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isbe[7101]='Principality`prin-si-pal\'-i-ti: In the Old Testament the word occurs but once (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',13,18);">Jer 13:18</a>, "your principalities shall come down"). Here the King James Version margin "head tires" is properly preferred by the Revised Version (British and American) for mera\'ashoth (from ro\'sh, "head"), "head-parts."<P>In the New Testament "principality" occurs for arche, "rule," generally in the plural, referring<P>(a) to men in authority (<a onClick="return mV(\'Tts\',3,1);">Tit 3:1</a>, "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));<P>(b) to superhuman agencies, angelic or demonic (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',8,38);">Ro 8:38</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',3,10);">Eph 3:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',6,12);">6:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Col\',1,16);">Col 1:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Col\',2,10,15);">2:10,15</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',7,23);">Ro 7:23</a>), and of the temporary victory of the evil, residing in the flesh, over the good of the spirit (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',7,14);">Ro 7:14</a>).<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Col\',1,16);">Col 1:16</a>, "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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',2,6);">1Co 2:6</a> he repudiates the wisdom of this world (aion) and of the rulers of this world aion), and declares (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',6,12);">Eph 6:12</a>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Col\',2,15);">Col 2:15</a>). The same personification of such agencies or powers appears also in another passage, where the rendering of English Versions of the Bible obscures it (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',1,20,21);">Eph 1:20,21</a> "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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',3,10);">Eph 3:10</a>, 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.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ANGEL">ANGEL</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SATAN">SATAN</a>`75';
isbe[7102]='Principles`prin\'-si-p\'-lz: Found twice (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',5,12);">Heb 5:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',6,1);">6:1</a>). The Greek word (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.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ELEMENTS">ELEMENTS</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=RUDIMENTS">RUDIMENTS</a>`1';
isbe[7103]='Print; Printing; Printed`print, prin\'-ting, prin\'-ted: Printing is the art of multiplying records<64>the "art of writing with many pens" (Jewish Encyclopedia, XII, 295), or wholesale writing.<P>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.<P>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").<P>The injunction of <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',19,28);">Le 19:28</a>, 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',13,27);">Job 13:27</a> 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.<P>The use of the inkhorn in setting the mark upon the forehead (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',9,3,4,6);">Eze 9:3,4,6</a>) certainly points to marking with color rather than branding. See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=INK-HORN">INK-HORN</a>. 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',7,4);">Re 7:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',9,4);">9:4</a>) 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',13,\'1-\');">Re 13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',14,\'1-\');">14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',15,\'1-\');">15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',16,\'1-\');">16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',19,\'1-\');">19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',20,\'1-\');">20</a>, more likely refer to branding, as the Greek word points more or less in this direction, while the stigmata of <a onClick="return mV(\'Gal\',6,17);">Ga 6:17</a> may also point to branding. Branding was at all events also a common method of printing characters on the flesh in Biblical times (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',3,24);">Isa 3:24</a>; perhaps <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',21,25);">Ex 21:25</a>; a branding on the forehead, Code of Hammurabi section 127; branding of a slave sections 226, 227). The reference in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',20,25);">Joh 20:25</a> is, of course, to the clearly visible marks or scars left by the nails in the hands.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=MARK">MARK</a>.<P>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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SEAL">SEAL</a>). 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.<P>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.<P>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.).<P>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.<P>For the printed editions of the Hebrew and Greek originals, and the various versions, see articles on <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=TEXTUAL+CRITICISM">TEXTUAL CRITICISM</a> 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 <A href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=BOOK">Book</a> in this encyclopedia and its literature, especially Hortzschansky, supplementing the bibliography of Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition).``147';
isbe[7104]='Prisca; Priscilla`pris\'-ka, pri-sil\'-a.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=AQUILA">AQUILA</a>`1';
isbe[7105]='Prison Garments``<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PRISCA">PRISCA</a>`1';
isbe[7106]='Prison, Spirits In`The phrase occurs in the much-disputed passage, <a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',3,\'18-20\');">1Pe 3:18-20</a>, 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" (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 <a onClick="return mV(\'2Pe\',2,\'4-9\');">2Pe 2:4-9</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',4,6);">1Pe 4:6</a>, "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.<2E>in part going back to patristic times<65>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',1,11);">1Pe 1:11</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',6,5);">Ge 6:5</a>, which Peter has doubtless in his mind, as a striving of God\'s Spirit, and that in <a onClick="return mV(\'2Pe\',2,5);">2Pe 2:5</a> there is another allusion to these events, and Noah is described as "a preacher of righteousness." The passage, <a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',4,6);">1Pe 4:6</a>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Th\',4,\'15-18\');">1Th 4:15-18</a>). (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.)`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ESCHATOLOGY+OF+THE+NEW+TESTAMENT">ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT</a>`132';
isbe[7107]='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:<P>1. Hebrew Words:<P>(1) cohar, "round house," "fortress" (8 times in Genesis), (2) kele\' "restraint," "confinement" (12 times: in historic books, Isaiah, Jeremiah, with "house"), (3) mattarah, "guard," "sentry" (13 times in Jeremiah and Nehemiah), (4) mahaphekheth, "distorting," i.e. stocks or pillory (4 times), (5) \'ecur, "bond," "fetters" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',4,14);">Ec 4:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',37,15);">Jer 37:15</a>); "ward" in the King James Version is usually the rendering for mishmar):<P>2. In Early Times:<P>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 post-exilic 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.<P>3. Joseph in Egypt:<P>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.<P>4. Causes of Imprisonment:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',42,19);">Ge 42:19</a>); Shimei was forbidden to pass beyond the boundary of Jerusalem (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',2,36);">1Ki 2:36</a>); the person who was caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath was put "in ward" pending his trial (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',15,34);">Nu 15:34</a>). In the monarchical period, prophets who criticized the throne were put in prison, e.g. Micaiah by Ahab (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',22,27);">1Ki 22:27</a>), Hanani by Asa (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',16,10);">2Ch 16:10</a>). Hoshea, after his abortive effort to institute an alliance with So or Seve, king of Egypt, was shut up in prison by Shalmaneser (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',17,4);">2Ki 17:4</a>); compare also <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',25,27);">2Ki 25:27</a> (Jehoiachin in Babylon); <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',52,11);">Jer 52:11</a> (Zedekiah in Babylon).<P>5. Under the Monarchy:<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',20,2);">20:2</A>). 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',32,2);">32:2</A>, etc.). The "court of the guard" was evidently the quarters of the sentry who guarded the royal palace. According to the narrative of <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',37,\'1-\');">Jeremiah 37</a>, the prophet was arrested on a charge of treachery and put in prison "in the house of Jonathan the scribe" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',37,15);">37:15</A>). 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."<P>6. The Treatment of Prisoners:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',16,21);">Jud 16:21</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',25,7);">2Ki 25:7</a>). The thumbs and great toes of Adonibezek were cut off to render him incapable of further resistance (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',1,6);">Jud 1:6</a>).<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',29,26);">Jer 29:26</a> 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',13,27);">13:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',13,11);">33:11</a>). There was a special prison diet (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',22,27);">1Ki 22:27</a>), as well as a prison garb (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',25,29);">2Ki 25:29</a>).<P>7. Other Hebrew Words:<P>There are other Hebrew words rendered "prison" (sometimes incorrectly) in the King James Version. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',142,7);">Ps 142:7</a>, 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',13,5);">Le 13:5</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',24,22);">Isa 24:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',42,7);">42:7</a>). In <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',53,8);">Isa 53:8</a> "oppression" not "prison" is the correct translation while in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',61,1);">Isa 61:1</a> the Hebrew denotes "opening of the eyes," rather than "opening of the prison." Prisoners are promised "light after darkness, gleam after gloom."<P>8. In the New Testament:<P>In the New Testament "prison" generally occurs for the Greek word phulake, which corresponds to the Hebrew word mishmar, referred to above (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,25);">Mt 5:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',6,17);">Mr 6:17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',3,20);">Lu 3:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',5,19);">Ac 5:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',3,19);">1Pe 3:19</a>). In <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',18,2);">Re 18:2</a>, 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',12,10);">Ac 12:10</a>). In connection with the imprisonment of John the term used is desmoterion, "place of bonds" or "fetters" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',11,2);">Mt 11:2</a>); the same word is used in the case of Peter and John (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',5,21,23);">Ac 5:21,23</a>), and of Paul and Silas (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',16,26);">Ac 16:26</a>). But the more common term is also found in these narratives. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',12,17);">Ac 12:17</a> "prison" renders a Greek word which means "dwelling." In <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',5,18);">Ac 5:18</a> the King James Version, "prison" is the rendering for another Greek word, namely, teresis, "watching" or "ward" (the Revised Version (British and American) "ward"). In <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',4,3);">Ac 4:3</a>, the King James Version employs "hold" as the rendering for the same word. This would correspond to the modern "police station" or "lockup."`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PUNISHMENTS">PUNISHMENTS</a>`103';
isbe[7108]='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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',11,2);">Ps 11:2</a> has substituted "in darkness" and in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',9,31);">Jud 9:31</a> uses "craftily," margin "in Tormah" (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=TORMAH">TORMAH</a>). In <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',21,14);">Eze 21:14</a>, 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',2,44);">1Ki 2:44</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',5,2);">Ac 5:2</a>) is simply "to know" it; in <span class="noTag">The Wisdom of Solomon 8:4</span>, the Revised Version (British and American) has changed the phrase into "be initiated into."``1';
isbe[7109]='Prize`priz: Two Greek words are so rendered in English Versions of the Bible:<P>(1) 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 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',9,24);">1Co 9:24</a>, and figuratively of the heavenly reward for Christian character in <a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',3,14);">Php 3:14</a>.<P>(2) harpagmos, in the English Revised Version of <a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',2,6);">Php 2:6</a>, "counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God." The termination -uos, -mos, 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 (= 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',2,6);">Php 2:6</a>). The verb "to prize" occurs only in <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',11,13);">Zec 11:13</a>.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=GRASP">GRASP</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=HUMILIATION+OF+CHRIST">HUMILIATION OF CHRIST</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=KENOSIS">KENOSIS</a>`49';
isbe[7110]='Probation, Second`pro-ba\'-shun, sek\'-und.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ESCHATOLOGY+OF+THE+NEW+TESTAMENT">ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT</a>`1';
isbe[7111]='Prochorus`prok\'-o-rus (Prochoros): One of "the seven" chosen by the Christian community in Jerusalem to superintend the dispensing of charity to the widows and other poor (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',6,5);">Ac 6:5</a>). 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.``1';
isbe[7112]='Proconsul`pro-kon\'-sul (anthupatos (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',13,7);">Ac 13:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',18,12);">18:12</a>); the King James Version deputy).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PROVINCE">PROVINCE</a>`1';
isbe[7113]='Procurator`prok\'-u-ra-ter (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).<P>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.<P>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.<P>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).<P>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).<P>The question concerning the original title of the Roman governors of Judea has arisen because the New Testament employs the word hegemon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',27,2,11,14,15,21,27);">Mt 27:2,11,14,15,21,27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',28,14);">28:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',3,1);">Lu 3:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',20,20);">20:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',23,24);">Ac 23:24</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',24,1);">24:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',26,30);">26:30</a>), 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.<P>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.<P>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):<P class="in15">Coponius (6 AD to circa 10 AD)<P class="in15">M. Ambibulus (circa 10-13)<P class="in15">Annius Rufus (circa 13-15)<P class="in15">Valerius Gratus (circa 15-26)<P class="in15">Pontius Pilatus (26-35)<P class="in15">Marcellus (probably 35-38)<P class="in15">Maryllus (38-44)<P class="in15">C. Cuspins Fadus (44-46)<P class="in15">Tiberius Alexander (46-48)<P class="in15">Ventidius Cumanus (48-52)<P class="in15"> M. Antonius Felix (52-60 or 61)<P class="in30">NOTE.<2E>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, XVIII, 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).<P class="in15">Portius Festus (61)<P class="in15">Albinus (62-64)<P class="in15">Gessius Florus (65-66)`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=GOVERNOR">GOVERNOR</a>`3';
isbe[7114]='Profane`pro-fan\' (verb chalal, adjective chalal, chol; bebeloo, 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',22,26);">22:26</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "common"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',42,20);">42:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',44,23);">44:23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',48,15);">48:15</A>, the Revised Version (British and American) "for common use"); as the translation of chalal in <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',21,7,14);">Le 21:7,14</a>, the Revised Version margin "polluted"; and <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',21,25);">Eze 21:25</a>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',18,21);">Le 18:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',19,8);">19:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',13,17,18);">Ne 13:17,18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',89,39);">Ps 89:39</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',43,28);">Isa 43:28</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',22,8,26);">Eze 22:8,26</a>, etc. "Profaneness" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',23,15);">Jer 23:15</a> (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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',1,9);">1Ti 1:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',4,7);">4:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',6,20);">6:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ti\',2,16);">2Ti 2:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',12,16);">Heb 12:16</a>), and "to profane," or violate, in <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',12,5);">Mt 12:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',24,6);">Ac 24:6</a>. The verb is frequent in Apocrypha in 1Macc (1:43,45,63; 2:34, etc.; also in 2Macc 8:2; 10:5; compare 2Esdras 15:8; Judith 4:3,12; 1Macc 1:48; 2Macc 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',19,29);">Le 19:29</a>), "an hypocrite" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',9,17);">Isa 9:17</a>), "pollute" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',18,32);">Nu 18:32</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',7,21);">Eze 7:21</a>), etc.``185';
isbe[7115]='Profess; Profession`pro-fes\', pro-fesh\'-un (naghadh; homologeo, 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',26,3);">De 26:3</a>); in the New Testament it is the translation of homologeo, "to speak or say together in common," "to assent," "to confess publicly" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',7,23);">Mt 7:23</a>, "Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you"; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',6,12);">1Ti 6:12</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "didst confess the good confession"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Tts\',1,16);">Tit 1:16</a>, "They profess that they know God"); of epaggellomai, "to announce one\'s self," "to make profession" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',2,10);">1Ti 2:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',6,21);">6:21</a>); of phasko, "to say," "to assert" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',1,22);">Ro 1:22</a>). "Profession" is the translation of homologia (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',9,13);">2Co 9:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',6,12);">1Ti 6:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',3,1);">Heb 3:1</a>, the King James Version "the High Priest of our profession" (of our professed faith); <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',4,14);">Heb 4:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',10,23);">10:23</a>; 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."``185';
isbe[7116]='Prognosticators, Monthly`prog-nos\'-ti-ka-terz.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ASTROLOGY">ASTROLOGY</a>`1';
isbe[7117]='Prologue`pro\'-log, prol\'-og (prologos, "foreword," "preface," "introduction"): The word occurs in the preface to Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), and is commonly applied to <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',1,\'1-18\');">Joh 1:1-18</a>.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ECCLESIASTICUS">ECCLESIASTICUS</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=JOHN,+GOSPEL+OF">JOHN, GOSPEL OF</a>`1';
isbe[7118]='Prolong`pro-long\' (\'arakh, mashakh): "Prolong," "prolonged" are the translations of \'arakh, "to stretch," "to make long" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',4,26);">De 4:26</a>, and frequently, "prolong days"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',4,40);">De 4:40</a>, etc.; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',6,11);">Job 6:11</a> the King James Version; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',28,16);">Pr 28:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',7,15);">Ec 7:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',8,13);">8:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',53,10);">Isa 53:10</a>); of mashakh, "to draw out" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',13,22);">Isa 13:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',12,25,28);">Eze 12:25,28</a> the King James Version); of yacaph, "to add," "to increase" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',61,6);">Ps 61:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,27);">Pr 10:27</a>); of natah, "to stretch out," "to incline to" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',15,29);">Job 15:29</a>, "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) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',7,12);">Da 7:12</a>, "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).``185';
isbe[7119]='Promise`prom\'-is (most frequently in the Old Testament dabhar, "speaking," "speech," and dabhar, "to speak" also \'amar, "to say," once in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',77,8);">Ps 77:8</a>, \'omer, "speech"; in the New Testament epaggelia, and the verbs 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Pe\',1,4);">2Pe 1:4</a>), although the word "promise" is not always used in connection with them. Of the more outstanding promises of the Old Testament may be mentioned:<P class="in15">(1) the proto-evangelium (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',3,15);">Ge 3:15</a>);<P class="in15">(2) the promise to Noah no more to curse the ground, etc. (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',8,21,22);">Ge 8:21,22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',9,\'1-17\');">9:1-17</a>);<P class="in15">(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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',12,2,7);">Ge 12:2,7</a>, etc.), often referred to in the Old Testament (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',12,25);">Ex 12:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',1,8,11);">De 1:8,11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',6,3);">6:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',9,28);">9:28</a>, etc.);<P class="in15">(4) the promise to David to continue his house on the throne (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',7,12,13,18);">2Sa 7:12,13,18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',2,24);">1Ki 2:24</a>, etc.);<P class="in15">(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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',2,\'2-5\');">Isa 2:2-5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',4,2);">4:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',55,5);">55:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',66,13);">66:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',31,\'31-34\');">Jer 31:31-34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',32,\'37-42\');">32:37-42</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',33,14);">33:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',36,\'22-31\');">Eze 36:22-31</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',37,11);">37:11</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',39,25);">39:25</a>f; etc.).<P>In the New Testament these promises are founded on, and regarded as having their true fulfillment in, Christ and those who are His (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',1,20);">2Co 1:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',3,6);">Eph 3:6</a>). The promise of the Spirit is spoken of by Jesus as "the promise of my Father" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',24,49);">Lu 24:49</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',1,4);">Ac 1:4</a>), and this was regarded as fulfilled at Pentecost. The promise of a Saviour of the seed of David is regarded as fulfilled in Christ (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',13,23,32);">Ac 13:23,32</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',13,26);">26:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',1,2);">Ro 1:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',4,13);">4:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',9,4);">9:4</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',4,\'13-16\');">Ro 4:13-16</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Gal\',3,16,19,29);">Ga 3:16,19,29</a>). In like manner the writer to the Hebrews goes back to the original promises, giving them a spiritual and eternal significance (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',4,1);">4:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',6,17);">6:17</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',11,19);">11:9</A>, etc.). The New Testament promises include manifold blessings and hopes, among them "life," "eternal life" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',4,8);">1Ti 4:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',6,19);">6:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ti\',1,1);">2Ti 1:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jam\',1,12);">Jas 1:12</a>), the "kingdom" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jam\',2,5);">Jas 2:5</a>), Christ\'s "coming" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Pe\',3,9);">2Pe 3:9</a>, etc.), "new heavens and a new earth" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Pe\',3,13);">2Pe 3:13</a>), etc. For "promise" and "promised" in the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) has frequently other terms, as "word" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',105,42);">Ps 105:42</a>), "spake," "spoken" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',10,9);">De 10:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',9,21);">Jos 9:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',22,4);">22:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',23,5,15);">23:5,15</a>, etc.), "consented" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',22,6);">Lu 22:6</a>), etc. References to the promises occur repeatedly in the Apocrypha (Baruch 2:34; 2Macc 2:18; <span class="noTag">The Wisdom of Solomon 12:21</a>; compare 2Esdras 3:15; 5:29).``185';
isbe[7120]='Proper`prop\'-er: For the King James Version "proper" (child), in <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',11,23);">Heb 11:23</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "goodly"; in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',29,3);">1Ch 29:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',7,7);">1Co 7:7</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "own" is employed, and for the too emphatic "their proper tongue" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',1,19);">Ac 1:19</a> "their language" is written. But none of the King James Version forms are really obsolete.``1';
isbe[7121]='Proper Names``<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NAMES,+PROPER">NAMES, PROPER</a>`1';
isbe[7122]='Property`prop\'-er-ti.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=AGRARIAN+LAWS">AGRARIAN LAWS</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=JUBILEE">JUBILEE</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=POOR">POOR</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PORTION">PORTION</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PRIMOGENITURE">PRIMOGENITURE</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=WEALTH">WEALTH</a>`1';
isbe[7123]='Prophecy, Gift of``<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SPIRITUAL+GIFTS">SPIRITUAL GIFTS</a>`1';
isbe[7124]='Prophecy; Prophets, 1`prof\'-e-si, prof\'-e-si, prof\'-ets:<P><b>I. THE IDEA OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY</b><P class="in15">1. The Seer and Speaker of God<P class="in15">2. Prophetical Inspiration<P class="in15">3. Relation to Dreams<P class="in15">4. Freedom of Inspiration<P class="in15">5. Supernatural Visions of the Future<P class="in15">6. The Fulfillment<P><b>II. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPHETIC OFFICE</b><P class="in15">1. Abraham<P class="in15">2. Moses<P class="in15">3. Period of the Judges<P class="in15">4. Schools of Prophets<P class="in15">5. Period of the Kings<P class="in15">6. Literary Prophets, Amos, Hosea<P class="in15">7. Poetical Form of Prophecy<P class="in15">8. Prophets of Judah, Isaiah, and Others Down to Jeremiah<P class="in15">9. During the Exile, Ezekiel, Deutero-Isaiah, Daniel<P class="in15">10. After the Exile, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi<P class="in15">11. Cessation of Prophecy<P class="in15">12. Prophecy in the New Testament<P><b>III. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PROPHECY</b><P class="in15">1. Contents of Prophecy<P class="in15">2. Conception of the Messiah<P class="in15">3. Before the Exile (through Judgment to Deliverance)<P class="in15">4. Analogous Ideas among Heathen Peoples<P class="in15">5. During the Exile (Ezekiel, Deutero-Isaiah)<P class="in15">6. After the Exile (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi)<P class="in15">7. Contemporaneous Character of Prophecy<P class="in15">8. Partial Character of Prophecy<P class="in15">9. Perspective Character of Prophecy<P><b>IV. ANALOGOUS PHENOMENA AMONG THE GENTILES</b><P class="in15">1. Necromancy and Technical Witchcraft<P class="in15">2. The Mantle Art<P class="in15">3. Contents of Extra-Biblical Oracles<P><b>LITERATURE</b><hr /><P>I. The Idea of Biblical Prophecy.<P>1. The Seer and Speaker of God:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',9,9);">1Sa 9:9</a>, where nabhi\', "speaker," and ro\'eh, "seer," are used as synonymous terms. <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',23,16);">Jer 23:16</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',13,2);">Eze 13:2</a>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',2,1);">Isa 2:1</a>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',7,1);">Eze 7:1</a> with <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',4,16);">4:16</A>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',3,8);">Am 3:8</a>). The words burn in his soul until he utters them (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',20,7,9);">Jer 20:7,9</a>).<P>2. Prophetical Inspiration:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',24,2);">Nu 24:2</a>); or has fallen upon him (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',11,5);">Eze 11:5</a>); or that the hand of Yahweh has come over him and laid hold of him (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',3,15);">2Ki 3:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',1,3);">Eze 1:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',3,14,22);">3:14,22</a>, and often); or that the Holy Spirit has been put on him as a garment, i.e. has been incorporated in him (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',12,18);">1Ch 12:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',24,20);">2Ch 24:20</a>); or that the Spirit of revelation has permanently descended upon him (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',11,25);">Nu 11:25</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',2,15);">2Ki 2:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',11,2);">Isa 11:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',61,1);">61:1</a>); or that God has given this Spirit of His (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',11,29);">Nu 11:29</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',42,1);">Isa 42:1</a>); or pours Him out upon man (<a onClick="return mV(\'Joe\',2,28);">Joe 2:28</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',3,1);">Heb 3:1</a>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.<P>3. Relation to Dreams:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',23,25);">Jer 23:25</a>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.<P>4. Freedom of Inspiration:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',2,10);">2Ki 2:10</a>). Yet genuine prophecies continued to be at all times a free gift of the sovereign God. Amos (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',7,14);">7:14</a>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',3,1);">1Sa 3:1</a>), and it did not avail Jeremiah anything when he excused himself because of his youth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',1,6);">Jer 1:6</a>). 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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PROPHETESS">PROPHETESS</a>. 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, <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',10,11);">1Sa 10:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',19,24);">19:24</a>; Balaam, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,\'1-\');">Nu 23</a>f; Caiaphas, <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',11,51);">Joh 11:51</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',3,1);">Ex 3:1</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',19,16,19);">1Ki 19:16,19</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',6,\'1-\');">Isa 6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',1,\'1-\');">Jer 1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',1,\'1-\');">Eze 1</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',7,3);">2Sa 7:3</a>), 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',15,16);">Jer 15:16</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',20,7);">20:7</a>ff. Originally Jeremiah felt it as a joy that Yahweh spoke to him (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',3,3);">Eze 3:3</a>), 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.<P>5. Supernatural Visions of the Future:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',12,8);">12:8</a>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',24,2);">24:2</A>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',28,16);">28:16</A>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',7,4);">7:4</a>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',37,22,33);">37:22,33</A>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',1,1);">1:1</a>); in the case of Elijah, the prediction of the long dearth (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',17,1);">1Ki 17:1</a>); in the case of Elisha the undertakings of the enemies (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',6,12);">2Ki 6:12</a>), 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.<P>6. The Fulfillment:<P>In genuine prophecy, according to Biblical conceptions, the fulfillment constitutes an integral part. This is set up by <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',18,21);">De 18:21</a>f as a proof of the genuineness of a prophetic utterance. The prophetic word "falls to the ground" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',3,19);">1Sa 3:19</a>) if it is not "raised up" (heqim, "fulfil," for which we more rarely find mille\', but regularly in the New Testament 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',1,10);">Jer 1:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',25,15);">25:15</a>). But the fulfillment can be judged by the contemporaries in the sense of <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',18,22);">De 18:22</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',28,16);">Jer 28:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',8,1);">Isa 8:1</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',37,30);">37:30</a>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',1,6);">Zec 1:6</a> 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',18,2);">Jer 18:2</a>; case of Jonah), or the punishment can be mitigated (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',21,29);">1Ki 21:29</a>). A prediction, too, Yahweh can recall if the people prove unworthy (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',18,9);">Jer 18:9</a>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.``131';
isbe[7125]='Prophecy; Prophets, 2`II. Historical Development of the Prophetic Office.<P>1. Abraham:<P>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\') (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',20,7);">Ge 20:7</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',105,15);">Ps 105:15</a>), although in his case the command to preach the word was yet absent.<P>2. Moses:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',12,6);">Nu 12:6</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',34,10);">De 34:10</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',33,11);">Ex 33:11</a>). 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.<P>3. Period of the Judges:<P>Since that time revelation through prophecy was probably never entirely wanting in Israel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',18,15);">De 18:15</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',3,1);">1Sa 3:1</a> 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 epoch-making was the activity of Samuel, who while yet a boy received divine revelations (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',3,1);">1Sa 3:1</a>). He was by the whole people regarded as a "seer" whose prophecies were always fulfilled (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',3,19);">3:19</A>f). The passage <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',9,6);">1Sa 9:6</a>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',8,6);">8:6</A>ff).<P>4. Schools of Prophets:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',19,18);">1Sa 19:18</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',20,1);">20:1</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',13,6);">Zec 13:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',20,37,38);">1Ki 20:37,38</a>, the "wounds" on the breast or on the forehead recall the self-mutilation of the priests of Baal (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',18,28);">1Ki 18:28</a>). 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.<P>5. Period of the Kings:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',16,1);">1Sa 16:1</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',7,\'1-\');">2Sa 7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',29,25);">2Ch 29:25</a>, and elsewhere). But David also bowed in submission when these prophets rebuked him because of his transgression of the divine commands (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',12,1);">2Sa 12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',24,\'1-\');">24</a>). His son Solomon was educated by the prophet Nathan. But the destruction of his kingdom was predicted by the prophet Abijah, the Shilonite (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',11,29);">1Ki 11:29</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',14,7);">1Ki 14:7</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',16,1);">16:1</a>ff). After the division of the kingdom we find Shemaiah forbidding Rehoboam to begin a war with his brethren of Israel (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',12,21);">1Ki 12:21</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',11,2);">2Ch 11:2</a>; compare another mission of the same prophet, <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',12,5);">2Ch 12:5</a>). On the other hand in the Northern Kingdom the prophetic word is soon turned against the untheocratic rule of Jeroboam (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',13,\'1-\');">1Ki 13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',14,\'1-\');">14</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',22,\'1-\');">1Ki 22</a>). 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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ISRAEL,+RELIGION+OF">ISRAEL, RELIGION OF</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',4,23);">2Ki 4:23</a>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',4,42);">2Ki 4:42</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',8,\'1-\');">2Ki 8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',9,\'1-\');">9</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',6,8);">2Ki 6:8</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',13,14);">13:14</a>ff). His deeds are generally of a benevolent character. In connection with these he exhibits to a remarkable degree the gift of prophetic foresight (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',4,16);">2Ki 4:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',5,26);">5:26</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',6,8);">6:8</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',7,1);">7:1</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',8,10,12);">8:10,12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',9,6);">9:6</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',13,19);">13:19</a>). Jonah, too, the son of Amittai, had at that time a favorable message for the Northern Kingdom (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',14,25);">2Ki 14:25</a>).<P>6. Literary Prophets, Amos, Hosea:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',5,18);">5:18</a>ff). As the writing of individual prophecies (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',8,1);">Isa 8:1</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',30,8);">30:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hab\',2,2);">Hab 2:2</a>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',30,2);">Jer 30:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',36,1);">36:1</a>). Pupils of the prophets assisted them in this writing and in preserving their books (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',36,4);">Jer 36:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',8,16);">Isa 8:16</a>).<P>7. Poetical Form of Prophecy:<P>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.<P>8. Prophets in Judah Isaiah, and Others Down to Jeremiah:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',15,1);">2Ch 15:1</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',3,14);">2Ki 3:14</a>), as also some other prophets (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',19,2);">2Ch 19:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',20,\'14-37\');">20:14-37</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',7,11);">Isa 7:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',38,22);">38:22</a>, <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',38,8);">8</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',22,14);">2Ki 22:14</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',26,20);">Jer 26:20</a>).<P>9. During the Exile, Ezekiel, Deutero-Isaiah, Daniel:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',40,\'1-\');">Isa 40</a>), 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.<P>10. After the Exile, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',6,\'6-14\');">Ne 6:6-14</a>) 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.<P>11. Cessation of Prophecy:<P>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 1Macc 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.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=APOCALYPTIC+LITERATURE">APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE</a>.<P>12. Prophecy in the New Testament:<P>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 prophetes, propheteia, propheteuo, signify speaking under the extraordinary influence of the Holy Ghost. Thus in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',11,27);">Ac 11:27</a>f (prophecy of a famine by Agabus); <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',21,10);">21:10</a>f (prediction of the sufferings of Paul); <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',13,1);">13:1</A>f (exhortation to mission work); <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',21,9);">21:9</a>ff (prophetical gift of the daughters of Philip). Paul himself also had this gift (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',16,6);">Ac 16:6</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',18,9);">18:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',22,17);">22:17</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',27,23);">27:23</a>f). In the public services of the church, prophecy occupied a prominent position (see especially <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',14,\'1-\');">1Co 14</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Jo\',4,1);">1Joh 4:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',12,10);">1Co 12:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',14,29);">14:29</a>).``131';
isbe[7126]='Prophecy; Prophets, 3`III. Historical Development of Prophecy.<P>1. Contents of Prophecy:<P>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.<P>2. Conception of the Messiah:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',2,7);">Ps 2:7</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',110,\'1-\');">110</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',7,12);">2Sa 7:12</a>; compare David\'s own words, <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',23,4);">2Sa 23:4</a>).<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=MESSIAH">MESSIAH</a>.<P>3. Before the Exile (through Judgment to Deliverance):<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',9,11);">Am 9:11</a>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',2,1,18);">Ho 2:1f; 18</a>); 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',7,14);">Isa 7:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',9,2);">9:2</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',11,1);">11:1</a>), and who speaks constantly of that divine establishment on Zion (compare the quiet waters of Shiloah, <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',8,6);">8:6</A>), the foundation stone that has been laid by Yahweh (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',28,16);">Isa 28:16</a>, 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',5,1);">Mic 5:1</a>). Possibly even at a somewhat earlier date <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',9,9);">Zec 9:9</a> 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.<P>4. Analogous Ideas among Heathen Peoples:<P>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 Gentile world, 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',23,1);">Jer 23:1</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',33,12);">33:12</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',34,23);">Eze 34:23</a>f. But after that time this Messianic expectation became a permanent element in the hopes of Israel.<P>In the meanwhile, prophecy had thrown much light on the ways of God, which prepare for His kingdom on earth. Even long before Amos (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',5,18);">5:18</A>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',6,1);">Ho 6:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',1,18);">Isa 1:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',4,1);">Jer 4:1</a>, 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',6,\'1-\');">Isa 6</a>). It is particularly deserving of notice, that believing trust in Yahweh is regarded as the positive means for deliverance (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',7,9);">Isa 7:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',30,15);">30:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hab\',2,4);">Hab 2:4</a>). 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',23,6);">Jer 23:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',33,16);">33:16</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',18,\'1-\');">Ezekiel 18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',33,\'1-\');">33</a>). The land becomes transformed; the Gentiles are received into the covenant of God.<P>5. During the Exile (Ezekiel, Deutero-Isaiah):<P>Deutero-Isaiah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',40,\'1-\');">Isa 40:1-66:24</a>), 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 Gentile world 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.<P>6. After the Exile (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi):<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',7,13);">Da 7:13</a>). 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.<P>7. Contemporaneous Character of Prophecy:<P>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. Mt. 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.<P>8. Partial Character of Prophecy:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',11,14);">Isa 11:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',9,13);">Zec 9:13</a>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',9,6);">Isa 9:6</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',9,9);">Zec 9:9</a>f) that these warlike expressions are to be understood figuratively, since the Messianic King is more than all others a Prince of Peace.<P>9. Perspective Character of Prophecy:<P>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.<P>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.``131';
isbe[7127]='Prophecy; Prophets, 4`IV. Analogous Phenomena among the Gentiles.<p>1. Necromancy and Technical Witchcraft:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',19,26,31);">Le 19:26,31</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,6,27);">20:6,27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',18,10);">De 18:10</a>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',8,19);">Isa 8:19</a>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',28,9);">1Sa 28:9</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',21,21);">Eze 21:21</a>). See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DIVINATION">DIVINATION</a>. 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.<P>2. The Mantic Art:<P>More spiritual and popular was the interpretation of dreams. It also was the case that mediums intentionally would convert themselves into a semi-waking 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 art. 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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=GREECE,+ RELIGION+IN+ANCIENT">GREECE, RELIGION IN ANCIENT</a>. In contrast to this, Israel knows that it possesses in prophecy a clear word (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,23);">Nu 23:23</a>).<P>3. Contents of Extra-Biblical Oracles:<P>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, 20ff) 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.<P>LITERATURE<P>Witsius, De 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, Alt-orientalische Texte und Bilder zum A T, 1909; Selwyn, Christian Prophets.``131';
isbe[7128]='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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',14,13,14);">Jer 14:13,14</a>); those who without real prophetic gift borrowed a message and assumed the speech of prophecy (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',23,28,31);">Jer 23:28,31</a>); and those who sought the prophet\'s role in order to gain the material gifts which came from the people to their prophets (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',3,5);">Mic 3:5</a>). 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 self-deceived 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.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PROPHECY">PROPHECY</a>`158';
isbe[7129]='Prophet, the Old``<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=OLD+PROPHET,+THE">OLD PROPHET, THE</a>`1';
isbe[7130]='Prophetess`prof\'-et-es (nebhi\'ah; 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',15,20);">Ex 15:20</a>), Deborah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',4,4);">Jud 4:4</a>) and Huldah (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',22,14);">2Ki 22:14</a>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',2,1);">1Sa 2:1</a>), Anna (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',2,36);">Lu 2:36</a>) and the four daughters of Philip (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',21,8.9);">Ac 21:8,9</a>).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PROPHET">PROPHET</a>`158';
isbe[7131]='Propitiation`pro-pish-i-a\'-shun:<P>1. Terms and Meaning:<P>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<64>ten, including derivatives<65>which are sufficiently discussed under <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ATONEMENT">ATONEMENT</a> (which see), of which propitiation is one aspect. It represents in Septuagint the Greek stems hilask- (hile-), and 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',2,17);">Heb 2:17</a>, 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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DAY+OF+ATONEMENT">DAY OF ATONEMENT</a> (which see). <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',18,13);">Lu 18:13</a> ("God, be thou merciful (margin "be propitiated") to me the sinner" (the American Standard Revised Version margin)); <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',8,12);">Heb 8:12</a> (quoted from the Septuagint); and <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',16,22);">Mt 16:22</a> (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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',9,5);">Heb 9:5</a>, where later versions have in the margin "the propitiatory."<P>Elsewhere in the New Testament this form is found only in <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',3,25);">Ro 3:25</a>, 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. hilasmos, is found in the New Testament only in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Jo\',2,2);">1Joh 2:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Jo\',4,10);">4:10</a>. 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) our sins and those of the whole world. Or (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',4,10);">Ro 4:10</a>), God "loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for (active mercy concerning) our sins." This last passage is parallel with <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',3,25);">Ro 3:25</a>, 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.<P>2. Theological Implication:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',5,\'1-11\');">Ro 5:1-11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',5,18);">2Co 5:18</a>ff.<P>LITERATURE.<P>Besides the comms., the literature is the same as for <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ATONEMENT">ATONEMENT</a>, 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.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=JOHANNINE+THEOLOGY">JOHANNINE THEOLOGY</a>`21';
isbe[7132]='Proportion`pro-por\'-shun: Occurs once in the sense of "space" as the translation of ma\'-ar, "void or open space" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',7,36);">1Ki 7:36</a> 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',41,12);">Job 41:12</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "frame"); and once in the sense of "measure" as the translation of analogia, "proportion" "equality" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',12,6);">Ro 12:6</a>, "the proportion of faith," the Revised Version (British and American) "the proportion of our faith"). "Proportionally" occurs in <span clas="noTag">The Wisdom of Solomon 13:5</a>, analogos, the Revised Version (British and American) "in like proportion," margin "correspondently."``1';
isbe[7133]='Proselyte`pros\'-e-lit (proselutos, from proserchomai, "I approach"): Found 4 times in the New Testament. In the Septuagint it often occurs as the translation of 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',2,17);">2Ch 2:17</a> those of the native tribes still living in the land as Amorites, Hittites, etc., are also called gerim. In two places, (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',12,19);">Ex 12:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',14,1);">Isa 14:1</a>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',15,13);">Ge 15:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',23,4);">23:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',2,22);">Ex 2:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',18,3);">18:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',23,7);">De 23:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',29,15);">1Ch 29:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',39,12);">Ps 39:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',119,19);">119:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',14,8);">Jer 14:8</a>), 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.<P>1. Ger in the Old Testament:<P>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.<P>\'The stranger within the gate\' was free to eat meat which was prohibited to the Israelite (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',14,21);">De 14:21</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',23,12);">Ex 23:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',16,11,14);">De 16:11,14</a>); but according to <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',16,29);">Le 16:29</a> the ger was obliged to keep the fast of Atonement. He was forbidden on pain of death to blaspheme (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',24,16);">Le 24:16</a>) or to offer children to Molech (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,2);">Le 20:2</a>). If he desired to bring a burnt offering, the same law applied to him as to the Israelites (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',17,8);">Le 17:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',22,18);">22:18</a>). 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.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',10,28);">Ne 10:28</a> of those who "separated themselves from the peoples of the lands unto the law of God" (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',56,3);">Isa 56:3</a>, "the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Yahweh"<22>the only and exact description of a proselyte proper in the Old Testament), the spirit of exclusiveness prevailed; the doubtful elements were separated (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',4,3);">Ezr 4:3</a>): mixed marriages were prohibited by the chiefs, and were afterward disapproved of by the people (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',9,\'1-\');">Ezr 9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',10,\'1-\');">10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',13,23);">Ne 13:23</a>). Direct proselytism did not begin till about a century later.<P>2. Proselytizing:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',15,21);">Ac 15:21</a>), 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',2,19);">Ro 2:19</a>).<P>Not only Josephus (Apion, II; BJ, VII, iii, 3), but also Seneca (Apud Aug. De Civit. Dei vi.11), Dio Cassius (xxxvii.17), Tacitus (Ann. ii.85; Hist. v.5), Horace (Sat. i.4, 142), Juvenal (Sat. xiv.96ff), and other Greek and Roman writers testify to the widespread effects of the proselytizing propaganda of the Jews.<P>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<P>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.96ff). 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 ("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 Gentile converts varied in the strictness of their teaching.<P>3. Proselytes in the New Testament:<P>The word "proselyte" occurs 4 times in the New Testament; once in Matthew (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',23,15);">23:15</A>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',2,10);">Ac 2:10</a>); Nicolas, one of the deacons appointed by the primitive church at Jerusalem, was a proselyte (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',6,5);">Ac 6:5</a>); and after Paul had spoken in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia, many devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',13,43);">Ac 13:43</a>). 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',10,2,22,35);">10:2,22,35</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',13,16,26);">13:16,26</a>), and as sebomenoi ton theon, "reverencing God," or simply sebomenoi (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',13,50);">13:50</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',16,14);">16:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',17,4,17);">17:4,17</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',18,7);">18:7</a>). 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.<P>4. Ger in the Talmud:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Gal\',5,3);">Ga 5:3</a>); 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\' 5 6,9,12; Makkoth 2 3; Negha\'im 3 1, et al.).<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',20,10);">Ex 20:10</a>) 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',15,20,29);">Ac 15:20,29</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',21,25);">21:25</a>). He was considered more of a Gentile than a Jew.<P>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.<P>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).<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',3,5);">Php 3:5</a>).<P>LITERATURE.<P>See articles on "Proselyte" and "Ger." in EB, HDB, Jewish Encyclopedia, and RE; Slevogt, De 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), 491ff.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=STRANGER+AND+SOJOURNER">STRANGER AND SOJOURNER</a>`98';
isbe[7134]='Proseuche; Proseucha`pro-su\'-ke, prosu\'-ka (proseuche): "A place in the open air where the Jews were wont to pray, outside of those cities where they had no synagogue," <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',16,13,16);">Ac 16:13,16</a> (Thayer, Lexicon of the New Testament).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PHILIPPI">PHILIPPI</a>`1';
isbe[7135]='Prostitution`pros-ti-tu\'-shun.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=CRIMES">CRIMES</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=HARLOT">HARLOT</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PUNISHMENTS">PUNISHMENTS</a>`1';
isbe[7136]='Prostration`pros-tra\'-shun.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ATTITUDES">ATTITUDES</a>`1';
isbe[7137]='Protevangelium, of James`pro-te-van-jel\'-i-um.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=APOCRYPHAL+GOSPELS">APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS</a>`1';
isbe[7138]='Prove`proov (bachan, nacah; dokimazo, 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',42,15,16);">Ge 42:15,16</a>, etc.). God is said to "prove" His people, i.e. to test or try them for their good (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',22,1);">Ge 22:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',15,25);">Ex 15:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',8,16);">De 8:16</a>, etc.). The Psalmist prays that God may prove him (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',26,2);">Ps 26:2</a>). The word is frequently rendered "tempt." See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=TEMPT">TEMPT</a>. The word bachan, primarily "to try by heat," has a similar meaning (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',17,3);">Ps 17:3</a>, the heart, like metal, purified from dross; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',23,10);">Job 23:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',7,9);">Ps 7:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mal\',3,2);">Mal 3:2</a>, etc.). In the New Testament the word most frequently rendered "prove" (sometimes "try") is dokimazo (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',14,19);">Lu 14:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',12,2);">Ro 12:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',8,8,22);">2Co 8:8,22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',13,5);">13:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',5,10);">Eph 5:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Th\',5,21);">1Th 5:21</a>). Peirazo, "to tempt," "to prove," used in both a good and a bad sense, frequently translated "<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=TEMPT;+TEMPTATION">tempt</a>" (which see), is rendered "prove" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',6,6);">Joh 6:6</a>, "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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',22,1);">Ge 22:1</a>); for, "make" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',24,25);">Job 24:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gal\',2,18);">Ga 2:18</a>); for "manifest" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',3,18);">Ec 3:18</a>); for "examine" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',11,28);">1Co 11:28</a>); for "try" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',3,13);">1Co 3:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Jo\',4,1);">1Joh 4:1</a>), etc.``185';
isbe[7139]='Provender`prov\'-en-der<P>(1) micpo\', from obsolete capha\', "to feed," fodder for cattle in general (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',24,25,32);">Ge 24:25,32</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',42,27);">42:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',19,19,21);">Jud 19:19,21</a>);<P>(2) belil, from balal, "to mix": "Loweth the ox over his fodder?" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',6,5);">Job 6:5</a>); belil chamits: "The young asses that till the ground shall eat savory (Hebrew "salted") provender" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',30,24);">Isa 30:24</a>); 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.``117';
isbe[7140]='Proverb`prov\'-erb (mashal, chidhah; parabole (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',4,23);">Lu 4:23</a>), paroimia (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',16,25,29);">Joh 16:25,29</a>)):<P><b>I. FOLK MEANING AND USE</b><P class="in15">1. The Primitive Sense<P class="in15">2. The Communal Origin<P class="in15">3. Animus of Proverbs<P><b>II. LITERARY DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROVERB</b><P class="in15">1. Discovery of Literary Value<P class="in15">2. The Differentiation<P><b>III. AS UNIT OF A STRAIN OF LITERATURE</b><P class="in15">1. From Detachment to Continuity<P class="in15">2. The Conception of Wisdom<P class="in15">3. In Later Times<hr /><P>By this term mainly, but sometimes by the term "parable" (e.g. <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,7,18);">Nu 23:7,18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',24,3,15);">24:3,15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',27,1);">Job 27:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',29,1);">29:1</a>), is translated the Hebrew word (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.<P>I. Folk Meaning and Use.<P>1. The Primitive Sense:<P>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.<P>2. The Communal Origin:<P>The earliest cited proverb (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',10,12);">1Sa 10:12</a>, repeated with varied occasion, <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',19,24);">1Sa 19:24</a>) 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: <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',24,13);">1Sa 24:13</a>, "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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',12,22,23);">Eze 12:22,23</a>). Both Ezekiel and Jeremiah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',18,2);">Eze 18:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',31,29);">Jer 31:29</a>) 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: <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',16,44);">Eze 16:44</a>, "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."<P>3. Animus of Proverbs:<P>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, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',21,\'27-30\');">Nu 21:27-30</a>, is attributed to them "that speak in proverbs" (meshalim); and Isaiah\'s taunt in his burden of Babylon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',14,\'4-20\');">Isa 14:4-20</a>) 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 self-consciousness. To be a proverb<72>to be in everybody\'s mouth as a subject of laughter, or as a synonym for some awful atrocity<74>was about the most dreadful thing that could befall them. To be "a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',24,9);">Jer 24:9</a>) was all one. That this should be the nation\'s fate was held as a threat over them by lawgiver and prophet (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',28,37);">De 28:37</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',9,7);">1Ki 9:7</a>); and in adversities of experience, both individual and collective, the thing that was most keenly felt was to have become a byword (mashal) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',44,14);">Ps 44:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',69,11);">69:11</a>).<P>II. Literary Development of the Proverb.<P>1. Discovery of Literary Value:<P>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. <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',20,18);">2Sa 20:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',22,14);">Ge 22:14</a>) 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\' (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,29);">1Ki 4:29</a>), 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, <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,\'29-34\');">1Ki 4:29-34</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,\'1-\');">Proverbs 10-22:16</a><3E>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',10,12);">1Sa 10:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',24,13);">24:13</a>, 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.<P>2. The Differentiation:<P>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<73>parable, fable, apologue, allegory<72>these remained undifferentiated. The most fundamental distinction of classes, perhaps, is given in <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,6);">Pr 1:6</a>: "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" (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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,33);">1Ki 4:33</a>) was not by way of natural history, but as analogies to illustrate his meshalim. The word translated "dark sayings" (chidhoth) is the word elsewhere translated "riddle" (Samson\'s riddle, for instance, was a chidhah, <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',14,13,14);">Jud 14:13,14</a>), 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.<P>III. As Unit of a Strain of Literature.<P>1. From Detachment to Continuity:<P>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, <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',26,\'13-16\');">Pr 26:13-16</a>). 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',27,\'23-27\');">Pr 27:23-27</a>. 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.<P>2. The Conception of Wisdom:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,\'1-5\');">Pr 1:1-5</a>) as promotive of many intellectual virtues; but the inclusive name under which it was gathered was Wisdom (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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',17,\'1-10\');">Eze 17:1-10</a>, where the prophet is bidden to "put forth a riddle, and speak a parable (literally, mashal a mashal) unto the house of Israel."<P>3. In Later Time:<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',4,12);">Mr 4:12</a>), 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.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=GAMES">GAMES</a>`66';
isbe[7141]='Proverbs, the Book of`prov\'-erbz:<P><b>I. THE BOOK\'S ACCOUNT OF ITSELF</b><P class="in15">1. Title and Headings<P class="in15">2. Authorship or Literary Species?<P><b>II. THE SUCCESSIVE COMPILATIONS</b><P class="in15">1. The Introductory Section<P class="in15">2. The Classic Nucleus<P class="in15">3. A Body of Solicited Counsel<P class="in15">4. Some Left-over Precepts<P class="in15">5. The Hezekian Collection<P class="in15">6. Words of Agur<P class="in15">7. Words of King Lemuel<P class="in15">8. An Acrostic Eulogy of Woman<P><b>III. MOVEMENT TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY</b><P class="in15">1. Liberation of the Mashal<P class="in15">2. Emergence of Basal Principles<P class="in15">3. The Conception of Wisdom<P><b>IV. CONSIDERATIONS OF AGE AND LITERARY KINSHIP</b><P class="in15">1. Under the Kings<P class="in15">2. The Concentrative Point<P class="in15">3. Its Stage in Progressive Wisdom<hr /><P>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 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.<P>I. The Book\'s Account of Itself.<P>1. Title and Headings:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,\'1-\');">Pr 10</a>, as if in some special sense the collection there beginning deserved it; and at <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,\'1-\');">Pr 25</a> 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',30,1;">30:1</a>), "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the oracle," and the heading (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',31,1);">31:1</a>), "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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,6);">1:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',22,17);">22:17</A>), as also the definite heading, "These also are sayings of the wise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',24,23);">24:23</A>), 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.<P>2. Authorship or Literary Species?:<P>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<65>as if it meant to say "the Solomonic proverbs"? We may work toward the answer of this question by noting some literary facts.<P>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<6F>two of them, Proverbs and the So 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,\'29-34\');">1Ki 4:29-34</a>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,32);">1Ki 4:32</a>. 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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PROVERB">PROVERB</a>). 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.<P>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.<P>II. The Successive Compilations.<P>1. The Introductory Section:<P>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, <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,\'1-\');">Proverbs 1-9</a>, 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<6C>and in this it is distinguished from the rest of the book<6F>is hortatory; it is addressed to "my son" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,8);">1:8</a> and often) or "my sons" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',4,1);">4:1</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',5,7);">5:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',7,24);">7:24</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,32);">8:32</A>), 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,7);">Pr 1:7</a> 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',9,10);">9:10</a>), and evidently regarded as very vital to the whole Wisdom system; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',28,28);">Job 28:28</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',111,10);">Ps 111:10</a>; 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,\'20-33\');">Pr 1:20-33</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,\'1-21\',\'32-36\');">8:1-21,32-36</a>); 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',7,\'6-\');">Pr 7:6</a>-<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,9);">8:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',9,\'1-6\');">9:1-6</a>,<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',9,\'13-18\');">13-18</a>); and, in a supremely poetic passage (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,\'22-31\');">Pr 8:22-31</a>), 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.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=UPPERCASE">WISDOM</a>.<P>2. The Classic Nucleus:<P>The section <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,\'1-\');">Pr 10:1-22:16</a>, 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, <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',19,7);">19:7</A>, 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.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,\'1-\');">Proverbs 10-15</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',15,\'1-\');">Proverbs 15</a>. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',16,\'1-\');">Pr 16-22:16</a>, 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 191 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.<P>3. A Body of Solicited Counsel:<P>In the short section <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',22,\'17-\');">Pr 22:17-24:22</a>, the proverb literature seems for the first time to have become as it were self-conscious<75>to regard itself as a strain of wise counsel to be reckoned with for its educative value. The section is introduced by a preface (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',22,\'17-21\');">22:17-21</A>), 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',22,21);">22:21</A>). The counsels seem intended for persons in responsible position, perhaps attached to the court (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',23,1,2,3);">23:1-3</A>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',23,\'29-35\');">23:29-35</A>), runs to 17 lines. In tone and specific counsel the section has many resemblances to the introductory section (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,\'1-\');">Proverbs 1-9</a>), and provokes the conjecture that this latter section, as the introduction to a compiled body of Wisdom, was composed not long after it.<P>4. Some Left-over Precepts:<P>The little appendix (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',24,\'23-34\');">Pr 24:23-34</a>) is headed, "These also are sayings of the wise." They refer to wise intercourse and ordered industry. The little poem on the sluggard (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',24,\'30-34\');">Pr 24:30-34</a>), with its refrain (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',24,33,34);">Pr 24:33,34</a>), is noteworthy as being apparently one stanza of a poem which is completed with the same refrain in the introductory section (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',6,\'6-11\');">Pr 6:6-11</a>). 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.<P>5. The Hezekian Collection:<P>The long section (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,\'1-\');">Proverbs 25-29</a>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,\'2-7\');">Pr 25:2-7</a>). The most striking-feature of the collection is the prevalence of simile and analogy, and in general the strong figurative coloring, especially in <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,\'1-\');">Proverbs 25-27</a>; 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,26);">10:26</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',11,22);">11:22</A>). In <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,\'1-\');">Proverbs 25-27</a> are several proverbs of three, four, or five lines, and at the end (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',27,\'23-27\');">27:23-27</a>) a charming little poem of ten lines on husbandry. <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',28,\'1-\');">Proverbs 28</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',29,\'1-\');">29</a> 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.<P>6. Words of Agur:<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',30,\'1-\');">Proverbs 30</a> is taken up with "the words of Agur the son of Jakeh," a person otherwise unknown, who disclaims expert knowledge of Wisdom lore (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',30,3);">30:3</A>), and avows an agnostic attitude toward theological speculations, yet shows a tender reverence before the name and unplumbed mystery of Yahweh (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',30,6,9,32);">30:6,9,32</a>). 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" (ha-massa\'); "burden" or "oracle," the term used for prophetic disclosures; and the word for "said" ("the man said," 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, <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,14);">8:14</a>), 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,6);">1:6</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',6,\'16-19\');">6:16-19</A>, but something of a favorite in the later cryptic sayings of the scribes, as may be seen in Pirqe \'Abhoth.<P>7. Words of King Lemuel:<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',31,\'1-9\');">Proverbs 31:1-9</a> (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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',25,14);">Ge 25:14</a>), presumably a tribal designation. The Hebrew sages from the beginning were in rivalry and fellowship with the sages of other nations (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,30,31);">1Ki 4:30,31</a>); 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.<P>8. An Acrostic Eulogy of Woman:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',31,\'10-31\');">31:10-31</a>) 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',119,\'1-\');">Ps 119</a>, and in <a onClick="return mV(\'Lam\',1,\'1-\');">Lamentations 1-4</a>.<P>III. Movement toward a Philosophy.<P>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 quasi-abeyance 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.<P>1. Liberation of the Mashal:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',16,\'1-\');">Proverbs 16</a>. 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.<P>2. Emergence of Basal Principles:<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,2);">Pr 10:2</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',18,18);">Jer 18:18</a>). 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<6E>wealth, honor, long life, family (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',11,31);">Pr 11:31</a>)<29>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.<P>3. The Conception of Wisdom:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',14,2);">2Sa 14:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',20,16);">20:16</a>); 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',3,\'16-28\');">1Ki 3:16-28</a>), and to answer puzzling questions (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',10,1,6,7);">1Ki 10:1,6,7</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,\'1-5\');">Pr 1:1-5</a>), 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,\'29-34\');">1Ki 4:29-34</a>) into the hands of city elders and sages it attained to greatly enhanced value; note how the influence of such sage is idealized (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',29,\'7-25\');">Job 29:7-25</a>). 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) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',22,\'17-\');">Pr 22:17-24:34</a>). It was not long after this stage of Wisdom-culture, I think, that a very significant new word came into their vocabulary, the word (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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',18,1);">Pr 18:1</a>), 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',6,9);">Mic 6:9</a>, and once in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',28,29);">Isa 28:29</a>, in which latter case the prophet has deliberately composed a passage (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',28,\'23-29\');">28:23-29</A>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,30,31);">Pr 8:30,31</a>), is ascribed to Wisdom (chokhmah, in the introductory section; "counsel is mine," Wisdom is made to say, "and tushiyah" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,14);">Pr 8:14</a>). 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.<P>IV. Considerations of Age and Literary Kinship.<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',29,18);">Pr 29:18</a>); 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 Proverbs 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',29,25,26);">Pr 29:25,26</a>). When and how was this sane and wholesome communal fiber developed?<P>1. Under the Kings:<P>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, <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,32,33);">1Ki 4:32,33</a>); 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,1);">Pr 1:1</a>), as well as the headings of sections (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,1);">Pr 10:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,1);">25:1</a>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,\'1-\');">Pr 25-29</a>) 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,\'1-\');">10-29</a>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',22,\'1-\');">2Ki 22</a>), was at best a sequestered thing in the keeping<6E>or neglect<63>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',29,7);">Job 29:7</a>), 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.<P>2. The Concentrative Point:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,1);">Proverbs 25-29</a>); the words "these also" (gam \'elleh) in their heading imply it.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=HEZEKIAH,+THE+MEN+OF">HEZEKIAH, THE MEN OF</a>.<P>I apprehend the order and nature of their work somehow thus: Beginning with the classic nucleus (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,\'1-\');">Pr 10-22:16</a>) (see above, II, 2), which may have come to them in two subsections (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',10,\'1-\');">Proverbs 10-15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',16,\'1-\');">16-22:16</a>), 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',22,\'17-\');">Pr 22:17-24:22</a>), 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',22,\'19-21\');">Pr 22:19-21</a>)<29>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',24,\'23-34\');">Pr 24:23-34</a>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',1,\'1-\');">Proverbs 1-9</a>), which latter, along with the Hezekian appendix (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,\'1-\');">Proverbs 25-29</a>), was added, partly as a new composition, partly as incorporating some additional findings (compare for instance the completion of the poem on the sluggard, <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',6,\'6-11\');">Pr 6:6-11</a>). Thus, by the addition of this introductory section, the Book of Proverbs was recognized as a unity, provided with a preface and initial proposition (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',30,\'1-7\');">1:1-6,7</a>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,\'22-31\');">8:22-31</A>), but it has become aware also of the revelatory value of tushiyah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',2,7);">2:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',3,21);">3:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,14);">8:14</a>), or chastened intuition (see above, III, 3), and dares to aspire, in its righteous teachableness, to the intimacy or secret friendship of Yahweh (codho, <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',3,32);">3:32</a>). All this indicates the holy self-consciousness to which Wisdom has attained.<P>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.<P>3. Its Stage in Progressive Wisdom:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',28,\'23-29\');">Isa 28:23-29</a>, the prophet, whom the perverse rulers have taunted with baby-talk (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',28,9,10);">28:9,10</a>), appeals to them with the characteristic Wisdom call to attention (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',28,23);">28:23</a>), 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\' (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',28,29);">28:29</a>)<29>teaching them thus in their own vaunted idiom. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',6,\'9-15\');">Mic 6:9-15</a>, similarly, calling in tushiyah to corroborate prophecy ("the voice of Yahweh," qol Yahweh, wethushiyah, <a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',6,9);">6:9</a>), 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',28,16);">Isa 28:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',29,15);">29:15</a>); and it is noteworthy that this is the venture of Wisdom urged by the editors of Proverbs in their introductory exhortations (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',22,19);">22:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',3,\'5-8\');">3:5-8</a>). 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<69>that righteousness in the fear of God is wisdom and bound for success, that wickedness is fatuity and bound for destruction<6F>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) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">Psalms 73</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',49,\'1-\');">49</A>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',49,3,4);">Ps 49:3,4</a>), 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.``66';
isbe[7142]='Providence, 1`prov\'-i-dens:<P><b>I. PROVIDENCE DEFINED</b><P><b>II. DIFFERENT SPHERES OF PROVIDENTIAL ACTIVITY DISTINGUISHED</b><P><b>III. BIBLICAL PRESENTATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF PROVIDENCE</b><P class="in15">1. Divine Providence in the Old Testament Scriptures<P class="in30">(1) Providence in the Pentateuch<P class="in30">(2) The Historical Books of the Old Testament<P class="in30">(3) The Psalms<P class="in30">(4) The Wisdom Literature<P class="in30">(5) The Book of Job<P class="in30">(6) The Prophetical Writings<P class="in15">2. Divine Providence in the New Testament<P class="in30">(1) The Synoptic Gospels<P class="in30">(2) The Johannine Writings<P class="in30">(3) The Book of Acts and Other New Testament History<P class="in30">(4) The Pauline Epistles<P class="in30">(5) The Petrine Epistles, and Other New Testament Writings<P class="in15">3. Old Testament and New Testament Doctrines of Providence Compared<P class="in30">(1) The New Emphasis on the Fatherhood and Love of God<P class="in30">(2) The Place of Christ and the Holy Spirit in Providence<P class="in30">(3) The New Emphasis upon Moral and Spiritual Blessings<P><b>IV. DISCUSSION OF THE CONTENTS OF THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE</b><P class="in15">1. Different Views of Providence Compared<P class="in30">(1) The Atheistic or Materialistic View<P class="in30">(2) The Pantheistic View<P class="in30">(3) The Deistic View<P class="in30">(4) The Theistic or Biblical View<P class="in30">(5) The Divine Immanence<P class="in15">2. The Divine Purpose and Final End of Providence<P class="in15">3. Special Providence<P class="in30">(1) Spiritual, Not Material, Good to Man the End Sought in Special Providence<P class="in30">(2) Special Providence and "Accidents"<P class="in30">(3) Special Providence as Related to Piety and Prayer<P class="in30">(4) Special Providence as Related to Human Cooperation<P class="in30">(5) General and Special Providence Both Equally Divine<P class="in15">4. Divine Providence and Human Free Will<P class="in30">(1) Divine Providence as Related to Willing Wills<P class="in30">(2) Divine Providence as Related to Sinful Free Will<P class="in15">5. Divine Providence as Related to Natural and Moral Evil<P class="in15">6. Evil Providentially Overruled for Good<P class="in15">7. Interpreting Providence<P class="in15">8. Conclusion<P><b>LITERATURE</b><hr /><P>I. Providence Defined.<P>The word "provide" (from Latin providere) means etymologically "to foresee." The corresponding Greek word, 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.<P>"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).<P>II. Different Spheres of Providential Activity Distinguished.<P>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. <p>III. Biblical Presentation of the Doctrine of Providence.<P>The word "providence" is used only once in the Scriptures (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',24,2);">Ac 24:2</a>), 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',13,14);">Ro 13:14</a>, 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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PHARISEES">PHARISEES</a>. 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.<P>1. Divine Providence in the Old Testament Scriptures:<P>(1) Providence in the Pentateuch.<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',8,22);">Ex 8:22</a>). The Deuteronomist (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',10,14);">De 10:14</a>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',32,8);">De 32:8</a>).<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',9,7,8);">Ne 9:7,8</a>. Jacob acknowledges the same providential hand in his life (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',31,42);">Ge 31:42</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',48,15);">48:15</a>). The life of Joseph abounds in evidences of a divine providence (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',45,5,7);">Ge 45:5,7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',50,20);">50:20</a>). 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).<P>(2) The Historical Books of the Old Testament.<P>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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ISRAEL,+HISTORY+OF">ISRAEL, HISTORY OF</a>. 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 ever-guiding hand in human history<72>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',9,6,19,20);">Ne 9:6,19,20</a> 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.<P>(3) The Psalms.<P>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<6D>notably such as <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',91,\'1-\');">Psalms 91</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',103,\'1-\');">103</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',104,\'1-\');">104</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',139,\'1-\');">139</a>. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',105,\'1-\');">Ps 105</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',44,\'1-\');">Psalms 44</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',66,\'1-\');">66</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,\'1-\');">78</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',85,\'1-\');">85</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',138,\'1-\');">138</a>. 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',1,6);">1:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',31,19,20);">31:19,20</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',74,12);">74:12</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',84,11);">84:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',91,1);">91:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',125,2);">125:2</A>). This thought finds happiest expression in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',37,23);">Ps 37:23</a> 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.<P>(4) The Wisdom Literature.<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',3,\'21-26\');">Pr 3:21-26</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',16,4);">16:4</a>). Divine providence does not work independently of man\'s free will; providential blessings are conditioned on character and conduct (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',26,10);">Pr 26:10</a> the King James Version; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',2,7,8);">Pr 2:7,8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',12,2,21);">12:2,21</a>). 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',3,6);">3:6</a>); "A man\'s heart deviseth his way, but Yahweh directeth his steps" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',16,9);">16:9</a>) "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of Yahweh" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',16,33);">16:33</A>); "A man\'s goings are of Yahweh" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',20,24);">20:24</A>); "The king\'s heart is in the hand of Yahweh as the watercourses: He turneth it whithersoever he will" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',3,6);">21:1</a>); "The horse is prepared against the day of battle; but victory is of Yahweh" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',21,31);">21:31</a>). See also <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',3,\'21-26\');">3:21-26</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',12,2,21);">12:2,21</a>. 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',3,\'1-11\');">Ec 3:1-11</a>). "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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',3,12,13);">Ec 3:12,13</a>; see also <a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',3,14);">Ec 3:14</a>); "The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',9,1);">Ec 9:1</a>); "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',9,11);">Ec 9:11</a>). 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:<P class="in15">"There\'s a Divinity that shapes our ends,<P class="in15">Rough-hew them how we will."<P>(5) The Book of Job.<P>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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=AFFLICTION">AFFLICTION</a>). 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<6D>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?" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',12,9,10);">Job 12:9,10</a>);" 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',34,13,14);">Job 34:13,14</a> the King James Version).<P>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 ill-spoken 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<75>that is an inspired picture that will make every innocent sufferer who reads it stronger until the end of time.<P>See also <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=JOB,+BOOK+OF">JOB, BOOK OF</a>.<P>(6) The Prophetical Writings.<P>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 Gentile conception 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?" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',4,35);">Da 4:35</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',33,\'13-16\');">Isa 33:13-16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',35,\'8-10\');">35:8-10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',43,2);">43:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',46,4);">46:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',54,\'14-17\');">54:14-17</a>). 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',52,12);">Isa 52:12</a>). Each of the major and minor prophets confirms and re-enforces the teachings of this greatest and most truly representative of all the Old Testament prophets.<P>2. Divine Providence in the New Testament:<P>(1) The Synoptic Gospels.<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',1,22);">Mt 1:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',2,5,15);">2:5,15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',3,3);">3:3</a>). In His private and personal life of service and prayer Christ is a model of filial trust in the providence of the heavenly Father (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',11,25);">Mt 11:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,39);">26:39</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',1,35);">Mr 1:35</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',6,46);">6:46</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',3,21);">Lu 3:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',11,1);">11:1</a>). 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: <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',13,\'24-50\');">Mt 13:24-50</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',4,26);">Mr 4:26</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',14,16);">Lu 14:16</a>ff; also <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',24,\'1\');">Mt 24</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',25,\'1\');">25</A>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,45);">Mt 5:45</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',6,\'26-34\');">6:26-34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',10,\'29-31\');">10:29-31</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',21,\'16-18\');">Lu 21:16-18</a>).<P>(2) The Johannine Writings.<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',1,\'1-5\');">Joh 1:1-5</a>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',14,\'1-20\');">Joh 14:1-20</a>).<P>(3) The Book of Acts and Other New Testament History.<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',17,28);">Ac 17:28</a>). The career of the first distinctive New Testament character begins with these words: "There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',1,6);">Joh 1:6</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',22,21);">Ac 22:21</a>). New Testament biography is a study in providentially guided lives, not omitting references to those who refuse to be so guided<65>for such is the power of human free agency, many who are "sent from God" refuse to go upon their divinely-appointed mission. The Day of Pentecost is the revelation of a new power in history<72>a revelation of the place and power which the divine-human Christ and the Holy Spirit are to have henceforth in making history<72>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.<P>(4) The Pauline Writings.<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',8,28);">Ro 8:28</a> 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',11,36);">Ro 11:36</a>).<P>(5) The Petrine Epistles, and Other New Testament Writings.<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',1,11,12);">1Pe 1:11,12</a>). 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?" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',3,12,13);">1Pe 3:12,13</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jam\',1,5,17,27);">Jas 1:5,17,27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jam\',2,5);">2:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jam\',5,7);">5:7</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',1,1,2);">Heb 1:1,2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',11,\'7-40\');">11:7-40</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',13,20,21);">13:20,21</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Jud\',1,1:5,7,11,14,15,24);">Jude 1:5,7,11,14,15,24</a>).<P>3. Old Testament and New Testament Doctrines of Providence Compared:<P>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.<P>(1) The New Emphasis on the Fatherhood and Love of God.<P>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<73>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.<P>(2) The Place of Christ and the Holy Spirit in Providence.<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',5,17);">Joh 5:17</a>), 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Col\',1,16,17);">Col 1:16,17</a> 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.<P>(3) The New Emphasis upon Moral and Spiritual Blessings.<P>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<72>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.``174';
isbe[7143]='Providence, 2`IV. Discussion of the Contents of the Biblical Doctrine.<P>1. Different Views of Providence Compared:<P>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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=GOD">GOD, I, 4</a>. The last named view can best be understood only when stated in comparison and contrast with these opposing views.<P>(1) The Atheistic or Materialistic View:<P>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.<P>(2) The Pantheistic View:<P>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<6F>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<73>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.<P>(3) The Deistic View:<P>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 prayer-hearing 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.<P>(4) The Theistic or Biblical View:<P>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<6C>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"<22>that is, to the laws of Nature<72>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<61>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."<P>(5) The Divine Immanence.<P>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<72>"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<72>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.<P>2. The Divine Purpose and Final End of Providence:<P>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.<P>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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=CHOICE">CHOICE</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=WILL">WILL</a>. 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<73>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.<P>3. Special Providence:<P>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<72>to the minute details of creaturely existence<63>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',37,23);">Ps 37:23</a>); "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',3,6);">Pr 3:6</a>); "There shall no mischief happen to the righteous" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',12,21);">Pr 12:21</a>); "But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',6,33);">Mt 6:33</a>); "To them that love God all things work together for good" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',8,28);">Ro 8:28</a>). 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;<P>(1) Spiritual, Not Material, Good to Man the End Sought in Special Providence.<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',6,33);">Mt 6:33</a> 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<66>for sometimes a Christian can do more good by sickness or death than by health or continued life<66>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.<P>(2) Special Providence and "Accidents."<P>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<73>yea infinite<74>thought and care for those that love Him, everywhere and in all the experiences of life.<P>(3) Special Providence as Related to Piety and Prayer.<P>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:<P class="in15">"Make you His service your delight;<P class="in15">Your wants shall be His care."<P>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"<22>and the proof of love is not in one\'s profession, but in his obedience and service.<P>(4) Special Providence as Related to Human Cooperation.<P>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.<P>(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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',37,23);">Ps 37:23</a> 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.<P>4. Divine Providence and Human Free Will:<P>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?" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',4,35);">Da 4:35</a>). 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<6C>willing wills and opposing wills.<P>(1) Divine Providence as Related to Willing Wills.<P>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 divinely-produced 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<75>and here is the crucial point<6E>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<6C>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.<P>(2) Divine Providence as Related to Sinful Free Will.<P>But God\'s providence encounters opposing as well as willing wills. Not every unconverted man, however, represents an equally antagonistic will<6C>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<75>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',18,\'1-\');">Jer 18</a>). 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.<P>5. Divine Providence as Related to Natural and Moral Evil:<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',9,2,3);">Joh 9:2,3</a> King James Version). Human suffering is for man\'s spiritual good and for the divine glory, as shown in working good out of evil<69>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',119,67,71);">Ps 119:67,71</a>); "Every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',15,2);">Joh 15:2</a>). 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.<P>6. Evil Providentially Over-ruled for Good:<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',50,20);">Ge 50:20</a>); "The things which happened unto me," said Paul, "have fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',1,12);">Php 1:12</a>). 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<6B>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',3,8);">Ro 3:8</a>); 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<6F>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',45,7);">Isa 45:7</a>).<p>7. Interpreting Providence:<P>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<69>the loss of property, the terrible spell of sickness, and the like<6B>things that, at the time, he would not interpret as providential<61>are among the best things that were ever sent upon him, in that they made him holier and more useful (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',13,7);">Joh 13:7</a>):<P class="in15">"Blind unbelief is sure to err,<P class="in15">And scan His work in vain;<P class="in15">God is His own interpreter<P class="in15">And He will make it plain."<P>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<65>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.<P>8. Conclusion:<P>We conclude, then, that there is, according to the Scriptures, an ever-watchful providence exercised by the heavenly Father over His faithful and loving children, which is ceaselessly working to secure their ever-increasing 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ti\',2,19);">2Ti 2:19</a> 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"<22>when the poet\'s vision shall be realized of:<P class="in15">"That God who ever lives and loves;<P class="in15">One God, one law, one element,<P class="in15">And one far-off Divine event,<P class="in15">To which the whole creation moves."<P>LITERATURE.<P>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.``174';
isbe[7144]='Province`prov\'-ins (medhinah, "jurisdiction"; eparchia (English Versions of the Bible, province) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',23,34);">Ac 23:34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',25,1);">25:1</a>)):<P>1. Meaning of the Term<P>2. Roman Provincial Administration<P class="in15">(1) First Period<P class="in15">(2) Second Period<P class="in15">(3) Third Period<P>3. Division of Provinces<P>4. Province of Judea<P>5. Revenue<P>LITERATURE<hr /><P>1. Meaning of the Term:<P>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.<P>2. Roman Provincial Administration:<P>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:<P class="in15">(1) from 227 BC to Sulla,<P class="in15">(2) from Sulla to Augustus, and<P class="in15">(3) the Empire.<P>(1) First Period.<P>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.<P>(2) Second Period.<P>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 ex-magistrates. Julius Caesar increased the praetors to sixteen, but Augustus reduced them to twelve.<P>(3) Third Period.<P>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 ex-praetors. The financial administration of each imperial province was entrusted to a procurator, that of each senatorial province to a quaestor.<P>3. Division of Provinces:<P>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:<P>(1) Coloniae:<P>Roman or Latin colonies established after the model of the Italian commonwealths.<P>(2) Civitates Foederatae:<P>Communities whose independence had been guaranteed by a formal treaty with Rome.<P>(3) Civitates Liberae:<P>Communities whose independence the Romans respected, although not bound to do so by a formal obligation.<P>(4) Civitates Stipendiariae:<P>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.<P>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.<P>4. Province of Judea:<P>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 6 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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PROCURATOR">PROCURATOR</a>) who resided at Caesarea (Josephus, BJ, II, xv, 6; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',23,23,33);">Ac 23:23,33</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',25,1);">25:1</a>) in the palace of Herod the Great (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',23,\'1-35\');">Ac 23:1-35</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',25,11);">Ac 25:11</a>). 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.<P>5. Revenue:<P>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.<P>LITERATURE.<P>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.``3';
isbe[7145]='Provocation; Provoke`prov-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 ka\'ac (noun, ka\'ac), in the sense of "to make angry" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',4,25);">De 4:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',9,18);">9:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',14,9,15);">1Ki 14:9,15</a>, etc.); sometimes of marah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',3,8);">Isa 3:8</a>), and of other words. In the New Testament we have parazeloo, "to make jealous" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',10,19);">Ro 10:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',11,11,14);">11:11,14</a>); parorgizo, "to make angry" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',6,4);">Eph 6:4</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Col\',3,21);">Col 3:21</a>); with parapikraino, "to embitter" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',3,16);">Heb 3:16</a>; compare in 1Es 6:15), and other Greek words. "Provocation" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',3,8,15);">Heb 3:8,15</a> (quoting <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',95,8);">Ps 95:8</a>) is parapikrasmos, the Septuagint for the Hebrew meribhah. An example of the good sense of the word is in <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',10,24);">Heb 10:24</a>, "Consider one another to provoke (literally, "to the provoking," here paroxusmos) unto love and good works."<P>For "provoke" the Revised Version (British and American) has "despise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',14,11);">Nu 14:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',31,20);">31:20</a>), "rebel against" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,40);">Ps 78:40</a>); for "provoked," "despised" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',14,23);">Nu 14:23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',16,30);">16:30</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',1,4);">Isa 1:4</a>), "moved" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',32,16);">De 32:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',21,1);">1Ch 21:1</a>), "rebelled against" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,56);">Ps 78:56</a>), "were rebellious" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',106,33,43);">106:33,43</A>); for "provoking" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,17);">Ps 78:17</a>), "to rebel against"; for "provoked" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',9,2);">2Co 9:2</a>), "stirred up"; "provoked within" for "stirred in" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',17,16);">Ac 17:16</a>); "provoked" for "limited" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,41);">Ps 78:41</a> margin, "limited"); "provoketh" for "emboldeneth" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',16,3);">Job 16:3</a>); instead of "Provoke not your children to anger" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Col\',3,21);">Col 3:21</a>), "Provoke not your children."``185';
isbe[7146]='Prudence; Prudent`proo\'-dens, proo\'-dent: In the Old Testament "prudence" is the translation of \'ormah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,12);">Pr 8:12</a>); also in the King James Version of sekhel (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',2,12);">2Ch 2:12</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "discretion"); and "prudent" is the translation of \'arum, "subtle" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',12,16,23);">Pr 12:16,23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',13,16);">13:16</a>, etc.; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',3,1);">Ge 3:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',5,12);">Job 5:12</a>), and of bin (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',16,18);">1Sa 16:18</a>, the Revised Version margin "skillful"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',16,21);">Pr 16:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',18,15);">18:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',5,21);">Isa 5:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',10,13);">10:13</a>, the American Standard Revised Version "understanding," etc.), with other words. In the New Testament "prudence" occurs once as the translation of phronesis (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',1,8);">Eph 1:8</a>); "prudent" is in the King James Version the translation of sunetos, changed in the Revised Version (British and American) to "understanding" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',11,25);">Mt 11:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',13,7);">Ac 13:7</a>); in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',1,19);">1Co 1:19</a>, 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.``185';
isbe[7147]='Pruning-Hook`proon\'-ing-hook.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=HOOK">HOOK</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=VINE">VINE</a>`1';
isbe[7148]='Psalms, Book of, 1`samz, (tehillim, "praises," cepher tehillim, "book of praises"; Psalmoi, Psalterion):<P><b>I. INTRODUCTORY TOPICS</b><P class="in15">1. Title<P class="in15">2. Place in the Canon<P class="in15">3. Number of Psalms<P class="in15">4. Titles in the Hebrew Text<P><b>II. AUTHORSHIP AND AGE OF THE PSALMS</b><P class="in15">1. David as a Psalmist<P class="in15">2. Psalmody after David<P><b>III. GROWTH OF THE PSALTER</b><P class="in15">1. Division into Five Books<P class="in15">2. Smaller Groups of Psalms<P><b>IV. POETRY OF THE PSALTER</b><P><b>V. THE SPEAKER IN THE PSALMS</b><P><b>VI. THE GOSPEL IN THE PSALTER</b><P class="in15">1. The Soul\'s Converse with God<P class="in15">2. The Messiah<P class="in15">3. Problem of Sin<P class="in15">4. Wrestling with Doubts<P class="in15">5. Out of the Depths<P class="in15">6. Ethical Ideals<P class="in15">7. Praying against the Wicked<P class="in15">8. The Future Life<P><b>LITERATURE</b><hr /><P>I. Introductory Topics.<P>1. Title:<P>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<73>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.<P>2. Place in the Canon:<P>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.<P>3. Number of Psalms:<P>According to the Hebrew text, followed by modern VSS, there are 150 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',9,\'1-\');">Psalms 9</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',10,\'1-\');">10</A>, and also <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',114,\'1-\');">114</A> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',115,\'1-\');">115</a>, into a single psalm. On the other hand, they divide <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',116,\'1-\');">Psalms 116</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',147,\'1-\');">147</A> 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.<P>The existing division in the Hebrew text has been called in question at various points. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,\'1-\');">Psalms 42</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',43,\'1-\');">43</a> are almost certainly one poem (see refrain in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,5,11);">42:5,11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',43,5);">43:5</a>); and it is probable that <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',9,\'1-\');">Psalms 9</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',10,\'1-\');">10</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',19,\'1-6\');">Ps 19:1-6</a>,<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',19,\'7-14\');">7-14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',24,\'1-6\');">24:1-6</a>,<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',24,\'7-10\');">7-10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',27,\'1-6\');">27:1-6</a>,<a onCkklick="return mV(\'Psa\',27,\'7-14\');">7-14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',36,\'1-4\');">36:1-4</a>,<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',36,\'5-12\');">5-12</a>. It is evident that such combinations of two different poems into one may have taken place, for we have an example in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',108,1);">Ps 108</a>, which is composed of portions of two other psalms (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',57,\'7-11\');">57:7-11</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',60,\'5-12\');">60:5-12</A>).<P>4. Titles in the Hebrew Text:<P>(1) Value of the Superscriptions.<P>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? (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',7,\'1-\');">Psalms 7</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',34,\'1-\');">34</A>). 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 pre-exilic 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.<P>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."<P>(2) Thirtle\'s Theory.<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hab\',3,1);">Hab 3</a>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',38,\'9-20\');">Isa 38:9-20</a>) seems to support Thirtle\'s thesis, the superscription stating the authorship and the occasion that gave birth to the psalm, while <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',38,20);">Isa 38:20</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',55,\'1-\');">Ps 55</a>, "The dove of the distant terebinths," becomes a pictorial title of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',55,6,7,8);">55:6-8</A> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',88,1);">Ps 88</a>. The superscription of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',88,1);">Ps 88</a>, on Thirtle\'s hypothesis, becomes "Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite." <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',87,1);">Ps 87</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',87,7);">87:7</a> speaks of both singing and dancing. The tone of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',87,\'1-\');">Ps 87</a> is exceedingly cheerful; but <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',88,\'1-\');">Ps 88</a> is the saddest in the entire Psalter. The application of Thirtle\'s hypothesis also leaves <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',88,\'1-\');">Ps 88</a> with a consistent literary title, whereas the usual title ascribes the psalm first to the sons of Korah and then to Heman the Ezrahite.<P>(3) Meaning of the Hebrew Titles.<P>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:<P>(a) \'Ayeleth ha-Shachar (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',22,\'1-\);">Ps 22</a>) 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.<P>(b) \'Alamoth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',46,\'1-\');">Ps 46</a>) means "maidens." The common view is that the psalm was to be sung by soprano voices. Some speak of a female choir and compare <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',15,20);">1Ch 15:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',68,11,24);">Ps 68:11,24</a>f. According to Thirtle, the title is a subscript to <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',45,\'1-\');">Ps 45</a>, which describes the marriage of a princess, a function at which it would be quite appropriate to have a female choir.<P>(c) \'Al-tashcheth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',57,\'1-\');">Psalms 57-59</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',75,\'1-\');">75</a>) means "destroy not;" and is quite suitable as a subscript to <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',56,\'1-\');">Psalms 56-58</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',74,\'1-\');">74</A> (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',9,26);">De 9:26</a>). Many think this the first word of a vintage song (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',65,8);">Isa 65:8</a>).<P>(d) Ascents, Songs of" (Psalms 120-184): the Revised Version (British and American) translates the title to 15 psalms "A Song of Ascents," where the King James Version has "A Song 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',122,4);">Ps 122:4</a>). <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',121,\'1-\');">Psalms 121</a>, <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',122,\'1-\');">122</a>, <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',123,\'1-\');">123</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',125,\'1-\');">125</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',127,\'1-\');">127</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',128,\'1-\');">128</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',132,\'1-\');">132</a>, <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',133,\'1-\');">133</a>, <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',134,\'1-\');">134</a> are well suited for use on such occasions (see, however, Expository Times, XII, 62).<P>(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.<P>(f) "Dedication of the House" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',30,\'1-\');">Ps 30</a>): 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',39,\'1-\');">Ps 39</a> was used on any one of these widely separated occasions, that fact might account for the insertion of the caption, "a So at the Dedication of the House."<P>(g) "Degrees": see "Ascents" above.<P>(h) Gittith (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',8,\'1-\');">Psalms 8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',81,\'1-\');">81</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',84,\'1-\');">84</a>) 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',7,\'1-\');">Psalms 7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',80,\'1-\');">80</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',83,\'1-\');">83</a> with the Feast of Tabernacles.<P>(i) Higgayon: This word is not strictly a title, but occurs in connection with Celah in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',9,16);">Ps 9:16</a>. the Revised Version (British and American) translates the word in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',92,3);">Ps 92:3</a>, "a solemn sound," and in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',19,14);">Ps 19:14</a>, "meditation." It is probably a musical note equivalent to largo.<P>(j) Yedhuthun: In the title of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',39,1);">Ps 39</a>, Jeduthun might well be identical with the Chief Musician. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',62,\'1-\');">Psalms 62</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',77,\'1-\');">77</a> the Revised Version (British and American) renders "after the manner of Jeduthun." We know from <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',16,41);">1Ch 16:41</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',25,3);">25:3</a> that <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=JEDUTHUN">JEDUTHUN</a> (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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',56,\'1-\');">Ps 56</a>): We have already called attention to the fact that as a subscript to <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',55,\'1-\');">Ps 55</a> "the dove of the distant terebinths," or "the silent dove of them that are afar off," would have a point of contact with <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',55,\'6-8\');">Ps 55:6-8</a>.<P>(l) Machalath (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',53,\'1-\');">Ps 53</a>), Machalath le\'annoth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',88,\'1-\');">Ps 88</a>): Perhaps Thirtle\'s vocalization of the Hebrew consonants as mecholoth, "dancings," is correct. As a subscript to <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',87,\'1-\');">Ps 87</a>; mecholoth may refer to David\'s joy at the bringing of the ark to Zion (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',6,14,15);">2Sa 6:14,15</a>).<P>(m) Maskil (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',32,\'1-\');">Psalms 32</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,\'1-\');">42-45</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',52,\'1-\');">52-55</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',74,\'1-\');">74</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,\'1-\');">78</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',88,\'1-\');">88</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',89,\'1-\');">89</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',142,\'1-\');">142</a>): 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.<P>(n) Mikhtam (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',16,\'1-\');">Psalms 16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',56,\'1-\');">56-60</a>): Following the rabbinical guess, some translate "a golden poem." The exact meaning is unknown.<P>(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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',9,\'1-\');">Ps 9</a> (or <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',8,\'1-\');">8</a>) was to be sung. Thirtle translates "The Death of the Champion," and regards it as a subscription to <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',8,\'1-\');">Ps 8</a>, in celebration of the victory over Goliath.<P>(p) On "Neghinoth<74>occurs 6 times (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',4,\'1-\');">Psalms 4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',6,\'1-\');">6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',54,\'1-\');">54</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',55,\'1-\');">55</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',67,\'1-\');">67</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',76,\'1-\');">76</a>), and means "with stringed instruments." Neghinath (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',61,\'1-\');">Ps 61</a>) 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',3,\'1-\');">Psalms 3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',5,\'1-\');">5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',53,\'1-\');">53</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',54,\'1-\');">54</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',60,\'1-\');">60</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',66,\'1-\');">66</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',75,\'1-\');">75</a>.<P>(q) Nechiloth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',5,\'1-\');">Ps 5</a>), possibly a subscript to <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',4,\'1-\');">Ps 4</a>, is supposed by some to refer to "wind instruments," possibly flutes.<P>(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.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SELAH">SELAH</a>.<P>(s) Sheminith (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',6,\'1-\');">Psalms 6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',12,\'1-\');">12</a>), meaning "the eighth," probably denotes the male choir, as distinguished from \'Alamoth, the maidens\' choir. That both terms are musical notes is evident from <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',15,\'19-21\');">1Ch 15:19-21</a>.<P>(t) Shiggayon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',7,\'1-\');">Ps 7</a>) is probably a musical note. Some think it denotes "a dithyrambic poem in wild ecstatic wandering rhythms, with corresponding music."<P>(u) Shoshannim (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',45,\'1-\');">Psalms 45</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',69,\'1-\');">69</a>) means "lilies." Shoshannim \'edhuth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',80,\'1-\');">Ps 80</a>) means "lilies, a testimony." Shushah \'edhuth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',60,\'1-\');">Ps 60</a>) may be rendered "the lily of testimony." Thirtle represents these titles as subscripts to <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',44,\'1-\');">Psalms 44</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',59,\'1-\');">59</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',68,\'1-\');">68</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',79,\'1-\');">79</a>, and associates them with the spring festival, Passover. Others regard them as indicating the melody to which the various psalms were to be sung.<P>(v) "Song of Loves" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',45,\'1-\');">Ps 45</a>) is appropriate as a literary title to a marriage song.<P>(4) Testimony of the Titles as to Authorship.<P>(a) <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',90,\'1-\');">Ps 90</a> is ascribed to Moses.<P>(b) To David 73 psalms are ascribed, chiefly in Books I and II.<P>(c) Two are assigned to Solomon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',72,\'1-\');">Psalms 72</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',127,\'1-\');">127</a>).<P>(d) 12 are ascribed to Asaph (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',50,\'1-\');">Psalms 50</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">73-83</a>).<P>(e) 11 are assigned to the sons of Korah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,\'1-\');">Psalms 42-49</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',84,\'1-\');">84</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',85,\'1-\');">85</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',87,\'1-\');">87</a>).<P>(f) <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',88,\'1-\');">Ps 88</a> is attributed to Heman the Ezrahite.<P>(g) <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',89,\'1-\');">Ps 89</a> bears the name of Ethan the Ezrahire.<P>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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',72,\'1-\');">Ps 72</a> may also be a prayer for Solomon rather than a psalm <i>by</i> 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.<P>(5) Titles Describing the Occasion of Writing.<P>There are 13 of these, all bearing the name of David. (a) <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',7,\'1-\');">Psalms 7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',59,\'1-\');">59</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',56,\'1-\');">56</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',34,\'1-\');">34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',52,\'1-\');">52</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',57,\'1-\');">57</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',142,\'1-\');">142</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',54,\'1-\');">54</a> are assigned to the period of his persecution by Saul. (b) During the period of his reign over all Israel, David is credited with <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',18,\'1-\');">Psalms 18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',60,\'1-\');">60</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',51,\'1-\');">51</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',3,\'1-\');">3</a>; and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',63,\'1-\');">63</a>.<P>II. Authorship and Age of the Psalms.<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',90,\'1-\');">Ps 90</a> is ascribed to Moses. It is the fashion now to deny that Moses wrote anything. A careful study of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',90,\'1-\');">Ps 90</a> 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.<P>1. David as a Psalmist:<P>(1) The Age of David Offered Fruitful Soil for the Growth of Religious Poetry.<P>(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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',10,5);">1Sa 10:5</a>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',6,\'1-\');">2Sa 6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',15,\'1-\');">1Ch 15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',16,\'1-\');">16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',25,\'1-\');">25</a>).<P>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).<P>(2) David\'s Qualifications for Composing Psalms<P>(a) He was a skillful musician, with a sense of rhythm and an ear for pleasing sounds (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',16,\'15-23\');">1Sa 16:15-23</a>). He seems to have invented new instruments of music (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',6,5);">Am 6:5</a>). (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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',1,\'19-27\');">2Sa 1:19-27</a>) is commonly accepted; also his lament over Abner (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',3,33);">2Sa 3:33</a>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.<P>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.<P>(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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',30,6);">1Sa 30:6</a>). 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.<P>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, 343f).<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',16,13);">1Sa 16:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',23,\'1-3\');">2Sa 23:1-3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',22,43);">Mt 22:43</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',2,\'29-31\');">Ac 2:29-31</a>). The gift of prophetic inspiration was bestowed upon Israel\'s chief musician and poet.<P>(3) External Evidence for Davidic Psalms<P>(a) In the New Testament David is named as the author of certain psalms. Thus <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',110,\'1-\');">Ps 110</a> is ascribed to David by Jesus in His debate with the Pharisees in the Temple (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',22,\'41-45\');">Mt 22:41-45</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',12,\'35-37\');">Mr 12:35-37</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',20,\'41-44\');">Lu 20:41-44</a>). Peter teaches that David prophesied concerning Judas (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',1,16);">Ac 1:16</a>), and he also refers <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',16,\'1-\');">Psalms 16</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',110,\'1-\');">110</a> to David (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',2,\'25-34\');">Ac 2:25-34</a>). The whole company of the disciples in prayer attribute <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',2,\'1-\');">Ps 2</a> to David (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',4,25);">Ac 4:25</a>f). Paul quotes <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',32,\'1-\');">Psalms 32</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',69,\'1-\');">69</a> as Davidic (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',4,\'6-8\');">Ro 4:6-8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',11,9);">11:9</a>f). The author of He even refers <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',95,\'1-\');">Ps 95</a> to David, following the Septuagint (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',4,7);">Heb 4:7</a>). 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.<P>(b) In 2Macc 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 2Maccabees, 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.<P>(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 47:8f 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.<P>(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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',15,\'1-\');">1Ch 15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',16,\'1-\');">16</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',29,30);">2Ch 29:30</a> 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',3,10);">Ezr 3:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',12,24,36);">Ne 12:24,36</a>). The author of the Book of Kings refers repeatedly to David as a model king (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',11,4);">1Ki 11:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',14,3);">2Ki 14:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',20,5);">20:5</a>f; etc.). He becomes a witness for the high reputation of David for uprightness and religious zeal.<P>(e) Amos refers incidentally to David\'s great skill as an inventor of musical instruments (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',6,5);">Am 6:5</a>). The same prophet is a witness to the fact that songs were sung in worship at Bethel to the accompaniment of harps or viols (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',5,23);">Am 5:23</a>).<P>(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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',16,\'13-23\');">1Sa 16:13-23</a>). He is credited with the beautiful elegy oyer Saul and Jonathan (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',1,\'17-27\');">2Sa 1:17-27</a>) and the brief lament over Abner (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',3,33);">2Sa 3:33</a>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',6,12);">2Sa 6:12</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',7,1);">2Sa 7</a>). David dedicated to Yahweh much wealth taken from his enemies. (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',8,11);">2Sa 8:11</a>). Both the good and the bad in David\'s life and character are faithfully set forth in the vivid narrative.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',21,1);">2Sa 21-24</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',21,\'1-\');">2Sa 21-24</a> 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',22,\'1-\');">2Sa 22</a> 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',18,\'1-\');">Ps 18</a> is evidently a different recension of the same poem. The differences between <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',22,\'1-\');">2Sa 22</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',18,\'1-\');">Ps 18</a> 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',23,\'1-7\');">2Sa 23:1-7</a> 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 73 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.<P>(4) Internal Evidence for Davidic Psalms<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',18,\'1-\');">Psalms 18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',23,\'1-\');">23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',32,\'1-\');">32</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',3,\'1-\');">3</a>.<P>(5) Number of Davidic Psalms<P>Opinion varies among conservative scholars all the way from 3 or 4 to 44 or 45. It has come to pass that a critic who acknowledges even <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',18,\'1-\');">Ps 18</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',7,\'1-\');">Psalms 7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',11,\'1-\');">11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',17,\'1-\');">17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',18,\'1-\');">18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',19,\'1-\');">19</a> (first half), <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',24,\'1-\');">24</A> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',3,\'1-\');">Psalms 3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',4,\'1-\');">4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',7,\'1-\');">7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',8,\'1-\');">8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',11,\'1-\');">11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',18,\'1-\');">18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',19,\'1-\');">19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',24,\'1-\');">24</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',29,\'1-\');">29</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',32,\'1-\');">32</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',101,\'1-\');">101</a>; also <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',60,\'8-11\');">60:8-11</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',68,\'14-19\');">68:14-19</a>. Hitzig ascribed to David <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',3,\'1-\');">Psalms 3-19</a>, with the exception of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',5,\'1-\');">Pss 5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',6,\'1-\');">6</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',14,\'1-\');">14</A>. 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.``156';
isbe[7149]='Psalms, Book of, 2`2. Psalmody after David:<P>(1) Psalms of Asaph (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">Psalms 73-83</a>, also <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',50,\'1-\');">50</A>).<P>The prophetic spirit throbs in most of the psalms ascribed to <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ASAPH">ASAPH</a> (which see). God is pictured as a righteous Judge. He is also pictured as the Shepherd of Israel. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">Ps 73</a> holds fast to God\'s righteous rule of mankind, in spite of the prosperity of the wicked. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',50,\'1-\');">Ps 50</a>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',74,\'1-\');">74</A> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',79,\'1-\');">79</A>, belong to the period of the exile or later. The family of Asaph continued for centuries to lead in the service of song (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',35,15);">2Ch 35:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',7,44);">Ne 7:44</a>). Inspired poets were raised up from age to age in the Asaph guild.<P>(2) Psalms of the Sons of Korah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,\'1-\');">Psalms 42-49</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',84,\'1-\');">84</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',85,\'1-\');">85</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',87,\'1-\');">87</a>).<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,\'1-\');">Psalms 42</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',43,\'1-\');">43</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',45,\'1-\');">45</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',46,\'1-\');">46</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',49,\'1-\');">49</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',84,\'1-\');">84</a>). 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<P>(3) Psalms of Solomon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',72,\'1-\');">Psalms 72</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',127,\'1-\');">127</a>).<P>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."<P>(4) The Era of Jehoshaphat.<P>Delitzsch and others regard the period of Jehoshaphat as one of literary productivity. Possibly <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',75,\'1-\');">Psalms 75</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',76,\'1-\');">76</A> celebrate the deliverance from the great eastern invasion toward the close of Jehoshaphat\'s reign.<P>(5) The Era of Hezekiah.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',46,\'1-\');">Psalms 46</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',48,\'1-\');">48</a>.<P>(6) The Period of Jeremiah.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',31,\'1-\');">Psalms 31</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',35,\'1-\');">35</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',38,\'1-\');">38</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',40,\'1-\');">40</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',55,\'1-\');">55</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',69,\'1-\');">69</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',71,\'1-\');">71</a>. Those who deny the Davidic authorship of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',22,\'1-\');">Ps 22</a> 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.<P>(7) During the Exile.<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',102,\'1-\');">Ps 102</a> 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',137,\'1-\');">Ps 137</a> 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<P>As specimens of the joyous hymns composed after the return from exile, we may name <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',85,\'1-\');">Psalms 85</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',126,\'1-\');">126</A>. 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.<P>(9) Are There Maccabean Psalms?<P>Calvin, assigned <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',44,\'1-\');">Psalms 44</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',74,\'1-\');">74</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',79,\'1-\');">79</A> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">73</A> to <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',150,\'1-\');">150</A>, 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. <p>III. Growth of the Psalter.<P>1. Division into Five Books:<P>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, <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',1,\'1-\');">Psalms 1-41</a>; Book II, <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,\'1-\');">Psalms 42-72</a>; Book III, <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">Psalms 73-89</a>; Book IV, <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',90,\'1-\');">Psalms 90-106</a>; Book V, <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',107,\'1-\');">Psalms 107-150</a>. It is possible that this division into five books may have been already made before the Chronicler composed his history of Judah (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',16,36);">1Ch 16:36</a> with <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',106,48);">Ps 106:48</a>). At the end of Book II appears a subscript which is significant in the history of the Psalter. It is said in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',72,20);">Ps 72:20</a>: "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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',51,\'1-\');">Psalms 51-70</a>, however, lie near at hand, all of which are attributed to David. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',71,\'1-\');">Ps 71</a> is anonymous, and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',72,\'1-\');">Ps 72</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">Psalms 73-83</a>. With these removed, it would be possible to unite <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',51,\'1-\');">Psalms 51-70</a> with Book I. Then the subscript to <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',72,\'1-\');">Ps 72</a> 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.<P>2. Smaller Groups of Psalms:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',120,\'1-\');">Psalms 120-134</a>), the Asaph group (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">Psalms 73-83</a>), the sons of Korah groups (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,\'1-\');">Psalms 42-49</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',84,\'1-\');">84-87</a>, except <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',86,\'1-\');">86</A>), a Mikhtam group (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',56,\'1-\');">Psalms 56-60</a>), a group praising Yahweh for His character and deeds (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',93,\'1-\');">Psalms 93-100</a>), to which <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',90,\'1-\');">Psalms 90-92</a> form a fitting introduction. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',103,\'1-\');">Psalms 103-107</a> constitute another group of praise psalms, and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',145,\'1-\');">Psalms 145-150</a> make a closing Hallelujah group.<P>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.<P>IV. Poetry of the Psalter.<P>For general discussion of the form of Hebrew poetry, see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=POETRY">POETRY</a>. 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.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=POETRY,+HEBREW">POETRY, HEBREW</a>.<P>Nine psalms are known as alphabetical poems, namely, <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',9,\'1-\');">Psalms 9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',10,\'1-\');">10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',25,\'1-\');">25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',34,\'1-\');">34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',37,\'1-\');">37</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',111,\'1-\');">111</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',112,\'1-\');">112</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',119,\'1-\');">119</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',145,\'1-\');">145</a>. The most elaborate of these is <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',119,\'1-\');">Ps 119</a>, 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.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,\'1-\');">Psalms 42</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',43,\'1-\');">43</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',46,\'1-\');">46</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',107,\'1-\');">107</a>. 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',20,\'1-\');">Psalms 20</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',21,\'1-\');">21</a> were sung by responsive choirs. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',24,\'1-\');">Psalms 24</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',118,\'1-\');">118</A> may each be antiphonal.<P>V. The Speaker in the Psalms.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',3,\'1-\');">Psalms 3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',4,\'1-\');">4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',62,\'1-\');">62</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">73</A>, 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.<P>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 100 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.<P>Personification is largely used in all parts of the Old Testament. There is no room for doubt that <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',129,\'1-\');">Ps 129</a>, though using "I," "my" and "me," is the language of Israel as a people. The same is true of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',124,\'1-\');">Ps 124</a>. The author of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',126,\'1-\');">Ps 126</a> likewise associates himself with his brethren. The author of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',122,\'1-\');">Ps 122</a>, however, is evidently speaking for himself individually, when he says in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',122,8);">122:8</A>, "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.<P>VI. The Gospel in the Psalms<P>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.<P>1. The Soul\'s Converse with God:<P>(1) The Psalmists Are Always Reverent in Their Approach to Deity.<P>Yahweh is infinitely holy (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',99,3,5,9);">Ps 99:3,5,9</a>). <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',95,\'1-\');">Psalms 95-100</a> are models of adoration and worship.<P>(2) Thirsting for God.<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,\'1-\');">Psalms 42</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',43,\'1-\');">43</A>, 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',63,\'1-\');">Ps 63</a> is a worthy companion psalm of yearning after God.<P>(3) Praising God.<P>More than 20 psalms have for their keynote praise to God. See especially <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',8,1,9);">Ps 8:1,9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',57,\'7-11\');">57:7-11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',71,\'22-24\');">71:22-24</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',95,\'1-7\');">95:1-7</a>. The first three verses of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',33,\'1-\');">Psalms 33</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',34,\'1-\');">34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',40,\'1-\');">40</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',92,\'1-\');">92</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',105,\'1-\');">105</A> reveal a rich vocabulary of praise for stammering human lips.<P>(4) Joy in God\'s house.<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',84,\'1-\');">Psalms 84</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',122,\'1-\');">122</A> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',137,5);">Ps 137:5</a>f.<P>(5) Practicing the Presence of God.<P>In <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',91,\'1-\');">Psalms 91</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',23,\'1-\');">23</A> 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.<P>(6) God in Nature.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',104,\'1-\');">Ps 104</a>, "Hymn of Creation"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',29,\'1-\');">Ps 29</a>, "Yahweh, the God of the storm"; and the first half of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',19,\'1-\');">Ps 19</a>, "the heavens are telling."<P>(7) Love for God\'s word.<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',119,\'1-\');">Ps 119</a> is the classic description of the beauty and power and helpfulness of the Word of God. The second half of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',19,\'1-\');">Ps 19</a> is also a gem. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',119,\'1-\');">Ps 119</a> 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.<P>(8) God\'s Care of All Things.<P>Faith in Divine Providence<63>both general and special<61>was a cardinal doctrine with the psalmists; yea more, the very heart of their religion. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',65,\'1-\');">Ps 65</a> 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',121,\'1-\');">Ps 121</a>, "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.<P>(9) God Our Refuge.<P>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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',46,\'1-\');">Psalms 46</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',61,\'1-\');">61</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',62,\'1-\');">62</A> 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.<P>Our Lord Jesus found in the Psalms prophecies concerning Himself (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',24,\'44-47\');">Lu 24:44-47</a>).<P>2. The Messiah:<P>(1) The Suffering Saviour.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',22,\'1-\');">Ps 22</a>, and breathed out His spirit at the end with the trustful words of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',31,5);">Ps 31:5</a>. He also invited the fulfillment of a Messianic prediction in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',69,21);">Ps 69:21</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',52,13);">Isa 52:13-53:12</a> surpasses <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',22,\'1-\');">Ps 22</a> as a picture of Calvary and an interpretation of the significance of the cross. Whether <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',22,\'1-\');">Ps 22</a> 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.<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',1,\'10-12\');">1Pe 1:10-12</a>). 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.<P>(2) The Conquering King.<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',2,\'1-\');">Psalms 2</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',110,\'1-\');">110</A> (with which <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',72,\'1-\');">Ps 72</a> 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."<P>(3) The Growing Kingdom.<P>There is room in the earth for no god other than Yahweh, the Creator and Redeemer of mankind. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',47,\'1-\');">Psalms 47</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',67,\'1-\');">67</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',96,\'1-\');">96-100</A> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',117,\'1-\');">117</A> are proofs of the glorious missionary outlook of the Psalter. All nations are exhorted to forsake idols and worship Yahweh. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',47,\'1-\');">Ps 47</a> closes with a picture of the whole world united in the worship of the God of Israel. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',67,\'1-\');">Ps 67</a> is a bugle call to all nations to unite in the worship of the true God. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',96,\'1-\');">Psalms 96-100</a> paint the character of Yahweh as a basis of appeal to all nations to turn from idols and worship the God of Abraham. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',96,\'1-\');">Psalms 96</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',98,\'1-\');">98</A> exalt His righteousness; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',97,\'1-\');">Ps 97</a> His power and dominion; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',99,\'1-\');">Ps 99</a> His holiness and His fidelity to Israel, while <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',100,\'1-\');">Ps 100</a> tells of His goodness. Idols will finally go down before a God worthy of men\'s reverence and love.<P>3. Problem of Sin:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',6,\'1-\');">6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',32,\'1-\');">32</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',38,\'1-\');">38</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',51,\'1-\');">51</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',102,\'1-\');">102</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',130,\'1-\');">130</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',143,\'1-\');">143</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',7,\'3-9\');">7:3-9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',17,\'1-5\');">17:1-5</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',18,\'20-24\');">18:20-24</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',35,\'11-17\');">35:11-17</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',44,\'17-22\');">44:17-22</A>). 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.<P>(1) Confessing Sin.<P>(a) Individual confession: <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',32,\'1-\');">Psalms 32</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',51,\'1-\');">51</A> are notable examples of individual confession. The cries of the penitent in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',51,\'1-\');">Ps 51</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,\'1-\');">78</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',95,\'1-\');">95</A> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',106,\'1-\');">106</A>). <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',105,\'1-\');">Ps 105</a> celebrates the praises of Yahweh for His unfailing kindness to Israel; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',106,\'1-\');">Ps 106</a> tells the tale of Israel\'s repeated rebellion.<P>(2) Seeking Forgiveness.<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',51,\'1-\');">Ps 51</a> 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.<P>(3) Conquering Sin.<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',130,\'1-\');">Psalms 130</a> 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',139,23);">139:23</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',19,13);">19:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',119,133);">119:133</a>). The author of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',84,\'1-\');">Ps 84</a> truthfully depicts the life of Yahweh\'s worshippers, "They go from strength to strength." Victory over sin is sure in the end.<P>4. Wrestling with Doubts:<P>The ancient Hebrew seems to have had no temptation to atheism or pantheism. The author of Ecclesiastes felt the pull of agnosticism and materialism (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',3,\'19-21\');">Ec 3:19-21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',9,\'2-10\');">9:2-10</a>), but in the end he rejected both (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',12,7,13);">12:7,13</a>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',37,\'1-\');">Ps 37</a>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">Ps 73</a>, 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.<P>5. Out of the Depths:<P>(1) Out of the depths of persecution and slander the author of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',31,\'1-\');">Ps 31</a> 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."<P>(2) <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',77,\'1-\');">Ps 77</a> 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."<P>(3) The author of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',116,\'1-\');">Ps 116</a> 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.<P>(4) <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',88,\'1-\');">Ps 88</a> 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.<P>(5) Out of the depths of disaster and defeat the authors of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',60,\'1-\');">Psalms 60</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',74,\'1-\');">74</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',79,\'1-\');">79</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',89,\'1-\');">89</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',60,\'1-\');">Ps 60</a> closes with hope and confidence (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',60,12);">60:12</A>).<P>6. Ethical Ideals:<P>"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."<P>(1) What Sort of Man, Then, Would the Psalms Acclaim as Good?<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',1,\'1-\');">Ps 1</a> opens with a vivid contrast between the righteous and the wicked. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',15,\'1-\');">Ps 15</a> 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',131,\'1-\');">Ps 131</a> makes humility a prime quality in real goodness. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',133,\'1-\');">Ps 133</a> 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',24,4);">Ps 24:4</a> is a compend of ethics in a single sentence.<P>(2) The Ethics of Speech.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',12,\'1-\');">Psalms 12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',52,\'1-\');">52</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',120,\'1-\');">120</A>).<P>(3) Ministering to the Needy.<P>Bible readers are familiar with the ideal of the good man in <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',29,\'12-16\');">Job 29:12-16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',31,\'13-22\');">31:13-22</a>. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',82,\'1-\');">Ps 82</a> 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',41,\'1-\');">Ps 41</a> 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',72,2,12,13,14);">Ps 72:2,12-14</a>).<P>7. Praying against the Wicked:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',35,\'1-\');">Psalms 35</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',69,\'1-\');">69</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',109,\'1-\');">109</a>. Maclaren\'s words are well worth reading as an introduction to <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',109,\'1-\');">Ps 109</a>: "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:<P>(1) We ought to study the psalms of imprecation in the light of their origin. They are poetry and not prose; and De 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',139,21);">Ps 139:21</a>f). Thus the psalmists pray with God\'s glory in view.<P>(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.<P>8. The Future Life:<P>"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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',6,5);">Ps 6:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',30,9);">30:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',39,13);">39:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',115,17);">115:17</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',16,\'1-\');">Ps 16</a> refreshes himself (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',16,\'8-11\');">16:8-11</a>). The vision of God\'s face after the sleep of death is better than worldly prosperity (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',17,\'13-15\');">17:13-15</A>). The author of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">Ps 73</a> wins rest for his distressed mind in the assurance of a fellowship with God that cannot be broken (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'23-26\');">73:23-26</A>). God will finally take the singer to Himself. It has been well said that <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',49,\'1-\');">Ps 49</a> 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.<P>LITERATURE.<P>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.``156';
isbe[7150]='Psalms, Imprecatory`im\'-pre-ka-to-ri, im-pre-ka\'-ter-i.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PSALMS">PSALMS</a>`1';
isbe[7151]='Psalter, (Psalms), of Solomon`sol\'-ter.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=APOCALYPTIC+LITERATURE">APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=BETWEEN+THE+TESTAMENTS">BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS</a>`1';
isbe[7152]='Psaltery`sol\'-ter-i.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=MUSIC">MUSIC</a>`1';
isbe[7153]='Psaltiel`sol\'-ti-el: Syriac and the Revised Version margin = "Phaltiel" of 2Esdras 5:16.``1';
isbe[7154]='Pseudo-Matthew, Gospel of`su\'-do-math\'-u.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=APOCRYPHAL+GOSPELS">APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS</a>`1';
isbe[7155]='Psychology`si-kol\'-o-ji:<P>1. Introduction: Scope of Biblical Psychology<P>2. Nature and Origin of the Soul<P>3. False Theories<P>4. Creationism and Traducianism<P>5. Trichotomy<P>6. Scriptural Terms<P>7. Pauline Expressions<P>8. Monism and Other Theories<P>9. The Fall of Man<P>10. Effects of the Fall<P>11. Death as a Problem<P>12. Immortality of the Soul<P>LITERATURE<hr /><P>1. Introduction: Scope of Biblical Psychology:<P>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).<P>2. Nature and Origin of the Soul:<P>As to the origin of the soul, Scripture is silent. It states very clearly that life was inbreathed into man by God (wayyippah; Septuagint 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',2,7);">Ge 2:7</a>). 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',33,4);">Job 33:4</a>). 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<61>though it is very rarely, if ever, attributed to animals; man is described as a being \'in whose nostrils is but a breath\' (neshamah) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',2,22);">Isa 2:22</a>). That "breath" is \'God\'s breath in man\' (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',32,8);">Job 32:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',34,14);">34:14</a>), or, as it is represented in <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',20,27);">Pr 20:27</a>, "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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',15,45);">1Co 15:45</a>). This too agrees with what Christ has said: "It is the spirit, that giveth life (quickeneth)" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',6,63);">Joh 6:63</a>), and with what Paul himself has stated elsewhere in the Epistle to the Romans (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',8,2);">8:2</a>): "The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death."<P>3. False Theories:<P>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<75>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.<P>"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<6C>destined by the Fates to inhabit new bodies on earth<74>drink of the waters of Lethe (forgetfulness), so as to remove all remembrance of the joys of Elysium:<P>"The souls that throng the flood,<P>Are those to whom by Fate are other bodies owed;<P>In Lethe\'s lake they long oblivion taste<P>Of future life secure, forgetful of the past."<P>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, De Kabbala).<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',1,5);">Jer 1:5</a>, 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).<P>4. Creationism and Traducianism:<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',33,15);">Ps 33:15</a> the King James Version); Yahweh "formeth the spirit of man within him" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',12,1);">Zec 12:1</a>); "The spirit returneth unto God who gave it" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',12,7);">Ec 12:7</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',16,22);">Nu 16:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',12,9);">Heb 12:9</a>); "God, the God of the spirits of all flesh" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',27,16);">Nu 27:16</a>)<29>of which Delitzsch declared: "There can hardly be a more classical proof-text for creationism" (Bibl. Psych., 137).<P>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<6E>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<6D>in boys on the 40th day after pregnancy and in girls on the 80th day. This indeed is the reductio ad absurdum of Creationism.<P>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<63>a light, however, which is little more than "darkness visible"<22>creando infundit eas Deus, et infundendo creat ("in creating God infused (the soul); and in infusing He creates"). The problem is and remains insoluble.<P>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<65>"a palpable obscure" without the light of day.<P>5. Trichotomy:<P>The next important question which has occupied many minds is equally difficult of solution<6F>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.<P>For the tripartite division of human nature two texts are specially brought into the discussion: namely, <a onClick="return mV(\'1Th\',5,23);">1Th 5:23</a>, "May your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame"<22>a text which is popularly interpreted as conveying that "soul" stands for "our powers natural<61>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<72>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)<29>and this must be carefully borne in mind<6E>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."<P>The next text to which an appeal is made is <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',4,12);">Heb 4:12</a>: "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.<P>The ground is now cleared for a fuller investigation of the meaning of these terms:<P>6. Scriptural Terms:<P>(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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',4,23);">Pr 4:23</a>). Dying is represented as the surrender of soul (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,18);">Ge 35:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',11,20);">Job 11:20</a>), but also of spirit (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',31,5);">Ps 31:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',146,4);">146:4</a>). The dead are called souls (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',6,9);">Re 6:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',20,4);">20:4</a>), and also spirits (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',12,23);">Heb 12:23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',3,19);">1Pe 3:19</a>). In the last mentioned text the "spirits in prison" are also called "souls." The living are described as "disturbed" or "grieved" in soul (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',10,16);">Jud 10:16</a>), "vexed" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',16,16);">Jud 16:16</a>), "discouraged" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',21,4);">Nu 21:4</a>), "weary" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',11,8);">Zec 11:8</a>); but also as in "anguish of spirit" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',6,9);">Ex 6:9</a>), "impatient in spirit" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',21,4);">Job 21:4</a>, in the Hebrew), \'straitened in spirit\' (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',2,7);">Mic 2:7</a>). At death the "spirit" departs (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',146,4);">Ps 146:4</a>, in the Hebrew), but also the "soul" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,18);">Ge 35:18</a>). As in the Old Testament so in the New Testament, our Lord "sighed" or "was troubled in the spirit" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',13,21);">Joh 13:21</a>)?, but we also read that His soul was "exceeding sorrowful," or troubled (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,38);">Mt 26:38</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',12,27);">Joh 12:27</a>).<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SPIRIT">SPIRIT</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SOUL">SOUL</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=HEART">HEART</a>. (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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',1,46,47);">Lu 1:46,47</a>), 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\' (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,38,41);">Mt 26:38,41</a>). In the Old Testament we find that when a man dies his "soul" departs, and when he is restored to life his "soul" returns (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',17,22);">1Ki 17:22</a>); but when consciousness or lifepower returns to one not dead, "spirit" is used (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',45,27);">Ge 45:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',15,19);">Jud 15:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',30,12);">1Sa 30:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',10,5);">1Ki 10:5</a>). Even in popular language the distinction is recognized: we speak of so many "souls," not "spirits," as having perished.<P>(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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',10,8);">Job 10:8</a>), 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) (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',12,18);">1Co 12:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',4,7);">2Co 4:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',5,1);">5:1</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',10,28);">Mt 10:28</a>); body without spirit is a corpse (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jam\',2,26);">Jas 2:26</a>); soul and spirit are interchangeably united: "Stand fast in one spirit, with one soul striving," etc. (<a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',1,27);">Php 1:27</a>).<P>(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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',27,3);">Job 27:3</a>); "Thou takest away their breath (ruach, "spirit"], they die, and return to their dust" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',104,29);">Ps 104:29</a>). Hence, God is called "God of the spirits of all flesh" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',16,22);">Nu 16:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',27,16);">27:16</a>). 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).<P>(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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',1,27);">Php 1:27</a>).<P>7. Pauline Expressions:<P>He exhorts them to be "of the same mind" (sumpsuchoi, <a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',2,2);">Php 2:2</a>); he hopes to be "of good comfort" (eupsucho, <a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',2,19);">Php 2:19</a>); he knows of \'no man likeminded, (isopsuchon), who (would) care truly for (their) state (<a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',2,20);">Php 2:20</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',33,4);">33:4</a>), "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<75>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<6E>the suffering, acting, thinking, reasoning, dying creature, "whose breath is in his nostrils." Christ gave His \'soul\' (psuche) for His sheep (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',10,11);">Joh 10:11</a>). On the cross He Himself exclaimed: "Into thy hands I commend my spirit" (pneuma) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',23,46);">Lu 23:46</a>). Spirit may therefore indicate the all-embracing power, guiding the inward and the outward life<66>principium illud internum ex quo fluunt actiones, is Bengel\'s comment on <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',2,2);">Eph 2:2</a> (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',9,55);">Lu 9:55</a> the King James Version; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',4,36);">Lu 4:36</a>). Hence, by an easy gradation it may stand for the abysmal depths of personality; while "soul" would express man\'s individuality in general.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SOUL">SOUL</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SPIRIT">SPIRIT</a>.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',15,45);">1Co 15:45</a><3E>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."<P>8. Monism and Other Theories:<P>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<74>pre-established harmony, whereby<P>"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting,"<P>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<6E>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<72>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.<P>9. The Fall of Man:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',11,11,12);">Ro 11:11,12</a>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',5,12);">Ro 5:12</a>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',6,7);">Ho 6:7</a> 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',31,33);">Job 31:33</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',28,13,15);">Eze 28:13,15</a>. In the New Testament, however, the references are much more frequent, especially in the writings of John and of Paul (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',8,44);">Joh 8:44</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Jo\',3,8);">1Joh 3:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',11,3);">2Co 11:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',2,14);">1Ti 2:14</a>). The strong parallelism between Adam and Christ in <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',5,\'12-21\');">Ro 5:12-21</a>, the obedience of the one bringing freedom, while that of the other brought woe, and the contrast in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',15,22);">1Co 15:22</a> between Adam and Christ throw sufficient light on the question at issue.<P>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 low-browed 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 semi-animal, 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).<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=FALL,+THE">FALL, THE</a>.<P>10. Effects of the Fall:<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',2,17);">Ge 2:17</a>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',12,1);">Ro 12:1</a>). 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.<P>11. Death as a Problem:<P>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."<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DEATH">DEATH</a>.<P>12. Immortality of the Soul:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,\'1-\');">Ps 73</a>). 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\' (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',19,25);">Job 19:25</a>). 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?" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',13,14);">Ho 13:14</a>). Reference may also be made to the words of Isaiah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',26,19);">26:19</a>): "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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',12,2,3);">12:2,3</a>): "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," <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',17,15);">Ps 17:15</a>); 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',16,10,11);">Ps 16:10,11</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',5,1);">2Co 5:1</a>); and that is but the necessary corollary to Christ\'s great utterance: "I AM THE RESURRECTION, AND THE LIFE" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',11,25);">Joh 11:25</a>).<P>LITERATURE.<P>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.``113';
isbe[7156]='Ptolemais`tol-e-ma\'-is (Ptolemais): Same as "Acco" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',1,31);">Jud 1:31</a>. Ptolemais was the most prominent town on the Phoenician seacoast in Maccabean times (1Macc 5:15,55; 10:1,58,60; 12:48), and is once mentioned in the New Testament in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',21,7);">Ac 21:7</a> as a seaport at which Paul landed for one day, visiting the "brethren" in the place.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ACCO">ACCO</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PHOENICIA">PHOENICIA</a>`1';
isbe[7157]='Ptolemy`tol\'-e-mi (Ptolemaios, but usually called Ptolemy<6D>"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:<P>(1) Ptolemy I, surnamed Soter, (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 (1Macc 1:6ff). 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<67>hence, the title "Savior." In 285 BC Ptolemy abdicated in favor of his youngest son Philadelphus<75>the son of his favorite wife Berenice<63>and died in 283 BC. According to the usual interpretation this Philadelphus is "the king of the south" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',11,5);">Da 11:5</a>. This Ptolemy shares with his son and successor the honor of rounding the famous Alexandrian Museum and Library.<P>(2) Ptolemy II, surnamed Philadelphus (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 sister-wife), 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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SEPTUAGINT">SEPTUAGINT</a>). 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',11,6);">Da 11:6</a>, whose daughter "shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement."<P>(3) Ptolemy III, surnamed Euergetes (Euergetes, "Benefactor"), son of Philadelphus, whom he succeeded in 247 BC. In 246 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 (1Macc 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',11,\'7-9\');">Da 11:7-9</a>), <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',11,8);">Da 11:8</a> referring to the act by which he won his title.<P>(4) Ptolemy IV, surnamed Philopator (Philopator, "Lover of his father"), or Tryphon (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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',11,\'10-12\');">Da 11:10-12</a> refers to the reign of Philopator. He was most probably the oppressor of 3Macc.<P>(5) Ptolemy V, surnamed Epiphanes (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). <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',11,\'14-17\');">Da 11:14-17</a> is to be interpreted as referring to the relations between Ptolemy V and Antiochus III, "the Great."<P>(6) Ptolemy VI, surnamed Philometor (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 queen-regent, 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 (1Macc 1:18; 10:51ff; 2Macc 1:10; 4:21). <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',11,\'25-30\');">Da 11:25-30</a> 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, 1f), 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.<P>(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.)<P>(8) Ptolemy VII (VIII), surnamed Euergetes (II) and called also Physcon (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 3Maccabees 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).<P>The other Ptolemies of Egypt require no mention here.<P>The following are the apocryphal Ptolemies:<P class="in15">(1) Ptolemy Macron. See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=MACRON">MACRON</a>.<P class="in15">(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 (1Macc 16:15).<P class="in15">(3) Ptolemy, the father of Lysimachus (Apocrypha) (<span class="noTag">Additions to Esther 11:1</span>).<P class="in15">(4) Ptolemy, son of a Dositheus; he and his father were bearers of the "epistle of Phrurai" (<span class="noTag">Additions to Esther 11:1</span>).<P>LITERATURE.<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',11,1);">Da 11</a>).``5';
isbe[7158]='Puah; Puvah`pu\'-a, pu\'-va: (1) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',1,\'15-20\');">Ex 1:15-20</a>). In the Midrash, Ex Rabba\', Puah is identified with Miriam, and Shiphrah, the other midwife, with her mother Jochebed. According to another tradition Puah was a proselyte.<P>(2) pu\'ah, in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',7,1);">1Ch 7:1</a>; puwwah, in <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',46,13);">Ge 46:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',26,23);">Nu 26:23</a>; 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.<P>(3) pu\'ah: Member of the tribe of Issachar, mentioned (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',10,1);">Jud 10:1</a>) as the son of Dodo and the father of Tola, the judge.``80';
isbe[7159]='Publican`pub\'-li-kan.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=TAX,+TAXING">TAX, TAXING</a>`1';
isbe[7160]='Publius`pub\'-li-us (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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',28,7);">Ac 28:7</a>, was an official one, and has been found on an inscription from the island of Gaulus near Malta (compare Bockh, Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, <span class="noTag">number 5</span>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',28,7);">Ac 28:7</a> 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 "Ac of Paul" (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=APOCRYPHAL+ACTS">APOCRYPHAL ACTS</a>, sec. 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',28,8);">Ac 28:8</a>). 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.``88';
isbe[7160]='Publius`pub\'-li-us (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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',28,7);">Ac 28:7</a>, was an official one, and has been found on an inscription from the island of Gaulus near Malta (compare Bockh, Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, <span class="noTag">number 5</span>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',28,7);">Ac 28:7</a> 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 "Ac of Paul" (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=APOCRYPHAL+ACTS">APOCRYPHAL ACTS</a>, sec. 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',28,8);">Ac 28:8</a>). 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.``88';
isbe[7161]='Pudens`pu\'-denz, pu\'-dens (Poudes, literally, "bashful" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ti\',4,21);">2Ti 4:21</a>)):<P>1. Faithful to Paul:<P>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.<P>2. Pudens and Claudia:<P>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.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=CLAUDIA">CLAUDIA</a> and Code of Hammurabi (St. P), chapter xxvii.<P>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.<P>Pudens is not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament.``155';
isbe[7162]='Puhites`pu\'-hits (puthi).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PUTHITES">PUTHITES</a>`1';
isbe[7163]='Pul`pul:<P>(1) An Assyrian king (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',15,19);">2Ki 15:19</a>).<P>(2) An African country and people (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',66,19);">Isa 66:19</a>).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=TIGLATH+PILESER">TIGLATH-PILESER</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PUT">PUT</a>`1';
isbe[7164]='Pulpit`pool\'-pit: <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',8,4);">Ne 8:4</a>, "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<63>here a scaffolding or platform (bema, 1Esdras 9:42). "Tower" (so the Revised Version margin) gives an entirely wrong picture.``1';
isbe[7165]='Pulse`puls (zero\'-im (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',1,12);">Da 1:12</a> margin, "herbs"), zere\'onim (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',1,16);">Da 1:16</a>); compare zerua\', "sowing seed" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',11,37);">Le 11:37</a>), and zeru\'im, "things sown" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',61,11);">Isa 61:11</a>)):<P>(1) In <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',1,12,16);">Da 1:12,16</a>, it must mean herbs or vegetables grown from seeds; a vegetable diet is what is implied.<P>(2) In <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',17,28);">2Sa 17:28</a>, "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.``1';
isbe[7166]='Punishment, Everlasting`pun\'-ish-ment:<P><b>I. PRELIMINARY ASSUMPTIONS</b><P class="in15">1. Survival after Death<P class="in15">2. Retribution for Sin<P class="in15">3. Conscious Suffering in Future<P><b>II. SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT</b><P class="in15">1. Old Testament and Jewish Conceptions<P class="in15">2. New Testament Teaching<P class="in30">(1) "Eternal"<P class="in30">(2) Equivalent Expressions<P class="in30">(3) The Last Judgment<P class="in15">3. Teaching of Analogy<P><b>III. DIFFICULTIES AND OBJECTIONS<4E>RIVAL HYPOTHESES</b><P class="in15">1. Universal Salvation<P class="in15">2. Annihilation<P class="in15">3. Second Probation<P><b>IV. NATURE, CONDITIONS AND ISSUES</b><P class="in15">1. Mystery of the Future<P class="in15">2. Nature of Punishment<P class="in15">3. Range of Divine Mercy<P class="in15">4. Gradation of Punishment<P class="in15">5. God "All in All"<P><b>LITERATURE</b><hr /><P>I. Preliminary Assumptions.<P>(For "everlasting," where used in the King James Version as the rendering of 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.<P>1. Survival after Death:<P>Whatever view may be taken of the development of the doctrine of immortality in the Old Testament (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ESCHATOLOGY+OF+THE+OLD+TESTAMENT">ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT</a>), 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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=IMMORTALITY">IMMORTALITY</a>). Two passages only need be referred to in proof: one, Christ\'s saying in <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',10,28);">Mt 10:28</a>: "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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',16,\'19-31\');">Lu 16:19-31</a>: 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.<P>2. Retribution for Sin:<P>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: <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',3,10,11);">Isa 3:10,11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',11,22,24);">Mt 11:22,24</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',12,41,42);">12:41,42</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',2,5,12);">Ro 2:5,12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',5,10);">2Co 5:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gal\',6,7,8);">Ga 6:7,8</a>, etc.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=RETRIBUTION">RETRIBUTION</a>.<P>3. Conscious Suffering in Future:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',2,5,12);">Ro 2:5,12</a>). 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.<P>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.<P>II. Scriptural Support.<P>The doctrine that the punishment of sin is everlasting is sustained by many plain testimonies of Scripture.<P>1. Old Testament and Jewish Conceptions:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',49,14,15);">Ps 49:14,15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',73,18,19);">73:18,19</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',24,21,22);">Isa 24:21,22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',66,24);">66:24</a>), 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',12,2);">Da 12:2</a>, 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).<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ESCHATOLOGY+OF+THE+OLD+TESTAMENT">ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT</a>. <p>2. New Testament Teaching:<P>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.<P>(1) "Eternal."<P>The word "eternal" (aionios) is repeatedly applied to the punishment of sin, or to the fire which is its symbol. A principal example is <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',25,41,46);">Mt 25:41,46</a>, "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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',18,8);">Mt 18:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jud\',1,7);">Jude 1:7</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',14,11);">Re 14:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',19,3);">19:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',20,10);">20:10</a>. In <a onClick="return mV(\'2Th\',1,9);">2Th 1:9</a>, we have, "eternal destruction." The kindred word aidios, "everlasting," is in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jud\',1,6);">Jude 1:6</a> applied to the punishment of the fallen angels.<P>The reply made by Maurice (Theological Essays, 442ff) 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, 96ff; Farrar, Eternal Hope, Pref., xxxiv, pp. 78ff, 197ff; 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',10,28,29);">Joh 10:28,29</a> for express assertion of this). When, therefore, the term is applied in the same context to punishment and to life (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',25,46);">Mt 25:46</a>), and no hint is given anywhere of limitation, the only reasonable exegesis is to take the word in its full sense of "eternal."<P>(2) Equivalent Expressions.<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',3,12);">Mt 3:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',9,\'43-48\');">Mr 9:43-48</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',13,42,50);">Mt 13:42,50</a>), 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',3,36);">Joh 3:36</a>; the opposite of "life" is "perishing," <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',3,16);">3:16</A>); or that in <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',22,11);">Re 22:11</a>, "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<67>"the outer darkness" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',8,12);">Mt 8:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',22,13);">22:13</a>); "The door was shut...I know you not" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',25,10,12);">Mt 25:10,12</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',7,23;">7:23</A>), as in those of the Epistles (e.g. <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',2,3);">Heb 2:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',6,6,8);">6:6,8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',10,27,31);">10:27,31</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',12,25,29);">12:25,29</a>). 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',12,32);">Mt 12:32</a>; 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',3,29);">Mr 3:29</a>). The Rich Man in Hades found an impassable gulf fixed between himself and Lazarus (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',16,26);">Lu 16:26</a>). See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=GULF">GULF</a>. 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."<P>(3) The Last Judgment.<P>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<66>"the things done in the body" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',25,\'31-46\');">Mt 25:31-46</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',5,10);">2Co 5:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',20,12);">Re 20:12</a>); 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.<P>3. Teaching of Analogy:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',6,2);">2Co 6:2</a>), 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',9,27);">Heb 9:27</a>). 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.<P>III. Difficulties and Objections<6E>Rival Hypotheses.<P>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<6F>the countless generations of the heathen, with the masses even in Christian lands who have not received or do not obey the light<68>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.<P>1. Universal Salvation:<P>The most comprehensive solution propounded is that of universal salvation<6F>of a final restitution of all souls to God\'s favor and to blessedness. This tempting speculation<6F>for it is no more<72>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<65>and who shall give assurance of its smallness?<3F>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"<22>the same that Christ calls the palingenesia<69>but, in the same breath, we are told of those who will not hearken, and will be destroyed (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',19,28);">Mt 19:28</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',3,21,23);">Ac 3:21,23</a>). We read of Christ drawing all men unto Him (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',12,32);">Joh 12:32</a>); but we are not less clearly told that at His coming Christ will pronounce on some a tremendous condemnation (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',7,23);">Mt 7:23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',25,41);">25:41</a>); 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',15,21,28);">1Co 15:21,28</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',1,10);">Eph 1:10</a>; 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.<P>2. Annihilation:<P>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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=IMMORTALITY">IMMORTALITY</a>). 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.<P>3. Second Probation:<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',3,19,20);">1Pe 3:19,20</a>); 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.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ESCHATOLOGY+OF+THE+NEW+TESTAMENT">ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT</a>, sec. X.<P>IV. Nature, Conditions and Issues.<P>1. Mystery of the Future:<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',13,23,24);">Lu 13:23,24</a>). 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.<P>2. Nature of Punishment:<P>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<72>"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<76>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.<P>3. Range of Divine Mercy:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',3,36);">Joh 3:36</a>)<29>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<68>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.<P>4. Gradation of Punishment:<P>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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',12,47,48);">Lu 12:47,48</a>); those for whom it will be "more tolerable" than for others in the day of judgment (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',11,20,24);">Mt 11:20,24</a>). Even "Sodom and her daughters" will be mercifully dealt with in comparison with others (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',16,48,49,53,55,61);">Eze 16:48,49,53,55,61</a>). 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.<P>5. God "All in All":<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',1,10);">Eph 1:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',2,\'9-11\');">Php 2:9-11</a>; above all, <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',15,\'24-28\');">1Co 15:24-28</a>. 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.<P>LITERATURE.<P>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.``132';
isbe[7167]='Punishments`pun\'-ish-ments (\'awon, "fault," "iniquity," "punishment for iniquity," "sin" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',4,13);">Ge 4:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',26,41);">Le 26:41</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',19,29);">Job 19:29</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',149,7);">Ps 149:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lam\',4,22);">La 4:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',14,10);">Eze 14:10</a> margin; <a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',1,3,6,9,11,13);">Am 1:3,6,9,11,13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',2,1,4,6);">2:1,4,6</a>), \'onesh, "tribute," "fine," "punishment" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lam\',3,39);">La 3:39</a>), chata\'ah, or chatta\'th, "sin" and its retribution, "penalty," "expiation" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',14,19);">Zec 14:19</a>); kolasis, "punishment," "torment" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',25,46);">Mt 25:46</a>), epitimia, "poll tax," hence, "penalty" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',2,6);">2Co 2:6</a>), timoria, "vindication," hence, "penalty" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',10,29);">Heb 10:29</a>), ekdikesis, "vindication," "retribution" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',2,14);">1Pe 2:14</a> the King James Version)): A court could inflict for a crime against the person, a sentence of<P class="in15">(1) death in the form of stoning, burning, beheading, or strangling, etc.;<P class="in15">(2) exile to one of the cities of refuge in case of manslaughter (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',35,\'1-\');">Nu 35</a>); or<P class="in15">(3) stripes, not to exceed 40, in practice 39 or less (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',25,3);">De 25:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',11,24);">2Co 11:24</a>).<P>Offences against property (theft, fraudulent conversion of deposit, embezzlement, robbery) were punished by exacting more than the value of the things taken (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',19,8);">Lu 19:8</a>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',22,2);">Ex 22:2</a>). A fine in the modern sense is unknown in the Scriptures, unless <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',5,\'6-19\');">Le 5:6-19</a> be interpreted as referring to such.<P>1. History of the Hebrew Law concerning Punishment:<P>The earliest theory of punishment seems to have been that of retaliation<6F>"blood for blood"<22>and to some extent this principle appears even in the Law of Moses (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',21,19,20);">Le 21:19,20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,38);">Mt 5:38</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',4,24);">Ge 4:24</a>) 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',42,21);">Ge 42:21</a>). Judah, as head of his family, seems to have had power of life and death (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',38,24);">Ge 38:24</a>), and Abimelech threatens his people with the extreme punishment in case they injure or insult Isaac or his wife (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',26,11);">Ge 26:11</a>). Similar power is ascribed to Pharaoh (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',41,13);">Ge 41:13</a>).<P>2. The Mosaic Law concerning Punishment:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',21,12,14,23,28,36);">Ex 21:12,14,23,28,36</a> parallel). But punishment under the Mosaic Law was not to be entailed or transmitted (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',24,16);">De 24:16</a>), as was the case among the Chaldeans (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',6,24);">Da 6:24</a>) and the kings of Israel (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',21,1);">1Ki 21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',9,26);">2Ki 9:26</a>).<P>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.<P>Under the Mosaic Law, the offenses that made one liable to the punishment of death were:<P class="in15">(1) striking or reviling a parent (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',21,15,17);">Ex 21:15,17</a>);<P class="in15">(2) blasphemy (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',24,14,16,23);">Le 24:14,16,23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',21,10);">1Ki 21:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,65,66);">Mt 26:65,66</a>);<P class="in15">(3) Sabbath-breaking (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',31,14);">Ex 31:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',35,2);">35:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',15,\'32-36\');">Nu 15:32-36</a>);<P class="in15">(4) witchcraft and false pretension to prophecy (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',22,18);">Ex 22:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,27);">Le 20:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',13,5);">De 13:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',18,20);">18:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',28,9);">1Sa 28:9</a>);<P class="in15">(5) adultery (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,10);">Le 20:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',22,22);">De 22:22</a>);<P class="in15">(6) unchastity:<P class="in30">(a) before marriage, but detected afterward (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',22,21);">De 22:21</a>),<P class="in30">(b) in case of a woman with someone other than her betrothed (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',22,23);">De 22:23</a>),<P class="in30">(c) in a priest\'s daughter (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',21,9);">Le 21:9</a>);<P class="in15">(7) rape (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',22,25);">De 22:25</a>);<P class="in15">(8) incestuous and unnatural connections (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',22,19);">Ex 22:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,11,14,16);">Le 20:11,14,16</a>);<P class="in15">(9) man-stealing (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',21,16);">Ex 21:16</a>);<P class="in15">(10) idolatry, actual or virtual, in any form (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,2);">Le 20:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',13,6);">De 13:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',17,\'2-7\');">17:2-7</a>);<P class="in15">(11) false witness in capital cases (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',19,16,19);">De 19:16,19</a>).<P>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:<P class="in15">(1) breach of morals, such as willful sin in general (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',15,30,31);">Nu 15:30,31</a>); incestuous or unclean connections (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',18,29);">Le 18:29</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',29,\'9-21\');">29:9-21</A>);<P class="in15">(2) breach of covenant, brought about through uncircumcision (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',17,14);">Ge 17:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',4,24);">Ex 4:24</a>), neglect of Passover (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',9,13);">Nu 9:13</a>), Sabbath-breaking (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',31,14);">Ex 31:14</a>), neglect of Atonement Day (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',23,29);">Le 23:29</a>), work done on the Atonement Day (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',23,30);">Le 23:30</a>), children offered to Molech (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,3);">Le 20:3</a>), witchcraft (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,6);">Le 20:6</a>), anointing an alien with holy oil (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',30,33);">Ex 30:33</a>);<P class="in15">(3) breach of ritual, committed by eating leavened bread during Passover (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',12,15,19);">Ex 12:15,19</a>), eating fat of sacrifices (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',7,25);">Le 7:25</a>), eating blood (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',7,27);">Le 7:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',17,14);">17:14</a>), eating sacrifices while unclean (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',7,20,21);">Le 7:20,21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',22,3,4,9);">22:3,4,9</a>), offering too late (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',19,8);">Le 19:8</a>), making holy ointment for private use (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',30,32,33);">Ex 30:32,33</a>), making perfume for private use (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',30,38);">Ex 30:38</a>), general neglect of purification (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',19,13,20);">Nu 19:13,20</a>), not bringing offering after slaying a beast for food (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',17,9);">Le 17:9</a>), slaying the animal at a place other than the tabernacle door (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',17,4);">Le 17:4</a>), touching holy things illegally (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',4,15,18,20);">Nu 4:15,18,20</a>).<P>Of capital punishments that are properly regarded as of Hebrew origin, we note:<P class="in15">(1) Stoning<P class="in15">Stoning, which was the ordinary mode of execution (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',19,13);">Ex 19:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,27);">Le 20:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',7,25);">Jos 7:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',20,6);">Lu 20:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',7,58);">Ac 7:58</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',14,5);">14:5</a>). The witnesses, of whom there were at least two, were required to cast the first stone (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',13,9);">De 13:9</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',8,7);">Joh 8:7</a>). If these failed to cause death, the bystanders proceeded to complete the sentence, whereupon the body was to be suspended until sunset (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',21,23);">De 21:23</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(2) Hanging<P class="in15">Hanging is mentioned (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',25,4);">Nu 25:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',21,22);">De 21:22</a>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',21,6,9);">2Sa 21:6,9</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(3) Burning<P class="in15">Burning, before the age of Moses, was the punishment of unchastity (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',38,24);">Ge 38:24</a>). The Law prescribes it as a punishment in the case of a priest\'s daughter (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',21,9);">Le 21:9</a>), and in case of incest (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,14);">Le 20:14</a>), but it is also mentioned as following death by other means (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',7,25);">Jos 7:25</a>), 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',3,\'1-\');">Da 3</a>.<br><br><P class="in15">(4) The Sword or Spear<P class="in15">The sword or spear as an instrument of punishment is named in the Law (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',19,13);">Ex 19:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',32,27);">32:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',25,7);">Nu 25:7</a>). It occurs frequently in monarchic and post-Bab times (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',9,5);">Jud 9:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',15,33);">1Sa 15:33</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',20,22);">2Sa 20:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',19,1);">1Ki 19:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',26,23);">Jer 26:23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',14,8,10);">Mt 14:8,10</a>), but among these cases, there are some of assassination rather than of punishment.<br><br><P class="in15">(5) Strangling<P class="in15">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.<P>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:<P class="in15">(1) crucifixion (which see);<P class="in15">(2) drowning (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',18,6);">Mt 18:6</a> parallel);<P class="in15">(3) sawing asunder or crushing (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',12,31);">2Sa 12:31</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',11,37);">Heb 11:37</a>);<P class="in15">(4) torturing (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',20,3);">1Ch 20:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',11,35);">Heb 11:35</a>);<P class="in15">(5) precipitation (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',25,12);">2Ch 25:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',4,29);">Lu 4:29</a>);<P class="in15">(6) suffocation (2Macc 13:4-8).<P>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).<P>See also <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=HEROD">HEROD, II, 100</a>.<P>Secondary forms of punishment not heretofore mentioned are to be noted as follows:<P class="in15">(1) Blinding or Putting Out of Eyes<P class="in15">Blinding or putting out of eyes in the case of captives (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',16,21);">Jud 16:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',11,2);">1Sa 11:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',25,7);">2Ki 25:7</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(2) Chaining<P class="in15">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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',16,21);">Jud 16:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',3,34);">2Sa 3:34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',25,7);">2Ki 25:7</a>); also alluded to in the life of Paul (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',28,20);">Ac 28:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',6,20);">Eph 6:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ti\',1,16);">2Ti 1:16</a>); and in the case of Peter (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',12,6);">Ac 12:6</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(3) Confiscation of Property<P class="in15">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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',21,2);">Nu 21:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',6,17);">Jos 6:17</a>; or had been reserved for the use of the army (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',2,35);">De 2:35</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',20,14);">20:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',22,8);">Jos 22:8</a>); or given over to the priesthood (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',6,19);">Jos 6:19</a>). The term may be extended to include all things vowed or sanctified and those irrevocably devoted or consecrated to God (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',27,21,28);">Le 27:21,28</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',7,26);">De 7:26</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',15,\'16-23\');">1Sa 15:16-23</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(4) Dashing in Pieces (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',2,9);">Psalms 2:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',13,18);">Isaiah 13:18</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(5) Divine Visitation.<P class="in15">See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=VISITATION">VISITATION</a>.<br><br><P class="in15">(6) Exposure to Wild Beasts (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',26,22);">Leviticus 26:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',17,46);">1 Samuel 17:46</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',6,\'1-\');">Daniel 6</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(7) Flaying<P class="in15">(Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchy, I, 478; Nineveh and Babylon; mentioned figuratively in <a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',3,3);">Mic 3:3</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(8) Forfeiture (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',10,8);">Ezra 10:8</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(9) Gallows<P class="in15">Gallows in the modern sense probably were unknown to the ancients. Where the word occurs in <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',5,14);">Es 5:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',6,4);">6:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',7,9,10);">7:9,10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',9,13,15);">9:13,15</a>, 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").<br><br><P class="in15">(10) Imprisonment<P class="in15">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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',40,3);">Ge 40:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',42,17);">42:17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',24,12);">Le 24:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',15,34);">Nu 15:34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',22,27);">1Ki 22:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',37,15,21);">Jer 37:15,21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',3,20);">Lu 3:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',4,3,10);">Ac 4:3,10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',23,10);">23:10</a>; and the Epistles of Paul).<P class="in15">See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PRISON">PRISON</a>.<br><br><P class="in15">(11) Indignities.<P class="in15">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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,59,67);">Mt 26:59,67</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',22,63);">Lu 22:63</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',18,22);">Joh 18:22</a>); also in the life of Paul (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',23,2);">Ac 23:2</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(12) Mutilation (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',1,6,7);">Judges 1:6,7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',23,25);">Ezekiel 23:25</a>; 2Maccabees 7).<P class="in15">The Law was opposed to thus treating any Israelite, and Samuel, when referring to the arbitrary power of the future king (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',8,10);">1Sa 8:10</a>), does not say that he would thus treat "their sons." It was a barbarous custom of the East (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=EUNUCH">EUNUCH</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=POLYGAMY">POLYGAMY</a>), evidently regarded, among the Hebrews, as a heinous practice (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',23,1);">De 23:1</a>). The only act authorizing mutilation (except in retaliation) is mentioned in <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',25,11);">De 25:11</a>.<br><br><P class="in15">(13) Plucking Off the Hair<P class="in15">Plucking off the hair is alluded to as a mode of punishment in <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',13,25);">Ne 13:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',50,6);">Isa 50:6</a>.<br><br><P class="in15">(14) Prison Garments<P class="in15">Prison garments were in vogue to mark the convicts (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',52,33);">Jer 52:33</a>).<br><br><P class="in15">(15) Restitution<P class="in15">Restitution has been alluded to in the general introduction to this topic.<br><br><P class="in15">(16) Retaliation<P class="in15">Retaliation was recognized by Moses as a principle, but the application of it was left to the judge (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',24,\'19-22\');">Le 24:19-22</a>). A fine example of it is found in the law of <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',19,19);">De 19:19</a>.<br><br><P class="in15">(17) Scorpions, Chastising with.<P class="in15">Probably the use of thongs armed with pointed pieces of lead or other metal (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',12,11);">1Ki 12:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',10,14);">2Ch 10:14</a>).<P class="in15">See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SCORPIONS">SCORPIONS</a>.<br><br><P class="in15">(18) <A href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SCOURGE; SCOURGING">Scourging</a>. See separate article.<br><br><P CLASS="IN15">(19) <A href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SLAVE; SLAVERY">Slavery</a>. See separate article.<br><br><P CLASS="IN15">(20) Stocks. See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PRISON">PRISON</a>.``77';
isbe[7168]='Punites`pu\'-nits (puni, probably "dark"): Descendants of Puvah, of the tribe of Issachar (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',26,23);">Nu 26:23</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',46,13);">Ge 46:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',10,1);">Jud 10:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',7,1);">1Ch 7:1</a>).``1';
isbe[7169]='Punon`pu\'-non (punon): A desert camp of the Israelites, the second after leaving Mt. Hor (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',33,42,43);">Nu 33:42,43</a>). Eusebius (Onom 299 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.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=WANDERINGS+OF+ISRAEL">WANDERINGS OF ISRAEL</a>`1';
isbe[7170]='Pur`pur (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',3,7);">Es 3:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',9,26);">9:26</a>).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PURIM">PURIM</a>`1';
isbe[7171]='Purah`pu\'-ra (purah, "branch"): Gideon\'s "servant," literally, "young man," i.e. armor-bearer (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',7,10);">Jud 7:10</a>f; the King James Version "Phurah").``1';
isbe[7172]='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 qanah, and its derivatives (verb and noun), except in <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',25,33);">Le 25:33</a>, where the word is ga\'al (the Revised Version (British and American) "redeem"). In the New Testament the noun does not occur and the verb is used for ktaomai, in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',1,18);">Ac 1:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',8,20);">8:20</a>, and peripoieo, in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',20,28);">Ac 20:28</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',3,13);">1Ti 3:13</a>. 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',20,28);">Ac 20:28</a> (margin "acquired"), changing it into "obtain" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',1,18);">Ac 1:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',8,20);">8:20</a>, and "gain" in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',3,13);">1Ti 3:13</a>. In the Old Testament, the Revised Version margin has "gotten" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',15,16);">Ex 15:16</a> and the American Standard Revised Version has (very properly) introduced the same word into the text of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',74,2);">Ps 74:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,54);">78:54</a>.``48';
isbe[7173]='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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',25,11);">Ex 25:11</a>, etc.). "Pure" in the Old Testament represents many Hebrew words, most frequently Tahor; "purely," occurs once only in the King James Version, as the translation of bor, properly "that which cleanses" (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',9,30);">Job 9:30</a>, the Revised Version margin "Hebrew \'cleanse my hands with lye,\' " i.e. alkali for soap) in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',1,25);">Isa 1:25</a>, 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',22,30);">Job 22:30</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "cleanness." In the New Testament "pure" is the translation chiefly of katharos (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,8);">Mt 5:8</a>, Blessed are the pure in heart," etc.), but also of hagnos (<a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',4,8);">Php 4:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',5,22);">1Ti 5:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jam\',3,17);">Jas 3:17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Jo\',3,3);">1Joh 3:3</a><3E>always in an ethical sense). A different word (eilikrines) is used in <a onClick="return mV(\'2Pe\',3,1);">2Pe 3:1</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "sincere." "Purity" (hagneia) occurs only in the King James Version in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',4,12);">1Ti 4:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',5,2);">5:2</a>; in the Revised Version (British and American) in <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',11,3);">2Co 11:3</a> (as the translation of tes hagnotelos).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=CLEAN">CLEAN</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PURITY">PURITY</a>`185';
isbe[7174]='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:<P>1. In the Old Testament:<P>(1) Taber, literally, "to be clean," used of the putting-away of idolatry from Judah by Josiah (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',34,3,8);">2Ch 34:3,8</a>), is translated "purge" in all VSS, but, in <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',24,13);">Eze 24:13</a>, the American Standard Revised Version changes to "cleanse."<P>(2) chata\', literally, "to make a sin offering" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',51,7);">Ps 51:7</a>): is changed without improvement to "purify" in the American Standard Revised Version, while "purge" is retained in the English Revised Version.<P>(3) kaphar, "to cover" or "to make atonement," occurs in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',65,3);">Ps 65:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',79,9);">79:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',43,20,26);">Eze 43:20,26</a>; 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<P>(4) tsaraph, "to refine" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',1,25);">Isa 1:25</a>), and<P>(5) duach, literally, "to rinse" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',4,4);">Isa 4:4</a>), "purge" is well retained in the Revised Version (British and American).<P>(6) barar, literally, "to be shining," the Revised Version (British and American) retains in <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',20,38);">Eze 20:38</a>, but in <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',11,35);">Da 11:35</a> changes to "purify."<P>(7) zaqaq, "to pour down" as molten metal (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mal\',3,3);">Mal 3:3</a>), also becomes "purify" in the Revised Version (British and American).<P>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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',51,7);">Ps 51:7</a>.<P>2. In the New Testament:<P>The Greek words rendered "purge" in the King James Version of the Apocrypha and New Testament are kathairo, and katharizo, and their compounds and derivatives. In all passages except four, the Revised Version (British and American) more properly translates "cleanse" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',3,12);">Mt 3:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',7,19);">Mr 7:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',3,17);">Lu 3:17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',15,2);">Joh 15:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',9,14,22);">Heb 9:14,22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',10,2);">10:2</a>). In <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',1,3);">Heb 1:3</a> "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. apo and ek, i.e. apokathairo and ekkathairo (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',12,9);">Job 12:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',5,7);">1Co 5:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ti\',2,21);">2Ti 2:21</a>), 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',15,2);">15:2</A>).``109';
isbe[7175]='Purification`pu-ri-fi-ka\'-shun.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PURGE">PURGE</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PURITY">PURITY</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=UNCLEANNESS">UNCLEANNESS</a>`1';
isbe[7176]='Purim; Pur`pur\'-rim, pur (purim, "lots"; Septuagint 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:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',3,7);">Es 3:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',9,24);">9:24</a>). Reference also is made to it in apocryphal literature (<span class="noTag">Additions to Esther 10:10-13; 2Macc 15:36</span>) 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',5,1);">Joh 5:1</a> was Purim is to be rejected, mention of it being immediately followed by the words, "And Jesus went up to Jerusalem."<P>2. History of Institution:<P>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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=AGAGITE">AGAGITE</a> (q.v.; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',15,8,32);">1Sa 15:8,32</a>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',1,\'9-12\');">Es 1:9-12</a>), 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',3,7);">3:7</A>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',3,12);">3:12</A>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',7,10);">7:10</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',8,1,2);">8:1,2</A>). A second decree was issued on the 23rd day of the 3rd month that on the 13th day of the 12th month (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',8,9,12);">8:9,12</A>), 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',9,\'11-16\');">9:11-16</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',9,20,21,22);">9:20-22</A>).<P>3. Manner of Observance:<P>Already as early as the times of the Maccabees (2Macc 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, <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',17,\'8-16\');">Ex 17:8-16</a>, which records the destruction of the Amalekites (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',3,1);">Es 3:1</a>), 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.<P>4. Theories of Origin:<P>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.<P>(1) It has been traced to the Assyrian puru, and identified with the Assyrian New Year when officials entered upon their term of service.<P>(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.<P>(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.<P>(4) Origin also in a Greek bacchanalian occasion has been sought.<P>(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 (1Macc 7:49).<P>No one of all these theories has sufficient probability to secure for itself anything like general acceptance; the Book of Esther 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.<P>LITERATURE.<P>Bible dicts., especially HDB, Encyclopedia Biblica and Jewish Encyclopedia; Paton, commentary on "Est" in ICC, particularly pp. 77-94.``109';
isbe[7177]='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.<P>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<69>as in keeping conditions that develop typhoid fever<65>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.<P>The perception of this relationship is of very ancient date. Though it is Isaiah who says (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',52,11);">52:11</A>) "Cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Yahweh," and <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',7,3,4);">Mr 7:3,4</a>, "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 bathe themselves, 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',24,\'3-5\');">Ps 24:3-5</a>), "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."<P>The ceremonial cleansings called for by the Law had meaning and influence. They were interpretative of something spiritual<61>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.<P>1. The Sex Relation:<P>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.<P>The Family.<P>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<6C>the Ten Commandments<74>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',18,\'1-\');">Le 18</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,\'1-\');">20</A>), were a powerful force in the same direction. The adultery of married persons was to be punished by the death of both the parties (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',20,10);">Le 20:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',22,22);">De 22:22</a>).<P>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.<P>2. The Prophets:<P>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.<P>3. The Proverbs:<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',5,\'1-\');">Pr 5</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',7,\'1-\');">7</a> 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."<P>4. The Song of Songs:<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',19,\'1-\');">Ps 19</a>): "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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',62,4,5);">Isa 62:4,5</a>: "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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',2,24);">Ge 2:24</a>).<P>It is sometimes thought strange that the So 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<63>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<69><P class="in15">"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem<br>That ye stir not up, nor awake my love."<22><a onClick="return mV(\'Sgs\',2,7);">So 2:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Sgs\',3,5);">3:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Sgs\',8,4);">8:4</a>.<P>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.<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Sgs\',3,2);">So 3:2</a>). 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.<P>5. Christ and Purity:<P>Paul has said, "Ye are not under law, but under grace" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',6,14);">Ro 6:14</a>). 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',19,9);">Mt 19:9</a>). 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 <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DIVORCE">DIVORCE</a>). 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,28);">Mt 5:28</a>).<P>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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',8,\'1-11\');">Joh 8:1-11</a>): "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.<P>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:<P class="in15">"And men took note of his gloomy air<br>The shame in his eye, the halt in his prayer,<br>The signs of a battle lost within,<br>The pain of a soul in the coils of sin.<br>Into the desert alone rode he,<br>Alone with the Infinite Purity;<br>And bowing his soul to its tender rebuke,<br/>As Peter did to the Master\'s look,<br>He measured his path with prayer of pain<br>For peace with God and nature again."<P>There is a recognition of the burning with fire that is infolded in the word "purity."<P>6. Paul:<P>Paul is like his Master. He seeks for purity in this relation after marriage as well as before<72>purity of mind. In <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',7,\'1-\');">1Co 7</a> 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',5,\'22-32\');">Eph 5:22-32</a>): "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it." Can there be any self-surrender greater than that which Christ made? Here let attention rest on the fact that in his catalogue of the fruits of the Spirit (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gal\',5,22);">Ga 5:22</a>), if he has put "love" in the first place of emphasis among the nine, he has put "self-control" in the last.<P>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<72>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.<P>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<65>self-control.``22';
isbe[7178]='Purloining`pur-loin\'-ing: Lit. "for far off," hence, to carry away or steal; the word is the translation of 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Tts\',2,10);">Tit 2:10</a>, "not purloining").``1';
isbe[7179]='Purple`pur\'-p\'-l (\'argaman; Chaldaic \'argewan (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',2,7);">2Ch 2:7</a>); compare Arabic \'urjuwan, and Persian \'arghawan; porphura, porphureos Septuagint and New Testament)):<P>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.<P>Purple cloth was used in the furnishings of the tabernacle (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',25,4);">Ex 25:4</a>, etc.) and of Solomon\'s temple (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',2,14);">2Ch 2:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',3,14);">3:14</a>); in the palanquin of Solomon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Sgs\',3,10);">So 3:10</a>); and in the hangings of the palace of Ahasuerus (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',1,6);">Es 1:6</a>). The kings of Midian had purple raiment (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',8,26);">Jud 8:26</a>); the worthy woman of <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',31,22);">Pr 31:22</a> has clothing of fine linen and purple. Mordecai was clothed with purple by Ahasuerus (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',8,15);">Es 8:15</a>); Jesus by the Roman soldiers (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',15,17,20);">Mr 15:17,20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',19,2,5);">Joh 19:2,5</a>). The rich man of <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',16,19);">Lu 16:19</a> and the scarlet woman of <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',18,12,16);">Re 18:12,16</a> were arrayed in purple. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Sgs\',7,5);">So 7:5</a> the bride has hair like purple. Purple is in the merchandise of Babylon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',18,12);">Re 18:12</a>). It is surprising that Ezekiel speaks of the Tyrians as obtaining purple from the isles of Elisha (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',27,7);">Eze 27:7</a>) and from Syria (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',27,16);">Eze 27:16</a>).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=COLORS">COLORS</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DYE,+DYEING">DYE, DYEING</a>`37';
isbe[7180]='Purpose, of God`pur\'-pus (prothesis (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',9,11);">Ro 9:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',1,11);">Eph 1:11</a>)): 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.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=FOREORDAIN">FOREORDAIN</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PREDESTINATION">PREDESTINATION</a>`1';
isbe[7181]='Purse`purs.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=BAG">BAG</a>`1';
isbe[7182]='Purslain; Juice`purs\'-lan, joos, jus.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=JUICE">JUICE</a>`1';
isbe[7183]='Purtenance`pur\'-te-nans: With the significance of "belongings," this word occurs in the King James Version of <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',12,9);">Ex 12:9</a> as the translation of qerebh, "within" "inward," "roast...with the purtenance thereof," the Revised Version (British and American) "inwards" (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',1,9);">Le 1:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',3,3);">3:3</a>, etc.).``1';
isbe[7184]='Put`put (put; Phoud, in Genesis and Chronicles, variant for Genesis Phout, for Chronicles, Phouth):<P>1. Renderings:<P>In consequence of the identification at the time, the prophets have "Libya" (Libues), except <a onClick="return mV(\'Nah\',3,9);">Nah 3:9</A>, where the Greek renders the word as 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."<P>2. Son of Ham:<P>In the "Table of Nations" Put is the third son of Ham (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',10,6);">Ge 10:6</a>), 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.<P>3. As Nationality:<P>In the Prophets, warriors from Put are referred to, principally in connection with the forces of Egypt. They appear as shield-bearers (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',46,9);">Jer 46:9</a>: "Cush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow"). See also <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',30,5);">Eze 30:5</a>, where the order in the Hebrew is Cush, Put and Lud. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Nah\',3,9);">Na 3:9</a> Put is the helper of No-amon (Thebes in Egypt), and in <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',27,10);">Eze 27:10</a> Put appears with Persia and Lydia (Lud) as being in the army of Tyre.<P>4. Identified with Punt:<P>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.<P>5. Somaliland and Yemen:<P>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<61>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,1893,106ff.``136';
isbe[7185]='Puteoli`pu-te\'-o-li (Potioloi, "sulphur springs" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',28,13);">Ac 28:13</a>, 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.<P>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 214 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;<P>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.<P>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.<P>Extensive remains of an amphitheater, whose axes measure 160 and 126 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.<P>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).<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NERO">NERO</a>.<P>The apostle Paul found a Christian community at Puteoli, when he arrived there on his way to Rome, and stopped 7 days with them (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',28,13,14);">Ac 28:13,14</a>). 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.).``3';
isbe[7186]='Puthites`pu\'-thits (puthi, "simple"; the King James Version Puhites): One of the families of Kiriath-jearim, grandchildren of Caleb (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',2,50,53);">1Ch 2:50,53</a>).``1';
isbe[7187]='Putiel`pu\'-ti-el (puti\'el, "contemned by El"): Father of the wife of Eleazar, Aaron\'s son, and thus grandfather of Phinehas, Eleazar\'s son (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',6,25);">Ex 6:25</a>).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PHINEHAS">PHINEHAS</a>`1';
isbe[7188]='Puvah`pu\'-va.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PUAH">PUAH</a>`1';
isbe[7189]='Pygarg`pi\'-garg (dishon; Septuagint pugargos; compare proper nouns, "Dishon" and "Dishan" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',36,\'21-30\');">Ge 36:21-30</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',1,\'38-42\');">1Ch 1:38-42</a>); according to BDB, Hommel, Saugethiere, derives ... from dush, Arabic das, "to tread," and compare Assyrian dashshu, "mountain-goat"): Dishon as the name of an animal occurs only in <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',14,5);">De 14:5</a> 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 puge, "rump," and 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.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ZOOLOGY">ZOOLOGY</a>`37';
isbe[7190]='Pyramid`pir\'-a-mid puramis: Pyramids are mentioned in connection with the splendid monument reared by Simon Maccabeus in memory of his parents and brethren at Modin (1Macc 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.``54';
isbe[7191]='Pyrrhus`pir\'-us (Purros, "fiery-red"): The name is inserted in the text of the Revised Version (British and American) in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',20,4);">Ac 20:4</a> as that of the father of <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SOPATER">SOPATER</a> (which see).``1';
isbe[7192]='Python`pi\'-thon: Occurs only in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',16,16);">Ac 16:16</a>, where the Revised Version (British and American) reads, "a certain maid having a spirit of divination (margin "a spirit, a Python") met us." Puthon, or 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.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DIVINATION">DIVINATION</a>`48';
isbe[7193]='Qir-Hareseth; Kir-Heres`kur-har\'-seth, -ha-re\'-seth> (qir-charesh, <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',16,7);">Isa 16:7</a>; in <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',3,25);">2Ki 3:25</a> the King James Version reads Kir-haraseth (pausal form)); (qir cheres, <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',48,31,36);">Jer 48:31,36</a>; in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',16,11);">Isa 16:11</a> the King James Version reads Kir-haresh (pausal form)): Modern scholars unanimously identify this city with Kir of Moab. In Jehoram\'s invasion of Moab it alone withstood his attack; and on the city wall the king of Moab sacrificed his son (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',3,25);">2Ki 3:25</a>). It was obviously the capital, i.e. Kir Moab. The name is generally taken to mean "city of the sun." Cheyne, however, points out (EB, under the word):<P>(1) that this explanation was unknown to the ancients;<P>(2) that"kir" is nowhere suposed to mean "city," except in the compound names Kir-heres, Kir-hareseth, and Kir Moab;<P>(3) that cheres, "sun," nowhere has a feminine ending, and<P>(4) that <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',16,7);">Isa 16:7</a> Septuagint and Aquila.) indicates "d" and not "r" in the second part of the name (Deseth). He suggests, therefore, that we should possibly read qiryath chadhdshah, "new city."``54';
isbe[7194]='Qoph`kof (qoph): The 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet; transliterated in this Encyclopedia as q (intense k). It came also to be used for the number 100.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ALPHABET">ALPHABET</a>`1';
isbe[7195]='Quail`kwal (selaw; 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',16,13);">Ex 16:13</a>: "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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',11,\'31-33\');">Nu 11:31-33</a>: "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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,\'26-30\');">Ps 78:26-30</a>:<P class="in15">"He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens;<br>And by his power he guided the south wind.<br>He rained flesh also upon them as the dust,<br>And winged birds as the sand of the seas:<br>And he let it fall in the midst of their camp,<br>Round about their habitations.<br>So they did eat, and were well filled;<br>And he gave them their own desire."<P>Again the birds are mentioned in migration. Those that fell around the camp and the bread that was sent from heaven are described in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',105,\'39-42\');">Ps 105:39-42</a>. Commentators have had trouble with the above references. They cause the natural historian none<6E>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<64>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.``167';
isbe[7196]='Quarrel`kwor\'-el: Originally (1) "a complaint" (compare "querulous"), or (2) "a cause of complaint," and so (3) "a contention."<P>(1) In the King James Version <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',6,19);">Mr 6:19</a> (the Revised Version (British and American) "set herself"; the colloquial "had it in for him" is an exact translation) and <a onClick="return mV(\'Col\',3,13);">Col 3:13</a> (momphe, "complaint"; so the Revised Version (British and American)).<P>(2) In <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',5,7);">2Ki 5:7</a> (\'anah, "be opportune," the Revised Version margin "an occasion").<P>(3) In the King James Version <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',26,25);">Le 26:25</a> (loose translation of naqam, "vengeance"; so the Revised Version (British and American)).<P>Compare Sirach 31:29 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "conflict") and <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',20,3);">Pr 20:3</a> the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version, "meddling").``1';
isbe[7197]='Quarries`kwor\'-iz (pecilim (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',3,19,26);">Jud 3:19,26</a>, "graven images"), shebharim (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',7,5);">Jos 7:5</a>, "Shebarim," the Revised Version margin "the quarries")):<P>Pesilim is elsewhere translated "graven images" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',7,5);">De 7:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,58);">Ps 78:58</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',10,10);">Isa 10:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',5,13);">Mic 5:13</a>, etc.) and is a plural form of pecel, "graven image" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',20,4);">Ex 20:4</a>, 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. <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',16,18);">Pr 16:18</a>), from shabhar, "to break." The form shebarim is also found in <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',41,25);">Job 41:25</a>, "consternation," the King James Version "breakings." In <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',7,5);">Jos 7:5</a> Shebarim is the point to which the Israelites were chased after their first attack upon Ai.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SHEBARIM">SHEBARIM</a>.<P>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.<P>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.``37';
isbe[7198]='Quarter`kwor\'-ter: Literally, of course, "the fourth part," and so of the four "ends" (qatsah) in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',49,36);">Jer 49:36</a>, and the King James Version of the four "corners" (so the Revised Version (British and American), gonia) in <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',20,8);">Re 20:8</a>. 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 <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',34,3);">Nu 34:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',15,5);">Jos 15:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',18,14,15);">18:14,15</a>, and introduced it in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',18,12,14,20);">Jos 18:12,14,20</a> for 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',19,4);">Ge 19:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',56,11);">Isa 56:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',1,45);">Mr 1:45</a>).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=BORDER">BORDER</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=COAST">COAST</a>`1';
isbe[7199]='Quartus`kwor\'-tus (Kouartos): A Christian in Corinth who with "Erastus the treasurer of the city" sent greetings to the Christian community in Rome (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',16,23);">Ro 16:23</a>). He is known to Paul only as a Christian, "the brother."``1';
isbe[7200]='Quaternion`kwa-tur\'-ni-un (tetradion): The name given to a company of four soldiers of Herod\'s army (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',12,4);">Ac 12:4</a>). 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 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',12,2);">Ac 12:2</a>), 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" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',12,10);">Ac 12:10</a>) 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.``128';
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