature nothing less than the whole power of Christ, and its final victory could not be uncertain for a moment ( Romans 6:12; 8:2,10; Galatians 5:16, etc.). Indeed, it is possible to speak of the believer as entirely spiritual ( Romans 6:11,22; 8:9, etc.), as already in the kingdom ( Colossians 1:13), as already sitting in heavenly places ( Ephesians 2:6). Of course Paul had too keen an appreciation of reality to regard believers as utterly sinless ( Philippians 3:12, etc.), and his pages abound in reproofs and exhortations. But the present existence of remnants of sin had no final terrors, for the ultimate victory over sin was certain, even if it was not to be complete until the last day when the power of God would redeem even the present physical frame ( Romans 8:11; Philippians 3:21, etc.).
As the first man to belong to’the higher order, and as the point from which the race could take a fresh start, Christ could justly be termed a new Adam ( 1 Corinthians 15:45-49; compare Romans 5:12-21). If Corinthians 15:46 has any relation to the PhiIonic doctrine of the two Adams, it is a polemic against it. Such a polemic would not be unlikely. 5. Justification: A most extraordinary fact, to the former Pharisee, was that this experience had been gained without conscious effort and even against conscious effort ( Philippians 3:7 f). After years of fruitless striving a single act of selfsurrender had brought him an assurance that he had despaired of ever attaining. And this act of self-surrender is what Paul means by “faith,” “faith without works.” This faith is naturally almost anything in the world rather than a mere intellectual acknowledgment of a fact ( James 2:19), and is an act of the whole man, too complex for simple analysis. It finds, however, its perfect statement in Christ’s reference to `receiving the kingdom of God as a little child’ ( Mark 10:15). By an act of simple yielding Paul found himself no longer in dread of his sins; he was at peace with God, and confident as to his future; in a word, “justified.” In one sense, to be sure, “works” were still involved, for without the past struggles the result would never have been attained. A desire, however imperfect, to do right is a necessary preparation for justification, and the word has no meaning to a man satisfied to be sunk in complete selfishness ( Romans 6:2; 3:8, etc.). This desire to do right, which Paul always presupposes, and the content given “faith” are sufficient safeguards against antinomianism. But the grace given is in no way commensurate with past efforts, nor does it grow out of them. It is a simple gift of God ( Romans 6:23). 3. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS. 1. Abolition of the Law: The adoption by Paul of the facts given by his conversion (and the immediate conclusions that followed from them) involved, naturally, a readjustment and a reformation of the other parts of his belief. The process must have occupied some time, if it was ever complete during his life, and must have been affected materially by his controversies with his former coreligionists and with very many Christians.
Fundamental was the problem of the Law. The Law was perfectly clear that he — and only he — who performed it would live. But life was found through faith in Christ, while the Law was not fulfilled. There could be no question of compromise between the two positions; they were simply incompatible ( Romans 10:5 f; Galatians 2:16; 3:11 f; Philippians 3:7). One conclusion only was possible: “Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth” ( Romans 10:4). As far as concerned the believer, the Law was gone. Two tremendous results followed. One was the immense simplification of what we call “Christian ethics,” which were now to be determined by the broadest general principles of right and wrong and no longer by an elaborate legalistic construing of God’s commands ( Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:22 f, etc.; compare Mark 12:29-31). To be sure, the commandments might be quoted as convenient expressions of moral duty ( Ephesians 6:2; Corinthians 9:9, etc.; compare Mark 10:19), but they are binding because they are right, not because they are commandments ( Colossians 2:16). So, in Paul’s moral directions, he tries to bring out always the principle involved, and Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 are masterpieces of the treatment of concrete problems by this method. 2. Gentiles: The second result of the abolition of the Law was overwhelming. Gentiles had as much right to Christ as had the Jews, barring perhaps the priority of honor ( Romans 3:2, etc.) possessed by the latter. It is altogether conceivable, as Acts 22:21 implies, that Paul’s active acceptance of this result was long delayed and reached only after severe struggles. The fact was utterly revolutionary, and although it was prophesied in the Old Testament ( Romans 9:25 f), yet `the Messiah among you Gentiles’ remained the hidden mystery that God had revealed only in the last days ( Colossians 1:26 f; Ephesians 3:3-6, etc.). The struggles of the apostle in defense of this principle are the most familiar part of his career. 3. Redemption: This consciousness of deliverance from the Law came to Paul in another way. The Law was meant for men in this world, but the union with Christ had raised him out of this world and so taken him away from the Law’s control. In the Epistles this fact finds expression in an elaborately reasoned form. As Christ’s nature is now a vital part of our nature, His death and resurrection are facts of our past as well. “Ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God” ( Colossians 3:3). But “the law hath dominion over a man” only “for so long time as he liveth” ( Romans 7:1). “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ” ( Romans 7:4). Compare Colossians 2:11-13,20, where the same argument is used to show that ritual observance is no longer necessary. In Romans 6:1-14 this argument is made to issue in a practical exhortation. Through the death of Christ, which is our death (6:4), we, like Him, are placed in a higher world (6:5) where sin has lost its power (6:7), a world in which we are no longer under Law (6:14). Hence, the intensest moral effort becomes our duty (6:13; compare Corinthians 5:14 f). 4. Atonement: This release from the Law, however, does not solve the whole problem.
Evil, present and past, is a fact, Law or no Law (on Romans 4:15b; 5:13b; see the comms.), and a forbearance of God that simply “passes over” sins is disastrous for man as well as contrary to the righteous nature of God ( Romans 3:25 f). However inadequate the Old Testament sacrifices were felt to have been (and hence, perhaps, Paul’s avoidance of the Levitical terms except in Ephesians 5:2), yet they offered the only help possible for the treatment of this most complex of problems. The guilt of our sins is “covered” by the death of Christ ( 1 Corinthians 15:3, where this truth is among those which were delivered to converts “first of all”; Romans 3:25; 4:25; 5:6, etc.). This part of his theology Paul leaves in an incomplete form. He was accustomed, like any other man of his day, whether Jew or Gentile, to think naturally in sacrificial terms, and neither he nor his converts were conscious of any difficulty involved. Nor has theology since his time been able to contribute much toward advancing the solution of the problem. The fatal results of unchecked evil, its involving of the innocent with the guilty, and the value of vicarious suffering, are simple facts of our experience that defy our attempts to reduce them to intellectual formulas. In Paul’s case it is to be noted that he views the incentive as coming from God ( Romans 3:25; 5:8; 8:32, etc.), because of His love toward man, so that a “gift-propitiation” of an angry deity is a theory the precise opposite of the Pauline. Moreover, Christ’s death is not a mere fact of the past, but through the “mystical union” is incorporated into the life of every believer.
Further developments of this doctrine about Christ’s death find in it the complete destruction of whatever remained of the Law ( Colossians 2:14), especially as the barrier between Jew and Gentile ( Ephesians 2:15 f). The extension of the effects of the death to the unseen world ( Colossians 2:15; compare Galatians 4:9; Ephesians 4:8) was of course natural. 5. Moral Example: The death of Christ as producing a subjective moral power in the believer is appealed to frequently (compare Romans 8:3; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:2,25; Philippians 2:5, etc.), while the idea is perhaps present to some degree even in Romans 3:26. From a different point of view, the Cross as teaching the vanity of worldly things is a favorite subject with Paul ( 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Galatians 5:11; 6:14, etc.). These aspects require no explanation.
There are, accordingly, in Paul’s view of the death of Christ at least three distinct lines, the “mystical,” the “juristic,” and the “ethical.” But this distinction is largely only genetic and logical, and the lines tend to blend in all sorts of combinations. Consequently, it is frequently an impossible exegetical problem to determine which is most prominent in any given passage (e.g. 2 Corinthians 5:14 f). 6. Function of the Law: Regarding the Law a further question remained, which had great importance in Paul’s controversies. If the Law was useless for salvation, why was it given at all? Paul replies that it still had its purpose. To gain righteousness one must desire it and this desire the Law taught ( Romans 7:12,16; 2:18), even though it had no power to help toward fulfillment. So the Law gave knowledge of sin ( Romans 3:20; 7:7). But Paul did not hesitate to go beyond this. Familiar in his own experience with the psychological truth that a prohibition may actually stimulate the desire to transgress it, he showed that the Law actually had the purpose of bringing out all the dormant evil within us, that grace might deal with it effectually ( Romans 5:20 f; 7:8,25; compare 1 Corinthians 15:56).
Thus the Law became our paidagogos “to bring us unto Christ” ( Galatians 3:24; see SCHOOLMASTER), and came in “besides” ( Romans 5:20), i.e. as something not a primary part of God’s plan.
Indeed, this could be shown from the Law itself, which proved that faith was the primary method of salvation (Romans 4; compare Galatians 3:17) and which actually prophesied its own repeal ( Galatians 4:21-31).
With this conclusion, which must have required much time to work out, Paul’s reversal of his former Pharisaic position was complete. 4. SPECIAL TOPICS. 1. The Church: As Christ is the central element in the life of the believer, all believers have this element in common and are so united with each other ( Romans 12:5). This is the basis of the Pauline doctrine of the church. The use of the word “church” to denote the whole body of believers is not attained until the later Epistles ( Colossians 1:18; Philippians 3:6; Ephesians 1:22, etc.) — before that time the word is in the plural when describing more than a local congregation ( 2 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Corinthians 7:17; Romans 16:16, etc.) — but the idea is present from the first.
Indeed, the only terms in Judaism that were at all adequate were “the nation” or “Israel.” Paul uses the latter term ( Galatians 6:16) and quite constantly expresses himself in a manner that suggests the Old Testament figures for the nation (e.g. compare Ephesians 5:25 with Hosea 2:19 f), and time was needed in order to give ekklesia (properly “assembly”) the new content.
The church is composed of all who have professed faith in Christ and the salvation of its members Paul takes generally for granted ( Thessalonians 1:4; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:8, etc.), even in the case of the incestuous person of 1 Corinthians 5:5 (compare 3:15; 11:32). To be sure, 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 makes it clear that the excommunication of grave sinners had been found necessary, and one may doubt if Paul had much hope for the “false brethren” of 2 Corinthians 11:26; Galatians 2:4 (compare 1 Corinthians 3:17, etc.). But on the whole Paul’s optimism has little doubt that every member of the church is in right relations with God. These members, through their union with Christ, form a corporate, social organism of the greatest possible solidarity ( 1 Corinthians 12:26, etc.) and have the maximum of responsibility toward one another ( Romans 14:15; 1 Corinthians 8:11; Corinthians 8:13-15; Galatians 6:2; Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 1:24, etc.). They are utterly distinct from the world around them ( Corinthians 6:14-18; 1 Corinthians 5:12, etc.), although in constant intercourse with it ( 1 Corinthians 5:10; 10:27, etc.). It was even desirable, in the conditions of the times, that the church should have her own courts like Jews in Gentilecities ( 1 Corinthians 6:5 f). The right of the church to discipline her members is taken for granted (1 Corinthians 5; 2 Corinthians 2:5-11). According to Acts 14:23 Paul made his own appointments of church officers, but the Epistles as a whole would suggest that this practice did not extend beyond Asia Minor. For further details see CHURCH GOVERNMENT; MINISTRY. A general obedience to Paul’s own authority is presupposed throughout.
The church is, of course, the object of Christ’s sanctifying power ( Ephesians 5:25-30) and is so intimately united with Him as to be spoken of as His “body” ( 1 Corinthians 12:27; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:23, etc.), or as the “complement” of Christ, the extension of His personality into the world ( Ephesians 1:22 f). As such, its members have not only their duty toward one another, but also the responsibility of carrying Christ’s message into the world ( Philippians 2:15 f, and presupposed everywhere). And to God shall “be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations forever and ever” ( Ephesians 3:21). 2. The Sacraments: As the union with Christ’s death is something more than a subjective impression made on the mind by the fact of that death, the references to the union with the death accomplished in baptism in Romans 6:1-7 and Colossians 2:11 f are not explained by supposing them to describe a mere dramatic ceremony. That Paul was really influenced by the mysteryreligion concepts has not been made out. But his readers certainly were so influenced and tended to conceive very materialistic views of the Christian sacraments ( 1 Corinthians 10:5; 15:29). And historic exegesis is bound to construe Paul’s language in the way in which he knew his readers would be certain to understand it, and no ordinary Gentile reader of Paul’s day would have seen a purely “symbolic” meaning in either of the baptismal passages. Philo would have done so, but not the class of men with whom Paul had to deal. Similarly, with regard to the Lord’s Supper, in 1 Corinthians 10:20 Paul teaches that through participation in a sacral meal it is possible to be brought into objective relations with demons of whom one is wholly ignorant. In this light it is hard to avoid the conclusion that through participation in the Lord’s Supper the believer is objectively brought into communion with the Lord ( 1 Corinthians 10:16), a communion that will react for evil on the believer if he approach it in an unworthy manner ( 1 Corinthians 11:29-32): i.e. the union with Christ that is the center of Paul’s theology he teaches to be established normally through baptism. And in the Lord’s Supper this union is further strengthened. That faith on the part of the believer is an indispensable prerequisite for the efficacy of the sacraments need not be said. See, further, GOD; PAROUSIA; PRAYER; PREDESTINATION; PROPITIATION, etc.
LITERATURE. See under PAUL.
Burton Scott Easton PAULUS; SERGIUS <po’-lus > , <sur’-ji-us > ([ Se>rgiov Pau~lov, Sergios Paulos ]): The Roman “proconsul” (Revised Version) or “deputy” (the King James Version) of Cyprus when Paul, along with Barnabas, visited that island on his first missionary journey ( Acts 13:4,7). The official title of Sergius is accurately given in Acts. Cyprus was originally an imperial province, but in 22 BC it was transferred by Augustus to the Senate, and was therefore placed under the administration of proconsuls, as is attested by extant Cyprian coins of the period. When the two missionaries arrived at Paphos, Sergius, who was a “prudent man” (the King James Version) or “man of understanding” (Revised Version), i.e. a man of practical understanding, “sought to hear the word of God” ( Acts 13:7). Bar-Jesus, or Elymas, a sorcerer at the court of Sergius, fearing the influence of the apostles, sought, however, “to turn aside the proconsul from the faith,” but was struck with blindness ( Acts 13:8-11); and the deputy, “when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord” ( Acts 13:12). The narrative indicates that not only the miracle but also the attention with which Sergius listened to the teaching of Paul (compare Acts 13:7) conduced to his conversion (Bengel). Attempts have been made to trace some connection between the name Sergius Paulus and the fact that Saul is first called Paul in Acts 13:9, but the joint occurrence of the two names is probably to be set down as only a coincidence. C. M. Kerr PAVEMENT <pav’-ment > : In the Old Testament, with the exception of 2 Kings 16:17, the Hebrew word is [ hP;x]ri , ritspah ] ( 2 Chronicles 7:3; Est 1:6; Ezekiel 40:17, etc.); in Sirach 20:18 and Bel and the Dragon verse the word is [e]dafov, edaphos ]; in John 19:13, the name “The Pavement” ([liqo>strwtov, lithostrotos ], “paved with stone”) is given to the place outside the Pretorium on which Pilate sat to give judgment upon Jesus. Its Hebrew (Aramaic) equivalent is declared to be GABBATHA (which see). The identification of the place is uncertain.
PAVILION <pa-vil’-yun > : A covered place, booth, tent, in which a person may be kept hid or secret ([ Ëso , cokh ], Psalm 27:5; [ hKsu , cukkah ] — the usual term — Psalm 31:20), or otherwise be withdrawn from view. The term is used with reference to God ( 2 Samuel 22:12; Psalm 18:11); to kings drinking in privacy ( 1 Kings 20:12,16); the Revised Version (British and American) gives “pavilion” for the King James Version “tabernacle” in Job 36:29; Isaiah 4:6; while in Numbers 25:8 it substitutes this word, with the margin “alcove,” for the King James Version “tent” ([qubbah]), and Jeremiah 43:10, for “royal pavilion” ([shaphrur]), reads in the margin “glittering pavilion.” James Orr PAW <po > ([ tK” , kaph ], literally, “palm,” [ dy; , yadh ], literally, “hand”): The former (kaph ) is applied to the soft paws of animals in contradistinction to the hoofs ( Leviticus 11:27); the latter is thrice used in 1 Samuel 17:37: “Yahweh that delivered me out of the paw (yadh ) of the lion, and out of the paw (yadh ) of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand (yadh ) of this Philistine.” The verb “to paw” ([ rp”j; , chaphar ]) is found in the description of the horse: “He paweth (margin “they paw”) in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth out to meet the armed men (margin, “the weapons”)” ( Job 39:21). The word is usually translated “to delve into,” “to pry into,” “to explore.” H. L. E. Luering PE <pa > (P, p , t ): The 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet; transliterated in this Encyclopedia as “p” with daghesh and “ph” (= f) without. It came also to be used for the number 80. For name, etc., see ALPHABET.
PEACE <pes > ([ µwOlv; , shalom ]; [eijrh>nh, eirene ]): 1. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:
Is a condition of freedom from disturbance, whether outwardly, as of a nation from war or enemies, or inwardly, within the soul. The Hebrew word is shalom (both adjective and substantive), meaning, primarily, “soundness,” “health,” but coming also to signify “prosperity,” well-being in general, all good in relation to both man and God. In early times, to a people harassed by foes, peace was the primary blessing. In <19C207> Psalm 122:7, we have “peace” and “prosperity,” and in 35:27; 73:3, shalom is translated “prosperity.” In 2 Samuel 11:7 the King James Version, David asked of Uriah “how Joab did” (margin “of the peace of Joab”), “and how the people did (the Revised Version (British and American) “fared,” literally, “of the peace of the people”), and how the war prospered” (literally, “and of the peace (welfare) of the war”). (1) Shalom was the common friendly greeting, used in asking after the health of anyone; also in farewells ( Genesis 29:6, “Is it well with him?” (“Is there peace to him?”); 43:23, “Peace be to you”; 43:27, “He asked them of their welfare (of their peace)”; Judges 6:23, “Yahweh said unto him, Peace be unto thee”; 18:15 (the King James Version “saluted him,” margin “Hebrew asked him of peace,” the Revised Version (British and American) “of his welfare”); Judges 19:20, etc.). See also GREETING. (2) Peace from enemies (implying prosperity) was the great desire of the nation and was the gift of God to the people if they walked in His ways ( Leviticus 26:6; Numbers 6:26, “Yahweh lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace”; Psalm 29:11; Isaiah 26:12, etc.).
To “die in peace” was greatly to be desired ( Genesis 15:15; 1 Kings 2:6; 2 Chronicles 34:28, etc.). (3) Inward peace was the portion of the righteous who trusted in God ( Job 22:21, “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace (shalam )”; Psalm 4:8; 85:8, “He will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints”; 119:165; Proverbs 3:2,17; Isaiah 26:3, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace (Hebrew “peace, peace”), whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee”; Malachi 2:5); also outward peace ( Job 5:23,24; Proverbs 16:7, etc.). (4) Peace was to be sought and followed by the righteous ( Psalm 34:14, “Seek peace, and pursue it”; Zechariah 8:16,19, “Love truth and peace”). (5) Peace should be a prominent feature of the Messianic times ( Isaiah 2:4; 9:6, “Prince of Peace”; 11:6; Ezekiel 34:25; Micah 4:2-4; Zechariah 9:10).
In the New Testament, where eirene has much the same meaning and usage as shalom (for which it is employed in the Septuagint; compare Luke 19:42, the Revised Version (British and American) “If thou hadst known .... the things which belong unto peace”), we have still the expectation of “peace” through the coming of the Christ ( Luke 1:74,79; 12:51) and also its fulfillment in the higher spiritual sense. 2. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: (1) The gospel in Christ is a message of peace from God to men ( Luke 2:14; Acts 10:36, “preaching .... peace by Jesus Christ”). It is “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” in Romans 5:1; the King James Version 10:15; peace between Jew and Gentile ( Ephesians 2:14,15); an essential element in the spiritual kingdom of God ( Romans 14:17). (2) It is to be cherished and followed by Christians. Jesus exhorted His disciples, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another” ( Mark 9:50); Paul exhorts, “Live in peace: and the God of love and peace shall be with you” ( 2 Corinthians 13:11; compare Romans 12:18; 1 Corinthians 7:15). (3) God is therefore “the God of peace,” the Author and Giver of all good (“peace” including every blessing) very frequently (e.g. Romans 15:33; 16:20; 2 Thessalonians 3:16, etc., “the Lord of peace”). “Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” is a common apostolic wish or salutation (compare 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2, etc.). (4) We have also “peace” as a greeting ( Matthew 10:13; Luke 10:5); “a son of peace” ( Luke 10:6) is one worthy of it, in sympathy with it; the Lord’s own greeting to His disciples was “Peace be unto you” ( Luke 24:36; John 20:19,21,26), and ere He left them He gave them specially His blessing of “Peace” ( John 14:27); we have also frequently “Go in peace” ( Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50). In Luke 19:38, we have “peace in heaven” (in the acclamation of Jesus on His Messianic entry of Jerusalem). (5) The peace that Christ brought is primarily spiritual peace from and with God, peace in the heart, peace as the disposition or spirit. He said that He did not come “to send peace on the earth, but a sword,” referring to the searching nature of His call and the divisions and clearances it would create. But, of course, the spirit of the gospel and of the Christian is one of peace, and it is a Christian duty to seek to bring war and strife everywhere to an end. This is represented as the ultimate result of the gospel and Spirit of Christ; universal and permanent peace can come only as that Spirit rules in men’s hearts. “Peace” in the sense of silence, to hold one’s peace, etc., is in the Old Testament generally the translation of charash , “to be still, or silent” ( Genesis 24:21; 34:5; Job 11:3); also of chashah , “to hush,” “to be silent” ( 2 Kings 2:3,5; Psalm 39:2), and of other words. In Job 29:10 (“The nobles held their peace,” the King James Version), it is qol , “voice.”
In the New Testament we have siopao , “to be silent,” “to cease speaking” ( Matthew 20:31; 26:63; Acts 18:9, etc.); sigao , “to be silent,” “not to speak” ( Luke 20:26; Acts 12:17); hesuchazo , “to be quiet” ( Luke 14:4; Acts 11:18); phimoo , “to muzzle or gag” ( Mark 1:25; Luke 4:35).
In Apocrypha eirene is frequent, mostly in the sense of peace from war or strife (Tobit 13:14; Judith 3:1; Ecclesiasticus 13:18; 1 Macc 5:54; 6:49; Macc 14:6, eustatheia = “tranquillity”).
The Revised Version (British and American) has “peace” for “tongue” (Est 7:4; Job 6:24; Amos 6:10; Habakkuk 1:13); “at peace with me” for “perfect” ( Isaiah 42:19, margin “made perfect” or “recompensed”); “security” instead of “peaceably” and “peace” ( Daniel 8:25; 11:21,24); “came in peace to the city,” for “came to Shalem, a city” ( Genesis 33:18); “it was for my peace” instead of “for peace” ( Isaiah 38:17); “when they are in peace,” for “and that which should have been for their welfare” ( Psalm 69:22). W. L. Walker PEACE OFFERING See SACRIFICE.
PEACEMAKER <pes’-mak-er > : Occurs only in the plural ( Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers (eirenopoioi ): for they shall be called sons of God” (who is “the God of peace”)). We have also what seems to be a reflection of this saying in James 3:18, “The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for (the Revised Version margin “by”) them that make peace” (tois poiousin eirenen ). In classical Greek a “peacemaker” was an ambassador sent to treat of peace. The word in Matthew 5:9 would, perhaps, be better rendered “peace-workers,” implying not merely making peace between those who are at variance, but working peace as that which is the will of the God of peace for men. W. L. Walker PEACOCK <pe’-kok > ([ µyYiKiTu , tukkiyim ] (plural); Latin Pavo cristatus): A bird of the genus Pavo. Japan is the native home of the plainer peafowl; Siam, Ceylon and India produce the commonest and most gorgeous. The peacock has a bill of moderate size with an arched tip, its cheeks are bare, the eyes not large, but very luminous, a crest of 24 feathers 2 inches long, with naked shafts and broad tips of blue, glancing to green. The neck is not long but proudly arched, the breast full, prominent and of bright blue green, blue predominant. The wings are short and ineffectual, the feathers on them made up of a surprising array of colors. The tail consists of 18 short, stiff, grayish-brown feathers. Next is the lining of the train, of the same color.
The glory of this glorious bird lies in its train. It begins on the back between the wings in tiny feathers not over 6 inches in length, and extends backward. The quills have thick shafts of purple and green shades, the eye at the tip of each feather from one-half to 2 inches across, of a deep peculiar blue, surrounded at the lower part by two half-moon-shaped crescents of green. Whether the train lies naturally, or is spread in full glory, each eye shows encircled by a marvel of glancing shades of green, gold, purple, blue and bronze. When this train is spread, it opens like a fan behind the head with its sparkling crest, and above the wondrous blue of the breast. The bird has the power to contract the muscles at the base of the quills and play a peculiar sort of music with them. It loves high places and cries before a storm in notes that are startling to one not familiar with them. The bird can be domesticated and will become friendly enough to take food from the hand. The peahen is smaller than the cock, her neck green, her wings gray, tan and brown — but she has not the gorgeous train. She nests on earth and breeds with difficulty when imported, the young being delicate and tender. The grown birds are hardy when acclimated, and live to old age. By some freak of nature, pure white peacocks are at times produced. Aristophanes mentioned peafowl in his Birds, II. 102, 269. Alexander claimed that he brought them into Greece from the east, but failed to prove his contention. Pliny wrote that Hortensius was the first to serve the birds for food, and that Aufidius Lurco first fattened and sold them in the markets. It was the custom to skin the bird, roast and recover it and send it to the table, the gaudy feathers showing.
The first appearance of the bird in the Bible occurs in a summing-up of the wealth and majesty of Solomon ( 1 Kings 10:22: “For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks”). (Here the Septuagint translates [pelekhtoi>, peleketoi ] (s.c. [li>qoi, lithoi ]), = “(stones) carved with an ax.”) The same statement is made in 2 Chronicles 9:21: “For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks” Septuagint omits). There is no question among scholars and scientists but that these statements are true, as the ships of Solomon are known to have visited the coasts of India and Ceylon, and Tarshish was on the Malabar coast of India, where the native name of the peacock was tokei, from which tukkiyim undoubtedly was derived (see GOLD, and The Expository Times, IX, 472). The historian Tennant says that the Hebrew names for “ivory” and “apes” were also the same as the Tamil. The reference to the small, ineffectual wing of the peacock which scarcely will lift the weight of the body and train, that used to be found in Job, is now applied to the ostrich, and is no doubt correct: “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; But are they the pinions and plumage of love?” ( Job 39:13).
While the peacock wing seems out of proportion to the size of the bird, it will sustain flight and bear the body to the treetops. The wing of the ostrich is useless for flight. Gene Stratton-Porter PEARL <purl > . See STONES, PRECIOUS.
PECULIAR <pe-kul’-yar > : The Latin peculium means “private property,” so that “peculiar” properly = “pertaining to the individual.” In modern English the word has usually degenerated into a half-colloquial form for “extraordinary,” but in Biblical English it is a thoroughly dignified term for “esp. one’s own”; compare the “peculiar treasure” of the king in Ecclesiastes 2:8 (the King James Version). Hence, “peculiar people” (the King James Version Deuteronomy 14:2, etc.) means a people especially possessed by God and particularly prized by Him. The word in the Old Testament (the King James Version Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 14:2; 26:18; <19D504> Psalm 135:4; Ecclesiastes 2:8) invariably represents [ hL;gus] , ceghullah ], “property,” an obscure word which Septuagint usually rendered by the equally obscure [periou>siov, periousios ] (apparently meaning “superabundant”), which in turn is quoted in Titus 2:14. In Malachi 3:17, however, Septuagint has [peripoi>hsiv, peripoiesis ], quoted in 1 Peter 2:9. the English Revised Version in the New Testament substituted “own possession” in the two occurrences, but in the Old Testament kept “peculiar” and even extended its use ( Deuteronomy 7:6; Malachi 3:17) to cover every occurrence of ceghullah except in 1 Chronicles 29:3 (“treasure”). the American Standard Revised Version, on the contrary, has dropped “peculiar” altogether, using “treasure” in 1 Chronicles 29:3; Ecclesiastes 2:8, and “own possession” elsewhere. the King James Version also has “peculiar commandments” ([i]diov, idios ], “particular,” the Revised Version (British and American) “several”) in The Wisdom of Solomon 19:6, and the Revised Version (British and American) has “peculiar” where the King James Version has “special” in The Wisdom of Solomon 3:14 for [ejklekth>, eklekte ], “chosen out.” Burton Scott Easton PEDAHEL <ped’-a-hel > , <pe-da’-el > ([ laeh]d”P] , pedhah’-el ], “whom God redeems”): A prince of Naphtali; one of the tribal chiefs who apportioned the land of Canaan ( Numbers 34:28; compare 34:17).
PEDAHZUR <pe-da’zur > ([ rWxhd;P] , pedhahtsur ]): Mentioned in Numbers 1:10; 2:20; 7:54,59; 10:23 as the father of Gamaliel, head of the tribe of Manasseh, at the time of the exodus. See The Expository Times, VIII, ff.
PEDAIAH <pe-da’-ya > , <pe-di’-a > ([ Why;d;P] , pedhayahu ], “Yah redeems”): (1) Father of Joel, who was ruler of Western Manasseh in David’s reign ( 1 Chronicles 27:20). Form [ hy;d;P] , pedhayah ] (see above). (2) Pedaiah of Rumah ( 2 Kings 23:36), father of Zebudah, Jehoiakim’s mother. (3) A son of Jeconiah ( 1 Chronicles 3:18); in 1 Chronicles 3:19 the father of Zerubbabel. Pedaiah’s brother, Shealtiel, is also called father of Zerubbabel ( Ezra 3:2; but in 1 Chronicles 3:17 the King James Version spelled “Salathiel”). There may have been two cousins, or even different individuals may be referred to under Shealtiel and Salathiel respectively. (4) Another who helped to repair the city wall ( Nehemiah 3:25), of the family of PAROSH (which see). Perhaps this is the man who stood by Ezra at the reading of the Law ( Nehemiah 8:4; 1 Esdras 9:44, called “Phaldeus”). (5) A “Levite,” appointed one of the treasurers over the “treasuries” of the Lord’s house ( Nehemiah 13:13). (6) A Benjamite, one of the rulers residing in Jerusalem under the “return” arrangements ( Nehemiah 11:7). Henry Wallace PEDESTAL <ped’-es-tal > ([ ˆKe , ken ]): In two places ( 1 Kings 7:29,31) the Revised Version (British and American) gives this word for the King James Version “base” (in Solomon’s “Sea”).
PEDIAS <ped’-i-as > , <pe-di’-as > ([ Pedi>av, Pedias ]; Codex Alexandrinus [ Paidei>av, Paideias ]; the King James Version by mistake Pelias): One of those who had taken “strange wives” (1 Esdras 9:34) = “Bedeiah” of Ezra 10:35.
PEDIGREE <ped’-i-gre > ([ dLey”t]hi , hithyalledh ], “to show one’s birth”): The English word “pedigree” occurs only once in the Bible, according to the concordance. In Numbers 1:18, it is said: “They declared their pedigrees”; that is, they enrolled or registered themselves according to their family connections. The same idea is expressed frequently, employing a different term in the Hebrew, by the common phrase of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, “to reckon by genealogy,” “to give genealogy,” etc. (compare 1 Chronicles 7:5,9; Ezra 2:62 ff; Nehemiah 7:64).
These last passages indicate the importance of the registered pedigree or genealogy, especially of the priests in the post-exilic community, for the absence of the list of their pedigrees, or their genealogical records, was sufficient to cause the exclusion from the priesthood of certain enrolled priests. Walter R. Betteridge PEEL; PILL <pel > , <pil > : “Pill” ( Genesis 30:37,38; Tobit 11:13 (the Revised Version (British and American) “scaled”)) and “peel” ( Isaiah 18:2,7 (the King James Version and the Revised Version margin); Ezekiel 29:18 (the King James Version and the English Revised Version)) are properly two different words, meaning “to remove the hair” (pilus) and “to remove the skin” (pellis), but in Elizabethan English the two were confused. In Isaiah 18:2,7, the former meaning is implied, as the Hebrew word here ([ fr”m; , marat ]) is rendered “pluck off the hair” in Ezra 9:3; Nehemiah 13:25; Isaiah 50:6. The word, however, may also mean “make smooth” (so the Revised Version margin) or “bronzed.”
This last, referring to the dark skins of the Ethiopians, is best here, but in any case the King James Version and the Revised Version margin are impossible. In the other cases, however, “remove the skin” (compare “scaled,” Tobit 11:13 the Revised Version (British and American)) is meant. So in Genesis 30:37,38, Jacob “peels” (so the Revised Version (British and American)) off portions of the bark of his rods, so as to give alternating colors (compare 30:39). And in Ezekiel 29:18, the point is Nebuchadrezzar’s total failure in his siege of Tyre, although the soldiers had carried burdens until the skin was peeled from their shoulders (compare the American Standard Revised Version “worn”). Burton Scott Easton PEEP <pep > ([ tp”x; , tsphaph ]; the King James Version Isaiah 8:19; 10:14 (the Revised Version (British and American) “chirp”)): In 10:14, the word describes the sound made by a nestling bird; in 8:19, the changed (ventriloquistic?) voice of necromancers uttering sounds that purported to come from the feeble dead. The modern use of “peep” = “look” is found in Sirach 21:23, as the translation of [paraku>ptw, parakupto ]: “A foolish man peepeth in from the door of another man’s house.”
PEKAH <pe’-ka > ([ jq”P, , peqach ], “opening” (of the eyes) ( 2 Kings 15:25-31); [ Fa>kee, Phakee ]): 1. ACCESSION:
Son of Remaliah, and 18th king of Israel. Pekah murdered his predecessor, Pekahiah, and seized the reins of power ( 2 Kings 15:25). His usurpation of the throne is said to have taken place in the 52nd year of Uzziah, and his reign to have lasted for 20 years ( 2 Kings 15:27). His accession, therefore, may be placed in 748 BC (other chronologies place it later, and make the reign last only a few years).
Pekah came to the throne with the resolution of assisting in forming a league to resist the westward advance of Assyria. The memory of defeat by Assyria at the battle of Karkar in 753, more than 100 years before, had never died out. 2. ATTITUDE OF ASSYRIA:
Tiglath-pileser III was now ruler of Assyria, and in successive campaigns since 745 had proved himself a resistless conqueror. His lust for battle was not yet satisfied, and the turn of Philistia and Syria was about to come. In 735, a coalition, of which Pekah was a prominent member, was being formed to check his further advance. It comprised the princes of Comagene, Gebal, Hamath, Arvad, Ammon, Moab, Edom, Gaza, Samaria, Syria, and some minor potentates, the list being taken from a roll of the subject-princes who attended a court and paid tribute after the fall of Damascus. Ahaz likewise attended as a voluntary tributary to do homage to Tiglath-pileser ( 2 Kings 16:10). 3. JUDAH RECALCITRANT:
While the plans of the allies were in course of formation, an obstacle was met with which proved insurmountable by the arts of diplomacy. This was the refusal of Ahaz, then on the throne of David, to join the confederacy.
Arguments and threats having failed to move him, resort was had to force, and the troops of Samaria and Damascus moved on Jerusalem ( 2 Kings 16:5). Great alarm was felt at the news of their approach, as seen in the 7th and 8th chapters of Isaiah. The allies had in view to dispossess Ahaz of his crown, and give it to one of their own number, a son of Tabeel. Isaiah himself was the mainstay of the opposition to their projects. The policy he advocated, by divine direction, was that of complete neutrality. This he urged with passionate earnestness, but with only partial success. Isaiah (probably) had kept back Ahaz from joining the coalition, but could not prevent him from sending an embassy, laden with gifts to Tiglath-pileser, to secure his intervention. On the news arriving that the Assyrian was on the march, a hasty retreat was made from Jerusalem, and the blow soon thereafter fell, where Isaiah had predicted, on Rezin and Pekah, and their kingdoms. 4. CHRONICLES ANCILLARY TO KINGS:
The severely concise manner in which the writer of Kings deals with the later sovereigns of the Northern Kingdom is, in the case of Pekah, supplemented in Chronicles by further facts as to this campaign of the allies. The Chronicler states that “a great multitude of captives” were taken to Damascus and many others to Samaria. These would be countrymen and women from the outlying districts of Judah, which were ravaged. Those taken to Samaria were, however, returned, unhurt, to Jericho by the advice of the prophet Oded ( 2 Chronicles 28:5-15). 5. FALL OF DAMASCUS; NORTHERN AND EASTERN PALESTINE OVERRUN:
The messengers sent from Jerusalem to Nineveh appear to have arrived when the army of Tiglath-pileser was already prepared to march. The movements of the Assyrians being expedited, they fell upon Damascus before the junction of the allies was accomplished. Rezin was defeated in a decisive battle, and took refuge in his capital, which was closely invested.
Another part of the invading army descended on the upper districts of Syria and Samaria. Serious resistance to the veteran troops of the East could hardly be made, and city after city fell. A list of districts and cities that were overrun is given in 2 Kings 15:29. It comprises Gilead beyond Jordan — already partly depopulated ( 1 Chronicles 5:26); the tribal division of Naphtali, lying to the West of the lakes of Galilee and Merom, and all Galilee, as far South as the plain of Esdraelon and the Valley of Jezreel. Cities particularly mentioned are Ijon (now `Ayun), Abel-bethmaacah (now `Abi), Janoah (now Yanun), Kedesh (now Kados) and Hazor (now Hadireh). 6. DEPORTATION OF THE INHABITANTS:
These places and territories were not merely attacked and plundered. Their inhabitants were removed, with indescribable loss and suffering, to certain districts in Assyria, given as Halah, Habor, Hara, and both sides of the river Gozan, an affluent of the Euphrates. The transplantation of these tribes to a home beyond the great river was a new experiment in political geography, devised with the object of welding the whole of Western Asia into a single empire. It was work of immense difficulty and must have taxed the resources of even so great an organizer as Tiglath-pileser. The soldiers who had conquered in the field were, of course, employed to escort the many thousands of prisoners to their new locations. About two-thirds of the Samarian kingdom, comprising the districts of Samaria, the two Galilees, and the trans-Jordanic region, was thus denuded of its inhabitants. 7. DEATH OF PEKAH:
Left with but a third of his kingdom — humbled but still defiant — Pekah was necessarily unpopular with his subjects. In this extremity — the wave of invasion from the North having spent itself — the usual solution occurred, and a plot was formed by which the assassination of Pekah should be secured, and the assassin should take his place as a satrap of Assyria. A tool was found in the person of Hoshea, whom Tiglath-pileser claims to have appointed to the throne. The Biblical narrative does not do more than record the fact that “Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead” ( 2 Kings 15:30). The date given to this act is the 20th year of Jotham. As Jotham’s reign lasted but 16 years, this number is evidently an error. 8. REFERENCES IN ISAIAH:
For the first time, the historian makes no reference to the religious conduct of a king of Israel. The subject was beneath notice. The second section of Isaiah’s prophecies ( Isaiah 7:1 through 10:4) belongs to the reign of Ahaz and thus to the time of Pekah, both of whom are named in it. Pekah is named in Isaiah 7:1, and is often, in this and the next chapter, referred to as “the son of Remaliah.” His loss of the territorial divisions of Zebulun and Naphtali is referred to in 9:1, and is followed by prophecy of their future glory as the earthly home of the Son of Man. The wording of Isaiah 9:14 shows that it was written before the fall of Samaria, and that of Isaiah 10:9-11 that Damascus and Samaria had both fallen and Jerusalem was expected to follow. This section of Isaiah may thus be included in the literature of the time of Pekah. W. Shaw Caldecott PEKAHIAH <pek-a-hi’-a > , <pe-ka’-ya > ([ hy;j]q”P] , peqachyah ], “Yah hath opened” (the eyes) ( 2 Kings 15:23-26); [ Fakesi>av, Phakesias ]; Codex Alexandrinus [ Fakei>av, Phakeias ]): 1. ACCESSION:
Son of Menahem, and 17th king of Israel. He is said to have succeeded his father in the “50th year of Azariah” (or Uzziah), a synchronism not free from difficulty if his accession is placed in 750-749 (see MENAHEM; UZZIAH). Most date lower, after 738, when an Assyrian inscription makes Menahem pay tribute to Tiglath-pileser (compare 2 Kings 15:19-21). 2. REGICIDE IN ISRAEL:
Pekahiah came to the throne enveloped in the danger which always accompanies the successor of an exceptionally strong ruler, in a country where there is not a settled law of succession. Within two years of his accession he was murdered in a foul manner — the 7th king of Israel who had met his death by violence (the others were Nadab, Elah, Tibni, Jehoram, Zechariah and Shallum). The chief conspirator was Pekah, son of Remaliah, one of his captains, with whom, as agent in the crime, were associated 50 Gileadites. These penetrated into the palace (the Revised Version (British and American) “castle”) of the king’s house, and put Pekahiah to death, his bodyguards, Argob and Arieh, dying with him. The record, in its close adherence to fact, gives no reason for the king’s removal, but it may reasonably be surmised that it was connected with a league which was at this time forming for opposing resistance to the power of Assyria. This league, Pekahiah, preferring his father’s policy of tributary vassalage, may have refused to join. If so, the decision cost him his life.
The act of treachery and violence is in accordance with all that Hosea tells us of the internal condition of Israel at this time: “They .... devour their judges; all their kings are fallen” ( Hosea 7:7). 3. PEKAHIAH’S CHARACTER:
The narrative of Pekahiah’s short reign contains but a brief notice of his personal character. Like his predecessors, Pekahiah did not depart from the system of worship introduced by Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, “who made Israel to sin.” Despite the denunciations of the prophets of the Northern Kingdom ( Amos 5:21-27; Hosea 8:1-6), the worship of the calves remained, till the whole was swept away, a few years later, by the fall of the kingdom.
After Pekahiah’s murder, the throne was seized by the regicide Pekah. W. Shaw Caldecott PEKOD <pe’-kod > ([ dwOqP] , peqodh ]): A name applied in Jeremiah 50:21 and Ezekiel 23:23 to the Chaldeans. Various English Versions of the Bible (margins) in the former passage gives the meaning as “visitation.”
PELAIAH <pe-la’-ya > , <pe-li’-a > ([ hy;al;P] , pela’yah ]): (1) A son of Elioenai, of the royal house of Judah ( 1 Chronicles 3:24). (2) A Levite who assisted Ezra by expounding the Law ( Nehemiah 8:7), and was one of those who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah (10:10). He is called “Phalias” in 1 Esdras 9:48 (Revised Version).
PELALIAH <pel-a-li’-a > ([ hy;l]l”P] , pelalyah ], “Yahweh judges”): A priest, father of Jeroham, one of the “workers” in the Lord’s house ( Nehemiah 11:12).
PELATIAH <pel-a-ti’-a > ([ hy;f]l”P] , pelatyah ], “Yahweh delivers”): (1) One who “sealed” the covenant ( Nehemiah 10:22). (2) A descendant of Solomon, grandson of Zerubbabel ( 1 Chronicles 3:21). (3) A Simeonite, one of the captains who cleared out the Amalekites and dwelt on the captured land ( 1 Chronicles 4:42,43). (4) A prince of the people whom Ezekiel (in Babylon) pictures as `devising mischief’ and giving `wicked counsel’ in Jerusalem. He is represented as falling dead while Ezekiel prophesies ( Ezekiel 11:1,13). His name has the “-u,” ending.
PELEG <pe’-leg > ([ gl,P, , pelegh ], “watercourse,” “division”): A son of Eber, and brother of Joktan. The derivation of the name is given: “for in his days was the earth divided” (niphleghah ) ( Genesis 10:25; compare Luke 3:35, the King James Version “Phalec”). This probably refers to the scattering of the world’s population and the confounding of its language recorded in Genesis 11:1-9. In Aramaic pelagh and Arabic phalaj mean “division”; in Hebrew pelegh means “watercourse.” The name may really be due to the occupation by this people of some well-watered (furrowed), district (e.g. in Babylonia), for these patronymics represent races, and the derivation in Genesis 10:25 is a later editor’s remark. S. F. Hunter PELET <pe’-let > ([ fl,P, , peleT ], “deliverance”): (1) Son of Iahdai ( 1 Chronicles 2:47). (2) Son of Azmaveth, one of those who resorted to David at Ziklag while he was hiding from Saul ( 1 Chronicles 12:3).
PELETH <pe’-leth > ([ tl,P, , peleth ], “swiftness”): (1) Father of On, one of the rebels against Moses and Aaron ( Numbers 16:1); probably same as PALLU (which see). (2) A descendant of Jerahmeel ( 1 Chronicles 2:33).
PELETHITES <pel’-e-thits > , <pe’-leth-its > ([ ytoleP] , pelethi ]): A company of David’s bodyguard, like the CHERETHITES (which see) ( 2 Samuel 8:18; 15:18); probably a corrupt form of “Philistines.”
PELIAS <pe-li’-as > : the King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) “Pedias.”
PELICAN <pel’-kan > ([ ta;q; , qa’ath ]; Latin Pelecanus onocrotalus Septuagint reads [ Peleka>n, pelekan ], in Leviticus and Psalms, but has 3 other readings, that are rather confusing, in the other places)): Any bird of the genus Pelecanus. The Hebrew qi’ means “to vomit.” The name was applied to the bird because it swallowed large quantities of fish and then disgorged them to its nestlings. In the performance of this act it pressed the large beak, in the white species, tipped with red, against the crop and slightly lifted the wings. In ancient times, people, seeing this, believed that the bird was puncturing its breast and feeding its young with its blood. From this idea arose the custom of using a pelican with lifted wings in heraldry or as a symbol of Christ and of charity. (See Fictitious Creatures in Art, 182-86, London, Chapman and Hall, 1906.) Palestine knew a white and a brownish-gray bird, both close to 6 ft. long and having over a 12 ft. sweep of wing. They lived around the Dead Sea, fished beside the Jordan and abounded in greatest numbers in the wildernesses of the Mediterranean shore. The brown pelicans were larger than the white. Each of them had a long beak, peculiar throat pouch and webbed feet. They built large nests, and 6 ft. across, from dead twigs of bushes, and laid two or three eggs.
The brown birds deposited a creamy-white egg with a rosy flush; the white, a white egg with bluish tints. The young were naked at first, then covered with down, and remained in the nest until full feathered and able to fly.
This compelled the parent birds to feed them for a long time, and they carried such quantities of fish to a nest that the young could not consume all of them and many were dropped on the ground. The tropical sun soon made the location unbearable to mortals. Perching pelicans were the ugliest birds imaginable, but when their immense brown or white bodies swept in a 12 ft. spread across the land and over sea, they made an impressive picture.
They are included, with good reason, in the list of abominations (see Leviticus 11:18; Deuteronomy 14:17). They are next mentioned in <19A206> Psalm 102:6: “I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places.” Here David from the depths of affliction likened himself to a pelican as it appears when it perches in the wilderness. See Isaiah 34:11: “But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.” Here the bird is used to complete the picture of desolation that was to prevail after the destruction of Edom. The other reference concerns the destruction of Nineveh and is found in Zephaniah 2:14: “And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the capitals thereof; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he hath laid bare the cedar-work.” Gene Stratton-Porter PELISHTIM <pel’-ish-Timothy > , <pe-lish’-Timothy > ([ µyTiv]liP] , pelishtim ] (the Revised Version margin of Genesis 10:14)). See PHILISTINES.
PELONITE <pel’-o-nit > , <pe’-lo-nit > , <pe-lo’-nit > ([ yniwOlP] , peloni ], a place-name):
Two of David’s heroes are thus described: (1) “Helez the Pelonite” ( 1 Chronicles 11:27) (see PALTITE); and (2) “Ahijah the Pelonite” ( 1 Chronicles 11:36).
PEN ([ f[e , `et ], [ fr,j, , cheret ]; [ka>lamov, kalamos ]): The first writing was done on clay, wax, lead or stone tablets by scratching into the material with some hard pointed instrument. For this purpose bodkins of bronze, iron, bone or ivory were used ( Job 19:24; Isaiah 8:1; Jeremiah 17:1).
In Jeremiah 17:1 a diamond is also mentioned as being used for the same purpose. In Jeremiah 36 Baruch, the son of Neriah, declares that he recorded the words of the prophet with ink in the book. In Jeremiah 36:23 it says that the king cut the roll with the penknife (literally, the scribe’s knife). This whole scene can best be explained if we consider that Baruch and the king’s scribes were in the habit of using reed pens. These pens are made from the hollow jointed stalks of a coarse grass growing in marshy places. The dried reed is cut diagonally with the penknife and the point thus formed is carefully shaved thin to make it flexible and the nib split as in the modern pen. The last operation is the clipping off of the very point so that it becomes a stub pen. The Arab scribe does this by resting the nib on his thumb nail while cutting, so that the cut will be clean and the pen will not scratch. The whole procedure requires considerable skill. The pupil in Hebrew or Arabic writing learns to make a pen as his first lesson.
A scribe carries a sharp knife around with him for keeping his pen in good condition, hence, the name penknife. The word used in 3 John 1:13 is kalamos , “reed,” indicating that the pen described above was used in John’s time (compare kalam , the common Arabic name for pen). See INK; INK-HORN; WRITING.
Figurative: “Written with a pen of iron,” i.e. indelibly ( Jeremiah 17:1). “My tongue is the pen of a ready writer” ( Psalm 45:1; compare Jeremiah 36:18). As the trained writer records a speech, so the Psalmist’s tongue impresses or engraves on his hearers’ minds what he has conceived. James A. Patch PENCE; PENNY <pens > . See MONEY.
PENCIL <pen’-sil > ( Isaiah 44:13, margin “red ochre,” the King James Version “line”). See LINE; OCHRE, RED.
PENDANT <pen’-dant > (from French from Latin pendeo, “to hang”): Not in the King James Version. Twice in the Revised Version (British and American). (1) [ twOpyfin] , netiphoth ] (the King James Version “collars”), ornaments of the Midianites captured by Gideon ( Judges 8:26). (2) [ twOpfin] , netiphoth ] (the King James Version “chains”), an article of feminine apparel ( Isaiah 3:19). The reference seems to be (Cheyne, “Isaiah” Polychrome Bible (HDB, III, 739)) to ear-drops, pearl or gold ornaments resembling a drop of Water, fastened, probably, to the lobe of the ear.
PENIEL <pe-ni’-el > , <pen’-i-el > , <pe’-ni-el > ([ laeyniP] , peni’el ], “face of God”; [ Ei+dov qeou~, Eidos theou ]): This is the form of the name in Genesis 32:30. In the next verse and elsewhere it appears as “Penuel.” The name is said to have been given to the place by Jacob after his night of wrestling by the Jabbok, because, as he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” It was a height evidently close by the stream over which Jacob passed in the morning. Some have thought it might be a prominent cliff, the contour of which resembled a human face. Such a cliff on the seashore to the South of Tripoli was called theou prosopon , “face of God” (Strabo xvi.2,15 f). In later times a city with a strong tower stood upon it.
This lay in the line of Gideon’s pursuit of the Midianites. When he returned victorious, he beat down the place because of the churlishness of the inhabitants ( Judges 8:8,9,17). It was one of the towns “built” or fortified by Jeroboam ( 1 Kings 12:25). Merrill would identify it with Telul edh-Dhahab, “hills of gold,” two hills with ruins that betoken great antiquity, and that speak of great strength, on the South of the Jabbok, about 10 miles East of Jordan (for description see Merrill, East of the Jordan, 390 if). A difficulty that seems fatal to this identification is that here the banks of the Jabbok are so precipitous as to be impassable.
Conder suggests Jebel ‘Osha. The site was clearly not far from Succoth; but no certainty is yet possible. W. Ewing PENINNAH <pe-nin’-a > ([ hN;niP] , peninnah ], “coral,” “pearl”): Second wife of Elkanah, father of Samuel ( 1 Samuel 1:2,4).
PENKNIFE <pen’-nif > ( Jeremiah 36:23). See PEN.
PENNY <pen’-i > ([dhna>rion, denarion ]; Latin denarius (which see)): the American Standard Revised Version ( Matthew 18:28; 20:2,9,10,13, etc.) renders it by “shilling” except in Matthew 22:19; Mark 12:15 and Luke 20:24, where it retains the original term as it refers to a particular coin. See DENARIUS; MONEY.
PENSION <pen’-shun > (1 Esdras 4:56, the King James Version “and he commanded to give to all that kept the city pensions and wages”; [klh~rov, kleros ], “allotted portion,” usually (here certainly) of lands (the Revised Version (British and American) “lands”)): Literally it means simply “payment,” and the King James Version seems to have used the word in order to avoid any specialization of kleros . There is no reference to payment for past services. See LOT.
PENTATEUCH <pen’-ta-tuk > : 1. TITLE, DIVISION, CONTENTS ([ hr;wOT, Torah ], “law” or “teaching”). — It has recently been argued that the Hebrew word is really the Babylonian tertu, “divinely revealed law” (e.g. Sayce, Churchman, 1909, 728 ff), but such passages as Leviticus 14:54-57; Deuteronomy 17:11 show that the legislator connected it with [ hr;wOh , horah ] (from yarah ), “to teach.” Also called by the Jews [ hr;wOT yvem]Wj hV;mij\ , chamishshah chumeshi torah ], “the five-fifths of the law”: [oJ no>mov, ho nomos ], “the Law.” The word “Pentateuch” comes from [penta>teucov, pentateuchos ], literally “5-volumed (book).” The Pentateuch consists of the first five books of the Bible, and forms the first division of the Jewish Canon, and the whole of the Samaritan Canon. The 5-fold division is certainly old, since it is earlier than the Septuagint or the Samuel Pentateuch. How much older it may be is unknown. It has been thought that the 5-fold division of the Psalter is based on it.
The five books into which the Pentateuch is divided are respectively Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and the separate articles should be consulted for information as to their nomenclature.
The work opens with an account of the Creation, and passes to the story of the first human couple. The narrative is carried on partly by genealogies and partly by fuller accounts to Abraham. Then comes a history of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the collateral lines of descendants being rapidly dismissed. The story of Joseph is told in detail, and Genesis closes with his death. The rest of the Pentateuch covers the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt, their exodus and wanderings, the conquest of the trans-Jordanic lands and the fortunes of the people to the death of Moses. The four concluding books contain masses of legislation mingled with the narrative (for special contents, see articles on the several books). 2. AUTHORSHIP, COMPOSITION, DATE. 1. The Current Critical Scheme: The view that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch, with the exception of the concluding verses of Deuteronomy, was once held universally. It is still believed by the great mass of Jews and Christians, but in most universities of Northern Europe and North America other theories prevail.
An application of what is called “higher” or “documentary criticism” (to distinguish it from lower or textual criticism) has led to the formation of a number of hypotheses. Some of these are very widely held, but unanimity has not been attained, and recent investigations have challenged even the conclusions that are most generally accepted. In the English-speaking countries the vast majority of the critics would regard Driver’s, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament and Carpenter and Harford-Battersby’s Hexateuch as fairly representative of their position, but on the Continent of Europe the numerous school that holds some such position is dwindling alike in numbers and influence, while even in Great Britain and America some of the ablest critics are beginning to show signs of being shaken in their allegiance to cardinal points of the higher-critical case. However, at the time of writing, these latter critics have not put forward any fresh formulation of their views, and accordingly the general positions of the works named may be taken as representing with certain qualifications the general critical theory. Some of the chief stadia in the development of this may be mentioned.
After attention had been drawn by earlier writers to various signs of post- Mosaic date and extraordinary perplexities in the Pentateuch, the first real step toward what its advocates have, till within the last few years, called “the modern position” was taken by J. Astruc (1753). He propounded what Carpenter terms “the clue to the documents,” i.e. the difference of the divine appellations in Genesis as a test of authorship. On this view the word ‘Elohim (“God”) is characteristic of one principal source and the Tetragrammaton, i.e. the divine name YHWH represented by the “LORD” or “GOD” of the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), shows the presence of another. Despite occasional warnings, this clue was followed in the main for 150 years. It forms the starting-point of the whole current critical development, but the most recent investigations have successfully proved that it is unreliable (see below, 3, (2)) Astruc was followed by Eichhorn (1780), who made a more thorough examination of Genesis, indicating numerous differences of style, representation, etc.
Geddes (1792) and Vater (1802-1805) extended the method applied to Genesis to the other books of the Pentateuch.
In 1798 Ilgen distinguished two Elohists in Genesis, but this view did not find followers for some time. The next step of fundamental importance was the assignment of the bulk of Deuteronomy to the 7th century BC. This was due to Deuteronomy Wette (1806). Hupfeld (1853) again distinguished a second Elohist, and this has been accepted by most critics.
Thus, there are four main documents at least: D (the bulk of Deuteronomy), two Elohists (P and E) and one document (Jahwist) that uses the Tetragrammaton in Genesis. From 1822 (Bleek) a series of writers maintained that the Book of Joshua was compounded from the same documents as the Pentateuch (see HEXATEUCH).
Two other developments call for notice: (1) there has been a tendency to subdivide these documents further, regarding them as the work of schools rather than of individuals, and resolving them into different strata (P1, Secondary Priestly Writers, P3, etc., J1, Later additions to J, etc., or in the notation of other writers Jj Je, etc.); (2) a particular scheme of dating has found wide acceptance. In the first period of the critical development it was assumed that the principal Elohist (P) was the earliest document.
A succession of writers of whom Reuss, Graf, Kuenen and Wellhausen are the most prominent have, however, maintained that this is not the first but the last in point of time and should be referred to the exile or later. On this view theory is in outline as follows: J and E (so called from their respective divine appellations) — on the relative dates of which opinions differ — were composed probably during the early monarchy and subsequently combined by a redactor (Rje) into a single document JE. In the 7th century D, the bulk of Deuteronomy, was composed. It was published in the 18th year of Josiah’s reign. Later it was combined with JE into JED by a redactor (Rjed). P or Priestly Code the last of all (originally the first Elohist, now the Priestly Code) incorporated an earlier code of uncertain date which consists in the main of most of Leviticus 17-26 and is known as the Law of Holiness (H or Ph). P itself is largely postexilic. Ultimately it was joined with JED by a priestly redactor (Rp) into substantially our present Pentateuch. As already stated, theory is subject to many minor variations. Moreover, it is admitted that not all its portions are equally well supported. The division of JE into J and E is regarded as less certain than the separation of Pentateuch. Again, there are variations in the analysis, differences of opinion as to the exact dating of the documents, and so forth. Yet the view just sketched has been held by a very numerous and influential school during recent years, nor is it altogether fair to lay stress on minor divergences of opinion. It is in the abstract conceivable that the main positions might be true, and that yet the data were inadequate to enable all the minor details to be determined with certainty. See CRITICISM OF THE BIBLE.
This theory will hereafter be discussed at length for two reasons: (1) while it is now constantly losing ground, it is still more widely held than any other; and (2) so much of the modern literature on the Old Testament has been written from this standpoint that no intelligent use can be made of the most ordinary books of reference without some acquaintance with it.
Before 1908 the conservative opposition to the dominant theory had exhibited two separate tendencies. One school of conservatives rejected the scheme in toto; the other accepted the analysis with certain modifications, but sought to throw back the dating of the documents. In both these respects it had points of contact with dissentient critics (e.g. Delitzsch, Dillmann, Baudissin, Kittel, Strack, Van Hoonacker), who sought to save for conservatism any spars they could from the general wreckage. The former school of thought was most prominently represented by the late W.H. Green, and J.
Raven’s Old Testament Introduction may be regarded as a typical modern presentation of their view; the latter especially by Robertson and Orr. The scheme put forward by the last named has found many adherents. He refuses to regard J and E as two separate documents, holding that we should rather think (as in the case of the parallel Psalms) of two recensions of one document marked by the use of different divine appellations. The critical P he treats as the work of a supplemented, and thinks it never had an independent existence, while he considers the whole Pentateuch as early. He holds that the work was done by “original composers, working with a common aim, and toward a common end, in contrast with the idea of late irresponsible redactors, combining, altering, manipulating, enlarging at pleasure” (POT, 375).
While these were the views held among Old Testament critics, a separate opposition had been growing up among archaeologists. This was of course utilized to the utmost by the conservatives of both wings. In some ways archaeology undoubtedly has confirmed the traditional view as against the critical (see ARCHAEOLOGY AND CRITICISMS); but a candid survey leads to the belief that it has not yet dealt a mortal blow, and here again it must be remembered that the critics may justly plead that they must not be judged on mistakes that they made in their earlier investigations or on refutations of the more uncertain portions of their theory, but rather on the main completed result. It may indeed be said with confidence that there are certain topics to which archaeology can never supply any conclusive answer. If it be the case that the Pentateuch contains hopelessly contradictory laws, no archaeological discovery can make them anything else; if the numbers of the Israelites are original and impossible, archaeology cannot make them possible. It is fair and right to lay stress on the instances in which archaeology has confirmed the Bible as against the critics; it is neither fair nor right to speak as if archaeology had done what it never purported to do and never could effect.
The year 1908 saw the beginning of a new critical development which makes it very difficult to speak positively of modern critical views. Kuenen has been mentioned as one of the ablest and most eminent of those who brought the Graf-Wellhausen theory into prominence. In that year B.D.
Eerdmans, his pupil and successor at Leyden, began the publication of a series of Old Testament studies in which he renounces his allegiance to the line of critics that had extended from Astruc to the publications of our own day, and entered on a series of investigations that were intended to set forth a new critical view. As his labors are not yet complete, it is impossible to present any account of his scheme; but the volumes already published justify certain remarks. Eerdmans has perhaps not converted any member of the Wellhausen school, but he has made many realize that their own scheme is not the only one possible. Thus while a few years ago we were constantly assured that the “main results” of Old Testament criticism were unalterably settled, recent writers adopt a very different tone: e.g.
Sellin (1910) says, “We stand in a time of fermentation and transition, and in what follows we present our own opinion merely as the hypothesis which appears to us to be the best founded” (Einleitung, 18). By general consent Eerdmans’ work contains a number of isolated shrewd remarks to which criticism will have to attend in the future; but it also contains many observations that are demonstrably unsound (for examples see BS, 1909, 744-48; 1910, 549-51). His own reconstruction is in many respects so faulty and blurred that it does not seem likely that it will ever secure a large following in its present form. On the other hand he appears to have succeeded in inducing a large number of students in various parts of the world to think along new lines and in this way may exercise a very potent influence on the future course of Old Testament study. His arguments show increasingly numerous signs of his having been influenced by the publications of conservative writers, and it seems certain that criticism will ultimately be driven to recognize the essential soundness of the conservative position. In 1912 Dahse (TMH, I) began the publication of a series of volumes attacking the Wellhausen school on textual grounds and propounding a new pericope hypothesis. In his view many phenomena are due to the influence of the pericopes of the synagogue service or the form of the text and not to the causes generally assigned. 2. The Evidence for the Current Critical Scheme: The examination of the Graf-Wellhausen theory must now be undertaken, and attention must first be directed to the evidence which is adduced in its support. Why should it be held that the Pentateuch is composed mainly of excerpts from certain documents designated as J and E and P and D? Why is it believed that these documents are of very late date, in one case subsequent to the exile? (1) Astruc’s Clue.
It has been said above that Astruc propounded the use of the divine appellations in Genesis as a clue to the dissection of that book. This is based on Exodus 6:3, `And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as ‘El Shadday (God Almighty); but by my name YHWH I was not known to them.’ In numerous passages of Genesis this name is represented as known, e.g. 4:26, where we read of men beginning to call on it in the days of Enosh. The discrepancy here is very obvious, and in the view of the Astruc school can be satisfactorily removed by postulating different sources. This clue, of course, fails after Exodus 6:3, but other difficulties are found, and moreover the sources already distinguished in Genesis are, it is claimed, marked by separate styles and other characteristics which enable them to be identified when they occur in the narrative of the later books. See CRITICISM OF THE BIBLE. (2) Signs of Post-Mosaic Date.
Close inspection of the Pentateuch shows that it contains a number of passages which, it is alleged, could not have proceeded from the pen of Moses in their present form. Probably the most familiar instance is the account of the death of Moses (Deuteronomy 34). Other examples are to be found in seeming allusions to post-Mosaic events, e.g. in Genesis 22 we hear of the Mount of the Lord in the land of Moriah; this apparently refers to the Temple Hill, which, however, would not have been so designated before Solomon. So too the list of kings who reigned over Edom “before there reigned any king over the children of Israel” (36:31) presumes the existence of the monarchy. The Canaanites who are referred to as being “then in the land” ( Genesis 12:6; 13:7) did not disappear till the time of Solomon, and, accordingly, if this expression means “then still” it cannot antedate his reign. Deuteronomy 3:11 (Og’s bedstead) comes unnaturally from one who had vanquished Og but a few weeks previously, while Numbers 21:14 (the King James Version) contains a reference to “the book of the Wars of the Lord” which would hardly have been quoted in this way by a contemporary. Exodus 16:35 refers to the cessation of the manna after the death of Moses. These passages, and more like them, are cited to disprove Mosaic authorship; but the main weight of the critical argument does not rest on them. (3) Narrative Discrepancies.
While the divine appellations form the starting-point, they do not even in Genesis constitute the sole test of different documents. On the contrary, there are other narrative discrepancies, antinomies, differences of style, duplicate narratives, etc., adduced to support the critical theory. We must now glance at some of these.
In Genesis 21:14 f Ishmael is a boy who can be carried on his mother’s shoulder, but from a comparison of 16:3,16; 17, it appears that he must have been 14 when Isaac was born, and, since weaning sometimes occurs at the age of 3 in the East, may have been even as old as 17 when this incident happened. Again, “We all remember the scene (Genesis 27) in which Isaac in extreme old age blesses his sons; we picture him as lying on his deathbed. Do we, however, all realize that according to the chronology of the Book of Genesis he must have been thus lying on his deathbed for eighty years (compare 25:26; 26:34; 35:28)? Yet we can only diminish this period by extending proportionately the interval between Esau marrying his Hittite wives (26:34) and Rebekah’s suggestion to Isaac to send Jacob away, lest he should follow his brother’s example (27:46); which, from the nature of the case, will not admit of any but slight extension. Keil, however, does so extend it, reducing the period of Isaac’s final illness by 43 years, and is conscious of no incongruity in supposing that Rebekah, years after Esau had taken his Hittite wives, should express her fear that Jacob, then aged 77, will do the same” (Driver, Contemporary Review, LVII, 221).
An important instance occurs in Numbers. According to 33:38, Aaron died on the 1st day of the 5th month. From Deuteronomy 1:3 it appears that 6 months later Moses delivered his speech in the plains of Moab. Into those 6 months are compressed one month’s mourning for Aaron, the Arad campaign, the wandering round by the Red Sea, the campaigns against Sihon and Og, the missions to Balaam and the whole episode of his prophecies, the painful occurrences of Numbers 25, the second census, the appointment of Joshua, the expedition against Midian, besides other events. It is clearly impossible to fit all these into the time.
Other discrepancies are of the most formidable character. Aaron dies now at Matthew. Hor ( Numbers 20:28; 33:38), now at Moserah ( Deuteronomy 10:6). According to Deuteronomy 1; 2:1,14, the children of Israel left Kadesh-barnea in the 3rd year and never subsequently returned to it, while in Numbers they apparently remain there till the journey to Matthew. Hor, where Aaron dies in the 40th year. The Tent of Meeting perhaps provides some of the most perplexing of the discrepancies, for while according to the well-known scheme of Exodus 25 ff and many other passages, it was a large and heavy erection standing in the midst of the camp, Exodus 33:7-11 provides us with another Tent of Meeting that stood outside the camp at a distance and could be carried by Moses alone.
The verbs used are frequentative, denoting a regular practice, and it is impossible to suppose that after receiving the commands for the Tent of Meeting Moses could have instituted a quite different tent of the same name. Joseph again is sold, now by Ishmaelites ( Genesis 37:27,28b; 39:1), anon by Midianites (31:28a,36). Sometimes he is imprisoned in one place, sometimes apparently in another. The story of Korah, Dathan and Abiram in Numbers 16 is equally full of difficulty. The enormous numbers of the Israelites given in Numbers 1 through 4, etc., are in conflict with passages that regard them as very few. (4) Doublets.
Another portion of the critical argument is provided by doublets or duplicate narratives of the same event, e.g. Genesis 16 and 21. These are particularly numerous in Genesis, but are not confined to that book. “Twice do quails appear in connection with the daily manna ( Numbers 11:4-6,31 ff; Exodus 16:13). Twice does Moses draw water from the rock, when the strife of Israel begets the name Meribah (`strife’) ( Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:1-13)” (Carpenter, Hexateuch, I, 30). (5) The Laws.
Most stress is laid on the argument from the laws and their supposed historical setting. By far the most important portions of this are examined in SANCTUARY and PRIESTS (which see). These subjects form the two main pillars of the Graf-Wellhausen theory, and accordingly the articles in question must be read as supplementing the present article. An illustration may be taken from the slavery laws. It is claimed that Exodus 21:1-6; Deuteronomy 15:12 ff permit a Hebrew to contract for life slavery after 6 years’ service, but that Leviticus 25:39-42 takes no notice of this law and enacts the totally different provision that Hebrews may remain in slavery only till the Year of Jubilee. While these different enactments might proceed from the same hand if properly coordinated, it is contended that this is not the case and that the legislator in Leviticus ignores the legislator in Exodus and is in turn ignored by the legislator in Deuteronomy, who only knows the law of Exodus. (6) The Argument from Style.
The argument from style is less easy to exemplify shortly, since it depends so largely on an immense mass of details. It is said that each of the sources has certain characteristic phrases which either occur nowhere else or only with very much less frequency. For instance in Genesis 1, where ‘Elohim is used throughout, we find the word “create,” but this is not employed in 2:4b ff, where the Tetragrammaton occurs. Hence, it is argued that this word is peculiarly characteristic of P as contrasted with the other documents, and may be used to prove his presence in e.g. 5:1 f. (7) Props of the Development Hypothesis.
While the main supports of the Graf-Wellhausen theory must be sought in the articles to which reference has been made, it is necessary to mention briefly some other phenomena to which some weight is attached. Jeremiah displays many close resemblances to Deuteronomy, and the framework of Kings is written in a style that has marked similarities to the same book.
Ezekiel again has notable points of contact with P and especially with H; either he was acquainted with these portions of the Pentateuch or else he must have exercised considerable influence on those who composed them.
Lastly the Chronicler is obviously acquainted with the completed Pentateuch. Accordingly, it is claimed that the literature provides a sort of external standard that confirms the historical stages which the different Pentateuchal sources are said to mark. Deuteronomy influences Jeremiah and the subsequent literature. It is argued that it would equally have influenced the earlier books, had it then existed. So too the completed Pentateuch should have influenced Kings as it did Chronicles, if it had been in existence when the earlier history was composed. 3. Answer to the Critical Analysis: (1) The Veto of Textual Criticism.
The first great objection that may be made to the higher criticism is that it starts from the Massoretic text (MATTHEW) without investigation. This is not the only text that has come down to us, and in some instances it can be shown that alternative readings that have been preserved are superior to those of the Massoretic Text. A convincing example occurs in Exodus 18.
According to the Hebrew, Jethro comes to Moses and says “I, thy fatherin- law .... am come,” and subsequently Moses goes out to meet his fatherin- law. The critics here postulate different sources, but some of the best authorities have preserved a reading which (allowing for ancient differences of orthography) supposes an alteration of a single letter.
According to this reading the text told how one (or they) came to Moses and said “Behold thy father-in-law .... is come.” As the result of this Moses went out and met Jethro. The vast improvement in the sense is self-evident.
But in weighing the change other considerations must be borne in mind.
Since this is the reading of some of the most ancient authorities, only two views are possible. Either the Massoretic Text has undergone a corruption of a single letter, or else a redactor made a most improbable cento of two documents which gave a narrative of the most doubtful sense. Fortunately this was followed by textual corruption of so happy a character as to remove the difficulty by the change of a single letter; and this corruption was so widespread that it was accepted as the genuine text by some of our best authorities. There can be little doubt which of these two cases is the more credible, and with the recognition of the textual solution the particular bit of the analysis that depends on this corruption falls to the ground. This instance illustrates one branch of textual criticism; there are others. Sometimes the narrative shows with certainty that in the transmission of the text transpositions have taken place; e.g. the identification of Kadesh shows that it was South of Hormah. Consequently, a march to compass Edom by way of the Red Sea would not bring the Israelites to Hormah. Here there is no reason to doubt that the events narrated are historically true, but there is grave reason to doubt that they happened in the present order of the narrative. Further, Deuteronomy gives an account that is parallel to certain passages of Numbers; and it confirms those passages, but places the events in a different order. Such difficulties may often be solved by simple transpositions, and when transpositions in the text of Numbers are made under the guidance of Deuteronomy they have a very different probability from guesses that enjoy no such sanction.
Another department of textual criticism deals with the removal of glosses, i.e. notes that have crept into the text. Here the ancient versions often help us, one or other omitting some words which may be proved from other sources to be a later addition. Thus in Exodus 17:7 the Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) did not know the expression, “and Meribah” (one word in Hebrew), and calls the place “Massah” simply. This is confirmed by the fact that Deuteronomy habitually calls the place Massah (6:16; 9:22; 33:8). The true Meribah was Kadesh (Numbers 20) and a glossator has here added this by mistake (see further (4) below). Thus we can say that a scientific textual criticism often opposes a real veto to the higher critical analysis by showing that the arguments rest on late corruptions and by explaining the true origin of the difficulties on which the critics rely. (2) Astruc’s Clue Tested.
Astruc’s clue must next be examined. The critical case breaks down with extraordinary frequency. No clean division can be effected, i.e. there are cases where the Massoretic Text of Genesis makes P or E use the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) or J Yahweh (Yahweh). In some of these cases the critics can suggest no reason; in others they are compelled to assume that the Massoretic Text is corrupt for no better reason than that it is in conflict with their theory. Again the exigencies of the theory frequently force the analyst to sunder verses or phrases that cannot be understood apart from their present contexts, e.g. in Genesis 28:21 Carpenter assigns the words “and Yahweh will be my God” to J while giving the beginning and end of the verse to E; in Genesis 31, verse 3 goes to a redactor, though E actually refers to the statement of 31:3 in verse 5; in Genesis 32, verse 30 is torn from a J-context and given to E, thus leaving 32:31 (Jahwist) unintelligible. When textual criticism is applied, startling facts that entirely shatter the higher critical argument are suddenly revealed. The variants to the divine appellations in Genesis are very numerous, and in some instances the new readings are clearly superior to the Massoretic Text, even when they substitute ‘Elohim for the Tetragrammaton. Thus, in 16:11, the explanation of the name Ishmael requires the word ‘Elohim , as the name would otherwise have been Ishmayah, and one Hebrew MS, a recension of the Septuagint and the Old Latin do in fact preserve the reading ‘Elohim . The full facts and arguments cannot be given here, but Professor Schlogl has made an exhaustive examination of the various texts from Genesis 1:1 to Exodus 3:12.
Out of a total of 347 occurrences of one or both words in the Massoretic Text of that passage, there are variants in 196 instances. A very important and detailed discussion, too long to be summarized here will now be found in TMH, I. Wellhausen himself has admitted that the textual evidence constitutes a sore point of the documentary theory (Expository Times, XX, 563). Again in Exodus 6:3, many of the best authorities read “I was not made known” instead of “I was not known” a difference of a single letter in Hebrew. But if this be right, there is comparative evidence to suggest that to the early mind a revelation of his name by a deity meant a great deal more than a mere knowledge of the name, and involved rather a pledge of his power. Lastly the analysis may be tested in yet another way by inquiring whether it fits in with the other data, and when it is discovered (see below 4, (1) ) that it involves ascribing, e.g. a passage that cannot be later than the time of Abraham to the period of the kingdom, it becomes certain that the clue and the method are alike misleading (see further EPC, chapter i; Expository Times, XX, 378 f, 473-75, 563; TMH, I; PSALM, 49-142; BS, 1913, 145-74; A. Troelstra, The Name of God, NKZ, XXIV (1913), 119- 48; The Expositor, 1913). (3) The Narrative Discrepancies and Signs of Post-Mosaic Date Examined.
Septuagintal manuscripts are providing very illuminating material for dealing with the chronological difficulties. It is well known that the Septuagint became corrupt and passed through various recensions (see SEPTUAGINT). The original text has not yet been reconstructed, but as the result of the great variety of recensions it happens that our various manuscripts present a wealth of alternative readings. Some of these show an intrinsic superiority to the corresponding readings of the Massoretic Text. Take the case of Ishmael’s age. We have seen (above, 2, (3)) that although in Genesis 21:14 f he is a boy who can be carried by his mother even after the weaning of Isaac, his father, according to 16:3,16, was 86 years old at the time of his birth, and, according to Genesis 17, years old when Isaac was born. In 17:25 we find that Ishmael is already 13 a year before Isaac’s birth. Now we are familiar with marginal notes that set forth a system of chronology in many printed English Bibles. In this case the Septuagintal variants suggest that something similar is responsible for the difficulty of our Hebrew. Two manuscripts, apparently representing a recension, omit the words, “after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan” in 16:3, and again, 16:16, while in 17:25 there is a variant making Ishmael only 3 years old. If these readings are correct it is easy to see how the difficulty arose. The narrative originally contained mere round numbers, like 100 years old, and these were not intended to be taken literally. A commentator constructed a scheme of chronology which was embodied in marginal notes. Then these crept into the text and such numbers as were in conflict with them were thought to be corrupt and underwent alteration. Thus the 3-year-old Ishmael became 13.
The same manuscripts that present us with the variants in Genesis 16 have also preserved a suggestive reading in 35:28, one of the passages that are responsible for the inference that according to the text of Genesis Isaac lay on his deathbed for 80 years (see above, 2, (3)). According to this Isaac was not 180, but 150 years old when he died. It is easy to see that this is a round number, not to be taken literally, but this is not the only source of the difficulty. In 27:41, Esau, according to English Versions of the Bible, states “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.” This is a perfectly possible rendering of the Hebrew, but the Septuagint translated the text differently, and its rendering, while grammatically correct, has the double advantage of avoiding Isaac’s long lingering on a deathbed and of presenting Esau’s hatred and ferocity far more vividly. It renders, “May the days of mourning for my father approach that I may slay my brother Jacob.” Subsequent translators preferred the milder version, but doubtless the Septuagint has truly apprehended the real sense of the narrative. If we read the chapter with this modification, we see Isaac as an old man, not knowing when he may die, performing the equivalent of making his will. It puts no strain on our credulity to suppose that he may have lived 20 or 30 years longer. Such episodes occur constantly in everyday experience. As to the calculations based on Genesis 25:26 and 26:34, the numbers used are 60 and 40, which, as is well known, were frequently employed by the ancient Hebrews, not as mathematical expressions, but simply to denote unknown or unspecified periods. See NUMBER.
The other chronological difficulty cited above (namely, that there is not room between the date of Aaron’s death and the address by Moses in the plains of Moab for all the events assigned to this period by Numbers) is met partly by a reading preserved by the Peshitta and partly by a series of transpositions. In Numbers 33:38 Peshitta reads “first” for “fifth” as the month of Aaron’s death, thus recognizing a longer period for the subsequent events. The transpositions, however, which are largely due to the evidence of Deuteronomy, solve the most formidable and varied difficulties; e.g. a southerly march from Kadesh no longer conducts the Israelites to Arad in the north, the name Hormah is no longer used ( Numbers 14:45) before it is explained ( Numbers 21:3), there is no longer an account directly contradicting Deuteronomy and making the Israelites spend 38 years at Kadesh immediately after receiving a divine command to turn “tomorrow” ( Numbers 14:25). A full discussion is impossible here and will be found in EPC, 114-38. The order of the narrative that emerges as probably original is as follows: Numbers 12; 20:1,14-21; 21:1-3; 13; 14; 16 through 18; 20:2-13,12a; 21:4b-9, then some missing vs, bringing the Israelites to the head of the Gulf of Akabah and narrating the turn northward from Elath and Ezion-geber, then 20:22b- 29; 21:4a, and some lost words telling of the arrival at the station before Oboth. In Numbers 33:40 is a gloss that is missing in Lagarde’s Septuagint, and 33:36b-37a should probably come earlier in the chapter than they do at present.
Another example of transposition is afforded by Exodus 33:7-11, the passage relating to the Tent of Meeting which is at present out of place (see above 2, (3)). It is supposed that this is E’s idea of the Tabernacle, but that, unlike the Priestly Code (P), he places it outside the camp and makes Joshua its priest. This latter view is discussed and refuted in PRIESTS, 3, where it is shown that Exodus 33:7 should be rendered “And Moses used to take a (or, the) tent and pitch it for himself,” etc. As to theory that this is E’s account of the Tabernacle, Exodus 18 has been overlooked. This chapter belongs to the same E but refers to the end of the period spent at Horeb, i.e. it is later than 33:7-11. In 18:13-16 we find Moses sitting with all the people standing about him because they came to require of God; i.e. the business which according to Exodus 33 was transacted in solitude outside the camp was performed within the camp in the midst of the people at a later period. This agrees with the Priestly Code (P), e.g. Numbers 27.
If now we look at the other available clues, it appears that Exodus 33:11 seems to introduce Joshua for the first time. The passage should therefore precede 17:8-15; 24:13; 32:17, where he is already known.
Again, if Exodus 18 refers to the closing scenes at Horeb (as it clearly does), Exodus 24:14 providing for the temporary transaction of judicial business reads very strangely. It ought to be preceded by some statement of the ordinary course in normal times when Moses was not absent from the camp. Exodus 33:7 ff provides such a statement. The only earlier place to which it can be assigned is after 13:22, but there it fits the context marvelously, for the statements as to the pillar of cloud in 33:9 f attach naturally to those in 13:21 f. With this change all the difficulties disappear.
Immediately after leaving Egypt Moses began the practice of carrying a tent outside the camp and trying cases there. This lasted till the construction of the Tabernacle. “And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee” ( Exodus 25:22). After its erection the earlier tent was disused, and the court sat at the door of the Tabernacle in the center of the camp (see, further, EPC, 93-102, 106 f) .
Some other points must be indicated more briefly. In Numbers important Septuagintal variants remove the main difficulties by substituting “company of Korah” for “dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram” in two verses (see EPC, 143-46). Similarly in the Joseph-story the perplexities have arisen through corruptions of verses which may still be corrected by the versional evidence (PSALM, 29-48). There is evidence to show that the numbers of the Israelites are probably due to textual corruption (EPC, 155-69). Further, there are numerous passages where careful examination has led critics themselves to hold that particular verses are later notes. In this way they dispose of Deuteronomy 10:6 f (Aaron’s death, etc.), the references to the Israelirish kingdom ( Genesis 36:31) and the Canaanites as being “then” in the land ( Genesis 12:6; 13:7), the bedstead of Og ( Deuteronomy 3:11) and other passages. In Genesis 22, “the land of Moriah” is unknown to the versions which present the most diverse readings, of which “the land of the Amorite” is perhaps the most probable; while in 22:14 the Septuagint, reading the same Hebrew consonants as Massoretic Text, translates “In the Mount the Lord was seen.” This probably refers to a view that God manifested Himself especially in the mountains (compare 1 Kings 20:23,28) and has no reference whatever to the Temple Hill. The Massoretic pointing is presumably due to a desire to avoid what seemed to be an anthropomorphism (see further PSALM, 19-21) . Again, in Numbers 21:14, the Septuagint knows nothing of “a book of the Wars of Yahweh” (see Field, Hexapla, at the place). It is difficult to tell what the original reading was, especially as the succeeding words are corrupt in the Hebrew, but it appears that no genitive followed wars” and it is doubtful if there was any reference to a “book of wars.” (4) The Argument from the Doublets Examined.
The foregoing sections show that the documentary theory often depends on phenomena that were absent from the original Pentateuch. We are now to examine arguments that rest on other foundations. The doublets have been cited, but when we examine the instances more carefully, some curious facts emerge. Genesis 16 and 21 are, to all appearance, narratives of different events; so are Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-13 (the drawing of water from rocks). In the latter case the critics after rejecting this divide the passages into 5 different stories, two going to J, two to E and one to Pentateuch. If the latter also had a Rephidimnarrative (compare Numbers 33:14 P), there were 6 tales. In any case both J and E tell two stories each. It is impossible to assign any cogency to the argument that the author of the Pentateuch could not have told two such narratives, if not merely the redactor of the Pentateuch but also J and E could do so. The facts as to the manna stories are similar. As to the flights of quails, it is known that these do in fact occur every year, and the Pentateuch places them at almost exactly a year’s interval (see EPC, 104 f, 109 f). (5) The Critical Argument from the Laws.
The legal arguments are due to a variety of misconceptions, the washing out of the historical background and the state of the text. Reference must be made to the separate articles (especially SANCTUARY; PRIESTS). As the slave laws were cited, it may be explained that in ancient Israel as in other communities slavery could arise or slaves be acquired in many ways: e.g. birth, purchase ( Genesis 14:14; 17:12, etc.), gift ( Genesis 20:14), capture in war ( Genesis 14:21; 34:29), kidnapping (Joseph).
The law of Exodus and Deuteronomy applies only to Hebrew slaves acquired by purchase, not to slaves acquired in any other way, and least of all to those who in the eye of the law were not true slaves. Leviticus 25 has nothing to do with Hebrew slaves. It is concerned merely with free Israelites who become insolvent. “If thy brother be waxed poor with thee, and sell himself” it begins (25:39). Nobody who was already a slave could wax poor and sell himself. The law then provides that these insolvent freemen were not to be treated as slaves. In fact, they were a class of free bondsmen, i.e. they were full citizens who were compelled to perform certain duties. A similar class of free bondsmen existed in ancient Rome and were called nexi. The Egyptians who sold themselves to Pharaoh and became serfs afford another though less apt parallel In all ancient societies insolvency led to some limitations of freedom, but while in some full slavery ensued, in others a sharp distinction was drawn between the slave and the insolvent freeman (see further SBL, 5-11 ). (6) The Argument from Style.
Just as this argument is too detailed to be set out in a work like the present, so the answer cannot be given with any degree of fullness. It may be said generally that the argument too frequently neglects differences of subjectmatter and other sufficient reasons (such as considerations of euphony and slight variations of meaning) which often provide far more natural reasons for the phenomena observed. Again, the versions suggest that the Biblical text has been heavily glossed. Thus in many passages where the frequent recurrence of certain words and phrases is supposed to attest the presence of the Priestly Code (P), versional evidence seems to show that the expressions in question have been introduced by glossators, and when they are removed the narrative remains unaffected in meaning, but terser and more vigorous and greatly improved as a vehicle of expression. To take a simple instance in Genesis 23:1, “And the life of Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years: .... the years of the fife of Sarah,” the italicized words were missing in the Septuagint. When they are removed the meaning is unaltered, but the form of expression is far superior. They are obviously mere marginal note. Again the critical method is perpetually breaking down. It constantly occurs that redactors have to be called in to remove from a passage attributed to some source expressions that are supposed to be characteristic of another source, and this is habitually done on no other ground than that theory requires it. One instance muse be given. It is claimed that the word “create” is a P-word. It occurs several times in Genesis 1:1 through 2:4a and 3 times in Genesis 5:1,2, but in 6:7 it is found in a J-passage, and some critics therefore assign it to a redactor.
Yet J undoubtedly uses the word in Numbers 16:30 and D in Deuteronomy 4:82. On the other hand, P does not use the word exclusively, even in Genesis 1 through 2:4, the word “make” being employed in 1:7,25,26,31; 2:2, while in 2:3 both words are combined. Yet all these passages are given unhesitatingly to P. (7) Perplexities of the Theory.
The perplexities of the critical hypothesis are very striking, but a detailed discussion is impossible here. Much material will, however, be found in POT and Eerd. A few general statements may be made. The critical analysis repeatedly divides a straightforward narrative into two sets of fragments, neither of which will make sense without the other. A man will go to sleep in one document and wake in another, or a subject will belong to one source and the predicate to another. No intelligible account can be given of the proceedings of the redactors who one moment slavishly preserve their sources and at another cut them about without any necessity, who now rewrite their material and now leave it untouched. Even in the ranks of the Wellhausen critics chapters will be assigned by one writer to the post-exilic period and by another to the earliest sources (e.g. Genesis 14, pre-Mosaic in the main according to Sellin (1910), post-exilic according to others), and the advent of Eerdmans and Dahse has greatly increased the perplexity. Clue after clue, both stylistic and material, is put forward, to be abandoned silently at some later stage. Circular arguments are extremely common: it is first alleged that some phenomenon is characteristic of a particular source; then passages are referred to that source for no other reason than the presence of that phenomenon; lastly these passages are cited to prove that the phenomenon in question distinguishes the source. Again theory is compelled to feed on itself; for J, E, the Priestly Code (P), etc., we have schools of J’s, E’s, etc., subsisting side by side for centuries, using the same material, employing the same ideas, yet remaining separate in minute stylistic points. This becomes impossible when viewed in the light of the evidences of pre-Mosaic date in parts of Genesis (see below 4, (1) to (3)). (8) Signs of Unity.
It is often possible to produce very convincing internal evidence of the unity of what the critics sunder. A strong instance of this is to be found when one considers the characters portrayed. The character of Abraham or Laban, Jacob or Moses is essentially unitary. There is but one Abraham, and this would not be so if we really had a cento of different documents representing the results of the labor of various schools during different centuries. Again, there are sometimes literary marks of unity, e.g. in Numbers 16, the effect of rising anger is given to the dialogue by the repetition of “Ye take too much upon you” (16:3,7), followed by the repetition of “Is it a small thing that” (16:9,13). This must be the work of a single literary artist (see further SBL, 37 f). (9) The Supposed Props of the Development Hypothesis.
When we turn to the supposed props of the development hypothesis we see that there is nothing conclusive in the critical argument. Jeremiah and the subsequent literature certainly exhibit the influence of Deuteronomy, but a Book of the Law was admittedly found in Josiah’s reign and had lain unread for at any rate some considerable time. Some of its requirements had been in actual operation, e.g. in Naboth’s case, while others had become a dead letter. The circumstances of its discovery, the belief in its undoubted Mosaic authenticity and the subsequent course of history led to its greatly influencing contemporary and later writers, but that really proves nothing. Ezekiel again was steeped in priestly ideas, but it is shown in PRIESTS, 5b, how this may be explained. Lastly, Chronicles certainly knows the whole Pentateuch, but as certainly misinterprets it (see PRIESTS). On the other hand the Pentateuch itself always represents portions of the legislation as being intended to reach the people only through the priestly teaching, and this fully accounts for P’s lack of influence on the earlier literature. As to the differences of style within the Pentateuch itself, something is said in III, below. Hence, this branch of the critical argument really proves nothing, for the phenomena are susceptible of more than one explanation. 4. The Evidence of Date: (1) The Narrative of Genesis.
Entirely different lines of argument are provided by the abundant internal evidences of date. In Genesis 10:19, we read the phrase “as thou goest toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah and Zeboiim” in a definition of boundary. Such language could only have originated when the places named actually existed. One does not define boundaries by reference to towns that are purely mythical or have been overthrown many centuries previously. The consistent tradition is that these towns were destroyed in the lifetime of Abraham, and the passage therefore cannot be later than his age. But the critics assign it to a late stratum of J, i.e. to a period at least 1,000 years too late. This suggests several comments. First, it may reasonably be asked whether much reliance can be placed on a method which after a century and a half of the closest investigation does not permit its exponents to arrive at results that are correct to within 1,000 years.
Secondly, it shows clearly that in the composition of the Pentateuch very old materials were incorporated in their original language. Of the historical importance of this fact more will be said in IV; in this connection we must observe that it throws fresh light on expressions that point to the presence, in Genesis of sources composed in Palestine, e.g. “the sea” for “the West” indicates the probability of a Palestinian source, but once it is proved that we have materials as old as the time of Abraham such expressions do not argue post-Mosaic, but rather pre-Mosaic authorship. Thirdly, the passage demolishes theory of schools of J’s, etc. It cannot seriously be maintained that there was a school of J’s writing a particular style marked by the most delicate and subjective criteria subsisting continuously for some 10 or centuries from the time of Abraham onward, side by side with other writers with whom its members never exchanged terms of even such common occurrence as “handmaid.” Genesis 10:19 is not the only passage of this kind. In 2:14 we read of the Hiddekel (Tigris) as flowing East of Assur, though there is an alternative reading “in front of.” If the translation “east” be correct, the passage must antedate the 13th century BC, for Assur, the ancient capital, which was on the west bank of the Tigris, was abandoned at about that date for Kalkhi on the East. (2) Archaeology and Genesis.
Closely connected with the foregoing are cases where Genesis has preserved information that is true of a very early time only. Thus in 10:22 Elam figures as a son of Shem. The historical Elam was, however, an Aryan people. Recently inscriptions have been discovered which show that in very early times Elam really was inhabited by Semites. “The fact,” writes Driver, at the place, “is not one which the writer of this verse is likely to have known.” This contention falls to the ground when we find that only three verses off we have material that goes back at least as far as the time of Abraham. After all, the presumption is that the writer stated the fact because he knew it, not in spite of his not knowing it; and that knowledge must be due to the same cause as the noteworthy language of Genesis 10:19, i.e. to early date.
This is merely one example of the confirmations of little touches in Genesis that are constantly being provided by archaeology. For the detailed facts see the separate articles, e.g. AMRAPHEL; JERUSALEM, and compare IV, below.
From the point of view of the critical question we note (a) that such accuracy is a natural mark of authentic early documents, and (b) that in view of the arguments already adduced and of the legal evidence to be considered, the most reasonable explanation is to be found in a theory of contemporary authorship. (3) The Legal Evidence of Genesis.
The legal evidence is perhaps more convincing, for here no theory of late authorship can be devised to evade the natural inference. Correct information as to early names, geography, etc., might be the result of researches by an exilic writer in a Babylonian library; but early customs that are confirmed by the universal experience of primitive societies, and that point to a stage of development which had long been passed in the Babylonia even of Abraham’s day, can be due to but one cause — genuine early sources. The narratives of Genesis are certainly not the work of comparative sociologists. Two instances may be cited. The law of homicide shows us two stages that are known to be earlier than the stage attested by Exodus 21:12 ff. In the story of Cain we have one stage; in Genesis 9:6, which does not yet recognize any distinction between murder and other forms of homicide, we have the other.
Our other example shall be the unlimited power of life and death possessed by the head of the family ( Genesis 38:24; 42:37, etc.), which has not yet been limited in any way by the jurisdiction of the courts as in Exodus- Deuteronomy. In both cases comparative historical jurisprudence confirms the Bible account against the critical, which would make e.g. Genesis 9:6 post-exilic, while assigning Exodus 21 to a much earlier period. (On the whole subject see further OP, 135 ff.) (4) The Professedly Mosaic Character of the Legislation.
Coming now to the four concluding books of the Pentateuch, we must first observe that the legislation everywhere professes to be Mosaic. Perhaps this is not always fully realized. In critical editions of the text the rubrics and an occasional phrase are sometimes assigned to redactors, but the representation of Mosaic date is far too closely interwoven with the matter to be removed by such devices. If e.g. we take such a section as Deuteronomy 12, we shall find it full of such phrases as “for ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance” etc.; “When ye go over Jordan,” “the place which the Lord shall choose” (the King James Version), etc. It is important to bear this in mind throughout the succeeding discussion. (5) The Historical Situation required by Pentateuch.
What do we find if we ignore the Mosaic dress and seek to fit P into any other set of conditions, particularly those of the post-exilic period? The general historical situation gives a clear answer. The Israelites are represented as being so closely concentrated that they will always be able to keep the three pilgrimage festivals. One exception only is contemplated, namely, that ritual uncleanness or a journey may prevent an Israelite from keeping the Passover. Note that in that case he is most certainly to keep it one month later ( Numbers 9:10 f). How could this law have been enacted when the great majority of the people were in Babylonia, Egypt, etc., so that attendance at the temple was impossible for them on any occasion whatever? With this exception the entire Priestly Code always supposes that the whole people are at all times dwelling within easy reach of the religious center. How strongly this view is embedded in the code may be seen especially from Leviticus 17, which provides that all domestic animals to be slaughtered for food must be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting. Are we to suppose that somebody deliberately intended such legislation to apply when the Jews were scattered all over the civilized world, or even all over Canaan? If so, it means a total prohibition of animal food for all save the inhabitants of the capital.
In post-exilic days there was no more pressing danger for the religious leaders to combat than intermarriage, but this code, which is supposed to have been written for the express purpose of bringing about their action, goes out of its way to give a fictitious account of a war and incidentally to legalize some such unions ( Numbers 31:18). And this chapter also contains a law of booty. What could be more unsuitable? How and where were the Jews to make conquests and capture booty in the days of Ezra? “Or again, pass to the last chapter of Numbers and consider the historical setting. What is the complaint urged by the deputation that waits upon Moses? It is this: If heiresses `be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong.’ What a pressing grievance for a legislator to consider and redress when tribes and tribal lots had long since ceased to exist for ever!” (OP, 121 f).
Perhaps the most informing of all the discrepancies between P and the post-exilic age is one that explains the freedom of the earlier prophets from its literary influence. According to the constant testimony of the Pentateuch, including the Priestly Code (P), portions of the law were to reach the people only through priestly teaching ( Leviticus 10:11; Deuteronomy 24:8; 33:10, etc.). Ezra on the other hand read portions of P to the whole people. (6) The Hierarchical Organization in Pentateuch.
Much of what falls under this head is treated in PRIESTS, 2, (a), (b), and need not be repeated here. The following may be added: “Urim and Thummim were not used after the Exile. In lieu of the simple conditions — a small number of priests and a body of Levites — we find a developed hierarchy, priests, Levites, singers, porters, Nethinim, sons of Solomon’s servants. The code that Exodus hypothesi was forged to deal with this state of affairs has no acquaintance with them. The musical services of the temple are as much beyond its line of vision as the worship of the synagogue. Even such an organization as that betrayed by the reference in 1 Samuel 2:36 to the appointment by the high priest to positions carrying pecuniary emoluments is far beyond the primitive simplicity of P” (OP, 122). (7) The Legal Evidence of the Pentateuch.
As this subject is technical we can only indicate the line of reasoning. Legal rules may be such as to enable the historical inquirer to say definitely that they belong to an early stage of society. Thus if we find elementary rules relating to the inheritance of a farmer who dies without leaving sons, we know that they cannot be long subsequent to the introduction of individual property in land, unless of course the law has been deliberately altered. It is an everyday occurrence for men to die without leaving sons, and the question What is to happen to their land in such cases must from the nature of the case be raised and settled before very long. When therefore we find such rules in Numbers 27, etc., we know that they are either very old or else represent a deliberate change in the law. The latter is really out of the question, and we are driven back to their antiquity (see further OP, 124 ff).
Again in Numbers 35 we find an elaborate struggle to express a general principle which shall distinguish between two kinds of homicide. The earlier law had regarded all homicide as on the same level (Genesis 9).
Now, the human mind only reaches general principles through concrete cases, and other ancient legislations (e.g. the Icelandic) bear witness to the primitive character of the rules of Numbers. Thus, an expert like Dareate can say confidently that such rules as these are extremely archaic (see further SBL and OP, passim). (8) The Evidence of Deuteronomist.
The following may be quoted: “Laws are never issued to regulate a state of things which has passed away ages before, and can by no possibility be revived. What are we to think, then, of a hypothesis which assigns the code of Deuteronomy to the reign of Josiah, or shortly before it, when its injunctions to exterminate the Canaanites (20:16-18) and the Amalekites (25:17-19), who had long since disappeared, would be as utterly out of date as a law in New Jersey at the present time offering a bounty for killing wolves and bears, or a royal proclamation in Great Britain ordering the expulsion of the Danes? A law contemplating foreign conquests (20:10-15) would have been absurd when the urgent question was whether Judah could maintain its own existence against the encroachments of Babylon and Egypt. A law discriminating against Ammon and Moab (23:3,4), in favor of Edom (23:7,8), had its warrant in the Mosaic period, but not in the time of the later kings. Jeremiah discriminates precisely the other way, promising a future restoration to Moab (48:47) and Ammon (49:6), which he denies to Edom (49:17,18), who is also to Joel (3:19), Obadiah, and Isaiah (63:1-6), the representative foe of the people of God. .... The allusions to Egypt imply familiarity with and recent residence in that land .... And how can a code belong to the time of Josiah, which, while it contemplates the possible selection of a king in the future ( Deuteronomy 17:14 ff), nowhere implies an actual regal government, but vests the supreme central authority in a judge and the priesthood ( Deuteronomy 17:8-12; 19:17); which lays special stress on the requirements that the king must be a native and not a foreigner ( Deuteronomy 17:15), when the undisputed line of succession had for ages been fixed in the family of David, and that he must not `cause the people to return to Egypt.’ ( Deuteronomy 17:16), as they seemed ready to do on every grievance in the days of Moses ( Numbers 14:4), but which no one ever dreamed of doing after they were fairly established in Canaan?” (Green, Moses and the Prophets,63 f). This too may be supplemented by legal evidence (e.g. Deuteronomy 22:26 testifies to the undeveloped intellectual condition of the people). Of JE it is unnecessary to speak, for Exodus 21 f are now widely regarded as Mosaic in critical circles. Wellhausen (Prolegomena (6) , 392, note) now regards their main elements as pre-Mosaic Canaanitish law. (9) Later Allusions.
These are of two kinds. Sometimes we have references to the laws, in other cases we find evidence that they were in operation. (a) By postulating redactors evidence can be banished from the Biblical text. Accordingly, reference will only be made to some passages where this procedure is not followed. Ezekiel 22:26 clearly knows of a law that dealt with the subjects of the Priestly Code (P), used its very language (compare Leviticus 10:10 f), and like P was to be taught to the people by the priests. Hosea 4:6 also knows of some priestly teaching, which, however, is moral and may therefore be Leviticus 19; but in 8:11-13 he speaks of 10,000 written precepts, and here the context points to ritual.
The number and the subject-matter of these precepts alike make it certain that he knew a bulky written law which was not merely identical with Exodus 21 through 23, and this passage cannot be met by Wellhausen who resorts to the device of translating it with the omission of the important word “write.” (b) Again, in dealing with institutions the references can often be evaded.
It is possible to say, “Yes, this passage knows such and such a law, but this law does not really come into existence with D or the Priestly Code (P), but was an older law incorporated in these documents.” That argument would apply, e.g. to the necessity for two witnesses in the case of Naboth.
That is a law of D, but those who assign Deuteronomy to the reign of Josiah would assert that it is here merely incorporating older material.
Again the allusions sometimes show something that differs in some way from the Pentateuch, and it is often impossible to prove that this was a development. The critics in such cases claim that it represents an earlier stage, and it frequently happens that the data are insufficient either to support or refute this view. “But fortunately there are in P certain institutions of which the critics definitely assert that they are late.
Accordingly, references that prove the earlier existence of such institutions have a very different probative value. Thus it is alleged that before the exile there was but one national burnt offering and one national meal offering each day: whereas Numbers 28 demands two. Now in 1 Kings 18:29,36, we find references to the offering of the evening oblation, but 2 Kings 3:20 speaks of `the time of offering the oblation’ in connection with the morning. Therefore these two oblations were actually in existence centuries before the date assigned to P — who, on the critical theory, first introduced them. So 2 Kings 16:15 speaks of `the morning burntoffering, and the evening meal-offering .... with the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their meal-offering.’ This again gives us the two burnt offerings, though, on the hypothesis, they were unknown to preexilic custom. Similarly in other cases: Jeremiah 32 shows us the land laws in actual operation; Ezekiel is familiar with the Jubilee laws — though, on the critical hypothesis, these did not yet exist. Jeroboam was acquainted with P’s date for Tabernacles, though the critics allege that the date was first fixed in the Exile” (OP, 132 f) . (10) Other Evidence.
We can only mention certain other branches of evidence. There is stylistic evidence of early date (see e.g. Lias, BS, 1910, 20-46, 299-334). Further, the minute accuracy of the narrative of Exodus-Numbers to local conditions, etc. (noticed below, IV, 8, (6)), affords valuable testimony. It may be said generally that the whole work — laws and narrative — mirrors early conditions, whether we regard intellectual, economic or purely legal development (see further below, IV, and OP, passim). 5. The Fundamental Improbabilities of the Critical Case: (1) Moral and Psychological Issues.
The great fundamental improbabilities of the critical view have hitherto been kept out of sight in order that the arguments for and against the detailed case might not be prejudiced by other considerations. We must now glance at some of the broader issues. The first that occurs is the moral and psychological incredibility. On theory two great frauds were perpetrated — in each case by men of the loftiest ethical principles.
Deuteronomy was deliberately written in the form of Mosaic speeches by some person or persons who well knew that their work was not Mosaic. P is a make-up — nothing more. All its references to the wilderness, the camp, the Tent of Meeting, the approaching occupation of Canaan, etc., are so many touches introduced for the purpose of deceiving. There can be no talk of literary convention, for no such convention existed in Israel. The prophets all spoke in their own names, not in the dress of Moses. David introduced a new law of booty in his own name; the Chronicler repeatedly refers temple ordinances to David and Solomon; Samuel introduced a law of the kingdom in his own name. Yet we are asked to believe that these gigantic forgeries were perpetrated without reason or precedent. Is it credible? Consider the principles inculcated, e.g. the Deuteronomic denunciations of false prophets, the prohibition of adding aught to the law, the passionate injunctions to teach children. Can it be believed that men of such principles would have been guilty of such conduct? Nemo repente fit turpissimus, says the old maxim; can we suppose that the denunciations of those who prophesy falsely in the name of the Lord proceed from the pen of one who was himself forging in that name? Or can it be that the great majority of Bible readers know so little of truth when they meet it that they cannot detect the ring of unquestionable sincerity in the references of the Deuteronomist to the historical situation? Or can we really believe that documents that originated in such a fashion could have exercised the enormous force for righteousness in the world that these documents have exercised? Exodus nihilo nihil. Are literary forgeries a suitable parentage for Genesis 1 or Leviticus or Deuteronomy? Are the great monotheistic ethical religions of the world, with all they have meant, really rooted in nothing better than folly and fraud? (2) The Historical Improbability.
A second fundamental consideration is the extraordinary historical improbability that these frauds could have been successfully perpetrated.
The narrative in Kings undoubtedly relates the finding of what was regarded as an authentic work. King and people, priests and prophets must have been entirely deceived if the critical theory be true. It is surely possible that Huldah and Jeremiah were better judges than modern critics.
Similarly in the case of the Priestly Code (P), if e.g. there had been no Levitical cities or no such laws as to tithes and firstlings as were here contemplated, but entirely different provisions on the subjects, how came the people to accept these forgeries so readily? (See further POT, 257 f, 294-97.) It is of course quite easy to carry this argument too far. It cannot be doubted that the exile had meant a considerable break in the historical continuity of the national development; but yet once the two views are understood the choice cannot be difficult. On the critical theory elaborate literary forgeries were accepted as genuine ancient laws; on the conservative theory laws were accepted because they were in fact genuine, and interpreted as far as possible to meet the entirely different requirements of the period. This explains both the action of the people and the divergence between preexilic and post-exilic practice. The laws were the same but the interpretation was different. (3) The Divergence between the Laws and Post-exilic Practice.
Thirdly, the entire perversion of the true meaning of the laws in post-exilic times makes the critical theory incredible. Examples have been given (see above, 4, (5), (6), and PRIESTS, passim). It must now suffice to take just one instance to make the argument clear. We must suppose that the author of P deliberately provided that if Levites approached the altar both they and the priests should die ( Numbers 18:3), because he really desired that they should approach the altar and perform certain services there. We must further suppose that Ezra and the people on reading these provisions at once understood that the legislator meant the exact opposite of what he had said, and proceeded to act accordingly ( 1 Chronicles 23:31). This is only one little example. It is so throughout Pentateuch. Everybody understands that the Tabernacle is really the second Temple and wilderness conditions post-exilic, and everybody acts accordingly. Can it be contended that this view is credible? (4) The Testimony of Tradition.
Lastly the uniform testimony of tradition is in favor of Mosaic authenticity — the tradition of Jews, Samaritans and Christians alike. The national consciousness of a people, the convergent belief of Christendom for centuries are not lightly to be put aside. And what is pitted against them?
Theories that vary with each fresh exponent, and that take their start from textual corruption, develop through a confusion between an altar and a house, and end in misdating narratives and laws by 8 or 10 centuries! (see above 3 and 4; SANCTUARY; PRIESTS). 6. The Origin and Transmission of the Pentateuch: If anything at all emerges from the foregoing discussion, it is the impossibility of performing any such analytical feat as the critics attempt.
No critical microscope can possibly detect with any reasonable degree of certainty the joins of various sources, even if such sources really exist, and when we find that laws and narratives are constantly misdated by 8 or centuries, we can only admit that no progress at all is possible along the lines that have been followed. On the other hand, certain reasonable results do appear to have been secured, and there are indications of the direction in which we must look for further light.
First, then, the Pentateuch contains various notes by later hands.
Sometimes the versions enable us to detect and remove those notes, but many are pre-versional. Accordingly, it is often impossible to get beyond probable conjectures on which different minds may differ.
Secondly, Genesis contains pre-Mosaic elements, but we cannot determine the scope of these or the number and character of the sources employed, or the extent of the author’s work.
Thirdly, the whole body of the legislation is (subject only to textual criticism) Mosaic. But the laws of Deuteronomy carry with them their framework, the speeches which cannot be severed from them (see SBL, II). The speeches of Deuteronomy in turn carry with them large portions of the narrative of Exodus-Numbers which they presuppose. They do not necessarily carry with them such passages as Exodus 35 through 39 or Numbers 1 through 4; 7; 26, but Numbers 1 through 4 contains internal evidence of Mosaic date.
At this point we turn to examine certain textual phenomena that throw light on our problem. It may be said that roughly there are two great classes of textual corruption — that which is due to the ordinary processes of copying, perishing, annotating, etc., and that which is due to a conscious and systematic effort to fix or edit a text. In the case of ancient authors, there comes a time sooner or later when scholarship, realizing the corruption that has taken place, makes a systematic attempt to produce, so far as possible, a correct standard text. Instances that will occur to many are to be found in the work of the Massoretes on the Hebrew text, that of Origen and others on the Septuagint, and that of the commission of Peisistratos and subsequently of the Alexandrian critics on Homer. There is evidence that such revisions took place in the case of the Pentateuch. A very important instance is to be found in the chronology of certain portions of Genesis of which three different versions survive , the Massoretic, Samaritan and Septuagintal. Another instance of even greater consequence for the matter in hand is to be found in Exodus 35 through 39. It is well known that the Septuagint preserves an entirely different edition from that of Massoretic Text (supported in the main by the Samaritan and other VSS). Some other examples have been noticed incidentally in the preceding discussion; one other that may be proved by further research to possess enormous importance may be mentioned. It appears that in the law of the kingdom (Deuteronomy 17) and some other passages where the Massoretic and Samaritan texts speak of a hereditary king, the Septuagint knew nothing of such a person (see further PSALM, 157-68). The superiority of the Septuagint text in this instance appears to be attested by 1 Samuel, which is unacquainted with any law of the kingdom.
Thus, we know of at least three recensions, the M, the Samaritan and the Septuagint. While there are many minor readings (in cases of variation through accidental corruption) in which the two last-named agree, it is nevertheless true that in a general way the Samaritan belongs to the same family as the M, while the Septuagint in the crucial matters represents a different textual tradition from the other two (see The Expositor, September 1911, 200-219). How is this to be explained? According to the worthless story preserved in the letter of Aristeas the Septuagint was translated from manuscripts brought from Jerusalem at a date long subsequent to the Samaritan schism. The fact that the Septuagint preserves a recension so different from both Samaritan and (i.e. from the most authoritative Palestinian tradition of the 5th century BC and its lineal descendants) suggests that this part of the story must be rejected. If so, the Septuagint doubtless represents the text of the Pentateuch prevalent in Egypt and descends from a Hebrew that separated from the ancestor of the M before the Samaritan schism. At this point we must recall the fact that in Jeremiah the Septuagint differs rom Massoretic Text more widely than in any other Biblical book, and the current explanation is that the divergence goes back to the times of Jeremiah, his work having been preserved in two editions, an Egyptian and a Babylonian. We may be sure that if the Jews of Egypt had an edition of Jeremiah, they also had an edition of that law to which Jeremiah refers, and it is probable that the main differences between Septuagint and Massoretic Text (with its allies) are due to the two streams of tradition separating from the time of the exile — the Egyptian and the Babylonian. The narrative of the finding of the Book of the Law in the days of Josiah (2 Kings 22), which probably refers to Deuteronomy only, suggests that its text at that time depended on the single manuscript found.
The phenomena presented by Genesis-Numbers certainly suggest that they too were at one time dependent on a single damaged MS, and that conscious efforts were made to restore the original order — in some cases at any rate on a wrong principle (see especially EPC, 114-38; BS, 1913, 270-90). In view of the great divergences of the Septuagint in Exodus through 39, it may be taken as certain that in some instances the editing went to considerable lengths.
Thus, the history of the Pentateuch, so far as it can be traced, is briefly as follows: The backbone of the book consists of pre-Mosaic sources in Genesis, and Mosaic narratives, speeches and legislation in Exodus- Deuteronomy. To this, notes, archaeological, historical, explanatory, etc., were added by successive readers. The text at one time depended on a single manuscript which was damaged, and one or more attempts were made to repair this damage by rearrangemerit of the material. It may be that some of the narrative chapters, such as Numbers 1 through 4; 7; 26, were added from a separate source and amplified or rewritten in the course of some such redaction, but on this head nothing certain can be said.
Within a period that is attested by the materials that survive, Exodus through 39 underwent one or more such redactions. Slighter redactions attested by Samaritan and Septuagint have affected the chronological data, the numbers of the Israelites and some references to post-Mosaic historical events. Further than this it is impossible to go on our present materials. 3. SOME LITERARY POINTS. 1. Style of Legislation: No general estimate of the Pentateuch as literature can or need be attempted. Probably most readers are fully sensible to its literary beauties.
Anybody who is not would do well to compare the chapter on Joseph in the Koran (12) with the Biblical narrative. A few words must be said of some of the less obvious matters that would naturally fall into a literary discussion, the aim being rather to draw the reader’s attention to points that he might overlook.
Of the style of the legislation no sufficient estimate can now be formed, for the first requisite of legal style is that it should be clear and unambiguous to contemporaries, and today no judgment can be offered on that head. There is, however, one feature that is of great interest even now, namely, the prevalence in the main of three different styles, each marked by its special adaptation to the end in view. These styles are (1) mnemonic, (2) oratorical, and (3) procedural.
The first is familiar in other early legislations. It is lapidary, terse in the extreme, pregnant, and from time to time marked by a rhythm that must have assisted the retention in the memory. Occasionally we meet with parallelism. This is the style of Exodus 21 ff and occasional later passages, such as the judgment in the case of Shelomith’s son ( Leviticus 24:10 ff). No doubt these laws were memorized by the elders.
Secondly, the legislation of Deuteronomy forms part of a speech and was intended for public reading. Accordingly, the laws here take on a distinctly oratorical style. Thirdly, the bulk of the rest of the legislation was intended to remain primarily in the custody of the priests who could certainly write ( Numbers 6:23). This was taken into account, and the style is not terse or oratorical, but reasonably full. It was probably very clear to those for whom the laws were meant. There are minor varieties of style but these are the most important. (On the whole subject see especially PSALM, 170- 224.) 2. The Narrative: What holds good of the laws is also true with certain modifications of the narrative. The style varies with the nature of the subject, occasion and purpose. Thus, the itinerary in Numbers 33 is intentionally composed in a style which undoubtedly possesses peculiar qualities when chanted to an appropriate tune. The census lists, etc., appear to be written in a formal official manner, and something similar is true of the lists of the spies in Numbers 13. There is no ground for surprise in this. In the ancient world style varied according to the genre of the composition to a far greater extent than it does today. 3. The Covenant: A literary form that is peculiar to the Pentateuch deserves special notice, namely, the covenant document as a form of literature. Many peoples have had laws that were attributed to some deity, but it is only here that laws are presented in the form of sworn agreements entered into with certain formalities between the nation and God. The literary result is that certain portions of the Pentateuch are in the form of a sort of deed with properly articulated parts. This deed would have been ratified by oath if made between men, as was the covenant between Jacob and Laban, but in a covenant with God this is inapplicable, and the place of the jurat is in each case taken by a discourse setting forth the rewards and penalties attached by God to observance and breach of the covenant respectively. The covenant conception and the idea that the laws acquire force because they are terms in an agreement between God and people, and not merely because they were commanded by God, is one of extraordinary importance in the history of thought and in theology, but we must not through absorption in these aspects of the question fail to notice that the conception found expression in a literary form that is unknown elsewhere and that it provides the key to the comprehension of large sections of the Pentateuch, including almost the whole of Deuteronomy (see in detail SBL, chapter ii). 4. Order and Rhythm: Insufficient attention has been paid to order and rhythm generally. Two great principles must be borne in mind: (1) in really good ancient prose the artist appeals to the ear in many subtle ways, and (2) in all such prose, emphasis and meaning as well as beauty are given to a great extent by the order of the words.
The figures of the old Greek rhetoricians play a considerable part. Thus the figure called kuklos , “the circle,” is sometimes used with great skill. In this the clause or sentence begins and ends with the same word, which denotes alike the sound and the thought. Probably the most effective instance — heightened by the meaning, the shortness and the heavy boom of the word — is to be found in Deuteronomy 4:12, where there is an impressive “circle” with [ lwq , qol ], “voice” — the emphasis conveyed by the sound being at least as marked as that conveyed by the sense. This is no isolated instance of the figure; compare e.g. in Numbers 32:1, the “circle” with “cattle”; 14:2 that with “would that we had died.” Chiasmus is a favorite figure, and assonances, plays on words, etc., are not uncommon. Such traits often add force as well as beauty to the narrative, as may be seen from instances like Genesis 1:2: [ Whbow; WhTo , tohu wa-bhohu ], “waste and void”; 4:12: [ dn;w; [n; , na’ wa-nadh ], “a fugitive and a wanderer”; 9:6: [ ËpeV;y wOmd; µd;a;B; µd;a;h; µD” Ëpevo , shophekh dam ha-’adham, ba- ’adham damo, yishshaphekh ], literally, “shedding blood-of man, by-man his-blood shall-be-shed”; Numbers 14:45: [ µWtK]Y”w” µWKY”w” , wayyakkum-wayyakkethum ], “and smote them and beat them down.”
The prose of the Pentateuch, except in its more formal and official parts, is closely allied to poetry (compare e.g. the Aeschylean “Sin coucheth at the door” ( Genesis 4:7); “The fountains of the great deep (were) broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened” ( Genesis 7:11); “how I bare you on eagles’ wings” ( Exodus 19:4)). In the oratorical prose of Deuteronomy we find an imagery and a poetical imagination that are not common among great orators. Its rhythm is marked and the arrangement of the words is extraordinarily forcible, especially in such a chapter as Deuteronomy 28. It is difficult to convey any idea of how much the book loses in English Versions of the Bible from the changes of order.
Occasionally the rendering does observe the point of the original, e.g. in Deuteronomy 4:36: “Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice,” and if we consider how strikingly this contrasts with the fiat “He made thee to hear his voice out of heaven,” some notion may perhaps be formed of the importance of retaining the order. More frequently, however, the English is false to the emphasis and spirit of the Hebrew. Sometimes, but not always, this is due to the exigencies of English idiom. This is the cardinal fault of the King James Version, which otherwise excels so greatly. 4. THE PENTATEUCH AS HISTORY. 1. Textual Criticism and History: Beyond all doubt, the first duty of any who would use the Pentateuch for historical purposes is to consider the light that textual criticism throws upon it. So many of the impossibilities that are relied upon by those who seek to prove that the book is historically worthless may be removed by the simplest operations of scientific textual criticism, that a neglect of this primary precaution must lead to disastrous consequences. After all, it is common experience that a man who sets out to produce a history — whether by original composition or compilation — does not intentionally make, e.g., a southward march lead to a point northward of the startingplace, or a woman carry an able-bodied lad of 16 or 17 on her shoulder, or a patriarch linger some 80 years on a deathbed. When such episodes are found, the rudiments of historical judgment require that we should first ask whether the text is in order, and if the evidence points to any easy, natural and well-supported solutions of the difficulties, we are not justified in rejecting them without inquiry and denying to the Pentateuch all historical value. It is a priori far more probable that narratives which have come down to us from a date some 3,000 years back may have suffered slightly in transmission than that the Pentateuch was in the first instance the story of a historical wonderland. It is far more reasonable, e.g., to suppose that in a couple of verses of Exodus a corruption of two letters (attested by Aquila) has taken place in the Massoretic Text than that the Pentateuch contains two absolutely inconsistent accounts of the origin of the priesthood (see PRIESTS). Accordingly, the first principle of any scientific use of the Pentateuch for historical purposes must be to take account of textual criticism. 2. Hebrew Methods of Expression: Having discovered as nearly as may be what the author wrote, the next step must be to consider what he meant by it. Here, unfortunately, the modern inquirer is apt to neglect many most necessary precautions. It would be a truism, but for the fact that it is so often disregarded, to say that the whole of a narrative must be carefully read in order to ascertain the author’s meaning; e.g. how often we hear that Genesis 14 represents Abram as having inflicted a defeat on the enemy with only 318 men (14:14), whereas from 14:24 (compare 14:13) it appears that in addition to these his allies Aner, Eshcol and Mature (i.e. as we shall see, the inhabitants of certain localities) had accompanied him! Sometimes the clue to the precise meaning of a story is to be found near the end: e.g. in Joshua 22 we do not see clearly what kind of an altar the trans-Jordanic tribes had erected (and consequently why their conduct was open to objection) till 22:28 when we learn that this was an altar of the pattern of the altar of burnt offering, and so bore not the slightest resemblance to such lawful altars as those of Moses and Joshua (see ALTAR; SANCTUARY). Nor is this the only instance in which the methods of expression adopted cause trouble to some modern readers; e.g. the word “all” is sometimes used in a way that apparently presents difficulties to some minds. Thus in Exodus 9:6 it is possible to interpret “all” in the most sweeping sense and then see a contradiction in 9:19,22, etc., which recognize that some cattle still existed. Or again the term may be regarded as limited by 9:3 to all the cattle in the field. See ALL. 3. Personification and Genealogies: At this point two further idiosyncrasies of the Semitic genius must be noted — the habits of personification and the genealogical tendency; e.g. in Numbers 20:12-21, Edom and Israel are personified: “thy brother Israel,” “Edom came out against him,” etc. Nobody here mistakes the meaning. Similarly with genealogical methods of expression. The Semites spoke of many relationships in a way that is foreign to occidental methods.
Thus the Hebrew for “30 years old” is “son of 30 years.” Again we read “He was the father of such as dwell in tents” ( Genesis 4:20). These habits (of personification and genealogical expression of relationships) are greatly extended, e.g. “And Canaan begat Zidon his first-born” ( Genesis 10:15). Often this leads to no trouble, yet strangely enough men who will grasp these methods when dealing with Genesis 10 will claim that Genesis 14 cannot be historical because localities are there personified and grouped in relationships. Yet if we are to estimate the historical value of the narrative, we must surely be willing to apply. the same methods to one chapter as to another if the sense appears to demand this. See, further, GENEALOGIES. 4. Literary Form: A further consideration that is not always heeded is the exigency of literary form; e.g. in Genesis 24 there occurs a dialogue. Strangely enough, an attack has been made on the historical character of Genesis on this ground.
It cannot be supposed — so runs the argument — that we have here a literal report of what was said. This entirely ignores the practice of all literary artists. Such passages are to be read as giving a literary presentation of what occurred; they convey a far truer and more vivid idea of what passed than could an actual literal report of the mere words, divorced from the gestures, glances and modulations of the voice that play such an important part in conversation. 5. The Sacred Numbers: Another matter is the influence of the sacred numbers on the text; e.g. in Numbers 33 the journeys seem designed to present 40 stations and must not be held to exclude camping at other stations not mentioned; Genesis probably contained 70 names in the original text. This is a technical consideration which must be borne in mind, and so, too, must the Hebrew habit of using certain round numbers to express an unspecified time: When, for instance, we read that somebody was 40 or 60 years old, we are not to take these words literally. “Forty years old” often seems to correspond to “after he had reached man’s estate”. See NUMBER. 6. Habits of Thought: Still more important is it to endeavor to appreciate the habits of thought of those for whom the Pentateuch was first intended, and to seek to read it in the light of archaic ideas. One instance must suffice. Of the many explanations of names few are philologically correct. It is certain that Noah is not connected with the Hebrew for “to comfort” or Moses with “draw out” — even if Egyptian princesses spoke Hebrew. The etymological key will not fit. Yet we must ask ourselves whether the narrator ever thought that it did. In times when names were supposed to have some mystic relation to their bearers they might be conceived as standing also in some mystic relation to events either present or future; it is not clear that the true original meaning of the narratives was not to suggest this in literary form.
How far the ancient Hebrews were from regarding names in the same light as we do may be seen from such passages as Exodus 23:20 f; Isaiah 30:27; see further EPC, 47 ff. See also NAMES, PROPER. 7. National Coloring: The Pentateuch is beyond all doubt an intensely national work. Its outlook is so essentially Israelite that no reader could fail to notice the fact, and it is therefore unnecessary to cite proofs. Doubtless this has in many instances led to its presenting a view of history with which the contemporary peoples would not have agreed. It is not to be supposed that the exodus was an event of much significance in the Egypt of Moses, however important it may appear to the Egyptians of today; and this suggests two points. On the one hand we must admit that to most contemporaries the Pentateuchal narratives must have seemed out of all perspective; on the other the course of subsequent history has shown that the Mosaic sense of perspective was in reality the true one, however absurd it may have seemed to the nations of his own day. Consequently in using the Pentateuch for historical purposes we must always apply two standards — the contemporary and the historical. In the days of Moses the narrative might often have looked to the outsider like the attempt of the frog in the fable to attain to the size of an ox; for us, with the light of history upon it, the values are very different. The national coloring, the medium through which the events are seen, has proved to be true, and the seemingly insignificant doings of unimportant people have turned out to be events of prime historical importance.
There is another aspect of the national coloring of the Pentateuch to be borne in mind. If ever there was a book which revealed the inmost soul of a people, that book is the Pentateuch. This will be considered in V, below, but for the present we are concerned with its historical significance. In estimating actions, motives, laws, policy — all that goes to make history — character is necessarily a factor of the utmost consequence. Now here we have a book that at every point reveals and at the same t ime grips the national character. Alike in contents and in form the legislation is adapted with the utmost nicety to the nature of the people for which it was promulgated. 8. How Far the Pentateuch Is Trustworthy: When due allowance has been made for all the various matters enumerated above, what can be said as to the trustworthiness of the Pentateuchal history? The answer is entirely favorable. (1) Contemporaneous Information.
In the first place the discussion as to the dating of the Pentateuch (above, II, 4) has shown that we have in it documents that are in many cases certainly contemporaneous with the matters to which they relate and have been preserved in a form that is substantially original. Thus we have seen that the wording of Genesis 10:19 cannot be later than the age of Abraham and that the legislation of the last four books is Mosaic. Now contemporaneousness is the first essential of credibility. (2) Character of Our Informants.
Given the fact (guaranteed by the contemporaneousness of the sources) that our informants had the means of providing accurate information if they so desired, we have to ask whether they were truthful and able. As to the ability no doubt is possible; genius is stamped on every page of the Pentateuch. Similarly as to truthfulness. The conscience of the narrators is essentially ethical. This appears of course most strongly in the case of the legislation (compare Leviticus 19:11) and the attribution of truthfulness to God ( Exodus 34:6), but it may readily be detected throughout; e.g. in Genesis 20:12 the narrative clearly shows that truthfulness was esteemed as a virtue by the ancient Hebrews. Throughout, the faults of the dramatis personae are never minimized even when the narrator’s sympathy is with them. Nor is there any attempt to belittle the opponents of Israel’s heroes. Consider on the one hand the magnanimity of Esau’s character and on the other the very glaring light that is thrown on the weaknesses of Jacob, Judah, Aaron. If we are taught to know the Moses who prays, “And if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written” ( Exodus 32:32), we are also shown his frequent complaints, and we make acquaintance with the hot-tempered manslayer and the lawgiver who disobeyed his God. (3) Historical Genius of the People.
Strangely enough, those who desire to discuss the trustworthiness of the Pentateuch often go far afield to note the habits of other nations and, selecting according to their bias peoples that have a good or a bad reputation in the matter of historical tradition, proceed to argue for or against the Pentateuchal narrative on this basis. Such procedure is alike unjust and unscientific. It is unscientific because the object of the inquirer is to obtain knowledge as to the habits of this people, and in view of the great divergences that may be observed among different races the comparative method is clearly inapplicable; it is unjust because this people is entitled to be judged on its own merits or defects, not on the merits or defects of others. Now it is a bare statement of fact that the Jews possess the historical sense to a preeminent degree. Nobody who surveys their long history and examines their customs and practices to this day can fairly doubt that fact. This is no recent development; it is most convincingly attested by the Pentateuch itself, which here, as elsewhere, faithfully mirrors the spirit of the race. What is the highest guaranty of truth, a guaranty to which unquestioning appeal may be made in the firm assurance that it will carry conviction to all who hear? “Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask thy father and he will show thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee” ( Deuteronomy 32:7). “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth,” etc. ( Deuteronomy 4:32).
Conversely, the due handing down of tradition is a religious duty: “And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? that ye shall say,” etc. ( Exodus 12:26 f). “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but make them known unto thy children, and thy children’s children” ( Deuteronomy 4:9). It is needless to multiply quotations. Enough has been said to show clearly the attitude of this people toward history. (4) Good Faith of Deuteronomy.
Closely connected with the preceding is the argument from the very obvious good faith of the speeches in Deuteronomy. It is not possible to read the references to events in such a chapter as Deuteronomy 4 without realizing that the speaker most fully believed the truth of his statements.
The most unquestionable sincerity is impressed upon the chapter. The speaker is referring to what he believes with all the faith of which he is capable. Even for those who doubt the Mosaic authenticity of these speeches there can be no doubt as to the writer’s unquestioning acceptance of the historical consciousness of the people. But once the Mosaic authenticity is established the argument becomes overwhelming. How could Moses have spoken to people of an event so impressive and unparalleled as having happened within their own recollection if it had not really occurred? (5) Nature of the Events Recorded.
Another very important consideration arises from the nature of the events recorded. No nation, it has often been remarked, would gratuitously invent a story of its enslavement to another. The extreme sobriety of the patriarchal narratives, the absence of miracle, the lack of any tendency to display the ancestors of the people as conquerors or great personages, are marks of credibility. Many of the episodes in the Mosaic age are extraordinarily probable. Take the stories of the rebelliousness of the people, of their complaints of the water, the food, and so on: what could be more in accordance with likelihood? On the other hand there is another group of narratives to which the converse argument applies. A Sinai cannot be made part of a nation’s consciousness by a clever story-teller or a literary forger. The unparalleled nature of the events narrated was recognized quite as clearly by the ancient Hebrews as it is today (see Deuteronomy 4:32 ff). It is incredible that such a story could have been made up and successfully palmed off on the whole nation. A further point that may be mentioned in this connection is the witness of subsequent history to the truth of the narrative. Such a unique history as that of the Jews, such tremendous consequences as their religion has had on the fortunes of mankind, require for their explanation causal events of sufficient magnitude. (6) External Corroborations.
All investigation of evidence depends on a single principle: “The coincidences of the truth are infinite.” In other words, a false story will sooner or later become involved in conflict with ascertained facts. The Biblical narrative has been subjected to the most rigorous crossexamination from every point of view for more than a century. Time after time confident assertions have been made that its falsehood has been definitely proved, and in each case the Pentateuch has come out from the test triumphant. The details will for the most part be found enumerated or referred to under the separate articles. Here it must suffice just to refer to a few matters. It was said that the whole local coloring of the Egyptian scenes was entirely false, e.g. that the vine did not grow in Egypt.
Egyptology has in every instance vindicated the minute accuracy of the Pentateuch, down to even the non-mention of earthenware (in which the discolored Nile waters can be kept clean) in Exodus 7:19 and the very food of the lower classes in Numbers 11:5. It was said that writing was unknown in the days of Moses, but Egyptology and Assyriology have utterly demolished this. The historical character of many of the names has been strengthened by recent discoveries (see e.g. JERUSALEM; AMRAPHEL). From another point of view modern observation of the habits of the quails has shown that the narrative of Numbers is minutely accurate and must be the work of an eyewitness. From the ends of the earth there comes confirmation of the details of the evolution of law as depicted in the Pentateuch. Finally it is worth noting that even the details of some of the covenants in Genesis are confirmed by historical parallels (Churchman, 1908, 17 f).
It is often said that history in the true sense was invented by the Greeks and that the Hebrew genius was so intent on the divine guidance that it neglected secondary causes altogether. There is a large measure of truth in this view; but so far as the Pentateuch is concerned it can be greatly overstated. 9. The Pentateuch as Reasoned History: One great criticism that falls to be made is entirely in favor of the Hebrew as against some Greeks, namely, the superior art with which the causes are given. A Thucydides would have stated the reasons that induced Pharaoh to persecute the Israelites, or Abraham and Lot to separate, or Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their followers to rebel; but every reader would have known precisely what he was doing and many who can read the material passages of the Pentateuch with delight would have been totally unable to grapple with his presentation of the narrative. The audience is here more unsophisticated and the material presented in more artistic form.
In truth, any historian who sat down to compose a philosophical history of the period covered by the Pentateuch would in many instances be surprised at the lavish material it offered to him. A second criticism is more obvious.
The writer clearly had no knowledge of the other side of the case. For example, the secondary causes for the defeat near Hormah are plain enough so far as they are internal to the Israelites — lack of morale, discipline and leadership, division of opinion, discouragement produced by the divine disapproval testified by the absence from the army of Moses and the Ark, and the warnings of the former — but the secondary causes on the side of the Amalekites and Canaanites are entirely omitted. Thus it generally happens that we do not get the same kind of view of the events as might be possible if we could have both sides. Naturally this is largely the case with the work of every historian who tells the story from one side only and is not peculiar to the Pentateuch. Thirdly, the object of the Pentateuch is not merely to inform, but to persuade. It is primarily statesmanship, not literature, and its form is influenced by this fact. Seeking to sway conduct, not to provide a mere philosophical exposition of history, it belongs to a different (and higher) category from the latter, and where it has occasion to use the same material puts it in a different way, e.g. by assigning as motives for obeying laws reasons that the philosophic historian would have advanced as causes for their enactment. To some extent, therefore, an attempt to criticize the Pentateuch from the standpoint of philosophic history is an attempt to express it in terms of something that is incommensurable with it. 5. THE CHARACTER OF THE PENTATEUCH. 1. Hindu Law Books: The following sentences from Maine’s Early Law and Custom form a suggestive introduction to any consideration of the character of the Pentateuch: “The theory upon which these schools of learned men worked, from the ancient, perhaps very ancient, Apastamba and Gautama to the late Manu and the still later Narada, is perhaps still held by some persons of earnest religious convictions, but in time now buried it affected every walk of thought. The fundamental assumption is that a sacred or inspired literature being once believed to exist, all knowledge is contained in it. The Hindu way of putting it was, and is, not simply that the Scripture is true, but that everything which is true is contained in the Scripture. .... It is to be observed that such a theory, firmly held during the infancy of systematic thought, tends to work itself into fact. As the human mind advances, accumulating observation and accumulating reflection, nascent philosophy and dawning science are read into the sacred literature, while they are at the same time limited by the ruling ideas of its priestly authors. But as the mass of this literature grows through the additions made to it by successive expositors, it gradually specializes itself, and subjects, at first mixed together under vague general conceptions, become separated from one another and isolated. In the history of law the most important early specialization is that which separates what a man ought to do from what he ought to know. A great part of the religious literature, including the Creation of the Universe, the structure of Heaven, Hell, and the World or Worlds, and the nature of the Gods, falls under the last head, what a man ought to know. Law-books first appear as a subdivision of the first branch, what a man should do. Thus the most ancient books of this class are short manuals of conduct for an Aryan Hindu who would lead a perfect life.
They contain much more ritual than law, a great deal more about the impurity caused by touching impure things than about crime, a great deal more about penances than about punishments” (pp. 16-18).
It is impossible not to see the resemblances to the Pentateuch that these sentences suggest. Particularly interesting is the commentary they provide on the attitude of Moses toward knowledge: “The secret things belong unto Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” ( Deuteronomy 29:29).
But if the Pentateuch has significant resemblances to other old law books, there are differences that are even more significant. 2. Differences: “By an act that is unparalleled in history a God took to Himself a people by means of a sworn agreement. Some words that are fundamental for our purpose must be quoted from the offer; `Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ The views here expressed dominate the legislation. Holiness — the correlative holiness to which the Israelites must attain because the Lord their God is holy — embraces much that is not germane to our subject, but it also covers the whole field of national and individual righteousness. The duty to God that is laid upon the Israelites in these words is a duty that has practical consequences in every phase of social life. I have already quoted a sentence from Sir Henry Maine in which he speaks of the uniformity with which religion and law are implicated in archaic legislation. There is a stage in human development where life is generally seen whole, and it is to this stage that the Pentateuch belongs. But no other legislation so takes up one department of man’s life after another and impresses on them all the relationship of God and people.
Perhaps nothing will so clearly bring out my meaning as a statement of some of the more fundamental differences between the Pentateuchal legislation and the old Indian law-books which often provide excellent parallels to it. Those to which I desire to draw particular attention are as follows: The Indian law-books have no idea of national (as distinct from individual) righteousness — a conception that entered the world with the Mosaic legislation and has perhaps not made very much progress there since. There is no personal God: hence, His personal interest in righteousness is lacking: hence, too, there can be no relationship between God and people: and while there is a supernatural element in the contemplated results of human actions, there is nothing that can in the slightest degree compare with the Personal Divine intervention that is so often promised in the Pentateuchal laws. The caste system, like Hammurabi’s class system, leads to distinctions that are always inequitable.
The conception of loving one’s neighbour and one’s sojourner as oneself are alike lacking. The systematic provisions for poor relief are absent, and the legislation is generally on a lower ethical and moral level, while some of the penalties are distinguished by the most perverted and barbarous cruelty.
All these points are embraced in the special relationship of the One God and the peculiar treasure with its resulting need for national and individual holiness” (PSALM, 330 f). 3. Holiness: These sentences indicate some of the most interesting of the distinguishing features of the Pentateuch — its national character, its catholic view of life, its attitude toward the Divine, and some at any rate of its most peculiar teachings. It is worth noting that Judaism, the oldest of the religions which it has influenced, attaches particular importance to one chapter, Leviticus 19. The keynote of that chapter is the command: `Holy shall ye be, for holy am I the Lord your God’ — to preserve the order and emphasis of the original words. This has been called the Jew’s imitatio Dei, though a few moments’ reflection shows that the use of the word “imitation” is here inaccurate. Now this book with this teaching has exercised a unique influence on the world’s history, for it must be remembered that Judaism, Christianity and Islam spring ultimately from its teachings, and it is impossible to sever it from the history of the “people of the book” — as Mohammed called them. It appears then that it possesses in some unique way both an intensely national and an intensely universal character and a few words must be said as to this. 4. The Universal Aspect: The great literary qualities of the work have undoubtedly been an important factor. All readers have felt the fascination of the stories of Genesis. The Jewish character has also counted for much; so again have the moral and ethical doctrines, and the miraculous and unprecedented nature of the events narrated. And yet there is much that might have been thought to militate against the book’s obtaining any wide influence. Apart from some phrases about all the families of the earth being blessed (or blessing themselves) in the seed of Abraham, there is very little in its direct teaching to suggest that it was ever intended to be of universal application.
Possibly these phrases only mean that other nations will use Israel as a typical example of greatness and happiness and pray that they may attain an equal degree of glory and prosperity. Moreover, the Pentateuch provides for a sacrificial system that has long ceased to exist, and a corpus of jural law that has not been adopted by other peoples. Of its most characteristic requirement — holiness — large elements are rejected by all save its own people. Wherein then lies its universal element? How came this the most intensely national of books to exercise a world-wide and ever-growing influence? The reason lies in the very first sentence: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This doctrine of the unity of an Almighty God is the answer to our question. Teach that there is a God and One Only All-powerful God, and the book that tells of Him acquires a message to all His creatures. 5. The National Aspect: Of the national character of the work something has already been said. It is remarkable that for its own people it has in very truth contained life and length of days, for it has been in and through that book that the Jews have maintained themselves throughout their unique history. If it be asked wherein the secret of this strength lies, the answer is in the combination of the national and the religious. The course of history must have been entirely different if the Pentateuch had not been the book of the people long before the Jews became the people of the book.
LITERATURE.
The current critical view is set forth in vast numbers of books. The following may be mentioned: LOT; Cornill’s Introduction to the Canonical Books of the Old Testament; Carpenter and Harford-Battersby’s Hexateuch (a 2nd edition of the Introduction without the text has been published as The Composition of the Hexateuch); the volumes of the ICC, Westminster Comms. and Century Bible. Slightly less thoroughgoing views are put forward in the German Introductions of Konig (1893), Baudissin (1901), Sellin (1910); and Geden, Outlines of Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (1909); Kittel, Scientific Study of the Old Testament (English translation, 1910); Eerdm. has entirely divergent critical views; POT; TMH, I, and W. Moller, Are the Critics Right? and Wider den Bann der Quellenscheidung; Robertson, Early Religion of Israel; Van Hoonacker, Lieu du culte, and Sacerdoce levitique are all much more conservative and valuable. J.H. Raven, Old Testament Intro, gives a good presentation of the most conservative case. The views taken in this article are represented by SBL, EPC, OP, PSALM, Troelstra, The Name of God, and in some matters, TMH, I. Harold M. Wiener PENTATEUCH, THE SAMARITAN <sa-mar’-i-tan > :
The existence of a Samaritan community in Nablus is generally known, and the fact that they have a recension of the Pentateuch which differs in some respects from the Massoretic has been long recognized as important. 1. KNOWLEDGE OF SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH. 1. In Older Times: Of the Greek Fathers Origen knew of it and notes two insertions which do not appear in the Massoretic Text — Numbers 13:1 and 21:12, drawn from Deuteronomy 1:2 and 2:18. Eusebius of Caesarea in his Chronicon compares the ages of the patriarchs before Abraham in the Septuagint with those in the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Massoretic Text. Epiphanius is aware that the Samaritans acknowledged the Pentateuch alone as canonical. Cyril of Jerusalem notes agreement of Septuagint and Samaritan in Genesis 4:8. These are the principal evidences of knowledge of this recension among the Greek Fathers. Jerome notes some omissions in the Massoretic Text and supplies them from the Samaritan Text. The Talmud shows that the Jews retained a knowledge of the Samaritan Pentateuch longer, and speaks contemptuously of the points in which it differs from the Massoretic Text. Since the differences observed by the Fathers and the Talmudists are to be seen in the Samaritan Pentateuch before us, they afford evidence of its authenticity. 2. Revived Knowledge: After nearly a millennium of oblivion the Samaritan Pentateuch was restored to the knowledge of Christendom by Pietro de la Valle who in 1616 purchased a copy from the Samaritan community which then existed in Damascus. This copy was presented in 1623 to the Paris Oratory and shortly after published in the Paris Polyglot under the editorship of Morinus, a priest of the Oratory who had been a Protestant. He emphasized the difference between the Massoretic Text and Samaritan Pentateuch for argumentative reasons, in order to prove the necessity for the intervention of the church to settle which was Scripture. A fierce controversy resulted, in which various divines, Protestant and Catholic, took part. Since then copies of this recension have multiplied in Europe and America. All of them may be regarded as copies ultimately of the Nablus roll. These copies are in the form, not of rolls, but of codices or bound volumes. They are usually written in two columns to the page, one being the Targum or interpretation and this is sometimes in Aramaic and sometimes in Arabic. Some codices show three columns with both Targums. There are probably nearly 100 of these codices in various libraries in Europe and America. These are all written in the Samaritan script and differ only by scribal blunders. 2. CODICES AND SCRIPT. 1. Nablus Roll: The visitor to the Samaritans is usually shown an ancient roll, but only rarely is the most ancient exhibited, and when so exhibited still more rarely is it in circumstances in which it may be examined.
Dr. Mills, who spent three months in the Samaritan community, was able to make a careful though interrupted study of it. His description (Nablus and the Modern Samaritans, 312) is that “the roll is of parchment, written in columns, 13 inches deep, and 7 1/2 inches wide. The writing is in a fair hand, rather small; each column contains from 70 to 72 lines, and the whole roll contains 110 columns. The name of the scribe is written in a kind of acrostic, running through these columns, and is found in the Book of Deuteronomy The roll has the appearance of very great antiquity, but is wonderfully well preserved, considering its venerable age. It is worn out and torn in many places and patched with re-written parchment; in many other places, where not torn, the writing is unreadable. It seemed to me that about two-thirds of the original is still readable. The skins of which the roll is composed are of equal size and measure each 25 inches long by inches wide.” Dr. Rosen’s account on the authority of Kraus (Zeitschr. der deulschmorgenl. Gesellsch., XVIII, 582) agrees with this, adding that the “breadth of the writing is a line and the space between is similar.” Both observers have noted that the parchment has been written only on the “hair” side. It is preserved in a silk covering enclosed in a silver case embossed with arabesque ornaments. 2. The Script: The reader on opening one of the codices of the Samaritan Pentateuch recognizes at once the difference of the writing from the characters in an ordinary Hebrew Bible. The Jews admit that the character in which the Samaritan Pentateuch is written is older than their square character. It is said in the Talmud (Sanhedhrin 21b): “The law at first was given to Israel in `ibhri letters and in the holy tongue and again by Ezra in the square (‘ashurith ) character and the Aramaic tongue. Israel chose for themselves the ‘ashurith character and the holy tongue: they left to the hedhyoToth (“uncultured”) the `ibhri character and the Aramaic tongue — `the Cuthaeans are the hedhyoToth ,’ said Rabbi Chasda.” When Jewish hatred of the Samaritans, and the contempt of the Pharisees for them are remembered, this admission amounts to a demonstration. The Samaritan script resembles that on the Maccabean coins, but is not identical with it. It may be regarded as between the square character and the angular, the latter as is seen in the manuscript and the Siloam inscription. Another intermediate form, that found on the Assouan papyri, owes the differences it presents to having been written with a reed on papyrus. As the chronology of these scripts is of importance we subjoin those principally in question.
The study of these alphabets. will confirm the statement above made that the Samaritan alphabet is, in evolution, between the square character and the angular, nearer the latter than the former, while the characters of the Assouan papyri are nearer the former than the latter. Another point to be observed is that the letters which resemble each other in one alphabet do not always resemble in another. We can thus, from comparison of the letters liable to be confused, form a guess as to the script in which the document containing the confusion written. 3. Peculiarities in Writing: In inscriptions the lapidary had no hesitation, irrespective of syllables, in completing in the next line any word for which he had not sufficient room.
Thus, the beginnings and endings of lines were directly under each other, as on the MS. In the papyri the words are not divided, but the scribe was not particular to have the ends of lines directly under each other. The scribe of the square character by use of literae dilatabiles secured this without dividing the words. The Samaritan secured this end by wider spacing. The first letter or couple of letters of each line are placed directly under the first letter or letters of the preceding line — so with the last letters — two or three — of the line, while the other words are spread out to fill up the space. The only exception to this is a paragraph ending.
Words are separated from each other by dots; sentences by a sign like our colon. The Torah is divided into 966 qiSamuel or paragraphs. The termination of these is shown by the colon having a dot added to it, thus:.
Sometimes this is reinforced by a line and an angle. These qiSamuel are often enumerated on the margin; sometimes, in later manuscripts in Arabic numerals. A blank space sometimes separates one of these qiSamuel from the next. 4. The Tarikh: When the scribe wished to inform the reader of his personality and the place where he had written the manuscript he made use of a peculiar device. In copying he left a space vacant in the middle of a column. The space thus left is every now and then bridged by a single letter. These letters read down the column form words and sentences which convey the information. In the case of the Nablus roll this tarikh occurs in Deuteronomy and occupies three columns. In this it is said, “I Abishua, son of Pinhas (Phinehas), son of Eleazar, son of Aharun (Aaron) the priest, have written this holy book in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in Matthew. Gerizim in the 13th year of the rule of the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.” Most of the codices in the libraries of Europe and America have like information given in a similar manner. This tarikh is usually Hebrew, but sometimes it is in the Samaritan Aramaic. Falsification of the date merely is practically impossible; the forgery must be the work of the first scribe. 5. The Mode of Pronunciation: Not only has the difference of script to be considered, but also the different values assigned to the letters. The names given to the letters differ considerably from the Hebrew, as may be seen above. There are no vowel points or signs of reduplication. Only B and P of the BeGaDH-KePHaTH letters are aspirated. The most singular peculiarity is that none of the gutturals is pronounced at all — a peculiarity which explains some of the names given to the letters. This characteristic appears all the more striking when it is remembered how prominent gutturals are in Arabic, the everyday language of the Samaritans. The Genesis 1:1-5 are subjoined according to the Samaritan pronunciation, as taken down by Petermann (Versuch einer hebr. Formenlehre, 161), from the reading of Amram the high priest: Barashet bara Eluwem it ashshamem wit aarets. Waarets ayata-te’u ube’u waashek al fani .... turn uru Eluwem amra, efet al fani ammem waya’mer Eluwem ya’i or way’ai or wayere Eluwem it a’ or Kings tov wayabdel Eluwem bin a’ir ubin aashek uyikra Eluwem la’or yom ula ‘ashek qara lila. Uyai `erev uyai beqar yom a’ad . 6. Age of the Nablus Roll: There is no doubt that if the inscription given above is really in the manuscript it is a forgery written on the skin at the first. Of its falsity also there is no doubt. The Tell el-Amarna Letters sent from Canaan and nearly contemporary with the Israelite conquest of the land were impressed with cuneiform characters and the language was Babylonian. Neglecting the tarikh, we may examine the matter independently and come to certain conclusions. If it is the original from which the other manuscripts have been copied we are forced to assume a date earlier at least than the 10th century AD, which is the date of the earliest Hebrew MS. The script dates from the Hasmoneans. The reason of this mode of writing being perpetuated in copying the Law must be found in some special sanctity in the document from which the copies were made originally. Dr. Mills seems almost inclined to believe the authenticity of the tarikh. His reasons, however, have been rendered valueless by recent discoveries. Dr. Cowley, on the other hand, would date it somewhere about the 12th century AD, or from that to the 14th. With all the respect due to such a scholar we venture to think his view untenable. His hypothesis is that an old manuscript was found and the tarikh now seen in it was afterward added. That, however, is impossible unless a new skin — the newness of which would be obvious — had been written over and inserted. Even the comparatively slight change implied in turning Ishmael into Israel in the tarikh in the Nablus roll necessitates a great adjustment of lines, as the letters of the tarikh must read horizontally as well as perpendicularly. If that change were made, the date would then be approximately 650 AD, much older than Cowley’s 12th century. There is, however, nothing in this to explain the sanctity given to this MS. There is a tradition that the roll was saved from fire, that, it leaped out of the fire in the presence of Nebuchadnezzar. If it were found unconsumed when the temple on Matthew. Gerizim was burned by John Hyrcanus I, this would account for the veneration in which it is held. It would account also for the stereotyping of the script. The angular script prevailed until near the time of Alexander the Great. In it or in a script akin to it the copy of the Law must have been written which Manasseh, the sonin- law of Sanballat, brought to Samaria. The preservation of such a copy would be ascribed to miracle and the script consecrated. 3. RELATION OF THE SAMARITAN RECENSION TO THE MASSORETIC TEXT AND TO THE SEPTUAGINT. 1. Relation to Massoretic Text: Classification of Differences: While the reader of the Samaritan Pentateuch will not fail to observe its practical identity with the Massoretic Text, closer study reveals numerous, if minor, differences.
These differences were classified by Gesenius. Besides being illogical, his classification is faulty, as founded on the assumption that the Samaritan Pentateuch text is the later. The same may be said of Kohn’s. We would venture on another classification of these variations, deriving the principle of division from their origin. These variations were due either to (1) accident or (2) intention. (1) The first of these classes arose from the way in which books were multiplied in ancient days. Most commonly one read and a score of scribes, probably slaves, wrote to this dictation. Hence, errors might arise (a) when from similarity of letters the reader mistook one word for another. (b) If the reader’s pronunciation was not distinct the scribes might mishear and therefore write the word amiss. (c) Further, if the reader began a sentence which opened in a way that generally was followed by certain words or phrases, he might inadvertently conclude it, not in the way it was written before him, but in the customary phrase. In the same way the scribe through defective attention might also blunder. Thus the accidental variations may be regarded as due to mistakes of sight, hearing and attention. (2) Variations due to intention are either (a) grammatical, the removal of peculiarities and conforming them to usage, or (b) logical, as when a command having been given, the fulfillment is felt to follow as a logical necessity and so is narrated, or, if narrated, is omitted according to the ideas of the scribe; (c) doctrinal changes introduced into the text to suit the doctrinal position of one side or other. Questions of propriety also lead to alterations — these may be regarded as quasi-doctrinal. (1) Examples of Accidental Variations. (a) Due to Mistakes of Sight:
The cause of mistakes of sight is the likeness of differing letters. These, however, differ in different scripts, as may be proved by consideration of the table of alphabets. Some of these mistakes found in connection with the Samaritan Pentateuch appear to be mistakes due to the resemblance of letters in the Samaritan script. Most of these are obvious blunders; thus, in Genesis 19:32, we have the meaningless tabhinu instead of ‘abhini, “our father,” from the likeness of the Samaritan “t” to “a.” In Genesis 25:29 we have tsazedh instead of yazedh, “to seethe,” because of the likeness of a Samaritan “ts”, to “y” or “i”. These, while in Blayney’s transcription of Walton’s text, are not in Petermann or the Samaritan Targum. The above examples are mistakes in Samaritan manuscripts, but there are mistakes also in the Massoretic Text. In Genesis 27:40 the Revised Version (British and American) rendering is “When thou shalt break loose, thou shalt shake his yoke from off thy neck.” This rendering does violence to the sense of both verbs and results in a tautology. In the Hiphil the first verb rudh ought to mean “to cause to wander,” not “to break loose,” and the second verb paraq means “to break,” not “to shake off.” The Samaritan has “When thou shalt be mighty, thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.” The Massoretic Text mistake may be due to the confounding of the Samaritan “a” with a “t”, and the transposition of a Samaritan “d” and “b”.
The verb ‘adhar , “to be strong,” is rare and poetic, and so unlikely to suggest itself to reader or scribe. The renderings of the Septuagint and Peshitta indicate confusion. There are numerous cases, however, where the resembling letters are not in the Samaritan script, but sometimes in the square character and sometimes in the angular. Some characters resemble each other in both, but not in the Samaritan. The cases in which the resemblance is only in letters in the square script may all be ascribed to variation in the Massoretic Text. Cases involving the confusion of waw and yodh are instances in point. It may be said that every one of the instances of variation which depends on confusion of these letters is due to a blunder of a Jewish scribe, e.g. Genesis 25:13, where the Jewish scribe has written nebhith instead of nebhdyoth (Nebaioth) as usual; 36:5, where the Jewish scribe has ye`ish instead of ye`ush (Jeush), as in the Qere. In Genesis 46:30, by writing re’othi instead of ra’ithi , the Jewish scribe in regard to the same letters has made a blunder which the Samaritan scribe has avoided. When d and r are confused, it must not be ascribed to the likeness in the square script, for those letters are alike in the angular also.
As the square is admitted to be later than the date of the Samaritan script, these confusions point to a manuscript in angular. There are, however, confusions which apply only to letters alike in angular. Thus, binyamim , invariably in the Samaritan Pentateuch Benjamin, binyamin , is written Benjamin; also in Exodus 1:11 pithon instead of pithom , but “m” and “n” are alike only in the script of the Siloam inscription. In Deuteronomy 12:21, the Samaritan has [ ˆKev”l] , leshakken ], as the Massoretic Text has in 12:11, whereas the Massoretic Text has [ µWcl; , lasum ]. A study of the alphabets on p. 2314 will show the close resemblance between waw (w) and kaph (k) in the Siloam script, as well as the likeness above mentioned between “m” and “n”. This points to the fact that the manuscripts from which the Massoretic Text and the Samaritan were transcribed in some period of their history were written in angular of the type of the Siloam inscription, that is to say of the age of Hezekiah. (b) Variations Due to Mistakes of Hearing:
The great mass of these are due to one of two sources, either on the one hand the insertion or omission of waw and yodh, so that the vowel is written plenum or the reverse, or, on the other hand, to the mistake of the gutturals. Of the former class of variations there are dozens in every chapter. The latter also is fairly frequent, and is due doubtless to the fact that in the time when the originals of the present manuscripts were transcribed the gutturals were not pronounced at all. Genesis 27:36 shows a and h interchanged, h and j in Genesis 41:45, j for [ in Genesis 49:7, and a and [ in Genesis 23:18, in many Samaritan manuscripts, but the result is meaningless. This inability to pronounce the gutturals points to a date considerably before the Arab domination.
Possibly this avoidance of the gutturals became fashionable during the Roman rule, when the language of law was Latin, a language without gutturals. A parallel instance may be seen in Aquila, who does not transliterate any gutturals. This loss of the gutturals may be connected with the fact that in Assyrian ‘aleph is practically the only guttural. The colonists from Assyria might not unlikely be unable to pronounce the gutturals. (c) Changes Due to Deficient Attention:
Another cause of variation is to be found in reader or scribe not attending sufficiently to the actual word or sentence seen or heard. This is manifested in putting for a word its equivalent. In Genesis 26:31 the Samaritan has lere`ehu, “to his friend,” instead of as the Massoretic Text le’achiw , “to his brother,” and in Exodus 2:10 Samaritan has na`ar for yeledh in Massoretic Text. In such cases it is impossible to determine which represents the original text. We may remark that the assumption of Gesenius and of such Jewish writers as Kohn that the Massoretic Text is always correct is due to mere prejudice. More important is the occasional interchange of YHWH and ‘Elohim , as in Genesis 28:4, where Samaritan has YHWH and the Massoretic Text ‘Elohim , and Genesis 7:1 where it has ‘Elohim against YHWH in the Massoretic Text. This last instance is the more singular, in that in the 9th verse of the same chapter the Massoretic Text has ‘Elohim and the Samaritan YHWH . Another class of instances which may be due to the same cause is the completion of a sentence by adding a clause or, it may be, dropping it from failure to observe it to be incomplete, as Genesis 24:45. If the Massoretic Text be the original text, the Samaritan adds the clause “a little water from thy pitcher”; if the Samaritan, then the Massoretic Text has dropped it. (2) Intentional. (a) Grammatical:
The variations from the Massoretic Text most frequently met with in reading the Samaritan Pentateuch are those necessary to conform the language to the rules of ordinary grammar. In this the Samaritan frequently coincides with the Qere of the Massoretic Text. The Kethibh of the Massoretic Text has no distinction in gender between hu’ in the 3rd personal pronoun singular — in both masculine and feminine it is hu’ . The Samaritan with the Qere corrects this to hi’ . So with na`ar , “a youth” — this is common in the Kethibh, but in the Qere when a young woman is in question the feminine termination is added, and so the Samaritan writers also. It is a possible supposition that this characteristic of the Torah is late and due to blundering peculiar to the manuscript from which the Massoretes copied the Kethibh. That it is systematic is against its being due to blunder, and as the latest Hebrew books maintain distinction of gender, we must regard this as an evidence of antiquity. This is confirmed by another set of variations between the Samaritan and the Massoretic Text.
There are, in the latter, traces of case-endings which have disappeared in later Hebrew. These are removed in the Samaritan. That case terminations have a tendency to disappear is to be seen in English and French The sign of the accusative, ‘eth , frequently omitted in the Massoretic Text, is generally supplied in Samaritan. A short form of the demonstrative pronoun plural (‘el instead of ‘ellah ) is restricted to the Pentateuch and 1 Chronicles 20:8. The syntax of the cohortative is different in Samaritan from that in the Massoretic Hebrew. It is not to be assumed that the Jewish was the only correct or primitive use. There are cases where, with colloquial inexactitude, the Massoretic Text has joined a plural noun to a singular verb, and vice versa; these are corrected in Samaritan.
Conjugations which in later Hebrew have a definite meaning in relation to the root, but are used in the Massoretic Text of the Torah in quite other senses, are brought in the Samaritan Pentateuch into harmony with later use. It ought in passing to be noted that these pentateuchal forms do not occur in the Prophets; even in Joshua 2:15 we have the feminine 3rd personal pronoun; in Judges 19:3 we have na`arah. (b) Logical:
Sometimes the context or the circumstances implied have led to a change on one side or another. This may involve only the change of a word, as in Genesis 2:2, where the Samaritan has “sixth” instead of “seventh” (Massoretic Text), in this agreeing with the Septuagint and Peshitta, the Jewish scribe thinking the “sixth day” could only be reckoned ended when the “seventh’ had begun. In Genesis 4:8, after the clause, “And Cain talked with (said to) Abel his brother,” the Samaritan, Septuagint and Peshitta add, “Let us go into the field.” From the evidence of the VSS, from the natural meaning of the verb ‘amar , “to say,” not “to speak,” from the natural meaning also of the preposition ‘el , “to,” not “with” (see Gesenius), it is clear that the Massoretic Text has dropped the clause and that the Samaritan represents the true text. If this is not the case, it is a case of logical completion on the part of the Samaritan. Another instance is the addition to each name in the genealogy in Genesis 11:10-24 of the sum of the years of his life. In the case of the narrative of the plagues of Egypt a whole paragraph is added frequently. What has been commanded Moses and Aaron is repeated as history when they obey. (c) Doctrinal:
There are cases in which the text so suits the special views of the Samaritans concerning the sanctity of Gerizim that alteration of the original in that direction may be supposed to be the likeliest explanation. Thus there is inserted at Genesis 20:67 a passage from Deuteronomy 27:2 slightly modified: Gerizim being put for Ebal, the object of the addition being to give the consecration of Gerizim the sanction of the Torah.
Kennicott, however, defends the authenticity of this passage as against the Massoretic Text. Insertion or omission appears to be the result of doctrinal predilection. In Numbers 25:4,5 the Samaritan harmonizes the command of Yahweh with the action of Moses. The passage removed has a bloodthirsty Moloch-like look that might seem difficult to defend. On the other hand, the Jewish hatred of idolatry might express itself in the command to “take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun,” and so might be inserted. There are cases also where the language is altered for reasons of propriety. In these cases the Samaritan agrees with the Qere of the Massoretic Text.
These variations are of unequal value as evidences of the relative date of the Samaritan recension of the Pentateuch. The intentional are for this purpose of little value; they are evidence of the views prevalent in the northern and southern districts of Palestine respectively. Only visual blunders are of real importance, and they point to a date about the days of Hezekiah as the time at which the two recensions began to diverge. One thing is obvious, that the Samaritan, at least as often as the Massoretic Text, represents the primitive text. 2. Relation of Samaritan Recension to Septuagint: (1) Statement of Hypotheses.
The frequency with which the points in which the Samaritan Pentateuch differs from the Massoretic Text agree with those in which the Septuagint also differs has exercised scholars. Castelli asserts that there are a thousand such instances. It may be noted that in one instance, at any rate, a passage in which the Samaritan and the Septuagint agree against the Massoretic Text has the support of the New Testament. In Galatians 3:17, the apostle Paul, following the Samaritan and Septuagint against the Massoretic Text, makes the “430 years” which terminated with the exodus begin with Abraham. As a rule the attention of Biblical scholars has been so directed to the resemblances between the Samaritan and the Septuagint that they have neglected the more numerous points of difference. So impressed have scholars been, especially when Jews, by these resemblances that they have assumed that the one was dependent on the other. Frankel has maintained that the Samaritan was translated from the Septuagint.
Against this is the fact that in all their insulting remarks against them the Talmudists never assert that the “Cuthaeans” (Samaritans) got their Torah from the Greeks. Further, even if they only got the Law through Manasseh, the son-in-law of Sanballat, and even if he lived in the time of Alexander the Great, yet this was nearly half a century before the earliest date of the Septuagint. Again, while there are many evidences in the Septuagint that it has been translated from Hebrew, there are none in the Samaritan that it has been translated from Greek The converse hypothesis is maintained by Dr. Kohn with all the emphasis of extended type. His hypothesis is that before the Septuagint was thought of a Greek translation was made from a Samaritan copy of the Law for the benefit of Samaritans resident in Egypt.
The Jews made use of this at first, but when they found it wrong in many points, they purposed a new translation, but were so much influenced by that to which they were accustomed that it was only an improved edition of the Samaritan which resulted. But it is improbable that the Samaritans, who were few and who had comparatively little intercourse with Egypt, should precede the more numerous Jews with their huge colonies in Egypt, in making a Greek translation. It is further against the Jewish tradition as preserved to us by Josephus. It is against the Samaritan tradition as learned by the present writer from the Samaritan high priest. According to him, the Samaritans had no independent translation, beyond the fact that five of the Septuagint were Samaritan. Had there been any excuse for asserting that the Samaritans were the first translators, that would not have disappeared from their traditions. (2) Review of These Hypotheses.
The above unsatisfactory explanations result from deficient observation and unwarranted assumption. That there are many cases where the Samaritan variations from the Massoretic Text are identical with those of the Septuagint is indubitable. It has, however, not been observed by those Jewish scholars that the cases in which the Samaritan alone or the Septuagint alone (one or the other) agrees with the Massoretic Text against the other, are equally numerous. Besides, there are not a few cases in which all three differ. It ought to be observed that the cases in which the Septuagint differs from the Massoretic Text are much more numerous than those in which the Samaritan differs from it. One has only to compare the Samaritan, Septuagint and Massoretic Text of any half a dozen consecutive chapters in the Pentateuch to prove this. Thus neither is dependent on the others. Further, there is the unwarranted assumption that the Massoretic Text represents the primitive text of the Law. If the Massoretic Text is compared with the VSS, it is found that the Septuagint, despite the misdirected efforts of Origen to harmonize it to the Palestinian text, differs in very many cases from the Massoretic Text. Theodotion is nearer, but still differs in not a few cases. Jerome is nearer still, though even the text behind the Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) is not identical with the Massoretic Text. It follows that the Massoretic Text is the result of a process which stopped somewhere about the end of the 5th century AD. The origin of the Massoretic Text appears to have been somewhat the result of accident. A manuscript which had acquired a special sanctity as belonging to a famous rabbi is copied with fastidious accuracy, so that even its blunders are perpetuated. This supplies the Kethibh. Corrections are made from other manuscripts, and these form the Qere. If our hypothesis as to the age of the Nablus roll is correct, it is older than the Massoretic Text by more than half a millennium, and the manuscript from which the Septuagint was translated was nearly a couple of centuries older still. So far then from its being a reasonable assumption that the Septuagint and Samaritan differ from the Massoretic Text only by blundering or willful corruption on the part of the former, the converse is at least as probable.
The conclusion then to which we are led is that of Kennicott (State of Hebrew Text Dissertation, II, 164) that the Samaritan and Septuagint being independent, “each copy is invaluable — each copy demands our pious veneration and attentive study.” It further ought to be observed that though Dr. Kohn points to certain cases where the difference between the Massoretic Text and the Septuagint is due to confusion of letters only possible in Samaritan character, this does not prove the Septuagint to have been translated from a Samaritan MS, but that the manuscripts of the Massoretic Text used by the Septuagint were written in that script. Kohn also exhibits the relation of the Samaritan to the Peshitta. While the Peshitta sometimes agrees with the Samaritan where it differs from the Massoretic Text, more frequently it supports the Massoretic Text against the Samaritan. 4. BEARING ON THE PENTATEUCHAL QUESTION.
Josephus (Ant., XI, viii, 2) makes Sanballat contemporary with Alexander the Great, and states that his son-in-law Manasseh came to Samaria and became the high priest. Although it is not said by Josephus, it is assumed by critics that he brought the completed Torah with him. This Manasseh is according to Josephus the grandson of Eliashib the high priest, the contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah, and therefore contemporary with Artaxerxes Longimanus. Nehemiah (13:28) mentions, without naming him, a grandson of Eliashib, who was son-in-law of Sanballat, whom he chased from him. It is clear that Josephus had dropped a century out of his history, and that the migration of Manasseh is to be placed not circa 335 BC, but circa 435 BC. Ezra is reputed to be, if not the author of the Priestly Code in the Pentateuch, at all events its introducer to the Palestinians, and to have edited the whole, so that it assumed the form in which we now have it. But he was the contemporary of Manasseh, and had been, by his denunciation of foreign marriages, the cause of the banishment of Manasseh and his friends. Is it probable that he, Manasseh, would receive as Mosaic the enactments of Ezra, or convey them to Samaria? The date of the introduction of the Priestly Code (P), the latest portion of the Law, must accordingly be put considerably earlier than it is placed at present.
We have seen that there are visual blunders that can be explained only on the assumption that the manuscript from which the mother Samaritan roll was copied was written in some variety of angular script. We have seen, further, that the peculiarities suit those of the Siloam inscription executed in the reign of Hezekiah, therefore approximately contemporary with the priest sent by Esarhaddon to Samaria to teach the people “the manner of the God of the land.” As Amos and Hosea manifest a knowledge of the whole Pentateuch before the captivity, it would seem that this “Book of the Law” that was “read ( Amos 4:5, the Septuagint) without,” which would be the source from which the priest sent from Assyria taught as above “the manner of the God of the land,” would contain all the portions — J, E, D, and P — of the Law. If so, it did not contain the Book of Josh; notwithstanding the honor they give the conqueror of Canaan, the Samaritans have not retained the book which relates his exploits. This is confirmed by the fact that the archaisms in the Massoretic Text of the Pentateuch are not found in Josh. It is singular, if the Prophets were before the Law, that in the Law there should be archaisms which are not found in the Prophets. From the way the divine names are interchanged, as we saw, sometimes ‘Elohim in the Samaritan represents YHWH in the Massoretic Text, sometimes vice versa, it becomes obviously impossible to lay any stress on this. This conclusion is confirmed by the yet greater frequency with which this interchange occurs in the Septuagint. The result of investigation of the Samaritan Pentateuch is to throw very considerable doubt on the validity of the critical opinions as to the date, origin and structure of the Pentateuch 5. TARGUMS AND CHRONICLE.
As above noted, there are two Targums or interpretations of the Samaritan Pentateuch, an Aramaic and an Arabic. The Aramaic is a dialect related to the Western Aramaic, in which the Jewish Targums were written, sometimes called Chaldee. It has in it many strange words, some of which may be due to the language of the Assyrian colonists, but many are the result of blunders of copyists ignorant of the language. It is pretty close to the original and is little given to paraphrase. Much the same may be said of the Arabic Targum. It is usually attributed to Abu Said of the 13th century, but according to Dr. Cowley only revised by him from the Targum of Abulhassan of the 11th century. There is reference occasionally in the Fathers to a Samaritikon which has been taken to mean a Greek version.
No indubitable quotations from it survive — what seem to be so being really translations of the text of the Samaritan recension. There is in Arabic a wordy chronicle called “The Book of Joshua.” It has been edited by Juynboll. It may be dated in the 13th century. More recently a “Book of Joshua” in Hebrew and written in Samaritan characters was alleged to be discovered. It is, however, a manifest forgery; the characters in which it is written are very late. It is partly borrowed rom the canonical Josh, and partly from the older Samaritan Book of Joshua with fabulous additions.
The Chronicle of Abulfatach is a tolerably accurate account of the history of the Samaritans after Alexander the Great to the 4th century AD.
LITERATURE.
The text in the Samaritan script is found in the polyglots — Paris and London. Walton’s text in the London Polyglot is transcribed in square characters by Blayney, Oxford, 1790. The English works of importance of recent times are Mills, Nablus and the Samaritans, London, 1864; Nutt, Fragments of a Samaritan Targum, London, 1874; Montgomery, The Samaritans, Philadelphia, 1907 (this has a very full bibliography which includes articles in periodicals); Iverach Munro. The Samaritan Pentateuch and Modern Criticism, 1911, London. In Germany, Gesenius’ dissertation, Deuteronomy Pentateuchi Samaritani origine, etc., Jena, 1815, has not quite lost its value; Kohn, Deuteronomy Pentateucho Samaritano, Leipzig, 1865; Petermann, Versuch einer hebr. Formenlehre nach der Aussprache der heutigen Samaritaner, Leipzig, 1868. There are besides articles on this in the various Biblical Dictionaries and Encyclodedias. In the numerous religious and theological periodicals there have been articles on the Samaritan Pentateuch of varying worth. The Aramaic Targum has been transcribed in square characters and edited by Brull (Frankfort, 1875). J. E. H. Thompson PENTECOST <pen’-te-kost > : 1. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:
As the name indicates ([penthkosth>, pentekoste ]), this second of the great Jewish national festivals was observed on the 50th day, or 7 weeks, from the Paschal Feast, and therefore in the Old Testament it was called “the feast of weeks.” It is but once mentioned in the historical books of the Old Testament ( 2 Chronicles 8:12,13), from which reference it is plain, however, that the people of Israel, in Solomon’s day, were perfectly familiar with it: “offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.” The requirements of the three great festivals were then well understood at this time, and their authority was founded in the Mosaic Law and unquestioned. The festival and its ritual were minutely described in this Law. Every male in Israel was on that day required to appear before the Lord at the sanctuary ( Exodus 34:22,23). It was the first of the two agrarian festivals of Israel and signified the completion of the barley-harvest ( Leviticus 23:15,16; Deuteronomy 16:9,10), which had begun at the time of the waving of the first ripe sheaf of the first-fruits ( Leviticus 23:11). Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, therefore fell on the 50th day after this occurrence. The wheat was then also nearly everywhere harvested ( Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Numbers 28:26), and the general character of the festival was that of a harvest-home celebration. The day was observed as a Sabbath day, all labor was suspended, and the people appeared before Yahweh to express their gratitude ( Leviticus 23:21; Numbers 28:26). The central feature of the day was the presentation of two loaves of leavened, salted bread unto the Lord ( Leviticus 23:17,20; Exodus 34:22; Numbers 28:26; Deuteronomy 16:10). The size of each loaf was fixed by law. It must contain the tenth of an ephah, about three quarts and a half, of the finest wheat flour of the new harvest ( Leviticus 23:17). Later Jewish writers are very minute in their description of the preparation of these two loaves (Josephus, Ant, III, x, 6). According to the Mishna (Menachoth, xi.4), the length of the loaf was 7 handbreadths, its width 4, its depth 7 fingers. Leviticus 23:18 describes the additional sacrifices required on this occasion. It was a festival of good cheer, a day of joy. Free-will offerings were to be made to the Lord ( Deuteronomy 16:10), and it was to be marked by a liberal spirit toward the Levite, the stranger, and orphans and widows ( Deuteronomy 16:11,14). Perhaps the command against gleaning harvest-fields has a bearing on this custom ( Leviticus 23:22).
The Old Testament does not give it the historical significance which later Jewish writers have ascribed to it. The Israelites were admonished to remember their bondage on that day and to reconsecrate themselves to the Lord ( Deuteronomy 16:12), but it does not yet commemorate the giving of the Law at Sinai or the birth of the national existence, in the Old Testament conception (Exodus 19). Philo, Josephus, and the earlier Talmud are all ignorant of this new meaning which was given to the day in later Jewish history. It originated with the great Jewish rabbi Maimonides and has been copied by Christian writers. And thus a view of the Jewish Pentecost has been originated, which is wholly foreign to the scope of the ancient institution. 2. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
The old Jewish festival obtained a new significance, for the Christian church, by the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit ( John 16:7,13).
The incidents of that memorable day, in the history of Christianity, are told in a marvelously vivid and dramatic way in the Acts of the Apostles. The old rendering of sumplerousthai ( Acts 2:1) by “was fully come” was taken by Lightfoot (Her. Hebrews.) to signify that the Christian Pentecost did not coincide with the Jewish, just as Christ’s last meal with His disciples was considered not to have coincided with the Jewish Passover, on Nisan 14. The bearing of the one on the other is obvious; they stand and fall together. the Revised Version (British and American) translates the obnoxious word simply “was now come.” Meyer, in his commentary on the Acts, treats this question at length. The tradition of the ancient church placed the first Christian Pentecost on a Sunday. According to John, the Passover that year occurred on Friday, Nisan 14 (18:28). But according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Passover that year occurred on Thursday, Nisan 14, and hence, Pentecost fell on Saturday. The Karaites explained the shabbath of Leviticus 23:15 as pointing to the Sabbath of the paschal week and therefore always celebrated Pentecost on Sunday. But it is very uncertain whether the custom existed in Christ’s day, and moreover it would be impossible to prove that the disciples followed this custom, if it could be proved to have existed. Meyer follows the Johannic reckoning and openly states that the other evangelists made a mistake in their reckoning. No off-hand decision is possible, and it is but candid to admit that here we are confronted with one of the knottiest problems in the harmonizing of the Gospels. See CHRONOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
The occurrences of the first pentecostal day after the resurrection of Christ set it apart as a Christian festival and invested it, together with the commemoration of the resurrection, with a new meaning. We will not enter here upon a discussion of the significance of the events of the pentecostal day described in Acts 2. That is discussed in the article under TONGUES (which see). The Lutherans, in their endeavor to prove the inherent power of the Word, claim that “the effects then exhibited were due to the divine power inherent in the words of Christ; and that they had resisted that power up to the day of Pentecost and then yielded to its influence.” This is well described as “an incredible hypothesis” (Hodge, Systematic Theology, III, 484). The Holy Spirit descended in answer to the explicit promise of the glorified Lord, and the disciples had been prayerfully waiting for its fulfillment ( Acts 1:4,14). The Spirit came upon them as “a power from on high.” God the Holy Spirit proved on Pentecost His personal existence, and the intellects, the hearts, the lives of the apostles were on that day miraculously changed. By that day they were fitted for the arduous work that lay before them. There is some difference of opinion as to what is the significance of Pentecost for the church as an institution. The almost universal opinion among theologians and exegetes is this: that Pentecost marks the rounding of the Christian church as an institution. This day is said to mark the dividing line between the ministry of the Lord and the ministry of the Spirit. The later Dutch theologians have advanced the idea that the origin of the church, as an institution, is to be found in the establishment of the apostolate, in the selection of the Twelve. Dr. A.
Kuyper holds that the church as an institution was founded when the Master selected the Twelve, and that these men were “qualified for their calling by the power of the Holy Spirit.” He distinguishes between the institution and the constitution of the church. Dr. H. Bavinck says: “Christ gathers a church about Himself, rules it directly so long as He is on the earth, and appoints twelve apostles who later on will be His witnesses. The institution of the apostolate is an especially strong proof of the institutionary character which Christ gave to His church on the earth” (Geref. Dogm., IV, 64).
Whatever we may think of this matter, the fact remains that Pentecost completely changed the apostles, and that the enduement with the Holy Spirit enabled them to become witnesses of the resurrection of Christ as the fundamental fact in historic Christianity, and to extend the church according to Christ’s commandment. Jerome has an especially elegant passage in which Pentecost is compared with the beginning of the Jewish national life on Matthew. Sinai (Ad Tabiol, section 7): “There is Sinai, here Sion; there the trembling mountain, here the trembling house; there the flaming mountain, here the flaming tongues; there the noisy thunderings, here the sounds of many tongues; there the clangor of the ramshorn, here the notes of the gospel-trumpet.” This vivid passage shows the close analogy between the Jewish and Christian Pentecost. 3. LATER CHRISTIAN OBSERVANCE:
In the post-apostolic Christian church Pentecost belonged to the so-called “Semestre Domini,” as distinct from the “Semestre Ecclesiae” the church festivals properly so called. As yet there was no trace of Christmas, which began to appear about 360 AD. Easter, the beginning of the pentecostal period, closed the “Quadragesima,” or “Lent,” the entire period of which had been marked by self-denial and humiliation. On the contrary, the entire pentecostal period, the so-called “Quinquagesima,” was marked by joyfulness, daily communion, absence of fasts, standing in prayer, etc.
Ascension Day, the 40th day of the period, ushered in the climax of this joyfulness, which burst forth in its fullest volume on Pentecost. It was highly esteemed by the Fathers. Chrysostom calls it “the metropolis of the festivals” (Deuteronomy Pentec., Hom. ii); Gregory of Nazianzen calls it “the day of the Spirit” (Deuteronomy Pentec., Orat. 44). All the Fathers sound its praises. For they fully understood, with the church of the ages, that on that day the dispensation of the Spirit was begun, a dispensation of greater privileges and of a broader horizon and of greater power than had hitherto been vouchsafed to the church of the living God. The festival “Octaves,” which, in accordance with the Jewish custom, devoted a whole week to the celebration of the festival, from the 8th century, gave place to a two days’ festival, a custom still preserved by the Roman church and such Protestant bodies as follow the ecclesiastical year. The habit of dressing in white and of seeking baptism on Pentecost gave it the name “Whitsunday,” by which it is popularly known all over the world. Henry E. Dosker PENUEL <pe-nu’-el > , <pen’-u-el > . See PENIEL.
PENURY <pen’-u-ri > ([ rwOsj]m” , machcor ]): In Proverbs 14:23, with sense of “poverty,” “want”: “The talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.” In the New Testament the word in Luke 21:4 ([uJste>rhma, husterema ]) is in the Revised Version (British and American) translated “want” (of the widow’s mites).
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, [ µ[“ , `am ], is overwhelmingly the most common (about 2,000 times), with [ µwOal] , le’om ], and [ ywOG, 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; 17:15), where other nations than Israel are in question. So, for instance, in Psalm 67:4; Isaiah 55:4; 60:2, with the contrast marked in Psalm 33:10 and 12; Psalm 77:14 and 15, etc. In the New Testament, [la>ov, laos ], is the most common word, with [o]clov, 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; 19:26, and in the fixed phrase “the common people” ([oJ polu This is not a Scriptural name, but the term used by Josephus to denote the district to which the rabbis habitually refer as “the land beyond Jordan.”
This corresponds to the New Testament phrase peran tou Iordanou ( Matthew 4:15; 19:1, etc.). The boundaries of the province are given by Josephus (BJ, III, iii, 3). In length it reached from Pella in the North to Macherus in the South, and in breadth from the Jordan on the West to the desert on the East. We may take it that the southern boundary was the Arnon . The natural boundary on the North would be the great gorge of the Yarmuk. Gadara, Josephus tells us (BJ, IV, vii, 3, 6), was capital of the Peraea. But the famous city on the Yarmuk was a member of the Decapolis, and so could hardly take that position. More probably Josephus referred to a city the ruins of which are found at Jedur — a reminiscence of the ancient name — not far from es-SalT. The northern Gadara then holding the land on the southern bank of the Yarmuk, the northern boundary of the Peraea would run, as Josephus says, from Pella eastward.
For the description of the country thus indicated see GILEAD, 2.
In the time of the Maccabees the province was mainly gentile, and Judas found it necessary to remove to Judea the scattered handful of Jews to secure their safety (1 Macc 5:45). 2. HISTORY:
Possibly under Hyrcanus Jewish influence began to prevail; and before the death of Janneus the whole country owned his sway (HJP, I, i, 297, 306).
At the death of Herod the Great it became part of the tetrarchy of Antipas (Ant., XVII, vii, 1). The tetrarch built a city on the site of the ancient Bethharam ( Joshua 13:27) and called it Julias in honor of the emperor’s wife (Ant., XVIII, ii, 1; BJ, II, ix 1). Here Simon made his abortive rising (Ant., XVII, x, 6; BJ, II, iv, 2). Claudius placed it under the government of Felix (BJ, II, xii, 8). It was finally added to the Roman dominions by Placidus (BJ, IV, vii, 3-6). Under the Moslems it became part of the province of Damascus.
Peraea, “the land beyond Jordan,” ranked along with Judea and Galilee as a province of the land of Israel. The people were under the same laws as regarded tithes, marriage and property.
Peraea lay between two Gentileprovinces on the East, as Samaria between two Jewish provinces on the West of the Jordan. The fords below Beisan and opposite Jericho afforded communication with Galilee and Judea respectively. Peraea thus formed a link connecting the Jewish provinces, so that the pilgrims from any part might go to Jerusalem and return without setting foot on Gentilesoil. And, what was at least of equal importance, they could avoid peril of hurt or indignity which the Samaritans loved to inflict on Jews passing through Samaria ( Luke 9:52 f; Ant, XX, vi, 1; Vita, 52).
It seems probable that Jesus was baptized within the boundaries of the Peraea; and hither He came from the turmoil of Jerusalem at the Feast of the Dedication ( John 10:40). It was the scene of much quiet and profitable intercourse with His disciples (Matthew 19; Mark 10:1-31; Luke 18:15-30). These passages are by many thought to refer to the period after His retirement to Ephraim ( John 11:54). It was from Peraea that He was summoned by the sisters at Bethany ( John 11:3).
Peraea furnished in Niger one of the bravest men who fought against the Romans (BJ, II, xx, 4; IV, vi, 1). From Bethezob, a village of Peraea, came Mary, whose story is one of the most appalling among the terrible tales of the siege of Jerusalem (BJ, VI, iii, 4). Josephus mentions Peraea for the last time (BJ, VI, v, 1), as echoing back the doleful groans and outcries that accompanied the destruction of Jerusalem. W. Ewing PERAZIM, MOUNT <per’-a-zim > , <pe-ra’-zim > ([ Arh” µyxir;P] , har-peratsim ]): “Yahweh will rise up as in mount Perazim” ( Isaiah 28:21). It is usually considered to be identical with BAAL-PERAZIM (which see), where David obtained a victory over the Philistines ( 2 Samuel 5:20; 1 Chronicles 14:11).
PERDITION <per-dish’-un > ([ajpw>leia, apoleia ], “ruin” or “loss,” physical or eternal): The word “perdition” occurs in the English Bible 8 times ( John 17:12; Philippians 1:28; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 6:9; Hebrews 10:39; 2 Peter 3:7; Revelation 17:11,18). In each of these cases it denotes the final state of ruin and punishment which forms the opposite to salvation. The verb apolluein , from which the word is derived, has two meanings: (1) to lose; (2) to destroy.
Both of these pass over to the noun, so that apoleia comes to signify: (1) loss; (2) ruin, destruction.
The former occurs in Matthew 26:8; Mark 14:4, the latter in the passages cited above. Both meanings had been adopted into the religious terminology of the Scriptures as early as the Septuagint. “To be lost” in the religious sense may mean “to be missing” and “to be ruined,” The former meaning attaches to it in the teaching of Jesus, who compares the lost sinner to the missing coin, the missing sheep, and makes him the object of a seeking activity ( Matthew 10:6; 15:24; 18:11; Luke 15:4,6,8,24,32; 19:10). “To be lost” here signifies to have become estranged from God, to miss realizing the relations which man normally sustains toward Him. It is equivalent to what is theologically called “spiritual death.” This conception of “loss” enters also into the description of the eschatological fate of the sinner as assigned in the judgment ( Luke 9:24; 17:33), which is a loss of life. The other meaning of “ruin” and “destruction” describes the same thing from a different point of view. Apoleia being the opposite of soteria , and soteria in its technical usage denoting the reclaiming from death unto life, apoleia also acquires the specific sense of such ruin and destruction as involves an eternal loss of life ( Philippians 1:28; Hebrews 10:39).
Perdition in this latter sense is equivalent to what theology calls “eternal death.” When in Revelation 17:8,11 it is predicated of “the beast,” one of the forms of the world-power, this must be understood on the basis of the Old Testament prophetic representation according to which the coming judgment deals with powers rather than persons.
The Son of Perdition is a name given to Judas ( John 17:12) and to the Antichrist ( 2 Thessalonians 2:3). This is the well-known Hebrew idiom by which a person typically embodying a certain trait or character or destiny is called the son of that thing. The name therefore represents Judas and the Antichrist (see MAN OF SIN) as most irrecoverably and completely devoted to the final apoleia . Geerhardus Vos PERES <pe’-rez > . See MENE.
PERESH <pe’-resh > ([ vr,P, , peresh ], “dung”): Son of Machir, grandson of Manasseh through his Aramitish concubine ( 1 Chronicles 7:14,16).
PEREZ; PHAREZ <pe’-rez > , <fa’-rez > ([ 6r,P, , perets ], “breach”): One of the twins born to Judah by Tamar, Zerah’s brother ( Genesis 38:29,30). In the King James Version Matthew 1:3 and Luke 3:33, he is called “Phares,” the name in 1 Esdras 5:5. He is “Pharez” in the King James Version Genesis 46:12; Numbers 26:20,21; Ruth 4:12,18; 1 Chronicles 2:4,5; 4:1; 9:4. In the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) 1 Chronicles 27:3; Neb 11:4,6, he is “Perez.” He is important through the fact that by way of Ruth and Boaz and so through Jesse and David his genealogy comes upward to the Saviour. The patronymic “Pharzite” occurs in Numbers 26:20 the King James Version.
Perezites ( Numbers 16:20, the King James Version “Pharzites”). The patronymic of the name Perez. Henry Wallace PEREZ-UZZA <pe-rez-uz’-za > . See UZZA.
PERFECT; PERFECTION <pur’-fekt > , <per-fek’-shun > ([ µLeviticus; , shalem ], [ µymiT; , tamim ]; [te>leiov, teleios ], [teleio>thv, teleiotes ]): 1. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: “Perfect” in the Old Testament is the translation of shalem , “finished,” “whole,” “complete,” used (except in Deuteronomy 25:15, “perfect weight”) of persons, e.g. a “perfect heart,” i.e. wholly or completely devoted to Yahweh ( 1 Kings 8:61, etc.; 1 Chronicles 12:38; Isaiah 38:3, etc.); tamim , “complete,” “perfect,” “sound or unblemished,” is also used of persons and of God, His way, and law (“Noah was a just man and perfect,” the Revised Version margin “blameless” ( Genesis 6:9); “As for God, his way is perfect” ( Psalm 18:30); “The law of Yahweh is perfect” ( Psalm 19:7), etc.); tam, with the same, meaning, occurs only in Job, except twice in Psalms ( Job 1:1,8; 2:3, etc.; Psalm 37:37; 64:4); kalil, “complete,” and various other words are translated “perfect.”
Perfection is the translation of various words so translated once only: kalil ( Lamentations 2:15); mikhlal , “completeness” ( Psalm 50:2); minleh , “possession” ( Job 15:29, the King James Version “neither shall the prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth,” the American Standard Revised Version “neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth,” margin “their produce bend to the earth”; the English Revised Version reverses this text and margin); tikhlah , “completeness,” or “perfection ( <19B996> Psalm 119:96); takhlith (twice), “end,” “completeness” ( Job 11:7, “Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” 28:3, “searcheth out all the Revised Version (British and American) the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) “to the furthest bound”; compare Job 26:10, “unto the confines of light and darkness”); tom , “perfect,” “completeness” ( Isaiah 47:9, the King James Version “They shall come upon thee in their perfection,” the Revised Version (British and American) “in their full measure”). the Revised Version margin gives the meaning of “the Urim and the Thummim ” ( Exodus 28:30. etc.) as “the Lights and the Perfections.” 2. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
In the New Testament “perfect” is usually the tr of teleios, primarily, “having reached the end,” “term,” “limit,” hence, “complete,” “full,” “perfect” ( Matthew 5:48, “Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”; Matthew 19:21, “if thou wouldst be perfect; Ephesians 4:13, the King James Version “till we all come .... unto a perfect man,” the Revised Version (British and American) “fullgrown”; Philippians 3:15, “as many as are perfect,” the American Revised Version margin “full-grown”; 1 Corinthians 2:6; Colossians 1:28, “perfect in Christ”; 4:12; James 3:2 margin, etc.).
Other words are teleioo . “to perfect,” “to end,” “complete” ( Luke 13:32, “The third day I am perfected,” the Revised Version margin “end my course”; John 17:23, “perfected into one”; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 3:12, the Revised Version (British and American) “made perfect”; Hebrews 2:10, etc.); also epiteleo , “to bring through to an end” ( 2 Corinthians 7:1, “perfecting holiness in the fear of God”; Galatians 3:3, “Are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) “perfected in the flesh,” margin “Do ye now make an end in the flesh?”); katartizo “to make quite ready,” “to make complete,” is translated “perfect,” “to perfect” ( Matthew 21:16, “perfected praise”; Luke 6:40, “Every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher”; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Corinthians 13:11, “be perfected”; 1 Thessalonians 3:10; 1 Peter 5:10, the Revised Version margin “restore”); akribos , “accurately,” “diligently,” is translated “perfect” ( Luke 1:3, “having had perfect understanding,” the Revised Version (British and American) “having traced .... accurately”; Acts 18:26 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) “more accurately”). We have also artios , “fitted,” “perfected” ( 2 Timothy 3:7, the Revised Version (British and American) “complete”); pleroo , “to fill,” “to make full” ( Revelation 3:2, the American Standard Revised Version “perfected,” the English Revised Version “fulfilled”); katartismos , “complete adjustment,” “perfecting” ( Ephesians 4:12, “for the perfecting of the saints”).
Perfection is the translation of katartisis “thorough adjustment,” “fitness” ( 2 Corinthians 13:9, the Revised Version (British and American) “perfecting”); of teleiosis ( Hebrews 7:11); of teleiotess ( Hebrews 6:1, the Revised Version margin “full growth”); it is translated “perfectness” ( Colossians 3:14); “perfection” in Luke 8:14 is the translation of telesphoreo , “to bear on to completion or perfection.” In Apocrypha “perfect,” “perfection,” etc., are for the most part the translation of words from telos , “the end,” e.g. The Wisdom of Solomon 4:13; Ecclesiasticus 34:8; 44:17; 45:8, suntelia “full end”; 24:28; 50:11.
The Revised Version (British and American) has “perfect” for “upright” ( 2 Samuel 22:24,26 twice); for “sound” ( <19B980> Psalm 119:80); for “perform” ( Philippians 1:16); for “undefiled” ( <19B901> Psalm 119:1, margin “upright in way”); for “perfect peace, and at such a time” ( Ezra 7:12), “perfect and so forth”; for “He maketh my way perfect” ( 2 Samuel 22:33), “He guideth the perfect in his way,” margin “or, `setteth free.’
According to another reading, `guideth my way in perfectness’”; “shall himself perfect,” margin “restore,” for, “make you perfect” ( 1 Peter 5:10); “perfecter” for “finisher” ( Hebrews 12:2); “perfectly” is omitted in the Revised Version (British and American) ( Matthew 14:36); “set your hope perfectly on” for the King James Version “hope to the end for” ( 1 Peter 1:13). 3. THE CHRISTIAN IDEAL:
Perfection is the Christian ideal and aim, but inasmuch as that which God has set before us is infinite — “Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” ( Matthew 5:48) — absolute perfection must be forever beyond, not only any human, but any finite, being; it is a divine ideal forever shining before us, calling us upward, and making endless progression possible. As noted above, the perfect man, in the Old Testament phrase, was the man whose heart was truly or wholly devoted to God. Christian perfection must also have its seat in such a heart, but it implies the whole conduct and the whole man, conformed thereto as knowledge grows and opportunity arises, or might be found. There may be, of course, a relative perfection, e.g. of the child as a child compared with that of the man. The Christian ought to be continually moving onward toward perfection, looking to Him who is able to “make you perfect in every good thing (or work) to do his will, working in us that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen ( Hebrews 13:21). W. L. Walker PERFORM <per-form’ > (Fr. parfournir, “to furnish completely,” “to complete” “finish entirely”): In modern English, through a mistaken connection with “form,” “perform” usually suggests an act in its continuity, while the word properly should emphasize only the completion of the act. the King James Version seems to have used the word in order to convey the proper sense (compare Romans 15:28; 2 Corinthians 8:11; Philippians 1:6, where the Revised Version (British and American) has respectively “accomplish,” “complete,” “perfect”), but usually with so little justification in the Hebrew or Greek that “do” would have represented the original even better. the Revised Version (British and American) has rarely changed the word in the Old Testament, and such changes as have been made ( Deuteronomy 23:23; Est 1:15, etc.) seem based on no particular principle. In the New Testament the word has been kept only in Matthew 5:33 and Romans 4:21, but in neither verse does the Greek accent the completion of the act, in the former case apodidomi , literally, “to give back,” in the latter poieo , “to make,” “to do,” being used.
Performance is found in the King James Version Sirach 19:20 (the Revised Version (British and American) “doing”); 2 Macc 11:17 (inserted needlessly and omitted by the Revised Version (British and American)); Luke 1:45 (the Revised Version (British and American) “fulfilment”); 2 Corinthians 8:11 (the Revised Version (British and American) “completion”). Burton Scott Easton PERFUME; PERFUMER <pur’-ium > , <per-fum’ > ([ tr,foq] , qeToreth ] [ rf”q; , qaTar ] literally, “incense”): The ancients were fond of sweet perfumes of all kinds ( Proverbs 27:9), and that characteristic is still especially true of the people of Bible lands. Perfumed oils were rubbed on the body and feet. At a feast in ancient Egypt a guest was anointed with scented oils, and a sweet-smelling water lily was placed in his hand or suspended on his forehead. In their religious worship the Egyptians were lavish with their incense. Small pellets of dried mixed spices and resins or resinous woods were burned in special censers. In the preparation of bodies for burial, perfumed oils and spices were used. Many Biblical references indicate the widespread use of perfumes. Song of Solomon 7:8 suggests that the breath was purposely scented; clothing as well as the body was perfumed ( Psalm 45:8; Song of Solomon 3:6; 4:11); couches and beds were sprinkled with savory scents ( Proverbs 7:17); ointments were used in the last rites in honor of the dead ( 2 Chronicles 16:14; Luke 24:1; John 19:39). The writer has in his collection a lump of prepared spices and resins taken from a tomb dating from the lst or 2nd century AD, which was apparently fused and run into the thoracic cavity, since an impression of the ribs has been made on the perfume. Its odor is similar to that of the incense used today, and it perfumes the whole case where it is kept. The above collection also contains a small glass vial in which is a bronze spoon firmly held in some solidified ointment, probably formerly perfumed oil.
Perfumes were commonly kept in sealed alabaster jars or cruses ( Luke 7:38). Thousands of these cruses have been unearthed in Palestine and Syria.
Perfumes were mixed by persons skilled in the article In the King James Version these are called “apothecaries” ([ jQ;r” , raqqach ]). The Revised Version (British and American) “perfumer” is probably a more correct rendering, as the one who did the compounding was not an apothecary in the same sense as is the person now so designated ( Exodus 30:25,35; 37:29; Ecclesiastes 10:1).
Today incense is used in connection with all religious services of the oriental Christian churches. Although there is no direct mention of the uses of incense in the New Testament, such allusions as Paul’s “a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell” ( Ephesians 5:2; Philippians 4:18) would seem to indicate that it was used by the early Christians.
The delight of the people of Syria in pleasant odors is recorded in their literature. The attar of roses (from Arabic `iTr, “a sweet odor”) was a wellknown product of Damascus. The guest in a modern Syrian home is not literally anointed with oil, but he is often given, soon after he enters, a bunch of aromatic herbs or a sweet-smelling flower to hold and smell.
During a considerable portion of the year the country air is laden with the odor of aromatic herbs, such as mint and sage. The Arabic phrase for taking a walk is shemm el-hawa’, literally, “smell the air.” See INCENSE; OIL; OINTMENT.
James A. Patch PERFUME-MAKING See CRAFTS, II, 14.
PERGA <pur’-ga > ([ Pe>rgh, Perge ]): 1. LOCATION AND HISTORY:
An important city of the ancient province of Pamphylia, situated on the river Cestris, 12 miles Northeast of Attalia. According to Acts 13:13, Paul, Barnabas and John Mark visited the place on their first missionary journey, and 2 years later, according to Acts 14:24,25, they may have preached there. Though the water of the river Cestris has now been diverted to the fields for irrigating purposes, in ancient times the stream was navigable, and small boats from the sea might reach the city. It is uncertain how ancient Perga is; its walls, still standing, seem to come from the Seleucidan period or from the 3rd century BC. It remained in the possession of the Seleucid kings until 189 BC, when Roman influence became strong in Asia Minor. A long series of coins, beginning in the 2nd century BC, continued until 286 AD, and upon them Perga is mentioned as a metropolis. Though the city was never a stronghold of Christianity, it was the bishopric of Western Pamphylia, and several of the early Christians were martyred there. During the 8th century under Byzantine rule the city declined; in 1084 Attalia became the metropolis, and Perga rapidly fell to decay. While Attalia was the chief Greek and Christian city of Pamphylia, Perga was the seat of the local Asiatic goddess, who corresponded to Artemis or Diana of the Ephesians, and was locally known as Leto, or the queen of Perga. She is frequently represented on the coins as a huntress, with a bow in her hand, and with sphinxes or stags at her side. 2. THE RUINS:
The ruins of Perga are now called Murtana. The walls, which are flanked with towers, show the city to have been quadrangular in shape. Very broad streets, running through the town, and intersecting each other, divided the city into quarters. The sides of the streets were covered with porticos, and along their centers were water channels in which a stream was always flowing. They were covered at short intervals by bridges. Upon the higher ground was the acropolis, where the earliest city was built, but in later times the city extended to the South of the hill, where one may see the greater part of the ruins. On the acropolis is the platform of a large structure with fragments of several granite columns, probably representing the temple of the goddess Leto; others regard it as the ruin of an early church. At the base of the acropolis are the ruins of an immense theater which seated 13,000 people, the agora, the baths and the stadium. Without the walls many tombs are to be seen. E. J. Banks PERGAMOS; PERGAMUM <pur’-ga-mos > , or <pur’-ga-mum > ([hJ Pe>rgamov, he Pergamos ], or [to< Pe>rgamon, to Pergamon ]): 1. HISTORY:
Pergamos, to which the ancient writers also gave the neuter form of the name, was a city of Mysia of the ancient Roman province of Asia, in the Caicus valley,3 miles from the river, and about 15 miles from the sea. The Caicus was navigable for small native craft. Two of the tributaries of the Caicus were the Selinus and the Kteios. The former of these rivers flowed through the city; the latter ran along its walls. On the hill between these two streams the first city stood, and there also stood the acropolis, the chief temples, and theaters of the later city. The early people of the town were descendants of Greek colonists, and as early as 420 BC they struck coins of their own. Lysimachus, who possessed the town, deposited there 9,000 talents of gold. Upon his death, Philetaerus (283-263 BC) used this wealth to found the independent Greek dynasty of the Attalid kings. The first of this dynasty to bear the title of king was Attalus I (241-197 BC), a nephew of Philetaerus, and not only did he adorn the city with beautiful buildings until it became the most wonderful city of the East, but he added to his kingdom the countries of Mysia, Lydia, Caria, Pamphylia and Phrygia. Eumenes II (197-159 BC) was the most illustrious king of the dynasty, and during his reign the city reached its greatest height. Art and literature were encouraged, and in the city was a library of 200,000 volumes which later Antony gave to Cleopatra. The books were of parchment which was here first used; hence, the word “parchment,” which is derived from the name of the town Pergamos. Of the structures which adorned the city, the most renowned was the altar of Zeus, which was ft. in height, and also one of the wonders of the ancient world. When in 133 BC Attalus III, the last king of the dynasty, died, he gave his kingdom to the Roman government. His son, Aristonicus, however, attempted to seize it for himself, but in 129 he was defeated, and the Roman province of Asia was formed, and Pergamos was made its capital. The term Asia, as here employed, should not be confused with the continent of Asia, nor with Asia Minor. It applied simply to that part of Asia Minor which was then in the possession of the Romans, and formed into the province of which Pergamos was the capital. Upon the establishment of the province of Asia there began a new series of coins struck at Pergamos, which continued into the 3rd century AD. The magnificence of the city continued. 2. RELIGIONS:
There were beautiful temples to the four great gods Zeus, Dionysus, Athena and Asklepios. To the temple of the latter, invalids from all parts of Asia flocked, and there, while they were sleeping in the court, the god revealed to the priests and physicians by means of dreams the remedies which were necessary to heal their maladies. Thus opportunities of deception were numerous. There was a school of medicine in connection with the temple. Pergamos was chiefly a religious center of the province. A title which it bore was “Thrice Neokoros,” meaning that in the city temples had been built to the Roman emperors, in which the emperors were worshipped as gods. Smyrna, a rival city, was a commercial center, and as it increased in wealth, it gradually became the political center. Later, when it became the capital, Pergamos remained the religious center. As in many of the towns of Asia Minor, there were at Pergamos many Jews, and in 130 BC the people of the city passed a decree in their favor. Many of the Jews were more or less assimilated with the Greeks, even to the extent of bearing Greek names. 3. CHRISTIANITY:
Christianity reached Pergamos early, for there one of the Seven Churches of the Book of Revelation stood, and there, according to Revelation 2:13, Antipas was marryred; he was the first Christian to be put to death by the Roman state. The same passage speaks of Pergamos as the place “where Satan’s throne is,” probably referring to the temples in which the Roman emperors were worshipped. During the Byzantine times Pergamos still continued as a religious center, for there a bishop lived. However, the town fell into the hands of the Seljuks in 1304, and in 1336 it was taken by Suleiman, the son of Orkhan, and became Turkish.
The modern name of the town, which is of considerable size, possessing mosques, is Bergama, the Turkish corruption of the ancient name. One of its mosques is the early Byzantine church of Sophia. The modern town is built among the ruins of the ancient city, but is far less in extent. From 1879 to 1886 excavations among the ruins were conducted by Herr Humann at the expense of the German government. Among them are still to be seen the base of the altar of Zeus, the friezes of which are now in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin; theater, the agora, the gymnasium and several temples. In ancient times the city was noted for its ointments, pottery and parchment; at present the chief articles of trade are cotton, wool, opium, valonia, and leather. E. J. Banks PERIDA <pe-ri’-da > ([ ad;yrP] , peridha’ ] “recluse”): A family of “Solomon’s servants” ( Nehemiah 7:57). In Ezra 2:55, a difference in the Hebrew spelling gives “Peruda” for the same person, who is also the “Pharida” of Esdras 5:33.
PERIZZITE <per’-i-zit > , <pe-riz’-it > ([ yZriP] , perizzi ]; [ Ferezai~ov, Pherezaios ]):
Signifies “a villager,” and so corresponds with the Egyptian fellah. Hence, the Perizzite is not included among the sons of Canaan in Genesis 10, and is also coupled with the Canaanite ( Genesis 13:7; 34:30; Judges 1:4). We hear, accordingly, of Canaanites and Perizzites at Shechem ( Genesis 34:30), at Bezek in Judah ( Judges 1:4) and, according to the reading of the Septuagint, at Gezer ( Joshua 16:10). In Deuteronomy 3:5 and 1 Samuel 6:18, where the King James Version has “unwalled towns” and “country villages,” the Septuagint has “Perizzite,” the literal translation of the Hebrew being “cities of the Perizzite” or “villager” and “village of the Perizzite.” The same expression occurs in Est 9:19, where it is used of the Jews in Elam. In Joshua 17:15,18, where the Manassites are instructed to take possession of the forest land of Carmel, “Perizzites and Rephaim” are given as the equivalent of “Canaanite.” A. H. Sayce PERJURY <pur’-ju-ri > . See CRIMES; OATH; PUNISHMENTS.
PERPETUAL; PERPETUALLY; PERPETUITY <per-pet’-u-al > , <per-pet’-u-al-i > , <pur-pe-tu’-i-ti > ([ µl;wO[ , `olam ], [ jx”n, , netsach ], [ dymT; , tamidh ]):
Perpetual is usually the translation of `olam , properly, “a wrapping up” or “hiding,” used often of time indefinitely long, and of eternity when applied to God; hence, we have, “for perpetual generations” ( Genesis 9:12); “the priesthood by a perpetual statute” ( Exodus 29:9; compare 31:16; Leviticus 3:17; 24:9, etc.); “placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it” ( Jeremiah 5:22, the Revised Version margin “an everlasting ordinance which it cannot pass”); “sleep a perpetual sleep” ( Jeremiah 51:39,57); “Moab shall be .... a perpetual desolation” ( Zephaniah 2:9), etc.; netsach , “preeminence,” “perpetuity,” “eternity” (often translated “for ever,” Psalm 9:6), is translated “perpetual” ( Psalm 74:3; Jeremiah 15:18); natsach (participle) ( Jeremiah 8:5); tamidh , “continuance,” generally rendered “continually,” but sometimes “perpetual” or “perpetually” ( Exodus 30:8; Leviticus 6:20). “Perpetually” is the rendering of `adh , properly “progress,” “duration,” hence, long or indefinite time, eternity (usually in the King James Version rendered “for ever “), in Amos 1:11, “His anger did tear perpetually”; and of kol ha-yamim, “all the days” ( 1 Kings 9:3; 2 Chronicles 7:16, “my heart shall be there perpetually”; compare Matthew 28:20, pasas tas hemeras , literally, “all the days”).
Perpetuity occurs in the Revised Version (British and American) of Leviticus 25:23,30, “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity,” “The house .... shall be made sure in perpetuity.”
Perpetual is frequent in the Apocrypha, most often as the translation of aionios and kindred words, e.g. Judith 13:20, “a perpetual praise”; The Wisdom of Solomon 10:14, “perpetual glory,” the Revised Version (British and American) “eternal”; Ecclesiasticus 11:33, “a perpetual blot,” the Revised Version (British and American) “blame for ever”; 1 Macc 6:44, “a perpetual name,” the Revised Version (British and American) “everlasting”; aenaos , “ever-flowing,” occurs in The Wisdom of Solomon 11:6 (so the Revised Version); endeleches , “constant” (Ecclesiasticus 41:6, “perpetual reproach”).
For “perpetual” ( Jeremiah 50:5; Habakkuk 3:6) the Revised Version has “everlasting”; for “the old hatred” ( Ezekiel 25:15), “perpetual enmity”; for “perpetual desolation” ( Jeremiah 25:12) “desolate forever,” margin “Hebrew `everlasting desolations.’” W. L. Walker PERSECUTION <pur-se-ku’-shun > (diwgmo>v, diogmos ] ( Matthew 13:21; Mark 4:17; 10:30; Acts 8:1; 13:50; Romans 8:35; 2 Corinthians 12:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Timothy 3:11)):
The importance of this subject may be indicated by the fact of the frequency of its occurrence, both in the Old Testament and New Testament, where in the King James Version the words “persecute,” “persecuted,” “persecuting” are found no fewer than 53 times, “persecution” 14 times, and “persecutor” 9 times. 1. PERSECUTION IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES:
It must not be thought that persecution existed only in New Testament times. In the days of the Old Testament it existed too. In what Jesus said to the Pharisees, He specially referred to the innocent blood which had been shed in those times, and told them that they were showing themselves heirs — to use a legal phrase — to their fathers who had persecuted the righteous, “from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah” ( Matthew 23:35). 2. BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS:
In the period between the close of the Old Testament and the coming of Christ, there was much and protracted suffering endured by the Jews, because of their refusal to embrace idolatry, and of their fidelity to the Mosaic Law and the worship of God. During that time there were many patriots who were true martyrs, and those heroes of faith, the Maccabees, were among those who “know their God .... and do exploits” ( Daniel 11:32). `We have no need of human help,’ said Jonathan the Jewish high priest, `having for our comfort the sacred Scriptures which are in our hands’ (1 Macc 12:9).
In the Epistle to the Hebrews, persecution in the days of the Old Testament is summed up in these words: “Others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword: they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, illtreated (of whom the world was not worthy)” ( Hebrews 11:36-38). 3. FORETOLD BY CHRIST:
Coming now to New Testament times, persecution was frequently foretold by Christ, as certain to come to those who were His true disciples and followers. He forewarned them again and again that it was inevitable. He said that He Himself must suffer it ( Matthew 16:21; 17:22,23; Mark 8:31). 4. A TEST OF DISCIPLESHIP:
It would be a test of true discipleship. In the parable of the Sower, He mentions this as one of the causes of defection among those who are Christians in outward appearance only. When affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately the stony-ground hearers are offended ( Mark 4:17). 5. A MEANS OF BLESSING:
It would be a sure means of gaining a blessing, whenever it came to His loyal followers when they were in the way of well-doing; and He thus speaks of it in two of the Beatitudes, “Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”; “Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you .... for my sake” ( Matthew 5:10,11; see also 5:12). 6. VARIOUS FORMS:
It would take different forms, ranging through every possible variety, from false accusation to the infliction of death, beyond which, He pointed out ( Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:4), persecutors are unable to go. The methods of persecution which were employed by the Jews, and also by the heathen against the followers of Christ, were such as these: (1) Men would revile them and would say all manner of evil against them falsely, for Christ’s sake ( Matthew 5:11). (2) Contempt and disparagement: “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon?” ( John 8:48); “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household!” ( Matthew 10:25). (3) Being, solely on account of their loyalty to Christ, forcibly separated from the company and the society of others, and expelled from the synagogues or other assemblies for the worship of God: “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake” ( Luke 6:22); “They shall put you out of the synagogues” ( John 16:2). (4) Illegal arrest and spoliation of goods, and death itself.
All these various methods, used by the persecutor, were foretold, and all came to pass. It was the fear of apprehension and death that led the eleven disciples to forsake Jesus in Gethsemane and to flee for their lives. Jesus often forewarned them of the severity of the persecution which they would need to encounter if they were loyal to Him: “The hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God” ( John 16:2); “I send unto you prophets .... some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city” ( Matthew 23:34). 7. IN THE CASE OF JESUS:
In the case of Christ Himself, persecution took the form of attempts to entrap Him in His speech ( Matthew 22:15); the questioning of His authority ( Mark 11:28); illegal arrest; the heaping of every insult upon Him as a prisoner; false accusation; and a violent and most cruel death. 8. INSTIGATED BY THE JEWS:
After our Lord’s resurrection the first attacks against His disciples came from the high priest and his party. The high-priesthood was then in the hands of the Sadducees, and one reason which moved them to take action of this kind was their `sore trouble,’ because the apostles “proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” ( Acts 4:2; 5:17). The gospel based upon the resurrection of Christ was evidence of the untruth of the chief doctrines held by the Sadducees, for they held that there is no resurrection. But instead of yielding to the evidence of the fact that the resurrection had taken place, they opposed and denied it, and persecuted His disciples. For a time the Pharisees were more moderate in their attitude toward the Christian faith, as is shown in the case of Gamaliel ( Acts 5:34); and on one occasion they were willing even to defend the apostle Paul ( Acts 23:9) on the doctrine of the resurrection. But gradually the whole of the Jewish people became bitter persecutors of the Christians.
Thus, in the earliest of the Pauline Epistles, it is said, “Ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they (in Judea) did of the Jews; who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and please not God, and are contrary to all men” ( 1 Thessalonians 2:14,15). 9. STEPHEN:
Serious persecution of the Christian church began with the case of Stephen ( Acts 7:1-60); and his lawless execution was followed by “a great persecution” directed against the Christians in Jerusalem. This “great persecution” ( Acts 8:1) scattered the members of the church, who fled in order to avoid bonds and imprisonment and death. At this time Saul signalized himself by his great activity, persecuting “this Way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women” ( Acts 22:4). 10. THE APOSTLES, JAMES AND PETER:
By and by one of the apostles was put to death — the first to suffer of “the glorious company of the apostles” — James the brother of John, who was slain with the sword by Herod Agrippa ( Acts 12:2). Peter also was imprisoned, and was delivered only by an angel ( Acts 12:7-11). 11. GENTILE PERSECUTION:
During the period covered by the Acts there was not much purely Gentilepersecution: at that time the persecution suffered by the Christian church was chiefly Jewish. There were, however, great dangers and risks encountered by the apostles and by all who proclaimed the gospel then.
Thus, at Philippi, Paul and Silas were most cruelly persecuted ( Acts 16:19-40); and, even before that time, Paul and Barnabas had suffered much at Iconium and at Lystra ( Acts 14:5,19). On the whole the Roman authorities were not actively hostile during the greater part of Paul’s lifetime. Gallio, for instance, the deputy of Achaia, declined to go into the charge brought by the Jews at Corinth against Paul ( Acts 18:14,15,16). And when Paul had pleaded in his own defense before King Herod Agrippa and the Roman governor Festus, these two judges were agreed in the opinion, “This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds” ( Acts 26:31). Indeed it is evident (see Ramsay, Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen, 308) that the purpose of Paul’s trial being recorded at length in the Acts is to establish the fact that the preaching of the gospel was not forbidden by the laws of the Roman empire, but that Christianity was a religio licita, a lawful religion. Christianity at First Not a Forbidden Religion.
This legality of the Christian faith was illustrated and enforced by the fact that when Paul’s case was heard and decided by the supreme court of appeal at Rome, he was set free and resumed his missionary labors, as these are recorded or referred to in the Pastoral Epistles “One thing, however, is clear from a comparison of Philippians with 2 Timothy. There had been in the interval a complete change in the policy toward Christianity of the Roman government. This change was due to the great fire of Rome (July, 64). As part of the persecution which then broke out, orders were given for the imprisonment of the Christian leaders. Poppea, Tigellinus and their Jewish friends were not likely to forget the prisoner of two years before. At the time Paul was away from Rome, but steps were instantly taken for his arrest. The apostle was brought back to the city in the autumn or winter of 64. .... That he had a trial at all, instead of the summary punishment of his brethren. witnesses to the importance attached by the government to a show of legality in the persecution of the leader” (Workman, Persecution in the Early Church,38). See PASTORAL EPISTLES; PAUL THE APOSTLE. 12. THE NERONIC PERSECUTION:
The legal decisions which were favorable to the Christian faith were soon overturned on the occasion of the great fire in Rome, which occurred in July, 64. The public feeling of resentment broke out against the emperor to such a degree that, to avoid the stigma, just or unjust, of being himself guilty of setting the city on fire, he made the Christians the scapegoats which he thought he needed. Tacitus (Annals xv.44) relates all that occurred at that time, and what he says is most interesting, as being one of the very earliest notices found in any profane author, both of the Christian faith, and of Christ Himself. (1) Testimony of Tacitus.
What Tacitus says is that nothing that Nero could do, either in the way of gifts to the populace or in that of sacrifice the Roman deities, could make the people believe that he was innocent of causing the great fire which had consumed their dwellings. Hence, to relieve himself of this infamy he falsely accused the Christians of being guilty of the crime of setting the city on fire. Tacitus uses the strange expression “the persons commonly called Christians who were hated for their enormities.” This is an instance of the saying of all manner of evil against them falsely, for Christ’s sake. The Christians, whose lives were pure and virtuous and beneficent, were spoken of as being the offscouring of the earth. (2) Reference in 1 Peter.
The First Epistle of Peter is one of the parts of the New Testament which seem to make direct reference to the Neronic persecution, and he uses words ( 1 Peter 4:12 ff) which may be compared with the narrative of Tacitus: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you: but insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice. .... If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you. For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil-doer, or as a meddler in other men’s matters: but if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name. For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God. .... Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator.” (3) Tacitus’ Narrative.
How altogether apposite and suitable was this comforting exhortation to the case of those who suffered in the Neronic persecution. The description which Tacitus gives is as follows: “Christus, the founder of that name, was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator in the reign of Tiberius. But the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time, broke out again not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, whither all things horrible and disgraceful flow from all quarters as to a common sink, and where they are encouraged.
Accordingly, first, those were seized who confessed they were Christians; next, on their information, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much on the charge of setting the city on fire, as of hating the human race. And in their deaths they were made the subject of sport, for they were covered with the skins of wild beasts and were worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when day declined were burned to serve for nocturnal lights. Nero offered his own gardens for that spectacle, and exhibited circus games, indiscriminately mingling with the common people dressed as a charioteer, or else standing in his chariot. Whence a feeling of compassion arose toward the sufferers, though guilty and deserving to be made examples of by capital punishment, because they seemed not to be cut off for the public good, but to be victims to the ferocity of one man.” See NERO. (4) New Testament References.
Three of the books of the New Testament bear the marks of that most cruel persecution under Nero, the Second Epistle to Timothy, the First Epistle of Peter — already referred to — and the Revelation of John. In Timothy, Paul speaks of his impending condemnation to death, and the terror inspired by the persecution causes “all” to forsake him when he is brought to public trial ( 2 Timothy 4:16).
The “fiery trial” is spoken of in 1 Peter, and Christians are exhorted to maintain their faith with patience; they are pleaded with to have their “conversation honest” ( 1 Peter 2:12 the King James Version), so that all accusations directed against them may be seen to be untrue, and their sufferings shall then be, not for ill-doing, but only for the name of Christ ( 1 Peter 3:14,16). “This important epistle proves a general persecution ( 1 Peter 1:6; 4:12,16) in Asia Minor North of the Taurus ( 1 Peter 1:1; note especially Bithynia) and elsewhere ( 1 Peter 5:9). The Christians suffer `for the name,’ but not the name alone ( 1 Peter 4:14).
They are the objects of vile slanders ( 1 Peter 2:12,15; 3:14-16; 4:4,15), as well as of considerable zeal on the part of officials ( 1 Peter 5:8 (Greek 3:15)). As regards the slanders, the Christians should be crcumspect ( 1 Peter 2:15,16; 3:16,17; 4:15). The persecution will be short, for the end of all things is at hand ( 1 Peter 4:7,13; 5:4)” (Workman, Persecution in the Early Church, 354). 13. PERSECUTION IN ASIA:
In Revelation the apostle John is in “Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” ( Revelation 1:9). Persecution has broken out among the Christians in the province of Asia. At Smyrna, there is suffering, imprisonment and prolonged tribulation; but the sufferers are cheered when they are told that if they are faithful unto death, Christ will give them the crown of life ( Revelation 2:10). At Pergamum, persecution has already resulted in Antipas, Christ’s faithful martyr, being slain ( Revelation 2:13). At Ephesus and at Thyatira the Christians are commended for their patience, evidently indicating that there had been persecution ( Revelation 2:2,19). At Philadelphia there has been the attempt made to cause the members of the church to deny Christ’s name ( Revelation 3:8); their patience is also commended, and the hour of temptation is spoken of, which comes to try all the world, but from which Christ promised to keep the faithful Christians in Philadelphia. Strangely enough, there is no distinct mention of persecution having taken place in Sardis or in Laodicea. 14. ROME AS PERSECUTOR:
As the book proceeds, evidences of persecution are multiplied. In Revelation 6:9, the apostle sees under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held; and those souls are bidden to rest yet for a little season “until their fellowservants also and their brethren, who should be killed even as they were, should have fulfilled their course” ( Revelation 6:11). The meaning is that there is not yet to be an end of suffering for Christ’s sake; persecution may continue to be as severe as ever. Compare Revelation 20:4 “I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast,” for the persecution had raged against all classes indiscriminately, and Roman citizens who were true to Christ had suffered unto death. It is to these that reference is made in the words “had been beheaded,” decapitation being reserved as the most honorable form of execution, for Roman citizens only.
So terrible does the persecution of Christians by the imperial authorities become, that Rome is “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” ( Revelation 17:6; 16:6; see also 18:24; 19:2).
Paul’s martyrdom is implied in 2 Timothy, throughout the whole epistle, and especially in 4:6,7,8. The martyrdom of Peter is also implied in John 21:18,19, and in 2 Peter 1:14. The abiding. impression made by these times of persecution upon the mind of the apostle John is also seen in the defiance of the world found throughout his First Epistle ( 1 John 2:17; 5:19), and in the rejoicing over the fall of Babylon, the great persecuting power, as that fall is described in such passages as Revelation 14:8; 15:2,3; 17:14; 18:24.
Following immediately upon the close of the New Testament, there is another remarkable witness to the continuance of the Roman persecution against the Christian church. This is Pliny, proconsul of Bithynia. 15. TESTIMONY OF PLINY, 112 AD:
In 111 or 112 AD, he writes to the emperor Trajan a letter in which he describes the growth of the Christian faith. He goes on to say that “many of all ages and of all ranks and even of both sexes are being called into danger, and will continue to be so. In fact the contagion of this superstition is not confined to the cities only, but has spread to the villages and country districts.” He proceeds to narrate how the heathen temples had been deserted and the religious rites had been abandoned for so long a time: even the sacrificial food — that is, the flesh of the sacrificial victims — could scarcely find a purchaser.
But Pliny had endeavored to stem the tide of the advancing Christian faith, and he tells the emperor how he had succeeded in bringing back to the heathen worship many professing Christians. That is to say, he had used persecuting measures, and had succeeded in forcing some of the Christians to abandon their faith. He tells the methods he had used. “The method I have observed toward those who have been brought before me as Christians is this. I asked them whether they were Christians. If they admitted it, I repeated the question a second and a third time, and threatened them with punishment. If they persisted I ordered them to be punished. For I did not doubt, whatever the nature of that which they confessed might be, that a contumacious and inflexible obstinacy ought to be punished. There were others also, possessed with the same infatuation, whom, because they were Roman citizens, I ordered to be sent to Rome.
But this crime spreading, as is usually the case, while it was actually under legal prosecution, several cases occurred. An anonymous information was laid before me, containing the names of many persons. Those who denied that they were Christians, or that they had ever been so, repeated after me an invocation of the gods, and offered prayer, with wine and incense, to your statue, which I had ordered to be brought in for this very purpose, along with the statues of the gods, and they even reviled the name of Christ; whereas there is no forcing, it is said, those who are really Christians into any of these compliances: I thought it proper to discharge them. Others who were accused by a witness at first confessed themselves Christians, but afterward denied it. Some owned indeed that they had been Christians formerly, but had now, some for several years, and a few above 20 years ago, renounced it. They all worshipped your statue and the images of the gods. .... I forbade the meeting of any assemblies, and therefore I judged it to be so much the more necessary to endeavor to extort the real truth by putting to the torture two female slaves, who were called deaconesses, yet I found nothing but an absurd and extravagant superstition.”
In Trajan’s reply to Pliny he writes, “They (the Christians) ought not to be searched for. If they are brought before you and convicted, they should be punished, but this should be done in such a way, that he who denies that he is a Christian, and when his statement is proved by his invoking our deities, such a person, although suspected for past conduct, must nevertheless be forgiven, because of his repentance.”
These letters of Pliny and Trajan treat state-persecution as the standing procedure — and this not a generation after the death of the apostle John.
The sufferings and tribulation predicted in Revelation 2:10, and in many other passages, had indeed come to pass. Some of the Christians had denied the name of Christ and had worshipped the images of the emperor and of the idols, but multitudes of them had been faithful unto death, and had received the martyr’s crown of life. 16. 2ND AND 3RD CENTURIES:
Speaking generally, persecution of greater or less severity was the normal method employed by the Roman empire against the Christian church during the 2nd and the 3rd centuries It may be said to have come to an end only about the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 4th century, when the empire became nominally Christian. When the apostolic period is left, persecution becomes almost the normal state in which the church is found.
And persecution, instead of abolishing the name of Christ, as the persecutors vainly imagined they had succeeded in doing, became the means of the growth of the Christian church and of its purity. Both of these important ends, and others too, were secured by the severity of the means employed by the persecuting power of the Roman empire.
Under Trajan’s successor, the emperor Hadrian, the lot of the Christians was full of uncertainty: persecution might break out at any moment. At the best Hadrian’s regime was only that of unauthorized toleration. 17. BEST EMPERORS THE MOST CRUEL PERSECUTORS:
With the exception of such instances as those of Nero and Domitian, there is the surprising fact to notice, that it was not the worst emperors, but the best, who became the most violent persecutors. One reason probably was that the ability of those emperors led them to see that the religion of Christ is really a divisive factor in any kingdom in which civil government and pagan religion are indissolubly bound up together. The more that such a ruler was intent on preserving the unity of the empire, the more would be persecute the Christian faith. Hence, among the rulers who were persecutors, there are the names of Antoninus Pius. Marcus Aurelius the philosopher-emperor, and Septimius Severus (died at York, 211 Ad). 18. CAUSES OF PERSECUTION:
Persecution was no accident, which chanced to happen, but which might not have occurred at all. It was the necessary consequence of the principles embodied in the heathen Roman government, when these came into contact and into conflict with the essential principles of the Christian faith.
The reasons for the persecution of the Christian church by the Roman empire were (1) political; (2) on account of the claim which the Christian faith makes, and which it cannot help making, to the exclusive allegiance of the heart and of the life.
That loyalty to Christ which the martyrs displayed was believed by the authorities in the state to be incompatible with the duties of a Roman citizen. Patriotism demanded that every citizen should united in the worship of the emperor, but Christians refused to take pat in the worship on any terms, and so they continually lived under the shadow of a great hatred, which always slumbered, and might break out at any time. The claim which the Christian faith made to the absolute and exclusive loyalty of all who obeyed Christ was such that it admitted of no compromise with heathenism. To receive Christ into the pantheon as another divinity, as one of several — this was not the Christian faith. To every loyal follower of Christ compromise with other faiths was an impossibility. An accommodated Christianity would itself have been false to the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He had sent, and would never have conquered the world. To the heathen there were lords many and gods many, but to the Christians there was but one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world ( 1 Corinthians 8:5,6). The essential absoluteness of the Christian faith was its strength, but this was also the cause of its being hated. “By a correct instinct paganisms of all sorts discerned in the infant church their only rival. So, while the new Hercules was yet in the cradle, they sent their snakes to kill him. But Hercules lived to cleanse out the Augean stables” (Workman, op. cit., 88). 19. 200 YEARS OF PERSECUTION: “For 200 years, to become a Christian meant the great renunciation, the joining a despised and persecuted sect, the swimming against the tide of popular prejudice, the coming under the ban of the Empire, the possibility at any moment of imprisonment and death under its most fearful forms. For 200 years he that would follow Christ must count the cost, and be prepared to pay the same with his liberty and life. For 200 years the mere profession of Christianity was itself a crime. Christianus sum was almost the one plea for which there was Persecution no forgiveness, in itself all that was necessary as a `title’ on the back of the condemned. He who made it was allowed neither to present apology, nor call in the aid of a pleader. `Public hatred,’ writes Tertullian, `asks but one thing, and that not investigation into the crimes charged, but simply the confession of the Christian name.’
For the name itself in periods of stress, not a few, meant the rack, the blazing shirt of pitch, the lion, the panther, or in the case of maidens an infamy worse than death” (Workman, 103). 20. PERSECUTION IN THE ARMY:
Service in the Roman army involved, for a Christian, increasing danger in the midst of an organized and aggressive heathenism. Hence, arose the persecution of the Christian soldier who refused compliance with the idolatrous ceremonies in which the army engaged, whether those ceremonies were concerned with the worship of the Roman deities or with that of Mithraism. “The invincible saviour,” as Mithra was called, had become, at the time when Tertullian and Origen wrote, the special deity of soldiers. Shrines in honor of Mithra were erected through the entire breadth of the Roman empire, from Dacia and Pannonia to the Cheviot Hills in Britain. And woe to the soldier who refused compliance with the religious sacrifices to which the legions gave their adhesion! The Christians in the Roman legions formed no inconsiderable proportion of “the noble army of martyrs,” it being easier for the persecuting authorities to detect a Christian in the ranks of the army than elsewhere. 21. TERTULLIAN’S APOLOGY:
In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, Christians were to be found everywhere, for Tertullian, in an oftentimes quoted passage in his Apology, writes, “We live beside you in the world, making use of the same forum, market, bath, shop, inn, and all other places of trade. We sail with you, fight shoulder to shoulder, till the soil, and traffic with you”; yet the very existence of Christian faith, and its profession, continued to bring the greatest risks. “With the best will in the world, they remained a peculiar people, who must be prepared at any moment to meet the storm of hatred” (Workman, 189).
For them it remained true that in one way or another, hatred on the part of the world inevitably fell to the lot of those who walked in the footsteps of the Master; “All that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” ( 2 Timothy 3:12). 22. “THE THIRD RACE”:
The strange title, “the third race,” probably invented by the heathen, but willingly accepted by the Christians without demur, showed with what a bitter spirit the heathen regarded the faith of Christ. “The first race” was indifferently called the Roman, Greek, or Gentile. “The second race” was the Jews; while “the third race” was the Christian. The cry in the circus of Carthage was Usque quo genus tertium? “How long must we endure this third race?” 23. HATRED AGAINST CHRISTIANS:
But one of the most powerful causes of the hatred entertained by the heathen against the Christians was, that though there were no citizens so loyal as they, yet in every case in which the laws and customs of the empire came into conflict with the will of God, their supreme rule was loyalty to Christ, they must obey God rather than man. To worship Caesar, to offer even one grain of incense on the shrine of Diana, no Christian would ever consent, not even. when this minimum of compliance would save life itself.
The Roman empire claimed to be a kingdom of universal sway, not only over the bodies and the property of all its subjects, but over their consciences and their souls. It demanded absolute obedience to its supreme lord, that is, to Caesar. This obedience the Christian could not render, for unlimited obedience of body, soul and spirit is due to God alone, the only Lord of the conscience. Hence, it was that there arose the antagonism of the government to Christianity, with persecution as the inevitable result.
These results, hatred and persecution, were, in such circumstances, inevitable; they were “the outcome of the fundamental tenet of primitive Christianity, that the Christian ceased to be his own master, ceased to have his old environment, ceased to hold his old connections with the state; in everything he became the bond-servant of Jesus Christ, in everything owing supreme allegiance and fealty to the new empire and the Crucified Head. `We engage in these conflicts,’ said Tertullian, `as men whose very lives are not our own. We have no master but God’” (Workman, 195). 24. THE DECIAN PERSECUTION:
The persecution inaugurated by the emperor Decius in 250 AD was particularly severe. There was hardly a province in the empire where there were no martyrs; but there were also many who abandoned their faith and rushed to the magistrates to obtain their libelli, or certificates that they had offered heathen sacrifice. When the days of persecution were over, these persons usually came with eagerness to seek readmission to the church. It was in the Decian persecution that the great theologian Origen, who was then in his 68th year, suffered the cruel torture of the rack; and from the effects of what he then suffered he died at Tyre in 254. 25. LIBELLI:
Many libelli have been discovered in recent excavations in Egypt. In the The Expository Times for January, 1909, p. 185, Dr. George Milligan gives an example, and prints the Greek text of one of these recently discovered Egyptian libelli. These libelli are most interesting, illustrating as they do the account which Cyprian gives of the way in which some fainthearted Christians during the Decian persecution obtained certificates — some of these certificates being true to fact, and others false — to the effect that they had sacrificed in the heathen manner. The one which Dr.
Milligan gives is as follows: “To those chosen to superintend the sacrifices at the village of Alexander Island, from Aurelius Diogenes, the son of Sarabus, of the village of Alexander Island, being about 72 years old, a scar on the right eyebrow. Not only have I always continued sacrificing to the gods, but now also in your presence, in accordance with the decrees, I have sacrificed and poured libations and tasted the offerings, and I request you to countersign my statement. May good fortune attend you. I, Aurelius Diogenes, have made this request.” (2nd Hand) “I, Aurelius Syrus, as a participant, have certified Diogenes as sacrificing along with us.” (1st Hand) “The first year of the Emperor Caesar Gaius Messius Quintus Trajan Decius Plus Felix Augustus, Epiph. 2” (= June 25, 250 AD).
Under Valerian the persecution was again very severe, but his successor, Gallienus, issued an edict of toleration, in which he guaranteed freedom of worship to the Christians. Thus Christianity definitely became a religio licita, a lawful religion. This freedom from persecution continued until the reign of Diocletian. 26. THE EDICT OF MILAN:
The persecution of the Christian church by the empire of Rome came to an end in March, 313 AD, when Constantine issued the document known as the “Edict of Milan,” which assured to each individual freedom of religious belief. This document marks an era of the utmost importance in the history of the world. Official Roman persecution had done its worst, and had failed; it was ended now; the Galilean had conquered. 27. RESULTS OF PERSECUTION:
The results of persecution were: (1) It raised up witnesses, true witnesses, for the Christian faith. Men and women and even children were among the martyrs whom no cruelties, however refined and protracted, could terrify into denial of their Lord. It is to a large extent owing to persecution that the Christian church possesses the testimony of men like Quadratus and Tertullian and Origen and Cyprian and many others. While those who had adopted the Christian faith in an external and formal manner only generally went back from their profession, the true Christian, as even the Roman proconsul Pliny testifies, could not be made to do this. The same stroke which crushed the straw — such is a saying of Augustine’s — separated the pure grain which the Lord had chosen. (2) Persecution showed that the Christian faith is immortal even in this world. Of Christ’s kingdom there shall be no end. “Hammer away, ye hostile bands, your hammers break, God’s altar stands.” Pagan Rome, Babylon the Great, as it is called by the apostle John in the Apocalypse tried hard to destroy the church of Christ; Babylon was drunk with the blood of the saints. God allowed this tyranny to exist for 300 years, and the blood of His children was shed like water. Why was it necessary that the church should have so terrible and so prolonged an experience of suffering? It was in order to convince the world that though the kings of the earth gather themselves against the Lord and against His Christ, yet all that they can do is vain. God is in the midst of Zion; He shall help her, and that right early. The Christian church, as if suspended between heaven and earth, had no need of other help than that of the unseen but divine hand, which at every moment held it up and kept it from falling. Never was the church more free, never stronger, never more flourishing, never more extensive in its growth, than in the days of persecution.
And what became of the great persecuting power, the Roman empire? It fell before the barbarians. Rome is fallen in its ruins, and its idols are utterly abolished, while the barbarians who overwhelmed the empire have become the nominally Christian nations of modern Europe, and their descendants have carried the Christian faith to America and Australia and Africa and all over the world. (3) Persecution became, to a large extent, an important means of preserving the true doctrines of the person and of the work of Christ. It was in the ages of persecution that Gnosticism died, though it died slowly. It was in the ages of persecution that Arianism was overthrown. At the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, among those who were present and took part in the discussion and in the decision of the council, there were those who “bore in their bodies the branding-marks of Jesus,” who had suffered pain and loss for Christ’s sake.
Persecution was followed by these important results, for God in His wisdom had seen fit to permit these evils to happen, in order to change them into permanent good; and thus the wrath of man was overruled to praise God, and to effect more ultimate good, than if the persecutions had not taken place at all. What, in a word, could be more divine than to curb and restrain and overrule evil itself and change it into good ? God lets iniquity do what it pleases, according to its own designs; but in permitting it to move on one side, rather than on another, He overrules it and makes it enter into the order of His providence. So He lets this fury against the Christian ith be kindled in the hearts of persecutors, so that they afflict the saints of the Most High. But the church remains safe, for persecution can work nothing but ultimate good in the hand of God. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” So said Tertullian, and what he said is true.
Persecution has permanently enriched the history of the church. It has given us the noble heritage of the testimony and the suffering of those whose lives would otherwise have been unrecorded. Their very names as well as their careers would have been unknown had not persecution “dragged them into fame and chased them up to heaven.”
Persecution made Christ very near and very precious to those who suffered. Many of the martyrs bore witness, even when in the midst of the most cruel torments, that they felt no pain, but that Christ was with them.
Instances to this effect could be multiplied. Persecution made them feel how true Christ’s words were, that even as He was not of the world, so they also were not of it. If they had been of the world, the world would love its own, but because Christ had chosen them out of the world, therefore the world hated them. They were not greater than their Lord. If men had persecuted Jesus, they would also persecute His true disciples.
But though they were persecuted, they were of good cheer, Christ had overcome the world; He was with them; He enabled them to be faithful unto death. He had promised them the crown of life.
Browning’s beautiful lines describe what was a common experience of the martyrs, how Christ “in them” and “with them,” “quenched the power of fire,” and made them more than conquerors: “I was some time in being burned, But at the close a Hand came through The fire above my head, and drew My soul to Christ, whom now I see.
Sergius, a brother, writes for me This testimony on the wall — For me, I have forgot it all.”
John Rutherfurd PERSEPOLIS <per-sep’-o-lis > (2 Macc 9:2; [ Perse>poliv, Persepolis ], [ Persai>poliv, Persaipolis ], in Ptolemy [ Perso>poliv, Persopolis ]; original Persian name unknown; Pahlavi Stakhr, now Ictakhr and Shihil Minar, “Forty Turrets”): 1. LOCATION:
The ruins of Persepolis lie about 35 miles Northeast of Shiraz and some miles South of the ruins of Pasargadae. 2. HISTORY:
The magnificent palace of which such striking remains are still visible (Takht i Jamshid) was built by Darius and Xerxes of white marble and black stone. The city was captured, pillaged and burnt by Alexander in BC, most of the inhabitants being massacred or enslaved. Much of the treasure of the Persian kings was found there. Curtius says the palace was never rebuilt. Antioehus Epiphanes (166 BC) tried but failed to plunder the temple (of Anaitis, Anihita?) there (2 Macc 9:2; perhaps this is the incident referred to in 1 Macc 6:1 ff, and Polyb. xxxi.11). At Persepolis were the sepulchers of the Achemenian kings (except Cyrus). Long and important inscriptions of Darius and Xerxes are found at Persepolis and the neighboring Naqsh i Rustam, in cuneiform characters and in the Aehaemenian Persian, Assyrian and neo-Susian tongues (published by Spiegel, Rawlinson and Weisbaeh). Clitarehus first among Europeans mentions the city. The writer of this article visited it in 1892. Not now inhabited.
LITERATURE.
Inscriptions (as above), Arrian, Curtius, Polybius, Pliny, Diod. Siculus, medieval and modern travelers. W. St. Clair Tisdall PERSEUS <pur’-sus > , <pur’-se-us > ([ Perseu>v, Perseus ]): In 1 Macc 8:5 the conquest of “Perseus, king of the Citims” (the Revised Version (British and American) “king of Chittim”) was part of the “fame of the Romans” which reached the ears of Judas. This Perseus, the son and successor of Philip III of Macedonia, came to the throne in 178 BC and was the last king of Maccedonia. In 171 BC began the war with Rome which ended in his disastrous defeat and capture at Pydna, 168 BC (to which 1 Macc 8:5 refers), by L. Aemilius Paulus. Macedonia soon became a Roman province.
Perseus was led to Rome to grace the triumph of his conqueror, by whose clemency he was spared, and died in captivity at Rome (Polyb. xxix. 17; Livy xliv. 40 ff).
Kittim or Chittim, properly of the people of the town of Citium in Cyprus, then signifying Cyprians, and extended by Jewish writers ( Genesis 10:4; Numbers 24:24; Isaiah 23:1; Jeremiah 2:10; Ezekiel 27:6; Daniel 11:30; Josephus, Ant, I, vi) to include the coasts of Greece generally, is here applied to Maccdonia. In 1 Macc 1:1 Macedonia (or Greece) is called “the land of Chittim.” S. Angus PERSEVERANCE <pur-se-ver’-ans > : The word occurs only once in the King James Version ( Ephesians 6:18), where it refers quite simply to persistence in prayer.
In theology (especially in the phrase “final perseverance”) the word has come to denote a special persistency, the undying continuance of the new life (manifested in faith and holiness) given by the Spirit of God to man. It is questioned whether such imparted life is (by its nature, or by the law of its impartation) necessarily permanent indestructible so that the once regenerate and believing man has the prospect of final glory infallibly assured. This is not the place to trace the history of a great and complex debate. It is more fitting here to point to the problem as connected with that supreme class of truths in which, because of our necessary mental limits, the entire truth can only be apprehended as the unrevealed but certain harmony of seeming contradictions. Scripture on the one hand abounds with assurances of “perseverance” as a fact, and largely intimates that an exulting anticipation of it is the intended experience of the believer (see John 10:28 above all, and compare among other passages Romans 8:31-37; 1 Peter 1:8,9). On the other hand, we find frequent and urgent warnings and cautions (see e.g. 1 Corinthians 8:11; 9:27). The teacher dealing with actual cases, as in pastoral work, should be ready to adopt both classes of utterances, each with its proper application; applying the first, e.g., to the true but timid disciple, the latter to the selfconfident.
Meanwhile Scripture on the whole, by the manner and weight of its positive statements, favors a humble belief of the permanence, in the plan of God, of the once-given new life. It is as if it laid down perseverance” as the divine rule for the Christian, while the negative passages came in to caution the man not to deceive himself with appearances, nor to let any belief whatever palliate the guilt and minimize the danger of sin. In the biographies of Scripture, it is noteworthy that no person appears who, at one time certainly a saint, was later certainly a castaway. The awful words of Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26,27 appear to deal with cases (such as Balaam’s) of much light but no loving life, and so are not precisely in point. Upon the whole subject, it is important to make “the Perseverance of the Saviour” our watchword rather than “the Perseverance of the saint.” Handley Dunelm PERSIA <pur’-sha > , ([ sr”P; , parats ]; [ Persi>v, Persis ]; in Assyrian Parsu, Parsua; in Achemenian Persian Parsa, modern Fars): In the Bible ( Chronicles 36:20,22,23; Ezra 1:1,8; Est 1:3,14,18; 10:2; Ezekiel 27:10; 38:5; Daniel 8:20; 10:1; 11:2) this name denotes properly the modern province of Fars, not the whole Persian empire. The latter was by its people called Airyaria, the present Iran (from the Sanskrit word arya, “noble”); and even now the Persians never call their country anything but Iran, never “Persia.” The province of Persis lay to the East of Elam (Susiana), and stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Great Salt Desert, having Carmania on the Southeast. Its chief cities were Persepolis and Pasargadae. Along the Persian Gulf the land is low, hot and unhealthy, but it soon begins to rise as one travels inland. Most of the province consists of high and steep mountains and plateaus, with fertile valleys. The table-lands in which lie the modern city of Shiraz and the ruins of Persepolis and Pasargadae are well watered and productive. Nearer the desert, however, cultivation grows scanty for want of water. Persia was doubtless in early times included in Elam, and its population was then either Semitic or allied to the Accadians, who founded more than one state in the Babylonian plain. The Aryan Persians seem to have occupied the country in the 8th or 9th century BC. W. St. Clair Tisdall PERSIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (ANCIENT): <pur’-shan > , <pur’-zhan, 1. LANGUAGE: (INTRODUCTORY).
The Persian language, ancient and modern alike, is an Aryan tongue. In its ancient forms it is more closely connected with Vedic Sanskrit than with any other language except Armenian. Most of its roots are to be found also in Slavonic, Greek, Latin and other tongues of the same stock.
Dialects:
There were two main dialects in the ancient language of Iran (Airyanem), (1) that of the Persians proper, and (2) that of the Medes.
The former is known to us from the inscriptions of the Achemenian kings, the latter from the Avesta, and a few Median words preserved for us by Herodotus and other Greek writers. 2. OLD PERSIAN INSCRIPTIONS.
These fall between 550 and 330 BC, and contain about 1,000 lines and words. They are carved upon the rocks in a cuneiform character, simplified from that of the neo-Susian, which again comes from the neo-Babylonian syllabary. In Old Persian inscriptions only 44 characters are employed, of which 7 are ideographs or contractions. The remaining 37 phonetic signs are syllabic, each consisting of an open syllable and not merely of a single letter, except in case of separate vowels. The syllabary, though much simpler than any other cuneiform system, does not quite attain therefore to being an alphabet. It was written from left to right, like the other cuneiform syllabaries. Of Cyrus the Great only one Persian sentence has been found:
Adam Kurush Khshayathiya Hakhamanishiya, “I am Cyrus the King, the Achemenian.” Darius I has left us long inscriptions, at Behistan (Besitun), Matthew. Alvand, Persepolis, Naqsh i Rustam, etc., and one at Suez, the latter mentioning his conquest of Egypt and the construction of the first (?)
Suez canal:
Adam niyashtayam imam yuviyam kantanaiy haca Pirava nama rauta tya Mudrayaiy danauvatiy abiy daraya tya haca Parsa aiti. (“I commanded to dig this canal from the river named the Nile, which flows through Egypt, to the sea which comes from Persia.”) We have also inscriptions of Xerxes at Persepolis and many short ones of Artaxerxes I, Artaxerxes Mnemon, and Artaxerxes Ochus. From them all taken together we learn much concerning the history and the religion of the Achemenian period. It is from Achemenian or Old Persian, and not from the Medic or Avestic, that modern Persian has sprung through Pahlavi and Dari as intermediate stages. This is probably due to the political supremacy which the Persians under the Achaemenides gained over the Medes. The few words in the inscriptions which might otherwise be doubtful can be understood through comparison with Armenian and even with the modern Pets, e.g. yuviya in the above inscription is the modern vulgar Pets jub. 3. MEDIC DIALECT. 1. Ordinary Avestic: The Medic dialect is represented in literature by the Avesta or sacred books of the Zoroastrians (Parsis). The word Avesta does not occur in the book itself and is of uncertain meaning and signification. It is probably the Abashta of Beh. Inscr., IV, 64, and means either (1) an interview, meeting (Sanskrit avashta, “appearance before a judge”; At. ava-sta, “to stand near”), or (2) a petition (Pahl. apastan, “petition”; Arm. apastan, “refuge,” “asylum”), in either case deriving its name from Zoroaster’s drawing near to Ahura Mazda in worship.
This dialect represents a much greater decadence in grammar and vocabulary than does the Old Persian. Many of its consonants and most of its vowels are weakened. Its verbs have almost entirely lost the augment; its declensional system shows extreme confusion. It stands to Old Persian grammatically somewhat as English does to German Its alphabet, consisting of 43 letters, is derived from the Syriac (probably the Estrangela), and is written from right to left. As a specimen of the language of most of the Avesta we give the following extract (Yasna LXIV, 15(61)):
Daidi moi, ye gam tasho apasca urvarwsca Ameretata, haurvata, Spenista Mainyu Mazda, Tevishi, utayuiti, Mananha Vohu, senhe. “Give me, O thou who didst make the bull (earth), and the waters and the plants, immortality, health — O most Bountiful Spirit, Mazda — strength, might, through Vohu Mano, I say.”) 2. Gathic: There is a sub-dialect of Medic (Avestic) known as the Gatha-dialect, from the fact that the Gathas or “Hymns” (Yasna XXVIII-XXXIV, XLII-L, LII), and also the prayers (Yatha Ahu Vairyo, Ashem Vohu, Airyama Ishyo, and originally Yenhe Halam, and a few scattered passages elsewhere) are composed in it. This represents, speaking generally, an older form of the Avestic. It is probably the old language of Bactria or of Margiana Gatha I, 2, runs thus: Ye vw, Mazda Ahura, pairijasai Vohu Mananha, Maibyo davoi ahvw (astivatasca hyaTca mananho) Ayapta AshaT haca, yais rapento daidiT hvathre. “To me, O Ahura Mazda, who approach you two through Vohu Mano, grant the benefits from Asha, (those) of both worlds, both of the material (world) and of that which is of the spirit, through which (benefits) may (Asha) place in glory those who please him.”) The meter of the Gathas, like that of the other Avestic poems, is based on the number of syllables in a line, with due regard to the caesura. But the condition of the text is such that there is great difficulty in recovering the original reading with sufficient accuracy to enable us to lay down rules on the subject with any certainty. The first Gatha is composed of strophes of lines each (as above). Each line contains 16 syllables, with a caesura after the 7th foot. 4. ZOROASTER. 1. His Date, etc.: Many of the Gathas are generally ascribed to Zoroaster himself, the rest to his earliest disciples. They compose the most ancient part of the Avesta. It is now becoming a matter of very great probability that Zoroaster lived at earliest in the middle of the 7th century BC, more probably a century later.
The Arta Viraf Namak says that his religion remained pure for 300 years, and connects its corruption with the alleged destruction of much of the Avesta in the palace burned by Alexander at Persepolis, 324.BC. This traditional indication of date is confirmed by other evidence. Zoroaster’s prince Vishtaspa (in Greek Hustaspes) bears the same name as the father of Darius I, and was probably the same person. Vishtaspa’s queen Hutaosa, who also protected and favored Zoroaster, bears the same name (in Greek Atossa) as Cambyses’ sister who afterward married Darius, and probably belonged to the same family. Zoroastrianism comes to the fore under Darius, whereas Cyrus in his inscriptions speaks as a decided polytheist.
Hence, we conclude that the earliest part of the Avesta belongs to circa 550 BC. Of Zoroaster himself we learn much from the Avesta, which traces his genealogy back for 10 generations. It mentions his wife’s name (Hvovi), and tells of his 3 sons and 3 daughters. His first disciple was Frashaostra, his wife’s natural uncle. His own name means “Owner of the yellow camel,” and has none of the higher meanings sometimes assigned to it by those who would deny his existence. Tradition says he was born at Ragha (Raga, Rai) about 5 1/2 miles South of the present Tehran, though some think his native place was Western Atropatene (Azarbaijan). Rejected by his own tribe, the Magi, he went to Vishtispa’s court in Bactria. The faith which he taught spread to the Persian court (very naturally, if Vishtispa was identical with Darius’ father) and thence throughout the country. Tradition (Yasht XIX, 2, etc.) says that the Avesta was revealed to Zoroaster on Matthew. Ushi-darena (“intellect-holding”) in Sistan. But it is not the composition of one man or of one age. 2. Date of Avesta: Herodotus makes no mention of Zoroaster, but speaks of the Magi (whom he calls a Median tribe (i.101)) as already performing priestly functions.
His description of their repetition of charms and theological compositions (i.132) would agree very well with recitation of the Gathas and Yasna.
Mention of controversies with Gautama, Buddha’s disciples (Yasht XIII, 16) who probably reached Persia in the 2nd century BC, is another indication of date. The fact that in both the Yasna and the Vendidad heretics (zanda) are mentioned who preferred the commentary (zand) on the Avesta to the Avesta itself, is a sign of late date. Names of certain persons found in the Avesta (e.g. Atare-pata, a Dastur who lived under Hormuzd I, 273 AD, and Rastare-Yaghenti, whom the Dinkarl identifies with the chief Mobed of Sapor II, 309-379 AD, Aderpad Marespand, and who, according to the Patet, section 28, “purified” the revelation made to Zoroaster, i.e. revised the text of the earlier parts of the Avesta) enable us to prove that certain portions of the work as we now have it were composed as late as near the end of the 4th century of our era. It is said that the text was in confusion in the time of Vologases I (51-78 (?) AD). A reccnsion was then begun, and continued with much zeal by Ardashir Papakan, 226-240 AD. According to Geldner (Prolegomena, xlvi) the final recension took place some considerable time after Yezdigird III (overthrown 642 AD). In the times of the Sasanides there were, it is said, 21 Naskas or volumes of the Avesta, and the names of these are given in the Dinkart (Book IX). Of these we now possess only one entire Naska, the Vendidad, and portions of three others. 3. Divisions of the Present Avesta: The present Avesta is divided into 5 parts: (1) The Yasna The Yasna root yaz, Sanskrit yaj, “to invoke,” “to praise”) contains chapters of hymns for use at sacrifices, etc., including the “Older Yasna” or Gathas. (2) The Vispered The Vispered (vispa, “every,” “all,” and radha, “a lord”) is divided into chapters in Geldner’s edition; it is supplementary to the Yasna. (3) The Vendidad The Vendidad (van plus daea plus data, “law for “ vanquishing the demons”) contains 22 chapters. The first chapter contains the Iranian myth about the order in which the provinces of the Iranian world were created by Ahura Mazda. It tells how the Evil Spirit, Anro Mainyus, created plagues, sins and death, to destroy the good creatures of the Good Spirit.
The greater part of the book contains ceremonial laws and formulas, some of them loathsome and all rather petty and superstitious in character. (4) The Yashts The Yashts, 21 in all, are hymns, telling many mythological tales about Mithra, Tishtriya, etc. (5) The Khorda Avesta The Khorda Avesta (“Little Avesta”) consists of a number of short compositions, hymns, etc., compiled by the Aderpad Marespand (Adharpadh Mahraspand, Atarobat Mansarspendan) already mentioned, in Sapor II’s reign.
Much of the Avesta is said to have been destroyed by the Khalffah `Umar’s orders when Persia was conquered by the Arabs after the battle of Nahavand (642 AD). Certainly `Umar ordered the destruction of Persian libraries, as we learn from the Kashfu’z Zunun (p.341). 5. PAHLA. 1. Literature: Under ancient Persian literature may be classed the Pahlavi (a) inscriptions of Sapor at Hajiabad and elsewhere, (b) legends on Sasanian coins, (c) translations of certain parts of the Avesta, made under the Sasanides for the most part, (d) such books as the Arta Viraf Namak, the Zad Sparam, Dinkart, Ormazd Yasht, Patet, Bundishnih, etc.
These are mostly of religious import. The Arta Viraf Namak gives a description of the visit of the young dastur Arta Viraf, to the Zoroastrian heaven. The Bundihishnih (“creation”) tells how Ormazd and Ahriman came into being, and treats of the 9,000 years’ struggle between them.
Pahlavi, as written (the so-called Huzvaresh), contains an immense number of Aramaic words, but the Persian terminations attached to these show that they were read as Persian: thus yehabunt-ano is written, and dat-ano (“to give”) is read. Pahlavi works that are no longer extant are the sources of the Vis o Ramin, Zaratusht Namah, Shahnamah, etc. 2. Comparison: In order to understand the relation in which the Persian dialects and stages in the history of the language stand to one another, it may be well to subjoin a list of words in Old Persian, Avestic, Pahlavi and modern Persian.
It will be seen that Ayestic is not the source of the Aryan part of the present tongue.
MEANING AVESTIC OLD PERSIAN PAHLAVI MODERN PERSIAN Friend.... zusta daushta dost dust Hand...... zasta dasta dast dast Bactreia.. Bakhdhi Bakhtri Bahr Balkh Straight.. drva(sta) *** duruva(sta) drust durust Greatest.. mazista *** mathishta mahist mahin Most right razista *** rasta rast rast Abode..... nmana maniya man man-Daniel (“to remain”) (Gathic demana) *** superlatives LITERATURE.
Achaemenian inscriptions, Korsowitz, Spiegel, Rawlinson: Geiger and Kuhn (editors), Grundriss der iranischen Philologie; Darmesteter, Etudes iraniennes; Spiegel, Eranische Altertumskunde; Noldeke, Aufsatze zur persischen Geschichte; W. Geiger, Ostiranische Kultur im Alterium; Geldner’s edition of Avesta; Professor Browne, Literary History of Persia; Deuteronomy Harlez, Manuel de la langue de l’ Avesta, Manuel de la langue Pehlevie, and Introduction to the Avesta; Haug, Book of Artd Viraf; Cook, Origins of Religion and Language. W. St. Clair Tisdall PERSIAN RELIGION (ANCIENT) 1. BEFORE ZOROASTER. 1. Early Aryan Religion: There are clear indications in the Avesta that the religion of the Medes and Persians before Zoroaster’s time agreed in most respects with that of the Indian Aryans, and in a less degree with the beliefs of the Aryans in general. All the Aryan tribes in very ancient times showed great respect for the dead, though they carefully distinguished them from the gods (compare Rig-Veda X, 56, 4). The latter were principally the powers of Nature, the wind, fire, water, the sky, the sun, the earth, and a host of personifications.
The procreative powers in Nature, animate and inanimate, seeming to be the source of animal and vegetable life, received adoration, which ultimately led to unspeakable corruption. Herodotus tells us that the Persians in his time worshipped the sun, moon, sky, earth, fire, wind and water (i.131). Offerings to the gods were laid on a mass of pomegranate twigs (baresman; Sanskrit, barhis), and the flesh of victims was boiled, not burnt. Libations of haoma-juice were poured out, just as in India the soma was the drink of both gods and their worshippers. 2. Avesta and Rig-Veda: A comparison between the spiritual beings mentioned in the Avesta and those spoken of in the Rig-Veda is most instructive in two ways. It shows that the original religion of the Iranians and of the Indian Aryans agreed very closely; and it also enables us to realize the immensity of the reformation wrought by Zoroaster. Many of the names of supernatural beings are practically the same; e.g. Indra (Indra, Andra), Mitra (Mithra), Aryaman (Airyaman), Asura (Ahura), Apam Napat (Apam Napat), Tvashtri (? Tishtrya), Rama (Raman), Vayu (Vayu), Vata (Vata). So are many words of religious import, as Soma (Haoma), Mantra (Mathra), Hotra (Zaotar). The Yama of India is the Yima of Persia, and the father of the one is Vivasvat and that of the other Vivanhat, which is the same word with dialectic change. The Holy River of the Avesta, Aredhvi Sura, the Unstained (Anahita), is represented by the Sarasvati, the Ganga (Ganges) and other sacred streams worshipped in India. In Persia Atar (or Fire) is a son of Ahura Mazda (Yasna LXIV, 46-53), as Agni (= Ignis) is of Tvashtri in the Rig-Veda. Armaiti is Ahura Mazda’s daughter, as Saranyu in the Rig-Veda is the daughter of Tvashtri, the “Creator.” The use of gomez (bovis urina) for purification is common to both India and Persia. Though the soma-plant is not now the same as the haoma, the words are the same, and no doubt they at one time denoted one and the same plant. Many of the myths of the Avesta have a great resemblance to those of the Rig- Veda. This comparison might be extended almost indefinitely.
In another respect also there is an important agreement between the two.
Though some 33 deities are adored in the Vedic Hymns, yet, in spite of polytheism and low ideas of the divine, traces of something higher may be found. Varuna, for instance, represents a very-lofty conception. In the closest connection with him stands Asura, who is a being of great eminence, and whose sons are the gods, especially the Adityas. 3. The Creator: Tvashtri again is creator of heaven and earth and of all beings, though his worship was ultimately in Vedic times displaced by that of Indra. It is clear then that the Indian Aryans were worshippers of the Creator and that they knew something of Him long before they sank into polytheism. In the Avesta and in the Persian cuneiform inscriptions alike, Ahura Mazda occupies much the same position as Varuna, Asura (the same word as Ahura), or Tvashtri in the Rig-Veda, or rather in the ancient belief of which traces are retained in the latter work. Hence, as the Avesta teaches, Zoroaster was not for the first time preaching the existence of Ahura Mazda, but he was rather endeavoring to recall his people to the belief of their ancestors, the doctrine which Ahura Mazda had taught Yima in primeval time in his first revelation (Vendidad II, 1-16,42). The great truth of the existence of the Creator, testified to by tradition, reason and conscience, undoubtedly contributed largely to Zoroaster’s success, just as a similar proclamation of the God Most High (Allah ta`ala’), worshipped by their ancestors, helped the thoughtful among the Arabs in later years to accept Muhammad’s teaching. The consciousness in each case that the doctrine was not new but very ancient, materially helped men to believe it true. 2. ZOROASTRIANISM. 1. Leading Principle: The reformation wrought by Zoroaster was a great one. He recognized — as Euripides in Greece did later — that “if the gods do aught shameful, they are not gods.” Hence, he perceived that many of the deities worshipped in Iran were unworthy of adoration, being evil in character, hostile to all good and therefore to the “All-Wise” Spirit (Ahura Mazda) and to men. Hence, his system of dualism, dividing all beings, spiritual or material, into two classes, the creatures of Ahura Mazda and those of the “Destroying Mind” (Anro Mainyus). So many of the popular deities were evil that Zoroaster used the word daeva (the same as deva, deus, and Aramaic di) to denote henceforth an evil spirit, just as Christianity turned the Greek daimones and daimonia (words used in a good sense in classical authors) into “demons.” Instead of this now degraded word daeva, he employed baga (Old Persian; Av. bagha, Vedic bhaga, “distribution,” “natron” “lord”) for “God.” 2. Not Monotheistic: But, it must be remembered that Zoroaster did not teach monotheism.
Darius says that “Auramazda and the other gods that there are” brought him aid (Beh. Inscr., IV, 60-63), and both he and Xerxes speak of Auramazda as “the greatest of the gods.” So, even in the first Gatha, Zoroaster himself invokes Asha, Vohu-Mano, maiti, Sraosha, and even Geus-urvan (“the Soul of the Bull”), as well as Ahura Mazda. (1) Darius and Xerxes.
Darius mentions the “clan-gods,” but does not name any of them. He and Xerxes ascribe the creation of heaven and earth to Auramazda, and say that the latter, “Who made this earth, who made yon sky, who made man, who made happiness for man,” has appointed each of them king. It is “by the grace of Auramazda” (vashna Auramazdaha) that Darius conquers his enemies. But both Artaxerxes Mnemon and Artaxerxes Ochus couple Mithra and Anahata (Anahita) with Auramazda (Ahura Mazda) in praying for the protection of the empire. (2) Ahura Mazda.
In the Avesta, Ahura Mazda is one of the seven Amesha spentas or “Bountiful Immortals.” He is the father of one of them, Spentas Armaiti, who is also his spouse. He is primus inter pares among them, their chief, but by no means the only god. Monotheism is distinctly taught in later Zoroastrian works, for instance, in the Zaratusht-Namah, composed AD, but it is due to Christian and Islamic influence. 3. Objects of Worship: The modern Zoroastrian view, clearly stated in the Dasatir i Asmani and elsewhere, that all the good creatures of Ormazd (Ahura Mazda) are entitled to adoration, undoubtedly rests upon the Avesta. There we find, in the first place, the Amesha Spentas, who occupy in regard to Mazda the same position as do the Vedic Adityas toward Varuna, though not one of the Adityas is identical with any of the Amesha Spentas.
The names of these are: (1) Ahura Mazda (otherwise called Spento Mainyus or “Bountiful Mind”); (2) Vohu Mano (“Good Mind”); (3) Asha Vahista (“Best Righteousness”); (4) Khshathra Vairya (“Excellent Ruler”); (5) Spenta Amaiti (“Bounteous Piety”); (6) Haurvatat (“Health”); (7) Ameretat (“Immortality”).
Each has a special province: thus Armaiti is the general spirit of earth and presides over its fruitfulness. She is the troness of virtuos matrons.
Khshathra is the guardian of metals. Vohu Mano guards sheep and cattle and introduces to Ahura Mada the spirits of the just. Next in rank come the Yazatas (“Worshipful Ones”), of whom there are a large number. Three of them, Mithra, Rashnu and Sraosha, preside at the judgment of the dead on the 4th day from death. Rashnu holds the scales in which a man’s deeds are weighed. Sraosha guards the soul during the first three nights after death.
Airyaman Ishya (“the longed-for comrade”) is the protector of mankind, the bestower of peace and happiness. On one occasion (Vend., Farg. XXII, 23-29) Ahura Mazda sends his messenger Nairyo Sanha (“male instructor”) to ask his aid against overwhelming odds. Riman Hvastra, the bosom friend of Mithra, presides over the atmosphere and also gives its taste to food. Mithra is the genius of truth, possessed of 1,000 ears, and riding in a single-wheeled chariot (the sun), while darting golden darts and driving fiery steeds. Tishtrya, identified with the dog-star Sirius, sends rain and is by Ahura Mazda endowed with his own power and dignity (Yasht VIII, 52 ff). This is true of Mithra also (Yasht X, 1) Atar (“Fire”), Vayu (“Air”), Vata (“Wind”), Verethraghna (“Mars”), Saoka (“Prosperity”), Aratat (genius of Justice), Vizista (“Lightning”), Fradatfshu (the guardian of cattle), Berejya (genius of grain), Cista and Daena (“Knowledge” and “Religion”), who are others of the Yazatas. All these are entitled to worship at the hands of the true adorer of Mazda (Mazdayasna, opposed to Daevayasna, or worshipper of the demons). 4. Anro Mainyus and His Creatures: In opposition to the creatures of Ahura Mazda are those of Anro Mainyus, who is the source of all moral and material evil. The first chapter of the Vendidad tells how he created something bad in opposition to everything good made by Ahura Mazda.
A demon is the adversary of each Amesha Spenta: Aka Mano (“Evil Mind”) that of Vohu Mano, and so in order: Indra (or Andra, “demon of untruthfulness”), Saurva (“evil government”) Nonhaithya (“discontent”), Tauru (“who poisons water”) and Zairi (“poison”), being antagonistic to the other Bountiful Immortals. Aeshma-Daeva (“Demon of Wrath”) — the Asmodeus of Tobit 3:8 — is the special foe of Sraosha, the genius of obedience. Apaosha, demon of drought, is the enemy of Tishtrya. Buiti (or Buidhi) teaches men to worship idols, and also causes death. Bushyasta is the demon of sloth. Vidhatus or Astuvidhstus causes death by destroying the body. Other evil beings, Drujes, Pairikas, Jainis, Yatus, are so numerous in the later parts of the Avesta that a pious Zoroastrian must have lived in continual dread of their assaults. He had even to conceal the parings of his nails, lest they should be used as darts to his injury by these his spiritual foes. 5. Production versus Destruction: Holiness does not enter into Zoroaster’s conception of the divine nature.
This is a point to which attention has not yet been properly directed, though its importance can hardly be exaggerated. The epithet Spenta, often applied to Ahura Mazda and mistranslated “Holy,” is by the Zoroastrians themselves in Pahlavi rendered afzunik, i.e. “that causes increase.” Its (?) span or spen = (Sanskrit) svi, “to swell,” “to grow,” “to increase.” The opposite to this is the term anro (angro, from (?) angh; compare German eng, “narrow”) to the Evil Spirit, and denoting “narrowing,” “decreasing,” “destroying.” Hence, as the Destroyer, he is styled pourumahrka, “full of death.”
Fertility.
Ahura Mazda and his assistants promote life, fertility in man, beast and plant, agriculture, increase; while Ahro Mainyus and his creatures cause destruction and death. Atar (“Fire”), also styled Apam Napat (“Offspring of the Waters”), is the vital flame and the male energy in the world; Aredhvi Sura Anahita is the female. As a river the latter flows from Matthew. Hukairya, a peak in the Elburz Range (Yasna LXIV), into the Caspian Sea (Vourukasha) in the midst of which grows the tree Hvapa (“well watered”) which bears the seeds of all plants. Anahita means “‘undefiled,” but it is applied to purity of water (to defile any of the four “elements” was, for later Zoroastrians, a grievous sin) and not to any moral purity in the goddess. Her association with Mithra was close, even in Herodotus time, for he falls into the mistake of saying (i.131) that the Persians called Aphrodite Mithra, when he should have said Anaitis (Anahita). Though god of truth and righteousness Mithra is not associated with moral purity (chastity). On the contrary, he was said to fertilize the earth with his rays, as sun-god, and Anahita as goddess of fruitfulness represented the female principle in conjunction with him. The vileness which led to the identification of Anahita with the Babylonian Mylitta was doubtless of later date than Zoroaster’s time, yet there was little or nothing in Zoroastrianism to check it. Something similar asserts itself in Armenia, as well as in Iran, and in fact in all Nature-worship everywhere. Associated with this was the form of incest known as next-of-kin marriage (Av.
Hvaetva-datha, Pahl. Khvetukdas), which permitted and encouraged marriages between brothers and sisters. 6. Contest between Ormazd and Ahriman: According to later Zoroastrian belief, the contest between Ormazd (Ahura Mazda) and Ahriman (Anro Mainyus), after continuing for 9,000 years, is to be decided in favor of the former only through his possessing foreknowledge and Ahriman’s lacking it (Bund., I). Both came into existence independently in limitless time (Av. Zrvana Akarana; Vend., Farg. XIX, 13; Pahl. Daman i Akandrakhom-and, Bund., I), which, personified in the Vendidad, is called “Self-created,” and is there by Ahura Mazda’s command invoked by Zoroaster in conjunction with Vayu, the Air, the Winds, “the bountiful, beauteous daughter of Ahura Mazda” (Armaiti), the Earth, and other objects of worship (loc. cit.). No creature of Ahriman is to be worshipped; hence, Indra, though in later Vedic times rising in India to a leading position in the Pantheon, is in the Avesta accounted a fiend, the very impersonation of the Lie which the Avesta so firmly denounces and which Darius mentions as the cause of all the rebellions, which produced so much bloodshed in his time. No virtue was valued so highly as truth in ancient Iran, as Herodotus agrees with the Avesta in testifying. 7. Ethics: Avestic morality encourages the destruction of all hurtful things, as being of Anro Mainyus’ creation, and the propagation of everything good.
Hence, agriculture is especially commended, together with the rearing of cattle and sheep. Somewhat later the whole duty of man was said to consist in good thoughts, good words, good deeds. Fierce opposition to every other religion was enjoined as a religious duty, and, under the Sasanides especially, this led to fearful and repeated persecutions of Christians throughout the empire. 8. Sacred Thread: The Sacred Thread (Av. Aiwyonhana; Skt. Upavitam, etc., now by the Parsis styled the Kushti) plays as important a part in Zoroastrianism as in Hinduism. So do charms, mathras (Sanskrit, mantras), consisting in repetitions of the verses of the Avesta. The latter is even adored. 9. Early Traditions: The first thing created by Ahura Mazda was a Bull, which may represent the earth, and reminds us of the Cow Audhumla in the Edda (Gylfaginning VI). This was killed Traditions by Anro Mainyus (in a later version, by Mithra). His spirit (Geus Urvan) went to heaven and became the guardian of cattle. The first man was Gaya-maretan (“Mortal Life”); hence, the phrase Haca Gayat Marethnat a Saosh-yantat, “from Gaya-maretan (Gayomard), Kayomarth) to Saoshyant” (Yasna XXVI, 10; Yasht XIII, 145), means “from the beginning to the end of the world.” From the Airyanem Vaejo (“Aryan germ”), the first home of the Iranians, men were compelled to migrate because Anro Mainyus so altered the climate that the winter became ten months long and the summer only two. Yima Khshaeta (“Yima the Brilliant,” Persian, Jamshid), son of Vivanhat, though he twice refused Ahura Mazda’s commission to guard his creatures, and though by three lies he lost the “Royal Light” (Chvareno Kavaem) which he originally possessed, was yet directed to prepare a very extensive enclosure (Vara), in which he preserved “the seeds of sheep and cattle, of men, of dogs, of birds, and of red, glowing fires” from some terribly severe winters which came upon the earth (Vendidad II; Yasht XIX). The Bundihishnih tale of a flood differs from this, preserving an independent narrative. Ahura Mazda’s law was preached to men within Yima’s enclosure. 10. The Earth: The earth consists of seven divisions, called Karshvares (compare the Sanskrit dvipas). Only one of these, Chvaniratha, is inhabited by men; the others are separated from it by impassable abysses. Sun, moon, and stars revolve round Matthew. Taera, a peak in the Elburz Mountains (Demavend?). A later legend says that the Elburz Range surrounds the earth. 11. Heaven and Hell: Each god and man possesses a fravashi, which has been compared to a guardian spirit and seems to differ from the soul (urvan). After judgment by Mithra, Rashnu and Sraosha, the souls of the dead must cross the Chinvat-bridge (“Bridge of the Judge”), which is guarded by two dogs and is narrow and difficult for the unjust, but wide and easy for the just. The righteous man then advances through three Paradises, those of Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Works (Humata, Hukhta, Hvarsta:
Yasht XVI; Arta Viraf Namak, VII IX), until, led by Sraosha, Atar, and Vohu Mano, he finally reaches Ahura Mazda’s abode of light and glory, Garo-nmana (in Gathas, Garo-demana; Pahl. Garotman), where Ahura Mazda himself receives him with the words: “Greeting to thee; well hast thou come; from that mortal world hast thou come to this pure, bright place” (A. V. Namak, XI, 8, 9). But the soul of the wicked man, passing through regions of Evil Thoughts, Evil Words and Evil Deeds, finally reaches a dark and gloomy Hell (Duzhanh). In later times it was believed that those not yet fit for heaven waited in Misvana Gatus, an intermediate place where the extra merits of the just were stored up for the benefit of the less fortunate (Vend., Farg. XIX). A later name was Hamistakan. But Deuteronomy Harlez is of the opinion that this idea was borrowed from medieval Christianity. 12. Interment: In primeval times the Persians buried or burned their dead. Zoroastrianism may have introduced the dakhma (Vendidad, passim) or Tower of Silence, on which bodies are exposed to be eaten by vultures. Those of which the ruins have been discovered at Al Hibbah are very ancient. But in Herodotus’ time it was usual, after permitting the flesh to be devoured by dogs and birds, to cover the bones with wax and bury them (Herodotus i.140). This was done to prevent them from coming in contact with and so polluting the earth. The custom of burial is proved by the tombs of the Achemenian kings near Persepolis, and that of Cyrus, a stone chamber raised high above the ground, at Pasargadae. 13. Worship: Zoroastrianism permits no idol-worship and no temples, fire-altars only being used. These were served by Atharvans or fire-priests, who fed the fire with costly wood and poured into it libations of haomajuice, taking care to cover their mouths with a cloth (paiti-dhana) to keep the sacred fire from being polluted by their breath. Sacrifices were often offered on the tops of the highest mountains under the open sky (Herodotus i.132; Xen.
Cyrop. viii). 14. The Magi: The Magi doubtless owed their monopoly of priestly functions to their being Zoroaster’s own tribe. They are not mentioned as priests in the Persian cuneiform inscriptions. Only once does the word. “Magus” occur in the Avesta, and then in composition (Moghu-tbish, a Magus-hater, Yasna LXV, 7). It is not necessary to trace to Babylonian influence the decay of Zoroastrianism and its degradation in late Achemenian times. This was at least in large measure due to a revival of the ideas and practices forbidden by Zoroaster, which reassert themselves in some parts of the Avesta, and which afterward gave rise to Mithraism. 15. Eschatology: The Avesta states that, 1,000 years after Zoroaster’s death, a prophet named Ukhshyat-ereta will arise from his seed to restore his religion. After another 1,000 years another, Ukhshyat-nemanh, will appear for the same purpose. The end of the world will come 1,000 years later. Then a third prophet, Saoshyant, will be born, and will usher in the Restoration (frashokereti) of the world to its primitive happiness and freedom from the evil creatures of Anro Mainyus. This process will be completed in 57 years, during which 6 other prophets will perform in the other 6 Karshvares the work which will here be accomplished by Saoshyant. But mention of this Restoration occurs only in very late parts of the Avesta (e.g. Vend., Farg.
XVIII, 51). It does not mean Resurrection, as Deuteronomy Harlez has shown. Later still, something of the kind was believed, and in the Bundihishnih (chapter v) and the Patet (section 28) we have the word ristakhiz (from Av. irista, “departed,” and chvis,”to rise”), which does mean “rising of the dead.” But it can hardly be doubted that the doctrine is due to Hebrew and Christian influence, especially when we consider the late and uncertain date of the books in which the idea occurs. 16. Hebrew and Christian Influence: Israelites settled in Media in large numbers in or about 730-728 BC under Sargon ( 2 Kings 17:6), long before Zoroaster’s birth. It is possible that his reformation may have owed much therefore to Hebrew influence. See, further, ZOROASTRIANISM.
The idea of virgin birth has been asserted to occur in Zoroastrianism, both with reference to Zoroaster himself and to the last three great prophets of whom mention has been made. This is an error. The Avesta and all later Zoroastrian books speak of Zoroaster’s birth as quite natural, his father being Pourushaspa. Nor is virgin birth referred to in the case of Saoshyant and the rest. 17. No Virgin Birth: (Mater cuiusque Exodus iis, sese in lacu quodam lavans, Zoroastris semine illic reposito grayida facta filium pariet: Vend., Farg. XIX, 4-6; Yasht XIII, 128, 142; Bund., XXXII, 8, 9.) Virginity is not highly esteemed in the Avesta, though fornication is condemned.
LITERATURE.
Geldner’s edition of text of Avesta; Deuteronomy Harlez, Avesta; Achemenian Inscriptions; Sacred Books of the East, volumes IV, XXIII, XXXI; Grassmann, Worterbuch zum Rig Veda; Haug and West, Arta Viraf Namak; Spiegel, Einleitung in die trad. Schriften der Parsen; Eranische Altertumskunde; Darmesteter, Etudes iraniennes; Haug, Essays on ....
Religion of Parsis; Deuteronomy Harlez, Manuel du Pehlavi; Cook, Origins of Religion and Language. See also ZOROASTRIANISM.
W. St. Clair Tisdall PERSIANS <pur’-shanz > , <-zhanz > ([ sr”P; , parac ], also = PERSIA, PERSIS (which see); adjective [ ysir]P” , parci ] Hebrew, and [ ys”r]P” , parcay ], Aramaic.; [ Pe>rsai, Persai ], adjective only in Nehemiah 12:22; Daniel 6:28; Achaem. Persian Parsa, name of both country and people; does not occur in Avesta):
The Persians are not mentioned in the Bible until the exilic books ( Chronicles 36:20,22,23; Ezra 1:1,2,8; 3:7; Est 1:19, etc.; Daniel 5:28; 6:8,12,15,28), being previously included under the Medes ( Genesis 10:2), as they were by Thucydides, and even by Xenophon often. 1. AFFINITY.
Being of the same stock as the Medes they shared the name Aryans (Achaem. ariya; Av. airya; Sanskrit, arya, “noble”); compare the Naqsh i Rustam Inscription, where Darius I calls himself “a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, of Aryan descent” (II. 13, 14). Tradition assigns as their earliest known habitat the so-called Airyanem Vaejo (“Aryan germ”), a district between the Jaxartes and the Oxus (Vendidad I), whence they migrated gradually to what was afterward known as Persis (modern Fars), including probably part of Elam. 1. Three Classes: The Avesta shows that the Medo-Pers community was divided into classes (zantu): the Athravans or fire-priests, the Rathaestars or charioteers, and the Vastryafshuyans or cattle-rearers (compare the three original Hindu castes, the Brahmans, the Kshattriyas and the Vaisyas). A fourth class, the artisans or Hutis, came later. But these were classes, not castes. 2. Tribal and Clan Divisions: They were also divided into tribes, clans (Achaem. vith; Av. vis; compare vicus) and families or households (Achaem. tauma; Av. nmana). Herodotus (i.125) mentions ten Persian tribes, the chief being the Pasargadae, to which belonged the Achemenian clan ([frh>trh, phretre ) which included the royal family. This dynasty traced its origin to Achaemenes (Hakhamanish ) according to Darius and Herodotus. 3. Achemenian Dynasty: The following scheme will serve to show the descent of the line of Persian kings mentioned in the Bible and in secular history up to the time of the fall of the dynasty in 331 BC. 2. CIVILIZATION. 1. Writing: The Persians had indulged less in luxury than the Medes, until their conquest of Media and other lands under Cyrus the Great gave them the opportunity, which they were not slow to embrace, being famed for their readiness to adopt foreign customs. Writing was introduced from Babylonia through Elam. 2. Institutions and Customs: This cuneiform character was afterward superseded by one derived from Syria, from which came the Avestic writing, which, in its corrupt Pahlavi form, lasted until the Arabian conquest imposed the Arabic character on the people. The Achemenian kings probably borrowed from Babylon and further developed their system of royal posts (Est 8:14) or messengers (and even the words [a]ggaroi, aggaroi ], and astandai, used to denote them, are almost certainly Babylonian). Of these men’s pace it was said, “No mortal thing is quicker.” The custom of showing special honor to the “Benefactors of the King” (Herodotos viii.85: [ojrosa>ggai, orosaggai ] = Av. uru plus sanh, “widely renowned”) is referred to in Est 6:1,2,3, and that of covering the (head and) face of a criminal condemned to death (with a large black cap) (Est 7:8,9) occurs in the Shahnamah also. (1) The King.
The king was an arbitrary ruler with unlimited power, the council of seven princes who stood nearest to the throne (Est 1:14; compare Herodotos iii. 70-84) having no share in the government. (2) The Army.
As soldiers, the Persians were famous as archers and javelin-throwers; they were also skilled in the use of the sling, and above all in riding. Boys were taken from the women’s into the men’s part of the house at the age of 5, and were there trained in “riding, archery and speaking the truth” until 20 years old. In Darius’ inscriptions, as well as in the Avesta, lying is regarded as a great crime. (3) Marriage.
The Persians practiced polygamy, and marriages between those next of kin were approved of. Pride and garrulity are mentioned as distinctive of the Persian character. 3. HISTORY. 1. Cyrus: Persian history, as known to us, begins with Cyrus the Great. His ancestors, for at least some generations, seem to have been chiefs or “kings” of Anshan, a district in Persia or Elam. Cyrus himself (Western Asiatic Inscriptions, V, plate 35) gives his genealogy up to and including Teispes, entitling all his ancestors whom he mentions, kings of Anshan.
Phraortes, king of the Medes, is said to have first subjugated the Persians to that kingdom about 97 years before Cyrus (Herodotus i.102). Cyrus himself headed his countrymen’s revolt against Astyages, who advanced to attack Pasargadae (549 BC). His army mutinied and surrendered him to Cyrus, whom the Greeks held to be his grandson on the mother’s side.
Cyrus, becoming supreme ruler of both Medes and Persians, advanced to the conquest of Lydia. He defeated and captured Croesus, overran Lydia, and compelled the Greek colonies in Asia Minor to pay tribute (547 BC). 2. Capture of Babylon: He overthrew the Sute (Bedouin) across the Tigris the following year, and was then invited by a large party in Babylonia to come to their help against the usurper Nabunahid, whose religious zeal had led him to collect as many as possible of the idols from other parts of Babylonia and remove them to Babylon, thereby increasing the sacredness and magnificence of that city but inflicting injury on neighboring and more ancient sanctuaries. Defeating Nabunahid’s army and capturing the king, Cyrus sent his own forces under Gobryas (Gubaru, Gaubaruva)to take possession of Babylon. This he did in June, 538, “without opposition and without a battle.” The citadel, however, where Belshazzar “the king’s son” was in command, held out for some months, and was then taken in a night attack in which “the king’s son” was slain. Cyrus made Gobryas viceroy of Chaldea, and he “appointed governors in Babylonia (Cyrus’ “Annalistic Tablet”). When Gobryas died within the year, Cyrus’ son Cambyses was made viceroy of the country, now become a province of the Persian empire. Cyrus restored the gods to their sanctuaries, and this doubtless led to permission being given to the Jews to return to Jerusalem, taking with them their sacred vessels, and to rebuild their temple. Cyrus was killed in battle against some frontier tribe (accounts differ where) in 529 BC. His tomb at Murghab, near the ruins of Pasargadae, is still standing. 3. Cambyses: Cyrus’ son and successor, Cambyses, invaded Egypt and conquered it after a great battle near Pelusium (525 BC). During his absence, a Magian, Gaumata, who pretended to be Smerdis (Bardiya), Cambyses’ murdered brother, seized the throne. Marching against him, Cambyses committed suicide. 4. Pseudo-Smerdis: After a reign of 7 months, the usurper was overthrown and slain by Darius and his 6 brother-nobles (their names in Herodotus iii.70 are confirmed with one exception in Darius’ Besitun Inscription, column iv, 80-86).
Darius became king as the heir of Cambyses (521 BC). But in nearly every part of the empire rebellions broke out, in most cases headed by real or pretended descendants of the ancient kings of each country. 5. Darius I: After at least 3 years’ struggle Darius’ authority was firmly established everywhere. He then divided the empire into satrapies, or provinces (dahyava), of which there were at first 23 (Beh. Inscription, column i, 13- 17), and ultimately at least 29 (Naqsh i Rustam Inscription, 22-30). Over these he placed satraps of noble Persian or Median descent, instead of representatives of their ancient kings. His empire extended from the Indus to the Black Sea, from the Jaxartes to beyond the Nile. 6. Darius’ Suez Canal: Darius united the latter river with the Red Sea by a canal, the partly obliterated inscription commemorating which may perhaps be thus restored and rendered: “I am a Persian; with Persia I seized Egypt. I commanded to dig this canal from the river named the Nile (Pirava), which flows through Egypt, to this sea which comes from Persia. Then this canal was dug, according as I commanded. And I said, `Come ye from the Nile through this canal to Persia.’ “ Darius’ expedition into Scythia, his success in subduing the rebellion among the Asiatic Greeks, his attempts to conquer Greece itself and his overthrow at Marathon (499-490 BC) are part of the history of Greece. A rebellion in Egypt had not been repressed when Darius died in 485 BC. 7. Xerxes I: Xerxes I, who succeeded his father, regained Egypt, but his failure in his attempts to conquer Greece largely exhausted his empire. In 464 BC he was murdered. His son Artaxerxes I, surnamed “the longarmed,” succeeded him, being himself succeeded in 424 BC by his son Xerxes II, who was murdered the following year. This ended the legitimate Achemenian line, the next king, Darius II (styled Nothos, or “bastard,” as well as Ochos), being one of Artaxerxes’ illegitimate sons (we pass over Sogdianus’ brief reign). 8. Artaxerxes II: Artaxerxes II, Mnemon, succeeded his father and left the throne to his son Artaxerxes III, Ochos. The latter was murdered with all his sons but the youngest, Arses, by an Egyptian eunuch Bagoas, probably in revenge for Artaxerxes’ conduct in Egypt (338 BC). 9. Xerxes II: Arses was murdered by Bagoas 3 years later, when Darius III, Codomannus, the son of Sisygambis, daughter of Artaxerxes II, and her husband, a Persian noble, ascended the throne. 10. Later Persian Kings: Darius was completely overthrown by Alexander the Great in the battle of Gaugamela or Arbela, 331 BC, and shortly after fell by an assassin’s hand.
This ended the Persian empire of the Achaemenides, the whole of the lands composing it becoming part of the empire of Macedon. 4. FIRST MENTION IN INSCRIPTIONS.
Persia (Parsua) is first mentioned as a country in an inscription of Rammanu Nirari III (WAI, I, plate 35, number 1, l. 8), who boasts of having conquered it and other lands (he reigned from 812 to 783 or from 810 to 781 BC).
LITERATURE.
Besides the main authorities mentioned in the text, we learn much from Spiegel, Die Altper-sischen Keilinschriften, Arrian, Thucydides, Polybius, Strabo, Curtius. W. St. Clair Tisdall PERSIS <pur’-sis > ([ Persi>v, Persis ]): The name of a female member of the Christian community at Rome, to whom Paul sent greetings ( Romans 16:12). Paul designates her “the beloved, who labored much in the Lord.”
The name is not found in inscriptions of the imperial household, but it occurs as the name of a freedwoman (CIL, VI, 23, 959).
PERSON, PERSONALITY <pur’-sun > , <pur’-s’n > , <pur-un-al’-ti > ([ vp,n, , nephesh ], [ vyai , ‘ish ], [ µd;a; , ‘adham ], [ µyniP; , panim ], [pro>swpon, prosopon ], [uJpo>stasiv, hupostasis ]): The most frequent word for “person” in the Old Testament is nephesh , “soul” ( Genesis 14:21, “Give me the persons, and take the goods”; 36:6, the King James Version “all the persons”: Numbers 5:6 the King James Version “that person,” etc.): ‘ish “a man,” “an individual,” Is also used ( Judges 9:2, “threescore and ten persons”; 1 Samuel 16:18, “a comely person,” etc.); ‘adham , “a man,” “a human being” ( Numbers 31:28, “of the persons, and of the oxen”; Proverbs 6:12, “a worthless person,” etc.); ‘enosh , “a man,” “a weak, mortal man,” occurs twice ( Judges 9:4, the King James Version “vain and light persons”; Zephaniah 3:4); ba`al , “owner,” “lord,” is once translated “person” ( Proverbs 24:8, the King James Version “a mischievous person”), and methim , “men,” once ( Psalm 26:4, the King James Version “vain persons”); panim “face,” is frequently translated “person” when the reference is to the external appearance, as of persons in high places, rich persons who could favor or bribe, etc., chiefly in the phrases “regarding the person,” “accepting the person” ( Deuteronomy 10:17; Malachi 1:8).
In the New Testament prosopon , “face,” “countenance,” stands in the same connection ( Matthew 22:16,”Thou regardest not the person of men”; Galatians 2:6, “God accepteth not man’s person”; Acts 10:34, “God is no respecter of persons”; Romans 2:11, “there is no respect of persons with God”; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25; James 2:1,9); in 2 Corinthians 1:11 we have “persons” (prosopon ), absolute as in the later Greek, “the gift bestowed .... by many persons,” the only occurrence in the New Testament; in 2 Corinthians 2:10 prosopon may stand for “presence,” as the Revised Version (British and American) “in the presence of Christ,” but it might mean “as representing Christ”; in Hebrews 1:3, the King James Version hupostasis , “that which lies under,” substratum, is rendered “person,” “the express image of his person,” i.e. of God, which the Revised Version (British and American) renders “the very image of his substance,” margin “the impress of his substance,” i.e. the manifestation or expression of the invisible God and Father. “Person” is also frequently supplied as the substantive implied in various adjectives, etc., e.g. profane, perjured, vile.
In the Apocrypha we have prosopon translated “person” (Judith 7:15, the Revised Version (British and American) “face”; Ecclesiasticus 10:5, etc.); the “accepting of persons” is condemned (The Wisdom of Solomon 6:7; Ecclesiasticus 4:22,27; 7:6; 20:22, the Revised Version (British and American) “by a foolish countenance”; 35:13; 42:1; “With him (God) is no respect of persons, Ecclesiasticus 35:12).
The Revised Version (British and American) has “soul” for “person” ( Numbers 5:6), “face” ( Jeremiah 52:25), “man” ( Matthew 27:24); “reprobate” for “vile person” ( Psalm 15:4), the American Standard Revised Version, the English Revised Version margin “fool” ( Isaiah 32:5,6); the American Standard Revised Version “men of falsehood” for “vain persons” ( Psalm 26:4); for “a wicked person,” the Revised Version (British and American) has “an evil thing” ( <19A104> Psalm 101:4); “back to thee in his own person” (auton , different text) for “again thou therefore receive him” (Philem 1:12); “take away life” for “respect any person” ( 2 Samuel 14:14); “with seven others” for “the eighth person” ( 2 Peter 2:5); “false swearers” for “perjured persons” ( Timothy 1:10); “seven thousand persons” for “of men seven thousand” ( Revelation 11:13).
Personality is that which constitutes and characterizes a person. The word “person” (Latin, persona) is derived from the mask through which an actor spoke his part (persona). “From being applied to the mask, it came next to be applied to the actor, then to the character acted, then to any assumed character, then to anyone having any character or station”; lastly, it came to mean an individual, a feeling, thinking and acting being. For full personality there must be self-consciousness, with the capability of free thought and action — self-determination — hence, we speak of personal character, personal action, etc. A person is thus a responsible being, while an animal is not. Personality is distinctive of man. The personality is the unit of the entire rational being, perhaps most clearly represented by “the will”; it is that which is deepest in man, belonging, of course, not to the realm of space or the region of the visible, but existing as a spiritual reality in time, with a destiny beyond it. It is the substance (hupostasis ) of the being, that which underlies all its manifestations; hence, the rendering “the express image of his person” in Hebrews 1:3 the King James Version. Hupostasis was employed by the early Greek Fathers to express what the Latins intended by persona; afterward prosopon was introduced.
Recent psychology has brought into prominence elements in the subconscious realm, the relation of which to the personality is obscure.
There seems to be more in each individual than is normally expressed in the personal consciousness and action. The real, responsible personality, however, is something which is always being formed. The phenomenon of double personality is pathological, as truly the result of brain disease as is insanity.
In the Bible man is throughout regarded as personal, although it was only gradually that the full importance of the individual as distinct from the nation was realized. The use of prosopon for “person” indicates also a more external conception of personality than the modern. With the Hebrews the nephesh was the seat of personality, e.g. “Thou wilt not leave my soul (nephesh ) to Sheol” ( Psalm 16:10); “Thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol” ( Psalm 30:3). God is also always regarded as personal (who has created man in His own image), and although the representations seem often anthropomorphic they are not really such. The divine personality could only be conceived after the analogy of the human, as far as it could be definitely conceived at all; but God was regarded as transcending, not only the whole of Nature, but all that, is human, e.g. “God is not a man, that he should lie” ( Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29); “Canst thou by searching find out God?” ( Job 11:7; Isaiah 40:28; compare Ecclesiastes 3:11; 8:17, etc.). In the New Testament the personality of God is, on the warrant of Jesus Himself, conceived after the analogy of human fatherhood, yet as transcending all our human conceptions: “How much more?” ( Matthew 7:11); “Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor?” ( Romans 11:34). Man is body, soul and spirit, but God in Himself is Spirit, infinite, perfect, ethical Spirit ( Matthew 5:48; John 4:24). He is forever more than all that is created, “For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things” ( Romans 11:36). The human personality, being spiritual, survives bodily dissolution and in Christ becomes clothed again with a spiritual body ( Philippians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 15:44). W. L. Walker PERSON OF CHRIST METHOD OF THE ARTICLE:
It is the purpose of this article to make as clear as possible the conception of the Person of Christ, in the technical sense of that term, which lies on — or, if we prefer to say so, beneath — the pages of the New Testament.
Were it its purpose to trace out the process by which this great mystery has been revealed to men, a beginning would need to be taken from the intimations as to the nature of the person of the Messiah in Old Testament prophecy, and an attempt would require to be made to discriminate the exact contribution of each organ of revelation to our knowledge. And were there added to this a desire to ascertain the progress of the apprehension of this mystery by men, there would be demanded a further inquiry into the exact degree of understanding which was brought to the truth revealed at each stage of its revelation. The magnitudes with which such investigations deal, however, are very minute; and the profit to be derived from them is not, in a case like the present, very great. It is, of course, of importance to know how the person of the Messiah was represented in the predictions of the Old Testament; and it is a matter at least of interest to note, for example, the difficulty experienced by our Lord’s immediate disciples in comprehending all that was involved in His manifestation. But, after all, the constitution of our Lord’s person is a matter of revelation, not of human thought; and it is preeminently a revelation of the New Testament, not of the Old Testament. And the New Testament is all the product of a single movement, at a single stage of its development, and therefore presents in its fundamental teaching a common character. The whole of the New Testament was written within the limits of about half a century; or, if we except the writings of John, within the narrow bounds of a couple of decades; and the entire body of writings which enter into it are so much of a piece that it may be plausibly represented that they all bear the stamp of a single mind. In its fundamental teaching, the New Testament lends itself, therefore, more readily to what is called dogmatic than to what is called genetic treatment; and we shall penetrate most surely into its essential meaning if we take our start from its clearest and fullest statements, and permit their light to be thrown upon its more incidental allusions. This is peculiarly the case with such a matter as the person of Christ, which is dealt with chiefly incidentally, as a thing already understood by all, and needing only to be alluded to rather than formally expounded. That we may interpret these allusions aright, it is requisite that we should recover from the first the common conception which underlies them all. 1. TEACHING OF PAUL. 1. Philippians 2:5-9: (1) General Drift of the Passage.
We begin, then, with the most didactic of the New Testament writers, the apostle Paul, and with one of the passages in which he most fully intimates his conception of the person of his Lord, Philippians 2:5-9. Even here, however, Paul is not formally expounding the doctrine of the Person of Christ; he is only alluding to certain facts concerning His person and action perfectly well known to his readers, in order that he may give point to an adduction of Christ’s example. He is exhorting his readers to unselfishness, such unselfishness as esteems others better than ourselves, and looks not only on our own things but also on those of others. Precisely this unselfishness, he declares, was exemplified by our Lord. He did not look upon His own things but the things of others; that is to say, He did not stand upon His rights, but was willing to forego all that He might justly have claimed for Himself for the good of others. For, says Paul, though, as we all know, in His intrinsic nature He was nothing other than God, yet He did not, as we all know right well, look greedily on His condition of equality with God, but made no account of Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and, being found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, becoming obedient up to death itself, and that, the death of the cross. The statement is thrown into historical form; it tells the story of Christ’s life on earth. But it presents His life on earth as a life in all its elements alien to His intrinsic nature, and assumed only in the performance of an unselfish purpose. On earth He lived as a man, and subjected Himself to the common lot of men. But He was not by nature a man, nor was He in His own nature subject to the fortunes of human life.
By nature He was God; and He would have naturally lived as became God — `on an equality with God.’ He became man by a voluntary act, `taking no account of Himself,’ and, having become man, He voluntarily lived out His human life under the conditions which the fulfillment of His unselfish purpose imposed on Him. (2) Our Lord’s Intrinsic Deity.
The terms in which these great affirmations are made deserve the most careful attention. The language in which our Lord’s intrinsic Deity is expressed, for example, is probably as strong as any that could be devised.
Paul does not say simply, “He was God.” He says, “He was in the form of God,” employing a turn of speech which throws emphasis upon our Lord’s possession of the specific quality of God. “Form” is a term which expresses the sum of those characterizing qualities which make a thing the precise thing that it is. Thus, the “form” of a sword (in this case mostly matters of external configuration) is all that makes a given piece of metal specifically a sword, rather than, say, a spade. And “the form of God” is the sum of the characteristics which make the being we call “God,” specifically God, rather than some other being — an angel, say, or a man. When our Lord is said to be in “the form of God,” therefore, He is declared, in the most express manner possible, to be all that God is, to possess the whole fullness of attributes which make God God. Paul chooses this manner of expressing himself here instinctively, because, in adducing our Lord as our example of self-abnegation; his mind is naturally resting, not on the bare fact that He is God, but on the richness and fullness of His being as God. He was all this, yet He did not look on His own things but on those of others.
It should be carefully observed also that in making this great affirmation concerning our Lord, Paul does not throw it distinctively into the past, as if he were describing a mode of being formerly our Lord’s, indeed, but no longer His because of the action by which He became our example of unselfishness. our Lord, he says, “being,” “existing,” “subsisting” “in the form of God” — as it is variously rendered. The rendering proposed by the Revised Version margin, “being originally,” while right in substance, is somewhat misleading. The verb employed means “strictly `to be beforehand,’ `to be already’ so and so” (Blass, Grammar of New Testament Greek, English translation, 244), “to be there and ready,” and intimates the existing circumstances, disposition of mind, or, as here, mode of subsistence in which the action to be described takes place. It contains no intimation, however, of the cessation of these circumstances or disposition, or mode of subsistence; and that, the less in a case like the present, where it is cast in a tense (the imperfect) which in no way suggests that the mode of subsistence intimated came to an end in the action described by the succeeding verb (compare the parallels: Luke 16:14,23; 23:50; Acts 2:30; 3:2; 2 Corinthians 8:17; 12:16; Galatians 1:14). Paul is not telling us here, then, what our Lord was once, but rather what He already was, or, better, what in His intrinsic nature He is; he is not describing a past mode of existence of our Lord, before the action he is adducing as an example took place — although the mode of existence he describes was our Lord’s mode of existence before this action — so much as painting in the background upon which the action adduced may be thrown up into prominence. He is telling us who and what He is who did these things for us, that we may appreciate how great the things He did for us are. (3) No Examination.
And here it is important to observe that the whole of the action adduced is thrown up thus against this background — not only its negative description to the effect that our Lord (although all that God is) did not look greedily on His (consequent) being on an equality with God; but its positive description as well, introduced by the “but ....” and that in both of its elements, not merely that to the effect ( Philippians 2:7) that `he took no account of himself’ (rendered not badly by the King James Version, He “made himself of no reputation”; but quite misleading by the Revised Version (British and American), He “emptied himself”), but equally that to the effect ( Philippians 2:8) that “he humbled himself.” It is the whole of what our Lord is described as doing in Philippians 2:6-8, that He is described as doing despite His “subsistence in the form of God.” So far is Paul from intimating, therefore, that our Lord laid aside His Deity in entering upon His life on earth, that he rather asserts that He retained His Deity throughout His life on earth, and in the whole course of His humiliation, up to death itself, was consciously ever exercising selfabnegation, living a life which did not by nature belong to Him, which stood in fact in direct contradiction to the life which was naturally His. It is this underlying implication which determines the whole choice of the language in which our Lord’s earthly life is described. It is because it is kept in mind that He still was “in the form of God,” that is, that He still had in possession all that body of characterizing qualities by which God is made God, for example, that He is said to have been made, not man, but “in the likeness of man,” to have been found, not man, but “in fashion as a man”; and that the wonder of His servanthood and obedience, the mark of servanthood, is thought of as so great. Though He was truly man, He was much more than man; and Paul would not have his readers imagine that He had become merely man. In other words, Paul does not teach that our Lord was once God but had become instead man; he teaches that though He was God, He had become also man.
An impression that Paul means to imply, that in entering upon His earthly life our Lord had laid aside His Deity, may be created by a very prevalent misinterpretation of the central clause of his statement — a misinterpretation unfortunately given currency by the rendering of English Revised Version: “counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself,” varied without improvement in the American Standard Revised Version to: “counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself.” The former (negative) member of this clause means just: He did not look greedily upon His being on an equality with God; did not “set supreme store” by it (see Lightfoot on the clause). The latter (positive) member of it, however, cannot mean in tithesis to this, that He therefore “emptied himself,” divested Himself of this, His being on an equality with God, much less that He “emptied himself,” divested Himself of His Deity (“form of God”) itself, of which His being on an equality with God is the manifested consequence. The verb here rendered “emptied” is in constant use in a metaphorical sense (so only in the New Testament: Romans 4:14; 1 Corinthians 1:17; 9:15; Corinthians 9:3) and cannot here be taken literally. This is already apparent from the definition of the manner in which the “emptying” is said to have been accomplished, supplied by the modal clause which is at once attached: by “taking the form of servant.” You cannot “empty” by “taking” — adding. It is equally apparent, however, from the strength of the emphasis which, by its position, is thrown upon the “himself.” We may speak of our Lord as “emptying Himself” of something else, but scarcely, with this strength of emphasis, of His “emptying Himself” of something else. This emphatic “Himself,” interposed between the preceding clause and the verb rendered “emptied,” builds a barrier over which we cannot climb backward in search of that of which our Lord emptied Himself. The whole thought is necessarily contained in the two words, “emptied himself,” in which the word “emptied” must therefore be taken in a sense analogous to that which it bears in the other passages in the New Testament where it occurs. Paul, in a word, says here nothing more than that our Lord, who did not look with greedy eyes upon His estate of equality with God, emptied Himself, if the language may be pardoned, of Himself; that is to say, in precise accordance with the exhortation for the enhancement of which His example is adduced, that He did not look on His own things. `He made no account of Himself,’ we may fairly paraphrase the clause; and thus all question of what He emptied Himself of falls away. What our Lord actually did, according to Paul, is expressed in the following clauses; those now before us express more the moral character of His act. He took “the form of a servant,” and so was “made in the likeness of men.” But His doing this showed that He did not set overweening store by His state of equality with God, and did not account Himself the sufficient object of all the efforts. He was not self-regarding: He had regard for others. Thus, He becomes our supreme example of self-abnegating conduct. See also KENOSIS. (4) Our Lord’s Humanity.
The language in which the act by which our Lord showed that He was selfabnegating is described, requires to be taken in its complete meaning. He took “the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men,” says Paul.
The term “form” here, of course, bears the same full meaning as in the preceding instance of its occurrence in the phrase “the form of God.” It imparts the specific quality, the whole body of characteristics, by which a servant is made what we know as a servant, our Lord assumed, then, according to Paul, not the mere state or condition or outward appearance of a servant, but the reality; He became an actual “servant” in the world.
The act by which He did this is described as a “taking,” or, as it has become customary from this description of it to phrase it, as an “assumption.” What is meant is that our Lord took up into His personality a human nature; and therefore it is immediately explained that He took the form of a servant by “being made in the likeness of men.” That the apostle does not say, shortly, that He assumed a human nature, is due to the engagement of his mind with the contrast which he wishes to bring out forcibly for the enhancement of his appeal to our Lord’s example, between what our Lord is by nature and what He was willing to become, not looking on His own things but also on the things of others. This contrast is, no doubt, embodied in the simple opposition of God and man; it is much more pungently expressed in the qualificative terms, “form of God” and “form of a servant.” The Lord of the world became a servant in the world; He whose right it was to rule took obedience as His life-characteristic.
Naturally therefore Paul employs here a word of quality rather than a word of mere nature; and then defines his meaning in this word of quality by a further epexegetical clause. This further clause — “being made in the likeness of men” — does not throw doubt on the reality of the human nature that was assumed, in contradiction to the emphasis on its reality in the phrase “the form of a servant.” It, along with the succeeding clause — “and being found in fashion as a man” — owes its peculiar form, as has already been pointed out, to the vividness of the apostle’s consciousness, that he is speaking of one who, though really man, possessing all that makes a man a man, is yet, at the same time, infinitely more than a man, no less than God Himself, in possession of all that makes God God. Christ Jesus is in his view, therefore (as in the view of his readers, for he is not instructing his readers here as to the nature of Christ’s person, but reminding them of certain elements in it for the purposes of his exhortation), both God and man, God who has assumed man into personal union with Himself, and has in this His assumed manhood lived out a human life on earth. 2. Other Pauline Passages: The elements of Paul’s conception of the person of Christ are brought before us in this suggestive passage with unwonted fullness. But they all receive endless illustration from his occasional allusions to them, one or another, throughout his Epistles. The leading motive of this passage, for example, reappears quite perfectly in 2 Corinthians 8:9, where we are exhorted to imitate the graciousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who became for our sakes (emphatic) poor — He who was (again an imperfect participle, and therefore without suggestion of the cessation of the condition described) rich — that we might by His (very emphatic) poverty be made rich. Here the change in our Lord’s condition at a point of time perfectly understood between the writer and his readers is adverted to and assigned to its motive, but no further definition is given of the nature of either condition referred to. We are brought closer to the precise nature of the act by which the change was wrought by such a passage as Galatians 4:4. We read that “When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law.” The whole transaction is referred to the Father in fulfillment of His eternal plan of redemption, and it is described specifically as an incarnation: the Son of God is born of a woman — He who is in His own nature the Son of God, abiding with God, is sent forth from God in such a manner as to be born a human being, subject to law. The primary implications are that this was not the beginning of His being; but that before this He was neither a man nor subject to law. But there is no suggestion that on becoming man and subject to law, He ceased to be the Son of God or lost anything intimated by that high designation.
The uniqueness of His relation to God as His Son is emphasized in a kindred passage ( Romans 8:3) by the heightening of the designation to that of God’s “own Son,” and His distinction from other men is intimated in the same passage by the declaration that God sent Him, not in sinful flesh, but only the likeness of sinful flesh.” The reality of our Lord’s flesh is not thrown into doubt by this turn of speech, but His freedom from the sin which is associated with flesh as it exists in lost humanity is asserted (compare 2 Corinthians 5:21). Though true man, therefore ( Corinthians 15:21; Romans 5:21; Acts 17:31), He is not without differences from other men; and these differences do not concern merely the condition (as sinful) in which men presently find themselves; but also their very origin: they are from below, He from above — `the first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven’ ( 1 Corinthians 15:47). This is His peculiarity: He was born of a woman like other men; yet He descended from heaven (compare Ephesians 4:9; John 3:13). It is not meant, of course, that already in heaven He was a man; what is meant is that even though man He derives His origin in an exceptional sense from heaven. Paul describes what He was in heaven (but not alone in heaven) — that is to say before He was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh (though not alone before this) — in the great terms of “God’s Son,” “God’s own Son,” “the form of God,” or yet again in words whose import cannot be mistaken, `God over all’ ( Romans 9:5). In the last cited passage, together with its parallel earlier in the same epistle ( Romans 1:3), the two sides or elements of our Lord’s person are brought into collocation after a fashion that can leave no doubt of Paul’s conception of His twofold nature. In the earlier of these passages he tells us that Jesus Christ was born, indeed, of the seed of David according to the flesh, that is, so far as the human side of His being is concerned, but was powerfully marked out as the Son of God according to the Spirit of Holiness, that is, with respect to His higher nature, by the resurrection of the dead, which in a true sense began in His own rising from the dead. In the later of them, he tells us that Christ sprang indeed, as concerns the flesh, that is on the human side of His being, from Israel, but that, despite this earthly origin of His human nature, He yet is and abides (present participle) nothing less than the Supreme God, “God over all (emphatic), blessed forever.” Thus Paul teaches us that by His coming forth from God to be born of woman, our Lord, assuming a human nature to Himself, has, while remaining the Supreme God, become also true and perfect man. Accordingly, in a context in which the resources of language are strained to the utmost to make the exaltation of our Lord’s being clear — in which He is described as the image of the invisible God, whose being antedates all that is created, whom, through whom and to whom all things have been created, and in whom they all subsist — we are told not only that (naturally) in Him all the fulhess dwells ( Colossians 1:19), but, with complete explication, that `all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily’ ( Colossians 2:9); that is to say, the very Deity of God, that which makes God God, in all its completeness, has its permanent home in our Lord, and that in a “bodily fashion,” that is, it is in Him clothed with a body. He who looks upon Jesus Christ sees, no doubt, a body and a man; but as he sees the man clothed with the body, so he sees God Himself, in all the fullness of His Deity clothed with the humanity.
Jesus Christ is therefore God “manifested in the flesh” ( 1 Timothy 3:16), and His appearance on earth is an “epiphany” ( 2 Timothy 1:10), which is the technical term for manifestations on earth of a God. Though truly man, He is nevertheless also our “great God” ( Titus 2:13). 2. TEACHING OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.
The conception of the person of Christ which underlies and finds expression in the Epistle to the Hebrews is indistinguishable from that which governs all the allusions to our Lord in the Epistles of Paul. To the author of this epistle our Lord is above all else the Son of God in the most eminent sense of that word; and it is the divine dignity and majesty belonging to Him from His very nature which forms the fundamental feature of the image of Christ which stands before his mind. And yet it is this author who, perhaps above all others of the New Testament writers, emphasizes the truth of the humanity of Christ, and dwells with most particularity upon the elements of His human nature and experience. <580201>Hebrews 2:1 ff: (1) Background of Express Deity.
The great Christological passage which fills Hebrews 2 of the Epistle to the Hebrews rivals in its richness and fullness of detail, and its breadth of implication, that of Philippians 2. It is thrown up against the background of the remarkable exposition of the divine dignity of the Son which occupies Hebrews 1 (notice the “therefore” of 2:1). There the Son had been declared to be “the effulgence of his (God’s) glory, and the very image of his substance,” through whom the universe has been created and by the word of whose power all things are held in being; and His exaltation above the angels, by means of whom the Old Covenant had been inaugurated, is measured by the difference between the designations “ministering spirits” proper to the one, and the Son of God, nay, God itself (1:8,9), proper to the other. The purpose of the succeeding statement is to enhance in the thought of the Jewish readers of the epistle the value of the salvation wrought by this divine Saviour, by removing from their minds the offense they were in danger of taking at His lowly life and shameful death on earth.
This earthly humiliation finds its abundant justification, we are told, in the greatness of the end which it sought and attained. By it our Lord has, with His strong feet, broken out a pathway along which, in Him, sinful man may at length climb up to the high destiny which was promised him when it was declared he should have dominion over all creation. Jesus Christ stooped only to conquer, and He stooped to conquer not for Himself (for He was in His own person no less than God), but for us. (2) Completeness of Humanity.
The language in which the humiliation of the Son of God is in the first instance described is derived from the context. The establishment of His divine majesty in chapter 1 had taken the form of an exposition of His infinite exaltation above the angels, the highest of all creatures. His humiliation is described here therefore as being “made a little lower than the angels” ( Hebrews 2:9). What is meant is simply that He became man; the phraseology is derived from Psalm 8 the King James Version, from which had just been cited the declaration that God had made man (despite his insignificance) “but a little lower than the angels,” thus crowning him with glory and honor. The adoption of the language of the psalm to describe our Lord’s humiliation has the secondary effect, accordingly, of greatly enlarging the reader’s sense of the immensity of the humiliation of the Son of God in becoming man: He descended an infinite distance to reach man’s highest conceivable exaltation. As, however, the primary purpose of the adoption of the language is merely to declare that the Son of God became man, so it is shortly afterward explained ( Hebrews 2:14) as an entering into participation in the blood and flesh which are common to men: “Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same.” The voluntariness, the reality the completeness of the assumption of humanity by the Son of God, are all here emphasized.
The proximate end of our Lord’s assumption of humanity is declared to be that He might die; He was “made a little lower than the angels .... because of the suffering of death” ( Hebrews 2:9); He took part in blood and flesh in order that through death ....” ( Hebrews 2:14). The Son of God as such could not die; to Him belongs by nature an “indissoluble life” ( Hebrews 7:16 margin). If He was to die, therefore, He must take to Himself another nature to which the experience of death were not impossible ( Hebrews 2:17). Of course it is not meant that death was desired by Him for its own sake. The purpose of our passage is to save its Jewish readers from the offense of the death of Christ. What they are bidden to observe is, therefore, Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels because of the suffering of death, `crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God the bitterness of death which he tasted might redound to the benefit of every man’ ( Hebrews 2:9), and the argument is immediately pressed home that it was eminently suitable for God Almighty, in bringing many sons into glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect (as a Saviour) by means of suffering. The meaning is that it was only through suffering that these men, being sinners could be brought into glory. And therefore in the plainer statement of Hebrews 2:14 we read that our Lord took part in flesh and blood in order “that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil; and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”; and in the still plainer statement of 2:17 that the ultimate object of His assimilation to men was that He might “make propitiation for the sins of the people.” It is for the salvation of sinners that our Lord has come into the world; but, as that salvation can be wrought only by suffering and death, the proximate end of His assumption of humanity remains that He might die; whatever is more than this gathers around this.
The completeness of our Lord’s assumption of humanity and of His identification of Himself with it receives strong emphasis in this passage.
He took part in the flesh and blood which is the common heritage of men, after the same fashion that other men participate in it ( Hebrews 2:14); and, having thus become a man among men, He shared with other men the ordinary circumstances and fortunes of life, “in all things” ( Hebrews 2:17). The stress is laid on trials, sufferings, death; but this is due to the actual course in which His life ran — and that it might run in which He became man — and is not exclusive of other human experiences. What is intended is that He became truly a man, and lived a truly human life, subject to all the experiences natural to a man in the particular circumstances in which He lived. (3) Continued Possession of Deity.
It is not implied, however, that during this human life — “the days of his flesh” ( Hebrews 5:7) — He had ceased to be God, or to have at His disposal the attributes which belonged to Him as God. That is already excluded by the representations of Hebrews 1. The glory of this dispensation consists precisely in the bringing of its revelations directly by the divine Son rather than by mere prophets (1:1), and it was as the effulgence of God’s glory and the express image of His substance, upholding the universe by the word of His power, that this Son made purification of sins (1:3). Indeed, we are expressly told that even in the days of the flesh, He continued still a Son (5:8), and that it was precisely in this that the wonder lay: that though He was and remained (imperfect participle) a Son, He yet learned the obedience He had set Himself to (compare Philippians 2:8) by the things which He suffered. Similarly, we are told not only that, though an Israelite of the tribe of Judah, He possessed “the power of an indissoluble life” ( Hebrews 7:16 margin), but, describing that higher nature which gave Him this power as an “eternal Spirit” (compare “spirit of holiness,” Romans 1:4), that it was through this eternal Spirit that He could offer Himself without blemish unto God, a real and sufficing sacrifice, in contrast with the shadows of the Old Covenant ( Hebrews 9:14). Though a man, therefore, and truly man, sprung out of Judah ( Hebrews 7:14), touched with the feeling of human infirmities ( Hebrews 4:15), and tempted like as we are, He was not altogether like other men. For one thing, He was “without sin” ( Hebrews 4:15; 7:26), and, by this characteristic, He was, in every sense of the words, separated from sinners. Despite the completeness of His identification with men, He remained, therefore, even in the days of His flesh different from them and above them. 3. TEACHING OF OTHER EPISTLES.
It is only as we carry this conception of the person of our Lord with us — the conception of Him as at once our Supreme Lord, to whom our adoration is due, and our fellow in the experiences of a human life — that unity is induced in the multiform allusions to Him throughout, whether the Epistles of Paul or the Epistle to the Hebrews, or, indeed, the other epistolary literature of the New Testament. For in this matter there is no difference between those and these. There are no doubt a few passages in these other letters in which a plurality of the elements of the person of Christ are brought together and given detailed mention. In 1 Peter 3:18, for instance, the two constitutive elements of His person are spoken of in the contrast, familiar from Paul, of the “flesh” and the “spirit.” But ordinarily we meet only with references to this or that element separately.
Everywhere our Lord is spoken of as having lived out His life as a man; but everywhere also He is spoken of with the supreme reverence which is due to God alone, and the very name of God is not withheld from Him. In Peter 1:11 His pre-existence is taken for granted; in James 2:1 He is identified with the [Shekinah], the manifested Yahweh — `our Lord Jesus Christ, the Glory’; in Jude verse 4 He is “our only Master (Despot) and Lord”; over and over again He is the divine Lord who is Yahweh (e.g. 1 Peter 2:3,13; 2 Peter 3:2,18); in 2 Peter 1:1, He is roundly called “our God and Saviour.” There is nowhere formal inculcation of the entire doctrine of the person of Christ. But everywhere its elements, now one and now another, are presupposed as the common property of writer and readers. It is only in the Epistles of John that this easy and unstudied presupposition of them gives way to pointed insistence upon them. 4. TEACHING OF JOHN. 1. The Epistles: In the circumstances in which he wrote, John found it necessary to insist upon the elements of the person of our Lord — His true Deity, His true humanity and the unity of His person — in a manner which is more didactic in form than anything we find in the other writings in form than anything we find in the other writings of New Testament. The great depository of his teaching on the subject is, of course, the prologue to his Gospel. But it is not merely in this prologue, nor in the Gospel to which it forms a fitting introduction, that these didactic statements are found. The full emphasis of John’s witness to the twofold nature of the Lord is brought out, indeed, only by combining what he says in the Gospel and in the Epistles. “In the Gospel,” remarks Westcott (on John 20:31), “the evangelist shows step by step that the historical Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God (opposed to mere `flesh’); in the Epistle he reaffirms that the Christ, the Son of God, was true man (opposed to mere `spirit’; 1 John 4:2).” What John is concerned to show throughout is that it was “the true God” ( 1 John 5:20) who was “made flesh” ( John 1:14); and that this `only God’ ( John 1:18, the Revised Version margin “God only begotten”) has truly come “in .... flesh” ( 1 John 4:2). In all the universe there is no other being of whom it can be said that He is God come in flesh (compare John 1:7, He that “cometh in the flesh,” whose characteristic this is). And of all the marvels which have ever occurred in the marvelous history of the universe, this is the greatest — that `what was from the beginning’ ( John 2:13,14) has been heard and gazed upon, seen and handled by men ( 1 John 1:1). 2. Prologue to the Gospel: From the point of view from which we now approach it, the prologue to the Gospel of John may be said to fall into three parts. In the first of these, the nature of the Being who became incarnate in the person we know as Jesus Christ is described; in the second, the general nature of the act we call the incarnation; and in the third, the nature of the incarnated person. See JOHANNINE THEOLOGY, III; JOHN, GOSPEL OF, IV, 1, (3), 2. (1) The Being Who Was Incarnated.
John here calls the person who became incarnate by a name peculiar to himself in the New Testament — the “Logos” or “Word.” According to the predicates which he here applies to Him, he can mean by the “Word” nothing else but God Himself, “considered in His creative, operative, selfrevealing, and communicating character,” the sum total of what is divine (C.F. Schmid). In three crisp sentences he declares at the outset His eternal subsistence, His eternal intercommunion with God, His eternal identity with God: `In the beginning the Word was; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God’ ( John 1:1). “In the beginning,” at that point of time when things first began to be ( Genesis 1:1), the Word already “was.” He antedates the beginning of all things. And He not merely antedates them, but it is immediately added that He is Himself the creator of all that is: `All things were made by him, and apart from him was not made one thing that hath been made’ ( John 1:3). Thus He is taken out of the category of creatures altogether. Accordingly, what is said of Him is not that He was the first of existences to come into being — that `in the beginning He already had come into being’ — but that `in the beginning, when things began to come into being, He already was.’ It is express eternity of being that is asserted: “the imperfect tense of the original suggests in this relation, as far as human language can do so, the notion of absolute, supra-temporal existence” (Westcott). This, His eternal subsistence, was not, however, in isolation: “And the Word was with God.” The language is pregnant. It is not merely coexistence with God that is asserted, as of two beings standing side by side, united in a local relation, or even in a common conception. What is suggested is an active relation of intercourse. The distinct personality of the Word is therefore not obscurely intimatead. From all eternity the Word has been with God as fellow: He who in the very beginning already “was,” “was” also in communion with God. Though He was thus in some sense a second along with God, He was nevertheless not a separate being from God: “And the Word was” — still the eternal “was” — “God.” In some sense distinguishable from God, He was in an equally true sense identical with God. There is but one eternal God; this eternal God, the Word is; in whatever sense we may distinguish Him from the God whom He is “with,” He is yet not another than this God, but Himself is this God. The predicate “God” occupies the position of emphasis in this great declaration, and is so placed in the sentence as to be thrown up in sharp contrast with the phrase “with God,” as if to prevent inadequate inferences as to the nature of the Word being drawn even momentarily from that phrase. John would have us realize that what the Word was in eternity was not merely God’s coeternal fellow, but the eternal God’s self. (2) The Incarnation.
Now, John tells us that it was this Word, eternal in His subsistence, God’s eternal fellow, the eternal God’s self, that, as “come in the flesh,” was Jesus Christ ( 1 John 4:2). “And the Word became flesh” ( John 1:14), he says. The terms he employs here are not terms of substance, but of personality. The meaning is not that the substance of God was transmuted into that substance which we call “flesh.” “The Word” is a personal name of the eternal God; “flesh” is an appropriate designation of humanity in its entirety, with the implications of dependence and weakness.
The meaning, then, is simply that He who had just been described as the eternal God became, by a voluntary act in time, a man. The exact nature of the act by which He “became” man lies outside the statement; it was matter of common knowledge between the writer and the reader. The language employed intimates merely that it was a definite act, and that it involved a change in the life-history of the eternal God, here designated “the Word.”
The whole emphasis falls on the nature of this change in His life-history.
He became flesh. That is to say, He entered upon a mode of existence in which the experiences that belong to human beings would also be His. The dependence, the weakness, which constitute the very idea of flesh, in contrast with God, would now enter into His personal experience. And it is precisely because these are the connotations of the term “flesh” that John chooses that term here, instead of the more simply denotative term “man.”
What he means is merely that the eternal God became man. But he elects to say this in the language which throws best up to view what it is to become man. The contrast between the Word as the eternal God and the human nature which He assumed as flesh, is the hinge of the statement.
Had the evangelist said (as he does in 1 John 4:2) that the Word `came in flesh,’ it would have been the continuity through the change which would have been most emphasized. When he says rather that the Word became flesh, while the continuity of the personal subject is, of course, intimatead, it is the reality and the completeness of the humanity assumed which is made most prominent. (3) The Incarnated Person.
That in becoming flesh the Word did not cease to be what He was before entering upon this new sphere of experiences, the evangelist does not leave, however, to mere suggestion. The glory of the Word was so far from quenched, in his view, by His becoming flesh, that he gives us at once to understand that it was rather as “trailing clouds of glory” that He came. “And the Word became flesh,” he says, and immediately adds: “and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth” ( John 1:14). The language is colored by reminiscences from the Tabernacle, in which the Glory of God, the [Shekinah], dwelt. The flesh of our Lord became, on its assumption by the Word, the Temple of God on earth (compare John 2:19), and the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. John tells us expressly that this glory was visible, that it was precisely what was appropriate to the Son of God as such. “And we beheld his glory,” he says; not divined it, or inferred it, but perceived it. It was open to sight, and the actual object of observation. Jesus Christ was obviously more than man; He was obviously God. His actually observed glory, John tells us further, was a “glory as of the only begotten from the Father.” It was unique; nothing like it was ever seen in another. And its uniqueness consisted precisely in its consonance with what the unique Son of God, sent forth from the Father, would naturally have; men recognized and could not but recognize in Jesus Christ the unique Son of God. When this unique Son of God is further described as “full of grace and truth,” the elements of His manifested glory are not to be supposed to be exhausted by this description (compare John 2:11).
Certain items of it only are singled out for particular mention. The visible glory of the incarnated Word was such a glory as the unique Son of God, sent forth from the Father, who was full of grace and truth, would naturally manifest.
That nothing should be lacking to the declaration of the continuity of all that belongs to the Word as such into this new sphere of existence, and its full manifestation through the veil of His flesh, John adds at the close of his exposition the remarkable sentence: `As for God, no one has even yet seen him; God only begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father — he hath declared him’ ( John 1:18 margin). It is the incarnate Word which is here called `only begotten God.’ The absence of the article with this designation is doubtless due to its parallelism with the word “God” which stands at the head of the corresponding clause. The effect of its absence is to throw up into emphasis the quality rather than the mere individuality of the person so designated. The adjective “only begotten” conveys the idea, not of derivation and subordination, but of uniqueness and consubstantiality:
Jesus is all that God is, and He alone is this. Of this `only begotten God’ it is now declared that He “is” — not “was,” the state is not one which has been left behind at the incarnation, but one which continues uninterrupted and unmodified — “into” — not merely “in” — “the bosom of the Father” — that is to say, He continues in the most intimate and complete communion with the Father. Though now incarnate, He is still “with God” in the full sense of the external relation intimated in John 1:1. This being true, He has much more than seen God, and is fully able to “interpret” God to men. Though no one has ever yet seen God, yet he who has seen Jesus Christ, “God only begotten,” has seen the Father (compare John 14:9; 12:45). In this remarkable sentence there is asserted in the most direct manner the full Deity of the incarnate Word, and the continuity of His life as such in His incarnate life; thus He is fitted to be the absolute revelation of God to man. 3. The Gospel: This condensed statement of the whole doctrine of the incarnation is only the prologue to a historical treatise. The historical treatise which it introduces, naturally, is written from the point of view of its prologue. Its object is to present Jesus Christ in His historical manifestation, as obviously the Son of God in flesh. “These are written,” the Gospel testifies, “that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” ( John 20:31); that Jesus who came as a man ( John 1:30) was thoroughly known in His human origin ( John 7:27), confessed Himself man ( John 8:40), and died as a man dies ( John 19:5), was, nevertheless, not only the Messiah, the Sent of God, the fulfiller of all the divine promises of redemption, but also the very Son of God, that God only begotten, who, abiding in the bosom of the Father, is His sole adequate interpreter. From the beginning of the Gospel onward, this purpose is pursued: Jesus is pictured as ever, while truly man, yet manifesting Himself as equally truly God, until the veil which covered the eyes of His followers was wholly lifted, and He is greeted as both Lord and God ( John 20:28). But though it is the prime purpose of this Gospel to exhibit the divinity of the man Jesus, no obscuration of His manhood is involved. It is the Deity of the man Jesus which is insisted on, but the true manhood of Jesus is as prominent in the representation as in any other portion of the New Testament. Nor is any effacement of the humiliation of His earthly life involved. For the Son of man to come from heaven was a descent ( John 3:13), and the mission which He came to fulfill was a mission of contest and conflict, of suffering and death. He brought His glory with Him ( John 1:14), but the glory that was His on earth ( John 17:22) was not all the glory which He had had with the Father before the world was, and to which, after His work was done, He should return ( John 17:5).
Here too the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. In any event, John has no difficulty in presenting the life of our Lord on earth as the life of God in flesh, and in insisting at once on the glory that belongs to Him as God and on the humiliation which is brought to Him by the flesh. It is distinctly a duplex life which he ascribes to Christ, and he attributes to Him without embarrassment all the powers and modes of activity appropriate on the one hand to Deity and on the other to sinless ( John 8:46; compare 14:30; 1 John 3:5) human nature. In a true sense his portrait of our Lord is a dramatization of the God-man which he presents to our contemplation in his prologue. 5. TEACHING OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS.
The same may be said of the other Gospels. They are all dramatizations of the God-man set forth in thetical exposition in the prologue to John’s Gospel. The Gospel of Luke, written by a known companion of Paul, gives us in a living narrative the same Jesus who is presupposed in all Paul’s allusions to Him. That of Mark, who was also a companion of Paul, as also of Peter, is, as truly as the Gospel of John itself, a presentation of facts in the life of Jesus with a view to making it plain that this was the life of no mere man, human as it was, but of the Son of God Himself. Matthew’s Gospel differs from its fellows mainly in the greater richness of Jesus’ own testimony to His Deity which it records. What is characteristic of all three is the inextricable interlacing in their narratives of the human and divine traits which alike marked the life they are depicting. It is possible, by neglecting one series of their representations and attending only to the other, to sift out from them at will the portrait of either a purely divine or a purely human Jesus. It is impossible to derive from them the portrait of any other than a divine-human Jesus if we surrender ourselves to their guidance and take off of their pages the portrait they have endeavored to draw. As in their narratives they cursorily suggest now the fullness of His Deity and now the completeness of His humanity and everywhere the unity of His person, they present as real and as forcible a testimony to the constitution of our Lord’s person as uniting in one personal life a truly divine and a truly human nature, as if they announced this fact in analytical statement.
Only on the assumption of this conception of our Lord’s person as underlying and determining their presentation, can unity be given to their representations; while, on this supposition, all their representations fall into their places as elements in one consistent whole. Within the limits of their common presupposition, each Gospel has no doubt its own peculiarities in the distribution of its emphasis. Mark lays particular stress on the divine power of the man Jesus, as evidence of His supernatural being; and on the irresistible impression of a veritable Son of God, a Divine Being walking the earth as a man, which He made upon all with whom He came into contact. Luke places his Gospel by the side of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the prominence it gives to the human development of the Divine Being whose life on earth it is depicting and to the range of temptation to which He was subjected. Matthew’s Gospel is notable chiefly for the heights of the divine self-consciousness which it uncovers in its report of the words of Him whom it represents as nevertheless the Son of David, the Son of Abraham; heights of divine self-consciousness which fall in nothing short of those attained in the great utterances preserved for us by John. But amid whatever variety there may exist in the aspects on which each lays his particular emphasis, it is the same Jesus Christ which all three bring before us, a Jesus Christ who is at once God and man and one individual person.
If that be not recognized, the whole narrative of the Synoptic Gospels is thrown into confusion; their portrait of Christ becomes an insoluble puzzle; and the mass of details which they present of His life-experiences is transmuted into a mere set of crass contradictions. See also GOSPELS, THE SYNOPTIC. 6. TEACHING OF JESUS. 1. The Johannine Jesus: The Gospel narratives not only present us, however, with dramatizations of the God-man, according to their authors’ conception of His composite person. They preserve for us also a considerable body of the utterances of Jesus Himself, and this enables us to observe the conception of His person which underlay and found expression in our Lord’s own teaching. The discourses of our Lord which have been selected for record by John have been chosen (among other reasons) expressly for the reason that they bear witness to His essential Deity. They are accordingly peculiarly rich in material for forming a judgment of our Lord’s conception of His higher nature. This conception, it is needless to say, is precisely that which John, taught by it, has announced in the prologue to his Gospel, and has illustrated by his Gospel itself, compacted as it is of these discourses. It will not be necessary to present the evidence for this in its fullness. It will be enough to point to a few characteristic passages, in which our Lord’s conception of His higher nature finds especially clear expression. (1) His Higher Nature.
That He was of higher than earthly origin and nature, He repeatedly asserts. “Ye are from beneath,” he says to the Jews ( John 8:23), “I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world” (compare John 17:16). Therefore, He taught that He, the Son of Man, had “descended out of heaven” ( John 3:13), where was His true abode. This carried with it, of course, an assertion of pre-existence; and this pre-existence is explicitly affirmed: “What then,” He asks, “if ye should behold the Son of man ascending where he was before?” ( John 6:62). It is not merely preexistence, however, but eternal pre-existence which He claims for Himself: “And now, Father,” He prays ( John 17:5), “glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (compare John 17:24); and again, as the most impressive language possible, He declares ( John 8:58 the King James Version): “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am,” where He claims for Himself the timeless present of eternity as His mode of existence. In the former of these two last cited passages, the character of His pre-existent life is intimated; in it He shared the Father’s glory from all eternity (“before the world was”); He stood by the Father’s side as a companion in His glory. He came forth, when He descended to earth, therefore, not from heaven only, but from the very side of God ( John 8:42; 17:8). Even this, however, does not express the whole truth; He came forth not only from the Father’s side where He had shared in the Father’s glory; He came forth out of the Father’s very being — “I came out from the Father, and am come into the world” ( John 16:28; compare 8:42). “The connection described is inherent and essential, and not that of presence or external fellowship” (Westcott). This prepares us for the great assertion: “I and the Father are one” ( John 10:30), from which it is a mere corollary that “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” ( John 14:9; compare 8:19; 12:45). (2) His Humiliation In all these declarations the subject of the affirmation is the actual person speaking: it is of Himself who stood before men and spoke to them that our Lord makes these immense assertions. Accordingly, when He majestically declared, “I and the Father are” (plurality of persons) “one” (neuter singular, and accordingly, singleness of being), the Jews naturally understood Him to be making Himself, the person then speaking to them, God ( John 10:33; compare 5:18; 19:7). The continued sameness of the person who has been, from all eternity down to this hour, one with God, is therefore fully safeguarded. His earthly life is, however, distinctly represented as a humiliation. Though even on earth He is one with the Father, yet He “descended” to earth; He had come out from the Father and out of God; a glory had been left behind which was yet to be returned to, and His sojourn on earth was therefore to that extent an obscuration of His proper glory. There was a sense, then, in which, because He had “descended,” He was no longer equal with the Father. It was in order to justify an assertion of equality with the Father in power ( John 10:25,29) that He was led to declare: “I and my Father are one” ( John 10:30). But He can also declare “The Father is greater than I” ( John 14:28).
Obviously this means that there was a sense in which He had ceased to be equal with the Father, because of the humiliation of His present condition, and in so far as this humiliation involved entrance into a status lower than that which belonged to Him by nature. Precisely in what this humiliation consisted can be gathered only from the general, implication of many statements. In it He was a “man”: `a man who hath told you the truth, which I have heard from God’ ( John 8:40), where the contrast with “God” throws the assertion of humanity into emphasis (compare John 10:33). The truth of His human nature is, however, everywhere assumed and endlessly illustrated, rather than explicitly asserted. He possessed a human soul ( John 11:27) and bodily parts (flesh and blood, John 6:53 ff; hands and side, 20:27); and was subject alike to physical affections (weariness, John 4:6, and thirst, 19:28, suffering and death), and to all the common human emotions — not merely the love of compassion ( John 13:34; 14:21; 15:8-13), but the love of simple affection which we pour out on “friends” ( John 11:11; compare 15:14,15), indignation ( John 11:33,38) and joy ( John 15:11; 17:13). He felt the perturbation produced by strong excitement ( John 11:33; 11:27; 13:21), the sympathy with suffering which shows itself in tears ( John 11:35), the thankfulness which fills the grateful heart ( John 6:11,23; 11:41; 16:27). Only one human characteristic was alien to Him: He was without sin: “the prince of the world,” He declared, “hath nothing in me” ( John 14:30; compare 8:46). Clearly our Lord, as reported by John, knew Himself to be true God and true man in one indivisible person, the common subject of the qualities which belong to each. 2. The Synoptic Jesus: (1) His Deity. (a) Mark 13:32:
The same is true of His self-consciousness as revealed in His sayings recorded by the synoptists. Perhaps no more striking illustration of this could be adduced than the remarkable declaration recorded in Mark 13:32 (compare Matthew 24:36): `But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, nor yet the Son, but the Father.’
Here Jesus places Himself, in an ascending scale of being, above “the angels in heaven,” that is to say, the highest of all creatures, significantly marked here as supramundane. Accordingly, He presents Himself elsewhere as the Lord of the angels, whose behests they obey: “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity” ( Matthew 13:41), “And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” ( Matthew 24:31; compare 13:49; 25:31; Mark 8:38). Thus the “angels of God” ( Luke 12:8,9; 15:10) Christ designates as His angels, the “kingdom of God” ( Matthew 12:28; 19:24; 11:31,43; Mark and Luke often) as His Kingdom, the “elect of God” ( Mark 13:20; Luke 18:7; compare Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12; Titus 1:1) as His elect. He is obviously speaking in Mark 13:22 out of a divine self-consciousness: “Only a Divine Being can be exalted above angels” (B. Weiss). He therefore designates Himself by His divine name, “the Son,” that is to say, the unique Son of God ( Mark 9:7; 1:11), to claim to be whom would for a man be blasphemy ( Mark 14:61,64). But though He designates Himself by this divine name, He is not speaking of what He once was, but of what at the moment of speaking He is: the action of the verb is present, “knoweth.” He is claiming, in other words, the supreme designation of “the Son,” with all that is involved in it, for His present self, as He moved among men: He is, not merely was, “the Son.” Nevertheless, what He affirms of Himself cannot be affirmed of Himself distinctively as “the Son.” For what He affirms of Himself is ignorance — “not even the Son” knows it; and ignorance does not belong to the divine nature which the term “the Son” connotes. An extreme appearance of contradiction accordingly arises from the use of this terminology, just as it arises when Paul says that the Jews “crucified the Lord of glory” ( 1 Corinthians 2:8), or exhorts the Ephesian elders to “feed the church of God which he purchased with his own blood” ( Acts 20:28 margin); or John Keble praises our Lord for the blood of souls by Thee redeemed.” It was not the Lord of Glory as such who was nailed to the tree, nor have either “God” or “souls” blood to shed.
We know how this apparently contradictory mode of speech has arisen in Keble’s case. He is speaking of men who are composite beings, consisting of souls and bodies, and these men come to be designated from one element of their composite personalities, though what is affirmed by them belongs rather to the other; we may speak, therefore, of the “blood of souls” meaning that these “souls,” while not having blood as such, yet designate persons who have bodies and therefore blood. We know equally how to account for Paul’s apparent contradictions. We know that he conceived of our Lord as a composite person, uniting in Himself a divine and a human nature. In Paul’s view, therefore, though God as such has no blood, yet Jesus Christ who is God has blood because He is also man. He can justly speak, therefore, when speaking of Jesus Christ of His blood as the blood of God. When precisely the same phenomenon meets us in our Lord’s speech of Himself, we naust presume that it is the outgrowth of precisely the same state of things. When lie speaks of “the Son” (who is God) as ignorant, we must understand that tie is designating Himself as “the Son” because of His higher nature, and yet has in mind the ignorance of His lower nature; what He means is that the person properly designated “the Son” is ignorant, that is to say with respect to the human nature which is as intimate an element of His personality as is His Deity.
When our Lord says, then, that “the Son knows not,” He becomes as express a witness to the two natures which constitute His person as Paul is when he speaks of the blood of God, or as Keble is a witness to the twofold constitution of a human being when he speaks of souls shedding blood. In this short sentence, thus, our Lord bears witness to His divine nature with its supremacy above all creatures, to His human nature with its creaturely limitations, and to the unity of the subject possessed of these two natures. (b) Other Passages: Son of Man and Son of God:
All these elements of His personality find severally repeated assertions in other utterances of our Lord recorded in the Synoptics. There is no need to insist here on the elevation of Himself above the kings and prophets of the Old Covenant ( Matthew 12:41 ff), above the temple itself ( Matthew 12:6), and the ordinances of the divine law ( Matthew 12:8); or on His accent of authority in both His teaching and action, His great “I say unto you” ( Mark 5:21,22), `I will; be cleansed’ ( Mark 1:41; 2:5; Luke 7:14); or on His separation of Himself from men in His relation to God, never including them with Himself in an “Our Father,” but consistently speaking distinctively of “my Father” (e.g. Luke 24:49) and “your Father” (e.g. Matthew 5:16); or on His intimation that He is not merely David’s Son but David’s Lord, and that a Lord sitting on the right hand of God ( Matthew 22:44); or on His parabolic discrimination of Himself a Son and Heir from all “servants” ( Matthew 21:33 ff); or even on His ascription to Himself of the purely divine functions of the forgiveness of sins ( Mark 2:8) and judgment of the world ( Matthew 25:31), or of the purely divine powers of reading the heart ( Mark 2:8; Luke 9:47), omnipotence ( Matthew 24:30; Mark 14:62) and omnipresence ( Matthew 18:20; 28:10). These things illustrate His constant assumption of the possession of divine dignity and attributes; the claim itself is more directly made in the two great designations which He currently gave Himself, the Son of Man and the Son of God. The former of these is His favorite self-designation. Derived from Daniel 7:13,14, it intimates on every occasion of its employment our Lord’s consciousness of being a supramundane being, who has entered into a sphere of earthly life on a high mission, on the accomplishment of which He is to return to His heavenly sphere, whence He shall in due season come back to earth, now, however, in His proper majesty, to gather up the fruits of His work and consummate all things. It is a designation, thus, which implies at once a heavenly preexistence, a present humiliation, and a future glory; and He proclaims Himself in this future glory no less than the universal King seated on the throne of judgment for quick and dead ( Mark 8:31; Matthew 25:31). The implication of Deity imbedded in the designation, Son of Man, is perhaps more plainly spoken out in the companion designation, Son of God, which our Lord not only accepts at the hands of others, accepting with it the implication of blasphemy in permitting its application to Himself ( Matthew 26:63,65; Mark 14:61,64; Luke 22:29,30), but persistently claims for Himself both, in His constant designation of God as His Father in a distinctive sense, and in His less frequent but more pregnant designation of Himself as, by way of eminence, “the Son.” That His consciousness of the peculiar relation to God expressed by this designation was not an attainment of His mature spiritual development, but was part of His most intimate consciousness from the beginning, is suggested by the sole glimpse which is given us into His mind as a child ( Luke 2:49). The high significance which the designation bore to Him is revealed to us in two remarkable utterances preserved, the one by both Matthew (11:27 ff) and Luke (10:22 ff), and the other by Matthew (28:19). (c) Matthew 11:27; 28:19:
In the former of these utterances, our Lord, speaking in the most solemn manner, not only presents Himself, as the Son, as the sole source of knowledge of God and of blessedness for men, but places Himself in a position, not of equality merely, but of absolute reciprocity and interpenetration of knowledge with the Father. “No one,” He says, “knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son ....” “varied in Luke so as to read: “No one knoweth who the Son is, save the Father; and who the Father is, save the Son ....” as if the being of the Son were so immense that only God could know it thoroughly; and the knowledge of the Son was so unlimited that He could know God to perfection. The peculiarly pregnant employment here of the terms “Son” and “Father” over against one another is explained to us in the other utterance ( Matthew 28:19). It is the resurrected Lord’s commission to His disciples. Claiming for Himself all authority in heaven and on earth — which implies the possession of omnipotence — and promising to be with His followers `alway, even to the end of the world’ — which adds the implications of omnipresence and omniscience — He commands them to baptize their converts `in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ The precise form of the formula must be carefully observed. It does not read: `In the names’ (plural) — as if there were three beings enumerated, each with its distinguishing name. Nor yet: `In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,’ as if there were one person, going by a threefold name. It reads: `In the name (singular) of the Father, and of the (article repeated) Son, and of the (article repeated) Holy Spirit,’ carefully distinguishing three persons, though uniting them all under one name. The name of God was to the Jews Yahweh, and to name the name of Yahweh upon them was to make them His. What Jesus did in this great injunction was to command His followers to name the name of God upon their converts, and to announce the name of God which is to be named on their converts in the threefold enumeration of “the Father” and “the Son” and `the Holy Spirit.’ As it is unquestionable that He intended Himself by “the Son,” He here places Himself by the side of the Father and the Spirit, as together with them constituting the one God. It is, of course, the Trinity which He is describing; and that is as much as to say that He announces Himself as one of the persons of the Trinity. This is what Jesus, as reported by the Synoptics, understood Himself to be. See TRINITY. (2) His Humanity.
In announcing Himself to be God, however, Jesus does not deny that He is man also. If all His speech of Himself rests on His consciousness of a divine nature, no less does all His speech manifest His consciousness of a human nature. He easily identifies Himself with men ( Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4), and receives without protest the imputation of humanity ( Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). He speaks familiarly of His body ( Matthew 26:12,26; Mark 14:8; 14:22; Luke 22:19), and of His bodily parts — His feet and hands ( Luke 24:39), His head and feet ( Luke 7:44-46), His flesh and bones ( Luke 24:39), His blood ( Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20). We chance to be given indeed a very express affirmation on His part of the reality of His bodily nature; when His disciples were terrified at His appearing before them after His resurrection, supposing Him to be a spirit, He reassures them with the direct declaration: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having” ( Luke 24:39). His testimony to His human soul is just as express: “My soul,” says He, “is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” ( Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34). He speaks of the human dread with which He looked forward to His approaching death ( Luke 12:50), and expresses in a poignant cry His sense of desolation on the cross ( Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). He speaks also of His pity for the weary and hungering people ( Matthew 15:32; Mark 8:2), and of a strong human desire which He felt ( Luke 22:15). Nothing that is human is alien to Him except sin. He never ascribes imperfection to Himself and never betrays consciousness of sin. He recognizes the evil of those about Him ( Luke 11:13; Matthew 7:11; 12:34,39; Luke 11:29), but never identifies Himself with it. It is those who do the will of God with whom He feels kinship ( Matthew 12:50), and He offers Himself to the morally sick as a physician ( Matthew 9:12). He proposes Himself as an example of the highest virtues ( Matthew 11:28 ff) and pronounces him blessed who shall find no occasion of stumbling in Him ( Matthew 11:6). (3) Unity of the Person.
These manifestations of a human and divine consciousness simply stand side by side in the records of our Lord’s self-expression. Neither is suppressed or even qualified by the other. If we attend only to the one class we might suppose Him to proclaim Himself wholly divine; if only to the other we might equally easily imagine Him to be representing Himself as wholly human. With both together before us we perceive Him alternately speaking out of a divine and out of a human consciousness; manifesting Himself as all that God is and as all that man is; yet with the most marked unity of consciousness. He, the one Jesus Christ, was to His own apprehension true God and complete man in a unitary personal life. 7. THE TWO NATURES EVERYWHERE PRESUPPOSED.
There underlies, thus, the entire literature of the New Testament a single, unvarying conception of the constitution of our Lord’s person. From Matthew where He is presented as one of the persons of the Holy Trinity (28:19) — or if we prefer the chronological order of books, from the Epistle of James where He is spoken of as the Glory of God, the Shekinah (2:1) — to the Apocalypse where He is represented as declaring that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End ( Revelation 1:8,17; 22:13), He is consistently thought of as in His fundamental being just God. At the same time from the Synoptic Gospels, in which He is dramatized as a man walking among men, His human descent carefully recorded, and His sense of dependence on God so emphasized that prayer becomes almost His most characteristic action, to the Epistles of John in which it is made the note of a Christian that He confesses that Jesus Christ has come in flesh ( 1 John 4:2) and the Apocalypse in which His birth in the tribe of Judah and the house of David ( Revelation 5:5; 22:16), His exemplary life of conflict and victory ( Revelation 3:21), His death on the cross ( Revelation 11:8) are noted, He is equally consistently thought of as true man. Nevertheless, from the beginning to the end of the whole series of books, while first one and then the other of His two natures comes into repeated prominence, there is never a question of conflict between the two, never any confusion in their relations, never any schism in His unitary personal action; but He is obviously considered and presented as one, composite indeed, but undivided personality. In this state of the case not only may evidence of the constitution of our Lord’s person properly be drawn indifferently from every part of the New Testament, and passage justly be cited to support and explain passage without reference to the portion of the New Testament in which it is found, but we should be without justification if we did not employ this common presupposition of the whole body of this literature to illustrate and explain the varied representations which meet us cursorily in its pages, representations which might easily be made to appear mutually contradictory were they not brought into harmony by their relation as natural component parts of this one unitary conception which underlies and gives consistency to them all. There can scarcely be imagined a better proof of the truth of a doctrine than its power completely to harmonize a multitude of statements which without it would present to our view only a mass of confused inconsistencies. A key which perfectly fits a lock of very complicated wards can scarcely fail to be the true key. 8. FORMULATION OF THE DOCTRINE.
Meanwhile the wards remain complicated. Even in the case of our own composite structure, of soul and body, familiar as we are with it from our daily experience, the mutual relations of elements so disparate in a single personality remain an unplumbed mystery, and give rise to paradoxical modes of speech which would be misleading, were not their source in our duplex nature well understood. We may read, in careful writers, of souls being left dead on battlefields, and of everybody’s immortality. The mysteries of the relations in which the constituent elements in the more complex personality of our Lord stand to one another are immeasurably greater than in our simpler case. We can never hope to comprehend how the infinite God and a finite humanity can be united in a single person; and it is very easy to go fatally astray in attempting to explain the interactions in the unitary person of natures so diverse from one another. It is not surprising, therefore, that so soon as serious efforts began to be made to give systematic explanations of the Biblical facts as to our Lord’s person, many onesided and incomplete statements were formulated which required correction and complementing before at length a mode of statement. was devised which did full justice to the Biblical data. It was accordingly only after more than a century of controversy, during which nearly every conceivable method of construing and misconstruing the Biblical facts had been proposed and tested, that a formula was framed which successfully guarded the essential data supplied by the Scriptures from destructive misconception. This formula, put together by the Council of Chalcedon, 451 AD, declares it to have always been the doctrine of the church, derived from the Scriptures and our Lord Himself, that our Lord Jesus Christ is “truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son,. Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures-inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and Onlybegotten, God, the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.” There is nothing here but a careful statement in systematic form of the pure teaching of the Scriptures; and therefore this statement has stood ever since as the norm of thought and teaching as to the person of the Lord. As such, it has been incorporated, in one form or another, into the creeds of all the great branches of the church; it underlies and gives their form to all the allusions to Christ in the great mass of preaching and song which has accumulated during the centuries; and it has supplied the background of the devotions of the untold multitudes who through the Christian ages have been worshippers of Christ.
LITERATURE.
The appropriate sections in the treatises on the Biblical theology of the New Testament; also A. B. Bruce, The Humiliation of Christ, 2nd edition, Edinburgh, 1881; R. L. Ottley, The Doctrine of the Incarnation, London, 1896; H. C. Powell, The Principle of the Incarnation, London, 1896; Francis J. Hall, The Kenotic Theory, New York, 1898; C. A. Briggs, The Incarnation of the Lord, New York, 1902; G. S. Streatfeild, The Self- Interpretation of Jesus Christ, London, 1906; B. B. Warfield, The Lord of Glory, New York, 1907; James Denhey, Jesus and the Gospel, London, 1909; M. Lepin, Christ and the Gospel: or, Jesus the Messiah and Son of God, Philadelphia, 1910; James Stalker, The Christology of Jesus, New York, 1899; D. Somerville, Paul’s Conception of Christ, Edinburgh, 1897; E.H. Gifford, The Incarnation: a Study of Philippians 2:5-11, London, 1897; S.N. Rostron, The Christology of Paul, London, 1912; E. Digges Lamentations Touche, The Person of Christ in Modern Thoughts, London, 1912. (NOTE. — In this article the author has usually given his own translation of quotations from Scripture, and not that of any particular version.) Benjamin B. Warfield PERSONALITY See PERSON.
PERSUADE; PERSUASION <per-swad’ > , <per-swazhun > : (1) In the older English “persuade” need not mean “convince” (although this is its usual sense in the King James Version: Matthew 27:20, etc.), but may mean only “attempt to convince,” “argue with.” This is well brought out in Acts 26:28, where the Greek is literally “In little thou `persuadest’ [pei>qeiv, peitheis ] to make me a Christian.” the King James Version took peitheis as “convince” (“almost thou persuadest me ....”), but this is impossible, and so the Revised Version (British and American) rendered peitheis by “thou wouldest fain.” To keep something of the language of the King James Version, “persuasion” was supplied after “little,” but it should have been italicized, for it is merely conjectural, as the American Revised Version margin recognizes by giving “time” as an alternative for “persuasion.” The text of the passage, however, is suspected. See ALMOST. Similarly in Acts 13:43, the Revised Version (British and American) replaces “persuade” by “urge,” and the same change should have been made also in 2 Kings 18:32 and its parallels. (2) The “popular persuasions” of 1 Esdras 5:73 are “efforts to persuade the people” (uncertain text, however). Acts 19:8 the King James Version writes “persuading the things” (the Revised Version (British and American) “as to the things”) for “present the things persuasively.” And in Galatians 1:10 (the English Revised Version and the King James Version, not in the American Standard Revised Version) and Corinthians 5:11, there is a half-ironic force in the word: Paul’s enemies have accused him of using unworthy persuasion in making his conversions. Burton Scott Easton PERUDA <pe-roo’-da > ([ ad;WrP] , perudha’ ]). See PERIDA.
PERVERSE <per-vurs’ > : The group “perverse, -ly, -ness,” “act perversely” in the King James Version represents nearly 20 Hebrew words, of which, however, most are derivatives of the stems [ hw;[; , `awah ], [ zWl , luz ], [ vq”[; , `aqash ]. The Revised Version (British and American) has made few changes. In Job 6:30, the Revised Version (British and American) “mischievous” is better for the taste of a thing, and in Isaiah 59:3 greater emphasis is gained by the Revised Version (British and American) “wickedness.” In Ezekiel 9:9, “wresting of judgment” is perhaps too concrete, and “perverseness” is kept in the margin (inverted in the King James Version). the Revised Version margin “headlong” in Numbers 22:32 is over-literal, but in 23:21 the American Standard Revised Version margin’s “trouble” is a distinct improvement.
PESTILENCE <pes’-ti-lens > ([ rb,D, , debher ; [loimo>v, loimos ]): Any sudden fatal epidemic is designated by this word, and in its Biblical use it generally indicates that these are divine visitations. The word is most frequently used in the prophetic books, and it occurs 25 times in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, always associated with the sword and famine. In 4 other passages it is combined with noisome or evil beasts, or war. In Amos 4:10 this judgment is compared with the plagues of Egypt, and in Habakkuk 3:5 it is a concomitant of the march of God from the Arabian mountain. There is the same judicial character associated with pestilence in Exodus 5:3; 9:15; Leviticus 26:25; Numbers 14:12; Deuteronomy 28:21; Samuel 24:21; 1 Chronicles 21:12; Ezekiel 14:19,21. In the dedication prayer of Solomon, a special value is besought for such petitions against pestilence as may be presented toward the temple ( 2 Chronicles 6:28). Such a deliverance is promised to those who put their trust in God ( Psalm 91:6). Here the pestilence is called noisome, a shortened form of “annoysome,” used in the sense of “hateful” or that which causes trouble or distress. In modern English it has acquired the sense of loathsome. “Noisome” is used by Tyndale where the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) have “hurtful” in 1 Timothy 6:9.
The Latin word pestilentia is connected with pestis, “the plague,” but pestilence is used of any visitation and is not the name of any special disease; debher is applied to diseases of cattle and is translated “murrain.”
In the New Testament pestilence is mentioned in our Lord’s eschatological discourse ( Matthew 24:7 the King James Version; Luke 21:11) coupled with famine. The assonance of loimos and limos in these passages (loimos is omitted in the Revised Version (British and American) passage for Matthew) occurs in several classical passages, e.g. Herodotus vii.171.
The pestilence is said to walk in darkness ( Psalm 91:6) on account of its sudden onset out of obscurity not associated with any apparent cause. Alexander Macalister PESTLE PETER, SIMON <pe’-ter > , <si’-mon > ):
The data for this article are found chiefly in the four Gospels; in Acts through 15; in Galatians 1 and 2; and in the two Epistles of Peter. 1. NAME AND EARLY CAREER:
Simon (or Simeon) was the original name of Peter, the son of Jonas (or John), and brother of Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist, as Peter also may have been. A fisherman by occupation, he was an inhabitant of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, though subsequently he dwelt with his family at Capernaum ( Matthew 4:18; 8:14; 10:2; 16:16,17; 17:25; Mark 1:16,29,30,36; Luke 5:3,4,5,8,10; 22:31; 24:34; John 1:40-44). 2. FIRST APPEARANCE IN GOSPEL HISTORY:
His first appearance in Gospel history is in John 1:35-42, when Andrew, having discovered Jesus to be the Messiah, “first findeth his own brother Simon,” and “brought him unto Jesus”; on which occasion it was that the latter, beholding him, said, “Thou shalt be called Cephas,” an Aramaic surname whose Greek synonym is Petros , or Peter, meaning “a rock” or “stone” At this time also he received his first call to the discipleship of Jesus, although, in common with that of others of the Twelve, this call was twice repeated. See Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17; Luke 5:3 for the second call, and Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:14,16; Luke 6:13,14 for the third. Some interpret the second as that when he was chosen to be a constant companion of Jesus, and the third when he was at length selected as an apostle. 3. LIFE-STORY:
The life-story of Peter falls into two parts: first, from his call to the ascension of Christ; secondly, from that event to the close of his earthly career. (1) First Period: The first period again may be conveniently divided into the events prior to the Passion of Christ and those following. There are about ten of the former: the healing of his wife’s mother at Capernaum ( Matthew 8:14 ff); the great draught of fishes, and its effect in his self-abasement and surrender of his all to Jesus ( Luke 5:1-11); his call to the apostolic office and his spiritual equipment therefor ( Matthew 10:2); his attachment to his Master, as shown in his attempt to walk upon the waves ( Matthew 14:28); the same attachment as shown at a certain crisis, in his inquiry “Lord, to whom shall we go?” ( John 6:68); his noble confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, and, alas, the rebuke that followed it ( Matthew 16:13-23); the exalted privileges he enjoyed with James and John as witness of the raising of Jairus’ daughter ( Mark 5:37) and the transfiguration of his Lord ( Matthew 17:1-5); and finally, the incident of the tribute money, found only in Matthew 17:24.
The events beginning at the Passion are more easily recalled, because to so large an extent are they found in all the Gospels and about in the same order. They commence with the washing of his feet by the Master at the time of the last Passover, and the two mistakes he made as to the spiritual import of that act ( John 13:1-10); the first of his presumptuous boastings as to the strength of his devotion to his Master, and the warning of the latter as to Satan’s prospective assault upon him ( Luke 22:31-34), twice repeated before the betrayal in Gethsemane ( Matthew 26:31-35); the admission to the garden to behold the Saviour’s deepest distress, the charge to watch and pray, and the failure to do so through sleepiness ( Matthew 26:36-46); the mistaken courage in severing the ear of Malchus ( John 18:10-12); the forsaking of his Lord while the latter was being led away as a prisoner, his following Him afar off, his admission into the high priest’s palace, his denial “before them all,” his confirmation of it by an oath, his remembrance of the warning when “the Lord turned and looked upon Peter,” and his tears of bitterness as he went out ( Matthew 26:56-58; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-27).
It will be seen that the story of Peter’s fall is thus related by all the evangelists, but, to quote another, “None have described it in a more heinous light, than Mark; and if, as is generally supposed, that Gospel was reviewed by Peter himself and even written under his direction this circumstance may be considered as an evidence of his integrity and sincere contrition.”
Nothing more is heard of Peter until the morning of the resurrection, when, on the first tidings of the event, he runs with John to see the tomb ( John 20:1-10); his name is especially mentioned to the women by the angel ( Mark 16:7); and on the same day he sees Jesus alive before any of the rest of the Twelve ( Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5). Subsequently, at the Sea of Tiberias, Peter is given an opportunity for a threefold confession of Jesus whom he had thrice denied, and is once more assigned to the apostolic office; a prediction follows as to the kind of death he should die, and also a command to follow his Lord (John 21). (2) Second Period: The second period, from the ascension of Christ to the conversion of Paul, is more briefly sketched. After the ascension, of which Peter was doubtless a witness, he “stood up in the midst of the brethren” in the upper room in Jerusalem to counsel the choice of a successor to Judas ( Acts 1:15-26).
On the day of Pentecost he preaches the first gospel sermon (Acts 2), and later, in company with John, instrumentally heals the lame man, addresses the people in the Temple, is arrested, defends himself before the Sanhedrin and returns to his “own company” (Acts 3; 4). He is again arrested and beaten (Acts 5); after a time he is sent by the church at Jerusalem to communicate the Holy Spirit to the disciples at Samaria (Acts 8).
Returning to Jerusalem (where presumably Paul visits him, Galatians 1:18), he afterward journeys “throughout all parts,” heals Aeneas at Lydda, raises Dorcas from the dead at Joppa, sees a vision upon the housetop which influences him to preach the gospel to the Gentile centurion at Caesarea, and explains this action before “the apostles and the brethren that were in Judea” ( Acts 9:32-41; chapter 11).
After a while another persecution arose against the church, and Herod Agrippa, having put James to death, imprisons Peter with the thought of executing him also. Prayer is made by the church on his behalf, however, and miraculous deliverance is given him (Acts 12). Retiring for a while from public attention, he once more comes before us in the church council at Jerusalem, when the question is to be settled as to whether works are needful to salvation, adding his testimony to that of Paul and Barnabas in favor of justification by faith only (Acts 15).
Subsequently, he is found at Antioch, and having fellowship with GentileChristians until “that certain came from James,” when “he drew back and separated himself, fearing them that were of the circumcision,” for which dissembling Paul “resisted him to the face, because he stood condemned” ( Galatians 2:11-14).
Little more is authentically known of Peter, except that he traveled more or less extensively, being accompanied by his wife ( 1 Corinthians 9:5), and that he wrote two epistles, the second of which was penned as he approached the end of his life ( 2 Peter 1:12-15).
The tradition is that he died a martyr at Rome about 67 AD, when about 75 years old. His Lord and Master had predicted a violent death for him ( John 21:18,19), which it is thought came to pass by crucifixion under Nero. It is said that at his own desire he was crucified head downward, feeling himself unworthy to resemble his Master in his death.
It should be observed, however, that the tradition that he visited Rome is only tradition and nothing more, resting as it does partly upon a miscalculation of some of the early Fathers, “who assume that he went to Rome in 42 AD, immediately after his deliverance from prison” (compare Acts 111:17). Schaff says this “is irreconcilable with the silence of Scripture, and even with the mere fact of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, written in 58, since the latter says not a word of Peter’s previous labors in that city, and he himself never built on other men’s foundations” ( Romans 15:20; 2 Corinthians 10:15,16). 4. CHARACTER:
The character of Peter is transparent and easily analyzed, and it is doubtless true that no other “in Scriptural history is drawn for us more clearly or strongly.” He has been styled the prince of the apostles, and, indeed, seems to have been their leader on every occasion. He is always named first in every list of them, and was their common spokesman. He was hopeful, bold, confident, courageous, frank, impulsive, energetic, vigorous, strong, and loving, and faithful to his Master notwithstanding his defection prior to the crucifixion. It is true that he was liable to change and inconsistency, and because of his peculiar temperament he sometimes appeared forward and rash. Yet, as another says, “His virtues and faults had their common root in his enthusiastic disposition,” and the latter were at length overruled by divine grace into the most beautiful humility and meekness, as evinced in his two Epistles.
The leadership above referred to, however, should not lead to the supposition that he possessed any supremacy over the other apostles, of which there is no proof. Such supremacy was never conferred upon him by his Master, it was never claimed by himself, and was never conceded by his associates. See in this Connection Matthew 23:8-12; Acts 15:13,14; 2 Corinthians 12:11; Galatians 2:11.
It is true that when Christ referred to the meaning of his name ( Matthew 16:18), He said, “Upon this rock I will build my church,” but He did not intend to teach that His church would be built upon Peter, but upon Himself as confessed by Peter in Matthew 16:16. Peter is careful to affirm this in the first of his two Epistles ( 1 Peter 2:4-9). Moreover, when Christ said, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” etc. ( Matthew 16:19), He invested him with no power not possessed in common with his brethren, since they also afterward received the same commission ( Matthew 18:18; John 20:23). A key is a badge of power or authority, and, as many Protestant commentators have pointed out, to quote the language of one of them, “the apostolic history explains and limits this trust, for it was Peter who opened the door of the gospel to Israel on the day of Pentecost ( Acts 2:38-42) and to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius ( Acts 10:34-46).” Some, however, regard this authority as identical with the great commission ( Matthew 28:19). See KEYS, POWER OF THE. 5. WRITINGS:
The two Epistles of Peter were written presumably late in life, as appears especially of the Second ( 2 Peter 1:12-15). Both were addressed to the same class of persons, chiefly Jewish Christians scattered abroad in the different provinces of Asia Minor, among whom Paul and his associates had planted the gospel ( 1 Peter 1:1,2; 2 Peter 3:1). The First was written at Babylon ( 1 Peter 5:13), doubtless the famous Babylon on the Euphrates, which, though destroyed as a great capital, was still inhabited by a small colony of people, principally Jews (see Weiss, Introduction, II, 150). See also PETER, FIRST EPISTLE OF. (1) First Epistle.
The theme of the First Epistle seems to be the living hope to which the Christian has been begotten, and the obligations it lays upon him. The living hope is expounded in the earlier part of 1 Peter 1:1-13, where the obligations begin to be stated, the first group including hope, godly fear, love to the brethren, and praise (1:13 through 2:10).
The writer drops his pen at this point, to take it up again to address those who were suffering persecution for righteousness’ sake, upon whom two more obligations are impressed, submission to authority, and testimony to Christ ( 1 Peter 2:11 through 4:6). The third group which concludes the book begins here, dealing with such themes as spiritual hospitality in the use of heavenly gifts, patience in suffering, fidelity in service, and humility in ministering to one another. The letter was Sent to the churches “by Silvanus, our faithful brother,” the author affirming that his object in writing was to exhort and testify concerning “the true grace of God” ( Peter 5:12).
The genuineness of this First Epistle has never been doubted, except of course by those who in these latter days have doubted everything, but the same cannot be said of the Second. It is not known to whom the latter was entrusted; as a matter of fact it found no place in the catalogues of the New Testament Scriptures of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The first church employing it was at Alexandria, but subsequently the church at large became satisfied from internal evidence of its genuineness and inspiration, and when the Canon was pronounced complete in the 4th century, it was without hesitancy received. (2) Second Epistle.
The Second Epistle claims to have been written by Peter ( 2 Peter 1:1; 3:1,2), to doubt which would start more serious difficulties than can be alleged against its genuineness, either because of its late admission to the Canon or its supposed diversity of style from Peter’s early writing. See PETER, SECOND EPISTLE OF.
His object is the same in both Epistles, to “stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance” ( 2 Peter 3:1). Like Paul in his Second Epistle to Timothy, he foresees the apostasy in which the professing church will end, the difference being that Paul speaks of it in its last stage when the laity have become infected ( 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 4:3,4), while Peter sees it in its origin as traceable to false teachers ( 2 Peter 2:1-3,15-19).
As in the First Epistle he wrote to exhort and to testify, so here it is rather to caution and warn. This warning was, as a whole, against falling from grace ( 2 Peter 3:17,18), the enforcement of which warning is contained in 2 Peter 1:2-11, the ground of it in 1:12-21, and the occasion of it in the last two chapters. To speak only of the occasion: This, as was stated, was the presence of false teachers (2:1), whose eminent success is predicted (2:2), whose punishment is certain and dreadful (2:3-9), and whose description follows (2:10-22). The character of their false teaching (2 Peter 3) forms one of the most interesting and important features of the Epistle, focusing as it does on the Second Coming of Christ. 6. THEOLOGY:
The theology of Peter offers an interesting field of study because of what may be styled its freshness and variety in comparison with that of Paul and John, who are the great theologians of the New Testament. (1) Messianic Teaching.
In the first place, Peter is unique in his Messianic teaching as indicated in the first part of the Acts, where he is the chief personage, and where for the most part his ministry is confined to Jerusalem and the Jews. The latter, already in covenant relations with Yahweh, had sinned in rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, and Peter’s preaching was directed to that point, demanding repentance or a change of mind about Him. The apparent failure of the Old Testament promises concerning the Davidic kingdom ( Isaiah 11:10-12; Jeremiah 23:5-8; Ezekiel 37:21-28) was explained by the promise that the kingdom would be set up at the return of Christ ( Acts 2:25-31; 15:14-16); which return, personal and corporeal, and for that purpose, is presented as only awaiting their national repentance ( Acts 3:19-26). See Scofield, Reference Bible, at the places named. (2) Justification.
But Peter’s special ministry to the circumcision is by no means in conflict with that of Paul to the Gentiles, as demonstrated at the point of transition in Acts 10. Up until this time the gospel had been offered to the Jews only, but now they have rejected it in the national sense, and “the normal order for the present Christian age” is reached ( Acts 13:44-48). Accordingly, we find Peter, side by side with Paul, affirming the great doctrine of justification by faith only, in the words, “We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we (Jews) shall be saved, even as they (Gentiles)” ( Acts 15:11 the King James Version). Moreover, it is clear from Peter’s Second Epistle ( 2 Peter 1:1) that his conception of justification from the divine as well as the human side is identical with that of Paul, since he speaks of justifying faith as terminating on the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. As we understand it, this is not the righteousness which God is, but the righteousness which God gives (compare Romans 1:16,17; 3:21-25; 2 Corinthians 5:20,21). (3) Redemption.
Passing from his oral to his written utterances, Peter is particularly rich in his allusions to the redemptive work of Christ. Limiting ourselves to his First Epistle, the election of the individual believer is seen to be the result of the sprinkling of Christ’s blood ( 1 Peter 1:1); his obedience and godly fear are inspired by the sacrifice of the “lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world” ( 1 Peter 1:17-20 the King James Version). But most interesting are the manner and the connection in which these sublime truths are sometimes set before the reader. For example, an exhortation to submission on the part of household slaves is the occasion for perhaps the most concise and yet comprehensive interpretation of Christ’s vicarious sufferings anywhere in the New Testament ( 1 Peter 2:18-25, especially the last two verses; compare also in its context 3:18-22). (4) Future Life.
Next to the redemptive work of Christ, the Petrine teaching about the future life claims attention. The believer has been begotten again unto “a lively (or living) hope” ( 1 Peter 1:3); which is “an inheritance” “reserved in heaven” ( 1 Peter 1:4); and associated with “praise, and glory and honor at the revelation (Second Coming) of Jesus Christ” ( Peter 1:7,13; 4:13; 5:4,10; 2 Peter 1:11,16; 3:13, etc.). This “hope” or “inheritance” is so real and so precious as to cause rejoicing even in times of heaviness and trial ( 1 Peter 1:6); to stimulate to holiness of living ( 1 Peter 1:13-16); to patience in persecution ( 1 Peter 4:12,13); fidelity in service ( 1 Peter 5:1-4); stedfastness against temptation (5:8- 10); and growth in grace ( 2 Peter 1:10,11). It is a further peculiarity that the apostle always throws the thought of the present suffering forward into the light of the future glory. It is not as though there were merely an allotment of suffering here, and an allotment of glory by and by, with no relation or connection between the two, but the one is seen to be incident to the other (compare 1 Peter 1:7,11; 4:13; 5:1; 2 Peter 3:12,13). It is this circumstance, added to others, that gives Peter the title of the apostle of hope, as Paul has been called the apostle of faith, and John the apostle of love. (5) Holy Scripture.
Considering their limitations as to space, Peter’s Epistles are notable for the emphasis they lay upon the character and authority of the Holy Scriptures. 1 Peter 1:10-12 teaches a threefold relation of the Holy Spirit to the Holy Word as its Author, its Revealer, and its Teacher or Preacher. The same chapter (1:22-25) speaks of its life-giving and purifying power as well as its eternal duration. 1 Peter 2 opens with a declaration of its vital relation to the Christian’s spiritual growth. In 4:11, it is shown to be the staple of the Christian’s ministry. Practically the whole of the Second Epistle is taken up with the subject. Through the “exceeding great and precious promises” of that Word, Christians become “partakers of the divine nature” ( 2 Peter 1:4 the King James Version); that they may be kept “always in remembrance” is Peter’s object in writing ( Peter 1:12-15 the King James Version); the facts of that Word rest on the testimony of eyewitnesses ( 2 Peter 1:16-18); its origin is altogether divine ( 2 Peter 1:20,21); which is as true of the New Testament as of the Old Testament ( 2 Peter 3:2); including the Epistles of Paul ( Peter 3:15,16). (6) Apostasy and Judgment.
This appreciation of the living Word of God finds an antithesis in the solemn warning against apostate teachers and teaching forming the substance of 2 Peter 2 and 3. The theology here is of judgment. It is swift and “lingereth not” (2:1-3); the Judge is He who “spared not” in olden time (2:4-7); His delay expresses mercy, but He “will come as a thief” (3:9,10); the heavens “shall pass away,” the earth and its works shall be burned up (3:10); “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness?” (3:11). (7) Second Coming of Christ.
Peter’s theology concerning judgment is a further illustration of the Messianic character of his instruction. For example, the Second Coming of Christ of which he speaks in the closing chapter of the Second Epistle is not that aspect of it associated with the translation of His church, and of which Paul treats ( 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), but that pertaining to Israel and the day of Yahweh spoken of by the Old Testament prophets ( Isaiah 2:12-22; Revelation 19:11-21, etc.).
LITERATURE.
The history of Peter is treated more or less at length in the introductions to the commentaries on his Epistles, and in works on the life of Christ. But particular reference is made to the following: E. W. Farrar, Early Days of Christianity, London, 1882; J. S. Howson, Studies in the Life of Peter, London, 1883; H. A. Birks, Life and Character of Peter, London, 1887; W.
M. Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, London, 1893; Mason Gallagher, Was Peter Ever at Rome? Philadelphia, 1895; A. C. McGiffert, The Apostolic Age, New York, 1897; W. H. Griffith Thomas, The Apostle Peter, London, 1904; G. Matheson, Representative Men of the New Testament, London, 1905; A. J. Southhouse, The Making of Simon Peter) New York, 1906; A. C. Gaebtelein, The Gospel of Matthew, New York, 1907; The Acts of the Apostles, New York, 1912; Edmundson, Church in Rome in the 1st Century, 1913; Smith, The Days of His Flesh, New York, 1911.
On theology of Peter, consult the subject in works on Systematic or Biblical, Theology, and see also R. W. Dale The Atonement, 97-148.
London 1875: C. A. Briggs, Messiah of the Apostles, 21-41, New York, 1895; Scofield, Reference Bible, where pertinent.
Among commentaries on 1 and 2 Peter may be mentioned: Brown, volumes, Edinburgh, 1848-56; Demarest, 2 volumes, New York, 1851-65; Leighton, republished, Philadelphia, 1864; Lillie, New York, 1869; G. F.
C. Fronmuller, in Lange’s Comm., English translation, New York, 1874; Plumptre, Cambridge Bible, 1883; Spitta, Der zweite Brief des Petrus, Halle, 1885; F. B. Meyer, London, 1890; Lumby, Expositor’s Bible, London, 1894; J. H. Jowett, London, 1905; Bigg, ICC, 1901. James M. Gray PETER APOCALYPSE OF See APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS, II, 4; LITERATURE, SUBAPOSTOLIC (Introduction).
PETER, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO See APOCRYPHAL GOSPEL; LITERATURE, SUB-APOSTOLIC.
PETER, THE FIRST EPISTLE OF Simon Peter was a native of Galilee. He was brought to the Saviour early in His ministry by his brother Andrew ( John 1:40,41). His call to the office of apostle is recorded in Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-16.
He occupied a distinguished place among the Lord’s disciples. In the four lists of the apostles found in the New Testament his name stands first ( Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13).
He is the chief figure in the first twelve chapters of the Acts. It is Peter that preaches the first Christian sermon (Acts 2), he that opens the door of the gospel to the Gentileworld in the house of the Roman soldier, Cornelius, and has the exquisite delight of witnessing scenes closely akin to those of Pentecost at Jerusalem ( Acts 10:44-47). It was given him to pronounce the solemn sentence on the guilty pair, Ananias and Sapphira, and to rebuke in the power of the Spirit the profane Simon Magus ( Acts 5:1-11; 8:18-23). In these and the like instances Peter exhibited the authority with which Christ had invested him ( Matthew 16:19) — an authority bestowed upon all the disciples ( John 20:22,23) — the power to bind and to loose.
Two Epistles are ascribed to Peter. Of the Second doubt and uncertainty have existed from the early ages to the present. The genuineness and authenticity of the First are above suspicion. 1. CANONICITY OF 1 PETER. 1. External Evidence: The proof of its integrity and trustworthiness is ample and altogether satisfactory. It falls into parts: external and internal. The historical attestation to its authority as an apostolic document is abundant. Polycarp, disciple of the apostle John, martyed in 156 AD at 86 or more years of age, refers to the Epistle in unmistakable terms. Irenaeus, a man who may well be said to represent both the East and the West, who was a disciple of Polycarp, quotes it copiously, we are assured. Clement of Alexandria, born circa 150 AD, died circa 216 AD, cites it many times in his Stromata, one passage ( 1 Peter 4:8) being quoted five times by actual count. “The testimony of the early-church is summed up by Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, III, xxiii, 3). He places it among those writings about which no question was ever raised, no doubt ever entertained by any portion of the catholic church” (Professor Lumby in Bible Comm.). 2. Internal Evidence: The internal evidence in favor of the Epistle is as conclusive as the external. The writer is well acquainted with our Lord’s teaching, and he makes use of it to illustrate and enforce his own. The references he makes to that teaching are many, and they include the four Gospels. He is familiar likewise with the Epistles, particularly James, Romans, and Ephesians. But what is especially noteworthy is the fact that 1 Peter in thought and language stands in close relation with the apostle’s discourses as recorded in Acts. By comparing 1 Peter 1:17 with Acts 10:34; 1 Peter 1:21 with Acts 2:32-36 and 10:40,41; 1 Peter 2:7,8 with Acts 4:10,11; 1 Peter 2:17 with Acts 10:28, and 1 Peter 3:18 with Acts 3:14, one will perceive how close the parallel between the two is.
The inference from these facts appears legitimate, namely, 1 Peter in diction and thought belongs to the same period of time and moves in the same circle of truth as do the other writings of the New Testament. The writer was an apostle, and he was Simon Peter. 2. THE ADDRESS.
Peter writes to the “elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion.” James employs the term “Dispersion” to designate believing Hebrews of the Twelve Tribes who lived outside the land ( James 1:1). The Jews included in it the whole body of Israelites scattered among the Gentilenations ( John 7:35). But we must not conclude from this that the Epistle is directed to Christian Jews alone. Gentile believers are by no means excluded, as 1 Peter 1:14,18,20; 2:10; 3:6; 4:3,4 abundantly attest. Indeed, the Gentile element in the churches of Asia Minor largely predominated at the time. The term “sojourners” represents a people away from home, strangers in a strange land; the word is translated “pilgrims” in 2:11 and Hebrews 11:13 — an appropriate name for those who confess that they have here no continuing city, but who seek one to come. While no doubt Peter had believing Israelites in mind when he wrote, for he never forgot that his ministry belonged primarily to the circumcision ( Galatians 2:7,8), he did not neglect the more numerous Gentileconverts, and to these he speaks as earnestly as to the others; and these also were “sojourners.”
Three of the four provinces Peter mentions, namely, Pontus, Cappadocia, and Asia, had representatives at the memorable Pentecost in Jerua ( Acts 2:9; 1 Peter 1:1). Many of these “sojourners of the Dispersion” may have believed the message of the apostle and accepted salvation through Jesus Christ, and returned home to tell the good news to their neighbors and friends. This would form a strong bond of union between them and Peter, and would open the way for him to address them in the familiar and tender manner of the Epistle. Silvanus: Silvanus appears to have been the bearer of the letter to the Christians of Asia Minor: “By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I account him, I have written unto you briefly” ( 1 Peter 5:12). It is an assumption to assert from these words that Silvanus was employed in the composition of the letter. The statement denotes rather the bearer than the writer or secretary.
Silvanus was Paul’s companion in the ministry to the Asiatic churches, and since we do not read of him as going with Paul to Jerusalem or to Rome, it is probable he returned from Corinth ( Acts 18:5) to Asia Minor and labored there. He and Peter met, where no one knows, though not a few think in Rome; as likely a guess perhaps is in Palestine. At any rate, Silvanus gave Peter an account of the conditions in the provinces, the afflictions and persecutions of believers, and the deep need they had for sympathy and counsel. He would, accordingly, be of the greatest assistance to the apostle. This seems to account for the peculiarity of language which Peter uses: “By Silvanus, our faithful brother, I have written unto you,” as if he had some share in furnishing the contents of the Epistle. 3. PLACE AND TIME OF COMPOSITION. 1. Babylon: Which?: According to 1 Peter 5:13 the Epistle was written in Babylon. But what place is meant? Two cities having this name were known in apostolic times.
One was in Egypt, probably on or near the present site of Cairo, and we are told that it was a “city of no small importance.” Epiphanius calls it “great Babylon” (Zahn). The absence, however, of all tradition that would tend to identify this place with the Babylon of the Epistle seems to shut it out of the problem. Babylon on the Euphrates is regarded by many as the place here designated. Jews in considerable numbers still dwelt in Babylon, notwithstanding the massacre of thousands in the reign of Claudius and the flight of multitudes into other countries. There is much to be said in favor of this city as the place meant, and yet the absence of tradition in its support is a very serious difficulty. A third view regards it as symbolical of Rome. Roman Catholics thus interpret it, and not a few Protestants so understand it. Tradition which runs back into the first half of the 2nd century appears to favor it, though much uncertainty and obscurity still surround the earliest ages of our era, in spite of the unwearied researches of modern scholars. Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, who lived in the first half of the 2nd century, appears to have had no doubt that Peter was martyred in Rome, and that the Babylon of the Epistle designates the Imperial City.
There are very serious objections to this interpretation. One is, that it is totally out of keeping with Peter’s manner of writing. Preeminently he is direct and matter-of-fact in his style. The metaphorical language he employs is mostly drawn from the Old Testament, or, if from himself, it is so common of use as to be well understood by all readers. It is altogether improbable that this man, plain of speech almost to bluntness, should interject in the midst of his personal explanations and final salutations such a mystical epithet with no hint of what he means by it, or why he employs such a mode of speech. 2. Babylon Not Rome: Besides, there is no evidence that Rome was called Babylon by the Christians until the Book of Revelation was published, i.e. circa 90-96 AD.
But if 1 Peter is dependent on the Apocalypse for this name of Babylon as Rome, Peter could not have been its author, for he died years before that date. The Epistle was written about 64 AD, at the time when persecutions under the infamous Nero were raging, at which time also the apostle himself bore his witness and went to his heavenly home, even as his Master had forewarned him ( John 21:18,19). While not unmindful of the great difficulties that beset the view, nevertheless we are reclined to the opinion that the Babylon of 1 Peter 5:13 is the ancient city on the Euphrates. See PETER, (SIMON). 4. DESIGN.
The apostle had more than one object in view when he addressed the “elect” in Asia Minor. The Lord Jesus had charged him, “Feed my lambs” “Tend my sheep” — “Feed my sheep” ( John 21:15-17). His two Epistles certify how faithfully he obeyed the charge. With loving and tender hand he feeds the lambs and tends the whole flock, warns against foes, guards from danger, and leads them into green pastures and beside still waters. He reminds them of the glorious inheritance they are to possess ( 1 Peter 1:3-9); he exhorts them to walk in the footsteps of the uncomplaining Christ ( 1 Peter 2:20-25); to be compassionate, loving, tender-hearted, humble-minded, and circumspect in their passage through this unfriendly world ( 1 Peter 3:8-12). He sums up the main duties of Christian life in the short but pregnant sentences, “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” ( 1 Peter 2:17). But his supreme object is to comfort and encourage them amid the persecutions and the sufferings to which they were unjustly subjected, and to fortify them against the heavier trials that were impending. 1. Persecution: From the beginning the Christian church was the object of suspicion and of hatred, and many of its adherents had suffered even unto death at the hands of both hostile Jews and fanatical Gentiles. But these afflictions were generally local and sporadic. There were churches of large membership and wide influence which were unmolested ( 1 Corinthians 4:8-10), and which seem to have been able to get fair treatment in heathen courts ( <460601> Corinthians 6:1-6). But the condition brought to view in 1 Peter is altogether different. Trials and afflictions of the severest sort assail them, and an enmity and hostility, bent on their destruction, pursue them with tireless energy. The whole Christian body shared in the persecutions (5:9).
The trial was a surprise (4:12), both in its intensity, for Peter calls it “fiery,” and for its unexpectedness. The apostle represents it as a savage beast of prey, a roaring lion, prowling about them to seize and devour (5:8,9).
A variety of charges were brought against the Christians, but they were calumnies and slanders, without any foundation in fact. They were spoken against as evil-doers ( 1 Peter 2:12 — kakopoion; malefici, Tacitus calls them). Their adversaries railed against them ( 1 Peter 3:9); reviled them ( 1 Peter 3:16); spake evil of them ( 1 Peter 4:4); reproached them for the name of Christ ( 1 Peter 4:14). These are ugly epithets. They show how bitter was the hatred and how intense the hostility felt by the heathen toward the Christians who dwelt among them. If there had been any justification for such antagonism in the character and the conduct of Christ’s people, if they were evil-doers, “haters of the human race,” to be classed with thieves and murderers and meddlers in other men’s matters ( 1 Peter 4:14-16), as they were accused of being and doing, we could understand the fierce opposition which assailed them and the savage purpose to suppress them altogether, but the only ground for the enmity felt against them was the refusal of the Christians to join their heathen neighbors in their idolatries, their feasts, winebibbings, revelings, carousings, lasciviousness and lusts in which once they freely shared ( Peter 4:2-4). The Asian saints had renounced all such wicked practices, had separated themselves from their old companions in riotous living and revolting debaucheries; they were witnesses against their immoralities, and hence, became the objects of intense dislike and persecuting animosity.
Peter bears testimony to the high character, the purity of life and the selfsacrificing devotion of these believers. In all Asia Minor no better company of men and women could be found than these disciples of Jesus Christ; none more submissive to constituted authority, none more ready to help their fellow-men in their distress and trouble. The head and front of their offending was their separation from the ungodly world about them, and their solemn witness against the awful sins done daily before their eyes. 2. Example of Christ: How mightily does the apostle minister to his suffering friends! He bids them remember the uncomplaining Christ when He was unjustly afflicted by cruel men ( 1 Peter 2:19-25). He tells them how they may effectively put to silence their accusers, and refute the calumnies and the slanders that are so cruelly circulated against them, namely, by living such pure and godly lives, by being so meek, docile, patient, stedfast, true and faithful to God, that none can credit the false accusations ( 1 Peter 2:1-5; 2:13-17; 3:8,9,13-17; 5:6-11). 3. Relation to State: There is little or no evidence in the Epistle that the persecutions were inflicted by imperial authority or that the state was dealing with the Christians as enemies who were dangerous to the peace of society. In the provinces to which the letter was sent there seems to have been complete absence of formal trial and punishment through the courts. Peter does not speak of Iegal proceedings against the Christians by the magistrates. On the contrary, he urges them to be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well ( Peter 2:13). They are to honor all men, to honor the king ( 1 Peter 2:17). This submission would scarcely be pressed if the state had already proscribed Christianity and decreed its total suppression. This the imperial government did later on, but there is no evidence furnished by the apostle that in 64 AD — the date of the Epistle — the government formally denounced Christians and determined to annihilate them.
Peter exhorts his fellow-believers to silence their persecutors by their upright conduct ( 1 Peter 2:15); they are thus to put them to shame who falsely accuse them ( 1 Peter 3:16); and they are not to combat evil with evil nor answer reviling with reviling, but contrariwise with blessing ( Peter 3:9). The antagonism here indicated obviously springs from the heathen populace; there is no hint of arraignment before magistrates or subjection to legal proceedings. It is unbelievers who revile and slander and denounce the people of God in the provinces.
Everything in the Epistle points to the time of Nero, 64 AD, and not to the time of Domitian or Trajan, or even Titus. In Rome vast multitudes of Christians were put to death in the most brutal fashion, so Tacitus relates, but the historian asserts that there was a sinister report to the effect that Nero himself instigated the burning of the city (July 19, 64), and “he (Nero) falsely diverted the charge on to a set of people to whom the vulgar gave the name of Christians (or Chrestians), and who were detested for the abominations which they perpetrated.” See NERO. Certain facts are clear from Tacitus’ statements, namely, that at the time the Christians were well known as a distinct sect; and that they were subjected to the dreadful sufferings inflicted upon them because they were Christians; and the persecutions at the time were instigated by the fear and the brutality of the tyrant. Peter likewise recognizes the fact that believers were disliked and calumniated by their heathen neighbors for the same reason — they were Christians: “If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye” ( 1 Peter 4:14); “But if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name” ( 1 Peter 4:16). But the imperial government at the time does not appear to have taken formal action for the overthrow of Christianity as a system inimical to the empire.
Of course, where direct charges of a criminal nature were made against Christians, judicial inquiry into them would be instituted. But in the Epistle what believers had to endure and suffer were the detraction, the vituperation, the opprobrium and the vile and malignant slanders with which the heathen assailed them. 5. CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE EPISTLE.
It has certain very distinct marks, some of which may be noticed. 1. Freedom in Structure: It does not observe a close logical sequence in its structure, as those of Paul so prominently display. There is truth in Dean Alford’s statement, although perhaps he pushes it rather far: “The link between one idea and another is found, not in any progress of unfolding thought or argument, but in the last word of the foregoing sentence which is taken up and followed out in the new one” (see 1 Peter 1:5,6,7,9,10, etc.). This peculiarity, however, does not interfere with the unity of the epistle, it rather adds to it, and it gives to it a vividness which it otherwise might not possess. 2. Hope: It is the epistle of hope. How much it makes of this prime grace! Peter seems never to grow weary of describing it and exalting its radiant beauty and desirableness. He calls it a living hope ( 1 Peter 1:3). It is born by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and it calmly awaits the glorious inheritance that soon will be enjoyed. It is a hope that will be perfected at the advent of Christ ( 1 Peter 1:13), and it is set on God, hence, cannot fail ( 1 Peter 1:21). With sickly, dying hope we are quite familiar. The device which a certain state (South Carolina) has inscribed on its Great Seal is, dum spiro spero (“while I live I hope”). Such a hope may serve for a commonwealth whose existence is limited to this world, but a man needs something more enduring, something imperishable. “It is a fearful thing when a man and his hopes die together” (Leighton). A Christian can confidently write, “when I am dying I hope,” for his is a living hope that fills and thrills the future with a blessed reality. 3. Inheritance: The Christian’s glorious inheritance ( 1 Peter 1:3-5) is depicted in one of the most comprehensive and suggestive descriptions of the believer’s heritage found in the Bible. It is declared to be “incorruptible.” The word points to its substance. It is imperishable. In it there is no element of decay.
It holds in its heart no germ of death. Like its author, the living God, it is unchangeable and eternal. It is “undefiled.” It is not stained by sin nor polluted by crime, either in its acquisition or its possession. Human heritages generally are marred by human wrongs. There is hardly an acre of soil that is not tainted by fraud or violence. The coin that passes from hand to hand is in many instances soiled by guilt. But this of Peter is absolutely pure and holy. It “fadeth not away.” It never withers. Ages do not impair its beauty or dim its luster. Its bloom will remain fresh, its fragrance undiminished, forever. Thus our inheritance “is glorious in these respects: it is in its substance, incorruptible: in its purity, undefiled: in beauty, unfading” (Alford).
Now why does the apostle in the very opening of his Epistle give so lofty a place to the saints’ inheritance? He does so in order to comfort and encourage his fellow-believers with the consolations of the Lord Himself, that they may bear stedfastly their manifold sufferings and triumph over their weighty afflictions. Hence, he writes: “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, that the proof of your faith .... may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” ( 1 Peter 1:6-9).
He lifts their thoughts and their gaze up far above the troubles and distresses around them to Him whose they are, whom they serve, who will by and by crown them with immortal bliss. 4. Testimony of Prophets: The prophets and their study are described in 1 Peter 1:10,11: “Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you,” etc. With Peter and his fellow-apostles the testimony of the prophets was authoritative and final. Where they had a clear word from the Old Testament Scriptures, they felt that every question was settled and controversy was at an end. (1) Salvation.
The burden of the prophetic communications was salvation. The prophets spoke on many subjects; they had to exhort, rebuke and entreat their wayward contemporaries; to denounce sin, to announce judgment on the guilty and to recall them to repentance and reformation. But ever and anon their vision was filled with the future and its blessedness, their voices would swell with rapture as they saw and foretold the great salvation to be brought to the world and the grace that would then so copiously go out unto men; for the Messiah was to appear and to suffer, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. (2) Spirit of Christ.
The prophet’s messages were the messages of the Spirit of Christ. It was He who testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow. The prophets always disclaim any part in the origination of their messages. They affirm in the most positive and solemn manner that their predictions are not their own, but God’s. Hence, they are called the Lord’s “spokesmen,” the Lord’s “mouth” ( Exodus 4:15,16; 7:1,2; Peter 1:21). (3) Prophetic Study.
They “sought and searched diligently.” These terms are strong and emphatic. They pored over the predictions which the Spirit had revealed through themselves; they scrutinized them with eager and prolonged inquiry. Two points engaged their attention: “What time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto.” The first “what” relates to the time of the Messiah’s advent; the second “what” to the events and circumstances which would attend His appearing — a fruitful theme, one that engages the inquiry of nobler students — “which things angels desire to look into.” 5. The Christian Brotherhood: The Christian brotherhood is described in 1 Peter 2:9,10: “But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The brotherhood is the new Israel. The apostle describes it in terms which were applied to the old Israel, but which include more than the ancient Israel ever realized. The exalted conception is by one who was a strict Jew, the apostle of the circumcision, and who held somewhat closely to the Mosaic institutions to the end of his life. All the more significant on this account is his testimony.
The descriptive titles which he here gathers together and places on the brow of the Christian brotherhood are of the most illustrious sort. A distinguished man, a noble, a general, a statesman, will sometimes appear in public with his breast covered with resplendent decorations which mark his rank or his achievements. But such distinctions sink into insignificance alongside of this dazzling cluster. This is the heavenly nobility, the royal family of the Lord of glory, decorated with badges brighter far than ever glittered on the breast of king or emperor. But even in this instance Peter reminds Christians of the glorious destiny awaiting them that they may be strengthened and stimulated to stedfastness and loyalty in the midst of the trials and afflictions to which they are subjected ( 1 Peter 2:11,12) 6. Spirits in Prison: A study of 1 Peter 3:18-20 — “preached unto the spirits in prison” — should here follow in the present cursory review of the characteristic features of the Epistle, but anything like an adequate examination of this difficult passage would require more space than could be given it. Suffice it to quote a sentence from Professor Zahn (New Testament, II, 289) with which the writer agrees: “That interpretation of 1 Peter 3:19 is in all probability correct, according to which a preaching of Christ at the time of the Flood is referred to, i.e. a preaching through Noah, so that Noah is here represented as a preacher of righteousness, as in 2 Peter 2:5.” See PRISON, SPIRITS IN. 6. ANALYSIS.
A very general analysis of the Epistle is the following: (1) Christian privileges, 1 Peter 1 through 2:10. (2) Christian duties, 1 Peter 2:11 through 4:11. (3) Persecutions and trials, 1 Peter 4:12 through 5:11. (4) Personal matters and salutations, 1 Peter 5:12-14.
The chief doctrines of Christianity are found in 1 Peter. The vicarious suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ (2:24; 3:18); the new birth (1:3,13); redemption by the blood of Christ (1:18,19), faith, hope, patient endurance under unjust suffering, and holiness of life, are all pressed upon Christians with great earnestness and force.
LITERATURE.
Bible Dicts., DB, HDB, Davis, DB, EB, Sch-Herz, volume VIII; Intros:
Westcott, Salmon, Zahn; Vincent, Word Studies; Commentaries: Bible Commentary, Cambridge Bible for Schools; Lillie, Jameson, Fausett and Brown, Alford, Bigg, Mayor (on 2 Peter), Johnstone (homiletical), New York, 1888; Hort, 1 Peter 1:1 through 2:17, New York, 1898. William G. Moorehead PETER, THE SECOND EPISTLE OF The Second Epistle of Peter comes to us with less historical support of its genuineness than any other book of the New Testament. In consequence, its right to a place in the Canon is seriously doubted by some and denied by others. There are those who confidently assign it to the Apostolic age and to the apostle whose name it bears in the New Testament, while there are those who as confidently assign it to post-apostolic times, and repudiate its Petrine authorship. It is not the aim of this article to trace the history of the two opinions indicated above, nor to cite largely the arguments employed in the defense of the Epistle, or those in opposition to it; nor to attempt to settle a question which for more than a thousand years the wisest and best men of the Christian church have been unable to settle. Such a procedure would in this case be the height of presumption. What is here attempted is to point out as briefly as may be some of the reasons for doubting its canonicity, on the one hand, and those in its support, on the other. 1. EXTERNAL EVIDENCE IN FAVOR OF ITS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY. 1. Ancient Opinion: It must be admitted at the very outset that the evidence is meager. The first writer who mentions it by name is Origen (circa 240 AD). In his homily on Josh, he speaks of the two Epistles of Peter. In another place he quotes 2 Peter 1:4: “partakers of the divine nature,” and gives it the name of Scripture. But Origen is careful to say that its authority was questioned: “Peter has left one acknowledged Epistle, and perhaps a second, for this is contested.” Eusebins, bishop of Caesarea, regarded it with even more suspicion than did Origen, and accordingly he placed it among the disputed books (Antilegomena). Jerome knew the scruples which many entertained touching the Epistle, but notwithstanding, he included it in his Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) Version. The main reason for Jerome’s uncertainty about it he states to be “difference of style from Peter.” He accounts for the difference by supposing that the apostle “made use of two different interpreters.” As great teachers and scholars as Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome, e.g. Athanasius, Augustine, Epiphanius, Rufinus and Cyril, received it as genuine. At the Reformation Erasmus rejected 2 Peter; Luther seems to have had no doubt of its genuineness; while Calvin felt some hesitancy because of the “discrepancies between it and the First.” In the 4th century, two church councils (Laodicea, circa 372, and Carthage, 397) formally recognized it and placed it in the Canon as equal in authority with the other books of the New Testament. 2. Modern Opinion: The opinion of modern scholars as to references in post-apostolic literature to 2 Peter is not only divided, but in many instances antagonistic. Salmon, Warfield, Zahn and others strongly hold that such references are to be found in the writings of the 2nd century, perhaps in one or two documents of the 1st. They insist with abundant proof in support of their contention that Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Didache, and Clement of Rome, were all acquainted with the Epistle and made allusions to it in their writings. Weighing as honestly and as thoroughly as one can the citations made from that literature, one is strongly disposed to accept the evidence as legitimate and conclusive. 3. Dr. Chase’s View: On the other side, Professor Chase (HDB) has subjected all such references and allusions in the primitive writings to a very keen and searching criticism, and it must be frankly confessed that he has reduced the strength of the evidence and argument very greatly. But Professor Chase himself, from the remains of the ancient literature, and from the internal evidence of the Epistle itself, arrives at the conclusion that 2 Peter is not at all an apostolic document, that it certainly was not written by Peter, nor in the 1st century of our era, but about the middle of the 2nd century, say AD. If this view is accepted, we must pronounce the Epistle a forgery, pseudonymous and pseudepigraphic, with no more right to be in the New Testament than has the Apocalypse of Peter or the romance of the Shepherd of Hermas. 2. INTERNAL EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF ITS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY. 1. Style and Diction: At first sight, this seems to be not altogether reassuring, but looking deeper into the letter itself we arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. Difference of style between the two Epistles attributed to Peter is given as one prominent reason for questioning the validity of the Second. It is mainly if not entirely on this ground that Jerome, Calvin and others hesitated to receive it. It is noteworthy that in the earlier times objections were not urged because of its relation to Jude — its borrowing from Jude, as is often charged in our days. Its alleged dissimilarity to 1 Peter in diction, structure, and measurably in its contents, explains why it was discredited. Admitting that there is substantial ground for this criticism, nevertheless there are not a few instances in which words rarely found in the other Biblical books are common to the two Epistles. Some examples are given in proof: “precious” ( 1 Peter 1:7,19; 2 Peter 1:1) (a compound), occurring often in Rev, not often in other books; “virtue” ( 1 Peter 2:9, the King James Version margin; 2 Peter 1:3), found elsewhere only in Philippians 4:8; “supply” ( 1 Peter 4:11; 2 Peter 1:5), rare in other books; “love of brethren” ( 1 Peter 1:22; 2 Peter 1:7 margin), only in three places besides; “behold” ( 1 Peter 2:12; 3:2 (verbal form); 2 Peter 1:16) (eyewitnesses), not found elsewhere in the New Testament; “without blemish,” “without spot” ( 1 Peter 1:19; 2 Peter 3:14) (order of words reversed); also positive side ( 2 Peter 2:13), “spots and blemishes”; the words do not occur elsewhere; “ungodly” ( 1 Peter 4:18; 2 Peter 2:5; 3:7) occurs in but three other places, except Jude, which has it three times. 2. Reason of Dissimilarities: Besides, there are many striking similarities in thought and diction in the two Epistles. Two instances are given. In the First the saved are described as the “elect” ( 1 Peter 1:1), and as “called” ( 1 Peter 2:21). In the Second, the two great truths are brought together ( 2 Peter 1:10).
Likewise, in both stress is laid upon prophecy ( 1 Peter 1:10-12; Peter 1:19-21). Now, all this tends to prove that the writer of the Second Epistle was well acquainted with the peculiarity of diction employed in the First, and that he made use purposely of its uncommon terms, or, if the Second was written by another than the apostle, he succeeded surprisingly well in imitating his style. The latter alternative does not merit discussion.
The differences arise mainly out of the subjects treated in the two, and the design which the writer seems to have kept constantly in view. In the First, he sought to comfort, strengthen and sustain his persecuted brethren; this is his supreme aim. In the Second he is anxious to warn and to shield those whom he addresses as to impending dangers more disastrous and more to be feared than the sufferings inflicted by a hostile world. In the First, judgment had begun at the house of God ( 1 Peter 4:17,18), and believers were to arm, not to resist their persecutors, but for martyrdom ( 1 Peter 4:1). But in the Second, a very different condition of things is brought to view. Ungodly men holding degrading principles and practicing shocking immoralities were threatening to invade the Christian brotherhood. Evil of a most vicious sort was detected by the watchful eye of the writer, and he knew full well that if suffered to continue and grow, as assuredly it would, utter ruin for the cause he loved would ensue.
Therefore he forewarns and denounces the tendency with the spirit and energy of a prophet of God. 3. Claim to Petrine Authorship: 2 Peter opens with the positive statement of Peter’s authorship: “Simon [“Symeon,” Nestle, Weymouth] Peter, a servant .... of Jesus Christ.” The insertion of “Symeon,” the old Hebrew name, in the forefront of the document is significant. If a forger had been writing in Peter’s name he would have begun his letter almost certainly by copying the First Epistle and simply written, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” Note also that “servant” is introduced into the Second Epistle, but absent from the First.
He designates himself as a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. “Although several pseudonymous writings appear in early Christian literature, there is no Christian document of value written by a forger who uses the name of an apostle” (Dods, SBD). If this important statement is accepted at its full worth, it goes far to settle the question of authorship. Both “servant” and “apostle” appear in the opening sentence, and the writer claims both for himself. 4. Christian Earnestness: Furthermore, the writer is distinctively a Christian; he addresses those who “have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and the Saviour Jesus Christ” ( 2 Peter 1:1). His is the same precious faith which all the saints enjoy; his also the exceeding great and precious promises of God, and he expects with all other believers to be made a partaker of the divine nature ( 2 Peter 1:3,4). Is it at all probable that one with such a faith and such expectations would deliberately forge the name of Simon Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ? The writer is unsparing in his denunciations of false teachers, corrupters of others, and perverters of the truth. He instances the fall of the angels, the destruction of Sodom, the rebuke of Balaam, as examples of the doom of those who know the truth and yet live in shameful sin and crime. Would a Christian and servant of Jesus Christ be at all likely to commit in the most flagrant manner the things he so vehemently condemns? If the writer was not the apostle Peter, he was a false teacher, a corrupter of others, and a hypocrite, which seems incredible to us. 5. Relation of Apostles: Moreover, he associates himself with the other apostles ( 2 Peter 3:2), is in full sympathy with Paul and is acquainted with Paul’s Epistles ( Peter 3:15,16), and he holds and teaches the same fundamental truth. An apostolic spirit breathes through this document such as is generally absent from spurious writings and such as a forger does not exhibit. He is anxiously concerned for the purity of the faith and for the holiness and fidelity of believers. He exhorts them to give “diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight,” and that they “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” ( 2 Peter 3:14,18). All this and much more of like devout teaching is apostolic in tone and betokens genuineness and reality. 6. Autobiographical Allusions: Still further, the writer appeals to certain facts in the life of Peter that are almost autobiographical. For example, he speaks of “putting off of my tabernacle .... even as our Lord Jesus Christ signified unto me” ( 2 Peter 1:13,14). The reference undoubtedly is to John 13:36; 21:18,19. He claims to have been a witness of the Transfiguration ( 2 Peter 1:16-18).
He indirectly claims the inspiration without which true prophecy is impossible ( 2 Peter 1:19-21). He asserts that this is his “second epistle” ( 2 Peter 3:1). This testimony on the part of the writer is personal, emphatic and direct. It reads much like Peter’s plain way of speaking of himself at the Council of Jerusalem, “Ye know that a good while ago God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and believe” ( Acts 15:7). 7. Quoted by Jude: Once more, Jude appears to quote from 2 Peter (see JUDE). The question of the priority of the two Epistles is by no means settled. Many recent writers give the precedence to Jude, others to Peter. One of the highest authority, by Zahn (New Testament, II, 238 ff), argues with great force in support of the view that Peter’s is the older and that Jude cites from it. The arguments in favor of this latter belief are here only summarized: (1) Jude cites from writings other than Scripture, as the apocryphal Book of Enoch and perhaps also from the Assumption of Moses. Peter scarcely quotes from any source. The former would be more likely to cite 2 Peter through 3:3 than the latter from Jude 1:4-16. The resemblance between these two sections of the Epistles is so close that one must have drawn both thoughts and language from the other, or both availed themselves of the same documentary source. Of this latter supposition antiquity furnishes no hint. The differences are as marked as the resemblances, and hence, the one who cites from the other is no servile copyist. The real difference between the two is that between prediction and fulfillment. (2) Peter predicts the advent of the “false teachers” ( 2 Peter 2:1). His principal verbs are in the future tense ( 2 Peter 2:1,2,3,12,13). He employs the present tense indeed in describing the character and the conduct of the libertines ( 2 Peter 2:17,18), but their presence and their disastrous teaching he puts in the future ( 2 Peter 2:13,14). The deadly germs were there when he wrote, the rank growth would speedily follow.
Jude, on the contrary, throughout his short letter, speaks of the same corrupters as already come; his objects are present, they are in the midst of the people of God and actively doing their deadly work. (3) Jude twice refers to certain sources of information touching these enemies, with which his readers were acquainted and which were designed to warn them of the danger and keep them from betrayal. The two sources were (a) a writing that spoke of “ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ,” 1:4; (b) the prediction of Peter that “in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts” ( 2 Peter 3:3). Jude urges his readers to remember the words which the apostles of Christ had before spoken, and then he cites this prediction of Peter in almost the exact terms: “In the last time there shall be mockers, walking after their ungodly lusts.”
He applies the prediction to the libertines then and there practicing their unholy deeds: “These are they, who make separations, sensual, having not the Spirit.” The conclusion is inevitable. Jude quotes from Peter. (4) Chronology gives the priority to Peter. The apostle died between 63-67 AD, probably in 64 AD. The vast majority of recent interpreters date the Epistle of Jude at 75-80 AD. There is no doubt but that it was written after the destruction of Jerusalem,70 AD. Accordingly, it is later than Peter’s death by from 5 to 10 years. Jude quoted from Peter. This being so, it follows that his Epistle endorses that of Peter as being apostolic and likewise canonical, for he recognizes Peter as an apostle and gifted with the prophetic spirit. See JUDE; PETER (SIMON). 3. DOCTRINAL TEACHINGS OF THE EPISTLE.
Only some of the more important features of the Epistle are here noticed. If all were treated as they deserve to be, this article would expand into the proportions of a commentary. 1. Saving Knowledge: The key-word of 1 Peter is Hope; of 2 Peter Knowledge. The apostle gives to this gift of grace a prominent place (1:2,3,5,6,8; 2:20,21; 3:18). The term he uses is largely in the intensified form, namely, “full knowledge”; that is, knowledge that rests on fact, knowledge that comes to the believer as something supernatural, as being communicated by the Spirit of God, and therefore is true and complete. The grace and peace Peter asks for the saints should issue in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, who has granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him (1:2,3). (1) Basis:
The basis of saving knowledge rests on the “exceeding great and precious promises” which He has made us, and which become ours by faith in Him.
It leads us into acquaintance with the righteousness of God, into the realization of our calling as saints, and of the glorious destiny that awaits them who know and trust God ( 2 Peter 1:2-4 the King James Version). (2) Growth:
The growth in true knowledge ( 2 Peter 1:5-11): “In your faith supply virtue,” etc. He does not ask that faith be supplied, that these believers already had. But starting with faith as the foundation of all, let the other excellencies and virtues be richly and abundantly furnished. The original word for “supply” is derived from the Greek “chorus,” in behalf of the members of which the manager supplied all the equipments needed. And Peter appropriating that fact urges Christians to give all diligence to furnish themselves with the gifts and grace he mentions, which are far more needful to the Christian than were the equipments for the ancient chorus. See SUPPLY.
What a magnificent cluster Peter here gives! Each springs out of the other; each is strengthened by the other. “In your faith supply virtue,” or fortitude, manliness; and let virtue supply “knowledge.” Knowledge by itself tends to puff up. But tempered by the others, by self-control, by patience, by godliness, by love, it becomes one of the most essential and powerful forces in the Christian character. Paul begins his list of the “fruits of the Spirit” with love ( Galatians 5:22); Peter ends his with love. It is like a chain, each link holds fast to its fellow and is a part of the whole. It matters little at which end of the chain we begin to count, for the links form a unity, and to touch one is to touch all. God freely gives what we need and all we need; we are to “add all diligence” to supply the need richly. (3) Inerrancy of Sources:
Inerrancy of the sources of saving knowledge ( 2 Peter 1:16-21). The apostle rests his teaching on two trustworthy facts: (a) the fact and meaning of the Saviour’s Transfiguration; (b) the fact of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Taken together these two facts invest his teaching with infallible certainty. “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” Pagan mythology, so widely prevailing at the time in Asia Minor, indeed over the whole heathen world, was composed of “myths” (Peter’s word) skillfully framed and poetically embellished.
Jewish cabalism, and the wild vagaries springing up in the Christian brotherhood itself had no place in the gospel message nor in apostolic teaching. What Peter and his fellow-disciples taught was the very truth of God, for at the Transfiguration they saw the outshining glory of the Son of God, they heard the Divine Voice, they beheld the two visitants from the unseen world, Moses and Elijah. Of the majestic scene they were eyewitnesses. Peter adds, “And we have the word of prophecy made more sure.” The Transfiguration has confirmed what the prophets say touching the future and God’s purpose to fill the earth with His glory; every word He has spoken is to be made good.
Moreover, the apostle appeals to the inspiration of the prophets in confirmation of his teaching: “No prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.” He recognizes this as primary truth, that prophecy is not of one’s own origination, nor is it to be tied up to the times of the prophet. The prophecy was brought to him, as it is brought to us. Peter and his fellow-believers did not follow “cunningly devised fables”; they were borne along in their prophetic utterances by the Spirit. 2. The Three Worlds: Of course in 2 Peter 3:5-13, where the three worlds are spoken of, three globes are not meant, but three vast epochs, three enormous periods in earth’s history. The apostle divides its history into three clearly defined sections, and mentions some of the characteristic features of each. (1) The Old World. “The world that then was” ( 2 Peter 3:6): this is his first world. It is the antediluvian world that is meant, the world which the Flood overwhelmed.
Scoffers in Peter’s time asked, no doubt with a sneer, “Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” ( Peter 3:4). This is a surprisingly modern inquiry. Mockers then as now appealed to the continuity of natural processes, and to the inviolability of Nature’s laws. Nature keeps her track with unwavering precision. There is no sign of any change; no catastrophe is likely, is possible. The promise of His coming fails. Peter reminds the skeptics that a mighty cataclysm did once overwhelm the world. The Flood drowned every living thing, save those sheltered within the ark. As this is a historical fact, the query of the mockers is foolish. (2) The Present World.
Peter’s second world is “the heavens that now are, and the earth” ( Peter 3:7). It is the present order of things in sky and earth that is meant.
He asserts that this world is “stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” The margin reads, “stored with fire,” i.e., it contains within itself the agency by which it may be consumed. The world that now is, is held in strict custody, reserved, not for a second deluge, but for fire. The advent of Christ and the judgment are associated in Scripture with fire: “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him” ( Psalm 50:3 the King James Version; compare Isaiah 66:15,16; Daniel 7:10,11). Nor is the New Testament silent on this point: “the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire” ( 2 Thessalonians 1:7).
Ample materials are stored up in the earth for its consumption by fire. The oils and the gases so inflammable and destructive in their energy can, when it may please God to release these forces, speedily reduce the present order of things to ashes. Peter’s language does not signify earth’s annihilation, nor its dissolution as an organic body, nor the end of time. He speaks of cosmical convulsions and physical revolutions of both sky and earth, such as shall transform the planet into something glorious and beautiful. (3) The New World.
The third world is this: “But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” ( 2 Peter 3:13). This is Paradise restored. We have sure ground for the expectancy; the last two chapters of Revelation contain the prophetic fulfillment: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.” The accomplishment of these sublime predictions will involve a fundamental change in the constitution of the globe. Life would be impossible if the sea was no more. But He who made the world can surely recreate it, clearing it of every vestige of sin and misery and imperfection, fitting it for the dwelling of perfect beings and of His supreme glory. Immanuel will dwell with the holy inhabitants of the new earth and in the new Jerusalem which is to descend into the glorified planet. John is bidden, “Write, for the predictions are faithful and true; they shall not fail to come to pass.” “Earth, thou grain of sand on the shore of the Universe of God, On thee has the Lord a great work to complete.”
LITERATURE. See at end of PETER, FIRST EPISTLE OF; PETER (SIMON).
William G. Moorehead PETHAHIAH <peth-a-hi’-a > ([ hy;j]t”P] , Pethachyah ], “Yah opens up”): (1) Chief of the 19th course of priests ( 1 Chronicles 24:16). (2) One of the Levites having “foreign wives” ( Ezra 10:23; Nehemiah 9:5; “Patheus” in 1 Esdras 9:23). (3) Son of Meshezabeel, descendant of Judah, who was “at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people” ( Nehemiah 11:24).
PETHOR <pe’-thor > ([ rwOtP] , pethor ]; [ Faqou~ra, Phathoura ], [ Baqou~ra, Bathoura ): The dwelling-place of Balaam, situated on “the river” (the Euphrates) ( Numbers 22:5). 1. POSSIBLY THE ASYRIAN PITRU:
In Deuteronomy 23:4, it is further described as being in Mesopotamia (Aram-naharaim). Pethor is identified with the Pedru(i) of the geographical lists of Thothmes III (circa 1500 BC) and the Pitru (Pithru) of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser II, who states that in his 3rd year (857 BC) he took the city Ana-Assur-utir-acbat (meaning: “I founded (it) anew for Assur”), which the Hattaa (Hittites) called Pitru. He says that it lay on the farther (western) bank of the Euphrates, by the Sagurru or Sagura River, the modern Sajur. The importance of Pitru is indicated by the fact that he received there the tribute of the kings of Carchemish, Comagene, Melitene and other districts. 2. DIFFICULTIES OF IDENTIFICATION:
As Pitru is about 400 miles from Moab, this meant for Balaam a three or four weeks’ journey, but the messengers sent to fetch him, though they had to travel that distance twice, could naturally, by pressing their mounts, have performed it much less time. Doubt may likewise be entertained as to the identity of Pethor with Pitru by the absence in the latter of the o, which would lead one to expect rather the Assyrian form Pit(h)uru. Shalmaneser, however, says that Pitru was the Hittite name, and that may account for it.
With regard to the derivation, nothing can at present be said, except that, as a Hittite name, Tomkins (Records of the Past, V (London, 1891), 38) has compared the name Pitru with the Pteria of Herodotus i.76 (identified with Bog-haz-keui, the great Hittite capital in Cappadocia, in ancient times called Hattu). T. G. Pinches PETHUEL <pe-thu’-el > ([ laeWtP] , pethu’el ], “God’s opening”): Father of Joel the prophet ( Joel 1:1).
PETITION <pe-tish’-un > : Used in English Versions of the Bible only as a noun, usually as representing the Hebrew [ hl;aev] , she’elah ] ( Psalm 20:5, [ hl;a;v]m; , mish’alah ), from the common verb [ la”v; , sha’al ], “to ask.”
The noun, consequently, has no technical meaning, and may be used indifferently in the active (Est 7:2) or passive ( 1 Samuel 1:27) sense, or for a petition addressed to either God ( 1 Samuel 1:17) or man ( Kings 2:16), while in Judges 8:24; Job 6:8; <19A615> Psalm 106:15, it is rendered simply “request.” Otherwise “petition” represents the Aramaic [ W[B; , ba`u ] ( Daniel 6:7,13), the Greek [ai]thma, aitema ] ( 1 John 5:15), and [de>hsiv, deesis (1 Macc 7:37, the Revised Version (British and American) “supplication”), and the Latin oratio (2 Esdras 8:24). Burton Scott Easton PETRA <pe’-tra > . See SELA.
PEULTHAI; PEULLETHAI <pe-ul’-thi > , <pe-ul’-e-thi > ([ yt”L][uP] , pe`ullethay ], “Yah’s seed”): One of the “porters,” 8th son of Obed-edom ( 1 Chronicles 26:5).
PHAATH MOAB <fa’-ath > , <mo’-ab > (Codex Alexandrinus [ Faa S. Angus PHACARETH <fak’-a-reth > ([ Fakare>q, Phakareth ], but Codex Vaticanus, followed by Swete, correctly reads [ F. Sabeih>, Sabeie ], together, Codex Alexandrinus followed by the King James Version reading “sons of Sabie,” as a distinct family,1 Esdras 5:34): The same as “Pochereth-hazzebaim” of Ezra 2:57.
PHAISUR <fa’-sur > , <fa-i’-sur > (Codex Vaticanus [ Faisou>r, Phaisour ]; Codex Alexandrinus [ Faisou>, Phaisou ]): Head of one of the families of priests some of whom had taken “strange wives” (1 Esdras 9:22) = “Pashhur” of Ezra 10:22; styled “Phassurus” in 1 Esdras 5:25.
PHALDEUS <fal-de’-us > (Codex Alexandrinus (Fritzsche) [ Faldai~ov, Phaldaios ]; Codex Vaticanus (Swete) [ Faladai~ov, Phaladaios ]; the King James Version Phaldaius): One of those who stood on Ezra’s left hand when he expounded the Law (1 Esdras 9:44) = “Pedaiah” of Nehemiah 8:4.
PHALEAS <fa-le’-as > ([ Falai~av, Phalaias ): A family of “temple-servants” who went up with Zerubbabel from Babylon (1 Esdras 5:29) = “Padon” of Ezra 2:44.
PHALEC <fa’-lek > ([ Fale>k, Phalek ], Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek, Fa>lek, Phalek ): the King James Version; Greek form of “Peleg” (thus the Revised Version (British and American)) ( Luke 3:35).
PHALIAS <fa-li’-as > ([ Fali>av, Phalias ] Codex Alexandrinus [ Fia>qav, Phiathas ]; the King James Version, Biatas, following Aldine [ Bia>tav, Biatas ): One of the Levites who read and explained the Law to the multitude (1 Esdras 9:48) = “Pelaiah” of Nehemiah 8:7.
PHALLU <fal’-oo > ([ aWLP” , pallu’ ]). See PALLU.
PHALTI <fal’-ti > ([ yfil]P” , palTi ). See PALTI.
PHALTIEL <fal’-ti-el > ([ laeyfil]P” , palTi’el ]; Syriac “Psaltiel”; Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) and the King James Version Salathiel): “The captain of the people” who came to Esdras between his first and second vision (2 Esdras 5:16). Fritzsche (Libri Apocrypha vet. test.) reads “Phalthiel.” See PALTIEL.
PHANUEL <fan-u’-el > , <fan’-u-el > ([ laeWnP] , penu’el ], “vision of God”; [ Fanouh>l, Phanouel ]): Parent of Anna ( Luke 2:36). See PENIEL.
PHARAKIM <far’-a-kim > ([ Farakei>m, Pharakeim ] Codex Vaticanus [ Farake>m, Pharakem ]; the King James Version Pharacim): One of the families of temple-servants who returned with Zerubbabel (1 Esdras 5:31; not found in Ezra or Nehemiah).
PHARAOH <fa’-ro > , <fa’-ra-o > ([ h[oriP” , par`oh ]; [ Faraw>, Pharao ); Egyptian per aa, “great house”): 1. THE USE OF NAME IN EGYPT:
Many and strange differences of opinion have been expressed concerning the use of this name in Egypt and elsewhere, because of its importance in critical discussions (see below). Encyclopaedia Biblica says “a name given to all Egyptian kings in the Bible”; it also claims that the name could not have been received by the Hebrews before 1000 BC. HDB (III, 819) says that a letter was addressed to Amenhotep as “Pharaoh, lord of,” etc.
According to Winckler’s theory of a North Arabian Musri, it was the Hebrews alone in ancient times who adopted the term Pharaoh from the Egyptians, the name not being found even in the Tell el-Amarna Letters or anywhere else in cuneiform literature for the king of Egypt. Such a result is obtained according to Winckler’s theory by referring every reference in cuneiform to “Pir`u, king of Musri” to the North Arabian country.
In Egyptian inscriptions the term “Pharaoh” occurs from the Pyramid inscriptions onward. At first it is used with distinct reference to its etymology and not clearly as an independent title. Pharaoh, “great house,” like Sublime Porte, was applied first as a metaphor to mean the government. But as in such an absolute monarchy as Egypt the king was the government, Pharaoh was, by a figure of speech, put for the king. Its use in Egypt clearly as a title denoting the ruler, whoever he might be, as Caesar among the Romans, Shah among Persians, and Czar among Russians, belongs to a few dynasties probably beginning with the XVIIIth, and certainly ending not later than the XXIst, when we read of Pharaoh Sheshonk, but the Bible does not speak so, but calls him “Shishak king of Egypt” ( 1 Kings 14:25). This new custom in the use of the title Pharaoh does not appear in the Bible until we have “Pharaoh-necoh.” Pharaoh is certainly used in the time of Rameses II, in the “Tale of Two Brothers” (Records of the Past, 1st series, II, 137; Recueil de Travaux, XXI, 13, l. 1). 2. SIGNIFICANCE OF USE IN THE BIBLE:
It appears from the preceding that Biblical writers use this word with historical accuracy for the various periods to which it refers, not only for the time of Necoh and Hophra, but for the time of Rameses II, and use the style of the time of Rameses II for the time of Abraham and Joseph, concerning which we have not certain knowledge of its use in Egypt. It is strongly urged that writers of the 7th or 5th century BC would not have been able to make such historical use of this name, while, to a writer at the time of the exodus, it would have been perfectly natural to use Pharaoh for the king without any further name; and historical writers in the time of the prophets in Palestine would likewise have used Pharaoh-necoh and Pharaoh Hophra. This evidence is not absolutely conclusive for an early authorship of the Pentateuch and historical books, but is very difficult to set aside for a late authorship (compare Genesis 12:14-20; 41:14; Exodus 1:11; 3:11; 1 Kings 3:1; 14:25; 2 Kings 23:29; Jeremiah 44:30; also 1 Kings 11:19; 2 Kings 18:21; Chronicles 4:18). M. G. Kyle PHARAOH HOPHRA <hof’-ra > ([ [r”p]j;h[or]P” , par`oh chophra` ]; [ OuJafrh>, Houaphre ]): 1. SOLE KING, 589-570 BC:
He is so called in Scripture ( Jeremiah 44:30); Herodotus calls him Apries (ii.169). He is known on the monuments as Uah `ab `ra]. He was the son of Psammetichus II, whose Greek mercenaries have left in scriptions upon the rocks of Abu-Sim-bel, and the grandson of Pharaohnecoh.
He reigned alone from 589 BC to 570 BC, and jointly, by compulsion of his people, with his son-in-law Aahmes (Greek Amasis ) for some years longer. 2. ALLIANCE WITH ZEDEKIAH:
No sooner had he mounted the throne than he yielded to the overtures of Zedekiah of Judah, who thought Hophra’s accession a good opportunity for throwing off the yoke of Babylon. So, as Ezekiel says (17:15), “he rebelled against him (Nebuchadrezzar) in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people.” Zedekiah had entered into the intrigue against the advice of Jeremiah, and it proved fatal to Zedekiah and the kingdom. Nebuchadrezzar was not slow to punish the disloyalty of his vassal, and in a brief space his armies were beleaguering Jerusalem. The Egyptians did indeed march to the relief of their allies, and the Chaldeans drew off their forces from Jerusalem to meet them. But the Egyptians returned without attempting to meet the Chaldeans in a pitched battle, and Jerusalem was taken, the walls broken down and the temple burnt up with fire. 3. RECEPTION OF JEREMIAH AND JEWISH CAPTIVES:
When Jerusalem had fallen and Nebuchadrezzar’s governor, Gedaliah, had been assassinated, the dispirited remnant of Judah, against the advice of Jeremiah, fled into Egypt, carrying the prophet with them. They settled at Tahpanhes, then Daphnae (modern Tell Defenneh), now identified with a mound bearing the significant name of Qatsr Bint el Yahudi, “the palace of the Jew’s daughter.” Here Pharaoh had a palace, for Jeremiah took great stones and hid them in mortar in the brickwork “which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house at Tahpanhes,” and prophesied that Nebuchadrezzar would spread his royal pavilion over them ( Jeremiah 43:8-13). The Pharaoh of that day was Hophra, and when the fortress of Tahpanhes was discovered and cleared in 1886, the open-air platform before the entrance was found. “Here the ceremony described by Jeremiah took place before the chiefs of the fugitives assembled on the platform, and here Nebuchadrezzar spread his royal pavilion. The very nature of the site is precisely applicable to all the events” (Flinders Petrie, Nebesheh and Defenneh, 51). It was in 568 BC that the prophecy was fulfilled when Nebuchadrezzar marched into the Delta. 4. PALACE OF MEMPHIS:
More recently, in 1909, in the course of excavations carried on by the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, the palace of King Apries, Pharaoh Hophra, has been discovered on the site of Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt. Under the gray mud hill, close to the squalid Arab village of Mitrahenny, which every tourist passes on the way to Sakkhara, had lain for centuries Hophra’s magnificent palace, 400 ft. long by 200 ft., with a splendid pylon, an immense court, and stonelined halls, of which seven have been found intact. With many other objects of value there was found a fitting of a palanquin of solid silver, decorated with a bust of Hathor with a gold face. It is said to be of the finest workmanship of the time of Apries, a relic of the fire, which, Jeremiah predicted at Tahpanhes, the Lord of Hosts was to kindle “in the houses of the gods of Egypt” ( Jeremiah 43:12).
Pharaoh Hophra, as Jeremiah prophesied (44:29 f), became the victim of a revolt and was finally strangled.
LITERATURE.
Flinders Petrie, History of Egypt, III, 344 f; Wiedemann, Geschichte von Alt-Aegypten, 190 ff; Flinders Petrie and J. H. Walker, Memphis, I, II (“The Palace of Apries”); Herodotus ii.161-69. T. Nicol.
PHARAOH-NECOH <ne’-ko > ([ hkon] h[or]P” , par`oh nekhoh ], also [ wOkn] , nekho ]; [ Necaw>, Nechao ] ( 2 Kings 23:29,33,34; 2 Chronicles 35:22; 36:4, the King James Version, Necho, the Revised Version (British and American) NECO; Jeremiah 46:2; 2 Chronicles 35:20, the King James Version Necho, the Revised Version (British and American) NECO)): 1. PHARAOH-NECOH, 610-594 BC:
Nekau II of the monuments — Greek Nekos — was the 2nd king of the XXVIth Dynasty, being the son of Psammetichus I, famous in Greek contemporary history, whose long reign has left so many memorials both in Upper and Lower Egypt (Herodotus ii.153, 158, 169). The great event of his reign (610-594 BC) was his expedition across Syria to secure for himself a share in the decaying empire of Assyria. In the days of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, Egypt had been tributary to Assyria, and, when it began to break up, Egypt and other subject kingdoms saw their opportunity to throw off its yoke. Psammetichus had turned back the Scythian hordes which had reached his border on their western march, and now his son Necoh was to make a bold stroke for empire. 2. BATTLE OF MEGIDDO, 608 BC:
On his expedition toward the East, he had to pass through the territory of Judah, and he desired to have Josiah its king as an ally. Whatever may have been his reasons, Josiah remained loyal to his Assyrian suzerain, declined the Egyptian alliance, and threw himself across the path of the invader. The opposing armies met on the battlefield of Megiddo, 608 BC, where Josiah was mortally wounded and soon after died amid the lamentations of his people. Necoh marched northward, captured Kadesh, and pressed on to the Euphrates. Not having met an enemy there, he seems to have turned back and established himself for a time at Riblah in Syria. To Riblah he summoned Jehoahaz whom the people had anointed king in room of his father Josiah, deposed him after a brief reign of 3 months, and set his brother Jehoiakim on the throne as the vassal of Egypt. Jehoiakim paid up the tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold which Necoh had imposed upon the land, but he recovered it by exactions which he made from the people ( 2 Kings 23:35). 3. BATTLE OF CARCHEMISH, 604 BC:
The Egyptian monarch still kept some hold upon Syria, and his presence there had attracted the attention of the newly established power at Babylon. The Chaldeans under Nebuchadrezzar set out for the Euphrates, and, meeting the army of Pharaoh-necoh at Carchemish, inflicted upon him a signal defeat. The Chaldeans were now undisputed masters of Western Asia, and the sacred historian relates that “the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt” ( 2 Kings 24:7). 4. COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF EGYPT:
While Pharaoh-necoh II was ambitious to extend his empire, he was bent also upon the commercial development of Egypt. For this he set himself to collect a navy. He had two fleets built, composed of triremes, one of them to navigate the Mediterranean, the other to navigate the Red Sea. In order to secure a combination of his fleets, he conceived the idea of reopening the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea which had been originally constructed by Seti I and Rameses II, two Pharaohs of the days of the Israelite oppression, but had become silted up by desert sands. He excavated this old canal, following the line of the former cutting, and widening it so that two triremes might meet and pass each other in it.
According to Herodotus he was obliged to desist from the undertaking in consequence of the mortality among the laborers, and it was left to Darius to complete. He also resolved to try whether it was possible to circumnavigate Africa, and, manning his ships with Phoenician sailors, he sent them forth with instructions to keep the coast of Africa on their right and to return to Egypt by way of the Mediterranean. They succeeded, and, rounding the Cape of Good Hope from the East, anticipated by two millenniums the feat which Vasco da Gama accomplished from the West.
The enterprise took more than two years, and the result of it was of no practical value. Herodotus, when he visited Egypt in 450 BC, saw still remaining the docks which Necoh had built for the accommodation of his fleet.
LITERATURE.
Flinders Petrie, History of Egypt, III, 335 ff; Wiedemann, Geschichte von Alt-Aegypten, 179-90; Rawlinson, Egypt (“Story of the Nations”), 354 ff; Herodotus ii.158, 159. T. Nicol.
PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER ([ h[or]P”AtB” , bath-par`oh ]): The princess who rescued Moses ( Exodus 2:5-10; Hebrews 11:24). This is probably a title as well as an appellation, indicating not only one of the daughters of a Pharaoh, but also some very distinguished rank, thought to be most probably that of the heir to the throne by birth; though she was debarred from reigning by reason of sex, she still possessed the right to entail the scepter and crown to her oldest son. Positive identification of the “Pharaoh’s daughter” mentioned in the Bible is not possible yet. All attempts toward identification are, of course, guided by the particular theory of the oppressor accepted. If the Pharaoh of the Oppression was Rameses II, as is most likely, then Pharaoh’s daughter was probably the daughter of Seti I, an older sister of Rameses II. If, as many think, the Pharaoh of the Oppression was Thothmes III, then Pharaoh’s daughter was some unknown princess. Some have thought she was Hatshepsut, the “Queen Elizabeth of Egypt.” M. G. Kyle PHARATHON <far’-a-thon > ([ Faraqw>n, Pharathon ]): One of the strong cities of Judea fortified by Bacchides during the Maccabean war (1 Macc 9:50).
Septuagint reads “Thamnatha-pharathon” as the name of one city.
Josephus, however (Ant., XIII, i, 3), and Syriac supply the “and” between them. The name represents a Hebrew pir`athon . If it is to be taken strictly as in Judean territory, it cannot be identified with PIRATHON (which see) of Judges 12:15. In that case we should probably seek for it with Dr.
G.A. Smith in some fortress covering the top of Wady Far`ah. W. Ewing PHARES <fa’-rez > ([ Fare>v, Phares ]): the King James Version; Greek form of “Perez” (thus the Revised Version (British and American)) ( Matthew 1:3; Luke 3:33).
PHAREZ <fa’-rez > (King James Version 1 Esdras 5:9; 8:30): The same as Revised Version PHOROS (which see).
PHARIDA <fa-ri’-da > ([ Fareida>, Phareida ], A, [ Farida>, Pharida ]; King James Version Pharira): The clan name of one of the families of “the servants of Solomon” who came up from Babylon with Zerubbabel (1 Esdras 5:33) = “Peruda” of Ezra 2:55 = “Perida” of Nehemiah 7:57.
PHARIRA <fa-ri’-ra > : King James Version = Revised Version PHARIDA (which see).
PHARISEES <far’-i-sez > ([ µyviWrP] , perushim ]; [ Farisai~oi, Pharisaioi ]): 1. Name and General Character: A prominent sect of the Jews. The earliest notice of them in Josephus occurs in connection with Jonathan, the high priest. Immediately after the account of the embassy to the Lacedaemonians, there is subjoined (Josephus, Ant, XIII, v, 9) an account of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes, therefore implying that then and in this connection they had been prominent, although no notice of any of these parties is to be found that confirms that view. Later (XIII, x, 5), the Pharisees are represented as envious of the success of John Hyrcanus; Eleazar, one of them, insults him at his own table. From the fact that earlier in the history the Assideans occupy a similar place to that occupied later by the Pharisees, it may be deduced that the two parties are in a measure one. See HASIDAEANS; ASMONEANS. It would seem that not only the Pharisees, but also the Essenes, were derived from the Assideans or chacidhim . 2. Authorities — Josephus — New Testament — Talmud: In considering the characteristics and doctrines of the Pharisees we are in some difficulty from the nature of our authorities. The writers of the New Testament assume generally that the character and tenets of the Pharisees are well known to their readers, and only lay stress on the points in which they were in antagonism to our Lord and His followers. The evidence of Josephus, a contemporary and himself a Pharisee, is lessened in value by the fact that he modified his accounts of his people to suit the taste of his Roman masters. The Pharisees, with him, are a philosophic sect, and not an active political party. Their Messianic hopes are not so much as mentioned.
Although the Talmud was written, both Mishna and Gemara, by the descendants of the Pharisees, the fact that the Gemara, from which most of our information is derived, is so late renders the evidence deduced from Talmudic statements of little value. Even the Mishna, which came into being only a century after the fall of the Jewish state, shows traces of exaggeration and modification of facts. Still, taking these deficiencies into consideration, we may make a fairly consistent picture of the sect. The name means “separatists,” from [ vr”P; , parash ], “to separate” — those who carefully kept themselves from any legal contamination, distinguishing themselves by their care in such matters from the common people, the `am ha’arets , who had fewer scruples. Like the Puritans in England during the 17th century, and the Presbyterians in Scotland during the same period, the Pharisees, although primarily a religious party, became ere long energetically political. They were a closely organized society, all the members of which called each other chabherim , “neighbors”; this added to the power they had through their influence with the people. 1. HISTORY OF THE SECT.
The Assideans (chacidhim ) were at first the most active supporters of Judas Maccabeus in his struggle for religious freedom. A portion of them rather than fight retired to the desert to escape the tyranny of Epiphanes (1 Macc 2:27 f). The followers of these in later days became the Essenes.
When Judas Maccabeus cleansed the temple and rededicated it with many sacrifices, it is not expressly said, either in the Books of Maccabees or by Josephus, that he acted as high priest, but the probability is that he did so.
This would be a shock to the Assidean purists, as Judas, though a priest, was not a Zadokite; but his actions would be tolerated at that time on account of the imminent necessity for the work of reconsecration and the eminent services of Judas himself and his family. 1. Associated at First with Hasmoneans, but Later Abandon Them: When Bacchides appeared against Jerusalem with Alcimus in his camp, this feeling against Judas took shape in receiving the treacherous Alcimus into Jerusalem and acknowledging him as high priest, a line of action which soon showed that it was fraught with disaster, as Alcimus murdered many of the people. They had to betake themselves anew to Judas, but this desertion was the beginning of a separating gulf which deepened when he made a treaty with the idolatrous Romans. As is not infrequently the case with religious zealots, their valor was associated with a mystic fanaticism.
The very idea of alliance with heathen powers was hateful to them, so when Judas began to treat with Rome they deserted him, and he sustained the crushing defeat of Eleasa. Believing themselves the saints of God and therefore His peculiar treasure, they regarded any association with the heathen as faithlessness to Yahweh. Their attitude was much that of the Fifth Monarchy men in the time of Cromwell, still more that of the Cameronians in Scotland at the Revolution of 1688 who, because William of Orange was not a “covenanted” king, would have none of him. As the later Hasmoneans became more involved in worldly politics, they became more and more alienated from the strict Assideans, yet the successors of Judas Maccabeus retained their connection with the party in a lukewarm fashion, while the Sadducean sect was gaining in influence.
About this time the change of name seems to have been effected. They began to be called Pharisees, perushim, instead of chacidhim — “separatists” instead of saints. A parallel instance is to be found in the religious history of England. 2. Change of Name: The Puritans of the 17th century became in the 19th “Non-conformists.”
The earliest instance of the Pharisees’ intervening in history is that referred to in Josephus (Ant., XIII, x, 5), where Eleazar, a Pharisee, demanded that John Hyrcanus should lay down the high-priesthood because his mother had been a captive, thus insinuating that he — Hyrcanus — was no true son of Aaron, but the bastard of some nameless heathen to whom his mother had surrendered herself. This unforgivable insult to himself and to the memory of his mother led Hyrcanus to break with the Pharisaic party definitely. He seems to have left them severely alone. 3. Later Fortunes of the Sect: The sons of Hyrcanus, especially Alexander Janneus, expressed their hostility in a more active way. Alexander crucified as many as 800 of the Pharisaic party, a proceeding that seems to intimate overt acts of hostility on their part which prompted this action. His whole policy was the aggrandizement of the Jewish state, but his ambition was greater than his military abilities. His repeated failures and defeats confirmed the Pharisees in their opposition to him on religious grounds. He scandalized them by calling himself king, although not of the Davidic line, and further still by adopting the heathen name “Alexander,” and having it stamped in Greek characters on his coins. Although a high priest was forbidden to marry a widow, he married the widow of his brother. Still further, he incurred their opposition by abandoning the Pharisaic tradition as to the way in which the libation water was poured out. They retaliated by rousing his people against him and conspiring with the Syrian king. On his deathbed he advised his wife, Alexandra Salome, who succeeded him on the throne, to make peace with the Pharisees. This she did by throwing herself entirely into their hands. On her death a struggle for the possession of the throne and the high-priesthood began between her two sons, John Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II. The latter, the more able and energetic, had the support of the Sadducees; the former, the elder of the two brothers, had that of the Pharisees. In the first phase of the conflict, Hyrcanus was defeated and compelled to make a disadvantageous peace with his brother, but, urged by Antipater, the Idumean, he called in Aretas, who inclined the balance at once to the side of Hyrcanus. The Romans were appealed to and they also, moved partly by the astuteness of Antipater, favored Hyrcanus. All this resulted ultimately in the supremacy of the Herodians, who through their subservience to Rome became inimical to the Pharisees and rivals of the Sadducees. 4. In New Testament Times: When the New Testament records open, the Pharisees, who have supreme influence among the people, are also strong, though not predominant, in the Sanhedrin. The Herodians and Sadducees, the one by their alliance with the Romans authorities, and the other by their inherited skill in political intrigue, held the reins of government. If we might believe the Talmudic representation, the Pharisees were in the immense majority in the Sanhedrin; the nasi’, or president, and the ‘abh-beth-din, or vice-president, both were Pharisees. This, however, is to be put to the credit of Talmudic imagination, the relation of which to facts is of the most distant kind.
Recently Buchler (Das grosse Synedrion in Jerusalem) has attempted to harmonize these Talmudic fables with the aspect of things appearing in the New Testament and Josephus. He assumes that there were two Sanhedrins, one civil, having to do with matters of government, in which the Sadducees were overwhelmingly predominant, and the other scholastic, in which the Pharisees were equally predominant — the one the Senate of the nation, like the Senate of the United States, the other the Senate of a university, let us say, of Jerusalem. Although followed by Rabbi Lauterbach in the Jewish Encyclopedia, this attempt cannot be regarded as successful. There is no evidence for this dual Sanhedrin either in the New Testament or Josephus, on the one hand, or in the Talmud on the other.
Outside the Sanhedrin the Pharisees are ubiquitous, in Jerusalem, in Galilee, in Peraea and in the Decapolis, always coming in contact with Jesus. The attempts made by certain recent Jewish writers to exonerate them from the guilt of the condemnation of our Lord has no foundation; it is contradicted by the New Testament records, and the attitude of the Talmud to Jesus.
The Pharisees appear in the Book of Acts to be in a latent way favorers of the apostles as against the high-priestly party. The personal influence of Gamaliel, which seems commanding, was exercised in their favor. The anti- Christian zeal of Saul the Tarsian, though a Pharisee, may have been to some extent the result of the personal feelings which led him to perpetuate the relations of the earlier period when the two sects were united in common antagonism to the teaching of Christ. He, a Pharisee, offered himself to be employed by the Sadducean high priest ( Acts 9:1,2) to carry on the work of persecution in Damascus. In this action Saul appears to have been in opposition to a large section of the Pharisaic party. The bitter disputes which he and the other younger Pharisees had carried on with Stephen had possibly influenced him. 5. In Post-apostolic Times: When Paul, the Christian apostle, was brought before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, the Pharisaic party were numerous in the Council, if they did not even form the majority, and they readily became his defenders against the Sadducees.
From Josephus we learn that with the outbreak of the war with the Romans the Pharisees were thrust into the background by the more fanatical Zealots, Simon ben Gioras and John of Gischala (BJ, V, i). The truth behind the Talmudic statements that Gamaliel removed the Sanhedrin to Jabneh and that Johanan ben Zakkai successfully entreated Vespasian to spare the scholars of that city is that the Pharisees in considerable numbers made peace with the Romans. In the Mishna we have the evidence of their later labors when the Sanhedrin was removed from Jabneh, ultimately to Tiberias in Galilee. There under the guidance of Jehuda ha-Qadhosh (“the Holy”) the Mishna was reduced to writing. It may thus be said that Judaism became Pharisaism, and the history of the Jews became that of the Pharisees. In this later period the opposition to Christianity sprang up anew and became embittered, as may be seen in the Talmudic fables concerning Jesus. 2. DOCTRINES OF THE PHARISEES. 1. Josephus’ Statements Colored by Greek Ideas: The account given of the doctrines of the Pharisees by Josephus is clearly influenced by his desire to parallel the Jewish sects with the Greek philosophical schools. He directs especial attention to the Pharisaic opinion as to fate and free will, since on this point the Stoic and Epicurean sects differed very emphatically. He regards the Pharisaic position as mid-way between that of the Sadducees, who denied fate altogether and made human freedom absolute, and that of the Essenes that “all things are left in the hand of God.” He says “The Pharisees ascribe all things to fate and God, yet allow that to do what is right or the contrary is principally in man’s own power, although fate cooperates in every action.” It is to be noted that Josephus, in giving this statement of views, identifies “fate” with “God,” a process that is more plausible in connection with the Latin fatum, “something decreed,” than in relation to the impersonal moira, or heimarmene , of the Greeks. As Josephus wrote in Greek and used only the second of these terms, he had no philological inducement to make the identification; the reason must have been the matter of fact. In other words, he shows that the Pharisees believed in a personal God whose will was providence. 2. Conditional Reincarnation: In connection with this was their doctrine of a future life of rewards and punishments. The phrase which Josephus uses is a peculiar one: “They think that every soul is immortal; only the souls of good men will pass into another body, but the souls of the evil shall suffer everlasting punishment” (aidia timoria kolazesthai ). From this it has been deduced that the Pharisees held the transmigration of souls. In our opinion this is a mistake.
We believe that really it is an attempt of Josephus to state the doctrine of the resurrection of the body in a way that would not shock Hellenic ideas.
The Greek contempt for the body made the idea of the resurrection abhorrent, and in this, as in most philosophical matters, the Romans followed the Greeks. It would seem that Josephus regarded the Pharisees as maintaining that this resurrection applied only to the righteous. Still even this restriction, though certainly the natural interpretation, is not absolutely necessary. This is confirmed by the corresponding section in the Antiquities (XVIII, i, 3): “They also believe .... that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life, and the latter are to be detained in an everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to revive and live again.”
Josephus also declares the Pharisees to be very attentive students of the law of God: “they interpret the law with careful exactitude.” 3. New Testament Presentation of Pharisaic Doctrines — Angels and Spirits — Resurrection: Nothing in the Gospels or the Acts at all militates against any part of this representation, but there is much to fill it out. They believed in angels and spirits ( Acts 23:8). From the connection it is probable that the present activity of such beings was the question in the mind of the writer. In that same sentence belief in the resurrection is ascribed to the Pharisees. 4. Traditions Added to the Law: Another point is that to the bare letter of the Law they added traditions.
While the existence of these traditions is referred to in Gospels, too little is said to enable us to grasp their nature and extent ( Matthew 15:2 ff; 16:5 ff; Mark 7:1-23). The evangelists only recorded these traditional glosses when they conflicted with the teaching of Christ and were therefore denounced by Him. We find them exemplified in the Mishna. The Pharisaic theory of tradition was that these additions to the written law and interpretations of it had been given by Moses to the elders and by them had been transmitted orally down through the ages. The classical passage in the Mishna is to be found in Pirqe’ Abhoth: “Moses received the (oral) Law from Sinai and delivered it to Joshua and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets and the prophets to the men of the great synagogue.” Additions to these traditions were made by prophets by direct inspiration, or by interpretation of the words of the written Law. All this mass, as related above, was reduced to writing by Jehuda ha-Qadhosh in Tiberias, probably about the end of the 2nd century AD. Jehuda was born, it is said, 135 AD, and died somewhere about 220 AD.
The related doctrines of the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, and the final judgment with its consequent eternal rewards and punishments formed a portion and a valuable portion of this tradition. 5. Traditional Interpretations of the Law by Pharisees (Sabbath, etc.): Less valuable, at times burdensome and hurtful, were the minute refinements they introduced into the Law. Sometimes the ingenuity of the Pharisaic doctors was directed to lighten the burden of the precept as in regard to the Sabbath. Thus a person was permitted to go much farther than a Sabbath day’s journey if at some time previous he had deposited, within the legal Sabbath day’s journey of the place he wished to reach, bread and water; this point was now to be regarded as the limit of his house, and consequently from this all distances were to be ceremonially reckoned (Jewish Encyclopedia, under the word “Erub”): The great defect of Pharisaism was that it made sin so purely external. An act was right or wrong according as some external condition was present or absent; thus there was a difference in bestowing alms on the Sabbath whether the beggar put his hand within the door of the donor or the donor stretched his hand beyond his own threshold, as may be seen in the first Mishna in the Tractate Shabbath. A man did not break the Sabbath rest of his ass, though he rode on it, and hence did not break the Sabbath law, but if he carried a switch with which to expedite the pace of the beast he was guilty, because he had laid a burden upon it. 6. Close Students of the Text of Scripture: Along with these traditions and traditional interpretations, the Pharisees were close students of the sacred text. On the turn of a sentence they suspended many decisions. So much so, that it is said of them later the Text of that they suspended mountains from hairs. This is especially the case with regard to the Sabbath law with its burdensome minutiae. At the same time there was care as to the actual wording of the text of the Law; this has a bearing on textual criticism, even to the present day. A specimen of Pharisaic exegesis which Paul turns against their followers as an argumentum ad hominem may be seen in Galatians 3:16: “He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” (1) Messianic Hopes.
It is also to be said for them, that they maintained the Messianic hopes of the nation when their rivals were ready to sacrifice everything to the Romans, in order to gain greater political influence for themselves. Their imagination ran riot in the pictures they drew of these future times, but still they aided the faith of the people who were thus in a position to listen to the claims of Christ. They were led by Rabbi Aqiba in the reign of Hadrian to accept Bar-Cochba about a century after they had rejected Jesus. They were fanatical in their obedience to the Law as they understood it, and died under untold tortures rather than transgress. (2) Almsgiving.
They elevated almsgiving into an equivalent for righteousness. This gave poverty a very different place from what it had in Greece or among the Romans. Learning was honored, although its possessors might be very poor. The story of the early life of Hillel brings this out. He is represented as being so poor as to be unable sometimes to pay the small daily fee which admitted pupils to the rabbinic school, and when this happened, in his eagerness for the Law, he is reported to have listened on the roof to the words of the teachers. This is probably not historically true, but it exhibits the Pharisaic ideal. 3. ORGANIZATION OF THE PHARISAIC PARTY.
We have no distinct account of this organization, either in the Gospels, in Josephus, or in the Talmud. But the close relationship which the members of the sect sustained to each other, their habit of united action as exhibited in the narratives of the New Testament and of Josephus are thus most naturally explained. The Talmudic account of the chabherim affords confirmation of this. These were persons who primarily associated for the study of the Law and for the better observance of its precepts. No one was admitted to these chabhuroth without taking an oath of fidelity to the society and a promise of strict observance of Levitical precepts. The Chabherim — Pharisaic Brotherhoods: One of the elements of their promise has to be noted. The habher promised not to pay ma`asroth , “tithe,” or terumah , “heave offering,” to a priest who was not a chabher . They were only permitted to take this oath when their associates in the brotherhood certified to their character. Even then the candidate had to pass through a period of probation of 30 days, according to the “house of Hillel,” of a year, according to the “house of Shammai.” This latter element, being quite more Talmudico, may be regarded as doubtful. Association with any not belonging to the Pharisaic society was put under numerous restrictions. It is at least not improbable that when the lawyer in Luke 10:29 demanded “Who is my neighbor?” he was minded to restrict the instances of the command in Leviticus 19:18 to those who were, like himself, Pharisees. A society which thus had brotherhoods all over Palestine and was separated from the rest of the community would naturally wield formidable power when their claims were supported by the esteem of the people at large. It is to be observed that to be a chabher was a purely personal thing, not heritable like priesthood, and women as well as men might be members. In this the Pharisees were like the Christians. In another matter also there was a resemblance between them and the followers of Jesus; they, unlike the Sadducees, were eager to make proselytes. “Ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte” ( Matthew 23:15). Many members of Roman society, especially women, were proselytes, as, for instance, Poppea Sabina. 4. CHARACTER OF THE PHARISEES. 1. Pharisees and People of the Land: Because the ideal of the Pharisees was high, and because they reverenced learning and character above wealth and civil rank they had a tendency to despise those who did not agree with them. We see traces of this in the Gospels; thus John 7:49: “This multitude that knoweth not the law are accursed.” The distinction between the Pharisees, the Puritans and the `am ha-’arets , “the people of the land,” began with the distinction that had to be kept between the Jews and the Gentiles who had entered the land as colonists or intruders. These would, during the Babylonian captivity, almost certainly speak Western Aramaic, and would certainly be heathen and indulge in heathen practices. They were “the people of the land” whom the returning exiles found in possession of Judea. 2. Arrogance toward Other Jews: Mingled with them were the few Jews that had neither been killed nor deported by the Babylonians, nor carried down into Egypt by Johanan, the son of Kareah. As they had conformed in a large measure to the habits of their heathen neighbors and intermarried with them, the stricter Jews, as Ezra and Nehemiah, regarded them as under the same condemnation as the heathen, and shrank from association with them. During the time of our Lord’s life on earth the name was practically restricted to the ignorant Jews whose conformity to the law was on a broader scale than that of the Pharisees. Some have, however, dated the invention of the name later in the days of the Maccabean struggle, when the ceremonial precepts of the Law could with difficulty be observed. Those who were less careful of these were regarded as `am ha-’arets . 3. Regulations for the Chabher: The distinction as exhibited in the Talmud shows an arrogance on the part of the Pharisaic chabher that must have been galling to those who, though Jews as much as the Pharisees, were not Puritans like them. A chabher , that is a Pharisee, might not eat at the table of a man whose wife was of the `am ha-’arets , even though her husband might be a Pharisee. If he would be a full chabher , a Pharisee must not sell to any of the `am ha-’arets anything that might readily be made unclean. If a woman of the `am ha- ’arets was left alone in a room, all that she could touch without moving from her place was unclean. We must, however, bear in mind that the evidence for this is Talmudic, and therefore of but limited historical value. 4. The New Testament Account; (1) Their Scrupulosity.
We find traces of this scrupulosity in the Gospels. The special way in which the ceremonial sanctity of the Pharisees exhibited itself was in tithing, hence the reference to their tithing “mint and anise and cummin” ( Matthew 23:23). In the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, one of the things that the Pharisee plumes himself on is that he gives tithes of all he possesses ( Luke 18:12). He is an example of the Pharisaic arrogance of those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and set all others at nought.” Their claiming the first seats in feasts and synagogues ( Matthew 23:6) was an evidence of the same spirit. (2) Their Hypocrisy.
Closely akin to this is the hypocrisy of which the Pharisees were accused by our Lord. When we call them “hypocrites,” we must go back to the primary meaning of the word. They were essentially “actors,” poseurs.
Good men, whose character and spiritual force have impressed themselves on their generation, have often peculiarities of manner and tone which are easily imitated. The very respect in which they are held by their disciples leads those who respect them to adopt unconsciously their mannerisms of voice and deportment. A later generation unconsciously imitates, “acts the part.” In a time when religion is persecuted, as in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, or despised as it was in the Hellenizing times which preceded and succeeded, it would be the duty of religious men not to hide their convictions. The tendency to carry on this public manifestation of religious acts after it had ceased to be protest would be necessarily great. The fact that they gained credit by praying at street corners when the hour of prayer came, and would have lost credit with the people had they not done so, was not recognized by them as lessening the moral worth of the action.
Those who, having lived in the period of persecution and contempt, survived in that when religion was held in respect would maintain their earlier practice without any arriere-pensee. The succeeding generation, in continuing the practice, consciously “acted.” They were poseurs. Their hypocrisy was none the less real that it was reached by unconscious stages.
Hypocrisy was a new sin, a sin only possible in a spiritual religion, a religion in which morality and worship were closely related. Heathenism, which lay in sacrifices and ceremonies by which the gods could be bribed, or cajoled into favors, had a purely casual connection with morality; its worship was entirely a thing of externals, of acting, “posing.”
Consequently, a man did not by the most careful attention to the ceremonies of religion produce any presumption in favor of his trustworthiness. There was thus no sinister motive to prompt to religion.
The prophets had denounced the insincerity of worship, but even they did not denounce hypocrisy, i.e. religion used as a cloak to hide treachery or dishonesty. Religion had become more spiritual, the connection between morality and worship more intimate by reason of the persecution of the Seleucids. 5. Talmudic Classification of the Pharisees: The Talmud to some extent confirms the representation of the Gospels.
There were said to be seven classes of Pharisees: (1) the “shoulder” Pharisee, who wears his good deeds on his shoulders and obeys the precept of the Law, not from principle, but from expediency; (2) the “wait-a-little” Pharisee, who begs for time in order to perform a meritorious action; (3) the “bleeding” Pharisee, who in his eagerness to avoid looking on a woman shuts his eyes and so bruises himself to bleeding by stumbling against a wall; (4) the “painted” Pharisee, who advertises his holiness lest any one should touch him so that he should be defiled; (5) the “reckoning” Pharisee, who is always saying “What duty must I do to balance any unpalatable duty which I have neglected?”; (6) the “fearing” Pharisee, whose relation to God is one merely of trembling awe; (7) the Pharisee from “love.” In all but the last there was an element of “acting,” of hypocrisy. It is to be noted that the Talmud denounces ostentation; but unconsciously that root of the error lies in the externality of their righteousness; it commands an avoidance of ostentation which involves equal “posing.” 5. OUR LORD’S RELATIONSHIP TO THE PHARISEES. 1. Pharisaic Attempts to Gain Christ Over: The attitude of the Pharisees to Jesus, to begin with, was, as had been their attitude to John, critical. They sent representatives to watch His doings and His sayings and report. They seem to have regarded it as possible that He might unite Himself with them, although, as we think, His affinities rather lay with the Essenes. Gradually their criticism became opposition. This opposition grew in intensity as He disregarded their interpretations of the Sabbatic law, ridiculed their refinements of the law of tithes and the distinctions they introduced into the validity of oaths, and denounced their insincere posing. At first there seems to have been an effort to cajole Him into compliance with their plans. If some of the Pharisees tempted Him to use language which would compromise Him with the people or with the Romans authorities, others invited Him to their tables, which was going far upon the part of a Pharisee toward one not a chabher . Even when He hung on the cross, the taunt with which they greeted Him may have had something of longing, lingering hope in it: “If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him” ( Matthew 27:42 King James Version). If He would only give them that sign, then they would acknowledge Him to be the Messiah. 2. Reasons for Pharisaic Hatred of Christ: The opposition of the Pharisees to Jesus was intensified by another reason.
They were the democratic party; their whole power lay in the reputation they had with the people for piety. our Lord denounced them as hypocrites; moreover He had secured a deeper popularity than theirs. At length when cajolery failed to win Him and astute questioning failed to destroy His popularity, they combined with their opponents, the Sadducees, against Him as against a common enemy. 3. Our Lord’s Denunciation of the Pharisees: On the other hand, Jesus denounced the Pharisees more than He denounced any other class of the people. This seems strange when we remember that the main body of the religious people, those who looked for the Messiah, belonged to the Pharisees, and His teaching and theirs had a strong external resemblance. It was this external resemblance, united as it was with a profound spiritual difference, which made it incumbent on Jesus to mark Himself off from them. All righteousness with them was external, it lay in meats and drinks and divers washings, in tithing of mint, anise and cummin. He placed religion on a different footing, removed it into another region. With Him it was the heart that must be right with God, not merely the external actions; not only the outside of the cup and platter was to be cleansed, but the inside first of all. It is to be noted that, as observed above, the Pharisees were less antagonistic to the apostles when their Lord had left them. The after-history of Pharisaism has justified Our Lord’s condemnation.
LITERATURE. Histories of Israel: Ewald, V, 365 ff, English translation; Herzfeld, III, 354 ff; Jost, I, 197 ff; Gratz, V, 91 ff; Derenbourg, 75-78, 117-44, 452-54; Holtzmann, II, 124 ff; Renan, V, 42 ff; Stanley, III, 376 ff; Cornill, 145 ff, English translation; Schurer, II, ii, 4 ff, English translation (GJV4, II. 447 ff); Kuenen, III, ff. ET. Life and Times of Christ: Hausrath, I, 135 ff, English translation; Edersheim, I, 310 ff; Lange, I, ff, English translation; Farrar, II. 494 ff; Geikie, II, 223. ff; Keim, I, 250 ff; Thomson. Books Which Influenced our Lord,50 ff; Weiss. I, 285 ff.
English translation; de Pressense, 116 ff. Articles in Encyclopedias, Bible Dictionaries, Lexicons, etc.: Ersch and Gruber, Allg. Eric (Daniel); Winer, Realworterbuch; Herzog, RE, edition 1 (Reuss), editions 2, 3 (Sieffert); Hamburger, Realenic.; Smith’s DB (Twisleton); Kitto’s Cyclopaedia of Biblical Lit. (Ginsburg); HDB (Eaton); Encyclopedia Biblica (Cowley. Prince); Schenkel, Bibel- Lexicon (Hausrath); Jew Encyclopedia (Kohler); Temple Dict. of the Bible (Christie); Hastings, DCG (Hugh Scott, Mitchell). Monographs: Wellhausen, Montet, Geiger, Baneth, Muller, Hanne, Davaine, Herford; Weber, System der altsynagogen Palestinischen Theologie, 10 ff, 44 ff; Keil, Biblical Archaeology, II, 1680; Ryle and James, Psalms of Solomon. xliv ff; Nicolas. Doctrines religieuses des juifs, 48 ff. J. E. H. Thomson PHAROSH <fa’-rosh > ([ v[r]P” , par`osh ]). See PAROSH.
PHARPAR <far’-par > ([ rP”r]P” , parpar ]; Septuagint: Codex Vaticanus [ jAfarfa>, Apharpha ]; Codex Alexandrinus [ Farfara>, Pharphara ): A river of Damascus, mentioned in 2 Kings 5:12, along with the Abana or Amana. See ABANA.
PHARZITES <far’-zits > ([ yxir]P”h” , ha-partsi ). See PEREZ.
PHASEAH, PASEAH <fa-se’-a > , <pa-se’-a > ([ j”seP; , paceach ], “lame”): (1) A descendant of Judah, son of Eshton ( 1 Chronicles 4:12). (2) Name of a family of Nethinim ( Ezra 2:49; Nehemiah 7:51 (King James Version “Phaseah”); “Phinoe” of 1 Esdras 5:31 Revised Version). (3) Father of Joiada (King James Version “Jehoiada”), the repairer of the “old gate” in Jerusalem ( Nehemiah 3:6).
PHASELIS <fa-se’-lis > ([ Fa>shliv, Phaselis ]): A city of Lycia in Southern Asia Minor, on the seacoast, near the boundary of Pamphylia, to which country some ancient writers have assigned it. Situated on the extreme end of a promontory which projected into the sea, and with high mountains in the rear, it was separated both politically and geographically from the rest of Lycia. Hence it may be understood how it early became the favorite haunt of pirates. Already in the 6th century BC, when trade was carried on with Egypt, the city struck coins of its own; upon them the prow and the stern of a war galley were commonly represented. The coinage ceased in BC, but it was resumed about 400 BC, when the city again became practically independent. For a time Phaselis was under the control of the Seleucid kings of Syria, but in 190 BC it again regained its independence or continued as a member of the league of Lycian cities (1 Macc 15:23).
Before the beginning of the Christian era it had lost considerable of its earlier importance, yet it was still famed for its temple of Athene in which it was said that the sword of Achilles was preserved, and also for the attar of roses which was produced there. It figures little in early Christian history, yet in Byzantine times it was the residence of a bishop. Its site, now marked by the ruins of the stadium, temples and theater, bears the Turkish name of Tekir Ova. See also LYCIA.
E. J. Banks PHASIRON <fas’-i-ron > (Codex Alexandrinus [ Fasirw>n, Phasiron ]; Codex Vaticanus [ Faseirw>n, Phaseiron , V, [ Farisw>n, Pharison ]): The name of an unknown Arab tribe whom Jonathan overcame in the wilderness near Bethbasi; or possibly the name of an Arab chief (1 Macc 9:66).
PHASSARON <fas’-a-ron > : King James Version = Revised Version PHASSURUS (which see).
PHASSURUS <fas-su’-rus > , <fas’-u-rus > ([ Fa>ssourov, Phassouros ]; Codex Vaticanus [ Fa>ssorov, Phassoros ] King James Version Phassaron, after Aldine): The name of one of the families which went up from exile with Zerubbabel (1 Esdras 5:25)=“Pashhur” of Ezra 2:38; Nehemiah 7:41; according to Ezra and Nehemiah and Revised Version numbering, 1,247; according to King James Version following A, 1,047.
PHEBE <febe > ([ Foi>bh, Phoibe ]). See PHOEBE.
PHENICE <fe-ni’-se > . See PHOENICIA; PHOENIX.
PHENICIA <fe-nish’-i-a > ([ Foini>kh, Phoinike ]). See PHOENICIA.
PHERESITES <fer’-e-sits > : King James Version=Revised Version “Pherezites” (1 Esdras 8:69; 2 Esdras 1:21) = “Perizzite.”
PHEREZITE <fer’-e-zit > : King James Version form in Judith 5:16 for Revised Version “Perizzite” and both King James Version and Revised Version in 2 Esdras 1:21 for “Perizzite”; one of the Canaanitish tribes.
PHI-BESETH <fi’-be-seth > , <fib’-e-seth > ([ ts,b,AyPi , pi-bheceth ]). See PI-BESETH.
PHICOL <fi’-kol > ([ lkoyPi , pikhol ], [ Fiko>l, Phikol ]; King James Version Phichol):
The captain of the host of the Philistine king Abimelech of Gerar ( Genesis 21:22; 26:26).
PHILADELPHIA <fil-a-del-’fi-a > ([ Filadelfi>a, Philadelphia ]: A city of ancient Lydia in Asia Minor on the Cogamus River, 105 miles from Smyrna. It stood upon a terrace 650 ft. above the sea. Behind it are the volcanic cliffs to which the Turks have given the name of Devitt, or “inkwells”; on the other side of the city the land is exceedingly fertile, and there was produced a wine of whose excellence the celebrated Roman poet Virgil wrote. Philadelphia is not so ancient as many of the other cities of Asia Minor, for it was founded after 189 BC on one of the highways which led to the interior. Its name was given to it in honor of Attalus II, because of his loyalty to his elder brother, Eumenes II, king of Lydia. Still another name of the city was Decapolis, because it was considered as one of the ten cities of the plain. A third name which it bore during the 1st century. AD was Neo-kaisaria; it appears upon the coins struck during that period. During the reign of Vespasian, it was called Flavia. Its modern name, Ala-shehir, is considered by some to be a corruption of the Turkish words Allah-shehir, “the city of God,” but more likely it is a name given it from the reddish color of the soil. In addition to all of these names it sometimes bore the title of “Little Athens” because of the magnificence of the temples and other public buildings which adorned it. Philadelphia quickly became an important and wealthy trade center, for as the coast cities declined, it grew in power, and retained its importance even until late Byzantine times. One of the Seven Churches of the Book of Revelation ( Revelation 3:7 ff) was there, and it was the seat of a bishop. As in most Asia Minor cities, many Jews lived there, and they possessed a synagogue. During the reign of Tiberius the city was destroyed by an earthquake, yet it was quickly rebuilt. Frederick Barbarossa entered it while on his crusade in 1190. Twice, in 1306 and 1324, it was besieged by the Seljuk Turks, but it retained its independence until after 1390, when it was captured by the combined forces of the Turks and Byzantines. In 1403 Tamerlane captured it, and, it is said, built about it a wall of the corpses of his victims.
Ala-shehir is still a Christian town; one-fourth of its modern population is Greek, and a Greek bishop still makes his home there. One of the chief modern industries is a liquorice factory; in the fields about the city the natives dig for the roots. On the terrace upon which the ancient city stood, the ruins of the castle and the walls may still be seen, and among them is pointed out the foundation of the early church. The place may now best be reached by rail from Smyrna. E. J. Banks PHILARCHES <fi-lar’-kez > . See PHYLARCHES.
PHILEMON <fi-le’-mon > , <fi-le’-mun > ([ Filh>mwn, Philemon ]): Among the converts of Paul, perhaps while at Ephesus, was one whom he calls a “fellowworker,” Philemon (Philem 1:1). He was probably a man of some means, was celebrated for his hospitality (Philem 1:5-7) and of considerable importance in the ecclesia at Colosse. It was at his house (Philem 1:2) that the Colossian Christians met as a center. It is more than probable that this was a group of the Colossian church rather than the entire ecclesia. His wife was named Apphia (Philem 1:2); and Archippus (Philem 1:2) was no doubt his son. From Colossians 4:17 we learn that Archippus held an office of some importance in Colosse, whether he was a presbyter (Abbott, ICC), or an evangelist, or perhaps the reader (Zahn), we cannot tell. He is called here (Philem 1:2) Paul’s “fellow-soldier.”
The relation between the apostle and Philemon was so close and intimate that Paul does not hesitate to press him, on the basis of it, to forgive his slave, Onesimus, for stealing and for running away. See PHILEMON, EPISTLE TO.
Tradition makes Philemon the bishop of Colosse (Apostolical Constitutions, vii, 46), and the Greek Martyrology (Menae) for November 22 tells us that he together with his wife and son and Onesimus were martyred by stoning before Androcles, the governor, in the days of Nero.
With this the Latin Martyrology agrees (compare Lightfoot, Ignatius, II, 535). This evidence, however, is unsatisfactory and cannot be trusted as giving unquestionable facts as to Philemon. The only sure information is that in the epistle bearing his name. Charles Smith Lewis PHILEMON, EPISTLE TO This most beautiful of all Paul’s Epistles, and the most intensely human, is one of the so-called Captivity Epistles of which Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians are the others. Of these four PHILIPPIANS (which see) stands apart, and was written more probably after the other three. These are mutually interdependent, sent by the same bearer to churches of the same district, and under similar conditions. 1. PLACE OF WRITING:
There is some diversity of opinion as to the place from which the apostle wrote these letters. Certain scholars (Reuss, Schenkel, Weiss, Holtzmann, Hilgenfeld, Hausrath and Meyer) have urged Caesarea in opposition to the traditional place, Rome. The arguments advanced are first that Onesimus would have been more likely to have escaped to Caesarea than to Rome, as it is nearer Colosse than Rome is, to which we may reply that, though Caesarea is nearer, his chance of escape would have been far greater in the capital than in the provincial city. Again it is said that as Onesimus is not commended in Ephesians, he had already been left behind at Colosse; against which there are advanced the precarious value of an argument from silence, and the fact that this argument assumes a particular course which the bearers of the letters would follow, namely, through Colosse to Ephesus. A more forcible argument is that which is based on the apostle’s expected visit. In Philippians 2:24 we read that he expected to go to Macedonia on his release; in Philem 1:22 we find that he expected to go to Colosse. On the basis of this latter reference it is assumed that he was to the south of Colosse when writing and so at Caesarea. But it is quite as probable that he would go to Colosse through Philippi as the reverse; and it is quite possible that even if he had intended to go direct to Colosse when he wrote to Philemon, events may have come about to cause him to change his plans. The last argument, based on the omission of any reference to the earthquake of which Tacitus (Ann. xiv.27) and Eusebius (Chron., O1, 207) write, is of force as opposed to the Romans origin of the letters only on the assumption that these writers both refer to the same event (by no means sure) and that the epistles. were written after that event, and that it was necessary that Paul should have mentioned it. If the early chronology be accepted it falls entirely, as Tacitus’ earlier date would be after the epistles. were written. In addition we have the further facts, favorable to Rome, that Paul had no such freedom in Cuesarea as he is represented in these epistles as enjoying; that no mention is made of Philip who was in Caesarea and a most important member of that community ( Acts 21:8), and finally that there is no probability that so large a body of disciples and companions could have gathered about the apostle in his earlier and more strict imprisonment, at Caesarea. We may therefore conclude that the Captivity Epistles were written from Rome, and not from Caesarea. 2. AUTHENTICITY:
The external evidence for the epistle is less extensive than that of some of the other epp., but it is abundantly strong. The play on the word Onesimus which Paul himself uses (Philem 1:11) is found in Ignatius, Ephesians, ii.
This may not mean necessarily a literary connection, but it suggests this.
The epistle is known to Tertullian, and through him we know that Marcion accepted it (Adv. Marc., v.21). It is in the list in the Muratorian Fragment (p. 106, l. 27), and is quoted by Origen as Pauline (Hom. in Jeremiah., 19) and placed by Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, III, xxv) among the acknowledged books.
It has twice been the object of attack. In the 4th and 5th centuries it was opposed as unworthy of Paul’s mind and as of no value for edification.
This attack was met successfully by Jerome (Commentary on Philemon, praef.), Chrysostom (Argum. in Philem) and Theodore of Mopsuestia (Spicil. in Solesm, I, 149), and the epistle. was finally established in its earlier firm position. The later attack by Baur was inspired by his desire to break down the corroborative value of Philem to the other Captivity Epistles, and has been characterized by Weiss as one of Baur’s worst blunders. The suggestions that it is interpolated (Holtzmann), or allegorical (Weizsacker and Pfleiderer), or based on the letter of Pliny (Ep. IX, 21) to Sabinianus (Steck), are interesting examples of the vagaries of their authors, but “deserve only to be mentioned” (Zahn). In its language, style and argument the letter is clearly Pauline. 3. DATE:
The date will, as is the case with the other Captivity Epistles, depend on the chronology. If the earlier scheme be followed it may be dated about 58, if the later about 63, or 64. 4. ARGUMENT:
The apostle writes in his own and Timothy’s name to his friend PHILEMON (which see) in behalf of Onesimus, a runaway slave of the latter. Beginning with his usual thanksgiving, here awakened by the report of Philemon’s hospitality, he intercedes for his `son begotten in his bonds’ (Philem 1:10), Onesimus, who though he is Philemon’s runaway slave is now “a brother.” It is on this ground that the apostle pleads, urging his own age, and friendship for Philemon, and his present bonds. He pleads, however, without belittling Onesimus’ wrongdoing, but assuming himself the financial responsibility for the amount of his theft. At the same time the apostle quietly refers to what Philemon really owes him as his father in Christ, and begs that he will not disappoint him in his expectation. He closes with the suggestion that he hopes soon to visit him, and with greetings from his companions in Rome. 5. VALUE:
The charm and beauty of this epistle have been universally recognized. Its value to us as giving a glimpse of Paul’s attitude toward slavery and his intimacy with a man like Philemon cannot be over-estimated. One of the chief elements of value in it is the picture it gives us of a Christian home in the apostolic days; the father and mother well known for their hospitality, the son a man of position and importance in the church, the coming and going of the Christian brethren, and the life of the brotherhood centering about this household.
LITERATURE.
Lightfoot, Colossians and Philem; Vincent, “Philippians” and “Philem” (ICC); yon Soden, Hand Commentar; Alexander, in Speaker’s Commentary. Charles Smith Lewis PHILETUS <fi-le’-tus > ([ Fi>lhtov, Philetos ] ( 2 Timothy 2:17)): 1. THE NATURE OF HIS ERROR:
This person is mentioned by Paul, who warns Timothy against him as well as against his associate in error, Hymeneus. The apostle speaks of Hymeneus and Philetus as instances of men who were doing most serious injury to the church by their teaching, and by what that teaching resulted in, both in faith and morals. The specific error of these men was that they denied that there would be any bodily resurrection. They treated all Scriptural references to such a state, as figurative or metaphorical. They spiritualized it absolutely, and held that the resurrection was a thing of the past. No resurrection was possible, so they taught, except from ignorance to knowledge, from sin to righteousness. There would be no day when the dead would hear the voice of Christ and come forth out of the grave. The Christian, knowing that Christ was raised from the dead, looked forward to the day when his body should be raised in the likeness of Christ’s resurrection. But this faith was utterly denied by the teaching of Hymeneus and Philetus. 2. HOW IT OVERTHREW FAITH:
This teaching of theirs, Paul tells us, had overthrown the faith of some. It would also overthrow Christian faith altogether, for if the dead are not raised, neither is Christ risen from the dead, and “ye are yet in your sins” ( 1 Corinthians 15:17).
The denial of the resurrection of the body, whether of mankind generally or of Christ, is the overthrow of the faith. It leaves nothing to cling to, no living Christ, who saves and leads and comforts His people. The apostle proceeds to say that teaching of this kind “eats as doth a gangrene,” and that it increases unto more ungodliness. As a canker or gangrene eats away the flesh, so does such teaching eat away Christian faith. Paul is careful to say, more than once, that the teaching which denies that there will be a resurrection of the dead leads inevitably to “ungodliness” and to “iniquity.” See HYMENAEUS.
John Rutherfurd PHILIP (1) <fil’-ip > ([ Fi>lippov, Philippos ], “lover of horses”): (1) The father of Alexander the Great (1 Macc 1:1; 6:2), king of Macedonia in 359-336 BC. His influence for Greece and for mankind in general lay in hastening the decadence of the Greek city-state and in the preparations he left to Alexander for the diffusion throughout the world of the varied phases of Greek intellectual life. (2) A Phrygian left by Antiochus Epiphanes as governor at Jerusalem (circa 170 BC) and described in 2 Macc 5:22 as “more barbarous” than Antiochus himself, burning fugitive Jews who had assembled in caves near by “to keep the sabbath day secretly” (2 Macc 6:11) and taking special measures to check the opposition of Judas Maccabeus (2 Macc 8:8). There is some ground for identifying him with — (3) A friend or foster-brother of Antiochus (2 Macc 9:29), appointed by Antiochus on his deathbed as regent. Lysias already held the office of regent, having brought up the son of Antiochus from his youth, and on the death of his father set him up as king under the name of Eupator. The accounts of the rivalries of the regents and of the fate of Philip as recorded in 1 Macc 6:56; 2 Macc 9:29; Josephus, Ant, XII, ix, 7, are not easily reconciled. (4) Philip V, king of Macedonia in 220-179 BC. He is mentioned in Macc 8:5 as an example of the great power of the Romans with whom Judas Maccabeus made a league on conditions described (op. cit.). The conflict of Philip with the Romans coincided in time with that of Hannibal, after whose defeat at Zama the Romans were able to give undivided attention to the affairs of Macedonia. Philip was defeated by the Romans under Flaminius, at Cynoscephalae (197 BC), and compelled to accept the terms of the conquerors. He died in 179, and was succeeded by his son Perseus, last king of Macedonia, who lost his crown in his contest with the Romans. See PERSEUS.
J. Hutchison PHILIP (2) ([ Fi>lippov, Philippos ]): 1. NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:
One of the Twelve Apostles. Philip belonged to Bethsaida of Galilee ( John 1:44; 12:21). Along with Andrew and other fellow-townsmen, he had journeyed to Bethany to hear the teaching of John the Baptist, and there he received his first call from Christ, “Follow me” ( John 1:43).
Like Andrew, Philip immediately won a fresh follower, Nathanael, for Jesus ( John 1:45). It is probable that he was present at most of the events recorded of Jesus’ return journey from Bethany to Galilee, and that the information relating to these was supplied to John by him and Andrew (compare ANDREW). His final ordination to the Twelve is recorded in Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13. At the feeding of the 5,000, Philip was asked the question by Jesus, “Whence are we to buy bread, that these may eat?” ( John 6:5-7). He was appealed to by the Greeks when they desired to interview Jesus at the Passover ( John 12:20-33). During the address of Jesus to His disciples after the Last Supper, Philip made the request, “Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us” ( John 14:8). 2. APOCRYPHAL REFERENCES:
According to the “Genealogies of the Twelve Apostles,” Philip was of the house of Zebulun (compare Budge, Contendings of the Apostles, II, 50).
Clement of Alexandria (Strom., iii.4, 25, and iv.9, 73) gives the tradition identifying him with the unknown disciple who asked permission to go and bury his father ere he followed Jesus (compare Matthew 8:21; Luke 9:59), and says that he died a natural death. Owing to confusion with Philip the evangelist, there is much obscurity in the accounts of Apocrypha literature concerning the earlier missionary activities of Philip the apostle.
The “Acts of Philip” tell of a religious controversy between the apostle and a Judean high priest before the philosophers of Athens. Later Latin documents mention Gaul (Galatia) as his field. As to his sending Joseph of Arimathea thence to Britain, see JOSEPH OF ARIMATHAEA. The evidence seems conclusive that the latter part of his life was spent in Phrygia. This is supported by Polycrates (bishop of Ephesus in the 2nd century), who states that he died at Hierapolis, by Theodoret, and by the parts of the Contendings of the Apostles dealing with Philip. Thus, according to “The Preaching of Philip and Peter” (compare Budge, Contendings of the Apostles, II, 146), Phrygia was assigned to Philip as a mission field by the risen Christ when He appeared to the disciples on the Mount of Olives, and “The Martyrdom of Philip in Phrygia” (Budge, II, 156) tells of his preaching, miracles and crucifixion there.
Philip was regarded in early times as the author of “The Gospel of Philip,” a Gnostic work of the 2nd century, part of which was preserved by Epiphanius (compare Hennecke, Neutestamentliche Apokryphen, 40, 41). See APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 3. CHARACTER:
As with Andrew, Philip’s Greek name implies he had Greek connections, and this is strengthened by the fact that he acted as the spokesman of the Greeks at the Passover. Of a weaker mold than Andrew, he was yet the one to whom the Greeks would first appeal; he himself possessed an inquirer’s spirit and could therefore sympathize with their doubts and difficulties. The practical, strong-minded Andrew was naturally the man to win the impetuous, swift-thinking Peter; but the slower Philip, versed in the Scriptures (compare John 1:45), appealed more to the critical Nathanael and the cultured Greeks. Cautious and deliberate himself, and desirous of submitting all truth to the test of sensuous experience (compare John 14:8), he concluded the same criterion would be acceptable to Nathanael also (compare John 1:46). It was the presence of this materialistic trend of mind in Philip that induced Jesus, in order to awaken in His disciple a larger and more spiritual faith, to put the question in John 6:6, seeking “to prove him.” This innate diffidence which affected Philip’s religious beliefs found expression in his outer life and conduct also. It was not merely modesty, but also a certain lack of self-reliance, that made him turn to Andrew for advice when the Greeks wished to see Jesus. The story of his later life is, however, sufficient to show that he overcame those initial defects in his character, and fulfilled nobly the charge that his risen Lord laid upon him (compare Matthew 28:16-20). C. M. Kerr PHILIP (3) (“tetrarch,” Luke 3:1). See HEROD.
PHILIP, THE EVANGELIST One of “the seven” chosen to have the oversight of “the daily ministration” of the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem ( Acts 6:5).
Whether Philip, bearing a Greek name, was a Hellenist, is not known, but his missionary work reveals to us one free from the religious prejudices of the strict Hebrew.
The martyrdom of Stephen was the beginning of a systematic persecution of the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered over Judea and Samaria ( Acts 8:1), and even as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch ( Acts 11:19). Thus, the influence of the new teaching was extended, and a beginning made to the missionary movement. The story of Philip’s missionary labors is told in Acts 8:5 ff. He went to the chief city of Samaria, called Sebaste in honor of Augustus (Greek Sebastos ). The Samaritans, of mixed Israelite and Gentile blood, had, in consequence of their being rigidly excluded from the Jewish church since the return from exile, built on Matthew. Gerizim a rival sanctuary to the temple. To them Philip proclaimed the Christ and wrought signs, with the result that multitudes gave heed, and “were baptized, both men and women.” They had been under the influence of a certain sorcerer, Simon, who himself also believed and was baptized, moved, as the sequel proved, by the desire to learn the secret of Philip’s ability to perform miracles (see SIMON MAGUS). The apostles ( Acts 8:14) at Jerusalem sanctioned the admission of Samaritans into the church by sending Peter and John, who not only confirmed the work of Philip, but also themselves preached in many Samaritan villages.
The next incident recorded is the conversion of a Gentile, who was, however, a worshipper of the God of Israel, a eunuch under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. As he was returning from worshipping in the temple at Jerusalem, he was met by Philip on the road to Gaza. Philip expounded to him that portion of Isaiah 53 which he had been reading aloud as he sat in his chariot, and preached unto him Jesus. It is another sign of Philip’s insight into the universality of Christianity that he baptized this eunuch who could not have been admitted into full membership in the Jewish church ( Deuteronomy 23:1). See ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH.
After this incident, Philip went to Azotus (Ashdod), and then traveled north to Caesarea, preaching in the cities on his way. There he settled, for Luke records that Paul and his company abode in the house of Philip, “the evangelist,” “one of the seven,” for some days ( Acts 21:8 ff). This occurred more than 20 years after the incidents recorded in Acts 8. Both at this time and during Paul’s imprisonment at Caesarea, Luke had the opportunity of hearing about Philip’s work from his own lips. Luke records that Philip had 4 daughters who were preachers ( Acts 21:9).
The Jewish rebellion, which finally resulted in the fall of Jerusalem, drove many Christians out of Palestine, and among them Philip and his daughters.
One tradition connects Philip and his daughters with Hierapolis in Asia, but in all probability the evangelist is confounded with the apostle. Another tradition represents them as dwelling at Tralles, Philip being the first bishop of the Christian community. S. F. Hunter PHILIP, THE GOSPEL OF See APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS; PHILIP THE EVANGELIST.
PHILIPPI <fi-lip’-i > ([ Fi>lippoi, Philippoi ], ethnic [ Filipph>siov, Philippesios ], Philippians 4:15): 1. POSITION AND NAME:
A city of Macedonia, situated in 41ø 5’ North latitude and 24ø 16’ East longitude. It lay on the Egnatian Road, 33 Roman miles from Amphipolis and 21 from Acontisma, in a plain bounded on the East and North by the mountains which lie between the rivers Zygactes and Nestus, on the West by Matthew. Pangaeus, on the South by the ridge called in antiquity Symbolum, over which ran the road connecting the city with its seaport, NEAPOLIS (which see), 9 miles distant. This plain, a considerable part of which is marshy in modern, as in ancient, times, is connected with the basin of the Strymon by the valley of the Angites (Herodotus vii.113), which also bore the names Gangas or Gangites (Appian, Bell. Civ. iv.106), the modern Anghista. The ancient name. of Philippi was Crenides (Strabo vii.331; Diodorus xvi.3, 8; Appian, Bell. Civ. iv.105; Stephanus Byz. under the word), so called after the springs which feed the river and the marsh; but it was refounded by Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and received his name. 2. HISTORY:
Appian (Bell. Civ. iv.105) and Harpocration say that Crenides was afterward called Daton, and that this name was changed to Philippi, but this statement is open to question, since Daton, which became proverbial among the Greeks for good fortune, possessed, as Strabo tells us (vii.331 fr. 36), “admirably fertile territory, a lake, rivers, dockyards and productive gold mines,” whereas Philippi lies, as we have seen, some 9 miles inland.
Many modern authorities, therefore, have placed Daton on the coast at or near the site of Neapolis. On the whole, it seems best to adopt the view of Heuzey (Mission archeologique, 35, 62 ff) that Daton was not originally a city, but the whole district which lay immediately to the East of Matthew.
Pangaeus, including the Philippian plain and the seacoast about Neapolis.
On the site of the old foundation of Crenides, from which the Greek settlers had perhaps been driven out by the Thracians about a century previously, the Thasians in 360 BC founded their colony of Daton with the aid of the exiled Athenian statesman Callistratus, in order to exploit the wealth, both agricultural and mineral, of the neighborhood. To Philip, who ascended the Macedonian throne in 359 BC, the possession of this spot seemed of the utmost importance. Not only is the plain itself well watered and of extraordinary fertility, but a strongly-fortified post planted here would secure the natural land-route from Europe to Asia and protect the eastern frontier of Macedonia against Thracian inroads. Above all, the mines of the district might meet his most pressing need, that of an abundant supply of gold. The site was therefore seized in 358 BC, the city was enlarged, strongly fortitled, and renamed, the Thasian settlers either driven out or reinforced, and the mines, worked with characteristic energy, produced over 1,000 talents a year (Diodorus xvi.8) and enabled Philip to issue a gold currency which in the West soon superseded the Persian darics (G.F. Hill, Historical Greek Coins, 80 ff). The revenue thus obtained was of inestimable value to Philip, who not only used it for the development of the Macedonian army, but also proved himself a master of the art of bribery. His remark is well known that no fortress was impregnable to whose walls an ass laden with gold could be driven. Of the history of Philippi during the next 3 centuries we know practically nothing. Together with the rest of Macedonia, it passed into the Roman hands after the battle of Pydna (168 BC), and fell in the first of the four regions into which the country was then divided (Livy xlv.29). In 146 the whole of Macedonia was formed into a single Roman province. But the mines seem to have been almost, if not quite, exhausted by this time, and Strabo (vii. 331 fr. 41) speaks of Philippi as having sunk by the time of Caesar to a “small settlement” ([katoiki>a mikra>, katoikia mikra ]). In the autumn of 42 BC it witnessed the death-struggle of the Roman republic. Brutus and Cassius, the leaders of the band of conspirators who had assassinated Julius Caesar, were faced by Octavian, who 15 years later became the Emperor Augustus, and Antony. In the first engagement the army of Brutus defeated that of Octavian, while Antony’s forces were victorious over those of Cassius, who in despair put an end to his life. Three weeks later the second and decisive conflict took place. Brutus was compelled by his impatient soldiery to give battle, his troops were routed and he himself fell on his own sword. Soon afterward Philippi was made a Roman colony with the title Colonia Iulia Philippensis . After the battle of Actium (31 BC) the colony was reinforced, largely by Italian partisans of Antony who were dispossessed in order to afford allotments for Octavian’s veterans (Dio Cassius li.4), and its name was changed to Colonia Augusta Iulia (Victrix) Philippensium: It received the much-coveted iusItalicum (Digest L. 15, 8, 8), which involved numerous privileges, the chief of which was the immunity of its territory from taxation. 3. PAUL’S FIRST VISIT:
In the course of his second missionary journey Paul set sail from Troas, accompanied by Silas (who bears his full name Silvanus in 2 Corinthians 1:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1), Timothy and Luke, and on the following day reached Neapolis ( Acts 16:11). Thence he journeyed by road to Philippi, first crossing the pass some 1,600 ft. high which leads over the mountain ridge called Symbolum and afterward traversing the Philipplan plain. Of his experiences there we have in Acts 16:12-40 a singularly full and graphic account. On the Sabbath, presumably the first Sabbath after their arrival, the apostle and his companions went out to the bank of the Angites, and there spoke to the women, some of them Jews, others proselytes, who had come together for purposes of worship.
One of these was named Lydia, a Greek proselyte from Thyatira, a city of Lydia in Asia Minor, to the church of which was addressed the message recorded in Revelation 2:18-29. She is described as a “seller of purple” ( Acts 16:14), that is, of woolen fabrics dyed purple, for the manufacture of which her native town was famous. Whether she was the agent in Philippi of some firm in Thyatira or whether she was carrying on her trade independently, we cannot say; her name suggests the possibility that she was a freedwoman, while from the fact that we hear of her household and her house ( Acts 16:15; compare 16:40), though no mention is made of her husband, it has been conjectured that she was a widow of some property. She accepted the apostolic message and was baptized with her household ( Acts 16:15), and insisted that Paul and his companions should accept her hospitality during the rest of their stay in the city. See further LYDIA.
All seemed to be going well when opposition arose from an unexpected quarter. There was in the town a girl, in all probability a slave, who was reputed to have the power of oracular utterance. Herodotus tells us (vii.
III) of an oracle of Dionysus situated among the Thracian tribe of the Satrae, probably not far from Philippi; but there is no reason to connect the soothsaying of this girl with that worship. In any case, her masters reaped a rich harvest from the fee charged for consulting her. Paul, troubled by her repeatedly following him and those with him crying, “These men are bondservants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you a way of salvation” ( Acts 16:17 margin), turned and commanded the spirit in Christ’s name to come out of her. The immediate restoration of the girl to a sane and normal condition convinced her masters that all prospect of further gain was gone, and they therefore seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the forum before the magistrates, probably the duumviri who stood at the head of the colony. They accused the apostles of creating disturbance in the city and of advocating customs, the reception and practice of which were illegal for Romans citizens. The rabble of the market-place joined in the attack ( Acts 16:22), whereupon the magistrates, accepting without question the accusers’ statement that Paul and Silas were Jews ( Acts 16:20) and forgetting or ignoring the possibility of their possessing Romans citizenship, ordered them to be scourged by the attendant lictors and afterward to be imprisoned. In the prison they were treated with the utmost rigor; they were confined in the innermost ward, and their feet put in the stocks. About midnight, as they were engaged in praying and singing hymns, while the other prisoners were listening to them, the building was shaken by a severe earthquake which threw open the prison doors. The jailer, who was on the point of taking his own life, reassured by Paul regarding the safety of the prisoners, brought Paul and Silas into his house where he tended their wounds, set food before them, and, after hearing the gospel, was baptized together with his whole household ( Acts 16:23-34).
On the morrow the magistrates, thinking that by dismissing from the town those who had been the cause of the previous day’s disturbance they could best secure themselves against any repetition of the disorder, sent the lictors to the jailer with orders to release them. Paul refused to accept a dismissal of this kind. As Romans citizens he and Silas were legally exempt from scourging, which was regarded as a degradation ( 1 Thessalonians 2:2), and the wrong was aggravated by the publicity of the punishment, the absence of a proper trial and the imprisonment which followed ( Acts 16:37). Doubtless Paul had declared his citizenship when the scourging was inflicted, but in the confusion and excitement of the moment his protest had been unheard or unheeded. Now, however, it produced a deep impression on the magistrates, who came in person to ask Paul and Silas to leave the city. They, after visiting their hostess and encouraging the converts to remain firm in their new faith, set out by the Egnatian Road for Thessalonica ( Acts 16:38-40). How long they had stayed in Philippi we are not told, but the fact that the foundations of a strong and flourishing church had been laid and the phrase “for many days” ( Acts 16:18) lead us to believe that the time must have been a longer one than appears at first sight. Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveler, 226) thinks that Paul left Troas in October, 50 AD, and stayed at Philippi until nearly the end of the year; but this chronology cannot be regarded as certain.
Several points in the narrative of these incidents call for fuller consideration. (1) We may notice, first, the very small part played by Jews and Judaism at Philippi.
There was no synagogue here, as at Salamis in Cyprus ( Acts 13:5), Antioch in Pisidia ( Acts 13:14,43), Iconium ( Acts 14:1), Ephesus ( Acts 18:19,26; 19:8), Thessalonica ( Acts 17:1), Berea ( Acts 17:10), Athens ( Acts 17:17) and Corinth ( Acts 18:4). The number of resident Jews was small, their meetings for prayer took place on the river’s bank, the worshippers were mostly or wholly women ( Acts 16:13), and among them some, perhaps a majority, were proselytes. Of Jewish converts we hear nothing, nor is there any word of Jews as either inciting or joining the mob which dragged Paul and Silas before the magistrates. Further, the whole tone of the epistle. to this church seems to prove that here at least the apostolic teaching was not in danger of being undermined by Judaizers. True, there is one passage ( Philippians 3:2-7) in which Paul denounces “the concision,” those who had “confidence in the flesh”; but it seems “that in this warning he was thinking of Rome more than of Philippi; and that his indignation was aroused rather by the vexatious antagonism which there thwarted him in his daily work, than by any actual errors already undermining the faith of his distant converts” (Lightfoot). (2) Even more striking is the prominence of the Romans element in the narrative. We are here not in a Greek or Jewish city, but in one of those Romans colonies which Aulus Gellius describes as “miniatures and pictures of the Romans people” (Noctes Atticae, xvi.13).
In the center of the city is the forum ([ajgora>, agora ], Acts 16:19), and the general term “magistrates” ([a]rcontev, archontes ], English Versions of the Bible, “rulers,” Acts 16:19) is exchanged for the specific title of praetors ([strathgoi>, stratagoi ], English Versions of the Bible “magistrates,” Acts 16:20,22,35,36,38); these officers are attended by lictors ([rJabdou~coi, rhabdouchoi ], English Versions “sergeants,” Acts 16:35,38) who bear the fasces with which they scourged Paul and Silas ([rJabdi>zw, rhabdizo ], Acts 16:22). The charge is that of disturbing public order and introducing customs opposed to Roman law ( Acts 16:20,21), and Paul’s appeal to his Roman civitas ( Acts 16:37) at once inspired the magistrates with fear for the consequences of their action and made them conciliatory and apologetic ( Acts 16:38,39). The title of praetor borne by these officials has caused some difficulty. The supreme magistrates of Roman colonies, two in number, were called duoviri or duumviri (iuri dicundo), and that this title was in use at Philippi is proved by three inscriptions (Orelli, Number 3746; Heuzey, Mission archeologique, 15, 127). The most probable explanation of the discrepancy is that these magistrates assumed the title Of praetor, or that it was commonly applied to them, as was certainly the case in some parts of the Roman world (Cicero Deuteronomy lege agraria ii.34; Horace Sat. i.5, 34; Orelli, Number 3785). (3) Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveler, 200 ff) has brought forward the attractive suggestion that Luke was himself a Philippian, and that he was the “man of Macedonia” who appeared to Paul at Troas with the invitation to enter Macedonia ( Acts 16:9).
In any case, the change from the 3rd to the 1st person in Acts 16:10 marks the point at which Luke joined the apostle, and the same criterion leads to the conclusion that Luke remained at Philippi between Paul’s first and his third visit to the city (see below). Ramsay’s hypothesis would explain (a) the fullness and vividness of the narrative of Acts 16:11-40; (b) the emphasis laid on the importance of Philippi (16:12); and (c) the fact that Paul recognized as a Macedonian the man whom he saw in his vision, although there was nothing either in the language, features or dress of Macedonians to mark them out from other Greeks. Yet Luke was clearly not a householder at Philippi ( Acts 16:15), and early tradition refers to him as an Antiochene (see, however, Ramsay, in the work quoted 389 f). (4) Much discussion has centered round the description of Philippi given in Acts 16:12. The reading of Codices Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Ephraemi, etc., followed by Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek, the Revised Version (British and American), etc., is: [h[tiv ejsti But the capital of the province was Thessalonica, and if tes meridos be taken to refer to the easternmost of the 4 districts into which Macedonia had been divided in 168 BC (though there is no evidence that that division survived at this time), Amphipolis was its capital and was apparently still its most important city, though destined to be outstripped by Philippi somewhat later. Nor is the other rendering of prote (adopted, e.g. by Lightfoot) more natural. It supposes that Luke reckoned Neapolis as belonging to Thrace, and the boundary of Macedonia as lying between Philippi and its seaport; moreover, the remark is singularly pointless; the use of estin rather than en is against this view, nor is prote found in this sense without any qualifying phrase. Lastly, the tes in its present position is unnatural; in Codex Vaticanus it is placed after, instead of before, meridos , while D (the Bezan reviser) reads [kefalh< th~v Makedoni>av, kephale tes Makedonias ]. Of the emendations which have been suggested, we may notice three: (a) for meridos Hort has suggested Pieridos , “a chief city of Pierian Macedonia”; (b) for prote tes we may read protes , “which belongs to the first region of Macedonia”; (c) meridos may be regarded as a later insertion and struck out of the text, in which case the whole phrase will mean, “which is a city of Macedonia of first rank” (though not necessarily the first city). 4. PAUL’S LATER VISITS:
Paul and Silas, then, probably accompanied by Timothy (who, however, is not expressly mentioned in Acts between 16:1 and 17:14), left Philippi for Thessalonica, but Luke apparently remained behind, for the “we” of Acts 16:10-17 does not appear again until 20:5, when Paul is once more leaving Philippi on his last journey to Jerusalem. The presence of the evangelist during the intervening 5 years may have had much to do with the strength of the Philippian church and its stealfastness in persecution ( Corinthians 8:2; Philippians 1:29,30). Patti himself did not revisit the city until, in the course of his third missionary journey, he returned to Macedonia, preceded by Timothy and Erastus, after a stay of over 2 years at Ephesus ( Acts 19:22; 20:1). We are not definitely told that he visited Philippi on this occasion, but of the fact there can be little doubt, and it was probably there that he awaited the coming of Titus ( 2 Corinthians 2:13; 7:5,6) and wrote his 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians ( 2 Corinthians 8:1 ff; 9:2-4). After spending 3 months in Greece, whence he intended to return by sea to Syria, he was led by a plot against his life to change his plans and return through Macedonia ( Acts 20:3). The last place at which he stopped before crossing to Asia was Philippi, where he spent the days of unleavened bread, and from (the seaport of) which he sailed in company with Luke to Troas where seven of his companions were awaiting him ( Acts 20:4-6). It seems likely that Paul paid at least one further visit to Philippi in the interval between his first and second imprisonments. That he hoped to do so, he himself tells us ( Philippians 2:24), and the journey to Macedonia mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:3 would probably include a visit to Philippi, while if, as many authorities hold, 2 Timothy 4:13 refers to a later stay at Troas, it may well be connected with a further and final tour in Macedonia. But the intercourse between the apostle and this church of his founding was not limited to these rare visits. During Paul’s first stay at Thessalonica he had received gifts of money on two occasions from the Philippian Christians ( Philippians 4:16), and their kindness had been repeated after he left Macedonia for Greece ( 2 Corinthians 11:9; Philippians 4:15). Again, during his first imprisonment at Rome the Philippians sent a gift by the hand of one of their number, Epaphroditus ( Philippians 2:25; 4:10,14-19), who remained for some time with the apostle, and finally, after a serious illness which nearly proved fatal ( Philippians 2:27), returned home bearing the letter of thanks which has survived, addressed to the Philippian converts by Paul and Timothy ( Philippians 1:1). The latter intended to visit the church shortly afterward in order to bring back to the imprisoned apostle an account of its welfare ( Philippians 2:19,23), but we do not know whether this plan was actually carried out or not. We cannot, however, doubt that other letters passed between Paul and this church besides the one which is extant, though the only reference to them is a disputed passage of Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians (iii.2), where he speaks of “letters” ([ejpistolai>, epistolai ]) as written to them by Paul (but see Lightfoot’s note on Philippians 3:1). 5. LATER HISTORY OF THE CHURCH:
After the death of Paul we hear but little of the church or of the town of Philippi. Early in the 2nd century Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was condemned as a Christian and was taken to Rome to be thrown to the wild beasts. After passing through Philadelphia, Smyrna and Troas, he reached Philippi. The Christians there showed him every mark of affection and respect, and after his departure wrote a letter of sympathy to the Antiochene church and another to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, requesting him to send them copies of any letters of Ignatius which he possessed. This request Polycarp fulfilled, and at the same time sent a letter to the Philippians full of encouragement, advice and warning. From it we judge that the condition of the church as a whole was satisfactory, though a certain presbyter, Valens, and his wife are severely censured for their avarice which belied their Christian profession. We have a few records of bishops of Philippi, whose names are appended to the decisions of the councils held at Sardica (344 AD), Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451), and the see appears to have outlived the city itself and to have lasted down to modern times (Leviticus Quien, Oriens Christ., II, 70; Neale, Holy Eastern Church, I, 92). Of the destruction of Philippi no account has come down to us. The name was perpetuated in that of the Turkish hamlet Felibedjik, but the site is now uninhabited, the nearest village being that of Raktcha among the hills immediately to the North of the ancient acropolis.
This latter and the plain around are covered with ruins, but no systematic excavation has yet been undertaken. Of the extant remains the most striking are portions of the Hellenic and Hellenistic fortification, the scanty vestiges of theater, the ruin known among the Turks as Derekler, “the columns,” which perhaps represents the ancient thermae, traces of a temple of Silvanus with numerous rock-cut reliefs and inscriptions, and the remains of a triumphal arch (Kiemer).
LITERATURE.
The fullest account of the site and antiquities is that of Heuzey and Daumet, Mission archeologique de Macedoine, chapters i through v and Plan A; Leake, Travels in Northern Greece, III, 214-25; Cousinery, Voyage dana la Macedoine, II, 1 ff; Perrot, “Daton. Neapolis. Les ruines de Philippos,” in Revue archeologique, 1860; and Hackett, in Bible Union Quarterly, 1860, may also be consulted. For the Latin inscriptions see Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, III, 1, numbers 633-707; III, Suppl., numbers 7337-7358; for coins, B.V. Head, Historia Numorum, 192; Catalogue of Coins in the British Museum: Macedonia, etc., 96. For the history of the Philippian church and the narrative of Acts 16:12-40 see Lightfoot, Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, 47-65; Ramsay, Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen, 202-26; Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of Paul, chapter ix; Farrar, Life and Work of Paul, chapter xxv; and the standard commentaries on the Acts — especially Blass, Acta Apostolorum — and on Philippians. M. N. Tod PHILIPPIANS, THE EPISTLE TO <fi-lip’-i-anz > 1. PAUL AND THE CHURCH AT PHILIPP1.
Paul was on his second missionary journey in the year 52 AD. He felt that he was strangely thwarted in many of his plans. He had had a most distressing illness in Galatia. The Spirit would not permit him to preach in Asia, and when he essayed to enter Bithynia the Spirit again would not suffer it. Baffled and perplexed, the apostle with his two companions, Silas and Timothy, went on to the seacoast and stopped in Troas. Here at last his leading became clear. A vision of a man from Macedonia convinced him that it was the will of God that he should preach in the western continent of Europe. The way was opened at once. The winds were favorable. In two days he came to Neapolis. At once he took the broad paved way of the Via Egnatia up to the mountain pass and down on the other side to Philippi, a journey of some 8 miles. There was no synagogue at Philippi, but a little company of Jews gathered for Sabbath worship at “a place of prayer” ([proseuch>, proseuche ], Acts 16:13), about a mile to the West of the city gate on the shore of the river Gangites (see PROSEUCHA). Paul and his companions talked to the women gathered there, and Lydia was converted. Later, a maid with the spirit of divination was exorcised. Paul and Silas were scourged and thrown into prison, an earthquake set them free, the jailer became a believer, the magistrates repented their treatment of men who were Roman citizens and besought them to leave the city ( Acts 16:6-40). Paul had had his first experience of a Roman scourging and of lying in the stocks of a Roman prison here at Philippi, yet he went on his way rejoicing, for a company of disciples had been formed, and he had won the devotion of loyal and loving hearts for himself and his Master (see PHILIPPI). That was worth all the persecution and the pain. The Christians at Philippi seem to have been Paul’s favorites among all his converts. He never lost any opportunity of visiting them and refreshing his spirit with their presence in the after-years. Six years later he was resident in Ephesus, and having sent Titus to Corinth with a letter to the Corinthians and being in doubt as to the spirit in which it would be received, he appointed a meeting with Titus in Macedonia, and probably spent the anxious days of his waiting at Philippi. If he met Titus there, he may have written 2 Corinthians in that city ( 2 Corinthians 2:13; 7:6).
Paul returned to Ephesus, and after the riot in that city he went over again into Macedonia and made his third visit to Philippi. He probably promised the Philippians at this time that he would return to Philippi to celebrate the Easter week with his beloved converts there. He went on into Greece, but in 3 months he was back again, at the festival of the resurrection in the year 58 AD ( Acts 20:2,6). We read in 1 Timothy 1:3 that Paul visited Macedonia after the Roman imprisonment. He enjoyed himself among the Philippians. They were Christians after his own heart. He thanks God for their fellowship from the first day until now ( Philippians 1:5). He declares that they are his beloved who have always obeyed, not in his presence only, but much more in his absence ( Philippians 2:12). With fond repetition he addresses them as his brethren, beloved and longed for, his joy and crown, his beloved ( Philippians 4:1). This was Paul’s favorite church, and we can gather from the epistle good reason for this fact. 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHURCH AT PHILIPP1. (1) It seems to be the least Jewish of all the Pauline churches. There were few Jews in Philippi. No Hebrew names are found in the list of converts in this church mentioned in the New Testament. The Jewish opponents of Paul seem never to have established themselves in this community. (2) Women seem to be unusually prominent in the history of this church, and this is consistent with what we know concerning the position accorded to woman in Macedonian society. Lydia brings her whole family with her into the church. She must have been a very influential woman, and her own fervor and devotion and generosity and hospitality seem to have been contagious and to have become characteristic of the whole Christian community. Euodia and Syntyche are mentioned in the epistle, two women who were fellow-laborers with Paul in the gospel, for both of whom he has great respect, of both of whom he is sure that their names are written in the book of life, but who seem to have differed with each other in some matter of opinion. Paul exhorts them to be of the same mind in the Lord ( Philippians 4:2). The prominence of women in the congregation at Philippi or the dominance of Lydia’s influence among them may account for the fact that they seem to have been more mindful of Paul’s comfort than any of his other converts were. They raised money for Paul’s support and forwarded it to him again and again. They were anxious that he should have all that was needful. They were willing to give of their time and their means to that end. There seem to have been no theological differences in their company. That may testify to the fact that the most of them were women. (3) There were splendid men in the church membership too. Some of them were Macedonians and some of them were Roman veterans.
Hausrath declares that the Macedonians represented the “noblest and soundest part of the ancient world. .... Here was none of the shuffling and the indecision of the Asiatics, none of the irritable vanity and the uncertain levity of the Greek communities. .... They were men of sterner mold than could be fouund in Asia Minor or languorous Syria. The material was harder to work in, and offered more stubborn resistance; but the work, once done, endured. A new Macedonian phalanx was formed here, a phalanx of Pauline Christians. .... Manliness, loyalty, firmness, their characteristics in general history, are equally their characteristics in the history of the Christian church. .... They were always true to Paul, always obedient, always helpful” (Time of the Apostles, III, 203-4).
Paul rejoiced in them. They were spirits congenial with his own. The Roman veterans had been trained in the Roman wars to hardness and discipline and loyalty. They were Roman citizens and proud of the fact. In the epistle Paul exhorts them to behave as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ ( Philippians 1:27), and he reminds them that though they were proud of their Roman citizenship, as was he, they all had become members of a heavenly commonwealth, citizenship in which was a much greater boon than even the jus Italicum had been. In Philippians 3:20 Paul states the fact again, “Our citizenship is in heaven”; and he goes on to remind them that their King is seated there upon the throne and that He is coming again to establish a glorious empire, for He has power to subject all things unto Himself.
It is to these old soldiers and athletes that Paul addresses his military and gymnastic figures of speech. He informs them that the whole praetorian guard had heard of the gospel through his imprisonment at Rome ( Philippians 1:13). He sends them greeting from the saints that are in Caesar’s household ( Philippians 4:22). He prays that he may hear of them that they stand fast like an immovable phalanx, with one soul striving athletically for the faith of the gospel ( Philippians 1:27). He knows that they will be fearless and brave, in nothing affrighted by the adversaries ( Philippians 1:28). He speaks of his own experience as a wrestlingmatch, a conflict or contest ( Philippians 1:30). He joys in the sacrifice and service of their faith ( Philippians 2:17). He calls Epaphroditus not only his fellow-worker but his fellow-soldier ( Philippians 2:25). He likens the Christian life to a race in which he presses on toward the goal unto the prize ( Philippians 3:14). He asks the Philippians to keep even, soldierly step with him in the Christian walk ( Philippians 3:16). These metaphors have their appeal to an athletic and military race, and they bear their testimony to the high regard which Paul had for this type of Christianity and for those in whose lives it was displayed. We do not know the names of many of these men, for only Clement and Epaphroditus are mentioned here; but we gather much concerning their spirit from this epistle, and we are as sure as Paul himself that their names are all written in the book of life ( Philippians 4:3). (4) If the constituent elements of the church at Philippi fairly represented the various elements of the population of the city, they must have been cosmopolitan in character. Philippi was an old Macedonian city which had been turned into a Roman colony. It was both Greek and Roman in its characteristics. Christianity had been introduced here by two Jews, who were Roman citizens, and a Jewish son of a Gentile father. In the account given of the rounding of the church in Acts 16 three converts are mentioned, and one is a Jewish proselyte from Asia, one a native Greek, and one a Roman official. The later converts doubtless represented the same diversity of nationality and the same differences in social position.
Yet, apart from those two good women, Euodia and Syntyche, they were all of one mind in the Lord. It is a remarkable proof of the fact that in Christ all racial and social conditions may be brought into harmony and made to live together in peace. (5) They were a very liberal people. They gave themselves to the Lord and to Paul ( 2 Corinthians 8:5), and whenever they could help Paul or further the work of the gospel they gave gladly and willingly and up to the limit of their resources; and then they hypothecated their credit and gave beyond their power ( 2 Corinthians 8:3). Even Paul was astonished at their giving. He declares that they gave out of much affliction and deep poverty, that they abounded in their bounty, and that they were rich only in their liberality ( 2 Corinthians 8:2).
Surely these are unusual encomiums. The Philippians must have been a very unusual people. If the depth of one’s consecration and the reality of one’s religion are to be measured by the extent to which they affect the disposition of one’s material possessions, if one measure of Christian love is to be found in Christian giving, then the Philippians may well stand supreme among the saints in the Pauline churches. Paul seems to have loved them most. He loved them enough to allow them to contribute toward his support. Elsewhere he refused any help of this sort, and stedfastly adhered to his plan of self-support while he was preaching the gospel. He made the single exception in the case of the Philippians. He must have been sure of their affection and of their confidence. Four times they gave Paul pecuniary aid. Twice they sent him their contributions just after he had left them and gone on to Thessalonica ( Philippians 4:15,16). When Paul had proceeded to Corinth and was in want during his ministry there his heart was gladdened by the visitation of brethren from Philippi, who supplied the measure of his want ( 2 Corinthians 11:8,9).
It was not a first enthusiasm, forgotten as soon as the engaging personality of the apostle was removed from their sight. It was not merely a personal attachment that prompted their gifts. They gave to their own dear apostle, but only that he might minister to others as he had ministered to them. He was their living link with the work in the mission field.
Eleven years passed by, and the Philippians heard that Paul was in prison at Rome and again in need of their help. Eleven years are enough to make quite radical changes in a church membership, but there seems to have been no change in the loyalty or the liberality of the Philippian church in that time. The Philippians hastened to send Epaphroditus to Rome with their contributions and their greetings. It was like a bouquet of fresh flowers in the prison cell. Paul writes this epistle to thank them that their thought for him had blossomed afresh at the first opportunity they had had ( Philippians 4:10). No wonder that Paul loved them and was proud of them and made their earnestness and sincerity and affection the standard of comparison with the love of others ( 2 Corinthians 8:8). 3. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EPISTLE. 1. A Letter: It is a letter. It is not a treatise, as Romana, Hebrews, and 1 John are. It is not an encyclical full of general observations and exhortations capable of application at any time and anywhere, as the Epistle to the Ephesians and the Epistle of James and the Epistles of Peter are. It is a simple letter to personal friends. It has no theological discussions and no rigid outline and no formal development. It rambles along just as any real letter would with personal news and personal feelings and outbursts of personal affection between tried friends. It is the most spontaneous and unaffected of the Pauline Epistles. It is more epistolary than any of the others addressed to the churches. 2. A Letter of Love: It is a letter of love. All of the other epistles have mixed feelings manifest in them. Sometimes a feeling of grief and of indignation is dominant, as in Corinthians. Sometimes the uppermost desire of Paul in his writing seems to be the establishment of the truth against the assault of its foes, as in Galatians and Romans. Always more or less fault is suggested in the recipients of the warnings and the exhortations Paul feels compelled to write to them. In Philippi alone there is no fault to be found. The only suggestion of such a thing is in the reference to the difference of opinion between Euodia and Syntyche, and while Paul thinks this ought to be harmonized, he does not seem to consider it any very serious menace to the peace of the church. Aside from this Paul has nothing but praise for his beloved brethren and prayer that their love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment ( Philippians 1:9). He is full of thankfulness upon all his remembrance of them ( Philippians 1:3). He rejoices in the privilege of being offered upon the sacrifice and service of their faith ( Philippians 2:17). The church at Philippi may not have been conspicuous in charisms as the church at Corinth was, but it had the fruits of the Spirit in rich measure. Paul seems to think that it needed only to rejoice in its spiritual possessions and to grow in grace and in the mind of Christ. His heart is full of gratitude and love as he writes. He rejoices as he thinks of them. His peace and his hope are triumphant over present affliction and the prospect of persecution and death. If this is his last will and testament to his beloved church, as Holtzmann calls it, he has nothing to bequeath them but his unqualified benediction. Having loved them from the first, he loves them to the end. 3. A Letter of Joy: It is a letter of joy. It was Bengel who said, Summa epistolae: gaudeo, gaudete, “The sum of the epistle is, I rejoice; rejoice ye.” Paul was a man whose spirits were undaunted in any circumstances. He might be scourged in one city and stoned in another and imprisoned in a third and left for dead in a fourth, but as long as he retained consciousness and as soon as he regained conscioushess he rejoiced. Nothing could dampen his ardor.
Nothing could disturb his peace. In Philippi he had been scourged and cast into the inner prison and his feet had been made fast in the stocks, but at midnight he and Silas were singing hymns of praise to God. He is in prison now in Rome, but he is still rejoicing. Some men would have been discouraged in such circumstances. Wherever Paul had gone his preaching had been despised, and he had been persecuted. The Jews had slandered him and harassed him, and so many of his converts had proved to be fickle and false. The years had gone by and the breach between him and his brethren had widened rather than lessened, and at last they had succeeded in getting him into prison and keeping him there for years. Prison life is never pleasant, and it was far less so in that ancient day than it is now.
Paul was such an ardent spirit. It was more difficult for him to be confined than it would be for a more indolent man; He was a world-missionary, a restless cosmopolite ranging up and down through the continents with the message of the Christ. It was like putting an eagle into a cage to put him into prison. Many eagles mope and die in imprisonment. Paul was not moping. He was writing this Epistle to the Philippians and saying to them, “The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel .... therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice” ( Philippians 1:12,18). His enemies were free to do and to say hat they pleased, and they were making the most of the opportunity. He could no longer thwart or hinder them. Some men would have broken out into loud lamentations and complaints. Some men would have worried about the conditions and would have become nervous about the outcome of the cause. The faith of even John the Baptist failed in prison. He could not believe that things were going right if he were not there to attend to them.
Paul’s faith never wavered. His hope never waned. His joy was inexhaustible and perennial. He was never anxious. Did he hear the sentry’s step pacing up and down the corridor before his prison door? It reminded him of the peace of God which passeth all understanding, guarding his heart and his thoughts in Christ Jesus ( Philippians 4:7), standing sentry there night and day. The keynote of this epistle is “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice” ( Philippians 4:4).
Paul is old and worn and in prison, but some 20 times in the course of this short letter to the Philippians he uses the words, joy, rejoice, peace, content, and thanksgiving. It is a letter full of love and full of joy. 4. Importance Theologically: It is of great importance theologically. It is one of the paradoxes to which we become almost accustomed in Paul’s writings that this simplest of his letters, most epistolary and most personal throughout should yet contain the fullest and most important putting of theology of the incarnation and exaltation that came from his pen. He has only a practical end in view. He is exhorting the Philippians to humility, and he says to them, Have the mind which was in Christ who emptied himself and then was exalted ( Philippians 2:5-11). It is the most theological passage in the epistle. It is one of the most doctrinally important in the New Testament. It is Paul’s final contribution to the solution of the great mystery of the coming of the Saviour and the economy of salvation. It is his last word, at any length, on this subject. He states plainly the fact of the kenosis, the morale of the redemption, the certainty of the exaltation, and the sure hope of the universal adoration in the end. The most vital truths of Christology are here clearly stated and definitely formulated for all time. Jesus was a real man, not grasping at any of the attributes of Deity which would be inconsistent with real and true humanity, but in whole-hearted surrender of sacrifice submitting to all the disabilities and limitations necessary to the incarnate conditions. He was equal with God, but He emptied Himself of the omnipotence and the omniscience and the omnipresence of His preincarnate state, and was found in form as a man, a genuine man obedient to God in all His life. He always maintained that attitude toward God which we ought to maintain and which we can maintain in our humanity, in which He was on an equality with us. We ought to have the mind which was in Christ. He humbled Himself and became obedient. He was obedient through life and obedient unto death, yea, even unto the death of the cross.
It is a great passage, setting forth profoundest truths in the tersest manner.
It is the crowning revelation concerning Jesus in the Pauline Epistles. It represents Paul’s most mature thought upon this theme. See KENOSIS. 4. GENUINENESS OF THE EPISTLE.
The genuineness of the epistle is very generally admitted today. It was in the Canon of Marcion. Its name occurs in the list on the Muratorian Fragment. It is found in both the Peshitta and the Old Latin versions. It is mentioned by Polycarp and quoted in the letter of the churches of Lyons and Vienne, in the Epistle of Diognetus, and in the writings of Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria. Baur made a determined attack upon its authenticity. He declared that it was not doctrinal and polemical like the other Pauline Epistles, but that it was full of shallow imitations of these. He said it had no apparent motive and no connected argument and no depth of thought. He questioned some of the historical data and suspected Gnostic influence in certain passages. Bleek said of Baur’s arguments that they were partly derived from a perverted interpretation of certain passages in the epistle; they partly rested upon arbitrary istorical presuppositions; and some of them were really so weak that it was hard to believe that he could have attached any importance to them himself. It is not surprising that few critics have been found willing to follow Baur’s leadership at this point.
Biederman, Kneucker, Hinsch, Hitzig, Hoekstra, and Holsten may be mentioned among them. The genuineness of the epistle has been defended by Weizsacker, Weiss, Pfleiderer, Julicher, Klopper, Schenkel, Reuss, Hilgenfeld, Harnack, Holtzmann, Mangold, Lipsius, Renan, Godet, Zahn, Davidson, Lightfoot, Farrar, McGiffert, and practically all of the English writers on the subject. Weizsacker says that the reasons for attributing the epistle to the apostle Paul are “overwhelming.” McGiffert declares: “It is simply inconceivable that anyone else would or could have produced in his name a letter in which no doctrinal or ecclesiastical motive can be discovered, and in which the personal element so largely predominates and the character of the man and the apostle is revealed with so great vividness and fidelity. The epistle deserves to rank alongside of Galatians, Corinthians, and Romans as an undoubted product of Paul’s pen, and as a coordinate standard by which to test the genuineness of other and less certain writings” (The Apostolic Age, 393). This is the practically unanimous conclusion of modern scholarship. 5. PLACE, DATE, AND OCCASION OF WRITING.
This is one of the prison epistles (see PHILEMON). Paul makes frequent reference to his bonds ( Philippians 1:7,13,14,17). He was for 2 years a prisoner in Caesarea ( Acts 24:27). Paulus and others have thought that the epistle was written during this imprisonment; but the references to the praetorian guard and the members of Caesar’s household have led most critics to conclude that the Roman imprisonment was the one to which the epistle refers. Philemon, Colossians and Ephesians were also written during the Roman imprisonment, and these three form a group by themselves.
Philippians is evidently separated from them by some interval. Was it written earlier or later than they? Bleek, Lightfoot, Sanday, Herr, Beet and others think that the Epistle to the Philippians was written first. We prefer, however, to agree with Zahn, Ramsay, Findlay, Shaw, Vincent, Julicher, Holtzmann, Weiss, Godet, and others, who argue for the writing of Philippians toward the close of the Roman imprisonment.
Their reasons are as follows: (1) We know that some considerable time must have elapsed after Paul’s arrival at Rome before he could have written this epistle; for the news of his arrival had been carried to Philippi and a contribution to his needs had been raised among his friends there, and Epaphroditus had carried it to Rome. In Rome, Epaphroditus had become seriously sick and the news of this sickness had been carried back to Philippi and the Philippians had sent back a message of sympathy to him. At least four trios between Rome and philippi are thus indicated, and there are intervals of greater or less length between them. The distance between the two cities was some 700 miles. Communication was easy by the Appian Way and Trajan’s Way to Brundusium and across the narrow straits there to the Egnatian Way, which led directly to Philippi. There were many making the trip at all times, but the journey would occupy a month at least, and the four journeys suggested in the epistle were not in direct succession. (2) Paul says that through him Christ had become known throughout the whole praetorian guard ( Philippians 1:13). It must have taken some time for this to become possible. (3) The conditions outside the prison, where Christ was being preached, by some in a spirit of love, and by others in a spirit of faction, cannot be located in the earliest months of Paul’s sojourn in Rome ( Philippians 1:15-17). They must belong to a time when Christianity had developed in the city and parties had been formed in the church. (4) Luke was well known at Philippi. Yet he sends no salutation to the Philippians in this epistle. He would surely have done so if he had been with Paul at the time of its writing. He was with the apostle when he wrote to the Colossians, and so was Demas ( Colossians 4:14). In this epistle Paul promises to send Timothy to Philippi, and says, “I have no man likeminded, who will care truly for your state” ( Philippians 2:20). This must mean that Aristarchus, Demas and Luke were all gone. They had all been with him when he wrote the other epistles (5) His condition as a prisoner seems to have changed for the worse.
He had enjoyed comparative liberty for the first 2 years of his imprisonment at Rome, living in his own hired house and accessible to all his friends. He had now been removed, possibly to the guardroom of the praetorian cohort. Here he was in more rigorous confinement, in want and alone. (6) Paul writes as if he thought that his case would be decided soon ( Philippians 2:23,14). He seems to be facing his final trial. He is not sure of its outcome. He may die a martyr’s death, but he expects to be acquitted and then to be at liberty to do further missionary work. This was not his immediate expectation when he wrote the other epistles., and therefore they would seem to be earlier than this. (7) The epistle is addressed to all the saints in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons ( Philippians 1:1). These official titles do not occur in any earlier epistles, but they are found in the Pastoral Epistles, which were written still later. Therefore they link the Epistle to the Philippians with the later rather than the earlier epistles From these indications we conclude that this is the last of Paul’s Epistles to the churches. Hilgenfeld calls this the swan song of the great apostle. In it Paul has written his last exhortations and warnings, his last hopes and prayers for his converts to the Christian faith. Its date must be somewhere toward the close of the Roman imprisonment, in the year 63 or 64 AD.
Epaphroditus had brought the contribution of the Philippians to Paul in Rome. He had plunged into the work there in rather reckless fashion, risking his life and contracting a malarial fever or some other serious sickness; but his life had been spared in answer to the prayers of Paul and his friends. Now Paul sends him back to Philippi, though he knows that he will be very lonely without him; and he sends with him this letter of acknowledgment of their gift, filled with commendation and encouragement, gratitude and love. 6. CONTENTS OF THE EPISTLE.
The epistle is not capable of any logical analysis. Its succession of thought may be represented as follows: (1) Address ( Philippians 1:1,2). (2) Thanksgiving and prayer ( Philippians 1:3-11): Paul is thankful for their fellowship and confident of their perfection. He longs for them and prays that their love may be wise to discriminate among the most excellent things and that they may be able to choose the very best, until they are filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and the praise of God. (3) Information concerning his own experience ( Philippians 1:12-30): (a) His evangelism ( Philippians 1:12-14): Everything had turned out well. Paul is in prison, but he has been indefatigable in his evangelism. He has been chained to a soldier, but that has given him many an opportunity for personal and private and prolonged conversation. When the people have gathered to hear, the guard has listened perforce; and when the crowd was gone, more than once the soldier has seemed curious and interested and they have talked on about the Christ. Paul has told his experience over and over to these men, and his story has been carried through the whole camp. (b) His tolerance ( Philippians 1:15-18): Not only has the gospel found unexpected furtherance inside the prison walls, but through the whole city the brethren have been emboldened by Paul’s success to preach Christ, some through faction and envy and strife, and some through love. Paul rejoices that Christ is preached, whether by his enemies or by his friends.
He would much prefer to have the gospel presented as he himself preached it, but he was great-souled and broadminded enough to tolerate differences of opinion and method among brethren in Christ. “In every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice” ( Philippians 1:18). This is one of the noblest utterances of one of the greatest of men. Paul is sorry that everybody does not see things just exactly as he does, but he rejoices if they glorify Christ and would not put the least hindrance in their way. (c) His readiness for life or death ( Philippians 1:19-26): Paul says, Give me liberty or give me death; it will be Christ either way. To live is to work for Christ; to die is to be with Christ. “To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Here is Paul’s soliloquy in the face of possible martyrdom or further missionary labors.
We are reminded of Hamlet’s soliloquy in Shakespeare. “To be or not to be” — that is the question with both Hamlet and Paul. Hamlet weighs evils against evils and chooses the lesser evils in sheer cowardice in the end.
Paul weighs blessings against blessings, the blessings of life for Christ and the blessings of death with Christ, and chooses the lesser blessings in pure unselfishness in the end. They both choose life, but the motives of their choice are radically different; and Paul lives with rejoicing while Hamlet lives in despair and in shame. The aged apostle would rather die than live, but he would rather live than die before his work was done. (d) His example ( Philippians 1:27-30): Paul was a Roman citizen and so were they. He tried to live worthy of his citizenship and so must they.
He had a still higher ambition, that he and they might live as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ. He fought as a good soldier. He stood fast in the faith. He was in nothing affrighted by the adversaries. Let them follow his example. They were engaged in the same conflict. To them it had been granted to believe and to suffer in the behalf of Christ. Their faith was not of themselves; it was the gift of God. Their suffering was not selfchosen; it too was a gift of God. (4) Exhortation to follow the example of Christ ( Philippians 2:1-18):
Let the Philippians have the mind and spirit of Jesus, and Paul will rejoice to pour out his life as a libation upon the sacrifice and service of their faith. (5) Reasons for sending Timothy, and Epaphroditus to them ( Philippians 2:19-30). (6) Paul’s example ( Philippians 3:1-21): (a) In the repudiation of all confidence in the flesh ( Philippians 3:1-7):
There are certain dogs and evil workers who belong to the old Jewish persuasion who glory in the flesh. Paul does not. He glories in Christ Jesus and has no confidence in the flesh. He has much reason to be proud of his past, for he would rank high on his record among them. He was of the stock of Israel, the prince with God. He belonged to the race of those who wrestled with God and got the victory. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, the only one of the patriarchs born in the Chosen Land. The first king of Israel had been chosen from this tribe. It alone had been faithful to the house of David at the time of the Great Schism. It held the place of honor in the militant host of the Israelites ( Judges 5:14; Hosea 5:8). It was a matter of pride to belong to this singly faithful and signally honored tribe.
He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, and he belonged to that sect among the Hebrews that was notorious for its scrupulous observance of all the religious ritual, for its patriotism and zeal, for its piety. and devotion.
Among these Pharisees he was conspicuous for his enthusiasm. He was the chosen instrument of the Sanhedrin to persecute and annihilate the Christian church. No one could find fault with his legal righteousness. He claimed to be blameless as judged by their standard. That was his record.
Who has any better one, in pedigree or in piety? All of these things Paul counts but loss for Christ. (b) In the maintenance and pursuit of spiritual perfection ( Philippians 3:8-16): The word “perfect” is used twice in this paragraph. We read: “Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on.”
Many of the authorities quote these words as indicative of Paul’s humility in disclaiming any present perfection of character while he avows his purpose to strive on toward perfection as long as he lives. Such an interpretation is wholly aside from Paul’s thought. He is not talking about perfection in patience and peace and devotion and character. That perfection he claims for himself and for the Philippians in this paragraph toward the close: “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded.” The perfection of which he speaks earlier is the perfection possible in the resurrection life of the saints in bliss. He has not attained unto the resurrection from the dead and is not perfect with the perfection of heaven. That is the goal of his endeavor. He presses on to that mark. In the meantime he maintains that perfection of consecration and of faith that results in present Christian perfection of character and which is the only guaranty of that perfection to be revealed to those who attain unto the resurrection from the dead. (c) In heavenly citizenship ( Philippians 3:17-21): Paul walks with his mind on heavenly things. There are those who mind earthly things. They are enemies of the cross, but he has sworn eternal allegiance to the cross.
Their end is perdition, while his end is sure salvation. Their god is the belly, while his goal is the perfection of the spirit. Their glory is in their shame, while his glory is in Christ alone. “Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample.” Then “The Lord .... shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation,” the body of our earthly pilgrimage, the body that so often fails the racer to the goal and cannot keep up with the desire of his spirit, and will conform it “to the body of his glory,” the perfect body of those who have attained to the resurrection of the dead. It is not “our vile body” that is to be changed.
That gives a false sense in modern English. The body is not vile, and the Bible nowhere says that it is. It was Manichean or neo-Platonic heresy that matter was evil and the body vile. Plotinus blushed that he had a body; Jesus never did. The Christian will honor the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. It was the vehicle of the incarnation, and he honors it for that.
Yet the body prepared for Jesus was the body of His humiliation. It bound Him to the earth. It wearied when He was most anxious to work. It failed Him when He most needed strength. Paul says that our bodies are like the body of Jesus of Nazareth now, and they shall be like the body of our risen Lord in due time. (7) A series of short exhortations ( Philippians 4:1-9): This series ends with the command, “The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” All these exhortations, then, are based upon his own conduct and experience and example. They had seen the embodiment of these things in him. They were to be imitators of him in their obedience to them.
Therefore as we read them we have side-lights thrown upon the character of the apostle who had taught and preached and practiced these things.
What do they tell us concerning the apostle Paul? (a) His stedfastness and his love for his friends ( Philippians 4:1): He had a genius for friendship. He bound his friends to him with cords of steel.
They were ready to sacrifice anything for him. The reason for that was that he sacrificed everything for them, and that he had such an overflowing love for them that his love begot love in them. They could depend upon him. (b) His sympathy with all good men and all good women and his desire that they live in peace ( Philippians 4:2,3): The true yokefellow mentioned here cannot be identified now. He has been variously named by the critics, as Epaphroditus, Barnabas, Luke, Silas, Timothy, Peter, and Christ. There may be a proper name in the phrase, either Genisius or Syzygus. We are wholly ignorant as to whom Paul meant. (c) His constant rejoicing in the Lord ( Philippians 4:4). (d) His sweet reasonableness (“moderation,” the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) “forbearance,” Philippians 4:5).: So Matthew Arnold translates the Greek noun here. Tyndale called it courtesy. It is a combination of forbearance and graciousness, of modesty and courtesy, of consideration and esteem such as was characteristic of Christ. Paul had it. There was a sweet reasonableness about him that made his personality a most winning and attractive one. (e) His freedom from anxiety ( Philippians 4:6,7): Paul’s fearless confidence was born on the one hand from his assurance that the Lord was near, and on the other from his faith in prayer. It passed all understanding how Paul was kept from all anxiety. It was the power of prayer that did it.
It was the peace of God that did it. It was the Lord at hand who did it. (f) His habitual high thinking ( Philippians 4:8): All that was worthy in the ideals of the Greek philosophers Paul made the staple of his thought.
He delighted in things true and honorable and just and pure and lovely and of good report. He knew that virtue was in these things and that all praise belonged to them. He had learned that while his mind was filled with these things he lived in serenity and peace. (8) Thanks for their gift ( Philippians 4:10-20). (9) Salutations ( Philippians 4:21,22). (10) Benediction ( Philippians 4:23). This is not a theological epistle and therefore it is not an especially Christological one. Yet we count the name of Christ 42 times in this short letter, and the pronouns referring to Him are many more. Paul cannot write anything without writing about Christ. He ends: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” The spirit of Christ and the grace of Christ are in the entire epistle.
LITERATURE:
Works on Introduction: Zahn, Weiss, Julicher, Salmon, Dods, Bacon, Bennett and Adeney; McClymont, The New Testament and Its Writers; Farrar, The Messages of the Books; Fraser, Synoptical Lectures on Books of the Holy Scripture; Godet, Studies on the Epistles Works on the Pauline Epistles: Findlay, Shaw. Commentaries: Lightfoot, Vincent, Weiss, Beet, Ellicott, Haupt, Moule. Devotional studies: Moule, Meyer, Jowett, Noble. Doremus Almy Hayes PHILISTIA <fi-lis’-ti-a > : The country is referred to under various designations in the Old Testament: namely, [ tv,l,P] , pelesheth ] (Philistia) ( Psalm 60:8 (Hebrew 10); 87:4), [ µyTiv]liP] 6r,a, , ‘erets pelishtim ], “land of the Philistines” ( Genesis 21:32,34), [ µyTiv]liP]h” twOlG] , geloth hapelishtim ]; Septuagint ge ton Phulistieim , “the regions of the Philistines” ( Joshua 13:2). The Egyptian monuments have Puirsatha, Pulsath (Budge), Peleset (Breasted) and [Purasati] (HGHL), according to the different voweling of the radicals; the Assyrian form is Palastu or Pilistu, which corresponds very closely to the Egyptian and the Hebrew. The extent of the land is indicated in Joshua 13:2 as being from the Shihor, or Brook of Egypt (Revised Version), to the border of Ekron, northward.
The eastern border was along the Judean foothills on the line of Bethshemesh ( 1 Samuel 6:9) with the sea on the West. It was a very small country, from 25 to 30 miles in length and with an average width of about half the length, but it was fertile, being an extension of the plain of Sharon, except that along the coast high sand dunes encroached upon the cultivated tract. It contained many towns and villages, the most important being the five so often mentioned in Scripture: Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. The population must have been large for the territory, which enabled them to contend successfully with the Israelites, notwithstanding the superiority of position in the hills to the advantage of the latter. H. Porter PHILISTIM <fi-lis’-Timothy > , <fil’-is-Timothy > ([ µyTiv]liP] , pelishtim ] ( Genesis 10:14, the King James Version)). See PHILISTINES.
PHILISTINES <fi-lis’-tinz > , <fil’-is-tinz > , <fil’-is-tinz > ([ µyTiv]liP] , pelishtim ]; [ Fulistiei>m, Phulistieim ], [ajllo>fuloi, allophuloi ]): 1. OLD TESTAMENT NOTICES. 1. Race and Origin: The Philistines were an uncircumcised people inhabiting the shore plain between Gezer and Gaza in Southwestern Palestine (see PHILISTIA). The name Palestine itself (Hebrew pelesheth ) refers to their country. The word means “migrants,” and they came from another country. They are noticed 286 times in the Old Testament, and their country 8 times. The question of their race and origin is of great importance as affecting the genuine character and reliability of the Bible notices. In Genesis 10:14 ( Chronicles 1:12) they are reckoned with other tribes in Mizraim (Egypt) as descendants of Ham, and as cousins of the old inhabitants of Babylonia ( Genesis 10:6). They are said to be a branch of the Casluhim — an unknown people — or, according to Septuagint, of the Casmanim, which would mean “shavers of the head” — a custom of the Phoenicians (forbidden to Hebrews as a rule), as known from a picture of the time of Thothmes III in the 16th century BC. They are also connected with the Caphtorim or people of Caphtor, whence indeed they are said to have come ( Jeremiah 47:4; Amos 9:7). Caphtor was a “shoreland,” but its position is doubtful (see Deuteronomy 2:23); the Caphtorim found an earlier race of Avim living in “enclosures” near Gaza, and destroyed them.
In the Septuagint of this passage (and in Amos 9:7) Cappadocia stands for Caphtor (Kaphtor), and other versions have the same reading.
Cappadocia was known to the Assyrians as kat-pat-uka (probably an Akkadian term — “land of the Kati”), and the Kati were a people living in Cilicia and Cappadocia, which region had a Semitic population side by side with Mengels (see HITTITES) at least as early as the time of Moses. It is very likely therefore that this reading is correct. 2. Religion: According to the Old Testament and monuments alike, the Philistines were a Semitic people, and they worshipped two Babylonian gods, Dagon ( Samuel 5:2) and Ashtaroth ( 1 Samuel 31:10), both of whom were adored very early in Babylonia, both, however, having names of Akkadian and not of Semitic origin. In Semitic speech Dagon meant “grain,” and was so understood in the time of Philo of Gebal, a Greek-Phoenician writer who attributes the art of grain-growing to this deity. But the original name was Da-gan, and in Akkadian da is “the upper part of a man,” and gan (Turkish qaan) probably means “a large fish.” The new man deity was well known to the Assyrians, and is represented in connection with Sennacherib’s worship of Ea, the sea-god, when he embarked on the Persian Gulf. Thus Dagon was probably a title of Ea (“the water spirit”), called by Berosus Oannes (u-ha-na, “lord of the fish”), and said to have issued from this same gulf. We consequently read that when the statue of Dagon at Ashdod fell ( 1 Samuel 5:4), its head and hands were broken off, and only “the great fish” was left. In 1874 the present writer found a seal near Ashdod representing a bearded god (as in Babylonia) with a fish tail (see DAGON). As to Ashtoreth, who was adored in Philistia itself, her name is derived from the Akkadian Ishtar (“light maker”), a name for the moon-goddess and — later — for the planet Venus. See ASHTORETH. 3. Individual Philistines Mentioned: The Philistines had reached Gerar by the time of Abraham, and it was only in the age of the Hyksos rulers of the Delta that Canaanite tribes could be described as akin, not only to Babylonians, but also to certain tribes in Egypt, a circumstance which favors the antiquity of the ethnic chapter, Genesis 10. We have 9 Philistine names in the Old Testament, all of which seem to be Semitic, including Abimelech — “Moloch is my father” — ( Genesis 20:2-18; 21:22-32; 26:8-11) at Gerar, Southeasat of Gaza, Ahuzzath (“possession,” Genesis 26:26), and Phicol (of doubtful meaning), with Delilah (“delicate,” Judges 16:4), Goliath (probably the Babylonian galu, “great”), and Saph ( 2 Samuel 21:18), perhaps meaning “increase.” These two brothers were sons of Raphah (“the tall”); but Ishbi-benob ( 2 Samuel 21:16), another of the family, perhaps only means “the dweller in Nob” (Beit Nuba, North of Gezer). The king of Gath in David’s time was Achish (“the gift” in Bah), who ( 1 Samuel 27:2) was the son of Maoch, “the oppressor.” According to Septuagint, Jonathan killed a Philistine named Nasib ( 1 Samuel 13:3,4, where the King James Version reads “a garrison”). If this is correct the name (meaning “a pillar”) would also be Semitic. 4. Title of Ruler and Circumcision: Besides these personal names, and those of the cities of Philistia which are all Semitic, we have the title given to Philistine lords, ceren , which Septuagint renders “satrap” and “ruler,” and which probably comes from a Semitic root meaning “to command.” It constantly applies to the rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron, the 5 chief cities of Philistia.
The fact that the Philistines were uncircumcised does not prove that they were not a Semitic people. Herodotus (ii.104) says that the Phoenicians acknowledged that they took this custom from the Egyptians, and the Arabs according to this passage were still uncircumcised, nor is it known that this was a custom of the Babylonians and Assyrians. The Septuagint translators of the Pentateuch always render the name Phulistieim, and this also is found in 8 passages of Joshua and Judges, but in the later books the name is translated as meaning “strangers” throughout, because they were not the first inhabitants of Philistia. 5. History in the Old Testament until Death of Saul: The Philistines conquered the “downs” (geliloth , Joel 3:4) near the seacoast, and were so powerful at the time of the Hebrew conquest that none of their great towns were taken ( Joshua 13:3; Judges 3:3). By the time of Samson (about 1158 BC) they appear as oppressors of Israel for 40 years ( Judges 13:1; 15:20), having encroached from their plains into the Shephelah (or low hills) of Judah, at the foot of the mountains.
Delilah was a Philistine woman, living in the valley of Sorek, close to Samson’s home. In the last year of Eli ( 1 Samuel 4:1) we find the Philistines attacking the mountains near Mizpeh, where they captured the ark. Samuel drove them back and placed his monument of victory between Mizpeh and Jeshanah (Shen; see the Septuagint; 1 Samuel 7:12) on the mountain ridge of Benjamin. He even regained towns in the Shephelah as far as Ekron and Gath ( 1 Samuel 7:14); but at the opening of Saul’s reign ( 1 Samuel 10:5) the Philistines had a “garrison” at Gibeah — or a chief named Hasib according to Septuagint. They raided from this center ( 1 Samuel 13:17-23) in all directions, and prevented the Hebrews from arming themselves, till Jonathan drove them from Michmash ( 1 Samuel 14:1-47). David’s victory ( 1 Samuel 17:2) was won in the Valley of Elah East of Gath, and the pursuit ( 1 Samuel 17:52) was as far as Ekron. We here read that the Philistine champion wore armor of bronze ( 1 Samuel 17:4-7), his spear head being of iron. They still invaded the Shephelah after this defeat, robbing the threshing-floors of Keilah ( <092301> Samuel 23:1) near Adullam at the foot of the Hebron Mountains (see Samuel 23:27; 24:1). David’s band of outlaws gradually increasing from 400 to 600 men ( 1 Samuel 22:2; 27:2), being driven from the Hebrew lands, accompanied him to Gath, which is usually placed at Tell es-Safi, at the point where the Valley of Elah enters the Philistine plain. It appears that Achish, king of Gath, then ruled as far South as Ziklag ( Joshua 15:31; 1 Samuel 27:6) in the Beersheba plains; but he was not aware of the direction of David’s raids at this distance. Achish supposed David to be committed to his cause ( 1 Samuel 27:12), but the Philistine lords suspected him and his Hebrew followers ( 1 Samuel 29:3) when going up to Jezreel. 6. History Continued to Time of Ahaz: After they had killed Saul, we hear no more of them till the 8th year of David, when, after taking Jerusalem, he apparently went down to Adullam ( 2 Samuel 5:17) and fell upon them in their rear as they advanced on his capital. He then destroyed their supremacy ( 2 Samuel 8:1) as far as Gezer ( 1 Chronicles 20:4), and the whole of Philistia was subject to Solomon ( 1 Kings 4:21), though not long after his death they seem to have held the town of Gibbethon ( 1 Kings 15:27; 16:15) in the hills of Daniel. Hezekiah smote the Philistines as far as Gaza ( 2 Kings 18:8) before 702 BC, in which year (according to the Taylor cylinder) Sennacherib made Hezekiah deliver up Padii, king of Ekron, who had been carried prisoner to Jerusalem. The accounts in Chronicles refer to David’s taking Gath ( 1 Chronicles 18:1), which was recovered later, and again taken by Uzziah ( 2 Chronicles 26:6). The Philistines sent gifts to Jehoshaphat ( 2 Chronicles 17:11), but invaded the [Shephelah] ( Chronicles 28:18) in the time of Ahaz. 7. Later Notices: In this age the “lords” of the 5 cities of Philistia are called “kings,” both in the Bible and on Assyrian monuments. Isaiah (2:6) speaks of Philistine superstitions, Ezekiel (25:15,16) connects them with the Cherethim on the seacoast. They still held Gath in the time of Amos (6:2), and Gaza, Ashdod and Ekron in that of Zephaniah (2:5), who again mentions the Cherethim with Philistines, as inhabitants of Canaan or the “lowlands.” The last notice ( Zechariah 9:6) still speaks of kings in Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and Ashdod at a time when the Ionians had become known in Judah ( Zechariah 9:13); but the Philistines are unnoticed by Ezra or Nehemiah, unless we suppose that the “speech of Ashdod” ( Nehemiah 13:24) was their old dialect, which appears — like the language of the Canaanites in general in earlier times — to have resembled that of the Babylonians and Assyrians, and to have thus differed — though Semitic — from the Hebrews.
Their further history is embraced in that of the various cities to which reference can be made under the articles pertaining to them. 2. MONUMENTAL NOTICES. 1. Palestinian Excavations: These are of great importance, because they confirm the Old Testament statements from a time at least as early as that of Moses, and down to BC. Recent excavations at Gezer show the early presence of two races at this Philistine city, one being Semitic, the other probably Egyptian Scarabs as old as the XIIth Dynasty were found, and in the 15th century BC Gezer was held by Amenophis III. At Lachish also seals of this king and his queen have been found, with a cuneiform letter to Zimridi, who was ruler of the city under the same Pharaoh. At Gaza a temple was built by Amenophis II.
The names of places in Philistia noticed yet earlier by Thothmes III are all Semitic, including Joppa, Saphir, Gerar, Gezer, etc. In the Tell el-Amarna Letters we have also (about 1480 BC) letters from chiefs subject to Amenophis III at Joppa, Ashkelon, Gezer, Lachish and Keilah which show us a Semitic population, not only by the language of these letters, but also by the names of the writers. In the case of Ashkelon especially the Semitic rulers are found to have worshipped Dagon; and, though the name “Philistine” does not occur, the race was clearly the same found by the Assyrians in 800 BC in the land of Palastan beside the Great Sea. These names include Yamir-Dagdn (“Dagon sees”), Dagantakala (“Dagon is a protection”) and Yadaya (the “grateful”) at Ashkelon; Bua (“asked for”), son of the woman Gulata, at Joppa; Yabnilu (“God made”), at Lachish, with Zimridi — a name found also in Sabean Arabic; while, at Gezer, Yapa’a represents the Biblical Japhia ( Joshua 10:3), and Milkilu (“Moloch is king”) the Hebrew Malchiel. Others might be added of the same character, but these examples are enough to show that, in the time of Moses and Joshua, the population of Philistia was the same that is noticed in the Old Testament as early as Abraham’s age. 2. Egyptian Monuments: When therefore scholars speak of the Philistines as being non-Semitic — and probably Aryan — invaders of the country, arriving about 1200 BC, they appear not only to contradict the Bible, but also to contradict the monumental evidence of the earlier existence of Semitic Dagonworshippers at Ashkelon. In this later age Rameses III was attacked, in Egypt, by certain northern tribes who came by sea, and also by land, wasting first the country of the Hittites and Amorites. Among them were the Danau, who were probably Greek Danai. They were exterminated in the Delta, and in the subsequent advance of Rameses III to the Euphrates.
On a colored picture they are represented as fair people; and two of the tribes were called Purstau and Takarri, whom Chabas supposed to be Pelasgi (since “l” and “r” are not distinguished in Egyptian) and Teucrians.
These two tribes wear the same peculiar headdress. Brugsch supposed the former to be Philistines (Geog., I, 10), but afterward called them Purosata (Hist Egypt, II, 148). The inscriptions accompanying the picture on the temple walls say that they came from the north, and “their home was in the land of the Purstau, the Takarri,” etc. There is thus no reason at all to suppose that they were Philistines, nor did they ever settle in Philistia. 3. Assyrian Texts: The Assyrian texts agree with those already mentioned in making the inhabitants of Philistia Semitic. Rimmon-nirari, about 800 BC, was the first Assyrian conqueror in Palastau (“by the great sea”). In 734 and 727 BC, Tiglath-pileser attacked the Pilisti, and mentions a king of Ashkelon named Mitinti (“my gift”), and his son Rukufti whose name resembles that of the Kenite called Rechab in the Old Testament. The name of the king of Gaza was Chanun, or “merciful.” In 711 BC Sargon took Ashdod, and speaks of its king Azuri, whose name recalls the Amorite Aziru, and of Achimiti (“a brother is sent”), and the usurper Yamanu (“stedfast”), who fled before him. Sennacherib, in 702 BC, gives the names of cities in Philistia (including Eltekeh and Beneberak near Joppa) which are Semitic. He notices Sidqa (Zadok) of Ashkelon, and also Sarludari (“the Lord be praised”), son of Rukubti in the same city, with Mitinti of Ashdod, and Padii (“redeeming”) of Ekron, while Cil-b’el (“Baal is a protection”) was king of Gaza. In 679 BC Esarhaddon speaks of Silli-b’el (“Baal is my protection”) of Gaza, with Mitinti of Ashkelon, Ika-samsu (“the sun-god is manifest”) of Ekron, and Abi-milki of Ashdod, who bore the ancient Philistine name Abimelech. In 670 BC, when Assur-bani-pal set up many tributary kings in Egypt, we find again the name Sarludari applied to a ruler of Pelusium, who may have been a Philistine. It is thus abundantly clear that the monumental notices all agree with the Old Testament as to the names and nationality of the Philistines, and as to their worship of Baal and Dagon; the conjecture that they were Aryan foreigners, arriving in BC, is not based on any statement of the monuments, but merely rests on a guess which Brugsch subsequently abandoned. It resembles many other supposed discrepancies between Biblical and contemporary records due to the mistakes of modern commentators. 3. THE CRETAN THEORY. 1. Cherethim and Kretes: This strange theory, which is apparently of Byzantine origin, would make the Philistines come from Crete. It still finds supporters, though it does not rest on any Biblical or monumental evidence. The Cherethim ( Ezekiel 25:16; Zephaniah 2:5) were a Semitic people named with the Philistines in Canaan. The Septuagint renders the word with Kretes or Kretoi ; and, about 1770 AD, Michaelis (Spicil., I, 292-308) argued that this meant “Cretans,” and that the Philistines therefore came from Caphtor, which must be Crete. The passages, however, refer to Philistia and not to any island, and the Septuagint translators, as we have seen, placed Caphtor in Cappadocia. The Cherethi — in the singular — is mentioned ( 1 Samuel 30:14) as a people of Philistia ( 1 Samuel 30:16), near Ziklag, and their name probably survives at the present town called Keratiyeh in the Philistine plain.
Yet, many theories are founded on this old idea about the Cherethites.
Some suppose that Tacitus confused the Jews with the Philistines as having come from Crete; but what he actually says (History v.11) is that “the Jews ran away from Crete,” and “the inhabitants are named Idaci (from Mount Ida), which, with a barbarous augment, becomes the name of the Judaei.”
This absurd derivation shows at least that Tacitus did not mean the Philistines. Stephen of Byzantium said that the god Marna at Gaza was like the Cretan Jove. Probably he had seen the huge statue of a seated Jove found near Gaza, and now at Constantinople, but this is late Greek work, and the name Marna (“our lord”) is Semitic. Stephen also thought that Minois — the port of Gaza — was named from the Cretan Minos, but it is an Arabic word Mineh, for “harbor,” still applying to the same place. 2. Caphtor and Keft: No critical student is likely to prefer these later speculations to our present monumental information, even without reference to the contradiction of the Bible. Yet these blunders have given rise to the supposition that Caphtor is to be identified with a region known to the Egyptians as Keft, with inhabitants called Kefau. The latter are represented in a tomb of the XVIIIth Dynasty near Thebes. They are youths of brown color, with long black hair, and the same type is found in a Cypriote figure. They are connected with islanders of the “green sea,” who may have lived in Arvad or in Cyprus; but there is no evidence in any written statement that they were Cretans, though a figure at Knossos in Crete somewhat resembles them. There are many indications that this figure — painted on the wall of the later palace — is not older than about 500 BC, and the Sidonians had colonies in Crete, where also pottery is found just like that marked by a Phoenician inscription in Cyprus. The Kefau youths bring vases as presents, and these — in all their details — are exactly the same as those represented in another picture of the time of Thothrues III, the bearers in this case being Harri from North Syria, represented with black beards and Semitic features. Moreover, on the bilingual inscription called the Decree of Canopus (238 BC), the Keft region is said to be “Phoenicia,” and the Greek translator naturally knew what was meant by his Egyptian colleague.
Keft in fact is a Semitic word for “palm,” occurring in Hebrew ( Isaiah 9:14; 19:15), and thus applicable to the “palm”-land, Phoenicia. Thus, even if Keft were related to Caphtor, the evidence would place the Philistine home on the Phoenician shores, and not in Crete. There is indeed no evidence that any European race settled near the coasts of Palestine before about 680 BC, when Esarhaddon speaks of Greek kings in Cyprus. The Cretan theory of Michaelis was a literary conjecture, which has been disproved by the results of exploration in Asia. 4. DAVID’S GUARDS. 1. The “Cherethi” and the “Pelethi” Not Mercenaries: Another strange theory, equally old, represents David as being surrounded with foreign mercenaries — Philistines and Carians — as Rameses II employed mercenaries called Shairtanau from Asia Minor. The suggestion that the Cherethites were of this race is scarcely worth notice, since the Hebrew letter kaph (k) is never represented by “sh” in Egyptian David’s band of Hebrew exiles, 400 in number, followed him to Gath where Gittites joined him ( 2 Samuel 15:18). In later times his army consisted of “the Cherethi” (kerethi , in the singular) and “the Pelethi” (pelethi ), commanded by the Hebrew leader Benaiah, son of Jehoiada ( 2 Samuel 8:18; 15:18; 20:7; 1 Kings 1:38,44), together with the Gittites under Ittai of Gath. These guards are never said to have been Philistines, but “the Cherethi” is supposed to mean one of the Cherethim tribe, and “the Pelethi” to be another name for the Philistine. As regards the Gittites, the fact that they came from Gath does not prove that they were Philistines, any more than was David himself because he came back from this city.
David calls Ittai an “enemy” and an “exile,” but it is probable that he was the same hero, so named ( 2 Samuel 23:29), who was the son of Ribai from Gibeah of Benjamin. He had himself not long joined David, being no doubt in exile at Gath, and his tribe at first opposed David, taking the side of their tribesman Saul. Even when Ittai’s men joined the Cherethi and Pelethi against Absalom, they were naturally suspected; for David still had enemies ( 2 Samuel 15:5-13) among Benjamites of Saul’s house. It is also surely impossible to suppose that David would have left the ark in charge of a Phili; and Obed-edom the Gittite ( 2 Samuel 6:10) was a Levite, according to a later account ( 1 Chronicles 15:18), bearing a Hebrew name, meaning perhaps “servant of men,” or “humble worshipper.” It seems equally unlikely that, in later times, a pious priest like Jehoiada ( 2 Kings 11:4) would have admitted foreign mercenaries into the temple. In this passage they are called kari , as also in 2 Samuel 20:23, where the Septuagint has Cherethi . The suggestion of Wellhausen that they were Carians does not seem probable, as Carians had not even reached Egypt before about 600 BC. 2. Meaning of These Terms: The real explanation of these various words for soldiers seems simple; and David — being a very popular king — is not likely to have needed foreign mercenaries; while the Philistines, whom he had so repeatedly smitten, were very unlikely to have formed trusty guards. The word “Cherethi” (kerethi ) means a “smiter” or a “destroyer,” and “Pelethi” (pelethi ) means “a swift one” or “pursuer.” In the time of Joash the temple-guards are called kari ( 2 Kings 11:4,19, Carites), which the Septuagint treats as either singular or plural, and ratsim or “runners” (see 1 Samuel 22:17; 1 Kings 14:27,28; 2 Kings 10:25), these two bodies perhaps answering to the Cherethi and Pelethi of David’s time; for kari means “stabber.” The term ratsim , or “runners,” is however of general application, since Jehu also had troops so called ( 2 Kings 10:25).
Evidently we have here two classes of troops — as among the Romans — the heavier regiment of “destroyers,” or “stabbers,” being armed with swords, daggers or spears; while the “swift ones” or “runners” pursued the defeated foe. Thus, in Egypt we find, yet earlier, the ax-man supported by the bow-man in regular regiments; and in Assyria the spear-man with heavy shields defending the bow-man. We have also a picture of the time of Tiglath-pileser II representing an Assyrian soldier on a camel. The Pelethi or “pursuers” may have been “runners” on foot, but perhaps more probably mounted on camels, or on horses like the later Assyrians; for in the time of Solomon ( 1 Kings 4:28) horses and riding camels were in use — the former for chariots. It is clear that David’s band, leaving the vicinity of Jezreel ( 1 Samuel 29:1; 30:1), could not have reached Ziklag “on the third day” (a distance of 120 miles) on foot; so that the camel corps must have existed even before the death of Saul. 3. Native Hebrews: These considerations seem to make it evident that David’s guards were native Hebrews, who had been with him as exiles and outlaws at Adullam and Gath, and that the Cherethi or “destroyer” only accidentally had a title like that of the Philistine tribe of “destroyers” or Cherethim, who were not Cretans, it would seem, any more than the “stabbers” were Carians. 4. Review: The general result of our inquiry is, that all monumental notices of the Philistines agree with the Old Testament statements, which make them to be a Semitic people who had already migrated to Philistia by the time of Abraham, while the supposed discrepancies are caused by the mistakes made by a commentator of the 18th century, and by archaeologists of later times.
LITERATURE Paton, Early History of Syria and Palestine; Smith, HGHL; Budge, History of Egypt; Breasted, History of Egypt; Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchies; Herodotus with most histories of Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria for the period from the 13th century BC to the time of Alexander. C. R. Conder PHILISTINES, LORDS OF THE See PHILISTIA.
PHILISTINES, SEA OF THE ( Exodus 23:31). See MEDITERRANEAN SEA.
PHILO, JUDAEUS <fi-’lo > , <joo-de’-us > : 1. HIS LIFE:
Born probably in the first decade of Augustus Caesar, who became emperor in 27 BC. He died possibly in the last years of Claudius (41-54 AD), more likely in the early years of Nero (54-65 AD). We have no exact information about either date. He was a native of Alexandria, Egypt. His relatives were wealthy and prominent, probably sacerdotal, Jews. He received the best Jewish education, and was trained also in Gentilelearning — grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, geometry, poetry, music. Enjoying ample means, he was enabled to devote his career to scholarship. The Alexandrian Jews wielded great influence in the contemporary Roman empire, and the prominence of Philo’s family is attested by the fact that his brother, Alexander Lysimachus, was Alabarch of Alexandria. The single date in Philo’s life which we know accurately is connected with their leadership. In the winter of 39-40 AD, he was spokesman of the deputation sent to Rome to protest against imposition of emperor-worship upon fellow-citizens of his faith. The mission failed, Philo, with his two colleagues, meeting rebuff, even insult. It was little likely that Caligula would heed grievances which included specifically dissent from worship of himself. Philo records his distaste for political activity, and, so far as we know, the Roman incident excepted, he devoted himself principally to letters. As a young man probably, he had undertaken a journey to Jerusalem, almost in the nature of a pilgrimage to the ancient shrine of his religion. He paid a second visit to Rome possibly after 50 AD, at all events, in the reign of Claudius. For the rest, our knowledge of his life is scanty and, sometimes, legendary. 2. IMPORTANCE OF THE PERIOD:
The period covered by his career coincides with one of the most momentous epochs in history. For it witnesses, not only the foundation of the Roman imperial system, but also the beginning of the end of ancient classical civilization in its dominant ideas, and the plantation of Christianity. Preeminently an era of transition, it was marked by significant displacements in culture, the effects of which continue to sway mankind even yet. Minor phenomena aside, three principal movements characterized the time: the Pagan reaction, or reversion to forms of religion that had sufficed the peoples of the Romans empire hitherto — this manifested itself strongly with Augustus, and entered its decline perhaps with the death of Plutarch (circa 120 AD); the appearance of Christianity; and what is known as Syncretism, or interfusion between the conceptions of different races, especially in religion, philosophy and morals — a circumstance which affected the fortunes of Christianity deeply, found its chief exponent in Philo, and maintained itself for several centuries in theosophical systems of the Gnostics and neo-Platonists. Thus, to understand Philo, and to realize his importance, it is essential to remember the internal spirit of his age. The “universalism” of the Roman empire has been so named because, within the political framework, various peoples and divergent civilizations commingled and came eventually to share something of a common spirit, even of a common language. Philo’s prominence as a figure in the world of thought, and as an authority for the general culture of New Testament times, is out of all proportion to the fragmentary information available about his external career. Contemporary currents, subtle as they were, perplexing as they still remain, met and fused in his person. Hence, his value as an index to the temperament of the period cannot well be overrated. 3. THE TASK OF PHILO:
A Jew by nature and nurture, an oriental mystic by accident of residence, a Greek humanist by higher education and professional study, an ally of the Romans governing classes, familiar with their intellectual perspective, Philo is at once rich in suggestion and blurred in outline. Moreover, he addressed himself to two tasks, difficult to weld into a flawless unity. On the one hand, he wrote for educated men in Greek-Roman society, attempting to explain, often to justify, his racial religion before them. The ancient state religion having fallen upon inanition, he enjoyed unusual opportunity to point the merits of the Jewish faith as the “desire of all nations,” the panacea of which the need was everywhere felt. On the other hand, he had to confront his orthodox coreligionists, with their separatist traditions and their contempt for paganism in all its works. He tried to persuade them that, after all, Greek thought was not inimical to their cherished doctrines, but, on the contrary, involved similar, almost identical, principles. He thus represented an eclectic standpoint, one in which Greek philosophy blended with historical and dogmatic deductions from the Jewish Scriptures. The result was Philo’s peculiar type of theosophy — we cannot call it a system.
Taking the Old Testament for text, he applied the “allegorical” method, with curious consequences. He taught that the Scriptures contain two meanings: a “lower” meaning, obvious in the literal statements of the text; and a “higher,” or hidden meaning, perceptible to the “initiate” alone. In this way he found it possible to reconcile Greek intellectualism with Jewish belief. Greek thought exhibits the “hidden” meaning; it turns out to be the elucidation of the “allegory” which runs through the Old Testament like a vein of gold. Moses, and the rest, are not merely historical figures, the subjects of such and such vicissitudes, but representative types of reason, righteousness, the virtues, and so forth. The tendency to fusion of this kind was no new thing. It is traceable for some three centuries before Philo, who may be said to complete the process. It had been familiar to the rabbis, and to the Hellenistic philosophers, particularly the Stoics, who applied this method to the Greek poetical myths. Philo reduces it to an expert art, and uses it as an instrument to dissipate all difficulties. He believed himself to be thoroughly true to the Old Testament. But, thanks to his method, he rendered it malleable, and could thus adjust its interpretation to what he considered to be the intellectual necessities of his generation. Nay more, he felt that, when at his best in this process, he became a vehicle of Divine possession. He says, “Through the influence of divine inspiration I have become excited profoundly .... then I have been conscious of a richness of interpretation, an enjoyment of light, a most penetrating sight, a most manifest energy in all that was to be done.” Again “I am irradiated with the light of wisdom,” and, “all intellect is a divine inspiration.” Little wonder, then, that we have a strange mixture of philosophy and religion, of rationalism and piety, of clear Greek intellectualism with hazy oriental mysticism. Hence, too, the philosophy of Philo is subordinate to his explanation of the Scriptures, and compromise, rather than logical thinking, marks his leading positions. 4. CHANGES AND NEW PROBLEMS:
After the death of Cicero (43 BC) a change, long preparing, asserted itself in ancient thought. Mixture of national, or racial, characteristics was consummated, and thoughtful men, irrespective of race-origin, became persons to each other. A reorganization of standards of ethical judgment was thus rendered inevitable, and Judaism came to interfuse more freely with Greek philosophy as one consequence. While it is true that “reason” preserved its traditional supremacy as the means to solve all problems, the nature of the chief quest underwent transformation. The old association of man with Nature gave way to a dualism or opposition between the worldorder and another existence lying behind it as its originator or sustainer.
The system of Nature having disappointed expectation, thinkers asked how they could escape it, and assure themselves of definite relations with the Divine Being. They sought the desiderated connection within their own souls, but as a distant ideal. This was the problem that confronted Philo, who attacked it from the Jewish side. Now Judaism, like Greek thought, had also experienced a change of heart. Yahweh had been the subject of an idealizing process, and tended, like the Stoic deity, to lose specific relation with the world and man. Accordingly, a new religious question was bringing the philosophy and the faith into closer contact. Could they join forces? Philo’s consequent embarrassment rooted, not simply in this fresh problem, but in the difficulties inseparable from the adjustment of his available methods and materials. For, while the Jewish Messiah had passed over into the Greek Logos , the two systems preserved their separation in no small measure, Philo being the most conspicuous mediator. He was familiar with the mystic, transcendent concept of Deity extracted, thanks to long misinterpretation, from Plato’s cosmogonic dialogue, Timaeus. Here God was elevated above the world. His conception of the presence, or immanence, of the Deity in the world came from the Stoics. The Jewish religion gave him the doctrine of a righteous (pure) Deity, whose moral inwardness made relations with men possible. Moreover, contemporary angelology and demonology enabled him to devise a scheme whereby the pure Deity could be linked with the gross world, notwithstanding its ineradicable evil. Little wonder, then, that he compassed an amalgamation only, and this in consonance with theosophical drift of the age.
Nevertheless, he counteracted the deistic tendencies of rabbinical speculation by reference to Hellenistic pantheism, and, at the same time, counteracted this pantheism by the inward moralism of his national faith.
The logical symmetry of the Greek mind was reinforced by Hebraic religious intuition. The consequence was a ferment rather than a system, but a ferment that cast up the clamant problem in unmistakable fashion.
The crux was this: Man must surmount his own fragmentary experience and rise to an absolute Being; but, its absoluteness notwithstanding, this Being must be brought into direct contact with the finite. Philo was unable to reconcile the two demands, because he could not rise above them; but the effort after reconciliation controls all his thought. As a result, he concentrated upon three main subjects of inquiry: (1) the conception of God; (2) the manner of God’s relation to the world; (3) human nature. 5. THREE SUBJECTS OF INQUIRY: (1) The Conception of God: Philo’s doctrine of God, like that of the neo-Platonic school, which he heralded, is thoroughly dualistic. No doubt, it is determined largely by certain human analogies. For example, God’s existence is necessary for the control of the world, just in the same way as man’s mind must exist to furnish the principle of all human action; and, as matter is not selfdetermined, a principle, analogous to mind, is demanded, to be its first cause. Further, as the permanent soul remains unchanged throughout the vicissitudes of a human life, so, behind the ceaseless play of phenomena, there must reside a self-existent Being. Nevertheless, the human analogy never extends to God in His actual Being. No human traits can attach to the Deity. Language may indicate such parallelism, nay the Scriptures are full of instances, but we must view them as concessions to mortal weakness. These accommodations eliminated, it becomes evident that man can never know God positively. Any adjective used to describe Him can do no more than point the contrast between His relationless Being and the dependence of finite things. That God is, Philo is fully persuaded; what He is, no man can ever tell. He is one and immutable, simple and immeasurable and eternal, just as man is not. “For he is unchangeable, requiring nothing else at all, so that all things belong to Him, but He, speaking strictly, belongs to nothing.” This doctrine of the transcendence of Deity was an essential postulate of Philonic thought. For, seeing that He expels all the imperfections of the world, God is precisely in that condition of Being for which the whole creation then yearned. In a word, the dualism, so far from being a bar to salvation, was rather a condition without which the problem of salvation could neither be stated nor solved. Men stood in necessary relation to this Being, but, as yet, He stood in no relation whatever to them. Yet, men must return to God, but He abides so remote, in the realm of pure contemplation and completion, that He cannot approach them.
Philo’s familiarity with logical Greek thought debarred him from surmounting the difficulty after the manner of Jewish religion. An otiose reference to “God’s choice,” as distinct from His nature, could not suffice a mind trained in Hellenic methods. The question therefore was, How could mediation be effected? (2) God’s Relation to the World.
At this point Philo’s thought assumes a phase of great interest to readers of the New Testament. God, being above created things, is incomprehensible and immaterial. Accordingly, He cannot be connected with the world directly. Therefore He created it and sustains it by intermediate powers.
These agencies were suggested to Philo by the Platonic Ideas. But he personalized them more or less and, as a characteristic addition, included them in the Logos. He substituted the term “Logos” for the Platonic term “Idea” on the basis of the Scripture phrase, “Word of God.” The conception was influenced further by his Hellenistic psychological notion, that a word is a “shadow” of a deed. Accordingly, the Logos is the “shadow of God” — God being the “deed” whereby the “shadow” is cast.
As a direct issue, the Logos presents two aspects. On the one side it is internal and indwelling; on the other, it is external and mediating. The scope of this distinction is indicated very well by the epithets which Philo applies to each aspect respectively. The internal Logos is the “Firstborn,” the “Second God,” the “Mediator” the “Ransom,” the “Image of God” “Member of the Trinity,” “High Priest.” The external Logos “abides in man,” is the “Prophet,” “Shepherd,” “Ambassador,” “Artist,” “EIder,” “Interpreter,” “Shadow of God.” The former represents Philo’s conception of the unity of the Logos with God, the latter his provision for the manifestation of the Logos in created things. He thus tries to preserve the transcendence of God equally with His immanence. No doubt, in previous times, the mysteriousness of the Divine nature had impressed itself upon men with at least as much force as now. But with one of two consequences. Either the particular finites and the Deity were mixed in inextricable confusion, as by oriental pantheism, or God was banished from the world, as by the extreme developments within Greek dualism. Philo attempted to combine the two tendencies, and was able consequently to face the obvious contradiction between the idea of an absolute Being and the cloudy conception of a multiplicity of phenomena in which this Being ought to be present somehow, despite transcendence. He demands a God who, in His exaltation, shall be a worthy Deity; this is the Jew in him. But he also demands a definite relation between this God and His creation; this is the Greek and, in part, the Oriental, in him. Thanks to the former, he could not be satisfied with mere naturalism; thanks to the latter, no fable or picture could suffice. A real mediator was required, who would link the world and its heart’s desire. But Philo could not surmount one difficulty peculiar to contemporary thought. He was unable to connect God directly with creation and preserve His purity unsullied. Hence, the obscurity which surrounds his conception of the Logos, likewise his vacillation with respect to its personality. So we find the different intellectual forces which he inherited playing upon him — now one, now another. Sometimes the Platonic theory of Ideas dominates him; sometimes he leans to Stoicism, with its immanent world-reason; and here he even seems to foreshadow the doctrine of the Trinity; again, the ramifications of rabbinical lore cause him to bestow upon the Logos a priestly function or an atoning office. No single aspect achieves supremacy, although on the whole mystical Platonism may be said to predominate. Thus, “The world of Ideas has its place in the Divine Logos, just as the plan of a city is in, the soul of the master-builder.” Accordingly, God’s thought may take its place in the world by being impressed upon things; yet, on account of its subjective nature, it must be apprehended subjectively, that is, by one who is capable of entering this sphere. The Logos thus seems to exist entirely in the same realm as Deity; thus, it can mediate between Him and creation only if an element proper to Deity be discernible in mundane things. In other words, the Logos mediates between God and the world, but partakes of the Divine nature only. This, in any case, is the inner logic of Philo’s view. It accounts for creation, but has no power to persuade man to overpass the limitations placed upon him by his bodily prison. Thus the question of the personality of the Logos is never cleared. In so far as Philo needs Logos to connect God with the world, he inclines to a doctrine of personality. In so far as he makes it the principle of all activities within the world, he inclines away from personality. In short, we have a “world-soul.” And, as a consequence, there is an inherent tendency to reduce all finite being to illusion. Indeed, one might term the Logos a reply in some sort to Aristotle’s question — which of the Platonic Ideas could connect the other Ideas with sensible things? Salvation is conceived as wrought out, not by a person, but by an abstract essence flowing from Deity, an essence that found due expression rather in the cosmic order than in a person. While, therefore, Philo thinks in a cultural perspective akin to that characteristic of the author of the Fourth Gospel, two vast differences sway his doctrine. On the one hand, it is speculative, not ethically personal. On the other hand, it fails completely to determine the nature of his mediator in itself, vacillating in a manner which shows how vague and fluid the conception really was. (3) Doctrine of Man.
This appears further in the doctrine of man. Following current interpretations of Plato, Philo makes man partake in the rational nature of God, but denies that he embodies the highest species of reason. That is, the ideal man and the man known to us in common experience are distinguished. The former is rational as God is. The latter is partly rational, partly irrational. The body vitiates the original angelic purity of the soul and, similarly, reason is alloyed. And yet, although the higher nature becomes more and more debased as the years lapse, a seed of Divinity is present, ready to burst forth. Thus man must crush the flesh and its desires.
At this point we note the effect of the Stoic ideal of imperturbability. When he has attained this apathy, man can enjoy the life of contemplation. This, in its turn, culminates in ecstasy, when the human soul attains sudden and momentary union with the Divine. For a “fair moment” man escapes the thralldom of sense. Yet the doctrine remains intellectual even here. He “who escapes from his own mind flies to the mind of the universe, confessing that all the things of the human mind are vain and unreal, and attributing everything to God.” Philo’s anthropology therefore ends in contempt for this life, which is in no wise worth while, and in a counsel of perfection available only for a select elite. Accordingly, the conclusion of the whole matter is, that he never saw how the divine and the human can be united, although he stated the factors of the problem with great clearness, and felt profoundly the urgency of a solution. His gospel was for the children of culture. He saw the eternal in the temporal, and hoped that good might lurk in evil. But he never understood that “love for a Divine Person” might be so diffused throughout a human soul as to render evil and unreality the means to the attainment of good and to the revelation of truth. The salvation he contemplated was from self, not in self. Hence, as he asserts himself, harmony with God “is an incomprehensible mystery to the multitude, and is to be imparted to the instructed only.” Nor is this wonderful. For a God who is the reasonable “form” of the world; a “matter” which begins as an indistinguishable mass and ends as a “second principle”; and objects of sense rendered apparent by the operation of many curious intermediate forces, ranging from “angel-words” to the human soul, constitute a combination beyond the reach of any save the “initiate.”
More practicable is Philo’s conception of the moral life — as a warfare of the soul against passion, pleasure and sensuality. Yet, even this contest is hopeless unless it be waged with the equipment of the “philosopher athlete.” Escape from the “prison-house” of flesh would seem to be consequent only upon profound knowledge. 6. PHILO’S WORKS:
The probability is that Philo’s works were written previous to his Roman embassy. They show how he tried to apply Greek philosophical conceptions to Jewish beliefs, history, and usages exclusively. The voluminous remains which have come down to us appear to belong to three commentaries on the Pentateuch and the Mosaic Law. In all likelihood, they are portions of Philo’s popular presentation, written for the instruction and information of educated Hellenistic circles rather than for the trained “initiate.” The treatises most important for Philo’s religiophilosophical views are as follows: On the Creation of the World; On the Allegories of the Sacred Laws; On the Unchangeableness of God; On the Confusion of Languages; On the Migration of Abraham; On the Meeting for the Sake of Receiving Instruction; On the Life of the Wise Man Made Perfect by Instruction; The Unwritten Law; Abraham; On Special Laws; On Rewards and Punishments; That Every Man Who Is Virtuous Is Also Free; Concerning the World; and the Fragments. Some 8 works attributed to Philo are in dispute. Most conspicuous of these is Concerning the Contemplative Life, with its ascetic view of morality, and its description of the ideal community of the Therapeutae.
LITERATURE.
E. Schurer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division II, Volume III, pp. 321 f (Edinburgh, 1886); E. Schurer, “Philo” in EB; James Drummond, Philo Judaeus, or, The Jewish-Alexandrian Philosophy in Its Development and Completion (2 volumes, London, 1888); R. M. Wenley, Socrates and Christ: a Study in the Philosophy of Religion, chapters vii, viii (Edinburgh, 1889); H. Ewald, The History of Israel, VII, 194 f (London, 1885); A. Haursrath, A History of New Testament Times, division II, volume I, chapters iv through vi (London, 1885); H. Graetz, History of the Jews from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, II, 183 f, 206 f (London, 1891); E. Caird, The Evolution of Theology in the Greek Philosophers, II, lectures xx-xxi, xxvii (Glasgow, 1904); article “Philo” in Jewish Encyclopedia; Ernest F. Scott, The Fourth Gospel, Its Purpose and Theology, 54 f, 145 f (2nd edition, Edinburgh, 1908); F.C. Conybeare, Philo: About the Contemplative Life (Oxford, 1895). An English translation has been made by C.D. Yonge in the Bohn Library (London, G. Bell and Sons). The text cited usually is that of T.
Mangey. The best modern text is that of Cohn and Wendland. R. M. Wenley PHILOLOGUS <fi-lol’-o-gus > ([ Filo>logov, Philologos ], “fond of learning,” “learned”):
The name of a Roman Christian to whom Paul sent greetings ( Romans 16:15). His name is coupled with that of Julia, who was probably his wife or sister. Philologus and those united with him in this salutation formed by themselves one of the “house churches” or groups in the Christian community. The name is found in inscriptions connected with the imperial household, with reference to one of which Bishop Lightfoot has the following note: “It has been supposed that the name Philologus was given by the master to the freedman mentioned in this inscription, as being appropriate to his office (Friedlander I, 89, 160). .... If so, some light is thrown on the probable occupation of the Philologus of Paul” (Philippians, 177, note 1). S. F. Hunter PHILOMETOR <fil-o-me’-tor > . See PTOLEMY VI.
PHILOSOPHY <fi-los’-o-fi > ([filosofi>a, philosophia ]): 1. DEFINITION AND SCOPE:
Only found in Colossians 2:8; literally, the love and pursuit of wisdom and knowledge. In its technical sense, the term is now used for the conscious endeavor of thought, by speculative process, to interpret the whole of human experience, as a consistent and systematic unity, which would be the ultimate truth of all that may be known. The term is also used, in a wider sense, of all interpretations of experience, or parts of experience, however obtained, whether by revelation, intuition or unconscious speculation. No hard-and-fast line can be drawn between the two kinds of philosophy. Some of the ruling conceptions of speculation, such as God, spirit, order, causation, true and false, good and evil, were not discovered by reason, but given in experience. (1) Intuitive Philosophy Is Universal.
The human mind has always and everywhere furnished itself with some kind of explanation of the universe. From the lowest animism and fetishism up to the higher religions, ideas are found which served men as explanations of those features of experience which attracted their attention.
They were often regarded as given by vision, intuition or some other method of revelation. In the higher religions, the mind reflected upon these ideas, and elaborated them into systems of thought that bear some resemblance to the speculative theories of western thought. In China, both Confucianism and Taoism developed theories of human life and destiny that bear some resemblance to Stoicism. The religions of Assyria and Babylonia enshrined in their legends theories of the world and of man and his institutions. In India, men’s belief in the Nature-gods gradually developed into pantheistic Brahmanism, which reduced the multiplicity of experience into one ultimate being, Brahma. But the desire for moral salvation and the sense of pain and evil produced a reaction, and led to the pessimistic and nihilistic philosophy of Buddhism. In Persia, the moral consciousness awoke earlier, and the attempt to systematize the multiplicity of polytheism issued in the dualistic philosophy of later Zoroastrianism. The whole realm of being was divided into two kingdoms, created and ruled by two lords: Ahura Mazda, the creator of light and life, law, order and goodness, and Anro Mainyus, the author of darkness, evil and death. Each was surrounded by a court of spiritual beings kindred to himself, his messengers and agents in the world (see PERSIAN RELIGION (ANCIENT)). Of all these religious philosophies, only those of Assyria and Babylonia, and of Persia, are likely to have come into any contact with Biblical thought. The former have some affinity with the accounts of creation and the flood in Genesis; and the influence of the latter may be traced in the dualism and angelology and demonology of later Judaism, and again in the Gnostic systems that grew up in the Christian church, and through both channels it was perpetuated, as a dualistic influence, in the lower strata of Christian thought down through the Middle Ages. (2) Speculative Philosophy Belongs Mainly to Western Thought.
It arose in Greece about the beginning of the 6th century BC. It began with the problem of the general nature of being, or ontology. But it was soon forced to consider the conditions of knowing anything at all, or to epistemology. These two studies constitute metaphysics, a term often used as synonymous with philosophy in the stricter sense. Speculation about ideal truth again led to inquiries as to the ultimate nature of the kindred ideas of the good (ethics) and the beautiful (aesthetics). And as these ideas were related to society as well as to the individual, the Greeks developed theories of the ideal organization of society on the basis of the true, the good and the beautiful, or politics and pedagogics. The only branch of speculation to which the Greeks made no appreciable contribution was the philosophy of religion, which is a modern development.
The progress of philosophy in history divides itself naturally into three main periods: (a) ancient, from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD, when it is almost exclusively Greek, with some practical adaptations of Greek thought by Roman writers; (b) medieval, from the 3rd to the 16th century, where some of the ruling conceptions of Greek thought were utilized for the systematization of Christian dogma, but speculation was mainly confined within the limits of ecclesiastical orthodoxy; there were, however, some independent Arabian and Jewish speculations; (c) modern, from the 16th century to the present time, in which thought becomes free again to speculate upon all the problems presented by experience, though it only realized its liberty fully in the hands of Locke, Hume and Kant. 2. GREEK PHILOSOPHY:
Greek philosophy was the only speculative system that could have had any influence upon Biblical thought. Its main development was contemporaneous with the later Old Testament writers, but the two peoples were in every way so remote one another that no interchange of ideas was probable.
During the last two centuries BC, Greek thought spread so widely that it came to dominate the cultured thought of the world into which Christianity entered, and it would have been strange if no trace of its influence were found in the New Testament. In the first stage of its development, from Thales to Socrates, it was concerned almost entirely with attempts to explain the nature of reality by reducing the phenomenal world into some one of its elements. Socrates changed its center of gravity, and definitely raised the problems of morality and knowledge to the position of first importance. His principles were developed by Plato into a complex and many-sided system which, more than any other, has influenced all subsequent thought. He united ultimate reality and the highest good into one supreme principle or idea which he called the Good, and also God. It was the essence, archetype and origin of all wisdom, goodness and beauty.
It communicated itself as intermediary archerypal ideas to produce all individual things. So that the formative principles of all existence were moral and spiritual. But it had to make all things out of preexisting matter, which is essentially evil, and which therefore was refractory and hostile to the Good. That is why it did not make a perfect world. Plato’s system was therefore rent by an irreconcilable dualism of mind and body, spirit and matter, good and evil. And his mediating ideas could not bridge the gulf, because they belonged only to the side of the ideal. Aristotle was Plato’s disciple, and he started from Plato’s idealistic presuppositions, but endeavored to transcend his dualism. He thus applied himself to a closer and more accurate study of actual experience, and added much to the knowledge of the physical world. He organized and classified the methods and contents of knowledge and created the science of logic, which in the Christian Middle Ages became the chief instrument of the great systematic theologians of the church. He tried to bring Plato’s ideas “down from heaven,” and to represent them as the creative and formative principles within the world, which he conceived as a system of development, rising by spiritual gradations from the lower to the higher forms, and culminating in God, who is the uncaused cause of all things. But underneath all the forms still remained matter as an antithetical element, and Aristotle rather concealed than solved the dualism of Plato.
Meanwhile, the moral principles of Socrates were being developed with a more directly ethical interest, by the Cyrenaics and Epicureans, into a system of Hedonism, and, by the Cynics and Stoics, into a doctrine of intuitive right and duty, resting inconsistently upon a pantheistic and materialistic view of the universe. But the spiritual and ethical elements in Stoicism became only second to Platonism in the preparation of the Greek world for Christianity. During the last two and a half centuries BC, Greek philosophy showed signs of rapid decline. On the one hand, Pyrrho and his school propounded a thoroughgoing skepticism which denied the possibility of all knowledge whatsoever. On the other hand, the older schools, no longer served by creative minds, tended to merge their ideas into a common eclecticism which its teachers reduced into an empty and formal dogmatism. The most fruitful and fateful product of Greek thought in this period was its amalgamation with Jewish and oriental ideas in the great cosmopolitan centers of the Greek world. There are evidences that this process was going on in the cities of Asia, Syria and Egypt, but the only extensive account of it remaining is found in the works of Philo, the Jewish philosopher of Alexandria (see PHILO JUDAEUS). He tried to graft Plato’s idealism upon Hebrew monotheism.
He starts with Plato’s two principles, pure being or God, and preexisting matter. In his endeavor to bridge the gulf between them, he interposed between God and the world the powers of God, goodness and justice; and to gather these into a final unity, he created his conception of the Loges of God. In the formation of this conception, he merged together the Platonic idea of the good, the Stoic world-reason, and a number of Jewish ideas, the glory, the word, the name, of God, the heavenly man and the great high priest, and personified the whole as the one mediator between God and the world. Christian thought laid hold of this idea, and employed it as its master-category for the interpretation of the person of Christ. See LOGOS. 3. PHILOSOPHY IN OLD TESTAMENT AND JUDAISM:
There is no speculative philosophy in the Old Testament nor any certain trace of its influence. Its writers and actors never set themselves to pursue knowledge in the abstract and for its own sake. They always wrought for moral purposes. But moral activity proceeds on the intellectual presuppositions and interpretations of the experiences within which it acts.
Hence, we find in the Old Testament accounts of the origin and course of nature, a philosophy of history and its institutions, and interpretations of men’s moral and religious experiences. They all center in God, issue from His sovereign will, and express the realization of His purpose of righteousness in the world. See GOD. (1) Of Nature: All nature originated in God’s creative act (Genesis 2) or word (Genesis 1). In later literature the whole course and order of Nature, its beauty and bounty, as well as its wonders and terrors, are represented as the acts of God’s will (Isaiah 40 through 45; Psalms 8:19; 29; 50; 65; 68; 104, etc.).
But His action in Nature is always subordinated to His moral ends. (2) Of History: Similarly, the course and events of the history of Israel and her neighbors are the acts of Yahweh’s will (Amos 1; 2; Isaiah 41:2; 43:3; 45:9,10,14) In the historical books of Samuel and Kings, and still more of Chronicles, all the events of history are represented as the acts of God’s moral government. In a more general way, the whole of history is set forth as a series of covenants that God, of His free grace, made with man (see COVENANT). The Noachic covenant fixed the order of Nature. The covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob accounted for the origin and choice of Israel. The covenants with Moses and Aaron established the Law and the priesthood, and that with David, the kingship. And the hope of the future lies in the new covenant ( Jeremiah 31:31-35). God’s covenants were all acts of His sovereign and gracious will. (3) Post-exilic: In post-exilic times, new experiences, and perhaps new intellectual influences, drove the Jews to probe deeper into the problem of existence.
They adhered to the cardinal principle of He thought, that God’s sovereign will, working out His purpose of righteousness, was the first cause of all things (see RIGHTEOUSNESS). But they found it difficult to coordinate this belief with their other ideas, in two ways. Ethical monotheism tended to become an abstract deism which removed God altogether out of the world. And the catastrophes that befell the nation, in the exile and after, raised the problem of suffering and evil over against God’s goodness and righteousness. Therefore in the Wisdom literature we find some conscious speculation on these subjects. See WISDOM. (a) The Book of Job discusses the problem of evil, and repudiates the idea that life and history are the process of God’s rewards and punishments. (b) Ecclesiastes comes to the conclusion that all phenomenal experience is vanity. Yet its ultimate philosophy is not pessimistic, for it finds an abiding reality and hope in the fear of God and in the moral life (12:13,14). The same type of thought appears in Ecclesiasticus. Both books have been attributed to the circle of the Sadducees. Some would find in them traces of the influence of Epicureanism. (c) In Proverbs a more optimistic side prevails. Wisdom is gathered up into a conception or personification which is at once God’s friend, His agent in creation, His vicegerent in the world, and man’s instructress and guide (chapter 8). (d) The teaching of the Pharisees especially reveals the tendency to dualism or deism in later Judaism; they interposed between God and the world various agents of mediation, the law, the word, the name, the glory of God and a host of angels, good and bad. They also fostered a new hope of the future, under the double form of the Messianic kingdom, and of resurrection and immortality. How far these tendencies were due to the influence of Persian dualism cannot here be considered. (e) Essenism represents another effort to get from the world to God by a crude kind of mysticism and asceticism, combined with an extensive angelology. (4) Alexandrian: Among the Hellenistic Jews in Alexandria, Aristobulus, the authors of The Wisdom of Solomon and 4 Maccabees, and preeminently Philo, all deal with the two chief problems of Judaism, dualism and evil. But they approach them under the direct influence of Greek thought. The Hebrew idea of wisdom was merged into the Greek conception of the Logos, and so it becomes the mediator of God’s thought and activity in the world. 4. PHILOSOPHY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
Philosophy appears in the New Testament as intuitive, speculative and eclectic. (1) The Teaching of Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law and the prophets, and, out of His filial consciousness of God, He propounded answers to the practical demands of His time. His doctrine of God the Father was a philosophy of Nature and life which transcended all dualism. In the kingdom of heaven, the good would ultimately prevail over the evil. The law of love expressed the ideal of conduct for man as individual, and in his relation to society and to God, the supreme and ultimate reality. This teaching was given in the form of revelation, without any trace of speculation. (2) Apostolic Teaching: The apostolic writings built upon the teaching and person of Jesus Christ.
Their ruling ideas are the doctrines which He taught and embodied. In Paul and John, they are realized as mystical experiences which are expressed in doctrines of universal love. But we may also discover in the apostolic writings at least three strands of speculative philosophy. (a) Paul employed arguments from natural theology, similar to those of the Stoics ( Acts 14:15-17; 17:22-31; Romans 1:19 ff), which involved the principles of the cosmological and teleological arguments. (b) John employs the Philonic term “Logos” to interpret the person of Christ in His universal relation to God, man and the world; and the main elements of Philo’s scheme are clearly present in his doctrine, though here it is no abstract conception standing between God and man, but a living person uniting both ( John 1:1-18). Although the term “Logos” is not mentioned, in this sense, in Paul or Hebrews, the Philonic conception has been employed by both writers ( Romans 5:8; 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:24,25; 2 Corinthians 5:18,19; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 1:15-17; 2:9,10; Hebrews 1:1-3,5,6). Paul also expresses his conception of Christ as the manifestation of God under the category of wisdom ( Corinthians 1:20; 2:7; Ephesians 1:8; Colossians 2:3). (c) Both in Paul and He appear original speculations designed to interpret individual experience and human history as they culminate in Christ. Paul’s interpretation consists of a series of parallel antitheses, flesh and spirit, sin and righteousness, law and grace, works and faith, Adam and Christ. But the author of He adopts the Platonic view that the world of history and phenomena is but the shadow or suggestion of the spiritual and eternal reality which lies behind it, and which partially expresses itself through it. (3) Attitude of New Testament Writers toward Philosophy: In the one place in which the term philosophy appears in the New Testament ( Colossians 2:8), it seems to mean “subtle dialectics and profitless speculation .... combined with a mystic cosmogony and angelology” (Lightfoot, at the place), the first beginnings of Gnosticism in the Christian church. Paul warns his readers against it, as he also does the Corinthians against the “wisdom” of the Greeks ( 1 Corinthians 1:19 ff; 2:5,6). A similar tendency may be in view in the warning to Timothy against false doctrines ( 1 Timothy 1:4; 4:3; 2 Timothy 1:14,16 ff).
But with the true spirit of philosophy, as the pursuit of truth, and the endeavor to express more fully and clearly the nature of reality, the spirit and work of the New Testament writers were in complete accord.
LITERATURE.
Introductions to philosophy by Kulpe, Paulsen, Hoffding, Watson and Mackenzie. Histories of Greek philosophy by Ritter and Preller, Burnet, and Zeller, and of general philosophy by Erdmann, Ueberweg, Windelband and Rogers; E. Caird, The Evolution of Theology in the Greek Philosophies; Hists of the Jews by Schurer, Graetz and Kent; Old Testament Theologies by Schultz and Davidson; New Testament Theologies by Beyschlag and Weinel; Philo’s works and treatises thereon by Dahne, Gfrorer and Drummond; Harnack, What Is Christianity? Bigg, The Christian Platonists of Alexandria; Lightfoot, Colossians. T. Rees PHINEES <fin’-e-es > ([ Finee>v, Phinees ]; Codex Vaticanus (Swete), [ Feinee>v, Pheinees ] (1 Esdras 8:2)): (1) Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron (1 Esdras 5:5; 8:2,29; Esdras 1:2; 1 Macc 2:26; Sirach 45:23). (2) The father of Achias and son of Hell (Eli), a descendant of (1) , and one of Ezra’s progenitors (2 Esdras 1:2); but this link is not found in Ezra’s genealogy (1 Esdras 8:1 f), nor in Ezra 7:1 ff; 1 Chronicles 6, and its insertion in 2 Esdras 1:2 is a mistake, since Ezra’s descent was from Eleazar, while this Phinees (Phinehas) was a descendant of Ithamar, the youngest son of Aaron. (3) A Levite, the father of Eleazar (1 Esdras 8:63) = “Phinehas” of Ezra 8:33. But it is just possible that the well-known Eleazar (1) is referred to here, and so not another and different Phinees. (4) The King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) “Phinoe” (1 Esdras 5:31). S. Angus PHINEHAS <fin’-e-as > , <-az > , <fin’-e-has > , <-haz > ([ sj;n]yPi , pinechac ], “mouth of brass”): (1) Son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron ( Exodus 6:25; compare Chronicles 6:4; Ezra 7:5, where he is seen to be an ancestor of Ezra).
He took a leading part in cleansing Israel from whoredom at Shittim. He there punished the brazen licentiousness of Zimri, prince of Sirecon, by slaying both him and the Midianite woman he had brought into camp ( Numbers 25:6-18). This incident is referred to in <19A630> Psalm 106:30,31 (compare 1 Macc 2:26,54; Sirach 45:23,24). As priest he accompanied the expedition sent by Moses against Midjan ( Numbers 31:6). He was chief of the Korahite Levites ( 1 Chronicles 9:20), and succeeded his father as high priest. While he was in that office the civil war with Benjamin occurred, and it was he who delivered the oracle’s decision to fight Benjamin ( Judges 20:28 ff). His faithful services secured to his house the succession of the priesthood ( Numbers 25:11-13). He was sent as ambassador to inquire into the reported idolatry of Reuben, Gad and part of Manasseh ( Joshua 22:13 ff,30-32). According to Septuagint he was buried with his father in Ephraim on the hill Gibeah Phinehas (see Joshua 24:33). His character was marked with strong moral indignation and fine integrity. (2) The younger son of Eli ( 1 Samuel 1:3; 2 Esdras 1:2, “Phinees”). See HOPNI AND PHINEHAS. (3) Father of a priest named Eleazar ( Ezra 8:33; compare 8:2; 1 Esdras 8:63, “Phinees”). Henry Wallace PHINOE <fin’-o-e > ([ Fino>e, Phinoe ]; the King James Version Phinees): Name of one of the families of temple-servants who went up from Babylon with Zerubbabel (1 Esdras 5:31) = “Paseah” of Ezra 2:49; Nehemiah 7:51.
PHLEGON <fle’-gon > , <fleg’-on > ([ Fle>gwn, Phlegan ]): The name of a Roman Christian to whom Paul sent greetings ( Romans 16:14). Of him nothing is known.
PHOEBE <fe’-be > ([ Foi>bh, Phoibe ]; the King James Version Phebe): Described by Paul as (1) “our sister,” (2) “who is a servant of the church that is at Cenchrea,” (3) “a helper of many, and of mine own self” ( Romans 16:1,2). (1) “Our (Christian) sister”: Paul calls the believing husband and wife “the brother or the sister” ( 1 Corinthians 7:15), and also asks, “Have we no right to lead about a wife that is a sister?” ( 1 Corinthians 9:5 margin).
The church was a family. (2) The Greek word translated “servant” is diakonos . “Servant” is vague, and “deaconess” is too technical. In the later church there was an order of deaconesses for special work among women, owing to the peculiar circumstances of oriental life, but we have no reason to believe there was such an order at this early period. If Phoebe had voluntarily devoted herself “to minister unto the saints” by means of charity and hospitality, she would be called diakonos . (3) The Greek word prostatis translated “helper” is better “patroness.” The masculine is “the title of a citizen in Athens who took charge of the interests of clients and persons without civic rights” (Denney). Many of the early Christian communities had the appearance of clients under a patron, and probably the community of Cenchrea met in the house of Phoebe. She also devoted her influence and means to the assistance of “brethren” landing at that port. Paul was among those whom she benefited. Gifford thinks some special occasion is meant, and that Paul refers to this in Acts 18:18. The vow “seems to point to a deliverance from danger or sickness” in which Phoebe may have attended on him.
It is generally assumed that this letter was taken to Rome by Phoebe, these verses introducing her to the Christian community. In commending her, Paul asks that the Roman Christians “receive her in the Lord,” i.e. give her a Christian welcome, and that they “assist her in whatsoever matter she may have need” of them ( Romans 16:1,2). S. F. Hunter PHOENICE <fe-ni’-se > ([ Foi~nix, Phoinix ]). See PHOENIX.
PHOENICIA; PHOENICIANS <fe-nish’-i-a > , <fe-nish’-anz > : 1. THE LAND:
The term “Phoenicia” is Greek ([ Foini>kh, Phoinike ], “land of dates, or palm trees,” from phoinix , “the date-palm”). It occurs in the Bible only in Acts (11:19; 15:3; 21:2), the land being generally designated as the “coast” or “borders of Tyre and Sidon” ( Matthew 15:21; Mark 7:24,31; Luke 6:17). In the Old Testament we find it included in the land belonging to the Canaanites or to Sidon ( Genesis 10:19; 49:13; Joshua 11:8; 1 Kings 17:9). The limits of Phoenicia were indefinite also. It is sometimes used by classic writers as including the coast line from Matthew. Cassius on the North to Gaza or beyond on the South, a distance of some 380 miles, or about 400 miles if we include the sweep of indentations and bays and the outstretching of the promontories. But in the stricter sense, it did not extend beyond Gabala (modern Jebleh) on the North, and Matthew. Carmel on the South, or some 150 miles. The name was probably first applied to the region opposite Cyprus, from Gabala to Aradus and Marathus, where the date-palm was observed, and then, as it was found in still greater abundance farther South, it was applied to that region also. The palm tree is common on the coins of both Aradus and Tyre, and it still grows on the coast, though not in great abundance. The width of the land also was indefinite, not extending inland beyond the crest of the two ranges of mountains, the Bargylus (Nusairi Mountains) and the Lebanon, which run parallel to the coast and leave but little space between them and the sea for the greater portion of their length. It is doubtful whether the Phoenicians occupied the mountain tracts, but they must have dominated them on the western slopes, since they derived from them timber for their ships and temples. The width of the country probably did not exceed 25 or 30 miles at the most, and in many places it was much less, a very small territory, in fact, but one that played a distinguished role in ancient times.
There are few harbors on the whole coast, none in the modern sense, since what few bays and inlets there are afford but slight shelter to modern ships, but those of the ancients found sufficient protection in a number of places, especially by means of artificial harbors, and the facility with which they could be drawn out upon the sandy beach in winter when navigation was suspended. The promontories are few and do not project far into the sea, such as Theu-prosopon South of Tripolis, Ras Beirut and the broad projection South of Tyre including Ras el-`Abyadh and Ras en-Naqura and Ras el-Musheirifeh (see LADDER OF TYRE). The promontory of Carmel is rather more marked than the others, and forms quite an extensive bay, which extends to Acre. The promontory rises to a height of 500 ft. or more near the sea and to more than double that elevation in its course to the Southeast.
Matthew. Lebanon, which forms the background of Phoenicia for about 100 miles, is a most striking feature of the landscape. It rises to a height of 10,200 ft. in the highest point, East of Tripolis, and to 8,500 in Jebel Sunnin, East of Beirut, and the average elevation is from 5,000 to 6,000 ft.
It is rent by deep gorges where the numerous streams have cut their way to the sea, furnishing most varied and picturesque scenery. It was originally heavily wooded with cedar, oak, and pine trees, which are still found in considerable numbers, but by far the larger part of the mountain has been denuded of forests, and the slopes have been extensively terraced for the cultivation of vines and fruit trees and the mulberry for silk culture. The plains along the coast are not extensive, but generally very fertile and bear abundant crops of wheat, barley and other cereals, where not given to the culture of the mulberry, orange, lemon, fig, apricot and other small fruits.
In its greatest extent Phoenicia included the broad plain of Sharon and that of Acre, between Carmel and that city, and a portion of the region watered by the Kishon, but the plains of Phoenicia, strictly speaking, are much more restricted. They are: the plain of Tyre, long but narrow, extending from Ras el-`Abyadh to Sarepta; the plain of Sidon extending from Sarepta to the Bostrenus (Nahr el-’Auly); the plain of Beirut (Berytus) between the extensive sand dunes along the shore and the rocky cape on the West and the foot of Lebanon,10 or 12 miles long but only one or two wide, containing one of the largest olive groves in Syria; the very small plain of Tripolis, including that city and its port; and, the most extensive of all, the plain of Marathus, extending from Arka to Aradus or even beyond, including the river Eleutherus (Nahr el-Kebir). These plains furnished only a portion of the food needed by the inhabitants who were more or less dependent on their neighbors for it ( 1 Kings 5:11; Acts 12:20).
The rivers of Phoenicia are comparatively short and small; the Litany rises in the Buka’, between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and finds its way in a deep and narrow gorge between Lebanon and Matthew. Hermon to the South, and finally turns westward and reaches the sea a few miles North of Tyre, where it is called the Kasimiyeh. About 12 miles North of Beirut is the Dog River (Lycus), a very short stream but noted for the famous pass at its mouth, where Egyptian Assyrian and Babylonian kings engraved their monuments; and a few miles South of Jebail (Gebal) is the Adonis (Nahr Ibrahim), which comes down from ‘Afqa (Apheca = Aphek, Joshua 13:4), noted for the rites of Venus and Adonis (see TAMMUZ); and the Eleutherus, already mentioned, which runs through the valley between Bargylus and Lebanon and provides the pass between these two mountains into the interior. The other rivers are very short, but furnish a perennial water-supply to the coast dwellers.
The products of the land, as well as the climate, are very varied on account of the difference in elevation of the tracts suitable to culture, ranging in temperature from the semi-tropical to Alpine. How far the ancients cultivated the mountain sides we do not know, but they certainly profited largely by the forests of cedar and pine, especially the former, which was the most valuable for shipbuilding and architectural purposes, and was highly prized, not only by the Phoenicians, but by Egyptians, Assyrians and Babylonians, who transported it to their own countries for buildings. The mineral products are few, and the Phoenicians depended on their colonies and other lands for what they needed of these. 2. THE COLONIES:
The narrowness of the land and the difficulty of expansion on account of the lofty mountain ranges and the hostility of the tribes of the interior led the Phoenicians to turn seaward for an outlet to their increasing population. We have only one instance of their attempt to colonize the Hinterland, and that ended in disaster (Judges 18). Hiram, king of Tyre, was not pleased with Solomon’s gift of 20 cities in Galilee, probably not desiring to assume responsibility for their defense. The people early became mariners, and the dominion of the sea was more inviting to them, and they found room for expansion in the islands and on the coast of the Mediterranean, where they established colonies far and wide. Their first over-sea possessions were in Cyprus, the coasts of which they occupied in the 2nd millennium BC, probably about 1500. On the southern coast they planted various colonies, such as Citium (Larnaca), Amathus, Curium and Paphos, and on the eastern, Salamis, Ammachosta and Soli, and, in the interior, Idalium and Golgi, besides other less important settlements. The evidences of the Phoenician occupation of Cyprus are numerous. The southern portion of Asia Minor also attracted them at an early date, especially the rich plains of Cilicia, and Tarsus became the most important of their colonies there. Its coins bear Phoenician types and legends, among which Baal is conspicuous. Other points along the coast were occupied, and the island of Rhodes as well as certain ports on the south coast of Crete, and most of the islands of the Aegean. Their presence in Attica is vouched for by inscriptions, and legend connects Thebes with them in the person of Cadmus, the reputed son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. But it is doubtful whether they really colonized the mainland of Greece. They were more attracted by the lands farther to the West.
The greatest of their colonies was in Africa. They occupied Utica first, probably in the 12th century BC, and others in the same region until in the 9th century. Great Carthage was founded, which was destined to become the richest and most powerful of all and the dreaded rival of Rome. All are familiar with the story of Elisa, or Dido, the reputed Tyrian queen who led her followers to the place and founded the city. The story is perhaps legendary, but that Carthage was a colony of Tyre there is no reason to doubt. Other colonists occupied portions of Sicily, such as Motya, Erix, Soli and Panormus (Palermo). They also crossed over to Sardinia and the Balearic Isles, and planted colonies on the south coast of Spain and the northwestern coast of Africa, within and beyond the straits of Gibraltar. Of their settlements in Spain Gades (Cades) and Tartessus were the most noted, the latter being probably the Tarshish of Scripture ( 1 Kings 10:22). Malaca (Malaga) and Abdera, within the straits, were likewise important settlements, and there were others of less note.
The colonial enterprise of the Phoenicians was remarkable for the age, and was only surpassed in ancient times by the Greeks who came later, the former being the pioneers. The energy and daring of the Phoenicians in pushing out into unknown seas, with the imperfect means at their disposal, is evidence of the enterprise of this people. Their chief object, however, was trade. Their colonies were mostly factories for the exchange of their manufactured articles for the products of the lands they visited. They cared little about building up new states or for extending their civilization and molding barbarous tribes and imparting to them their culture. In this they were far surpassed by the Greeks whose colonies profoundly modified the peoples and lands with which they came in contact. 3. THE PEOPLE:
The Phoenicians were the same as the Canaanites, under which name they are known in the Old Testament, as well as Sidonians ( Genesis 10:19; Numbers 13:29). They were of Semitic stock, if we may judge by their language and characteristics. It is true that in Genesis 10:6 Canaan is called a son of Ham, but it is also true that the language of Canaan is identified with Hebrew ( Isaiah 19:18). If the early Phoenicians spoke a different tongue, they entirely lost it before their contact with the Hebrews.
Their writings and all the references to them in ancient authorities show that their language was purely Semitic. As to their origin and the time of their migration to the Syrian coast, it is more difficult to determine.
Herodotus (i.2; vii.89) says that they lived at first on the Erythraean Sea, which is identified with the Persian Gulf, and modern authorities have not found evidence to refute the statement. It is quite certain that they were not the aborigines of the country, and must have come in with some of the various migrations from the East, which we know, from Egyptian and Babylonian monuments, occurred in the 3rd, perhaps in the 4th, millennium BC. Semites are found in Syria as early as the IVth Egyptian Dynasty, about 3000 BC, and we may fairly conjecture that the Canaanites were in possession of the seacoast as early as 2500 BC. It is possible that they were among the Hyksos invaders of Egypt (Paton, Syria and Palestine, 67).
That the Phoenicians took to the sea at a very early date and became the most skillful mariners of the ancient world is certain. Their enterprise in this direction is attested by classic writers, and the references to it in the Old Testament are numerous. This was coupled with great industry and skill in the manufacture of the various articles which furnished the materials of their extended commerce. They exhibited a boldness and audacity in braving the perils of the sea in their little ships, which, for the age, demands our admiration. They were the first who dared to push out of sight of land in their voyages and sail beyond the Pillars of Hercules into the ocean. But in their commercial dealings they were often unscrupulous, and their greed of gain often led them to take unfair advantage of the barbarous races with whom they came in contact. The purchase of the land on which the citadel of Carthage was built may illustrate the opinion of the ancients regarding them, but we ought to remember that trickery and deceit are charged against them by their enemies, who alone have handed down accounts of them. The Hebrew prophets speak of their pride and vanity ( Ezekiel 28:17), and violence ( Ezekiel 28:16), and Amos hints at a traffic in captives taken in war, but whether of Hebrews or not is not clear (Amos 1:9). Slaves were among the articles of merchandise in which they traded ( Ezekiel 27:13; Joel 3:6), but this could hardly be charged against them as a great sin when slavery was universal. The chief reason for their being denounced by the prophets was their corrupt practices in worship and the baleful influence of the Baal and Astarte cult introduced by them into Israel through Ahab’s marriage with Jezebel ( 1 Kings 16:31-33).
This evil influence was felt even after the captivity when the rites of the Phoenician Tammuz were practiced in Jerusalem ( Ezekiel 8:14). But the earlier relations of the Phoenicians with Israel in the days of David and Solomon were friendly and mutually beneficial. On the whole the judgment of history assigns to this people a high position for their enterprise and skill in carrying on their trade, and in being the pioneers of civilization in many of the Mediterranean lands, especially by their introduction of alphabetical writing, which was by far the most valuable of all their contributions to the culture of the ancient world. 4. ARTS AND MANUFACTURES: (1) Textile Fabrics: The Phoenicians were celebrated for their textile fabrics of silk, wool, linen and cotton. The materials of the last three were obtained from Syria and Egypt, but the silk came from the Far East through Persia. The dyeing of these fabrics was by a process invented by the Phoenicians, and the luster and permanence of color were unequaled by the ancients and made the Tyrian purple famous throughout the world. The finer qualities of it were so precious that only the very wealthy, or kings and princes, could obtain it, and it became at last a synonym of royalty. This dye was obtained from the shell-fish which was abundant in the Mediterranean, especially along the Phoenician coast, species of the Murex and the Buccinum. The mode of manufacture is not definitely known and was probably kept a secret by the Phoenicians. At least they had a monopoly of the business. (2) Glass: Glass was another well-known product of the country, and although not invented by the Phoeniclans as formerly supposed, it was made in large quantities and exported to all countries about the sea. See GLASS. (3) Pottery: Pottery was also an article of manufacture and export, and some of the examples of their work found in Cyprus show considerable skill in the art of decoration as well as making. In this, however, they were far surpassed by the Greeks. (4) Bronze: Bronze was a specialty of the Phoenicians, and they were for centuries the leading producers, since they controlled the sources of supply of the copper and tin used in its manufacture. The remains of their bronze manufactures are numerous, such as arms for offense and defense, knives, toilet articles, axes, sickles, cups, paterae, and various other household utensils. Articles for artistic purposes are not of high value, although the pillars named Jachin and Boaz, the molten sea, the bases, layers and other articles cast by Hiram of Tyre for the temple of Solomon must have exhibited considerable artistic merit. Their bronze was of good quality and was tempered so as to serve well for edged tools. The composition was about 9 parts copper to 1 part of tin. They seem also to have made iron ( 2 Chronicles 2:14), and some specimens have come down to us, but we cannot judge from their scarcity as to the extent of their manufactures in this metal, since most of the articles have perished by corrosion.
Aesthetic art among the Phoenicians was of low grade, as it was among the Semites generally, and where we find some works of moderate merit they undoubtedly manifest the influence of Greek art, such as those found in Cyprus by General Di Cesnola and others. In Phoenicia proper very little of artistic value has come to light that can be ascribed to native artists. In sculpture the style is stiff and conventional, much of it exceedingly rude, and lacks expression. The animal forms are generally grotesque, often absurd, reminding one of children’s attempts at plastic article The anthropoid sarcophagi discovered at Sidon were modeled after the Egyptian and the magnificent ones, of different design, from the same place, now in the Museum of Constantinople, were certainly the work of Greek artists of the age of Alexander the Great.
The architecture of the Phoenicians was characterized by massiveness, rather than elegance. The substructures of some of their temples and castles are cyclopean, like those of the temple at Jerusalem ( 1 Kings 7:10), and other examples are found at Sidon, Gebal, Marathus and other places in Phoenicia itself. Their work seems lacking in symmetry and grace, showing a want of aesthetic taste. 5. COMMERCE AND TRADE:
Trade was the very life of Phoenicia. The contracted limits of the land forbade any extensive agriculture, and the people were forced to get their living by other means. They applied themselves to industrial arts, and this led them to seek the means for distributing their wares. Trade was essential to them, and they sought outlets for it by sea and land. Their position was especially favorable for commerce. In the very center of the ancient world, with the great rich and populous nations of antiquity at their back and on either side, they faced the young, vigorous and growing nations of the West, and they served them all as carriers and producers. Their caravans threaded all the well-beaten routes of the East, the deserts of Arabia and the mountain defiles of Armenia and Asia Minor, and their ships pushed boldly out to sea and explored the Mediterranean and the Euxine and did not hesitate to brave the unknown dangers of the Atlantic and perhaps even penetrated to the Baltic, emulating the mariners of a later day in their zeal for discovery and search for new avenues of trade. Could we find a detailed account of their voyages and discoveries, it would be a most interesting document, but we have little except what others have written about them, which, however, gives us a pretty fair idea of the extent of their commercial enterprise. The prophet Ezekiel has given us a remarkable catalogue of the wares of Tyre and of the countries with which she traded (Ezekiel 27). There we have mention of nearly all the regions of Western Asia, Egypt, Greece and the islands, and Spain, indicated by the names of races, tribes and countries. The materials of their traffic include the most important known to the ancient world, the products of agriculture, such as wool, linen, oil, balm, spices, frankincense, wine, corn, etc.; of metals, such as gold, silver, copper (brass), tin, iron, lead, etc.; precious stones and the articles of manufacture, the “multitude of handiworks,” which they were so skillful in producing. They traded in animals also, horses, mules, lambs, rams and goats, and, what is less to their credit, in the persons of men ( Ezekiel 27:13). The range of their trade was much wider than is indicated by Ezekiel. We know they reached the Scilly Isles in Britain, and probably the Baltic, whither they went for amber, though this might have been brought overland to the Adriatic and received into their ships there.
They passed along the western coast of Africa as far as Cape Non, and perhaps farther, for Herodotus tells us that Pharaohnecoh dispatched a crew of Phoenician sailors to circumnavigate Africa, which they accomplished in 3 years.
We know that they had a fleet in the Red Sea sailing from Elath or Eziongeber ( 1 Kings 9:26,27), and it is quite possible that they were allowed by some of the kings of Egypt to avail themselves of ports on the other branch of the Red Sea. They must have visited the eastern shore of Africa and perhaps struck across the Indian Ocean, after skirting the coast of Arabia, and thus carried on trade with India. The Ophir mentioned in connection with these voyages has not been definitely located, but was perhaps in Southern Arabia, though possibly in Southeast Africa. See GOLD.
The ships in which the Phoenicians made these voyages were small as compared with the great vessels of the present day, but the largest known in their age, as we may infer from the long voyages they made. Their superiority is testified to by classical writers. In the famous expedition of Xerxes to Greece the Phoenician ships excelled all others in speed, and the king chose one of them when he embarked upon the sea (Herodotus vii.100). These ships were impelled both by sails and oars, as we know from illustrations upon the coins. See COINS. 6. LANGUAGE AND CULTURE:
The ancients attributed the invention of the alphabet to the Phoenicians.
This is now regarded as doubtful, and there are no reliable data for determining what people first analyzed speech to its ultimate elements, but to the Phoenicians belongs the merit of bringing the invention to the knowledge of the western world. It is quite certain that the alphabets of Western Asia and those of Europe were derived from the Phoenician characters. This is what we should have expected from their wide commercial relations. The alphabetic writing was in fact one of their exports and was by far, the most important of them all. The world owes a great debt to this people for this invaluable aid to literature, science and culture. See ALPHABET.
The Phoenician alphabet comprises 22 letters and is deficient in signs to indicate vowels, which were left to be supplied by the reader. This defect is common to the Semitic alphabets, but was soon remedied when the Greeks adopted the Phoenician. Some of the letters have to serve for two sounds, such as the signs for “s” and “sh”, for “p” and “ph”, for “t” and “th”; besides, there is a redundant sign for the sound of “s”. Also the sounds of “y” and “w” are unrepresented.
The origin of the letters is probably to be found in the hieroglyphic signs for words and syllables used by the Egyptians and others, since the similarity of some of them to these signs is evident, but in some cases it is more likely that the Phoenicians adopted hieroglyphics of their own. Thus the first letter, ‘aleph, which means “ox,” was evidently derived from the picture of an ox’s head and then reduced to a conventional form.
The Phoenician alphabet and language were common to the Canaanitish tribes and the Hebrews, as we know from the many inscriptions found in Western Asia. The Moabite Stone testifies to their use East of the Jordan, and the Siloam Inscription likewise for Israel, and the same characters have been found in North Syria. This would be natural, for people of these regions had become largely Semitic by the 9th century BC, when we suppose that the Phoenician alphabet was in general use.
It is strange that the Phoenicians, who had an alphabet so early, and made it so widely known to the world, made so little use of it for literature. The remains of their language are very scanty, mostly inscriptions, and these generally very brief. The longest ones in Phoenician proper are those from Sidon, the most famous of which is that of Esmunazer, king of Sidon, comprising 298 words. Some few others, pertaining to the same dynasty, have been discovered in tombs and on the walls of the temple of Asmun, and show the Phoenician character and style in its best form. Only two works of any length are known to us by translation or references in Greek authors. The first is the Phoenician History of Sanchoniathon, of Beirut, which Philo of Byblus claims to have translated from the Phoenician original. This, however, is doubted, and both the author and the history are suspected to be mythical. The other work is genuine; the short account of the voyage of a Carthaginian king beyond the Pillars of Hercules, called the Periplus of Hanno, is not without merit as a narrative, and indicates that the Carthaginian branch of the Phoenician race, at least, may have had a literature of some value, but it is unfortunately lost. We cannot suppose, however, that it was very extensive or very important, as more of it would then have been preserved. The conclusion is natural that the Phoenicians were so absorbed in commercial enterprise and the pursuit of wealth that they neglected the nobler uses of the invaluable instrument of culture they had found in alphabetic writing. 7. RELIGION:
A very prominent role was assigned to religion in the life of the Phoenicians. As a Semitic people, such a characteristic was but natural and they seem to have possessed it in large measure. Their religious ideas are important on account of the influence they had on the Hebrews, which is so apparent in the Old Testament. The worship of the Canaanitish Baal and Ashtoreth, or Astarte, led the Israelites astray and produced most disastrous results.
There can be little doubt that the chief deities of the Phoenicians, as well as the forms of their cult, were derived from Babylonia, brought with them probably when they migrated to the West, but afterward modified by contact with Egypt and Greece. Some regard the earliest conception of the deity among the Semites to have been monotheism, and we find traces of this in the attributes ascribed by the Phoenicians to their chief god. He is Baal, “lord” or “master”; Baal-samin, “lord of heaven”; Eliun, “supreme,” etc. These terms imply either one God or one who is supreme among the gods and their ruler. But this belief was changed before the Phoenicians came into contact with the Hebrews, and polytheism took its place, though their gods were less numerous than among most polytheistic races. One of the most corrupting tendencies we notice was the ascription of sexual characteristics to the chief deities of their pantheon, such as Baal and Ashtoreth, which led to licentious rites of the most abominable character.
Baal [ l[“B” , ba`al ]; the Phoenician Baal was the chief deity and was universally worshipped, being usually designated by the locality in each place: Baal of Tyre or Baal-Tsur, Baal-Sidon, Baal-Tars (Tarsus), Baalbek, etc. He was regarded as the god of the generative principle in Nature, and his statues were sometimes flanked by bulls. He was identified with Zeus, and he appears on the coins under the Greek type of Zeus, seated on a throne, holding an eagle in the outstretched right hand and a scepter in the left. Sometimes his head is encircled with rays showing him to be the sun-god.
Ashtoreth (Phoenician [ tr,Tov][“ , `ashtoreth ]) was the great Naturegoddess, the Magna Mater, queen of heaven ( Jeremiah 7:18), and as Baal was the solar deity, so she was often represented under the lunar aspect, Ashteroth-karnaim, “Ashteroth of the two horns” ( Genesis 14:5). Sometimes she is represented holding the dove, the symbol of fecundity, of which she was the goddess. She was commonly identified with Aphrodite or Venus. She, like Baal, had temples everywhere, and kings were sometimes her high priests, and her worship was too often accompanied with orgies of the most corrupt kind, as at Apheca. See ASHTORETH; TAMMUZ.
Among the other gods we may mention: El, or Il ([ lae , ‘el ] originally the designation of the supreme God, but afterward a subordinate deity who became the special divinity of Byblus (Gebal), and was regarded by the Greeks as the same as Kronos. Melqarth ([ trqlm , melqarth ], “king of the city”) originally was the same as Baal, representing one aspect of that god, but later a separate deity, the patron god of Tyre whose head appears on many of its coins, as well as his symbol, the club, since he was identified with Hercules. Herodotus describes his temple at Tyre to which he attributes great antiquity, 2,300 years before his time. Dagon ([ ˆwOgD; , daghon ]) seems to have been the tutelary deity of Aradus, his head appearing on the early autonomous coins of that city. He seems to have been regarded as the god of agriculture by the Phoenicians, rather than of fishing as generally supposed. Adonis ([ ˆwOda; , ‘adhon ], “lord”) was regarded as the son of Cinyras, a mythic king of Gebal and the husband of Ashtoreth. The myth of his death by the wild boar led to the peculiar rites celebrating it, instituted by the women of Gebal at Apheca and on the river named after him (see TAMMUZ). Esmun ([ ˆmca , ‘esmun ]) one of the sons of Siddik, the father of the Cabiri, was especially honored at Sidon and Beirut. At Sidon a great temple was built in his honor, the ruins of which have been recently explored and various inscriptions found dedicating it to him. His name signifies “the eighth,” i.e. the eighth son of Siddik, the others being the Cabiri, or Great Ones, who were regarded as presiding over ships and navigation, and as such were worshipped in many places, although their special seat was Beirut. Although they were called “Great” they are represented as dwarfs, and an image of one of them was placed on the prow, or stern, of each Phoenician war galley. The goddess Tanith ([ tniT” , tanith ]) occupied a lofty place in the pantheon, since in inscriptions she takes the precedence over Baal when the two names occur together. She was especially honored at Carthage and to her most exalted names are given, such as “the parent of all”; “the highest of the gods”; “the mistress of the elements,” etc. Besides some other gods of less note originally worshipped by the Phoenicians, they introduced some foreign deities into their pantheon. Thus Poseidon appears frequently on the coins of Beirut and became its patron deity in Roman times; Isis and her temple at Gebal are likewise represented on its coins, the Dioscuri or their symbols on those of Tripolis and Beirut, etc.
The corrupt nature of the Phoenician worship has been referred to. It was also cruel, the custom of human sacrifices being common and carried to an extent unheard of among other peoples, such as the horrible sacrifice of 200 noble youths at Carthage when besieged by Agathocles. The sacrifice was by burning, the victim being placed in the arms of the statue of the god, heated for the purpose. In Phoenicia this god was Melqarth, or Molech, and the custom is denounced in the Old Testament ( Leviticus 20:2-5), but other gods were also honored in this way. The religious feeling of the Phoenicians was undoubtedly deep, but sadly corrupt and depraved. 8. HISTORY:
The political history of Phoenicia is that of the towns and cities belonging to it. The country as a whole had no centralized government, but the chief towns exercised a sort of hegemony, at times, over some of the lesser ones.
This was especially the case with Sidon and Tyre, but every city had its king and its local government. The land is never referred to in ancient documents, but the people are designated by their cities. Thus, we find in Genesis 10:17 f the mention of Sidon, the Arvadite, the Arkite, etc., and, in Joshua 13:4, the Gebalites and the Sidonians in connection with the land of the Canaanites. In the same way the inscriptions of Egypt, Babylonia and Assyria refer to the people of the different cities, but not to the land as a political unit, which it never was.
The cities first come into notice in the period of the Egyptian domination, beginning in the 16th century BC under Thothmes III. This king subdued most of the Phoenician cities, or received their submission, in his numerous campaigns to Syria, and the Egyptian rule continued with more or less interruption until the decline of Egypt under the XXth Dynasty, or about 300 years. During this time Arvad seems to have exercised the hegemony in the North, and Sidon in the South, with Gebal controlling the middle region. The Tell el-Amarna Letters reveal many facts concerning the condition of things while the Egyptian power was declining in the latter part of the XVIIIth Dynasty, especially in the reign of Amenhotep IV (Ikhnaton). The rise of the Amorite and Hittite power in the North threatened these cities, which were under Egyptian governors, and they called upon their suzerain for aid, which was not given, and they fell, one after another, into the hands of the enemy. Rameses II restored Egyptian rule, but his successors of the XXth Dynasty could not maintain it, and the invasion of tribes from the West and North, called the Peleset, or Philistines, by land and sea, though repelled by Rameses III, continued to increase until the Egyptian domination was broken, and the coast towns resumed their independence about the middle of the 12th century BC.
Sidon came to the front as the chief city of Phoenicia, and it is referred to by Joshua as “Great Sidon” ( Joshua 11:8). Homer also mentions Sidon frequently, but makes no reference to Tyre. The latter city was certainly in existence in his day, but had not come to the front as the leading city in the mind of the Greeks. Yet it was a fortified city in the time of Joshua (19:29), and the king of Tyre is among the correspondents mentioned in the Tell el-Amarna Letters. It seems to have taken precedence of Sidon when the latter was attacked by the Philistines of Askelon, and the inhabitants were compelled to flee for safety to Tyre. At all events Tyre exercised the hegemony in Phoenicia by the time David came to the throne, and had probably obtained it a century or two before, and held it until Phoenicia became subject to Assyria in the 9th century BC. Asshur-nazirpal first came into contact with Phoenicia, which submitted to tribute, between 877 and 860 BC, and this subjection continued until the downfall of Assyria in the latter part of the 7th century BC. The subjection was nominal only for more than a century, the cities retaining their kings and managing their own affairs with no interference from the Assyrians as long as they paid the tribute. But with the advent of Tiglath-pileser in Syria, about 740 BC, conditions changed, and the Phoenician towns were subjected to severe treatment, and some of the dynasties were driven from their cities and Assyrian governors appointed in their places. Their oppression caused revolts, and Elulaeus of Tyre united Sidon and the cities to the South in a league to resist the encroachments of Tiglath-pileser and his successor Shalmaneser IV, whom he successfully resisted, although the Assyrian gained over to his side Sidon, Acre, and some other towns and had the assistance of their fleets to make an attack upon the island city. The attack failed completely, and Shalmaneser left Elulaeus to his independence, which he maintained for a quarter of a century, regaining control of the towns that had fallen away and also of Cyprus. Sargon (722- 705 BC) let Phoenicia alone, but Sennacherib (705-681) determined to punish the king of Tyre and prepared an army of 200,000 men for the war with Phoenicia. Elulaeus was afraid and fled to Cyprus, but his towns dared to resist and Sennacherib had to reduce them one after another, but did not succeed in taking Tyre itself. He set over the conquered territory a certain Tubaal, probably a Phoenician who paid him tribute. He also took tribute from Gebal and Aradus, which indicates that all of Phoenicia was subject to him, as these two cities probably controlled all that was not under Tyre. In the reign of Esarhaddon (681-668) Sidon revolted under Abd-Melkarth, who was caught and beheaded, the city sacked, and the inhabitants either killed or carried into captivity, and it was re-peopled by captives from the East. At a later date (672), when Esarhaddon was preparing to invade Egypt, Baal, the vassal king of Tyre, revolted and refused to aid him, but afterward submitted either to Esarhaddon or to his son Ashurbanipal and assisted the latter in his invasion of Egypt, 668 BC. Four years later, however, we find the Assyrian king besieging Tyre and punishing Baal by making him give his daughter to be a member of the Assyrian’s harem.
Baal himself was left on his throne. The same fate was the lot of the king of Aradus, and Accho (Acre) was also punished.
The frequent rebellions of the Phoenician towns show their love of independence and a sturdy resistance to oppression. They became freed from the yoke of Assyria probably about 630 BC, when the Medes attacked Nineveh and the Scythic hordes overran all Western Asia. The Phoenician cities were fortitled and did not suffer very much from the barbarian invasion, and, as Assyria was broken, they resumed their independence. In the struggle which followed between Egypt and Babylon for the mastery of Syria, Phoenicia fell, for a time, under the sway of Egypt, but was not oppressed, and her towns prospered, and it was in this period that Tyre attained great wealth and renown as reflected in the Book of Ezk. When Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to it, a resistance of 13 years showed its strength and resources, and although the town on the mainland was destroyed, it is doubtful whether the king of Babylon took the island city, but it must have submitted to pay tribute (585 BC). Phoenicia remained subject to Babylon until that empire fell into the hands of the Persians (538), and then accepted the yoke of the latter in the days of Cambyses, if not earlier, but the Persian king does not seem to have used force to gain the adherence of the Phoenicians. He needed their fleets to assist in the attack upon Egypt and secured them without difficulty. They aided him in the conquest of Egypt, but when he asked them to proceed against Carthage they refused, and he had to desist. The navy of Phoenicia was too necessary for him to run any risk of alienating it.
This navy was the strongest sea power of the Persians in all their coming wars with Greece. Without its assistance Darius and his successors could with difficulty have invaded that country or held in subjection the western coasts of Asia Minor. Phoenicia remained faithful to her Persian rulers about 150 years, but when the general revolt of the western satraps occurred in 362 BC, Phoenicia seems to have favored them, but no open rebellion broke out until 351, when Sidon, under her king Tabnit II (Tennes), boldly declared her independence and induced most of the Phoenician cities to do the same. The Persian garrisons were massacred or driven out. Ochus, the king of Persia, marched with an army of 300,000 infantry and 30,000 horse to punish the rebels, and Tabnit, in cowardly alarm, betrayed Sidon into his hands, but the citizens set fire to the city and destroyed themselves rather than fall into the hands of Ochus, who, as treacherous as Tabnit, slew the traitor (see SIDON). The other cities then submitted, and Phoenicia remained subject to Persia until the time of Alexander the Great. When this conqueror invaded the dominions of Persia and had defeated Darius at Issus, 333 BC, he demanded the submission of the Phoenician towns, and all yielded save Tyre. Alexander was obliged to lay siege to it, which cost him 7 months of the severest labor, such was the valor and skill of the Tyrians. The capture of Tyre is reckoned as one of the greatest exploits of this mighty conqueror who stained his record by his cruel treatment of the brave defenders. He massacred the male prisoners and sold the remainder of the inhabitants, to the number of 30,000, into slavery (see TYRE). After the death of Alexander the Phoenician cities were subject to the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria, the latter finally obtaining control of all by the victory of Antiochus III over Scopas in 198 BC. From this time on Phoenicia formed a part of the Seleucid kingdom until it passed, together with Syria and Palestine, into the hands of the Romans. Its cities became the home of many Greeks and its language became largely Greek, as inscriptions and coins testify. The Romans had also much to do in modifying the character of the people, and some towns, Berytus, especially, became largely Roman. Phoenicia can hardly be said to have had a separate existence after the Greek invasion.
LITERATURE.
Rawlinson, History of Phoenicia; Kenrick, Phoenicia; Movers, Phonizier; Breasted, History of Egypt, and Ancient Records; Budge, History of Egypt; Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchies; Rogers, Babylonia and Assyria; Bevan, House of Seleucus; Tell el-Amarna Letters; Perrot and Chipiez, Art in Phoenicia. H. Porter PHOENIX <fe’-niks > ([ Foi>nix, Phoinix ]; the King James Version Phenice): A harbor in Crete ( Acts 27:12). The Alexandrian corn ship carrying Paul and the author of Acts, after it left Myra in Lycia, was prevented by adverse winds from holding a straight course to Italy, and sailed under the lee of Crete, off the promontory of Salmone ([kata< Salmw>nhn, kata Salmonen ]). The ship was then able to make her way along the South shore of Crete to a harbor called Fair Havens ([ Kaloi< Lime>nev, Kaloi Limenes ]), near a city Lasea ([ Lasai>a, Lasaia ]). Thence, in spite of Paul’s advice to winter in Fair Havens, it was decided to sail to Phoenix ([eijv Foi>nika, lime>na th~v Krh>thv, eis Phoinika, limena tes Kretes ]) [ble>ponta kata< li>ba kai< kata< cw~ron, bleponta kata liba kai kata choron ], a description which has been translated in two ways: (1) “looking toward the Southwest wind and toward the Northwest wind, i.e. looking Southwest and Northwest”; (2) “looking down the Southwest wind and down the Northwest wind, i.e. looking Northeast and Southeast” On the way thither, they were struck by a wind from the Northeast, called Euraquilo, and ran before it under the lee of an island, called Cauda or Clauda ([ Kau~da, Kauda ] (Codex Sinaiticus (corrected) and Codex Vaticanus and the Old Latin) or [ Klau~da, Klauda ] (Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus, etc.)) in Acts 27:7-17. It will be convenient to discuss those places together. The following account is based on Smith’s elaborate study in his Voyage and Shipwreck of Paul, which has been followed by all later writers.
The ship, when it left Myra was obviously making for Italy (Puteoli or Ostia) by the shortest route, round Cape Malea, but off Cnidus it encountered a Northwest wind and had to sail for shelter under the lee of Crete. Salmone, now called Cape Sidero, was the promontory which forms the Northeast corner of the island. Thence along the South shore of Crete, as far as Cape Matala, a sailing ship is sheltered by the mountains from the violence of the Northwest wind; West of Cape Matala, where the coast turns toward the Northwest, there is no such shelter. Fair Havens must therefore be looked for to the East of Cape Matala, and there is a harbor, lying 6 miles East of Cape Matala, which is called Fair Havens by the modern Greek inhabitants of the island. There is no doubt that this is the harbor in which the Alexandrian ship took shelter. It is sheltered only from the North and Northwest winds.
The ruins of a city which has been identified with Lasea have been found miles East from Fair Havens, and 12 miles South of the important city of Gortyna. It has been suggested that Paul’s desire to winter at Fair Havens ( Acts 27:10) may have been due to its proximity to Gortyna, and the opportunity which the latter city afforded for missionary work. There were many Jews in Gortyna. See CRETE.
From Fair Havens, against the advice of Paul, it was decided to sail to Phoenix, there to pass the winter. While the ship was on its way thither, it was struck by a violent Northeast wind from the mountains, called Euraquilo, and carried under the lee of an islet called Cauda or Clauda.
When this happened, the ship was evidently crossing the Bay of Messariah, and from this point a Northeast wind must have carried her under the lee of an island now called Gaudho in Greek and Gozzo in Italian, situated about 23 miles Southwest of the center of the Gulf of Messariah. The modern name of the island shows that Cauda (Caudas in the Notitiae Episcopatuum), and not Clauda is the true ancient form.
The writer of Acts never saw Phoenix, which must have been a good harbor, as the nautical experts decided to winter there ( Acts 27:11).
Now the only safe harbor on the South coast of Crete in which a ship large enough to carry a cargo of corn and 268 souls could moor is the harbor beside Loutro, a village on the South coast of Crete, directly North of Cauda. All the ancient authorities agree in placing Phoenix in this neighborhood. The harbor at Loutro affords shelter from all winds, and its identification with Phoenix seems certain. But a serious difficulty arises on this view. The words describing the harbor of Phoenix ordinarily mean “looking toward the Southwest and the Northwest,” but the harbor beside Loutro looks eastward. This led Bishop Wordsworth to identify Phoenix with an open roadstead on the western side of the isthmus on which Loutro stands. But this roadstead is not a suitable place for wintering in, and it is better either to take the words to mean, in sailor’s language, “looking down the Southwest and Northwest winds” — a description which exactly fits the harbor at Loutro — or to assume that the reporter of the discussion referred to in Acts 27:10-12 or the writer of Acts made a mistake in describing a place which he had never seen. An inscription belonging to the reign of Trajan found at Loutro shows that Egyptian corn ships were wont to lie up there for the winter. W. M. Calder PHOROS <fo’-ros > ([ Foro>v, Phoros ]; Codex Vaticanus (Swete) [ Fare>v, Phares ] (1 Esdras 8:30, where the King James Version Pharez)): Name of one of the families, part of whom went up from the exile with Zerubbabel (1 Esdras 5:9) and part with Ezra (8:30 the Revised Version (British and American)) = “Parosh” of Ezra 2:3; 8:3, and some members of which had taken “strange wives” (1 Esdras 9:26).
PHRURAI <fru’-ri > , <fru’-ra-i > ([ Frourai>, Phrourai ]; also in Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus as [ Frourai>a, Phrouraia ] and [ Frouri>m, Phrourim ]; the King James Version Phurim): In Additions to Esther 11:1, “the epistle of Phrurai” means the preceding Book of Esther. See PURIM.
PHRYGIA <frij’-i-a > ([ Frugi>a, Phrugia ]): A large ancient country of Central Asia Minor, very mountainous and with table-lands reaching 4,000 ft. in height.
Its name is derived from Phryges, a tribe from Thrace, which in early times invaded the country and drove out or absorbed the earlier Asiatic inhabitants, among whom were the Hittites. Thus, the Phrygians borrowed much of oriental civilization, especially of art and mythology which they transferred to Europe. To define the boundaries of Phrygia would be exceedingly difficult, for as in the case of other Asia Minor countries, they were always vague and they shifted with nearly every age. The entire country abounds with ruins of former cities and with almost countless rock-hewn tombs, some of which are of very great antiquity. Among the most interesting of the rock sculptures are the beautiful tombs of the kings bearing the names Midas and Gordius, with which classical tradition has made us familiar. It seems that at one period the country may have extended to the Hellespont, even including Troy, but later the Phrygians were driven toward the interior. In Roman times, however, when Paul journeyed there, the country was divided into two parts, one of which was known as Galatian Phrygia, and the other as Asian Phrygia, because it was a part of the Roman province of Asia, but the line between them was never sharply drawn. The Asian Phrygia was the larger of the two divisions, including the greater part of the older country; Galatian Phrygia was small, extending along the Pisidian Mountains, but among its important cities were Antioch, Iconium and Apollonia. About 295 AD, when the province of Asia was no longer kept together, its different parts were known as Phrygia Prima and Phrygia Secunda. That part of Asia Minor is now ruled by a Turkish wall or governor whose residence is in Konia, the ancient Iconium. The population consists not only of Turks, but of Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Kurds and many small tribes of uncertain ancestry, and of peculiar customs and religious practices. The people live mostly in small villages which are scattered throughout the picturesque country. Sheep and goat raising are the leading industries; brigandage is common. According to Acts 2:10, Jews from Phrygia went to Jerusalem, and in Acts 18:23 we learn that many of them were influential and perhaps fanatical.
According to Acts 16:6, Paul traversed the country while on his way from Lystra to Iconium and Antioch in Galatian Phrygia. Twice he entered Phrygia in Asia, but on his 2nd journey he was forbidden to preach there.
Christianity was introduced into Phrygia by Paul and Barnabas, as we learn from Acts 13:4; 16:1-6; 18:23, yet it did not spread there rapidly.
Churches were later founded, perhaps by Timothy or by John, at Colosse, Laodicea and Hierapolis. E. J. Banks PHURAH <fu’-ra > ([ hr;Pu , purah ], “branch”). See PURAH.
PHUT <fut > ([ fWP, puT ]). See PUT.
PHUVAH <fu’-va > . See PUAH.
PHYGELUS; PHYGELLUS <fi-je’-lus > , <fi-jel’-us > ([ Fu>gellov, Phugellos ]; Tischendorf and Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek, with others, read [ Fu>gelov, Phugelos ], Phygellus or Phygelus ( 2 Timothy 1:15); the King James Version): One of the Christians who deserted Paul at the time of his 2nd imprisonment at Rome. Paul mentions him, along with Hermogenes, as being among those “that are in Asia,” who turned away from him then. What is meant may be that Phygelus and Hermogenes, along with other native Christians from proconsular Asia, were in Rome when he was brought before the emperor’s tribunal the second time, and that they had not merely taken no measures to stand by and support him, but that they had deserted him.
The meaning, however, may be that the turning away of Phygelus and Hermogenes from Paul took place, not in Rome, but in Asia itself.
The times during and immediately following the Neronic persecution were more dreadful than can easily be conceived, and the temptation was strong to forsake the Christian name, and to do so in a wholesale fashion. A great community like the Christian church in Ephesus or in Rome felt the terrible pressure of those times, when for a mere word — a word, however, denying the Lord who bought them — men were at once set free from persecution, from the loss of property or of home, and from death. 1 Peter records how the aftermath of the Neronic persecution had extended far indeed from Rome, where it had originated. Peter asks the Christians not to give way under “the fiery trial” which is trying them ( 1 Peter 4:12), and those whom he thus addresses were the members of the church throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia ( 1 Peter 1:1). The epistles to the seven churches in Asia in the Apocalypse also show how sorely persecution had raged throughout that province. See PERSECUTION.
But in addition to the temptation to deny Christ’s name and to go back to heathenism or to Judaism, there was also another which pressed upon some of the churches, the temptation to repudiate the authority of Paul. Many passages in the New Testament show how the name of Paul was sometimes very lightly esteemed, and how his authority was repudiated, e.g. by persons in Corinth, and in the churches of Galatia.
What is said here is, that among the Christians of proconsular Asia, i.e. of Ephesus and the churches in the valley of the Cayster, there was a widespread defection from that loyalty to Paul which was to be expected from those who owed to him all that they possessed of the knowledge of Christ’s salvation. “All that are in Asia turned away from me; of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.” On the whole, all the necessary conditions of these words are satisfied by a reference to Rome and to Paul’s environment there, and perhaps this is the more probable meaning. See HERMOGENES.
John Rutherfurd PHYLACTERY <fi-lak’-ter-i > ([fulakth>rion, phulakterion ], “guard”): 1. BIBLE REFERENCES:
This word is found only in Matthew 23:5 in our Lord’s denunciation of the Pharisees, who, in order that their works might “be seen of men,” and in their zeal for the forms of religion, “make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments.” The corresponding word in the Old Testament, [ tpof;wOf , ToTaphoth ] (Kennedy in HDB suggests pointing as the segholate feminine singular, ToTepheth ), is found in three passages ( Exodus 13:16; Deuteronomy 6:8; 11:18), where it is translated “frontlets.” This rendering, however, is not at all certain, and may have been read into the text from its later interpretation. In Exodus 13:9 the corresponding word to the Totaphoth of 13:16 is zikkaron , “memorial” or “reminder”; and in the parallel clauses of both verses the corresponding word is ‘oth , “a sign” upon the hand, also used for the “sign” which Yahweh appointed for Cain ( Genesis 4:15). It may be rendered then as a mark or ornament or jewel, and used figuratively of Yahweh’s Law as an ornament or jewel to the forehead of the Israelite, a reference to the charm or amulet worn by the pagan. The word used in the Talmud for the phylactery is [ hL;piT] , tephillah ], “prayer,” or “prayer-band” (plural tephillin ), indicating its use theoretically as a reminder of the Law, although practically it might be esteemed as an automatic and ever-present charm against evil: an aid within toward the keeping of the Law, a guard without against the approach of evil; a degradation of an Old Testament figurative and idealistic phrase to the materialistic and superstitious practices of the pagans. 2. DESCRIPTION:
The phylactery was a leather box, cube-shaped, closed with an attached flap and bound to the person by a leather band. There were two kinds: (1) one to be bound to the inner side of the left arm, and near the elbow, so that with the bending of the arm it would rest over the heart, the knot fastening it to the arm being in the form of the Hebrew letter yodh ( y ), and the end of the string, or band, finally wound around the middle finger of the hand, “a sign upon thy hand” ( Deuteronomy 6:8). This box had one compartment containing one or all of the four passages given above. The writer in his youth found one of these in a comparatively remote locality, evidently lost by a Jewish peddler, which contained only the 2nd text ( Exodus 13:11-16) in unpointed Hebrew. (2) Another was to be bound in the center of the forehead, “between thine eyes” ( Deuteronomy 6:8), the knot of the band being in the form of the Hebrew letter daleth ( d ), with the Hebrew letter shin ( v ) upon each end of the box, which was divided into four compartments with one of the four passages in each. These two Hebrew letters, with the y of the armphylactery (see (1) above), formed the divine name [ yD”v” , shadday ], “Almighty.”
Quite elaborate ceremonial accompanied the “laying” on of the phylacteries, that of the arm being bound on first, and that of the head next, quotations from Scripture or Talmud being repeated at each stage of the binding. They were to be worn by every male over 13 years old at the time of morning prayer, except on Sabbaths and festal days, such days being in themselves sufficient reminders of “the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances” of Yahweh ( Deuteronomy 6:1). 3. INTERPRETATION OF OLD TESTAMENT PASSAGES:
The passages on which the wearing of the phylacteries is based are as follows: “It (i.e. the feast of unleavened bread) shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of Yahweh may be in thy mouth” ( Exodus 13:9); “And it (i.e. sacrifice of the firstborn) shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes” ( Exodus 13:16); “thou shalt bind them (i.e. the words of Yahweh) for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes” ( Deuteronomy 6:8); “therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes” ( Deuteronomy 11:18). It is evident that the words in Exodus are beyond all question used figuratively; a careful reading of the verses in Deuteronomy in close relation to their contexts, in which are other figures of speech not to be taken literally, is sufficient proof of their purely figurative intention also. Only the formalism of later ages could distort these figures into the gross and materialistic practice of the phylactery. Just when this practice began cannot accurately be determined. While the Talmud attempts to trace it back to the primitive, even Mosaic, times, it probably did not long antedate the birth of Christ. In conservative Jewish circles it has been maintained through the centuries, and at present is faithfully followed by orthodox Judaism. Every male, who at the age of becomes a “son of the Law” (bar mitswah ), must wear the phylactery and perform the accompanying ceremonial.
In the New Testament passage ( Matthew 23:5) our Lord rebukes the Pharisees, who make more pronounced the un-Scriptural formalism and the crude literalism of the phylacteries by making them obtrusively large, as they also seek notoriety for their religiosity by the enlarged fringes, or “borders.” See FRINGES; FRONTLETS; PHARISEES.
LITRATURE.
The various commentaries. on Exodus and Dt: tractate [Tephillin]; the comprehensive article by A. R. S. Kennedy in HDB; articles in Encyclopedia Biblica and Jewish Encyclopedia. Edward Mack PHYLARCH <fi’-lark > ([fula>rchv, phularches ]): Given in the King James Version of 2 Macc 8:32 as a proper name “Philarches,” but in the Revised Version (British and American) “the phylarch of Timotheus’s forces”; “probably the captain of an irregular auxiliary force” (Revised Version margin), rather than a cavalry officer.
PHYLARCHES <fi-lar’-kez > (the King James Version Philarches). See PHYLARCH.
PHYSICIAN <fi-zish’-an > ([ aper , rophi ]; [ijatro>v, iatros ]): To the pious Jew at all times God was the healer ( Deuteronomy 32:39): “It was neither herb nor mollifying plaister that cured them, but thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things” (The Wisdom of Solomon 16:12). The first physicians mentioned in Scripture are those of Egypt. Long before the sojourn of the Hebrews in that land, Egypt had a priestly class of physicians (snu) and a god of healing (Imchtp). From the ancient medical papyri which have been preserved, the largest of which is the Papyrus Ebers, we know that the medical knowledge of these physicians was purely empirical, largely magical and wholly unscientific. In spite of their ample opportunities they knew next to nothing of human anatomy, their descriptions of diseases are hopelessly crude, and three-fourths of the hundreds of prescriptions in the papyri are wholly inert. Even their art of embalming was so imperfect that few of their mummies would have remained in any other climate than that of Egypt. Physicians of this kind who were Joseph’s servants embalmed Jacob ( Genesis 50:2) and Joseph ( Genesis 50:26). It was not until the foundation of the School of Alexandria, which was purely Greek, that Egypt became a place of medical education and research.
There is no evidence that at any time the priests of Israel were reputed to be the possessors of medical knowledge or tradition. In the ceremonial law they had explicit instructions as to the isolation of those suffering from skin eruptions, so that they might recognize certain obstinate and infectious forms which caused ceremonial uncleanness, but with this duty as sanitary police their function ended and they used no means to cure these diseases.
There is, as far as I know, no record or tradition of a priest-physician in Bible times. The records of cure by the prophets, especially Elisha, are mostly recorded as miracles, not as cures by treatment. The salt which cured the noxious water at Jericho and the meal by which the poisonous gourds were rendered innoxious, like the manipulation of the Shunammite’s son, can scarcely be regarded as adequate remedies. There is an implied reference to a healer of wounds in Exodus 21:19, as also in Isaiah 3:7, and it is recorded in Pesachim, iv.9 that there was in existence in the time of the monarchy a book of cures, cepher rephu’oth , supposed to have been written by Solomon, but withdrawn from public use by Hezekiah. The first specific mention of Hebrew physicians is Chronicles 16:12, but Asa is obviously regarded by the Chronicler as reprehensible in trusting to their skill. In 2 Kings 8:29 Joram, king of Israel, is said to have gone to Jezreel to be healed. Not far from this, across the Jordan, was Gilead, which possibly may also have been a place resorted to by those needing medical treatment, as indicated by Jeremiah’s query: “Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there?” ( Jeremiah 8:22). Job, irritated by the platitudes of his friends, calls them physicians of no value (13:4).
In the New Testament our Lord’s saying, “They that are whole have no need of a physician,” etc., shows that there were physicians in Galilee ( Matthew 9:12; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:31), and in Nazareth He quotes what seems to have been a proverb: “Physician, heal thyself” ( Luke 4:23). There were physicians in Galilee who received fees from the woman of Caesarca Philippi who had the issue of blood ( Mark 5:26; Luke 8:43). Of her there is a curious story told in Eusebius (VII, 18).
There are several Talmudic references to physicians; in Sheqalim ii 1, it is said that there was a physician at the temple to attend to the priests. A physician was appointed in every city (Gittin 12b) who was required to have a license from the local authorities (Babha’ Bathra’ 21a). The familiar passage in Ecclesiasticus 38:1-15 the Revised Version (British and American) in praise of the physician gives him but limited credit for his skill: “There is a time when in their very hands is the issue for good,” and later, “He that sinneth before his Maker, Let him fall into the hands of the physician.”
Luke, called “the beloved physician” in Colossians 4:14, is said by Eusebius to have been a native of Antioch and a physician by profession.
According to Origen he was the unnamed “brother whose praise in the gospel is spread through all the churches” ( 2 Corinthians 8:18). There are evidences of his professional studies in the language of his writings, though of this probably more has been made by Hobart and others than it really merits. Had we not known of his profession it is doubtful whether it could have been conjectured from his choice of words. Sir W. Ramsay calls attention to the two words used of the healings at Melita in Acts 28:8-10: for the cure of Publius’ father the word used is iasato , but for the healing of those who came later it is etherapeuonto , which he renders “received medical treatment.” From this he infers that Luke helped Paul with these (Ramsay, Luke the Physician, 1908). Alexander Macalister PI-BESETH <pi-be’-seth > ([ ts,b,AyPi , pi-be’seth ];(Septuagint [ Buba>stov, Bubastos ]; Egyptian Pi-Basht, “the house of Basht,” the cat-headed goddess; the Egyptian form is usually Ha-Basht; it is doubtful if the form Pi-Basht has yet been found): A city of ancient Egypt. The only occurrence of the name of this place in the Old Testament is in Ezekiel 30:17; where it is coupled with Aven, i.e. On (Heliopolis). 1. LOCATION:
Pi-beseth was on the western bank of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, about 40 miles North of Memphis, about 15 miles Northeast of On. Herodotus found the city of Bubastis very beautiful in his day. The annual festival of the goddess, Basht, was celebrated here with revolting license, similar to that of the festival of Syyid el-Bedawer now kept in TanTa. 2. EXPLORATION:
Pi-beseth was explored by Professor Naville under the Egyptian Exploration Society in 1887-90. There were uncovered ruins of Egypt from the IVth Dynasty of the Old Empire, from the Middle Empire, an important Hyksos settlement, and ruins from the New Empire down to the end, and even from Roman times. The most unique discovery at Pi-beseth, one of the most unique in all Egypt, is the cemetery of cats. These cats, the animal sacred to Basht, were mummified at other places in Egypt, but at Pibeseth they were burned and the ashes and bones gathered and buried in great pits lined with brick or hardened clay. Bones of the ichneumon were also found mixed with those of the cats in these pits (Egypt Exploration Fund Report, 1891). M. G. Kyle PICTURE <pik’-tur > : This word (in the plural) is found 3 times in the King James Version, namely, Numbers 33:52; Isaiah 2:16; Proverbs 25:11. In Numbers and Proverbs “pictures” represents the Hebrew word [ tyKicm” , maskith ], “showpiece” “figure.” The context in Numbers suggests that the “pictures” or “carved figures” (the Revised Version (British and American) “figured stones”) which the Israelites were to destroy were symbols of Canaanite worship and therefore foreign to the religion of Yahweh. In Proverbs for the King James Version “pictures of silver,” the English Revised Version has “baskets (the American Standard Revised Version “network”) of silver,” but a more probable translation is “carvings of silver.” “Pictures” stands for a slightly different word (but from the same root) in Isaiah, namely, [ twOYkic] , sekhuyoth ]; the Revised Version (British and American) renders “imagery” (the Revised Version margin “watchtowers”). The prophet probably alludes to carved figures (of gods in animal or human shapes) on the prows of vessels. T. Lewis PIECE <pes > : In the King James Version the word (singular and plural) represents a large number of different Hebrew words, many of which have more or less the same significance, e.g. piece of meat or flesh ( Genesis 15:10; 2 Samuel 6:19; Ezekiel 24:4); of bread or cake ( 1 Samuel 2:36; 30:12; Jeremiah 37:21); of ground or land ( 2 Samuel 23:11); of wall ( Nehemiah 3:11,19 ff); of an ear ( Amos 3:12); of cloth or garment ( 1 Kings 11:30); of millstone ( Judges 9:53). It is used frequently in paraphrastic renderings of various Hebrew verbs: “break,” “tear,” “cut,” etc., in pieces ( Genesis 44:28, etc.).
In the New Testament “piece” renders [ejpi>blhma, epiblema ], “piece” or “patch of cloth” ( Matthew 9:16; Mark 2:21; Luke 5:36). It is also found in paraphrastic renderings — broken in pieces ( Mark 5:4), pulled in pieces ( Acts 23:10). T. Lewis PIECE OF GOLD The word “pieces” is supplied in 2 Kings 5:5 (story of Naaman), “6,000 pieces of gold,” where the Revised Version margin more correctly suggests “shekels” (compare 1 Kings 10:16). See MONEY.
PIECE OF MONEY Two words are thus rendered in the King James Version ([ hf;yciq] , qesiTah ]; [stath>r, stater ]). the Revised Version (British and American) gives only the first this rendering (Job 49:11). It is supposed to be from Arabic qassaT , “to divide equally by weight,” and hence, something weighed; a piece of silver weighed for money, and perhaps stamped with its weight. The stater is the well-known Greek weight and coin ( Matthew 17:27 the King James Version, margin, “stater,” the Revised Version (British and American) “shekel”). In gold it was equal to about a guinea or five dollars, but in silver only to about 66 cents (in 1915).
PIECE OF SILVER Two words are thus rendered in the Old Testament ([ ts,k,AyXer” , ratstsekhaceph ], and [ hf;yciq] , qesiTah ]) and two in the New Testament [ajrgu>rion, argurion ], and [dracmh>, drachme ]). The first expression means pieces of silver broken off from bars or larger pieces ( Psalm 68:30). The second is used for money in Joshua 24:32, and is so rendered in the Revised Version (British and American). The pieces were not coins, but perhaps bore a stamp. See MONEY. In other passages of the Old Testament where pieces of silver are mentioned, the Hebrew has simply a numeral joined with keTeph , “silver,” as in the account of the selling of Joseph ( Genesis 37:28). In Isaiah 7:23 the word silverlings means small pieces of silver, and they were no doubt shekels. In the New Testament the Greek [ajrgu>ria, arguria ] ( Matthew 26:15; 27:3-9), is translated as pieces of silver, but probably means shekels. In Acts 19:19 the same word occurs, but in this case the reference is probably to the denarius or drachma (compare Luke 15:8 f). Thus, the 30 pieces of Matthew would be equal to about 4 British pounds or $20 (in 1915), and the 50,000 of Acts to about 2,000 British pounds or $10,000 (in 1915). H. Porter PIETY <pi’-e-ti > : Only in 1 Timothy 5:4: “Let them learn first to show piety toward their own family,” where “let them show piety” represents a single Greek verb ([eujsebe>w, eusebeo ]), in its only other occurrence ( Acts 17:23) being rendered “worship.” In Elizabethan English “piety” (like the Latin pietas) could be used of devotion to one’s parents (as still in the phrase “filial piety”), as well as of devotion to God. Hence, there is no explicit statement here that filial devotion is one form of divine worship.
PIGEON <pij’-un > ([ hn;wy , yonah ]; [peristera>, peristera ]; Latin pipire): A bird of the family Columbidae. See DOVE. The Hebrew yonah seems to be translated either pigeon or dove, yet almost every reference made to these birds proves that there were distinct branches of the family recognized, and one or the other or both are designated. On the other hand, some of the translations read doves, where the remainder of the text makes it very clear that pigeons were the birds intended, The Latin pipire means “to cheep,” and refers to the unusually clamorous young in the nest. The old birds coo, moan and wail as doves. The birds are almost 12 inches long, have full, plump bodies that are delicious food, and beautifully marked and shaded plumage. They feed principally on grain, seeds, small buds and fruit.
Beyond question wild pigeons were the first birds domesticated and taught to home with man. They appeared in a state of such complete domestication, that they flew free, yet homed and bred in places provided by man at the time of the very first attempts at keeping records of history.
At the time the earliest Biblical accounts were written, pigeons were so domesticated that in all known countries of the East they were reckoned when an estimate was made of a man’s wealth.
The rich provided large and expensive cotes of molded pottery for their birds, each section big enough for the home of one pair of birds, the regular rows of openings resembling lattice work, so that Isaiah refers to them as “windows” ( Isaiah 60:8). Septuagint reads [su>n nossoi>v, sun nossois ], literally, “with young” or “fledglings” (see below). The middle classes modeled cotes of oven-baked clay, and the very poor cut holes in the walls, over the doors, and allowed the birds to enter and live with the family.
In wild estate, rock and wood pigeons swarmed in countless numbers through rocky caves and caverns and over the plains of Gennesaret, the forests of Gilead and the woody slopes of Carmel. They remained throughout the season, breeding at all times. The doves were migratory, and were kept in confinement only as caged pets or to be held for sale for sacrifice. For these purposes, it appears that the dove was slightly preferred. When only one bird was to be used, a dove is always specified; where two, almost in every case the dove is mentioned first. Where one or the other will suffice, the dove seems to have been given preference. This may have been because it required greater effort to procure a dove, and so it was considered a greater sacrifice. Everyone having a home of any sort had pigeons they could use, or they could be taken wild at any time. The dove is first mentioned in Genesis 15:9: “And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.”
It will be observed that the dove is mentioned first, and it is specified that the pigeon was to be young. It is probable that the people protected their domesticated pigeons by using the wild for sacrifice, whenever possible.
Young birds could be taken from a nest at almost any time. The old birds, among the wild, were shy creatures and far more difficult to capture in nets or snares than doves that came close to cities and villages to live, and exhibited much less fear of man than the wild pigeons. The next reference is in Leviticus 5:7: “And if his means suffice not for a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass-offering for that wherein he hath sinned, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto Yahweh; one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering.” Here two birds of each kind were to be offered, if the person making the sacrifice could not afford a lamb. Again in Leviticus 12:6: “And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb a year old for a burntoffering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sinoffering, unto the door of the tent of meeting, unto the priest.” Here is a rare instance where the text or the translators place the pigeon first. “And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting” ( Numbers 6:10). In Song of Solomon 2:14: “O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, In the covert of the steep place, Let me see thy countenance, Let me hear thy voice; For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.”
Here the text reads “dove,” but the description of the location and the implication of the text prove the bird to have been a rock pigeon — a tender, loving thing, yet shy and timid, that peeps with eyes of bright concern over the rocks of its chosen home, down at the intruder. Isaiah 60:8: “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?” Here is another place where the wrong bird is used. Doves were wild and migratory. They had no “windows.” But the tile pots massed in one diamond-shaped cote appeared at a little distance, like latticed windows. This should read “pigeons” instead of “doves.” For the same reason see Jeremiah 48:28: “O ye inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock; and be like the dove that maketh her nest over the mouth of the abyss.” Again the bird intended is the rock pigeon. Luke 2:24: “A sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” This describes the sacrifice offered in the temple by Mary following the birth of Jesus. Gene Stratton-Porter PI-HAHIROTH <pi-ha-hi’-roth > ([ twOryjih” yPi , pi-ha-chiroth ] ( Exodus 14:2-9; Numbers 33:7-8)): 1. MEANING OF NAME:
Nothing is known of the meaning of the name. Pi-Hahiroth Some attempts toward an Egyptian etymology for it have been made, but without much success. Since the meaning of the name is unknown and no description of the place or its use is given, it is impossible to determine anything concerning the character of Pi-Hahiroth, whether a city, a sanctuary, a fortress, or some natural feature of the landscape. 2. LOCATION:
Neither Pi-Hahiroth nor any other place mentioned with it can be exactly located. A recent discovery of manuscripts in Egypt furnishes a mention of this place, but affords very little assistance in locating it, nothing comparable to the account in the Bible itself. If any one of the places mentioned in connection with the crossing of the Red Sea could be located approximately, all the others could, also, be similarly located by the description given in the account in Exodus. The route beyond the Sea has been made out with almost positive certainty. A journey along the way is so convincing that hardly anything can shake the conviction which it produces. This identification of the route of the exodus beyond the Sea requires the place of the crossing to be within 3 days’ journey of Marah, which puts it somewhere near the modern Suez. It may be anywhere within 10 miles of that point. This approximately locates all the other places mentioned in connection with the crossing: Migdol must be Ras ‘Ataqah, or some other high point in the mountains of the western deserts, where might be placed a watchtower. Pi-Hahiroth is between this point and the Sea and Baal-zephon near the opposite eastern shore. This puts Pi- Hahiroth at some point along the old shore line of the Sea within 10 miles of the site of modern Suez. M. G. Kyle PILATE, ACTS OF See following article, 4, and APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS.
PILATE; PONTIUS <pi’-lat > , <pi’-lat > , <pon’-shi-us > ([ Po>ntiov Peila~tov, Pontios Peilatos ]): 1. NAME AND OFFICE:
The nomen Pontius indicates the stock from which Pilate was descended. It was one of the most famous of Samnite names; it was a Pontius who inflicted on a Roman army the disgrace of the Caudine Forks. The name is often met with in Roman history after the Samnites were conquered and absorbed. Lucius Pontius Aquila was a friend of Cicero and one of the assassins of Julius Caesar. The cognomen Pilatus indicates the familia, or branch of the gens Pontius, to which Pilate belonged. It has been derived from pileus, the cap worn by freedmen; this is improbable, as Pilate was of equestrian rank. It has also been derived from pilum, a spear. Probably the name was one that had descended to Pilate from his ancestors, and had long lost its meaning. The praenomen is nowhere mentioned. Pilate was 5th procurator of Judea. The province of Judea had formerly been the kingdom of Archclaus, and was formed when he was deposed (6 AD) Speaking roughly, it took in the southern half of Palestine, including Samaria. Being an imperial province (i.e. under the direct control of the emperor), it was governed by a procurator (see PROCURATOR; PROVINCE). The procurator was the personal servant of the emperor, directly responsible to him, and was primarily concerned with finance. But the powers of procurators varied according to the appointment of the emperor. Pilate was a procurator cum porestate, i.e. he possessed civil, military, and criminal jurisdiction. The procurator of Judea was in some way subordinate to the legate of Syria, but the exact character of the subordination is not known.
As a rule a procurator must be of equestrian rank and a man of certain military experience. Under his rule, the Jews were allowed as much selfgovernment as was consistent with the maintenance of imperial authority.
The Sanhedrin was allowed to exercise judicial functions, but if they desired to inflict the penalty of death, the sentence had to be confirmed by the procurator. 2. PILATE’S PROCURATORSHIP:
We have no certain knowledge of Pilate except in connection with his time of rule in Judea. We know nothing of his birth, his origin, or his earlier years. Tacitus, when speaking of the cruel punishments inflicted by Nero upon the Christians, tells us that Christ, from whom the name “Christian” was derived, was put to death when Tiberius was emperor by the procurator Pontius Pilate (Annals xv.44). Apart from this reference and what is told us in the New Testament, all our knowledge of him is derived from two Jewish writers, Josephus the historian and Philo of Alexandria.
Pilate was procurator of Judea, in succession to Gratus, and he held office for 10 years. Josephus tells (Ant., XVIII, iv, 2) that he ruled for 10 years; that he was removed from office by Vitellius, the legate of Syria, and traveled in haste to Rome to defend himself before Tiberius against certain complaints. Before he reached Rome the emperor had passed away.
Josephus adds that Vitellius came in the year 36 AD to Judea to be present at Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. It has been assumed by most authorities (so HDB and EB) that Pilate had departed before this visit of Vitellius. They accordingly date the procuratorship of Pilate as lasting from 26 to 36 AD. As against this view, yon Dobschutx points out (RE under the word “Pilate”) that by this reckoning Pilate must have taken at least a year to get to Rome; for Tiberius died on March. 16, 37 AD. Such delay is inconceivable in view of the circumstances; hence, von Dobschutz rightly dates the period of his procuratorship 27-37 AD. The procurator of Judea had no easy task, nor did Pilate make the task easier by his actions. He was not careful to conciliate the religious prejudices of the Jews, and at times this attitude of his led to violent collisions between ruler and ruled.
On one occasion, when the soldiers under his command came to Jerusalem, he caused them to bring with them their ensigns, upon which were the usual images of the emperor. The ensigns were brought in privily by night, put their presence was soon discovered. Immediately multitudes of excited Jews hastened to Caesarea to petition him for the removal of the obnoxious ensigns. For five days he refused to hear them, but on the sixth he took his place on the judgment seat, and when the Jews were admitted he had them surrounded with soldiers and threatened them with instant death unless they ceased to trouble him with the matter. The Jews thereupon flung themselves on the ground and bared their necks, declaring that they preferred death to the violation of their laws. Pilate, unwilling to slay so many, yielded the point and removed the ensigns (Josephus, Ant, XVIII, iii, 1; BJ, II, ix, 2, 3).
At another time he used the sacred treasure of the temple, called corban ([qorban]), to pay for bringing water into Jerusalem by an aqueduct. A crowd came together and clamored against him; but he had caused soldiers dressed as civilians to mingle with the multitude, and at a given signal they fell upon the rioters and beat them so severely with staves that the riot was quelled (Josephus, Ant, XVIII, iii, 2; BJ, II, ix, 4).
Philo tells us (Legatio ad Caium, xxxviii) that on other occasion he dedicated some gilt shields in the palace of Herod in honor of the emperor.
On these shields there was no representation of any forbidden thing, but simply an inscription of the name of the donor and of him in whose honor they were set up. The Jews petitioned him to have them removed; when he refused, they appealed to Tiberius, who sent an order that they should be removed to Caesarea.
Of the incident, mentioned in Luke 13:1, of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, nothing further is known.
Josephus (Ant., XVIII, iv, 1, 2) gives an account of the incident which led to Pilate’s downfall. A religious pretender arose in Samaria who promised the Samaritans that if they would assemble at Matthew. Gerizim, he would show them the sacred vessels which Moses had hidden there. A great multitude assembled in readiness to ascend the mountain, but before they could accomplish their aim they were attacked by Pilate’s cavalry, and many of them were slain. The Samaritans thereupon sent an embassy to Vitellius, the legate of Syria, to accuse Pilate of the murder of those who had been slain. Vitellius, who desired to stand well with the Jews, deposed Pilate from office, appointed Marcellus in his place, and ordered Pilate to go to Rome and answer the charges made against him before the emperor.
Pilate set out for Rome, but, before he could reach it, Tiberius had died; and it is probable that, in the confusion which followed, Pilate escaped the inquisition with which he was threatened. From this point onward history knows nothing more of Pilate. 3. PILATE AND JESUS CHRIST:
The shortest and simplest account of Pilate’s dealings with Jesus Christ is given in the Gospel of Mark. There we are told that Jesus was delivered to Pilate; that Pilate asked Him if He was the king of the Jews, receiving an affirmative answer; that, to Pilate’s surprise, Jesus answered nothing to the accusations of the chief priests; that Pilate tried to release Jesus according to an ancient custom; that the multitude, in spite of the protest of Pilate, demanded the release of Barabbas, and cried out that Jesus should be crucified; that Pilate scourged Jesus and delivered Him to be crucified; and that Jesus, when He had been scourged and mocked, was led away to be crucified. Mark tells further how Joseph of Arimathea begged of Pilate the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised that Jesus died so quickly, and questioned the centurion about it. Pilate’s surprise and question are peculiar to Mark. Being satisfied on this point, Pilate granted the body to Joseph. Matthew adds the dream and message of Pilate’s wife (27:19); it also tells how Pilate washed his hands before the people, disclaiming responsibility for the death of Jesus, and how the people accepted the responsibility (27:24 f); also how Pilate granted a guard for the tomb (27:62-66). Luke alone narrates the sending of Jesus to Herod (23:6-12), and reports Pilate’s three times repeated asseveration that he found no fault in Jesus (23:4,14,22). John gives by far the fullest narrative, which forms a framework into which the more fragmentary accounts of the Synoptics can be fitted with perfect ease. Some critics, holding that Mark alone is trustworthy, dismiss the additional incidents given in Matthew and Luke as apologetic amplifications; and many dismiss the narrative of John as wholly unworthy of credence. Such theories are based on preconceived opinions as to the date, authorship and reliability of the various Gospels. The reader who holds all the Gospels to be, in the main, authentic and trustworthy narratives will have no difficulty in perceiving that all four narratives, when taken together, present a story consistent in all its details and free from all difficulty. See GOSPELS. It should be noted that John evidently had special opportunities of obtaining exacter knowledge than that possessed by the others, as he was present at every stage of the trial; and that his narrative makes clear what is obscure in the accounts of the Synoptics.
The parts may be fitted together thus: Jesus is brought to Pilate ( Matthew 27:2; Mark 15:1; Luke 23:1; John 18:28). Pilate asks for a specific accusation ( John 18:29-32). Pilate enters the praetorium, questions Jesus about His alleged kingship, and receives the answer that He rules over the kingdom of truth, and over the hearts of men who acknowledge the truth. Pilate asks: “What is truth?” (reported briefly in Matthew 27:11; Mark 15:2; Luke 23:3, and with more detail John 18:33-38). Pilate brings Him forth (this is the only detail that needs to be supplied in order to make the harmony complete, and in itself it is probable enough), and many accusations are made against Him, to which, to Pilate’s surprise, He makes no reply ( Matthew 27:12-14; Mark 15:3-5). Pilate affirms His innocence, but the charges are repeated ( Luke 23:4 f). Pilate sends Him to Herod, who in mockery clothes Him in shining raiment, and sends Him back ( Luke 23:6-12).
Pilate declares that neither Herod or himself can find any fault in Him, and offers to scourge Him and let Him go ( Luke 23:13-16; John 18:38b). Pilate offers to release Jesus in accordance with an ancient custom ( Matthew 27:15-18; Mark 15:6-10; John 18:39). Pilate’s wife sends him a message warning him not to harm Jesus because she has suffered many things in a dream because of Him ( Matthew 27:19). The people, persuaded thereto by the chief priests and elders, choose Barabbas, and, in spite of the repeated protests of Pilate, demand that Jesus shall be crucified ( Matthew 27:20-23; Mark 15:11-14; Luke 23:18-23; John 18:40). Pilate washes his hands before the people, and they take the guilt of the deed upon themselves and their children ( Matthew 27:24 f). Pilate releases Barabbas and orders Jesus to be scourged ( Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; Luke 23:24 f). Jesus is scourged and mocked, buffered and spit upon ( Matthew 27:27-31a; Mark 15:16-20a; John 19:1-3). Pilate again declares the innocence of Jesus, brings Him out, and says: “Behold the man!” The chief priests and officers cry out: “Crucify him!” They accuse Him of making Himself the Son of God. Pilate, becoming more afraid at this saying, once more interviews the prisoner in the praetorium. He again tries to release Him, but is accused of treachery to the emperor. Overborne by this, Pilate sits on the judgment seat (see GABBATHA), and says: “Behold your King!” Again the cry goes up: “Away with him, crucify him!” Pilate says: “Shall I crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered with a final renunciation of all that God had given them, saying: “We have no king but Caesar” ( John 19:4-15).
Pilate sentences Jesus and gives Him up to be crucified, and He is led away ( Matthew 27:31b; Mark 15:20b; Luke 23:26a; John 19:16).
Pilate writes a title for the cross, and refuses to alter it ( John 19:19-22).
The Jews ask of Pilate that the legs of the three who were crucified might be broken ( John 19:31). Joseph of Arimathea begs the body of Jesus from Pilate ( Matthew 27:57,58a; Mark 15:42 f; Luke 23:50-52; John 19:38a). Pilate is surprised that Jesus has died so soon, and questions the centurion ( Mark 15:44). He gives up to Joseph the body of Jesus ( Matthew 27:58b; Mark 15:45; John 19:38b). The chief priests and the Pharisees obtain permission from Pilate to take precautions against any theft of the body of Jesus ( Matthew 27:62-66).
Pilate is mentioned three times in Acts: in a speech of Peter (3:13), in a thanksgiving of the church (4:27), and in a speech of Paul (13:28). He is also mentioned in 1 Timothy (6:13) as the one before whom Christ Jesus witnessed the good confession. 4. PILATE IN TRADITION AND LEGEND:
Eusebius, who lived in the 4th centuries, tells us (Historia Ecclesiastica, II) on the authority of certain Greek historians that Pilate fell into such calamities that he committed suicide. Various apocryphal writings have come down to us, written from the 3rd to the 5th centuries, with others of a later date, in which legendary details are given about Pilate. In all these a favorable view is taken of his character; hence, the Coptic church came to believe that he became a Christian, and enrolled him among the number of its saints. His wife, to whom tradition gives the name of Claudia Procula, or Procla, is said to have been a Jewish proselyte at the time of the death of Jesus, and afterward to have become a Christian. Her name is honored along with Pilate’s in the Coptic church, and in the calendar of saints honored by the Greek church her name is found against the date October 27.
We find not unkindly references to Pilate in the recently discovered fragment of the Gospel of Peter, which was composed in the 2nd century.
In the so-called Gospel of Nicodemus, which belongs to the 4th or 5th century, we find in the first part, called the Acts of Pilate, a long account of the trial of Jesus. It tells how the standards in the hall of judgment bowed down before Jesus, in spite of the efforts of the standard-bearers, and others who attempted it, to hold them erect. It tells also how many of those who had been healed by Jesus bore testimony to Him at the trial (see APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS). There has also come down to us, in various forms (e.g. in the Acts of Peter and Paul), a letter, supposed to be the report of Pilate to Tiberius, narrating the proceedings of the trial, and speaking of Jesus in the highest terms of praise. Eusebius, when he mentions this letter, avers that Tiberius, on perusing it, was incensed against the Jews who had sought the death of Jesus (Historia Ecclesiastica, II, 2). Elsewhere (Historia Ecclesiastica, IX, 5) he recounts that under Maximin forged Acts of Pilate, containing blasphemies against Christ, were circulated with consent of the emperor. None of these, if they ever existed, have come down to us. In the Paradosis Pilati we read that Caesar, being angry with Pilate for what he had done, brought him to Rome as a prisoner, and examined him. When the Christ was named, all the gods in the senate-chamber fell down and were broken. Caesar ordered war to be made on the Jews, and Pilate, after praying to Jesus, was beheaded. The head was taken away by an angel, and Procla, seeing this, died of joy.
Another narrative, of late date, recounts that Pilate, at his trial, wore the seamless robe of Jesus; for this reason Caesar, though filled with anger, could not so much as say a harsh word to Pilate; but when the robe was taken off, he condemned Pilate to death. On hearing this, Pilate committed suicide. The body was sunk in the Tiber, but such storms were raised by demons on account of this that it was taken up and sunk in the Rhone at Vienne. The same trouble recurred there, and the body was finally buried in the territory of Losania (Lausanne). Tradition connects Matthew. Pilatus with his name, although it is probable that the derivation is from pileatus, i.e. the mountain with a cloud-cap. 5. CHARACTER OF PILATE:
Philo (Legatio ad Caium, xxxviii) speaks of Pilate in terms of the severest condemnation. According to him, Pilate was a man of a very inflexible disposition, and very merciless as well as obstinate. Philo calls him a man of most ferocious passions, and speaks of his corruption, his acts of insolence, his rapine, his habit of insulting people, his cruelty, his continual murders of people untried and uncondemned, and his never-ending and most grievous inhumanity. This is very highly colored and probably much exaggerated; certainly the instances given do not bear out this description of the man. Much of what he says of Pilate is in direct opposition to what we learn of him in the Gospels. There he appears to us as a man who, in spite of many undoubted faults, tries hard to conduct the trial with fairness.
Pilate had the ethics of his class, and obviously tried to act up to the standard which he had formed. There was in him, however, no deep moral basis of character, as is shown by the utter skepticism of his question, “What is truth?” When he found that the doing of strict justice threatened to endanger his position, he reluctantly and with a great deal of shame gave way to the demands of the Jews. He sent Jesus to the cross, but not before he had exhausted every expedient for saving Him, except the simple and straightforward one of dismissing the case. He had the haughtiness of the dominant race, and a profound contempt for the people over which he ruled. This contempt, as we have seen, continually brought him into trouble. He felt deeply humiliated at having to give way to those whom he utterly despised, and, in the manner of a small mind, revenged himself on them by calling Christ their king, and by refusing to alter the mocking inscription on the cross. It is certain that Pilate, in condemning Jesus, acted, and knew that he acted against his conscience. He knew what was right, but for selfish and cowardly reasons refused to do it. He was faced by a great moral emergency, and he failed. We rest on the judgment of our Lord, that he was guilty, but not so guilty as the leaders of the chosen people.
LITERATURE.
The Gospels; Philo, Legatio ad Caium; Josephus, Josephus, Antiquities and BJ; the Annals of Tacitus; Eusebius, HE; Walker, Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, and Revelations in the “Ante-Nicene Christian Library,” and for the Gospel according to Peter, volume IX of the same series err, New Testament Apocryphal Writings (“Temple Bible Series”), gives the text of the Gospel of Nicodemus and the Gospel of Peter.
There is a great mass of literature on the subject, but there is no English monograph on Pontius Pilate. In German there is G.A. Muller, Pontius Pilatus der funfe Prokurator von Judaa (Stuttgart, 1888). See also the various articles on Pilate in books of reference on the New Testament, notably RE (von Dobschiitz), HDB (G. T. Purves), DCG (A. Souter), and Encyclopedia Biblica (W. J. Woodhouse). For the name of-Pilate see the articles on “Pontius Pilatus et les Pontii” by Ollivier in Review Biblical, volume V. For the Apocryphal Gospels see article on “Gospel of Nicodemus” in HDB, also article “Apocryphal Gospels,” in the supplementary volume of HDB; Orr, New Testament Apocryphal Writings; Zahn, Geschichte des New Testament Kanons; Harnack, Altchristliche Litteraturgeschichte. For the trial of Jesus see Lives of Christ by Keim, Edersheim, Stalker, Andrews and others; Taylor Innes, Trial of Jesus Christ, a Legal Monograph, 1899; and for the historical background, Schurer, HJP. J. Macartney Wilson PILDASH <pil’-dash > ([ vD;l]Pi , pildash ], “steely”): Nephew of Abram ( Genesis 22:22).
PILE <pil > ([ hr;Wdm] , medhurah ], from dur , “heap up”): Isaiah 30:33, “The pile thereof is fire and much wood”; Ezekiel 24:9,10, “I also will make the pile great. Heap on the wood, make the fire hot.” Isaiah 30:33 may be paraphrased, `the pyre thereof is of much wood, burning fiercely.’ See TOPHETH.
PILEHA <pil’-e-ha > , <pi’-le-ha > . See PILHA.
PILGRIM; PILGRIMAGE <pil’-grim > , <pil’-grimaj > : “Pilgrim” in English Versions of the Bible for [parepi>dhmov, parepidemos ] ( Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11). “Pilgrimage” for [ rwOgm; , maghor ] ( Genesis 47:9 (the Revised Version margin “sojournings”); <19B954> Psalm 119:54; and (the King James Version) Exodus 6:4 (the Revised Version (British and American) “sojournings”)). Both the Hebrew (see GER) and Greek words contain the idea of foreign residence, but it is the residence and not travel that is implied. Consequently “pilgrim” is a poor translation, and “sojourner,” “sojourning” should have been used throughout. In the New Testament passages heaven is thought of as the contrasted permanent dwelling-place, while the Old Testament usages seem to be without a contrast definitely in mind.
PILHA <pil’-ha > ([ aj;l]Pi , pilcha’ ], “ploughman” (plowman); the King James Version Pileha): One of those who signed Nehemiah’s covenant ( Nehemiah 10:24).
PILL See PEEL.
PILLAR <pil’-ar > ([ hb;Xem” , matstsebhah ], [ dWM[“ , `ammudh ]; [stu~lov, stulos ]):
In a good many cases the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes “pillars” for the King James Version “images” (matstsebhoth , Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; 1 Kings 14:23, etc.). In Genesis 19:26, where “pillar of salt” is given, the word is netsibh ; in 1 Samuel 2:8 it is matsuq ; while in most other single uses the Revised Version margin gives variant renderings, as in Judges 9:6 (mutstsabh ), the Revised Version margin “garrison”; in 1 Kings 10:12 (Micah`adh ), the Revised Version margin “`a railing,’ Hebrew `a prop’”; in 2 Kings 18:16 (‘omenoth ), the Revised Version margin “doorposts.” The matstsebhoth were (1) memorial pillars, as in the “pillars” of Jacob at Bethel ( Genesis 28:18,22; compare 31:13; 35:14), in covenant with Laban ( Genesis 31:45 ff), at Rachel’s grave ( Genesis 35:20); Absalom’s pillar ( Samuel 18:18). Such pillars were legitimate (theory of a fetishistic character is not grounded); it is predicted in Isaiah 19:19 that such a pillar would be set up to Yahweh at the border of Egypt. (2) Idolatrous pillars, in Canaanitish and other heathen worships. These were to be ruthlessly broken down (the King James Version “images,” see above; Exodus 23:24; 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5, etc.; compare Leviticus 26:1). See IMAGES. The other word, `ammudh , is used of the pillar of cloud and fire (see below); of the pillars of the tabernacle and temple (see under the word); of the two pillars JACHIN AND BOAZ (which see); poetically of the “pillars” of heaven, of earth ( Job 9:6; 26:11; Psalm 75:3; 99:7), etc. In the few instances of the word in the New Testament, the use is figurative. James, Cephas and John were reputed to be pillars” of the church at Jerusalem ( Galatians 2:9); the church is “the pillar and ground of the truth” ( 1 Timothy 3:15); he that overcomes is made “a pillar” in the temple of God ( Revelation 3:12); a strong angel had feet “as pillars of fire” ( Revelation 10:1).
PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE:
The visible manifestation of the divine presence in the journeyings of Israel at the time of the Exodus. Yahweh, it is narrated, went before the people “by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light ..... The pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people” ( Exodus 13:21,22; compare 14:19,24; Numbers 14:14). When the congregation was at rest, the cloud abode over the tabernacle ( Exodus 40:36; Numbers 9:17; 14:14). When Yahweh wished to communicate His will to Moses, the pillar descended to the door of the Tent of Meeting ( Exodus 33:9-11; Numbers 12:5; Deuteronomy 31:15). These descriptions are not to be rationalistically explained; what is depicted is a true theophany.
Criticism has sought to establish discrepancies between the allusions to the cloud in the JE and the P parts of the narrative, but these are not made out without straining; e.g. it is not the case that JE alone represents Yahweh as speaking with Moses in the cloud at the door of the tabernacle. The same representation is found in Exodus 29:42,43, ascribed to Pillar. An acute discussion of the alleged discrepancies may be seen in H.M. Wiener, Essays in Pentateuchal Criticism, 82 ff. James Orr PILLAR OF SALT See SLIMS; LOT.
PILLAR, PLAIN OF THE See PLAIN OF THE PILLAR.
PILLARS OF THE EARTH See ASRONOMY, III, 2.
PILLOW <pil’-o > . See BOLSTER; CUSHION.
PILOT <pi’-lot > . See SHIPS AND BOATS.
PILTAI <pil’-ti > , <pil-ta’-i > ([ yf;l]Pi , pilTay ], probably “Yahweh delivers”): One of the priests, described as “the chiefs of the fathers,” in the days of Joiakim ( Nehemiah 12:17).
PIN ([ dtey; , yathedh ], from yathadh , “to drive in a peg”(?)): A cylindrical piece of wood or metal (e.g. brass, Exodus 27:19) such as that used by weavers in beating up the woof in the loom ( Judges 16:14, where Delilah fastened Samson’s hair with the “pin”); or as a peg for hanging (Ezekiel 15:3; compare Isaiah 22:23 f; Ezra 9:8); or as a tent-pin, such as those used in the tabernacle ( Exodus 27:19; 35:18; 38:20,31; 39:40; Numbers 3:37; 4:32; Judges 4:21, where the King James Version translates “nail,” the Revised Version (British and American) “tent-pin”; compare Judges 5:26, where Hebrew has the same word, English Versions of the Bible “nail”). The tent-pin, like that of today, was probably sharpened at one end ( Judges 4:21) and so shaped at the other as to permit the attaching of the cords so frequently mentioned in the same connection ( Exodus 35:18; 39:40; Numbers 3:37; 4:32; compare Isaiah 33:20). From the acts of driving in the tent-pin (Taqa` ) and pulling it out (nasa’ ) are derived the technical Hebrew terms for pitching a tent and for breaking camp. See also CRISPING PIN ( Isaiah 3:22, the Revised Version (British and American) “satchels”); STAKE.
Nathan Isaacs PINE <pin > . See PINING SICKNESS.
PINE TREE <pin tre > : (1) [ ˆm,v, 6[e , `ets shemen ], translated the Revised Version (British and American) “wild olive,” the King James Version “pine” ( Nehemiah 8:15); the Revised Version (British and American) “oil-tree,” m “oleaster” ( Isaiah 41:19); “olive-wood” ( 1 Kings 6:23,31-33). See OIL TREE. (2) [ rh;d]Ti , tidhhar ] ( Isaiah 41:19, margin “plane”; 60:13); [peu>kh, peuke ], “fir.”
Lagarde, from similarity of tidhhar to the Syriac deddar, usually the “elm,” considers this the best translation. Symmachus also translated tidhhar ( Isaiah 41:19) by [ptele>a, ptelea ], the “elm.” The elm, Ulmus campestris, is rare in Palestine and the Lebanon, though it is found today N. of Aleppo. Post (HDB, III, 592-93) considers that (1) should be translated as “pine,” which he describes as a “fat wood tree”; it is perhaps as probably a correct translation for (2) , but great uncertainty remains.
Two species of pine are plentiful in the Lebanon and flourish in most parts of Palestine when given a chance. These are the stone pine, Pinus pinea, and the Aleppo pine, P. halepensis; all the highlands looking toward the sea are suited to their growth. E. W. G. Masterman PINING; SICKNESS <pin’-ing > , <sik’-nes > : In the account of the epileptic boy in Mark 9:18 it is said that “he pineth away.” The verb used here ([xhrai>nw, xeraino ]) means “to dry up,” and is the same which is used of the withering of plants, but seldom used in this metaphorical sense. The English word is from the Anglo-Saxon pinjan and is often found in the Elizabethan literature, occurring 13 times in Shakespeare. In the Old Testament it is found in Leviticus 26:39 (bis) and in Ezekiel 24:23 and 33:10. In the Revised Version (British and American) it replaces “consume” in Ezekiel 4:17. In all these passages it is the rendering of the Hebrew maqaq , and means expressly being wasted on account of sin. In Leviticus 26:16 “pine away” is used in the Revised Version (British and American) to replace “cause sorrow of heart,” and is the translation of the Hebrew dubh ; and in Deuteronomy 28:65 “sorrow of mind” is also replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by “pining of soul,” the word so rendered being de’abhon , which in these two passages is expressive of homesickness. In Isaiah 24:16 the reduplicated exclamation, “my leanness,” of the King James Version is changed into “I pine away,” the word being razi . The starving people in Lamentations 4:9 are said to pine away, the word so translated being zubh . All these Hebrew words have a general meaning of to dry or to waste or wear away, or to be exhausted by morbid discharges.
Pining sickness in Isaiah 38:12 the King James Version is a mistranslation, the word so rendered, dallah , meaning here the thrum by which the web is tied to the loom. The figure in the verse is that Hezekiah’s life is being removed from the earth by his sickness as the web is removed from the loom by having the thrums cut, and being then rolled up. Both the King James Version margin and the Revised Version margin have the correct reading, “from the thrum.” Septuagint has [ejri>qou ejggizou>shv ejktemei~n, erithou eggizouses ektemein ], and Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) dum adhuc ordirer, succidit me. The other reading is due to another interpretation of the word which in a few passages, as Jeremiah 52:15, like its root dal , means something small, poor, and decaying or weak, such as the lean kine of Pharaoh’s dream ( Genesis 41:19). Alexander Macalister PINION <pin’-yun > ([ rb,ae , ‘ebher ], [ hr;b]a, , ‘ebhrah ]): the Revised Version (British and American) has translated these Hebrew words uniformly by “pinion,” where the King James Version uses either “wing” or “feathers,” with which words they stand in parallelism in all passages. The shorter Hebrew word is found only once, in Yahweh’s parable to Ezekiel: “A great eagle with great wings and long pinions (the King James Version “longwinged”), full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar” ( Ezekiel 17:3). The feminine form (‘ebhrah ) is used of the wings of the dove ( Psalm 68:13), of the ostrich ( Job 39:13) and of the eagle ( Deuteronomy 32:11). Once ( Psalm 91:4) it stands in a figurative expression for the protective care of Yahweh, which is bestowed on those that trust in Him. H. L. E. Luering PINNACLE <pin’-a-k’-l > ([pteru>gion, pterugion ] ( Matthew 4:5; Luke 4:9, the Revised Version margin “wing”)): “The pinnacle of the temple” is named as the place to which the devil took Jesus, and there tempted Him to cast Himself down. It is not known what precise elevated spot is meant, whether a part of the roof of the temple itself, or some high point in the adjacent buildings overlooking the deep ravine. It was more probably the latter.
PINON <pi’-non > ([ ˆnyPi , pinon ], “darkness”): One of the “chiefs of Edom” ( Genesis 36:41; 1 Chronicles 1:52).
PIPE <pip > . See CANDLESTICK; LAMP; MUSIC.
PIRA <pi’-ra > ([oiJ ejk Peira~v, hoi ek Peiras ] (1 Esdras 5:19)): Thought to be a repetition of CAPHIRA (which see) earlier in the verse.
PIRAM <pi’-ram > ([ µa;r]Pi , pir’am ], “indomitable”): King of Jarmuth, one of the five Amorite kings who leagued themselves against Joshua’s invasion ( Joshua 10:3 ff).
PIRATHON; PIRATHONITE <pir’-a-thon > , <pir’-a-thon-it > ([ ˆwOt[;r]Pi , pir`athon ], [ yniwOt[;r]Pi , pir`athoni ]; Codex Vaticanus [ Faraqw>m, Pharathom ]; Codex Alexandrinus [ Fraaqw>m, Phraathom ], [ Faraqunei>thv, Pharathuneites ]): The home of Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite ( Judges 12:13 ff the King James Version), where also he was buried, “in the land of Ephraim in the mount of the Amalekites.” The latter name may have clung to a district which at some former time had been held by the Amalekites. From this town also came Benaiah, one of David’s chief captains ( 2 Samuel 23:30; 1 Chronicles 11:31; 27:14). It is probably to be identified with Fer`ata, about 6 miles Southwest of Nablus. A possible rival is Fir`on, 15 miles West of Nablus. G.A. Smith suggests a position at the head of Wady Far`ah (HGHL, 355). Moore thinks it may have been in Benjamin, Abdon being a Benjamite family ( 1 Chronicles 8:23,30; 9:36). It is just possible that the place may be identical with Pharathon, one of the towns fortified by Bacchides (1 Macc 9:50). W. Ewing PISGAH <piz’-ga > ([ hGs]Pih” , ha-picgah ]; [ Fasga>, Phasga ], [to< lelaxeume>non, to lelaxeumenon ], [hJ laxeuth>, he laxeute ]): This name, which has always the definite article, appears only in combination either with ro’sh , “head,” “top,” or ‘ashdoth , not translated in the King James Version save in Deuteronomy 4:49, where it is rendered “springs” the Revised Version (British and American) uniformly “slopes,” the Revised Version margin “springs.”
Pisgah is identified with Nebo in Deuteronomy 34:1; compare 3:27. “The top of Pisgah, which looketh down upon the desert” marks a stage in the march of the host of Israel ( Numbers 21:20). Hither Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim ( Numbers 23:14). Here Moses obtained his view of the Promised Land, and died. See NEBO. Many scholars (e.g.
Buhl, GAP, 122; Gray, “Numbers,” ICC, 291) take Pisgah as the name applying to the mountain range in which the Moab plateau terminates to the West, the “top” or “head” of Pisgah being the point in which the ridge running out westward from the main mass culminates. The summit commands a wide view, and looks down upon the desert. The identification is made surer by the name Tal’at es-Sufa found here, which seems to correspond with the field of Zophim. ‘Ashdoth is the construct plural of ‘ashedhah (singular form not found), from ‘eshedh , “foundation,” “bottom,” “lower part” (slope); compare Assyrian ishdu , “foundation.” Some would, derive it from Aramaic ‘ashadh , “to pour,” whence “fall” or “slope” (OHL, under the word).
Ashdoth-pisgah overlooked the Dead Sea from the East ( Deuteronomy 3:17; 4:49; Joshua 12:3; 13:20). There can be no reasonable doubt that Ashdoth-pisgah signifies the steep slopes of the mountain descending into the contiguous valleys.
It is worthy of note that Septuagint does not uniformly render Pisgah by a proper name, but sometimes by a derivative of laxeuo , “to hew” or “to dress stone” ( Numbers 21:20; 23:14; Deuteronomy 3:27; 4:49).
Jerome (Onomasticon, under the word Asedoth) gives abscisum as the Latin equivalent of Fasga. He derives Pisgah from pacagh , which, in new Hebrew, means “to split,” “to cut off.” This suggests a mountain the steep sides of which give it the appearance of having been “cut out.” This description applies perfectly to Jebel Neba as viewed from the Dead Sea. W. Ewing PISHON; PISON <pi’-shon > <pi’-son > ([ ˆwvyPi , pishon ]; the King James Version): A river of EDEN (which see), said to compass the whole land of Havilah where there is gold, bdellium and onyx stone ( Genesis 2:11), most probably identified with the Karun River which comes down from the mountains of Media and formerly emptied into the Persian Gulf.
PISIDIA <pi-sid’-i-a > ([th Pisidia, as a strict geographical term, was the name given to the huge block of mountain country stretching northward from the Taurus range where the latter overlooked the Pamphylian coast land, to the valleys which connected Apamea with Antioch, and Antioch with Iconium. It was bounded by Lycia on the West, by the Phrygian country on the North, and by Isauria on the East; but there is no natural boundary between Pisidia and Isauria, and the frontier was never strictly drawn. The name is used in its geographical sense in the Anabasis of Xenophon, who informs us that the Pisidians were independent of the king of Persia at the end of the 5th century BC. Alexander the Great had difficulty in reducing the Pisidian cities, and throughout ancient history we find the Pisidian mountains described as the home of a turbulent and warlike people, given to robbery and pillage. The task of subjugating them was entrusted by the Romans to the Galatian king Amyntas, and, at his death in 25 BC, Pisidia passed with the rest of his possessions into the Roman province Galatia. Augustus now took seriously in hand the pacification of Pisidia and the Isaurian mountains on the East Five military colonies were founded in Pisidia and the eastern mountains — Cremna, Comama, Olbasa, Parlais and Lystra — and all were connected by military roads with the main garrison city Antioch, which lay in Galatian Phrygia, near the northern border of Pisidia. An inscription discovered in 1912 shows that Quirinius, who is mentioned in Luke 2:2 as governor of Syria in the year of Christ’s birth, was an honorary magistrate of the colony of Antioch; his connection with Antioch dates from his campaign against the Homonades — who had resisted and killed Amyntas — about 8 BC (see Ramsay in The Expositor, November, 1912, 385 ff, 406). The military system set up in Pisidia was based on that of Antioch, and from this fact, and from its proximity to Pisidia, Antioch derived its title “the Pisidian,” which served to distinguish it from the other cities called Antioch. It is by a mistake arising from confusion with a later political arrangement that Antioch is designated “of Pisidia” in the majority of the manuscripts.
Pisidia remained part of the province Galatia till 74 AD, when the greater (southern) part of it was assigned to the new double province Lycia- Pamphylia, and the cities in this portion of Pisidia now ranked as Pamphylian. The northern part of Pisidia continued to belong to Galatia, until, in the time of Diocletian, the southern part of the province Galatia (including the cities of Antioch and Iconium), with parts of Lycaonia and Asia, were formed Into a province called Pisidia, with Antioch as capital.
Antioch was now for the first time correctly described as a city “of Pisidia,” although there is reason to believe that the term “Pisidia” had already been extended northward in popular usage to include part at least of the Phrygian region of Galatia. This perhaps explains the reading “Antioch of Pisidia” in the Codex Bezae, whose readings usually reflect the conditions of the 2nd century of our era in Asia Minor. This use of the term was of course political and administrative; Antioch continued to be a city of Phrygia in the ethnical sense and a recently discovered inscription proves that the Phrygian language was spoken in the neighborhood of Antioch as late as the 3rd century of our era (see also Calder in Journal of Roman Studies, 1912, 84). 2. PAUL IN PISIDIA:
Paul crossed Pisidia on the journey from Perga to Antioch referred to in Acts 13:14, and again on the return journey, Acts 14:24. Of those journeys no details are recorded in Acts, but it has been suggested by Conybeare and Howson that the “perils of rivers” and “perils of robbers” mentioned by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:26 refer to his journeys across Pisidia, and Ramsay has pointed out in confirmation of this view that a considerable number of Pisidian inscriptions refer to the armed policemen and soldiers who kept the peace in this region, while others refer to a conflict with robbers, or to an escape from drowning in a river (The Church in the Roman Empire, 23 f; compare Journal of Roman Studies, 1912, 82 f). Adada, a city off Paul’s route from Perga to Antioch, is called by the Turks Kara Baulo; “Baulo” is the Turkish pronunciation of “Paulos,” and the name is doubtless reminiscent of an early tradition connecting the city with Paul. Pisidia had remained unaffected by Hellenic civilization, and the Roman occupation at the time of Paul was purely military. It is therefore unlikely that Paul preached in Pisidia. Except on the extreme Northwest, none of the Christian inscriptions of Pisidia — in glaring contrast with those of Phrygia — date before the legal recognition of Christianity under Constantine.
LITERATURE.
Murray, Handbook of Asia Minor, 150 ff; Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, 18 ff; Lanckoronski, Stadte Pamphyliens und Pisidiens; Sterrett, Epigraphical Journey and Wolfe Expedition. A few inscriptions containing Pisidian names with native inflections have been published by Ramsay in Revue des universites du midi, 1895, 353 ff. W. M. Calder PISON <pi’-son > . See PISHON.
PISPA <pis’-pa > ([ aP;s]Pi , picpa’ ], “dipersion,” the King James Version Pispah):
A son of Jether, an Asherite ( 1 Chronicles 7:38).
PIT The word translates different Hebrew words of which the most important are: (1) [ rwOB, bor ], “pit” or “cistern,” made by digging, ( Genesis 37:20); hence, “dungeon” ( Jeremiah 38:6, margin “pit”); (2) [ raeK] , be’er ], “pit” or “well” made by digging ( Genesis 21:25); (3) [ laov] , she’ol ], generally rendered “hell” in the King James Version (see HELL); (4) [ tj”v” , shachath ], a pit in the ground to catch wild animals. (1) , (2) and (4) above are used metaphorically of the pit of the “grave” or of “sheol” ( Psalm 28:1; 30:3; Job 33:24). the King James Version sometimes incorrectly renders (4) by “corruption.” (5) [ tj”P” , pachath ], “pit,” literally ( 2 Samuel 17:9), and figuratively ( Jeremiah 48:43). In the New Testament “pit” renders [bo>qunov, bothunos ] ( Matthew 15:14), which means any kind of hole in the ground. In the corresponding passage Luke (14:5 the King James Version) has [fre>ar, phrear ], “well,” the same as (2) above. For “bottomless pit” ( Revelation 9:1, the King James Version, etc.). See ABYSS.
T. Lewis PITCH <pich > : The translation of the noun [ rp,L, kopher ], and the verb [ rp”K; , kaphar ], in Genesis 6:14 and of the noun [ tp,z, , zepheth ], in Exodus 2:3; Isaiah 34:9. In Genesis 6:14 the words are the ordinary forms for “covering,” “cover,” so that the translation “pitch” is largely guesswork, aided by the Septuagint, which reads [a]sfaltov, asphaltos ], “bitumen,” here, and by the fact that pitch is a usual “covering” for vessels.
The meaning of zepheth , however, is fixed by the obvious Dead Sea imagery of Isaiah 34:9-15 — the streams and land of Edom are to become burning bitumen, like the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Exodus 2:3 zepheth is combined with chemar , which also means bitumen ( Genesis 14:10; see SLIME), and the distinction between the words (different consistencies of the same substance?) is not clear. Burton Scott Easton PITCHER <pich’-er > ([ dK” , kadh ]; [kera>mion, keramion ]): The word is found chiefly in the Old Testament in the story of Rebekah in Genesis 24:13 ff; but Gideon’s men also had their lamps in pitchers ( Judges 7:16,19).
Ecclesiastes speaks of the pitcher broken at the fountain (12:6). The single use in the New Testament is in Mark 14:13 parallel Luke 22:10. The pitcher was an earthenware vessel (compare Lamentations 4:2, nebhel), with one or two handles, used for carrying water, and commonly borne upon the head or shoulder (compare Genesis 24).
PITHOM <pi’-thom > ([ µtPi , pithom ]; [ Peiqw>, Peitho ] ( Exodus 1:11)): 1. MEANING OF NAME:
Champollion (Gesenius, Lexicon, under the word) considered this name to mean “a narrow place” in Coptic, but it is generally explained to be the Egyptian Pa-tum, or “city of the setting sun.” It was one of the cities built by the Hebrews (see RAAMSES), and according to Wessel was the Thoum of the Antonine Itinerary.
Brugsch (History of Egypt, 1879, II, 343) says that it was identical with “Heracleopolis Parva, the capital of the Sethroitic nome in the age of the Greeks and Romans .... half-way on the great road from Pelusium to Tanis (Zoan), and this indication given on the authority of the itineraries furnishes the sole means of fixing its position.” This is, however, disputed. Tum was worshipped at Thebes, at Zoan, and probably at Bubastis, while Heliopolis (Brugsch, Geogr., I, 254) was also called Pa-tum.
There were apparently several places of the name; and Herodotus (ii.158) says that the Canal of Darius began a little above Bubastis, “near the Arabian city Patournos,” and reached the Red Sea. 2. SITUATION: (1) Dr. Naville’s Theory.
In 1885 Dr. E. Naville discovered a Roman milestone of Maximian and Severus, proving that the site of Heroopolis was at Tell el MachuTah (“the walled mound”) in Wady Tumeilat. The modern name he gives as Tell el Maskhutah, which was not that heard by the present writer in 1882. This identification had long been supposed probable. Excavations at the site laid bare strong walls and texts showing the worship of Tum. None was found to be older than the time of Rameses II — who, however, is well known to have defaced older inscriptions, and to have substituted his own name for that of earlier builders. A statue of later date, bearing the title “Recorder of Pithom,” was also found at this same site. Dr. Naville concluded that this city must be the Old Testament Pithom, and the region round it Succoth — the Egyptian T-k-u (but see SUCCOTH). Brugsch, on the other hand, says that the old name of Heropolis was Qes (see GOSHEN), which recalls the identification of the Septuagint ( Genesis 46:28); and elsewhere (following Lepsius) he regards the same site as being “the Pa-Khetam of Rameses II” (see ETHAM), which Lepsius believed to be the Old Testament Rameses (see RAAMSES) mentioned with Pithom (Brugsch, Geogr., I, 302, 262). Silvia in 385 AD was shown the site of Pithom near Heroopolis, but farther East, and she distinguishes the two; but in her time, though Heroopolis was a village, the site of Pithom was probably conjectural. In the time of Minepthah, son of Rameses II (Brugsch, History, II, 128), we have a report that certain nomads from Aduma (or Edom) passed through “the Khetam (or fort) of Minepthah-Hotephima, which is situated in T-k-u, to the lakes (or canals) of the city Pi-tum of Minepthah-Hotephima, which are situated in the land of T-k-u, in order to feed themselves and to feed their herds.” (2) Patoumos of Herodotus.
These places seem to have been on the eastern border of Egypt, but may have been close to the Bitter Lakes or farther North (see SUCCOTH), whereas Tell el MachuTah is about 12 miles West of Ism’ailieh, and of Lake Timsah. The definition of the Pithom thus noticed as being that of Minepthah suggests that there was more than one place so called, and the Patoumos of Herodotus seems to have been about 30 miles farther West (near Zagazig and Bubastis) than the site of Heropolis, which the Septuagint indentifies with Goshen and not with Pithom. The latter is not noticed as on the route of the Exodus, and is not identified in the Old Testament with Succoth. In the present state of our knowledge of Egyptian topography, the popular impression that the Exodus must have happened in the time of Minepthah, because Pithom was at Heropolis and was not built till the time of Rameses II, must be regarded as very hazardous. See EXODUS. The Patoumos of Herodotus may well have been the site, and may still be discovered near the head of Wady Tumeildt or near Bubastis. C. R. Conder PITHON <pi’-thon > ([ ˆwOtyPi , pithon ]): A grandson of Meribbaal, or Mephibosheth ( 1 Chronicles 8:35; 9:41).
PITIFUL <pit’-i-fool > : As found in Scripture, means “full of pity”; it is expressed by [ ynm;j\r” , rachamani ], from rachamim (plural of racham ), “bowels,” “compassion” ( Lamentations 4:10 the King James Version, its only occurrence in the Old Testament), “The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children.” In James 5:11, we have the beautiful saying, The Lord is very pitiful (the Revised Version (British and American) “full of pity”) and of tender mercy,” where “very pitiful” is the translation of polusplagchnos , literally, “of many bowels,” a word which does not occur elsewhere; it might be translated “large-hearted” or “tender-hearted.” In Ecclesiasticus 2:11, we have “The Lord, is .... very, pitiful” (oiktirmon ); eusplagchnos , well-hearted,” “compassionate,” “full of pity,” occurs in 1 Peter 3:8, “Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous,” the Revised Version (British and American) “loving as brethren, tenderhearted, humble-minded.” The word is found in The Prayer of Manasseh 7; Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Zeb 8 2. W. L. Walker PITY <pit’-i > ([ lm”j; , chamal ], [ sWj , chuc ]; [ejlee>w, eleeo ]): “Pity,” probably contracted from “piety,” is tender feeling for others in misery or distress. It is allied to compassion (which see), but differs in respect of the object that causes the distress (or feeling). The feeling of pity is excited chiefly by the weakness, miserable or degraded condition of the object; compassion by his uncontrollable and inevitable misfortunes: “We pity a man of weak understanding who exposes his weakness; we compassionate the man who is reduced to a state of beggary and want” (Crabb, English Synonyms).
Pity often becomes allied to contempt; “a pity” is something to be regretted. See PITIFUL. In the Old Testament “pity” is closely akin to “mercy.” It is most frequently the translation of chamal, “to pity,” “to spare,” e.g. in Nathan’s parable of the poor man’s one lamb, it is said that the rich man was worthy to die because he had “no pity” ( 2 Samuel 12:6).
In Jeremiah 13:14 we have, “I will not pity nor spare, nor have mercy,” the Revised Version (British and American) “compassion”; compare 21:7; Lamentations 2:2; Ezekiel 5:11; 7:4, in all of which passages “pity” stands in a negative connection; we have it positively attributed to God in Ezekiel 36:21, “I had pity for mine holy name,” the Revised Version (British and American) “regard”; Joel 2:18; chuc , probably meaning, primarily, “to cover,” “protect,” hence, to pity, to spare, is translated “pity” ( Deuteronomy 7:16; 13:8; Ezekiel 16:5, etc., all negative; Jonah 4:10, positive: “Thou hast had pity on the gourd (the Revised Version (British and American) “regard for”) and should not I spare (the Revised Version (British and American) “have regard for,” chuc ) Nineveh,” etc.); chanan, “to incline, toward,” “be gracious,” “pity,” is thrice rendered “pity” ( Job 19:21, “Have pity upon me, have pity upon me”; Proverbs 19:17; 28:8, “he that hath pity upon the poor”); racham , “to feel warm,” “to love,” twice ( <19A313> Psalm 103:13, “like as a father pitieth his children”; Isaiah 13:18, “no pity”); once in plural rachamim ( Amos 1:11); other words once so translated are chemlah , “pity” ( Isaiah 63:9); checedh, “loving-kindness” ( Job 6:14, the Revised Version (British and American) “kindness”); machmal , “object of pity” ( Ezekiel 24:21); nudh,” to move,” “bemoan” ( Psalm 69:20). In the New Testament “pity” occurs once only as the translation of eleeo , “to be kind,” “tender” ( Matthew 18:33, the Revised Version (British and American) “mercy”).
In 2 Macc 3:21 we have (the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)) “pitied” in the obsolete sense of exciting pity, “Then it would have pitied (eleein ) a man to see the multitude,” etc.
The Revised Version (British and American) has “pity” for “mercy” ( Proverbs 14:21); “have pity on” for “spare” ( Psalm 72:13); for “favour” ( <19A912> Psalm 109:12; 102:13,14), “Have pity upon her dust.” See MERCY; COMPASSION.
W. L. Walker PLACE <plas > : Normally for [ µwOqm; , maqom ], Old Testament, and [to>pov, topos ], New Testament, but in the King James Version “place” represents a great number of Hebrew and Greek words, often used with no difference in force (e.g. 2 Chronicles 35:10,15). the Revised Version (British and American) has made few changes, but occasionally has attempted to specialize the meaning ( Genesis 40:13; Job 37:8; Acts 8:32; James 3:11, etc.).
PLACE, BROAD; HIGH See CITY, II, 3, 2; HIGH PLACE; OPEN PLACE.
PLAGUE <plag > ([ [g”n, , negha` ], [ hK;m” , makkah ], [ hp;Gem” , maggephah ]; [ma>stix, mastix ], [plhgh>, plege ]): This word which occurs more than 120 times is applied, like pestilence, to such sudden outbursts of disease as are regarded in the light of divine visitations. It is used in the description of leprosy about 60 times in Leviticus 13 and 14, as well as in Deuteronomy 24:8. In the poetical, prophetic and eschatological books it occurs about 20 times in the general sense of a punitive disaster. The Gospel references ( Mark 3:10; 5:29,34; Luke 7:21) use the word as a synonym for disease.
The specific disease now named “plague” has been from the earliest historic times a frequent visitant to Palestine and Egypt. Indeed in the Southeast between Gaza and Bubastis it has occurred so frequently that it may almost be regarded as endemic. The suddenness of its attack, the shortness of its incubation period and the rapidity of its course give it the characters which of old have been associated with manifestations of divine anger. In the early days of an epidemic it is no infrequent occurrence that 60 per cent of those attacked die within three days. I have seen a case in which death took place ten hours after the first symptoms. In the filthy and insanitary houses of eastern towns, the disease spreads rapidly. In a recent epidemic in one village of 534 inhabitants 311 died within 21 days, and I once crossed the track of a party of pilgrims to Mecca of whom two-thirds died of plague on the road. Even with modern sanitary activity, it is very difficult to root it out, as our recent experiences in Hong Kong and India have shown.
Of the Biblical outbreaks that were not improbably bubonic plague, the first recorded is the slaughter of the firstborn in Egypt — the 10th plague.
We have too little information to identify it ( Exodus 11:1). The Philistines, however, used the same name, negha`, for the Egyptian plagues ( 1 Samuel 4:8) as is used in Exodus. The next outbreak was at Kibrothhataavah ( Numbers 11:33). This was synchronous with the phenomenal flight of quails, and if these were, as is probable, driven by the wind from the plague-stricken Serbonian region, they were equally probably the carriers of the infection. Experience in both India and China has shown that animals of very diverse kinds can carry germs of the disease. A third visitation fell on the spies who brought back an evil report ( Numbers 14:37). A fourth destroyed those who murmured at the destruction of Korah and his fellow-rebels ( Numbers 16:47). These may have been recrudescences of the infection brought by the quails. The fifth outbreak was that which followed the gross religious and moral defection at, Baalpeor ( Numbers 25:8,9,18; 26:1; 31:16; Joshua 22:17; <19A629> Psalm 106:29,30). Here the disease was probably conveyed by the Moabites.
A later epidemic, which was probably of bubonic plague, was that which avenged the capture of the ark ( 1 Samuel 5:6). We read of the tumors which were probably the glandular enlargements characteristic of this disease; also that at the time there was a plague of rats ( 1 Samuel 6:5) — “mice,” in our version, but the word is also used as the name of the rat.
The cattle seem to have carried the plague to Beth-shemesh, as has been observed in more than one place in China ( 1 Samuel 6:19). Concerning the three days’ pestilence that followed David’s census ( 2 Samuel 24:15; 1 Chronicles 21:12), see Josephus, Ant, VII, xiii, 3. The destruction of the army of Sennacherib may have been a sudden outbreak of plague ( 2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36). It is perhaps worthy of note that in Herodotus’ account of the destruction of this army (ii.141) he refers to the incursion of swarms of mice.
One of the latest prophetic mentions of plague is Hosea 13:14, where the plague (debher , Septuagint dike ) of death and the destruction (qaTabh , Septuagint kentron ) of the grave are mentioned. From this passage Paul quotes his apostrophe at the end of 1 Corinthians 15:55, but the apostle correlates the sting (kentron ) with death, and changes the dike into nikos . Alexander Macalister PLAGUES OF EGYPT <plagz > ([ taol]p]ni , niphle’oth ], “wonders “from [ al;P; , pala’ ], “to be separate,” i.e. in a class by themselves; also called [ tg,n, , negheph ], “plague,” from [ tg”n; , naghaph ], “to smite” ( Exodus 9:14), and [ [g”n, , negha` ], “a stroke,” from [ [g”n; , nagha` ], “to touch” ( Exodus 11:1; compare Joshua 24:10)):
INTRODUCTION:
The Hebrew words are so used as to give the name “plagues” to all the “wonders” God did against Pharaoh. Thus, it appears that the language in the account in Exodus puts forward the wondrous character of these dealings of Yahweh with Pharaoh. The account of the plagues is found in Exodus 7:8 through 12:31; Psalm 78:42-51; 105:27-36. These poetical accounts of the plagues have a devotional purpose and do not give a full historical narrative. Psalm 78 omits plagues 4, 6, 9; Psalm 105 omits plagues 5 and 6. Both psalms change the order of the plagues. Account of the preparation which led up to the plagues is found in the narrative of the burning bush (see BURNING BUSH), the meeting of Aaron with Moses, the gathering together of the elders of Israel for instruction and the preliminary wonders before Pharaoh (Exodus 3; 4). This preparation contemplated two things important to be kept in view in considering the plague, namely, that the consummation of plagues was contemplated from the beginning ( Exodus 4:22,23), and that the skepticism of Israel concerning Moses authority and power was likewise anticipated ( Exodus 4:1). It was thus manifestly not an age of miracles when the Israelites were expecting such “wonders” and ready to receive anything marvelous as a divine interposition. This skepticism of Israel is a valuable asset for the credibility of the account of the “wonders.” The immediate occasion of the plagues was the refusal of Pharaoh to let the people have liberty for sacrifice, together with the consequent hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. No indication of any localizing of the plagues is given except in Psalm 78:12,43, where the “field of Zoan” is mentioned as the scene of the contest between Yahweh and the Egyptians. But this is poetry, and the “field of Zoan” means simply the territory of the great capital Zoan. This expression might be localized in the Delta or it might extend to the whole of Egypt. Discussion of the plagues has brought out various classifications of them, some of which are philosophical, as that of Philo, others fanciful, as that of Origen. Arrangements of the order of the plagues for the purpose of moralizing are entirely useless for historical consideration of the plagues.
The only order of any real value is the order of Nature, i.e. the order in which the plagues occurred, which will be found to be the order of the natural phenomena which were the embodiment of the plagues.
Much elaborate effort has been made to derive from the description of the plagues evidence for different documents in the narrative. It is pointed out that Moses (E) declared to Pharaoh that he would smite the waters ( Exodus 7:17), and then the account, as it proceeds, tells us that Aaron smote the waters ( Exodus 7:19,20). But this is quite in accord with the preceding statement ( Exodus 4:16) that Aaron was to be the spokesman. Moses was to deal with God, Aaron with Pharaoh. Again it is noticed that some of the plagues are ascribed to the immediate agency of Yahweh, some are represented as coming through the mediation of Moses, and still others through the mediation of Moses and Aaron. Certainly this may be an exact statement of facts, and, if the facts were just so, the record of the facts affords no evidence of different documents.
An examination of the account of the plagues as it stands will bring them before us in a most graphic and connected story. 1. THE NATURAL PHENOMENA.
All the “wonders” represented anywhere in Scripture as done by the power of God are intimately associated with natural phenomena, and necessarily so. Human beings have no other way of perceiving external events than through those senses which only deal with natural phenomena.
Accordingly, all theophanies and miraculous doings are embodied in natural events.
The presence of Yahweh with the sacrifice by Abraham was manifested by the passing of a “smoking furnace and a burning lamp” between the pieces of the offerings ( Genesis 15:17 the King James Version). The majesty and power of God at Sinai were manifested in the “cloud” and the “brightness,” the “voice” and the “sound of a trumpet” ( Hebrews 12:19). The Holy Spirit descended “as a dove” ( Matthew 3:16). The Deity of Jesus was attested on the mountain by a “voice” ( Matthew 17:5). Jesus Himself was “God .... manifest in the flesh” ( 1 Timothy 3:16 the King James Version). He was “found in fashion as a man’ ( Philippians 2:8). And all the miracles of Jesus were coupled with sensible phenomena: He spoke to the sea and it was calm; He touched the leper and he was clean; He called to Lazarus and he came forth.
Yet in all these natural events, the miraculous working of God was as clearly seen as the natural phenomena. It is thus to be expected that the “wonders” of God in the land of Pharaoh should also be associated with natural events as well as manifest miraculous elements. The “blood” in the river, the “frogs” hopping about on the land, the “lice,” the “flies,” the “murrain,” the “boils,” the “hail,” the “locusts,” the “darkness,” and the “pestilence” are all named as natural phenomena. Long familiarity with the land of Egypt has made it perfectly plain to many intelligent people, also, that nearly, if not quite, all the plagues of Egypt are still in that land as natural phenomena, and occur, when they do occur, very exactly in the order in which we find them recorded in the narrative in Exodus. But natural events in the plagues as in other “wonders” of God embodied miraculous doings. 1. Water Turned to Blood: The first of the plagues ([ µD; , dam ], from [ µd”a; , ‘adham ], “to be red” ( Exodus 7:19-25)) was brought about by the smiting of the water with the rod in the hand of Aaron, and it consisted in the defilement of the water so that it became as “blood.” The waters were polluted and the fish died.
Even the water in vessels which had been taken from the river became corrupt. The people were forced to get water only from wells in which the river water was filtered through the sand. There are two Egyptian seasons when, at times, the water resembles blood. At the full Nile the water is sometimes of a reddish color, but at that season the water is quite potable and the fish do not die. But a similar phenomenon is witnessed sometimes at the time of the lowest Nile just before the rise begins. Then also the water sometimes becomes defiled and very red, so polluted that the fish die (Bib. Sacra, 1905, 409). This latter time is evidently the time of the first plague. It would be some time in the month of May. The dreadful severity of the plague constituted the “wonder” in this first plague. The startling character of the plague is apparent when it is remembered that Egypt is the product of the Nile, the very soil being all brought down by it, and its irrigation being constantly dependent upon it. Because of this it became one of the earliest and greatest of the gods (Breasted, Development of Religion and Thought in Egypt, 3-47; “Hymn to the Nile,” Records of the Past, New Series, III, 46-54). The magicians imitated this plague with their enchantments. Their success may have been by means of sleight of hand or other devices of magic, as may be seen in the East today, with claim of supernatural aid, and as used in western lands for entertainment, as mere cleverness. Or it may be, as has been suggested, that they counted upon the continuance of the plague for at least a time, and so took advantage of the materials the “wonder” had provided. 2. The Plague of Frogs: Frogs ([ µy[iD]r]p”x] , tsphardeim ], probably “marsh-leapers” ( Exodus 8:1-15)) are very abundant just after the high Nile when the waters begin to recede. Spawn in the mud is hatched by the sun, and the marshes are filled with myriads of these creatures. The frog was the hieroglyph for myriads. The frogs usually remain in the marshes, but in this case they came forth to the horror and disgust of the people. “Frogs in the houses, frogs in the beds, frogs baked with the food in the ovens, frogs in the kneading troughs worked up with the flour; frogs with their monotonous croak, frogs with their cold slimy skins, everywhere — from morning to night, from night to morning — frogs.” The frog was also associated with Divinity, was the symbol of Heqt, a form of Hathor, and seems also at times to have been worshipped as divinity. This plague created such horror that thus early Pharaoh came to an agreement ( Exodus 8:8-10). A time was set for the disappearance of the frogs that he might know that “there is none like unto Yahweh our God,” but when the frogs were dead, Pharaoh hardened his heart ( Exodus 8:15). In this plague “the magicians did in like manner with their enchantments” ( Exodus 8:7). Frogs were plentiful, and it would not seem to be difficult to claim to have produced some of them. 3. The Plague of Lice: It is impossible to determine what particular troublesome insect pest of Egypt is meant by the 3rd plague, whether body-lice or mosquitoes or sandflies or ticks or fleas ([ µNiKi , kinnim ], “gnats” ( Exodus 8:16)).
Those who have experience of these pests in Egypt are quite ready to accept any of them as adequate for the plague. Lice seem rather to be ruled out, unless different kinds of lice were sent, as there is no one kind that torments both man and beast. All the other insect pests appear in incredible numbers out of the “dust” when the pools have dried up after the receding of the waters. The assertion that the account of this plague is not complete, because it is not recorded that Pharaoh asked its removal or that Moses secured it, is amazing. Perhaps Pharaoh did not, in fact, ask its removal.
There seems also at this time some difficulty in Moses having access to Pharaoh after this plague ( Exodus 8:20). Perhaps the plague was not removed at all. The Egyptians are disposed to think it was not! Certainly that season of the year spent in Egypt, not in a dahabiyeh on the Nile, but in a native village, will furnish very satisfying evidence that stinging and biting insects are a very real plague in Egypt yet. The magicians failed with their enchantments and acknowledged that divine power was at work, and seem to have acknowledged that Yahweh was supreme ( Exodus 8:19), but Pharaoh would not heed them. 4. The Plague of Flies: As the seasons pass on, after the recession of the waters, the flies ([ bro[; , `arobh ], “swarms,” probably of flies ( Exodus 8:20-32)) become more and more numerous until they are almost a plague every year. The increased severity of this plague, and the providential interference to separate between Israel and the Egyptians, drove Pharaoh and his people to such desperation that Pharaoh gave a half-promise of liberty for Israel to sacrifice “in the land.” This called out the statement that they would sacrifice the “abomination of the Egyptians.” This may have referred to the sacrifice of sheep, which were always held in more or less detestation by Egyptians, or it may have had reference to the sacrifice of heifers, the cow being the animal sacred to the goddess Hathor. The new element of separation between the Israelites and the Egyptians introduced into this plague was another step toward establishing the claims of Yahweh to be the God of all the earth and to have taken Israel under His especial care. 5. The Plague of Murrain: In addition to the separation established between Israel and the Egyptians, a definite time is now set for the coming of the 5th plague. It is to be noticed also that diseases of cattle ([ rb,D, , debher ], “destruction” ( Exodus 9:1-7)) and of men follow quickly after the plague of insects.
This is in exact accord with the order of Nature as now thoroughly understood through the discovered relation of mosquitoes and flies to the spread of diseases. Rinderpest is still prevalent at times in Egypt, so that beef becomes very scarce in market and is sometimes almost impossible to obtain. It is a fact, also, that the prevalence eft cattle plague, the presence of boils among men (see 6, below) and the appearance of bubonic plague are found to be closely associated together and in this order. The mention of camels as affected by this plague is interesting. It is doubtful if any clear indication of the presence of the camel in Egypt so early as this has yet been found among the monuments of Egypt. There is in the Louvre museum one small antiquity which seems to me to be intended for the camel. But Professor Maspero does not agree that it is so. It would seem likely that the Hyksos, who were Bedouin princes, princes of the desert, would have introduced the beasts of the desert into Egypt. If they did so, that may have been sufficient reason that the Egyptians would not picture it, as the Hyksos and all that was theirs were hated in Egypt. 6. The Plague of Boils: In the plague of boils ([ ˆyjiv] , shechin ], and [ t[oBu[]b”a\ , ‘abha`bu`oth ], “boils” ( Exodus 9:8-17)) ashes were used, probably in the same way and to the same end as the clay was used in opening the eyes of the blind man ( John 9:6), i.e. to attract attention and to fasten the mind of the observer upon what the Lord was doing. This plague in the order of its coming, immediately after the murrain, and in the description given of it and in the significant warning of the “pestilence” yet to come ( Exodus 9:15), appears most likely to have been pestis minor, the milder form of bubonic plague. Virulent rinder-pest among cattle in the East is regarded as the precursor of plague among men and is believed to be of the same nature. It may well be, as has been thought by some, that the great aversion of the ancient Egyptians to the contamination of the soil by decaying animals was from the danger thereby of starting an epidemic of plague among men (Dr. Merrins, Biblical Sacra, 1908, 422-23). 7. The Plague of Hail: Hail ([ dr;B; , baradh ], “hail” ( Exodus 9:18-35)) is rare in Egypt, but is not unknown. The writer has himself seen a very little, and has known of one instance when a considerable quantity of hail as large as small marbles fell. Lightning, also, is not as frequent in Egypt as in many semi-tropical countries, yet great electric storms sometimes occur. This plague is quite accurately dated in the seasons of the year ( Exodus 9:31,32). As the first plague was just before the rising of the Nile, so this one is evidently about 9 months later, when the new crops after the inundation were beginning to mature, January-February. This plague also marks another great step forward in the revelation of Yahweh to Israel and to the Egyptians. First only His power was shown, then His wisdom in the timing of the plagues, and now His mercy appears in the warning to all godlydisposed Egyptians to save themselves, their herds and their servants by keeping all indoors ( Exodus 9:19-21). Pharaoh also now distinctly acknowledged Yahweh ( Exodus 9:27). 8. The Plague of Locusts: The plague of locusts ([ hB,r]a” , ‘arbeh ], “locust” ( Exodus 10:1-20)) was threatened, and so frightened were the servants of Pharaoh that they persuaded him to try to make some agreement with Moses, but the attempt of Pharaoh still to limit in some way the going of Israel thwarted the plan ( Exodus 10:7-10). Then devouring swarms of locusts came up over the land from the eastern desert between the Nile and the Red Sea. They devoured every green thing left by the hail. The desperate situation created by the locusts soon brought Pharaoh again to acknowledgment of Yahweh ( Exodus 10:16). This was the greatest profession of repentance yet manifested by Pharaoh, but he soon showed that it was deceitful, and again he would not let the people go. When the wind had swept the locusts away, he hardened his heart once more. 9. The Plague of Darkness: The progress of the seasons has been quite marked from the first plague, just before the rising of the waters, on through the year until now the khamsin period ([ Ëv,j , choshekh ], “darkness” from any cause ( Exodus 10:21-29)) has come. When this dreadful scourge comes with its hot sandladen breath, more impenetrable than a London fog, it is in very truth a “darkness which may be felt.” The dreadful horror of this monster from the desert can hardly be exaggerated. Once again Pharaoh said “Go,” but this time he wished to retain the flocks and herds, a hostage for the return of the people ( Exodus 10:24). Upon Moses’ refusal to accept this condition, he threatened his life. Why had he not done so ere this? Why, indeed, did he let this man Moses come and go with such freedom, defying him and his people in the very palace? Probably Moses’ former career in Egypt explains this. If, as is most probable, he had grown up at court with this Merenptah, and had been known as “the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,” heir to the throne and successor to Rameses II, instead of Merenptah, then this refugee had undoubtedly many friends still in Egypt who would make his death a danger to the reigning Pharaoh. 10. Death of the Firstborn: No intimation is given of the exact character of the death inflicted on the firstborn ([ rwOkB] , bekhor ], “firstborn,” “chief” or “best”; compare Job 18:13; Isaiah 14:30 (Exodus 11 through 12:36)) by the angel of the Lord, or its appearance. But it is already foretold as the “pestilence” ( Exodus 9:15). The pestis major or virulent bubonic plague corresponds most nearly in its natural phenomena to this plague. It culminates in a sudden and overwhelming virulence, takes the strongest and best, and then subsides with startling suddenness.
Thus, it appears that probably all the plagues were based upon natural phenomena which still exist in Egypt in the same order, and, when they do occur, find place somewhere during the course of one year. 2. MIRACULOUS USE OF THE PHENOMENA.
The miraculous elements in the plagues are no less distinctly manifest than the natural phenomena themselves. 1. Intensification: There was an intensification of the effect of the various plagues so much beyond all precedent as to impress everyone as being a special divine manifestation, and it was so. There was national horror of the blood-like water, disgust at the frogs, intolerable torture by the stinging insects and flies, utter ruin of the farmers in the loss of the cattle, the beating down of the crops by the hail, and the devouring of every green thing by the locusts, the sufferings and dread of the inhabitants by reason of the boils, the frightful electric storm, the suffocating darkness and, finally, the crushing disaster of the death of the firstborn. All these calamities may be found in Egypt to the present day, but never any of them, not to say all of them, in such overwhelming severity. That all of them should come in one year and all with such devastation was plainly a divine arrangement. Merely natural events do not arrange themselves so systematically. In this systematic severity were seen miracles of power. 2. Prediction: The prediction of the plagues and the fulfillment of the prediction at the exact time to a day, sometimes to an hour (as the cessation of the thunder and lightning): There was first a general prediction ( Exodus 3:19,20; 7:3; 9:14,15) and an indication as the plagues went on that the climax would be pestilence ( Exodus 9:15). Then several of the plagues were specifically announced and a time was set for them; e.g. the flies ( Exodus 8:23), the murrain ( Exodus 9:5), the hail ( Exodus 9:18), the locusts ( Exodus 10:4), the death of the firstborn ( Exodus 11:4).
In some cases a time for the removal of the plague was also specified: e.g. the frogs ( Exodus 8:10), the thunder and lightning ( Exodus 9:29). In every instance these predictions were exactly fulfilled. In some instances careful foresight might seem to supply in part this ability to predict.
Perhaps it was by means of such foresight that the magicians “did so with their enchantments” for the first two plagues. The plague being in existence, foresight might safely predict that it would continue for a little time at least, so that, if the magicians sought for bloody water or called for frogs, they would seem to be successful. But the evidence which Yahweh produced went beyond them, and, at the third plague, they were unable to do anything. These things postulate, on the part of Moses and Aaron, knowledge far beyond human ken. Not only magicians could not do so with their enchantments, but modern science and discoveries are no more able so to predict events. Even meteorological phenomena are only predicted within the limits of reasonable foresight. Such wonders as the plagues of Egypt can in no wise be explained as merely natural. The prediction was a miracle of knowledge. 3. Discrimination: The discrimination shown in the visitation by the plagues presents another miraculous element more significant and important than either the miracles of power or the miracles of knowledge. God put a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites, beginning with the plague of flies and continuing, apparently, without exception, until the end. Such miracles of moral purpose admit of no possible explanation but the exercise of a holy will. Merely natural events make no such regular, systematic discriminations. 4. Orderliness and Increasing Severity: The orderliness and gradually increasing severity of the plagues with such arrangement as brought “judgment upon the gods of Egypt,” vindicating Yahweh as Ruler over all, and educating the people to know Yahweh as Lord of all the earth, present an aspect of events distinctly non-natural.
Such method reveals also a divine mind at work. 5. Arrangement to Accomplish Divine Moral Purpose: Last of all and most important of all, the plagues were so arranged as to accomplish in particular a great divine moral purpose in the revelation of God to the Israelites, to the Egyptians and to all the world. This is the distinctive mark of every real miracle. And this leads us directly to the consideration of the most important aspect of the plagues. 3. DIVINE MORAL PURPOSE. 1. Discrediting of the gods of Egypt: This discrediting of the gods of Egypt is marked at every step of the progress of the plagues, and the accumulated effect of the repeated discrediting of the gods must have had, and, indeed, had, a great influence upon the Egyptians. The plagues did `execute judgment against the gods of Egypt’ ( Exodus 12:12), and the people and princes brought great pressure to bear upon Pharaoh to let the people go ( Exodus 10:7). The magicians who claimed to represent the gods of Egypt were defeated, Pharaoh himself, who was accounted divine, was humbled, the great god, the Nile, was polluted, frogs defiled the temples and, at last, the sun, the greatest god of Egypt, was blotted out in darkness. 2. Pharaoh Made to Know that Yahweh Is Lord: Pharaoh was made to know that Yahweh is Lord, and acknowledged it ( Exodus 9:27; 10:16). To this end the issue was clearly drawn. Pharaoh challenged the right of Yahweh to command him ( Exodus 5:2), and God required him then to “stand” to the trial until the evidence could be fully presented, in accordance with the fundamental principle that he who makes a charge is bound to stand to it until either he acknowledges its utter falsity or affords opportunity for full presentation of evidence. So we see God made Pharaoh to “stand” ( Exodus 9:16) (while the Bible, which speaks in the concrete language of life, calls it the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart) until the case was tried out (compare Lamb, Miracle of Science, 126-49). 3. Revelation of God as Saviour: A more blessed and gracious moral purpose of the plagues was the revelation of God as the Saviour of the world. This began in the revelation at the burning bush, where God, in fire, appeared in the bush, yet the bush was not consumed, but saved. This revelation, thus given to the people, was further evidenced by the separation between Israel and the Egyptians; was made known even to the Egyptians by the warning before the plague of hail, that those Egyptians who had been impressed with the power of God might also learn that He is a God that will save those who give heed unto Him; and, at last, reached its startling climax when the angel of the Lord passed over the blood-marked door the night of the death of the firstborn and the institution of the Passover. 4. Exhibition of the Divine Use of Evil: Last of all, the plagues had a great moral purpose in that they embodied the divine use of evil in the experience of men in this world. As the experience of Job illustrates the use of evil in the life of the righteous, so the plagues of Egypt illustrate the same great problem of evil in the lot of the wicked.
In the one case, as in the other, the wonders of God are so arranged as “to justify the ways of God to men.”
The minutely accurate knowledge of life in Egypt displayed by this narrative in the Book of Exodus is inconceivable in an age of so little and difficult intercommunication between nations, except by actual residence of the author in Egypt. This has an important bearing upon the time of the composition of this narrative, and so upon the question of its author.
LITERATURE.
The literature of this subject is almost endless. It will suffice to refer the reader to all the general comms., and the special commentaries on Exodus, for discussion of doctrinal and critical questions. Two admirable recent discussions of the plagues, in English, are Lamb, Miracle of Science, and Merrins, “The Plagues of Egypt,” in Bibliotheca Sacra, 1908, July and October. M. G. Kyle PLAIN <plan > (1) [ rK;Kings , kikkar ], “circle” “talent,” or “round loaf”; (2) [ rwOvymi , mishor ], from [ rv”y; , yashar ], “to be level”; compare Arabic maisur , “that which is easy”; (3) [ h[;q]Bi , biqah ]; compare Arabic baq`at , “a plot of ground” or “a wet meadow”; (4) [ hb;r;[\ , `arabhah ]; (5) [ hl;pev] , shephelah ]; (6) [to>pov pedino>v, topos pedinos ] ( Luke 6:17); (7) [ ˆwOlae , ‘elon ]; compare [ hl;ae , elah ], and [ ˆwOLa” , ‘allon ] “oak” ( Genesis 35:4,8, etc.); also [ hl;ae , ‘elah ], “Elah” ( 1 Samuel 17:2); (8) [ lbea; , ‘abhel ]): See NATURAL FEATURES. (1) Kikkar , when meaning “plain” usually refers to the alluvial plain about Jericho near the north end of the Dead Sea: “Plain (the Revised Version margin “circle”) of the Jordan” ( Genesis 13:10,11; 1 Kings 7:46; 2 Chronicles 4:17); “Plain of the valley of Jericho” ( Deuteronomy 34:3); “cities of the Plain” ( Genesis 13:12; 19:29); “all the Plain” ( Genesis 19:17,25); “by the way of the Plain” ( 2 Samuel 18:23); but “the plain round about Jerusalem” ( Nehemiah 12:28). See CICCAR; CIRCLE. (2) Mishor , English Versions of the Bible “plain,” the Revised Version margin usually “table-land,” clearly refers in most places to the highlands of Gilead and Moab, East of the Jordan and the Dead Sea; e.g. Joshua 13:9, “the plain (the Revised Version margin “table-land”) of Medeba.” (3) Biq`ah is more often translated “valley” (which see). (4) `Arabhah is in the Revised Version (British and American) often translated “the Arabah,” denoting the whole Jordan-Dead-Sea-Arabah depression = Arabic Ghaur (Ghor). In Deuteronomy 11:30, the King James Version has “champaign” (which see). The “plains of Moab” ( Numbers 22:1; 26:3,13; 31:12; 33:48,49,50; 35:1; 36:13; Deuteronomy 34:1,8; Joshua 13:32) and “plains of Jericho” ( Joshua 4:13; 5:10; 2 Kings 25:5; Jeremiah 39:5; 52:8) are the low plain or ghaur North of the Dead Sea. `Arabhah is here equivalent to kikkar (see above). Note the distinction between mishor used of the highlands, and kikkar and `arabhah used of the ghaur. See ARABAH. (5) Shephelah is by the Revised Version (British and American) throughout translated “lowland” (which see), and includes the western slopes of the Judean hills and the maritime plain. (6) Topos pedinos occurs only in Luke 6:17. (7) `Elon is translated “plain” in the King James Version: “plain of Moreh” ( Genesis 12:6; Deuteronomy 11:30); “plain (or plains) of Mamre” ( Genesis 13:18; 14:13; 18:1); “plain of Zaanaim” ( Judges 4:11); “plain of the pillar” ( Judges 9:6); “plain of Meonenim” ( Judges 9:37); “plain of Tabor” ( 1 Samuel 10:3). the Revised Version (British and American) has throughout “oak,” the Revised Version margin “terebinth”; compare “oak” ( Genesis 35:4,8, etc.) and “vale of Elah” ( 1 Samuel 17:2,19; 21:9). (8) ‘Abhel keramim ( Judges 11:33) is in the King James Version “the plain of the vineyards,” the Revised Version (British and American) “Abelcheramim,” the Revised Version margin “the meadow of vineyards.”
Elsewhere in English Versions of the Bible ‘abhel is “Abel” or “Abel.” See ABEL-CHERAMIM; MEADOW. Alfred Ely Day PLAIN; PLAINLY <plan > , <plan’-li > : In Genesis 25:27, the King James Version “plain” represents [ µT” , tam ]. If a contrast between the vocations of Jacob and Esau is meant, the Revised Version (British and American) (“quiet,” margin “harmless”) may be right. But elsewhere ( Job 1:1; Psalm 37:37, etc.) the word means “perfect,” and so probably here; the failings of the great patriarch did not detract from the general estimate of him ( Matthew 8:11). In Ezra 4:18 “translated” (Revised Version margin) is better than “plainly read.”
PLAIN, CITIES OF THE See CITIES OF THE PLAIN.
PLAIN OF MOAB In Deuteronomy 1:1; 2:8, “plain” is translated in the Revised Version (British and American) “Arabah,” and explained, “the deep valley running North and South of the Dead Sea.” It was here that Moses delivered his last addresses. Ususally the word is plural ([ twObr][“ , `arebhoth ]), the “plains” or steppes of Moab ( Numbers 22:1, etc.; Deuteronomy 34:1,8). An interesting description is given in an article on “The Steppes of Moab” by Professor G. B. Gray in The Expositor, January, 1905. See MOAB.
PLAIN OF THE PILLAR ([ bX;mu ˆwOlae , ‘elon mutstsbh ]; Codex Vaticanus reads [pro PLAISTER <plas’-ter > . See PLASTER.
PLAITING <plat’-ing > , <plat’-ing > (from the Old French, pleit, which is from the Latin plicatum, “fold”): An interweaving, a braiding, a knot; an elaborate gathering of the hair into knots; [ejmplokh>, emploke ], “outward adorning of plaiting the hair” ( 1 Peter 3:3). Compare “platted” (crown of thorns) ( Matthew 27:29 parallel Mark 15:17; John 19:2). See BRAIDED, BRAIDING.
PLANE <plan > ( Isaiah 44:13). See TOOLS.
PLANE TREE <plan’-tre > ([ ˆwOmr][“ , ‘armon ]; [pla>tanov, platanos ] ( Genesis 30:37), [ejla>th, elate ] (“pine” or “fir”) ( Ezekiel 31:8); the King James Version chestnut): `Armon is supposed to be derived from the root [ µr”[; , aram ], meaning “to be bare” or “naked”; this is considered a suitable term for the plane, which sheds its bark annually. The chestnut of the King James Version is not an indigenous tree, but the plane (Planus orientalis ) is one of the finest trees in Palestine, flourishing especially by water courses (compare Ecclesiasticus 24:14).
PLANETS <plan’-ets > ([ twOlZ;m” , mazzaloth ]). See ASTROLOGY, II, 3.
PLANK <plank > : Thick beams or pieces of wood, for which several Hebrew words are used. The Revised Version (British and American) changes “planks” (of fir) into “boards” in 1 Kings 6:15, and in a few instances substitutes “planks” where the King James Version has “boards” ( Exodus 27:8; 38:7, the altar; Ezekiel 27:5). So in the New Testament in Acts 27:44, for [sani>v, sanis ]. See SHIPS AND BOATS, II, 2, (3).
PLANT, PLANTS See BOTANY.
PLASTER (1) <plas’-ter > ([ dyci , sidh ]): In Egypt, now as in ancient times, the buildings are plastered inside and out. The poor quality of the stone commonly used makes this necessary if a smooth attractive surface is desired. Among the poorer classes, clay mixed with straw is used. In Palestine and Syria, where there is a rainy season, the coating on the outside walls, if made of clay, must be frequently renewed. In Egypt burnt gypsum, and in Palestine and Syria burnt limestone (lime) are the commonest materials for making mortar. For the first coat of plastering the lime is mixed with “fat” red sand or with the ash from the bathhouse fires, and the finishing coat is composed of white sand and slaked lime with or without chopped flax straw. The plaster on some of the ancient Egyptian ruins seems to indicate that milk or some similar substance was added to the mortar to give a better surface.
The ancients preferred plastered surfaces for decorating, and even the finest granite was covered with stucco on which to paint or carve the decorations ( Deuteronomy 27:2; Daniel 5:5). Columns were often first stuccoed and then painted.
The Arabic word for mortar is Tin , which really means “clay.” The Hebrew [ dyci , sidh ], literally, “to boil up,” refers to the boiling of the water with which the lime is slaked, because of the heat generated during the slaking process. In Daniel 5:5 occurs [ ryGi , gir ], i.e. “burned in a kiln,” which might mean either lime or gypsum. In Leviticus 14:42 occurs [ j”Wf , Tuach ], “to smear.” James A. Patch PLASTER (2) <plas’-ter > ([ jr”m; , marach ]): Only used in Isaiah 38:21 of the application of the cake of figs to the boil from which Hezekiah suffered. In Papyrus Ebers, figs are used as the ingredient in a plaster (xxxv, lxxix, lxxxiii). Dioscorides also recommends figs with other substances as a poultice in some skin diseases.
PLASTERING <plas’-ter-ing > . See CRAFTS, II, 15.
PLATE <plat > : A term seemingly not used in the Bible for a dish as it is so commonly used at present, but always for a tablet or sheet of metal. (1) [ 6yxi , tsits ] ( Exodus 28:36; 39:30; Leviticus 8:9), a plate of gold on the front of the mitre of the high priest. The name seems to have been given because of the radiance of the object. (2) [ jP” , pach ] ( Exodus 39:3; Numbers 16:38), of plates or sheets of metal produced by hammering. (3) [ j”Wl , luach ], used for tablets or tables of stone ( Exodus 24:12, etc.), but in 1 Kings 7:36 for the metal plates on the bases of the lavers in the temple. The word [ ˆr,s, , ceren ], is rendered “plate” in 1 Kings 7:30 the King James Version, manifestly incorrectly, the Revised Version (British and American) “axle.” Walter R. Betteridge PLATTER <plat’-er > : (1) [ hr;[;q] , qe`arah ], “a deep dish” ( Numbers 7:13 f,84,85). In the King James Version and the English Revised Version “charger,” the American Standard Revised Version “platter” (compare Exodus 25:29; 37:16); the Septuagint [tru>blion, trublion ], and in the New Testament rendered “dish” ( Matthew 26:23; Mark 14:20). In Ezra 1:9, the American Standard Revised Version [ lf;r]g”a\ , agharTal ], rendered “platter,” the King James Version and the English Revised Version “chargers”; probably a deep dish or basin used in sacrificial slaughter. (2) [paroyi>v, paropsis ], originally a side dish, for relishes, entrees, but of dishes for food, in general, especially meats, fish, etc., used with [poth>rion, poterion ], “cup” or “drinking vessel” ( Matthew 23:25 f); also [pi>nax, pinax ], originally a large wooden dish or plate ( Luke 11:39); rendered “charger” in Matthew 14:8,11 the King James Version, and Mark 6:25,28 the King James Version and the English Revised Version. Edward Bagby Pollard PLAY <pla > . See GAMES.
PLEAD <pled > : In modern non-legal English is a synonym of “pray” or “beseech,” but in legal phraseology “plea,” “plead,” and “pleading” have a great variety of technical meanings, with “present a case before the court” as the idea common to all. All the uses of “plead” in English Versions of the Bible are connected with this legal sense, so that outside of the set phrase “plead a cause” ( 1 Samuel 24:15, etc.) there is hardly a use of the word in the King James Version, the English Revised Version, or the American Standard Revised Version that is clear modern English The most obscure instances are due to The King James Version’s employment of “plead” to translate the niphal of [ fp”v; , shaphaT ]. ShaphaT means “judge,” so its niphal means “bring oneself into a case to be judged,” “enter into controversy with,” and so “plead” in the legal sense. Hence, “None pleadeth in truth” ( Isaiah 59:4) means “none of their lawsuits are honest.” Accordingly, when God is said to “plead with” man ( Isaiah 66:16 the King James Version, the English Revised Version, etc.), the meaning is that God states His side of the case and not at all that He supplicates man to repent. And this statement by God is a judicial act that of course admits of no reply. Hence, the Revised Version (British and American) has changed “plead with” into “enter into judgment with” in Jeremiah 2:35, and the American Standard Revised Version has carried this change into all the other passages ( Jeremiah 25:31; Ezekiel 17:20; 20:35,36; 38:22), with “execute judgment” in Isaiah 66:16; Joel 3:2. The same verb form occurs also in Isaiah 43:26: “Let us plead together,” where “Let us present our arguments on both sides” would be a fair paraphrase. Otherwise “plead” usually represents [ byri , ribh ], for which the Revised Version (British and American) gives “strive” in place of “plead” in Psalm 35:1, and “contend” in Job 13:19; 23:6 (the American Standard Revised Version also in Judges 6:31,32; Isaiah 3:13; Jeremiah 2:9; 12:1; Hosea 2:2, retaining “plead” only in Isaiah 1:17 and in the phrase “plead a cause”). [ jk”y; , yakhach ], is rendered “plead” in Job 19:5 (“plead against me my reproach,” where the meaning is “convict me of”), in Micah 6:2 the King James Version and the English Revised Version (the American Standard Revised Version “contend”), and Job 16:21 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) “maintain the right”). “Plead” is used also for [ ˆyDi , din ], in Jeremiah 30:13 and Proverbs 31:9 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) “minister justice to”), and Jeremiah 5:28 the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version “judge”; compare Jeremiah 22:16, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) “judge”). the Revised Version (British and American) would have done vastly better if the use of “plead” had been avoided altogether.
Pleadings (i.e. “arguments”) occurs in Job 13:6 (for ribh ), and “plea” (din , in a specific legal sense) in Deuteronomy 17:8. the King James Version uses “implead” in Acts 19:38 for [ejgkale>w, egkaleo ], the Revised Version (British and American) “accuse,” literally, “call into court”; compare also “pleaded the cause” in 2 Macc 4:44 (literally, “argued the case”) and 4:47, the Revised Version (British and American) “pleaded” (literally, “spoken,” the King James Version “told their cause”). Burton Scott Easton PLEASURE <plezh’-ur > ([ 6p,je , chephets ], [ ˆwOxr; , ratson ]; [euJdoki>a, eudokia ], [hJdonh>, hedone ]: “Pleasure” is the translation of various Hebrew words, chiefly of chephets , “inclination,” hence, “pleasure,” “delight” ( Job 21:21, “What pleasure hath he in his house?” the American Standard Revised Version “what careth he for”; 22:3, “Is it any pleasure to the Almighty?”; <19B102> Psalm 111:2; Ecclesiastes 5:4; 12:1; in Isaiah 44:28; 46:10; 48:14; 53:10, it has the sense of will or purpose, “He shall perform all my pleasure,” etc.); of ratson , “delight,” “acceptance,” “good will” ( Ezra 10:11; Nehemiah 9:37; Est 1:8; Psalm 51:18; 103:21, etc.); nephesh , “soul,” “desire” is translated “pleasure” ( Deuteronomy 23:24; <19A522> Psalm 105:22; Jeremiah 34:16).
In the New Testament “pleasure” is the translation of eudokia , “good thought or will,” “good pleasure” ( Luke 2:14 the Revised Version margin; Ephesians 1:5,9; Philippians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:11 the Revised Version (British and American) “every desire of goodness,” margin “Greek: `good pleasure of goodness.’ Compare Romans 10:1”). “To take pleasure or to have pleasure” is eudokeo ( 2 Corinthians 12:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:12; Hebrews 10:6,8,38); eudokeo is once translated “good pleasure” ( Luke 12:32, “It is your father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”); the neuter participle of dokeo, “to think,” etc. — meaning “it seems good to me” — to dokoun , is translated “pleasure” ( Hebrews 12:10, “after their pleasure,” the Revised Version (British and American) “as seemed good to them”); hedone , “sweetness,” “pleasure,” occurs in Luke 8:14; Titus 3:3; 2 Peter 2:13 (referring to the lower pleasures of life); thelema , “wish,” “will” ( Revelation 4:11, the Revised Version (British and American) “because of thy will”); charis , “favor” ( Acts 24:27; 25:9, the Revised Version (British and American) “favor”); spatalao “to live voluptuously” ( Timothy 5:6, the Revised Version (British and American) “she that giveth herself to pleasure”); suneudokeo , “to think well with,” “to take pleasure with others” ( Romans 1:32, the Revised Version (British and American) “consent with”); truphao , “to live luxuriously” ( James 5:5, the Revised Version (British and American) “lived delicately”).
The verb “to pleasure” occurs in 2 Macc 2:27 as the translation of eucharistia , the Revised Version (British and American) “gratitude”; 12:11, ophelesein , the Revised Version (British and American) “to help.” W. L. Walker PLEDGE <plej > (verbs [ lb”j; , chabhal ] (10 times), [ br”[; , `arabh ] ( 2 Kings 18:23 = Isaiah 36:8); nouns [ lb;j\ , chahal ] ( Ezekiel 18:12,16; 33:15), [ hl;boj\ , chabcholah ] ( Ezekiel 18:7), [ hB;ru[\ , `arubbah ]), ( Samuel 17:18), [ ˆwObr;[e , erabhon ] ( Genesis 38:17,18,20); also [ fbo[\ , abhoT ] ( Deuteronomy 24:10-13) and (the Revised Version (British and American) only) [ fyfib][“ , abhTiT ] ( Habakkuk 2:6)): All these words have about the same meaning. (1) The “pledge” is, as in modern English, security given for future payment ( Genesis 38:17-24) or conduct ( Habakkuk 2:6, where the conquered nations have given guaranties of their subserviency to the Chaldeans; the King James Version’s “thick clay” here rests on a misreading of the Hebrew). In 2 Kings 18:23 (= Isaiah 36:8) the “pledge” is a wager (so the Revised Version margin). Rabshakeh mockingly dares Hezekiah to stake a “pledge” that he can produce 2,000 men for the defense of Jerusalem, although the mighty Assyrian host has that number of horses alone. The general point of the obscure passage Proverbs 20:16 (= 27:13) is that he who guarantees strangers needs a guaranty himself. 1 Samuel 17:18 is uncertain and the text may be corrupt. If not, the “pledge” is some (prearranged?) token of the welfare of David’s brethren. (2) Most of the occurrences of “pledge,” however, deal with the debts of the very poor, who had no property that they could spare even temporarily.
Consequently, the exaction of a pledge from such persons worked genuine hardship, and to take a pledge at all was a cruel act ( Job 24:3), although of course the dishonesty of withholding a pledge ( Ezekiel 18:7; 33:15) was worse. Lowest in the scale was the creditor who took the garment the borrower was wearing ( Amos 2:8; Job 22:6; 24:9 margin), and special legislation controlled this practice. A garment (the outer “cloak” — see DRESS — not worn while doing manual labor) so taken must be restored at night ( Exodus 22:26; Deuteronomy 24:12,13), for it was the usual covering of the sleeper. (Apparently, though, the creditor regained custody of it in the daytime until the debt was paid.) A widow’s clothing, however, was entirely exempt ( Deuteronomy 24:17), as was the handmill used for bread-making ( Deuteronomy 24:6). The lender had no right of entry into the borrower’s house to obtain the pledge ( Deuteronomy 24:10,11), but it is not said that he could not dictate what he would accept; indeed, the contrary is inconceivable. (3) the American Standard Revised Version gives “pledge” for the King James Version and the English Revised Version “faith” in 1 Timothy 5:12. See also EARNEST.
Burton Scott Easton PLEIADES <pli’-a-dez > , <ple’-ya-dez > , <ple’-a-dez > . See ASTROLOGY, 10; ASTRONOMY, II, 10.
PLEROMA <ple-ro’-ma > . See FULNESS, FULLNESS.
PLOW <plou > ([ vr”j; , charash ]; [ajrotrio>w, arotrioo ]): No implement of the Bible is more frequently illustrated today than the plow. This is partly because there is every reason to believe that the plows still used throughout Egypt, Palestine, and Syria are counterparts of the ancient ones. The first plows were probably an adaptation of the ancient Egyptian hoe, where the handle was lengthened in order that animals might be hitched to it. To make it easier to break up the ground, it was pointed, and handles were added by which it could be guided. The ancient plow probably varied in type in different sections of the country, as it does today. In one form a young tree Of oak or other strong wood of a diameter of 3 or 4 inches is cut off just below a good-sized branch and again 15 or 20 inches above. The upper end of the severed trunk is pointed and forms the share. Between this and the side branch is fitted a brace. The branch is cut off 10 or 12 ft. from the trunk and forms the pole. A lighter stick, about 3 ft. long, projects upward from the share and forms the handle. The plow used in Syria is of slightly different construction. The handle and share are one continuous piece, so cut that there is a slight bend at the middle. The share is pointed and is used bare in the plains, or in more stony regions is shod with iron. The pole is of 2 pieces joined end to end. The thicker end of the pole is notched, so that it may be attached firmly to the share. The whole plow is so light that it can be easily carried on a man’s shoulder. These plows literally scratch the soil, as the Hebrew word implies. They do not turn over the ground as the modern implement does.
The plowman guides the plow with one hand, and with the other sometimes goads the oxen, and at other times with the chisel end of his goad breaks away the lumps of earth or other material which impedes the progress of his plow. See YOKE.
In addition to the words which are found above, the following terms occur: [ db”[; , `abhadh ] (literally, “to serve”), “worked” or “plowed” ( Deuteronomy 21:4); [ jl”P; , palach ] (literally, “to break open,” <19E107> Psalm 141:7).
One special law is mentioned in connection with plowing, namely that an ox and an ass should not be yoked together ( Deuteronomy 22:10), a prohibition which is utterly disregarded today. Oxen were principally used for plowing ( Job 1:14). Often several yokes of oxen followed each other plowing parallel furrows across the field, a sight still common on the plains of Syria ( 1 Kings 19:19). Plowing was done by bond servants ( Luke 17:7; compare `abhadh , Deuteronomy 21:4). Plowing cannot be done before the rains ( Jeremiah 14:4); on the other hand the soil is too sticky to plow in the winter time ( Proverbs 20:4). The law requiring one day of rest in every seven days included plowing time ( Exodus 34:21).
Figurative: “The plowers plowed upon my back” typified deep affliction ( <19C903> Psalm 129:3; compare 141:7). “Plow iniquity” is urged in the sense of “plant iniquity.” Doing evil was sure to bring evil consequences ( Job 4:8; compare Micah 3:12). As surely as planting comes after plowing, so surely will Yahweh carry out His decree of destruction ( Isaiah 28:23-25). “Judah shall plow,” i.e. become enslaved ( Hosea 10:11); compare “Foreigners shall be your plowmen” ( Isaiah 61:5). “Will one plow there with oxen?” ( Amos 6:12), “neither plowing nor harvest” ( Genesis 45:6) are figures of desolation. Zion plowed as a field, i.e. utterly destroyed ( Jeremiah 26:18). The plowman shall overtake the reaper, i.e. the soil shall be so fertile as to require no rest — typical of great abundance ( Amos 9:13). No opportunity to plow because of lack of rain is a desolate picture of drought ( Jeremiah 14:4). As the plowman expects to share in the fruits of the harvest, so might an apostle expect his temporal needs to be provided for ( 1 Corinthians 9:10). “If ye had not plowed with my heifer,” i.e. used my wife, was Samson’s reply to those who had secured the answer to his riddle from her ( Judges 14:18). “Beat their swords into plowshares” (or hoes) ( Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3) typified peace; “beat your plowshares into swords” — war ( Joel 3:10). “Having put his hand to the plow, and looking back,” i.e. longing for evil things when one has set his face toward doing what is right, unfits a man for the kingdom of God ( Luke 9:62; compare Genesis 19:26; Philippians 3:13). James A. Patch PLUCKING OFF THE HAIR <pluk’-ing > . See HAIR, 7; PUNISHMENTS.
PLUMB-LINE; PLUMMET <plum’-lin > , <plum’-et > , <plum’-it > . See TOOLS.
POCHERETH-HAZZEBAIM <pok’-e-reth > , <po’-ke-reth > , <po-ke’-reth > , <-ha-ze-ba’-im > ([ µyib;X]h” tr,k,Po , pokhereth hatstsebhayim ] ( Ezra 2:57), or [ µyyib;X]h”P, pokhereth ha-tsebhayim ] ( Nehemiah 7:59), “binder (feminine) of the gazelles”): Name of the head of a post-exilic family. The first word is a feminine Kal participle; compare qoheleth (“preacher”), the Hebrew title of the Book of Eccl. BDB suggests that the feminine is that of office. King James Version has “Pochereth of Zebaim” in Ezra, but Ryle (Cambridge Bible, 235) notes that “of” is not in the 1611 edition POET <po’-et > ([poihth>v, poietes ], “a maker”): Occurs in this sense only in Acts 17:28, where Paul quotes from the general expression of Greek mythology. The quotation if intended to be exact is probably from Aratus, as the words of Paul in his speech at Athens precisely agree with the opening words of the Phaenomena by Aratus. A similar but not identical expression is found in the Hymn to Zeus by Cleanthes. Aratus in his poem endeavors to posit Jupiter as the father and controller of all things, and worthy to be worshipped. In both his poem and that of Cleanthes, but especially in the latter, there is a true and lofty note of spiritual devotion.
Paul takes this praise and devotion offered by the Greek poets to their unknown or fictitious gods and bestows it upon the one true God whom he declared unto the people of Athens. C. E. Schenk POETRY, HEBREW <po’-et-ri > :
By Hebrew poetry in the present article is meant that of the Old Testament.
There is practically no poetry in the New Testament, but, in the Old Testament Apocrypha, Sirach is largely poetical and Wisdom only less so.
Post-Biblical Hebrew poetry could not be discussed here. 1. IS THERE POETRY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT? Poetry Defined: It is impossible to answer this question without first of all stating what poetry really is. The present writer submits the following as a correct definition: “Poetry is verbal composition, imaginative and concrete in matter, and emotional and rhythmic in form.” This definition recognizes two aspects of poetry, the formal and the material. 1. In Matter Concrete and Imaginative The substance of poetry must be concrete — it is philosophy that deals with the abstract; and it has to be the product more or less of the creative imagination. 2. In Form Emotional and Rhythmical It is of the essence of poetry that, like music, it should be expressed in rhythmical but not necessarily in metrical form. Moreover, the language has to be such as will stir up the aesthetic emotions. Adopting this account of poetry as criticism, it may unhesitatingly be affirmed that the Hebrew Scriptures contain a goodly amount of genuine poetry; compare the Psalms, Job, Canticles, etc. It is strange but true that poetical is older than prose written composition. An examination of the literature of the ancient Indians, Babylonians, Hebrews, Greeks and Arabs makes this quite certain. 2. NEGLECT OF HEBREW POETRY: CAUSES.
Notwithstanding the undoubted fact that poetry is largely represented in the Bible, it is noteworthy that this species of Bible literature was almost wholly ignored until the 18th century. We may perhaps ascribe this fact mainly to two causes: (1) Since the Bible was regarded as preeminently, if not exclusively, a revelation of the divine mind, attention was fixed upon what it contained, to the neglect of the literary form in which it was expressed.
Indeed it was regarded as inconsistent with its lofty, divine function to look upon it as literature at all, since in this last the appeal is made, at least to a large extent, to the aesthetic and therefore carnal man. The aim contemplated by Bible writers was practical — the communication of religious knowledge — not literary, and still less artistic. It was therefore regarded as inconsistent with such a high purpose that these writers should trouble themselves about literary embellishment or beautiful language, so long as the sense was clear and unambiguous. It was in this spirit and animated by this conception that toward the middle of the 19th century. Isaac Taylor of Ongar (The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, 1861, 56 ff) and Keil of Dorpat (Introduction to the Old Testament, 1881, I, 437) denied on a priori grounds the presence of epic and dramatic poetry in the Bible. How, they exclaimed, could God countenance the writing of fiction which is untruth — and the epic and the drama have both? Matthew Arnold rendered invaluable service to the cause of Bible science when he fulminated against theologians, Jewish and Christian, for making the Bible a mere collection of proof texts, an arsenal whence religious warriors might get weapons with which to belabor their opponents. “The language of the Bible is fluid .... and literary, not rigid, fixed, scientific” (Preface to the first edition of Literature and Dogma). The Bible contains literature, poetical and prose, equal as literature to the best, as Matthew Arnold, Carlyle, and Froude (on Job) held. The neglect of this aspect of the Scriptures made theologians blind to the presence and therefore ignorant of the character of Bible poetry. (2) Another factor which led to the neglect of the poetical element in the Old Testament is the undoubted fact that Biblical Hebrew poets were less conscious as poets than western poets, and thought much less of the external form in which they expressed themselves. Bible poetry lacks therefore such close adherence to formal rules as that which characterizes Greek, Arabic or English poetry. The authors wrote as they felt and because they felt, and their strong emotions dictated the forms their words took, and not any objective standards set up by the schools. Hebrew poetry is destitute of meter in the strict sense, and also of rhyme, though this last occurs in some isolated cases (see below, III, 1, (4) , c and e) . No wonder then that western scholars, missing these marks of the poetry which they knew best, failed for so long to note the poetry which the Old Testament contains. 3. CHARACTERISTICS OF HEBREW POETRY: EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL.
The definition of poetry accepted in I, above, implies that there are marks by which poetry can be distinguished from prose. This is equally true of Hebrew poetry, though this last lacks some of the features of the poetry of western nations. 1. External or Formal Characteristics: (1) Vocabulary.
There are several Hebrew words which occur most frequently and in some cases exclusively in poetry. In the following list the corresponding prose word is put in parenthesis: [ hL;mi , millah ], “word” (= [ rb;D; , dabhar ]); [ vwOna,] , enosh ], “man” (= [ vyai , ‘ish ]); [ jr”ao , orach ], “way” (= [ Ër,D, , derekh ]); [ hz;j; , chazah ], “to see” (= [ ha;r; , ra’ah ]); the prepositions [ ylea,] , ele ], “to,” [ yde[\ , adhe ], “unto,” [ yle[\ , ale ], “upon,” and [ yNimi , minni ], “from,” instead of the shorter forms [ la,] , el ], [ d[“ , adh ], [ l[“ , al ], and [ ˆmi , min ]. The pronoun [ Wz , zu ], rare in prose, has in poetry the double function of a demonstrative and a relative pronoun in both genders. The negative [ lB” , bal ], is used for [ aOl , lo’ ]. For the inseparable prepositions “b”, “k”, “l” (“in,” “as,” “to”) the separate forms bemo , kemo and lemo are employed. (2) Grammar. (a) Accidence:
The pronominal suffixes have peculiar forms in poetry. For -m , -am , -em (“their,” “them”) we find the longer forms -mo , -amo , -emo . For the plural ending of nouns -n (-in ) takes the place of -m (-im ), as in Aramaic (compare Job 4:2; 12:11), and frequently obsolete case endings are preserved, but their functions are wholly lost. Thus, we have the old nominative ending -o in Psalm 50:10, etc.; the old genitive ending -i in Isaiah 1:21, and the accusative -ah in Psalm 3:3. (b) Syntax:
The article, relative pronoun, accusative singular ‘eth and also the “wawconsecutive” are frequently omitted for the sake of the rhythm. There are several examples of the last in <19B201> Psalm 112:12 ff. The construct state which by rule immediately precedes nouns has often a preposition after it.
The jussive sometimes takes the place of the indicative, and the plural of nouns occurs for the singular. (3) Rhythm.
Rhythm (from [rJuqmo>v, rhuthmos ]) in literary composition denotes that recurrence of accented and unaccented syllables in a regular order which we have in poetry and rhetorical prose. Man is a rhythmic animal; he breathes rhythmically, and his blood circulates — outward and inward — rhythmically. It may be due to these reflex rhythms that the more men are swayed by feeling and the less by reflection and reasoning, the greater is the tendency to do things rhythmically. Man walks and dances and sings and poetizes by the repetition of what corresponds to metrical feet: action is followed by reaction. We meet with a kind of rhythm in elevated and passionate prose, like that of John Ruskin and other writers. Preachers when mastered by their theme unconsciously express themselves in what may be called rhythmic sentences. Though, however, rhythm may be present in prose, it is only in poetry as in music that it recurs at intervals more or less the same. In iambic poetry we get a repetition of a short and long syllable, as in the following lines: “With ravished ears The monarch hears, Assumes the gods, Affects the nods.” — Dryden. (4) Parallelism.
What is so called is a case of logical rhythm as distinguished from rhythm that is merely verbal. But as this forms so important a feature of Bible poetry, it must be somewhat fully discussed. What since Bishop Lowth’s day has been called parallelism may be described as the recurring of symetrically constructed sentences, the several members of which usually correspond to one another. Lowth (died 1787), in his epochmaking work on Hebrew poetry (Deuteronomy Sacra poesi Hebraeorum prelectiones, English translation by G. Gregory), deals with what he (following Jebb) calls Parallelismus membrorum (chapter X). And this was the first serious attempt to expound the subject, though Rabbi Asariah (Middle Ages), Ibn Ezra (died 1167 AD), D. Kimchi (died 1232) and A. de Rossi (1514-1578) called attention to it. Christian Schoettgen (died 1751) (see Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae) anticipated much of what Lowth has written as to the nature, function and value of parallelism. The first to use the word itself in the technical sense was Jebb (Sacred Lit., 1820). For the same thing Ewald used the expression Sinnrhythmus, i.e. sense rhythm, a not unsuitable designation. (a) Kinds of Parallelism:
Lowth distinguished three principal species of parallelism, which he called synonymous, antithetic and synthetic. (i) The Synonymous:
In this the same thing is repeated in different words, e.g. Psalm 36:5: `Yahweh, (i.) Thy lovingkindness (reaches) to the heavens, (ii.) Thy faithfulness (reaches) to the clouds.’
Omitting “Yahweh,” which belongs alike to both members, it will be seen that the rest of the two half-lines corresponds word for word: “thy lovingkindness” corresponding to “thy faithfulness,” and “to the heavens” answering to “to the clouds” (compare Psalm 15:1; 24:1-3; 25:5; Samuel 18:7; Isaiah 6:4; 13:7). (ii) Antithetic Parallelism:
In which the second member of a line (or verse) gives the obverse side of the same thought, e.g. Proverbs 10:1: `A wise son gladdens his father, But a foolish son grieves his mother’ (See Proverbs 11:3; Psalm 37:9; compare Proverbs 10:1 ff; Psalm 20:8; 30:6; Isaiah 54:7 ff). Sometimes there are more than two corresponding elements in the two members of the verse, as in Proverbs 29:27; compare 10:5; 16:9; 27:2. (iii) Synthetic Parallelism:
Called also constructive and epithetic. In this the second member adds something fresh to the first, or else explains it, e.g. Psalm 19:8 f: `The precepts of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart:
The commandments of Yahweh are pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever:
The judgments of Yahweh are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb’ (See Proverbs 1:7; compare 3:5,7; Psalm 1:3; 15:4). In addition to the three principal species of parallelism noticed above, other forms have been traced and described. (iv) Introverted Parallelism: (Jebb, Sacred Lit., 53): in which the hemistichs of the parallel members are chiastically arranged, as in the scheme ab ba. Thus, Proverbs 23:15 f: (a) `My son, if thy heart be wise (b) My heart shall be glad, even mine: (b) Yea, my reins shall rejoice (a) When thy lips speak right things’ (Compare Proverbs 10:4,12; 13:24; 21:17; Psalm 51:3). (v) Palilogical Parallelism:
In which one or more words of the first member are repeated as an echo, or as the canon in music, in the second. Thus, Nahum 1:2: `Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges:
Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath; Yahweh takes vengeance upon His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for his enemies’ (Compare Judges 5:3,6 f,11 f,15 f,23,17; Psalm 72:2,12,17; 121; 124; 126; Isaiah 2:7; 24:5; Hosea 6:4). (vi) Climactic or Comprehensive Parallelism:
In this the second line completes the first. Thus, Psalm 29:1: “Give unto Yahweh, O ye mighty ones, Give unto Yahweh glory and strength” (see Exodus 15:6; Psalm 29:8). (vii) Rhythmical Parallelism: (Deuteronomy Wette, Franz Delitzsch): thus, <19D804> Psalm 138:4: “All the kings of the earth shall give thee thanks ....
For they have heard the words of thy mouth.”
See Proverbs 15:3; compare 16:7,10; 17:13,15; 19:20; 21:23,25.
Perfect parallelism is that in which the number of words in each line is equal. When unequal, the parallelism is called imperfect. Ewald (see Die poetischen Bucher des alten Bundes, I, 57-92; Die Dichter des alten Bundes, I, 91 ff, 2d edition of the former) aimed at giving a complete list of the relations which can be expressed by parallelism, and he thought he had succeeded. But in fact every kind of relation which can be indicated in words may be expressed in two or more lines more or less parallel. On the alleged parallelism of strophes see below. (b) Parallelism as an Aid to Exegesis and Textual Criticism:
If in Lowth’s words parallelism implies that “in two lines or members of the same period things for the most part shall answer to things, and words to words,” we should expect obscure or unknown words to derive some light from words corresponding to them in parallel members or clauses. In not a few cases we are enabled by comparison of words to restore with considerable confidence an original reading now lost. The formula is in a general way as follows: ab: cx. We know what a, b and c mean, but are wholly in the dark as to the sense of x. The problem is to find out what x means. We have an illustration in Judges 5:28, which may be thus literally translated: “Through the window she looked, And Sisera’s mother x through the x.” Here we have two unknown, each, however, corresponding to known terms. The Hebrew verb accompanying “Sisera’s mother” is [ bBey”T]w” , watteyabbebh ], English Versions of the Bible “and .... cried.” But no such verb (yabhabh ) is known, for the Talmud, as usually, follows the traditional interpretation. We want a verb with a meaning similar to “looked.” If we read [ fBeT”w” , wattabbeT ], we have a form which could easily be corrupted into the word in the Massoretic Text, which gives a suitable sense and moreover has the support of the Targums of Onqelos and Jonathan, and even of the Septuagint (Codex Alexandrinus and Lucian). What about the other Hebrew word untranslated above ([ bn;v]a, , ‘eshnabh ])? This occurs in but one other passage ( Proverbs 7:6), where it stands as in the present passage in parallelism with [ ˆwOLj” , challon ], “window” (probably Proverbs 7:6 is dependent). We get no help from etymology or in this case from the VSS, but parallelism had suggested to our translators the meaning “lattice,” a kind of Eastern window, and something of the kind must be meant. The verb shanabh , “to be cool,” may possibly suggest the rendering “window,” i.e. a hole in the wall to secure coolness in the house. Glass windows did not exist in Palestine, and are rare even now. There are innumerable other examples in the Old Testament of the use of parallelism in elucidating words which occur but once, or which are otherwise difficult to understand, and frequently a textual emendation is suggested which is otherwise supported. (c) Prevalence and Value of Parallelism:
Two statements anent parallelism in the Old Testament may be safely made: (i) That it is not a characteristic of all Old Testament poetry. Lowth who had so much to do with its discovery gave it naturally an exaggerated place in his scheme of Hebrew poetry, but it is lacking in the largest part of the poetry of the Old Testament, and it is frequently met with in elevated and rhetorical prose. (ii) That it pervades other poetry than that of the Old Testament. It occurs in Assyria (see A. Jeremias, Die bab-assyr. Vorstellung vom Leben nach dem Tode), in Egypt (Georg Ebers, Nord u. Sud, I), in Finnish, German and English Indeed, A. Wuttke (Der deutsche Volks- Aberglaube der Gegenwart, 1869, 157) and Eduard Norden (Die antike Kunstprosa, 1898, II, 813) maintain that parallelism is the most primitive form of the poetry of all nations. It must nevertheless be admitted that in the Old Testament parallelism has in proportion a larger place than in any other literature and that the correspondence of the parts of the stichs or verses is closer. (5) Other Literary Devices.
Old Testament poetry has additional features which it shares with other oriental and with western poetry. Owing to a lack of space these can be hardly more than enumerated. (a) Alliteration:
E.g. “Round and round the rugged rocks.” We have good examples in the Hebrew of Psalm 6:8 and 27:17. (b) Assonance:
E.g. “dreamy seamy” (see for Bible examples the Hebrew of Genesis 49:17; Exodus 14:14; Deuteronomy 3:2). (c) Rhyme:
There are so few examples of this in the Hebrew Scriptures that no one can regard it as a feature in Hebrew poetry, though in Arabic and even in post- Biblical Hebrew poetry it plays a great part. We have Biblical instances in the Hebrew text of Genesis 4:23; Job 10:8-11; 16:12. (d) Acrostics:
In some poems of the Old Testament half-verses, verses, or groups of verses begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. We have such alphabetical acrostics in Psalms 9 f; 34; 37; Proverbs 31:10 ff; Lamentations 1 through 4; compare Lamentations 5, where the number of verses agrees with that of the Hebrew alphabet, though the letters of that alphabet do not introduce the verses. (e) Meter:
The view of the present writer may be stated as follows: That the poetry of the Hebrew is not in the strict sense metrical, though the writers under the influence of strong emotion express themselves rhythmically, producing often the phenomena which came later to be codified under metrical rules.
Thinking and reasoning and speaking preceded psychology, logic, and grammar, and similarly poetry preceded prosody. In the Old Testament we are in the region of the fact, not of the law. Poets wrote under strong impulse, usually religious, and without recognizing any objective standard, though all the time they were supplying data for the rules of prosody.
Those who think that Old Testament poets had in their minds objective rules of meter have to make innumerable changes in the text. Instead of basing their theory on the original material, they bring their a priori theory and alter the text to suit it. It can be fearlessly said that there is not a single poem in the Old Testament with the same number of syllables, or feet, or accents in the several stichs or hemistichs, unless we introduce violent changes into the Massoretic Text, such as would be resented in classical and other ancient literature. It is important, before coming to any definite conclusion, to take into consideration the fact that the poetry of the Old Testament belongs to periods separated by many centuries, from the Song of Solomon of Deborah (Judges 5), the earliest Hebrew poem, down to the last hymns in the Psalter. In the oldest specimens of Hebrew poetry there is a naive simplicity which excludes the idea of conscious article In the latest the poet is much more conscious, and his poetry more artistic. It would be manifestly unfair to propound a theory of poetry based on the poetry of Keats and Tennyson and to apply it to the productions of Anglo-Saxon and Old English poetry. Bound up in the one volume called the Bible there is a literature differing widely in age, aim and authorship, and it needs care in educing a conception of Hebrews poetry that will apply to all the examples in the Old Testament. The later psalm-acrostic, etc., many of them made up of bits of other psalms, seem to have sprung from a more conscious effort at imitation. If, however, there were among the ancient Hebrews, as there was among the ancient Greeks, a code of prosody, it is strange that the Mishna and Gemara’ should be wholly silent about it. And if some one system underlies our Hebrew Bible, it is strange that so many systems have been proposed. It should be remembered too that the oldest poetry of every people is nonmetrical.
The following is a brief statement of the views advocated: (i) Philo and Josephus, under the influence of Greek models and desiring to show that Hebrew was not inferior to pagan literature, taught that Hebrew poetry had meter, but they make no attempt to show what kind of meter this poetry possesses. (ii) Calmet, Lowth, and Carpzov held that though in the poetry of the Hebrew Bible as originally written and read there must have been metrical rules which the authors were conscious of following, yet, through the corruption of the text and our ignorance of the sounds and accentuation of primitive Hebrew, it is now impossible to ascertain what these metrical rules were. (iii) In their scheme of Hebrew meter Bickell and Merx reckon syllables as is done in classical poetry, and they adopt the Syriac law of accentuation, placing the tone on the penultimate. These writers make drastic changes in the text in order to bolster up their theories. (iv) The dominant and by far the least objectionable theory is that advocated by Ley, Briggs, Duhm, Buhl, Grimme, Sievers, Rothstein and most modern scholars, that in Hebrew prosody the accented syllables were alone counted. If this principle is applied to Job, it will be found that most of the Biblical verses are distichs having two stichs, each with three main accents.
See, for an illustration, Job 12:16: ([ hG,v]m”W ggevo wOl : hY;ciWtw] z[o wOM[i , immo `oz wethushiyah: lo shoghegh umashgeh’ ]: `Strength and effectual working belong to (literally, “are with”) him, he that errs and he that causes to err’). Man’s rhythmical instincts are quite sufficient to account for this phenomenon without assuming that the poet had in mind an objective standard. Those who adopt this last view and apply it rigidly make numerous textual changes. For an examination of the metrical systems of Hubert Grimme, who takes account of quantity as well as accent, and of Eduard Sievers who, though no Hebrew scholar, came to the conclusion after examining small parts of the Hebrew Bible that Hebrew poetry is normally anapaestic, see W.H. Cobb, Criticism of Systems of Hebrew Metre, 152 ff, 169 ff. Herder, Deuteronomy Wette, Hupfeld, Keil, Nowack, Budde, Doller, and Toy reject all the systems of Hebrew meter hitherto proposed, though Budde has a leaning toward Ley’s system. (f) Budde’s Qinah Measure:
Though Budde takes up in general a negative position in regard to Hebrew meter, he pleads strenuously for the existence of one specific meter with which his name is associated. This is what he calls the qinah measure (from [ hn;yqi , qinah ], “a lamentation”). In this each stich is said to consist of one hemistich with three beats or stress syllables and another having two such syllables, this being held to be the specific meter of the dirge (see Lamentations 1:1, etc.). Ley and Briggs call it “pentameter” because it is made up of five (3 plus 2) feet (a foot in Hebrew prosody being equal to an accented syllable and the unaccented syllables combined with it). See Budde’s full treatment of the subject in ZATW, 60, 152, “Das Hebrews.
Klagelied.” It must, however, be borne in mind that even Herder (died 1803) describes the use in elegies of what he calls, anticipating Ley and Briggs, the “pentameter” (see Geist der ebraischen Poesie, 1782, I, 32 f, English translation. The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, 1833, I, 40). But the present writer submits the following criticisms: (i) Budde is inconsistent in rejecting all existing theories of meter and yet in retaining one of his own, which is really but part of the system advocated by Bellermann, Ley and Briggs. (ii) He says, following Herder, that it is the measure adopted by mourning women ( Jeremiah 9:16), but we have extremely few examples of the latter, and his statement lacks proof. (iii) There are dirges in the Old Testament not expressed in the qinah measure. David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan is more hexametric and tetrametric than pentametric, unless we proceed to make a new text ( Samuel 1:19 ff). (iv) The qinah measure is employed by Hebrew poets where theme is joyous or indifferent; see Psalm 119, which is a didactic poem. (6) Units of Hebrew Poetry.
In western poetry the ultimate unit is usually the syllable, the foot (consisting of at least two syllables) coming next. Then we have the verseline crowned by the stanza, and finally the poem.
According to theory of Hebrew poetry adopted by the present writer, the following are the units, beginning with the simplest: (a) The Meter:
This embraces the accented (tone) syllable together with the unaccented syllable preceding or succeeding it. This may be called a “rhythmic foot.” (b) The Stich or Verse:
In Job and less regularly in Psalms and Canticles and in other parts of the Old Testament ( Numbers 23:19-24) the stich or verse consists commonly of three toned syllables and therefore three meters (see above for sense of “meter”). It is important’ to distinguish between this poetical sense of “verse” and the ordinary meaning — the subdivision of a Bible chapter. The stich in this sense appears in a separate line in some old manuscripts. (c) Combinations of Stichs (Verses):
In Hebrew poetry a stich hardly ever stands alone. We have practically always a distich (couplet, Job 18:5), a tristich (triplet, Numbers 6:24-26), a tetrastich ( Genesis 24:23), or the pentastich. (d) Strophe:
Kosters (Stud. Krit., 1831, 40-114, “Die Strophen,” etc.) maintained that all poems in the Hebrew Scriptures are naturally divisible into strophes (stanzas) of similar, if not equal, length. Thus Psalm 119 is arranged in strophes named after the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, each one containing eight Scripture verses, or sixteen metrical verses or stichs, most of the stichs having three meters or rhythmical feet. But though several Biblical poems are composed in strophes, many are not. (e) Song of Solomon:
This ([ hr;yvi , shirah ]) is made up of a series of verses and in some cases of strophes. (f) Poem:
We have examples of this ([ ryvi , shir ]) in the books of Job and Canticles which consist of a combination of the song. (7) Classification of Stichs or Verses.
Stichs may be arranged as follows, according to the number of meters (or feet) which they contain: (a) the trimeter or tripod with three meters or feet; Bickell holds that in Job this measure is alone used; (b) the tetrameter or tetrapod, a stich with four meters or feet; (c) the pentameter or pentapod, which has five meters or feet: this is Budde’s [qinah] measure (see III, 1, (4) ); (d) the hexameter or hexapod: this consists of six meters or feet, and is often hard to distinguish from two separate trimeters (or tripods). 2. Internal or Material Characteristics: Our first and most original authority on the internal characteristics of Hebrew poetry is that great German theologian and man of letters, J.G.
Herder, the pastor and friend of Goethe and Schiller at Weimar. In his Vom Geist der ebraischen Poesie, 1782 (The Spirit of Poetry, translated by James Marsh, U.S.A., 1833), he discusses at length and with great freshness those internal aspects of the poetry of the Old Testament (love of Nature, folklore, etc.) which impressed him as a literary man. Reference may be made also to George Gilfillian’s Bards of the Bible, 1851 (popular), and Isaac Taylor’s Spirit of Hebrew Poetry. It is a strange but striking and significant coincidence that not one of these writers professed much if any knowledge of the Hebrew language. They studied the poetry of the Old Testament mainly at least in translations, and were not therefore diverted from the literary and logical aspects of what is written by the minutiae of Hebrew grammar and textual criticism, though only a Hebrew scholar is able to enter into full possession of the rich treasures of Hebrew poetry. (1) Themes of Hebrew Poetry.
It is commonly said that the poetry of the ancient Hebrews is wholly religious. But this statement is not strictly correct. (a) The Old Testament does not contain all the poetry composed or even written by the Hebrews in Bible times, but only such as the priests at the various sanctuaries preserved. We do not know of a literary caste among the Hebrews who concerned themselves with the preservation of the literature as such. (b) Within the Bible Canon itself there are numerous poems or snatches of poems reflecting the everyday life of the people. We have love songs (Canticles), a wedding song (Psalm 45), a harvest song (Psalm 65), parts of ditties sung upon discovering a new well ( Numbers 21:17 f), upon drinking wine, and there are references to war songs ( Numbers 21:14; Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18). (2) Species of Hebrew Poetry.
Biblical poetry may be subsumed under the following heads: (a) folklore, (b) prophetical, (c) speculative, (d) lyrical. (a) Folklore: “Poetry,” said J. G. Hamann (died 1788), “is the mother tongue of the human race.” In both folk-music and folk-poetry, each the oldest of its class, the inspiration is immediate and spontaneous. We have examples of folk-songs in Genesis 11:1-9; 19:24 f. (b) Prophetic Poetry:
This poetry is the expression of the inspiration under which the seer wrote.
One may compare the oracular utterances of diviners which are invariably poetical in form as well as in matter. But one has to bear in mind that the heathen diviner claimed to have his messages from jinns or other spirits, and the means he employed were as a rule omens of various kinds. The Old Testament prophet professed to speak as he was immediately inspired by God (see DIVINATION, VIII). Duhm thinks that the genuine prophecies of Jeremiah are wholly poetical, the prose parts being interpolations. But the prophet is not merely or primarily a poet, though it cannot be doubted that a very large proportion of the prophecies of the Old Testament are poetical in form and substance. (c) Philosophical Poetry:
This expression is intended to include such poetry as is found in the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha (see WISDOM LITERATURE). The so-called didactic poetry, that of the proverbs or parables ( lv;m; , mashal ), also comes in here. (d) Lyrical Poetry:
This includes the hymns of the Psalter, the love songs of Canticles and the many other lyrics found in the historical and prophetical writings. In these lyrics all the emotions of the human soul are expressed.
Does the Old Testament contain specimens of epic and dramatic poetry?
The answer must depend on which definition of both is adopted. (a) Epic Poetry:
The present writer would define an epic poem as a novel with its plot and development charged, however, with the passion and set out in the rhythmic form of poetry. There is no part of the Old Testament which meets the requirements of this definition, certainly not the Creation, Fall and Deluge stories, which Deuteronomy Wette (Beitrage, 228 ff, Einleitung, 147) and R.G. Moulton (Literary Study of the Bible, chapter ix) point to as true epics, and which Ewald (Dichter des alten Bundes, I, 87 ff) held rightly to have in them the stuff of epics, though not the form. (b) Dramatic Poetry:
Defining dramatic poetry as that which can be acted on a stage, one may with confidence say that there is no example of this in the Old Testament.
Even the literary drama must have the general characteristics of that which is actable. Franz Delitzsch and other writers have pointed to Job and Canticles as dramatic poems, but the definition adopted above excludes both. 4. POETICAL WRITINGS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 1. The Poetical Books in the Narrow Sense: According to the Massoretes or editors of our present Hebrew Bible, there are but three poetical books in the Old Testament, Job, Proverbs, and Psalms, known in Jewish circles by the mnemonic abbreviation [ tm,a,] , ‘emeth ], the three consonants forming the initial letters of the Hebrew names of the above books. These three books have been supplied by the Massoretes with a special system of accents known as the poetical accents, and involving a method of intoning in the synagogue different from that followed when the prose books are read. But these accentual marks cannot be traced farther back than the 7th or 8th century of our era. 2. Customary Division of the Poetical Books: It is customary to divide the poetical books of the Old Testament into two classes, each containing three books: (1) those containing lyrical poetry ([ ryvi , shir ] , or [ hr;yvi , shirah ]), i.e. Psalms, Canticles, Lamentations; (2) those containing for the most part didactic poetry ([ lv;m; , mashal ]), i.e. Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. 3. Poetry in Non-poetical Books: There is a large amount of poetry in the Old Testament outside the books usually classed as poetical: (a) poetry in the prophetical books (see above, III, 2); (b) poetry in the historical books including the Pentateuch (see Michael Heilprin, The Historical Poetry of the Hebrews, 2 volumes, 1879-80). We have examples in Genesis 4:23 f; 49; Exodus 15; Numbers 21:14 f,27-30 (JE); Numbers 23 f (Balaam’s songs); Deuteronomy 32 f (song and blessing of Moses); Joshua 10:12-14 (JE); Judges 5 (Deborah’s Song of Solomon); 9:8-15; 1 Samuel 2:1-10; 2 Samuel 1; 3:33 f; 2 Samuel 23 (= Psalm 18), etc.
LITERATURE.
The most important books and articles on the subject have been mentioned during the course of the foregoing article. There is a full list of works dealing with Hebrew meter in W.H. Cobb, Criticism o.f Systems of Hebrew Metre, 19 ff. The first edition of Ewald’s still valuable “Essay on Hebrew Poetry” prefixed to his commentary on the Psalms was published in English in the Journal of Sacred Literature (1848), 74 ff, 295 ff. In J.W. Rothstein issued a suggestive treatise on Hebrew rhythm (Grundzuge des Hebrews. Rhythmus .... nebst lyrischen Texten mit kritischem Kommentar, 8vo plus vi plus 398), reviewed by the present writer in Review of Theology and Philosophy (Edinburgh), October, 1911. Early Religious Poetry of the Hebrews by E.G. King (Cambridge University Press) contains a good, brief, popular statement of the subject, though it makes no pretense to originality. In The Poets of the Old Testament, 1912, Professor A.R. Gordon gives an excellent popular account of the poetry and poetical literature of the Old Testament. T. Witton Davies POETRY, NEW TESTAMENT No one questions the presence of poetry of a high order in the Old Testament. The Study of the Old Testament as the literature of the ancient Hebrews has been critically made, and the attention of even the ordinary reader of the Scriptures called to the beauty and wealth of its poetic passages. The message of the New Testament is so vitally spiritual and concerned with religion that but little attention has been paid to it as literature. Naturally it would be strange if the poetic inspiration which runs like a tide through the prophetic and post-exilic periods of the Old Testament should altogether cease under the clearer spiritual dispensation of the New Testament. The fact is that it does not cease, but that under every fundamental rule for poetic utterance, save that of rhyme, the New Testament is seen to be rich in imaginative vision, in religion touched by emotion, and in poetic expression. The Gospels, the Pauline Epistles, and the Epistle of James, all afford examples of lofty poetic utterance, while the message of Jesus is saturated with words which readily lend themselves to song. In fact it is thought by some that Jesus was no less careful of the form than of the content of His message, and that all the finer types of Hebrew poetry found in the Old Testament can be matched from His sayings, even when tested by the same rules.
In the Gospels that of Luke gives us our best examples of poetry. “No sooner have we passed through the vestibule of his Gospel than we find ourselves within a circle of harmonies” (Burton, in the Expositor’s Bible).
From the poetic utterances of Mary, Elisabeth, Zacharias, Simeon, and the Angels, the church gains her Magnificat, Beatitude, Benedictus, Nunc Dimittis and Glorias.
The utterances of John the Baptist are filled with a rugged desert vision and an expression which reveals a form of poesy in no wise to be mistaken for prose.
Paul presents many of his ideas in harmonious and beautiful forms. He knew the secular poets of his day, and has immortalized Cleanthes’ Hymn to Zeus ( Acts 17:28). He also quotes from Epimenides and the Athenian dramatist Menander ( 1 Corinthians 15:33). Paul knew the poetry of the Hebrews, and enriches his own message with many quotations from it. He was acquainted with the Christian hymnology of his own times, as is seen in Ephesians 5:14 and 1 Timothy 3:16. He offers also original flashes of poetic inspiration and utterance, a good example of which is found in Romans 8:31-37.
Who could doubt the poetic imagery of James? He might almost be called the poet of social justice and of patient waiting under affliction for the will of God to come to men.
When one comes to the words of Jesus he discovers that in a very true sense His speech answers to the requirements for Hebrew poetry.
Examples of synonymous, antithetic, synthetic and causal parallelism are the rule rather than the exception in the utterances of Jesus. For the synonymous form see Matthew 10:24; for the antithetic see Luke 6:41; for the synthetic and causal forms see Luke 9:23 and Matthew 6:7. Not alone are these forms of Hebrew poetry found in the words of Jesus, but also the more involved and sustained poetic utterances ( Luke 7:31-32).
No one can question the deep emotional quality, the vivid imagination and spiritual idealism of Jesus. That the form of His speech is adequately set to poetic inspiration and conforms to the laws for Hebrew poetry has not been so freely acknowledged. Independently of theory advanced in Did Jesus Write His Own Gospel? (William Pitt MacVey), every student of the literature of the New Testament must be grateful for the chapter on “The Poems of Jesus.”
Spirituality and poetry have a kinship, and the interpretation of any message is aided by the adequate knowledge of its form. When the New Testament has thus been carefully studied as literature, it will be seen, not only that Jesus was a poet, but that the entire New Testament, if not as rich as the Old Testament in poetic passages, is sufficiently poetic to receive treatment as such in religious encyclopedias. See also FAITHFUL SAYINGS; POETRY, HEBREW.
C. E. Schenk POINTS <points > : The word occurs in Ecclesiastes 5:16, “In all points ([ hM;[u , `ummah ]) as he came, so shall he go” — a man leaves the world in all regards as helpless as he entered it, no matter what he may have gained or accomplished during his life.
Also in Hebrews 4:15, “In all points ([kata< pa>nta, kata panta ], “in all things,” as in His human nature ( Hebrews 2:14), so in His human experience (compare Hebrews 2:17,18)) tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” He successfully resisted temptation at all points of His nature, in body, soul, and spirit. See TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. Westcott (in loc.) thinks that the reference is not so much to Christ issuing out of all His trials without the least stain of sin, as to “a limitation of His temptation.
Man’s temptations come in many cases from previous sin. Such temptations had necessarily no place in Christ. He was tempted as we are, sharing our nature, yet with this exception, that there was no sin in Him to become the spring of trial.” Whichever interpretation is adopted there is profound insight into the things of the soul in joining sinlessness with fullness of experience of temptation. M. O. Evans POISON <poi’-z’-n > ([ hm;je , chemah ], [ vaOr , ro’-sh ]; [qumo>v, thumos ], [ijo>v, ios ]):
Residents in Palestine must, from the first, have been acquainted with venomous serpents. Six species of these are widely diffused in the land, and at least three of them are fairly common in places. Besides, there are scorpions, centipedes and the large spider, which are as much dreaded by the fellahin as are the serpents, not to speak of the minor but very serious discomforts of mosquitoes, sandflies and ticks, some of which were credited with lethal powers. In The Wisdom of Solomon 16:9 the Revised Version (British and American) we read that “the bites of locusts and flies did slay, and there was not found a healing for their life.” There are also many poisonous plants, such as belladonna, henbane, thorn apple, and the opium poppy. None of these is mentioned in the Bible; the only names found there are the hemlock (Conium maculatum) of Hosea 10:4, the poisonous gourd (Citrullus colocynthis) of 2 Kings 4:39, and the grapes of gall, probably the fruit of Calotropis procera, the apples of Sodom of Josephus (BJ, IV, viii, 4). Some, however, believe that these are poppyheads. Poisonous waters are referred to at Marah ( Exodus 15:23) and Jericho ( 2 Kings 2:19). There are no direct records of any person dying of poison except in 2 Macc 10:13, where the suicide of Ptolemy Macron is related. our Lord’s promise in the appendix to Mark 16:18 shows, however, that poisons were known and might be administered by way of ordeal, as was the unknown “water of jealousy” ( Numbers 5:17). In this connection the story in Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, III, 39) is interesting, that “Justus surnamed Barsabbas, though he drank a deadly poison, suffered no injury, through the grace of the Lord.” The passages in which poisonous serpents are mentioned are Deuteronomy 32:24, where serpents (the Revised Version (British and American) “crawling things”) of the dust, probably Cerastes hasselquistii, the little horned vipers, are mentioned, and in Deuteronomy 32:33: “poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of asps.” The asp may be the cobra Naia haje, not uncommon on the borders of the wilderness to the South. Psalm 58:4 mentions the poison of serpents. <19E003> Psalm 140:3, “They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips,” indicates, what is still a common belief, that the forked tongue of the snake is the poison-bearer. This is referred to in James 3:8. That it was the fang and not the tongue which carried the poison was known to Pliny (xi.62). This verse of Psalm 140 is given in Paul’s composite quotation in Romans 3:13. There may be a reference to the giving of an intoxicant poison in Habakkuk 2:15, where the Revised Version (British and American) reads “that addest thy venom.” The prophets speak in several places of God’s wrath as a cup of trembling (the Revised Version (British and American) “staggering”), e.g. Isaiah 51:17,22, probably suggested by the fact that [chemah] primarily means “fury” and is used in that sense in more than a hundred passages. In Zechariah 12:2 Jerusalem is to be such a “cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about.”
The semamith , “lizard” (the King James Version “spider”), mentioned in Proverbs 30:28 Septuagint kalabotes ) was formerly regarded as poisonous and it is still much disliked by the fellahin, as they believe that it makes mocking gestures mimicking them at their prayers. They are really not poisonous. It is doubtful whether the lizard mentioned by Agur is really this stellion; the description better fits the gecko. Alexander Macalister POLE <pol > : Numbers 21:8,9 the King James Version for [ sne , nes ], Revised Version “standard.”
POLICY <pol’-i-si > : Literally “method of government,” and so “ability to manage affairs.” In a bad sense, “cunning,” “craft,” in Daniel 8:25 ([ lk,c, , sekhel ], “understanding”); in a good sense in 1 Macc 8:4 ([boulh>, boule ], “counsel”); also in the King James Version 2 Macc 13:18; 14:29,31 ([me>qodov, methodos ], [strath>ghma, strategema ], [strathge>w, strategeo ]), where the Revised Version has “stratagem.” Policies occurs in Judith 11:8 the King James Version for [panou>rghma, panourgema ], lit. “readiness for anything,” here in a good sense; Revised Version “subtil devices.”
POLISHED <pol’-isht > . See CORNER-STONE, (2).
POLL <pol > : The word (on the derivation of which see Skeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 360) has been eliminated as a verb in the American Standard Revised Version. In the King James Version and English Revised Version it represents the Hebrew verbs [ µs”K; , kacam ], literally “to shear” ( Ezekiel 44:20), [ zz”G; , gazaz ], literally, “to pull out,” “to uproot,” thence “to shear the sheep,” figuratively, “to destroy an enemy” ( Micah 1:16), [ jl”G; , galach ], in Piel, literally, “to make bald or roundheaded” ( 2 Samuel 14:26) and [ 6x”q; , qatsats ], “to cut off” ( Jeremiah 9:26; 25:23; 49:32). The Hebrew noun is [ tl,GOl]Gu , gulgoleth ]. As will be seen from the above enumeration, the Hebrew verb differ considerably in etymology, while Revised Version has not tried to distinguish. In Micah 1:16 we have a reference to the oriental custom of cutting or tearing one’s hair as a sign of mourning for one’s relatives. “Make thee bald, and cut off thy hair (King James Version and English Revised Version “poll thee,” Hebrew gazaz ) for the children of thy delight: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle (margin “vulture”); for they are gone into captivity from thee.” The priests, the sons of Zadok, are instructed to abstain from outward resemblance to heathen patterns of priesthood: “Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair (the King James Version and the English Revised Version, “poll,” Hebrew kacam ) of their heads” ( Ezekiel 44:20). The Piel form of galach is employed in the description of the annual hair-cutting of Absalom ( 2 Samuel 14:26).
Thrice we find the verb “to poll” as the translation of Hebrew qatsats , where the American Standard Revised Version materially improves the translation by adopting the marginal version of the King James Version ( Jeremiah 9:26; 25:23; 49:32). See HAIR.
The noun (gulgoleth , lit. “head”) is translated “poll” in the phrase “by the poll,” “by their polls” ( Numbers 1:2,18,20,22; 3:47; 1 Chronicles 23:3,14). The expression has its origin in the numbering of persons by their heads, in the same way in which we speak of head-tax, etc. H. L. E. Luering POLLUTION <po-lu’-shun > ([ la”G; , ga’al ], “to pollute”; [ajli>sghma, alisgema ], “contamination”): In Malachi 1:7, “Ye offer polluted bread,” i.e. not actually unclean, but worthless, common (compare Ezra 2:62), bread here being used metonymically for sacrificial offerings generally (compare Leviticus 21:6; Matthew 6:11). The phrase in Acts 15:20, “the pollutions of idols,” is explained in 15:29 by “things sacrificed (the King James Version “meats offered”) to idols.”
POLLUX <pol’-uks > . See CASTOR AND POLLUX.
POLYGAMY <po-lig’-a-mi > : 1. MEANING OF THE TERM:
Polygamy has been and is the open blazon by the human race of sex vice.
The very term is a misnomer. Since man became moralized he has apprehended that the proper marriage relation between the sexes is monogamy. Whatever may have been the practice, since man could ask himself, What is right? he has known that [ajp ajrch~v, ap’ arches ] (“from the beginning,” Matthew 19:4), au fond, at bottom, marriage is the choice of one man and one woman of each other for a life family relation.
Lamentations Rochefoucauld said: “Hypocrisy is a sort of homage which vice pays to virtue.” There is hypocrisy beneath the word polygamy. It is an attempt to cover up by the term “plural marriage” what is not marriage and cannot be marriage. There is no particular need of defining what the condition is, so long as we can look upon it as a violation and negation of the marriage relation. The very use of the term from any language covering a like condition is attempt — “To steal the livery of the court of heaven To serve the Devil in.” Polygamy is a general term and might mean a multiplicity of partners in the family relation by one of either sex. But it does not. Polygamy practically means exactly “polygyny” ([gunh>, gune ]), i.e. it describes a many-wived man. The correlative term “polyandry” describes the condition of a woman who has many men in family relation with herself. They are all husbands to her, as in polygamy all the women are wives to one man. But polyandry in historic times has had so little illustration that it may be dismissed as so exceptional as to be worthy of no further notice here.
Why polygamy has captured the whole position philologically covered by polygyny is readily apparent. The might of the physically strongest has dictated the situation. Man has on the average one-fourth more muscular force than woman. When it comes to wrong in sex relation, man has that advantage, and it has given him the field covered by the word “polygamy.”
There he is master and woman is the victim. 2. ORIGIN OF POLYGAMY:
It is plainly evident that polygamy is primarily largely the outcome of tribal wars. When men had separated into clans and had taken up different places of abode, collisions would soon occur between them. What would happen in such cases would be what we know did happen in North America soon after its first settlement by Europeans, to wit, the destruction of the Hurons by the Iroquois. The great majority of the men were massacred; the women and children, driven to the abode of the conquerors, disappearing there mainly in concubinage and slavery. What shall be done with this surplus of women? Here again the might of the strongest comes to the front. The chief or the most heroic fighter would assert his right to choice of captives, and thus concubinage or what is the same thing — polygamy — would be set up. Successes in further wars come and add other women to be distributed. Of course to the sheik or king there soon comes the seraglio and the harem. Polygamous practices will come in in other ways. The prisoner of war becomes property and passes from hand to hand by gift or sale. So woman — the weaker party — endures what comes to her as slave, concubine. We have now no longer the “helpmeet” originally destined for man — “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” — for whom he would “leave his father and his mother” and to whose single self he would “cleave” for life ( Genesis 2:18,24; Matthew 19:5,6).
Monogamy, with its unity in labor, thought and feeling, with its immeasurable modifying influences of moral, ideal and spiritual cast, is gone. Woman is reduced to the position of ministrant to man’s unmodified sensuality. 3. THE OLD TESTAMENT AND POLYGAMY:
The complications introduced into morals by polygamy are not often considered. But the Bible sets them forth in plainness. The marriage of Abraham and Sarah seems to have been an original love match, and even to have preserved something of that character through life. Still we find Sarah under the influence of polygamous ideas, presenting Abraham with a concubine. Yet afterward, when she herself had a son, she induced Abraham to drive out into the wilderness this concubine and her son. Now Abraham was humane and kind, and it is said “The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight” ( Genesis 21:11). But he was in the toils of polygamy, and it brought him pain and retribution. A Divine direction may be hard to bear.
The conditions of Jacob’s marriages were such that it is hard to say whether any of his children were of any other than of polygamous origin ( Genesis 35:22-26). Where the family idea and affection went, in such mixed condition, is evidenced by the unblushing sale, for slavery in Egypt, of one of the brothers by the others ( Genesis 37:28).
David was a singer of sweet and noble songs and wanted to be a righteous man with his whole heart. Yet, probably in common with all the military leaders and kings of the earth of his day, he had a polygamous career. His retributions ran along an extended line. There was a case of incest and murder among his children (2 Samuel 13). The son in whom he had most hope and pride organized treason against his throne, and lost his life in the attempt. David left his kingdom to Solomon, of whom much might be said, but of whom this can be said — evidently originally a man bright, keenwitted, wise, yet in his old age he went to pieces by the wiles of the women with whom he had loaded his harem. Partly by his extravagance in his polygamous life, and partly in attempt to build temples in distant places for the religions represented by the inmates of his harem, he bankrupted his nation. As a consequence his kingdom was divided at his death, and there was never again a united Israel ( 1 Kings 11:12). Polygamy may be justly charged with these untoward results. 4. POLYGAMY UNNATURAL:
It can be demonstrated scientifically, even mathematically, that polygamy is a moral wrong. Statistics show that births are substantially equally divided between the sexes. Excess seems slightly on the side of males. When this fact is considered and also the fact of the wide prevalence of polygamy, it would seem that polygamy (polygyny) is a greater crime against Nature than polyandry. To put out of view for a moment the wrong to woman in denying to her the rights and privileges of monogamous marriage, the interference with the rights of man to such marriage looms up in vast proportion. Every harem is the denial to men of the right to seek among its inmates wives according to the dictates of their own hearts. The Eunuch.
But we are not done with the crime against man. Given a harem, and he who set it up has made, or there brought, the eunuch. The lord of the harem must be served by emasculated men. A search in history will reveal an amount of this wickedness that is past belief. The eunuch has been everywhere among all nations and peoples and tongues. They have not only been servitors to women in harems, but they have acquired such influence with their masters that they have sometimes even dictated the policy of government. They have been the secret cabinet that has had the last word in public affairs. They have sometimes held public positions and shown therein astonishing ability. Witness Narses, the brilliant general of the emperor Justinian. See EUNUCH. 5. WEAKNESS OF POLYGAMY:
Gibbon noticed the fact that nations began to decline in power when their policies were dictated and managed by eunuchs. But that is taking a symptom for the disease. There are weaknesses behind that weakness. We have found woman in muscular strength equal to three-fourths of a man. If we claim nothing more for woman than that ratio through the whole scale of her potencies, what would be thought of a nation that should try to reduce that three-fourths of potency as nearly to zero as it could? This is what polygamy has done — reduced woman as nearly to a cipher as it could in all the departments of her being. She has been held to the lowest and most primitive industrial pursuits. She has been deprived of intellectual development. She has been debarred from society, permitted to look at it only through a home lattice, or, if abroad, through a swathod face. The harem of sheik or sultan has fixed the condition of woman in province or nation — set the bounds to her life. The highest office assigned her has been breeder of children, and for one-half of them — the daughters — she could have no possible hope or ambition. See WOMAN.
Where in such degradation is the “helpmeet” for man in all his problems?
This condition is reflected back over man. What possible appeal can there be to him for thought and energy except to repeat the same dull round exhibited in his daily life? Polygamous nations have never been industrial inventors, have contributed little to science. They have usually ruined the fertility of the lands they have occupied. They have been heavily weighted with the lethargy of a system that appeals to nothing but the most primitive instincts and vices of man.
The monogamous have been the forceful nations. Rome conquered the world while she was monogamous, and lost control of it when she dropped to the moral level of the sex corruption of the peoples that she had conquered. The Teuton trundled into and over Europe in ox-carts mounted on solid wood trucks. But his cart carried one wife, and now all polygamy is held under the trained guns of the Tenton.
There may seem to be two exceptions — the establishment of the Mogul empire in India and the subjugation of Western Asia and Eastern Europe by the Turk. That in both cases there was great success in war is granted.
They were authorized by their religion to exhibit the frenzy of bloodshed and indulge in lust. Indeed, enjoyment of the latter was a bright hope for the life to come. But when they had possession of a country, and massacres and ravishing were over, what then? For what is mankind indebted to them? A Lyric.
A lyric has been put in the hand of the present writer by a friend who wrote it at the last date of the title. It is one of the lyrics of the centuries in its synthesis of history and in its insight into the forces physical, moral and immoral at work in the Mogul empire of India. Notice the dates. The text will show what took place between.
THE MOGUL 1525-1857 A war steed coursed out the wind-swept north, Jarring the crags with hoofs of fire, Snuffing far battle with nostril wide, Neighing the joy of fierce desire.
The crisping herbage of arid plains Had toughened his sinews like bands of steel; The snow-fed waters of Zarafshan Had nerved the might of a northern will.
The war steed grazed in the fertile meads, Drinking the waters of indolent streams:
He rested at eve on bloom-dight beds, Toyed with by maidens in the goldening gleams.
They charmed his ear with dalliant song:
They closed his eyes in witchery’s glee:
They fed him the vineyards’ wildering draught — He slept in the breath of the lotus tree.
White bones lie strewn on the flowering mead, In flesh-rank grass grown high and dark.
The carrion bird hath flown — hath died — Riseth the war-horse? Neigheth? Hark! — JOSIAH TORREY READE, Amherst, 1856.
The above lyric may be taken as the epitaph of any polygamous nation. The last words are significant — “Neigheth? Hark!” Would the old war steed arise? “Hark!” The Sepoy rebellion was on! We “hearkened,” but the rebellion went to pieces and an end was put to the Mogul empire. We have listened for half a century and heard no sound. We hear mutterings now, but the end will be as before — even if the “war-horse” riseth and is victorious. He will then again lie down in “flesh-rank grass grown high and dark,” and the “carrion bird” will fly from his “white bones.” Streams cannot rise higher than their fountains. The causes remaining, the same effects will follow. See DIVORCE; FAMILY; MARRIAGE.
C. Caverno POMEGRANATE <pom’-gran-at > , <pom-gran’-at > , <pum’-gran-at > ([ ˆwOMr , rimmon ] (tree and fruit); the Hebrew name is similar to the Arabic, Aramaic and Ethiopic; [rJo>a, rhoa ]): 1. A TREE CHARACTERISTIC OF PALESTINE:
One of the most attractive and most characteristic of the fruit trees of Syria, probably indigenous to Persia, Afghanistan and the neighborhood of the Caucasus, but introduced to Palestine in very ancient times. The spies brought specimens of figs and pomegranates, along with grapes, from the Vale of Eshcol ( Numbers 13:23). Vines, figs and pomegranates are mentioned ( Numbers 20:5) as fruits the Israelites missed in the wilderness; the promised land was to be one “of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates” ( Deuteronomy 8:8), a promise renewed in Haggai 2:19. In the lamentation in Joel 1:11,12 we have the pomegranate, the palm tree and the apple tree represented as withered, “for joy is withered away from the sons of men.” 2. THE FRUIT:
The pomegranate tree, Punica granatum (Natural Order, Granateae) occurs usually as a shrub or small tree 10-15 ft. high, and is distinguished by its fresh green, oval leaves, which fall in winter, and its brilliant scarlet blossoms (compare Song of Solomon 7:12). The beauty of an orchard of pomegranates is referred to in Song of Solomon 4:13. The fruit which is ripe about September is apple-shaped, yellow-brown with a blush of red, and is surmounted by a crown-like hard calyx; on breaking the hard rind, the white or pinkish, translucent fruits are seen tightly packed together inside. The juicy seeds are sometimes sweet and sometimes somewhat acid, and need sugar for eating. The juice expressed from the seeds is made into a kind of syrup for flavoring drinks, and in ancient days was made into wine: “I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the juice (margin “sweet wine”) of my pomegranate” ( Song of Solomon 8:2). The beauty of a cut section of pomegranate — or one burst open naturally, when fully ripe — may have given rise to the comparison in Song of Solomon 4:3; 6:7: “Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate.” The rind of the pomegranate contains a very high percentage of tannic acid, and is employed both as a medicine and for tanning, particularly in making genuine morocco leather.
Whether the pomegranate tree in Migron under which Saul is said ( Samuel 14:2) to have abode with his 600 men was really a tree or a place, Rimmon, is doubtful. See RIMMON. 3. THE POMEGRANATE IN ART:
A large number of references to the pomegranate are to the use of the form of the fruit in ornamentation, in which respect it appears among the Hebrews to have something of the position of the lotus bud as a decorative motive in Egypt. It was embroidered in many colors on the skirts of Aaron’s garments, together with golden bells ( Exodus 28:33 f; 39:24- 26; compare Ecclesiasticus 45:9). Hiram of Tyre introduced the pomegranate into his brass work ornamentation in the temple: “So he made the pillars; and there were two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars” (margin “So the Syriac The Hebrew has `pomegranates’”) ( 1 Kings 7:18). “And the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other capital” ( 1 Kings 7:20; compare also 7:42; 2 Kings 25:17; Chronicles 3:16; 4:13). E. W. G. Masterman POMMEL <pum’-el > ( 2 Chronicles 4:12,13): the Revised Version (British and American) reads “bowl” (which see).
POND See CISTERN; POOL.
PONDER <pon’-der > : Occurs in the King James Version 5 times in the Book of Proverbs and nowhere else in the Old Testament. In each case it means “to consider carefully,” “to weigh mentally.” In Proverbs 4:26 and 5:21, the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes “make level.” In Proverbs 5:6, it drops out entirely in the Revised Version (British and American). In Proverbs 21:2 and 24:12, “weigh” is substituted for “ponder.” The one New Testament passage is Luke 2:19; here the Revised Version (British and American) has “pondering” where the King James Version has “and pondered.”
PONTIUS <pon’-shi-us > , <pon’-ti-us > . See PILATE.
PONTUS <pon’-tus > ([ Po>ntov, Pontos ]): Was an important province in the northeastern part of Asia Minor, lying along the south shore of the Black Sea. The name was geographical, not ethnical, in origin, and was first used to designate that part of Cappadocia which bordered on the “Pontus,” as the Euxine was often termed. Pontus proper extended from the Halys River on the West to the borders of Colchis on the East, its interior boundaries meeting those of Galatia, Cappadocia and Armenia. The chief rivers besides the Halys were the Iris, Lycus and Thermodon. The configuration of the country included a beautiful but narrow, riparian margin, backed by a noble range of mountains parallel to the coast, while these in turn were broken by the streams that forced their way from the interior plains down to the sea; the valleys, narrower or wider, were fertile and productive, as were the wide plains of the interior such as the Chiliokomon and Phanaroea. The mountain slopes were originally clothed with heavy forests of beech, pine and oak of different species, and when the country was well afforested, the rainfall must have been better adequate than now to the needs of a luxuriant vegetation.
The first points in the earliest history of Pontus emerge from obscurity, much as the mountain peaks of its own noble ranges lift their heads above a fog bank. Thus, we catch glimpses of Assyrian culture at Sinope and Amisus, probably as far back as the 3rd millennium BC. The period of Hittite domination in Asia Minor followed hard after, and there is increasing reason to suppose that the Hittites occupied certain leading city sites in Pontus, constructed the artificial mounds or tumuli that frequently meet the eyes of modern travelers, hewed out the rock tombs, and stamped their character upon the early conditions. The home of the Amazons, those warrior priestesses of the Hittites, was located on the banks of the Thermodon, and the mountains rising behind Terme are still called the “Amazon Range”; and the old legends live still in stories about the superior prowess of the modern women living there. See ARCHAEOLOGY OF ASIA MINOR.
As the Hittite power shrunk in extent and force, by the year 1000 BC bands of hardy Greek adventurers appeared from the West sailing along the Euxine main in quest of lands to exploit and conquer and colonize. Cape Jason, which divides the modern mission fields of Trebizond and Marsovan, preserves the memory of the Argonants and the Golden Fleece.
Miletus, “greatest of the Ionic towns,” sent out its colonists, swarm after swarm, up through the Bosphorus, and along the southern shore of the Black Sea. They occupied Sinope, the northern-most point of the peninsula with the best harbor and the most commanding situation. Sinope was in Paphlagonia, but politically as well as commercially enjoyed intimate relations with the Pontic cities. Settlers from Sinope, reinforced by others from Athens direct, pressed on and founded Amisus, the modern Samsoun, always an important commercial city. Another colony from Sinope founded Trebizond, near which Xenophon and the Ten Thousand reached the sea again after they had sounded the power of Persia and found it hollow at Cunaxa. Among the cities of the interior, picturesque Amasia in the gorge of the Iris River witnessed the birth of Strabo in the 1st century BC, and to the geographer Strabo, more than to any other man, is due our knowledge of Pontus in its early days. Zille, “built upon the mound of Semiramis,” contained the sanctuary of Anaitis, where sacrifices were performed with more pomp than in any other place. Comana, near the modern Tokat, was a city famous for the worship of the great god Ma. Greek culture by degrees took root along the coast; it mixed with, and in turn was modified by, the character of the older native inhabitants.
When the Persians established their supremacy in Asia Minor with the overthrow of Lydia, 546 BC, Pontus was loosely joined to the great empire and was ruled by Persian satraps. Ariobarzanes, Mithradates and Pharnaces are the recurring names in this dynasty of satraps which acquired independence about 363 and maintained it during the Macedonian period.
The man that first made Pontus famous in history was Mithradates VI, surnamed Eupator. Mithradates was a typical oriental despot, gifted, unscrupulous, commanding. Born at Sinope 136 BC and king at Amasia at the age of twelve, Mithradates was regarded by the Romans as “the most formidable enemy the Republic ever had to contend with.” By conquest or alliance he widely extended his power, his chief ally being his son-in-law Dikran, or Tigranes, of Armenia, and then prepared for the impending struggle with Rome. The republic had acquired Pergamus in 133 BC and assumed control of Western Asia Minor. There were three Roman armies in different parts of the peninsula when war broke out, 88 BC. Mithradates attacked them separately and over-threw them all. He then planned and executed a general massacre of all the Romans in Asia Minor, and 80,000 persons were cut down. Sulla by patient effort restored the fortunes of Rome, and the first war ended in a drawn game; each party had taken the measure of its antagonist, but neither had been able to oust the other. The second war began in the year 74, with Lucullus as the Roman general.
Lucullus took Amisus by siege, chased Mithradates to Cabira, modern Niksar, scattered his army and drove the oriental sultan out of his country.
Subsequently on his return to Rome, Lucullus carried from Kerasoun the first cherries known to the western world. In the third war the hero on the Roman side was the masterful Pompey, appointed in 66 BC. As a result of this war, Mithradates was completely vanquished. His dominions were finally and permanently incorporated in the territories of the Roman republic. The aged king, breathing out wrath and forming impossible plans against his lifelong enemies, died in exile in the Crimea from poison administered by his own hand.
Most of Pontus was for administrative purposes united by the Romans with the province of Bithynia, though the eastern part subsisted as a separate kingdom under Polemon and his house,36 BC to 63 AD, and the southwestern portion was incorporated with the province of Galatia.
It was during the Roman period that Christianity entered this province.
There were Jews dwelling in Pontus, devout representatives of whom were in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost ( Acts 2:9). Paul’s associates, Aquila and Priscilla, were originally from here ( Acts 18:2). The sojourners of the Dispersion are included in the address of the first Epistle of Peter together with the people of four other provinces in Asia Minor ( 1 Peter 1:1). Local traditions connect the apostles Andrew and Thaddeus with evangelistic labors in this region. They are said to have followed the great artery of travel leading from Caesarea Mazaca to Sinope. Pliny, governor of Bithynia and Pontus 111-113 AD, found Christians under his authority in great numbers (see BITHYNIA), and Professor Ramsay argues that Pliny’s famous letters, Numbers 96 and 97, written to the emperor Traian on the subject of the treatment of Christians under his government (see PERSECUTION), were composed in view of conditions in Amisus (Church in Roman Empire, 224, 225).
The Roman empire in the East was gradually merged into the Byzantine, which is still known to the local inhabitants as the empire of “Roum,” i.e.
Rome. Pontus shared the vicissitudes of this rather unfortunate government until, in 1204, a branch of the Byzantine imperial family established in Pontus a separate small state with its capital at Trebizond. Here the house of the Grand Comneni, sheltered between the sea and the mountain ranges, maintained its tinsel sovereignty to and beyond the fall of Constantinople.
In 1461 Trebizond was taken by Mohammed the Conqueror, since which date Pontus, with its conglomerate population of Turks, Armenians, Greeks and fragments of other races, has been a part of the Ottoman empire. G. E. White POOL; POND; RESERVOIR <pool > , <pond > , <rez’-er-vwar > , <rez’-er-vwar > (1) [ hk;reB] , berekhah ], “pool”; compare Arabic birkat , “pool”; compare [ hk;r;B] , berakhah ], “blessing,” and Arabic barakat , “blessing”; (2) [ µg”a\ , agham ], “pool,” “marsh,” “reeds”; compare Arabic ‘ajam , “thicket,” “jungle”; (3) [ hw;q]m , miqwah ], “reservoir,” the King James Version “ditch” ( Isaiah 22:11); (4) [ hw,q]m , miqweh ], “pond,” the King James Version “pool” ( Exodus 7:19); [ µyiM”h” hweq]mi , miqweh ha-mayim ], English Versions of the Bible “gathering together of the waters” ( Genesis 1:10); [ µyim”Ahweqmi , miqweh-mayim ], “a gathering of water,” the King James Version “plenty of water” ( Leviticus 11:36); (5) [kolumbh>qra, kolumbethra ], “pool,” literally, “a place of diving,” from [kolumba>w, kolumbao ], “to dive”): LAKES (which see) are very rare in Syria and Palestine, but the dry climate, which is one reason for the fewness of lakes, impels the inhabitants to make artificial pools or reservoirs to collect the water of the rain or of springs for irrigation and also for drinking. The largest of these are made by damming water courses, in which water flows during the winter or at least after showers of rain. These may be enlarged or deepened by excavation.
Good examples of this are found at Diban and Madeba in Moab.
Smaller pools of rectangular shape and usually much wider than deep, having no connection with water courses, are built in towns to receive rain from the roofs or from the surface of the ground. These may be for common use like several large ones in Jerusalem, or may belong to particular houses. These are commonly excavated to some depth in the soil or rock, though the walls are likely to rise above the surface.
Between these and cylindrical pits or cisterns no sharp line can be drawn.
The water of springs may be collected in large or small pools of masonry, as the pool of Siloam ( John 9:7). This is commonly done for irrigation when the spring is so small that the water would be lost by absorption or evaporation if it were attempted to convey it continuously to the fields.
The pool (Arabic, birkat) receives the trickle of water until it is full. The water is then let out in a large stream and conducted where it is needed. (In this way by patient labor a small trickling spring may support much vegetation.) ‘Agham does not seem to be used of artificial pools, but rather of natural or accidental depressions containing water, as pools by the Nile ( Exodus 7:19; 8:5), or in the wilderness ( <19A735> Psalm 107:35; 114:8; Isaiah 14:23; 35:7; 41:18; 42:15). In Isaiah 19:10 the rendering of the King James Version, “all that make sluices and ponds for fish,” would be an exception to this statement, but the Revised Version (British and American) has “all they that work for hire shall be grieved in soul.” Miqweh occurs with ‘agham in Exodus 7:19 of the ponds and pools by the Nile. Berekhah is used of “the pool of Gibeon” ( 2 Samuel 2:13), “the pool in Hebron” ( 2 Samuel 4:12), “the pool of Samaria” ( 1 Kings 22:38), “the pools in Heshbon” ( Song of Solomon 7:4), “the pool of Shelah,” the King James Version “Shiloah” ( Nehemiah 3:15); compare “the waters of Shiloah” ( Isaiah 8:6). We read in Ecclesiastes 2:6, “I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared.” There is mention of “the upper pool” ( 2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 7:3; 36:2), “the lower pool” ( Isaiah 22:9), “the king’s pool” ( Nehemiah 2:14). Isaiah 22:11 has, “Ye made also a reservoir (miqwah ) between the two walls for the water of the old pool (berekhah ).” Kolumbethra is used of the pool of Bethesda ( John 5:2,4,7) and of the pool of Siloam ( John 9:7,11). See also CISTERN; NATURAL FEATURES; BJ, V, iv, 2.
Alfred Ely Day POOLS OF SOLOMON <poolz > . See CISTERN; POOL.
POOR <poor > ([ ˆwOyb]a, , ‘ebhyon ], [ lD” , dal ], [ yni[; , `ani ], [ vWr , rush ]; [ptwco>v, ptochos ]): 1. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
The poor have great prominence in the Bible; it is said, indeed, that there should be no poor among the Hebrews because Yahweh should so greatly bless them ( Deuteronomy 15:4 the Revised Version (British and American) and the King James Version margin); but this was only to be realized on certain conditions of obedience ( Deuteronomy 15:5), and in Deuteronomy 15:11 it is said,”The poor will never cease out of the land”; but they were to see to it that none was left in destitution. The very foundation of the Hebrew religion was God’s pity on a poor and oppressed people. 1. The Terms Employed: The words for “poor” are chiefly ‘ebhyon , “desirous,” “needy,” “poor” ( Exodus 23:6, etc.); dal , “moving,” “swaying,” hence, weak, poor, lowly ( Exodus 23:3, etc.); dallah , “poverty,” “weakness” ( 2 Kings 25:12, etc.); rush, perhaps “to shake,” “tremble,” “to be poor,” “impoverished” ( 1 Samuel 18:23, etc.); `ani , also `anaw , “poor,” “oppressed,” from `anah , “to bend” or “bow down ( Exodus 22:25, etc.); `aneh , Aramaic ( Daniel 4:27), chelekhah , “wretchedness” ( Psalm 10:8,14 the King James Version); yarash , “to make poor” ( Samuel 2:7); machsor , “want” ( Proverbs 21:17); micken , “a needy one” ( Ecclesiastes 4:13; 9:15 bis,16). 2. Representations: (1) Generally. — God (Yahweh and ‘Elohim ) is represented as having a special care for “the poor,” which was illustrated in the deliverance of the nation from Egyptian poverty and bondage and was never to be forgotten by them ( Deuteronomy 24:22); as punishing the oppressors of the poor and rewarding those who were kind to them; God Himself was the Protector and Saviour of the poor ( Exodus 22:23): “If thou afflict them at all, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot,” etc. ( Deuteronomy 15:9; 24:15; 1 Samuel 2:8; Job 31:16; Psalm 9:18; 12:5; Proverbs 19:17; Isaiah 25:4; Ecclesiastes 5:8, “one higher than the high regardeth,” etc.). (2) Liberality to the poor is specially enjoined ( Deuteronomy 15:7 f), and they were to beware of self-deception and grudging in this ( Deuteronomy 15:9,10). (3) Special provisions were made on behalf of the poor: (a) Every third year a tithe was to be given “unto the Levite, to the sojourner, to the fatherless and to the widow” that Yahweh might bless them ( Deuteronomy 14:28,29; 26:12 f); (b) the poor were to have the free use of all that grew spontaneously in field or vineyard during the Sabbatic year ( Exodus 23:10 f; Leviticus 25:5,6); (c) each year the gleanings of the fields and vineyards should belong to the poor, the corners of fields were to be left for them, and if a sheaf was forgotten it should remain ( Leviticus 19:9,10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19); (d) fruit and ripe grain in a field might be eaten by any hungry person, but none should be carried away ( Deuteronomy 23:24,25); (e) in the Feast of Weeks the poor were to participate ( Deuteronomy 16:9-12); (f) every seventh year there should be a “release” of debts ( Deuteronomy 15:1 f) ; in the seventh year of servitude the Hebrew bond-servant should go free ( Exodus 21:2), or in the Jubilee, if that came first, on which occasion — the fiftieth year — property that had been sold returned to its owner or his family ( Leviticus 25:8-17); (g) they were to lend readily to the poor, and no interest or increase was to be taken from their brethren ( Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-37; Deuteronomy 15:7 f); in Leviticus 25:39, no poor Hebrew was to be made a bond-servant, and, if a hired servant, he was not to be ruled with rigor (25:43); his hire was to be given him daily ( Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15); no widow’s raiment was to be taken in pledge ( Deuteronomy 24:17), nor the handmill, nor the upper millstone so essential for daily life ( Deuteronomy 24:6), a man’s garment should be returned to him before sundown, and no house should be entered to seize or fetch any pledge ( Deuteronomy 24:10-13); breach of these laws should be sin and their observance righteousness ( Deuteronomy 24:13,15, etc.; see ALMS, ALMSGIVING); (h) justice was to be done to the poor ( Exodus 23:6; Deuteronomy 27:19, “Cursed be he that wresteth the justice due to the sojourner, fatherless, and widow”); (i) offerings were graduated according to means ( Leviticus 5:7; 12:8). (4) Definite penalties were not always attached to those laws, and the prophets and psalmists have many complaints of the unjust treatment and oppression of the poor, contrary to the will of God, and frequent exhortations to justice and a due regard for them ( Psalm 10:2,9; 12:5; 14:6, etc.; Isaiah 3:14,15; Jeremiah 2:34; Ezekiel 16:49, “the iniquity of .... Sodom”; 18:12,17; 22:29; Amos 2:7; 4:1; Habakkuk 3:14; compare Job 20:19; 24:9,14, etc.; Proverbs 14:31). (5) The duty of caring for the poor is frequently and strongly set forth and divine promises attached to its fulfillment ( Psalm 41:1; 72:12 ff; Proverbs 17:5; 22:9; 28:3,17; Isaiah 58:7; Jeremiah 22:16; Ezekiel 18:17; Daniel 4:27; Zechariah 7:10, etc.; compare Job 29:12,16; 30:25; 31:19; <19B209> Psalm 112:9). (6) The day of the divine manifestation, the times of the Messiah, should bring deliverance and rejoicing to the poor ( Psalm 72:12-15; Isaiah 11:4, “With righteousness shall he judge the poor,” etc.; 14:30; 29:19; 61:1 the Revised Version margin). (7) The equality of rich and poor before God and the superiority of the righteous poor to the ungodly rich, etc., are maintained ( Proverbs 19:1,22; 22:1,2; Ecclesiastes 4:13). (8) Ways in which men can willfully make themselves poor are mentioned ( Proverbs 6:11; 10:4; 12:24; 13:4,18; 14:23; 20:13; 21:5,17; 23:21; 28:19). 3. The Godly Poor: The chief words given above all mean poor, literally, but `ani (rendered also “afflicted”) may also denote Israel as a nation in its afflictions and low estate, e.g. Psalm 68:10; Isaiah 41:17; 49:13; 51:21; 54:11; in Zeph 3:12, it is “the ideal Israel of the future.” Dr. Driver remarks (art. “Poor,” HDB) that such passages show that `ani (as also its frequent parallel ‘ebhyon , and, though somewhat less distinctly, dal ) came gradually “to denote the godly poor, the suffering righteous, the persons who, whether `bowed down’ or `needy’ or `reduced,’ were the godly servants of Yahweh.” The humble poor became in fact distinguished as the line in which faithfulness to Yahweh was maintained and spiritual religion developed. The less frequent word `anaw , often translated “meek,” “humble,” is regarded (see Driver in the place cited.) as having from the first a moral and religious significance. It is used of Moses ( Numbers 12:3) and occurs in Psalm 10:12,17; 22:26; 25:9, etc.; Proverbs 3:34; 16:19; Isaiah 29:19; 32:7; 61:1; Amos 2:7; Zeph 2:3. 2. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
In the New Testament ptochos , “trembling,” “poor,” “beggar,” is almost exclusively the word translated “poor.” It does not occur very frequently, but we see the same regard for the poor maintained as we have in the Old Testament; besides, the new principle of love and the example of Him who “though he was rich, yet for your sakes .... became poor” (ptocheuo , Corinthians 8:9) necessarily carry in them this regard even more fully than in the Old Testament. Jesus announced His mission ( Luke 4:18) by quoting Isaiah 61:1, “to preach good tidings (the King James Version “the gospel”) to the poor” (or meek or humble); He gave as a proof of His Messiahship the fact that “the poor have the gospel (or good news of the Kingdom) preached to them” ( Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22); according to Luke 6:20, He pronounced a beatitude on the pious “poor” because the kingdom of God was theirs; in Matthew 5:3 it is “the poor in spirit” (the humble); we have the injunction to “give to the poor” ( Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22) who are “always with you” ( Matthew 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8), which does not mean that there must always be “the poor,” but that, in contrast with Himself who was soon to leave them, the poor should remain and kindness could be shown to them at any time, which was His own practice ( John 13:29); we are enjoined to call not the rich or well-to-do to our entertainments, but the poor ( Luke 14:13; compare 14:21); Zaccheus cited in his favor the fact that he gave `half of his goods to the poor’ ( Luke 19:8); special notice was taken by Jesus of the poor widow’s contribution ( Luke 21:3). The first church showed its regard for the poor in the distribution of goods “according as any man had need” ( Acts 2:45; 4:32; 6:1); when the council at Jerusalem freed the Gentiles from the yoke of Judaism, they made it a condition, Paul says, “that we should remember the poor; which very thing I was also zealous to do” ( Galatians 2:10); contributions were accordingly made “for the poor among the saints that are at Jerus” ( Romans 15:26), and it was in conveying such contributions that Paul got into the circumstances that led to his arrest. God’s ability and will to provide for those who give to the poor is quoted from <19B209> Psalm 112:9 ( 2 Corinthians 9:9); James specially rebukes certain Christians of his day for their partiality for the rich and their dishonor of the poor ( James 2:5-9), and John asks how, in the man who “hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him,” the love of God can dwell ( John 3:17,18). Ptochos is translated “beggar” ( Luke 16:20,22) and “beggarly” ( Galatians 4:9); penes, “one who works for his daily bread,” “a poor man,” is the word in 2 Corinthians 9:9; the poor widow of Mark 12:42 is described in Luke 21:2 as penichros , “very poor.” 3. IN THE APOCRYPHA.
In the Apocrypha the poor are often mentioned; God’s regard for them (Ecclesiasticus 21:5 (ptochos ); 35:12,13); their oppression and wrongs (The Wisdom of Solomon 2:10 (penes ); Ecclesiasticus 13:3,19,23 (ptochos ); Baruch 6:28); the duty of care for and of giving to the poor (Tobit 4:7 (ptochos ); Ecclesiasticus 29:8 (tapeinos ); 29:9 (penes ); 34:20- 22); of justice and kindness to such (Ecclesiasticus 4:1,5,8; 7:32; 10:23 (ptochos )); “poor” in the sense of pitiable occurs in 2 Macc 4:47 (talaiporos ), the Revised Version (British and American) “hapless.” 4. THE REVISED VERSION (BRITISH AND AMERICAN) CHANGES.
For “the poor of this world” ( James 2:5) the Revised Version (British and American) has “them that are poor as to the world”; for “The poor .... shall trust in it” ( Isaiah 14:32), “In her shall the afflicted .... take refuge”; instead of “Whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor” ( Ecclesiastes 4:14), “Yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor”; “poor” for “humble” ( Psalm 9:12; 10:12, margin “meek”), for “lowly” ( Proverbs 16:19, margin “meek”). W. L. Walker POPLAR <pop’-lar > ([ hn,b]li , libhneh ], “whiteness”; [stura>kinov, sturakinos ], “storax” ( Genesis 30:37), [leu>kh, leuke ], “poplar” ( Hosea 4:13) (libhneh is so similar to the Arabic libna, the storax, that the latter certainly has the first claim to be the true translation)): “Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar,” margin “storax tree” ( Genesis 30:37). “They .... burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow thereof is good” ( Hosea 4:13). In the latter reference the conjunction of the shrub, storax, with two great trees like the oak and terebinth — even though they all grow in the mountains — is strange. The storax cannot give a shade comparable with these trees. Had we other evidence of the storax being a sacred tree among the Hebrews, it might explain the difficulty.
The storax, Styrax officinalis (Natural Order Styraceae), is a very common shrub in Palestine which occasionally attains the height of 20 feet. The under surfaces of its oval leaves are covered with whitish hairs, and it has many beautiful pure-white flowers like orange blossoms — hence, its name “whiteness.”
The poplar, the traditional translation in Hosea 4:13, flourishes in many parts of Palestine. The white poplar, Populus alba, Arabic Haur, is common everywhere; Euphratica occurs especially in the Jordan valley; the black poplar, P. nigra, and the Lombardy poplar, P. pyramidalis — probably an importation — are both plentiful in the plain of Coele-Syria, around Damascus and along the river banks of Syria. E. W. G. Masterman PORATHA <po-ra’-tha > , <por’-a-tha > ([ at;r;wOP, pora-tha’ ]): One of the sons of Haman (Est 9:8). The etymology is uncertain; perhaps from the Persian purdata, “given by fate.”
PORCH <porch > : Chiefly in the Old Testament [ µl;Wa , ‘alam ], used of the temples of Solomon and Ezekiel (see TEMPLE); once micderon , a “vestibule,” in Judges 3:23. In the New Testament, the word occurs in connection with the high priest’s palace ( Matthew 26:71, pulon ; Mark 14:68, proaulion ), and as the rendering of [stoa>, stoa ], a “portico,” in John 5:2 (pool of Bethesda); and John 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12. See PORCH, PORTICO, SOLOMON’S.
PORCH, PORTICO; SOLOMON’S <por’-ti-ko > , ([hJ stoa< kaloume>nh Solomw~ntov, he stoa he kaloumene Solomontos ]): This important element of Herod’s temple, preserving in its name a traditional connection with Solomon, is thrice referred to in the New Testament, namely, in John 10:23; Acts 3:11, “the porch that is called Solomon’s”; and Acts 5:12. In these passages the Greek word stoa is translated “porch” but in the Revised Version margin of Acts 3:11 more correctly “portico”. In architecture a “porch” is strictly an exterior structure forming a covered approach to the entrance of a building; a “portico” is an ambulatory, consisting of a roof supported by columns placed at regular intervals — a roofed colonnade. The portico bearing Solomon’s name was that running along the eastern wall in the Court of the Gentiles of Herod’s temple. It had double columns, while that on the South known as the Royal Portico had four rows (compare Josephus, Ant, XV, xi, 3; BJ, V, v, and see TEMPLE, HEROD’S). The portico was the scene of Christ’s teaching at the Feast of the Dedication ( John 10:23), and was flocked to by the multitude after the healing of the lame man ( Acts 3:11). There the apostles preached and wrought other miracles ( Acts 5:12). W. Shaw Caldecott PORCIUS FESTUS <por’-shus > . See FESTUS.
PORCUPINE <por’-ku-pin > ([ dPoqi , qippodh ] ( Isaiah 14:23; 34:11; Zeph 2:14) the King James Version “bittern,” the Revised Version (British and American) “porcupine”; Septuagint [ejci~nov, echinos ] “hedgehog”; [ zwOPqi , qippoz ] ( Isaiah 34:15), the King James Version “great owl,” the English Revised Version “arrow-snake,” the American Standard Revised Version “dart-snake”; Septuagint echinos ; compare Arabic qunfud , or qunfudh , “hedgehog” or “porcupine.” [ dPoqi , qippodh ], is referred to the root [ dp;q; , qaphadh ], “to draw one’s self together” or “to roll oneself up,” while zwOPqi is referred to the root [ zp”q; , qaphaz ], and the root [ 6p”q; , qaphats ], “to draw together in order to spring.” The resemblance between all these words, including the Arabic is obvious, and it is to be noted that the Septuagint has echinos in all the places cited):
The Greek echinos is the hedgehog. The Arabic kunfudh is used in some localities for the hedgehog and in others for the porcupine, which is also called nis . The hedgehog is also called kibbabat-ush-shauk, or “ball of spines.” These two animals are both found in Syria and Palestine, and, while both have spines, they are very different animals, though often confounded. The hedgehog, Erinaceus europeus, is one of the Insectivora.
It eats not only insects but also snakes and other small animals, as well as fruits and roots. It is about 10 inches long, covered with short spines, and rolls itself into a ball when attacked. It inhabits the countries bordering the Mediterranean. The porcupine, Hystrix cristata, is a rodent, about inches long, having long spines. It is herbivorous. It backs rapidly at its foes, thrusting its sharp spines into their flesh, not shooting its spines, as is often stated. It inhabits most of Europe and Asia. It is very different from the Canadian porcupine, Erethizon dorsatus, as well as from the tree porcupines of Mexico and Central and South America.
As to the rendering “bittern” for qippodh ( Isaiah 14:23; 34:15; Zeph 2:14), while the etymology favors “hedgehog,” the context favors a bird, especially in Isaiah 34:11, though it cannot be said that in any of the passages the context makes “hedgehog” an impossible rendering.
In Isaiah 34:15, for qippoz , most modern authorities (compare the Revised Version (British and American)) have some sort of serpent, referring to the Arabic root qafaz, “to spring.” (See notes above on qaphaz and qaphats .) In this passage also the context is not unfavorable to a bird (compare the King James Version “great owl”). See BITTERN; OWL; SERPENT.
Alfred Ely Day PORPHYRY <por’-fi-ri > (in Est 1:6, the Revised Version margin has “porphyry” (the King James Version margin “porphyre”) for [ fh”B” , bahaT ], English Versions of the Bible “red (marble)”; the Septuagint has [smaragdi>thv, smaragdtes ], which was a green stone): Porphyry is an igneous rock containing distinct crystals of feldspar in a feldspathic matrix. It may be purple or of other colors, as green. “Porphyry” is from [porfu>reov, porphureos ], “purple.”
PORPOISE <por’-pus > (the Revised Version margin has “porpoise-skin” for [ vj”T” rwO[ , `or tachash ], the Revised Version (British and American) “sealskin,” the King James Version “badgers’ skins” ( Exodus 25:5; 26:14; 35:7,23; 36:19; 39:34; Numbers 4:6,8,10,11,12,14,25; Ezekiel 16:10)): The word denotes leather used in the furnishings of the tabernacle (for shoes in Ezekiel 16:10), and was probably the skin of the dugong, Halichore dugong, Arabic tukhas , which is found in the Red Sea. See BADGER.
PORT; PORTER <port > , <por’-ter > : “Port” in the sense of “gate” (of a city or building) is obsolete in modern English, and even in the King James Version is found only in Nehemiah 2:13. “Porter,” as “gate-keeper,” however, is still in some use, but “porter” now (but never in the English Versions of the Bible) generally means a burden-carrier. In the Old Testament, except in 2 Samuel 18:26; 2 Kings 7:10,11, the porter ([ r[ewOv , sho`er ]) is a sacred officer of the temple or tabernacle, belonging to a particular family of the Levites, with a share in the sacred dues ( Nehemiah 13:5; 12:47).
The “porters” are mentioned only in Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, and Chronicles has a special interest in them, relating that their duties were settled as far back as the time of David ( 1 Chronicles 26:1-19), and that the office extended further to the first settlement of Palestine and even to Moses’ day ( 1 Chronicles 9:17-26). The office was evidently one of some dignity, and the “chief-porters” ( 1 Chronicles 9:26) were important persons. For some inscrutable reason the Revised Version (British and American) renders sho`er by “doorkeeper” in 1 Chronicles through 26, but not elsewhere. See DOORKEEPER.
Burton Scott Easton PORTION; PART <por’-shun > : As far as a distinction between these words is possible in English, it lies in the fact that a “portion” is a “part” about whose destiny something is implied ( <19E205> Psalm 142:5, etc.). The Hebrew has no two synonyms similarly related, and in consequence the use of the words in English Versions of the Bible is settled either by rather arbitrary considerations ([ hn;m] , menah ], is always “portion” in the Revised Version (British and American), but is “part” in the King James Version, Exodus 29:26; Leviticus 7:33; 8:29) or by the context, irrespective of the Hebrew word used. So “part” and “portion” both represent [ rb;D; , dabhar ], 1 Kings 6:38; Nehemiah 12:47; [ hP, , peh ], Zechariah 13:8; Deuteronomy 21:17; [ lb,j, , chebhel ], Joshua 17:5 (Revised Version); Ezekiel 47:13; [me>rov, meros ], Luke 11:36; 12:46. And in the vast majority of cases in the Old Testament both words represent simply some derivative of [ ql”j; , chalaq ], normally the noun [ ql,je , cheleq ]. Burton Scott Easton POSIDONIUS <pos-i-do’-ni-us > ([ Pwsidw>niov, Posidonios ], al. [ Posido>niov, Posidonios ] and [ Poseidw>n, Poseidon ]): One of the three envoys sent by the Syrian general Nicanor to treat with the Jews under Judas during his invasion of Judea, 161 BC (2 Macc 14:19). In 1 Macc 7:27 ff, proposals are sent by Nicanor to Judas, but no envoys are named, and it is there asserted in contradiction to 2 Maccabees that Judas broke off the negotiation because of the treacherous designs of Nicanor.
POSSESS; POSSESSION <po-zes’ > , <po-zesh’-un > : “Possess” in modern English means normally only “keep in one’s possession.” But in Elizabethan English it means also “take into possession,” and, in fact, the word in the Old Testament always represents Hebrew verbs with the latter as their primary meaning ([ vr”y; , yarash ], in nearly all cases, otherwise [ lj”n; , nachal ], [ hn;q; , qanah ], [ zj”a; , ‘achaz ]; Aramaic [ ˆs”j\ , chacan ]). Consequently, in almost every case “take possession of” could be substituted advantageously for “possess,” but the Revised Version (British and American) has not thought the change worth carrying through. In the Apocrypha and New Testament, however, the distinction has been made, the King James Version’s “possess” being retained for [kate>cw, katecho ], in 1 Corinthians 7:30; 2 Corinthians 6:10, but the same translation for [kta>omai, ktaomai ], is changed into “take us for a possession (Judith 8:22), “get” ( Luke 18:12), “win” ( Luke 21:19), and “possess himself of” ( Thessalonians 4:4, a very obscure passage). In the noun possession, on the other hand, no such ambiguity exists, and attention need be called only to the following passages. In Deuteronomy 11:6, the King James Version has, “all the substance that was in their possession,” Hebrew “all that subsisted at their feet,” the Revised Version (British and American) “every living thing that followed them.” the King James Version uses “possession” loosely in Acts 28:7 for [cwri>on, chorion ], the Revised Version (British and American) “lands.” [peripoi>hsiv, peripoiesis ], from peripoieo , “cause to remain over,” “gain,” rendered “God’s own possession” in Ephesians 1:14 the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version “possession”) and 1 Peter 2:9 (the King James Version “peculiar,” the King James Version margin “purchased”). “God’s own” is a gloss but is implied in the context. Burton Scott Easton POSSESSION, DEMONIACAL <de-mo-ni’-a-kal > ( Matthew 4:24; 8:16, etc.). See DEMON, DEMONIAC, DEMONOLOGY.
POST <post > ([ 6Wr , ruts ], “to run,” [ µyxir; , ratsim ], “runners”): The “runners” formed the royal guard ( 1 Samuel 22:17; 1 Kings 14:27; 2 Kings 11:4,13; see GUARD). From them were chosen the couriers who carried royal letters and dispatches throughout the kingdom ( 2 Chronicles 30:6,10; Est 3:13,15; Jeremiah 51:31). In the Persian service they were mounted on the swiftest horses (Est 8:10,14; compare Xenophon, Cyrop. viii.6,17; Herodotus viii.98). They had the right to command the service of either men or animals in order to expedite their progress (compare Matthew 5:41; Mark 15:21, “compel,” “impress”).
Used in Job 9:25 and the King James Version The Wisdom of Solomon 5:9 ([ajggeli>a, aggelia ], the Revised Version (British and American) “message”) of the swift passage of time. See also HOUSE II, 1, (4), (7).
M. O. Evans POT <pot > : A term used as the translation of a number of Hebrew and Greek words whose fundamental meaning seems to describe them as intended for the most part to hold liquid or semi-liquid substances, but the pots of Exodus 27:3 are intended to hold ashes. (1) [ rsi , cir ], the most common word for “pot.” It designates most frequently some household utensil, probably a pot or kettle for boiling. So 2 Kings 4:38 ff; Exodus 16:3; Jeremiah 1:13 the King James Version; Ezekiel 11:3,7,11, “caldron”; 24:3,6 the King James Version; Micah 3:3; Zechariah 14:21, etc. It is also used as the name of some vessel of the sanctuary. So Exodus 27:3, where the context shows it was intended to hold ashes; 1 Kings 7:45; 2 Chronicles 4:16; Kings 25:14. In Psalm 60:8; 108:9, it is a pot for washing. (2) [ rWrP; , parur ] ( Numbers 11:8; 1 Samuel 2:14), a vessel for boiling; in Judges 6:19, a vessel for holding broth. (3) [ dWD, dudh ], rendered “pot” in Psalm 81:6 in the King James Version, “basket” in the Revised Version (British and American); “pot” both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) in Job 41:20. (4) [ tn,x,n]xi , tsintseneth ] ( Exodus 16:33), the jar in which the manna was placed. This jar or pot is mentioned in Hebrews 9:4 under the name [sta>mnov, stamnos ]. (5) [ ˆwOsa; , ‘acon ] ( 2 Kings 4:2), some kind of jar for holding oil. (6) [xe>sthv, xestes ] ( Mark 7:4), some kind of household utensil.
Mention may also be made of the word rendered “pot” in Leviticus 6:28 the King James Version, where the Revised Version (British and American) renders more correctly by the general term “vessel”; for the King James Version “pots” ( Psalm 68:13) the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes “sheepfolds.” The root is uncertain. Those who render “sheepfolds” connect with the related root in Genesis 49:14; Judges 5:16. Others render “fireplaces” or “ash heaps.” See also “range for pots,” in Leviticus 11:35; “pots,” Jeremiah 35:5 the King James Version, correctly “bowls” the Revised Version (British and American); “refining pots” in Proverbs 17:3; 27:21. See also FOOD.
Walter R. Betteridge POTENTATE <po’-ten-tat > ([duna>sthv, dunastes ], “mighty one,” from [du>nnamai, dunamai ], “to be able”): A person who possesses great power and authority. Only in 1 Timothy 6:15, “the blessed and only Potentate” (= God). The same Greek word is used of Zeus in Sophocles (Ant. 608), and of God in Apocrypha (e.g. Sirach 46:5; 2 Macc 15:3,13). It is used of men in Luke 1:52 (the King James Version “the mighty,” the Revised Version (British and American) “princes”) and Acts 8:27 (“of great authority”).
POTIPHAR <pot’-i-far > ([ rp”yfiwOP, poTiphar ]; compare Egyptian Potiphera ( Genesis 39:1 f)): A high Egyptian official who became the master of Joseph. It is particularly mentioned that he was an Egyptian, i.e. one of the native Egyptian officials at the Hyksos court.
POTI-PHERA <po-tif’-e-ra > ([ [r”p, yfiwOP, poTi phera` ]; Egyptian Padipara , “the (one) given of the sun-god”; compare Hebrew Nathaniel, “the gift of God,” Genesis 41:45,50; 46:20): There is no certain evidence from Egypt that this name was in existence until the XXIInd Dynasty, about 950 BC. But names of the Hyksos period, and, indeed, any kind of Hyksos inscriptions, are so scarce on account of the destruction of Hyksos monuments by the Egyptians of later times that the absence of such names is really no evidence on the subject. The fact that this name has not been discovered earlier than 950 BC does not give any warrant for the claim that the narrative is of a late date. M. G. Kyle POTSHERD <pot’-shurd > ([ cr,j, , cheres ]): A piece of earthenware ( Job 2:8; Psalm 22:15; Isaiah 45:9). the Revised Version (British and American) renders the word in Proverbs 26:23, “an earthen vessel,” and in Job 41:30 substitutes “sharp potsherds” for “sharp stones.” Sirach 22:7 refers to the art of “gluing a potsherd ([o]strakon, ostrakon ]) together.” See HARSIT; OSTRACA.
POTSHERD GATE ( Jeremiah 19:2). See HARSITH GATE.
POTTAGE <pot’-aj > . See FOOD, III.
POTTER; POTTERY <pot’-er > , <pot’-er-i > : 1. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT: (1) Prehistoric.
The making of pottery ranks among the very oldest of the crafts. On the rocky plateaus of Upper Egypt, overlooking the Nile valley, are found the polished red earthenware pots of the prehistoric Egyptians. These are buried in shallow oval graves along with the cramped-up bodies of the dead and their chipped flint weapons and tools. These jars are the oldest examples of the potter’s article It is inconceivable that in the country of Babel, Egypt’s great rival in civilization, the ceramic arts were less developed at the same period, but the difference in the nature of the country where the first Mesopotamian settlement probably existed makes it unlikely that relics of the prehistoric dwellers of that country will ever be recovered from under the debris of demolished cities and the underlying deposits of clay and silt. (2) Babylonia.
The oldest examples of Babylonian ceramics date from the historical period, and consist of baked clay record tablets, bricks, drainage pipes, household shrines, as well as vessels for holding liquids, fruits and other stores. (See Perrot and Chipiez, History of Art in Chaldea and Assyria, I, figures 159, 160, II, figures 163, 168.) Examples of pottery of this early period are shown in the accompanying figures. By the 9th to the 7th century BC the shaping of vessels of clay had become well developed.
Fragments of pottery bearing the name of Esarhaddon establish the above dates. (3) Egypt.
With the close of the neolithic period in Egypt and the beginning of the historical or dynastic period (4500-4000 BC) there was a decline in the pottery article The workmanship and forms both became bad, and not until the IVth Dynasty was there any improvement. In the meantime the process of glazing had been discovered and the art of making beautiful glazed faience became one of the most noted of the ancient Egyptian crafts. The potter’s wheel too was probably an invention of this date. (4) Palestine.
The making of pottery in the land which later became the home of the children of Israel began long before this people possessed the land and even before the Phoenicians of the coast cities had extended their trade inland and brought the earthenware vessels of the Tyrian or Sidonian potters. As in Egypt and Babylonia, the first examples were hand-made without the aid of the wheel.
It is probable that Jewish potters learned their art from the Phoenicians.
They at least copied Phoenician and Mycenaean forms. During their wanderings the children of Israel were not likely to make much use of earthenware vessels, any more than the Arabs do today. Skins, gourds, wooden and metal vessels were less easily broken.
To illustrate this, a party, of which the writer was a member, took on a desert trip the earthenware water jars specially made for travel, preferring them to the skin bottles such as the Arab guides carried, for the bottles taint the water. At the end of six days only one out of eight earthenware jars was left. One accident or another had broken all the others.
When the Israelites became settled in their new surroundings they were probably not slow in adopting earthenware vessels, because of their advantages, and their pottery gradually developed distinctive though decadent types known as Jewish.
Toward the close of the Hebrew monarchy the pottery of the land again showed the effect of outside influences. The red and black figured ware of the Greeks was introduced, and still later the less artistic Roman types, and following these by several centuries came the crude glazed vessels of the Arabic or Saracenic period — forms which still persist. 2. FORMS:
It is not within the limits of this article to describe in detail the characteristics of the pottery of the various periods. The accompanying illustrations taken from photographs of pottery in the Archaeological Museum of the Syrian Protestant College, Beirut, give a general idea of the forms. Any attempt at classification of Palestinian pottery must be considered more or less provisional, due to the uncertainty of origin of many forms. The classification of pre-Roman pottery here used is that adopted by Bliss and Macalister and based upon Dr. Petrie’s studies. (1) Early Pre-Israelite, Called also “Amorite” (before 1500 BC).
Most of the vessels of this period are handmade and often irregular in shape. A coarse clay, turning red or black when burned, characterizes many specimens. Some are brick red. Specimens with a polished or burnished surface are also found. (2) Late Pre-Israelite or Phoenician (1500-1000 BC).
From this period on, the pottery is all wheel-turned. The clay is of a finer quality and burned to a brown or red. The ware is thin and light. Water jars with pointed instead of fiat bases appear. Some are decorated with bands or lines of different colored meshes. Cypriote ware with its incised decorations was a like development of the period. (3) Jewish (1000-300 BC).
Foreign influence is lost. The types which survive degenerate. New forms are introduced. Ordinary coarse clay burning red is used. Cooking pots are most characteristic. Many examples bear Hebrew stamps, the exact meaning of which is uncertain. (4) Seleucidan.
Foreign influence again appears. Greek and other types are imported and copied. Ribbed surfaces are introduced. The old type of burnishing disappears. (5) Roman and Saracenic.
Degenerate forms persisting till the present time. (6) Present-day Pottery. 3. METHODS OF PRODUCTION:
The clay as found in the ground is not suitable for use. It is dug out and brought to the vicinity of the pottery (the “potter’s field,” Matthew 27:7) and allowed to weather for weeks. The dry material is then dumped into a cement-lined tank or wooden trough and covered with water. When the lumps have softened they are stirred in the water until all have disintegrated and a thin slimy mud or “slip” has been formed. In coast cities-the potteries are all near the sea, as the sea-water is considered better for the “slipping” process. The slip is drawn off into settling tanks. All stones and lumps remain behind. When the clay has settled, the water is drawn off and the plastic material is worked by treading with the feet (compare Isaiah 41:25; The Wisdom of Solomon 15:7). The clay used on the Syrian coast is usually a mixture of several earths, which the potters have learned by experience gives the right consistency. The prepared clay is finally packed away and allowed to stand another six months before using, during which time the quality, especially the plasticity, is believed to improve.
Before the invention of the potter’s wheel the clay was shaped into vessels by hand. In all of the countries previously mentioned the specimens representing the oldest work are all hand-made. Chopped straw was usually added to the clay of these early specimens. This material is omitted in the wheel-shaped objects. In a Matthew. Lebanon village which is noted for its pottery the jars are still made by hand. Throughout the country the clay stoves are shaped by hand out of clay mixed with straw.
The shaping of vessels is now done on wheels, the use of which dates back to earliest history. Probably the Egyptians were the first to use such a machine (IVth Dynasty). In their original form they were stone disks arranged to be turned by hand on a vertical axis. The wheel stood only a few inches above the ground, and the potter sat or squatted down on the ground before it as he shaped his object (see Wilkinson, Ancient Egypt, II, figure 397). The wheels used in Palestine and Syria today probably differ in no respect from those used in the potter’s house visited by Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 18:1-6). The wheel or, to be more exact, wheels (compare Jeremiah 18:3) are fitted on a square wooden or iron shaft about 3 ft. long. The lower disk is about 20 inches in diameter, and the upper one inches or 12 inches. The lower end of the shaft is pointed and fits into a stone socket or bearing in which it rotates. A second bearing just below the upper disk is so arranged that the shaft inclines slightly away from the potter. The potter leans against a slanting seat, bracing himself with one foot so that he will not slide off, and with the sole of his other foot he kicks the upper face of the lower wheel, thus making the whole machine rotate.
The lower wheel is often of stone to give greater momentum. With a marvelous dexterity, which a novice tries in vain to imitate, he gives the pieces of clay any shape he desires.
After the vessel is shaped it is dried and finally fired in a furnace or kiln.
The ancient Egyptian kiln was much smaller than the one used today (Wilkhinson, II, 192). Most of the kilns are of the crudest form of the “updraught” variety, i.e. a large chamber with perforated bottom and a fireplace beneath. The fire passes up through the holes, around the jars packed in tiers in the chamber, and goes out at the top. An interesting survival of an early Greek form is still used in Rachiyet-el-Fakhar in Syria.
In this same village the potters also use the lead dross, which comes from the parting of silver, for glazing their jars (compare Proverbs 26:23).
In firing pottery there are always some jars which come out imperfect. In unpacking the kiln and storing the product others get broken. As a consequence the ground in the vicinity of a pottery is always strewn with potsherds (see also separate article). The ancient potteries can frequently be located by these sherds. The potter’s field mentioned in Matthew 27:7,10 was probably a field near a pottery strewn with potsherds, thus making it useless for cultivation although useful to the potter as a place in which to weather his clay or to dry his pots before firing. 4. USES:
Pottery was used in ancient times for storing liquids, such as wine or oil, fruits, grains, etc. The blackened bottoms of pots of the Jewish period show that they were used for cooking. Earthenware dishes were also used for boiling clothes. Every one of these uses still continues. To one living in Bible lands today it seems inconceivable that the Hebrews did not readily adopt, as some writers disclaim, the porous earthen water jars which they found already in use in their new country. Such jars were used for carrying live coals to start a fire, and not only for drawing water, as they are today, but for cooling it ( Isaiah 30:14). The evaporation of the water which oozes through the porous material cools down the contents of a jar, whereas a metal or leathern vessel would leave it tepid or tainted. They were also used for holding shoemaker’s glue or wax; for filling up the cracks of a wall before plastering; ground up they are used as sand in mortar. 5. BIBLICAL TERMS:
Only a few of the Hebrew words for vessels of different sorts, which in all probability were made of pottery, have been translated by terms which indicate that fact (For [ cr,j, , cheres ], and [ rx”y; , yatsar ], see EARTHEN VESSELS; OSTRACA.) [ dK” , kadh ], is translated “pitcher” in Genesis 24:14 ff; Judges 7:16 ff; Ecclesiastes 12:6 (compare [kera>mion, keramion ], Mark 14:13; Luke 22:10); “jar” in Kings 17:12 (compare [uJdri>a, hudria ], John 4:28). The kadh corresponded in size and use to the Arabic jarrah (compare English derivative “jar”). The jarrah is used for drawing and storing water and less frequently for holding other liquids or solids. It is used as an proximate standard of measure. For example, a man estimates the capacity of a cistern in jirar (plural of jarrah ). [ qBuq]B” , baqbuq ], “a bottle,” usually leathern, but in Jeremiah 19:1,10 of pottery. This may have been like the Arabic ibriq , which causes a gurgling sound when liquid is turned from it. Baqbuq is rendered “cruse” in 1 Kings 14:3. [ yliK] , keli ] “vessel,” was of wood, metal or earthen-ware in Leviticus 6:28; Psalm 2:9; 31:12; Isaiah 30:14; Jeremiah 19:11, etc.; compare [ojstra>kinov, ostrakinos ], 2 Corinthians 4:7, etc. [ ËP” , pakh ], is translated “vial” in 1 Samuel 10:1; 2 Kings 9:1; see so-called pilgrim bottles. [ swOK, koc ] also [ hc;q; , qasah ] “cup” or “bowl,” translated “cup” in many passages, like Arabic ka’s , which was formerly used for drinking instead of modern cups. [ [“ybiG; , gabhia ], translated “bowl” in Jeremiah 35:5. [ rWrP; , parur ], translated “pots” in Numbers 11:8; compare Judges 6:19; 1 Samuel 2:14; compare [cu>tra, chutra ], which is similar to Arabic. kidr , commonly used for cooking today. [ bx,[, , ‘etsebh ], “pot,” Jeremiah 22:28 the American Revised Version margin. 6. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The chemical changes wrought in clay by weathering and firing render it practically indestructible when exposed to the weather and to the action of moisture and the gaseous and solid compounds found in the soil. When the sun-baked brick walls of a Palestinian city crumbled, they buried, often intact, the earthenware vessels of the period. In the course of time, perhaps after decades or centuries, another city was built on the debris of the former. The brick walls required no digging for foundations, and so the substrata were left undisturbed. After long periods of time the destruction, by conquering armies or by neglect, of succeeding cities, produced mounds rising above the surrounding country, sometimes to a height of 60 or ft. A typical example of such a mound is Tell el-Chesy (? Lachish). Dr.
Flinders Petrie, as a result of the study of the various strata of this mound, has formed the basis of a classification of Palestinian pottery (see 2, above). With a knowledge of the forms of pottery of each period, the excavator has a guide, though not infallible, to the date of the ruins he finds. See also CRAFTS, II, 4.
Figurative: The shaping of clay into pottery typified the molding of the characters of individuals or nations by a master mind ( Jeremiah 18:1-6; Isaiah 29:16; 45:9; 64:8; Romans 9:20 ff); commonplace ( Lamentations 4:2; 2 Timothy 2:20); frailness ( Psalm 2:9; Isaiah 30:14; Jeremiah 19:11; Daniel 2:41; 2 Corinthians 4:7; Revelation 2:27).
LITERATURE.
Publications of PEF, especially Bliss and Macalister, Excavations in Palestine; Excavations of Gezer; Bliss, A Mound of Many Cities; Flinders Petrie, Tell el-Ghesy; Bliss and Dickie, Excavations at Jerusalem; Perrot and Chipiez, History of Art (i) in Chaldea and Assyria, (ii) Sardinia and Judea, (iii) Cyprus and Phoenicia, (iv) Egypt; King and Hall, Egypt and Western Asia in Light of Modern Discoveries; S. Birch, History of Ancient Pottery; Wilkinson, The Ancient Egyptians; PEFQ; EB; HDB. James A. Patch POTTER’S; FIELD <pot’-erz > . See ACELDAMA.
POUND <pound > ([ hn,m; , maneh ]; [mna~, mna ], [li>tra, litra ]; Latin, libra ): Pound does not correctly represent the Hebrew maneh , which was more than a pound (see MANEH). The litra of John 12:3 and 19:39 is the Roman pound (libra ) of 4,950 grains, which is less than a pound troy, being about 10 1/3 oz. In a monetary sense (its use in Luke 19:13-25) it is the mna , or maneh , which was either of silver or gold, the former, which is probably the one referred to by Luke, being equal to 6,17 British pounds, or about $33 (in 1915); the latter 102,10 British pounds or $510 (in 1915). See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Figurative: “Pound,” like “talent,” is used in the New Testament for intellectual gifts and spiritual endowments, as in the passage given above. H. Porter POVERTY <pov’-er-ti > : 1. OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES:
This word, found but once in the Old Testament ( Genesis 45:11) outside of the Book of Proverbs in which it occurs 11 times (6:11; 10:15; 11:24 the King James Version; 13:18; 20:13; 23:21; 24:34; 28:19,22 the King James Version; 30:8; 31:7), is a translation of [ vreW;yi , yiwwaresh ], “to be poor,” “to come to poverty” ( Genesis 45:11). Four different Hebrew words are used in the 11 references in Proverbs, all bearing the idea of being in need of the necessities of life, although a distinction is made between being in want and being in extreme want. Proverbs 18:23 well illustrates the general meaning of “poverty” as found in this book: “The poor ([ vWr , rush ], “to be impoverished,” “destitute”) useth entreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.” 2. NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES “Poverty” occurs 3 times in the New Testament ( 2 Corinthians 8:2,9; Revelation 2:9) and is the translation of [ptwcei>a, ptocheia ], “to be reduced to a state of beggary or pauperism.”
The teaching of the Bible on this subject would, however, be incomplete unless all the references to the “poor” were considered in this connection.
Indeed the word for “poverty” has its root in the word for “poor” ([ptwco>v, ptochos ]; [ yni[; , `ani ], or [ lD” , dal ]). See POOR. 3. TWO DEGREES OF POVERTY:
At least two degrees of poverty are recognized. The Old Testament does not distinguish between them as clearly as does the New Testament. The New Testament, for example, by its use of two words for “poor” sets forth this distinction. In 2 Corinthians 9:9, “he hath given to the poor,” the word used is [pe>nhv, penes ], which does not indicate extreme poverty, but simply a condition of living from hand to mouth, a bare and scant livelihood, such as that made by the widow who cast her two mites into the treasury ( Luke 21:2); while in such passages as 2 Corinthians 6:10: “As poor, yet making many rich,” and Luke 6:20: “Blessed are ye poor” ([ptwcoi>, ptochoi ], a condition is indicated of abject beggary, pauperism, such as that in which we find Lazarus who was laid at the gate of the rich man’s palace, begging even the crumbs which fell from the table of the rich man ( Luke 16:20,21). It was into this latter condition that Christ voluntarily entered for our sakes: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor (a mendicant, a beggar), that ye through his poverty might become rich” ( 2 Corinthians 8:9). Between 30 and 40 times in the New Testament this latter word is used. 4. CAUSES OF POVERTY:
The causes of poverty are failure of harvest and poor crops ( Nehemiah 5:1-3); devastation caused by enemies sweeping through the land; the oppression of the people by their own rulers ( Isaiah 5:8); excessive interest, usury ( Nehemiah 5:1-5); persecution because of the faith (2 Corinthians 6; 8). Widows and orphans by reason of their desolate condition were in a special sense subject to poverty. Gluttony brings poverty ( Proverbs 23:21), as does indolence ( Proverbs 28:19).
God commanded His people to care for the poor. The exhortations to relieve poverty are numerous, especially in the Pentateuch. Those in poverty must be treated with kindness ( Deuteronomy 15:7-11); must be allowed to glean in the vineyards ( Leviticus 19:10); to reap the harvest ( Leviticus 23:22; compare Ruth 2:14-16); must not be neglected ( Proverbs 28:27); nor dealt with harshly ( Amos 8:4-6); must be treated as equal before God ( Proverbs 22:2); are to share in our hospitality ( Luke 14:13,21). Indeed, the truth or falsity of a man’s religion is to be tested, in some sense at least, by his relation to those in need ( James 1:27). The year of Jubilee was intended to be of great benefit to the poor by restoring to them any possessions which they, by reason of their poverty, had been compelled to deed over to their creditors ( Leviticus 25:25-54; Deuteronomy 15:12-15). God required certain tithes from His people which were to be devoted to the helping of the poor and needy ( Deuteronomy 14:28; 26:12,13). So in the New Testament the apostles lay special emphasis upon remembering the poor in the matter of offerings. Paul, especially, inculcated this duty upon the churches which he had rounded ( Romans 15:26; Galatians 2:10). The attitude of the early Christian church toward its poor is amply illustrated in that first attempt at communism in Acts 2; 4. James, in his Epistle, stingingly reminds his readers of the fact that they had grossly neglected the important matter of caring for the poor (chapter 2). Indeed, so strong is he in his plea for the care of the poor that he claims that the man who willfully neglects the needy thereby proves that the love of God has no place in his heart, and that he has consequently no real faith in God (2:14-26).
Christians are exhorted to abound in the grace of hospitality, which, of course, is nothing less than kindness to those in need ( Romans 12:13; 1 Timothy 6:18; 1 John 3:17). See POOR.
The happiest mother and the noblest and holiest son that ever lived were among the poor. Jesus was born of poor parents, and had not where to lay His head ( Matthew 8:20), no money with which to pay tribute ( Matthew 17:27), no home to call His own ( John 7:53; compare 8:1), and was buried in a borrowed grave ( Matthew 27:57-61).
Figurative: Of course there is also a spiritual poverty indicated by the use of this word — a poverty in spiritual things: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” By this is meant, Blessed are they who feel that they have no selfrighteousness, no worth of their own to present to Christ as a ground of their salvation, who feel their utter bankruptcy of spirit, who say “Nothing in my hand I bring.” It is to this state of spirit that Christ refers in Revelation 3:17: “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” William Evans POWDERS <pou’-derz > ([ lker tq”b]a” , ‘abheqath rokhel ]): The “powders of the merchant” in Song of Solomon 3:6 were probably perfumes, as they are associated with myrrh and frankincense in the account of the festal procession of the litter of Solomon. They may have been some sweetscented wood in powder, or else some form of incense.
POWER <pou’-er > : This word, indicative of might, strength, force, is used in the Old Testament to render very many Hebrew terms, the translation in numerous instances being varied in the Revised Version (British and American) to words like “valor,” “rule,” “strength,” “might,” “dominion.”
The principal words for “power” in the New Testament are [du>namiv, dunamis ], and [ejxousi>a, exousia ]. In the latter case the Revised Version (British and American) frequently changes to “authority” ( Mark 3:15; 6:7; Ephesians 1:21, etc.) or “right” ( Romans 9:21; 1 Corinthians 9:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:9, etc.). Power is attributed preeminently to God ( 1 Chronicles 29:11; Job 26:14; Psalm 66:7; 145:11; Revelation 7:12, etc.). On this attribute of power of God, see OMNIPOTENCE. The supreme manifestation of the power, as of the wisdom and love of God, is in redemption ( 1 Corinthians 1:18,24). The preaching of the gospel is accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit ( 1 Corinthians 2:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:5, etc.). Miracles, as “mighty works,” are denoted by the term “powers” (so Matthew 11:21,23 the Revised Version margin, etc.). The end of all time’s developments is that God takes to Him His great power and reigns ( Revelation 11:17). James Orr POWER OF KEYS See KEYS, POWER OF.
PRAETORIAN GUARD <pre-to’-ri-an > : “My bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other, places” ( Philippians 1:13 the King James Version). This verse is translated in the Revised Version (British and American), “My bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest,” and is noteworthy. 1. PRETORIUM IN PHILIPPIANS — USUAL VIEW:
It has been usual to connect the words, “the soldier that guarded him,” Acts 28:16, with this statement in Philippians 1:13, that the apostle’s bonds were manifest in the whole praetorium, and to understand that the former was the cause of the latter; that the result of Paul’s making the gospel known in his own hired house to those soldiers to one of whom he was chained by the wrist day and night, was that it became known in all the praetorian regiment that his bonds were endured for Christ’s sake, that it was for conscience’ sake that he was suffering wrongfully, that he was no wrongdoer but a prisoner of Jesus Christ. In this way the gospel would spread through the whole of the praetorian guard in that regiment’s headquarters which were situated in a permanent camp established by Tiberius in Rome, outside the Colline Gate, at the Northeast of the city.
This verse would also mean that the gospel had been proclaimed in the same way to those members of the praetorian guard who were on duty as the bodyguard of the emperor and who were lodged in one of the buildings which adjoined the emperor’s palace on the Palatine Hill. 2. LIGHTFOOT ON INTERPRETATIONS:
Thus, Lightfoot, discussing the meaning of the phrase “in the whole praetorium” (Commentary on Philippians, 99 ff), reviews the different interpretations which have been given of the word, and shows (1) that no instance is to be found of its signifying Nero’s palace on the Palatine Hill; (2) that there is no authority for the interpretation which would make it mean the praenterinn barracks on the Palatine; (3) that neither is there any authority for making it mean the praetorian camp outside the walls of Rome. In Lightfoot’s words (op. cit., 101), “All attempts to give a local sense to `praetorium’ thus fail for want of evidence.” Lightfoot accordingly defends the interpretation, “the praetorian guard,” and the Revised Version (British and American), above cited, follows him in this. 3. VIEW OF MOMMSEN AND RAMSAY:
One of the meanings of “praetorium” is a council of war, the officers who met in the general’s tent (see PRAETORIUM). Lightfoot is very decided in interpreting “praetorium” to mean the praetorian regiment, the imperial guards, and he adds, “in this sense and in this alone can it be safely affirmed that the apostle would hear the word praetorium used daily,” and that this sense is in all respects appropriate. But the other meaning, though not appropriate here, namely, a council of war composed of the officers and their general, is much nearer to that which is now accepted by such authorities as Mommsen and Sir W.M. Ramsay, who hold that in this passage “praetorium” means a council, not of war, however, but the council of judgment, the emperor’s court of appeal in which he was assisted by his legal assessors (see Mommsen, Berlin Akad. Sitzungsber., 1895, 501; Ramsay, Paul the Traveler and the Rein Citizen, 357; Workman, Persecution in the Early Church,35). Over this court there presided the emperor or his delegate, the prefect of the praetorian guard, and associated with him were twenty assessors selected from the senators.
Formerly their votes were taken by ballot, but Nero preferred to receive from each a written opinion and on the next day to deliver his judgment in person. Such, it is now believed, is the praetorium to which Paul refers.
The meaning, therefore, of the words, “My bonds in Christ are manifest in the whole praetorium,” will be that when Paul wrote the Epistle to the Philippians his first Roman trial was already so far advanced that he had been able to impress upon his judges, the twenty assessors and their president, the fact that he was no evildoer, but that the sole cause of his imprisonment was his loyalty to Christ. It was manifest to all the members of the emperor’s court of appeal that Paul was enduring his long imprisonment, suffering wrongfully, but only for the sake of Jesus Christ. 4. BEARING ON PAUL’S CAPTIVITY AND TRIAL:
The important bearing will be seen which this signification of “praetorium” in this passage has on the question of the order in which Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon — the epistles of Paul’s captivity in Rome — were written. On subjective evidence Lightfoot concludes that Philippians is the earliest of them, basing his opinion largely on the resemblance which exists in many particulars between the thoughts and expressions in Philippians and in the Epistle to the Romans, making Philippians, as it were, a connecting link between Paul’s earlier and his later epistles. See Lightfoot, Philipplans, 42 f; he writes: “These resemblances suggest as early a date for the Epistle to the Philippians as circumstances will allow,” earlier, that is, than Colossians and Ephesians.
But Lightfoot’s argument is set aside by the new light which has been thrown upon the real meaning of “praetorium.” Sir W.M. Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveler, 357) writes: “The trial seems to have occurred toward the end of AD 61. Its earliest stages were over before Paul wrote to the Philipplans, for he says, `The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the Good News; so that my bonds became manifest in Christ in the whole Pretorium, and to all the rest; and that most of the Brethren in the Lord, being confident in my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear.’ This passage has been generally misconceived and connected with the period of imprisonment; and here again we are indebted to Mommsen for the proper interpretation. The Praetorum is the whole body of persons connected with the sitting in judgment, the supreme Imperial Court, doubtless in this case the Prefect or both Prefects of the Praetorian Guard, representing the emperor in his capacity as the fountain of justice, together with the assessors and high officers of the court. The expression of the chapter as a whole shows that the trial is partly finished, and the issue as yet is so favorable that the Brethren are emboldened by the success of Paul’s courageous and freespoken defense and the strong impression which he evidently produced on the court; but he himself, being entirely occupied with the trial, is for the moment prevented from preaching as he had been doing when he wrote to the Colossians and the Asian churches generally.” 5. BEARING ON DATE OF EPISTLE:
Thus, the correct meaning of “praetorium” enables us to fix the date of the Epistle to the Philippians as having been written close to the end of Paul’s first Roman imprisonment. That this inference is correct is confirmed by various other facts, such as his promise to visit that city, and the fact that in Philippians 2:20 f the King James Version he says regarding Timothy, “I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” We could not conceive of Paul writing like this if Mark, Tychicus, Aristarchus, and especially if Luke had been with him then, and yet we know ( Colossians 4:7,10,14) that each and all of these companions of the apostle were with him in Rome when he wrote the Epistle to the Colossians. They had evidently, along with others, been sent on missions to Asia or other places, so that Paul now had only Timothy “likeminded” when he wrote to Philippi. See PAUL THE APOSTLE; PHILIPPIANS, EPISTLE TO THE.
All these facts and considerations confirm us in accepting the signification of “praetorium” as the emperor’s supreme court of appeal, before which Paul when he wrote the Epistle to the Philippians had so conducted his defense as to produce a most favorable impression, from which he inferred that he might soon be liberated from imprisonment. And his liberation, as the event proved, soon followed. John Rutherfurd PRAETORIUM <pre-to’-ri-um > [praitw>rion, praitorion ], Matthew 27:27 (the King James Version “common hall”); Mark 15:16; John 18:28,33; 19:9 (in all margins “palace,” and in the last three the King James Version “judgment hall”); Acts 23:35, (Herod’s) “palace,” margin “Praetorium,” the King James Version “judgment hall”; Philippians 1:13, “praetorian guard” (margin “Greek `in the whole Pretorium,’ “ the King James Version “palace,” margin “Caesar’s court”): 1. GOVERNOR’S OFFICIAL RESIDENCE:
The Pretorium was originally the headquarters of a Roman camp, but in the provinces the name became attached to the governor’s official residence. In order to provide residences for their provincial governors, the Romans were accustomed to seize and appropriate the palaces which were formerly the homes of the princes or kings in conquered countries. Such a residence might sometimes be in a royal palace, as was probably the case in Caesarea, where the procurator used Herod’s palace ( Acts 23:35). 2. IN GOSPELS HEROD’S PALACE:
The Pretorium where Jesus was brought to trial has been traditionally located in the neighborhood of the present Turkish barracks where once stood the Antonia and where was stationed a large garrison (compare Acts 21:32-35), but the statements of Josephus make it almost certain that the headquarters of the procurator were at Herod’s palace. This was a building whose magnificence Josephus can hardly sufficiently appraise (Wars, I, xxi, 1; V, iv, 4). It was in this palace that “Florus, the procurator took up his quarters, and having placed his tribunal in front of it, held his sessions and the chief priests, influential persons and notables of the city appeared before the tribunal” (Wars II, xiv, 8). Later on, “Florus .... brought such as were with him out of the king’s palace, and would have compelled them to get as far as the citadel (Antonia); but his attempt failed” (II, xv, 5). The word translated “palace” here is aule, the same word as is translated “court” in Mark 15:16, “the soldiers led him away within the court (aule), which is the Pretorium.” There is no need to suppose that Herod Antipas was in the same palace ( Luke 23:4 ff); it is more probable he went to the palace of the Hasmoneans which lay lower down on the eastern slope of this southwest hill, where at a later time Josephus expressly states that Herod Agrippa II and his sister Bernice were living (Wars, II, xvi, 3).
The palace of Herod occupied the highest part of the southwest hill near the northwest angle of the ancient city, now traditionally called Zion, and the actual site of the Pretorium cannot have been far removed from the Turkish barracks near the so-called “Tower of David.” It is interesting to note that the two stations of the Turkish garrison of Jerusalem today occupy the same spots as did the Roman garrison of Christ’s time. It is needless to point out how greatly this view of the situation of the Pretorium must modify the traditional claims of the “Via Dolorosa,” the whole course of which depends on theory that the “Way of Sorrow” began at the Antonia, the Pretorium of late ecclesiastical tradition. See also GABBATHA. 3. PHILIPPIANS 1:13:
With regard to the expression [ejn o[lw| tw~| praitwri>w|, en holo to praitorio ] in Philippians 1:13, there is now a general consensus of opinion that “Praetorium” here means, not a place, but the imperial praetorian guard, ten thousand in number, which was instituted by Augustus. Paul was allowed to reside in his private house in the custody of a praetorian soldier. As these were doubtless constantly changed, it must have become “manifest” to the whole guard that his bonds were for the sake of Christ. See also preceding article. E. W. G. Masterman PRAISE <praz > ([ hL;hiT] , tehillah ], “psalm,” “praise,” [ hd;wOT, todhah ], “confession” “thanksgiving,” [ jb”v; , shabhach ], “to praise” “glorify,” [ rm”z; , zamar ], [ hd;y; , yadhah ], “to stretch out the hand,” “confess”; [eijne>w, aineo ], [ejpaine>w, epaineo ], ([e]painov, epainos ]): 1. ITS MEANING:
The word comes from the Latin pretium, “price,” or “value,” and may be defined generally as an ascription of value or worth. Praise may be bestowed upon unworthy objects or from improper motives, but true praise consists in a sincere acknowledgment of a real conviction of worth. Its type may be seen in the representation given in the Apocalypse of the adoration of God and of the Lamb, which is inspired by a sense of their worthiness to be adored ( Revelation 4:11; 5:12). 2. WITH MAN AS ITS OBJECT:
Man may be the object of praise, and may receive it either from God or from his fellow-men. In the former case ( Romans 2:29; Corinthians 4:5) the praise is inevitably just, as resting on a divine estimate of worth; in the latter case its value depends upon the grounds and motives that lie behind it. There is a praise which is itself a condemnation ( Luke 6:26), an honor which seals the eyes in unbelief ( John 5:44), a careless use of the epithet “good” which is dishonoring to God ( Luke 18:19).
This is the “praise of men” which Jesus warned His followers to shun as being incompatible with the “praise of God” ( Matthew 6:1-4; compare John 12:43; Galatians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:6). On the other hand, there is a praise that is the instinctive homage of the soul to righteousness ( Luke 23:47), the acknowledgment given to well-doing by just government ( Romans 13:3; 1 Peter 2:14), the tribute of the churches to distinguished Christian service ( 2 Corinthians 8:18). Such praise, so far from being incompatible with the praise of God, is a reflection of it in human consciousness; and so Paul associates praise with virtue as an aid and incentive to holy living on which the mind should dwell ( Philippians 4:8). 3. WITH GOD AS ITS OBJECT:
In the Bible it is God who is especially brought before us as the object of praise. His whole creation praises Him, from the angels of heaven ( <19A320> Psalm 103:20; Revelation 5:11) to those lower existences that are unconscious or even inanimate ( Psalm 19:1-4; 148:1-10; Revelation 5:13). But it is with the praises offered to God by man, and with the human duty of praising God, that the Scriptures are principally concerned. In regard to this subject the following points may be noticed: (1) The Grounds of Praise.
Sometimes God is praised for His inherent qualities. His majesty ( <19A401> Psalm 104:1) or holiness ( Isaiah 6:3) fills the mind, and He is “glorified as God” ( Romans 1:21) in view of what He essentially is. More frequently He is praised for His works in creation, providence, and redemption.
References may be dispensed with here, for the evidence meets us on almost every page of the sacred literature from Genesis to Revelation, and the Book of Psalms in particular, from beginning to end, is occupied with these themes. When God’s operations under these aspects present themselves, not simply as general effects of His power and wisdom, but as expressions of His personal love to the individual, the nation, the church, His works become benefits, and praise passes into blessing and thanksgiving (Pss 34; 103; Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3). (2) The Modes of Praise.
True praise of God, as distinguished from false praise ( Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8), is first of all an inward emotion — a gladness and rejoicing of the heart ( Psalm 4:7; 33:21), a music of the soul and spirit ( <19A301> Psalm 103:1; Luke 1:46 f) which no language can adequately express ( <19A602> Psalm 106:2; 2 Corinthians 9:15). But utterance is natural to strong emotion, and the mouth instinctively strives to express the praises of the heart ( Psalm 51:15 and passim). Many of the most moving passages in Scripture come from the inspiration of the spirit of praise awakened by the contemplation of the divine majesty or power or wisdom or kindness, but above all by the revelation of redeeming love. Again, the spirit of praise is a social spirit calling for social utterance. The man who praises God desires to praise Him in the hearing of other men ( Psalm 40:10), and desires also that their praises should be joined with his own ( Psalm 34:3). Further, the spirit of praise is a spirit of song. It may find expression in other ways — in sacrifice ( Leviticus 7:13), or testimony ( Psalm 66:16), or prayer ( Colossians 1:3); but it finds its most natural and its fullest utterance in lyrical and musical forms. When God fills the heart with praise He puts a new song into the mouth ( Psalm 40:3).
The Book of Psalms is the proof of this for the Old Testament. And when we pass to the New Testament we find that, alike for angels and men, for the church on earth and the church in heaven, the higher moods of praise express themselves in bursts of song ( Luke 2:14; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; Revelation 5:9; 14:3; 15:3). Finally, both in the Old Testament and New Testament, the spirit of song gives birth to ordered modes of public praise. In their earlier expressions the praises of Israel were joyful outbursts in which song was mingled with shouting and dancing to a rude accompaniment of timbrels and trumpets ( Exodus 15:20 ff; 2 Samuel 6:5,14 ff). In later times Israel had its sacred Psalter, its guilds of trained singers ( Ezra 2:41; Nehemiah 7:44), its skilled musicians (Pss 42; 49, etc.); and the praise that waited for God in Zion was full of the solemn beauty of holiness ( Psalm 29:2; 96:9). In the New Testament the Psalter is still a manual of social praise. The “hymn” which Jesus sang with His disciples after the Last Supper ( Matthew 26:30) would be a Hebrew psalm, probably from the Hallel (Pss 113 through 118) which was used at the Passover service, and various references in the Epistles point to the continued employment of the ancient psalms in Christian worship ( 1 Corinthians 14:26; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; James 5:13). But the Psalter of the Jewish church could not suffice to express the distinctive moods of Christian feeling.
Original utterance of the spirit of Christian song was one of the manifestations of the gift of tongues ( 1 Corinthians 14:15-17). Paul distinguishes hymns and spiritual songs from psalms ( Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16); and it was hymns that he and Silas sang at midnight in the prison of Philippi ( Acts 16:25 the Revised Version (British and American)). But from hymns and songs that were the spontaneous utterance of individual feeling the development was natural, in New Testament as in Old Testament times, to hymns that were sung in unison by a whole congregation; and in rhythmic passages like 1 Timothy 3:16; Revelation 15:3 f, we seem to have fragments of a primitive Christian hymnology, such as Pliny bears witness to for the early years of the 2nd century, when he informs Trajan that the Christians of Bithynia at their morning meetings sang a hymn in alternate strains to Christ as God (Ep. x.97). See PERSECUTION. (3) The Duty of Praise.
Praise is everywhere represented in the Bible as a duty no less than a natural impulse and a delight. To fail in this duty is to withhold from God’s glory that belongs to Him ( Psalm 50:23; Romans 1:20 f); it is to shut one’s eyes to the signs of His presence ( Isaiah 40:26 ff), to be forgetful of His mercies ( Deuteronomy 6:12), and unthankful for His kindness ( Luke 6:35). If we are not to fall into these sins, but are to give to God the honor and glory and gratitude we owe Him, we must earnestly cultivate the spirit and habit of praise. From holy men of old we learn that this may be done by arousing the soul from its slothfulness and sluggishness ( Psalm 57:8; 103:1), by fixing the heart upon God ( Psalm 57:7; 108:1), by meditation on His works and ways ( Psalm 77:11 ff), by recounting His benefits ( <19A302> Psalm 103:2), above all, for those to whom He has spoken in His Son, by dwelling upon His unspeakable gift ( Corinthians 9:15; compare Romans 8:31 ff; 1 John 3:1). See also WORSHIP.
J. C. Lambert PRAYER <prar > ([de>hsiv, deesis ], [proseuch>, proseuche ], ([e]nteuxiv, enteuxis ]; for an excellent discussion of the meaning of these see Thayer’s Lexicon, p. 126, under the word de>hsiv ; the chief verbs are [eu]comai, euchomai ], [proseu>comai, proseuchomai ], and [de>omai, deomai ], especially in Luke and Acts; [aijte>w, aiteo ], “to ask a favor” distinguished from [ejrwta>w, erotao ], “to ask a question,” is found occasionally): In the Bible “prayer” is used in a simpler and a more complex a narrower and a wider signification.
In the former case it is supplication for benefits either for one’s self (petition) or for others (intercession). In the latter it is an act of worship which covers all soul in its approach to God. Supplication is at the heart of it, for prayer always springs out of a sense of need and a belief that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him ( Hebrews 11:6). But adoration and confession and thanksgiving also find a It place, so that the suppliant becomes a worshipper. It is unnecessary to distinguish all the various terms for prayer that are employed in the Old Testament and the New Testament. But the fact should be noticed that in the Hebrew and Greek aloe there are on the one hand words for prayer that denote a direct petition or short, sharp cry of the heart in its distress ( Psalm 30:2; Corinthians 12:8), and on the other “prayers” like that of Hannah ( <090201> Samuel 2:1-10), which is in reality a song of thanksgiving, or that of Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, in which intercession is mingled with doxology ( Ephesians 3:14-21). 1. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:
The history of prayer as it meets us here reflects various stages of experience and revelation. In the patriarchal period, when `men began to call upon the name of the Lord’ ( Genesis 4:26; compare 12:8; 21:33), prayer is naive, familiar and direct ( Genesis 15:2 ff; 17:18; 18:23 ff; 24:12). It is evidently associated with sacrifice ( Genesis 12:8; 13:4; 26:25), the underlying idea probably being that the gift or offering would help to elicit the desired response. Analogous to this is Jacob’s vow, itself a species of prayer, in which the granting of desired benefits becomes the condition of promised service and fidelity ( Genesis 28:20 ff). In the preexilic history of Israel prayer still retains many of the primitive features of the patriarchal type ( Exodus 3:4; Numbers 11:11-15; Judges 6:13 ff; 11:30 f; 1 Samuel 1:11; 2 Samuel 15:8; Psalm 66:13 f).
The Law has remarkably little to say on the subject, differing here from the later Judaism (see Schurer, HJP, II, i, 290, index-vol, p. 93; and compare Matthew 6:5 ff; 23:14; Acts 3:1; 16:13); while it confirms the association of prayer with sacrifices, which now appear, however, not as gifts in anticipation of benefits to follow, but as expiations of guilt ( Deuteronomy 21:1-9) or thank offerings for past mercies ( Deuteronomy 26:1-11). Moreover, the free, frank access of the private individual to God is more and more giving place to the mediation of the priest ( Deuteronomy 21:5; 26:3), the intercession of the prophet ( Exodus 32:11-13; 1 Samuel 7:5-13; 12:23), the ordered approach of tabernacle and temple services (Exodus 40; 1 Kings 8). The prophet, it is true, approaches God immediately and freely — Moses ( Exodus 34:34; Deuteronomy 34:10) and David ( 2 Samuel 7:27) are to be numbered among the prophets — but he does so in virtue of his office, and on the ground especially of his possession of the Spirit and his intercessory function (compare Ezekiel 2:2; Jeremiah 14:15).
A new epoch in the history of prayer in Israel was brought about by the experiences of the Exile. Chastisement drove the nation to seek God more earnestly than before, and as the way of approach through the external forms of the temple and its sacrifices was now closed, the spiritual path of prayer was frequented with a new assiduity. The devotional habits of Ezra ( Ezra 7:27; 8:23), Nehemlab ( Nehemiah 2:4; 4:4,9, etc.) and Daniel ( Daniel 6:10) prove how large a place prayer came to hold in the individual life; while the utterances recorded in Ezra 9:6-15; Nehemiah 1:5-11; 9:5-38; Daniel 9:4-19; Isaiah 63:7 through 64:12 serve as illustrations of the language and spirit of the prayers of the Exile, and show especially the prominence now given to confession of sin.
In any survey of the Old Testament teaching the Psalms occupy a place by themselves, both on account of the large period they cover in the history and because we are ignorant in most cases as to the particular circumstances of their origin. But speaking generally it may be said that here we see the loftiest flights attained by the spirit of prayer under the old dispensation — the intensest craving for pardon, purity and other spiritual blessings (Psalm 51; 130), the most heartfelt longing for a living communion with God Himself ( Psalm 42:2; 63:1; 84:2). 2. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
Here it will be convenient to deal separately with the material furnished by the Gospel narratives of the life and teaching of Christ and that found in the remaining books. The distinctively Christian view of prayer comes to us from the Christ of the Gospels. We have to notice His own habits in the matter ( Luke 3:21; 6:12; 9:16,29; 22:32,39-46; 23:34-46; Matthew 27:46; John 17), which for all who accept Him as the revealer of the Father and the final authority in religion immediately dissipate all theoretical objections to the value and efficacy of prayer. Next we have His general teaching on the subject in parables ( Luke 11:5-9; 18:1-14) and incidental sayings ( Matthew 5:44; 6:5-8; 7:7-11; 9:38; 17:21; 18:19; 21:22; 24:20; 26:41 and the parallels), which presents prayer, not as a mere energizing of the religious soul that is followed by beneficial spiritual reactions, but as the request of a child to a father ( Matthew 6:8; 7:11), subject, indeed, to the father’s will ( Matthew 7:11; compare 6:10; 26:39,42; 1 John 5:14), but secure always of loving attention and response ( Matthew 7:7-11; 21:22). In thus teaching us to approach God as our Father, Jesus raised prayer to its highest plane, making it not less reverent than it was at its best in Old Testament times, while far more intimate and trustful. In the LORD’S PRAYER (which see). He summed up His ordinary teaching on the subject in a concrete example which serves as a model and breviary of prayer ( Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4).
But according to the Fourth Gospel, this was not His final word upon the subject. On the night of the betrayal, and in full view of His death and resurrection and ascension to God’s right hand, He told His disciples that prayer was henceforth to be addressed to the Father in the name of the Son, and that prayer thus offered was sure to be granted ( John 16:23,24,26). The differentia of Christian prayer thus consists in its being offered in the name of Christ; while the secret of its success lies on the one hand in the new access to the Father which Christ has secured for His people ( John 17:19; compare Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-22), and on the other in the fact that prayer offered in the name of Christ will be prayer in harmony with the Father’s will ( John 15:7; compare 1 John 3:22 f; 5:13 f).
In the Acts and Epistles we see the apostolic church giving effect to Christ’s teaching on prayer. It was in a praying atmosphere that the church was born ( Acts 1:14; compare 2:1); and throughout its early history prayer continued to be its vital breath and native air ( Acts 2:42; 3:1; 6:4,6 and passim). The Epistles abound in references to prayer. Those of Paul in particular contain frequent allusions to his own personal practice in the matter ( Romans 1:9; Ephesians 1:16; Philippians 1:9; Thessalonians 1:2, etc.), and many exhortations to his readers to cultivate the praying habit ( Romans 12:12; Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:17, etc.). But the new and characteristic thing about Christian prayer as it meets us now is its connection with the Spirit.
It has become a spiritual gift ( 1 Corinthians 14:14-16); and even those who have not this gift in the exceptional charismatic sense may “pray in the Spirit” whenever they come to the throne of grace ( Ephesians 6:18; Jude 1:20). The gift of the Spirit, promised by Christ ( John 14:16 ff, etc.), has raised prayer to its highest power by securing for it a divine cooperation ( Romans 8:15,26; Galatians 4:6). Thus Christian prayer in its full New Testament meaning is prayer addressed to God as Father, in the name of Christ as Mediator, and through the enabling grace of the indwelling Spirit. See PRAYERS OF JESUS.
J. C. Lambert PRAYER, HOURS OF See HOURS OF PRAYER.
PRAYER, LORD’S See LORD’S PRAYER, THE.
PRAYER OF HABAKKUK See HABAKKUK; BETH-HORON, BATTLE OF.
PRAYER OF JOSEPH See JOSEPH, PRAYER OF.
PRAYER OF MANASSES See MANASSES, PRAYER OF.
PRAYERS OF JESUS <prarz > :
In the history and doctrine of prayer, nothing is more important than the light shed upon the subject by the prayers of Jesus. These are to be studied in connection with His teaching concerning prayer found in the model of the Lord’s Prayer, and general statements and hints to His disciples. 1. THE LORD’S PRAYER:
This model of prayer is given in two forms ( Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). The differences of form show that exactness of similarity in words is not essential. The prayer includes adoration, supplication for the Kingdom, for personal needs, for forgiveness, for deliverance from temptation and the ascription of glory. It is at once individual and universal; it sets the recognition of divine things first, and yet clearly asserts the ethical and social relations of life. See LORD’S PRAYER, THE. 2. CHRIST’S DOCTRINE OF PRAYER: SACREDNESS, IMPORTUNITY, CONDITIONS:
That men should pray is taken for granted ( Matthew 6:5). Its sacredness is involved in the command for privacy ( Matthew 6:6); its importunity ( Luke 11:5-9; 18:1-8); its necessary conditions of humility, absence of self righteousness ( Luke 18:9-14), of display and repetition ( Matthew 6:7); necessity of faith and a forgiving spirit ( Mark 11:24-26); of agreement in social prayer ( Matthew 18:19); submission to the will of Christ, “in my name” ( John 14:13). 3. PRAYERS OFFERED BY CHRIST:
In Matthew 11:25,26 the King James Version, Christ thanks God: “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” This language shows the essence of prayer to be not the mere expression of need and request for what is required, but resort to God. The prayer gives us insight into the deeper experience of the Son with the Father, and His perfect submission to the Father’s will, with thanksgiving even for what might seem inexplicable. It thus illustrates the truth that the highest form of prayer is found in the serenity of the soul. Matthew 14:23 narrates the retirement of the Lord to a “mountain apart to pray.” No word of what the prayer was is given, but the record is suggestive. Following a day of severe toil and probably excitement, Jesus betakes Himself to prayer. The reality, the true humanity of the Christ, are here revealed. The former prayer may almost be regarded as that of the Son of God addressed to the Father in the sublime communion of the Godhead. This passage emphatically is a prayer-scene of the Son of Man.
The association of this incident of prayer in Christ’s life with the miracle of walking on the sea (an example of miracle in the person of the Lord Himself, and not performed on another) opens up an interesting question of the relation of the supernatural and the natural. Here perhaps lies an explanation of the true significance of the miraculous. The communion of the Lord with a supreme Father had filled the physical nature of Jesus with spiritual forces which extended the power of the spirit over the material world beyond the limits by which man is bound in his normal and sinful condition (see Lange, Commentary on Matthew; Matthew 15:36; compare 14:19). Christ’s recognition of God as the Giver of food, in thanks at the meal, or “asking a blessing,” should be noted as an example which in modern times is largely ignored or followed as a mere formality.
But it is significant; it expresses that intense and all-compelling sense of the divine which ever dwelt in Him; of which prayer is an expression, and which is evoked so naturally and becomingly at a social meal. In Matthew 17:21, our Lord’s reference to prayer as a necessary condition of miraculous power, in the light of Mark 7:34, where “looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him (the deaf man), Ephphatha,” may imply His own prayer in connection with the exercise of miraculous energy.
This is apparently indicated in John 11:41,42, although, as above, it is the expression of the intimate relation between Christ and the Father, which is the essence of prayer, and in which relation He ever exercised the fullest power of God Himself. Matthew 19:13 records that little children were brought to Him that He should put His hands on them and pray. That He prayed is not related, but 19:15 relates that He laid His hands on them and, presumably, with the imposition, prayed. The scene is most suggestive, in the light of our Lord’s words. In Matthew 19:14 and in 26:26 Our Lord blesses the bread or gives thanks at the institution of the Supper, and has set the mode of celebration universally adopted, even giving the term Eucharist (“giving of thanks”) to the service. (1) The High-priestly Prayer.
This prayer (John 17) is the special prayer of the Lord, and may be regarded as the sole example furnished by the evangelists of our Lord’s method of prayer. The thanksgiving in Matthew 11:25 is the only other instance of any extent in the report of the prayers of Jesus, but even that is brief compared to what is here furnished. The fullness of this prayer clearly shows that it was uttered in the hearing of the disciples. Their relation to it is remarkable. Auditors, they yet could not share in it. At the same time, it was a profound revelation to them both of the relation of the Master to God, and the character of the work which He had come to perform, and the part which they were to take in it. John gives us no hint as to the place in which it was spoken; 14:31 indicates a departure from the upper room.
But apparently the prayer was offered where the discourses of John 15 and 16 were delivered. It has been suggested by Westcott that some spot in the temple courts was the scene of John 15; 16 and 17. It has been generally supposed that the ornament of the Golden Vine would naturally suggest the figure of the Vine and Branches which our Lord employs. John 18:1 shows that the prayer was offered before the Lord and His disciples had passed over the brook Kidron. The determination of the exact spot is certainly impossible, except the probability that the words were spoken in the vicinity of the temple.
The first part of the prayer ( John 17:1-5) is an expression of profound communion between the Son and the Father, and the prayer that the Father should glorify the Son, but with the supreme end of the Father’s own glory. The absolutely unique character of Christ’s relation to God is the calm assertion of John 17:4. Its consciousness of completeness in the work which He had received from God, impossible for the children of men, marks the supreme nature of the Son of God.
In the second part of the prayer ( John 17:6-19), our Lord prays for His disciples, to whom He has revealed Himself and His relation to God ( John 17:7,8). He prays that they may be kept by the Father, and for their unity. Their separation from the world is declared ( John 17:14), and our Lord prays that they may be kept from the evil that is in the world, which is alien from them as it is from Him.
In the third portion of the prayer Christ’s relation to His ultimate followers is referred to. Their unity is sought, not an external unity, but the deep, spiritual unity found by the indwelling of Christ in them and God in Christ.
The prayer closes by the declaration that Christ’s knowledge of the Father is revealed to His people, and the end and crown of all is to be the indwelling of God’s love in man by the dwelling of Christ in him.
This prayer is unique, not merely among the prayers of our Lord, but also among the prayers of humanity. While it is distinctly a petition, it is at the same time a communion. In one or two places our Lord expresses His will, thus setting Himself upon a level with God. The fact of this prayer of triumph in which every petition is virtually a declaration of the absolute certainty of its realization, immediately preceding the prayer of Gethsemane, is both difficult and suggestive. The anomaly is a powerful argument for the historic reality. The explanation of these contrasted moods is to be found in the depth of our Lord’s nature, and especially in the complete consistency of His dual nature with the spheres to which each nature belongs. He is most divine; He is most human. In the fullness of the reach of the prayer and its calm confidence, the believer may find a ceaseless and inexhaustible source of comfort and encouragement.
Attention might be called to the remarkable forecast of the history and experience of the church which the prayer furnishes. (2) The Prayer in Gethsemane.
This is recorded by the three Synoptics ( Matthew 26:36-44; Mark 14:22-40; Luke 22:39-46), and is probably referred to in Hebrews 5:7. Brief though the prayer is, it exhibits most clearly recognition of God’s infinite power, a clear object sought by the prayer, and perfect submission to God’s will. All the elements of prayer, as it can be offered by man, are here except the prayer for forgiveness. It is to be noted that the prayer was three times repeated. This is not to be regarded as inconsistent with our Lord’s prohibition of repetition. It was vain repetition which was forbidden. The intensity of the prayer is expressed by its threefold utterance (compare Paul’s prayer in regard to the thorn in 2 Corinthians 12:8). (3) The Prayers on the Cross.
In Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34, Christ uses the prayer of Psalm 22:1. In the moment of complete desolation, the Sufferer claimed His unbroken relationship with God. This is the victory of the atoning sacrifice. Luke 23:34 records the prayer of intercession for those who crucified Him; in 23:46 is the calm committal of His spirit to the Father. Prayer here again assumes its highest form in the expression of recognition and trust.
Thus the three prayers on the cross not only reveal the intimate relation of our Lord to the Father, but they also illustrate prayer such as man may offer. They represent supplication, intercession, communion. Prayer thus expresses our relation to God, to others, to ourselves; our trust, our love, our need. In all things He was made like unto His brethren, except without sin (see POINTS). His prayers on the cross illustrate His high-priestly office. It rises at that intense crisis to its supreme manifestation and activity. (4) Prayer after the Resurrection.
It is to be observed that after His resurrection there is no record of any prayer, offered by Christ. In the supper at Emmaus He “blessed” the bread ( Luke 24:30); and the ascension took place in the midst of blessing ( Luke 24:51), suggestive of the course of the church as ever beneath the benediction of the Lord, to be ended only at the final consummation.
The act of eating the fish and honeycomb ( Luke 24:43) seems to have been unaccompanied by any act of specifically religious form. Mark, with characteristic regard to details, records Christ’s “looking up to heaven” ( Mark 6:41; 7:34); John 11:41 refers to a similar act, and adds the Lord’s words of thanksgiving that God had heard Him (see also John 17:1). The gesture was usual in association with Christ’s prayers; it is appropriate and suggestive. Luke narrates that Christ prayed at His baptism ( Luke 3:21); that He spent a night in prayer before choosing the Twelve ( Luke 6:12,13); that the transfiguration was preceded by prayer ( Luke 9:29); and records the prayer in the garden ( Luke 22:41-45). The third evangelist thus in addition to the notes of our Lord’s prayers in retirement, which the other evangelists record, adds these instances of the special relation of prayer to events of critical importance. (5) General Conclusions.
The following conclusions as to prayer may be drawn from the records of Christ’ prayers: (1) Prayer is the highest exercise of man’s spiritual nature. (2) It is natural to the soul even in perfect accord with God. (3) It is not only the expression of need, the supply of which is sought of God, but by the example of Christ it is the highest expression of trust, submission and union with God. (4) It is to be used both in solitude and in society; it is personal and intercessory. (5) It may be accompanied by the plea of Christ’s name, and for Christ’s sake. These are the laws which should direct it; that is to say, it should be based upon the merit and the intercession of Christ, and should be addressed to God under the limitations of the Kingdom of the Lord and His purposes for good, both for the interest of the suppliant and others, under the conditions of the interest of the whole Kingdom. L. D. Bevan PREACHER; PREACHING <prech’-er > , <prech’-ing > ([ tl,h,qo , qoheleth ], “preacher” ( Ecclesiastes 1:1), [ rc”B; , basar ], “to bring or tell good tidings” ( Psalm 40:9; Isaiah 61:1), [ ar;q; , qara’ ], “to call,” “proclaim” ( Nehemiah 6:7; Jon 3:2), [ ha;yriq] , qeri’ah ], “cry,” “preaching” (Jon 3:2); [kh>rux, kerux ], “crier,” “herald” ( 1 Timothy 2:7), [khru>ssw, kerusso ], “to cry or proclaim as a herald” ( Matthew 3:1; Romans 10:14), [eujaggelli>zw, euaggellizo ], “to announce good news” ( Matthew 11:5)): 1. DEFINITION:
In the New Testament sense a preacher is a man who has the inner call from the Holy Spirit and the external call from the church the witnessing body of Christ on earth, and has been duly set apart as an accredited and qualified teacher of the Christian religion. His vocation is that of addressing the popular mind and heart on religious truth, as that truth is set forth in the sacred Scripture, for the spiritual profit of the hearer as its end. The preacher, recognized as such by the church, speaks as a personal witness of God’s saving truth, explaining it and applying it as the circumstances of the people and the time may require. The gravity and importance of this vocation, as set forth in the sacred Scriptures and amply illustrated in the history of the church, surpass those of any other calling among men.
Luther said, “The Devil does not mind the written word but he is put to flight whenever it is preached aloud.” 2. THE PREACHER’S LIMITATIONS:
The preacher, in the sense indicated above, is with all other Christians a sharer in the freedom that is in Christ. But as a recognized teacher and leader of the church, he is not an unattached and entire unrestricted teacher. He is not to speak as his own, but as the mouthpiece of the church whose apprehension of the gospel he has voluntarily confessed. The faith of the church is, by his own assent, his faith, and her doctrine is his doctrine. He is not expected to give his own, as distinct from or opposed to the faith of the church in whose name he has been set apart to proclaim the gospel. Both the personal and the representative or official are united in him and his preaching. 3. A MAN WITH A MESSAGE:
His work is always to be related to the Old Testament and New Testament.
His sermon is under the creed of his church as the creed is under the word.
The preacher is a man with a message, and the preacher who has no message of the particular kind indicated above is in no true sense a preacher. It has been well expressed in one of the valuable Yale series of lectures on the subject, “Every living preacher must receive his communication direct from God, and the constant purpose of his life must be to receive it uncorrupted and to deliver it without addition or subtraction.” When he presents the message of his divinely-appointed ambassadorship in its integrity, he speaks with that peculiar kind of “authority” which has been pronounced “the first and indispensable requisite” in giving a message from God. He manifests thereby a “high celestial dogmatism,” and “human weakness becomes immortal strength.”
The true preacher preaches from a divine impulsion. He says with Paul, “Necessity is laid upon me; for woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel” ( 1 Corinthians 9:16; compare Jeremiah 20:9). He says with Peter, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard” ( Acts 4:19,20). The message of the preacher is greater than the man, because it is from God. It largely makes the man who preaches it in its fullness and power. Whatever be his own gifts or whatever the alleged gift conferred in the laying on of hands, without the sense of the message he is not chosen of God to proclaim His word. Destitute of that, he does not have the sustaining impulse of his vocation to enlist his entire personality in his work and give him mastery over the minds and hearts of men. 4. PREACHING A NECESSARY AGENCY:
No agency of religion is older than preaching. It is as old as the Bible itself ( 2 Peter 2:5). It is a necessary adjunct of a religion that is communicated to man by means of an objective and authoritative revelation, such as we have in the sacred Scriptures. It is an entirely natural agency of the forms of religion revealed in the Old Testament and New Testament. It is strictly in harmony with those ideas that obtain in both testaments regarding the method of propagating the faith, set forth through the agency of holy men who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
That faith is disseminated by means of teaching through argument, explanation, motive and exhortation. The agency for the spread of a religion of persuasion must be preaching. 5. BIBLICAL TERMS AND THEIR MEANINGS:
In the Biblical usage of the terms which have reference to the subject, preaching means the proclamation of religious truth. It is that continuous and public testimony which the church is always giving, through discourses by men set apart for such work, to her own living faith as that faith is rooted in and sustained by the written word of God. In this sense “to call,” “proclaim,” “cry aloud” are used frequently of the prophetic message under the various aspects of denunciation, as in Jon 1:2; of the relation of the divine, as in Jeremiah 11:6, and of Messianic promise, as in Isaiah 61:1. The term for “preaching” is also used to designate a political propagandism set forth by the prophet ( Nehemiah 6:7). In two passages ( Psalm 68:11, “publish”; Isaiah 61:1) another word for preaching means “to declare good news.” In the case of Jonah’s preaching at Nineveh, the word used to designate what it was means strictly “proclamation” and corresponds to the New Testament word used to define our Lord’s “proclamation” as a herald of the advent of the Kingdom of God ( Matthew 4:17), which in its initial stages particularly was closely associated with the preaching of John the Baptist ( Matthew 3:1,2). 6. THE HEBREW PROPHETS:
Thus, while preaching belongs especially to Christianity, it has well-defined antecedents in the Old Testament. Under both the old and the new dispensations the subject takes the church for granted and utters the testimony, not simply of a solitary believer, but of a divinely-founded society, whether it be of Jews or Christians. The older books in the Canon have in them the beginnings and some of the features of the preacher’s office and of the high function of preaching. In them we find a special class of men set apart and separated unto that particular work, as we find in the Christian church, from its beginnings, the same divinely instituted office.
The Hebrew prophet had a message direct from God, which frequently came with supernatural knowledge in the power of prediction. The mission of the prophet, however, was simply or chiefly to forecast the future, but to declare a present message from the Lord to the people. The prophet of the Old Testament was the forerunner in office and the prototype of the ambassador of Christ. With the development of the synagogue as the center of Hebrew worship, application as well as interpretation of the Law became essential.
Moses, the most commanding figure in Hebrew history, was a prophet, and no messages in the Old Testament are more imbued with power, sublimity and pathos than those uttered by the great lawgiver. He became the guide Israel, not so much by his rod as by the word he delivered to the people.
There are numerous indications that after Moses there was a continuous class of religious teachers whose work it was to instruct men and inspire the people, as is indicated in the cases of Joshua, in the history of Deborah and Barak, and in the days of solemn assembly which are inconceivable without men who spoke and other men who listened. In the time of Samuel there was a distinct advance made in the work of the prophets, and the prophetic office had become a fixed institution. There were schools of the prophets at Bethel, Jericho and Gilgal, the very seats of heathen idolatry.
Under the Old Testament dispensation the whole course of progress was toward presenting divine truth in its simplicity and power, by bringing it to bear upon the popular mind and heart. One of the marks of the new era beginning with John the Baptist was a revival of prophetic preaching ( Matthew 11:9), which again resumed its old character and meaning. See PROPHECY AND PROPHETS. 7. CHRIST AS A PREACHER:
The words meaning “to proclaim as a herald” and “preaching,” are frequent in the New Testament. The mission of our Lord was essentially one of proclaiming good tidings concerning the Kingdom of God ( Matthew 4:17). He at once, on His entrance upon His ministry, gave to preaching a spiritual depth and practical range which it never had before. At that time preaching had manifestly become a fixed part of the synagogue worship, and was made one of the chief instruments in the spread of the gospel. our Lord constantly taught in the synagogue ( Matthew 4:23; Mark 1:21; John 6:59). He thus read and interpreted and applied the Law and the Prophets ( Mark 1:39; Luke 4:16). Christ’s testimony about Himself was that He came “to bear witness to the truth.” The spoken word became His great power in His life and ministry. Throughout His life Jesus was above all things a preacher of the truths of His kingdom. Telling men what He was in Himself, what in His relation to man and his salvation and what to God the Father, formed a large part of His public work. 8. THE APOSTLES AS PREACHERS:
The preaching of the apostles was essentially prophetic in character, and bore testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus and His early return to judgment ( Acts 2:24,32,36; 1 Corinthians 15:15). The sermons of the apostles which are reported with much fullness are those of Peter on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), his address in the house of Cornelius at Caesarea (Acts 10), and the counsels of James to the brethren at Jerusalem, as to what ordinances should be imposed on Gentile Christians. In the early church preachers were first of all witnesses to what Jesus had said and done, and to the significance to be attached to the great facts of the redemptive history. With the spread of the gospel and the passing of time, this office was taken up by others, especially such as were endued with “the word of wisdom” and “of knowledge” ( 1 Corinthians 12:8). 9. FUNDAMENTAL POSTULATES:
Upon the basis of what is taught in the word of God there are two fundamentally important postulates concerning preaching and the preacher. (1) Preach the Word.
The first note of preaching is that it be the word of God ( 2 Timothy 4:2). Out of the Bible must the life of every generation of Christians be fed.
To Holy Scripture, therefore, ought the pulpit to abide faithful, for out of its treasures the preacher fulfils his double office of edifying believers and subjugating the world to Christ. There must always be an organic connection between the word in the text and the sermon. (2) “We Are Ambassadors.” The work of preaching is the fulfillment of a divinely instituted ambassadorship ( 2 Corinthians 5:20). The gospel is put into the hands of men for a distinct purpose, and is to be administered in accordance with the plan of its author. The preacher is in a very distinct sense a trustee. “But even as we have been approved of God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our hearts” ( 1 Thessalonians 2:4). Those who have accepted the responsibility imposed upon them by this divine commission are enjoined to exercise their office so as to warrant the approbation of Him who has appointed them to a specific work. The homiletic practice of taking theme of every sermon from a passage of Holy Writ has been an almost invariable rule in the history of the church. It is the business of the preacher to present the truth embodied in the text in its integrity. In the exercise of his divinely-appointed ambassadorship he is to administer God’s word revealed to Christian faith, not human opinions or speculations. David H. Bauslin PRECEPT <pre’-sept > : A commandment, an authoritative rule for action; in the Scriptures generally a divine injunction in which man’s obligation is set forth (Latin praeceptum, from praecipere, “to instruct”).
Four words are so rendered in the King James Version: (1) [ hw;x]mi , mitswah ], very frequently (168 times) translated “commandment,” but 4 times “precept” (in the Revised Version (British and American) only Jeremiah 35:18; Daniel 9:5); (2) from the same root is [ wx; , tsaw ], or [ wx” , tsaw ] ( Isaiah 28:10,13); (3) [ µydiWQPi , piqqudhim ], only in the Psalms (21 times in Psalm 119, e.g. verses 4,15,27; also the Revised Version (British and American) Psalm 19:8; 103:18; 111:7); (4) in the New Testament, [ejntolh>, entole ], generally in the King James Version translated “commandment” (68 times), but twice “precept” ( Mark 10:5; Hebrews 9:19; in both cases the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes “commandment”). See COMMANDMENT.
D. Miall Edwards PRECIOUS <presh’-us > (stands for 17 different words, chief of which are [ rq”y; , yaqar ]; [ti>miov, timios ]): (1) Generally in the literal sense, “of great price,” “costly,” “expensive,” of material things (e.g. Proverbs 1:13; Jeremiah 20:5; Mark 14:3 the King James Version), especially of precious stones ( 2 Samuel 12:30; 2 Chronicles 3:6; 1 Corinthians 3:12 the King James Version, etc.). (2) Sometimes “of great moral (non-material) value.” “Precious in the sight of Yahweh is the death of his saints” ( <19B615> Psalm 116:15); “his precious and exceeding great promises” ( 2 Peter 1:4); compare <19D917> Psalm 139:17; 2 Peter 1:1. The literal and the moral senses are both involved in the expression, “knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, .... but with precious blood” ( 1 Peter 1:18,19). “Preciousness” ([timh>, time ]) occurs in 1 Peter 2:7 the American Standard Revised Version, the English Revised Version, for the King James Version “precious.” D. Miall Edwards PRECIOUS STONES See STONES, PRECIOUS.
PRECIPITATION <pre-sip-i-ta’-shun > . See PUNISHMENTS, III, (5).
PREDESTINATION <pre-des-ti-na’-shun > ([pro>qesiv, prothesis ], [pro>gnwsiv, prognosis ] [proorismo>v, proorismos ]): 1. PREDESTINATION AS A BIBLICAL QUESTION:
Predestination can be, and has sometimes been, regarded as a philosophical question rather than a Biblical one. It is with predestination as a Biblical question, however, that we are here mainly concerned. It is possible to urge, and it has been urged, that the philosophical question — whether all that occurs is foreordained — is not discussed and decided by Scripture.
Theology, starting from God in its interpretation of all things, has arrived at universal foreordination by a species of deductive reasoning. But we must not argue the matter from any abstract principles, but deal with the actual facts as set forth in Scripture and as found, inductively, in the experience of man. 2. ITS FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE:
It must first be asserted, however, in view of much loose modern thinking, that predestination is a category of religious thought of fundamental importance. No category of religious thought could go deeper, for it reaches down to the Infinite Will in relation to the universe of finite wills, and lays stress on will as the core of reality. The philosophy of our time may be said to have received, from the time of Schopenhauer, an impact toward will-emphasis, alike in respect of will in the universe and in man.
But the relation of the Absolute Will to the universe, and to mankind, is precisely that with which we are concerned in predestination. 3. NATURE OF PREDESTINATION:
Predestination is that aspect of foreordination Whereby the salvation of the believer is taken to he effected in accordance with the will of God, who has called and elected him, in Christ, unto life eternal. The divine plan of salvation must certainly be conceived under this aspect of individual reference. To understand and set forth the nature, and ethically justifiable character, of such a foreordaining to life eternal, is our purpose. For doctrine has need to be purged of the historic inconsistencies, and fatal illogicalities, with which, in its older forms of presentation, it was often infected. This, especially, in order that the doctrine may appear as grounded in reason and righteousness, not in arbitrariness and almighty caprice. 4. THE DOCTRINE IN SCRIPTURE:
To begin with, it must be said that there seems to be no evading the doctrine of an election by grace, as found both in the letter and the spirit of Scripture. The idea of predestination is set forth, with great power and clearness, in Romans 8:29,30, and with its elements or parts articulated in natural and striking form. The idea recurs in Ephesians 1, where it is finely said (1:4,5) that God hath chosen us in Christ “before the foundation of the world,” having predestinated or “foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ”; and where it is said, further, that our salvation imports “the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure” (1:9), which He purposed in Christ. This “eternal purpose” to save men through Christ is again referred to in Ephesians 3:11. This helpful mode of viewing predestination as in Christ, and never outside Him, had a place in religious thought at the Reformation time, as the famous “Formula of Concord,” to be referred to below, shows. The predestined certainty of God’s gracious work in Christ was not meant to perplex men, but to encourage and reassure all who trust in His grace. In Romans 9:14-25, the absolute sovereignty of God is put in a form whereby election is made to originate in the divine will apart from all human merit, whether actual or foreseen. But from this assertion of God’s free supremacy we can derive no concrete theodicy, or do more than infer that God is just and wise in His exercise of free grace, even when His doings are most perplexing to us. 5. HISTORIC RISE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE DOCTRINE:
The needful thing is to understand, so far as may be, the nature of the cooperation that takes place between the divine and the human factors or elements, which latter factors include natural capacity, disposition and development, working under grace. It must be carefully observed that nothing in Scripture points to any personal and inexorable predestination to reprobation, in any sense corresponding to the personal election to salvation just spoken of. A non-election there may be, of course, but not in any sense that annuls full personal responsibility for coming short of life everlasting. The appeal of Scripture from first to last is to men as free.
Calvin’s strange way of putting the matter was, “Man therefore falls, God’s Providence so ordaining, but he falls by his own fault.” This idea of reprobation was first introduced by Gottschalk, a monk of the 9th century, long after the predestination doctrine had received its first full and positive exposition by Augustine. Augustine, following upon the indecision shown by the fathers in the first three centuries of the church, made the doctrine of a special predestination his foundation for special grace, in opposition to Pelagius. Augustine gave new prominence in his theory to the absolute will of God: he made divine grace the only ground of man’s salvation; it was to him the irresistible power working faith within the heart, and bringing freedom as its result. It was to him God’s absolute predestination that determined who were believers. But Augustine held predestination as an inference from his conception of the Fall and of grace, rather than as a metaphysical principle. 6. THE DOCTRINE IN THE MIDDLE AGES:
In the Middle Ages, Anselm, Peter Lombard, and Aquinas, followed the Augustinian views only to a certain extent. Aquinas admits that predestination implies a relation to grace, but holds that grace is not of the essence of predestination. Predestination is, to Aquinas, a part of Providence, and it presupposes election in the order of reason. Though divine goodness in general be without election, Aquinas thinks the communication of a particular good cannot be without election.
Predestination has, for him, its foundation in the goodness of God, which is its reason. Aquinas thinks predestination most surely takes effect, but not as from necessity; the effect takes place under the working of contingency.
From such views we are recalled to the idea of a rigorous predestination, by Thomas Bradwardine and John Wycliff, in pre-Reformation times. We are thus brought up to the decretal system — so called from Calvin’s making predestination consist of the eternal decree of God — which became, in its metaphysical principle, the fundamental position of the whole Reformed theology after the Reformation. 7. PREDESTINATION IN THE REFORMED THEOLOGY:
The theology of the Reformed church adopted the Calvinistic doctrine of the decree of predestination and election. Calvin, however, simply carried the Augustinian theory to its logical and necessary conclusion, and he was the first to adopt the doctrine as the cardinal point or primordial principle of a theological system. Zwingli, it must be remembered, was, even before Calvin, of consistent deterministic leanings, as part of his large speculative views, which were not without a tendency to universalism. Salvation was, to Calvin, the execution of a divine decree, which was supposed to fix the extent and conditions of such salvation. (1) Calvin’s Definition.
Reprobation was, for Calvin, involved in election, and divine foreknowledge and foreordination were taken to be identical. Calvin’s mode of defining predestination was as the eternal decree of God, by which He has decided with Himself what is to become of each and every individual. For all, he maintains, are not created in like condition; but eternal life ordained for some, eternal condemnation for others. Calvin confesses that this is a “horrible decree,” and it is not surprising to find competent theologians in our time denying such a form of predestinarianism any place in the teachings of Paul, who never speaks of reprobation. (2) Theology Advanced by Calvin.
It is generally overlooked, however, that theological advance registered by Calvin is to be seen by study of the views of the Middle Ages, and on to the Reformation, not by viewing Calvinism in our post-Reformation lights.
It was love — “the fatherly love of God,” as he terms it — the efficiency of saving love — which Calvin insisted upon, above all, in his teaching about God. But Calvin also heightened men’s ideas as to the certitude of personal salvation. It is but fair to Calvin to remember — for superficial acquaintance with his teachings is far from rare — that he, in the strongest manner, maintained divine sovereignty to be that of divine wisdom, righteousness, and love, and expressly rejected the notion of absolute power as, in this connection, a heathenish idea. The Calvinistic doctrine was not absolute, but mediated in Christ, and conditioned upon faith. 8. PREDESTINATION IN LUTHERANISM:
Luther and the Lutheran church at first shared the doctrine of predestination and election, Luther in his treatment of free will reproducing the Augustinian form of the doctrine in a strict manner. The predestination of Luther and Melanchthon proceeded, not from their conception of God, but rather from the doctrine of sin and grace. Melanchthon was less disposed than Luther to press the doctrine of absolute predestination, and, in his “synergistic” tendencies, laid increasing stress on human freedom, until he at length rejected the doctrine of absolute predestination. He was blamed by strict Lutheranism for yielding too much to Pelagianism. But the Lutheran “Formula of Concord,” prepared in 1577, was not a very logical and consistent presentation of the case, for, opposed at points to Augustinianism, it fell back, in the end, on election in the Augustinian spirit. Or, to put the matter in another form, the “Formula of Concord” may be said to have held with Augustinianism, but to have differed by maintaining a Universal call along witha particular election, and it rejected the decree of reprobation. Later Lutheranism adopted a moderate form of doctrine, wherein predestination was often identified with prescience. But Lutheranism ought not, in strictness, to be identified, as is sometimes done, with the Arminian theory. The Lutheran doctrine of predestination was further developed by Schleiermacher, who emphasized the efficiency of grace, while adopting its universality in the Lutheran sense. 9. THE ARMINIAN VIEW:
Arminianism, in its earliest assertion, maintained simply universal grace and conditional election. But in the five articles it formulated its opposition to Calvinism, although Arminius does not appear to have been more than moderately Calvinistic, as we would account it. Arminius gave grace supreme place, and made it, when welcome, pass into saving grace. He made election depend on faith, which latter is the condition of universal grace. Arminianism rejects the so-called common grace of the predestination theory, and its effectual grace for the elect, for, in the Arminian view, saving grace can in no case be missed save by resistance or neglect. Arminianism holds the awakened human will to cooperate with divine grace, in such wise that it rests with the human will whether the divine grace is really accepted or rejected. It is the claim of Arminianism to do more justice than Calvinism to faith and repentance, as conditions of personal salvation, and precedent thereto. The Arminian standpoint admits the foreknowledge of God, but denies foreordination, though it must seem difficult to reduce the foreknowledge of God to such a bare knowledge of the future. But it is, of course, freely to be granted that foreknowledge in God, simply as knowledge, does not carry any causal energy or efficiency with it. But it may still be doubted whether the prescience of God can be nothing more fruitful and creative than such a position implies, and whether its relation to predestination may not be a more necessary one. The theory seems to fail of giving satisfactory account of the divine activity in its relation to human activity, in the sphere of grace. The shortcoming of Arminianism lies in its failing also to do justice to the spirit of Scripture with its emphatic assertion of the doctrine of God as the one absolute will, which, in its expression, is the sole originative power of the universe. See also PROVIDENCE. 10. WESLEYANISM ON PREDESTINATION:
Wesleyanism, or Methodist Arminianism, maintains, like Calvinism, the will of God to be supreme. But it distinguishes between the desires and the determinations of God. It takes divine foreknowledge to precede the divine volitions. It makes God’s prescience purely intuitional, and regards that which He knows as nowise necessitated by such knowledge, a conception of God which differentiates the Wesleyan type of thought from Calvinism.
God is held to have left events in the moral sphere contingent, in an important sense, upon the human will. Hence, human probation is based upon this position, as to man’s free choice. Influence of God upon man’s will is postulated, for its right guidance and direction, but not in any coercive sense, as Augustinianism seems to Wesleyanism to imply. Thus, it is hoped to preserve just balance, and maintain proper responsibility, between the divine and the human factors in this spiritual cooperation.
When we come to the present needs and values of the predestination doctrine, we have to remark the primal need of a thoroughly ethicized conception of God. The past few decades have witnessed a lessened interest in this doctrine, largely because of the increasingly ethical conceptions of Deity. 11. PRESENT NEEDS AND VALUES OF THE DOCTRINE:
That is to say, the doctrine of the sovereignty of God’s will has ceased to be taken, as often in the older presentations, as mere almightiness, or arbitrary and resistless will. Calvin expressly taught that no cause or ground but God’s unconditioned will was to be sought; but he feebly tried to save divine will from sheer omnipotence by saying that God is law to Himself; and the notion of sovereignty continued to be presented in ways quite absolute and irresponsible. But God we now regard as the absolute and eternal reason, no less than the supreme will, and as both of these in the one indivisible and absolute personality. We have passed from an abstract predestinationism to maintain God in living and ethical relations to the world and to man. Such an ethical sovereignty we hold to be necessary, over against that lax humanitarian spirit, which, in its recoil from the older Calvinism, invests the Deity with no greater powers of moral determination than may be implied in His love, when viewed as a mere golden haze of good will. See ELECTION; FOREORDINATION.
LITERATURE.
The relative works of Augustine, Aquinas, Zwingli, Calvin, Luther, Melanchthon, Arminius, Wesley, Rothe, Dorner, Luthardt; W.
Cunningham, The Reformers, and the Theology of the Reformation, 1862; James Orr, article “Calvinism,” in Hastings, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics; and the various Histories of Christian Doctrine. James Lindsay PREEMINENCE <pre-em’-i-nens > : Superiority, especially in noble or excellent qualities.
The word stands for: (1) [ rt;wOm , mothar ], “what is over and above,” “excellence”; “Man hath no preeminence above the beasts” ( Ecclesiastes 3:19); (2) [prwteu>w, proteuo ], “to be first”; “That in all things he (= Christ) might have the preeminence” ( Colossians 1:18); (3) [oJ filoprwteu>wn, ho philoproteuon ], is translated “who loveth to have the preeminence,” literally “who loveth to be first” (of Diotrephes, 3 John 1:9).
PREFER <pre-fur’ > : Does not always have the general meaning “to choose before another.” In <19D706> Psalm 137:6, it does have this sense and the two versions agree; in Est 2:9, the Revised Version (British and American) has “removed” where the King James Version has “preferred”; in Daniel 6:3, “distinguished” takes its place; in John 1:15,30, “become” is substituted for “preferred”; in 1:27, “preferred” drops out entirely; in Romans 12:10, the versions agree.
PREPARATION <prep-a-ra’-shun > : The concordances indicate that the word “preparation” occurs only twice in the Old Testament, once in 1 Chronicles 22:5, where it is used in the ordinary sense “to make preparation,” and once in Nahum 2:3, “in the day of his preparation,” both of them translating the same Hebrew root and requiring no special elucidation. In Ephesians 6:15 the apostle speaks of the equipment of the Christian as including the “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” which means, according to Thayer, “with the promptitude and alacrity which the gospel produces.”
The word occurs with technical significance (“the Preparation”) in the gospel narratives of the crucifixion, translating the Greek [paraskeuh>, paraskeue ] ( Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14,31,42). It is used as a technical term indicating the day of the preparation for the Sabbath, that is, the evening of Friday. This is its use in Josephus, Ant, XVI, vi, 2, and presumably in the Synoptics. Later its use seems to have been extended to denote regularly the 6th day (Friday) of each week. So in the Didache, viii and the Martyrdom of Polycarp, vii.
The addition of the phrase [tou~ pa>sca, tou pascha ], “of the passover,” in John 19:14, and of the phrase “for the day of that sabbath was a high day,” in 19:31, seems to indicate that the author of the Fourth Gospel regarded the Passover as occurring on the Sabbath in the year of the crucifixion. This is clearly the natural interpretation of the words of John’s Gospel, and if it were not for the seeming contradiction to the narrative of the Synoptics it is very doubtful whether any other interpretation would ever have been put upon them. This question is discussed in the articles on the date of the crucifixion and the Lord’s Supper, and it will be necessary only to allude to it here.
It is possible that the phrase the “Preparation of the passover” in John 19:14 may mean it was the preparation day (Friday) of the Passover week (see Andrews, Life of our Lord, 451 ff; and most recently Zahn, Das Evangelium des Johannes, 1908, 637 ff). This method of harmonizing seems to the present writer to be forced, and it therefore seems wiser to give to the words of John 19:14 their natural interpretation, and to maintain that, according to the author of the Fourth Gospel, the Passover had not been celebrated at the time of the crucifixion. There seems to be reason to believe that the ordinary view that the Lord’s Supper was instituted in connection with the Passover, based upon the narrative in Mark (14:12 ff), does not have the unanimous support of the Synoptic Gospels.
LITERATURE.
In addition to references in the body of the article, the commentaries, especially Plummer, Cambridge Bible, “St. John,” Appendix A; Allen, ICC, “St. Matthew,” 270-74; Godet, Commentary on the New Testament; Gospel of John, English translation, New York, 1886, II, 378, 379; and the significant articles on the interpretation of Luke 22:15,16 by Burkitt and Brooke, Journal of Theological Studies, IX, 569 ff, and by Box, ib, X, 106. Walter R. Betteridge PRESBYTER; PRESBYTERY <prez’-bi-ter > , <pres’-bi-ter > , <prez’-bi-ter-i > , <pres’-bi-ter-i > ([presbu>terov, presbuteros ], [presbute>rion, presbuterion ]): 1. WORDS USED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
This latter word occurs in the New Testament once ( 1 Timothy 4:14), so rendered in both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American). But the original Greek occurs also in Luke 22:66, in the Revised Version (British and American) translated “the assembly of the elders,” in the King James Version simply “the elders”; and in Acts 22:5, translated in English Versions of the Bible “the estate of the elders”; in both of which occurrences the word might more accurately be translated “the presbytery,” just as it is in 1 Timothy 4:14. Besides these three occurrences of the neuter singular presbuterion , the masculine plural presbuteroi , always translated “elders,” is often used to indicate the same organization or court as the former, being applied earlier in New Testament history to the Jewish Sanhedrin ( Matthew 27:1; 28:12; Luke 9:22; Acts 4:5,8), and later in the development of the church to its governing body, either in general ( Acts 15:2,4,6,22 f), or locally ( Acts 14:23; 16:4; 20:17; 1 Timothy 5:17; Titus 1:5, etc.). It is sometimes used of the body, or succession, of religious teachers and leaders of the nation’s past ( Matthew 15:2; Hebrews 11:2). The word “presbyter” has been contracted by later ecclesiastical usage into the title “priest,” although in the New Testament they are by no means identical, but on the contrary are often explicitly distinguished ( Mark 14:43; Acts 23:14). 2. BASED ON THE SYNAGOGUE PLAN:
The local synagogue of the Jewish church was under the care and control of a body of representative men called “the elders” ( Luke 7:3).
Naturally the Christian church, beginning at Jerusalem and formed on the lines of the synagogue, took over the eldership into its own organization ( Acts 11:30; 15:2; 1 Peter 5:1, etc.); so also in all the cities in which the missionary activities of the apostles made church organization necessary, the local synagogues readily suggested and supplied a feasible plan for such organization ( Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). The motherchurch at Jerusalem, formed after the pattern of the synagogue, might well have offered to the churches formed elsewhere under apostolic preaching the only conceivable plan. We do not know from the New Testament passages how these elders were selected; we must infer that they were elected by the membership of the churches, as under the synagogue plan; they were then installed into their office by apostles ( Acts 14:23), or by apostolic helpers ( Titus 1:5), or by “the presbytery” ( 1 Timothy 4:14), or by both together ( 2 Timothy 1:6; compare 1 Timothy 4:14). So early as the Pauline letters the office of presbyter seems already to have borne the distinction of two functions: teaching and ruling ( Timothy 5:17; compare Acts 20:17,28; 1 Thessalonians 5:12,13; 1 Peter 5:2). 3. PRINCIPLE FOUND IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
In the New Testament history and epistles it does not appear that the various churches of a district were already organized into an ecclesiastical body known as “the presbytery,” having some basis of representation from the constituent churches. But the absence of such mention is far from being final proof that such district organizations did not exist; little dependence can be placed on mere negative arguments. Moreover, the council of apostles and elders in Jerusalem, to which Paul and Barnabas appealed (Acts 15), is positive evidence of the principle of representation and central authority. The various district organizations would quickly follow as administrative and judicial needs demanded; such development came early in the growth of the church, so early that it is unmistakably present in the post-apostolic age.
In Revelation the 24 elders occupy a conspicuous place in the ideal church ( Revelation 4:4,10; 5:6, etc.), sitting for those they represent, as an exalted presbytery, close to the throne of the Eternal One. “The four and twenty elders occupying thrones (not seats) around the throne are to be regarded as representatives of the glorified church; and the number, twice twelve, seems to be obtained by combining the number of the patriarchs of the Old Testament with that of the apostles of the New Testament” (Milligan on Revelation 4:4 in the Expositor’s Bible). 4. IN THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH:
Presbytery is the court, or representative body, in the Presbyterian Church next above the Session of the local church. The Session is composed of the ruling elders, elected by the membership of a particular church, with the minister as moderator or presiding officer. The Presbytery is composed of all the ordained ministers, or teaching elders, and one ruling elder from the Session of each church in a given district or community. To it now, as in New Testament times ( 1 Timothy 4:14), is committed the power of ordination; as also of installation and removal of ministers. It has supervision of the affairs which are general to the churches in its jurisdiction, and the power of review in all matters concerning the local churches (see Form of Government, Presbyterian Church in U.S.A., chapter x). The Presbytery elects the representatives composing the General Assembly, which is the highest court of the Presbyterian Church. 5. IN ARCHITECTURE:
In ecclesiastical architecture the presbytery is that part of the church structure which is set apart for the clergy, usually the space between altar and apse; sometimes used of the whole choir space, but ordinarily the word is more restricted in its meaning. See further, BISHOP; CHURCH; ELDER; GOVERNMENT.
Edward Mack PRESENCE <prez’-ens > : In the Old Testament nearly always the rendition of [ µyniP; , panim ], “face” ( Genesis 3:8; Exodus 33:14 f; Psalm 95:2; Isaiah 63:9, etc.); occasionally of [ ˆyi[“ , `ayin ], “eye” ( Genesis 23:11; Deuteronomy 25:9; Jeremiah 28:1,11, etc.); and in 1 Kings 8:22; Proverbs 14:7, “the presence of” represents the preposition [ dg,n, , neghedh ], “before”; compare also Aramaic [ µd;q;] , qodham ], in Daniel 2:27 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) “before”). In Greek, “presence” has an exact equivalent in [parousi>a, parousia ], but this word is rendered “presence” only in 2 Corinthians 10:10; Philippians 2:12; the Revised Version (British and American); Philippians 1:26 (the King James Version “coming”). Elsewhere parousia is rendered “coming,” but always with “presence” in the margin.
Otherwise in the New Testament “presence” represents no particular word but is introduced where it seems to suit the context (compare e.g. Acts 3:13 the King James Version and Acts 3:19). See PAROUSIA.
Burton Scott Easton PRESENT <prez’-ent > . See GIFT.
PRESENTLY <prez’-ent-li > : The strict meaning is of course “at the present moment,” “instantly,” and the modern force “after a short interval” is due simply to the procrastinating habits of mankind; hence, the Revised Version (British and American) modifications of the King James Version use of the word into “immediately” ( Matthew 21:19), “even now” ( Matthew 26:53), and “forthwith” ( Philippians 2:23). In Proverbs 12:16, the uncertainty of the meaning (margin “openly,” Hebrew “in the day”) has led to the retention of the King James Version word.
PRESIDENT <prez’-i-dent > ([ Ër”s; , carakh ]): Used only in Daniel 6:2-7. Probably a Persian derivative from sar, “head,” and the Aramaic equivalent for Hebrew shoter . The meaning is self-evident and refers to the appointment of Daniel by Darius to be one of the three princes who had rule over the satraps of the empire.
PRESS <pres > : As a verb is used in the Revised Version (British and American) as a translation of no less than 13 Greek and Hebrew words (rather more in the King James Version). All the Revised Version (British and American) uses are modern. In the King James Version may be noted The Wisdom of Solomon 17:11, “pressed with conscience” (the Revised Version (British and American) “pressed hard by”); 2 Macc 14:9, “pressed on every side” (the Revised Version (British and American) “surrounded by foes”); Acts 18:5, “pressed in the spirit” (the Revised Version (British and American) “constrained by”). As a noun, the King James Version uses “press” in Mark 2:4 for [o]clov, ochlos ], “crowd” (so the Revised Version (British and American)). For wine press see VINE; WINE.
PRESSFAT <pres’-fat > ( Haggai 2:16 in the King James Version, the English Revised Version “winefat,” the American Standard Revised Version “winevat”). See WINE.
PRESUME; PRESUMPTUOUS; PRESUMPTUOUSLY <pre-zum’ > , <pre-zump’-tu-us > , <pre-zump’-tu-us-li > : “To presume” (“to take or go beforehand”) is to speak or act without warrant or proudly. In the Old Testament the words are for the most part the translation of [ dWz , zudh ], and [ dyzi , zidh ], “to boil up” (as water), and derivatives; hence, to act proudly, to speak unauthorizedly, etc. ( Deuteronomy 18:20,22, of the prophet; Exodus 21:14; Deuteronomy 1:43; 17:12,13; Psalm 19:13, “presumptuous sins” (zedh , “proud”); compare Psalm 86:14; 119:21, etc.; Proverbs 21:24, etc.). Other words are male’ , “to fill,” “to be full” (Est 7:5, “presume”); `aphal , “to lift oneself up” ( Numbers 14:44); beyadh ramah , “with a high hand” ( Numbers 15:30, the Revised Version (British and American) “with a high hand”); in 2 Peter 2:10 tolmetes , “bold,” “daring,” is translated “presumptuous,” the Revised Version (British and American) “daring”; in 2 Macc 3:24; 5:15 we have katatolmao ; thrasus , is rendered “presumption” in 2 Macc 5:18, the Revised Version (British and American) “daring deed.” W. L. Walker PREVENT <pre-vent’ > ([ µd”q; , qadham ]; [profqa>nw, prophthano ], [fqa>nw, phthano ]): “Prevent” occurs in the King James Version in the literal but obsolete sense of “to come or go before,” “to anticipate,” not in the sense of “to hinder.” It is the translation of qadham , “to be sharp,” “to be in front,” “to be beforehand” ( 2 Samuel 22:6,19, the Revised Version (British and American) “came upon” Job 3:12, the Revised Version (British and American) “receive”; 30:27, “are come upon”; 41:11, “first given”; Psalm 18:5,18, “came upon”; 21:3, the American Standard Revised Version “meetest”; 59:10, the American Standard Revised Version “meet”; 79:8, the American Standard Revised Version “meet”; 88:13, “come before”; 119:147,148, the American Standard Revised Version “anticipated”; Isaiah 21:14, “did meet”; Amos 9:10, the American Standard Revised Version “meet”). In the New Testament prophthano , with same meaning, is translated “prevent” ( Matthew 17:25, “Jesus prevented him,” the Revised Version (British and American) “spake first to him”); phthano ( 1 Thessalonians 4:15, “shall not prevent,” the Revised Version (British and American) “shall in no wise precede”). “Prevent” in the above sense occurs in The Wisdom of Solomon 6:13, the Revised Version (British and American) “forestalleth” (phthano ); 16:28, “we must prevent the sun to give thee thanks,” the Revised Version (British and American) “rise before.” W. L. Walker PREY <pra > ([ zB” , baz ], [ tr,f, , Tereph ], [ ll;v; , shalal ]): “Prey” is frequent in the Old Testament, chiefly as the translation of baz , “spoil,” “plunder” ( Numbers 14:3,11; Deuteronomy 1:39; Isaiah 10:6, etc.); of Tereph , “prey of wild beasts,” “torn thing” ( Genesis 49:9; Numbers 23:24; Job 4:11, etc.); of malqoah , “a taking” ( Numbers 31:11, etc.; Isaiah 49:24,25); of shalal , “spoil” or “booty” ( Judges 5:30 twice; 8:24,25; Isaiah 10:2, etc.). Maher-shalal-chash-baz (the Revised Version margin “The spoil speedeth, the prey hasteth”) was the symbolical name given to a son of Isaiah ( Isaiah 8:1,3). “Prey” does not occur in the New Testament, but is found in the Apoc: 1 Esdras 8:77, “for our sins .... were given up .... for a prey” (pronome ); Judith 9:4; 16:5; 1 Macc 7:47; Ecclesiasticus 27:10 (thera ); Judith 5:24 (katabroma ).
In the Revised Version (British and American) shalal is generally translated “spoil” ( Judges 5:30; 8:24,25; Isaiah 10:2, etc.), while, conversely, “prey” (noun and verb) is occasionally substituted for “spoil,” “booty” ( Numbers 31:32, ere). See BOOTY; SPOIL.
W. L. Walker PRICE <pris > : Represents various words in the Old Testament; [timh>, time ], is the usual Greek word for “price” in the New Testament. “Of great price” is [polu>timov, polutimos ], in Matthew 13:46, and [polutelh>v, poluteles ], in 1 Peter 3:4. The verb occurs in Zechariah 11:13 the King James Version and the English Revised Version as “prised.” The spelling “prized” in the American Standard Revised Version and some editions of the King James Version is due to a confusion with “prize.” For “price of a dog” ( Deuteronomy 23:18 the King James Version) see DOG.
PRICK <prik > : As a noun (= any slender pointed thing, a thorn, a sting) it translates two words: (1) [ Ëce , sekh ], a “thorn” or “prickle.” Only in Numbers 33:55, “those that ye let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes,” i.e. “shall be a source of painful trouble to you.” (2) [ke>ntron, kentron ] “an iron goad” for urging on oxen and other beasts of burden: “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (the King James Version of Acts 9:5, where the Revised Version (British and American) omits the whole phrase, following the best manuscripts, including Codices Sinaiticus, A, B, C, E; the King James Version of Acts 26:14, where the Revised Version (British and American) has “goad,” margin “Greek: `goads’ “), i.e. to offer vain and perilous resistance. See GOAD. As a verb (= “to pierce with something sharply pointed,” “to sting”), it occurs once in its literal sense: “a pricking brier” ( Ezekiel 28:24); and twice in a figurative sense: “I was pricked in my heart” ( Psalm 73:21); “They were pricked in their heart” ( Acts 2:37, [katanu>ssw, katanusso ], Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) compungo; compare English word “compunction”). D. Miall Edwards PRIEST <prest > ([ ˆheKo , kohen ], “priest,” “prince,” “minister”; [iJereu>v, hiereus ] [ajrciereu>v, archiereus ]; for [iJereu A priest is one who is duly authorized to minister in sacred things, particularly to offer sacrifices at the altar, and who acts as mediator between men and God. In the New Testament the term is applied to priests of the Gentiles ( Acts 14:13), to those of the Jews ( Matthew 8:4), to Christ ( Hebrews 5:5,6), and to Christians ( 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6). The office of priest in Israel was of supreme importance and of high rank. The high priest stood next the monarch in influence and dignity. Aaron, the head of the priestly order, was closely associated with the great lawgiver, Moses, and shared with him in the government and guidance of the nation. It was in virtue of the priestly functions that the chosen people were brought into near relations with God and kept therein. Through the ministrations of the priesthood the people of Israel were instructed in the doctrine of sin and its expiation, in forgiveness and worship. In short, the priest was the indispensable source of religious knowledge for the people, and the channel through which spiritual life was communicated. 1. NATURE OF THE PRIESTLY OFFICE. 1. Implies Divine Choice: The Scriptures furnish information touching this point. To them we at once turn. Priesthood implies choice. Not only was the office of divine institution, but the priest himself was divinely-appointed thereto. “For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God. .... And no man taketh the honor unto himself, but when he is called of God, even as was Aaron” ( Hebrews 5:1,4). The priest was not elected by the people, much less was he self-appointed.
Divine selection severed him from those for whom he was to act. Even our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, came not into the world unsent. He received His commission and His authority from the fountain of all sovereignty. At the opening of His earthly ministry He said, “He anointed me. .... He hath sent me” ( Luke 4:18). He came bearing heavenly credentials. 2. Implies Representation: It implies the principle of representation. The institution of the office was God’s gracious provision for a people at a distance from Him, who needed one to appear in the divine presence in their behalf. The high priest was to act for men in things pertaining to God, “to make propitiation for the sins of the people” ( Hebrews 2:17). He was the mediator who ministered for the guilty. “The high priest represented the whole people. All Israelites were reckoned as being in him. The prerogative held by him belonged to the whole of them ( Exodus 19:6), but on this account it was transferred to him because it was impossible that all Israelites should keep themselves holy as became the priests of Yahweh” (Vitringa). That the high priest did represent the whole congregation appears, first, from his bearing the tribal names on his shoulders in the onyx stones, and, second, in the tribal names engraved in the twelve gems of the breastplate. The divine explanation of this double representation of Israel in the dress of the high priest is, he “shall bear their names before Yahweh upon his two shoulders for a memorial” ( Exodus 28:12,19). Moreover, his committing heinous sin involved the people in his guilt: “If the anointed priest shall sin so as to bring guilt on the people” ( Leviticus 4:3). The Septuagint reads, “If the anointed priest shall sin so as to make the people sin.” The anointed priest, of course, is the high priest. When he sinned the people sinned. His official action was reckoned as their action. The whole nation shared in the trespass of their representative. The converse appears to be just as true.
What he did in his official capacity, as prescribed by the Lord, was reckoned as done by the whole congregation: “Every high priest .... is appointed for men” ( Hebrews 5:1). 3. Implies Offering Sacrifice: It implies the offering of sacrifice. Nothing is clearer in Scripture than this priestly function. It was the chief duty of a priest to reconcile men to God by making atonement for their sins; and this he effected by means of sacrifice, blood-shedding ( Hebrews 5:1; 8:3). He would be no priest who should have nothing to offer. It was the high priest who carried the blood of the sin offering into the Most Holy Place and who sprinkled it seven times on and before the mercy-seat, thus symbolically covering the sins of the people from the eyes of the Lord who dwelt between the cherubim ( Psalm 80:1). It was he also who marked the same blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering in the Court of the Tabernacle, and on those of the golden altar, that the red sign of propitiation might thus be lifted up in the sight of Yahweh, the righteous Judge and Redeemer. 4. Implies Intercession: It implies intercession. In the priestly ministry of Aaron and his sons this function is not so expressly set forth as are some of their other duties, but it is certainly included. For intercession is grounded in atonement. There can be no effective advocacy on behalf of the guilty until their guilt is righteously expiated. The sprinkling of the blood on the mercy-seat served to cover the guilt from the face of God, and at the same time it was an appeal to Him to pardon and accept His people. So we read that after Aaron had sprinkled the blood he came forth from the sanctuary and blessed Israel ( Leviticus 9:22-24; Numbers 6:22-27). 2. THE TWO GREAT PRIESTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, MELCHIZEDEK AND AARON:
These were Melchizedek and Aaron. No others that ever bore the name or discharged the office rank with these, save, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom they were distinguished types. Of the two, Melchizedek was the greater. There are two reasons why they are to be considered chiefs: first, because they are first in their respective orders. Melchizedek was not only the head of his order, but he had no successor. The office began and terminated with him ( Hebrews 7:3). The ordinary priests and the Levites depended for their official existence on Aaron. Apart from him they would not be priests. Second, the priesthood of Christ was typified by both. The office is summed up and completed in Him. They were called and consecrated that they might be prophecies of Him who was to come and in whom all priesthood and offering and intercession would find its ample fulfillment. In the Epistle to the Hebrews the priesthood of both these men is combined and consummated in Christ. But let it be noted that while He is of the order of Melchizedek He exercises the office after the pattern of Aaron. He perfects all that Aaron did typically, because He is the true and the real Priest, while Aaron is but a figure. 3. PRIESTLY FUNCTIONS AND CHARACTER. 1. A Strictly Religious Order: These are minutely prescribed in the Law. In the institution of the office the Lord’s words to Moses were, “Take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office” ( Exodus 28:1 the King James Version).
Their duties were strictly religious. They had no political power conferred upon them. Their services, their dependent position, and the way in which they were sustained, i.e. by the free gifts of the people, precluded them from exercising any undue influence in the affairs of the nation. It is true that in process of time the high office degenerated, and became a thing of barter and sale in the hands of unscrupulous and corrupt men, but as originally appointed the priesthood in Israel was not a caste, nor a hierarchy, nor a political factor, but a divinely-appointed medium of communication between God and the people. 2. Priestism Denied: The Hebrew priests in no wise interfered with the conscience of men. The Hebrew worshipper of his own free will laid his hand on the head of his sacrifice, and confessed his sins to God alone. His conscience was quite free and untrammeled. 3. The High Priest’s Qualifications: There were certain duties which were peculiar to the high priest. He alone could wear the “garments for glory and for beauty.” To him alone it pertained to enter the Most Holy Place and to sprinkle the blood of the sin offering on the mercy-seat. To him alone it pertained to represent the congregation before the Lord as mediator, and to receive the divine communications. He was to be ceremonially pure and holy. He must be physically perfect. Any defect or deformity disqualified a member of the priestly family from performing the duties of the office ( Leviticus 21:17-21). The Law spoke with the utmost precision as to the domestic relations of the high priest. He could marry neither a widow, nor a divorced woman, nor one polluted, nor a harlot; only a virgin of his own people, a Hebrew of pure extraction, could become his wife ( Leviticus 21:14,15). Nor was he to come in contact with death. He must not rend his clothes, nor defile himself, even for his father or his mother ( Leviticus 21:10,11). His sons might defile themselves for their kin, but the high priest must not. For he was the representative of life. Death did not exist for him, in so far as he was a priest. God is the Ever-Living, the Life-Giving; and His priest, who had “the crown of the anointing oil of his God upon him,” had to do with life alone. 4. Symbolism of Aaron’s Rod: Adolph Saphir believes there is deep significance in the miracle of Aaron’s rod that budded and bare almonds (Numbers 17). It was a visible sign of the legitimacy of Aaron’s priesthood and a confirmation of it, and a symbol of its vitality and fruitfulness. The twelve rods of the tribes were dead sticks of wood, and remained dead; Aaron’s alone had life and produced blossoms and fruit. It was the emblem of his office which correlated itself with life, and had nothing to do with death. 4. CONSECRATION OF AARON AND HIS SONS (EXODUS 29; LEVITICUS 8).
The process of the consecration is minutely described and is worthy of a more detailed and careful study than can here be given it. Only the more prominent features are noticed. (1) Both the high priest and his sons were together washed with water ( Exodus 29:4). But when this was done, the high priest parted company with his sons. (2) Next, Aaron was arrayed in the holy and beautiful garments, with the breastplate over his heart, and the holy crown on his head, the mitre, or turban, with its golden plate bearing the significant inscription, “Holy to Yahweh.” This was Aaron’s investiture of the high office. (3) He was then anointed with the precious oil. It is noteworthy that Moses poured the oil on his head. When he anointed the tabernacle and its furniture he sprinkled the oil, but in Aaron’s case there was a profusion, an abundance in the anointing ( <19D302> Psalm 133:2). (4) After the anointing of the high priest the appointed sacrifices were offered ( Exodus 29:10 ff). Up to this point in the ceremony Aaron was the principal figure, the sons having no part save in the bathing. But after the offerings had been made the sons became prominent participants in the ceremonies, sharing equally with the high priest therein. (5) The blood of the offering was applied to the person of father and sons alike ( Exodus 29:20,21). On the tip of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the great toe of the right foot was the consecrating blood-mark set. 1. Symbolism of Consecration: The significance of this action should not escape the reader. The whole person and career of the priest were thus brought under power of the blood. He had a blood-stained ear that he might hear and obey the divine injunctions, that he might understand the word of Yahweh and interpret it to the people. His will was brought into subjection to the will of His Lord that he might be a faithful minister in things pertaining to God. He had a blood-stained hand that he might execute, rightly and efficiently, the services of the sanctuary and the duties of his great office. He had likewise a blood-stained foot that he might walk in the statutes and commandments of the Lord blameless, and tread the courts of the Lord’s house as the obedient servant of the Most High. Sacrificial blood, the blood of atonement, is here, as everywhere else, the foundation for saints and sinners, for priests and ministers alike, in all their relations with God. 2. Type and Archetype: The priests of Israel were but dim shadows, obscure sketches and drafts of the one Great Priest of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Without drawing out at length the parallelism between the type and the archetype, we may sum up in a few brief sentences the perfection found in the priestly character of Christ: (1) Christ as Priest is appointed of God ( Hebrews 5:5). (2) He is consecrated with an oath ( Hebrews 7:20-22). (3) He is sinless ( Hebrews 7:26). (4) His priesthood is unchangeable ( Hebrews 7:23,24). (5) His offering is perfect and final ( Hebrews 9:25-28; 10:12). (6) His intercession is all-prevailing ( Hebrews 7:25). (7) As God and man in one Person He is a perfect Mediator (Hebrews 1; 2). See CHRIST, OFFICES OF, V.
LITERATURE.
Smith, DB; HDB; P. Fairbairn, Typology of Scripture, II; Soltau, Exposition of the Tabernacle; the Priestly Garments and the Priesthood; Martin, Atonement; A.B. Davidson, Hebrews; Moorehead, Mosaic Institutions. William G. Moorehead PRIEST, CHRIST AS See CHRIST, OFFICES OF.
PRIEST, HIGH ([ ˆheKoh” , ha-kohen ], [oJ iJereu>v, ho hiereus ]; [ j”yvM;h” ˆheKoh” , hakohen ha-mashiach ], [oJ iJereu Temples with an elaborate ritual, a priesthood and a high priest were familiar to Moses. For a millennium or two before his time these had flourished in Egypt. Each temple had its priest or priests, the larger temples and centers having a high priest. For centuries the high priest of Amon at Thebes stood next to the king in power and influence. Many other highpriesthoods of less importance existed. Moses’ father-in-law was priest of Midian, doubtless the chief or high priest. In founding a nation and establishing an ecclesiastical system, nothing would be more natural and proper for him than to institute a priestly system with a high priest at the head. The records give a fairly full account of the institution of the highpriesthood. 1. The Family: Aaron, the brother of Moses, was chosen first to fill the office. He was called “the priest” (ha-kohen ) ( Exodus 31:10). As the office was to be hereditary and to be preserved in perpetuity in the family of Aaron ( Exodus 29:9,29), he is succeeded by his son Eleazar ( Numbers 20:28; Deuteronomy 10:6), and he in turn by his son Phinehas ( Numbers 25:11). In his time the succession was fixed ( Numbers 25:12,13). In Leviticus 4:3,5,16; 6:22 he is called “the anointed priest.”
Three times in the Pentateuch he is spoken of as “great priest” or “high priest” ( Leviticus 21:10; Numbers 35:25,28). The first of these passages identifies him with the anointed priest. 2. The Consecration: The ceremonies by which he was installed in his office are recorded in Exodus 29:29 ff. Seven days of special solemnities were spent. The first consecration was by Moses; it is not said who performed the others. There was special washing and anointing with oil ( <19D302> Psalm 133:2). Each new high priest must wear the holy garments, as well as be specially anointed ( Leviticus 21:10). Every day a bullock for a sin offering must be offered for atonement; the altar also must be cleansed, atoned for, and anointed, the high priest offering a sacrifice or minchah for himself ( Leviticus 6:24 ff). 3. The Dress: Besides the regularly prescribed dress of the priests, the high priest must wear the robe of the ephod, the ephod, the breastplate and the mitre or head-dress ( Leviticus 8:7-9). The robe of the ephod seems to have been a sleeveless tunic, made of blue, fringed with alternate bells and pomegranates ( Exodus 28:31-35; 39:22-26). The ephod seemed to be a variegated dress of the four colors of the sanctuary, blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen interwoven with gold ( Exodus 28:6-8; 39:2-5). This distinguishing ephod of the high priest was fastened at the shoulders by two clasps of shoham stone, upon each of which was engraved the names of six tribes of Israel ( Exodus 28:9-14; 39:6,7). Over the ephod and upon his breast he wore the breastplate, a four-cornered choshen suspended by little chains. Set in this in four rows were twelve precious stones, having engraved upon them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
This breastplate must have contained a pocket of some kind inside, for in it were deposited the Urim and Thummim, which seemed to be tangible objects of some kind ( Exodus 28:15-30; 39:8-21). The mitre or headdress was of fine linen, the plate of the crown of pure gold, and inscribed upon it the words, “Holy to Yahweh” ( Exodus 28:36-38; 39:30,31).
When entering the Holy of Holies he must be dressed wholly in linen, but in his ordinary duties in the dress of the priests; only when acting as high priest he must wear his special robes. See PRIEST. 4. The Duties of the High-Priesthood: In addition to his regular duties as a priest, the high priest was to enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement ( Leviticus 16:3,15,33,34). He must also officiate at the ceremony of the two goats, when one is sent into the wilderness to Azazel, and the other slain to make atonement for the sanctuary ( Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 16:8-10). He alone could make atonement for the sins of the people, the priests and his own house ( Leviticus 4:3 ff; 9:8 ff; 16:6; Numbers 15:25). He must offer the regular meal offering ( Leviticus 6:14,15). He must share with the priests in the caring for the lamp that burned continually ( Exodus 27:21), He must assist in arranging the shewbread ( Exodus 25:30).
When he carried the breastplate with the names of the tribes inscribed thereon he acted as mediator between Israel and God ( Exodus 28:29).
He alone could consult the Urim and Thummim before Yahweh, and according to his decision Israel must obey ( Numbers 27:21). 5. Special Regulations: An office so important required certain special regulations. He must be free from every bodily defect ( Leviticus 21:16-23). He must marry only a virgin of Israel, not a widow, nor a divorced woman, nor a profane one ( Leviticus 21:14). He must not observe the external signs of mourning for any person, and not leave the sanctuary when news came of the death of even a father or mother ( Leviticus 21:10-12). He must not defile himself by contact with any dead body, even father or mother ( Leviticus 21:11); and is forbidden to let his hair grow long or rend his clothes as a sign of mourning ( Leviticus 21:10). If he should bring guilt upon the people, he must present a special offering ( Leviticus 4:3 ff). Sins affecting the priesthood in general must be expiated by the other priests as well as himself ( Numbers 18:1). He must eat nothing that died of itself or was torn by beasts ( Leviticus 22:8). He must wash his feet and hands when he went to the tabernacle of the congregation and when he came near to the altar to minister ( Exodus 30:19-21). At first Aaron was to burn incense on the golden altar every morning when he dressed the lamps and every evening when he lighted them ( Exodus 27:21), but in later times the common priests performed this duty. He must abstain from holy things during his uncleanness ( Leviticus 22:1-3), or if he should become leprous ( Leviticus 22:4,7). He was to eat the people’s meat offering with the inferior priests in the holy place ( Leviticus 6:16). He must assist in judging the leprosy in the human body and garments ( Leviticus 13:2-59), and in adjudicating legal questions ( Deuteronomy 17:12).
When there was no divinely-inspired leader, the high priest was the chief ruler till the time of David and again after the captivity. See PRIEST; PRIESTHOOD. 6. The Emoluments: The emoluments were not much greater than those of the priests in general.
He received no more inheritance among the tribes than any other Levite, but he and his family were maintained upon certain fees, dues and perquisites which they enjoyed from the common fund. In Numbers 18:28 the priests were to receive a tithe of the tithe paid in to the Levites.
Josephus says this was a common fund (Ant., IV, iv, 4), but the high priest was probably charged with the duty of distributing it. In general the family of the high priest was well-to-do, and in the later period became very wealthy. The high priest and his family were among the richest people of the land in the time of Christ, making enormous profits out of the sacrifices and temple business. 7. Importance of the Office: The importance of the high priest’s office was manifest from the first. The high priest Eleazar is named in the first rank with Joshua, the prince of the tribes and successor of Moses ( Numbers 34:17 f; Joshua 14:1). He with others officiated in the distribution of the spoils of the Midianites ( Numbers 31:21,26). His sins were regarded as belonging to the people ( Leviticus 4:3,12). He acted with Moses in important matters ( Numbers 26:1; 31:29). The whole congregation must go or come according to his word ( Numbers 27:20 ff). His death was a national event, for then the manslayer was free to leave the City of Refuge ( Numbers 35:25,28). He had no secular authority, but was regarded generally as the leading religious authority. Later, he became also the leading secular as well as religious authority. 2. HISTORY OF THE HIGH-PRIESTHOOD IN ISRAEL. 1. In the Old Testament: In general the present writer accepts the historical records of the Old Testament as true and rejects the critical views of a fictitious or falsified history. Such views have only subjective reasons to support them and are based upon a naturalistic evolutionary view of the development of Israel’s religion. As Moses was the founder of the high-priesthood in Israel he anticipated a perpetuation of the office throughout the history ( Deuteronomy 26:3). The high priest appears frequently. Eleazar officiated with Joshua in the division of the land among the twelve tribes ( Joshua 14:1). The law of the manslayer shows that he was an important personage in the life of Israel ( Joshua 20:6). He seemed to have the power to distribute the offices of the priests to those whom he would, and poor priests would appeal to him for positions ( 1 Samuel 2:36). The office seems to have remained in the family of Eleazar until the days of Eli, when, because of the wickedness of his sons, the family was destroyed and the position passed into the family of Ithamar ( 1 Samuel 2:31-36). A descendant of that family officiated at Nob in the times of Saul, whose name was Ahimelech ( 1 Samuel 21:2; 22:11). His son, Abiathar, escaped from the slaughter, and later seems to have succeeded his father and to have been chief priest throughout David’s reign ( Samuel 22:20-23; 23:9; 30:7). Zadok seems to have had almost equal privilege ( 2 Samuel 8:17; 1 Chronicles 18:16; 24:6 almost certainly by copyist’s error, transpose Abiathar and Ahimelech; Mark 2:26 may be based on this reading. See ABIATHAR, etc.). Because he joined the party of Adonijah rather than that of Solomon, Abiathar was deposed and banished to Anathoth, where he spent the rest of his days ( 1 Kings 2:26,27). Zadok was put in his place ( 1 Kings 2:35). He seems to have been a descendant of Eleazar. Under Jehoshaphat, Amariah was high priest ( 2 Chronicles 19:11) and was the leading authority in all religious matters. In the time of Athaliah, during the minority of Joash and almost his entire reign Jehoiada was high priest and chief adviser. He seems to have been the most influential man in the kingdom for more than half a century ( 2 Kings 11:4 ff; 11:2-16; 2 Chronicles 24 passim). Azariah officiated in the days of Uzziah and Hezekiah ( 2 Chronicles 26:20; 31:10); Urijah in the reign of Ahaz ( 2 Kings 16:10-16), and the latter priest seems to have been a friend of Isaiah ( Isaiah 8:2). Hilkiah held the office in the days of Josiah when the Book of the Law was discovered ( 2 Kings 22:4 f; 23:4; 2 Chronicles 34:9); Zephaniah in the time of Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 29:25 f); Seraiah in the days of Zedekiah, who was put to death at Riblah by Nebuchadnezzar ( 2 Kings 25:18 f; Jeremiah 52:24). At the time, mention is made of a priest of the second rank ( 2 Kings 23:4; 25:18) and Zephaniah fills that office ( Jeremiah 52:24). It is doubtful whether this is the same Zephaniah mentioned in Jeremiah 29:25. This “second priest” was doubtless a deputy, appointed to take the high priest’s place in case anything should prevent his performing the duties of the office. Lists of high priests are given in <130601> Chronicles 6:1-15; 6:50-53. The first of these gives the line from Levi to Jehozadak who was carried away in the captivity under Nebuchadnezzar.
The second traces the line from Aaron to Ahimaaz, and is identical so far with the first list.
There could have been no place for the functions of the high priest during the captivity, but the family line was preserved and Joshua the son of Jehozadak was among those who first returned ( Ezra 3:2). From this time the high priest becomes more prominent. The monarchy is gone, the civil authority is in the hands of the Persians, the Jews are no longer independent, and hence, the chief power tends to center in the highpriesthood.
Joshua appears to stand equal with Zerubbabel ( Haggai 1:1,12,14; 2:2,4; Zechariah 3:1,8; 4:14; 6:11-13).
He is distinctly known as high priest (ha-kohen ha-gadhol ). He takes a leading part in establishing the ecclesiastico-civil system, particularly the building of the temple. In the vision of Zechariah ( Zechariah 3:1-5) Satan accuses the high priest who is here the representative proper of the nation. The consummation of the Messianic age cannot be completed without the cooperation of the high priest who is crowned with Zerubbabel, and sits with him on the throne ( Zechariah 6:13). The prophet also describes Joshua and his friends as “men of the sign,” alluding to the coming Messiah under whom the sin of the land was to be taken away in one day ( Zechariah 3:9 f). The promise is made to Joshua that if he will walk in Yahweh’s ways and keep His house, he shall judge Yahweh’s house, i.e. Israel, keep His court and have a place to walk among those who stand before Yahweh ( Zechariah 3:7). He is anointed equally with the prince of the royal line, for the two sons of oil ( Zechariah 4:14) almost certainly refer to the royal Zerubbabel and priestly Joshua who are to be joint inspirers of Israel in rebuilding the temple.
This exaltation of the high priest is very different from the state of things pictured by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 40 through 42). In that picture no place is left for a high priest; the prince seemed to be the chief personage in the ecclesiastical system. Ezekiel’s vision was ideal, the actual restoration was very different, and the institutions and conditions of the past were carried out rather than the visions of the prophet. In the time of Nehemiah, Eliashib was high priest ( Nehemiah 3:1,20). For abusing his office by using a temple chamber in the interests of his family he was reprimanded ( Nehemiah 13:4-9). The list of high priests from Jeshua to Jaddua is given in Nehemiah 12:10. According to Josephus (Ant., XI, viii, 5) Jaddua was priest at the time of Alexander the Great (332 BC), but it is practically certain that it was Jaddua’s grandson, Simon, who was then priest (see W.J. Beecher, Reasonable Biblical Criticism, chapter xviii).
Thus is preserved the unbroken line from Aaron to Jaddua, the office still being hereditary. No essential change can be found since the days of Ezra.
The Book of Chronicles, compiled some time during this period, uses the three names, ha-kohen , ha-kohen ha-ro’sh , ha-kohen ha-gadhol . The word naghidh (“prince”) is also used, and he is called “the ruler of the house of God” ( 1 Chronicles 9:11). This seems to imply considerable power invested in him. Usually the Chronicler in both books of Chronicles and Nehemiah uses the term “the priest.”
The line of Eleazar doubtless continued until the time of the Maccabees, when a decided change took place. The Syrian Antiochus deposed Onias III and put his brother Jason in his place (174 BC), who was soon displaced by Menelaus. About 153 BC Jonathan the Hasmonean was appointed by King Alexander, and thus the high-priesthood passed to the priestly family of Joiarib (1 Macc 10:18-21). Whether the family of Joiarib was a branch of the Zadokites or not cannot be determined. After the appointment of Jonathan, the office became hereditary in the Hasmonean line, and continued thus until the time of Herod the Great. The latter set up and deposed high priests at his pleasure. The Romans did the same, and changed so frequently that the position became almost an annual appointment. Though many changes were thus made, the high priest was always chosen from certain priestly families. From this group of deposed priests arose a class known as “chief priests.” The anointing prescribed in the law of Moses was not always carried out in later times, and in fact was generally omitted. The Mishna speaks of high priests who were installed in office simply by clothing them with their special robes (Schurer, II, i, p. 217, note 24). 2. In the New Testament: In New Testament times the high priest was the chief civil and ecclesiastical dignitary among the Jews. He was chairman of the Sanhedrin, and head of the political relations with the Roman government. It is not clear just how far he participated in the ceremonies of the temple. No doubt he alone entered the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement, and also offered the daily offerings during that week. What other part he took in the work was according to his pleasure. Josephus says that he officiated at the Sabbath, the New Moon and yearly festivals.
The daily minchah ( Leviticus 6:12 ff) which he was required to offer was not always offered by the high priest in person, but he was required to defray the expense of it. This was a duty which, according to Ezekiel’s vision, was to be performed by the prince. The Jews had many contentions with the Romans as to who should keep the garments of the high priest.
When Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Romans, the robe of state also fell into their hands.
In the time of Christ, Annas and Caiaphas were high priests ( Luke 3:2), though, as appears later in the Gospel, Caiaphas alone acted as such.
Annas had probably been deposed, yet retained much of his influence among the priestly families. For particulars see ANNAS; CAIAPHAS; JESUS CHRIST. These two were also the chief conspirators against Jesus.
As president of the council Caiaphas deliberately advised them to put Jesus to death to save the nation ( John 11:51). He was also chairman of the council which tried and condemned Jesus ( Matthew 26:57,58,63,65; Mark 14:53,60,61,63; Luke 22:54; John 18:12-14,19,24,28).
They were also leaders in the persecution of the apostles and disciples after Pentecost ( Acts 4:6; 5:17,21); Saul sought letters from the high priest to Damascus to give him authority to bring any Christians he might find there bound to Jerusalem ( Acts 9:2). He presided at the council which tried Paul ( Acts 22:5; 23:4). See PAUL, THE APOSTLE.
In the Epistle to the Hebrews the doctrine of the priesthood of Jesus is fully and carefully elaborated. Jesus is here called the great High Priest, as well as priest. The opening words of the Epistle contain the essential thought: “when he had made purification of sins” (1:3). The title of high priest is first introduced in 2:17, “a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God”; also in 3:1, “the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” Having thus fairly introduced his great theme, the writer strikes the keynote of his great argument: “Having then a great high priest,” etc. (4:14,15). From 4:14 to 7:28 the argument deals with the highpriestly work of Jesus. His qualifications are not only those which distinguish all priesthood, but they are also unique. He is named after the order of Melchizedek. The general qualifications are: (1) He is appointed by God to His office (5:1). (2) He is well fitted for the office by His experiences and participation in human temptations (5:2-6; 2:18). (3) He undergoes a divine preparation (5:8,9).
The special qualifications of His priesthood are: It is after the order of Melchiezedek (5:10). This is an eternal one (6:20); royal or kingly (7:1-3); independent of birth or family (7:3); it is timeless (7:8); superior to that of Levi (7:4-10); new and different from that of Aaron (7:11,12). It is also indissoluble (7:16); immutable (7:21); inviolable (7:24). Thus, with all these general and special qualifications, He is completely fitted for His work (7:26). That work consists in offering up Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the people (7:27); entering within the veil as a forerunner (6:20); presenting the sacrificial blood in heaven itself (8:3; 9:7,24); thus obtaining eternal redemption (9:12); ratifying the new covenant (9:15-22). The result of this high-priestly work is a cleansing from all sin (9:23); a possibility of full consecration to God and His service (10:10); an ultimate perfection (10:14); and full access to the throne of grace (10:21,22). See CHRIST, OFFICES OF; PRIEST; PRIESTHOOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
LITERATURE.
Articles on the priesthood in general, with references to the high priest in HDB, HCG, EB, Jew Encyclopedia, Kitto, Smith, Fallows, Schaff-Herzog, etc.; no article on “High Priest” only. For the history, Breasted, History of Egypt; Schurer, History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, II, i, 207-99; Josephus, Ant, XV, XVIII, XX. For works on the priesthood from the radical viewpoint, see Graf, S.I. Curtiss, Jost, Graetz, Kautzsch, Budde, Baentsch, Benzinger, Buchler, Meyer, Wellhausen. For a more moderate position see Baudissin, Die Geschichte des alttestamentlichen Priesterthums untersucht. For a more conservative position see A. Van Hoonacker, Leviticus sacerdoce levitique dans la loi et dans l’histoire des Hebreux. On the high-priesthood subsequent to the return from Babylon, see B. Pick, Lutheran Church Review, 1898, I, 127-41; II, 370-74; III, 555-56; IV, 655-64; and the commentaries on the passages cited. James Josiah Reeve PRIESTHOOD <prest’-hood > :
All worship is based on priesthood, for the priestly office is an essential part of salvation. Christianity itself has its glorious Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is through His one supreme offering that we are brought into saved relations with God and enjoy fellowship with Him. The priesthood of Christ and its mighty effects in sacrifice and intercession on behalf of the people of God are the chief and fundamental theme of the Epistle to the Hebrews. 1. PRIESTHOOD AN OFFICE:
Priesthood is a real office, definite and specific. It is needful to insist on this fact, for the noble word “priest” has been misappropriated and misapplied, so that its intrinsic import has been impaired. There is a certain literary slang indulged in by some who talk of the “priests of science,” “priests of art,” and similar absurdities. The idea of priesthood, if priesthood is to have any definite meaning, can have no place in literature or science or art or in anything of the kind. For it belongs to the realm of grace, presupposing as it does sin and the divine purpose to remove it. Hugh Martin writes that he “would as soon think of transferring the language of geometry and of algebra to botany and talk of the hypothenuse of a flower and the square root of a tree, or the differential coefficient of a convolvulus, as to speak of the priesthood of nature or letters.” Priesthood is an office, embracing very specific duties and functions. 2. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:
Priesthood in some form appears to have existed from the earliest times, even from the beginning of the history of our race. In patriarchal times the office was held and its duties were discharged by those who occupied some sort of headship, and particularly by the father or the chief of the family and of the tribe. Thus, Noah in his capacity of priest and in behalf of his household “builded an altar unto Yahweh, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar” ( Genesis 8:20). Abraham offered the ram “for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son” ( Genesis 22:13). In like manner Job offered burnt offerings for his children, and likewise by divine direction for the three “comforters” when the great trial had passed ( Job 1:5; 42:8). In these and the like instances there was priestly action no less certainly than in that of Aaron or of any regularly appointed priest in Israel. Melchizedek was “priest of God Most High” ( Genesis 14:18). Isaac “builded an altar there and called upon the name of Yahweh” ( Genesis 26:25), as did Jacob ( Genesis 33:20). In these cases priestly acts were performed by the patriarchs in their capacity as fathers of the family or heads of clans.
From the beginning, priesthood with its acts of expiation and of worship was thus recognized as a divinely-instituted office. But in pre-Mosaic times there was no special class of priests recognized. 3. HEREDITARY PRIESTHOOD:
Regular priestly succession in a single family was established by Moses ( Exodus 28:1-3). From this point of time onward the priesthood in Israel was confined to the family of Aaron. No hereditary priesthood seems to have prevailed in patriarchal times. According to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Melchizedek, a priest of the highest rank, had neither predecessor nor successor in his great office. By divine direction Moses designated the Aaronic family as the priestly family in Israel, and he prescribed the garments they should wear, the sacrifices they should offer both for themselves and for the congregation, their maintenance, their domestic relations, and their conduct toward their fellow Hebrews.
In the appointment of the priesthood there is no trace of Egyptian influence. Yet we know that Joseph married the daughter of the priest of On ( Genesis 41:50). But this fact had no bearing on the selection of Israel’s priestly family. The Aaronic priesthood had nothing in common with that of Egypt; it claimed to be of divine origin, and its duties, functions and powers in no way contradict the claim. The witness of an Egyptian archaeologist (Dr. M.G. Kyle) may be here introduced touching one essential element in the duties of the priestly office, namely, sacrifice: “The entire absence from the offerings of old Egyptian religion of any of the great Pentateuchal ideas of sacrifice, substitution, atonement, dedication, fellowship, and indeed of almost every essential idea of real sacrifice, as clearly established by recent very exhaustive examination of the offering scenes, makes for the element of revelation in the Mosaic system by delimiting the field of rationalistic speculation on the Egyptian side. Egypt gave nothing to that system, for it had nothing to give.” As much may be said respecting the priesthood; Israel took little or nothing of its powers and functions from Egyptian sources.
Although the office was limited to the Aaronic family, nevertheless in certain exigencies and emergencies others beside the regular priest offered sacrifices to the Lord and were accepted by Him. Thus did Gideon in a time of great straits in Israel ( Judges 6:24,26); thus the men of Bethshemesh ( 1 Samuel 6:14,15); the prophet Samuel ( 1 Samuel 7:9); David ( 2 Samuel 6:13,17); Elijah ( 1 Kings 18:23,32-38), etc. The chosen people appear to have felt free to offer sacrifices and to engage in priestly functions when occasion required, until the central sanctuary was established on Matthew. Moriah. When the Temple was built and dedicated, priestly action was confined to Jerusalem and to the regular priestly household. When Pharisaism, with its rigid legalism, with its intolerable burdens, became dominant, all liberty of worship and spontaneous service largely disappeared. The religious life of Israel stiffened into a dreadful monotony. 4. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
All priesthood reaches its climax in that of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of the perfection of His priesthood that the office as represented by Melchizedek and Aaron was effective, and fulfilled the end for which it was appointed. The one answers to the other as type and antitype, as prediction and fulfillment. Christ’s priesthood is opened to us in the Epistle to the Hebrews (2:14-18; 4:14-16; 5:1-10; 7:9,10,18). Two fundamental truths touching His priesthood are made very prominent in the Epistle to the Hebrews. These are its order and its duties. By the order is meant the rank or grade of the Priest, and by the duties the various functions of His ministry. Christ’s order as Priest is that of Melchizedek, not at all that of Aaron; Hebrews 7 makes this fact perfectly clear. Like Melchizedek, and infinitely above Melchizedek, He is Priest, having no predecessor in the great office, and no successor; herein He stands absolutely alone, peerless and perfect forever. He executes the duties or functions of it after the pattern of Aaron, as Hebrews 9 clearly exhibits. These two priesthoods, Melchizedek’s and Aaron’s, are gloriously accomplished in the person and Work of Jesus Christ.
The point is raised and discussed with some keenness in our day, Did Christ execute the office of priest during His sojourn on earth, or does He exercise the office only in heaven? A full discussion of this interesting subject would be inappropriate. However, let it be noted (1) that the Lord Jesus was appointed a Priest no less certainly than was Aaron ( Hebrews 5:4,5). In the words, “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee,” there appears to be a reference both to His incarnation ( Luke 1:32; Hebrews 1:5) and also to His resurrection ( Acts 13:33). In Hebrews 2:17 we are told that it “behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” The assumption of human nature was needful that He might be such a priest. John the Baptist saw this truth, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world” ( John 1:29).
There was certainly priestly action in His death. Twice we are told that He “offered up himself” ( Hebrews 7:27), “For this he did once for all, when he offered up himself.” This strong term, “offered,” is sacrificial and points to His death as an offering made for the sins of the people. His own action in it must not be overlooked; it was He Himself who presented the offering; He was not, therefore, a struggling victim, a martyr, who could not escape the doom that came upon Him — nay, He voluntarily offered Himself.
In Hebrews 9:14 we find these significant words: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” It was as Priest that He made this stupendous offering, and this He did when still on earth. He was at once both sacrifice and priest. Never was He more active than when He offered Himself to God.
It is worthwhile to remind ourselves that the words employed in Scripture to express the act of His dying are never used to denote the death of a creature, a man. Matthew has, He “yielded up (dismissed), his spirit” ( Matthew 27:50). John has, He “gave up his spirit” ( John 19:30); Mark 15:37 and Luke 23:46 both have the same words: He “gave up the ghost.” He died, not because He was mortal as we are, nor because He could not deliver Himself, but because He gave Himself for our sins that we might be forgiven and saved ( John 10:17,18). The voluntariness of His offering is the very essence of His priestly atonement. See CHRIST, OFFICES OF, V; PRIESTHOOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 5. CONCLUSIONS:
Priesthood springs out of the deepest need of the human soul. Men universally feel that somehow they have offended the Power to whom they are responsible, to whom they must give account of their deeds. They long to appease their offended Lord, and they believe that one who is authorized and qualified to act in their behalf may secure for them the abrogation of penalty and the pardon they seek. Hence, priesthood connects itself most closely with sin, with guilt and its removal. The heart craves the intervention and intercession on their behalf of one who has liberty of access to God, and whose ministry is acceptable. In short, the priest is the representative of the sinner in things pertaining to God. He is the mediator whose office it is to meet and satisfy the claims of God upon those for whom he acts, and who secures the pardon and the favor which the offender must have, if he is to enjoy fellowship with God. And this, and more than this, we have in our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
LITERATURE.
P. Fairbairn, Typology of Scripture, II; Soltau, Exposition of the Tabernacle, the Priestly Garments and the Priesthood; Martin, Atonement; Moorehead, Mosaic Institutions, article “Priest.” William G. Moorehead PRIESTHOOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 1. THE JEWISH PRIESTHOOD:
In the New Testament [iJera>teuma, hierateuma ] ( 1 Peter 2:5,9), “priesthood,” is not found with reference to the Jewish priesthood, but [iJereu>v, hiereus ], and [ajrciereu>v, archiereus ], “high priest,” frequently occur. As until the fall of Jerusalem the activities of the priests were carried on in careful accordance with the prescriptions of the Old Testament, there naturally is nothing new or striking in the numerous New Testament references to their work. Perhaps the information of the greatest interest is found in Luke 1:5-9 to the effect that Zacharias was of the course of Abijah, the 8th of the 24 courses into which the priests were divided (compare 1 Chronicles 24:7-18), and that in these courses the priests divided their work by lot. In the Gospels the archiereis are mentioned oftener than are the hiereis , the power of the priesthood seeming to have been absorbed by a sort of priestly aristocracy. As under the political pressure of that time the office of high priest could seldom be retained until the death of the holder, there might even be several living at the same time who had for a longer or shorter time held this office which made a man the head of the nation, not only ritually, but also politically, since the high priest was Exodus officio presiding officer of the Sanhedrin. Not only would these Exodus-high priests naturally retain the title belonging to their former dignity, but probably the name had come to include as well other members of the same families or of families of equal position, so that it seems that “chief priests” is a more exact translation of archiereis than high priests. In the singular, however, the reference of archiereus is usually, if not invariably, to the individual who at the time given was holding the unique office of high priest. The word hiereus is of course employed in its ordinary signification on the rare occasions when reference is made in the New Testament to corresponding ministers of other religions, as to the priest of Zeus ( Acts 14:13) and also to Melchizedek ( Hebrews 7:1). 2. THE PRIESTHOOD AND HIGH-PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS CHRIST:
Only in Hebrews is the activity of Jesus set forth as priestly and highpriestly, but in this Epistle great emphasis is laid on these aspects of His work. Interpreters seldom distinguish between these two aspects of His work, and it is plain that sometimes at least the author himself made no effort sharply to distinguish them. But certain considerations make it probable that they were not really confused or combined in the mind of the author himself. For example, it is to be noted that the priesthood of Jesus is declared to be after the order of Melchizedek, and consequently radically unlike that of the Levitical priests. On the other hand, the Aaronic highpriesthood is regarded as having been analogous to that of Jesus, so that in spite of its inferiority, comparison is frequently made with it. It is readily seen that the work of the high priest, both because of his entry into the Most Holy Place and because he bore the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment for a memorial before Yahweh continually, far more suitably than that of the ordinary priests typified the atoning and intercessory work of Jesus ( Exodus 28:12,15).
Attempting then to treat separately the priestly and high-priestly functions of Jesus, we note that most of what is said of the priestly functions is involved in the declaration that He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, and this thought is handled in Hebrews 7 in such a way as to make plain the superiority of a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, and thus to confirm the superiority of Christianity over Judaism, the great theme of the book. Historically, the blessing bestowed upon Abraham and the reception of tithes from him prove the superiority of Melchizedek to Levi, and still more to the priestly descendants of Levi (7:4-10). Further, Jesus became priest not on the ground of a “carnal commandment,” i.e. in an order based on descent and inheritance, but by “the power of an endless life” (7:16), of which fact Melchizedek reminds us, since Scripture is silent alike as to his birth and his death. Again, unlike the Levitical priests, Christ is inducted into His office by the oath of God (7:20,21; compare <19B004> Psalm 110:4). Finally, while the priests of the Levitical line were hindered from permanence in office by their death, Jesus holds His priesthood untransmitted and untransmissible (7:23,14). This discussion of the priesthood of Christ “after the order of Melchizedek” occupies almost all of Hebrews 7, but at 7:26 His high-priesthood is suddenly introduced, and after that point, while His work is more than once contrasted with that of the temple priests (8:4,5; 9:6; 10:11 f), no further reference is in any way made to Melchizedek.
After having twice merely given the title of high priest to Jesus ( Hebrews 2:17; 3:1), the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews at 4:14 begins a statement of the resemblance between Jesus and the Jewish high priest, such “as was Aaron,” finding the resemblance to reside (1) in His divine appointment to His work (5:4,5), (2) in His experience of suffering (5:7,8; compare 4:15; 5:2), and (3) in His saving work suggested by the sacrificial activity of the ordinary high priest (5:9), which, however, it far transcends in value and effect. But (4) later the work of the high priest and that of Jesus are contrasted as to place where done, the high priest going into the second tabernacle, i.e. the Holy of Holies (9:7), while Christ passes through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, “heaven itself” (9:11,24). A similar contrast is (5) drawn between the sacrifices respectively offered, the ancient sacrifices being the blood of goats and calves (9:12), Christ’s being “himself” (9:14), “his own blood” (9:12), “the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God” (9:14). The author also accepts and urges without argument or even explanation (6) the truly sacrificial character of this self-immolation of Jesus. Nor is this fact nullified by the emphasis which once is laid on doing God’s will in an antithesis copied from the Psalm (10:5-9; compare Psalm 40:6 ff), for here the contrast drawn is not between sacrifice on one side and obedience on the other, but rather between the sacrifice of animals dying involuntarily and wholly unconscious of the sacrificial significance of their death, and the offering of Himself on the part of Jesus in intelligent purpose to carry out the will of God, by which will the body of Jesus Christ is the only acceptable offering ( Hebrews 10:10). Further the author urges (7) the actual effectiveness of Christ’s work, his argument being that it would already have been repeatedly performed if this single offering had not been sufficient for all time, “once for all” ( Hebrews 7:27; 9:26).
Finally is asserted (8) the intercessory work of Christ, which, though not explained, seems to be a figurative presentation of his idea that men are blessed because Christ died, i.e. that this was an indispensable condition of God’s manifestation of His merciful love, and that the grace consequent on the death of Christ does not merely grow out of a fact, but that the divine love and providence for believers are exercised, neither automatically or impersonally, but in virtue of a constant personal sympathy for varying temptations and needs, a sympathy intensified by the earthly experience, temptation, suffering of Him who had been and is, not only the Divine Son, but also the Son of Man. Thus, the salvation of the believer is certain and complete, and the priestly and high-priestly work of Jesus reaches its consummation. 3. THE PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS:
The priesthood of believers is an idea which finds formal expression less frequently in the New Testament than has been the case in Protestant theology. But it does not follow that there has been a corresponding divergence from the thought of the apostles. It only shows that a thought which according to apostolic conception was one of the invariable privileges of every Christian, and which found, if not constant, yet sufficiently clear expression in this figurative fashion, has come, in consequence of errors which have developed, to receive in the controversies of later centuries stronger emphasis than it did at first. It may well be noted first that this conception of the priesthood of believers, standing by itself, is in no way related to the various priestly activities which are also figuratively attributed to them. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who does not speak of the priesthood of believers, knowing no Christian priesthood but that of Jesus Himself, yet calls “praise,” “to do good and to communicate,” sacrifices (13:15,16). So Paul bids the Romans present their bodies “a living sacrifice” ( Romans 12:1), and Peter calls Christians “a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices” ( 1 Peter 2:5). But this figurative usage is entirely distinct from the subject of the present paragraph. Also the conception of the Christian priesthood never in the New Testament attaches itself merely to the ministry of the Christian church, whatever may be held as to its orders or tasks. In no sense has the church or any church an official priesthood. Nor is it any part of the New Testament conception of the priesthood of believers that any individual should act in any respect for any other. Though the intercessory supplication of believers in behalf of other persons has of late often been represented as a priestly act, as being, indeed, that activity which is essential to any real priesthood of believers, the New Testament thought is quite different, and is to be thus conceived: In ancient times it was held that men in general could not have direct access to God, that any approach to Him must be mediated by some member of the class of priests, who alone could approach God, and who must accordingly be employed by other men to represent them before Him. This whole conception vanishes in the light of Christianity. By virtue of their relation to Christ all believers have direct approach to God, and consequently, as this right of approach was formerly a priestly privilege, priesthood may now be predicated of every Christian.
That none needs another to intervene between his soul and God; that none can thus intervene for another; that every soul may and must stand for itself in personal relation with God — such are the simple elements of the New Testament doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. (Consult treatises on New Testament theology, and commentaries on the Epistle to the Hebrews.) David Foster Estes PRIESTS AND LEVITES ([ ˆheoK, kohen ], “priest”; nothing is definitely known as to the origin of the word; [ ywile , Lewi ], “Levite,” on which see LEVI):
In some Minaean inscriptions found at El-`Ola, dating back about 1200- 800 BC (Hommel in Hilprecht, Explorations in Bible Lands, 719), certain “priests and priestesses of the god Wadd are designated by the term lawi, feminine lawi`at” (op. cit., 749). It is not known whether this is due to Israelite influence. 1. DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THE HISTORY. 1. The Old View: There are great divergences of opinion among modern writers as to the true course of history and the dating of the different documents. It will therefore be best to sketch these views in rough outline, and then give the evidence of the various authorities, together with the reasons that in each case arise naturally from the consideration of that evidence.
The old belief was that the whole of the Pentateuchal laws were the work of Moses, that the account of the subsequent history given in the Books of Chronicles was correct, that Ezekiel’s vision, if taken literally, could not be reconciled with the other known facts and was inexplicable, and that in the case of all other discrepancies harmonistic explanations should be adopted. 2. The Graf-Wellhausen View: The modern critical school have traversed every one of these doctrines.
The Chronicler is declared to be in constant and irreconcilable conflict with the older authorities, harmonistic explanations are uniformly rejected, the Pentateuch is denied to Moses and split up into a variety of sources of different ages, and Ezekiel gains a place of honor as representing a stage in a continuous and normal development. The subject is thus inextricably linked with the Pentateuchal problem, and reference must be made to the article PENTATEUCH for an explanation of the supposed documents and a consideration of the analysis with its nomenclature. On the other hand the present article and the article SANCTUARY (which see) explain and discuss the most widely held theory of the historical development into which the history of the supposed Pentateuchal sources has been fitted.
The dominant theory is that of Wellhausen. According to this, “Levite” was originally a term denoting professional skill, and the early Levites were not members of the tribe of Levi, but professional priests. Anybody could sacrifice. “For a simple altar no priest was required, but only for a house which contained a sacred image; this demanded watching and attendance” (Wellhausen, Prolegomena, 130). The whole Levitical Law was unknown and the distinction between priests and Levites unheard of. There were a few great sanctuaries and one influential priesthood, that of Shiloh (afterward at Nob). With the monarchy the priesthood became more important. The royal priests at Jerusalem grew in consequence and influence until they overshadowed all the others. Deuteronomy recognized the equal priestly right of all Levites, and Josiah’s reformation placed the sons of Zadok, who were the priests of Jerusalem and not descendants of Aaron, in a position of decisive superiority. Then Ezekiel drew a new and previously unknown distinction between “the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok” who are “keepers of the charge of the altar,” and the other Levites who were made “keepers of the charge of the house” as a punishment for having ministered in the high places. The Priestly Code takes up this distinction and represents it as being of Mosaic origin, making of the sons of Zadok “sons of Aaron.” “In this way arose as an illegal consequence of Josiah’s reformation, the distinction between priests and Levites. With Ezekiel this distinction is still an innovation requiring justification and sanction; with the Priestly Code it is a `statute forever,’ although even yet not absolutely undisputed, as appears from the priestly version of the story of Korah’s company. For all Judaism subsequent to Ezra, and so for Christian tradition, the Priestly Code in this matter also has been authoritative. Instead of the Deuteronomic formula `the priests the Levites,’ we henceforward have `the priests and the Levites,’ particularly in Chronicles” (op. cit., 147). From that time onward the priests and Levites are two sharply distinguished classes. It is an essential part of this theory that the Chronicler meant his work to be taken as literal history, correctly representing the true meaning of the completed law. See CRITICISM. 3. Mediating Views: There have been various attempts to construct less thoroughgoing theories on the same data. As a rule, these views accept in some form the documentary theory of the Pentateuch and seek to modify the Wellhausen theory in two directions, either by attributing earlier dates to one or more of the Pentateuchal documents — especially to the Priestly Code — or else by assigning more weight to some of the statements of Chronicles (interpreted literally). Sometimes both these tendencies are combined.
None of these views has met with any great measure of success in the attempt to make headway against the dominant Wellhausen theory, and it will be seen later that all alike make shipwreck on certain portions of the evidence. 4. An Alternative View: The independent investigations on which the present article is based have led the writer to a view that diverges in important particulars from any of these, and it is necessary to state it briefly before proceeding to the evidence. In one respect it differs from all the rival schemes, not merely in result, but also in method, for it takes account of versional evidence as to the state of the texts. Subject to this it accepts the Mosaic authenticity of all the Pentateuchal legislation and the clear and consentient testimony of the Law and the Prophets (i.e. of the two earlier and more authoritative portions of the Hebrew Canon), while regarding Chronicles as representing a later interpretation, not merely of the history, but also of the legal provisions. In outline the story of the priesthood is then as follows: Moses consecrated Aaron and his sons as the priests of the desert tabernacle. He purified the rest of the tribe of Levi as a body of sacred porters for the period of wanderings, but in the legislation of Numbers he made no provision whatever for their performing any duties after the sanctuary obtained a permanent location. At the same time he gave a body of priestly teaching requiring for its administration in settled conditions a numerous and scattered body of priests, such as the house of Aaron alone could not have provided immediately after the entry into Canaan. To meet this, Deuteronomy — the last legislative work of Moses — contains provisions enlarging the rights and duties of the Levites and conferring on them a priestly position. The earlier distinction was thus largely obliterated, though the high-priestly dignity remained in the house of Aaron till the time of Solomon, when it was transferred from the house of Eli to that of Zadok, who, according to Ezekiel’s testimony, was a Levite (but see below, IV, 1). So matters remained till the exile, when Ezekiel put forward a scheme which together with many ideal elements proposed reforms to insure the better application of the Mosaic principle of the distinction between holy and profane to greatly altered circumstances. Taking his inspiration from the wilderness legislation, he instituted a fresh division in the tribe of Levi, giving to the sons of Zadok a position similar to that once held by the sons of Aaron, and degrading all other Levites from the priesthood conferred on them by Deuteronomy to a lower rank. The duties now assigned to this class of “keepers of the charge of the house” were never even contemplated by Moses, but Ezekiel applies to them the old phrases of the Pentateuch which he invests with a new significance. As a result of his influence, the distinction between priests and Levites makes its appearance in post-exilic times, though it had been unknown to all the writers of the second division of the Hebrew Canon. At the same time a meaning was read into the provisions of the Law which their original author could not have contemplated, and it was this interpretation which is presented (at any rate to some extent) in Chronicles, and has given us the current tradition. Many of the Chronicler’s statements are, however, not meant to be taken literally, and could not have been so taken by his original public. 2. THE DATA OF THE PRIESTLY CODE (P) IN THE PENTATEUCH. 1. The Levites: To arrive at an objective conclusion it is necessary, in the first instance, to examine the facts without such bias as any view put forward by any other author, ancient or modern, sacred or profane, might impart. Every legislator is entitled to be judged on his own language, and where he has, so to speak, made his own dictionary, we are compelled to read his meaning into the terms used. The very first of the material references to the Levites drives this truth home. “But appoint thou the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all the furniture thereof” ( Numbers 1:50). It is necessary to consider whether such expressions are to be read in a wide or a narrow sense. We learn from Numbers 18:3 that death would be the result of a Levite’s touching any of these vessels, and it therefore appears that these words are meant to be construed narrowly. “They shall bear the tabernacle, and all the furniture thereof; and they shall minister unto it,” are the next words (1:50); but yet we read later of the Kohathites who were to bear it that “they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die” (4:15). This shows that the service in question is strictly limited to a service of porterage after the articles have been wrapped up by Aaron and his sons. By no possibility could it include such a task as cleaning the vessels. It is then further directed that the Levites are to take down and set up the dwelling and camp round about it.
All these are desert services and desert services only. Then we read that “the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle (dwelling) of the testimony. This concludes the first material passage ( Numbers 1:50-53).
The other passages of Numbers only amplify these directions; they never change them. But some phrases are used which must be more particularly considered. (1) Technical Phrases.
We hear that the Levites are “to serve the service of the tent of meeting,” and this looks as if it might refer to some general duties, but the context and the kindred passages always forbid this interpretation. Numbers 7:5 ff is an admirable instance. Six wagons are there assigned to the Levites for this service, two to the Gershonites and four to the Merarites. “But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonged unto them; they bare it upon their shoulders.” Here service is transport and nothing else. Again we read of the charge of the Levites in the tent of meeting, e.g. 4:25 f. If we look to see what this was, we find that it consisted of transporting portions of the tent that had been packed up. The “in” of English Versions of the Bible does not represent the meaning of the Hebrew fairly; for the context makes it clear that the legislator means “in respect to.” “But they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die” (4:20). In English idiom we cannot speak of the transport of portions of a dismantled tent as service in that tent. One other expression requires notice, the phrase “keep the charge” which is distinguished in 8:26 from “doing service.” The exact meaning cannot be determined. It appears to denote something kindred to service, but of a less exacting nature, perhaps the camping round the tent and the guardianship of the articles on the march. We shall see hereafter by comparison with other books that in P it does not bear the same meaning as elsewhere. (2) Other Legal Provisions.
The Levites were to act under the orders of Aaron and his sons, who were to assign to each man his individual functions (Numbers 3; 4, etc.). They were to undergo a special rite of purification (Numbers 8), but not of consecration. They were taken in place of the firstborn (Numbers 3). The age for beginning service is given in Numbers 4 as 30 years, but in Numbers 8:24 as 25 years, if the text is sound. The age for ceasing to serve was 50. In many passages the versions suggest that a good many phrases are textually doubtful, and it is probable that when a critical text of the Pentateuch is formed on scientific principles, a good many superfluous expressions will be found not to be original; but there is no reason to suppose that any real difference in the meaning of the passages would be revealed by such a text.
The story of Korah is easily misunderstood. It appears from Numbers 16:3 that his real object was to put himself on an equality with Moses and Aaron, and this is the “priesthood” referred to in 16:10. Numbers reinforces the earlier passages. It is noteworthy as showing that in the conception of the legislator the Levites were not to come near the vessels or the altar (18:3). The penalty is death for both Levites and priests. (3) Contrast with Ezekiel and Chronicles.
The impression as to the meaning of P which may be gathered from an examination of its statements is powerfully reinforced when they are tested by reference to Ezekiel and Chronicles, Ezekiel 44:9-14 seems to demand of the Levites some service as gatekeepers, the slaying of burnt offering and sacrifice for the people and a keeping of “the charge of the house, for all the service thereof,” which in the light of 44:7 f appears to mean in his terminology, not a service of transport, but an entry into the house and the performance of certain duties there. The Priestly Code (P), on the contrary, knows nothing of gatekeepers, regards the slaying of the burnt offering and sacrifice as the duty of the individual sacrificant (Leviticus 1; 3), and — if, as Wellhausen thinks, it refers to the temple — it would have visited with death a Levite who was present in the places in which Ezekiel requires him to minister. Similarly with the Chronicler. For instance, he the Levites being `for the service of the .... in the courts and over the chambers, and over the cleansing of every holy thing’ ( Chronicles 23:28), but P knows nothing of any chambers, would not have allowed the Levites to touch (much less clean) many of the holy things, and regarded service simply as porterage. In 1 Chronicles 23:31 the Levites are to offer burnt offerings on certain occasions; in P their approach to the altar would have meant death both to themselves and the priests ( Numbers 18:3). Other instances will be found in PSALM, 238 f. (4) What the Foregoing Proves.
In view of these facts it is impossible to hold that the Levites in P represent a projection of the Levites of the second temple or any post-Mosaic age into the desert period. To P they are a body of sacred porters. The temple of course could not be carried about, and it cannot be held that in this respect the legislation mirrors later circumstances. “Secondly, the net result of such a scheme would be to create a body of Levites for use during the period of wanderings and never thereafter. As soon as the desert age was over the whole tribe would find their occupation gone. How can we conceive that any legislator deliberately sat down and invented such a scheme centuries after the epoch to which it relates, well knowing that in so far as his scheme purported to be a narrative of events it was fictitious from beginning to end, and in so far as it might be regarded as a legislation applicable to his own or any future day, there was not a line in it that could conceivably be put into practice? If any theorist can be conceived as acting in this way, how are we to suppose that his work would meet with acceptance? .... Thirdly, P neither embodies the views of Ezekiel nor finds an accurate reflection in Chronicles. The facts are such as to enable us to say definitely that P is not in line with them. It is impossible to assume that he appointed the death penalty for certain acts if performed by Levites because he really wished the Levites to perform those acts” (PSALM, f). 2. Aaron and His Sons: Priests and Levites also speaks of Aaron the priest and the sons of Aaron the priest. It is doubtful whether the expression “the sons of Aaron the priests,” which occurs frequently in the Massoretic Text, is ever original; the Massoretic expression is nowhere supported by all the authorities. “The phrase `Aaron the high priest’ is entirely unknown to Priests and Levites.
Where the high priest’s name is given the only qualifying apposition possible in his usage is `the priest.’ “ Aaron and his sons, unlike the Levites, were consecrated, not merely purified.
At this point two features only of the legislation need be noticed: the inadequacy of the staff to post-conquest conditions and the signs of date.
For example, the leprosy laws (Leviticus 13 f) postulate the presence of priests to inspect and isolate the patient. “Remembering that on the critical theory P assumes the capital at Jerusalem as self-evident, we must ask how such provisions were to work after the conquest. During the desert period nothing could have been simpler, but what was to happen when the Israelites dwelt all over Canaan from Beersheba to Daniel?” (PSALM, 246). The difficulty is immensely increased if we postulate an exilic or post-exilic date, when the Jewish center of gravity was in Babylonia and there were large colonies in Egypt and elsewhere. And “What are we to say when we read of leprous garments ( Leviticus 13:47 ff)? Was a man to make the pilgrimage from Babylonia to Jerusalem to consult a priest about a doubtful garment? And what about the leper’s offerings in Leviticus 14? Could they conceivably have been meant to apply to such circumstances?” (PSALM, 247). The case is no better with the law of leprous houses, which is expressed to apply to the post-conquest period ( Leviticus 4:33-53). The notification to the priest and his inspections require a priesthood scattered all over the country, i.e. a body far more numerous than the house of Aaron at the date of the conquest. Such instances could easily be multiplied from the legislation; one more only will be cited on account of its importance to the history of the priesthood.
According to Leviticus, the individual sacrificant is to kill the victims and flay the burnt offerings. How could such procedure be applied to such sacrifices as those of Solomon ( 1 Kings 8:63)? With the growth of luxury the sacrifices would necessarily become too large for such a ritual, and the wealthy would grow in refinement and object to performing such tasks personally. This suggests the reason for later abuses and for the modifications of Ezekiel and the representations of the Chronicler.
Result of the Evidence.
Thus, the evidence of P is unfavorable alike to the Wellhausen and the mediating views. The indications of date are consistently Mosaic, and it seems impossible to fit the laws into the framework of any other age without reading them in a sense that the legislator can be shown not to have contemplated. On the other hand P is a torso. It provides a large body of Levites who would have nothing to do after the conquest, and a corpus of legislation that could not have been administered in settled conditions by the house of Aaron alone. 3. THE OTHER PORTIONS OF THE PENTATEUCH.
In Exodus 19:22,24 we read of priests, but a note has come down to us that in the first of those verses Aquila had “elders,” not “priests,” and this appears to be the correct reading in both places, as is shown by the prominence of the elders in the early part of the chapter. In Hebrew the words differ by only two letters. It is said by Wellhausen that in Exodus 33:7-11 (E) Joshua has charge of the ark. This rests on a mistranslation of Exodus 33:7, which should be rendered (correcting English Versions of the Bible), `And Moses used to take a (or the) tent and pitch it for himself without the camp.’ It is inconceivable that Moses should have taken the tent of the ark and removed it to a distance from the camp for his private use, leaving the ark bared and unguarded. Moreover, if he had done so, Joshua could not have been in charge of the ark, seeing that he was in this tent while the ark (Exodus hypothesi) remained in the camp. Nor had the ark yet been constructed. Nor was Joshua in fact a priest or the guardian of the ark in E: (1) in the Book of Joshua E knows of priests who carry the ark and are quite distinct from Joshua (3 ff); (2) in Deuteronomy 31:14 (E) Joshua is not resident in the tent of meeting; (3) in E, Aaron and Eleazar are priests ( Deuteronomy 10:6), and the Levitical priesthood is the only one recognized ( Deuteronomy 33:10); (4) there is no hint anywhere of Joshua’s discharging any priestly duty whatsoever. The whole case rests on his presence in the tent in Exodus 33:7-11, and, as shown in the article PENTATEUCH (which see), this passage should stand after Exodus 13:22.
Then it is said that in Exodus 4:14; Judges 17:7, “Levite” denotes profession, not ancestry. In the latter passage the youth whom Micah made a priest was of Levitical descent, being the grandson of Moses ( Judges 17:13), and the case rests on the phrase, “of the family of Judah.” Neither of the Septuagintal translations had this text (Field, Hexapla, at the place), which therefore cannot be supported, since it cannot be suggested that Moses belonged to the tribe of Judah. As to Exodus 4:14, the phrase “Aaron thy brother the Levite” is merely an adaptation of the more usual, “Aaron, son of Amram, the Levite,” rendered necessary by the fact that his brother Moses is the person addressed. The Wellhausen theory here is shown to be untenable in PSALM, 250 and RE3, XI, 418. Exodus 32:26-29 foreshadows the sacred character of Levi, and Deuteronomy 10:6 (E) knows the hereditary Aaronic priesthood. In D the most important passage is Deuteronomy 18:6-8. In 18:7 three Septuagintal manuscripts omit the words “the Levites,” and if this be a gloss, the whole historic sense of the passage is changed. It now contains an enactment that any Levite coming to the religious capital may minister there “as all his brethren do, who stand there,” etc., i.e. like the descendants of Aaron. “The Levites” will then be the explanation of a glossator who was imbued with the latest post-exilic ideas, and thought that “his brethren” must mean those of his fellow-Levites who were not descended from Aaron. The passage is supplemented by 21:5, giving to the Levites judicial rights, and 24:8 assigning to them the duty of teaching the leprosy regulations. Together with 33:10 (E), `they shall teach thy judgments to Jacob and thy law to Israel: they shall put incense in thy nostrils and whole burnt-offering on thine altar,’ these passages complete the provisions of P in giving to the Levites an occupation in place of their transport duties, and providing the necessary staff for administering the legislation when the Israelites were no longer massed together in a single camp, but scattered over the country. We shall see in the next section that this view of the meaning of the Law was taken by every writer of the second part of the Canon who touches on the subject. Everywhere we are confronted with the legitimacy of a Levitical priesthood; nowhere is there any mention of an exclusive Aaronic right. Smaller points which cannot be discussed here are examined in PSALM. It only remains to notice that these provisions fully explain the frequent Deuteronomic locution, “the priests the Levites.” One other remark must be made. Though it is not expressly stated, we may assume that consecration would be necessary in the case of any Levite acting on the provisions of Deuteronomy 18:6-8, and was not mentioned because in Hebrew antiquity it went without saying that every priest must be consecrated (compare Judges 17). 4. FROM MOSES TO MALACH1. 1. The Sources Other than Ezekiel: Joshua adds but little to our information. In 18:7 the priesthood is called the inheritance of the Levites, and it is singular that the Wellhausen critics attribute this to a priestly redactor, though such a writer should Exodus hypothesi have been jealous to withhold the priesthood from the Levites. It is very interesting to find that in Joshua 3; 4, all the different critical documents speak in exactly the same terms of “the priests that bare the ark.” The priestly writer ought, on the Wellhausen theory, to have said “the Levites.” The expression “the priests the Levites” is found alternating with the expression “the priests.” All this points to the construction put upon the provisions of the Law in the preceding section, and finds fresh confirmation in Judges, where we see Micah rejoicing at having a Levite as a priest ( Judges 17:13), thus showing that the sacred character of the tribe was recognized in the earliest post-Mosaic times. The lay sacrifices in this and the following books are explained under SANCTUARY; SACRIFICE (which see).
The period of the early kings shows us kings blessing the people (e.g. Samuel 6:18). It is claimed that this is the priestly blessing, but without evidence, and there seems no more reason to see special priestly rights here than in David’s blessing his household ( 2 Samuel 6:20), or the frequent blessings of the Bible (e.g. Genesis passim, especially “in thee will Israel bless,” Genesis 48:20), while in 1 Kings 8:55 ff we actually have the words of the blessing delivered on one of those occasions by Solomon, and it is quite unlike the blessing of the priests (Num 6:22 ff).
Textual criticism disposes of the supposed priesthood of certain non- Levitical persons. In 2 Samuel 8:18 the Massoretic Text makes David’s sons “priests,” but this reading was unknown to the Septuagint, Symmachus, and Theodotion (Field, ad. loc.). The Septuagint has “aularches,” i.e. chamberlains. That this represents a different Hebrew word is proved by the Septuagintal list of 3 Kings 2:46 (not extant in Hebrew), where we read that Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was “over the aularchy and over the brick-making.” It cannot be suggested that this represents an original Hebrew “over the priesthood and over the brickmaking,” and accordingly we must concede the existence of some secular court office which was rendered by this Greek phrase. Hitzig and Cheyne conjecture that [ µyniks , tsokhenim ] should be read for [ µynhK, kohanim ].
This word gives the sense required (see Isaiah 22:15) Revised Version margin “steward”). In 2 Samuel 20:26 we read that Ira, [ yrayh , haya’iri ] (“the Jairite”), was a priest, but the Syriac version supported by Lucian and 23:38 reads [ yrTyh , ha-yattiri ] (“the Jattirite”). Jattir was a priestly city. In 1 Kings 4:5 Nathan’s son is described as `priest friend of the king,’ but the Septuagint reads only “friend of the king” (compare especially 1 Chronicles 27:33 f; 2 Samuel 15:32), and at another period Nathan’s son held the kindred secular office of king’s counselor (the Septuagint 3 Kings 2:46, a fact that is certainly unfavorable to the view that he ever held priestly office). There can therefore be no doubt that the word “priest,” [ ˆhKo , kohen ] has arisen through dittography of the preceding word [ ˆtn , nathan ], Nathan.
Various dealings with the ark and the age of Samuel require notice. As a boy, Samuel himself is given into the service of Eli. It has been argued that he really officiated as a priest, though probably (if the Chronicler’s data is rejected) not of the Levitical descent. The answer is to be found in his age.
Weaning sometimes took place at as late an age as three, and accordingly, the boy may have been as much as four years old when he was taken to Shiloh ( 1 Samuel 1:24). His mother used to bring him a little cloak ( 1 Samuel 2:19) every year, and this notice also shows his extreme youth. In view of this, it cannot be seriously contended that he performed any priestly service. He must have been something like a page, and he performed some duties of a porter, opening the door-valves of the temple at Shiloh ( 1 Samuel 3:15). (1) The Custody of the Ark When the ark was captured by the Philistines, it was in the charge of priests. When David brought it to Jerusalem, it was again placed in priestly custody, but there is an interregnum of some 20 years ( 1 Samuel 7:2).
It must be remembered that whatever may have happened during this period of great national confusion, the practice of all the rest of history, extending over some 600 or 700 years, is uniform and would far outweigh any irregularities during so short and troubled a period. (2) On Its Return from the Philistines The first difficulty arises on 1 Samuel 6:14,15. In the second of these verses the Levites come up after the Beth-shemites have finished, and, in Wellhausen’s words, “proceed as if nothing had happened, lift the ark from the now-no-longer-existent cart, and set it upon the stone on which the sacrifice is already burning” (Prolegomena, 128). It is therefore suggest that 6:15 is a gloss. But there is difficulty in 6:14 which tells of the breaking up of the cart, etc., without explaining what happened to the ark.
The trouble may be met by a slight transposition, thus: `14a and the cart came into the field, .... and stood there, and there was there a great stone: 15a and the Levites took down the ark, etc. and put them on the great stone: 14b and clave the wood of the cart,’ etc., followed by 15b. This makes perfect sense. (3) In Abinadab’s House The second difficulty is made by 1 Samuel 7:1, where we read that the ark was brought to the house of Abinadab `and Eleazar his son they sanctified to guard’ it. Its old abode, the house at Shiloh, had apparently been destroyed ( Jeremiah 7:12,14; 26:6,9). There it enjoyed considerable importance, for Poels is unquestionably right in identifying the Gibeah of God ( 1 Samuel 10:5) with the Gibeah (hill) of the ark. Thus, there was a high place there and a Philistine garrison (compare Samuel 13:3, where Septuagint and Targum have “Gibeah”). There remains the difficulty caused by the guardianship of Eleazar. Poels may be right in reading [ ynB taw rz[la , we’eth bene’ El’azar ], “and the sons of Eleazar,” for [ wnB rz[la taw , we’eth ‘El`azar beno ], “and Eleazar his son”; but in the entire absence of information, alike as to Eleazar’s functions and as to his tribe, nothing definite can be said. The narratives of the slaughter among the Beth-shemites and the fate of Uzzah make it certain that Eleazar’s custody of the ark kept him at a respectful distance from it.
When David at the end of this period removed the ark, it was first taken in a cart. This proved fatal to Uzzah, and the ark was deposited in the house of Obededom the Gittite. The text of Samuel knows nothing of any guardianship of the ark by Obed-edom. Probably he took very good care not to go near it in view of Uzzah’s fate. Then it was transported to Jerusalem by bearers ( 2 Samuel 6:13) — presumably of Levitical descent. No further irregularities are urged.
More important is the change of priesthood; 1 Samuel 2:27-36 clearly threatens Eli, whose house had been chosen in Egypt, with a transference of the high-priesthood to another line. Careful comparison with 1 Kings 2:27 makes it certain that the prophecy was fulfilled when Zadok was placed by Solomon in the place of Abiathar. Who was Zadok? According to Chronicles ( 1 Chronicles 6:8,53; 24:3; 27:17) he was descended from Aaron through Eleazar, and this is accepted by Orr, Van Hoonacker and many others, who take Chronicles in a literal sense. According to Ezekiel he was a Levite (40:46, etc.). It is noteworthy that throughout the prophetical books we always hear of the Levitical priesthood, not the Aaronic (see especially 1 Kings 12:31; Jeremiah 33:18-22; Malachi 2), and the “father’s house” of 1 Samuel 2:27-36 that was chosen in Egypt could only be the house of Aaron, not of Ithamar, if the passage is to be taken in its natural sense. On this view Zadok’s appointment could only have fulfilled the prophecy if it terminated the Aaronic succession. It would seem therefore that the highpriesthood was transferred to a family of non-Aaronic Levites. For the alternative view see ZADOK.
The prophet’s speech in 1 Samuel 2:27-36 is also important for the light it throws on the organization of the priesthood. The high priest has in his gift a number of priestly offices with pecuniary and other emoluments. This postulates a far more advanced hierarchy than that of Priest.
The reference to “the priests and the Levites” in 1 Kings 8:4 was unknown to the Septuagint, but in other passages the Books of Kings show further advances in hierarchical organization. There is not merely the high priest — generally like Aaron in the Priestly Code (P) called “the priest,” but sometimes the high priest — but also the second priest ( 2 Kings 25:18; Jeremiah 52:24; 2 Kings 23:4, according to the Targum), three keepers of the threshold (ubi supra, and 2 Kings 12:10) and “elders of the priests” ( 2 Kings 19:2; Isaiah 37:2; perhaps also Jeremiah 19:1). See also Jeremiah 20:1 f; 29:26 for priestly organization and jurisdiction in the temple precincts. All this contrasts strikingly with the simplicity of the Pentateuchal organization. 2. Ezekiel: Ezekiel is entirely in line with the other sources for this period, but he seeks to institute certain reforms. He writes, “Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean,” etc. ( Ezekiel 22:26). If these words have any meaning they signify that he was acquainted with a law which followed the very words of Leviticus 10 and other passages of the Priestly Code (P), and was intended to reach the people through the teaching of the priests. In Ezekiel 40 through 48, there is a vision of the future which stands in the closest relation to the Pentateuch. Three views have been held of this. The old view was that Ezekiel could not be reconciled with the Pentateuch at all, and that the difficulties presented were insoluble. Wellhausen and his followers maintain that the prophet is prior to the Priestly Code (P), and here introduces the distinction between priests and Levites for the first time. The third alternative is to hold that Ezekiel was familiar with P and drew from it the inspiration to make a fresh division among the Levites, giving the sons of Zadok a position similar to that occupied by the sons of Aaron in the wilderness period, and reenacting with slight modifications the legislation applicable to the sons of Aaron, this time applying it to the sons of Zadok.
The crucial passage is 44:6-16, from which it clearly appears that in Solomon’s temple aliens had performed sundry tasks that should have been executed by more holy persons, and that Ezekiel proposes to degrade Levites who are not descended from Zadok to perform such tasks in the future as a punishment for their ministrations to idols in high places. Either of the two latter views would explain the close connection that evidently exists between the concluding chapters of Ezekiel and the Priestly Code (P), and, accordingly, in choosing between them, the reader must consider four main points: (1) Is P shown on the internal evidence to be early or late? Is it desert legislation, or is it accurately reflected in Chronicles? This point has already been discussed in part and is further treated in PENTATEUCH (which see). (2) Is theory of the late composition of P psychologically and morally probable? On this see PENTATEUCH and POT, 292-99. (3) Is it the case that the earlier history attests the existence of institutions of P that are held by Wellhausen and his followers to be late — e.g. more national offerings than the critics allow? On this see EPC 200 ff, and passim; POT, 305-15, and passim; SBL and OP passim, and article PENTATEUCH. (4) Does Ezekiel himself show acquaintance with P (e.g. in 22:26), or not? On this too see SBL, 96; PSALM, 281 f.
With regard to the non-mention of the high-priesthood and certain other institutions in Ezekiel’s vision, the natural explanation is that in the case of these the prophet did not desire to institute any changes. It is to be noted that Ezekiel does not codify and consolidate all existing law. On the contrary, he is rather supplementing and reforming. In his ideal temple the prince is to provide the statutory national offerings (45:17), i.e. those of Numbers 28; 29. Apparently the king had provided these earlier ( Kings 16:13). But in addition to these there had grown up a “king’s offering,” and it is probably to this only that Ezekiel 45:22 ff; 46:2-15 relate. In 46:13 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and some Hebrew manuscripts preserve the reading “he” for “thou.” 5. EZRA, NEHEMIAH, CHRONICLES.
Whatever the course of the earlier history, there is general agreement that in these books a distinction between priests and Levites is established (see e.g. Nehemiah 10:37 f (38 f); 12:1 f). We also find singers and porters ( Nehemiah 13:5, etc.), Nethinim and the sons of Solomon’s servants ( Ezra 7:7,24; 10:23 f; Nehemiah 10:28 (29) ; 11:3, etc.). It must not be assumed that these classes were new. The story of the Gibeonites (Joshua 9) gives us the origin of some of these grades, and the nonmention of them in many of the earlier books is easily explained by the character of those books. We know from such passages as Amos 5:23 that there were musical services in far earlier times (compare Nehemiah 12:42). 1. Estimates of the Chronicler: Chronicles presents an account of the earlier history of the priests and Levites that in many respects does not tally with the older sources. Many modern writers think that the author’s views of the past were colored by the circumstances of his own day, and that he had a tendency to carry back later conditions to an earlier period. On the other hand it is impossible to deny fairly that he used some sources which have not been preserved to us elsewhere. Again, there is evidence to show that his work was not intended to be taken for history and would not have been so regarded by his contemporaries. Talmudical authorities held some such view as this. The historical value of his work has yet to be appraised in a more critical and impartial spirit than is exhibited in any of the current discussions. For the present purpose it is only possible to notice the effect of some of his statements, if interpreted literally. As there are passages where he has clearly substituted Levites for the less holy personages of the older sources (contrast e.g. 2 Kings 11:4-12 with 2 Chronicles 23:1-11), it may be that Levites have also been substituted by him for other persons in notices of which no other version has survived. 2. His Data: David and Solomon recognized the hierarchy. The former king instituted the musical services ( 1 Chronicles 6:3 ff; 16:4 ff; 25). The Levites were divided into courses ( 1 Chronicles 23:6) and were rendered liable to service from the age of twenty by his enactment ( 1 Chronicles 23:27).
There were also 24 courses or divisions of priests,16 of the sons of Eleazar and 8 of the sons of Ithamar ( 1 Chronicles 23:24). The courses were divided by lot. In Nehemiah 12:1-7 we read of “chiefs of the priests,” but these are only 22 in number, while 12:12-21 give us 21 in the time of Joiakim (12:26). But not much importance can be attached to such lists, as names could easily fall out in transmission. According to Chronicles 9:26 the four chief porters were Levites, and Levites were also over the things baked in pans and the shewbread (9:31 f). This of course is not in accordance with the Law, but is found elsewhere in Chronicles. In Chronicles 23 the Levites from 30 years old and upward number 38,000, of whom 24,000 oversee the work of the house of the Lord, 6,000 were officers and judges, 4,000 were doorkeepers and 4,000 were musicians.
David altered the age of beginning service to 20, and an account of their functions is given in 1 Chronicles 23:27-32 (see, further, MUSIC). All these arrangements were confirmed and enforced by Solomon ( Chronicles 8:14 ff). There is often uncertainty as to whether the Chronicler identifies priests and Levites in particular cases or not, e.g. in Chronicles 30:27, “the priests the Levites” bless the people according to the ordinary text, but many authorities read “the priests and the Levites.”
Hezekiah appears to have undertaken some reorganization (2 Chronicles 29 through 31), but the details are not clear. Jehoshaphat established in Jerusalem a court composed partly of Levites and priests (19:8-11).
Previously he had sent priests and Levites and others to teach the Law in Judah (2 Chronicles 17). In 2 Chronicles 29:34 it is clearly the duty of the priests to flay burnt offerings (contrast Leviticus 1). It is impossible to draw any consistent picture from the Chronicler because he gives different data for different periods; it is doubtful whether he meant his statements to be taken as historical, e.g. in 1 Chronicles 25 we find Levites whose names Giddalti (= “I have magnified”), etc., are really words forming part of a prayer, and it is difficult to believe that either the Chronicler or his public intended this chapter to be interpreted in any but a spiritual sense (see PSALM, 284-86).
In Ezra 2:40 the number of Levites who returned with Zerubbabel is given as 74, as against 973 priests (2:36), 128 singers (2:41), 139 children of the porters (2:42), 392 Nethinim and children of Solomon’s servants (2:58), and the figures are the same in Nehemiah 7, except that there the singers number 148 (7:44) and the porters 138 (7:45). When Ezra went up, he was at first joined by no Levites (8:15), but subsequently gathered Levites and 220 Nethinim (8:18-20). We get glimpses of the organization in Nehemiah 12:44-47 and 13:10 ff. It appears that in this period genealogies were carefully scrutinized in the case of doubtful claims to priestly descent ( Ezra 2:61 ff; Nehemiah 7:63 ff). In Ezra 6:19 ff the Levites are represented as killing the Passover.
Of these books no satisfactory account can be given in the present state of textual criticism and Biblical science generally. Some writers, e.g., hold that the Chronicler had before him a source to which the Levites were entirely unknown, others that he invented freely, others again that he reproduces trustworthy pre-exilic information. The student has only an assortment of theories from which to choose. The bedrock fact is that the statements of these books, if taken in their natural meaning, convey an entirely different impression from the statements of the earlier books construed similarly. Modern research has not yet been seriously addressed to the question whether all the statements were really intended to be interpreted as mere history. 6. LEGAL PROVISIONS.
Aaron and his sons underwent consecration to fit them for their duties.
Exodus 28 f prescribes their garments and consecration (see DRESS; BREASTPLATE; EPHOD; ROBE; COAT; MITRE; GIRDLE; URIM AND THUMMIM), and the account of the latter may be read in Leviticus 8 f. In individual sacrifices brought to the religious capital the priests performed the part of the ritual which related to the altar (sprinkling, burning, etc.) (Leviticus 1 through 4). See SACRIFICE. A principal function was the duty of teaching the people the law of God ( Leviticus 10:11; 14:54-57; Deuteronomy 24:8; 33:10; compare Ezekiel 44:23; Hosea 4:1-6; Haggai 2:11 ff, and many passages in the Prophets).
The priests were subject to special laws designed to maintain their purity (Leviticus 21 f; compare Ezekiel 44). The rules aim at preventing defilement through mourning (save in the case of ordinary priests for a near relation) and at preventing those who were physically unfitted from performing certain functions, and those who were for any reason unclean from approaching the holy things. See further STRANGER. They performed several semi-judicial functions ( Numbers 5:5 ff,11 ff, etc.; see JUDGE). They also blessed the people ( Numbers 6:22; compare Deuteronomy 10:8, etc.). See BLESSING. On their dues see SACRIFICE; TITHES; FIRSTLINGS; FIRST-FRUITS; LEVITICAL CITIES; AGRARIAN LAWS; see further CHEMARIM; NETHINIM; SONS OF SOLOMON’S SERVANTS; SINGERS; DOORKEEPERS; SERVINGWOMEN; JUDGE.
LITERATURE.
Wellhausen, Prolegomena, chapter iv, for the Graf-Wellhausen view; Wiener, Wiener, Pentateuchal Studies, 230-89, for the view taken above; S.I. Curtiss, Levitical Priests, for the conservative view. This writer afterward changed to the critical view. James Orr, POT; A. Van Hoonacker, Leviticus sacerdoce levitique (important); W. Baudissin, article “Priests and Levites” in HDB, IV, for mediating views. The best account in English of the details of the priestly duties is contained in Baudissin’s article, where a further bibliography will be found. Harold M. Wiener PRIMOGENITURE <pri-mo-jen’-i-tur > ([ hr;wOkB] , bekhorah ], from bekhor , “firstborn,” from bakhar , “to act early”; [prwtoto>kia, prototokia ]): 1. RECOGNITION OF DOCTRINE:
The right of the firstborn to inherit the headship of the family, carrying with it certain property rights and usually such titles as those of the highpriesthood or kingship. The writings of the Hebrews take for granted the recognition of a doctrine of primogeniture from the earliest times. In the most ancient genealogies a distinction is drawn between the firstborn and the other son ( Genesis 10:15; 22:21; 25:13; 35:23; 36:15). In the bestowal of parental blessings in patriarchal times great importance was attached to preferring the firstborn ( Genesis 25:31; 27:29; 48:13; 49:3).
The feud between Jacob and Esau ( Genesis 27:1 through 28:21) grew out of the stealing of the firstborn’s blessing by the younger brother.
Joseph was displeased when, in his blessing, Jacob seemed to prefer Ephraim to Manasseh, his firstborn ( Genesis 48:18). The father in such cases seems to have had the right to transfer the birthright from one son to another, from the days of Abraham in the case of Ishmael and Isaac, through those of Jacob in the matter of Reuben and Joseph and in the matter of Ephraim and Manasseh, down to the days of David in the selection of a successor to the kingship. Nevertheless, the Mosaic code, which declared (rather than enacted) the law of primogeniture, prohibited the abuse of this parental privilege in the case of a younger son by a favorite wife ( Deuteronomy 21:16 f). 2. THE DOUBLE PORTION:
The manner of acknowledging the firstborn incidentally referred to in Deuteronomy is “by giving him a double portion of all that he hath” ( Deuteronomy 21:17), that is to say, double the share of each of the other brothers. Jewish tradition (Bekho. 46a, 47b, 51a, 51b; Babha’ Bathra’ 122a, 122b, 123a, 124a, 142b) accepts and elaborates on this right of the firstborn son. Thus, it applies only to the firstborn and not the eldest surviving son; it does not apply to daughters; it has reference only to the paternal estate, and not to the inheritance left by a mother or other relative, nor to improvements or accessions made to an estate after the death of the father. 3. REASONS FOR THE CUSTOM:
The object of the doctrine may be that the eldest son might be enabled to preside over the affairs of family with proper dignity, or that he might assume additional responsibilities, such as the support of unmarried sisters.
Hence, one’s birthright could be waived or sold ( Genesis 25:31,34). On the other hand it may be based in the ultimate analysis on the primitive feeling of favoritism for the firstborn reflected in the disappointment of Jacob, when he speaks of Reuben as his firstborn, his might, and the beginning of his strength ([re’shith ‘on], Genesis 49:3; compare Deuteronomy 21:17). This theory would be in accord with the right of the parent to transfer the right to a younger son. The suggestion of favoritism conveyed by the Hebrew [bekhor] is manifested in its figurative use: of Israel ( Exodus 4:22), of Ephraim ( Jeremiah 31:9), of one dearly beloved ( Zechariah 12:10); (compare figurative usage in the New Testament: Romans 8:29; Hebrews 12:23; 1:6; Revelation 1:5). 4. THE FIRSTBORN IN ANCIENT SOCIETY; SACRIFICE AND REDEMPTION:
Light is thrown on the attitude of the ancient world toward the firstborn, and hence, on the history of primogeniture, by the language used in connection with the plague of the firstborn: “from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maidservant that is behind the mill” or “the captive that was in the dungeon.” Apparently no more dreadful catastrophe for all classes of society could be thought of than this slaying of the firstborn ( Exodus 11:5; 12:29). The misguided fervor of the ancient Semites who offered their firstborn as the thing most dearly beloved as a sacrifice to their gods must be considered in this light, whether it appears among the Moabites, the Phoenicians or the Hebrews themselves ( Jeremiah 32:35; Ezekiel 20:26,31; 2 Chronicles 28:3). It is difficult to predicate a connection between the basis of the doctrine of primogeniture and that of the Redemption of the First-born, other than that both are ultimately based on the importance of a firstborn son and the fondness of his parents for him. It is interesting to note, however, that the tradition of redemption and the law of primogeniture are kept so distinct that, while the latter has reference only to the firstborn of a father, the former has reference only to the firstborn of a mother (Bekho, viii. l, 46a; compare peTer rechem , “whatsoever openeth the womb,” Exodus 13:2). In a polygamous society such as that presupposed in Deuteronomy 21 it is natural to suppose that the distinction between paternal and maternal primogeniture would be clearly before the minds of the people. See BIRTHRIGHT; FIRSTBORN.
Nathan Isaacs PRINCE <prins > : This word occurs quite frequently in our English Bible, mostly in the Old Testament. While it is never used to denote royal parentage (compare 1 Chronicles 29:24), it often indicates actual royal or ruling power, together with royal dignity and authority. As a rule, the name is given to human beings; in a few instances it is applied to God and Christ, the angels and the devil.
In Matthew 2:6 the word rendered “princes” might be translated “princely cities”; at least, this seems to be implied. Here the term [hJgemw>n, hegemon ], “leader,” “ruler,” “prince,” is used, undoubtedly to hint at the fact that Bethlehem was the native city of a great prince. In the other New Testament passages the word [a]rcwn, archon ], “a potentate,” “a person in authority,” “a magistrate,” occurs most frequently (compare Matthew 9:34; 12:24; 20:25 (the Revised Version (British and American) “ruler”); Mark 3:22; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 1 Corinthians 2:6,8 the King James Version; Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 1:5 (the Revised Version (British and American) “ruler”)). In most of these instances the term “prince” refers to the devil.
In Acts 3:15; 5:31, the word [ajrchgo>v, archegos ], “leader,” is employed referring to Christ as the author of life and salvation (compare Hebrews 12:2, where the term archegos is rendered “author” (Revised Version) or “captain” (Revised Version margin)).
The Old Testament contains a number of different words mostly rendered “prince” or “princes” in the English Versions of the Bible. (1) [ rc” , sar ]: In Joshua 5:14 the mysterious armed stranger seen by Joshua near Jericho calls himself the “prince of the host of Yahweh”: a high military title applied to a superhuman being. In Isaiah 9:6, the name is given to the child representing the future Messiah. The term “Prince of Peace” denotes the eminent position and the peaceful reign of the Messianic king: the highest human title in its most ideal sense. Daniel 8:11: here, again, as in Joshua 5:14, occurs the phrase “prince of the host.” In Daniel 8:25 “the prince of princes” refers to God Himself: the highest human title in its absolute sense applied to God. Daniel 10:21: “Michael your prince.” Michael the archangel is here called the prince of the Jewish people. He is the princely representative of God’s people in the sight of God, a royal title suggesting high power and alliance with God in the great struggle going on between Him and the powers of darkness. Daniel 12:1: here Michael is called “the great prince” who standeth for the children of Israel; supplementing Daniel 10:21. In Daniel 10:13: “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” (compare 10:20, “the prince of Persia,” “the prince of Greece”), the expression is used in the same general sense as in Daniel 10:21. Each individual nation is represented as guided by a spiritual being that may or may not be an ally of God in His combat with the devil. In the majority of cases, though, the term sar is applied (a) to men exercising royal or ruling power: Proverbs 8:16: “By me princes (margin “or rulers”) rule” Isaiah 32:1: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice.” Judicial power is included (compare Exodus 2:14: “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?” and <19E811> Psalm 148:11: “princes and all judges of the earth”). In some passages the word sar , having been rendered “prince,” stands for “chief”; so Judges 7:25: “They took the two princes of Midian” (compare Judges 8:14; 1 Samuel 29:4; 2 Samuel 10:3, etc.). (b) To royal officers of a high rank: Genesis 12:15: “the princes of Pharaoh” (compare 2 Kings 24:14: “Jerus and all the princes”; Chronicles 29:24; 2 Chronicles 24:23; Jeremiah 36:21; 52:10; Hosea 5:10, etc.). “Ambassadors” ( Jeremiah 36:14); “governors” ( 1 Kings 20:14: “By the young men (margin “or, servants”) of the princes of the provinces”; compare Est 1:3,14, “the seven princes”); “the chief of the eunuchs” ( Daniel 1:7); a “quartermaster” ( Jeremiah 51:59: “Seraiah was chief chamberlain” (margin “or, quartermaster”)). The King James Version renders it “a quiet prince,” i.e. a prince having rest, instead of procuring rest ([ hj;Wnm] rc” , sar menuchah ], “a sar of rest”).
In post-exilic times: Ezra 9:1: “The princes drew near unto me.” They were the political leaders of the people (compare Ezra 10:8: “the princes and the elders”; Nehemiah 9:38: “our princes, our Levites, and our priests”; Nehemiah 11:1: “The princes of the people dwelt in Jerus”; Nehemiah 12:31: “the princes of Judah”). Of course, they were all subject to the authority of the Persian kings. (c) To the priesthood: 1 Chronicles 24:5: “princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God” (of Isaiah 43:28). (d) On account of great achievements: 2 Samuel 3:38: “Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?” — an honorary title. Generally speaking, a prince is a wealthy man (compare Job 34:19: “That respecteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor”), and he is a prominent man embodying true, although mortal, manhood (compare Psalm 82:7: “Nevertheless ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes). (2) [ aycin; , nasi’ ]: usually derived from [ ac;n; , nasa’ ], “to lift,” hence, “exalted”; otherwise: a “speaker.” (a) An honorary title (compare Genesis 23:6: “Thou art a prince of God among us.” The distinction is conferred upon Abraham by the children of Heth). (b) A name given to the heads of the Israelite tribes, families and fathers’ houses: Numbers 3:24: “the prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites” (compare 3:30,35); 3:32: “Eleazar .... shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary”; Numbers 4:34: “the princes of the congregation.”
They seem to be identical with the “rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens” (compare Exodus 18:21; Numbers 16:2). Numbers 7:2: “the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses .... the princes of the tribes” (compare 17:2,6; 34:18; Joshua 22:14; 1 Chronicles 4:38). (c) Equivalent to chief or king: Genesis 17:20: “Twelve princes shall he beget” (compare 25:16); Genesis 34:2: “Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land”; Numbers 25:18: “Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian” (compare Joshua 13:21); 1 Kings 11:34: “I will make him prince all the days of his life.” This was said of Solomon, which shows the term equivalent to king. Of special interest is the use of the word nasi’ in Ezekiel. The name is given to the Jewish king (compare 12:10: “This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem”). Then, again, it is applied to the future theocratic king (compare 34:24; 37:25, etc., and especially chapters 45; 46). It is also used of foreign potentates and high officers (compare 26:16: “the princes of the sea”; 28:2: “the prince of Tyre”; 30:13: “a prince from the land of Egypt”); 32:29: “Edom, her kings and all her princes”; and, likewise, of high Jewish officers (21:12). (d) A title bestowed upon Sheshbazzar ( Ezra 1:8). (3) [ bydn; , nadhibh ]: 1 Samuel 2:8: “To make them sit with princes” (compare <19B308> Psalm 113:8). The original meaning of the term is willing or obliging; then generous (“liberal”; compare Proverbs 19:6: “Many will entreat the favor of the liberal man”; yet, it might safely be rendered here “prince”, margin) or noble-minded; a gentleman, a nobleman, a person of rank, a prince. Job 12:21: “He poureth contempt upon princes” (compare <19A740> Psalm 107:40); Job 21:28: “Where is the house of the prince? And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?” The context here suggests the thought of a wicked prince, a tyrant. Psalm 47:9: “The princes of the peoples are gathered together” (compare <19B809> Psalm 118:9; 146:3; Proverbs 17:7; 25:7; Song of Solomon 7:1). (4) [ dygin; , naghidh ]: According to Gesenius, this term denotes originally either a high-minded person (compare the preceding word, nadhibh ) or a speaker, a spokesman; then a prince, a king. 1 Samuel 13:14: “Yahweh hath appointed him to be prince over his people” (compare 2 Samuel 5:2: “Thou shalt be prince (the Revised Version margin “leader”) over Israel”; 6:21; 7:8; 1 Kings 1:35; 14:7; 16:2; Job 29:9; 31:37; Psalm 76:12; Proverbs 28:16; Ezekiel 28:2: “prince of Tyre”; Daniel 9:25: “the anointed one, the prince,” the King James Version the “Messiah the Prince”; Daniel 9:26: “the prince that shall come” (the Roman emperor?); 11:22: “the prince of the covenant” (either a high priest or some Egyptian king, Ptolemeus Philometor?). (5) , (6) [ ˆwOzr; , razon ], and [ ˆzewOr , rozen ], “a high official,” “a prince,” usually associated with the word “king” or “judge.” Proverbs 14:28: “In the multitude of people is the king’s glory; but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince” (razon ); Judges 5:3: “Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes” (rozenim ); Proverbs 8:15: “By me kings reign, and princes (rozenim ) decree justice” (compare 31:4; Habakkuk 1:10); Isaiah 40:23: “that bringeth princes (rozenim ) to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.” (7) [ Ëysin; , nacikh ], derived from [ Ës”n; , nacakh ], “to install a king” (compare Psalm 2:6); hence, a prince: Joshua 13:21: “the princes of Sihon” (compare Psalm 83:11); Ezekiel 32:30: “the princes of the north”; Micah 5:5: the Revised Version (British and American) “principal men,” the Revised Version margin “princes among men”; Daniel 11:8: the Revised Version (British and American) “molten images,” the Revised Version margin “princes.” (8) [ ˆyxiq; , qatsin ], “a judge,” “a military leader,” “a prince”; Daniel 11:18: “A prince (the Revised Version margin “captain”) shall cause the reproach .... to cease” (probably a Roman consul; a Roman general?). (9) [ vyliv; , shalish ]: The usual explanation, “one of the three men on a war-chariot” is highly improbable; Gesenius suggests that it is a loan-word, and renders it “hero.” Ezekiel 23:15: “All of them princes to look upon” (“picked men,” Gesenius). (10) [ µyNim”v]j” , chashmannim ]: Psalm 68:31: “Princes shall come out of Egypt.” Septuagint renders it [pre>sbeiv, presbeis ], “ambassadors,” Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) legati. But the meaning is uncertain. See also GOVERNOR, 1, (8).
William Baur PRINCES, THE SEVEN <prin’-sez > , <-siz > . See PRINCE, (1), (b).
PRINCESS <prin’-ses > : The Hebrew term is [ hr;c; , sarah ] (compare sar , prince, and “Sarah”); it means (1) a queen ( Isaiah 49:23, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) both “queen”); (2) the consort of a king contrasted with his concubines ( 1 Kings 11:3, “He had seven hundred wives. princesses, and three hundred concubines”); (3) the wife of a prince (Est 1:18: the “princesses of Persia and Media”); (4) it is metaphorically used of the city of Jerusalem ( Lamentations 1:1).
PRINCIPAL <prin’-si-pal > : Appears in the King James Version as a translation of nine Hebrew words (fewer in the Revised Version (British and American)), in one case ( Isaiah 28:25) being used quite wrongly and in 2 Kings 25:19 ( Jeremiah 52:25); 1 Chronicles 24:31 gives a wrong sense (all corrected in the Revised Version (British and American)). In 1 Kings 4:5, “principal officer” (the American Standard Revised Version “chief minister”) is an arbitrary translation of kohen to avoid “priest” (so the English Revised Version; compare 2 Samuel 8:18).
PRINCIPALITY <prin-si-pal’-i-ti > : In the Old Testament the word occurs but once ( Jeremiah 13:18, “your principalities shall come down”). Here the King James Version margin “head tires” is properly preferred by the Revised Version (British and American) for [ twOva\r”m] , mera’ashoth ] (from [ vaOr , ro’sh ], “head”), “head-parts.”
In the New Testament “principality” occurs for [ajrch>, arche ], “rule,” generally in the plural, referring (a) to men in authority ( Titus 3:1, “Put them in mind to be subject (the King James Version; “in subjection,” the Revised Version (British and American)) to principalities (the King James Version; “rulers,” the Revised Version (British and American)), and powers” (the King James Version; “to authorities,” the Revised Version (British and American)); (b) to superhuman agencies, angelic or demonic ( Romans 8:38; Ephesians 3:10; 6:12; Colossians 1:16; 2:10,15).
Paul was keenly sensible of the dualism of mind and body and of the law in his members warring against the law of his mind ( Romans 7:23), and of the temporary victory of the evil, residing in the flesh, over the good of the spirit ( Romans 7:14 ff). This dualism was objectified in Zoroastrianism, and among the Babylonians the several heavenly bodies were regarded as ruled by spirits, some good, some evil. The same belief, appropriated by the Jews during the captivity, appears also in Greek thought, as e.g. in Plato and later in the Stoics. The higher spheres, which hold the even tenor of their way, were in general regarded as ruled by good spirits; but in the sublunar sphere, to which the earth belongs, ill-regulated motions prevail, which must be due to evil spirits. The perversities of human conduct, in particular, thwarting, as was thought, the simple, intelligible divine plan, were held to be subject to rebellious powers offering defiance to God.
While Paul clearly recognized a hierarchy of such powers ( Colossians 1:16, “thrones or dominions or principalities or powers”), it is not certain that he had elaborated a system of eons to serve the purposes of metaphysical theology and ethics, such as appears among the Gnostics, although they evidently believed they were developing his thought. In Corinthians 2:6 he repudiates the wisdom of this world (aion ) and of the rulers of this world aion ), and declares ( Ephesians 6:12) that the Christian has to contend with “the world-rulers of this darkness,” and proclaims the triumph of Christ over “the principalities and the powers” in the forgiveness of sins ( Colossians 2:15). The same personification of such agencies or powers appears also in another passage, where the rendering of English Versions of the Bible obscures it ( Ephesians 1:20,21: “when he raised him (Christ) from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all (read “every”) rule (Revised Version; “principality,” the King James Version), and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world (aion ), but also in that which is to come”). Not the least interesting passage is Ephesians 3:10, where the church is said to be the means of revealing to “the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places” “the manifold wisdom of God.” One naturally inquires what was the purpose of this revelation. Was it to effect a redemption and reconciliation of these demonic powers to God? To this question Paul supplies no answer. See ANGEL; SATAN.
William Arthur Heidel PRINCIPLES <prin’-si-p’-lz > : Found twice ( Hebrews 5:12; 6:1). The Greek word ([stoicei~on, stoicheion ]) is also translated in the King James Version as “elements” and “rudiments.” As rendered in He, its meaning is clearly related to the elementary knowledge of Christian truth or doctrine. See ELEMENTS; RUDIMENTS.
PRINT; PRINTING; PRINTED <print > , <prin’-ting > , <prin’-ted > : Printing is the art of multiplying records — the “art of writing with many pens” (Jewish Encyclopedia, XII, 295), or wholesale writing.
The art of making original records is writing. This, however, is a slow process. It involves tracing each letter and part of a letter through from beginning to end by the moving point of chisel, pen, or other instrument, and this process must be repeated with every copy. As soon, therefore, as occasion arose for frequently repeating the record, many ways were devised to save the labor of forming each symbol separately. All these ways involve making a character or a series of characters on a single surface and transferring as a whole to another surface. Neither “pressure,” as some say, nor “ink,” as others, is essential to the process, for printing from a photographic negative takes no pressure, and printing for the blind takes no ink. Any process which transfers a whole surface is printing.
The earliest use of printing seems to have been for painting the face or body with ownership, tribal, trophy, or ceremonial marks for worship, war, mourning, etc. This paint might be temporary or pricked in by the tattoo process. Tattooing itself is rather a writing than a printing process, but may be either, according as the color is laid on by drawing or by the “pintadera.” The “pintadera” or “stamp used to impress patterns upon the skin” is best known from the Mexican and South American examples, but in recent years it has been found in deposits all over the Mediterranean region (North Italy, Austria, Hungary, Mycenae, Crete, Egypt) and in Borneo at least. Many of these specimens are from the Neolithic or Copper age. Both in South America and in Neolithic Liguria, some of these stamps were cylindrical and “were used like a printer’s roller” (Mosso, The Dawn of Mediterranean Civilization, 254-61, with many illustrations, and Frobenius, Childhood of Man, figure 31, “Dayak block for painting the body”).
The injunction of Leviticus 19:28, which is translated “print,” is commonly, and probably rightly, in view of the Hebrew word, supposed to refer to the permanent marks of tattooing which may or may not have been made by this printing process. Job 13:27 the King James Version, which speaks of printing upon the heels or soles of the feet, has been quite changed in the Revised Version (British and American), and, if the idea is one of printing at all, it refers rather to branding than stamping with color.
The use of the inkhorn in setting the mark upon the forehead ( Ezekiel 9:3,4,6) certainly points to marking with color rather than branding. See INKHORN. This may, of course, have been drawing rather than printing, but, on the other hand, the sealing of the servants of God on their foreheads ( Revelation 7:4; 9:4) necessarily means printing rather than drawing, and probably printing rather than branding, for the use of the seal with color had long been common. The marks of the beast upon the forehead and upon the hand in Revelation 13; 14; 15; 16; 19 and 20, more likely refer to branding, as the Greek word points more or less in this direction, while the stigmata of Galatians 6:17 may also point to branding. Branding was at all events also a common method of printing characters on the flesh in Biblical times ( Isaiah 3:24; perhaps Exodus 21:25; a branding on the forehead, Code of Hammurabi section 127; branding of a slave sections 226, 227). The reference in John 20:25 is, of course, to the clearly visible marks or scars left by the nails in the hands. See MARK.
The use of seals is a true printing process, whether they are used with color, as they were both in Crete and Egypt almost from the beginning of history, or impressed on clay, wax, or other plastic substances. Mention of seals is frequent in the Bible (see SEAL). A new interest has been given to this aspect of the matter by the sealings discovered in Ahab’s palace and other excavations throughout Palestine, which are forming one of the most useful classes of modern inscriptions.
Both stamp and seal were used throughout the Middle Ages, the latter abundantly, and the stamp at least occasionally, for stamping the capital letters in Biblical and other manuscripts, as well as for various other purposes.
Modern printing begins with the carving of whole pages and books on blocks of wood (xylography), or metal plates for printing (chalcography).
This method was quite early practiced by the Chinese, and began to be common in Europe in the early 15th century, most of the books printed by it having to do with Biblical topics (Biblia pauperum, etc.).
It was only with the invention of movable type about the middle of the 15th century that the multiplying of books by writing began to come to an end.
The printing with movable type is also closely associated with Biblical study, the Gutenberg Psalter and the Gutenberg Bible standing with most for the very beginning of modern printing.
For the printed editions of the Hebrew and Greek originals, and the various versions, see articles on TEXTUAL CRITICISM and allied topics in this encyclopedia, with their literature. The article on “Typography” in Jewish Encyclopedia is of unusual excellence, and the general literature of printing given in Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition), at the end of the first part of the article on “Typography,” is full and good. Compare also Book in this encyclopedia and its literature, especially Hortzschansky, supplementing the bibliography of Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition). E. C. Richardson PRISCA; PRISCILLA <pris’-ka > , <pri-sil’-a > . See AQUILA.
PRISON; PRISONER <priz’-n > , <priz’-’-n-er > , <priz’-ner > (there are various Hebrew words which are rendered “prison” in the King James Version, among them: 1. HEBREW WORDS: (1) [ rh”so , cohar ], “round house,” “fortress” (8 times in Genesis), (2) [ al,K, , kele’ ] “restraint,” “confinement” (12 times: in historic books, Isaiah, Jeremiah, with “house”), (3) [ hr;F;m” , maTTarah ], “guard,” “sentry” (13 times in Jeremiah and Nehemiah), (4) [ tk,p,h\m” , mahaphekheth ], “distorting,” i.e. stocks or pillory (4 times), (5) [ rWsae , ‘ecur ], “bond,” “fetters” ( Ecclesiastes 4:14; Jeremiah 37:15); “ward” in the King James Version is usually the rendering for [ rm;v]mi , mishmar ]): 2. IN EARLY TIMES:
The earliest occurrence of the word “prison” in the King James Version is found in the narrative of Joseph’s life in Egypt (the Jahwist). The term used, namely, cohar , means perhaps “round house” or “tower.” It seems probable that among the Hebrews there were no special buildings erected as “jails” in the premonarchical period, and perhaps not before the postexilic period, when the adoption of the civic institutions and customs of surrounding nations prevailed. In Egypt and Assyria, on the contrary, there were probably public buildings corresponding to our modern jails. Among the Hebrews, rooms in connection with the royal palace or the residence of prominent court officials would be used for the purpose. 3. JOSEPH IN EGYPT:
According to one narrative (Jahwist) in Genesis the prison in which Joseph was confined had a “keeper,” while according to another narrative (the Elohist) the offending members of the royal household, namely, the royal butler and the royal baker, were placed “in ward” with the “captain of the guard” in charge, i.e. in some part of the royal palace. This is still more probable if, instead of “captain of the guard,” we should translate “chief of the cooks” i.e. superintendent of the royal kitchen. 4. CAUSES OF IMPRISONMENT:
It was often necessary to restrict the liberty of individuals who for various causes were a menace to those in authority, without inflicting any corporal punishment, e.g. Joseph’s brethren were kept “in ward” three days ( Genesis 42:19); Shimei was forbidden to pass beyond the boundary of Jerusalem ( 1 Kings 2:36); the person who was caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath was put “in ward” pending his trial ( Numbers 15:34). In the monarchical period, prophets who criticized the throne were put in prison, e.g. Micaiah by Ahab ( 1 Kings 22:27), Hanani by Asa ( Chronicles 16:10). Hoshea, after his abortive effort to institute an alliance with So or Seve, king of Egypt, was shut up in prison by Shalmaneser ( 2 Kings 17:4); compare also 2 Kings 25:27 (Jehoiachin in Babylon); Jeremiah 52:11 (Zedekiah in Babylon). 5. UNDER THE MONARCHY:
The Book of Jeremiah throws considerable light on the prison system of Jerusalem in the later monarchical period. The prophet was put “in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Yahweh” (20:2). Mere imprisonment was not adequate punishment for the prophet’s announcement of Judah’s doom; it was necessary to have recourse to the pillory. During the siege of Jerusalem Jeremiah was confined in the “court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah’s house” (32:2, etc.). The “court of the guard” was evidently the quarters of the sentry who guarded the royal palace. According to the narrative of Jeremiah 37, the prophet was arrested on a charge of treachery and put in prison “in the house of Jonathan the scribe” (37:15). This verse does not necessarily mean that a private house was used as a prison. The words are capable of another interpretation, namely, that a building known as the “house of Jonathan the scribe” had been taken over by the authorities and converted into a jail. We read in the following verse that the house had a “dungeon” (literally, “house of the pit”) and “cabins” or “cells.” 6. THE TREATMENT OF PRISONERS:
The data are not sufficient to enable us to give any detailed description of the treatment of prisoners. This treatment varied according to the character of the offense which led to incarceration. Samson during the period of his imprisonment was compelled to do hard labor ( Judges 16:21). Grinding was the occupation of women, and marked the depth of Samson’s humiliation. Dangerous persons were subjected to various kinds of physical mutilation, e.g. Samson was deprived of his sight. This was a common practice in Assyria ( 2 Kings 25:7). The thumbs and great toes of Adonibezek were cut off to render him incapable of further resistance ( Judges 1:6).
Various forms of torture were in vogue. Hanani the seer was put into the pillory by Asa (for “in a prison house” we should render “in the stocks”; see the Revised Version margin). In Jeremiah 29:26 for “prison,” we should render “stocks” (so the Revised Version (British and American)) or “pillory,” and for “stocks,” “collar” (as in the Revised Version margin). the King James Version renders a different Hebrew word by “stocks” in Job 13:27; 33:11. There was a special prison diet ( 1 Kings 22:27), as well as a prison garb ( 2 Kings 25:29). 7. OTHER HEBREW WORDS:
There are other Hebrew words rendered “prison” (sometimes incorrectly) in the King James Version. In <19E207> Psalm 142:7, the word which is translated “prison” means a “place of execution,” and is derived from a root which denotes, for instance, the isolation of the leper ( Leviticus 13:5; compare Isaiah 24:22; 42:7). In Isaiah 53:8 “oppression” not “prison” is the correct translation while in Isaiah 61:1 the Hebrew denotes “opening of the eyes,” rather than “opening of the prison.”
Prisoners are promised “light after darkness, gleam after gloom.” 8. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
In the New Testament “prison” generally occurs for the Greek word [fulakh>, phulake ], which corresponds to the Hebrew word [ rm;v]mi , mishmar ], referred to above ( Matthew 5:25; Mark 6:17; Luke 3:20; Acts 5:19; 1 Peter 3:19). In Revelation 18:2, the King James Version renders this word by two different words, namely, “hold” and “cage”; the Revised Version (British and American) employs “hold” in each case (the Revised Version margin “prison”). In one passage “ward” is the rendering in the King James Version ( Acts 12:10). In connection with the imprisonment of John the term used is [desmwth>rion, desmoterion ], “place of bonds” or “fetters” ( Matthew 11:2); the same word is used in the case of Peter and John ( Acts 5:21,23), and of Paul and Silas ( Acts 16:26). But the more common term is also found in these narratives. In Acts 12:17 “prison” renders a Greek word which means “dwelling.” In Acts 5:18 the King James Version, “prison” is the rendering for another Greek word, namely, [th>rhsiv, teresis ], “watching” or “ward” (the Revised Version (British and American) “ward”). In Acts 4:3, the King James Version employs “hold” as the rendering for the same word. This would correspond to the modern “police station” or “lockup.” See also PUNISHMENTS.
T. Lewis PRISON GARMENTS See preceding article.
PRISON, SPIRITS IN The phrase occurs in the much-disputed passage, 1 Peter 3:18-20, where the apostle, exhorting Christians to endurance under suffering for well-doing, says: “Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.” It is plain that in this context “the spirits in prison” ([toi~v ejn fulakh~| pneu>masin, tois en phulake pneumasin ]) denote the generation who were disobedient in the days of Noah, while the words “spirits” and “in prison” refer to their present disembodied condition in a place of judgment in the unseen world (compare 2 Peter 2:4-9). The crucial point in the passage lies in what is said of Christ’s preaching to these spirits in prison. The interpretation which strikes one most naturally is that Christ, put to death in the flesh, and made alive again in the spirit, went in this spiritual (disembodied) state, and preached to these spirits, who once had been disobedient, but are viewed as now possibly receptive of His message This is the idea of the passage taken by the majority of modern exegetes, and it finds support in what is said in 1 Peter 4:6, “For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” On this basis is now often reared a mass of doctrine or conjecture respecting “second probation,” “restoration,” etc. — in part going back to patristic times — for which the passage, even so taken, affords a very narrow foundation (see on this view, Plumptre, The Spirits in Prison; Dorner, System of Christian Doctrine, IV, 130-32; E. White, Life in Christ, chapter xxii). It must be admitted, however, that, on closer examination, the above plausible explanation is compassed with many difficulties. A preaching of Christ in Hades is referred to in no other passage of Scripture, while Peter appears to be speaking to his readers of something with which they are familiar; it seems strange that these antediluvians should be singled out as the sole objects of this preaching in the spiritual world; the word “made alive” does not exegetically refer to a disembodied state, but to the resurrection of Christ in the body, etc. Another line of interpretation is therefore preferred by many, who take the words “in which also he went,” to refer, not to a disembodied manifestation, but to the historical preaching to the antediluvian generation through Noah while they yet lived. In favor of this view is the fact that the apostle in 1 Peter 1:11 regards the earlier prophetic preaching as a testifying of “the Spirit of Christ,” that God’s long-suffering with Noah’s generation is described in Genesis 6:5, which Peter has doubtless in his mind, as a striving of God’s Spirit, and that in 2 Peter 2:5 there is another allusion to these events, and Noah is described as “a preacher of righteousness.” The passage, 1 Peter 4:6, may have the more general meaning that Christians who have died are at no disadvantage in the judgment as compared with those who shall be alive at the Parousia (compare 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). (For an exposition of this view, with a full account of the interpretations and literature on the subject, compare Salmond’s Christian Doctrine of Immortality, 4th edition, 364-87.) See also ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
James Orr PRIVY; PRIVILY <priv’-i > , <priv’-i-li > : These words are obsolete in modern English and are replaced by “secret,” “secretly,” rather than by the cognates “private,” “privately.” the Revised Version (British and American) usually has not altered the King James Version’s use of the word, but in Psalm 11:2 has substituted “in darkness” and in Judges 9:31 uses “craftily,” margin “in Tormah” (see TORMAH). In Ezekiel 21:14, the King James Version “entereth into their privy chambers,” “privy” is a gloss, omitted in the Revised Version (British and American). “To be privy to a thing” ( Kings 2:44; Acts 5:2) is simply “to know” it; in The Wisdom of Solomon 8:4, the Revised Version (British and American) has changed the phrase into “be initiated into.”
PRIZE <priz > : Two Greek words are so rendered in English Versions of the Bible: (1) [brabei~on, brabeion ], the award to the victor in the Greek games, consisting of a garland of bay, olive, or pine; so called because it was given by the [brabeu>v, brabeus ], the adjudicator who assigned the prize at the games (Vulgate bravium, from which may be derived the English “brave” = originally gaily dressed, handsome). Used literally in 1 Corinthians 9:24, and figuratively of the heavenly reward for Christian character in Philippians 3:14. (2) [aJrpagmo>v, harpagmos ], in the English Revised Version of Philippians 2:6, “counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God.”
The termination [ -mov, -uos ], would lead us to expect the active sense: “an act of grasping,” “plundering” (the King James Version “robbery”), which would imply that Christ did not deem it an act of usurpation to claim equality with God, for such equality was His inherent right. But the context demands a reference “not to the right which He claimed, but to the dignity which He renounced” (Lightfoot); hence, the majority of modern expositors take the word in a passive sense (= [a[rpagma, harpagma ]): “a thing to be seized, prized, retained at all costs as a booty” (the English Revised Version “a prize,” the American Standard Revised Version “a thing to be grasped”), implying that Christ did not regard equality with God as a thing to be clutched greedily, but waived His rights (see Lightfoot on Philippians 2:6). The verb “to prize” occurs only in Zechariah 11:13. See GRASP; HUMILIATION OF CHRIST; KENOSIS.
D. Miall Edwards PROBATION, SECOND <pro-ba’-shun > , <sek’-und > . See ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
PROCHORUS <prok’-o-rus > ([ Pro>corov, Prochoros ]) : One of “the seven” chosen by the Christian community in Jerusalem to superintend the dispensing of charity to the widows and other poor ( Acts 6:5). The name is Greek, and he may have been a Hellenist. According to tradition he became bishop of Nicomedia and died a martyr at Antioch.
PROCONSUL <pro-kon’-sul > ([ajnqu>patov, anthupatos ] ( Acts 13:7; 18:12); the King James Version deputy). See PROVINCE.
PROCURATOR <prok’-u-ra-ter > ([ejpi>tropov, epitropos ]): This word signified in a general sense a steward or bailiff of a private estate, or a financial agent with power of attorney, and the development of the special usage of the word to denote an imperial functionary or official is characteristic of the origin of many departments of administration under the Roman Empire which sprang from the emperor’s household. At the time of Augustus, when the domestic quality of these offices had not been entirely lost, the procurators were mostly imperial freedmen. But after the systematic organization of the administration in the 2nd century, the title of procurator was reserved for functionaries of the equestrian class. In fact, the term is so intimately connected with the sphere of official activity of the Roman knights that the expressions “procuratorial career” and “equestrian career” are used synonymously (compare Hirschfeld, Die kaiserlichen Verwaltungsbeamten bib auf Diocletian, 410-65).
During the last century of the Republic, the class of knights (equites) embraced in general all citizens of wealth who were not magistrates or members of the senate. The Roscian Law (67 BC) established 400,000 sesterces (about $18,000 (in 1915), or 3,600 British pounds (in 1915)) as the minimum census rating for membership in this class. The gold ring, tunic with narrow purple border, and privilege of sitting in the first 14 rows at theater were the tokens of knighthood. Augustus added to these the public horse which was conferred henceforth by the emperor and recalled the original military significance of the order. From the time of Augustus the first three decuriae of jurors (judices), each containing 1,000 persons, were filled with knights.
Under the Republic the influence of the equestrian class was chiefly exerted in the financial transactions of the companies which farmed the variable revenues. The importance of the publicani was greatly reduced under the Empire, but the emperors recompensed the knights for this loss of opportunity by entrusting them with a great variety of administrative functions. Military service as prefect or tribune was the preliminary step in the official equestrian career. The highest positions held by members of the equestrian class were called prefectures, and included the prefecture of the guard, of Egypt, of the grain-supply, of the watchmen in Rome, and of the fleet. But between these extremes the title procurator was applied generally to the functionaries whose positions were of imperial origin.
The administration of the fiscus or imperial treasury at Rome and of the finances in the imperial provinces, as well as the collection of fiscal revenues in the senatorial provinces, was in the hands of procurators. They occupied many positions which, on account of their intimate relationship with the person of the monarch, could be safely entrusted only to those whose limited prestige precluded inordinate ambition (Friedlaender, Sittengeschichte Roms 7th edition, Part I, 132-43). Finally, several provinces, where the conditions were unfavorable to the introduction of the ordinary administrative system and Roman public law, were governed as imperial domains by officials of the equestrian class as the emperor’s representatives. In Egypt the title prefect (praefectus) was employed permanently as the appellation of the viceroy, and while the same term may have been used originally to denote the governors of this class generally, when their military outweighed their civil functions, yet the designation procurator became at an early date the term of common usage to designate them (Hirschfeld, 382).
Mauretania, Rhaetia, Noricum, Thrace, Cappadocia, Judea and some smaller districts were all, for a time at least, governed by procurators (Tacitus, History i.11; Dio Cassius lvii.17).
The question concerning the original title of the Roman governors of Judea has arisen because the New Testament employs the word hegemon ( Matthew 27:2,11,14,15,21,27; 28:14; Luke 3:1; 20:20; Acts 23:24; 24:1; 26:30), which corresponds with the Latin term, praeses, which might be considered synonymous with either procurator or praefectus (Hirschfeld, 384). There is no inscriptional evidence to establish the nomenclature of the rulers of Palestine before the time of Vespasian, and Hirschfeld is of the opinion that a certain passage in Tacitus (Ann. xv.44) where Pilate is called procurator is not sufficient proof in view of this writer’s carelessness in details of this sort. Josephus (Ant., XX, i, 2), however, employs epitropos (procurator) for the time of Claudius, and it is convenient to follow common usage and assume that this title was current from the first.
It was evidently the intention of Augustus that membership in the equestrian class should be a necessary qualification for the procurators who were appointed to govern provinces. But Claudius appointed a freedman, Antonius Felix, brother of the famous minister of finance, Pallas, as procurator of Judea (Suetonius, Claudius xxviii; Tacitus, History v.9). This remained, however, an isolated instance in the annals of Palestine (Hirschfeld, 380), and it is probable, moreover, that Felix was raised to equestrian rank before the governorship was conferred upon him.
The following list of the procurators of Judea is based on Marquardt (Romische Staatsverwaltung, I, 409, 412) and Schurer (Geschichte des judischen Volkes (4) , I, 485-585):
NOTE. — Marquardt gives his name as Claudius Felix, supposing that he was a freedman of Claudius and therefore took his nomen (Suetonius, Claudius xxviii; Victor, epitome iv, 8); but there is stronger evidence in support of the belief that Felix was a freedman of Antonia, Claudius’ mother, like his brother Pallas (Tacitus, Annals xii.54; Josephus, Ant, XVII1, vi, 4; XX, vii, 1, 2; XX, viii, 9; BJ, II, xii, 8), and accordingly had received the praenomen and nomen of Antonia’s father (Josephus, Ant, XVIII, vi, 6).
Portius Festus (61) Albinus (62-64) Gessius Florus (65-66) See, further, GOVERNOR.
George H. Allen PROFANE <pro-fan’ > (verb [ ll”j; , chalal ], adjective [ ll;j; , chalal ], [ ljo , chol ]; [bebhlo>w, bebeloo ], [be>bhlov, bebelos ]): From profanus, “before (i.e. outside) the temple,” therefore unholy, polluted, secular, is of frequent occurrence (verb and adjective) in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. It occurs as the translation of chol in the King James Version only in Ezekiel (22:26, the Revised Version (British and American) “common”; 42:20; 44:23; 48:15, the Revised Version (British and American) “for common use”); as the translation of chalal in Leviticus 21:7,14, the Revised Version margin “polluted”; and Ezekiel 21:25, where, for the King James Version “thou profane wicked prince of Israel,” the Revised Version (British and American) has “thou, O deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel.” “To profane” (chalal ) is seen in Leviticus 18:21; 19:8; Nehemiah 13:17,18; Psalm 89:39; Isaiah 43:28; Ezekiel 22:8,26, etc. “Profaneness” in Jeremiah 23:15 (chanuppah ) is in the American Standard Revised Version “ungodliness.” In the New Testament “profane” occurs in the sense of unholy, godless, regardless of God and divine things ( 1 Timothy 1:9; 4:7; 6:20; 2 Timothy 2:16; Hebrews 12:16), and “to profane,” or violate, in Matthew 12:5; Acts 24:6. The verb is frequent in Apocrypha in 1 Macc (1:43,45,63; 2:34, etc.; also in 2 Macc 8:2; 10:5; compare 2 Esdras 15:8; Judith 4:3,12; 1 Macc 1:48; 2 Macc 4:13). In numerous cases the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes “profane” for other words and phrases in the King James Version, as for “to prostitute” ( Leviticus 19:29), “an hypocrite” ( Isaiah 9:17), “pollute” ( Numbers 18:32; Ezekiel 7:21), etc. W. L. Walker PROFESS; PROFESSION <pro-fes’ > , <pro-fesh’-un > ([ dg”n; , naghadh ]; [oJmologe>w, homologeo ], [oJmologi>a, homologia ]): “Profess” means literally “to own before,” hence, to make open or public announcement; it occurs only once in the Old Testament as the translation of naghadh , “to put before,” often “to tell,” “to show,” “to declare” ( Deuteronomy 26:3); in the New Testament it is the translation of homologeo , “to speak or say together in common,” “to assent,” “to confess publicly” ( Matthew 7:23, “Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you”; 1 Timothy 6:12, the Revised Version (British and American) “didst confess the good confession”; Titus 1:16, “They profess that they know God”); of epaggellomai , “to announce one’s self,” “to make profession” ( 1 Timothy 2:10; 6:21); of phasko , “to say,” “to assert” ( Romans 1:22). “Profession” is the translation of homologia ( 2 Corinthians 9:13; 1 Timothy 6:12; Hebrews 3:1, the King James Version “the High Priest of our profession” (of our professed faith); Hebrews 4:14; 10:23; in each instance the Revised Version (British and American) has “confession”). “Profess” occurs in the King James Version of Ecclesiasticus 3:25, but the verse is omitted by the Revised Version (British and American); margin “Most authorities omit verse 25.” W. L. Walker PROGNOSTICATORS, MONTHLY <prog-nos’-ti-ka-terz > . See ASTROLOGY, 6.
PROLOGUE <pro’-log > , <prol’-og > ([pro>logov, prologos ], “foreword,” “preface,” “introduction”): The word occurs in the preface to Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), and is commonly applied to John 1:1-18. See ECCLESIASTICUS; JOHN, GOSPEL OF.
PROLONG <pro-long’ > ([ Ër”a; , ‘arakh ], [ Ëv”m; , mashakh ]): “Prolong,” “prolonged” are the translations of ‘arakh , “to stretch,” “to make long” ( Deuteronomy 4:26, and frequently, “prolong days”; 4:40, etc.; Job 6:11 the King James Version; Proverbs 28:16; Ecclesiastes 7:15; 8:13; Isaiah 53:10); of mashakh , “to draw out” ( Isaiah 13:22; Ezekiel 12:25,28 the King James Version); of yacaph , “to add,” “to increase” ( Psalm 61:6; Proverbs 10:27); of naTah , “to stretch out,” “to incline to” ( Job 15:29, “neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth,” the American Standard Revised Version “neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth,” margin “their produce bend to the earth”; the English Revised Version reverses text and margin); of ‘arekhah (Aramaic) ( Daniel 7:12, “Yet their lives were prolonged,” the King James Version margin “A prolonging in life was given them”). “Prolong” occurs in Ecclesiasticus 29:5, “prolong the time” (parelkuo ); 38:14, “prolong life,” the Revised Version (British and American) “maintenance of life” (embiosis); 30:22, “prolongeth his days,” the Revised Version (British and American) “length of days” (makroemereusis ); 37:31, the Revised Version (British and American) “shall prolong” (prostithemi ). W. L. Walker PROMISE <prom’-is > (most frequently in the Old Testament [ rb;D; , dabhar ], “speaking,” “speech,” and [ rb”D; , dabhar ], “to speak” also [ rm”a; , ‘amar ], “to say,” once in Psalm 77:8, ‘omer, “speech”; in the New Testament [ejpaggeli>a, epaggelia ], and the verbs [ejpagge>llonai, epaggellomai ], and compounds): Promise holds an important place in the Scriptures and in the development of the religion that culminated in Christ.
The Bible is indeed full of “precious and exceeding great promises” ( Peter 1:4), although the word “promise” is not always used in connection with them. Of the more outstanding promises of the Old Testament may be mentioned: (1) the proto-evangelium ( Genesis 3:15); (2) the promise to Noah no more to curse the ground, etc. ( Genesis 8:21,22; 9:1-17); (3) most influential, the promise to Abraham to make of him a great nation in whom all families of the earth should be blessed, to give to him and his seed the land of Canaan ( Genesis 12:2,7, etc.), often referred to in the Old Testament ( Exodus 12:25; Deuteronomy 1:8,11; 6:3; 9:28, etc.); (4) the promise to David to continue his house on the throne ( 2 Samuel 7:12,13,18; 1 Kings 2:24, etc.); (5) the promise of restoration of Israel, of the Messiah, of the new and everlasting kingdom, of the new covenant and outpouring of the Spirit ( Isaiah 2:2-5; 4:2; 55:5; 66:13; Jeremiah 31:31-34; 32:37-42; 33:14; Ezekiel 36:22-31; 37:11 f; 39:25 f, etc.). In the New Testament these promises are founded on, and regarded as having their true fulfillment in, Christ and those who are His ( 2 Corinthians 1:20; Ephesians 3:6).
The promise of the Spirit is spoken of by Jesus as “the promise of my Father” ( Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4), and this was regarded as fulfilled at Pentecost. The promise of a Saviour of the seed of David is regarded as fulfilled in Christ ( Acts 13:23,32, 26:6; Romans 1:2; 4:13; 9:4). Paul argues that the promise to Abraham that he should be “heir of the world,” made to him before circumcision, is not confined to Israel, but is open to all who are children of Abraham by faith ( Romans 4:13-16; compare Galatians 3:16,19,29). In like manner the writer to the Hebrews goes back to the original promises, giving them a spiritual and eternal significance (4:1; 6:17; 11:9, etc.). The New Testament promises include manifold blessings and hopes, among them “life,” “eternal life” ( Timothy 4:8; 6:19; 2 Timothy 1:1; James 1:12), the “kingdom” ( James 2:5), Christ’s “coming” ( 2 Peter 3:9, etc.), “new heavens and a new earth” ( 2 Peter 3:13), etc. For “promise” and “promised” in the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) has frequently other terms, as “word” ( <19A542> Psalm 105:42), “spake,” “spoken” ( Deuteronomy 10:9; Joshua 9:21; 22:4; 23:5,15, etc.), “consented” ( Luke 22:6), etc. References to the promises occur repeatedly in the Apocrypha (Baruch 2:34; 2 Macc 2:18; The Wisdom of Solomon 12:21; compare 2 Esdras 3:15; 5:29). W. L. Walker PROPER <prop’-er > : For the King James Version “proper” (child), in Hebrews 11:23, the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes “goodly”; in 1 Chronicles 29:3; 1 Corinthians 7:7, the Revised Version (British and American) “own” is employed, and for the too emphatic “their proper tongue” in Acts 1:19 “their language” is written. But none of the King James Version forms are really obsolete.
PROPER NAMES See NAMES, PROPER.
PROPERTY <prop’-er-ti > . See AGRARIAN LAWS; JUBILEE; POOR; PORTION; PRIMOGENITURE; WEALTH.
PROPHECY; PROPHETS <prof’-e-si > , <prof’-e-si > , <prof’-ets > : 1. THE IDEA OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY. 1. The Seer and Speaker of God: According to the uniform teaching of the Bible the prophet is a speaker of or for God. His words are not the production of his own spirit, but come from a higher source. For he is at the same time, also, a seer, who sees things that do not lie in the domain of natural sight, or who hears things which human ears do not ordinarily receive; compare 1 Samuel 9:9, where nabhi’ , “speaker,” and ro’eh , “seer,” are used as synonymous terms. Jeremiah 23:16 and Ezekiel 13:2 f are particularly instructive in this regard. In these passages a sharp distinction is made between those persons who only claim to be prophets but who prophesy “out of their own heart,” and the true prophets who declare the word which the Lord has spoken to them. In the latter case the contents of the prophecy have not originated in their own reflection or calculation; and just as little is this prophecy the product of their own feelings, fears or hopes, but, as something extraneous to man and independent of him, it has with a divine certainty entered the soul of the prophet. The prophet has seen that which he prophesies, although he need not have seen it in the form of a real vision. He can also “see” words with his inner eyes ( Isaiah 2:1, and often). It is only another expression for this when it is frequently said that God has spoken to the prophet. In this case too it is not necessary that there must have been a voice which he could hear phonetically through his natural ear. The main thing is that he must have been able sharply to distinguish the contents of this voice from his own heart, i.e. from his personal consciousness. Only in this way is he capable of speaking to the people in the name of God and able to publish his word as that of Yahweh. In this case he is the speaker of Yahweh (nabhi’ ), or the mouth of the Lord (compare Ezekiel 7:1 with 4:16). Under these conditions he then regards it as absolute compulsion to speak, just as a person must be filled with fear when he hears a lion roar nearby ( Amos 3:8). The words burn in his soul until he utters them ( Jeremiah 20:7,9). 2. Prophetical Inspiration: The divine power, which comes over a human being and compels him to see or to hear things which otherwise would be hidden from him, is called by various terms expressive of inspiration. It is said that the Spirit of God has come over someone ( Numbers 24:2); or has fallen upon him ( Ezekiel 11:5); or that the hand of Yahweh has come over him and laid hold of him ( 2 Kings 3:15; Ezekiel 1:3; 3:14,22, and often); or that the Holy Spirit has been put on him as a garment, i.e. has been incorporated in him ( 1 Chronicles 12:18; 2 Chronicles 24:20); or that the Spirit of revelation has permanently descended upon him ( Numbers 11:25 f; 2 Kings 2:15; Isaiah 11:2; 61:1); or that God has given this Spirit of His ( Numbers 11:29; Isaiah 42:1); or pours Him out upon man ( Joel 2:28 f (Hebrew 3:1 f)). But this inspiration is not such that it suppresses the human consciousness of the recipient, so that he would receive the word of God in the state of sleep or trance. But rather the recipient is in possession of his full consciousness, and is able afterward to give a clear account of what happened. Nor is the individuality of the prophet eliminated by this divine inspiration; unconsciously this individuality cooperates in the formal shaping of that which has been seen and heard. In accordance with the natural peculiarity of the prophet and with the contents of the message, the psychological condition of the recipient may be that of intense excitement or of calmness.
As a rule the inspiration that takes possession of the prophets is evidenced also by an exalted and poetical language, which assumes a certain rhythmical character, but is not bound to a narrow and mechanical meter. It is, however, also possible that prophetical utterances find their expression in plain prose. The individual peculiarity of the prophet is a prime factor also in the form in which the revelation comes to him. In the one prophet we find a preponderance of visions; another prophet has no visions. But the visions of the future which he sees are given in the forms and the color which have been furnished by his own consciousness. All the more the form in which the prophet gives expression to his word of God is determined by his personal talents and gifts as also by his experiences. 3. Relation to Dreams: In a certain respect the dream can be cited as an analogous phenomenon, in which also the ideas that are slumbering in the soul uninvited put in their appearance without being controlled by consciousness and reason. On the other hand, prophecy differs pecifically from dreams, first, because the genuine prophetical utterance is received when the prophet is clearly conscious, and, secondly, because such an utterance brings with it a much greater degree of certainty and a greater guaranty of its higher origin than is done even by a dream that seems to be prophetical. In Jeremiah 23:25 ff it is declared that these two are entirely dissimilar, and the relation between the two is compared to straw and wheat. The Moslem Arabs also put a much lower estimate on the visionary dream than on the prophetic vision in a waking condition. 4. Freedom of Inspiration: Because this Spirit of God acts with full freedom, He can select His organs at will from among every station, age, or sex. The Spirit is not confined to any priestly class or organization. It indeed was the case at times that a prophet gathered disciples around himself, who could themselves in turn also be seized by his spirit, although the transmission of this spirit was a difficult matter ( 2 Kings 2:10). Yet genuine prophecies continued to be at all times a free gift of the sovereign God. Amos (7:14 f) appeals expressly to this fact, that he did not himself choose the prophet’s calling nor was the pupil of a prophetic school, but that he had been directly called by Yahweh from his daily occupation as a shepherd and workman. In the same way we indeed find prophets who belonged to the priestly order (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others), but equally great is the number of those who certainly did not so belong. Further, age made no difference in the call to the prophetic office. Even in his earliest youth Samuel was called to be a prophet ( 1 Samuel 3:1 ff), and it did not avail Jeremiah anything when he excused himself because of his youth ( Jeremiah 1:6). Then, too, a woman could be seized by this Spirit. From time to time prophetesses appeared, although the female sex is by no means so prominent here as it is in the sorcery of the heathen. See PROPHETESS. As an exceptional case the Spirit of God could lay hold even of a person who inwardly was entirely estranged from Him and could make an utterance through him (compare Saul, 1 Samuel 10:11; 19:24; Balaam, Numbers 23 f; Caiaphas, John 11:51). As a rule, however, God has selected such prophetic organs for a longer service. These persons are called and dedicated for this purpose by Him through a special act (compare Moses Exodus 3:1 ff; 1 Kings 19:16,19 ff; Isaiah 6; Jeremiah 1; Ezekiel 1).
This moment was decisive for their whole lives and constituted their authorization as far as they themselves and others were concerned. Yet for each prophetic appearance these men receive a special enlightenment. The prophet does not at all times speak in an inspired state; compare Nathan ( 2 Samuel 7:3 ff), who afterward was compelled to take back a word which he had spoken on his own authority. Characteristic data on the mental state of the prophets in the reception and in the declaration of the divine word are found in Jeremiah 15:16 f; 20:7 ff. Originally Jeremiah felt it as a joy that Yahweh spoke to him (compare Ezekiel 3:3), but then he lost all pleasure in life and would have preferred not to have uttered this word, but he could not do as he desired. 5. Supernatural Visions of the Future: The attempt has often been made to explain prophecy as a natural product of purely human factors. Rationalistic theologians regarded the prophets as enthusiastic teachers of religion and morals, as warm patriots and politicians, to whom they ascribed nothing but a certain ability of guessing the future. But this was no explanation of the facts in the case. The prophets were themselves conscious of this, that they were not the intellectual authors of their higher knowledge. This consciousness is justified by the fact that they were in a condition to make known things which lay beyond their natural horizon and which were contrary to all probability. Those cases are particularly instructive in this respect which beyond a doubt were recorded by the prophets themselves. Ezekiel could indeed, on the basis of moral and religious reflections, reach the conviction that Zedekiah of Jerusalem would not escape his punishment for his political treachery and for his disobedience to the word of Yahweh; but he could never from this source have reached the certainty that this king, as the prophet describes the case in 12:8 ff, was to be taken captive while trying to escape from the besieged city and was then to be blinded and taken to Babylon. Just as little could he in Babylon know the exact day when the siege of Jerusalem began (24:2). If this prophet had learned of these things in a natural way and had afterward clothed them in the form of prophecy, he would have been guilty of a deception, something unthinkable in the case of so conscientious a preacher of morality. But such cases are frequently met with. Jeremiah predicts to Hananiah that he would die during the year (28:16), but it is not only such matters of detail that presuppose an extraordinary vision of the prophet. The whole way also in which Jeremiah predicts the destruction of Jerusalem as inevitable, in direct contrast to the hopes of the Jerusalemites and to the desires of his own heart, shows that he was speaking under divine compulsion, which was more powerful than his own reflections and sympathies. On any other presupposition his conduct would have been reprehensible cowardice. The case of Isaiah is exactly the same. When he gives to Ahaz the word of God as a guaranty that the Syrians and the Ephraimites would not capture Jerusalem (7:4 ff), and when he promises Hezekiah that the Assyrians would not shoot an arrow into the city, but would return without having accomplished their purpose (37:22,33), these things were so much in contradiction to all the probabilities of the course events would take that he would have been a frivolous adventurer had he not received his information from higher sources. Doubtless it was just these predictions which established and upheld the influence of the prophets. Thus in the case of Amos it was his prediction of a great earthquake, which did occur two years later (1:1); in the case of Elijah, the prediction of the long dearth ( 1 Kings 17:1); in the case of Elisha the undertakings of the enemies ( 2 Kings 6:12), and in other cases. It is indeed true that the contents of the prophetic discourses are not at all confined to the future. Everything that God has to announce to mankind, revelations concerning His will, admonitions, warnings, He is able to announce through the mouth of the prophet. But His determinations with reference to the future as a rule are connected with prophetical utterances of the latter kind. The prophets are watchmen, guardians of the people, who are to warn the nation, because they see the dangers and the judgments approaching, which must put in their appearance if the divine will is disregarded. The prophets interpret also for the people that which is happening and that which has occurred, e.g. the defeats which they have suffered at the hands of their enemies, or the grasshopper plague (Joel), or a famine. They lay bare the inner reason for external occurrences and explain such events in their connection with the providential government of God. This gives to prophecy a powerful inner unity, notwithstanding the great differences of times and surrounding circumstances. It is prophecy which the Hebrew people must thank for their higher conception of history. This people know of a Highest Author of all things and of a positive end, which all things that transpire must serve. God’s plan has for its purpose to bring about the complete supremacy of His will among the children of men. 6. The Fulfillment: In genuine prophecy, according to Biblical conceptions, the fulfillment constitutes an integral part. This is set up by Deuteronomy 18:21 f as a proof of the genuineness of a prophetic utterance. The prophetic word “falls to the ground” ( 1 Samuel 3:19) if it is not “raised up” ([ µyqihe , heqim ], “fulfil,” for which we more rarely find [ aLemi , mille’ ], but regularly in the New Testament [plhrou~sqai, plerousthai ] “being fulfilled”) by the course of events. It would remain an empty word if it did not attain to its full content through its realization. In fact, in the word spoken by the prophet itself there dwells a divine power, so that at the moment when he speaks the event takes place, even if it is not yet visible to man. This realization is also not infrequently represented symbolically by the prophet in confirmation of his prediction. Thus in a certain sense it is the prophet himself who through his word builds up and pulls down, plants and roots out ( Jeremiah 1:10; 25:15 ff). But the fulfillment can be judged by the contemporaries in the sense of Deuteronomy 18:22 only when this fulfillment refers to the near future and when special emphasis is laid on external events. In these cases the prediction of certain events assumes the significance of a “sign” (compare Jeremiah 28:16; Isaiah 8:1 ff; 37:30, and elsewhere). In other cases it is only later generations who can judge of the correctness of a prediction or of a threat. In this way in Zechariah 1:6 the fulfillment of a threat is declared, and in the New Testament often the fulfillment of a promise is after a long time pointed out. But it is not the case that a genuine prophecy must be fulfilled like an edict of fate. Such prophecy is not an inevitable decree of fate, but is a word of the living God to mankind, and therefore conditioned ethically, and God can, if repentance has followed, withdraw a threat ( Jeremiah 18:2 ff; case of Jonah), or the punishment can be mitigated ( 1 Kings 21:29). A prediction, too, Yahweh can recall if the people prove unworthy ( Jeremiah 18:9 f) . A favorable or an unfavorable prediction can also be postponed, as far as its realization is concerned, to later times, if it belongs to the ultimate counsels of God, as e.g. the final judgment and deliverance on the last day. This counsel also may be realized successively. In this case the prophet already collects into one picture what is realized gradually in a longer historical development. The prophet in general spoke to his hearers in such a way as could be understood by them and could be impressed on them. It is therefore not correct to demand a fulfillment pedantically exact in the form of the historical garb of the prophecy. The main thing is that the divine thought contained in the prophecy be entirely and completely realized. But not infrequently the finger of God can be seen in the entirely literal fulfillment of certain prophecies. This is especially the case in the New Testament in the appearance of the Son of Man, in whom all the rays of Old Testament prophecy have found their common center. 2. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPHETIC OFFICE. 1. Abraham: It is a characteristic peculiarity of the religion of the Old Testament that its very elementary beginnings are of a prophetical nature. The fathers, above all Abraham, but also Isaac and Jacob, are the recipients of visions and of divine revelations. Especially is this true of Abraham, who appeared to the foreigners, to whom he was neither kith or kin, to be indeed a prophet (nabhi’ ) ( Genesis 20:7; compare <19A515> Psalm 105:15), although in his case the command to preach the word was yet absent. 2. Moses: Above all, the creative founder of the Israelite national religion, Moses, is a prophet in the eminent sense of the word. His influence among the people is owing neither to his official position, nor to any military prowess, but solely and alone to the one circumstance, that since his call at the burning bush God has spoken to him. This intercourse between God and Moses was ever of a particularly intimate character. While other men of God received certain individual messages only from time to time and through the mediation of dreams and visions, Yahweh spoke directly and “face to face” with Moses ( Numbers 12:6 ff; Deuteronomy 34:10; compare Exodus 33:11). Moses was the permanent organ through whom Yahweh brought about the Egyptian plagues and through whom He explained what these meant to His people, as also through whom He led and ruled them. The voice of Moses too had to explain to them the divine signs in the desert and communicate to them the commandments of God.
The legislation of Moses shows that he was not only filled with the Spirit of God occasionally, but that he abode with God for longer periods of time and produced something that is a well-ordered whole. A production such as the Law is the result of a continuous association with God. 3. Period of the Judges: Since that time revelation through prophecy was probably never entirely wanting in Israel ( Deuteronomy 18:15). But this fountain did not always flow with the same fullness or clearness. During the period of the Judges the Spirit of God urged the heroes who served Yahweh rather to deeds than to words. Yet Deborah enjoyed a high rank as a prophetess, and for a long time pronounced decisions of justice in the name of the Lord before she, through her prophetical utterances, aroused the people to rise up against their oppressors. What is said in 1 Samuel 3:1 concerning the times of Eli can be applied to this whole period, namely that the word and vision of the prophet had become rare in the land. All the more epochmaking was the activity of Samuel, who while yet a boy received divine revelations ( 1 Samuel 3:1 ff). He was by the whole people regarded as a “seer” whose prophecies were always fulfilled (3:19 f). The passage Samuel 9:6 ff shows that the people expected of such a man of God that he should also as a clairvoyant come to the assistance of the people in the troubles of life. Such a professional clairvoyant, indeed, Samuel was not, as he was devoted entirely to the service of his God and of his people and obeyed the Divine Spirit, even in those cases when he was compelled to act contrary to his personal inclinations, as was the case when the kingdom was established in Israel (8:6 ff). 4. Schools of Prophets: Since the days of Samuel we hear of schools of prophets, or “sons of prophets.” These associations probably originated in this way, that an experienced prophet attracted to himself bands of youths, who sought to receive a measure of his spirit. These disciples of the prophets, together with their families, lived in colonies around the master. Possibly Samuel was the first who founded such a school of prophets. For in or near the city of Ramah we first find nayoth, or colonies of such disciples ( 1 Samuel 19:18 f; 20:1). Among these pupils is found to a much greater extent than among the teachers a certain ecstatic feature. They arouse their feelings through music and induce a frantic condition which also affects others in the same way, in which state they “prophesy” and, throwing off their garments, fall to the ground. In later times too we find traces of such ecstatic phenomena. Thus e.g. in Zechariah 13:6; 1 Kings 20:37,38, the “wounds” on the breast or on the forehead recall the self-mutilation of the priests of Baal ( 1 Kings 18:28). The deeds, suggestive of what the dervishes of our own day do, probably were phenomena quite similar to the action of the prophets of the surrounding tribes. But that prophecy in Israel was not, as is now not infrequently claimed, merely a less crude form of the heathen prophetic institution, is proved by such men as Moses and Samuel, who even in their times represent something much higher. Also in the colonies of prophets there was assuredly not to be found merely an enthusiasm without the Spirit of God. Proof for this is Samuel, the spiritual father of this colony, as Elijah was for the later colonies of this kind. These places were rather the centers of a religious life, where communion with God was sought by prayer and meditation, and where the recollection of the great deeds of God in the past seemed to prepare for the reception of new revelations. From such centers of theocratic ideas and ideals without a doubt there came forth also corresponding influences that affected the people. Perhaps not only was sacred music cultivated at these places but also sacred traditions, which were handed down orally and in writing.
Certain it is that at these colonies the religion of Yahweh prevailed. 5. Period of the Kings: During the period of the kings prophetically inspired men frequently appeared, who demanded even of the kings that they should submit to their divinely-inspired word. Saul, who refused such submission, perished as the result of this conflict. David owed much to the support of the prophets Samuel, Nathan, Gad ( 1 Samuel 16:1 ff; 2 Samuel 7; 2 Chronicles 29:25, and elsewhere). But David also bowed in submission when these prophets rebuked him because of his transgression of the divine commands (2 Samuel 12; 24). His son Solomon was educated by the prophet Nathan.
But the destruction of his kingdom was predicted by the prophet Abijah, the Shilonite ( 1 Kings 11:29 ff). Since Yahweh, as the supreme Sovereign, has the right to enthrone or to dethrone kings, this is often done through the mouths of the prophets (compare 1 Kings 14:7 ff; 16:1 ff).
After the division of the kingdom we find Shemaiah forbidding Rehoboam to begin a war with his brethren of Israel ( 1 Kings 12:21; compare Chronicles 11:2 ff; compare another mission of the same prophet, Chronicles 12:5 ff). On the other hand in the Northern Kingdom the prophetic word is soon turned against the untheocratic rule of Jeroboam (1 Kings 13; 14). It is in this very same Northern Kingdom that the prophets unfolded their full activity and generally in opposition to the secular rulers, although there was no lack of accommodating “prophets,” who were willing to sanction everything that the king wanted. The opposition of the true prophets to these false representatives of prophecy is illustrated in the story of Micaiah, the son of Imlah (1 Kings 22). But a still higher type of prophecy above the ordinary is found in Elijah, whose historic mission it was to fight to the finish the battle between the followers of Yahweh and the worship of the Tyrian Baal. He was entirely a man of action; every one of his words is a deed on a grand scale (compare concerning Elijah and Elisha the article RELIGION OF ISRAEL). His successor Elisha inherited from him not only his mantle, but also a double measure of his spiritual gifts. He exhibits the prophetic office more from its loving side. He is accustomed to visit the schools of prophets found scattered throughout the land, calls the faithful together around himself on the Sabbaths and the new moons ( 2 Kings 4:23), and in this way establishes centers of a more spiritual culture than was common elsewhere among the people. We read that first-fruits were brought to him as to the priests ( 2 Kings 4:42). But while the activity of Elijah was entirely in antagonism to the ruling house in the kingdom, this feature is not entirely lacking in the work of Elisha also.
He has even been charged with wicked conspiracies against the dynasty of Omri and the king of Syria (2 Kings 8; 9). His conduct in connection with these events can be excused only on the ground that he was really acting in the name of a higher Master. But in general it was possible for Elisha, after the radical change in public sentiment that had followed upon the work of Elijah, in later time to assume a more friendly attitude toward the government and the people. He often assisted the kings in their arduous contests with the Syrians (compare 2 Kings 6:8 ff; 13:14 ff). His deeds are generally of a benevolent character. In connection with these he exhibits to a remarkable degree the gift of prophetic foresight ( 2 Kings 4:16; 5:26; 6:8 ff; 7:1 ff; 8:10,12; 9:6 ff; 13:19). Jonah, too, the son of Amittai, had at that time a favorable message for the Northern Kingdom ( 2 Kings 14:25). 6. Literary Prophets, Amos, Hosea: However, the flourishing condition of the kingdom under Jeroboam II had an unfavorable influence on its spiritual development. Soon Amos and Hosea were compelled to announce to this kingdom its impending destruction through a great world-power. These two prophets have left us books. To put prophetic utterances into written form had already been introduced before this. At any rate, many scholars are of the conviction that the prophecies of Obadiah and Joel belong to an earlier period, although others place them in the post-exilic period. In any case, the expectation of a day of settlement by Yahweh with His people was already in the days of Amos common and current (5:18 ff). As the writing of individual prophecies ( Isaiah 8:1 f; 30:8; Habakkuk 2:2 f) had for its purpose the preserving of these words in permanent authentic form and later to convince the reader of their wonderful fulfillment, thus too the writing down of larger collections of prophecies had for its purpose to intensify the power of the prophetic word and to secure this as a permanent possession of the people ( Jeremiah 30:2; 36:1 ff). Pupils of the prophets assisted them in this writing and in preserving their books (compare Jeremiah 36:4; Isaiah 8:16). 7. Poetical Form of Prophecy: It is to this custom that we owe our knowledge of the very words of the utterances of many of the prophets of a later period. In addition to the larger books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, we have a number of smaller prophetical books, which have been united into the Book of the Twelve Prophets. These utterances as a rule exhibited an elevated form of language and are more or less poetical. However, in modern times some scholars are inclined to go too far in claiming that these addresses are given in a carefully systematized metrical form. Hebrew meter as such is a freer form of expression than is Arabic or Sanskrit meter, and this is all the more the case with the discourses of the prophets, which were not intended for musical rendering, and which are expressed in a rhythmically-constructed rhetoric, which appears now in one and then in another form of melody, and often changes into prose. 8. Prophets in Judah Isaiah, and Others Down to Jeremiah: In the kingdom of Judah the status of the prophets was somewhat more favorable than it was in Ephraim. They were indeed forced in Jerusalem also to contend against the injustice on the part of the ruling classes and against immorality of all kinds. But in this kingdom there were at any rate from time to time found kings who walked more in the footsteps of David.
Thus Asa followed the directions of the prophet Azariah ( 2 Chronicles 15:1 ff). It is true that the prophet Hanani censured this king, but it was done for a different reason. Jehoshaphat also regularly consulted the prophets. Among those who had dealings with him Elisha is also mentioned ( 2 Kings 3:14), as also some other prophets (compare 2 Chronicles 19:2; 20:14-37). The greatest among the prophets during the period of the Assyrian invasions was Isaiah, who performed the duties of his office for more than 40 years, and under the kings Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and possibly too under Manasseh, through his word exercised a powerful influence upon the king and the nation. Although a preacher of judgments, he at critical times appeared also as a prophet of consolation. Nor did he despise external evidences of his prophetic office (compare Isaiah 7:11; 38:22,8). His contemporary Micah is in full agreement with him, although he was not called to deal with the great of the land, with kings, or statesmen, as was the mission of Isaiah. Nahum, Zephaniah and Habakkuk belong rather to the period of transition from the Assyrian to the Chaldean periods. In the days of Josiah the prophetess Huldah had great influence in Jerusalem ( 2 Kings 22:14). Much more important under this same king was the prophet Jeremiah, who was called by God for a great mission. This prophet during the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and after that time spoke as an unyielding yet deeply feeling exponent of God, and was compelled again and again to dash to the ground the false hopes of the patriots, whenever these arose. Not so firm was his contemporary and fellow-sufferer Uriah ( Jeremiah 26:20). 9. During the Exile, Ezekiel, Deutero-Isaiah, Daniel: In the time of the exile itself we find the period of the activity of Ezekiel. It was significant that this prophet became the recipient of divine revelations while on Babylonian territory. His work was, in accordance with the condition of affairs, more that of a pastor and literary man. He seems also to have been a bodily sufferer. His abnormal conditions became symbolical signs of that which he had to proclaim. Deutero-Isaiah, too (Isaiah 40 ff), spoke during the Babylonian period, namely at its close, and prepared for the return. The peculiar prophecies of Daniel are also accorded to a prophet living during the exile, who occupied a distinguished position at the court of the heathen rulers, and whose apocalyptic utterances are of a kind different from the discourses of the other prophets, as they deal more with the political condition of the world and the drama of history, in so far as this tends toward the establishment of the supremacy of Yahweh. These prophecies were collected in later times and did not receive their final and present form until the Greek period at the beginning of the 2nd century BC. 10. After the Exile, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: After the return from Babylon the Jews were exhorted by Haggai and Zechariah to rebuild their temple (about 520 BC). At that time there were still to be found prophets who took a hostile attitude to the men of God.
Thus Nehemiah ( Nehemiah 6:6-14) was opposed by hostile prophets as also by a prophetess, Noadiah. In contrast with these, Malachi is at all times in accord with the canonical prophets, as he was an ardent advocate for the temple cult of Yahweh, not in the sense of a spiritless and senseless external worship, but as against the current indifference to Yahweh. His style and his language, too, evidence a late age. The lyrical form has given way to the didactic. This is also probably the time when the present Book of Jonah was written, a didactic work treating of an older tradition. 11. Cessation of Prophecy: Malachi is regarded by the Jews as the last really canonical prophet. While doubtless there was not a total lack of prophetically endowed seers and speakers of God also in the closing centuries of the pre-Christian era, nevertheless the general conviction prevailed that the Spirit of God was no longer present, e.g. in the times of the Maccabees (compare 1 Macc 4:46; 9:27; 14:41). It is true that certain modern critics ascribe some large sections of the Book of Isaiah, as well as of other prophets, even to a period as late as the Greek. But this is refuted by the fact mentioned in Ecclesiasticus (beginning of the 2nd century BC) that in the writer’s time the prophetical Canon appeared already as a closed collection. Daniel is not found in this collection, but the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets is. It was during this period that apocalyptic literature began to flourish, many specimens of which are foundamong the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha. These books consist of eschatological speculations, not the product of original inspiration, but emanating from the study of the prophetic word. The very name Pseudepigrapha shows that the author issued his work, not under his own name, but under the pseudonym of some man of God from older times, such as Enoch, Ezra, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, and others. This fact alone proves the secondary character of this class of literature. See APOCALYPIC LITERATURE. 12. Prophecy in the New Testament: Malachi finds a successor in John the Baptist, whose coming the former had predicted. John is the greatest of the prophets, because he could directly point to Him who completed the old covenant and fulfilled its promises. All that we know in addition concerning the times of Jesus shows that the prophetical gift was yet thought of as possibly dwelling in many, but that prophecy was no longer the chief spiritual guide of the people (compare e.g. Josephus, Ant, XIII, xi, 2; XV, x, 5, among the Essenes, or in the case of Hyrcanus, op. cit., XIII, x, 7). Josephus himself claims to have had prophetic gifts at times (compare BJ, III, viii, 9). He is thinking in this connection chiefly of the prediction of some details. Such “prophets” and “prophetesses” are reported also in the New Testament. In Jesus Christ Himself the prophetic office reached its highest stage of development, as He stood in a more intimate relation than any other being to His Heavenly Father and spoke His word entirely and at all times. In the Christian congregation the office of prophecy is again found, differing from the proclamation of the gospel by the apostles, evangelists, and teachers. In the New Testament the terms [profh>thv, prophetes ], [profhtei>a, propheteia ], [profhteu>w, propheteuo ], signify speaking under the extraordinary influence of the Holy Ghost. Thus in Acts 11:27 f (prophecy of a famine by Agabus); 21:10 f (prediction of the sufferings of Paul); 13:1 f (exhortation to mission work); 21:9 ff (prophetical gift of the daughters of Philip). Paul himself also had this gift ( Acts 16:6 ff; 18:9; 22:17 ff; 27:23 f). In the public services of the church, prophecy occupied a prominent position (see especially 1 Corinthians 14). A prophetical book in a special sense is the Apocalypse of John. The gift of prophecy was claimed by many also in later times. But this gift ceased more and more, as the Christian church more and more developed on the historical basis of revelation as completed in Christ. Especially in spiritually aroused eras in the history of the church, prophecy again puts in its appearance. It has never ceased altogether, but on account of its frequent misuse the gift has become discredited. Jesus Himself warned against false prophets, and during the apostolic times it was often found necessary to urge the importance of trying spirits ( 1 John 4:1; 1 Corinthians 12:10; 14:29). 3. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PROPHECY. 1. Contents of Prophecy: The contents of prophecy are by no means merely predictions concerning the future. That which is given by the Spirit to the prophet can refer to the past and to the present as well as to the future. However, that which is revealed to the prophet finds its inner unity in this, that it all aims to establish the supremacy of Yahweh. Prophecy views also the detailed events in their relation to the divine plan, and this latter has for its purpose the absolute establishment of the supremacy of Yahweh in Israel and eventually on the entire earth. We are accustomed to call those utterances that predict this final purpose the Messianic prophecies. However, not only those that speak of the person of the Messiah belong to this class, but all that treat of the coming of the kingdom of God. 2. Conception of the Messiah: The beginnings of the religion of Israel, as also the chief epoch in its development, emanated from prophetical revelations. The prophet Moses elevated the tribal religion into a national religion, and at the same time taught the people to regard the religion of the fathers more ethically, spiritually and vitally. Samuel crowned the earthly form of the concrete theocracy by introducing an “Anointed of Yahweh” in whom the covenant relation between Yahweh and Israel was concentrated personally. The Anointed of the Lord entered into a much more intimate relationship to Yahweh as His Son or Servant than it was possible for the whole people of Israel to do, although as a people they were also called the servant or the son of God (compare Psalm 2:7 f; 110). The Psalms of David are a proof of this, that this high destiny of the kingdom was recognized. David himself became a prophet in those hymns in which he describes his own unique relation to Yahweh. But the actual kings of history as a rule corresponded too imperfectly to this idea. For this reason the word “prophetic” already in David’s time directs to the future, when this relationship shall be more perfectly realized ( 2 Samuel 7:12 ff; compare David’s own words, 2 Samuel 23:4 ff). See MESSIAH. 3. Before the Exile (through Judgment to Deliverance): Solomon completed the external equipment of theocracy by the erection of the temple. But it was just his reign that constituted the turning-point, from which time on the prophets begin to emphasize the judgment to come, i.e. the dissolution of the external existence of the kingdom of Yahweh. Yet prophecy at all times does this in such a manner, that a kernel of the divine establishment on Zion remains intact. The divine establishment of the sanctuary and the kingdom cannot be destroyed; all that is necessary is that they be restored in greater purity and dignity. This can be seen also in Amos, who predicts that the fallen tabernacle of David shall be raised up again ( Amos 9:11 ff), which shall then be followed by a condition of undisturbed blessing. The same is found in Hosea, who sees how all Israel is again united under “David” the king of the last times, when between God and the people, between heaven and earth, an unbroken covenant of love shall be made ( Hosea 2:1 f,18 ff); and also in Isaiah, who predicts that during the time of the conquest and subjection of the country by the Gentiles a Son of David shall be born in a miraculous manner and attain supremacy ( Isaiah 7:14; 9:2 ff; 11:1 ff), and who speaks constantly of that divine establishment on Zion (compare the quiet waters of Shiloah, 8:6), the foundation stone that has been laid by Yahweh ( Isaiah 28:16, etc.). Micah, his contemporary, does the same, and in an entirely similar manner predicts that the radical judgment of destruction which shall come over the temple and the royal palace shall be followed by the wondrous King of Peace from Bethlehem ( Micah 5:1 ff). Possibly even at a somewhat earlier date Zechariah 9:9 described this future ruler in similar terms. In general it is not probable that Isaiah and Micah were the first to speak so personally of this King. They seem to presuppose that their contemporaries were acquainted with this idea. 4. Analogous Ideas among Heathen Peoples: In recent times scholars have pointed to the fact that in the old Orient, among the Egyptians, the Babylonians and elsewhere, the expectation of a miraculously-born King of the future, who was to bring to His own people and to all nations salvation and peace, was entertained at an early period.
Yet so much is certain, that Isaiah and Micah did not base their hopes on the vague dreams of the Gentileworld, but upon the prophetic establishment of a divine sanctuary and kingdom of Zion. The personal figure of this Son of David is not so much in the foreground in the other prophets down to the period of the exile. These prophets mention only casually the Good Shepherd, as e.g. Jeremiah 23:1 ff; 33:12 ff; Ezekiel 34:23 f. But after that time this Messianic expectation became a permanent element in the hopes of Israel.
In the meanwhile, prophecy had thrown much light on the ways of God, which prepare for His kingdom on earth. Even long before Amos 5:18 (ff) the idea of a “day of Yahweh,” which was to be a day of revelation, on which God makes a settlement with the nations, must have been generally known, since Amos is already compelled to protest against the abuse of this expectation. But hand in hand with this settlement we find also and at all times the expectation of the exaltation and of the salvation of Israel. Yet the prophets have all emphasized that Israel and Judah must first be thoroughly purified by a judgment, before the land could, through God’s grace, be glorified and richly blessed. The judgment which the preexilic prophets are continually predicting is, however, only a means to an end.
This judgment is not the final word of the Lord, as Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah and Habakkuk constantly teach. They announce that return to Yahweh and obedience to His commandments is the way to salvation ( Hosea 6:1; Isaiah 1:18; Jeremiah 4:1, and often). However, the prophets know that the people will not turn again to God, but that first the Jewish state must be entirely overthrown (Isaiah 6). It is particularly deserving of notice, that believing trust in Yahweh is regarded as the positive means for deliverance ( Isaiah 7:9; 30:15; Habakkuk 2:4). It is through this that the “remnant” of the faithful, “the kernel” of the people, is saved. Also in the case of Jeremiah, whose work it was to predict the immediate destruction of Judah, there is not absent a kind of an esoteric book of consolation. His battle cry for the future is “Yahweh our righteousness” ( Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16). In his case we find a rich spiritualization of religion. The external customs, circumcision and the like, he declares, do no good, if the true state of the heart is lacking. Even the ark of the covenant is unnecessary and is discarded in the enlargement of the sanctuary. Ezekiel, who lays more stress on the external ordinances, nevertheless agrees with Jeremiah in this, that Jerusalem together with the temple must fall. Only after this destruction the prophet in his spirit builds the sanctuary again; notwithstanding the external character of his restoration, there is yet found in his picture a further development of its spiritual character. The ethical rights and the responsibility of the individual are strongly emphasized (Ezekiel 18; 33). The land becomes transformed; the Gentiles are received into the covenant of God. 5. During the Exile (Ezekiel, Deutero-Isaiah): Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40 through 66), during the time of the Babylonian captivity, enriches prophecy in an extraordinary manner, through the figure of the true “Servant of Yahweh,” who in a peaceful way, through his words of instruction and especially through his innocent sufferings and his vicarious deeds, converts Israel, the undeserving servant, and also wins over the Gentileworld to Yahweh. It was not possible that the picture of a suffering man of God, who through his death as a martyr attains to exaltation, should be suggested to the Jews by the altogether different figure of a death and resurrection of a Babylonian god (Thammuz- Adonis!). Since the unjust persecutions of Joseph and David they were acquainted with the sufferings of the just, and Jeremiah’s life as a prophet was a continuous martyrdom. But the writer of the second part of Isaiah had before his eyes a vision that far excelled all of these types in purity and in greatness to such a degree as did David’s Son in Isaiah and Micah surpass His great ancestor. He brings to a completion the kingdom of God through teaching, suffering and death, and attains to the glory of rulership.
In this way He unites the offices of prophet, priest and king. 6. After the Exile (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi): After the exile prophecy continues its work. The Messianic expectations, too, are developed further by Haggai, and still more by Zechariah. Malachi announces the advent of the Day of Yahweh, but expects before this a complete purification of the people of God. God Himself will come, and His angel will prepare the way for Him. The visions of Daniel picture the transformation of the world into a kingdom of God. The latter will mark the end of the history of the world. It comes from above; the earthly kingdoms are from below, and are pictured as beasts; the Ruler of the kingdom of God is a Son of man. The latter comes with the clouds of the heaven to take possession of His kingdom ( Daniel 7:13 ff). Then the judgment of the world will take place and include also each human being, who before this will bodily arise from the dead, in order to enter upon blessedness or condemnation. Here we find indicated a universal expansion of the kingdom of God extending over the whole world and all mankind. 7. Contemporaneous Character of Prophecy: If we survey this prophecy of the kingdom of God and its divinely-blessed Ruler, the Messiah, from a Christian standpoint, we find that a grand divine unity connects its different elements. The form of this prophecy is indeed conditioned by the views and ideas of the time of utterance. The prophets were compelled to speak so that their hearers could understand them. Only gradually these limitations and forms become spiritualized, e.g. the kingdom of God is still pictured by the prophets as established around the local center of Zion. Matthew. Zion is in a concrete manner exalted, in order to give expression to its importance, etc. It is the New Testament fulfillment that for the first time gives adequate form to divine revelation.
At least in the person of Jesus Christ this perfection is given, although the full unfolding of this kingdom is yet a matter of the future. 8. Partial Character of Prophecy: A second characteristic feature of prophecy is the partial nature of the individual prophetical utterances and prophetical pictures. One picture must be supplemented by the others, in order not to be misunderstood.
Thus, e.g. according to Isaiah 11:14; Zechariah 9:13 ff, we might expect that the kingdom of God was to be established by force of arms.
But the same prophets show in other utterances ( Isaiah 9:6 f; Zechariah 9:9 f) that these warlike expressions are to be understood figuratively, since the Messianic King is more than all others a Prince of Peace. 9. Perspective Character of Prophecy: A third feature that deserves attention is the perspective character of prophecy. The prophet sees together and at once upon the surface of the pictures things which are to be fulfilled only successively and gradually.
Thus, e.g. Deutero-Isaiah sees in the near future the return from captivity, and directly connected with this a miraculous glorification of the city of God. The return did as a matter of fact take place soon afterward, but the glorification of the city in which Yahweh Himself had promised to dwell was yet in the distant future. The succeeding prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, predict that this consummation shall take place in the future.
Also in the predictions concerning the future made by Jesus and in the Apocalypse of John these characteristics of prophecy, its contemporaneous and perspective and at times symbolical features, are not disregarded. The firm prophetic word is intended to give the congregation certain directive lines and distinctive work. But an adequate idea of what is to come the Christian church will become compelled to form for itself, when the fulfillment and completion shall have taken place. 4. ANALOGOUS PHENOMENA AMONG THE GENTILES. 1. Necromancy and Technical Witchcraft: The uniqueness of Biblical prophecy is grasped fully only when we try to find analogies among the Gentile peoples. Here we find everywhere indeed the art of sooth-saying, the headquarters for which was Babylon. But with this art the prophecy of the Old Testament stands out in bold contrast (compare the prohibitions in Leviticus 19:26,31; 20:6,27; Deuteronomy 18:10 ff, prohibitions that refer to necromancy for the purpose of discovering the future). This art was practiced through a medium, a person who had an ‘obh (Babylonian, ubi), i.e. a spirit that brought forth the dead in order to question them. The spirits were thought to speak in murmurings or piping sounds ( Isaiah 8:19), which could be imitated by the medium (ventriloquist). According to the Law, which forbade this under penalty of death, Saul had tried to destroy those who practiced incantations, who generally were women ( 1 Samuel 28:9).
This practice, however, continued to flourish. In addition, the Babylonians and other peoples had also a developed art of interpretation in order to find omens for the future. Especially was the examination of intestines practiced by them. The liver of sacrificial animals particularly was carefully examined, and, from this, predictions, good or bad, were inferred (compare Ezekiel 21:21). See DIVINATION. This art passed over from the Babylonions to the seafaring Etruscans, and through these came to the Romans. But other phenomena also were by the different nations interpreted as prophetically significant and were by those skilled in this art interpreted accordingly. Among these were miscarriages by human beings and animals, the actions of hens, horses, the flight of birds, earthquakes, forms of the clouds, lightning, and the like. Further, mechanical contrivances were used, such as casting of lots, stones, sticks, etc. 2. The Mantic Art: More spiritual and popular was the interpretation of dreams. It also was the case that mediums intentionally would convert themselves into a semiwaking trance. In this way the suitable mediums attained to a certain kind of clairvoyance, found among various peoples. This approaches the condition of an ecstatically aroused pseudo-prophet, of whom mention is made above. In Greece, too, oracles were pronounced by the Pythian prophetess, who by vapors and the like was aroused to a practice of the mantic article In Dodona it was the voice of the divinity in Nature, which they sought to read in the rustling of the trees and the murmuring of the water. How uncertain these sources were was well known to heathen antiquity. The ancients complain of the enigmatical character of the Sibylline utterances and the doubtful nature of what was said. See GREECE, RELIGION OF. In contrast to this, Israel knows that it possesses in prophecy a clear word ( Numbers 23:23). 3. Contents of Extra-Biblical Oracles: But the contents also of the Biblical prophecies are unique through their spiritual uniformity and greatness. The oracle at Delphi, too, at times showed a certain moral elevation and could be regarded as the conscience of the nation. But how insignificant and meager was that which it offered to those who questioned it, in comparison with the spontaneous utterances of the prophets of Israel! Also what has in recent times been said concerning the “prophetical texts” from ancient Egypt (Gressmann, Texte und Bilder, I, 20 ff) may indeed show some external similarity to the prophecies of Israel; but they lack the spiritual and religious depth and the strictly ethical dignity of the prophets of the Scriptures, as also the consistency with which these from century to century reveal the thoughts of God and make known with constantly increasing clearness their purposes and goal.
LITERATURE Witsius, Deuteronomy prophetis et prophetia, 1731; Chr. A. Crusius, Hypomnemata ad theologiam propheticam, Part I, 1764; A. Knobel, Der Prophetismus der Hebraer, 1837; F. B. Koester, Die Propheten des Altes Testament und New Testament, 1838; B. Duhm, Die Theologie der Propheten; Kuenen, The Prophets and Prophecy in Israel; F. E. Koenig, Der Offenbarungsbegriff des Altes Testament, 1882; C. von Orelli, Die alttestamentliche Weissagung von der Vollendung des Gottesreiches, 1882; W. Robertson Smith, The Prophets of Israel and Their Place in History, 1882; E. Riehm, Die messianische Weissagung, English translation, 1885; Delitzsch, Messianic Prophecy, 1891; A. T. Kirkpatrick, The Doctrine of the Prophets, 1892; G. French Oehler, Theologie des A T, 1891; Ed.
Koenig, Dos Berufungsbewusstsein der alttestamentlichen Propheten, 1900; F. H. Woods, The Hope of Israel, 1896; R. Kraetzschmar, Prophet und Seher im alten Israel, 1902; A. B. Davidson, Old Testament Prophecy, 1903; Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und dos A T, 1902; C. von Orelli, Allgemeine Religionsgeschichte; M. Jastrow, Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens, 1903; Gressmann, Ursprung der israelitisch-judischen Eschatologie, 1905; W. J. Beecher, The Prophets and the Promise, 1905; C. S. Macfarland, Jesus and the Prophets, 1905; G. G. Findlay, The Books of the Prophets in Their Historical Succession, 1906-7; Gressmann, Altorientalische Texte und Bilder zum A T, 1909; Selwyn, Christian Prophets. C. von Orelli PROPHECY, GIFT OF See SPIRITUAL GIFTS.
PROPHESYINGS, FALSE <prof’-e-si-ingz > : The distinction between the true and the false prophecy and prophets is very difficult to state. Broadly speaking, the false prophesying related itself to the national ideal independently of any spiritual quality, while the true prophesying ever kept uppermost the spiritual conception of the national life. Among those given to false prophesying were the ones who spoke after “the deceit of their own heart” ( Jeremiah 14:13,14); those who without real prophetic gift borrowed a message and assumed the speech of prophecy ( Jeremiah 23:28,31); and those who sought the prophet’s role in order to gain the material gifts which came from the people to their prophets ( Micah 3:5). These, when discovered, were counted worthy of punishment and even death. There were, however, false prophesyings from men who honestly believed themselves to have a message from Yahweh. These prophecies from selfdeceived prophets often led the people astray. The dream of national greatness was substituted for the voice of Yahweh. It was against such prophesying that the true prophets had to contend. The only test here was the spiritual character of the utterance, and this test demanded a certain moral or spiritual sense which the people did not always possess.
Consequently, in times of moral darkness the false prophets, predicting smooth things for the nation, independent of repentance, consecration and the pursuit of spiritual ideals, were honored above the true prophets who emphasized the moral greatness of Yahweh and the necessity of righteousness for the nation. In New Testament times false prophesying did much injury in the church. See PROPHECY.
C. E. Schenk PROPHET, THE OLD See OLD PROPHET, THE.
PROPHETESS <prof’-et-es > ([ ha;ybin] , nebhi’ah ]; [profh~tiv, prophetis ]): Women were not excluded from the prophetic office in the Old Testament, and were honored with the right of prophetic utterance in the New Testament. It should be noted, however, that women like Miriam ( Exodus 15:20), Deborah ( Judges 4:4) and Huldah ( 2 Kings 22:14) were not credited with the seer’s insight into the future, but were called “prophetesses” because of the poetical inspiration of their speech. Among others mentioned as having the prophetic gift we find Hannah ( 1 Samuel 2:1), Anna ( Luke 2:36) and the four daughters of Philip ( Acts 21:8,9). See PROPHET.
C. E. Schenk PROPITIATION <pro-pish-i-a’-shun > : 1. TERMS AND MEANING:
The word is Latin and brings into its English use the atmosphere of heathen rites for winning the favor, or averting the anger, of the gods. In the Old Testament it represents a number of Hebrew words — ten, including derivatives — which are sufficiently discussed under ATONEMENT (which see), of which propitiation is one aspect. It represents in Septuagint the Greek stems [iJlask-, hilask -] ([iJle-, hile -]), and [katallag-, katallag -], with derivatives; in the New Testament only the latter, and is rarely used. Propitiation needs to be studied in connection with reconciliation, which is used frequently in some of the most strategic sentences of the New Testament, especially in the newer versions In Hebrews 2:17, the English Revised Version and the American Standard Revised Version have both changed “reconciliation” of the King James Version to “propitiation,” to make it correspond with the Old Testament use in connection with the sacrifice on the DAY OF ATONEMENT (which see). Luke 18:13 (“God, be thou merciful (margin “be propitiated”) to me the sinner” (the American Standard Revised Version margin)); Hebrews 8:12 (quoted from the Septuagint); and Matthew 16:22 (an idiomatic asseveration like English “mercy on us”) will help in getting at the usage in the New Testament. In Septuagint hilasterion is the term for the “mercy-seat” or “lid of the ark” of the covenant which was sprinkled with blood on the Day of Atonement. It is employed in exactly this sense in Hebrews 9:5, where later versions have in the margin “the propitiatory.”
Elsewhere in the New Testament this form is found only in Romans 3:25, and it is here that difficulty and difference are found extensively in interpreting. Greek fathers generally and prominent modern scholars understand Paul here to say that God appointed Christ Jesus to be the “mercy-seat” for sinners. The reference, while primarily to the Jewish ceremonial in tabernacle and temple, would not depend upon this reference for its comprehension, for the idea was general in religious thought, that some place and means had to be provided for securing friendly meeting with the Deity, offended by man’s sin. In Hebrews particularly, as elsewhere generally, Jesus Christ is presented as priest and sacrifice. Many modern writers (compare Sanday and Headlam), therefore, object that to make Him the “mercy-seat” here complicates the figure still further, and so would understand hilasterion as “expiatory sacrifice.” While this is not impossible, it is better to take the word in the usual sense of “mercy-seat.”
It is not necessary to complicate the illustration by bringing in the idea of priest at all here, since Paul does not do so; mercy-seat and sacrifice are both in Christ. [iJlasmo>v, hilasmos ], is found in the New Testament only in 1 John 2:2; 4:10. Here the idea is active grace, or mercy, or friendliness. The teaching corresponds exactly with that in Romans. “Jesus Christ the righteous” is our “Advocate (margin “Helper”) with the Father,” because He is active mercy concerning ([peri>, peri ]) our sins and those of the whole world. Or ( Romans 4:10), God “loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for (active mercy concerning) our sins.” This last passage is parallel with Romans 3:25, the one dealing with the abstract theory, and so Christ is set forward as a “mercy-seat,” the other dealing with experience of grace, and so Christ is the mercy of God in concrete expression. 2. THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATION:
The basal idea in Hebrew terms is that of covering what is offensive, so restoring friendship, or causing to be kindly disposed. The Greek terms lack the physical reference to covering but introduce the idea of friendliness where antagonism would be natural; hence, graciousness.
Naturally, therefore, the idea of expiation entered into the concept. It is especially to be noted that all provisions for this friendly relation as between God and offending man find their initiation and provision in God and are under His direction, but involve the active response of man. All heathen and unworthy conceptions are removed from the Christian notion of propitiation by the fact that God Himself proposed, or “set forth,” Christ as the “mercy-seat,” and that this is the supreme expression of ultimate love. God had all the while been merciful, friendly, “passing over” man’s sins with no apparently adequate, or just, ground for doing so. Now in the blood of Christ sin is condemned and expiated, and God is able to establish and maintain His character for righteousness, while He continues and extends His dealing in gracious love with sinners who exercise faith in Jesus. The propitiation originates with God, not to appease Himself, but to justify Himself in His uniform kindness to men deserving harshness.
Compare also as to reconciliation, as in Romans 5:1-11; Corinthians 5:18 ff. See also JOHANNINE THEOLOGY, V, 2.
LITERATURE.
Besides the comms., the literature is the same as for ATONEMENT, to recent works on which add Stalker, The Atonement; Workman, At Onement, or Reconciliation with God; Moberly, in Foundations, Christian Belief in Terms of Modern Thought. William Owen Carver PROPORTION <pro-por’-shun > : Occurs once in the sense of “space” as the translation of [ r[“m” , ma`-ar ], “void or open space” ( 1 Kings 7:36. the King James Version margin “Hebrew `nakedness,’ “ the Revised Version (British and American) “space”); once in the obsolete sense of “form” as the translation of `erekh , “array,” or “row” ( Job 41:12, the Revised Version (British and American) “frame”); and once in the sense of “measure” as the translation of analogia , “proportion” “equality” ( Romans 12:6, “the proportion of faith,” the Revised Version (British and American) “the proportion of our faith”). “Proportionally” occurs in The Wisdom of Solomon 13:5, analogos , the Revised Version (British and American) “in like proportion,” margin “correspondently.”
PROSELYTE <pros’-e-lit > ([prosh>lutov, proselutos ], from proserchomai , “I approach”): Found 4 times in the New Testament. In the Septuagint it often occurs as the translation of [ rGe , ger ]. The Hebrew verb gur means “to sojourn”; ger accordingly means a stranger who has come to settle in the land, as distinguished on the one hand from ‘ezrach , “a homeborn” or “native,” and on the other from nokhri or ben-nekhar , which means a stranger who is only passing through the country. Yet it is to be noted that in 2 Chronicles 2:17 those of the native tribes still living in the land as Amorites, Hittites, etc., are also called gerim. In two places, ( Exodus 12:19; Isaiah 14:1) the Septuagint uses g(e)ioras , which is derived from giyor, the Aramaic equivalent for ger . Septuagint uses paroikos (the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew toshabh , “a settler”) for ger when Israel or the triarchs are indicated ( Genesis 15:13; 23:4; Exodus 2:22; 18:3; Deuteronomy 23:7; 1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalm 39:12; 119:19; Jeremiah 14:8), and in a few other cases. In Talmudical literature ger always stands for proselyte in the New Testament sense, i.e. a Gentile who has been converted to Judaism. Onkelos, who was himself a proselyte, always translates the word in this way. 1. GER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:
No difficulties were put in the way of those strangers who wished to settle down in the land of Israel. All strangers, the third generation of Egyptians and Edomites included, and only Ammonites and Moabites excluded, could enter “the congregation of God” without circumcision and without the obligation to keep the ceremonial law. `The stranger within the gate’ was free to eat meat which was prohibited to the Israelite ( Deuteronomy 14:21). If, however, the stranger wished to take part in the Passover, a feast permeated with national ideals, he must be circumcised. The keeping of the Sabbath and other feasts was regarded rather as a privilege than as a duty ( Exodus 23:12; Deuteronomy 16:11,14); but according to Leviticus 16:29 the ger was obliged to keep the fast of Atonement. He was forbidden on pain of death to blaspheme ( Leviticus 24:16) or to offer children to Molech ( Leviticus 20:2). If he desired to bring a burnt offering, the same law applied to him as to the Israelites ( Leviticus 17:8; 22:18). Though the law of circumcision was not forced upon the ger , it seems that the Mosaic Law endeavored to bring him nearer to the cult of Israel, not from any proselytizing motives, but in order to preserve theocracy from admixture of foreign elements, which would speedily have proved fatal to its existence.
Though the God of Israel, when He is thought of only as such, ceases to be God; though Israel was chosen before all nations for all nations; though Israel had been again and again reminded that the Messiah would bring a blessing to all nations; and though there were instances of pagans coming to believe in Yahweh, yet it did not belong to the economy of Old Testament religion to spread the knowledge of God directly among the Gentiles (the Book of Jonah is an exception to this). There was certainly no active propagandism. Though we read in Nehemiah 10:28 of those who “separated themselves from the peoples of the lands unto the law of God” (compare Isaiah 56:3, “the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Yahweh” — the only and exact description of a proselyte proper in the Old Testament), the spirit of exclusiveness prevailed; the doubtful elements were separated ( Ezra 4:3): mixed marriages were prohibited by the chiefs, and were afterward disapproved of by the people (Ezra 9; 10; Nehemiah 13:23 ff). Direct proselytism did not begin till about a century later. 2. PROSELYTIZING:
The preaching of the gospel was preceded and prepared for by the dispersion of the Jews, and a world-wide propagandism of Judaism. In the 5th century BC the Jews had a temple of their own at Syene. Alexander the Great settled 8,000 Jews in the Thebais, and Jews formed a third of the population of Alexandria. Large numbers were brought from Palestine by Ptolemy I (320 BC), and they gradually spread from Egypt along the whole Mediterranean coast of Africa. After the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes (170 BC) they scattered themselves in every direction, and, in the words of the Sibylline Oracles (circa 160 BC), “crowded with their numbers every ocean and country.” There was hardly a seaport or a commercial center in Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece, or the Islands of the AEgean, in which Jewish communities were not to be found. Josephus (Ant., XIV, vii, 2) quotes Strabo as saying: “It is hard to find a place in the habitable earth that hath not admitted this tribe of men, and is not possessed by them.” Thus, in spite of the hatred and contempt which Judaism everywhere excited, its lofty, austere and spiritual religious aspirations and conceptions became known to the pagan world and exercised a profound attraction upon many souls that were deeply dissatisfied with contemporary religions. Judaism was at that period filled with missionary zeal and aspired to world-mastery. Many books on Judaism (e.g. the Sibylline Oracles) were written anonymously by Jews in order to influence pagan readers. The synagogue, which had become the center of Jewish worship, now opened its doors widely to the pagan world (compare Acts 15:21), and many of the sermons delivered there were directly aimed at the conversion of pagans. The Jews began to feel that they were “a guide of the blind, a fight of them that are in darkness” ( Romans 2:19).
Not only Josephus (Apion, II; BJ, VII, iii, 3), but also Seneca (Apud Aug.
Deuteronomy Civit. Dei vi.11), Dio Cassius (xxxvii.17), Tacitus (Ann. ii.85; Hist. v.5), Horace (Sat. i.4, 142), Juvenal (Sat. xiv.96 ff), and other Greek and Roman writers testify to the widespread effects of the proselytizing propaganda of the Jews.
Many gladly frequented the synagogues and kept some of the Jewish laws and customs. Among those were to be found the “men who feared God,” spoken of in Acts. They were so called to distinguish them from full proselytes; and it was probably for this class that tablets of warning in the temple were inscribed in Greek and Latin Another class kept practically all the Jewish laws and customs, but were not circumcised. Some again, though not circumcised, had their children circumcised (Juvenal Sat. xiv.96 ff). Such Jewish customs as fasting, cleansings, abstaining from pork, lighting the candles on Friday evening, and keeping the Sabbath (Josephus, Apion, II, 29, etc.) were observed by these Gentile sympathizers. Schurer holds that there were congregations of Greeks and Romans in Asia Minor, and probably in Rome, which, though they had no connection with the synagogue, formed themselves into gatherings after the pattern of the synagogue, and observed some of the Jewish customs. Among the converts to Judaism there were probably few who were circumcised, and most of those who were circumcised submitted to the rite in order to marry Jewesses, or to enjoy the rights and privileges granted to the Jews by Syrian, Egyptian and Roman rulers (Josephus, Ant, XIV, vii, 2; XX, vii, 1; compare XVI, vii, 6). It would appear from Christ’s words (Mark 23:15, “one proselyte”) that the number of full proselytes was not large. Hyrcanus forced the Edomites to adopt Judaism by circumcision (129 BC); and on other occasions the same policy of propagandism by force was followed. Josephus tells an interesting story (Ant., XX, ii, 1) of the conversion of Queen Helena of Adiabene and her two sons. The conversion of the sons was due to the teaching of a merchant called Ananias, who did not insist on circumcision. Later, another Jew, Eliezer of Galilee, told the young princes that it was not enough to read the Law, but that they must keep it too, with the result that both were circumcised. From this it is evident that Jewish teachers of the Gentileconverts varied in the strictness of their teaching. 3. PROSELYTES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
The word “proselyte” occurs 4 times in the New Testament; once in Matthew (23:15), where our Lord refers to the proselytizing zeal of the Pharisees, and to the pernicious influence which they exerted on their converts; and 3 times in Acts. Proselytes were present at Pentecost ( Acts 2:10); Nicolas, one of the deacons appointed by the primitive church at Jerusalem, was a proselyte ( Acts 6:5); and after Paul had spoken in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia, many devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas ( Acts 13:43). It is to be noted in this last case that the proselytes are called sebomenoi, a word generally reserved for another class. Certain people are spoken of in Acts as phoboumenoi ton theon , “fearing God” (10:2,22,35; 13:16,26), and as sebomenoi ton theon, “reverencing God,” or simply sebomenoi (13:50; 16:14; 17:4,17; 18:7).
These seem (as against Bertholet and EB) to have been sympathizers with Judaism, who attended the worship of the synagogue, but were not circumcised. It was among this class that the gospel made its first converts among the Gentiles. Those who were fully proselytes were probably as fanatical opponents of Christianity as were the Jews. 4. GER IN THE TALMUD:
From the old strict Pharisaic-Palestinian point of view, circumcision, with the addition of baptism and the offering of sacrifice, was indispensable (so to Paul every circumcised person was a Jew; compare Galatians 5:3); and thus their converts had to submit to the whole burden of the Mosaic and traditional Law. The rabbinic distinction between ger toshabh, “a settler,” and ger tsedheq , “a proselyte of righteousness,” is, according to Schurer, only theoretical, and arose at a later date (Babha’ Metsi`a’ 6,9,12; Makkoth 2 3; Negha`im 3 1, et al.).
While the ger tsedheq (or ger ha-berith, “proselyte of the covenant”) was considered as being in every respect a “perfect Israelite,” the ger toshabh (or ger sha`ar , “proselyte of the gate”; compare Exodus 20:10) only professed his faith in the God of Israel, and bound himself to the observance of the 7 Noachic precepts, abstinence from blasphemy, idolatry, homicide, fornication, robbery, eating the flesh of an animal that had died a natural death, and disobedience to (Jewish) authority (Sanh. 56a; compare Acts 15:20,29; 21:25). He was considered more of a Gentile than a Jew.
Three things were required for the admission of a proselyte, circumcision,. baptism, and the offering of sacrifice (Ber. 47b; Yebham. 45b, 46a, 48b, 76a; ‘Abhoth 57a, et al.). In the case of women only baptism and the offering of sacrifice were required; for that reason there were more women converts than men. Josephus (BJ, II, xx, 2) tells how most of the women of Damascus were addicted to the Jewish religion. Doubt has been expressed as to the necessity of proselytes being baptized, since there is no mention of it by Paul or Philo or Josephus, but it is probable that a Gentile, who was unclean, would not be admitted to the temple without being cleansed.
The proselyte was received in the following manner. He was first asked his reason for wishing to embrace Judaism. He was told that Israel was in a state of affliction; if he replied that he was aware of the fact and felt himself unworthy to share these afflictions, he was admitted. Then he received instruction in some of the “light” and “heavy” commandments, the rules concerning gleaning and tithes, and the penalties attached to the breach of the commandments. If he was willing to submit to all this, he was circumcised, and after his recovery he was immersed without delay. At this latter ceremony two “disciples of the wise” stood by to tell him more of the “light” and “heavy” commandments. When he came up after the immersion, those assembled addressed him saying: “Unto whom hast thou given thyself? Blessed art thou, thou hast given thyself to God; the world was created for the sake of Israel, and only Israelites are called the children of God. The afflictions, of which we spoke, we mentioned only to make thy reward the greater.” After his baptism he was considered to be a new man, “a little child newly born” (Yebham. 22a, 47a, 48b, 97b); a new name was given him; either he was named “Abraham the son of Abraham,” or the Scriptures were opened at hazard, and the first name that was read was given to him. Thenceforth he had to put behind him all his past; even his marriage ties and those of kinship no longer held good (compare Yebham. 22a; Sanhedrin 58b).
Although he was thus juridically considered a new man, and one whose praises were sung in the Talmudical literature, he was yet on the whole looked down on as inferior to a born Jew (Kidd. 4 7; Shebhu`oth 10 9, et al.). Rabbi Chelbo said: “Proselytes are as injurious to Israel as a scab” (Yebham. 47b; Kidd. 70b; compare Philippians 3:5). See also STRANGER.
LITERATURE. See articles on “Proselyte” and “Ger.” in EB, HDB, Jew Encyclopedia, and RE; Slevogt, Deuteronomy proselytis Judeorum, 1651; A. Bertholet, Die Stellung der Israeliten und der Juden zu den Fremden, 1896; Schurer, HJP, 1898; Huidekoper, Judaism at Rome, 1887; Harnack, Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums, 1906, English translation; Allen, “On the Meaning of proselutos in the Septuagint,” The Expositor, 1894; A. B. Davidson, “They That Fear the Lord,” Expository Times, III (1892), 491 ff.
Paul Levertoff PROSEUCHE, PROSEUCHA <pro-su’-ke > , <prosu’-ka > ([proseuch>, proseuche ]): “A place in the open air where the Jews were wont to pray, outside of those cities where they had no synagogue,” Acts 16:13,16 (Thayer, Lexicon of the New Testament). See PHILIPPI.
PROSTITUTION <pros-ti-tu’-shun > . See CRIMES; HARLOT; PUNISHMENTS.
PROSTRATION <pros-tra’-shun > . See ATTITUDES.
PROTEVANGELIUM, OF JAMES <pro-te-van-jel’-i-um > . See APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS, III, 1, (a).
PROVE <proov > ([ ˆj”B; , bachan ], [ hs;n; , nacah ]; [dokima>zw, dokimazo ], [peira>zw, peirazo ]): Means (1) to test or try; (2) to establish, demonstrate; (3) to find by experience.
It is for the most part in the first (original) sense that the word is found in Scripture. In the Old Testament it is most frequently the translation of nacah, primarily “to lift,” hence, to weigh ( Genesis 42:15,16, etc.). God is said to “prove” His people, i.e. to test or try them for their good ( Genesis 22:1; Exodus 15:25; Deuteronomy 8:16, etc.). The Psalmist prays that God may prove him ( Psalm 26:2). The word is frequently rendered “tempt.” See TEMPT. The word bachan, primarily “to try by heat,” has a similar meaning ( Psalm 17:3, the heart, like metal, purified from dross; compare Job 23:10; Psalm 7:9; Malachi 3:2, etc.). In the New Testament the word most frequently rendered “prove” (sometimes “try”) is dokimazo ( Luke 14:19; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 8:8,22; 13:5; Ephesians 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). Peirazo , “to tempt,” “to prove,” used in both a good and a bad sense, frequently translated “tempt” (which see), is rendered “prove” in John 6:6, “This he said to prove him.” Both Greek words occur frequently in Apocrypha (Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus). the Revised Version (British and American) has “prove” for “tempt” ( Genesis 22:1); for, “make” ( Job 24:25; Galatians 2:18); for “manifest” ( Ecclesiastes 3:18); for “examine” ( 1 Corinthians 11:28); for “try” ( 1 Corinthians 3:13; John 4:1), etc. W. L. Walker PROVENDER <prov’-en-der > (1) [ awOPs]mi , micpo’ ], from obsolete [ ap;s; , capha’ ], “to feed,” fodder for cattle in general ( Genesis 24:25,32; 42:27; Judges 19:19,21); (2) [ lylB] , belil ], from [ ll”B; , balal ], “to mix”: “Loweth the ox over his fodder?” ( Job 6:5); [ 6ymij; lylB] , belil chamits ]: “The young asses that till the ground shall eat savory (Hebrew “salted”) provender” ( Isaiah 30:24); this is fodder mixed with salt or aromatic herbs): The ordinary provender in Palestine, besides fresh pasturage, is tibn , i.e. straw broken on the threshing floor, kursenneh (Vetch, Vicia errilia), given especially to camels and milch cows; bran, for fattening and especially in cold weather; and, occasionally, hay made from the dried mixed grass and herbs which spring up luxuriously after the rains. The Circassian colonists East of the Jordan are teaching their neighbors the value of this food, so long neglected. E. W. G. Masterman PROVERB <prov’-erb > ([ lv;m; , mashal ], [ hd;yji , chidhah ]; [parabolh>, parabole ] ( Luke 4:23), [paroimi>a, paroimia ] ( John 16:25,29)):
By this term mainly, but sometimes by the term “parable” (e.g. Numbers 23:7,18; 24:3,15; Job 27:1; 29:1), is translated the Hebrew word ([ lv;m; , mashal ]), which designates the formal unit or vehicle of didactic discourse. The mashal was an enunciation of truth, self-evident and self-illustrative, in some pointed or concentrated form adapted to arrest attention, awaken responsive thought, and remain fixed in memory.
Its scope was broader than that of our word “proverb,” taking in subject matter as well as form. The mashal broadened indeed in the course of its history, until it became the characteristic idiom of Hebrew philosophy, as distinguished from the dialectic method of the Greeks. The Hebrew mind was not inductive but intuitive; it saw and asserted; and the word mashal is the generic term for the form in which its assertion was embodied. 1. FOLK MEANING AND USE. 1. The Primitive Sense: The [mashal], nearly in our sense of proverb, traces back to the heart and life of the common folk; it is a native form reflecting in a peculiarly intimate way the distinctive genius of the Hebrew people. As to the primitive sense of the word, it is usually traced to a root meaning “likeness,” or “comparison,” as if the first sense of it were of the principle of analogy underlying it; but this derivation is a guess. The word is just as likely to be connected with the verb mashal , “to rule” or “master”; so by a natural secondary meaning to denote that statement which gives the decisive or final verdict, says the master word. The idea of how the thing is said, or by what phrasing, would be a later differentiation, coming in with literary refinement. 2. The Communal Origin: The earliest cited proverb ( 1 Samuel 10:12, repeated with varied occasion, 1 Samuel 19:24) seems to have risen spontaneously from the people’s observation. That Saul, the son of Kish, whose very different temperament everybody knew, should be susceptible to the wild ecstasy of strolling prophets was an astonishing thing, as it were a discovery in psychology; “Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?” A few years later David, explaining his clemency in sparing the life of the king who has become his deadly foe, quotes from a folk fund of proverbs: 1 Samuel 24:13, “As saith the proverb of the ancients, Out of the wicked cometh forth wickedness; but my hand shall not be upon thee.”
The prophet Ezekiel quotes a proverb which evidently embodies a popular belief: “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth”; which he corrects to, “The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision” ( Ezekiel 12:22,23). Both Ezekiel and Jeremiah ( Ezekiel 18:2; Jeremiah 31:29) quote the same current proverb, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge,” in order to announce that the time has come for its discontinuance. These last two examples are very instructive. They show how the body of the people put the inwardness of their history into proverb form, as it were a portable lesson for the times; they show also how the prophets availed themselves of these floating sayings to point their own message. Ezekiel seems indeed to recognize the facility with which a situation may bring forth a proverb: Ezekiel 16:44, “Every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee (literally every one that mashals shall mashal against thee), saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.” 3. Animus of Proverbs: One element of the proverb, which a wide-awake people like the Hebrews would soon discover, was its adaptability for personal portrayal or satire, like a home thrust. Hence, the popular use of the name mashal came to connote its animus, generally of sarcasm or scorn. The taunting verse raised against Heshbon, Numbers 21:27-30, is attributed to them “that speak in proverbs” (meshalim ); and Isaiah’s taunt in his burden of Babylon ( Isaiah 14:4-20) is composed in the proverb measure: “Thou shalt take up this parable (mashal , the King James Version “proverb”) against the king of Babylon.” Answering to this prevailing animus of proverbs was a corresponding susceptibility to their sting and rankle; they were the kind of utterance that most surely found the national and individual selfconsciousness.
To be a proverb — to be in everybody’s mouth as a subject of laughter, or as a synonym for some awful atrocity — was about the most dreadful thing that could befall them. To be “a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse” ( Jeremiah 24:9) was all one. That this should be the nation’s fate was held as a threat over them by lawgiver and prophet ( Deuteronomy 28:37; 1 Kings 9:7); and in adversities of experience, both individual and collective, the thing that was most keenly felt was to have become a byword (mashal ) ( Psalm 44:14; 69:11). 2. LITERARY DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROVERB. 1. Discovery of Literary Value: The rank of proverb was by no means attributed to every popular saying, however the people might set store by it. If its application was merely local (e.g. 2 Samuel 20:18; Genesis 22:14) or temporary (note how Jeremiah and Ezekiel announce popular sayings as obsolete), it remained in its place and time. About the proverb, on the other hand, there was the sense of a value universal and permanent, fitting it for literary immortality.
Nor was the proverb itself a run-wild thing, at the shaping of the crowd; from the beginning it was in the hands of “those who speak in meshalim ,” whose business it was to put it into skillful wording. The popular proverb, however, and the literary proverb were and continued two different things.
There came a time, in the literary development of Israel, when the value of the mashal as a vehicle of instruction came to be recognized; from which time a systematic cultivation of this type of discourse began. That time, as seems most probable, was the reign of King Solomon, when in a special degree the people awoke to the life and industry and intercourse and wealth of the world around them. The king himself was `large hearted’ ( 1 Kings 4:29), versatile, with literary tastes; “spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five”; and his whole generation, both in Israel and surrounding nations, was engaged in a vigorous movement of thought and “wisdom” (see the whole passage, Kings 4:29-34). For the unit and vehicle of this new thought the old native form of the mashal or proverb was chosen; it became the recognized medium of popular education and counsel, especially of the young; and the mashal itself was molded to the classic form, condensed, pointed, aphoristic, which we see best exemplified in the Book of Proverbs through 22:16 — probably the earliest collection of this kind of literature.
In this body of proverbs we see also that instead of retaining the unbalanced single assertion of the popular proverb, as it appears in Samuel 10:12; 24:13, these composers of literary proverbs borrowed the poetic parallelism, or couplet, which in two lines sets two statements over against each other by antithesis or repetition, and cultivated this to its most condensed and epigrammatic construction. Thus the mashal took to itself a literary self-consciousness and became a work of art. 2. The Differentiation: Up to the time of this literary development a proverb was recognized simply as a proverb, with little sense of its various phases, except that there was a strong popular tendency to identify it with satire, and with less thought of the elements of its life and power. With the refinement of form, however, came a recognition of its inwardness. Under the generic term mashal , certain elements were differentiated; not, however, as we are wont to distinguish — parable, fable, apologue, allegory — these remained undifferentiated. The most fundamental distinction of classes, perhaps, is given in Proverbs 1:6: “To understand a proverb, and a figure, the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.” Here it seems the word “proverb” (mashal ) and “words of the wise,” paired off with each other, are the generic terms; the other two, the differentiating terms, name respectively the two fundamental directions of the mashal , toward the clear and toward the enigmatic. Both are essential elements. The word translated “figure” ([ hx;ylm] , melitsah ]) is rather “interpretation,” and seems to refer to the illuminative element of the mashal , and this was mainly analogy.
Natural objects, phases of experience, contrasts were drawn into the mashal to furnish analogies for life; Solomon’s use of plants and animals in his discourses ( 1 Kings 4:33) was not by way of natural history, but as analogies to illustrate his meshalim . The word translated “dark sayings” ( twOdyji , chidhoth ) is the word elsewhere translated “riddle” (Samson’s riddle, for instance, was a chidhah , Judges 14:13,14), and refers to that quality of the proverb which, by challenging the hearer’s acumen, gives it zest; it is due to an association of things so indirectly related that one must supply intermediate thoughts to resolve them. All of this of course. goes to justify the proverb as a capital vehicle for instruction and counsel; it has the elements that appeal to attention, responsive thought, and memory, while on the other hand its basis of analogy makes it illuminative. 3. AS UNIT OF A STRAIN OF LITERATURE. 1. From Detachment to Continuity: Until it reached its classic perfection of phrasing, say during the time from Solomon to Hezekiah, the formal development of the proverb was concentrative; the single utterance disposed of its whole subject, as in a capsule. But the development of the mashal form from the antithetic to the synonymous couplet gave rise to a proverb in which the explanatory member did not fully close the case; the subject craved further elucidation, and so a group of several couplets was sometimes necessary to present a case (compare e.g. about the sluggard, Proverbs 26:13-16). From this group of proverbs the transition was easy to a continuous passage, in which the snappy parallelism of the proverb yields to the flow of poetry; see e.g. Proverbs 27:23-27. This is due evidently to a more penetrative and analytic mode of thinking, which can no longer satisfy its statement of truth in a single illustration or maxim. 2. The Conception of Wisdom: As the store of detached utterances on various phases of practical life accumulated and the task of collecting them was undertaken, it was seen that they had a common suffusion and bearing, that in fact they constituted a distinctive strain of literature. The field of this literature was broad, and recognized (see Proverbs 1:1-5) as promotive of many intellectual virtues; but the inclusive name under which it was gathered was Wisdom ([ hm;k]j; , chokhmah ]). Wisdom, deduced thus from a fund of maxims and analogies, became the Hebrew equivalent for philosophy. With the further history of it this article is not concerned, except to note that the mashal or proverb form held itself free to expand into a continuous and extended discourse, or to hold itself in to the couplet form. As to illustrative quality, too, its scope was liberal enough to include a fully developed parable; see for instance Ezekiel 17:1-10, where the prophet is bidden to “put forth a riddle, and speak a parable (literally, mashal a mashal ) unto the house of Israel.” 3. In Later Time: The existence of so considerable a body of proverbs is a testimony to the Hebrew genius for sententious and weighty expression, a virtue of speech which was held in special esteem. From the uses of practical wisdom the mashal form was borrowed by the later scribes and doctors of the law; we see it for instance in loose and artificial use in such books as Pirqe ‘Abhoth, which gives the impression that the utterance so grandly represented in the Solomonic proverbs had become decadent. It is in another direction rather that the virtues of the mashal reach their culmination. In the phrasal felicity and illustrative lucidity of our Lord’s discourses, and not less in His parables, employed that the multitude “may see and yet not see” ( Mark 4:12), we have the values of the ancient mashal in their perfection, in a literary form so true to its object that we do not think of its artistry at all. See also GAMES, I, 6.
John Franklin Genung PROVERBS, BOOK OF <prov’-erbz > :
The Scripture book which in both the Hebrew and the Greek arrangements of the Old Testament Canon immediately succeeds the Psalms. In the Hebrew Canon it stands second in the final or supplementary division called kethubhim Septuagint [ Paroimi>ai, Paroimiai ]), “writings”; placed there probably because it would be most natural to begin this section with standard collections nearest at hand, which of course would be psalms and proverbs. This book is an anthology of sayings or lessons of the sages on life, character, conduct; and as such embodies the distinctively educative strain of Hebrew literature. 1. THE BOOK’S ACCOUNT OF ITSELF. 1. Title and Headings: At the beginning, intended apparently to cover the whole work, stands the title: “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.” It seemed good to the compilers, however, to repeat, or perhaps retain an older heading, “The proverbs of Solomon” at Proverbs 10, as if in some special sense the collection there beginning deserved it; and at Proverbs still another heading occurs: “These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.” All these ascribe the proverbs to Solomon; but the heading (30:1), “The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the oracle,” and the heading (31:1), “The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him,” indicate that authorship other than that of Solomon is represented; while the mention of “the words of the wise” (1:6; 22:17), as also the definite heading, “These also are sayings of the wise” (24:23), ascribe parts of the book to the sages in general. The book is confessedly a series of compilations made at different times; confessedly, also, to a considerable extent at least, the work of a number, perhaps a whole guild, of writers. 2. Authorship or Literary Species?: It is hazardous to argue either for or against a specific authorship; nor is it my intention to do so. The question naturally arises, however, in what sense this book, with its composite structure so outspoken, can lay claim to being the work of Solomon. Does the title refer to actual personal authorship, or does it name a species and type of literature of which Solomon was the originator and inspirer — as if it meant to say “the Solomonic proverbs”? We may work toward the answer of this question by noting some literary facts.
Outside of the prophets only three of the Old Testament books are provided in the original text with titles; and these three are all associated with Solomon — two of them, Proverbs and the Song of Solomon of Songs, directly; the third, Ecclesiastes, by an assumed name, which, however, personates Solomon. This would seem to indicate in the composition of these books an unusual degree of literary finish and self- consciousness, a sense on the part of writers or compilers that literature as an art has its claims upon them. The subject-matter of the books, too, bears this out; they are, relatively speaking, the secular books of the Bible and do not assume divine origin, as do law and prophecy. For the original impulse to such literary culture the history directs us to the reign of King Solomon; see 1 Kings 4:29-34, where is portrayed, on the part of king and court, an intense intellectual activity for its own sake, the like of which occurs nowhere else in Scripture. The forms then especially impressed upon the literature were the mashal (proverb) and the song, in both of which the versatile young king was proficient; compare 1 Kings 4:32. For the cultivation of the mashal these men of letters availed themselves of a favorite native form, the popular proverb; but they gave to it a literary mold and finish which would thenceforth distinguish it as the Solomonic mashal (see PROVERB). This then was the literary form in which from the time of Solomon onward the sages of the nation put their counsels of life, character, conduct; it became as distinctively the mold for this didactic strain of literature as was the heroic couplet for a similar strain in the age of Dryden and Pope.
It is reasonable therefore to understand this title of the Book of Proverbs as designating rather a literary species than a personal authorship; it names this anthology of Wisdom in its classically determined phrasing, and for age and authorship leaves a field spacious enough to cover the centuries of its currency. Perhaps also the proverb of this type was by the term “of Solomon” differentiated from mashal of other types, as for instance those of Balaam and Job and Koheleth. 2. THE SUCCESSIVE COMPILATIONS. 1. The Introductory Section: That the Book of Proverbs is composed of several collections made at different times is a fact that lies on the surface; as many as eight of these are clearly marked, and perhaps subdivisions might be made. The book was not originally conceived as the development of a theme, or even as a unity; whatever unity it has was an afterthought. That it did come to stand, however, for one homogeneous body of truth, and to receive a name and a degree of articulation as such, will be maintained in a later section (see III, below). Meanwhile, we will take the sections in order and note some of the salient characteristics of each. The introductory section, Proverbs through 9, has the marks of having been added later than most of the rest; and is introductory in the sense of concentrating the thought to the concept of Wisdom, and of recommending the spiritual attitude in which it is to be received. Its style — and in this it is distinguished from the rest of the book — is hortatory; it is addressed to “my son” (1:8 and often) or “my sons” (4:1; 5:7; 7:24; 8:32), in the tone of a father or a sage, bringing stores of wisdom and experience to the young. The first six verses are prefatory, giving the purpose and use of the whole book. Then Proverbs 1:7 lays down as the initial point, or spiritual bedrock of Wisdom, the fear of Yahweh, a principle repeated toward the end of this introductory section (9:10), and evidently regarded as very vital to the whole Wisdom system; compare Job 28:28; <19B110> Psalm 111:10; Sirach 1:14. The effect of this prefatory and theme-propounding matter is to launch the collection of proverbs much after the manner of modern literary works, and the rest of the section bears this out fairly well. The most striking feature of the section, besides its general homiletic tone, is its personification of Wisdom.
She is represented as calling to the sons of men and commending to them her ways ( Proverbs 1:20-33; 8:1-21,32-36); she condescends, for right and purity’s sake, to enter into rivalry with the “strange woman,” the temptress, not in secret, but in open and fearless dealing ( Proverbs 7:6 through 8:9; 9:1-6,13-18); and, in a supremely poetic passage ( Proverbs 8:22-31 ), she describes her relation from the beginning with God and with the sons of men. It represents the value that the Hebrew mind came to set upon the human endowment of Wisdom. The Hebrew philosopher thought not in terms of logic and dialectics, but in symbol and personality; and to this high rank, almost like that of a goddess, his imagination has exalted the intellectual and spiritual powers of man. See WISDOM. 2. The Classic Nucleus: The section Proverbs 10:1 through 22:16, with the repeated heading “The proverbs of Solomon”, seems to have been the original nucleus of the whole collection. All the proverbs in this, the longest section of the book, are molded strictly to the couplet form (the one triplet, 19:7, being only an apparent exception, due probably to the loss of a line), each proverb a parallelism in condensed phrasing, in which the second line gives either some contrast to or some amplification of the first. This was doubtless the classic art norm of the Solomonic [mashal].
The section seems to contain the product of that period of proverb-culture during which the sense of the model was a little rigid and severe, not venturing yet to limber up the form. Signs of a greater freedom, however, begin to appear, and possibly two strata of compilation are represented. In Proverbs 10 through 15 the prevailing couplet is antithetic, which embodies the most self-closed circuit of the thought. Out of 184 proverbs only 19 do not contain some form of contrast, and 10 of these are in Proverbs 15. In Proverbs 16 through 22:16, on the other hand, the prevailing form is the so-called synonymous or amplified couplet, which leaves the thought-circuit more open to illustrative additions. Out of proverbs only 18 are antithetic, and these contain contrasts of a more subtle and hidden suggestion. As to subject-matter, the whole section is miscellaneous; in the first half, however, where the antithesis prevails, are the great elemental distinctions of life, wisdom and folly, righteousness and wickedness, industry and laziness, wise speech and reticence, and the like; while in the second half there is a decided tendency to go farther afield for subtler and less obvious distinctions. In this way they seem to reflect a growing and refining literary development, the gradual shaping and accumulation of materials for a philosophy of life; as yet, however, not articulated or reduced to unity of principle. 3. A Body of Solicited Counsel: In the short section Proverbs 22:17 through 24:22, the proverb literature seems for the first time to have become as it were self-conscious — to regard itself as a strain of wise counsel to be reckoned with for its educative value. The section is introduced by a preface (22:17-21), in which these “words of the wise” are recommended to some person or delegation, “that thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee” (22:21). The counsels seem intended for persons in responsible position, perhaps attached to the court (compare 23:1-3), who, as they are to deal officially with men and affairs, need the prudence, purity, and temperance which will fit them for their duties. As to form, the detached couplet appears only occasionally; the favorite form is the quatrain; but proverbs of a greater number of lines are freely used, and one, the counsel on wine drinking (23:29-35), runs to 17 lines. In tone and specific counsel the section has many resemblances to the introductory section (Proverbs through 9), and provokes the conjecture that this latter section, as the introduction to a compiled body of Wisdom, was composed not long after it. 4. Some Left-over Precepts: The little appendix ( Proverbs 24:23-34) is headed, “These also are sayings of the wise.” They refer to wise intercourse and ordered industry.
The little poem on the sluggard ( Proverbs 24:30-34), with its refrain ( Proverbs 24:33,14), is noteworthy as being apparently one stanza of a poem which is completed with the same refrain in the introductory section ( Proverbs 6:6-11). The stanzas are of the same length and structure; and it would seem the latter named was either discovered later or composed as a supplement to the one in this section. 5. The Hezekian Collection: The long section (Proverbs 25 through 29) is headed, “These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.” The collection claims to be only a compilation; but if, as already suggested, we understand the term “proverbs of Solomon” as equivalent to “Solomonic proverbs,” referring rather to species than personal authorship, the compilation may have been made not merely from antiquity, but from the archives of the Wisdom guilds. If so, we have a clue to the state of the Wisdom literature in Hezekiah’s time. The collection as a whole, unlike secs. 3 and 4, returns predominantly to the classic form of the couplet, but with a less degree of compression and epigram. There is a tendency to group numbers of proverbs on like subjects; note for instance the group on the king ( Proverbs 25:2-7). The most striking-feature of the collection is the prevalence of simile and analogy, and in general the strong figurative coloring, especially in Proverbs 25 through 27; it reads like a new species of proverb when we note that in all the earlier Solomonic sections there are only two clearly defined similes (10:26; 11:22). In Proverbs 25 through are several proverbs of three, four, or five lines, and at the end (27:23-27) a charming little poem of ten lines on husbandry. Proverbs 28; 29 are entirely of couplets, and the antithetic proverb reappears in a considerable number. As to subject-matter, the thought of this section makes a rather greater demand on the reader’s culture and thinking powers, the analogies being less obvious, more subtle. It is decidedly the reflection of a more literary age than that of section 2. 6. Words of Agur: Proverbs 30 is taken up with “the words of Agur the son of Jakeh,” a person otherwise unknown, who disclaims expert knowledge of Wisdom lore (30:3), and avows an agnostic attitude toward theological speculations, yet shows a tender reverence before the name and unplumbed mystery of Yahweh (30:6,9,32). His words amount to a plea against a too adventurous, not to say presumptuous, spirit in the supposed findings of human Wisdom, and as such supply a useful makeweight to the mounting pride of the scholar. Yet over this peculiar plea is placed the word “Massa” ([ aC;M”h” , ha-massa’ ]); “burden” or “oracle,” the term used for prophetic disclosures; and the word for “said” (“the man said,” [ rb,G,h” µaun] , ne’-um ha-genjer ]) is the word elsewhere used for mystic or divine utterance. This seems to mark a stage in the self-consciousness of Wisdom when it was felt that its utterances could be ranked by the side of prophecy as a revelation of truth (compare what Wisdom says of herself, 8:14), and could claim the authoritative term “oracle.” For the rest, apart from the humble reverence with which they are imbued, these words of Agur do not rise to a high level of spiritual thinking; they tend rather to the riddling element, or “dark sayings” (compare 1:6). The form of his proverbs is peculiar, verging indeed on the artificial; he deals mostly in the so-called numerical proverb (“three things .... yea, four”), a style of utterance paralleled elsewhere only in 6:16-19, but something of a favorite in the later cryptic sayings of the scribes, as may be seen in Pirqe ‘Abhoth. 7. Words of King Lemuel: Proverbs 31:1-9 (possibly the whole chapter should be included) is headed, “The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him.” Here occurs again the mysterious Word “oracle,” which would seem to be open to the same interpretation as the one given in the previous paragraph, though some would make this otherwise unknown monarch a king of Massa, and refer to the name of one of the descendants of Ishmael ( Genesis 25:14), presumably a tribal designation. The Hebrew sages from the beginning were in rivalry and fellowship with the sages of other nations (compare 1 Kings 4:30,31); and in the Book of Job, the supreme reach of Wisdom utterance, all of the sages, Job included, are from countries outside of Palestine. King Lemuel, if an actual personage, was not a Jew; and probably Agur was not. The words of Lemuel are a mother’s plea to her royal son for chastity, temperance and justice, the kingly virtues. The form is the simple Hebrew parallelism, not detached couplets, but continuous. 8. An Acrostic Eulogy of Woman: The Book of Proverbs ends in a manner eminently worthy of its high standard of sanity and wisdom. Without any heading (it may possibly belong to the “oracle” that the mother of Lemuel taught her son) the last 22 verses (31:10-31) constitute a single poem in praise of a worthy woman, extolling especially her household virtues. In form these verses begin in the original with the successive 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet; a favorite form of Hebrew verse, as may be seen (in the original) in several of the psalms, notably Psalm 119, and in Lamentations 1 through 4. 3. MOVEMENT TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY.
It has been much the fashion with modern critics to deny to the Hebrews a truly philosophic mind; this they say was rather the distinctive gift of the Greeks; while for their solution of the problem of life the Hebrews depended on direct revelation from above, which precluded that quasiabeyance of concepts, that weighing of cosmic and human elements, involved in the commonly received notion of philosophy. This criticism takes account of only one side of the Hebrew mind. It is true they believed their life to be in direct contact with the will and word of Yahweh, revealed to them in terms which could not be questioned; but in the findings and deliverance of their own intellectual powers, too, they had a reliance and confidence which merits the name of an authentic philosophy. But theirs was a philosophy not of speculative world-making, but of conduct and the practical management of life; and it was intuitive and analogical, not the result of dialectical reasoning. Hence, its name wisdom, the solution itself, rather than philosophy, the love of wisdom, the search for solution. This Book of Proverbs, beginning with detached maxims on the elements of conduct, reveals in many suggestive ways the gradual emergence of a philosophy, a comprehensive wisdom, as it were, in the making; it is thus the pioneer book of that Hebrew Wisdom which we see developed to maturer things in the books of Job and Ecclesiastes. Some of its salient stages may here be traced. 1. Liberation of the Mashal: We may first note it, or the literary preparation for it, in the opening up of the mashal , or proverb unit, toward added elements of illustration, explanation, amplitude, a development that begins to appear, in the oldest section (the classic nucleus, section 2) at about Proverbs 16. The primitive antithetic mashal contrasted two aspects of truth in such a way as to leave the case closed; there was nothing for it but to go on to a new subject. This had the good effect of setting over against each other the great elemental antagonisms of life: righteousness and wickedness, obedience and lawlessness, teachableness and perversity, industry and laziness, prudence and presumption, reticence and prating, etc., and so far forth it was a masterly analysis of the essentials of individual and social conduct. As soon, however, as the synonymous and illustrative mashal prevails, we are conscious of a limbering up and greater penetrativeness of the range of thought; it is open to subtler distinctions and remoter discoveries, and the analogies tend to employ the less direct relationships of cause and effect.
This is increased as we go on, especially by the greater call upon the imagination in the figurative tissue of the Hezekian section, and by the decidedly greater tendency to the riddling and paradox element. The mashal increases in length and amplitude, both by the grouping of similar subjects and by the enlargement from the couplet to the quatrain and the developed poem. All this, while not yet a self-conscious philosophy, is a step on the way thereto. 2. Emergence of Basal Principles: One solid presupposition of the sages, like an axiom, was never called in question: namely, that righteousness and wisdom are identical, that wickedness of any sort is folly. This imparts at once a kind of prophetic coloring to the Wisdom precepts, well represented by the opening proverb in the original section (after the prefatory one about the wise son), “Treasures of wickedness profit nothing; but righteousness delivereth from death” ( Proverbs 10:2). Thus from the outset is furnished an uncompromising background on which the fascinating allurements of vice, the crooked ways of injustice and dishonesty, the sober habits of goodness and right dealing, show for what they are and what they tend to. The sages thus put themselves, too, in entire harmony with what is taught by priests and prophets; there is no quarrel with the law or the word; they simply supply the third strand in the threefold cord of instruction (compare Jeremiah 18:18). From this basal presumption other principles, scarcely less axiomatic, come in view: that the fount and spring of wise living is reverence, the fear of Yahweh; that the ensuring frame of mind is teachableness, the precluding attitude perverseness; that it is the mark of wisdom, or righteousness, to be fearless and above board, of wickedness, which is folly, to be crooked and secretive. These principles recur constantly, not, as a system, but in numerous aspects and applications in the practical business of life. For their sanctions they refer naively to the Hebrew ideal of rewards on the one hand — wealth, honor, long life, family (compare Proverbs 11:31) — and of shame and loss and destruction on the other; but these are emphasized not as direct bestowments or inflictions from a personal Deity, rather as in the law of human nature. The law that evil works its own destruction, good brings its own reward, is forming itself in men’s reason as one of the fundamental concepts out of which grew the Wisdom philosophy. 3. The Conception of Wisdom: From times long before Solomon sagacity in counsel, and. skill to put such counsel into maxim or parable, gave their possessor, whether man or woman, a natural leadership and repute in the local communities (compare 2 Samuel 14:2; 20:16); and Solomon’s exceptional endowment showed itself not merely in his literary tastes, but in his ability, much esteemed among Orientals, to determine the merits of cases brought before him for judgment ( 1 Kings 3:16-28), and to answer puzzling questions ( <111001> Kings 10:1,6,7). It was from such estimate of men’s intellectual powers, from the recognition of mental alertness, sagacity, grasp, in their application to the practical issues of life (compare Proverbs 1:1-5), that the conception of Wisdom in its larger sense arose. As, however, the cultivation of such sagacity of utterance passed beyond the pastime of a royal court (compare 1 Kings 4:29-34) into the hands of city elders and sages it attained to greatly enhanced value; note how the influence of such sage is idealized ( Job 29:7-25). The sages had definite calling and mission of their own, more potent perhaps than belonged to priests and prophets; the frequent reference to the young and the “simple” or immature in the Book of Proverbs would indicate that they were virtually the schoolmasters and educators of the nation. As such, working as they did in a fellowship and collaboration with each other, the subject-matter with which they dealt would not remain as casual and miscellaneous maxims, but work toward a center and system of doctrine which could claim the distinction of an articulated philosophy of life, and all the more since it was so identified with the great Hebrew ideal of righteousness and truth. We have already noted how this sense of the dignity and value of their calling manifested itself in the body of precepts sent in response to solicitation (3 above), with its appendix (4 above) ( Proverbs 22:17 through 24:34). It was not long after this stage of Wisdom-culture, I think, that a very significant new word came into their vocabulary, the word ([ hY;viWT, tushiyah ], a puzzle to the translators, variously rendered “sound wisdom,” “effectual working,” and called by the lexicographers “a technical term of the Wisdom literature,” BDB, under the word). Its earliest appearance, and the only one except in the introductory section ( Proverbs 18:1), is where the man who separates himself from others’ opinions and seeks his own desire is said to quarrel with all tushiyah . The word seems to designate Wisdom in its subjective aspect, as an authentic insight or intuition of truth, the human power to rise into the region of true revelation from below, as distinguished from the prophetic or legal word spoken directly from above. Outside of Proverbs and Job the word occurs only twice: once in Micah 6:9, and once in Isaiah 28:29, in which latter case the prophet has deliberately composed a passage (28:23-29) in the characteristic mashal idiom, and attributed that strain of insight to Yahweh. Evidently there came a time in the culture of Wisdom when its utterances attained in men’s estimate to a parity with utterances direct from the unseen; perhaps this explains why Agur’s and Lemuel’s words could be boldly ranked as oracles (see above, 6 and 7). At any rate, such a high distinction, an authority derived from intimacy with the creative work of Yahweh ( Proverbs 8:30,31), is ascribed to Wisdom ([ hm;k]j; , chokhmah ], in the introductory section; “counsel is mine,” Wisdom is made to say, “and tushiyah ” ( Proverbs 8:14). Thus the Book of Proverbs reveals to us a philosophy, as it were, in the making and from scattered counsels attaining gradually to the summit where the human intellect could place its findings by the side of divine oracles. 4. CONSIDERATIONS OF AGE AND LITERARY KINSHIP.
To get at the history of the Book of Proverbs, several inquiries must be raised. When were the proverbs composed? The book, like the Book of Psalms, is confessedly an anthology, containing various accumulations, and both by style and maturing thought bearing the marks of different ages.
When were the successive compilations made? And, finally, when did the strain of literature here represented reach that point of self-conscious unity and coordination which justified its being reckoned with as a strain by itself and choosing the comprehensive name Wisdom? What makes these inquiries hard to answer is the fact that these proverbs are precepts for the common people, relating to ordinary affairs of the village, the market, and the field, and move in lines remote from politics and dynastic vicissitudes and wars. They are, to an extent far more penetrative and pervasive than law or prophecy, the educative literature on which the sturdy rank and file of the nation was nourished. `Where there is no vision, the people let loose,’ says a Hezekian proverb ( Proverbs 29:18); but so they are also when there is no abiding tonic of social convention and principle. Precisely this latter it is which this Book of Prey in a large degree reveals; and in course of time its value was so felt that, as we have seen, it could rank itself as an asset of life by the side of vision. It represents, in a word, the human movement toward self-directiveness and self-reliance, without supine dependence on ruler or public sentiment (compare Proverbs 29:25,26). When and how was this sane and wholesome communal fiber developed? 1. Under the Kings: When Solomon and his court made the mashal an elegant fad, they builded better than they knew. They gave to the old native form of the proverb and parable, as reduced to epigrammatic mold and polish, the eclat of a popular literature. This was done orally at first (Solomon spoke his proverbs, Kings 4:32,33); but the recording of such carefully expressed utterances could not be long delayed; perhaps this brief style coupe was the most natural early exercise in the new transition from the unwieldly cuneiform to the use of papyrus and a more flexible alphabet, which probably came in with the monarchy. At any rate, here was the medium for a practical didactic literature, applied to the matters of daily life and intercourse to which in Solomon’s time the nation was enthusiastically awake. There is no valid reason for denying to Solomon, or at least to his time, the initiation of the Solomonic mashal ; and if, as has been suggested, the name “proverbs of Solomon” designates rather literary species than personal authorship, the title of the whole book ( Proverbs 1:1), as well as the headings of sections ( Proverbs 10:1; 25:1), may be given in entire good faith, whatever the specific time or personal authorship of the utterances. Nor is there anything either in recorded history or the likelihood of the case to make improbable that the activity of the “men of Hezekiah” means just what is said; these men of letters were adding this supplementary collection (Proverbs 25 through 29) to a body of proverbs that already existed and were recognized as Solomon’s. This would put the composition of the main body of the Proverbs (chapters 10 through 29) prior to the reign of Hezekiah. They represent therefore the chief literary instruction available to the people in the long period of the Kings from Solomon onward, a period which otherwise was very meagerly supplied. The Mosaic Law, as we gather from the finding of the Law in the time of Josiah (2 Kings 22), was at best a sequestered thing in the keeping — or neglect — of priests and judges; the prophetic word was a specific message for great national emergencies; the accumulations of sacred song were the property of the temple and the cult; what then was there for the education of the people?
There were indeed the folk-tales and catechetical legends of their heroic history; but there were also, most influential of all, these wise sayings of the sages, growing bodies of precept and parable, preserved in village centers, published in the open places by the gate (compare Job 29:7), embodying the elements of a common-sense religion and citizenship, and representing views of life which were not only Hebrew, but to a great extent international among the neighbor kingdoms. Understood so, these Solomonic proverbs furnish incomparably the best reflection we have of the religious and social standards of the common people, during a period otherwise meagerly portrayed. And from it we can understand what a sterling fiber of character existed after all, and how well worth preserving for a unique mission in the world, in spite of the idolatrous corruptions that invaded the sanctuaries, the self-pleasing unconcern of the rulers and the pessimistic denunciations of the prophets. 2. The Concentrative Point: For the point in the Hebrew literary history when these scattered Solomonic proverbs were recognized as a homogeneous strain of thought and the compilations were made and recommended as Wisdom, we can do no better, I think, than to name the age of Israel’s literary prime, the age of Hezekiah. The “men of Hezekiah” did more than append their supplementary section (Proverbs 25 through 29); the words “these also” ([ hL,aiAµG” , gam ‘elleh ]) in their heading imply it. See HEZEKIAH, THE MEN OF.
I apprehend the order and nature of their work somehow thus: Beginning with the classic nucleus (Proverbs 10 through 22:16) (see above, II, 2), which may have come to them in two subsections (Proverbs 10 through 15; 16 through 22:16), they put these together as the proverbs most closely associated with Solomon, without much attempt at systematizing, substantially as these had accumulated through the ages in the rough order of their developing form and thought; compiling thus, in their zeal for the literary treasures of the past, the body of educational literature which lay nearest at hand, a body adapted especially, though not exclusively, to the instruction of the young and immature. This done, there next came to their knowledge a remarkable body of “words of the wise” ( Proverbs 22:17 through 24:22), which had evidently been put together by request as a vade mecum for some persons in responsible position, and which were prefaced by a recommendation of them as “words of truth” designed to promote “trust in Yahweh” ( Proverbs 22:19-21) — which latter, as we know from Isaiah, was the great civic issue of Hezekiah’s time. With this section naturally goes the little appendix of “sayings of the wise” ( Proverbs 24:23-34), added probably at about the same time. These two sections, which seem to open the collection to matter beyond the distinctive Solomonic [mashal], are, beyond the rest of the book, in the tone of the introductory section (Proverbs 1 through 9), which latter, along with the Hezekian appendix (Proverbs 25 through 29), was added, partly as a new composition, partly as incorporating some additional findings (compare for instance the completion of the poem on the sluggard, Proverbs 6:6-11).
Thus, by the addition of this introductory section, the Book of Proverbs was recognized as a unity, provided with a preface and initial proposition (1:1-6,7), and launched with such hortatory material as had already, on a smaller scale, introduced the third section. This part not only contains the praise of Wisdom as a human endowment, sharing in the mind and purpose of the divine (8:22-31), but it has become aware also of the revelatory value of tushiyah (2:7; 3:21; 8:14), or chastened intuition (see above, III, 3), and dares to aspire, in its righteous teachableness, to the intimacy or secret friendship of Yahweh ([ wOdwOs , codho ], 3:32). All this indicates the holy self-consciousness to which Wisdom has attained.
I see no cogent reason for postponing the substantial completion of the Book of Proverbs beyond the time of Hezekiah. The words of Agur and of King Lemuel, with the final acrostic poem, may be later additions; but their difference in tone and workmanship is just as likely to be due to the fact that they are admitted, in the liberal spirit of the compilers, from foreign stores of wisdom. For spiritual clarity and intensity they do not rise to the height of the native Hebrew consciousness; and they incline to an artificial structure which suggests that the writer’s interest is divided between sincere tushiyah and literary skill. For the sake of like-minded neighbors, however, something may be forgiven. 3. Its Stage in Progressive Wisdom: It is too early in the history of Wisdom to regard this Book of Proverbs as an articulated and coordinated system. It is merely what it purports to be, a collected body of literature having a common bearing and purpose; a literature of reverent and intelligent self-culture, moving among the ordinary relations of life, and not assuming to embody any mystic disclosures of truth beyond the reach of human reason. As such, it has a vocabulary and range of ideas of its own, which distinguishes it from other strains of literature. This is seen in those passages outside of the Book of Proverbs which deliberately assume, for some specific purpose, the Wisdom dialect. In Isaiah 28:23-29, the prophet, whom the perverse rulers have taunted with baby-talk (28:9,10), appeals to them with the characteristic Wisdom call to attention (28:23), and in illustrations drawn from husbandry proves to them that this also is from Yahweh of hosts, `who is transcendent in counsel, preeminent in tushiyah ’ (28:29) — teaching them thus in their own vaunted idiom. In Micah 6:9-15, similarly, calling in tushiyah to corroborate prophecy (“the voice of Yahweh,” [ hwhy lwOq , qol Yahweh ], [ hY;viWtw] , wethushiyah ], 6:9), the prophet speaks of the natural disasters that men ought to deduce from their abuse of trade relations, evidently appealing to them in their own favorite strain of thinking. Both these passages seem to reflect a time when the Wisdom dialect was prevalent and popular, and both are concerned to call in sound human intuition as an ally of prophecy. At the same time, as prophets have the right to do, they labor to give revelation the casting vote; the authentic disclosure of truth from Yahweh is their objective, not the mere luxury of making clever observations on practical life. All this coincides, in the Wisdom sphere, with what in Isaiah’s and Micah’s time was the supreme issue of state, namely trust in Yahweh, rather than in crooked human devices (compare Isaiah 28:16; 29:15); and it is noteworthy that this is the venture of Wisdom urged by the editors of Proverbs in their introductory exhortations (compare 22:19; 3:5-8). In other words, these editors are concerned with inducing a spiritual attitude; and so in their literary strain they make their book an adjunct in the movement toward spirituality which Isaiah is laboring to promote. As yet, however, its findings are still in the peremptory stage, stated as absolute and unqualified truths; it has not reached the sober testing of fact and interrogation of motive which it must encounter in order to become a seasoned philosophy of life. Its main pervading thesis — that righteousness in the fear of God is wisdom and bound for success, that wickedness is fatuity and bound for destruction — is eternally sound; but it must make itself good in a world where so many of the enterprises of life seem to come out the other way, and where there is so little appreciation of spiritual values. Nor is the time of skepticism and rigid test long in coming.
Two psalms of this period (as I apprehend) (Psalms 73 and 49) concern themselves with the anomaly of the success of the wicked and the trials of the righteous; the latter pointedly adopting the Wisdom or mashal style of utterance ( Psalm 49:3,4), both laboring to induce a more inward and spiritual attitude toward the problem. It remains, however, for the Book of Job to take the momentous forward step of setting wisdom on the unshakable foundation of spiritual integrity, which it does by subjecting its findings to the rigid test of fact and its motives to a drastic Satanic sifting.
It is thus in the Book of Job, followed later by the Book of Ecclesiastes, that the Wisdom strain of literature, initiated by the Proverbs of Solomon, finds its Old Testament culmination. John Franklin Genung PROVIDENCE <prov’-i-dens > : 1. PROVIDENCE DEFINED.
The word “provide” (from Latin providere) means etymologically “to foresee.” The corresponding Greek word, [pro>noia, pronoia ], means “forethought.” Forethought and foresight imply a future end, a goal and a definite purpose and plan for attaining that end. The doctrine of final ends is a doctrine of final causes, and means that that which is last in realization and attainment is first in mind and thought. The most essential attribute of rational beings is that they act with reference to an end; that they act not only with thought but with forethought. As, therefore, it is characteristic of rational beings to make preparation for every event that is foreseen or anticipated, the word “providence” has come to be used less in its original etymological meaning of foresight than to signify that preparation care and supervision which are necessary to secure a desired future result. While all rational beings exercise a providence proportioned to their powers, yet it is only when the word is used with reference to the Divine Being who is possessed of infinite knowledge and power that it takes on its real and true significance. The doctrine of divine providence, therefore, has reference to that preservation care and government which God exercises over all things that He has created in order they may accomplish the ends for which they were created. “Providence is the most comprehensive term in the language of theology. It is the background of all the several departments of religious truth, a background mysterious in its commingled brightness and darkness. It penetrates and fills the whole compass of the relations of man with his Maker. It connects the unseen God with the visible creation, and the visible creation with the work of redemption, and redemption with personal salvation, and personal salvation with the end of all things. It carries our thoughts back to the supreme purpose which was in the beginning with God, and forward to the foreseen end and consummation of all things, while it includes between these the whole infinite variety of the dealings of God with man” (W. B. Pope, Compendium of Christian Theology, I, 456). 2. DIFFERENT SPHERES OF PROVIDENTIAL ACTIVITY DISTINGUISHED.
The created universe may be conveniently divided, with reference divine providence, into three departments: first, the inanimate or physical universe, which is conserved or governed by God according to certain uniform principles called the laws of Nature; secondly, animate existence, embracing the vegetable and animal world, over which God exercises that providential care which is necessary to sustain the life that He created; and thirdly, the rational world, composed of beings who, in addition to animate life, are possessed of reason and moral free agency, and are governed by God, not necessitatively, but through an appeal to reason, they having the power to obey or disobey the laws of God according to the decision of their own free wills. This widespread care and supervision which God exercises over His created universe is commonly designated as His general providence which embraces alike the evil and the good, in addition to which there is a more special and particular providence which He exercises over and in behalf of the good, those whose wills are in harmony with the divine will. 3. BIBLICAL PRESENTATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF PROVIDENCE.
The word “providence” is used only once in the Scriptures ( Acts 24:2), and here it refers, not to God, but to the forethought and work of man, in which sense it is now seldom used. (See also Romans 13:14, where the same Greek word is translated “provision.”) While, however, the Biblical use of the word calls for little consideration, the doctrine indicated by the term “providence” is one of the most significant in the Christian system, and is either distinctly stated or plainly assumed by every Biblical writer.
The Old Testament Scriptures are best understood when interpreted as a progressive revelation of God’s providential purpose for Israel and the world. Messianic expectations pervade the entire life and literature of the Hebrew people, and the entire Old Testament dispensation may not improperly be regarded as the moral training and providential preparation of the world, and especially of the chosen people, for the coming Messiah.
In the apocryphal “Book of Wisdom” the word “providence” is twice used (Wisd 14:3; 17:2) in reference to God’s government of the World.
Rabbinical Judaism, according to Josephus, was much occupied with discussing the relation of divine providence to human free will. The Sadducees, he tells us, held an extreme view of human freedom, while the Essenes were believers in absolute fate; the Pharisees, avoiding these extremes, believed in both the overruling providence of God and in the freedom and responsibility of man (Ant., XIII, v, 9; XVIII, i, 3; BJ, II, viii, 14). See PHARISEES. The New Testament begins with the announcement that the “kingdom of heaven is at hand,” which declaration carries along with it the idea of a providential purpose and design running through the preceding dispensation that prepared for the Messiah’s coming. But the work of Christ is set forth in the New Testament, not only as the culmination of a divine providence that preceded it, but as the beginning of a new providential order, a definite and far-reaching plan, for the redemption of the world, a forethought and plan so comprehensive that it gives to the very idea of divine providence a new, larger and richer meaning, both intensively and extensively, than it ever had before. The minutest want of the humblest individual and the largest interests of the world-wide kingdom of God are alike embraced within the scope of divine providence as it is set forth by Christ and the apostles. 1. Divine Providence in the Old Testament Scriptures: (1) Providence in the Pentateuch.
The opening sentence of the Scriptures, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” is a noble and majestic affirmation of God’s essential relationship to the origin of all things. It is followed by numerous utterances scattered throughout the sacred volume that declare that He who created also preserves and governs all that He created. But the Israelite nation was from the beginning of its history, in the Hebrew conception, the special object of God’s providence and care, though it was declared that Yahweh’s lordship and government extended over all the earth ( Exodus 8:22). The Deuteronomist ( Deuteronomy 10:14) uses language which implies that divine possession of all things in heaven and earth carries along with it the idea of divine providence and control; and he also regards Israel as Yahweh’s peculiar possession and special care ( Deuteronomy 32:8).
This special providence that was over the elect nation as a whole was also minute and particular, in that special individuals were chosen to serve a providential purpose in the making of the nation, and were divinely-guided in the accomplishment of their providential mission. Thus Abraham’s providential place in history is set forth in Nehemiah 9:7,8. Jacob acknowledges the same providential hand in his life ( Genesis 31:42; 48:15). The life of Joseph abounds in evidences of a divine providence ( Genesis 45:5,7; 50:20). The whole life-history of Moses as it is found in the Pentateuch is a study in the doctrine of divine providence. Other lives as set forth in these early narratives may be less notable, but they are not less indebted to divine providence for what they are and for what they accomplish for others. Indeed, as Professor Oehler remarks, “The whole Pentateuchal history of revelation is nothing but the activity of that divine providence which in order to the realization of the divine aim, is at once directed to the whole, and at the same time proves itself efficacious in the direction of the life of separate men, and in the guiding of all circumstances” (Old Testament Theology). (2) The Historical Books of the Old Testament.
In a sense all the books of the Old Testament are historical in that they furnish material for writing a history of the people of Israel. See ISRAEL, HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE. The Pentateuch, the Poetical Books, the Wisdom Literature, the Prophets, all furnish material for writing Old Testament history; but there is still left a body of literature, including the books from Joshua to Esther that may with peculiar fitness designated as historical. These books are all, in an important sense, an interpretation and presentation of the facts of Hebrew history in their relation to divine providence. The sacred historians undertake to give something of a divine philosophy of history, to interpret in a religious way the facts of history, to point out the evils of individual and national sin and the rewards and blessings of righteousness, and to show God’s ever-present and everguiding hand in human history — that He is not a silent spectator of human affairs, but the supreme moral Governor of the universe, to whom individuals and nations alike owe allegiance. To the Hebrew historian every event in the life of the nation has a moral significance, both because of its relation to God and because of its bearing on the providential mission and testing of Israel as the people of God. The Book of Judges, which covers the “dark ages” of Bible history, and is an enigma to many in the study of God’s hand in history, shows how far God must needs condescend at times in His use of imperfect and even sensual men through whom to reveal His will and accomplish His work in the world. While therefore He condescends to use as instruments of His providence such men as Samson and Jephthah, it is never through these that He does His greatest work, but through an Abraham, a Joseph, a Moses, an Isaiah, through men of lofty moral character. And this is one of the most notable lessons of Old Testament history if it be studied as a revelation of God’s providential methods and instrumentalities. Among these historical writers none has given clearer and stronger expression to God’s providential relation to the physical world as its preserver and to the moral world as its Divine Governor than the author of Nehemiah. “Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all. .... Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them” ( Nehemiah 9:6,19,20 the King James Version).
His words reflect the views that were entertained by all the Old Testament historains as to God’s hand in the government and guidance of the nation.
Hebrew history, because of the divine promises and divine providence, is ever moving forward toward the Messianic goal. (3) The Psalms.
The poets are among the world’s greatest religious teachers, and theology of the best poets generally represents the highest and purest faith that is found among a people. Applying this truth to the Hebrew race, we may say that in the Psalms and the Book of Job we reach the high-water mark of the Old Testament revelation as to the doctrine of divine providence. The Psalmist’s God is not only the Creator and Preserver of all things, but is a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God, a Being so full of tender mercy and loving-kindness that we cannot fail to identify Him with the God whom Christ taught us to call “our Father.” Nowhere else in the entire Scriptures, except in the Sermon on the Mount, can we find such a full and clear exhibition of the minute and special providence of God over His faithful and believing children as in the Psalms — notably such as Psalms 91; 103; 104 and 139. Psalm 105 traces God’s hand in providential and gracious guidance through every stage of Israel’s wondrous history. Thanksgiving and praise for providential mercies and blessings abound in Psalms 44; 66; 78; 85; 138. While the relation of God’s power and providence to the physical universe and to the material and temporal blessings of life is constantly asserted in the Psalms, yet it is the connection of God’s providence with man’s ethical and spiritual nature, with righteousness and faith and love, that marks the highest characteristic of the Psalmist’s revelation of the doctrine of providence. That righteousness and obedience are necessary conditions and accompaniments of divine providence in its moral aspects and results is evidenced by numerous declarations of the psalmists (1:6; 31:19,20; 74:12; 84:11; 91:1; 125:2). This thought finds happiest expression in Psalm 37:23 the King James Version: “The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord, and he delighteth in his way.” The inspired poets make it plain that the purpose of divine providence is not merely to meet temporal wants and bring earthly blessings, but to secure the moral good of individuals and nations. (4) The Wisdom Literature.
The doctrine of providence finds ample and varied expression in the wisdom Lit. of the Old Testament, notably in the Book of Proverbs. The power that preserves and governs and guides is always recognized as inseparable from the power that creates and commands ( Proverbs 3:21-26; 16:4). Divine providence does not work independently of man’s free will; providential blessings are conditioned on character and conduct ( Proverbs 26:10 the King James Version; Proverbs 2:7,8; 12:2,21).
There cannot be, in Old Testament terms of faith, any stronger statement of the doctrine of divine providence than that given by the Wise Men of Israel in the following utterances recorded in the Book of Proverbs: “In thy ways acknowledge him and he will direct thy paths” (3:6); “A man’s heart deviseth his way, but Yahweh directeth his steps” (16:9) “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of Yahweh” (16:33); “A man’s goings are of Yahweh” (20:24); “The king’s heart is in the hand of Yahweh as the watercourses: He turneth it whithersoever he will” (21:1); “The horse is prepared against the day of battle; but victory is of Yahweh” (21:31). See also 3:21-26; 12:2,21. The conception of providence that is presented in the Book of Ecclesiastes seems to reflect the views of one who had had experience in sin and had come into close contact with many of life’s ills. All things have their appointed time, but the realization of the providential purposes and ends of creaturely existence is, wherever human free agency is involved, always conditioned upon man’s exercise of his free will. The God of providence rules and overrules, but He does not by His omnipotence overpower and override and destroy man’s true freedom.
Things that are do not reflect God’s perfect providence, but rather His providence as affected by human free agency and as marred by man’s sin ( Ecclesiastes 3:1-11). “I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live: And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God” ( Ecclesiastes 3:12,13; see also 3:14); “The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God” ( Ecclesiastes 9:1); “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong” ( Ecclesiastes 9:11). The same conclusion that the author of Ecclesiastes reached as to how human life is affected by divine providence and man’s sin has found expression in the oft-quoted lines of the great poet: “There’s a Divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.” (5) The Book of Job.
The greatest of all the inspired contributions to the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament, the Book of Job, demands special consideration. It is the one book in the Bible that is devoted wholly to a discussion of divine providence. The perplexities of a thoughtful mind on the subject of divine providence and its relation to human suffering have nowhere in the literature of the world found stronger and clearer expression than in this inspired drama which bears the name of its unique and marvelous hero, Job. Job represents not only a great sufferer, but an honest doubter: he dared to doubt theology of his day, a theology which he had himself doubtless believed until experience, the best of all teachers, taught him its utter inadequacy to explain the deepest problems of human life and of divine providence. The purpose of this book in the inspired volume seems to be to correct the prevailing theology of the day with regard to the subject of Sin and suffering in their relation to divine providence. There is no more deplorable and hurtful error that a false theology could teach than that all suffering in this world is a proof of sin and a measure of one’s guilt (see AFFLICTION). It is hard enough for the innocent to suffer. To add to their suffering by them that it is all because they are awful sinners, even though their hearts assure them that they are not, is to lay upon the innocent a burden too grievous to be borne. The value in the inspired Canon of a book written to reveal the error of such a misleading doctrine as this cannot easily be over-estimated. The invaluable contribution which this book makes to the Biblical doctrine of providence is to be found, not in individual and detached sayings, striking and suggestive as some of these may be, but rather in the book as a whole. Statements concerning God’s general abound in this inspired drama — such these, for example: “Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of Yahweh hath wrought this, in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?” ( Job 12:9,10) ; “Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world? .... He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their stead” ( Job 34:13,14 the King James Version).
But the special contribution of the Book of Job to the doctrine of divine providence, as already indicated, is to set forth its connection with the fact of sin and suffering. Perplexed souls in all ages have been asking: If God be all-powerful and all-good, why should there be any suffering in a world which He created and over which He rules? If He cannot prevent suffering is He omnipotent? If He can, but will not prevent suffering, is He infinitely good? Does the book solve the mystery? We cannot claim that it does. But it does vindicate the character of God, the Creator, and of Job, the moral free agent under trial. It does show the place of suffering in a moral world where free agents are forming Character; it does show that perfect moral character is made, not by divine omnipotence, but by trial, and that physical suffering serves a moral end in God’s providential government of men and nations. While the book does not clear the problem of mystery, it does show how on the dark background of a suffering world the luminous holiness of divine and human character may be revealed. The picture of this suffering man of Uz, racked with bodily pains and irritated by the illspoken words of well-meaning friends, planting himself on the solid rock of his own conscious rectitude, and defying earth and hell to prove him guilty of wrong, and knowing that his Vindicator liveth and would come to his rescue — that is an inspired picture that will make every innocent sufferer who reads it stronger until the end of time. See also JOB, BOOK OF. (6) The Prophetical Writings.
Nowhere in all literature is the existence and supremacy of a moral and providential order in the world more clearly recognized thin in the writings of the Old Testament prophets. These writings are best understood when interpreted as the moral messages and passionate appeals of men who were not only prophets and preachers of righteousness to their own times, but students and teachers of the moral philosophy of history for all time, seers, men of vision, who interpreted all events in the light of their bearing on this moral and providential order, in which divine order the Israelite nation had no small part, and over which Israel’s God was sovereign, doing “according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth.” While each prophetic message takes its coloring from the political, social and moral conditions that called it forth, and therefore differs from every other message, the prophets are all one in their insistence upon the supremacy and divine authority of this moral order, and in their looking forward to the coming of the Messiah and the setting up of the Messianic kingdom as the providential goal and consummation of the moral order.
They all describe in varying degrees of light and shade a coming time when One born of their own oppressed and down-trodden race should come in power and glory, and set up a kingdom of righteousness and love in the earth, into which kingdom all nations shall be ultimately gathered; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. God’s providential government of the nation was always and everywhere directed toward this Messianic goal.
The language which an inspired writer puts into the mouth of Nebuchadnezzar, the heathen king, is an expression, not so much of the Gentileconception of God and His government, as it is of the faith of a Hebrew prophet concerning God’s relationship to men and nations: “He doeth according to his will in army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” ( Daniel 4:35). The providential blessings which the prophets promise to the people, whether to individuals or to the nation, are never a matter of mere omnipotence or favoritism, but are inseparably connected with righteous conduct and holy character. The blessings promised are mainly spiritual, but whether spiritual or material, they are always conditioned on righteousness. The Book of Isaiah is especially rich in passages that emphasize the place of moral conduct and character in God’s providential government of the world, the supreme purpose and end of which are to establish a kingdom of righteousness in the earth ( Isaiah 33:13-16; 35:8-10; 43:2; 46:4; 54:14-17). Divine providence is both personal and national, and of each it is declared in varying terms of assurance that “Yahweh will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward” ( Isaiah 52:12). Each of the major and minor prophets confirms and reenforces the teachings of this greatest and most truly representative of all the Old Testament prophets. 2. Divine Providence in the New Testament: (1) The Synoptic Gospels.
The Synoptic Gospels furnish the richest possible material for a study of the doctrine of divine providence. They recognize in the advent of Christ the fulfillment of a long line of Messianic prophecies and the culmination of providential purposes and plans that had been in the divine mind from the beginning and awaited the fullness of time for their revelation in the Incarnation ( Matthew 1:22; 2:5,15; 3:3). In His private and personal life of service and prayer Christ is a model of filial trust in the providence of the heavenly Father ( Matthew 11:25; 26:39; Mark 1:35; 6:46; Luke 3:21; 11:1). His private and public utterances abound in declarations concerning God’s ever-watchful and loving care for all His creatures, but above all for those creatures who bear His own image; while His teachings concerning the Kingdom of God reveal a divine providential plan for the world’s redemption and education extending of necessity far into the future; and still beyond that, in His vision of divine providence, comes a day of final judgment, of retribution and reward, followed by a new and eternal order of things, in which the destiny of every man will be determined by his conduct and character in this present life (see our Lord’s parables concerning the Kingdom: Matthew 13:24-50; Mark 4:26 ff; Luke 14:16 ff; also Matthew 24 and 25). The many familiar utterances of our Lord, found in the Synoptic Gospels, contain the most essential and precious of all the New Testament revelations concerning the providence of the heavenly Father ( Matthew 5:45; 6:26-34; 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18). (2) The Johannine Writings.
John’s Gospel differs from the Synoptic Gospels in its mode of presenting the doctrine of providence chiefly in that it goes back to the mind and purpose of God in the very beginning ( John 1:1-5), whereas the Synoptic Gospels simply go back to the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. Both the Gospel and the Epistles of John in their presentation of divine providence place the greatest possible emphasis on divine love and filial trust, the latter rising in many places to the point of positive assurance. The Book of Revelation is a prophetic vision, in apocalyptic form, of God’s providential purpose for the future, dealing not so much with individuals as with nations and with the far-reaching movements of history extending through the centuries. God is revealed in John’s writings, not as an omnipotent and arbitrary Sovereign, but as an all-loving Father, who not only cares for His children in this life but is building for them in the world to come a house of many mansions ( John 14:1-20). (3) The Book of Acts and Other New Testament History.
The historical portions of the New Testament, as contained in the Acts, and elsewhere, while not eliminating or depreciating the element of human freedom in individuals and nations, yet recognize in human life and history the ever-present and all-controlling mind of that God in whom, it is declared, “we live, and move, and have our being” ( Acts 17:28). The career of the first distinctive New Testament character begins with these words: “There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John” ( John 1:6). But not only John, the forerunner, but every other individual, according to the New Testament conceptions, is a man “sent from God.” The apostles conceive themselves to be such; Stephen, the martyr, was such; Paul was such ( Acts 22:21). New Testament biography is a study in providentially guided lives, not omitting references to those who refuse to be so guided — for such is the power of human free agency, many who are “sent from God” refuse to go upon their divinelyappointed mission. The Day of Pentecost is the revelation of a new power in history — a revelation of the place and power which the divine-human Christ and the Holy Spirit are to have henceforth in making history — in making the character of the men and the nations whose deeds are to make history. The most potent moral force in history is to be, from the day of Pentecost on, the ascended incarnate Christ, and He is to be all the more influential in the world after His ascension, when His work shall be done through the Holy Spirit. This is the historical view of providence as connected with the person of Christ, which the New Testament historians present, and which we, after 19 centuries of Christian history, are warranted in holding more confidently and firmly even than the Christians of the 1st century could hold it; for the Christian centuries have proved it true. What God is in Nature Christ is in history. All history is becoming Christian history, thus realizing the New Testament conception of divine providence in and through Christ. (4) The Pauline Writings.
No character of whom we have any account in Christian literature was providentially prepared for his life-work and providentially guided in accomplishing that life-work more truly than was the apostle Paul. We find, there. fore, as we would antecedently expect, that Paul’s speeches and writings abound in proofs of his absolute faith in the overruling providence of an all-wise God. His doctrine of predestination and foreordination is best understood when interpreted, not as a divine power predetermining human destiny and nullifying the human will, but as a conception of divine providence as the eternal purpose of God to accomplish an end contemplated and foreseen from the beginning, namely, the redemption of the world and the creation in and through Christ of a new and holy humanity. Every one of the Pauline Epistles bears witness to the author’s faith in a divine providence that overrules and guides the life of every soul that works in harmony with the divine will; but this providence is working to secure as its chief end, not material and temporal blessings, but the moral and spiritual good of those concerned. Paul’s teachings concerning divine providence as it concerns individuals and is conditioned on character may be found summed up in what is perhaps the most comprehensive single sentence concerning providence that was ever written: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” ( Romans 8:28 the King James Version). Any true exposition of the New Testament doctrine of divine providence that may be given can only be an unfolding of the content of this brief but comprehensive statement. The greatest of the Pauline Epistles, that to the Romans, is a study in the divine philosophy of history, a revelation of God’s providential purpose and plan concerning the salvation, not merely of individuals, but of the nations. These purposes, as Paul views them, whether they concern individuals or the entire race, are always associated with the mediatorial ministry of Christ: “For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever” ( Romans 11:36). (5) The Petrine Epistles, and Other New Testament Writings.
The Epistles of Peter, James, and Jude, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, are all in entire accord with the teachings of the other New Testament writings already considered. Peter, who at first found it so hard to see how God’s providential purpose in and for the Messiah could be realized if Christ should suffer and die, came later to see that the power and the glory of Christ and His all-conquering gospel are inseparably connected with the sufferings and death of the Messiah ( 1 Peter 1:11,12). No statement concerning God’s providence over the righteous can be clearer or stronger than the following utterance of Peter: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good?” ( 1 Peter 3:12,13). The purpose and end of divine providence as viewed in the Epistle of James are always ethical: as conduct and character are the end and crown of Christian effort, so they are the end and aim of divine providence as it cooperates with men to make them perfect ( James 1:5,17,27; 2:5; 5:7). The apologetic value of the Epistle to the Hebrews grows out of the strong proof it presents that Christ is the fulfillment, not only of the Messianic prophecies and expectations of Israel, but of the providential purposes and plans of that God who at sundry times and in divers manners had spoken in times past unto the fathers by a long line of prophets ( Hebrews 1:1,2; 11:7-40; 13:20,21).
It would be difficult to crowd into one short chapter a more comprehensive study of the lessons of history that illustrate the workings and the retributions of the moral law under divine providence than is found in the Epistle of Jude (see especially 1:5,7,11,14,15,24). 3. Old Testament and New Testament Doctrines of Providence Compared: From this brief survey of the teachings of the Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures concerning the doctrine of divine providence, it will be seen that, while the New Testament reaffirms in most particulars the doctrine of divine providence as set forth in the Old Testament Scriptures, there are three particulars in which the points of emphasis are changed, and by which new and changed emphasis the doctrine is greatly enriched in the New Testament. (1) The New Emphasis on the Fatherhood and Love of God.
The God of providence in the Old Testament is regarded as a Sovereign whose will is to be obeyed, and His leading attributes are omnipotence and holiness, whereas in the New Testament God is revealed as the heavenly Father, and His providence is set forth as the forethought and care of a father for his children. His leading attributes here are love and holiness — His very omnipotence is the omnipotence of love. To teach that God is not only a righteous Ruler to be feared and adored, but a tender and loving Father who is ever thinking of and caring for His children, is to make God lovable and turn His providence into an administration of Almighty love. (2) The Place of Christ and the Holy Spirit in Providence.
The doctrine of providence in the New Testament is connected with the person of Christ and the administration of the Holy Spirit, in a manner that distinguishes it from the Old Testament presentation of providence as the work of the one God who was there revealed in the simple unity of His nature without distinction of persons. If it be true, as some theologians have taught, that “God the Father plans, God the Son executes, and God the Holy Ghost applies,” then it would follow that providence is the work exclusively of Christ and the Holy Spirit; but this theological formula, while it has suggestive value, cannot be accepted as an accurate statement of Biblical doctrine with reference to divine providence. Christ constantly refers creation and providence to the Father. But He also said, “My Father worketh even until now, and I work” ( John 5:17), and the New Testament writers attribute to Christ the work both of creation and providence. Thus Paul: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist” ( Colossians 1:16,17 the King James Version). Although this and other passages refer to Christ’s relation to general providence, including the government of the physical universe, yet it is only when the divine government is concerned with the redemption of a lost world and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the hearts and lives of men, that the full extent of Christ’s part in divine providence can be realized. The saving and perfecting of men is the supreme purpose of providence, if it be viewed from the New Testament standpoint, which is that of Christ’s mediatorial ministry. (3) The New Emphasis upon Moral and Spiritual Blessings.
The New Testament not only subordinates the material and temporal aspects of providence to the spiritual and eternal more than does the Old Testament, but Christ and the apostles, to an extent that finds no parallel in the Old Testament, place the emphasis of their teaching concerning providence upon man’s moral needs and eternal interests, and upon the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, the establishment of which in the hearts and lives of men is the one great object for which both the heavenly Father and His children are ceaselessly working. To be free from sin, to be holy in heart and useful in life, to love and obey God as a Father, to love and serve men as brothers — this is the ideal and the end for which, according to the New Testament, men should work and pray, and this is the end toward which God is working by His ceaseless cooperative providence. 4. DISCUSSION OF THE CONTENTS OF THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE. 1. Different Views of Providence Compared: There are four distinct conceptions of providence as it concerns God’s relation to the ongoing of the world and to man, the rational and moral free agent whom He has placed upon it, namely, the atheistic, the deistic, the pantheistic, and theistic or Biblical view. See also GOD, I, 4. The last named view can best be understood only when stated in comparison and contrast with these opposing views. (1) The Atheistic or Materialistic View:
Atheism or materialism, stands at one extreme, affirming that there is no God, that the material universe is eternal, and that from material atoms, eternally endowed with certain properties, there have come, by a process of evolution, all existing forms of vegetable, animal and rational life. As materialism denies the existence of a personal Creator, it, of course, denies any and every doctrine of divine providence. (2) The Pantheistic View:
Pantheism stands at the other extreme from atheism, teaching that God is everything and everything is God. The created universe is “the living garment” of God — God is the soul of the world, the universe His existence form. But God is an infinite It, not a personal Being who can express His existence in terms of selfconsciousness — I, Thou, He, Providence, according to pantheism, is simply the evolution of impersonal deity, differing from materialism only in the name which it gives to the infinite substance from which all things flow. (3) The Deistic View:
Deism teaches that there is a God, and that He created the world, but created things do not need His presence and the exercise of His power in order to continue in existence and fulfill their functions. The material world is placed under immutable law; while man, the rational and moral free agent, is left to do as he wills. God sustains, according to deism, very much the same relation to the universe that the clock-maker does to his timepiece. Having made his clock, and wound it up, he does not interfere with it, and the longer it can run without the maker’s intervention the greater the evidence of wisdom and skill on the part of the maker. God according to deism has never wrought a miracle nor made a supernatural revelation to man. The only religion that is possible to man is natural religion; he may reason from Nature up to Nature’s God. The only value of prayer is its subjective influence; it helps us to answer our own prayers, to become and be what we are praying to be. If the Divine Being is a prayerhearing God, He is least not a prayer-answering God. The laws of Nature constitute God’s general providence; but there is no other personal and special providence than this, according to deism. God, the deists affirm, is too great, too distant, too transcendent a Being to concern Himself with the details of creaturely existence. (4) The Theistic or Biblical View:
The theistic or Biblical conception of providence teaches that God is not only the Creator but the Preserver of the universe, and that the preservation of the universe, no less than its creation, implies and necessitates at every moment of time an omnipotent and omnipresent personal Being. This world is not “governed by the laws of Nature,” as deism teaches, but it is “governed by God according to the laws of Nature.” “Law,” in itself, is an impotent thing, except as it is the expression of a free will or person back of it; “the laws of Nature” are meaningless and impotent, except as they are an expression of the uniform mode, according to which God preserves and governs the world. It is customary to speak of the laws of Nature as if they were certain self-existent forces or powers governing the world. But shall we not rather say that there is no real cause except personal will — either the divine will or created wills? If this be true, then it is inconsistent to say that God has committed the government of the physical universe to “secondary causes” — that is, to the laws of Nature — and that these laws are not immediately dependent upon Him for their efficiency. The omnipresent and ever-active God is the only real force and power and cause in the universe, except as created wills may be true and real causes within their limited bounds. This view of God’s relation to the created universe serves to distinguish the Biblical doctrine of divine providence from the teachings of materialists and deists, who eliminate entirely the divine hand from the ongoing of the universe, and in its stead make a god of the “laws of Nature,” and hence, have no need for a divine preserver. Biblical theism makes ample room for the presence of the supernatural and miraculous, but we must not be blind to a danger here, in that it is possible to make so much of the presence of God in the supernatural (revelation, inspiration, and miracle) as to overlook entirely His equally important and necessary presence in the natural — which would be to encourage a deistical conception of God’s relation to the world by exaggerating His transcendence at the expense of His immanence.
That is the true theistic doctrine of providence which, while not undervaluing the supernatural and miraculous, yet stedfastly maintains that God is none the less present in, and necessary to, what is termed the “natural.” (5) The Divine Immanence.
This idea of God’s essential relation to the continuation of all things in existence is perhaps best expressed by the term “immanence.” Creation emphasizes God’s transcendence, while providence emphasizes His immanence. Pantheism affirms God’s immanence, but denies His transcendence. Deism affirms His transcendence, but denies His immanence. Biblical theism teaches that God is both transcendent and immanent. By the term “transcendence,” when applied to God, is meant that the Divine Being is a person, separate and distinct from Nature and above Nature — “Nature” being used here in its largest signification as including all created things. By the Divine Immanence is meant that God is in Nature as well as over Nature, and that the continuance of Nature is as directly and immediately dependent upon Him as the origin of Nature — indeed, by some, God’s preservation of the created universe is defined as an act of “continuous creation.” By the Divine Immanence is meant something more than omnipresence, which term, in itself alone, does not affirm any causal relation between God and the thing to which He is present, whereas the term “immanence” does affirm such causal relation.
By asserting the Divine Immanence, therefore, as the mode of God’s providential efficiency, we affirm that all created things are dependent upon Him for continued existence, that the laws of Nature have no efficiency apart from their Creator and Preserver, that God is to be sought and seen in all forms and phases of creaturely existence, in the natural as well as the supernatural and miraculous, that He is not only omnipresent but always and everywhere active both in the natural and the spiritual world, and that without Him neither the material atom, nor the living organism, nor the rational soul could have any being. He not only created all things, but “by him all things consist,” that is, by Him all things are preserved in being. 2. The Divine Purpose and Final End of Providence: What, then, let us ask, do the Scriptures teach as to the purpose and end of God’s providential goverment of the world? Back of this question is another: What was the divine motive and supreme thought in the creation of the universe, and what the final cause and end of all things in the mind and purpose of God? If we can think God’s thoughts after Him and discover this “final cause” of creation, with even approximate accuracy, then we shall find a principle that will illuminate at least, if it does not fully explain, the methods and mysteries of providence. We venture to affirm that the controlling thought in the mind of God in establishing this order of things, of which we are a conscious part, was to create a race of beings who should find their highest happiness by being in the highest degree holy, and who should, in proportion as they attain their highest holiness and happiness, thereby in the highest degree glorify their Creator. The Creator’s highest glory can be promoted only by such beings as are at once rational, moral, free, holy. There are unconscious, unthinking, unmoral forms of existence, but the motive and meaning of the universe is to be found, not in the lower, the physical and animal, but in the highest, in the rational and moral. The lower exists for the higher, the material and animal for the spiritual and moral. A being whose character is formed under the conditions and laws of intellectual and moral freedom is higher than any being can be that is what it is necessitatively, that is, by virtue of conditions over which it has no control. Character that is formed freely under God’s government and guidance will glorify the Creator more than anything can which is made to be what it is wholly by divine omnipotence. These things being true, it follows that God’s providence in the world will be directed primarily and ceaselessly toward developing character in free moral agents, toward reducing sin to the minimum and developing the maimum of holiness, in every way and by every means compatible with perfect moral freedom in the creature.
The possibility of sin in a world of free agents and in a state of probation is unavoidable, but to say that sin is possible does not mean that it is necessary. See CHOICE; WILL. The final cause and end, the purpose and motive, of divine providence, then, are not the temporal, material and earthly happiness of men, but the highest ultimate moral good of free beings whose highest happiness is secured through their highest holiness — which means first, their obedience to the holy will of God as their Father, and secondly, loving and self-sacrificing service to their fellow-men. This ever-present and all-dominating moral purpose of divine providence determines its methods and explains, in part at least, what would otherwise be its mysteries. With this conception of divine providence the general trend of Biblical thought is in entire accord. In the light of Christ’s revelation of God as a holy and loving Father who regards all men as His children and whose chief concern is to develop holiness and love in those whom He loves, we may define divine providence as Infinite Wisdom, using infinite power to accomplish the ends of infinite holiness and love.
The originating and determining cause of divine providence is, in the New Testament conception of it, always to be found in the love of God, while the final cause is the glory of the Father as realized in the holiness and happiness of His children. 3. Special Providence: By the doctrine of special providence, according to the best use of that term in theological literature, is meant as already indicated, that minute care and ever-watchful supervision which God exercises over His obedient and believing children in things, both small and great, which are designed to secure their ever-increasing holiness and usefusness. God’s general providence is and must be special, in that it descends to particulars — to the minute details of creaturely existence — and is always and everywhere active. But the Scriptures teach that there is a more special care over and ordering of the lives of the spiritually good than pertains to the wicked, who have not the fear of God before their eyes. The following Scriptures set forth in unmistakable terms the doctrine of a special providence exercised by the heavenly Father over and in behalf of the righteous: “A man’s goings are established of Yahweh; and he delighteth in his way” ( Psalm 37:23); “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths” ( Proverbs 3:6); “There shall no mischief happen to the righteous” ( Proverbs 12:21); “But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” ( Matthew 6:33); “To them that love God all things work together for good” ( Romans 8:28). The following points seem to be plainly involved in any statement of the doctrine of special providence that can claim to be faithful to the teachings of the Scriptures; (1) Spiritual, Not Material, Good to Man the End Sought in Special Providence.
A mistaken and hurtful notion has long been prevalent to the effect that special providence is designed to secure the secular and earthly good, the material and temporal prosperity, of God’s children. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Material blessings may indeed come as a special providence to the child of God ( Matthew 6:33 et al.), but that “good” which all things work together to secure for them that love God is mainly spirtual good, and not financial or social, or intellectual, or temporal good, except as these may secure ultimate spiritual good. Indeed, God’s special providence make take away wealth and bring poverty in its stead in order to impart the “true riches.” It may defeat rather than further one’s worldly hopes and ambitions; may bring sickness rather than health, and ever death instead of life — for sometimes a Christian can do more good by sickness or death than by health or continued life — and when that is the case, his sickness or death may well be interpreted as a special providence. “Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”
Many of the Old Testament promises do, it is true, seem to have special reference to material and temporal blessings, but we should remember that the best interpretation of these is to be found in the New Testament, where they are (as, for example, when quoted by Christ in the Temptation) interpreted as having mainly a spiritual signifigcance. When our Lord speaks of the very hairs of our heads being numbered, and declares that if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without the Father’s notice, surely we, who are of more value than many sparrows, cannot drift beyond His love and care, His words might be interpreted as teaching that God will save us from physical suffering and death; but such is not His meaning, for, in the very same context He speaks of how they to whom He thus pledges His love and care shall be persecuted and hated for His name’s sake, and how some of them shall be put to death; and yet His promise was true. God was with them in their physical sufferings, but the great blessing wherewith He blessed them was not physical, but moral and spiritual. (2) Special Providence and “Accidents.”
Another still more mistaken and hurtful notion concerning special providence is the association of it with, and the limitation of it largely to, what are called “accidents,” those irregular and occasional occurrences which involve more than ordinary danger and risk to life. The popular notion of special providence associates it with a happy escape from visible dangers and serious injury, as when the house catches on fire, or the horses run away, or the train is wrecked, or the ship encounters an awful storm, or one comes in contact with contagious disease or the terrible pestilence that walketh in darkness. A happy escape from injury and death on such an occasion is popularly designated as a “special providence,” and this regardless of whether the individual thus escaping is a saint or a sinner. We cannot too strongly emphasize the fact that God’s special providence is not a capricious, occasional, and irregular intervention of His love and power in behalf of His children, but involves ceaseless — yea infinite — thought and care for those that love Him, everywhere and in all the experiences of life. (3) Special Providence as Related to Piety and Prayer.
God’s special providence is conditioned upon piety and prayer though it far transcends, in the blessings it brings, the specific requests of His children.
While we may properly pray for things pertaining to our temporal and physical life with the assurance that God will answer such prayers in so far as He deems best; yet the Scriptures encourage us to make spiritual blessings the main object of our prayers. “Seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness,” is the essence of the New Testament teaching on this subject; but we should not overlook the fact that this divine injunction is both preceded and followed by the strongest assurances of the most minute and ceaseless provision for all our temporal and physical wants by the loving heavenly Father. “Therefore take no thought saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? .... For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you,” the King James Version. In keeping with this Scripture, the poet has written: “Make you His service your delight; Your wants shall be His care.” But while it is true that God has promised to make our wants His care, we should remember that He has promised this only to that devout and godly number of pious, praying souls who “seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.” His general providence is alike to all, by which “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” But it is only “to them that love God” that it is promised that “all things work together for good” — and the proof of love is not in one’s profession, but in his obedience and service. (4) Special Providence as Related to Human Cooperation.
The words of Christ concerning the heavenly Father’s watchful and loving providence do not mean that the children of God are not in any sense to take thought for food and raiment, and labor daily to obtain the necessities of life. Labor, both mental and physical, is as much a duty as prayer. The prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” does not render it unnecessary that they who offer it should work for their own daily bread. Nothing could be more hurtful to healthful Christian activity than to interpret our Lord’s insistence, in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere, upon trust in the heavenly Father’s watchful providence as a justification of thoughtlessness, idleness, and improvidence; seeing that its purpose is simply to warn us against that needless and hurtful anxiety about the future which is not only inconsistent with trust in God, but which is utterly destructive of man’s best efforts in his own behalf. (5) General and Special Providence Both Equally Divine.
While the Scriptures appear to us to make a real and true distinction between God’s natural and His supernatural order, and between His general and His special providence, yet to truly pious and wisely discerning souls all is alike divine, the natural as well as the supernatural, general as well as special providence. So far as God’s faithful and loving children are concerned, general and special providence blend into one. The only real and important distinction between the two is that made by the free wills of men, by virtue of which some are in loving accord with the divine plans concerning them, and others are at enmity with God and oppose the purpose of His love concerning them. If all men were and had always been, alike trustful and loving children of the heavenly Father, there would perhaps never have been any occasion for making a distinction between the general and the special providence of God. The only distinction we should have needed to recognize in that case would have been as to the varieties of divine providence, in view of the fact that the all-loving Father would cause widely different events to happen to His different children. If anyone, therefore, is inclined to deny the distinction which we have here made between general and special providence, and prefers to affirm that there is but one general providential order over mankind in the world, that the distinction is in man and not in God’s providence, his position cannot be seriously objected to, provided he does not thereby mean that the world is governed by impersonal and immutable laws, but will affirm with clearness and confidence that the world is governed by the all-loving, all-wise, omnipresent, and everywhere-active God. For, indeed, the only thing that is really “special” and out of order is the limitation which sin imposes upon the workings of divine providence in so far as the self-will and opposition of men prevent the realization of the providential purposes of God concerning them. But, unfortunately, sin is now, and has long been, so prevalent and dominant in the world that we have come to regard God’s providence as affected and limited by it, as that which is regular and general, and His more perfect and complete providence in behalf of and over the good as the exceptional and special. But whether we call divine providence, as related to believers, “general” or “special,” is of little consequence, provided we believe that “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” ( Psalm 37:23 the King James Version), that “all things work together for (spiritual) good to them that love God,” and that to those who, duly subordinating the temporal to the spiritual, seek “first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” all things needful “shall be added” by the heavenly Father. 4. Divine Providence and Human Free Will: The problem of divine providence has its utmost significance, not in its bearing on the laws of physical nature, but in that phase of it which concerns God’s dealings with moral agents, those creatures who may, and often do, act contrary to His will. God governs men as a father governs his children, as a king governs his free subjects; not as a machinist works his machine, or as a hypnotist controls his mesmerized victims. A father in his family and a sovereign in his realm may each do as he pleases within certain limits, and God infinitely more: “He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” ( Daniel 4:35). He setteth up one and putteth down another. Nevertheless, even God acts within limits; He limited Himself when He created free agents. As a mere matter of power God can predetermine man’s volitions and necessitate his acts, but He can do so only by making of him a kind of rational machine, and destroying his true freedom. But Scripture, reason and consciousness all unite in teaching man that he is morally free, that he is an agent, and not something merely acted on. God’s providential government of men, therefore, is based on their freedom as rational and moral beings, and consists in such an administration and guidance by the Holy Spirit of the affairs of men as shall encourage free moral agents to virtue, and discourage them from sin. God’s providence must needs work upon and with two kinds of wills — willing wills and opposing wills. (1) Divine Providence as Related to Willing Wills.
The apostle declares that God works in believers “both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” If God’s special providence over and in behalf of His children may involve an intervention of His Divine power within the realm of physical law, much more, it would seem, will it involve a similar intervention within the realm of the human mind and the human will.
Spiritual guidance is one of the most precious privileges of believers, but it is difficult to conceive how the Holy Spirit can effectively guide a believer without finding some way of controlling his will and determining his volitions that is compatible with free agency. While most of man’s thoughts, emotions and volitions are self-determined in their origin, being due to the free and natural workings of his own mind and heart and will, yet there are also thoughts, emotions and volitions that are divinely produced. Even a sinner under conviction of sin has thoughts and emotions that are produced by the Holy Spirit. Much more has the believer divinelyproduced thoughts and feelings; and if divinely-produced thoughts and feelings, there may be, in like manner, it would seem, Divinely produced volitions. Does this seem irreconcilable with the fact of moral free agency?
We think not; it is no more subversive of human free agency for God to influence effectively a man’s volitions and secure a certain course of action than it is for one man effectively to influence another. No volition that is divinely necessitated can be a free moral volition; for moral volitions are such as are put forth freely, in view of motives and moral ends. The element of necessity and compulsion would destroy all true freedom in, and moral accountability for, any particular volition, so that it could not be either virtuous or vicious. But — and here is the crucial point — when a man, by an act of his own will, freely commits the ordering of his life to God, and prays God to choose for him what is best, working in him both to will and to do, that act of self-commitment to God involves the very essence of moral freedom, and is the highest exercise of free agency. “Our wills are ours to make them Thine,” the poet has truly said. In other words, the highest moral act of man’s free will is the surrender of itself to the divine will; and whatever control of man’s will on God’s part results from and follows this free act of self-surrender is entirely consistent with perfect moral freedom, even though it should involve divinely-produced volitions.
Does a perplexed child cease to be free when in the exercise of his freedom he asks a wise and loving father to decide a matter for him, and be his guide in attaining a certain desired end? Surely not; and this intervention of parental wisdom and love is none the less effective if it should work, as far as possible, through the mind and will of the child, rather than allow the child to be entirely passive. So God works effectively through the mind and will of every soul who unreservedly commits himself to the divine will — commits himself not once simply, but continually. God cannot under the divinely-appointed laws of freedom work in and through the sinner “both to will and to do,” because the sinner’s will is bent on evil, and hence, opposed to the divine will. God’s will can work, not with, but only against, a sinful will; and if it should so work and necessitate his volitions, that would destroy his true freedom. But, if God should work in and through an obedient and acquiescent will that is seeking divine guidance, THAT would be an exercise of divine power in no way incompatible with the true moral freedom of men. Such is the influence, as we conceive it, of the divine will upon the human will in providence. God’s providence works effectively only through willing wills. (2) Divine Providence as Related to Sinful Free Will.
But God’s providence encounters opposing as well as willing wills. Not every unconverted man, however, represents an equally antagonistic will — there are different degrees of opposition. That God’s gracious and special providence in behalf of an individual often antedates his forsaking sin and his acceptance of Christ as a personal Saviour is manifest to every student of Christian biography. Much of the best training that many a “chosen vessel” ever receives for his life-work turns out to be that unconscious providential preparation which he was receiving under a Father’s guidance before he consciously consecrated himself to his divine Master. “I girded thee, though thou hast not known me,” said God to Cyrus — and on this text Horace Bushnell preached one of the greatest of modern sermons on divine providence, taking as his theme, “Every man’s life is a plan of God.” If this be true of a Christian man, that, even before his conversion, the Holy Spirit was seeking him, and even preparing him, as far as was then possible, for fulfilling the “plan of God” in his life, is it not in all probability equally true that the Holy Spirit and the good providence of God were working in behalf of other sinners who persisted to the end in rebellion against God? Such is the power of moral free agency with which God has endowed man that the created free agent can defeat the plan of Infinite Love concerning his life, and frustrate the workings of providence in his behalf (Jeremiah 18). Whether a free moral agent, then, shall allow God’s providential plans to be worked out for him or not, depends upon his own free will. It is said of the divine Christ that He could not do many mighty works in a certain city because of their unbelief and opposition. In like manner divine providence is conditioned and limited by a sinful free will. 5. Divine Providence as Related to Natural and Moral Evil: That the Biblical writers do not regard the existence of evil as a valid objection to divine providence is evident to every student of the Scriptures.
Indeed, it is in working good out of what the world accounts evil that divine providence accomplishes many of its most salutary and beneficent ends in behalf of the good. That natural or physical evil (poverty, sickness, suffering, etc.) is one of the mightiest agencies in the hands of God for restraining and correcting moral evil and for working out moral and spiritual good to fallen and sinful men, admits of easy demonstration. For the existence in the world of moral evil (sin), man, the moral free agent, is wholly responsible. God could prevent moral free agents from sinning only by not creating them, or else by placing their wills under irresistible divine restraint and compulsion. But the latter method of controlling them would virtually destroy their real and true freedom; and if this were done, then not only all sin, but all virtue and holiness as attributes of free beings would be thereby rendered impossible in men; for only such beings can put forth free holy volitions as can put forth free sinful volitions. If man had never sinned, there would probably have never been such a large providential use of natural or physical evil as prevails at present; and this because of the fact that an unfallen and holy race of beings would not have needed the presence of natural evil to secure their highest moral development. But a fallen and sinful race does need such an agency to bring it back to God and to develop holy character and the highest moral service. It is not true that sin is now always or even generally the immediate cause of an individual’s suffering physical evil, or that extraordinary suffering is a proof of extraordinary sin. “Master, who did sin,” asked the disciples, “this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” ( John 9:2,3 King James Version). Human suffering is for man’s spiritual good and for the divine glory, as shown in working good out of evil — this is the explanation which the Master gives as to why natural evil is permitted or sent by God. It is not only a powerful, but, in a world like ours, a necessary agency for the correction and cure of moral evil and for the spiritual development of fallen man. “Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I observe thy word .... It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I may learn thy statutes” ( <19B967> Psalm 119:67,71); “Every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit” ( John 15:2). The saintly and eminently useful men and women of history have, as a rule, had to undergo a severe discipline and to endure many and severe trials, and were made perfect only by their sufferings.
Divine providence thus turns much of the world’s natural and physical evil into moral good. 6. Evil Providentially Over-ruled for Good: Many of the things that befall the children of God are directly due to the sins of other men. That good men, even the very best of men, suffer many things at the hands of wicked men admits of no question; and yet these ills are among the “all things” which are declared by the apostle to work together for good to them that love God. The good that may ensue to good men from the evil conduct of the wicked is certainly not due to the intrinsic power in sin to work good to those against whom it is maliciously directed; it can only be due to the fact that God overrules it for the good of the innocent. “As for you,” said Joseph, “ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good” ( Genesis 50:20); “The things which happened unto me,” said Paul, “have fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel” ( Philippians 1:12). God, though foreknowing the evil that wicked men are planning to work against His children, may not prevent it; and this because He can and will overrule it for His glory and for their good, if they abide faithful. But, suppose a good man is not simply injured, but killed by the wicked, as in the case of the martyrs that died at the stake — does the principle still hold good? It does, we answer; the saint who dies in the discharge of duty and because of is fidelity to duty is not only assured, by all the promises of revelation, of a happy immortality, but he has the rare privilege of serving to advance the kingdom of God by his death as well as by his life. God’s kingdom is advanced in manifold ways by the death of good men. Is not “the blood of the martyrs the seed of the church”? But we need here again to remark that it is not material and temporal, but moral and spiritual good, that God has guaranteed to His holy, loving and faithful children. If sin had an intrinsic power to work good, they would be right who maintain that “the end justifies the means, and one may do evil when good will come of it” (compare Romans 3:8); and they also would be right who maintain that God is the Author of evil, seeing that evil is, on that supposition, only disguised good — propositions which are thoroughly vicious and subversive of all that is good in man or God. The Scriptures, rightly interpreted, nowhere lend themselves to such false and misleading ethics (compare Isaiah 45:7). 7. Interpreting Providence: To what extent may we, having studied God’s providential methods as revealed in the Scriptures, in Nature, in human history, and in personal experience, venture to interpret providence as it applies to current events in our own lives and in the lives of others? Experience and observation will warn us both against haste and against too great confidence in our interpretations of providence. Hasty misinterpretations of providence in its bearing on present passing events frequently become fruitful sources of skepticism for the future. Some people are much given to interpreting providence. Certain ills or misfortunes come to a bad man; they are quick to assert that it is a divine judgment sent upon him in view of his sin.
Certain blessings come to a good man; they are sure the blessings are heaven-sent in view of his extraordinary piety. A whiskey merchant’s store burns down: it is, say they, a divine judgment, in view of his ill-gotten gains. But presently the property of an unquestionably pious and consecrated man is swept away by the flames: where now is the providence? The “oracles” fail to explain; and so they do in innumerable other cases: as, for example, when two men, a saint and a sinner, are prostrated on beds of sickness. The former, in spite of prayer and piety, continues to grow worse, and perhaps dies; while the other, without piety or prayer, is restored to health. God has not made us interpreters of His providences except for ourselves; and even much of that which we sincerely believe comes to us in a graciously providential manner we can well afford to keep as a sacred secret between ourselves and our God, seeing that God has not furnished us with any means of absolutely proving that what has happened to us might not have happened, under similar circumstances, even to sinful men. Many a Christian man comes to see that the ill that has happened to him — the loss of property, the terrible spell of sickness, and the like — things that, at the time, he would not interpret as providential — are among the best things that were ever sent upon him, in that they made him holier and more useful (compare John 13:7): “Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan His work in vain; God is His own interpreter And He will make it plain.” There are, however, many evident truths written large on the pages of history, in the rise, decline and fall of kingdoms and nations, which he who runs may read. And to him who truly believes in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and who will duly consider all the facts and lessons of life, in himself and others, in individuals and in nations, and not for a day merely but patiently as the years come and go, it will be made plain that “God’s in His heaven — All’s right with the world,” and that all things work together for the spiritual good of those who love God and who prove their love for Him by serving their fellow-men. 8. Conclusion: We conclude, then, that there is, according to the Scriptures, an everwatchful providence exercised by the heavenly Father over His faithful and loving children, which is ceaselessly working to secure their everincreasing holiness and usefulness here, an their perfect happiness in a future state of existence. To prepare rational and immortal free agents through holiness and usefulness here for happiness hereafter is the aim and end of this all-embracing providence of God, which includes within its loving care every human being except such as exclude themselves therefrom by their own willful and persistent sinning. And in the accomplishment of this end, what the world counts as the misfortunes and ills of life often contribute far more than what, in the estimation of men, are accounted the greatest earthly blessings. There is no providential highway to a state here that is free from life’s ills, and that abounds in temporal and earthly blessings to the good. But there is a royal and holy highway, along which moves a providential pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, leading the children of the covenant, through lives of loving service and sacrifice, to a holy land of promise, the goal of a gracious providence; and they who journey along this highway bear this seal: “The Lord knoweth them that are his: And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” ( 2 Timothy 2:19 the King James Version).
They who bear this seal are the divinely-chosen instruments and agents of that larger and wider providence that is ever working to establish a perfect kingdom of righteousness in the whole earth, that kingdom of God, to inaugurate which, in its Messianic form, our Lord became incarnate, and to consummate which, in its final and perfect form, He reigns from heaven and will continue to reign until, having “put all enemies under his feet,” He shall “deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father” — when the poet’s vision shall be realized of: “That God who ever lives and loves; One God, one law, one element, And one far-off Divine event, To which the whole creation moves.” LITERATURE.
James Orr, The Christian View of God and the World; A. B. Bruce, The Providential Order of the World; James McCosh, The Method of Divine Government; James Hinton, The Mystery of Pain; John Telford, Man’s Partnership with Divine Providence; W. N. Clarke, The Christian Doctrine of God, and, An Outline of Christian Theology; W. B. Pope, Compendium of Christian Theology; A. L. Lilley, Adventus Regni; Oehler, Theology of the Old Testament; Wendt, The Teaching of Jesus; George B. Stevens, The Pauline Theology; E. P. Gould, The Biblical Theology of the New Testament; T. Jackson, The Providence of God Viewed in the Light of the Holy Scripture; H. M. Gwatkin, The Knowledge of God; Lux Mundi:
Preparation in History for Christ; J. Flavell, Divine Conduct, or the Mystery of Providence; O. D. Watkins, The Divine Providence; Borden P.
Bowne, The Immanence of God. Wilbur F. Tillett PROVINCE <prov’-ins > ([ hn;ydim] , medhinah ], “jurisdiction”; [ejparci>a, eparchia ] (English Versions of the Bible, province) ( Acts 23:34; 25:1)): 1. MEANING OF THE TERM:
Province (provincia) did not originally denote a territorial circumscription in Roman usage, since the employment of the word was much more ancient than any of the conquests of the Romans outside of Italy. In the most comprehensive official sense it signified a magistrate’s sphere of administrative action, which in one instance might be the direction of jurisdiction at Rome, in another the management of military operations against a particular hostile community. When the imperium was conferred upon two consuls at the beginning of the Republic, and upon a praetor in 367 BC, and finally upon a second praetor in 241 BC, it became necessary in practice to define their individual competence which was unlimited in theory. When the Romans extended their control over lands situated outside of Italy, it became expedient to fix territorial limits to the exercise of authority by the magistrates who were regularly sent abroad, so that provincia signified henceforth in an abstract sense the rule of the governor, and in a concrete sense the specified region entrusted to his care; and with the development and consolidation of the Roman system of administration, the geographical meaning of the word became more and more significant. 2. ROMAN PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION:
The history of Roman provincial administration in the more definite sense commences in 227 BC, when four praetors were elected for the first time, of whom two were assigned to the government of the provinces. Three periods may be distinguished in the history of the system of provincial administration: (1) from 227 BC to Sulla, (2) from Sulla to Augustus, and (3) the Empire. (1) First Period.
During the first period, provision was made for the government of the provinces by means of special praetors, or, in exceptional circumstances, by consuls, during their term of office. Accordingly, the number of praetors was increased from four in 227 BC to eight at the time of Sulla. (2) Second Period.
In accordance with the reforms of Sulla all the consuls and praetors remained at Rome during their year of office, and were entrusted with the administration of provinces a subsequent year with the title proconsul (pro consule) or propraetor (pro praetore). The proconsuls were sent to the more important provinces. The senate determined the distinction between consular and praetorian provinces and generally controlled the assignment of the provinces to the Exodus-magistrates. Julius Caesar increased the praetors to sixteen, but Augustus reduced them to twelve. (3) Third Period.
In 27 BC, Augustus as commander-in-chief of the Roman army definitely assumed the administration of all provinces which required the presence of military forces and left the other provinces to the control of the senate.
There were then twelve imperial and ten senatorial provinces, but all provinces added after 27 BC came under imperial administration. The emperor administered his provinces through the agency of personal delegates, legati Augusti of senatorial, and praefecti or procuratores of equestrian, rank. The term of their service was not uniform, but continued usually for more than a single year. The senatorial administration was essentially a continuation of the post-Sullan, republican regime. The senatorial governors were called proconsuls generally, whether they were of consular or praetorian rank; but Africa and Asia alone were reserved for exconsuls, the eight remaining senatorial provinces being attributed to Exodus-praetors. The financial administration of each imperial province was entrusted to a procurator, that of each senatorial province to a quaestor. 3. DIVISION OF PROVINCES:
The provinces were divided into smaller circumscriptions (civitates) for the purposes of local government. In the older provinces these districts corresponded generally with the urban communities which had been the units of sovereignty before the advent of the Romans. Under Roman rule they were divided into different classes on the basis of their dignity and prerogatives, as follows: (1) Coloniae: Roman or Latin colonies established after the model of the Italian commonwealths. (2) Civitates Foederatae: Communities whose independence had been guaranteed by a formal treaty with Rome. (3) Civitates Liberae: Communities whose independence the Romans respected, although not bound to do so by a formal obligation. (4) Civitates Stipendiariae: Communities which had surrendered to the discretion of the Romans and to which limited powers of local government were granted by the conquerors as a matter of convenience.
The civitates stipendiariae, and in some cases the colonies, paid taxes to the Roman government, the greater part of which was in the form either of a certain proportion of the annual products of the soil, such as a fifth or tenth, or a fixed annual payment in money or kind. 4. PROVINCE OF JUDEA:
Judaea became a part of the province of Syria in 63 BC, but was assigned in 40 BC as a kingdom to Herod the Great, whose sovereignty became effective three years later. The provincial regime was reestablished in AD, and was broken only during the years 41-44 AD, when Herod Agrippa was granted royal authority over the land (Josephus, Josephus, Antiquities XIX, viii, 2). The Roman administration was in the hands of the procurators (see PROCURATORS) who resided at Caesarea (Josephus, BJ, II, xv, 6; Acts 23:23,33; 25:1) in the palace of Herod the Great (Acts 23 through 35). The procurators of Judea were subject to the authority of the imperial governors of Syria, as is evident from the deposition of Pontius Pilate by Vitellius (Josephus, Ant, XVIII, iv, 2; Tacitus, Annals vi.32). The procurator was competent to exercise criminal jurisdiction over the provincials in cases involving a capital sentence (Josephus, BJ, II, viii, 1), but he was bound to grant an appeal by Roman citizens for trial at Rome ( Acts 25:11). A death sentence by the Sanhedrin required the sanction of the procurator, as appears in the process against the Saviour. Under Roman rule cities like Caesarea, Sebaste, and Jerusalem became organs for local government, like the urban communities in other parts of the Empire. 5. REVENUE:
The revenue of Palestine under Claudius is said to have been 12,000,000 denarii (about $2,400,000, or 500,000 British pounds (in 1915); compare Josephus, Ant XIX, viii, 2). In addition to the ground tax, the amount of which is not known, a variety of indirect contributions were collected on auctions, salt, highways, bridges, etc., which constituted, no doubt, the field of activity in which the publicans gained their unenviable reputation.
LITERATURE.
The reader may be directed to Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, I, 497-502, 517-57, for a general discussion of the Roman system of provincial administration, and to the same volume, pp. 405-12, for the provincial government of Palestine. George H. Allen PROVOCATION; PROVOKE <Proverbs-o-ka’-shun > , <pro-vok’ > : “Provoke,” literally, “to call forth,” hence, to excite or stir up, whether in a good or bad sense, appears frequently in the Old Testament as the translation of Piel, or Hiphil of [ s[“K; , ka`ac ] (noun, [ s[“K” , ka`ac ]), in the sense of “to make angry” ( Deuteronomy 4:25; 9:18; 1 Kings 14:9,15, etc.); sometimes of [ hr;m; , marah ] ( Isaiah 3:8), and of other words. In the New Testament we have [parazhlo>w, parazeloo ], “to make jealous” ( Romans 10:19; 11:11,14); [parorgi>zw, parorgizo ], “to make angry” ( Ephesians 6:4; compare Colossians 3:21); with [parapikrai>nw, parapikraino ], “to embitter” ( Hebrews 3:16; compare in 1 Esdras 6:15), and other Greek words. “Provocation” in Hebrews 3:8,15 (quoting Psalm 95:8) is parapikrasmos , the Septuagint for the Hebrew meribhah . An example of the good sense of the word is in Hebrews 10:24, “Consider one another to provoke (literally, “to the provoking,” here paroxusmos ) unto love and good works.”
For “provoke” the Revised Version (British and American) has “despise” ( Numbers 14:11; 31:20), “rebel against” ( Psalm 78:40); for “provoked,” “despised” ( Numbers 14:23; 16:30; Isaiah 1:4), “moved” ( Deuteronomy 32:16; 1 Chronicles 21:1), “rebelled against” ( Psalm 78:56), “were rebellious” (106:33,43); for “provoking” ( Psalm 78:17), “to rebel against”; for “provoked” ( 2 Corinthians 9:2), “stirred up”; “provoked within” for “stirred in” ( Acts 17:16); “provoked” for “limited” ( Psalm 78:41 margin, “limited”); “provoketh” for “emboldeneth” ( Job 16:3); instead of “Provoke not your children to anger” ( Colossians 3:21), “Provoke not your children.” W. L. Walker PRUDENCE; PRUDENT <proo’-dens > , <proo’-dent > : In the Old Testament “prudence” is the translation of [ hm;r][; , `ormah ] ( Proverbs 8:12); also in the King James Version of [ lk,c, , sekhel ] ( 2 Chronicles 2:12, the Revised Version (British and American) “discretion”); and “prudent” is the translation of [ µWr[; , `arum ], “subtle” ( Proverbs 12:16,23; 13:16, etc.; compare Genesis 3:1; Job 5:12), and of [ ˆyBi , bin ] ( 1 Samuel 16:18, the Revised Version margin “skillful”; Proverbs 16:21; 18:15; Isaiah 5:21; 10:13, the American Standard Revised Version “understanding,” etc.), with other words. In the New Testament “prudence” occurs once as the translation of [pro>nhsiv, phronesis ] ( Ephesians 1:8); “prudent” is in the King James Version the translation of [suneto>v, sunetos ], changed in the Revised Version (British and American) to “understanding” ( Matthew 11:25; Acts 13:7); in 1 Corinthians 1:19, the American Standard Revised Version has “the discerning,” the English Revised Version retains “prudent.” In its etymological sense of seeing beforehand (contraction of “providence”), “prudence” does not occur in the New Testament. As forethought, foresight, prudence was reckoned one of the cardinal virtues by the ancient ethical writers. See the remarks of Coleridge on its lower and higher character in his Aids to Reflection, Aphor. 29. W. L. Walker PRUNING-HOOK <proon’-ing-hook > . See HOOK, (3); VINE.
PSALMS, BOOK OF <samz > , ([ µyLihiT] , tehillim ], “praises,” [ µyLihiT] rp,se , cepher tehillim ], “book of praises”; [ Yalmoi>, Psalmoi ], [ Yalth>rion, Psalterion ]): 1. INTRODUCTORY TOPICS. 1. Title: The Hebrew title for the Psalter is cepher tehillim , “book of praises.”
When we consider the fact that more than 20 of these poems have praise for their keynote, and that there are outbursts of thanksgiving in many others, the fitness of the Hebrew title dawns upon us. As Ker well says, “The book begins with benediction, and ends with praise — first, blessing to man, and then glory to God.” Hymns of praise, though found in all parts of the Psalter, become far more numerous in Books IV and V, as if the volume of praise would gather itself up into a Hallelujah Chorus at the end.
In the Greek version the book is entitled in some manuscripts Psalmoi , in others Psalterion , whence come our English titles “Psalms,” and “Psalter.”
The Greek word psalmos , as well as the Hebrew mizmor , both of which are used in the superscriptions prefixed to many of the separate psalms, indicates a poem sung to the accompaniment of stringed instruments. The title mizmor is found before 57 psalms. The Psalter was the hymnal of the Jewish nation. To individual psalms other titles are sometimes prefixed, such as shir , “song”; tehillah , “praise”; tephillah , “prayer,” etc. The Psalter was both prayerbook and hymnal to the Jewish people. It was also a manual for the nurture of the spiritual life in private as well as public worship. 2. Place in the Canon: The Psalms were placed in the kethubhim or “Writings,” the third group of the Hebrew Scriptures. As the chief book of the kethubhim , the Psalter appears first in the great majority of German manuscripts, though the Spanish manuscripts place Psalms after Chronicles, and the Talmud puts Ruth before Psalms. There has never been any serious question as to the right of the Psalter to a place in the Canon of Scripture. The book is possibly more highly esteemed among Christians than by the Jews. If Christians were permitted to retain only one book in the Old Testament, they would almost certainly choose Psalms. By 100 BC, and probably at a much earlier date, the Book of Psalms was completed and recognized as part of the Hagiographa, the 3rd division of the Hebrew Bible. 3. Number of Psalms: According to the Hebrew text, followed by modern VSS, there are separate poems in the Psalter. The Greek version has an additional psalm, in which David describes his victory over Goliath; but this is expressly said to be “outside the number.” The Septuagint, followed by Vulgate, combined Psalms 9 and 10, and also 114 and 115, into a single psalm. On the other hand, they divide Psalms 116 and 147 each into two poems.
Thus, for the greater part of the Psalter the Hebrew enumeration is one number in advance of that in the Greek and Latin Bibles.
The existing division in the Hebrew text has been called in question at various points. Psalms 42 and 43 are almost certainly one poem (see refrain in 42:5,11; 43:5); and it is probable that Psalms 9 and 10 were originally one, as in Septuagint. On the other hand, it is thought by some that certain psalms were composed of two psalms which were originally separate. We may cite as examples Psalm 19:1-6,7-14; 24:1-6,7-10; 27:1-6,7-14; 36:1-4,5-12. It is evident that such combinations of two different poems into one may have taken place, for we have an example in Psalm 108, which is composed of portions of two other psalms (57:7-11; 60:5-12). 4. Titles in the Hebrew Text: (1) Value of the Superscriptions.
It is the fashion among advanced critics to waive the titles of the psalms out of court as wholly worthless and misleading. This method is as thoroughly unscientific as the older procedure of defending the superscriptions as part of an inspired text. These titles are clearly very old, for the Septuagint, in the 2nd century BC, did not understand many of them. The worst that can be said of the superscriptions is that they are guesses of Hebrew editors and scribes of a period long prior to the Greek version. As to many of the musical and liturgical titles, the best learning of Hebrew and Christian scholars is unable to recover the original meaning.
The scribes who prefixed the titles had no conceivable reason for writing nonsense into their prayerbook and hymnal. These superscriptions and subscriptions all had a worthy meaning, when they were first placed beside individual psalms. This indisputable fact of the great antiquity of these titles ought forever to make it impossible for scientific research to ignore them.
Grant for the sake of argument, that not one of them came from the pen of the writers of the Psalms, but only from editors and compilers of exilic or post-exilic days, it would still be reasonable to give attention to the views of ancient Hebrew scholars, before considering the conjectures of modern critics on questions of authorship and date. Sources of information, both oral and written, to which they had access, have long since perished. In estimating the value of their work, we have a right to use the best critical processes known to us; but it is unscientific to overlook the fact that their proximity to the time of the composition of the Psalms gave them an advantage over the modern scholar. If it be said by objectors that these ancient scribes formed their conclusions by the study of the life of David as portrayed in the historical books of Kings and Chronicles, the reply is ready that several historical notices in the titles cannot be thus explained. Who was Cush? Who was Abimelech? (Psalms 7 and 34). A careful weighing of the facts concerning the superscriptions will make it seem highly improbable that the earliest of these titles does not reach back into preexilic times. We almost certainly have in them the results of the labors of Hebrew scribes and compilers stretching over several centuries. Some of the titles may have been appended by the psalmists themselves.
We are far from claiming that the titles are always intelligible to us, or that, when understood, they are always correct. The process of constructing titles indicative of authorship had not ceased in the 2nd century BC, the Septuagint adding many to psalms that were anonymous in the Hebrew.
The view expressed nearly 50 years ago by Perowne is eminently sane: “The inscriptions cannot always be relied on. They are sometimes genuine, and really represent the most ancient tradition. At other times, they are due to the caprice of later editors and collectors, the fruits of conjecture, or of dimmer and more uncertain traditions. In short, the inscriptions of the Psalms are like the subscriptions to the Epistles of the New Testament.
They are not of any necessary authority, and their value must be weighed and tested by the usual critical processes.” (2) Thirtle’s Theory.
J. W. Thirtle (The Titles of the Psalms, 1904) advances the hypothesis that both superscriptions and subscriptions were incorporated in the Psalter, and that in the process of copying the Psalms by hand, the distinction between the superscription of a given psalm and the subscription of the one immediately preceding it was finally lost. When at length the different psalms were separated from one another, as in printed editions, the subscriptions and superscriptions were all set forth as superscriptions. Thus it came about that the musical subscription of a given psalm was prefixed to the literary superscription of the psalm immediately following it. The prayer of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3) was taken by Thirtle as a model or normal psalm; and in this instance the superscription was literary. “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, upon Shigionoth,” while the subscription is musical, “For the Chief Musician, on my stringed instruments.” The poem of Hezekiah in celebration of his recovery ( Isaiah 38:9-20) seems to support Thirtle’s thesis, the superscription stating the authorship and the occasion that gave birth to the psalm, while Isaiah 38:20 hints at the musical instruments with which the psalm was to be accompanied in public worship. If now the musical notes be separated from the notes of authorship and date that follow them, the musical notes being appended as subscriptions, while the literary notes are kept as real superscriptions, the outcome of the separation is in many instances a more intelligible nexus between title and poem. Thus the subscript to Psalm 55, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” becomes a pictorial title of 55:6-8 of the psalm. The application of the rule that the expression “for the Chief Musician” is always a subscript removes the difficulty in the title of Psalm 88. The superscription of Psalm 88, on Thirtle’s hypothesis, becomes “Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.” Psalm 87 thus has a subscript that repeats the statement of its superscription, but with an addition which harmonizes with the content of the poem. “Mahalath Leannoth,” with a slight correction in vocalization, probably means “Dancings with Shoutings,” and 87:7 speaks of both singing and dancing. The tone of Psalm 87 is exceedingly cheerful; but Psalm 88 is the saddest in the entire Psalter. The application of Thirtle’s hypothesis also leaves Psalm 88 with a consistent literary title, whereas the usual title ascribes the psalm first to the sons of Korah and then to Heman the Ezrahite. (3) Meaning of the Hebrew Titles.
Scholars have not been able to come to agreement as to the meaning and application of a goodly number of words and phrases found in the titles of the Psalms. We append an alphabetical list, together with hints as to the probable meaning: (a) ‘Ayeleth ha-Shachar (Psalm 22) means “the hind of the morning,” or possibly “the help of the morning.” Many think that the words were the opening line of some familiar song. (b) `Alamoth (Psalm 46) means “maidens.” The common view is that the psalm was to be sung by soprano voices. Some speak of a female choir and compare 1 Chronicles 15:20; Psalm 68:11,24 f. According to Thirtle, the title is a subscript to Psalm 45, which describes the marriage of a princess, a function at which it would be quite appropriate to have a female choir. (c) ‘Al-tashcheth (Psalms 57 through 59; 75) means “destroy not;” and is quite suitable as a subscript to Psalms 56 through 58 and 74 (compare Deuteronomy 9:26). Many think this the first word of a vintage song (compare Isaiah 65:8). (d) Ascents, Song of Solomon of” (Psalms 120 through 184): the Revised Version (British and American) translates the title to 15 psalms “A Song of Solomon of Ascents,” where the King James Version has “A Song of Solomon of Degrees.” The most probable explanation of the meaning of the expression is that these 15 psalms were sung by bands of pilgrims on their way to the yearly feasts in Jerusalem ( <19C204> Psalm 122:4). Psalms through 123; 125; 127; 128 and 132 through 134 are well suited for use on such occasions (see, however, Expository Times, XII, 62). (e) “For the Chief Musician”: 55 psalms are dedicated to the precentor or choir leader of the temple. “To the Chief Musician” might mean that the precentor was the author of certain psalms, or that there was a collection of hymns compiled by him for use in temple worship, or that certain psalms were placed in his hands, with suggestions as to the character of the poems and the music which was to accompany them. It is quite likely that there was an official collection of psalms for public worship in the custody of the choir master of the temple. (f) “Dedication of the House” (Psalm 30): The title probably refers to the dedication of Yahweh’s house; whether in the days of David, in connection with the removal of the ark to Jerusalem, or in the days of Zerubbabel, or in the time of Judas Maccabeus, it is impossible to say positively. If Psalm 39 was used on any one of these widely separated occasions, that fact might account for the insertion of the caption, “a Song of Solomon at the Dedication of the House.” (g) “Degrees”: see “Ascents” above. (h) Gittith (Psalms 8; 81; 84) is commonly supposed to refer to an instrument invented in Gath or to a tune that was used in the Philistine city.
Thirtle emends slightly to [gittoth], “wine presses,” and connects Psalms 7; 80 and 83 with the Feast of Tabernacles. (i) Higgayon : This word is not strictly a title, but occurs in connection with [Celah] in Psalm 9:16. the Revised Version (British and American) translates the word in Psalm 92:3, “a solemn sound,” and in Psalm 19:14, “meditation.” It is probably a musical note equivalent to largo. (j) Yedhuthun : In the title of Psalm 39, Jeduthun might well be identical with the Chief Musician. In Psalms 62 and 77 the Revised Version (British and American) renders “after the manner of Jeduthun.” We know from 1 Chronicles 16:41; 25:3 that JEDUTHUN (which see) was a choir leader in the days of David. He perhaps introduced a method of conducting the service of song which ever afterward was associated with his name. (k) Yonath ‘elem rechoqim (Psalm 56): We have already called attention to the fact that as a subscript to Psalm 55 “the dove of the distant terebinths,” or “the silent dove of them that are afar off,” would have a point of contact with Psalm 55:6-8. (l) Machalath (Psalm 53), Machalath le`annoth (Psalm 88): Perhaps Thirtle’s vocalization of the Hebrew consonants as mecholoth , “dancings,” is correct. As a subscript to Psalm 87; mecholoth may refer to David’s joy at the bringing of the ark to Zion ( 2 Samuel 6:14,15). (m) Maskil (Psalms 32; 42 through 45; 52 through 55; 74; 78; 88; 89; 142): The exact meaning of this common term is not clear. Briggs suggests “a meditation,” Thirtle and others “a psalm of instruction,” Kirkpatrick “a cunning psalm.” Some of the 13 psalms bearing this title are plainly didactic, while others are scarcely to be classed as psalms of instruction. (n) Mikhtam (Psalms 16; 56 through 60): Following the rabbinical guess, some translate “a golden poem.” The exact meaning is unknown. (o) Muth labben : The title is generally supposed to refer to a composition entitled “Death of the Son.” Possibly the melody to which this composition was sung was the tune to which Psalm 9 (or 8) was to be sung. Thirtle translates “The Death of the Champion,” and regards it as a subscription to Psalm 8, in celebration of the victory over Goliath. (p) On “Neghinoth ’’ occurs 6 times (Psalms 4; 6; 54; 55; 67; 76), and means “with stringed instruments.” Neghinath (Psalm 61) may be a slightly defective writing for [Neghinoth]. Perhaps stringed instruments alone were used with psalms having this title. According to Thirtle’s hypothesis, the title was originally a subscript to Psalms 3; 5; 53; 54; 60; 66; 75. (q) Nechiloth (Psalm 5), possibly a subscript to Psalm 4, is supposed by some to refer to “wind instruments,” possibly flutes. (r) Celah , though not strictly a title, may well be discussed in connection with the superscriptions. It occurs 71 times in the Psalms and 3 times in Habakkuk. It is almost certainly technical term whose meaning was well known to the precentor and the choir in the temple. The Septuagint always, Symmachus and Theodotion generally, render diapsalma , which probably denotes an instrumental interlude. The Targum Aquila and some other ancient versions render “forever.” Jerome, following Aquila, translates it “always.” Many moderns derive Celah from a root meaning “to raise,” and suppose it to be a sign to the musicians to strike up with a louder accompaniment. Possibly the singing ceased for a moment. A few think it is a liturgical direction to the congregation to “lift up” their voices in benediction. It is unwise to dogmatize as to the meaning of this very common word. See SELAH. (s) Sheminith (Psalms 6; 12), meaning “the eighth,” probably denotes the male choir, as distinguished from `Alamoth , the maidens’ choir. That both terms are musical notes is evident from 1 Chronicles 15:19-21. (t) Shiggayon (Psalm 7) is probably a musical note. Some think it denotes “a dithyrambic poem in wild ecstatic wandering rhythms, with corresponding music.” (u) Shoshannim (Psalms 45; 69) means “lilies.” Shoshannim `edhuth (Psalm 80) means “lilies, a testimony.” Shushah `edhuth (Psalm 60) may be rendered “the lily of testimony.” Thirtle represents these titles as subscripts to Psalms 44; 59; 68; 79, and associates them with the spring festival, Passover. Others regard them as indicating the melody to which the various psalms were to be sung. (v) “Song of Solomon of Loves” (Psalm 45) is appropriate as a literary title to a marriage song. (4) Testimony of the Titles as to Authorship. (a) Psalm 90 is ascribed to Moses. (b) To David 73 psalms are ascribed, chiefly in Books I and II. (c) Two are assigned to Solomon (Psalms 72; 127). (d) 12 are ascribed to Asaph (Psalms 50; 73 through 83). (e) 11 are assigned to the sons of Korah (Psalms 42 through 49; 84; 85; 87). (f) Psalm 88 is attributed to Heman the Ezrahite. (g) Psalm 89 bears the name of Ethan the Ezrahire.
In most cases it is plain that the editors meant to indicate the authors or writers of the psalms. It is possible that the phrase “to David” may sometimes have been prefixed to certain psalms, merely to indicate that they were found in a collection which contained Davidic psalms. It is also possible that the titles “to Asaph” and’ “to the sons of Korah” may have originally meant that the psalms thus designated belonged to a collection in the custody of these temple singers. Psalm 72 may also be a prayer for Solomon rather than a psalm BY Solomon. At the same time, we must acknowledge, in the light of the titles describing the occasion of composition, that the most natural interpretation of the various superscriptions is that they indicate the supposed authors of the various poems to which they are prefixed. Internal evidence shows conclusively that some of these titles are incorrect. Each superscription should be tested by a careful study of the psalm to which it is appended. (5) Titles Describing the Occasion of Writing.
There are 13 of these, all bearing the name of David. (a) Psalms 7; 59; 56; 34; 52; 57; 142; 54 are assigned to the period of his persecution by Saul. (b) During the period of his reign over. all Israel, David is credited with Psalms 18; 60; 51; 3; and 63. 2. AUTHORSHIP AND AGE OF THE PSALMS.
Psalm 90 is ascribed to Moses. It is the fashion now to deny that Moses wrote anything. A careful study of Psalm 90 has brought to light nothing inconsistent with Mosaic authorship. The dignity, majesty and pathos of the poem are worthy of the great lawgiver and intercessor. 1. David as a Psalmist: (1) The Age of David Offered Fruitful Soil for the Growth of Religious Poetry. (a) The political and religious reforms of Samuel created a new sense of national unity, and kindled the fires of religious patriotism. (b) Music had a large place in the life of the prophetic guilds or schools of the prophets, and was used in public religious exercises ( 1 Samuel 10:5 f). (c) The victories of David and the internal expansion of the life of Israel would inevitably stimulate the poetic instinct of men of genius; compare the Elizabethan age and the Victorian era in English literature. (d) The removal of the ark to the new capital and the organization of the Levitical choirs would stimulate poets to compose hymns of praise to Yahweh (2 Samuel 6; 1 Chronicles 15; 16; 25).
It is the fashion in certain critical circles to blot out the Mosaic era as unhistoric, all accounts of it being considered legendary or mythical. It is easy then to insist on the elimination of all the higher religious teaching attributed to Samuel. This leaves David “a rude king in a semi-barbaric age,” or, as Cheyne puts it, “the versatile condottiere, chieftain, and king.”
It would seem more reasonable to accept as trustworthy the uniform tradition of Israel as to the great leaders, Moses, Samuel and David, than to rewrite Israel’s history out of the tiny fragments of historical material that are accepted by skeptical critics as credible. It is often said that late writers read into their accounts of early heroes their own ideas of what would be fitting. James Robertson’s remark in reply has great weight: “This habit of explaining the early as the backward projection of the late is always liable to the objection that it leaves the late itself without explanation” (Poetry and Religion of the Psalms, 332). (2) David’s Qualifications for Composing Psalms (a) He was a skillful musician, with a sense of rhythm and an ear for pleasing sounds ( 1 Samuel 16:15-23). He seems to have invented new instruments of music ( Amos 6:5). (b) He is recognized by critics of all schools as a poet of no mean ability.
The genuineness of his elegy over Saul and Jonathan ( 2 Samuel 1:19-27) is commonly accepted; also his lament over Abner ( 2 Samuel 3:33 f). In the elegy over Saul and Jonathan, David displays a magnanimity and tenderness that accord with the representations of S as to his treatment of Saul and of Jonathan. No mere rough border chieftain could have composed a poem full of the tenderest sentiment and the most exemplary attitude toward a persecutor. The moral elevation of the elegy has to be accounted for. If the author was a deeply religious man, a man enjoying the friendship of God, it is easy to account for the moral dignity of the poem.
Surely it is only a step from the patriotism and magnanimity and devoted friendship of the elegy to the religious fervor of the Psalms. Moreover, the poetic skill displayed in the elegy removes the possible objection that literary art in the days of David had not attained a development equal to the composition of poems such as the Psalms. There is nothing more beautiful and artistic in the entire Psalter.
Radical critics saw the David of the Bible asunder. They contrast the rough border chieftain with the pious Psalmist. Though willing to believe every statement that reflects upon the moral character of David, they consider the references to David as a writer of hymns and the organizer of the temple choirs as the pious imaginings of late chroniclers. Robertson well says: “This habit of refusing to admit complexity in the capacities of Biblical characters is exceedingly hazardous and unsafe, when history is so full of instances of the combination in one person of qualities the most diverse.
We not only have poets who can harp upon more than one string, but we have religious leaders who have united the most fervent piety with the exercise of poorly developed virtue, or the practice of very questionable policy. A critic, if he has not a single measure of large enough capacity for a historical character, should not think himself at liberty to measure him out in two halfbushels, making one man of each” (Poetry and Religion of the Psalms, 332). Among kings, Charlemagne and Constantine the Great have been likened to David; and among poets, Robert Burns. There were contradictory elements in the moral characters of all these gifted men. Of Constantine it has been said that he “was by turns the docile believer and the cruel despot, devotee and murderer, patron saint and avenging demon.”
David was a many-sided man, with a character often at war with itself, a man with conflicting impulses, the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. Men of flesh and blood in the midst of life’s temptations have no difficulty in understanding the David of the Bible. (c) David was a man of deep feeling and of imperial imagination. Think of his love for Jonathan, his grateful appreciation of every exploit done in his behalf by his mighty men, his fondness for Absalom. His successful generalship would argue for imagination, as well as the vivid imagery of the elegy. (d) David was an enthusiastic worshipper of Yahweh. All the records of his life agree in representing him as devoted to Israel’s God. In the midst of life’s dangers and disappointments, “David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God” ( 1 Samuel 30:6). We should have been surprised had no trace of religious poetry come from his pen. It would be difficult to imagine Milton or Cowper or Tennyson as confining himself to secular poetry. “Comus,” “John Gilpin,” and the “Charge of the Light Brigade” did not exhaust their genius; nor did the elegy over Saul and Jonathan and the lament over Abner relieve David’s soul of the poetry that clamored for expression. The known facts of his life and times prepare us for an outburst of psalmody under his leadership. (e) The varied experiences through which David passed were of a character to quicken any latent gifts for poetic expression.
James Robertson states this argument clearly, and yet with becoming caution: “The vicissitudes and situations in David’s life presented in these narratives are of such a nature that, though we may not be able to say precisely that such and such a psalm was composed at such and such a time and place, yet we may confidently say, Here is a man who has passed through certain experiences and borne himself in such wise that we are not surprised to hear that, being a poet, he composed this and the other psalms.
It is very doubtful whether we should tie down any lyric to a precise set of circumstances, the poet being like a painter who having found a fit landscape, sits down to transfer it to canvas. I do not think it likely that David, finding himself in some great perplexity or sorrow, called for writing materials in order to describe the situation or record his feelings.
But I do think it probable that the vicissitudes through which he passed made such an impression on his sensitive heart, and became so inculcated withn an emotional nature, that when he soothed himself in his retirement with his lyre, they came forth spontaneously in the form of a psalm or song or prayer, according as the recollection was sad or joyful, and as his singing mood moved him” (Poetry and Religion of the Psalms, 343 f).
The Biblical writers, both early and late, agree in affirming that the Spirit of Yahweh rested upon David, empowering him for service of the highest order ( 1 Samuel 16:13; 2 Samuel 23:1-3; Matthew 22:43;. Acts 2:29-31). The gift of prophetic inspiration was bestowed upon Israel’s chief musician and poet. (3) External Evidence for Davidic Psalms (a) In the New Testament David is named as the author of certain psalms.
Thus Psalm 110 is ascribed to David by Jesus in His debate with the Pharisees in the Temple ( Matthew 22:41-45; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44). Peter teaches that David prophesied concerning Judas ( Acts 1:16), and he also refers Psalms 16 and 110 to David ( Acts 2:25-34). The whole company of the disciples in prayer attribute Psalm to David ( Acts 4:25 f). Paul quotes Psalms 32 and 69 as Davidic ( Romans 4:6-8; 11:9 f). The author of He even refers Psalm 95 to David, following the Septuagint ( Hebrews 4:7). From the last-named passage many scholars infer that any quotation from the Psalms might be referred to David as the chief author of the Psalms. Possibly this free and easy method of citation, without any attempt at rigorous critical accuracy, was in vogue in the 1st century AD. At the same time, it is evident that the view that David was the chief author of the Psalms was accepted by the New Testament writers. (b) In 2 Macc 2:13 (the Revised Version),in a letter purporting to have been written by the Jews of Palestine to their brethren in Egypt, about 144 BC, occurs the following: “And the same things were related both in the public archives and in the records that concern Nehemiah; and how he, rounding a library, gathered together the books about the kings and prophets, and the books of David, and letters of kings about sacred gifts.” We do not know the exact date of 2 Maccabees, but it was almost certainly in the 1st century BC. The author regards David as the author of books in the sacred library gathered together by Nehemiah. (c) Jesus the Son of Sirach, who wrote not later than 180 BC, and possibly a good deal earlier, thus describes David’s contribution to public worship: “In every work of his he gave thanks to the Holy One Most High with words of glory; with his whole heart he sang praise, and loved him that made him” (Ecclesiasticus 47:8 f the Revised Version (British and American)). David’s fame as a psalmist and the organizer of choirs for the sanctuary was well known to Ben Sira at the beginning of the 2nd century BC. (d) The author of Chronicles, writing not later than 300 BC, and probably much earlier, represents David as making provision for a service of song before the ark of God and in connection with its removal to the city of David (1 Chronicles 15; 16). It seems to be imagined by some scholars that the Chronicler, whose historical accuracy is severely attacked by certain critics, is responsible for the idea that David was a great writer of hymns.
On the contrary, he has less to say about David as a poet and psalmist than the author of Samuel. Only in 2 Chronicles 29:30 is there explicit mention of David as the author of praises to Yahweh. The Chronicler speaks repeatedly of the instruments of David and of his organization of the choirs. And so in the kindred books of Ezra and Nehemiah there is mention of the style of worship introduced by David ( Ezra 3:10; Nehemiah 12:24,36). The author of the Book of Kings refers repeatedly to David as a model king ( 1 Kings 11:4; 2 Kings 14:3; 20:5 f, etc.).
He becomes a witness for the high reputation of David for uprightness and religious zeal. (e) Amos refers incidentally to David’s great skill as an inventor of musical instruments ( Amos 6:5). The same prophet is a witness to the fact that songs were sung in worship at Bethel to the accompaniment of harps or viols ( Amos 5:23). (f) The earliest witness, or witnesses, if the narrative be composite, we find in 1 and 2 Samuel. David is described as a wonderful musician and as one on whom the Spirit of Yahweh rested mightily ( 1 Samuel 16:13-23). He is credited with the beautiful elegy oyer Saul and Jonathan ( Samuel 1:17-27) and the brief lament over Abner ( 2 Samuel 3:33 f) .
He is said to have danced with joy before the ark, and to have brought it up to Jerusalem with shouting and with sound of trumpet ( 2 Samuel 6:12 ff). He is credited with the pious wish that he might build a temple for Yahweh and the ark, and is said to have poured forth a prayer of thanksgiving to Yahweh for the promise of a perpetual throne (2 Samuel 7). David dedicated to Yahweh much wealth taken from his enemies. ( Samuel 8:11). Both the good and the bad in David’s life and character are faithfully set forth in the vivid narrative.
We come next to two statements that would settle the question of David’s psalms, if critics would only accept them as the work of an author living within a generation or so of the time of David. Unfortunately 2 Samuel through 24 is regarded by most critical scholars as an appendix to the early narrative of David’s career. There is no agreement as to the exact date of the composition of these chapters. Naturally the burden of proof is on the critic who tries to disintegrate a document, and suspicion of bias is inevitable, if by the disintegration he is able to escape the force of a disagreeable argument. Happily, we live in a free country, every man having a right to hold and to express his own opinion, for whatever it may be worth. It seems to the present writer that 2 Samuel 21 through 24 may well have come from the pen of the early narrator who told the story of David’s reign in such a masterly fashion. Even if these chapters were added by a later editor as an appendix, there is no sufficient reason for putting this writer so late as the exile. His statements cannot be set aside as unreliable, simply because they run counter to the current theory as to the date of the Psalms. 2 Samuel 22 purports to give the words of a song which David spake to Yahweh, when he had been delivered from Saul and from all his enemies. Psalm 18 is evidently a different recension of the same poem. The differences between 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 are not much greater than the differences in the various odd of “Rock of Ages.” Only the most advanced critics deny that David wrote this glorious song. 2 Samuel 23:1-7 must not be omitted, for here David claimed prophetic inspiration as the sweet Psalmist of Israel. This original and striking poem is worthy of the brilliant royal bard. (g) The titles of the Psalms are external evidence of real value for determining the date and authorship of the Psalms; and these ascribe to David. A sweeping denial of all the forms of external evidence for Davidic psalms ought to be buttressed by convincing arguments from internal evidence. Unverified conjectures will not answer. (4) Internal Evidence for Davidic Psalms The fact that many of the psalms ascribed to David correspond in tone and temper and in historical allusions with incidents in his life, while not in itself convincing proof that David wrote them, certainly re-enforces the external evidence in favor of Davidic psalms. We must refer the reader to the commentaries of Delitzsch, Kirkpatrick, Perowne and others for the evidence discovered in individual psalms. In many psalms the evidence is strongly in favor of the superscriptions, in which David is named as the writer. See especially Psalms 18; 23; 32; 3. (5) Number of Davidic Psalms Opinion varies among conservative scholars all the way from 3 or 4 to or 45. It has come to pass that a critic who acknowledges even Psalm 18 to be David’s is called conservative. In fact, the more radical critics regard a scholar as conservative if he assigns even a small group of psalms to the period before the exile. We must not allow ourselves to be deterred from ascribing to David any psalm that seems to us, on the basis of both external and internal evidence, to come from his pen. Delitzsch and Kirkpatrick are safer guides than Cheyne and Duhm. Maclaren also has made a close and sympathetic study of David’s life and character, and accepts the results of sane criticism. W. T. Davison (HDB, IV) speaks out clearly and strongly for Davidic authorship of Psalms 7; 11; 17; 18; 19 (first half), 24 and a few other psalms or parts of psalms, though he makes large concessions to the present tendency to bring the psalms down to a later date. He stands firmly for a large body of pre-exilic psalms. Ewald assigned to David Psalms 3; 4; 7; 8; 11; 18; 19; 24; 29; 32; 101; also 60:8-11 and 68:14-19. Hitzig ascribed to David Psalms 3 through 19, with the exception of Psalm 5; and 14. If one follows the titles in the Hebrew text, except where internal evidence clearly contradicts the superscriptions, it will be easy, to follow Delitzsch in attributing 44 or 45 psalms to David. 2. Psalmody after David: (1) Psalms of Asaph (Psalms 73 through 83, also 50).
The prophetic spirit throbs in most of the psalms ascribed to ASAPH (which see). God is pictured as a righteous Judge. He is also pictured as the Shepherd of Israel. Psalm 73 holds fast to God’s righteous rule of mankind, in spite of the prosperity of the wicked. Psalm 50, which is assigned by many to the time of Hosea and Isaiah, because of its powerful prophetic message, may well have come from Asaph, the contemporary of David and of Nathan. Some of the Asaph group, notably 74 and 79, belong to the period of the exile or later. The family of Asaph continued for centuries to lead in the service of song ( 2 Chronicles 35:15; Nehemiah 7:44). Inspired poets were raised up from age to age in the Asaph guild. (2) Psalms of the Sons of Korah (Psalms 42 through 49; 84; 85; 87).
This family of singers was prominent in the temple-worship in the days of David and afterward. Several of the most beautiful poems in the Psalter are ascribed to members of this guild (see Psalms 42; 43; 45; 46; 49; 84). We are not to think of these poems as having been composed by a committee of the sons of Korah; no doubt each poem had an individual author, who was willing to sink his personality in the psalm that he was composing. The privileges and blessings of social worship in the sanctuary are greatly magnified in this group of psalms (3) Psalms of Solomon (Psalms 72; 127).
Even conservative critics are in doubt as to the Solomonic authorship of the two psalms ascribed to him by the titles. Perhaps assurance is not attainable in the present state of inquiry. Delitzsch well says: “Under Solomon psalmody already began to decline; all the productions of the mind of that period bear the stamp of thoughtful contemplation rather than of direct feeling, for restless yearning for higher things had given place to sensuous enjoyment, national concentration to cosmopolitan expansion.” (4) The Era of Jehoshaphat.
Delitzsch and others regard the period of Jehoshaphat as one of literary productivity. Possibly Psalms 75 and 76 celebrate the deliverance from the great eastern invasion toward the close of Jehoshaphat’s reign. (5) The Era of Hezekiah.
The latter half of the 8th century BC was one of literary vigor and expansion, especially in Judah. Perhaps the great deliverance from Sennacherib’s invasion is celebrated in Psalms 46 and 48. (6) The Period of Jeremiah.
Ehrt and some other scholars are inclined to attribute to Jeremiah a considerable number of psalms. Among those which have been assigned to this prophet may be named Psalms 31; 35; 38; 40; 55; 69; 71. Those who deny the Davidic authorship of Psalm 22 also assign this great poem to Jeremiah. Whether we are able to name definitely any psalms of Jeremiah, it seems thoroughly reasonable that he should have been the author of certain of the plaintive poems in the Psalter. (7) During the Exile.
Psalm 102 seems to have been composed during the exile. The poet pours out his complaint over the present distress, and reminds Yahweh that it is time to have pity upon Zion. Psalm 137 pictures the distress of the captives by the rivers of Babylon. The fire and fervor of the poem bespeak an author personally involved in the distress. No doubt other psalms in our collection were composed during the captivity in Babylon. (8) Post-exilic Psalms As specimens of the joyous hymns composed after the return from exile, we may name Psalms 85 and 126. Many of the liturgical hymns in the Psalter were no doubt prepared for use in the worship of the second temple. Certain recent critics have extended this class of hymns so as to include the greater part of the Psalter, but that is surely an extreme view.
No doubt, the stirring times of Ezra and Nehemiah stimulated poets in Jerusalem to pour forth thanksgiving and praise to Israel’s God. Ewald taught, that the latest psalms in our collection were composed at this time. (9) Are There Maccabean Psalms?
Calvin, assigned Psalms 44; 74 and 79 to the Maccabean period. If there are Maccabean psalms, Calvin has perhaps hit upon three of them. Hitzig assigns to the Maccabean period all the psalms from 73 to 150, together with a few psalms in the earlier half of the Psalter. Among moderns, Duhm puts practically the whole Psalter in the period from 170 to 70 BC.
Gesenius, Ewald, Hupfeld and Dillmann, four of the greatest names in Old Testament criticism, oppose the view that the Psalter contains Maccabean psalms. Most recent students admit the possibility of Maccabean psalms.
The question may well be left open for further investigation. 3. GROWTH OF THE PSALTER. 1. Division into Five Books: In the Hebrew text as well as in the Revised Version (British and American), the Psalms are grouped into five books, as follows: Book I, Psalms 1 through 41; Book II, Psalms 42 through 72; Book III, Psalms through 89; Book IV, Psalms 90 through 106; Book V, Psalms through 150. It is possible that this division into five books may have been already made before the Chronicler composed his history of Judah (compare 1 Chronicles 16:36 with <19A648> Psalm 106:48). At the end of Book II appears a subscript which is significant in the history of the Psalter. It is said in Psalm 72:20: “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” It would seem from this note that the editor who appended it meant to say that in his collection he had included all the psalms of David known to him. Singularly enough, the subscript is attached to a psalm ascribed to Solomon. Psalms 51 through 70, however, lie near at hand, all of which are attributed to David. Psalm 71 is anonymous, and Psalm might possibly be considered a prayer for Solomon. There is a further difficulty in the fact that the Second Book of Psalms opens with nine poems ascribed to the sons of Korah and to Asaph. It is a very natural conjecture that these nine psalms were at one time united with Psalms through 83. With these removed, it would be possible to unite Psalms through 70 with Book I. Then the subscript to Psalm 72 would be a fitting close to a roll made up of psalms ascribed to David. It is impossible at this late date to trace fully and accurately the history of the formation of the Psalter. 2. Smaller Groups of Psalms: Within the Psalter there lie certain groups of psalms which have in a measure retained the form in which they probably once circulated separately. Among these groups may be named the Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120 through 134), the Asaph group (Psalms 73 through 83), the sons of Korah groups (Psalms 42 through 49; 84 through 87, except 86), a [Mikhtam] group (Psalms 56 through 60), a group praising Yahweh for His character and deeds (Psalms 93 through 100), to which Psalms 90-92 form a fitting introduction. Psalms 103 through 107 constitute another group of praise psalms, and Psalms 145 through 150 make a closing Hallelujah group.
The Psalter has had a long and varied history. No doubt the precentor of the temple choir had his own collection of hymns for public worship. Small groups of psalms may have been issued also for private use in the home. As time went on, collections were made on different organizing principles.
Sometimes hymns attributed to a given author were perhaps brought into a single group. Possibly psalms of a certain type, such as Maskil and Mikhtam psalms, were gathered together in small collections. How these small groups were partly preserved and partly broken up, in the history of the formation of our present Psalter, will, perhaps, never be known. 4. POETRY OF THE PSALTER.
For general discussion of the form of Hebrew poetry, see POETRY. In the Psalms almost all known varieties of poetic parallelism are exemplified.
Among moderns, C.A. Briggs has made extensive research into the poetical structure of the Psalms. In summing up the result of his study of the various measures employed in the Psalms, he classes 89 psalms or parts of psalms as trimeters, that is, the lines have three main accents; 22 psalms or parts he regards as tetrameters, each of the lines having four accented syllables; 25 psalms or portions are classed as pentameters, and an equal number as hexameters. He recognizes some variety of measure in certain psalms. There is coming to be agreement among Hebrew scholars that the rhythm of Hebrew poetry is largely determined by the number of accented syllables to the line. Some critics insist rigorously on perfect regularity, and therefore are compelled to resort to conjectural emendation. See POETRY, HEBREW.
Nine psalms are known as alphabetical poems, namely, Psalms 9; 10; 25; 34; 37; 111; 112; 119; 145. The most elaborate of these is Psalm 119, which is divided into 22 sections of 8 verses each. Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet occurs 8 times in succession as the initial letter of the verses in its section.
As to strophical structure or stanza formation, there is evidence in certain psalms of such organization of the poems. The refrains with which strophes often close form an easy guide to the strophical divisions in certain psalms, such as Psalms 42; 43; 46; 107. Among English commentators, Briggs pays most attention to strophical structure. There is some evidence of antiphonal singing in connection with the Psalter. It is thought by some that Psalms 20 and 21 were sung by responsive choirs. Psalms 24 and 118 may each be antiphonal. 5. THE SPEAKER IN THE PSALMS.
Smend, in ZATW, 1888, undertook to establish thesis that the speaker in the Psalms is not an individual, but a personification of the Jewish nation or church. At first he was inclined to recognize an individual speaker in Psalms 3; 4; 62 and 73, but one year later he interpreted these also as collective. Thus, at one stroke individual religious experience is wiped out of the Psalter, A few scholars have accepted Smend’s thesis; but the great majority of critics of every school have withheld their assent, and some of the best commentators have shown that theory is wholly untenable.
Perhaps the best monograph on the subject, for the German student, is one by Emil Balla, Das Ich der Psalmen. Balla’s thesis is that the “I” psalms, both in the Psalter and in the other books of the Old Testament, are always to be understood as individual, with the exception of those in which from plain data in the text another interpretation of the “I” is necessary. Of psalms in which “I” occurs, Balla classes 80 as easy to interpret; in the remaining 20 there might be reasonable room for difference of opinion whether the psalm was individual or collective.
Personification is largely used in all parts of the Old Testament. There is no room for doubt that Psalm 129, though using “I,” “my” and “me,” is the language of Israel as a people. The same is true of Psalm 124. The author of Psalm 126 likewise associates himself with his brethren. The author of Psalm 122, however, is evidently speaking for himself individually, when he says in 122:8, “For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.” The intelligent reader usually has no difficulty in deciding, after a careful reading of a psalm, whether the “I” refers to an individual Israelite or to the congregation of Israel. Sane views on this subject are important, inasmuch as Smend’s theory does violence to the strength and power of the individual religious experience of Old Testament believers. In many portions of the Old Testament, national duties are urged, and Israel is addressed as a whole. At the same time, it would be easy to exaggerate the relatively small place that individual religion occupies in the prophetic writings and in the Law. The Psalter absolutely refuses to be shut up in the molds of a rigid nationalism. 6. THE GOSPEL IN THE PSALMS Christians love the Psalter as much as the ancient Jew could possibly have done. On every page they discover elements of religious life and experience that are thoroughly Christian. In this respect the earlier dispensation came nearer to the perfection of Christian standards than in political and social organization. Along with the New Testament, the aged Christian saint desires a copy of the Psalms. He passes easily from the Gospels to the Psalter and back again without the sense of shifting from one spiritual level to another. Religious experience was enjoyed and was portrayed by the ancient psalmists so well that no Christian book in the apostolic period was composed to displace the Psalter. 1. The Soul’s Converse with God: (1) The Psalmists Are Always Reverent in Their Approach to Deity.
Yahweh is infinitely holy ( Psalm 99:3,5,9). Psalms 95 through 100 are models of adoration and worship. (2) Thirsting for God.
Psalms 42 and 43, which were originally one psalm, voice the longing of the individual soul for God as no other human composition has been able to express it. Psalm 63 is a worthy companion psalm of yearning after God. (3) Praising God.
More than 20 psalms have for their keynote praise to God. See especially Psalm 8:1,9; 57:7-11; 71:22-24; 95:1-7. The first three verses of Psalms 33; 34; 40; 92 and 105 reveal a rich vocabulary of praise for stammering human lips. (4) Joy in God’s house.
Psalms 84 and 122 are classic hymns expressive of joy in public worship in the sanctuary. Religious patriotism has never received a more striking expression than is found in <19D705> Psalm 137:5 f. (5) Practicing the Presence of God.
In Psalms 91 and 23 the worshipping saint delights his soul with the sense of God’s protecting presence. The Shepherd, tender and true, is ever present to shield and to comfort. The shadow of the Almighty is over the saint who dwells in the secret place of the Most High. (6) God in Nature.
The Psalmist did not go “through Nature up to Nature’s God”; for he found God immanent in all things. He heard God’s voice in the thunder; felt His breath in the twilight breeze; saw the gleam of His sword in the lightning’s flash, and recognized His hand in every provision for the wants of man and the lower animals. See Psalm 104, “Hymn of Creation”; Psalm 29, “Yahweh, the God of the storm”; and the first half of Psalm 19, “the heavens are telling.” (7) Love for God’s word.
Psalm 119 is the classic description of the beauty and power and helpfulness of the Word of God. The second half of Psalm 19 is also a gem.
Psalm 119 was happily named by one of the older commentators “a holy alphabet for Zion’s scholars.” The Psalmist sings the glories of God’s Word as a lamp to guide, as a spring of comfort, and as a fountain of hope. (8) God’s Care of All Things.
Faith in Divine Providence — both general and special — was a cardinal doctrine with the psalmists; yea more, the very heart of their religion.
Psalm 65 sings of God’s goodness in sunshine and shower, which clothes the meadows with waving grain. The river of God is always full of water.
Psalm 121, “Yahweh thy Keeper,” was read by David Livingstone at family worship on the morning when he left home to go out to Africa as a missionary. (9) God Our Refuge.
The psalmists were fond of the figure of “taking refuge in God.” Yahweh was to them a rock of refuge, a stronghold, a high tower, an impregnable fortress. Psalms 46; 61 and 62 exalt God as the refuge of His saints. His help is always easy to find. The might and wisdom of God do not overwhelm the inspired singers, but become a theme of devout and joyous contemplation.
Our Lord Jesus found in the Psalms prophecies concerning Himself ( Luke 24:44-47). 2. The Messiah: (1) The Suffering Saviour.
While hanging on the cross, the mind of our Lord turned to the Psalter. He voiced the terrible anguish of His soul in the opening words of Psalm 22, and breathed out His spirit at the end with the trustful words of Psalm 31:5. He also invited the fulfillment of a Messianic prediction in Psalm 69:21 by saying, “I thirst.” Isaiah and the Psalms did not fail Him in the hour of His shame, when reproach broke His heart, and there was none to comfort Him. Only Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12 surpasses Psalm 22 as a picture of Calvary and an interpretation of the significance of the cross.
Whether Psalm 22 is a direct prophecy of Christ, or only a typically Messianic psalm, is in dispute. Every sentence can be applied to Jesus without straining its meaning. If David or some other sufferer took up his harp to sing of his own sorrows, the Spirit of God guided him to describe those of a greater.
Rationalistic critics insist that to apply part of a psalm to David and part to Christ introduces confusion. They ridicule theory of a “double sense,” and contend that the language refers to the Psalmist and to him alone, and that the application of certain verses to our Lord Jesus is only by way of accommodation. This theory ignores the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit altogether; and when men talk of “psychological impossibilities,” they may be talking nonsense; for who of us can us can understand fully the psychological experience of men while receiving revelations from God?
The real author of inspired prophecies is the Holy Spirit. His meaning is that which the reverent interpreter most delights to find; and we have evidence that the Old Testament writers did not fully comprehend their own predictions concerning Christ ( 1 Peter 1:10-12). We ought not to be surprised that we should be unable to explain fully the method of the Holy Spirit’s activity in guiding the thought of prophets and psalmists in their predictions of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow them. (2) The Conquering King.
Psalms 2 and 110 (with which Psalm 72 may be compared) describe the Messiah as Yahweh’s Son, a mighty. Conqueror, who shall overwhelm all foes and reign supported by Yahweh. Some will oppose the Messiah, and so perish; others will enter His army as volunteers, and in the end will enjoy the fruits of victory. “It is better to sit on His throne than to be His footstool.” (3) The Growing Kingdom.
There is room in the earth for no god other than Yahweh, the Creator and Redeemer of mankind. Psalms 47; 67; 96 through 100 and 117 are proofs of the glorious missionary outlook of the Psalter. All nations are exhorted to forsake idols and worship Yahweh. Psalm 47 closes with a picture of the whole world united in the worship of the God of Israel. Psalm 67 is a bugle call to all nations to unite in the worship of the true God. Psalms through 100 paint the character of Yahweh as a basis of appeal to all nations to turn from idols and worship the God of Abraham. Psalms 96 and 98 exalt His righteousness; Psalm 97 His power and dominion; Psalm His holiness and His fidelity to Israel, while Psalm 100 tells of His goodness. Idols will finally go down before a God worthy of men’s reverence and love. 3. Problem of Sin: The Psalter deals with man as a sinner. Seven of the best known poems in the collection are so charged with a sense of sin and of its deadly fruits that they have been known for centuries as the Penitential Psalms (6; 32; 38; 51; 102; 130; 143). Besides these poems of penitence and confession, there are many passages elsewhere in the Psalter which depict the sinfulness of men. And yet there are assertions of personal innocence and righteousness in the Psalter that sound like the claims of self-righteous persons (7:3-9; 17:1-5; 18:20-24; 35:11-17; 44:17-22). The psalmists do not mean to affirm that they are sinless before God, but rather that they are righteous in comparison with their foes who are seeking to destroy them. Sometimes they plead for mercy in the same context. The honest exegete does not find the Pharisaic temper in these noble hymns, though he is quite willing to admit that the Christian cannot well employ some of the expressions concerning his own experiences. Jesus requires a humility deeper than that which was attained in Old Testament times. (1) Confessing Sin. (a) Individual confession: Psalms 32 and 51 are notable examples of individual confession. The cries of the penitent in Psalm 51 have been repeated by thousands on bended knee as the best expression of their own sense of sin and yearning for forgiveness. (b) National confession (see especially 78; 95 and 106). Psalm celebrates the praises of Yahweh for His unfailing kindness to Israel; Psalm 106 tells the tale of Israel’s repeated rebellion. (2) Seeking Forgiveness.
Psalm 51 is the penitent’s cry for mercy. Never did the soul of man plead more powerfully for forgiveness. God cannot despise a heart broken and crushed with the sense of sin and pleading like a lost child for home and mother. (3) Conquering Sin.
Psalms 130 begins with a cry out of the depths and ends with a note of joy over redemption from sin. The plenteous redemption of which the poet speaks includes triumph over sin in one’s heart and life. The cries of the Old Testament saints for victory over sin were not unheeded (139:23 f; 19:13; 119:133). The author of Psalm 84 truthfully depicts the life of Yahweh’s worshippers, “They go from strength to strength.” Victory over sin is sure in the end. 4. Wrestling with Doubts: The ancient Hebrew seems to have had no temptation to atheism or pantheism. The author of Ecclesiastes felt the pull of agnosticism and materialism ( Ecclesiastes 3:19-21; 9:2-10), but in the end he rejected both (12:7,13 f). The ancient Hebrew found in the world about him one difficulty which seemed almost insuperable. He believed in the wisdom and power and justice of God. How then could it be possible, in a world over which a wise and just God presides, that the wicked should prosper and the righteous suffer? This is the question which is hotly debated by Job and his three friends. A partial solution of the difficulty may be seen in Psalm 37, theme of which is `the brevity of godless prosperity, and the certainty that well-doing will lead to well-being.’ A better solution is attained in Psalm 73, which depicts God’s attitude toward the wicked and toward the righteous. The wicked will be suddenly overthrown, while the righteous will live forever in the enjoyment of communion with God. Not even death can sever him from God. The fleeting pleasures of proud scoffers pale into insignificance before the glories of everlasting fellowship with God. 5. Out of the Depths: (1) Out of the depths of persecution and slander the author of Psalm climbed into his refuge, as he exclaimed, “In the covert of thy presence wilt thou hide them from the plottings of man: Thou wilt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” (2) Psalm 77 is a stairway out of depths of suspense and the anxiety.
The experience of the author well illustrates Maclaren’s epigram, “If out of the depths we cry, we shall cry ourselves out of the depths.” (3) The author of Psalm 116 looked into the jaws of death. Perhaps no other psalm has so much to say of physical death. The singer is filled with gratitude as he reviews the deadly peril from which Yahweh has saved him. (4) Psalm 88 is unique, because it is sad and plaintive from beginning to end. The singer has long cried for deliverance from bodily weakness and from loneliness. (5) Out of the depths of disaster and defeat the authors of Psalms 60; 74; 79 and 89 cry to God. The Babylonian exile was a sore trial to patriotic Jews. They mourned over the destruction of their beautiful temple and the holy city in which their fathers had worshipped. The author of Psalm 60 closes with hope and confidence (60:12). 6. Ethical Ideals: “Unquestionably in the Psalms we reach the high-water mark of Old Testament practical piety, the best that, the Old Testament can exhibit of heart-religion.” (1) What Sort of Man, Then, Would the Psalms Acclaim as Good?
Psalm 1 opens with a vivid contrast between the righteous and the wicked.
Psalm 15 is the most complete description of a good man to be found in the Psalter. The picture is drawn in answer to the question, What sort of man will Yahweh receive as an acceptable worshipper? The morality of the Bible is rooted in religion, and the religion of the Bible blossoms and bears fruit in the highest ethics known to man. Psalm 131 makes humility a prime quality in real goodness. Psalm 133 magnifies the spirit of brotherly love.
The social virtues had a large place in the psalmists’ ideals of goodness.
Humility and brotherly love are a guaranty of peace in the home, the church and the nation. Psalm 24:4 is a compend of ethics in a single sentence. (2) The Ethics of Speech.
Even a casual reading of the Psalms must impress one with the fact that the psalmists felt very keenly the lies and slanders and boastings of the wicked.
Stirred with righteous indignation, they call upon God to awake and confront the blatant foes of truth and righteousness (see especially Psalms 12; 52 and 120). (3) Ministering to the Needy.
Bible readers are familiar with the ideal of the good man in Job 29:12-16; 31:13-22. Psalm 82 is a plea for justice. Venal judges are one day to confront the great Judge. Men need fair play first. Perhaps there will then be no occasion for the exercise of almsgiving. Psalm 41 is a plea for kindness. The Christian reader is reminded of the words of Jesus, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” The Ideal Ruler is both just and beneficent ( Psalm 72:2,12-14). 7. Praying against the Wicked: To be a good lover one must know how to hate. The excitement of battle throbs in many of the Psalms. The enemies of righteousness are victorious and defiant. Their taunts drive the psalmists to importunate prayer.
Yahweh’s honor is at stake and His cause in peril. More than 20 psalms contain prayer for the defeat and overthrow of the wicked. Warlike imagery of the boldest kind is found in many of the imprecatory psalms. To the Christian reader some of the curses pronounced against the wicked are startling and painful. Many are led to wonder how such imprecations ever found a place in the Bible. The most severe curses are found in Psalms 35; 69 and 109. Maclaren’s words are well worth reading as an introduction to Psalm 109: “For no private injuries, or for those only in so far as the suffering singer is a member of the community which represents God’s cause, does he ask the descent of God’s vengeance, but for the insults and hurts inflicted on righteousness. The form of these maledictions belongs to a lower stage of revelation; the substance of them, considered as passionate desires for the destruction of evil, burning zeal for the triumph of truth, which is God’s cause, and unquenchable faith that He is just, is a part of Christian perfection.” Two remarks may be made, as suggestions to the student of the Psalter: (1) We ought to study the psalms of imprecation in the light of their origin.
They are poetry and not prose; and Deuteronomy Witt reminds us that the language of oriental poetry is that of exaggerated passion. Some of these imprecations pulse with the throb of actual battle. Swords are drawn, and blood is flowing. The champion of Yahweh’s people prays for the overthrow of His foes. The enemies cursed are men who break every moral law and defy God. The Psalmist identifies himself with Yahweh’s cause. “Do not I hate them, O Yahweh, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: They are become mine enemies” ( <19D921> Psalm 139:21 f). Thus the psalmists pray with God’s glory in view. (2) We ought to use the imprecatory psalms in the light of our Lord’s teaching. We cannot pronounce curses on our personal enemies. This heavenly artillery may be turned upon the saloon, the brothel and the gambling hell, though we must not forget to pray for the conversion of the persons who are engaged in these lines of business. 8. The Future Life: “If a man die, shall he live again?” What answer do the Psalms give to Job’s cry for light? There are expressions in the Psalter which seem to forbid hope of a blessed immortality ( Psalm 6:5; 30:9; 39:13; 115:17).
The psalmists are tempted to fear that fellowship with God would cease at death. Let this fact, however, be borne in mind, that not one of the poets or prophets of Israel settled down to a final denial of immortality. Some of them had moments of joyous assurance of a blessed life of fellowship with God in the world to come. Life everlasting in the presence of Yahweh is the prospect with which the author of Psalm 16 refreshes himself (16:8- 11). The vision of God’s face after the sleep of death is better than worldly prosperity (17:13-15). The author of Psalm 73 wins rest for his distressed mind in the assurance of a fellowship with God that cannot be broken (73:23-26). God will finally take the singer to Himself. It has been well said that Psalm 49 registers the high-water mark of Old Testament faith in a future life. Death becomes the shepherd of the wicked who trusted in riches, while God redeems the righteous from the power of Sheol and takes the believing soul to Himself.
LITERATURE.
One of the most elaborate and informing articles on the history of the exposition of the Psalms is found in the Introduction to Delitzsch’s Commentary (pp. 64-87, English translation). Among the Fathers, Jerome, Chrysostom and Augustine are most helpful. Among the Reformers, Calvin, the prince of expositors, is most valuable. Among modern commentators, Ewald and Delitzsch are scholarly and sane. Their commentaries are accessible in English translation Hupfeld is strong in grammatical exegesis. Baethgen (1904) is very thorough. Among recent English and American commentators, the most helpful are Perowne (6th edition, 1866), Maclaren in Expositor’s Bible (1890-92), and Kirkpatrick in Cambridge Bible (1893-95). Briggs in ICC (1906) is learned; Davison, New Century Bible, is bright and attractive. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, is a valuable compilation, chiefly from the Puritan divines. Cheyne, The Book of Psalms (1888) and The Origin and Religious Contents of the Psalter (1891), is quite radical in his critical views. Binnie, The Psalms:
Their Origin, Teachings and Use (1886), is a fine introduction to the Psalter. Robertson, The Poetry and Religion of the Psalms (1898), constructs an able argument against recent radical views. John Richard Sampey PSALMS, IMPRECATORY <im’-pre-ka-to-ri > , <im-pre-ka’-ter-i > . See PSALMS, VI, 7.
PSALTER, (PSALMS), OF SOLOMON <sol’-ter > . See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, III, 1; BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS, IV, 1, (1), (b).
PSALTERY <sol’-ter-i > . See MUSIC.
PSALTIEL <sol’-ti-el > : Syriac and the Revised Version margin = “Phaltiel” of Esdras 5:16.
PSEUDO-MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF <su’-do-math’-u > . See APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS, III, 1, (b).
PSYCHOLOGY <si-kol’-o-ji > : 1. INTRODUCTION: SCOPE OF BIBLICAL PSYCHOLOGY:
The extravagant claims made by some writers for a fully developed system of Biblical psychology has brought the whole subject into disrepute. So much so, that Hofmann (Schriftbeweis) has boldly asserted that “a system of Biblical psychology has been got together without any justification for it in Scripture.” At the outset, therefore, it must be borne in mind that the Bible does not present us with a systematized philosophy of man, but gives in popular form an account of human nature in all its various relationships.
A reverent study of Scripture will undoubtedly lead to the recognition of a well-defined system of psychology, on which the whole scheme of redemption is based. Great truths regarding human nature are presupposed in and accepted by the Old Testament and the New Testament; stress is there laid on other aspects of truth, unknown to writers outside of revelation, and presented to us, not in the language of the schools, but in that of practical life. Man is there described as fallen and degraded, but intended by God to be raised, redeemed, renewed. From this point of view Biblical psychology must be studied, and our aim should be “to bring out the views of Scripture regarding the nature, the life and life-destinies of the soul, as they are determined in the history of salvation” (Delitzsch, Biblical Psychology, 15). 2. NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE SOUL:
As to the origin of the soul, Scripture is silent. It states very clearly that life was inbreathed into man by God ([ jP”Yiw” , wayyippah ]; Septuagint [ejnefu>shsen, enephusesen ]; Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) inspiravit). The human being thus inspired by God was thereby constituted a nephesh chayyah (“living soul”), because the nishmath chayyim (“breath of lives”) had been imparted to him ( Genesis 2:7).
Beyond this the first book of the Bible does not go. In later books the doctrine is taught with equal clearness. Thus, in the Book of Job: “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty giveth me life” ( Job 33:4). The difference in expression should be carefully noted. The “living soul” Septuagint psuche zosa ) is made to depend upon, as it has its origin in, the “breath of lives” the Septuagint pnoe zoes ). The neshamah (“breath”) is characteristic of man — though it is very rarely, if ever, attributed to animals; man is described as a being `in whose nostrils is but a breath’ (neshamah ) ( Isaiah 2:22). That “breath” is `God’s breath in man’ ( Job 32:8; 34:14), or, as it is represented in Proverbs 20:27, “The spirit of man (nishmath ) is the lamp of Yahweh.” In the New Testament Paul evidently refers to this view of man’s origin in the statement that “the first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam .... a life-giving (quickening) spirit” ( 1 Corinthians 15:45). This too agrees with what Christ has said: “It is the spirit, that giveth life (quickeneth)” ( John 6:63), and with what Paul himself has stated elsewhere in the Epistle to the Romans (8:2): “The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.” 3. FALSE THEORIES:
Scripture therefore repudiates all doctrines of emanation, by which is meant a natural, forth-flowing life from God into the human sphere; it teaches a doctrine of creation, whereby it declares that the Almighty acts with deliberation and design, in free choice, and not of necessity. “Let us make man” is the sublime utterance of divine wisdom and power. Nor does Scripture teach the pre-existence of the soul — a doctrine found in the extra-canonical, platonically-inspired Book of Wisdom (Wisd 8:19,20), For I was a child of parts, and a good soul fell to my lot; nay rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled.” This doctrine was well known to Jewish writers, and was taught in Talmud and Kabbalah. “All souls were, according to the Talmud, created and kept in secret from the first moment of creation. As creatures of the highest sphere they are omniscient; but at the moment of birth in a human body an angel touches the lips of the child, so that he forgets whatever has been” (Emanuel Deutsch, The Talmud). The doctrine, however, must be a later importation into Jewish theology through Plato and Philo. It reminds us of Vergil (AEneid vi.713), who makes the souls — destined by the Fates to inhabit new bodies on earth — drink of the waters of Lethe (forgetfulness), so as to remove all remembrance of the joys of Elysium: “The souls that throng the flood, Are those to whom by Fate are other bodies owed; In Lethe’s lake they long oblivion taste Of future life secure, forgetful of the past.” According to the Kabbalah, souls are supposed to have an ideal as well as a real pre-existence: “ideal as emanations from the cephiroth , which are themselves emanations from the infinite real, as having been `created’ at a definite time” (compare Eric Bischoff, Deuteronomy Kabbala).
The doctrine with some modifications passed into the Christian church, was accepted by Justin Martyr, Theodoretus, Origen and others of the church Fathers, but became obsolete by the latter part of the 4th century (compare Shedd, History of Christian Doctrine, II, 9). It was formally condemned by a synod held at Constantinople in the 6th century. In later times it was accepted in modified form by Kant, Schelling and others, and was specially defended by Julius Muller, who held that the soul had a timeless preexistence and underwent a fall before the final act, whereby it was united in time to the body as its temporary home (Ein ausserzeitlicher Urzustand und Urfall). Reference is sometimes made to Jeremiah 1:5, where Yahweh addresses His servant: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.” But this text gives no warrant to the doctrine as taught by the writers mentioned. All that may be conceded is, what Delitzsch has termed “an ideal pre-existence,” i.e. “a pre-existence, not only of man as such, but also of the individual and of all: a preexistence in the divine knowledge, which precedes the existence in the individual consciousness” (Biblical Psychology, 46). 4. CREATIONISM AND TRADUCIANISM:
A new question arises at this point, namely, Is the soul a special creation?
Is it derived from the parents? Opinions are and have been divided on this point. Many have supported theory of Creationism, by which is meant that in every instance where a new individual comes into being a soul is specially created by God, de nihilo, to inhabit the new-formed body. This view of the soul’s birth found great favor in the early church. It was dominant in the East and was advocated in the West. “Jerome asserts that God quotidie fabricatur animas, and cites Scripture in proof” (Shedd, op. cit., II, 11). Scholastic theologians in the Middle Ages, Roman Catholic divines, Reformed orthodoxy upheld theory. Though finding little support in Scripture, they appealed to such texts as the following: “He fashioneth their hearts alike” ( Psalm 33:15 the King James Version); Yahweh “formeth the spirit of man within him” ( Zechariah 12:1); “The spirit returneth unto God who gave it” ( Ecclesiastes 12:7; compare Numbers 16:22; Hebrews 12:9); “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh” ( Numbers 27:16) — of which Delitzsch declared: “There can hardly be a more classical proof-text for creationism” (Bibl. Psych., 137).
Traducianism again has found equal support in the Christian church. It declared that the parents were responsible, not merely for the bodies, but also for the souls of their offspring — per traducem vel per propaginem (i.e. by direct derivation, in the ordinary way of propagation). Tertullian was a strong supporter of this view: “The soul of man, like the shoot of a tree, is drawn out (deducta) into a physical progeny from Adam, the parent stock” (Shedd, History of Doctrine, II, 14). Jerome remarked that in his day it was adopted by maxima pars occidentalium (“the large majority of western theologians”). Leo the Great (died 461) asserted that “the Catholic faith teaches that every man with reference to the substance of his soul as well as of his body is formed in the womb” (Shedd). Augustine, however, though doctrinally inclined to support the claims of Traducianists, kept an open mind on the subject: “You may blame, if you will, my hesitation,” he wrote, “because I do not venture to affirm or deny that of which I am ignorant.” And, perhaps, this is the safest attitude to assume; for there is little Scriptural warrant for either theory. Birth is a mystery which baffles investigation, and Scripture throws no light upon that mystery. Yet some who have discussed this subject have tried actually to calculate the very day on which the soul is created or infused into the body, as it is being formed in the mother’s womb — in boys on the 40th day after pregnancy and in girls on the 80th day. This indeed is the reductio ad absurdum of Creationism.
Whichever theory we accept, the difficulties are great either way. For if God creates a soul, that soul must be pure and sinless and stainless at birth.
How then can it be said that man is “conceived” as well as “born in sin”? If the impure, sin-stained body contaminates the pure, unstained soul by contact, why cannot the stainless soul disinfect the contaminated body?
And again, if every individual soul is a special creation by direct interposition of the Almighty, what becomes of the unity and solidarity of the race? Is its connection with Adam then purely one of physical or corporeal generation? Creationism cannot account for the birth of the soul.
Nor can Traducianism. For it can account neither for the origin, nor for the hereditary taint of the soul. It lands us in a hopeless dilemma. In the one case we fall back upon Creationism with its difficulties; in the other, we plunge into a materialism which is equally fatal to theory (compare Bavinck, Gereformeerde Dogmatiek, II, 626). Perhaps the words of Petrus Lombardus, though frequently misunderstood and misapplied, throw most light on the subject — a light, however, which is little more than “darkness visible” — creando infundit eas Deus, et infundendo creat (“in creating God infused (the soul); and in infusing He creates”). The problem is and remains insoluble.
Passing allusion may be made to another very curious theory, to which reference is made by Martensen (Christliche Ethik, I, 107). It bears upon human individuality, as impressed not only upon the soul, but also upon the body. The soul and the body are represented as arising at the same moment, but the latter (not in regard to its physico-chemical composition, but in other respects) is the resultant of soul-influences, whatever these may be. The soul therefore exercises a formative influence upon the body, with which it is united. This theory is attributed by Martensen to G.E.
Stahl, who died in Berlin in 1734, as physician to the royal family. We are here in a region where the way is barred — “a palpable obscure” without the light of day. 5. TRICHOTOMY:
The next important question which has occupied many minds is equally difficult of solution — theory of Tripartition. Is man composed of “body” and “soul” (dichotomy) only, or is a third to be added to the two, so that “spirit” is another element in the constitution of human nature (trichotomy)? Either theory is supposed to be supported by Scripture, and both have had their defenders in all ages of the church. Where the tripartite division has found favor, soul and spirit have been distinguished from each other, as man’s lower is distinguished from his higher nature; where dichotomy prevailed, soul and spirit were represented as manifestations of the same spiritual essence. Under the influence of Platonic philosophy, trichotomy found favor in the early church, but was discredited on account of the Apollinarian heresy. The threefold division of human nature into soma (“body”), psuche (“soul”), pneuma (“spirit”) had been accepted by many when Apollinaris, bishop of Laodicea (died 382), attempted to explain the mystery of Christ’s person by teaching that the Logos (or second person of the Trinity) had taken the place of the rational soul in Christ, so that the person of Christ on earth consisted of the Divine Logos , a human body, and a soul (psuche ) as the link between the two.
For the tripartite division of human nature two texts are specially brought into the discussion: namely, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame” — a text which is popularly interpreted as conveying that “soul” stands for “our powers natural — those we have by nature,” and that by “spirit” is meant “that life in man which in his natural state can scarcely be said to exist at all, but which is to be called out into power and vitality by regeneration” (F.W.
Robertson, Sermons). There is very little warrant in Scripture for such interpretation. “The language does not require a distinction of organs or substances, but may be accounted for by a vivid conception of one substance in different relations and under different aspects. The two terms are used to give exhaustive expression to the whole being and nature of man” (Davidson, Old Testament Theology, 135). There is evidently no distinction of essence here — namely, of a soul distinct from the spirit, and a body distinct from either. In his “fervid desire for the complete and perfect sanctification of his disciples, the apostle accumulates these terms” in order to emphasize the doctrine of an entire renewal of the whole man by the working of the Holy Spirit. It has been pointed out (A. Kuyper, Het werk v. d. Heiligen Geest, III, 101) — and this must be carefully borne in mind — that “the apostle does not use the word holomereis , `in all your parts,’ and then summarize these parts in body, soul and spirit, but holoteleis , a word that has no reference to the parts, but to the telos , the end or aim. Calvin interprets `soul’ and `spirit’ here as referring to our rational and moral existence, as thinking, willing beings, both modes of operation of the one, undivided soul.”
The next text to which an appeal is made is Hebrews 4:12: “The word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Here spirit, soul and heart are brought into close correspondence, with heart evidently as the center of personality, manifesting itself in soul and spirit. The only question is, whether the dividing which takes place by the piercing word of God is one within the soul and spirit, causing a complete exposure of the inner man, a cutting asunder of all that composes his nature, or one between the soul and spirit, causing a division between them as separate parts of human nature. The probability lies with the first of these two contradictory views. The writer evidently meant that, as a sharp two-edged sword pierces to the very marrow in its sundering process, so the sword of the spirit cuts through all obstacles, pierces the very heart, lays bare what hitherto was hidden to all observers, even to the man himself, and “discerns” the “thoughts and intents,” which in the unity of soul and spirit have hitherto been kept in the background. “The meaning is rather, that the word of God pierces and dissects both the soul and spirit, separates each into its parts, subtle though they may be, and analyzes their thoughts and intents” (Davidson, op, cit., 187). At any rate, to found a doctrine of Trichotomy on an isolated, variously interpreted text is dangerous in the extreme. The language of metaphor is not the language of literal speech; and here evidently we are in the region of metaphor.
The ground is now cleared for a fuller investigation of the meaning of these terms: 6. SCRIPTURAL TERMS: (1) The terms are used inter changeably, though they are not synonymous. Lebhabh (“heart”), nephesh (“soul”), ruach (“spirit”) are very closely connected in the Old Testament. The heart is there represented as “the organ, the spirit as the principle, the soul as the subject of life” (Cremer, Lexicon). Hence, we read that “out of it (the heart) are the issues of life” ( Proverbs 4:23). Dying is represented as the surrender of soul ( Genesis 35:18; Job 11:20), but also of spirit ( Psalm 31:5; 146:4). The dead are called souls ( Revelation 6:9; 20:4), and also spirits ( Hebrews 12:23; 1 Peter 3:19). In the last mentioned text the “spirits in prison” are also called “souls.” The living are described as “disturbed” or “grieved” in soul ( Judges 10:16), “vexed” ( Judges 16:16), “discouraged” ( Numbers 21:4), “weary” ( Zechariah 11:8); but also as in “anguish of spirit” ( Exodus 6:9), “impatient in spirit” ( Job 21:4, in the Hebrew), `straitened in spirit’ ( Micah 2:7). At death the “spirit” departs ( <19E604> Psalm 146:4, in the Hebrew), but also the “soul” ( Genesis 35:18). As in the Old Testament so in the New Testament, our Lord “sighed” or “was troubled in the spirit” ( John 13:21)?, but we also read that His soul was “exceeding sorrowful,” or troubled ( Matthew 26:38; John 12:27). See SPIRIT; SOUL; HEART. (2) And yet there is a distinction, whatever the real nature of it may be. In Mary’s Magnificat, e.g., we find the two combined in an interesting manner: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” ( Luke 1:46,47), the one clause “referring to the personal emotions of Mary, to her feelings as a woman and a mother, all of which find an outlet in adoration,” the second clause “appearing to indicate the moment when, in the profoundest depths of her being, by the touch of the divine spirit, the promise of the angel was accomplished in her” (Godet, in the place cited.). A like contrast meets us in the story of Gethsemane.
The Master was `exceeding sorrowful in soul’ (i.e. the emotional, sensitive center of His being was in deep sorrow), the disciples were `willing in spirit,’ but `weak in the flesh’ ( Matthew 26:38,41). In the Old Testament we find that when a man dies his “soul” departs, and when he is restored to life his “soul” returns ( 1 Kings 17:22); but when consciousness or lifepower returns to one not dead, “spirit” is used ( Genesis 45:27; Judges 15:19; 1 Samuel 30:12; 1 Kings 10:5). Even in popular language the distinction is recognized: we speak of so many “souls,” not “spirits,” as having perished. (3) From all this it would appear that philosophic distinction or scientific accuracy of expression is not met with in Scripture. Man is there represented as a unity, and the various terms employed to indicate that unity in its diversity of activities or passivities do not necessarily imply the existence of different essences, or of separate organs, through which these are realized. Psychical action is sometimes ascribed to the body, as well as to the soul, for soul and body are inseparably united to each other. It is the possession of a soul which makes the body what it is; and on the other hand, a soul without a body is unthinkable. The resurrection of the body therefore is no mere figment of the creeds. The body is God’s work ( Job 10:8), inseparable from the life of the soul. In the New Testament it is spoken of as “the house on earth” (epigeios oikia ), the “tabernacle” or tent prepared for the occupant (skenos ) ( 1 Corinthians 12:18; Corinthians 4:7; 5:1). In the Old Testament “we have such metaphorical expressions as `houses of clay’; or, as in post-Biblical writings, `earthly tabernacle.’ In the latest, we have words which suggest a hollow, a framework, or a sheath, favoring the Greek idea of the body as the husk or clothing of the soul” (Laidlaw). Hence, in Scripture, spirit and soul are interchangeably used with body for human nature in general, not as though indicating three separate entities, but as denoting a parallelism which brings out the full personality of man. Soul and body are threatened with destruction ( Matthew 10:28); body without spirit is a corpse ( James 2:26); soul and spirit are interchangeably united: “Stand fast in one spirit, with one soul striving,” etc. ( Philippians 1:27). (4) Gathering all together, the Scriptural position seems to be as follows:
The Divine Spirit is the source of all life, and its power is communicated in the physical, intellectual and moral sphere. That Spirit, as the spiritus spirans, the inspiring spirit, by its very breath makes man a living soul: “The spirit (or breath) of God is in my nostrils” ( Job 27:3); “Thou takest away their breath (ruach , “spirit”], they die, and return to their dust” ( <19A429> Psalm 104:29). Hence, God is called “God of the spirits of all flesh” ( Numbers 16:22; 27:16).
Soul, though identical with spirit, has shades of meaning which spirit has not; it stands for the individual. “Man is spirit, because he is dependent upon God. Man is soul, because, unlike the angels, he has a body, which links him to earth. He is animal as possessing anima, but he is a reasoning animal, which distinguishes him from the brute” (Bavinck, German Dogm., II, 628). (5) In this connection stress may be laid upon some of Paul’s expressions.
He exhorts the Philippians to “stand fast in one spirit (pneuma ), with one soul (psuche ) striving for the faith” ( Philippians 1:27). 7. PAULINE EXPRESSIONS:
He exhorts them to be “of the same mind” (sumpsuchoi, Philippians 2:2); he hopes to be “of good comfort” (eupsucho , Philippians 2:19); he knows of `no man likeminded, (isopsuchon ), who (would) care truly for (their) state ( Philippians 2:20). Everywhere therefore we have “soul” in various combinations to indicate the mental attitude, which in the “fellowship of the Spirit” he would assume toward his readers, and his readers would adopt toward himself. There cannot be therefore that subtle distinction which men have found in the terms “spirit” and “soul,” as though two separate essences were housed in one body. The text in Job (33:4), “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty giveth me life,” is the key to the whole problem. The spiritus spirans becomes the spiritus spiratus — the inspiring spirit becomes in man the life which is expired, outbreathed by man, in both soul and spirit. “Soul,” therefore, may well stand for the personal, living, animated being — the suffering, acting, thinking, reasoning, dying creature, “whose breath is in his nostrils.” Christ gave His `soul’ (psuche ) for His sheep ( John 10:11). On the cross He Himself exclaimed: “Into thy hands I commend my spirit” (pneuma ) ( Luke 23:46). Spirit may therefore indicate the allembracing power, guiding the inward and the outward life — principium illud internum Exodus quo fluunt actiones, is Bengel’s comment on Ephesians 2:2 (compare Luke 9:55 the King James Version; Luke 4:36). Hence, by an easy gradation it may stand for the abysmal depths of personality; while “soul” would express man’s individuality in general. See SOUL; SPIRIT.
Pauline phraseology has somewhat confused the issue; at any rate, new meanings, not obvious to the reader, have been assigned to various terms.
Paul contrasts the psychical and the pneumatic, the man under the influence of the divine pneuma , and the man as influenced by his own psuche . The psychical man is man in his natural, unregenerate state, psychical in this connection being almost equivalent to carnal; while the pneumatic man would be the man guided and directed by the Spirit from on high. Nature and grace are contrasted in the two terms as the first and second Adam are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 15:45 — the first Adam being described as a living psuche (“soul”), the second as a life-giving pneuma (“spirit”). Even so the psychical body is the body intended, fitted to bear the psuche , while the pneumatic body is evidently the body capable of bearing the pneuma .
Hence, the one is corruptible and weak, the other incorruptible and full of power. The soul confined to the carnal body uses it as an organ, till it falls into decay and no longer lends itself to such use. The spirit, in constant fellowship with the Divine Spirit, communicates its energy to a body fitted to be the bearer of this renewed life, spiritualizes that organ, makes that body its docile instrument, enables the body to fulfill its wishes and thoughts, with inexhaustible power of action, “as we even now see the artist using his voice or his hand with marvelous freedom and thus foreshadowing the perfect spiritualizing of the body.” 8. MONISM AND OTHER THEORIES:
Other questions call for discussion here: they may be briefly touched upon.
Scripture acknowledges a dualism, which recognizes the separate existence of Soul and body. It rejects a monism, which makes man but “a doublefaced unity” (Bain); or considers mind and body as equally unreal, and as “aspects,” “appearances,” “sides” of one and the same reality (scientific monism). It knows nothing of mere idealism, which makes mind the only reality, of which matter is but a manifestation, nor of materialism, which considers matter as that which alone is substantial, while mind is a mere product of the brain (Haeckel). It does not support theory of harmonia praestabilita — pre-established harmony, whereby “Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting,” because soul and body were united in harmonious action before the individual was called into active being, body and soul acting in harmony after creation like two clocks accurately regulated, pointing to the same hour on the dial plate, though driven by different springs (Leibnitz).
Scripture has no theory. It deals with facts and facts only in so far as they bear upon the history of man’s sin and man’s redemption. It throws no light on many problems raised by science or philosophy. It does not discuss origins — the origin of evil, of matter, of mind. “All is of God” is the Scriptural answer to many questions. Thus, the relation of mind to body is and remains a mystery — as great as the relation between the forces in Nature, to which the names of light and electricity have been given.
Science has attempted to explain that mystery and has failed. The words of Shenstone (Cornhill Magazine, 1907) may be applied to all psychical problems, outside of Holy Writ, which by him were applied to those scientific questions which remain unanswered in spite of all our efforts at solution: “We are still very far from knowing definitely that atoms are composed entirely of electrons or that electrons are nothing else than electric charges; and though electrons have been shown to exhibit electric inertia, it has not been proved that the inertia of atoms also is electrical.”
The mystery of matter is great; that of soul is greater still. 9. THE FALL OF MAN:
The next question which falls to be discussed is the influence of the fall of man upon his soul. Scripture is clear upon the point. Man’s fall from a primeval state of innocence is there told in unambiguous terms, though the word itself is not found in the narrative, except perhaps in Romans 11:11,12, where allusion is made to the fall (paraptoma ) of Israel. With the origin of evil Scripture apparently does not concern itself, though it clearly states that man’s sinful condition stands in direct connection with the transgression of Adam, as in Romans 5:12, where the introduction of sin (hamartia ) into the world (kosmos ) is spoken of as the act of one man (s.c. Adam), hamartia being evidently taken as a power of evil working in the world of men. The Old Testament allusion in Hosea 6:7 can hardly be referred to Adam’s transgression; at any rate the reference is doubtful. the King James Version renders the passage: “They like men have transgressed the covenant,” though the revisers have translated: “But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant.” The German and Dutch versions give the same interpretation to the verse: “like Adam.” The Septuagint takes the term as an appellative (hos anthropos , “as man”), but the Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) refers the transgression to Adam (sicut Adam transgressi sunt). The other allusions in the Old Testament to this event are slight, as in Job 31:33; Ezekiel 28:13,15.
In the New Testament, however, the references are much more frequent, especially in the writings of John and of Paul (compare John 8:44; John 3:8; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14). The strong parallelism between Adam and Christ in Romans 5:12-21, the obedience of the one bringing freedom, while that of the other brought woe, and the contrast in 1 Corinthians 15:22 between Adam and Christ throw sufficient light on the question at issue.
Modern science, under the influence of the evolutionary hypothesis, has eliminated or at least has attempted to eliminate the factor of the Fall. That “fall” has been interpreted as a “rise,” the “descent” is supposed to have been a real “ascent.” Far down the ages, millenniums ago, “a miserable, half-starved, naked wretch, just emerged from the bestial condition, torn with fierce passions, and fighting his way among his compeers with lowbrowed cunning” (Orr, Christian View of God, 180) must have emerged somehow out of darkness into light. “We are no longer,” says Professor J.
A. Thomson, “as those who look back to a paradise in which man fell; we are as those `who, rowing hard against the stream, see distant gates of Eden gleam, and do not dream it is a dream’ “ (Bible of Nature, 226). If science definitely teaches that man has arisen by slow, insensible gradations from the brute, and no further word may be said on the subject, then indeed the problem of human sin is utterly inexplicable. There can then be no agreement between the Biblical conception and the evolutionary theory as so presented. For primitive man’s transgression would under such circumstances be but the natural expression of brute passion, to which the name of sin in the Christian sense can hardly be applied. But if for “minute” and “insensible” gradations in the evolutionary process be substituted the “mutations,” “leaps” or “lifts,” to which an increasing number of evolutionists are appealing; if primitive man be not pictured as a semianimal, subject to brutish impulse and passion; if with man a new start was made, a “lift” occurred in the process of development under the guiding and directing influence of Almighty power, the problem assumes a different shape. A sinless creature, transgressing the moral law, is then not an unscientific assumption; conscience asserting itself as the voice divine within the human soul is then not only possible, but actual and real, in the history of man’s earliest progenitors. The Biblical narrative will after all remain as the most reasonable explanation of man’s original condition and his terrible fall. In that narrative will be found enshrined the “shadowing tradition” of a real, historic event, which has influenced the human race through all the ages. Professor Driver, writing under the strong influence of the evolutionary theory, and accepting as “the law stamped upon the entire range of organic nature, progress, gradual advance from lower to higher, from the less perfect to the more perfect,” has wisely remarked that “man failed in the trial to which he was exposed, that sin has entered into the world .... and that through the whole course of the race it has been attended by an element of moral disorder, and thus it has been marred, perverted, impeded or drawn back” (Driver, Genesis, 57). See FALL, THE. 10. EFFECTS OF THE FALL:
An equally serious question arises as to the effects of the fall of man.
Shame, corruption, death is the answer given by the Old Testament and New Testament. “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” ( Genesis 2:17) was the judgment pronounced upon man. By this was evidently meant “death” as a physical and as a spiritual fact. Man was doomed. The posse non mori, which according to older theologians was man’s privilege, was lost and was succeeded by a punishment of which the non posse non mori was the doom, i.e. the possibility of immortal life was followed by the impossibility of not suffering death. Not as though immortality was absolutely lost; for with sin came decay, degeneration, death, not of the inbreathed spirit, but of the body into which the soul was breathed by God. But even the body is imperishable. It undergoes change, but not extinction. The resurrection-body has become a possibility through the atonement and resurrection of Christ. The tabernacle is removed, but renewed. The body is not a prison house, but a temple; not an adjunct but an integral part of the human being. The Bible teaches not only a resurrection-body, but a transformed body ( Romans 12:1). It speaks not only of a soul to be saved, but of a body to be redeemed. Scripture alone accounts for death and explains it. 11. DEATH AS A PROBLEM:
With modern evolutionists death is an unsolved problem. Weissmann (Essays on Heredity) maintains on the one hand that “death is not an essential attitude of matter” (p. 159), and on the other, “it is only from the point of view of utility that we can understand the necessity of death” (p. 23), and again “death is to be looked upon as an occurrence which is advantageous to the species as a concession to the outer conditions of life, and not as an absolute necessity, essentially inherent in life.” He even speaks of “the immortality of the protozoa,” because “an immense number of the lower organisms” are not subject to death (ibid., 26). Death therefore according to him has been “acquired secondarily as an adaptation,” and must in a certain sense be unnatural. It is indeed “one of the most difficult problems in the whole range of physiology.” If this be so, we may safely turn to Scripture for an explanation of the problem, which has a value peculiarly its own. “By man came death” is the authoritative declaration, because by man came sin. “In Adam all die,” because through Adam came sin. Here we may safely leave the problem, because “by man” will come “resurrection from the dead.” See DEATH. 12. IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL:
But if the body is mortal, is the soul immortal? On this point the New Testament gives no uncertain sound, and though the doctrine be not as clearly expressed in the Old Testament, yet even there kinship with God is man’s guaranty for everlasting communion with Him (compare Psalm 73).
Job longed for such fellowship, which to him and to the Old Testament saints before and after him was life. In memorable words he gave utterance to the hope which was in him: `I know that my Redeemer liveth .... and after my skin (read “body”) .... has been destroyed, yet from my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold and not another’ ( Job 19:25). Hosea, the mourner, is responsible for that sublime utterance, which in its New Testament form is recited at the graveside of those who die in the Lord: “I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction?” ( Hosea 13:14). Reference may also be made to the words of Isaiah (26:19): “Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust.” Still clearer is the note sounded by Daniel (12:2,3): “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” In one word, the Old Testament saint based all his hope and fellowship on God. That hope strengthened his soul when he shuddered at the darkness of Sheol. “It overleaps Sheol in the vigor of his faith.” In the Psalms we find the same hope expressed on almost every page: “As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form” (the King James Version “with thy likeness,” Psalm 17:15); and again: “Thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol; neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. .... In thy presence is fullness of joy; in thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” ( Psalm 16:10,11). Whatever the ultimate verdict of science may be regarding the “utility” of death in regard to the human race, Scripture considers it abnormal, unnatural, a punishment, an infliction, the result of man’s wrongdoing and his transgression of the law of God. But death in Holy Writ is not a hopeless separation of body and soul. The New Testament sounds a note even clearer than the Old Testament; for Christ has brought “life and immortality to light.” “We know,” says Paul, “that we have a building from God,” after the dissolution of our tabernacle ( <470501> Corinthians 5:1); and that is but the necessary corollary to Christ’s great utterance: “I AM THE RESURRECTION, AND THE LIFE” ( John 11:25).
LITERATURE.
Beck, Umriss der biblischen Seelenlehre, English translation; Hofmann, Schriftbeweis; Delitzsch, System of Biblical Psychology; Oehler, Old Testament Theology; Wendt, Die Begriffe Fleisch u. Geist, etc.; Dickson, Paul’s Use of the Flesh and Spirit; Cremer, Bibl.-theol. Worterbuch, etc.; Herzog, RE, articles “Geist” and “Seele”; Laid-law, Bible Doctrine of Man; Orr, God’s Image in Man; Davidson, Old Testament Theology. J. I. Marais PTOLEMAIS <tol-e-ma’-is > ([ Ptolemai>`v, Ptolemais ]): Same as “Acco” in Judges 1:31. Ptolemais was the most prominent town on the Phoenician seacoast in Maccabean times (1 Macc 5:15,55; 10:1,58,60; 12:48), and is once mentioned in the New Testament in Acts 21:7 as a seaport at which Paul landed for one day, visiting the “brethren” in the place. See ACCO; PHOENICIA.
PTOLEMY <tol’-e-mi > ([ Ptolemai~ov, Ptolemaios ], but usually called Ptolemy — “the Warlike”): The name Ptolemy is rather common from the days of Alexander the Great, but is best known as the dynastic name of the 13 (14) Macedonian kings of Egypt (323-43 BC) (as Pharaoh in the Old Testament). Those of interest to the Biblical student are: (1) Ptolemy I, surnamed Soter, ([ Swth>r, Soter ], “Savior”), called also Ptolemy Lagi, was born circa 366 BC, the son of Lagus and Arsinoe, a concubine of Philip of Macedon. He was prominent among the officers of Alexander the Great, whom he accompanied in his eastern campaigns. On the death of Alexander, Ptolemy seized the satrapy of Egypt as his share (1 Macc 1:6 ff). Now commenced the long hostilities between Egypt and Syria, Ptolemy on more than one occasion invading Syria. In 316 he joined in a war against Antigonus during which Coele-Syria and Phoenicia were lost, but in 312 regained from Demetrius the son of Antigonus. It was most probably in this year (312) that Ptolemy captured Jerusalem on a Sabbath day (Josephus, Ant, XII, i, 1), and by force or persuasion induced many Jews to accompany him to Egypt as colonists or mercenaries. His kind treatment of them induced others to leave Syria for Egypt. In 306 Ptolemy was defeated in the great naval fight off Salamis in Cyprus by which Cyprus was lost to Egypt. About this date Ptolemy assumed the title of “king,” following the example of the Syrian ruler. In 305-304 he defended the Rhodians against Demetrius Poliorcetes, forcing the latter to raise the siege — hence, the title “Savior.” In 285 BC Ptolemy abdicated in favor of his youngest son Philadelphus — the son of his favorite wife Berenice — and died in 283 BC. According to the usual interpretation this Philadelphus is “the king of the south” in Daniel 11:5. This Ptolemy shares with his son and successor the honor of rounding the famous Alexandrian Museum and Library. (2) Ptolemy II, surnamed Philadelphus ([ Fila>delfov, Philadelphos ], “Brother(sister?)-loving”), the youngest son of Ptolemy I; born 309 BC in Cos; succeeded his father in 285 BC and died 247. Like his father, he was actively engaged in two Syrian wars until peace was made about 250 BC, Berenice, the daughter of Philadelphus, being given in marriage to Antiochus II. This Ptolemy planted numerous colonies in Egypt, Syria and Palestine, among which were several of the name of Arsinoe (his sisterwife), Philadelphia on the ruins of old Rabbah, Philotera south of the Sea of Galilee, and Ptolemais on the site of Acco. He devoted great attention to the internal administration of his kingdom, endowed the Museum and Alexandrian Library in which his father had taken much interest; in general he followed his father’s example as a liberal patron of art, science and literature. According to one tradition it was Philadelphus who was instrumental in starting the Septuagint translation (see SEPTUAGINT). At any rate, he was favorably disposed toward his Jewish subjects, and in his reign Jewish wisdom and Greek philosophy began to blend. Philadelphus is supposed to be “the king of the south” of Daniel 11:6, whose daughter “shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement.” (3) Ptolemy III, surnamed Euergetes ([ EuJerge>thv, Euergetes ], “Benefactor”), son of Philadelphus, whom he succeeded in 247 BC. In he was provoked to a Syrian war to avenge the murder of his sister Berenice at Antioch; in the course of this campaign he met with remarkable success, overran Syria, plundered Susa and Babylonia, penetrated to the shores of India and captured the important stronghold of Seleucia (1 Macc 11:8). Euergetes was, however, prevented from reaping the fruits of his victories by being recalled by internal troubles in Egypt. He brought back with him from the East the Egyptian gods that Cambyses had carried away 300 years before, thus earning from the Egyptians the title of “Benefactor.”
Two traditions obtain as to his death: the more probable is that of Polybius (ii.71), according to which he died a natural death (222 BC), or, according to another (Justin xxix.1), he was murdered by his son. Some regard this king as the Euergetes mentioned in the Prologue to Sir, but the reference must rather be to Euergetes II (Ptolemy VII). The “shoot” who “shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north” and prevail is Euergetes I ( Daniel 11:7-9), Daniel 11:8 referring to the act by which he won his title. (4) Ptolemy IV, surnamed Philopator ([ Filopa>twr, Philopator ], “Lover of his father”), or Tryphon ([ Tru>fwn, Truphon ]), the eldest son of Euergetes whom he succeeded in 222 BC. Antiochus the Great of Syria declared war against Egypt about 219 BC, but, after conquering Coele- Syria and Phoenicia, he was defeated by Philopator at the battle of Raphia near Gaza (217 BC). On his victorious return to Alexandria, Philopator assumed a very anti-Jewish attitude, and indeed caused discontent generally among his subjects. In spite of the victory of Raphia, Egypt began to decline under his weakness. He was as dissolute as Nero, while his domestic tragedies are as dark as those of Herod the Great. He died in 205 BC. Daniel 11:10-12 refers to the reign of Philopator. He was most probably the oppressor of 3 Macc. (5) Ptolemy V, surnamed Epiphanes ([ jEpifanh>v, Epiphanes ], “Illustrious”). He was only 5 years old when his father Philopator died.
Taking advantage of the king’s minority, Antiochus the Great leagued with Philip of Macedon against Egypt. Philip took the Cyclades and some cities in Thrace, while Antiochus defeated the Egyptian general Scopas at Paneas on the Jordan in 198 BC, and thus Palestine passed to the Seleucid dynasty. The Romans now interfered to make Antiochus surrender his conquests. Not daring to disobey Rome, Antiochus compromised by making peace with Ptolemy and betrothing to him his daughter Cleopatra, who was to receive as her dower the revenues of the conquered provinces Coele-Syria, Palestine and Phoenicia (Josephus, Ant, XII, iv, 1; Polyb. xxviii.17), but the control of these provinces seems to have been retained by Antiochus. The marriage took place in 193 BC. After the dismissal of his faithful minister, Aristomenes, Epiphanes’ character and reign deteriorated. At last he bestirred himself to recover the lost provinces from Seleucus, the successor of Antiochus, but was poisoned before his plans materialized, in 182 (181) BC (Josephus, Ant, XII, iv, 11). Daniel 11:14-17 is to be interpreted as referring to the relations between Ptolemy V and Antiochus III, “the Great.” (6) Ptolemy VI, surnamed Philometor ([ Filomh>twr, Philometor ], “Fond of his mother”), eider son of Ptolemy V whom he succeeded in 182 (181) BC. For the first 7 years of his reign his mother Cleopatra acted as queenregent, and peace was maintained with Syria till 173 BC. Antiochus IV Epiphanes then invaded Egypt, defeated the Egyptians at Pelusium and secured the person of Philometor, whom he spared, hoping to employ him as a tool to gain the ascendancy over Egypt. Philometor’s brother was now proclaimed king by the Alexandrians, with the title of Euergetes (II). When Antiochus retired, Philometor made peace with his brother, conceding him a share in the government (170 BC). This displeased Antiochus, who marched against Alexandria, but was stopped beneath the walls by a Roman embassy (168 BC), in obedience to which he withdrew. The brothers quarreled again, and Philometor, expelled by Euergetes, went to Rome to seek assistance (164 BC). The Romans seated him again on his throne, assigning Cyrenaica to Euergetes. The next, quarrel was about Cyprus. Philometor this time secured his brother as a prisoner, but sent him back to his province. Philometor was later drawn into Syrian politics in the conflict between Alexander Balas and Demetrius. The Egyptian king espoused the cause of the former, to whom he also betrothed his daughter Cleopatra. But on discovering Balas’ treachery, he took away his daughter from him and gave her to his opponent, Demetrius Nikator, whom he now supported against Balas. Balas was defeated in a decisive battle on the Oenoparas and killed, but Ptolemy himself died in 146 BC from the effects of a fall from his horse in the battle (1 Macc 1:18; 10:51 ff; 2 Macc 1:10; 4:21). Daniel 11:25-30 refers to the events of this reign. Philometor seems to have taken a friendly attitude toward the Jews. In his reign the Jewish temple of Leontopolis near Hellopolis was founded in 154 BC (Josephus, Ant, XIII, iii, 1 f), and two Jewish generals, Onias and Dositheus, were at the head of his armies and had a large share in the government (Josephus, Apion II, 5). The Jewish-Alexandrine philosopher Aristobulus probably lived in this reign. (7) (On the death of Philometor his young son was proclaimed king as Ptolemy Eupator (“of a noble father”), but after reigning but a few months was put to death by his uncle Euergetes II (Just. xxxviii.8). His reign being so brief he need hardly be numbered among the Ptolemies.) (8) Ptolemy VII (VIII), surnamed Euergetes (II) and called also Physcon ([ Fu>skwn, Phuskon ], “Big-paunch”), became sole ruler in succession to his brother Philometor (or to his murdered nephew) in 146 BC, and reigned till 117 BC. His reign was characterized by cruelty, tyranny and vice, so that he was hated by his subjects, especially by the people of Alexandria, who on one occasion expelled him during an insurrection. It is uncertain whether Physcon was an enemy and persecutor of the Jews or their patron. Some authorities refer the persecutions mentioned in 3 Maccabees to this reign, but most modern authorities are disposed to date them in the reign of the anti- Jewish Ptolemy IV Philopator. The statement, “in the 38th year of King Euergetes,” in the Prologue to Sirach refers to Physcon Euergetes II and = 132 BC, since he dated his reign from the year of joint kingship with his brother (170 BC).
The other Ptolemies of Egypt require no mention here.
The following are the apocryphal Ptolemies: (1) Ptolemy Macron. See MACRON. (2) Ptolemy, son of Abubus, son-in-law of Simon the Maccabee. He treacherously assassinated Simon and two of his sons in the stronghold of Dok near Jericho, 135 BC (1 Macc 16:15). (3) Ptolemy, the father of Lysimachus (Apocrypha) (Additions to Esther 11:1). (4) Ptolemy, son of a Dositheus; he and his father were bearers of the “epistle of Phrurai” (Additions to Esther 11:1).
LITERATURE.
J. P. Mahaffy, Empire of the Ptolemies, is the best account for English readers. A long list of Ptolemies will be found, e.g. in Smith’s Classical Dictionary. The ancient authorities are Josephus, Polybius, Justin, Pausanias, Plutarch (Cleom.), Livy, Diodorus, Jerome (Commentary to Daniel 11). S. Angus PUAH; PUVAH <pu’-a > , <pu’-va > : (1) [ h[;WP, pu’ah ]: One of the Hebrew midwives whom the king of Egypt commanded to kill all male children of the Hebrews at birth. The midwives, fearing God, refused to obey, pretending that the children of the Hebrew women were usually born before they arrived. Their act is spoken of as being meritorious in the eyes of the Lord, who is said to have rewarded them by making “houses” for them ( Exodus 1:15-20). In the Midrash, Exodus Rabba’, Puah is identified with Miriam, and Shiphrah, the other midwife, with her mother Jochebed. According to another tradition Puah was a proselyte. (2) [ ha;WP, pu’ah ], in 1 Chronicles 7:1; [ hW;Pu , puwwah ], in Genesis 46:13; Numbers 26:23; written also “Pua” the King James Version, and “Puvah” Revised Version: Second son of Issachar, ancestor of the Punites, enumerated in the desert census taken by Moses and Eleazar. (3) [ ha;WP, pu’ah ]: Member of the tribe of Issachar, mentioned ( Judges 10:1) as the son of Dodo and the father of Tola, the judge. Ella Davis Isaacs PUBLICAN <pub’-li-kan > . See TAX, TAXING.
PUBLIUS <pub’-li-us > ([ Po>pliov, Poplios ], from the Latin praenomen Publius, derived from populus, “popular”; according to Ramsay it is the Greek form of the Latin nomen Popilius; the Greek title meaning “first,” applied to Publius in Acts 28:7, was an official one, and has been found on an inscription from the island of Gaulus near Malta (compare Bockh, Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, number 5, 754)): Publius held office under the governor of Sicily. As the leading official in Malta, he was responsible for any Roman soldiers and their prisoners who might land there, but the account in Acts 28:7 implies that he displayed more than ordinary solicitude for Paul and his shipwrecked company, for, according to the writer, he “received us, and lodged us three days courteously” (the King James Version). The Apocryphal “Acts of Paul” (see APOCRYPHAL ACTS, B, I) states also that “he did for them many acts of great kindness and charity” (compare Budge, Centendings of the Apostles, II, 605). On this occasion Paul miraculously healed the father of Publius, who “lay sick of fever and dysentery” ( Acts 28:8). The exactitude of the medical terms here employed forms part of the evidence that the writer of Acts was a physician. Tradition relates that Publius was the first bishop of Malta and that he afterward became bishop of Athens. C. M. Kerr PUDENS <pu’-denz > , <pu’-dens > ([ Pou>dhv, Poudes ], literally, “bashful” ( Timothy 4:21)): 1. FAITHFUL TO PAUL:
One of the Christians in Rome who remained loyal to Paul during his second and last imprisonment there, when most of the members of the church “forsook him.” The pressure under which they acted must have been very great, as the apostle’s final trial before the supreme court of the empire followed quickly after the Neronic persecution. Their defection from their loyalty to Paul must not be taken as implying that they had also proved untrue to Christ. At this time, however, there were some of the Christians who risked their earthly all, and their lives too, in order to prove their adherence to Paul, and Pudens was one of these. 2. PUDENS AND CLAUDIA:
Writing the last of all his letters, the Second Epistle to Timothy, Paul sends greeting from “all the brethren” who were then with him. Among these he names Pudens. There are three other names associated by the apostle with that of Pudens: Eubulus, Linus and Claudia. There is an interesting conjecture regarding Pudens and Claudia, that their were husband and wife, and that Claudia was of British birth, a daughter of a British king, called Cogidunus. King Cogidunus was an ally of the Romans, and assumed the name of the emperor Tiberius Claudius, who was his patron.
In this way his daughter would be named Claudia. But this identification of the British princess with the Claudia who sends salutation to Timothy is only a supposition; it lacks both evidence and proof. See CLAUDIA and Code of Hammurabi (St. P), chapter xxvii.
In modern Rome, however, the tourist is still shown a building which is called the house of Pudens, in the same way as “Paul’s hired house” is also shown. The authenticity in both cases is lacking.
Pudens is not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. John Rutherfurd PUHITES <pu’-hits > ([ ytiWP, puthi ]). See PUTHITES.
PUL <pul > : (1) An Assyrian king ( 2 Kings 15:19). See TIGLATH-PILESER. (2) An African country and people ( Isaiah 66:19). See PUT.
PULPIT <pool’-pit > : Nehemiah 8:4, “Ezra the scribe stood upon a mighdol of wood.” Mighdol is one of the commonest words in the Old Testament and means simply a high object — here a scaffolding or platform ([bh~ma, bema ], 1 Esdras 9:42). “Tower” (so the Revised Version margin) gives an entirely wrong picture.
PULSE <puls > ([ µy[iroze , zero’-im ] ( Daniel 1:12 margin, “herbs”), [ µyni[or]ze , zere’onim ] ( Daniel 1:16); compare [ [“Wrze , zerua` ], “sowing seed” ( Leviticus 11:37), and [ µy[iWrze , zeru’im ], “things sown” ( Isaiah 61:11)): (1) In Daniel 1:12,16, it must mean herbs or vegetables grown from seeds; a vegetable diet is what is implied. (2) In 2 Samuel 17:28, “pulse” after “parched” is not in the original, but is probably more correct than the translation in (1) , as “pulse” usually implies leguminous plants, peas, beans, etc.
PUNISHMENT, EVERLASTING <pun’-ish-ment > : 1. PRELIMINARY ASSUMPTIONS. (For “everlasting,” where used in the King James Version as the rendering of [aijw>niov, aionios ], the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes “eternal.”) It is assumed in this article that Scripture teaches the survival of the soul after death, the reality of retribution and of judgment to come, and a shorter or longer period of suffering for sin in the case of the unredeemed in the world beyond. Only a few words need be said, therefore, in preliminary remark on these assumptions. 1. Survival after Death: Whatever view may be taken of the development of the doctrine of immortality in the Old Testament (see ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT), it will scarcely be doubted that it is throughout assumed in the New Testament that the souls of men, good and bad, survive death (see IMMORTALITY). Two passages only need be referred to in proof: one, Christ’s saying in Matthew 10:28: “Be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Gehenna ); the other, the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31: Lazarus is carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; the rich man lifts up his eyes in Hades , being in torments. The whole doctrine of the future judgment in the New Testament presupposes survival after death. 2. Retribution for Sin: Retribution for sin is a cardinal point in the teaching of both the Old Testament and New Testament. The doctrine of judgment, again, in the New Testament, with Christ as judge, turns on this point. The following passages are decisive: Isaiah 3:10,11; Matthew 11:22,24; 12:41,42; Romans 2:5,12; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Galatians 6:7,8, etc. See RETRIBUTION. 3. Conscious Suffering in Future: The conscious endurance of punishment for sin in the future state is already implied in the preceding. The parable of the Rich Man speaks of it as following immediately on death in Hades; all the descriptions of the judgment imply pain and anguish as the result of condemnation (compare Romans 2:5,12). This does not settle the nature or duration of the punishment; but it excludes the idea that physical death is the extinction of being, or that annihilation follows immediately upon death or judgment.
These things being assumed, the questions that remain are: Is the period of suffering for sin eternal, or is it terminable? May it be cut short by repentance or by annihilation? Is there any final solution of the discord it implies in the universe? It is maintained here that the punishment of sin, in the case of the finally impenitent, is everlasting. 2. SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT.
The doctrine that the punishment of sin is everlasting is sustained by many plain testimonies of Scripture. 1. Old Testament and Jewish Conceptions: The doctrine of future punishment is not prominent in the Old Testament, where rewards and punishments are chiefly connected with the present life.
In a few passages ( Psalm 49:14,15; 73:18,19; compare Isaiah 24:21,22; 66:24), Dr. Charles thinks that “Sheol appears as the place of punishment of the wicked” (Eschatology, 73-76, 156). If so, there is no suggestion of escape from it. In Daniel 12:2, some that sleep in the dust are represented as awaking to “shame and everlasting contempt” (the word for “everlasting” is the usual one, `olam). In the Jewish literature of the century before Christ, “Sheol is regarded,” says Dr. Charles, “as the place of final eternal punishment, that is, it has become hell” (op. cit., 236). See ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 2. New Testament Teaching: In the New Testament, the strongest language is used by Jesus and the apostolic writers on the certainty and severity of the punishment of sin in the future state, and always in a manner which suggests that the doom is final. (1) “Eternal.”
The word “eternal” (aionios ) is repeatedly applied to the punishment of sin, or to the fire which is its symbol. A principal example is Matthew 25:41,46, “eternal fire,” “eternal punishment” (kolasis aionios ). Here precisely the same word is applied to the punishment of the wicked as to the blessedness of the righteous. Other instances are Matthew 18:8; Jude 1:7; compare Revelation 14:11; 19:3; 20:10. In Thessalonians 1:9, we have, “eternal destruction.” The kindred word aidios, “everlasting,” is in Jude 1:6 applied to the punishment of the fallen angels.
The reply made by Maurice (Theological Essays, 442 ff) that aionios in such passages denotes quality, not duration, cannot be sustained. Whatever else the term includes, it connotes duration. More pertinent is the criticism of other writers (e.g. Cox, Salvator Mundi, 96 ff; Farrar, Eternal Hope, Pref., xxxiv, pp. 78 ff, 197 ff; compare his Mercy and Judgment, passim) that aionios does not necessarily mean “eternal” (according to Cox it does not mean this at all), but is strictly “age-long,” is therefore compatible with, if it does not directly suggest, a terminable period. Cox allows that the term is “saturated through and through with the element of time” (p. 100,), but he denies its equivalence with “everlasting.” The sense, no doubt, is to be determined by the context, but it can hardly be questioned that “the eons of the eons” and similar phrases are the practical New Testament equivalents for eternity, and that aionios in its application to God and to life (“eternal life”) includes the idea of unending duration (compare John 10:28,29 for express assertion of this). When, therefore, the term is applied in the same context to punishment and to life ( Matthew 25:46), and no hint is given anywhere of limitation, the only reasonable exegesis is to take the word in its full sense of “eternal.” (2) Equivalent Expressions.
The meaning “eternal” is confirmed by the use of equivalent expressions and of forms of speech which convey in the strongest manner the idea of finality. Such are the expressions, “the unquenchable fire,” the “worm” that “dieth not” ( Matthew 3:12; Mark 9:43-48; compare Matthew 13:42,50), with those numerous references to “death,” “destruction,” “second death,” on which the advocates of conditional immortality build their arguments for final extinction. Such is the dictum of Jesus: “He that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth (remains) on him” ( John 3:36; the opposite of “life” is “perishing,” 3:16); or that in Revelation 22:11, “He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still.”
Finality is the note in all Christ’s warnings — “the outer darkness” ( Matthew 8:12; 22:13); “The door was shut .... I know you not” ( Matthew 25:10,12; compare 7:23), as in those of the Epistles (e.g. Hebrews 2:3; 6:6,8; 10:27,31; 12:25,29). Jesus speaks of the blasphemy against the Spirit as a sin which shall not be forgiven, “neither in this world, nor in that which is to come” ( Matthew 12:32; not as implying that other sins, unforgiven in this life, may be forgiven in the next), a passage which Mark gives in the remarkable form, “hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” ( Mark 3:29). The Rich Man in Hades found an impassable gulf fixed between himself and Lazarus ( Luke 16:26). See GULF. It adds to the terribleness of these sayings that, as before remarked, there is nothing to put against them; no hint or indication of a termination of the doom. Why did Jesus not safeguard His words from misapprehension, if behind them there lay an assurance of restoration and mercy? One may ask with Oxenham, in a reply to Jukes, “whether if Christ had intended to teach the doctrine of eternal punishment, He could possibly have taught it in plainer terms.” (3) The Last Judgment.
The New Testament doctrine of the last judgment leads to the same conclusion. Two things seem plainly taught about this judgment: the first, that it proceeds on the matter of the present life — “the things done in the body” ( Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:12); and the second, that it is decisive in its issues. Not a single suggestion is given of a reversal of its decisions in any future age. Such silence is inexplicable if the Scriptures meant to teach what the opponents of this doctrine so confidently maintain. 3. Teaching of Analogy: In corroboration of this Scriptural view analogy might be pleaded. How constantly even in this life is the law illustrated of the tendency of character to fixity! The present is the season of grace ( 2 Corinthians 6:2), yet what powers of resistance to God and goodness are seen to lie in human nature, and how effectually, often, does it harden itself under the influences that seem most fitted to break down its rebellion! What likelihood is there that eternity will alter this tendency, or make conversion more easy?
Eternity can hardly be thought of as more really a scene of grace than time is for those to whom the gospel has already come. Its characteristic mark is said to be “judgment” ( Hebrews 9:27). Like the photographer’s bath, may its effect not be to develop and fix existing character, rather than to change it? If so, the state in which judgment finds the soul may be presumed to be one that will remain. 3. DIFFICULTIES AND OBJECTIONS — RIVAL HYPOTHESES.
What, it will now be asked, of the tremendous difficulties which inhere in this doctrine, with their undeniable effect in alienating many generous minds from it and from Christianity? The lurid rhetorical picturings of the sufferings of the lost, too frequent in the teaching of the past, may be discounted; it is not necessary to go beyond the inexpressibly solemn words of Christ Himself and His apostles. But even with this limitation, does it not seem as if, by this doctrine, a reflection was cast on the righteousness and mercy of God in creating such multitudes of the human race, as, on any showing, are outside the pale of Christ’s salvation — the countless generations of the heathen, with the masses even in Christian lands who have not received or do not obey the light — only to doom them to endless misery? Before attempting a positive answer, it is proper that a glance be taken at the rival theories put forth in alleviation of the difficulty. 1. Universal Salvation: The most comprehensive solution propounded is that of universal salvation — of a final restitution of all souls to God’s favor and to blessedness. This tempting speculation — for it is no more — advocated by Origen in the early church, by Schleiermacher in the last century, has been urged by many writers in modern times. One of its best known advocates was Samuel Cox, in his book Salvator Mundi. It is noticeable that not a few who favor this theory (e.g. Maurice, Farrar) decline to commit themselves to it as more than a “hope,” and admit the possibility of human souls continuing to resist God endlessly (Maurice, Theological Essays, 476; Farrar, Eternal Hope, Pref., xv, xvi; Mercy and Judgment, I, 485, “In this sense there may be for some souls an endless hell”). It must, however, be evident that, be the number greater or smaller — and who shall give assurance of its smallness? — if there are any such souls, the difficulty in principle remains, and the passages alleged as teaching universal restoration are equally contradicted. The deeper objection to this theory is that, springing, not from real knowledge, but from men’s hopes and wishes, it has, as already shown, the tremendous stress of Scripture testimony against it; nor do the passages commonly adduced as favoring it really bear the weight put upon them. We read, e.g., of a restoration of all things” — the same that Christ calls the palingenesia — but, in the same breath, we are told of those who will not hearken, and will be destroyed ( Matthew 19:28; Acts 3:21,23). We read of Christ drawing all men unto Him ( John 12:32); but we are not less clearly told that at His coming Christ will pronounce on some a tremendous condemnation ( Matthew 7:23; 25:41); we read of all things being gathered, or summed up, in Christ, of Christ subduing all things to Himself, etc.; but representative exegetes like Meyer and Weiss show that it is far from Paul’s view to teach an ultimate conversion or annihilation of the kingdom of evil (compare Meyer on 1 Corinthians 15:21,28 and Ephesians 1:10; Weiss, Biblical Theology, II, 723, 107, 109, English translation). We confess, however, that the strain of these last passages does seem to point in the direction of some ultimate unity, be it through subjugation, or in some other way, in which active opposition to God’s kingdom is no longer to be reckoned with. 2. Annihilation: The view favored by another class is that of the annihilation of the finally impenitent. The type of doctrine called “conditional immortality” includes other elements which need not here be discussed (see IMMORTALITY).
The annihilation theory takes different forms. So far as the annihilation is supposed to take place at death, it is contradicted by the Scriptures which support the soul’s survival after death; so far as it is believed to take place after a longer or shorter period of conscious suffering (which is White’s theory), it involves its advocates in difficulties with their own interpretations of “death,” “destruction,” “perishing,” seeing that in Scripture this doom is uniformly represented as overtaking the ungodly at the day of judgment, and not at some indefinite period thereafter. The theory conflicts also with the idea of gradation of punishment, for which room has to be sought in the period of conscious suffering, and rests really on an unduly narrowed conception of the meaning of the Scriptural terms “life” and “death.” Life is not bare existence, nor is “death” necessarily extinction of being. Assaid earlier, the language of many parts of Scripture implies the continued existence of the subjects of the divine wrath. 3. Second Probation: It is significant that on the side alike of the advocates of restoration and of those of annihilation (e.g. E. White), refuge from the difficulties is frequently sought in the hypothesis of an extended probation and work of evangelization beyond death. This theory labors under the drawback that, in marked contrast with Scripture, it throws immensely the larger part of the work of salvation into the future state of being. It is, besides, apart from the dubious and limited support given to it by the passage on Christ’s preaching to “the spirits in prison” ( 1 Peter 3:19,20); destitute of Scriptural support. It has already been pointed out that the final judgment is uniformly represented as proceeding on the matter of this life. The theory is considered elsewhere. See ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, X. 4. NATURE, CONDITIONS AND ISSUES. 1. Mystery of the Future: While dogmatisms like the above, which seem opposed to Scripture, are to be avoided, it is equally necessary to guard against dogmatisms of an opposite kind, as if eternity must not, in the nature of the case, have its undisclosed mysteries of which we here in time can frame no conception.
The difficulties connected with the ultimate destinies of mankind are truly enormous, and no serious thinker will minimize them. Scripture does not warrant it in negative, any more than in positive, dogmatisms; with its uniformly practical aim, it does not seek to satisfy an idle curiosity (compare Luke 13:23,24). Its language is bold, popular, figurative, intense; the essential idea is to be held fast, but what is said cannot be taken as a directory to all that is to transpire in the ages upon ages of an unending duration. God’s methods of dealing with sin in the eternities may prove to be as much above our present thoughts as His dealings now are with men in grace. In His hands we must be content to leave it, only using such light as His immediate revelation yields. 2. Nature of Punishment: As respects the nature of the punishment of sin, it cannot be doubted that in its essence it is spiritual. Everything can be adopted here which is said by Maurice and others — “The eternal punishment is the punishment of being without the knowledge of God, who is love, and of Jesus Christ who has manifested it; even as eternal life is declared to be the having the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ” (Theological Essays, 450). The supreme penalty of sin is unquestionably the loss of God’s life and love — the being sinful. Environment, indeed, may be expected to correspond with character, but the hell is one the sinner essentially makes for himself, and, like the kingdom of God, is within. The fire, the worm, the stripes, that figure its severity, are not physical. Even should the poena sensus (were that conceivable) be utterly removed, the poena damni would eternally remain. 3. Range of Divine Mercy: It is a sound principle that, in His dealing with sin in the world to come, God’s mercy will reach as far as ever it can reach. This follows from the whole Scriptural revelation of the character of God. What may be included in it, it is impossible for anyone to say. It should be noticed that those of whom it is said that they shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on them, are those who “obey not” the truth ( John 3:36) — who actively and consciously disregard and oppose it. But all do not belong to this class.
It may be assumed that none will be lost who can in consistency with holiness and love be saved. The most germinal goodness, which is the implantation of His own Spirit, God will acknowledge and develop. The problem of undeveloped character may receive a solution we do not wot of with the entrance into the eternal light — not in change of character, but rather, as said before, in the revelation of character’s inmost bent. In this sense, the entrance into eternity may be to many the revelation of a love and grace which had not been understood or appreciated as it should have been on earth, but with which it is in essential kinship. There are at least many shades and degrees of character, and God may be entrusted to take the most just, yet most merciful, account of all. 4. Gradation of Punishment: The fullest weight must further be given to what the Scripture so expressly says of gradation of punishment, even of the unsaved. It is not the case that the lot of all who fail of the eternal life in Christ is all of one grade. There are the “few stripes” and the “many stripes” ( Luke 12:47,48); those for whom it will be “more tolerable” than for others in the day of judgment ( Matthew 11:20,24). Even “Sodom and her daughters” will be mercifully dealt with in comparison with others ( Ezekiel 16:48,49,53,55,61). There will be for everyone the most exact weighing of privilege, knowledge and opportunity. There is a vast area here for the divine administration on which no light at all is afforded us. 5. God “All in All”: There remain those passages already alluded to which do seem to speak, not, indeed, of conversion or admission into the light and fellowship of Christ’s kingdom, but still of a final subjugation of the powers of evil, to the extent, at least, of a cessation of active opposition to God’s will, of some form of ultimate unification and acknowledgment of Christ as Lord.
Such passages are Ephesians 1:10; Philippians 2:9-11; above all, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28. God, in this final vision, has become “all in all.”
Here, again, dogmatism is entirely out of place, but it is permissible to believe that these texts foreshadow such a final persuasion of God’s righteousness in His judgment and of the futility of further rebellion as shall bring about an outward pacification and restoration of order in the universe disturbed by sin, though it can never repair that eternal loss accruing from exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and glory.
LITERATURE.
Against: Maurice, Theological Essays, “Eternal Life and Eternal Death”; S.
Cox, Salvator Mundi; F. W. Farrar, Eternal Hope; Mercy and Judgment; A. Jukes, The Second Death and the Restitution of All Things; E. White, Life in Christ; H. Constable, Duration and Nature of Future Punishment.
For: Pusey, What Is of Faith as to Everlasting Punishment, H. N.
Oxenham, Catholic Eschatology; C. Clemance, Future Punishment; Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus, the Messiah, Appendix, xix, “On Eternal Punishment, according to the Rabbis and the New Testament “; The Future Life, A Defence of the Orthodox View, by the Most Eminent American Scholars; S. D. F. Salmond, The Christian Doctrine of Immortality, Book VI; Orr, Christian View of God, lecture ix; Luthardt, Saving Truths (English translations), lecture x. See also the various works on Dogmatic and Biblical Theology. James Orr PUNISHMENTS <pun’-ish-ments > ([ ˆwO[; , ‘awon ], “fault,” “iniquity,” “punishment for iniquity,” “sin” ( Genesis 4:13; Leviticus 26:41; Job 19:29; <19E907> Psalm 149:7; Lamentations 4:22; Ezekiel 14:10 margin; Amos 1:3,6,9,11,13; 2:1,4,6), [ vn,[o , `onesh ], “tribute,” “fine,” “punishment” ( Lamentations 3:39), [ ha;f;j\ , chaTa’ah ], or [ taF;h” , chaTTa’th ], “sin” and its retribution, “penalty,” “expiation” ( Zechariah 14:19); [ko>lasiv, kolasis ], “punishment,” “torment” ( Matthew 25:46), [ejpitimi>a, epitimia ], “poll tax,” hence, “penalty” ( 2 Corinthians 2:6), [timwri>a, timoria ], “vindication,” hence, “penalty” ( Hebrews 10:29), [ejkdi>hksiv, ekdikesis ], “vindication,” “retribution” ( 1 Peter 2:14 the King James Version)): A court could inflict for a crime against the person, a sentence of (1) death in the form of stoning, burning, beheading, or strangling, etc.; (2) exile to one of the cities of refuge in case of manslaughter (Numbers 35); or (3) stripes, not to exceed 40, in practice 39 or less ( Deuteronomy 25:3; 2 Corinthians 11:24). Offences against property (theft, fraudulent conversion of deposit, embezzlement, robbery) were punished by exacting more than the value of the things taken ( Luke 19:8), the excess going to the injured party, thus differing from a fine, which goes into the treasury of the community. The housebreaker was liable to be slain with impunity ( Exodus 22:2). A fine in the modern sense is unknown in the Scriptures, unless Leviticus 5:6-19 be interpreted as referring to such. 1. HISTORY OF THE HEBREW LAW CONCERNING PUNISHMENT:
The earliest theory of punishment seems to have been that of retaliation — “blood for blood” — and to some extent this principle appears even in the Law of Moses ( Leviticus 21:19,20; Matthew 5:38). Early in the history of the race, punishment was administered for sin and crime. Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden, and Cain, the first murderer, though not executed in retaliation for his deed, had a mark set on him. The words of Lamech ( Genesis 4:24) indicate that death was regarded as the fitting punishment for murder, and the same thought apparently was in the minds of the brethren of Joseph ( Genesis 42:21). Judah, as head of his family, seems to have had power of life and death ( Genesis 38:24), and Abimelech threatens his people with the extreme punishment in case they injure or insult Isaac or his wife ( Genesis 26:11). Similar power is ascribed to Pharaoh ( Genesis 41:13). 2. THE MOSAIC LAW CONCERNING PUNISHMENT:
Under the Law of Moses, the murderer was to be put to death without mercy. Even if he took refuge at the altar in a sanctuary or in an asylum city, he would not be immune from arrest and execution, and the same principle was applied in the case of an animal ( Exodus 21:12,14,23,28,36 parallel). But punishment under the Mosaic Law was not to be entailed or transmitted ( Deuteronomy 24:16), as was the case among the Chaldeans ( Daniel 6:24) and the kings of Israel (1 Kings 21; 2 Kings 9:26).
It has been noted that capital punishment is extensively prescribed by the Mosaic Law, and undoubtedly the Law was carried out. This circumstance has been explained by reference to the fact that the nation consisted of newly emancipated slaves, and therefore required harsh measures to keep them in check.
Under the Mosaic Law, the offenses that made one liable to the punishment of death were: (1) striking or reviling a parent ( Exodus 21:15,17); (2) blasphemy ( Leviticus 24:14,16,23; 1 Kings 21:10; Matthew 26:65,66); (3) Sabbath-breaking ( Exodus 31:14; 35:2; Numbers 15:32-36); (4) witchcraft and false pretension to prophecy ( Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 13:5; 18:20; 1 Samuel 28:9); (5) adultery ( Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22); (6) unchastity: (a) before marriage, but detected afterward ( Deuteronomy 22:21), (b) in case of a woman with someone other than her betrothed ( Deuteronomy 22:23), (c) in a priest’s daughter ( Leviticus 21:9); (7) rape ( Deuteronomy 22:25); (8) incestuous and unnatural connections ( Exodus 22:19; Leviticus 20:11,14,16); (9) man-stealing ( Exodus 21:16); (10) idolatry, actual or virtual, in any form ( Leviticus 20:2; Deuteronomy 13:6; 17:2-7); (11) false witness in capital cases ( Deuteronomy 19:16,19).
A large number of offenses come under the law of punishment by cutting off from the people, the meaning of which expression has led to some controversy. It may signify excommunication or death, and occurs in connection with the following offenses: (1) breach of morals, such as willful sin in general ( Numbers 15:30,31); incestuous or unclean connections ( Leviticus 18:29; 29:9-21); (2) breach of covenant, brought about through uncircumcision ( Genesis 17:14; Exodus 4:24), neglect of Passover ( Numbers 9:13), Sabbathbreaking ( Exodus 31:14), neglect of Atonement Day ( Leviticus 23:29), work done on the Atonement Day ( Leviticus 23:30), children offered to Molech ( Leviticus 20:3), witchcraft ( Leviticus 20:6), anointing an alien with holy oil ( Exodus 30:33); (3) breach of ritual, committed by eating leavened bread during Passover ( Exodus 12:15,19), eating fat of sacrifices ( Leviticus 7:25), eating blood ( Leviticus 7:27; 17:14), eating sacrifices while unclean ( Leviticus 7:20,21; 22:3,4,9), offering too late ( Leviticus 19:8), making holy ointment for private use ( Exodus 30:32,33), making perfume for private use ( Exodus 30:38), general neglect of purification ( Numbers 19:13,20), not bringing offering after slaying a beast for food ( Leviticus 17:9), slaying the animal at a place other than the tabernacle door ( Leviticus 17:4), touching holy things illegally ( Numbers 4:15,18,20).
Of capital punishments that are properly regarded as of Hebrew origin, we note: (1) Stoning Stoning, which was the ordinary mode of execution ( Exodus 19:13; Leviticus 20:27; Joshua 7:25; Luke 20:6; Acts 7:58; 14:5).
The witnesses, of whom there were at least two, were required to cast the first stone ( Deuteronomy 13:9 f; John 8:7). If these failed to cause death, the bystanders proceeded to complete the sentence, whereupon the body was to be suspended until sunset ( Deuteronomy 21:23). (2) Hanging Hanging is mentioned ( Numbers 25:4; Deuteronomy 21:22), probably not as a mode of execution, but rather of exposure after death. It may have been a Canaanitish punishment, since it was practiced by the Gibeonites on the sons of Saul ( 2 Samuel 21:6,9). (3) Burning Burning, before the age of Moses, was the punishment of unchastity ( Genesis 38:24). The Law prescribes it as a punishment in the case of a priest’s daughter ( Leviticus 21:9), and in case of incest ( Leviticus 20:14), but it is also mentioned as following death by other means ( Joshua 7:25), and some believe it was never used except after death.
That it was sometimes used as a punishment on living persons among the heathen is shown by Daniel 3. (4) The Sword or Spear The sword or spear as an instrument of punishment is named in the Law ( Exodus 19:13; 32:27; Numbers 25:7 ff). It occurs frequently in monarchic and post-Bab times ( Judges 9:5; 1 Samuel 15:33; Samuel 20:22; 1 Kings 19:1; Jeremiah 26:23; Matthew 14:8,10), but among these cases, there are some of assassination rather than of punishment. (5) Strangling Strangling as a form of punishment has no Scripture authority, but according to tradition was frequently employed, and is said to have been performed by immersing the convict in clay or mud, and then strangling him by a cloth tied around the neck. 3. PUNISHMENTS OF FOREIGN ORIGIN:
Besides these, which are to be regarded as the ordinary capital punishments, we read of some that were either of foreign introduction or of an irregular kind, such as: (1) crucifixion (which see); (2) drowning ( Matthew 18:6 parallel); (3) sawing asunder or crushing ( 2 Samuel 12:31; Hebrews 11:37); (4) torturing ( 1 Chronicles 20:3; Hebrews 11:35); (5) precipitation ( 2 Chronicles 25:12; Luke 4:29); (6) suffocation (2 Macc 13:4-8).
The Persians are said to have filled a high tower a great way up with ashes, and then to have thrown the criminal into it, and continually stirred up the ashes by means of a wheel till he was suffocated (Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchy, III, 246). See also HEROD, II, 100.
Secondary forms of punishment not heretofore mentioned are to be noted as follows: (1) Blinding or Putting Out of Eyes Blinding or putting out of eyes in the case of captives ( Judges 16:21; 1 Samuel 11:2; 2 Kings 25:7). (2) Chaining Chaining by means of manacles or fetters of copper or iron, similar to our handcuffs fastened on the wrists and ankles and attached to each other by a chain ( Judges 16:21; 2 Samuel 3:34; 2 Kings 25:7); also alluded to in the life of Paul ( Acts 28:20; Ephesians 6:20; 2 Timothy 1:16); and in the case of Peter ( Acts 12:6). (3) Confiscation of Property Confiscation of property that had fallen under the ban, i.e. had been singled out for destruction by the special decree of Yahweh, as in Numbers 21:2; Joshua 6:17; or had been reserved for the use of the army ( Deuteronomy 2:35; 20:14; Joshua 22:8); or given over to the priesthood ( Joshua 6:19). The term may be extended to include all things vowed or sanctified and those irrevocably devoted or consecrated to God ( Leviticus 27:21,28). The idea is applied with special emphasis to those things which, because of their uncleanness, must not be used by the Israelites, though, through their warfare with the heathen, they might have come into possession of them ( Deuteronomy 7:26; 1 Samuel 15:16-23). (4) Dashing in Pieces (Psalms 2:9; Isaiah 13:18). (5) Divine Visitation.
See VISITATION. (6) Exposure to Wild Beasts ( Leviticus 26:22; 1 Samuel 17:46; Daniel 6). (7) Flaying (Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchy, I, 478; Nineveh and Babylon; mentioned figuratively in Micah 3:3). (8) Forfeiture ( Ezra 10:8). (9) Gallows Gallows in the modern sense probably were unknown to the ancients.
Where the word occurs in Est 5:14; 6:4; 7:9,10; 9:13,15, it probably refers to a beam or pole on which the body was impaled and then elevated to a height of 50 cubits as an object of warning to the people (see “Hanging”). (10) Imprisonment Imprisonment is frequently referred to in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, indicating that this was a common mode of punishment among both the Israelites and other nations ( Genesis 40:3; 42:17; Leviticus 24:12; Numbers 15:34; 1 Kings 22:27; Jeremiah 37:15,21; Luke 3:20; Acts 4:3,10; 23:10; and the Epistles of Paul). See PRISON. (11) Indignities.
In this term may be included all those outbursts of vengeance or other evil dispositions that were practiced in times or under circumstances when liberties with the prisoner were permitted on the part of bystanders or those who had charge beyond the execution of the judicial decree.
Instances are found in the life of Christ ( Matthew 26:59,67; Luke 22:63 ff; John 18:22); also in the life of Paul ( Acts 23:2). (12) Mutilation ( Judges 1:6,7; Ezekiel 23:25; 2 Maccabees 7).
The Law was opposed to thus treating any Israelite, and Samuel, when referring to the arbitrary power of the future king ( 1 Samuel 8:10 ff), does not say that he would thus treat “their sons.” It was a barbarous custom of the East (see EUNUCHS; POLYGAMY), evidently regarded, among the Hebrews, as a heinous practice ( Deuteronomy 23:1). The only act authorizing mutilation (except in retaliation) is mentioned in Deuteronomy 25:11. (13) Plucking Off the Hair Plucking off the hair is alluded to as a mode of punishment in Nehemiah 13:25; Isaiah 50:6. (14) Prison Garments Prison garments were in vogue to mark the convicts ( Jeremiah 52:33). (15) Restitution Restitution has been alluded to in the general introduction to this topic. (16) Retaliation Retaliation was recognized by Moses as a principle, but the application of it was left to the judge ( Leviticus 24:19-22). A fine example of it is found in the law of Deuteronomy 19:19. (17) Scorpions, Chastising with.
Probably the use of thongs armed with pointed pieces of lead or other metal ( 1 Kings 12:11; 2 Chronicles 10:14). See SCORPIONS. (18) Scourging.
See separate article. (19) Slavery.
See separate article. (20) Stocks.
See PRISON.
Frank E. Hirsch PUNITES <pu’-nits > ([ yniWP, puni ], probably “dark”): Descendants of Puvah, of the tribe of Issachar ( Numbers 26:23; compare Genesis 46:13; Judges 10:1; 1 Chronicles 7:1).
PUNON <pu’-non > ([ ˆnOWP, punon ]): A desert camp of the Israelites, the second after leaving Matthew. Hor ( Numbers 33:42,43). Eusebius (Onom 85; 123 9) mentions an Idumean village, North of Petra, in the desert, where convicts were mining copper, called Phinon or Phainon. These are doubtless identical. See WANDERINGS OF ISRAEL.
PUR <pur > (Est 3:7; 9:26). See PURIM.
PURAH <pu’-ra > ([ hr;Pu , purah ], “branch”): Gideon’s “servant,” literally, “young man,” i.e. armor-bearer ( Judges 7:10 f, the King James Version “Phurah”).
PURCHASE <pur’-chats > : In modern English, “to acquire by payment,” in Elizabethan English, “to acquire” by any means. In the Old Testament, the King James Version has used “purchase” to represent [ hn;q; , qanah ], and its derivatives (verb and noun), except in Leviticus 25:33, where the word is [ la”G; , ga’al ] (the Revised Version (British and American) “redeem”). In the New Testament the noun does not occur and the verb is used for [kta>omai, ktaomai ], in Acts 1:18; 8:20, and [peripoie>w, peripoieo ], in Acts 20:28; 1 Timothy 3:13. But none of these words connotes the payment of a price, so that the Revised Version (British and American) has kept the word only in Acts 20:28 (margin “acquired”), changing it into “obtain” in Acts 1:18; 8:20, and “gain” in 1 Timothy 3:13. In the Old Testament, the Revised Version margin has “gotten” in Exodus 15:16 and the American Standard Revised Version has (very properly) introduced the same word into the text of Psalm 74:2; 78:54. Burton Scott Easton PURE; PURELY; PURITY <pur > , <pur’-li > , <pu’-ri-ti > : This group of words has in the Old Testament and the New Testament an almost exclusively ethical significance, though the word “pure” is of course used also in its literal sense of freedom from alloy or other alien matter ( Exodus 25:11, etc.). “Pure” in the Old Testament represents many Hebrew words, most frequently [ rwOhf; , Tahor ]; “purely,” occurs once only in the King James Version, as the translation of [ rBo , bor ], properly “that which cleanses” (compare Job 9:30, the Revised Version margin “Hebrew `cleanse my hands with lye,’ “ i.e. alkali for soap) in Isaiah 1:25, the Revised Version (British and American) “thoroughly (margin “as with lye,” the King James Version “purely”) purge away thy dross”; “pureness” is the King James Version translation of the same word in Job 22:30, the Revised Version (British and American) “cleanness.” In the New Testament “pure” is the translation chiefly of [kaqaro>v, katharos ] ( Matthew 5:8, Blessed are the pure in heart,” etc.), but also of [aJgno>v, hagnos ] ( Philippians 4:8; 1 Timothy 5:22; James 3:17; 1 John 3:3 — always in an ethical sense). A different word (eilikrines ) is used in 2 Peter 3:1, the Revised Version (British and American) “sincere.” “Purity” (hagneia ) occurs only in the King James Version in 1 Timothy 4:12; 5:2; in the Revised Version (British and American) in Corinthians 11:3 (as the translation of tes hagnotelos ). See CLEAN; PURITY.
W. L. Walker PURGE <purj > : A number of words in both the Old Testament and the New Testament are so rendered in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), although frequently in the Revised Version (British and American) the older English word “purge” is displaced by the more applicable modern terms “cleanse” and “purify,” since the emphatic and medical senses of the word, as we now use it, are not justified by some of the Hebrew and Greek originals. In older English the word was broader in meaning, today it is specific. Occurrences in the King James Version, with the changes made in the Revised Version (British and American), are as follows: 1. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: (1) [ rhef; , Taber ], literally, “to be clean,” used of the putting-away of idolatry from Judah by Josiah ( 2 Chronicles 34:3,8), is translated “purge” in all VSS, but, in Ezekiel 24:13, the American Standard Revised Version changes to “cleanse.” (2) [ af;j; , chaTa’ ], literally, “to make a sin offering” ( Psalm 51:7): is changed without improvement to “purify” in the American Standard Revised Version, while “purge” is retained in the English Revised Version. (3) [ rp”K; , kaphar ], “to cover” or “to make atonement,” occurs in Psalm 65:3; 79:9; Ezekiel 43:20,26; in the two passages in Psalms, the Revised Version (British and American) has “forgive” (the “expiate” of the margin is still better), and in Ezekiel the even more accurate “make atonement.” In both (4) [ tr”x; , tsaraph ], “to refine” ( Isaiah 1:25), and (5) [ j”WD, duach ], literally, “to rinse” ( Isaiah 4:4), “purge” is well retained in the Revised Version (British and American). (6) [ rr”B; , barar ], literally, “to be shining,” the Revised Version (British and American) retains in Ezekiel 20:38, but in Daniel 11:35 changes to “purify.” (7) [ qq”z; , zaqaq ], “to pour down” as molten metal ( Malachi 3:3), also becomes “purify” in the Revised Version (British and American).
These occurrences are all in the figurative sense, and apply to sin, uncleanness, idolatry, etc. Most noteworthy is the American Standard Revised Version change of the familiar Psalm 51:7. 2. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
The Greek words rendered “purge” in the King James Version of the Apocrypha and New Testament are [kaqai>rw, kathairo ], and [kaqari>zw, katharizo ], and their compounds and derivatives. In all passages except four, the Revised Version (British and American) more properly translates “cleanse” ( Matthew 3:12; Mark 7:19; Luke 3:17; John 15:2; Hebrews 9:14,22; 10:2). In Hebrews 1:3 “when he had by himself purged our sins” is changed to “had made purification of.” But in the case of the verb compounded with the preps. [ajpo>, apo ] and [ejk, ek ], i.e. apokathairo and ekkathairo ( Job 12:9; Corinthians 5:7; 2 Timothy 2:21), with strong signification to “cleanse out,” the Revised Version (British and American) properly retains “purge.”
Most worthy of note is the change of the familiar verse in John, “Every branch, that beareth fruit, he purgeth” to “Every branch .... he cleanseth” (15:2). Edward Mack PURIFICATION <pu-ri-fi-ka’-shun > . See PURGE; PURITY; UNCLEAN.
PURIM; PUR <pur’-rim > , <pur > ([ µyriWP, purim ], “lots”; Septuagint [frourai>, Phrourai ]): The name of a Jewish festival celebrated on the 14th and 15th days of the month Adar, the final month of the Biblical year, corresponding to February-March. 1. SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
The origin of the festival is narrated in the Book of Esther, and indeed is the motive of the book, as the time, reason and manner of its celebration are given in detail (Est 3:7; 9:24 ff). Reference also is made to it in apocryphal literature (Additions to Esther 10:10-13; 2 Macc 15:36) and in Josephus (Ant., XI, vi, 13). No reference is made to this feast in the New Testament, as it was celebrated locally, and is therefore not to be connected with any of the festal pilgrimages to Jerusalem. For this reason the supposition of some that the feast of John 5:1 was Purim is to be rejected, mention of it being immediately followed by the words, “And Jesus went up to Jerusalem.” 2. HISTORY OF INSTITUTION:
For the complete account of the institution of Purim reference must be made to the Book of Esther. Only a brief statement is possible here.
Haman, son of Hammedatha the AGAGITE (q.v.; compare 1 Samuel 15:8,32), who had been made prime minister by King Ahasuerus (Xerxes), bitterly hated the Jews, some of whom, as Mordecai, were rising to prominence in the empire. After Queen Vashti had been put away from her royal position for cause (Est 1:9-12), a Jewess named Esther, kinswoman and adopted daughter of Mordecai, was chosen to become the royal consort. This only increased the hatred of Haman, who in his jealous fury soon began to seek an opportune day to work his hate upon Mordecai and the whole Jewish people, and therefore resorted to the casting of the lots for the auspicious time: “They cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, which is the month Adar” (3:7). Beginning with the 1st month, all the days and months were tried with unfavorable result, until the last. At Haman’s request Ahasuerus caused his scribes to send into all the realm on the 13th day of the 1st month a decree that all Jews should be put to death on the 13th day of the 12th month (3:12 ff). As the narrative shows, the wisdom of Mordecai, Esther’s heroism, and fasting and prayer availed to foil the dastardly scheme of Haman, who had already built the gallows on which his hated rival should be hanged. Haman was himself hanged on this gallows, while Mordecai was honored yet more (7:10; 8:1,2). A second decree was issued on the 23rd day of the 3rd month that on the 13th day of the 12th month (8:9,12), the day appointed in the first decree for their extermination, the Jews should gather together and defend themselves against their foes. On that fateful day not only did the Jews successfully resist the malice of their enemies, but the public officials also, seeing that the royal favor was with the Jews, espoused their cause. In Shushan, the royal city, a second day, the 14th, was granted the Jews for vengeance on their foes (9:11-16). In view of so great a deliverance “Mordecai wrote these things .... unto all the Jews .... to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, as the days wherein the Jews had rest from their enemies (9:20-22). 3. MANNER OF OBSERVANCE:
Already as early as the times of the Maccabees (2 Macc 15:36), the festival was observed, the 14th day being called “Mordecai’s day.” Josephus refers to it as continuously and widely observed down to his time: “For this cause the Jews still keep the forementioned days, and call them days of Purim” (Ant., XI, vi, 13). In succeeding centuries as the Jews have passed from one civilization or empire to another, so many causes have arisen to remind them of the persecutions of Haman as to make the festival of a triumph over such persecutions both attractive and most significant to them.
Experiences in Syria, Egypt, Rome, Russia and elsewhere have not been lacking in suggestion of the original occasion of Purim. The 13th day has been observed by fasting in commemoration of Esther’s prayer and fasting before she approached the king; in the evening, at the beginning of the 14th day, the Jews repair to the synagogues where the Book of Esther, one of the meghilloth, is read with interpretations, execrations bursting out at the reading of Haman’s name, accompanied by noise of rattles and stamping of feet, other persecutors and foes also sometimes coming in for a share of execration. The names of Mordecai and Esther receive blessings. On the following morning of the 14th synagogue services are again held, at which, in addition to the repetition of the Esther reading, Exodus 17:8-16, which records the destruction of the Amalekites (compare Est 3:1), is also read as the lesson from the Law, presents are given to the poor and to friends, and the rest of the day, as also the 15th, observed with feasting and rejoicing, even excesses being condoned in the exuberance of national spirit. 4. THEORIES OF ORIGIN:
Many attempts have been made to trace the origin of Purim in pagan or cosmic festivals, but to the present time without success, without approach even to probability. Supposed connections with nature myths, national festivals, polytheistic legends have all found advocates. The word itself has suggested the possibility of identification with words of similar form or sound in other languages. But the ease of finding such similarities for any word casts doubt upon the reliability of any identification. (1) It has been traced to the Assyrian puru, and identified with the Assyrian New Year when officials entered upon their term of service. (2) The Babylonian puhru, new year festival, has also been claimed as the origin of Purim; Mordecai becomes Marduk, Esther is Ishtar, while Haman, Vashti and Zeresh are Median gods. (3) The most popular attempts at identification are in the Persian field, where bahr, “lot,” is claimed as the source of Pur, or purdighan, “new year,” or farwardighan, the feast of departed souls. (4) Origin also in a Greek bacchanalian occasion has been sought. (5) Others suggest origin in other Jewish experiences than that claimed by the Book of Esther itself, such as a captivity in Edom, or a persecution under the Ptolemies in Egypt, or the victory of Judas Maccabeus over Nicanor in 161 BC (1 Macc 7:49). No one of all these theories has sufficient probability to secure for itself anything like general acceptance; the Book of Est remains as the most reasonable account; the difficulties met in it are not so great as those of the explanations sought in other languages and religions.
LITERATURE.
Bible dicts., especially HDB, Encyclopedia Biblica and Jewish Encyclopedia; Paton, commentary on “Est” in ICC, particularly pp. 77-94. Edward Mack PURITY <pu’-ri-ti > : The Bible bears witness to the long struggle over and in man to secure physical, mental, and moral cleanliness. The various forms of purity have relation to each other.
We have a common proverb that “cleanliness is akin to godliness.”
Cleanliness and aesthetics are certainly nigh neighbors. But cleanliness and ethics do not dwell farther apart. When one realizes that by uncleanness of person or property he may endanger the health or life of family, or even of society about him — as in keeping conditions that develop typhoid fever — he begins to realize that there is, a close tie between cleanliness and morals. “Ought” comes in on the sphere of cleanliness, and then the whole realm of ethics is open. So near are the departments of physical and ethical cleanliness that now if one hears the word “slum” without explanation, he cannot tell whether it relates to filth or sin.
The perception of this relationship is of very ancient date. Though it is Isaiah who says (52:11) “Cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Yahweh,” and Mark 7:3,4, “All the Jews, except they wash their hands diligently, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders; and when they come from the marketplace, except they bathemselves, they eat not; and many other things there are, which they have received to hold, washings of cups, and pots, and brasen vessels,” yet such statements are but summaries of directions distributed here and there throughout the whole Levitical Law.
We can read therein what sounds like the hygienic orders of a general to his soldiers on the march, or like the rules of the board of health to preserve a city from pestilence. And these Levitical directions for cleanliness are connected inseparably with the worship of Yahweh, as though physical purity were to that an essential. The Psalmist blends these two elements, the physical and the ethical, in the familiar question and answer ( Psalm 24:3-5), “Who shall ascend into the hill of Yahweh? And who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto falsehood, and hath not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from Yahweh, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
The ceremonial cleansings called for by the Law had meaning and influence. They were interpretative of something spiritual — were a parable way of illustrating the necessity of purity of heart in order to gain acceptance with God. If in after-days the thing symbolized was forgotten in the symbol, that was owing to “blindness of mind.” The darkness was not necessary. 1. THE SEX RELATION:
But the main subject in respect to which we shall in this article seek light on purity from the Bible will not be hygiene or aesthetics, but morals.
When we turn to that department we shall at once realize the fact that the sex relation is the most primitive and comprehensive of all the human relations. The Family.
The attitude of the Bible in respect to that relation is unmistakable. From the vision of the Garden of Eden to that of the New Jerusalem, the Bible rings true to the ideal of purity in family life and in the relations of the sexes to each other. This is remarkable, for it is a vast history over which its narrative sweeps, and in it every species of literature is represented. It sets forth the acts and views of a people in all the stages of civilization, from wandering nomads to dwellers in cities embellished by architecture and every device of man to set forth riches and splendor. It sets forth their crime, shame and sin, as well as their virtues, but its tone is approbative of the virtues and reprobative of the crime, shame and sin. In the Magna Charta of the Hebrew people — the Ten Commandments — there stands in equal rank with any other principle, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
The sanction of religion and law was thus given to the integrity and purity of family life. The minute regulations against marriage with relatives, and the severe punishments inflicted for disregard of the restrictions (Leviticus 18 and 20), were a powerful force in the same direction. The adultery of married persons was to be punished by the death of both the parties ( Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22).
Such laws may sometimes seem severe. Doubtless they are primitive and date from the time of nomadism. In primitive conditions, penalties for infraction of law are to be severe and swift. Pioneers the world over and through time, for very self-preservation’s sake, could show little favor or tolerance to lawlessness. Be these laws severe, they show the intense earnestness of a people to have a pure family life in which children born should be genuine to it. These Levitical restrictions upon intermarriage with relatives fit the sense of propriety and right of civilized people, even to this day. 2. THE PROPHETS:
There is no question about the attitude of the prophets on purity. They were in harmony with the Law. They had no tolerance for corrupt morals or manners leading to impurity or suggesting it. An illustration sometimes has the light of the sun in it. What it is that is illustrated is frequently best seen by looking at the illustration itself. The prophets were passionate monotheists. They wanted above all things that Israel should be true to Yahweh and to Him alone. To the prophets, worship of other gods was treason to Yahweh. One prophet after another, and over and over again, illustrates this highest of crimes by infidelity in the marriage relation. That shows in what estimate the family was held. To put any other in the place of Yahweh was “to go a-whoring after other gods,” or “to play the harlot.”
That shows as nothing else could how deep in the heart was sunk regard for pure family life. Infidelity was high treason there, or it never would have furnished language to describe high treason to God. 3. THE PROVERBS:
Proverbs 5 and 7 indicate the attitude of the book on purity. We may let the book make its own case. The wiles of “the strange woman” and the stupid folly and destruction of her victim are specially set forth in the chapters mentioned. In the last chapter of the book we have a portraiture of a “virtuous woman” in whom domesticity in purity has reached a high stage. “Let her own works praise her in the gates.” 4. THE SONG OF SOLOMON OF SONGS:
It is pleasant to turn from the tense severity of law, since it must deal largely with crime and sin, to the idealism of poetry. In the Psalms and the Prophets the relation of husband and wife, of bridegroom and bride, of lover and loved are always treated with tenderness and reverence. Here is familiar Scripture (Psalm 19): “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. .... In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course.” That does not betray any lack of sympathy with the exuberant spirit of a lover. So Isaiah 62:4,5: “For Yahweh delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.” Language cannot more clearly disclose delight in the joy of those who are adjusting themselves under the “primal eldest” rule over sex: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” ( Genesis 2:24).
It is sometimes thought strange that the Song of Solomon of Songs should be in the Scripture Canon. But why should there be such doubt? It is but a more particular elaboration of what is boldly brought to notice in the quotations above. There is no more necessity of reading impurity into it than there is of reading it into the quotations above. The poem is illustrative of an experience as widely known as any in the life of the human race — an experience in which sin is no necessity. One must go out of his way who imputes sin to a single act or thought that comes to expression in the poem. The maiden is guileless and the lover is manly. The poem is said to be erotic. But the eros is idealized. It may be sensuous, but it is not sensual. It is not selfish. The passion of each finds expression in careful thoughtfulness for the other. It does not turn back to itself in coarse brute craving of lust for its own self-indulgence. The refrain of the poem is — “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem That ye stir not up, nor awake my love.” — Song of Solomon 2:7; 3:5; 8:4.
The watchfulness is as tender as that for an infant. Where will the law lay its indictment of sin against such thoughts and feelings? The lovers are under the charm that has been and is to be from everlasting to everlasting with the human race upon the earth.
Christ at His strictest did not set Himself against the charm of love. He said it should be eternally single and true in spirit. The maiden in the song goes forth in the night, in the simplicity of her heart, to find her beloved ( Song of Solomon 3:2 ff). In the same simplicity, Evangeline wandered all the night of her life to find the object of her affection. From the same charm in the beginning came the faithfulness of Enoch Arden. Out of the love that springs from purity has come the integrity that has endured to the end. The exuberance of the charm, like every other spring of life and action, needs regulation, but the charm itself is not to be treated as sin. 5. CHRIST AND PURITY:
Paul has said, “Ye are not under law, but under grace” ( Romans 6:14).
But that depends upon the conditions to which it is applied. We may not be under the Levitical, ceremonial Law, but we are under the wide realm of ethical law always, even when we are under grace. What grace does is to idealize and spiritualize and make attractive and beautiful what before was perhaps hard, repellent statute and rule. Christ is sometimes thought to have relaxed the severity of “the reign of law.” But six times even in the Sermon on the Mount He added to its strictness. Take the idea of the purity of the family as secured by its unity. Under the Mosaic legislation, certain not onerous forms of legal proceeding intervening, the termination of marriage might be said to be optional with the parties. All this liberty is swept away in one sentence: “I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery” ( Matthew 19:9). That is a law sentence. It was uttered in the realm of law. It was intended to have effect in law. No wonder, considering the liberty that had been allowed in the Law up to that time, that the disciples as soon as they got breath said, “If the case of a man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” They knew that a new law for Christ’s disciples was put over marriage. Even the exception confirmed His rule. If the exception is not allowed, polyandry or polygamy is established. No other sentence of human speech has done more for the purity of family life (see DIVORCE). But Christ did not stop with the utterance of law protective of purity physically; He went behind all acts and laid down law for the thoughts and intents of the heart: “But I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” ( Matthew 5:28).
Sometimes it may be thought that there is a look of moral indifference about the way in which Jesus disposed of the woman’s case who was taken in adultery ( John 8:1-11): “Did no man condemn thee? And she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn thee; go thy way; from henceforth sin no more.” But it must first be remembered that it was not her case but that of her accusers that was immediately before the mind of Jesus. They brought her before Him to trap Him, but He turned and put them on trial. He made their moral condition the main issue. Hers was but an incident. But then, Jesus did not leave her without impressing on her mind that she was a sinner. The last words left ringing in her ears were, “Sin no more.” And she was left, as all in sin are left, to wrestle out adjustment with the Holy Spirit who leaves no soul without conviction of “sin, righteousness and judgment.” The words of Jesus no more than the words of anyone else can explain all things at once. They can cover a point in view, but much must always be left to the understanding that comes from known experience under the moral government of God.
The subsequent psychology of a sinner after the words of Scripture leave him is of deepest interest. Psychological action he must have had; what is it? The question arises, Had the prodigal son completed his repentance till he had asked the forgiveness of his mother and his elder brother? What is the subsequent psychology of a sinner as he disappears from our view? We can interpret here by what we know to be the operations of the Holy Spirit in the soul; just as we know a material object that diappears from view is still under the law of gravitation. Few who have thought on this subject have expressed the truth so well as Whittier in “Our Master,” or in “John Underhill” in these words: “And men took note of his gloomy air The shame in his eye, the halt in his prayer, The signs of a battle lost within, The pain of a soul in the coils of sin.
Into the desert alone rode he, Alone with the Infinite Purity; And bowing his soul to its tender rebuke, As Peter did to the Master’s look, He measured his path with prayer of pain For peace with God and nature again.” There is a recognition of the burning with fire that is infolded in the word “purity.” 6. PAUL:
Paul is like his Master. He seeks for purity in this relation after marriage as well as before — purity of mind. In 1 Corinthians 7 we see how carefully and kindly Paul discoursed about all the complications in matters pertaining to sex. Then again, if Paul has exhorted wives to obedience to husbands, he has also called for equal self-surrender on the part of husbands ( Ephesians 5:22-32): “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it.” Can there be any selfsurrender greater than that which Christ made? Here let attention rest on the fact that in his catalogue of the fruits of the Spirit ( Galatians 5:22), if he has put “love” in the first place of emphasis among the nine, he has put “self-control” in the last.
We have only space for a glance at a few departments of action and thought to see what the world has gained in purity from the religion of the Bible. The age of chivalry ought to have a word put to its credit. The knights took the vow of chastity before the tribunals of the church. Take art — compare a Venus and a Madonna. Not only spirituality, but even intellectuality is wanting in a Venus. There is not a suggestion in a Venus that does not inhere in flesh and sense. Of what would she or could she speak if she were to open her mouth? To judge from her. appearance, the utterance would be so “flat, stale and unprofitable” that even the charm of her physical beauty would disappear. In the Madonna you scarce see the physical. If she were to speak, her words would picture the peace and calm joy of a heavenly realm. If her countenance is suggestive of something far away, it is of something far above.
But art is not dead, and spiritual art did not die with the creation of the Madonna. Take Gaudens’ “Puritan.” Compare that with an Apollo. Again we have the contrast there is between a Madonna and a Venus. We have the physical and the aesthetic in an Apollo, but there is not a gleam of the intellectual. That Apollo thinks is not indicated, much less what he might be thinking about. There is not the faintest suggestion of the ethical. There is no intent and purpose in him. But in the Puritan there is intent and purpose. He means much. He is ethical. That determined bearing can only come from a spirit alive with the sense of right. When it comes to that, you will warrant that the Puritan carries more physical guns than the Apollo, and that if they were to clinch in a tug of wrestling Apollo would fall underneath. That ethical intent and purpose is masterly. You may look through a whole pantheon of Greek gods and meet not a trace of the force concentrated in the Puritan. He is forceful because right makes might. He is in the majority because he knows Who is with him. He is conscious of power because he has subdued the kingdom within. He has won the greatest of all victories — self-control. C. Caverno PURLOINING <pur-loin’-ing > : Lit. “for far off,” hence, to carry away or steal; the word is the translation of [nosfi>zomai, nosphizomai ], “to take away for oneself,” “to secrete,” “to steal,” a word appropriate to those in the position of slaves in a master’s service ( Titus 2:10, “not purloining”).
PURPLE <pur’-p’-l > ([ ˆm;G;r]a” , ‘argaman ]; Chaldaic [ ˆw;G]r]a” , ‘argewan ] ( 2 Chronicles 2:7); compare Arabic ‘urjuwan, and Persian ‘arghawan ; [porfu>ra, porphura ], [porfu>reov, porphureos ] Septuagint and New Testament)):
Purple dye was manufactured by the Phoenicians from a marine mollusk, Murex trunculus. The shell was broken in order to give access to a small gland which was removed and crushed. The crushed gland gives a milky fluid that becomes red or purple on exposure to the air. Piles of these broken shells still remain on the coast at Sidon and Tyre. The purple gland is found in various species of Murex and also of Purpura.
Purple cloth was used in the furnishings of the tabernacle ( Exodus 25:4, etc.) and of Solomon’s temple ( 2 Chronicles 2:14; 3:14); in the palanquin of Solomon ( Song of Solomon 3:10); and in the hangings of the palace of Ahasuerus (Est 1:6). The kings of Midian had purple raiment ( Judges 8:26); the worthy woman of Proverbs 31:22 has clothing of fine linen and purple. Mordecai was clothed with purple by Ahasuerus (Est 8:15); Jesus by the Roman soldiers ( Mark 15:17,20; John 19:2,5).
The rich man of Luke 16:19 and the scarlet woman of Revelation 18:12,16 were arrayed in purple. In Song of Solomon 7:5 the bride has hair like purple. Purple is in the merchandise of Babylon ( Revelation 18:12). It is surprising that Ezekiel speaks of the Tyrians as obtaining purple from the isles of Elisha ( Ezekiel 27:7) and from Syria ( Ezekiel 27:16). See COLORS; DYE, DYEING.
Alfred Ely Day PURPOSE, OF GOD <pur’-pus > ([pro>qesiv, prothesis ] ( Romans 9:11; Ephesians 1:11)): The word “purpose” seems to be an equivalent of the word “decree” as used in regard to man’s relation to eternity. More correctly stated, it softens the word “decree” and refers back to the cause of the decree as lodged in an intelligent design and forward to an aim consistent with the character of God. See FOREORDINATION; PREDESTINATION.
PURSE <purs > . See BAG.
PURSLAIN; JUICE <purs’-lan > , <joos > , <jus > . See JUICE.
PURTENANCE <pur’-te-nans > : With the significance of “belongings,” this word occurs in the King James Version of Exodus 12:9 as the translation of [ br,q, , qerebh ], “within” “inward,” “roast .... with the purtenance thereof,” the Revised Version (British and American) “inwards” (compare Leviticus 1:9; 3:3, etc.).
PUT <put > ([ fWP, puT ]; [ Fou>d, Phoud ], in Genesis and Chronicles, variant for Genesis [ Fou>t, Phout ], for Chronicles, [ Fou>q, Phouth ]): 1. RENDERINGS:
In consequence of the identification at the time, the prophets have “Libya” ([ Li>buev, Libues ]), except Nab 3:9, where the Greek renders the word as [fugh>, phuge ], “flight.” The Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) has “Phut,” “Phuth,” and in the Prophets “Libyes” and “Libya”; the King James Version “Phut.” 2. SON OF HAM:
In the “Table of Nations” Put is the third son of Ham ( Genesis 10:6), the first and second being Cush and Misraim, and the fourth Canaan. Put is the only one of the sons of Ham who is not credited with descendants. 3. AS NATIONALITY:
In the Prophets, warriors from Put are referred to, principally in connection with the forces of Egypt. They appear as shield-bearers ( Jeremiah 46:9: “Cush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow”). See also Ezekiel 30:5, where the order in the Hebrew is Cush, Put and Lud. In Nahum 3:9 Put is the helper of No-amon (Thebes in Egypt), and in Ezekiel 27:10 Put appears with Persia and Lydia (Lud) as being in the army of Tyre. 4. IDENTIFIED WITH PUNT:
The common identification of Put is the Egyptian Punt (or Pwent) proposed by Ebers. The assimilation of n to a following consonant is common in the Semitic languages, and would occasion no difficulty if the vocalization be found to agree. The final “t” of Punt, however, seems to be the Egyptian feminine ending, whereas the “T” of Put is radical. 5. SOMALILAND AND YEMEN:
Nevertheless, the district would seem to be rightly identified with the tract to the East of Abyssinia (Somaliland), and as it is described as being on both sides of the sea (the Red Sea), Yemen would seem to be included. In connection with this, it is worthy of note that a fragment of a Babylonian tablet referring to Nebuchadrezzar’s campaign in Egypt in his 37th year mentions, as though in the neighborhood, the city (here, apparently, standing for the district) of Putu-yaman — probably not “Ionian (Greek) Put” (Lesbos, according to Winckler), but “Put of Yemen.” If this be in contra-distinction to the district of Put (Punt) on the African mainland, the latter would be the Putu referred to in the Persian inscription of Naqsh-i- Rustem, which mentions, among the tributary-countries, Kushiya, Putiya and Masiya, in Babylonian (mat) PuTa, ((mat) K)usu, (mat) Massu(?), “the land Put, the land Kush (Ethiopia), the land Massu(?).” The soldiers of Put in the army of Tyre may have been either from the African or the Yemenite Put, in which case there was no northern tract of that name, unless settlements had been made at any time from the original district. See W.
Max Muller, Asien und Europa, Leipzig, 1893, 106 ff. T. G. Pinches PUTEOLI <pu-te’-o-li > ([ Poti>oloi, Potioloi ], “sulphur springs” ( Acts 28:13, Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek), the modern Pozzuoli):
A maritime city of Campania, which occupied a central position on the northern shore of a recess in the Gulf of Naples, protected on the West by the peninsula of Baiae and Cape Misenum. It was originally a colony of the neighboring Greek city Cumae.
The earliest event in the history of Puteoli which can be dated definitely was the repulse of Hannibal before its walls by a Roman garrison in BC. The design of the Carthaginian to secure a seaport as base of supplies and communication was thus thwarted (Livy xxiv. 7, 12, 13). A Roman colony was established here in 194 BC, and Puteoli thus became the first Roman port on the Gulf of Naples (Livy xxxiv. 45; Strabo v.245; Velleius, i.15). Its subsequent remarkable prosperity and commercial activity are to be attributed to the safety of the harbor and the inhospitable character of the coast nearer Rome. For Puteoli became the chief seaport of the capital before the creation of an artificial harbor at Portus Augusti by Claudius, and before Trajan made the mouth of the Tiber the principal converging point for the over-sea carrying trade. The imports at Puteoli consisted mainly of Egyptian grain and oriental wares, dispatched from Alexandria and other cities of the Levant (Cicero Pro Rabirio 40; Suetonius, Augustus 98; Strabo xvii. 793; Cicero Pro Caelio 10). The eastern element in the population was very numerous (Petronius 81; CIL, X, 1797). The harbor was rendered doubly safe by a mole, which is known to have been at least 418 yards in length, consisting of massive piers connected by means of arches constructed in solid masonry (Strabo v.245).
Extensive remains of this mole still exist. The shore line devoted to purposes of commerce (emporium) extended for a distance of about 1 1/4 miles westward from the mole. At the height of its prosperity under Claudius and Nero, the town is thought to have contained a population of nearly 100,000.
The region in which the town was situated is of volcanic formation, the name Puteoli being due to the odor of the sulphureous springs or to the wells of a volcanic nature which abound in the vicinity. The volcanic dust, called pozzolana today, was mixed with lime to form a cement of the greatest durability, which was weatherproofing against the influence of seawater.
Extensive remains of an amphitheater, whose axes measure 160 and yards across the space enclosed by the outer facade and 75 and 45 yards within the arena, bear testimony to the former affluence of Puteoli.
The region about Puteoli together with Baiae became the favorite resort of the Roman nobility, and the foundations of many ancient villas are still visible, although partly covered by the sea. Cicero’s villa in the territory of Puteoli (Cicero Ad Fam. v.15, 2; Ad Att. xiv. 16, 1; 20, 1) was afterward selected as the place of burial of Hadrian (Spartianus Had. 25). The portion of the bay between Puteoli and Baiae was the scene of the attempt made at the instigation of Nero upon the life of his mother by means of a vessel so contrived that it was to break to pieces while conveying Agrippina toward her villa near the Lucrine Lake (Tacitus, Annals xiv.8). See NERO.
The apostle Paul found a Christian community at Puteoli, when he arrived there on his way to Rome, and stopped 7 days with them ( Acts 28:13,14). At that time the ordinary route to Rome, following the Via Appia from Capua, was 155 Roman, or about 142 1/3 English miles (Nissen, Italische Landeskunde, II, 739). Later, Domitian reduced the distance to 139 Roman miles (about 129 English miles) by laying out the Via Domitia along the coast, joining the Via Appia at Sinuessa (Geog.
Raven., IV, 32; Itin. Ant., 122; Tab. Peut.). George H. Allen PUTHITES <pu’-thits > ([ ytiWP, puthi ], “simple”; the King James Version Puhites):
One of the families of Kiriath-jearim, grandchildren of Caleb ( Chronicles 2:50,53).
PUTIEL <pu’-ti-el > ([ laeyfiWP, puTi’el ], “contemned by El”): Father of the wife of Eleazar, Aaron’s son, and thus grandfather of Phinehas, Eleazar’s son ( Exodus 6:25). See PHINEHAS, (3).
PUVAH <pu’-va > . See PUAH.
PYGARG <pi’-garg > ([ ˆvyDi , dishon ]; Septuagint [pu>gargov, pugargos ]; compare proper nouns, “Dishon” and “Dishan” ( Genesis 36:21-30; Chronicles 1:38-42); according to BDB, Hommel, Saugethiere, derives [ ˆvyd ] from [ vWD, dush ], Arabic das , “to tread,” and compare Assyrian dashshu, “mountain-goat”): Dishon as the name of an animal occurs only in Deuteronomy 14:5 in the list of clean beasts. Both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) have “pygarg,” which is not the recognized name of any animal whatever. The Septuagint pugargos (from [pugh>, puge ], “rump,” and [ajrgo>v, argos ], “white”) was used by Herodotus (iv.192) as the name of an antelope. A white rump is a very common feature of deer and antelopes, and is commonly explained as enabling the fleeing herd easily to keep in sight of its leaders. It has been used as a specific name of Cervus pygargus, the Tartarian roe, and Bubalis pygargus, a small South African antelope. The Arabic Bible has ri’m, “a white gazelle,” a kindred word to re’em, the King James Version “unicorn,” the Revised Version (British and American) “wild-ox.”
Tristram, Tristram, Natural History of the Bible, considers dishon to be the addax, Antilope addax or Addax nasomaculatus. There is excellent reason, however, for believing that the range of this African antelope does not extend into Palestine, Sinai or Arabia. For a discussion of the animal names in Deuteronomy 14:4,5, see ZOOLOGY. Alfred Ely Day PYRAMID <pir’-a-mid > [purami>v, puramis ]: Pyramids are mentioned in connection with the splendid monument reared by Simon Maccabeus in memory of his parents and brethren at Modin (1 Macc 13:28; compare Ant, XIII vi, 6).
Josephus describes them as “very surprising, both for their largeness and beauty.” There is nothing to show how the pyramid allotted to each was distinguished, whether by difference in size or by inscriptions. It is remarkable that in Scripture there is no allusion to the giant structures in Egypt; but these may have supplied the suggestion to Simon’s mind. W. Ewing PYRRHUS <pir’-us > ([ Pu>rrov, Purros ], “fiery-red”): The name is inserted in the text of the Revised Version (British and American) in Acts 20:4 as that of the father of SOPATER (which see).
PYTHON <pi’-thon > : Occurs only in Acts 16:16, where the Revised Version (British and American) reads, “a certain maid having a spirit of divination (margin “a spirit, a Python”) met us.” [ Pu>qwn, Puthon ], or [ Puqw>, Putho ], is the oldest name of Delphi (or the country about Delphi), in which was situated the famous Delphic Oracle. Consequently “Pythian spirit” came to be the generic title of the supposed source of inspiration of diviners, including the slave-girl of the account in Acts. Exactly what facts underlie the narrative it is rather hard to say, but it is evident that the girl was sincere in her conviction that she spoke with Pythian inspiration.
Probably she represents some hysterical type, of none too strong mentality, whose confused utterances were taken as coming from some supernatural power. Impressed by Paul’s personality, she followed him about, and, when his command came, was in a state of mind that had prepared her to obey it. The narrative, incidentally, gives an interesting sidelight on a society in which a girl with hysteria had a greater commercial value than she had after her cure. See DIVINATION.
Burton Scott Easton *Q QOPH <kof > q . See KOPH.
QUAIL <kwal > ([ wl;c] , selaw ]; [ojrtugomh>tra, ortugometra ]; Latin Coturnix vulgaris): A game bird of the family Coturnix, closely related to “partridges” (which see). Quail and partridges are near relatives, the partridge a little larger and of brighter color. Quail are like the gray, brown and tan of earth. Their plumage is cut and penciled by markings, and their flesh juicy and delicate food. Their habits are very similar. They nest on the ground and brood on from 12 to 20 eggs. The quail are more friendly birds and live in the open, brooding along roads and around fields. They have a longer, fuller wing than the partridge and can make stronger flight. In Palestine they were migratory. They are first mentioned in Exodus 16:13: “And it came to pass at even, that the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the camp.” This describes a large flock in migration, so that they passed as a cloud. Numbers 11:31-33: “And there went forth a wind from Yahweh, and brought quail from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth. And the people rose up all that day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp”; compare Psalm 78:26-30: “He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens; And by his power he guided the south wind.
He rained flesh also upon them as the dust, And winged birds as the sand of the seas:
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their habitations.
So they did eat, and were well filled; And he gave them their own desire.” Again the birds are mentioned in migration. Those that fell around the camp and the bread that was sent from heaven are described in <19A539> Psalm 105:39-42. Commentators have had trouble with the above references.
They cause the natural historian none — they are so in keeping with the location and the laws of Nature. First the Hebrew selaw means “to be fat.”
That would be precisely the condition of the quail after a winter of feeding in the South. The time was early spring, our April, and the quail were flocking from Africa and spreading in clouds — even to Europe. They were birds of earth, heavy feeders and of plump, full body. Migration was such an effort that when forced to cross a large body of water they always waited until the wind blew in the direction of their course, lest they tire and fall. Their average was about 16 birds to each nest. If half a brood escaped, they yet multiplied in such numbers as easily to form clouds in migration.
Pliny writes of their coming into Italy in such numbers, and so exhausted with their long flight, that if they sighted a sailing vessel they settled upon it by hundreds and in such numbers as to sink it. Taking into consideration the diminutive vessels of that age and the myriads of birds, this does not appear incredible. Now compare these facts with the text. Israelites were encamped on the Sinai Peninsula. The birds were in migration. The quail followed the Red Sea until they reached the point of the peninsula where they selected the narrowest place, and when the wind was with them they crossed the water. Not far from the shore arose the smoke from the campfires of the Israelites. This bewildered them, and, weary from their journey, they began to settle in confused thousands over and around the camp. Then the Israelites arose and, with the ever-ready “throw sticks,” killed a certain number for every soul of the camp and spread the bodies on the sand to dry, just as Herodotus (ii. 77) records that the Egyptians always had done (see Rawlinson, Herodotus, II, for an illustration of catching and drying quail). Nature and natural history can account for this incident, with no need to call in the miraculous. Gene Stratton-Porter QUARREL <kwor’-el > : Originally (1) “a complaint” (compare “querulous”), or (2) “a cause of complaint,” and so (3) “a contention.” (1) In the King James Version Mark 6:19 (the Revised Version (British and American) “set herself”; the colloquial “had it in for him” is an exact translation) and Colossians 3:13 ([momfh>, momphe ], “complaint”; so the Revised Version (British and American)). (2) In 2 Kings 5:7 ([ hn;a; , ‘anah ], “be opportune,” the Revised Version margin “an occasion”). (3) In the King James Version Leviticus 26:25 (loose translation of [ µq;n; , naqam ], “vengeance”; so the Revised Version (British and American)). Compare Sirach 31:29 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) “conflict”) and Proverbs 20:3 the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version, “meddling”).
QUARRIES <kwor’-iz > ([ µyliysiP] , pecilim ] ( Judges 3:19,26, “graven images”), [ µyrib;v] , shebharim ] ( Joshua 7:5, “Shebarim,” the Revised Version margin “the quarries”)): Pesilim is elsewhere translated “graven images” ( Deuteronomy 7:5; Psalm 78:58; Isaiah 10:10; Micah 5:13, etc.) and is a plural form of pecel , “graven image” ( Exodus 20:4, etc.), from pacal , “to carve.” It occurs in the story of Ehud and Eglon and refers to images or hewn stones in the vicinity of Gilgal, Shebharim is plural of shebher , “breach,” “fracture,” more often “destruction” (e.g. Proverbs 16:18), from shabhar , “to break.” The form shebarim is also found in Job 41:25, “consternation,” the King James Version “breakings.” In Joshua 7:5 Shebarim is the point to which the Israelites were chased after their first attack upon Ai. See SHEBARIM.
Quarries in Palestine are not usually very deep because there is plenty of good stone to be found at the surface. The quarryman seeks a thick stratum of firm limestone which has a favorable exposure. The vertical joint-planes divide the stratum into large blocks which the quarryman dislodges with the aid of crowbars. These great blocks he skillfully cleaves by inserting several wedges in a line in holes made by a pick, and driving the wedges in with a heavy hammer. In these days gunpowder is occasionally used, especially when there are not favorable joint-planes producing blocks capable of being moved by the crowbar.
Another method, which is employed where stones of great size are wanted, is to carve the stones out of the rock by cutting channels around them with the pick. In the limestone quarries of Ba`albek and the granite quarries of Acwan at the first cataract of the Nile, enormous stones may be seen which were abandoned while in process of being removed by this method. The channels are wide enough to admit the body of the workman, and the marks of the picks on the sides of the channels are plainly visible. Alfred Ely Day QUARTER <kwor’-ter > : Literally, of course, “the fourth part,” and so of the four “ends” ([ hx;q; , qatsah ]) in Jeremiah 49:36, and the King James Version of the four “corners” (so the Revised Version (British and American), [gwni>a, gonia ]) in Revelation 20:8. Hence, “any part” and in this sense used freely for various words by the King James Version. the Revised Version (British and American) has usually dropped “quarter,” but unfortunately has retained it in Numbers 34:3; Joshua 15:5; 18:14,15, and introduced it in Joshua 18:12,14,20 for [ ha;Pe , pe’ah ], usually rendered “side.” The result is very obscure. Elsewhere in the Revised Version (British and American) only in the phrase “from every quarter” ( Genesis 19:4; Isaiah 56:11; Mark 1:45).
Compare BORDER; COAST.
QUARTUS <kwor’-tus > ([ Kou>atrov, Kouartos ]): A Christian in Corinth who with “Erastus the treasurer of the city” sent greetings to the Christian community in Rome ( Romans 16:23). He is known to Paul only as a Christian, “the brother.”
QUATERNION <kwa-tur’-ni-un > ([tetra>dion, tetradion ]): The name given to a company of four soldiers of Herod’s army ( Acts 12:4). To four such companies Peter had been handed over, who would take their turn of acting as guard over the prisoner, each of the four watches of the night according to Roman reckoning, which Herod Agrippa I would follow. In the castle of Antonia Peter was thus closely secured, in order that Herod, who had already killed James, the brother of John, with the sword ( Acts 12:2), might, after the solemnities of the Passover, make sure of his death likewise. On the night before his intended execution he was sleeping in his cell between two soldiers, “bound with two chains,” his left hand chained to one and his right to the other. The other two soldiers of the quaternion mounted guard before the door, and are spoken of as “the first and the second guard” ( Acts 12:10) whom Peter and his angel guide had to pass on the way to liberty. The Greek word thus rendered is not found in the Septuagint or anywhere else in the New Testament. T. Nicol.
QUEEN <kwen > : The Bible applies this term: (1) To the wife of a king (“queen consort”) ([ hK;l]m” , malkah ]). In the Book of Esther it is the title given to Vashti (1:9) and Esther (2:22); compare Song of Solomon 6:8 f. Another Hebrew word for queen consort is [ hr;ybiG] , gebhirah ], literally “mistress” (compare 1 Kings 11:19, the wife of Pharaoh; 2 Kings 10:13, “the children of the king and the children of the queen”). In Nehemiah 2:6 and Psalm 45:9 we find the expression [ lG;ve , sheghal ], which some trace back to [ lg”v; , shaghal ], “to ravish,” a rather doubtful derivation. Still another term is [ hr;c; , sarah ], literally, “princess” ( Isaiah 49:23). The Septuagint sometimes uses the word [basi>lissa, basilissa ]; compare Psalm 45:9. (2) To a female ruler or sovereign (“queen regnant”). The only instances are those of the queen (malkah ) of Sheba ( 1 Kings 10:1-13; compare 2 Chronicles 9:1-12) and of Candace, the queen (basilissa ) of the Ethiopians ( Acts 8:27). In Matthew 12:42 (compare Luke 11:31) Christ refers to the queen of the south ([basi>lissa no>tou, basilissa notou ]), meaning, of course, the queen of Sheba. (3) To a heathen deity, [ µyim”V;h” tkul,m] , melekheth ha-shamayim ], “the queen of heaven” ( Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17 ff). See QUEEN OF HEAVEN. (4) Metaphorically, to the city of Babylon (Rome) ( Revelation 18:7): an expression denoting sovereign contempt and imaginary dignity and power. William Baur QUEEN MOTHER ([ hr;ybiG] , gebhirah ], literally, “mistress,” then a female ruler, and sometimes simply the wife of a king (“queen,” 1 Kings 11:19); in Daniel 5:10 the term [ at;K]l]m” , malketha’ ] “queen,” really means the mother of the king): It stands to reason that among a people whose rulers are polygamists the mother of the new king or chief at once becomes a person of great consequence. The records of the Books of Kings prove it.
The gebhirah , or queen mother, occupied a position of high social and political importance; she took rank almost with the king. When Bath-sheba, the mother of Solomon, desired “to speak unto him for Adonijah,” her son “rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand” ( 1 Kings 2:19). And again, in 2 Kings 24:15, it is expressly stated that Nebuchadnezzar carried away the king’s mother into captivity; Jeremiah calls her gebhirah (29:2). The king was Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Jeremiah 29:2), and his mother’s name was Nehushta ( Kings 24:8). This was the royal pair whose impending doom the prophet was told to forecast ( Jeremiah 13:18). Here again the queen mother is mentioned with the king, thus emphasizing her exalted position. Now we understand why Asa removed Maacah his (grand?)mother from being queen (queen mother), as we are told in 1 Kings 15:13 (compare Chronicles 15:16). She had used her powerful influence to further the cause of idolatry. In this connection Athaliah’s coup d’etat may be briefly mentioned. After the violent death of her son Ahaziah ( 2 Kings 9:27), she usurped the royal power and reigned for some time in her own name ( 2 Kings 11:3; compare 2 Chronicles 22:12). This was, of course, a revolutionary undertaking, being a radical departure from the usual traditions.
And finally, the political importance of the gebhirah is illustrated by the fact that in the Books of Kings, with two exceptions, the names of the Jewish kings are recorded together with those of their respective mothers; they are as follows: Naamah, the Ammonitess, the mother of Rehoboam ( 1 Kings 14:21; compare 14:31, and 2 Chronicles 12:13); Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom ( 1 Kings 15:2) or Absalom ( 2 Chronicles 11:20) the mother of Abijah; Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom, the mother (grandmother?) of Asa ( 1 Kings 15:10; compare Chronicles 15:16); Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi, the mother of Jehoshaphat ( 1 Kings 22:42; compare 2 Chronicles 20:31); Athaliah, the grand-daughter of Omri, the mother of Ahaziah ( 2 Kings 8:26; compare 2 Chronicles 22:2); Zibiah of Beersheba, the mother of Jehoash ( 2 Kings 12:1; compare 2 Chronicles 24:1); Jehoaddin (Jehoaddan, 2 Chronicles 25:1) of Jerusalem, the mother of Amaziah ( 2 Kings 14:2); Jecoliah (Jechiliah, 2 Chronicles 26:3) of Jerusalem, the mother of Azariah ( 2 Kings 15:2) or Uzziah ( 2 Kings 15:13,30, etc.; compare 2 Chronicles 26:3); Jerusha (Jerushah, 2 Chronicles 27:1), the daughter of Zadok, the mother of Jotham ( 2 Kings 15:33); Abi (Abijah, 2 Chronicles 29:1), the daughter of Zechariah, the mother of Hezekiah ( 2 Kings 18:2); Hephzibah, the mother of Manasseh ( <122101> Kings 21:1); Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah, the mother of Amon ( 2 Kings 21:19); Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath, the mother of Josiah ( 2 Kings 22:1); Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, the mother of Jehoahaz ( 2 Kings 23:31); Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah, the mother of Jehoiakim ( 2 Kings 23:36); Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem, the mother of Jehoiachin ( 2 Kings 24:8); Hamutal (Hamital), the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, the mother Of Zedekiah ( 2 Kings 24:18). The exceptions are Jehoram and Ahaz. William Baur QUEEN OF HEAVEN ([ µyim”V;h” tk,l,m] , melekheth ha-shamayim ], although there is another reading, [ tk,al,m] , mele’kheth ], “worship” or “goddess”): Occurs only in two passages: Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-19,25, where the prophet denounces the wrath of God upon the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem who have given themselves up to the worship of the host of heaven. This is no doubt a part of the astral worship which is found largely developed among the Jews in the later period of their history in Canaan. It is first mentioned in 2 Kings 17:16 as practiced by the men of the Northern Kingdom when Samaria had fallen and the ten tribes were being carried away into captivity. Moses is represented as warning the Israelites against the worship of the sun and moon and stars and all the host of heaven, practiced by the people of Canaan ( Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3) and the existence of such worship among the Canaanites and neighboring nations is attested from an early period (compare Job 31:26-28). The worship of the heavenly bodies was widely spread in the East and in Arabia; and the Babylonian pantheon was full of astral deities, where each divinity corresponded either to an astral phenomenon or to some circumstance or occurrence in Nature which is connected with the course of the stars (Jeremias, The Old Testament in the Light of the Ancient East, I, 100).
From the prophets we gather that before the exile the worship of the host of heaven had become established among all classes and in all the towns of Israel (Jeremiah ubi supra; Ezekiel 8:16). In that worship the queen of heaven had a conspicuous place; and if, as seems probable from the cakes which were offered, she is to be identified with the Assyrian Ishtar and the Canaanite Astarte, the worship itself was of a grossly immoral and debasing character. That this Ishtar cult was of great antiquity and widely spread in ancient Babylonia may be seen from the symbols of it found in recent excavations (see Nippur, II, 236). How far the astral theorists like Winckler and Jeremias are entitled to link up with this worship the mourning for Josiah, the lamentations over Tammuz, the story of Jephthah’s daughter, and even — the narrative of the misfortunes and the exaltation of Joseph, is questionable. But that the people of Judah in the days before the exile had given themselves over to the worst and vilest forms of heathen worship and incurred the grievous displeasure of Yahweh is made clear by the denunciation of the worship of the queen of heaven by Jeremiah. T. Nicol.
QUEEN OF SHEBA <she’-ba > ( 1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chronicles 9:1-12, called in Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31, “the queen of the south” ([basi>lissa no>tou, basilissa notou ])): 1. OLD TESTAMENT ACCOUNTS:
The two Old Testament accounts of the coming of the queen of Sheba (see SHEBA) to Solomon differ slightly from one another, and, of the two, that in 1 Kings is the older. (1) The words “concerning the name of Yahweh” ( 1 Kings 10:1) are lacking in 2 Chronicles; while the Septuagint in 1 Kings has “and the name of Yahweh,” apparently a correction of the Massoretic Text. (2) For 1 Kings 10:9, “because Yahweh loved Israel for ever,” Chronicles 9:8 has “because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever”; the Septuagint in 1 Kings has “because Yahweh loved Israel, to establish it forever.” (3) In the last verse of each account we find another difference: Chronicles 9:12 says that Solomon gave to the queen all her desire, “besides that which she had brought unto the king.” i.e. according to some, besides the equivalent of what she had brought to him; 1 Kings 10:13 margin has” besides that which he gave her according to the hand of king Solomon,” i.e. besides gifts commensurate with his own wealth and power (SBOT), or be sides gifts which he gave her qua king. 2. THE NARRATIVE:
The narrative tells of the queen of Sheba, on hearing of Solomon’s great wisdom, coming to test him with perplexing questions or riddles (compare Judges 14:12). She brought presents to the king, and interviewed him: “And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built” (i.e. the palace, not the temple) as well as its arrangements, “and his burnt-offering which he offered in the house of Yahweh (so read and translate with the Revised Version margin in Kings 10:5, and also in 2 Chronicles 9:4); there was no more spirit in her”: the half of Solomon’s wisdom had not been told her. “Happy,” she said to him, “are thy wives (so read with Septuagint, Syriac and Old Latin versions), happy are these thy servants.” She then exchanged gifts with him and returned to her own land.
The narrative is a complement of that in 1 Kings 3:16-28, where the king’s justice is exemplified; here his wisdom. 3. EMPLOYED BY JESUS:
The narrative is referred to by Jesus in Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31, where He refuses to accede to the request of the scribes and Pharisees for a sign from Him. He tells them that no sign will be given them except that of Jonah, whose sign was his preaching, one that proved sufficient to the Ninevites; and `behold something greater than Jonah is here.’ The men of Nineveh will be a living condemnation of them “in the judgment” (compare Luke 16:31); and so will the “queen of the south” who came from the ends of the earth after hearing of Solomon’s wisdom, `and behold something greater than Solomon is here.’ The only sign to be given is that of the wisdom of Jesus, a wisdom far greater than that of Solomon (see D.
Smith, Days of His Flesh, 176 ff). 4. EASTERN LITERATURE:
Eastern literature has much to say about the queen of Sheba. The Arabs called her Bilqis. Abyssinian legend declares that she came from Ethiopia, her name being Maqeda , and that she had a son by Solomon. See Delitzsch, Iris, 116-27; ZDMG, X, 19 f; J Proverbs T, VI, 524 ff (1880).
Gressmann (in Schriften des Altes Testament, II, 1,203) has further references to Wilhelm Hertz, Gesammelte Abhandlungen, 1905, 413 ff; Bezold, Kebra Nagast, 1905, and also ZDMG, 60, 666 ff. For the Mohammedan story, see Koran xxvii, with notes in Sale’s translation. David Francis Roberts QUENCH <kwench > , <kwensh > : Where the word is used of fire or of thirst it has the usual meaning: “to allay,” “to extinguish,” “to suppress,” “to cool.” In the Old Testament it is frequently applied to the affections and passions (see 2 Kings 22:17; Song of Solomon 8:7; Isaiah 42:3; Jeremiah 4:4; 21:12). Quenching the coal or the light of Israel may mean slaying a dear one or a brilliant leader. In the New Testament it is also used figuratively, as in Ephesians 6:16 the shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the evil one. In Mark 9:48, [sbe>nnumi, sbennumi ], and its derivative are applied with reference to Gehenna (translated “hell”). The same word is also used of resisting the gifts of the Holy Spirit in Thessalonians 5:19. G. H. Gerberding QUESTION <kwes’-chun > : The noun for [ rb;D; , dabhar ], “word,” in 1 Kings 10:3 parallel 2 Chronicles 9:2, with “hard question” for [ hd;yji , chidhah ], “dark saying,” “riddle,” in 1 Kings 10:1 parallel 2 Chronicles 9:1. In the New Testament for [zh>thma, zetema ], the synonym [zh>thsiv, zetesis ] (and 1 Timothy 1:4, [ejkzh>thsiv, ekzetesis ]), being rendered “questionings” by the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version does not distinguish). In Mark 11:29 for [lo>gov, logos ], “word” (so the Revised Version margin). The verb in the sense “ask a question” in 2 Chronicles 31:9 for [ vr”D; , darash ], and Luke 2:46; 23:9 for [ejperwta>w, eperotao ] (compare the American Standard Revised Version, the English Revised Version margin John 16:23). Elsewhere the verb is for [suzhte>w, suzeteo ], “dispute” ( Mark 1:27, etc.; compare Acts 6:9; 9:29). “Called in question,” Acts 19:40 the King James Version, represents [ejgkale>w, egkaleo ], “call into court,” but in Acts 23:6; 24:21, “I am called in question” is for [kri>nomai, krinomai ], “I am being judged.” Burton Scott Easton QUICK; QUICKEN <kwik > , <kwik’-’n > : Translates in the King James Version four different words: (1) [ hy;j; , chayah ], (2) [ hy;j]mi , michyah ], (3) [ j”Wr , ruach ], and (4) [za>w, zao ].
Of these words (1) and (4) had simply the sense of life, and this idea was in 1611 adequately given, by the word “quick,” although this sense of the word has long been somewhat obscured. As the translation of ruach ( Isaiah 11:3) “quick” as found in the King James Version signified “acute.” In this passage the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes “delight” for “quick understanding.” In Leviticus 13:10,24 the Revised Version (British and American) retains the rendering “quick,” although originally the word michyah must in some way have involved the conception of life, which no longer belongs to the English word “quick.” It is not clear exactly in what sense the flesh in the sore or scar was thought of as living, especially as it was plainly regarded as in an unhealthy condition. Possibly the condition under consideration resembled what is sometimes idiomatically styled in English “proud flesh,” and was thought of as a peculiar manifestation of life.
To quicken also means a reviving, a refreshing, an increasing of life ( Psalm 71:20; 85:6; 119:37,40,88; Isaiah 57:10). It often has reference to the resurrection from the dead ( 1 Corinthians 15:36) and is so used in many places in the King James Version. Where it refers to the giving of spiritual life the American Standard Revised Version has changed it in every case ( Ephesians 2:1,5; Colossians 2:13; compare John 5:21). David Foster Estes QUICKSANDS <kwik’-sandz > . See SYRTIS.
QUIET <kwi’-et > : Verb or adjective only in English Versions of the Bible, “quietness” being used for the noun. No special Hebrew or Greek words are represented, but in the Old Testament usually for some form or derivative of [ fq”v; , shaqaT ], “be undisturbed” ( Judges 18:7; compare Proverbs 1:33, [ ra”v; , sha’ar ], “to loll,” “be at ease”; Ecclesiastes 9:17, [ tj”n” , nachath ], “quiet,” “be set on”). For “them that are quiet in the land”, in Psalm 35:20, see MEEK; POOR. For “quiet prince in Jeremiah 51:59, the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes “chief chamberlain,” margin “quartermaster.” “Jacob was a quiet ([ µT; , tam ], “gentle”] man” ( Genesis 25:27, the King James Version “plain”). In the New Testament, it is the translation of [hJsuca>zw, hesuchazo ], “to refrain from gossip or meddlesomehess”: “that ye study to be quiet”: ( 1 Thessalonians 4:11), and of [hJsu>ciov, hesuchios ], “gentle”: “a meek and quiet spirit” ( 1 Peter 3:4; compare 1 Timothy 2:2). M. O. Evans QUINTUS MEMMIUS <kwin’-tus mem’-us > . See MEMMIUS, QUINTUS.
QUIRINIUS <kwi-rin’-i-us > . See CHRONOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, I, 1, (2); LUKE, GOSPEL OF, 5.
QUIT <kwit > : Same derivation as “quiet,” so that “to be quit” ( Exodus 21:19,28; Joshua 2:20 the King James Version) is “to be relieved of responsibility,” [ hq;n; , naqah ], [ yqin; , naqi ], “guiltless” (so the Revised Version (British and American) Joshua 2:20). Hence, “to quit one’s self” means “to be freed by discharging a duty.” The phrase in English Versions of the Bible, however, is a gloss for in 1 Samuel 4:9 it is used for [ hy;h; , hayah ], “to be,” while in 1 Corinthians 16:13 [ajndri>zomai, andrizomai ], means “to behave like a man.”
QUIVER <kwiv’-er > ([ hP;v]a” , ashpah ], [ yliT] , teli ]; [fare>tra, pharetra ] (Sirach 26:12)): A case or sheath for carrying arrows, a part of the ordinary equipment of the warrior, both foot-soldier and charioteer ( Job 39:23; Isaiah 22:6), and also of the huntsman ( Genesis 27:3). Figuratively of a group in passages where children ( <19C705> Psalm 127:5) or prophets of Yahweh ( Isaiah 49:2) are spoken of as arrows. Arrows are called [bene ‘ashpah], “sons of the quiver” ( Lamentations 3:13). By identifying the arrows with the death they produce, the quiver is likened to an open grave ( Jeremiah 5:16).
QUOTATIONS, NEW TESTAMENT <kwo-ta’-shunz > , 1. INTRODUCTORY. Limitation of the Discussion: There are, all told, approximately 300 direct quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament. The presence of so many citations, each of one of which involves an interpretation of the passage given a new context in quotation, opens many avenues of discussion and propounds many difficult and far-reaching problems. In every separate instance, in the long list of New Testament quotations, the principle of accommodation (see ACCOMMODATION) in some form is involved and, consequently, the question of historical and exegetical accuracy is unavoidably raised. In the present article we shall concentrate attention upon that which is of far greater importance than the question whether the writer is incidentally correct, according to modern scientific principles, in any specific citation.
This more important and vital issue we take to be the general, guiding principles adopted by the New Testament writers in their use of the book of the older covenant. A review of these principles, together with certain outstanding and typical instances in which these principles are used and applied, will form the substance of the discussion. 2. CONSTRUCTIVE PRINCIPLES OF NEW TESTAMENT QUOTATION. 1. Unity of the Two Dispensations: In the first place, the New Testament writers regard the Christian religion as having its roots in the Old Testament. From the call of Abraham to the founding and expansion of the Christian church the men of the New Testament recognize a single organic movement. In their use of the ancient oracles in new setting they constantly and confidently rely upon the unity of the two dispensations, that recorded in the Old Testament and that in which they themselves were participants. Such a unity, taking for granted its existence, would remove to a degree the very distinction implied in the terms Old and New Testaments, and would involve a definite and organic relationship of all the books to each other. There are no longer two separate groups of books standing apart from each other and having bonds of union only within the group, but, on the contrary, two related subgroups outwardly corresponding to contrasted phases of the historical movement, but inwardly conformed to the deep-lying principles which make the entire movement one. According to this idea the Book of Genesis is as really related to the Gospel of Matthew as it is to the Book of Exodus. On the surface, and historically speaking, the Book of Genesis leads immediately to the Book of Exodus, which is its companion volume and complement, but go more deeply into Genesis and just as really and just as directly it leads to Matthew, which is also its fellow and complement. And so throughout. The unifying medium is, of course, the history which is one in that it involves the same organic principles applied to successive areas of human experience. The books of the Bible are, therefore, like any group of books on a common subject, phases of each other, contrasted and yet intimately cognate. In quoting from the Old Testament the New Testament writers were simply obeying an impulse common to all thoughtful writers and accounting for all quotations, seeking for diversified expression of the same truths. 2. Biblical Movement Planned from the Beginning: The second great constructive principle of New Testament quotation, and manifestly in close harmony with the first one, is that the movement from Abraham to Christ was not only organically one, but that it was from the beginning planned and prepared for. The Bible is one because the history out of which it grew is one. The history is one because God is in the history and God is one. According to the writers of the New Testament in this history as a whole we have the unfolding of an all-embracing plan of God, stretching out into the remotest future and coming to its culmination in the person and the kingdom of the Messiah. They maintain also that this plan was disclosed in part beforehand, by way of anticipation and preparation, in order that men might intelligently cooperate with God in the fulfillment of His purpose. This is the idea involved in prophecy and its fulfillment, and in the closely related idea of promise and its realization.
One mind, one will, and one central purpose are operating throughout the entire history which is, on the divine side, the fulfillment of a plan complete in thought before it takes shape in events. On the basis of this conception, of the foreseen plan of God and its gradual revelation to men through messages of hope and warning set in the key of the great future and pointing the way thither, the greater part of the structure of New Testament quotation is reared. 3. The Old Testament Accepted as Authoritative: A third principle which really involves a combination of the other two and is prominently brought forward in the use of quotation for purposes of argument is the recognition and acceptance of the Old Testament as authoritative, a real Word of God, in form occasional, but essentially applicable to all experiences, and hence, good for all time. It is evident that the belief in the continued authority of the Scripture of the old covenant over the men of the new, rests upon the unity of the two dispensations and the acceptance of the same divine mind and will as operating throughout all outward and historical changes. This is admirably expressed by Paul when he speaks of `the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him unto an economy of the fullness of the periods, to sum up all things in Christ’ ( Ephesians 1:9,10), and by the author of He when he says: `God, having of old spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by various portions and in various ways, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son’ ( Ephesians 1:1,2). 4. Issue Involved in Foregoing Principles of Reference: The justification of these accepted principles of reference on the part of the New Testament writers lies beyond the scope of the present discussion. It is sufficient to emphasize the fact that any detailed discussion of New Testament quotations seriatim is meaningless and futile except upon the basis of an explicit and consistent determination of these antecedent questions. To the present writer the validity of these principles is beyond question. The denial of any one of the three involves one in difficulties of interpretation, both critical and historical, from which there is no escape. It is to be noted, therefore, that the establishment of the principles, in accordance with which the New Testament writers quote, carries with it in a general way the justification of their usage. 3. TYPICAL INSTANCES OF NEW TESTAMENT QUOTATION. 1. Introductory Formulas: With these constructive principles in mind we are prepared to pass in review typical instances in which general principles are embodied. At this point we shall be greatly assisted in the analysis and distribution of the complex material before us by giving careful heed to the formulas, more or less fixed and uniform, by which the writers introduce quotations and indicate their sense of the value and significance of that which is quoted.
While these formulas exhibit certain verbal variations, they are practically reducible to three, which correspond with substantial accuracy to the three constructive principles already noted: the unity of the Old Testament and New Testament; the prevision of the New Testament in the Old Testament; the authority of the Old Testament as the Word of God intended for all time. 2. Unity of the Two Dispensations: The unity of the two dispensations is asserted in all those passages introduced by a formula, in which fulfillment is asserted as a fact, and in which the operation of identical principles in two or more separate events in the field of history is implied. A suggestive example is in Matthew 13:14, where our Lord asserts, in connection with the parable of the Sower, that in the unbelief of the people of His day “the prophecy of Isaiah” is fulfilled. The prophetic words here quoted ( Isaiah 6:9,10) are not predictive in any immediate sense, but are susceptible of repeated application and realization because of the general principle which they contain. They apply to the prophet’s own day; they also apply — and in that sense are fulfilled — to the time of Jesus, and by a legitimate extension of meaning, to stubborn unbelief in any age (compare John 6:45).
Another passage in which the same formula is used in a very exceptional way clearly sets forth the fundamental principle upon which this usage rests. James 2:23 asserts that the justification of Abraham in the offering of Isaac “fulfilled” the passage which affirms that his belief was counted to him for righteousness ( Genesis 15:6). This passage is not predictive in any sense, nor is there in the narrative any hint of a connection between the passage and the episode on Matthew. Moriah. This use of the formula of fulfillment by James involves the principle that any event which realizes the meaning and truth of a Scriptural statement fulfils it. A vast number of quotations in the New Testament come under this head.
Persons, events, doctrines, illustrate and confirm, or embody and concretely realize, principles which are taught in the Old Testament or implied in its history. We are warned by this passage and many others like it against a too rigid and literal interpretation of any formula implying fulfillment. While it may certainly be intended to imply literal prediction and an equally literal fulfillment, it may, on the contrary, be intended to intimate nothing more than a harmony of principle, fitting the passage to the person or event with which it is connected. In this connection it is to be remembered that a harmony of principle may extend all the way from a comparatively superficial illustrative resemblance to a profound assonance of thought. Not a few Old Testament quotations were made for purposes of illustration and literary embellishment. Herein lies the significance of Matthew’s use ( Matthew 2:17 f) of Jeremiah 31:15. A glance at this quoted passage indicates that it is a figurative and poetic expression in which Rachel (already for many years in her tomb) is represented as weeping for her exiled children and refusing to be comforted except by their return. There is no strictly predictive element in the passage, save only the promise of return, which is not used by Matthew. Its applicability to the massacre of the children of Bethlehem lies in its poetical appositeness, and there alone. Once again the voice of wailing motherhood is heard in Israel.
The tender and beautiful imagery is applicable in this sense and is used with true insight, but with no intention of justifying a claim of prediction and fulfillment in the literal sense. 3. Prevision of Christianity in the Old Testament: The prevision of events in the life of Jesus and in the history of Christianity is involved in all the quotations in which a necessary connection between the passage as predictive and the event is asserted, or in which a prophet is said to have been speaking or writing concerning the event or person in question. An examination of the Old Testament without reference to its use in the New Testament seems to justify the conclusion that its bearing upon the future may be particularized under four heads, which in turn, with sufficient accuracy and exhaustiveness will classify the pertinent New Testament quotations. (1) The prophetic teaching of Israel embodied not only in the messages of the prophets, but also in laws, institutions, and rites, has a twofold dispensational application. Reference is made here only to those explicit references to a future era of especial blessing. For example, in Acts 2:17 ff Peter interprets the Pentecostal experience in the terms of prophecy, referring to Joel (2:28 ff), who promises an outpouring of God’s Spirit in a “great and notable day” of the Lord. The promise through Joel is an undeniable prediction (every promise is such), which in a measure would be fulfilled in any exceptional manifestation of God’s Spirit among men.
The only question which can possibly be raised in connection with Peter’s use of this passage is whether the Pentecostal outpouring was the climactic realization of the promise: that is, the establishment of the era of blessing foretold by the prophet. Later in the same book (3:20-26) the same apostle sweeps the whole field of prophecy as centering in certain promises fulfilled in Christ and the Christian community.
He gives two instances: the prophet like Moses ( Deuteronomy 18:15) and the promised inclusive blessing through Abraham ( Genesis 12:3).
He also includes ( Acts 3:26) a hint of the Servant passages of Isaiah.
This identification of the New Testament movement through two specific predictive promises is wholly justified by the prophetic character of Jesus, the range and richness of the blessings brought from Abraham through Him, and by the fact elsewhere emphasized that no other has measured up to the standard of the ideal servant. Negatively, it may be urged that if these promises were not fulfilled in Christ, history affords no possibility of discovering any fulfillment measurably adequate, either in the past or future. In Hebrews 8:8-12 reference is made to the promise of a new covenant in Jeremiah (31:31 ff) as a justification for believing that the Old Testament dispensation was not complete in itself and that in its very constitution it pointed forward to Christianity as its fulfillment. Combining this passage with that quoted above ( Acts 2:17 ff) taken from Joel, the strength of the case for this use of the Old Testament is at once seen.
Distinctively Jeremiah’s “new covenant” was to be inward and gracious rather than outward and legal. The promise through Joel is an awakening of prophecy through the free outpouring of God’s Spirit. The distinctive feature of the gospel is its idea of justification by faith, through grace revealed in Christ and imparted by the Holy Spirit given according to promise at Pentecost. The “new covenant” foretold by Jeremiah was established at Pentecost through the outpouring of the Spirit promised through Joel. To deny this as fulfillment is to nullify the meaning of Christian history and to erase both promises from the page of credible prophecy. (2) Contemporary persons or institutions are sometimes interpreted, not in the terms of present actuality, but on the basis of the ideal not revealed or realized until the coming of Christ. One striking example of this method is to be found in the so-called “Immanuel passage” ( Matthew 1:23, quoting Isaiah 7:14). Undoubtedly the message of the prophet to Ahaz had an immediate and contemporary significance. But, like many another notable prophetic message it is set in the key of the Messianic King whose unworthy predecessor Ahaz was. “The Messiah comes, but the willfulness of Ahaz has rendered His reign impossible” (G. A. Smith, “Isaiah,” Expositor’s Bible, I, 134).
In Acts 2:24-36, passages representative of many others quoted, both the resurrection and ascension of Jesus are interpreted in the light of two quotations from the Psalms (16:8 ff; 110:1) as predetermined and therefore certain events in the plan and purpose of God. In both instances the argument is that the promises nominally made to David, or claimed by him, were couched in terms too vast to find fulfillment in his own experience, but were spoken of the greater King who was to come and in whose experience alone they were realized. In the former instance, a triumph over death was anticipated with assurance which not the Psalmist but only Christ attained; in the latter a royal ascendancy was promised that only Christ’s ascension to the place of power could satisfy. An examination of the passages shows that Peter’s interpretation is justified not merely by the wording of the promises, which point to a fullness of experience not realized by any Old Testament man, but still more clearly by the descriptive titles which identify the person who is the subject of the experience. In the first instance he is spoken of as Yahweh’s “Holy One,” in the second as “My Lord.” The triumph over death which the speaker anticipates is grounded in a unity of purpose and will with God — a holiness which was ideal and still unrealized until Christ came. The logic of the psalm is: God’s “Holy One” must not see corruption. The logic of history is: Christ is God’s Holy One and He did not see corruption. The principle that triumph over death is the logical issue of holiness found its justification and proof not directly in the experience of the singer who first glimpsed it as a truth, but in the career of Christ who first realized it as a fact.
NOTE — The argument here is not affected if one accepts the variant reading “Holy Ones” for the preceding passage.
The second passage is particularly interesting because our Lord Himself first pointed out its implications as to the place and work of the Messiah.
Such a passage as this entire psalm (Psalm 110) would have been impossible had not the powers and responsibilities of the Davidic King been keyed from the beginning at the Messianic level. The logic here is the same as in Psalm 16. The Messianic kingdom over all nations awaited the coming of the true Messianic King. The long-delayed triumph followed hard upon the coming of the long-expected King (compare Psalm 2:1,2; Acts 13:32-34).
The same principle is involved in our Lord’s use of the Servant passage ( Isaiah 61:1 ff) in His sermon at Nazareth. Here the issue as to Messianic prophecy is fairly joined at the center. It is central because it occurs in the Lord’s own teaching and also because it concerns, not any external or incidental happenings in the life of Jesus, but the whole trend and movement of prophetic thought, together with the entire meaning and interpretation of His career.
Interpreted altogether apart from the New Testament, the passage has an unmistakable bearing upon the future. As one of the series concerned with the Servant ( Isaiah 42:1 ff), the quoted passage focuses attention upon the mission of Israel to the world, still to be carried out. “Ye are my witnesses, saith Yahweh, and my servant whom I have chosen” ( Isaiah 43:10), “Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen” ( Isaiah 44:1). It also involves the entire scope and meaning of the prophetic office through which Yahweh’s will was made known to Israel and through Israel to the world. Both these considerations sweep out into the prophet’s future and both point unerringly to Christ as the historical fulfillment of Israel’s mission and as the actual realization of the ideal and ministry of prophethood. The very ambiguity of the reference in this chapter (Isaiah 61), whether to the Servant or to the prophet, and the questions raised as to whether Israel idealized is referred to or some person or personification, serve to make more clear and unmistakable the central fact that only in Christ is the conception embodied in the entire series of passages altogether realized. It thus becomes for sober thought a distinct revelation and portraiture in advance of what Jesus was in His person and work. (3) In the course of Israel’s training to receive the Messiah, certain external items were given as bearing upon the identification of Him when He should come. We shall instance three items, closely related to each other, and each intensely interesting in itself. These three items are (a) His sonship to David ( Acts 2:30,31), (b) His birth from a Virgin ( Matthew 1:22 f), (c) His birth at Bethlehem ( Matthew 2:5).
Objection is offered at once to the interpretation of these Old Testament passages as predictive, and to the alleged fulfillments in the life of Jesus, on the ground mainly that being definite events (compare Matthew 2:15) they are not included within the legitimate scope of prediction; and, secondarily, that being items of this external kind it would be an easy matter to invent fulfillments. It may be granted at once that incidents of this kind could be indefinitely multiplied by fabricating coincidences, but the fact remains that, in the absence of any visible check upon invention, very few such instances are alleged by New Testament writers. Furthermore, there are suggestive variations between the events recorded and the natural interpretations of the Old Testament passages connected with them; that is, the fuifilments arrive by such devious routes as to make it difficult to suppose them to be due to the imaginative stimulation of the passages. For example, the birth at Bethlehem was brought about by circumstances not at all to the liking of Jewish patriots; and was obscured to contemporaries by the previous and subsequent residence at Nazareth. The kinship of Jesus to the house of David was made adoptive (unless Mary was of that house) by the virgin birth. The interpretation of Isaiah 7:14 as intimating a virgin birth was not compulsory to one familiar with the Hebrew text of the passage and would have been thought of in that connection only by one assured of the fact. The virgin birth (see IMMANUEL; VIRGIN BIRTH) is not an etymological but a providential commentary on Isaiah 7:14.
One other consideration of primary importance remains. In the one point where the identification of Jesus with the Messiah by His followers can be tested most severely, they are most completely triumphant. It would be comparatively easy to invent incidents suggested by Old Testament prophecies, and to take dignities and titles wholesale from the same source — but given all these, to find one capable of realizing and fulfilling the expectations so aroused is the chief problem. Here fabrication is impossible. And here too the New Testament meets and answers the challenge of truth. In view of these considerations it is safe to assert that even in matters of historical detail the career of Jesus was foreseen and predicted. Such passages belong to the philosophy of preparation as a whole and should be studied in that connection. (4) In certain instances the original passage and its reappearance in quotation indicate a process New Testament which is continuous throughout all history. For example, the use of Zechariah 13:7 ( Mark 14:27) suggests a deeper view of the connection between prophecy and history, immediate and more remote, than we are often aware of. On the face of them such passages as those concerning the Smitten Shepherd and the scattered sheep are predictions, and the life of Christ stands as fulfillment. It simply cannot be contended that such passages as these do not find fulfillment and explanation in the career of Jesus as nowhere else in the history. Nevertheless, the connection is far deeper than mere foresight of an isolated event and its occurrence. We may well say that, in a sense, the event is foreseen because it is already a fact.
The allegory of the Smitten Shepherd is, as has well been said, “a summary of the history of Israel.” But it is more than that. The relationship of God with Israel, which involved a dealing of divine grace with men, their rejection of it and the consequent vicarious immolation of the Divine Friend and Shepherd, which came to its climax in the tragedy of the cross, was established in all essential factors in the early days. Therefore, Christ can say, as the outcome of the profoundest insight into the meaning of history, `That which concerneth me hath fulfillment’ (compare Luke 24:44). He was more deeply concerned in the doings of an earlier time than being there foreseen. In a real sense, “the Lamb” was “slain from the foundation of the world,” ( Revelation 13:8). In this allegory of the rejected Shepherd and in the successive delineations of the Servant passages, we have the portrait of the Christ as He was — not merely as He was to be. In these quotations deep answers to deep. The only satisfactory interpretation of the tragedy of the cross is that in accordance with principles long operative in human history, “it must needs be.” The only satisfactory interpretation of the passages cited is that they disclose the actual operation of the forces which in their culmination issued in the tragedy of the cross. This brings the passages in the original and in quotation into the framework of the same course of events. Peter in his sermon in Solomon’s porch thus sums up the whole process: “But the things which God foreshowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled” ( Acts 3:18). 4. Argumentative Quotations: The argumentative use of the Old Testament involves exactly the same principles which have been dealt with in the foregoing discussion. These principles coalesce in the conception of the Old Testament as authoritative. (1) Throughout the New Testament, in the teaching of our Lord Himself and in the apostolic writings, a clear-cut distinction is drawn between the temporary and permanent offices of the Old Testament. It is recognized that in essential principles the Old Testament is for all time, while in its outward form and in its actualization of underlying and essential truths it is preliminary and preparatory. There are different dispensations, but one economy. Whenever our Lord uses the Old Testament for purposes of argument (see Matthew 4:4,7; 12:17 ff; 19:18 f; Mark 10:19; Luke 19:46) it is on the basis of essential truth which is permanent and unchanging ( Matthew 5:17-19). On the other hand, He never hesitates to annul that which had a merely temporary or preliminary value ( Matthew 5:21,33,38; compare by way of contrast 5:27). He came not to destroy, but to fulfil, but fulfillment implies a new era — a new and higher stage in the delivery of truth. (2) In like manner Paul and the other New Testament writers argue on the basis of an identity of principle which binds the two eras together. Paul contends for three great principles, the Messiahship of Jesus, justification by faith, the inclusion of the Gentiles in the plan of salvation (the doctrine of election is a detail of this last argument; see Romans 9:7,9,12,13,15,17). We shall consider typical examples of Paul’s use of the Old Testament in argumentation. Choice has been made of those which have provoked adverse criticism. Among these is the use of Genesis 13:15; 17:8 in Galatians 3:16. This is a leading example of Paul’s alleged “rabbinical” method: “He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” The Hebrew word “seed” as applied to offspring ([ [r”z, , zera` ]) is singular. This, of course, means that a man’s descendants are looked upon as organically one, inasmuch as they continue his life. The word would apply to any one of the family, but only by virtue of his belonging to the family. Etymologically Paul’s argument would apply to Isaac as well as to Jesus — provided only the promise is looked upon as being fulfilled in him. But the promise which was fulfilled in Isaac, was fulfilled in a larger way in Israel as a whole, and was fulfilled in the largest way of all in Christ. The use of the singular word indicates that Abraham’s children were looked upon as one in him — they are also one in Christ. The true children of Abraham are such in Christ.
Historically the argument is fully justified. “The personality of Christ is in some sense coextensive with the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham” (Beet). “Christ is the organ of fulfillment” (Meyer).
The classical passage in the discussion of justification based upon an Old Testament quotation is Romans 1:17, quoting Habakkuk 2:4. The quoted passage seems to fail the argument because the literal translation would appear to be that “the righteous shall live by their faithfulness.” A deeper view, however, amply justifies the quotation; first, because the stedfasthess demanded by the prophet is a persistent trust in God in view of the delay of the promised vision; second, the deepest principle common to the Old Testament and New Testament is that stability of character has its root in trust in Yahweh ( Isaiah 28:16; compare 26:1-3). Nothing could be more foreign to the thought of the Old Testament than that a man could be righteous without trust in God.
One further quotation argumentatively used by Paul may fitly close this section of our discussion. In Romans 11:26,27 he quotes Isaiah 59:20,21 as indicating the divine purpose to include the Gentiles within the scope of salvation. This passage is doubly significant because it is attacked by Kuenen (Prophets and Prophecy in Israel) on the ground that it is uncritically taken from the Septuagint version which in this instance does not correctly represent the Hebrew text. It may be remarked that a large percentage of the New Testament quotations are taken from the Septuagint. (For estimates of the number see Johnson, Quotations of the New Testament, chapter i.) This prevalent habit is amply justifiable by, and in large consideration of, the fact that the New Testament was written for the purpose of being read and understood by those to whom the Septuagint was often the only version available, and the familiarity of that version was ample compensation for any slight loss in verbal accuracy. The only reasonable qualification of this general statement is that we should call in question any deviation which is depended upon for a point in argument.
Kuenen, the severest critic of the New Testament writers in this particular, alleges very few instances, and Professor Johnson has satisfactorily dealt with these in detail (as above). In the case immediately before us the deviations in the version used by Paul do not in the least modify, in the way of strengthening, the reference to the Gentiles (beginning in Romans 11:19 and continuing throughout) which is the point upon which Paul is laying stress. It is not too much to say that Paul’s argument would be unimpaired had he used the Hebrew text, upon which our the Revised Version (British and American) rests (compare Hebrews 2:6-8). In general, it may be premised that no stringent rule of verbal accuracy should be considered binding upon writers who address a popular audience beyond that which guards the substantial cogency of their argument. From the fair application of this reasonable rule the New Testament writers have nothing to fear.
For the most part the New Testament writers confine their quotations to the Old Testament. In a single instance an extracanonical saying of Jesus ( Acts 20:35), and, in at least two instances ( Jude 1:9,14), noncanonical books are referred to. In addition to this Paul uses in the letter to Titus (1:12) and in his sermon at Athens ( Acts 17:28) lines from native poets to illustrate and enforce his discussion (see POETRY, NEW TESTAMENT). In these latter instances the difference in usage from his ordinary habit of quoting authoritative Scripture is sufficiently obvious. In the case of the saying attributed to Christ, it is enough to say that it is so obviously Christlike that we need not hesitate to accept it as genuine, while in the case of Jude nothing is made to depend upon the quotations except certain accepted Christian truths (see Plummer, Expositor’s Bible. “James and Jude,” 434 f). 5. Catena of Passages Illustrating Principles of Quotation: (1) Based on Unity of Dispensations. Matthew 2:18; 13:14; 27:9; Mark 7:6; Luke 4:21; 20:17; John 4:37; 6:45; 7:38; 12:14 f; Acts 2:31,39; 3:25; 4:25; 8:23,12 f; 13:22,32,33,34; 28:26,27; 1 Corinthians 15:54,55; Hebrews 8:8-12; James 2:23. (2) Based on Prevision. Matthew 1:22; 2:5,15; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 26:31; Mark 14:27; Luke 22:37; John 7:38,42; 12:38,40,49; 13:18; 15:25; 19:24,28,36; 20:9; Acts 1:20; 2:25-28; 3:25; 4:11,25,26; 13:32-34. (3) Based on Authority of the Old Testament. Matthew 4:4; 5:38,43; 9:13; 19:4,18; 21:1,3,16,42; 22:24,31,32,43; Mark 4:12; 7:10; 10:19; 11:17; 12:19; Luke 2:22,23; 4:10; 19:46; Acts 15:16,17; Romans 1:17; 4:3,7,8; 9:25,26; 10:5,6,8,11,13,16; 12:19; 15:21; 1 Corinthians 1:19 (identity of principle); 1:31; 15:45; 2 Corinthians 4:13; 6:2,16; 8:15; Galatians 3:6,8,10,11,12,13,16; 4:27; Ephesians 4:8; 6:2; 1 Timothy 5:18. See also CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF, 5, 7, 10.
LITERATURE.
The literature is voluminous. Beside the standard commentaries and dictionaries, the reader will do well to consult C. H. Toy, Quotations in the New Testament; Franklin Johnson, Quotations of the New Testament; Cambridge Biblical Essays (“Our Lord’s Use of the Old Testament” by McNeile); Westcott, Introduction to the Study of the New Testament, Appendix A. Louis Matthews Sweet GOTO NEXT CHAPTER - ANONYMOUS AUTHORS INDEX & SEARCH
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