A Brighter Day Begins with His Word.

PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK

A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels — Volume 2

James Hastings · 1,290,716 words · 1269 reading sections

SECTION 721

Section 721

A vision of departed persons does not necessarily imply their resurrection. If Moses and Elijah were seen at the Transfigura- tion of Christ, did the disciples infer their resurrection? Con- temporary belief in the Apostolic age had assumed that patriarch and prophet and saint of OT times lived on in Paradise, but this…

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SECTION 722

Section 722

' Here, then, we stand on that decisive point where, in the presence of the accounts of the miraculous Resurrection of Jesus, we either acknowledge the inadmissibility of the natural and historical view of the life of Jesus, and must consequently retract all that precedes and give up our whole undertaking, or pledge ou…

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SECTION 723

Section 723

(3) Christ's Resurrection is evidential of His Divinity. — St. Paul begins the letter to the Romans with this thought : P- * ' . . . the gospel of God . . . concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holines…

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SECTION 724

Section 724

The Resurrection becomes the medium through which the glorified life of Jesus is infused into the personality of the believer. Apostolic Christianity, we are profoundly persuaded, does not limit itself to the former of these two conceptions, but embraces the latter. It is not Christ outside us, but Christ within us tha…

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SECTION 725

Section 725

(7) Consequently it is seen that the Resurrection of Christ is the fovndation of Apostolic Chris- tianity, and this for dogmatic just as truly as for evidential reasons. («) Their consciousness of its basal character is shown in the position it occupies in their witness. An Apostle is ordained to be a witness of the Re…

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SECTION 726

Section 726

?* ..^^"l^'',''''*'' P- 2^^ ; ^'^^ Mundi, p. 235 ; Borg-Schiittmann in JVK Ztschr. 1901, 667-693. W. J. Sparrow Simpson. RESURRECTION OP THE DEAD.— 1. Jewish beliefs current in the time of our Lord The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, symboli- cally applied to the nation (Hos 6^ 13", Ezk 37i-"), implicit a…

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SECTION 727

Section 727

With regard to this development, there seems no adequate reason for retjardinjf it as introducing? a mechanical and un- gpiritual conception of resurrection (Charles, Esohatology) as distinguished from a ' high and spiritual ' conception of resurrec- tion limited to the just. This also rises from an ethical root. It is…

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SECTION 728

Section 728

2. The teaching of Jesus. — Our Lord found Him- self in an atmosphere of thought in which ideas representative of these various forms of doctrine were more or less current. The Rabbinic teaching on the whole held the field as a popular orthodoxy, identified in the common minil with devoutness and earnest religion : .an…

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SECTION 729

Section 729

The discussion in this case was with those who ' deny that there is any resurrection of the dead ' (Lk '20-''), and it was enough for its purpose to con- sider the case of those who in life have possessed God. On the face of it the argument might seem to apply to these only. On the other hand, it seems to identify (at …

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SECTION 730

Section 730

Ti>e salvation constituted and oti'ered in Christ is a positive salvation, to be realized and possessed in Himself. With that salvation the gospel is occupied. Our concern is with that — with the hope which is declared to us and with the Kingdom which He has opened to believers. We know the end, for we know the way. Th…

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SECTION 731

Section 731

The lesson that Christ taught was well learned by the Apostles. St. Paul, in his earliest letter, warns his readers to ' see that none render evil for evil \into any man ' (1 Th SJS, cf. 1 P S^). Again, he points out that men should not seek their own vindi- cation, but should leave that to God (Ro I'^i'? 19). Lawsuits…

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SECTION 732

Section 732

LiTKRATURK.— Butler, Serm.. viii. ix. ; Seeley, Ecce Homo, chs. x.\n. xxni. ; Dykes, Manifesto of the Kinci, 287 ; ExpT iv. [1893] 256, VI. [189.5] 338, vii. [1896] 145 ; J. B. Mozlev, Leading Ideas in Early Ages (1877), 180, 201 ; C. F. Kent, Israel's Lawgivers (1902), 59 ; W. H. Hunt, Sermons on Social Subjects (190…

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SECTION 733

Section 733

(3) Rctributiun is to the character rather than to the act, and is autoniatic. 'Every act rewards itself, or, in other words, integrates itself, in a two- fold manner ; first, in the thing, or in real nature ; and secondly, in the circumstance, or in apparent nature. Men call the circumstance the retribu- tion. The cau…

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SECTION 734

Section 734

Accordingly we may say that Christ destroyed the distinction which existed in the Jewish thought of His time, and which still exists in popular ethics, between rewards in this world and the next. If men know where to find their happiness, how to seek for their reward, they have it now, just as the retribution of the ev…

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SECTION 735

Section 735

**Copyrighl. 1908, hi/ by the gradual quickening of his spiritual faculty, in response to the discipline of life ? * These are among the largest and most moment- ous questions on which the human mind can be engaged. It would require encyclopaedic know- ledge to answer them fully, and only the briefest treatment is po…

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SECTION 736

Section 736

(1) Multitudes of religious men have felt, as they looked back upon the past, that their course was ordered from the beginning by an unseen hand, that a Providence has guided them into the paths which were prepared beforehand for them to walk in, and they have been enabled to perceive in the opportunities of life the c…

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SECTION 737

Section 737

We have now to interpose with an inevitable question. What is the test by which we may assure ourselves that the imaginings of pious souls are not merely of subjective value, that is, that they are anything more than the expression of discontent with the limitations of human know- ledge and of human life ? What is the …

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SECTION 738

Section 738

(/3) But, it will be said, there can be nothing trustworthy in such merely individual convictions. To claim to be in possession of a revelation from heaven is one of the commonest symptoms of mental disorder ; and those who make such claims most persistently are the most intractable patients in asylums for the insane. …

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SECTION 739

Section 739

It is tlie consummation of this progress, both for the individual and for the race, which is por- trayed in the vision of the prophet as the moment when ' the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,' — not as iso- lated individuals, but as members of the great company of the saints, — …

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SECTION 740

Section 740

It is this aspect of Christ as the Eevealer of God which is indicated in the profound phrases of the Prologue to the Fourth Gospel. He is the Word, the Eternal Wisdom ; He was ' from the beginning with God,' and is God. Revelation is the act of self-manifestation of God to man, and the Word is the eternal expression of…

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SECTION 741

Section 741

* Sabatier has observed {Outlines of a Philosophy of Reli- gion, p. 41) that a phrase in the Gospel 'according to the Hebrews brings this out well. At the moment of His baptism, the Holy Spirit says to Jesus : ' Mi Fill, Te exspectabam in omnibus ]irophetis, ut venires et requiescerem in Te. Tu enim es requies REVELAT…

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SECTION 742

Section 742

If we can go thus far, we are constrained to go a step farther. For in the Christ is the consum- mation, the summing up, of humanity. He is the Pepresentative Man. And in the Chri.st, too, is the fulfilment of Israel's high de.stiny as the Servant of Jehovah, the Messenger and Ambassador of the Most High. It is not sur…

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SECTION 743

Section 743

the Lamb, the Shepherd, the Bridegroom, the Judge, the King of kings. Here only outside the Fourth Gospel does Christ receive the deeply significant title of 'the Word of God' (IQi^), and the idea of pre-existence which the name carries with it also lies behind the declaration • twice repeated, ' I am Alpha and Omega, …

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SECTION 744

Section 744

C. Anderson Scott. REVENGE.— See Vengeance. REVERENCE.— The sentiment of veneration, a feeling of high regard and admiration. When cherished towards a superior, it is an emotion of respectful awe. When directed towards God, it is an essential factor in Divine worship. This senti- ment usually finds expression in acts…

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SECTION 745

Section 745

528 REWARD RIGHT dvTeXoLdupei). And the author of Hebrews suggests that the best preservative against hasty reprisals and a violent temper is a contemplation of the patient silence of Jesus. 'For consider iiim that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds' (He…

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SECTION 746

Section 746

1. The standard of right is always found in the will of God as expressed in His law. Everything is referred to that. Doing the will of God is the simple but exhaustive summary of all true life (Mk 3=*-5). 2. The extent of right is to be understood as absolute conformity to the law of God, with no immunity and no reser…

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SECTION 747

Section 747

The Gr. ^ixx.ii>irCvr„ like the Heb. ^ifl'i, was generally used in a much broader sense than our word ' justice,' and denoted social virtue as a whole. Aristotle defines it as icpirr, r-Xtix y.x'i o-jX ccnrXuJ; aX?.a ^po; -rspov , . . oi puip'i? «p£T>:>, a.'kXa, o}.7j upirvi (Ethics, V. 3. lV2i)h ; of. Plato, RepvMic, …

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SECTION 748

Section 748

(c) Chrisfs rigJdeousness. — If we may rightly speak of the absolute righteousness of God in the Synoptic accounts, we have no less reason for speaking of the absolute righteousness of Christ. A close examination of His words may even seem explicitly to sanction this. In Mt 5'" He pi'onounces a blessing on those who ar…

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SECTION 749

Section 749

Love to God is the first commandment ; love to man is included in it, as the less in the greater. Tiie motive which makes the service of men right- eous in the highest sense is that it should be done for Christ's sake (Mk 9", Mt lO''^ 18^), or, in other words, in order that men ' may glorify your Father which is in hea…

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SECTION 750

Section 750

On the other hand. He gives new and deeper applications to the laws of Moses, as in the case of the law of murder (Mt 5-^^-). He does not hesitate to add new restrictions to it, as in the case of the laws of adultery, false swearing, and retaliation (vv.-^- ^- ^*) ; and He definitely abrogates a law of Moses when He de…

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SECTION 751

Section 751

Thus the thought of righteousness as a Divine attribute meets us at every turn, and its explicit mention not infrequently. St/catos el, cries the angel to the Eternal in the Ai^ocalypse (Rev 16\ where the thought is chiefly of His sternness to the wicked [cf. 15^ 16'' 19^] in delivering His saints). Yia.Tr]p SiKCLLe ar…

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SECTION 752

Section 752

RIGHTEOUS, RIGHTEOUSNESS RIGHTEOUS, RIGHTEOUSNESS 533 what St. Paul exi)lains so fully, that God sees us as we are beconiinj^ 'in Christ,' rather than as we are; but St. John does not analyze forgiveness as St. Paul does, anil throughout he looks rather at the eternal fact tiian the temporal process. 3. St. Paul. — …

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SECTION 753

Section 753

4. The rest of the NT.— The other books of the NT present few new features which call for notice here. llie Epistle to the Hcbreics emphasizes Christ's absolute righteousness, in order to show Him as tiie one sufficient Victim and High Priest. He is ' the efi'ulgence of (God's) glory and the very image of his substance…

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SECTION 754

Section 754

The Jordan is the one true river in Palestine. The name occurs frequently in the Gospels, but only once connected with 'river' (Mk 1^). See Jordan. The 'stream' (Lk 6^^) or 'flood' (Mt 1^) is evi- dently the rushing torrent raised by wintry rains. From Rev 12^^- ^^ we gather that iroTafj.6s may signify any great volum…

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SECTION 755

Section 755

Literature. — G. A. Smith, HGHL, Index, s.v. ' Roads' ; artt. by F. Buhl and W. M. Ramsay in Hastings' DB, Extra Vol. pp. tiUS-Ju:; ; Thomson, LB\ Stanley, SP\ Conder, J'alesUiw ; Kinglake, Eothen. K. LeGGAT. ROBBER {Xya-rris, Vulg. latro) is found in AV only in Jn 10'- « 18-"' (Barabbas). In RV it stands for'the sam…

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SECTION 756

Section 756

?0Aver of evil) should never prevail against it. St. 'eter, in shoAving himself a man of faith, is a specimen of the believing ones avIio shall constitute the strong foundation on Avhich the Church is to rest. As irirpos is a fragment of irirpa, so the believing St. Peter is an example of all Avho should hereafter beli…

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SECTION 757

Section 757

came upon them in A.D. 70, and which is referred to in Lk 2Y^^^-, as deserved. The stittheckedness of the Jews brought upon them a ruin which other subject-races in the Empire had escaped by a wise submission. The beginnings of Rome are shrouded in obscurity, but the spade has helped to correct and amplify what we lea…

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SECTION 758

Section 758

The internal history of the Roman people was no less remarkable. Great dangers from within were successfully surmounted. The conflict between the patricians and the dependent class lasted for hundreds of years. At first tlie Roman State was ruled by a king, with a body of patrician advisers. On the substitution of a dy…

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SECTION 759

Section 759

During the last century of the Republic, Rome and Italy Avere torn by a long succession of ruinous civil Avars. It said much for the machinery of the 538 EOOF EULE government that foreign enemies did not imperil its very existence. There was a longing among all the better citizens for an era of peace and prosperity…

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SECTION 760

Section 760

RUFUS.— See Alexander and Rufus. RULE. — 1. (rt) otpXT- — Lk 20-" irapadouvai avrbv TTj apxxi Kal TTj ^^ovcrla tov riye/xovos, ' to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor ' (RV) — apxh = principatus, i^ovaia = magistratus or Tnunus (Stephanus, Thesaurus, ed. Hase-Dindorf ). Here apx-q ' relate…

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SECTION 761

Section 761

2. Troi|j.aiv€iv. — Mt 2" ' And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda : for out of thee shall come a (Governor, that shall rule (RV 'be shepherd of) my people Israel ' [octtls Troifiavel rbv XaSf fiov rbv 'lo-pttTjX). Here three things demand our attention. (i.) Mic 5^ {' Heb.…

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SECTION 762

Section 762

540 RULER SABBATH moreover, their being under His shepherd-rule will be the blessedness and joy of His people to all eternity (Rev 7^'). It is well known that ToiiJ.x..nty is a favourite figure with Greek writers to denote the kingly office. Plato is very fond of the comparison ; see Rep. 343 A with the note in Ada…

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SECTION 763

Section 763

tAVO robbers should be taken doAA'n (Jn 19^^), in accordance Avith Dt 2P*. It was the custom of the JcAvs to take down the bodies of those Avho Avere condemned and crucified, and to bury them before the going down of the sun (Jos. BJ iv. V. 2). It also explains the haste in the entomb- ment of the Saviour. He did not d…

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SECTION 764

Section 764

ordained service which ajjparently broke its own requirements. Lk. specifies liiis Sabbatii as hioTipo-rpuroi, (AV ' second Sabbath after tlie lirst'; K\' oiiiils in text, ' secoiid-tirst ' beinfj placed in the margin as the readinif of 'many ancient authorities'). The expression has been variously explained, and no a…

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SECTION 765

Section 765

1. The change of day from Saturday to Sunday in the Christian Church. — This change took place very early in the history of the Christian Church, but its date and reasons are somewhat indefinite. It scarcely requires any argument in justification, as (i) it preserves the spirit and purpose of the older practice ; and (…

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SECTION 766

Section 766

r SACRIFICE SACRIFICE 543 expression to the thought that He is Himself the Mediator of salvation, the only Kev^ealer of God (Mt Il-o-''"). He realizes that it is ottence at His humility and lowliness that keeps ' the wise and prudent' from hearing His word, anil tiiat it is love to Him that draws the i)oor and desp…

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SECTION 767

Section 767

But let us proceed to the institution of the Lord's Supper, whence the most definite teaching as to the saving import of His death is to be drawn (Mt 26=«-28, Mk 1422-2^, Lk 22i»-20). Here He speaks of the surrender of His life as a thing advan- tageous to those who believe on Him, and St. MattheAv adds the words — ' f…

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SECTION 768

Section 768

3. Proceeding now to the Acts of the Apostles and to the Epistle of James, we are met by this remarkable fact, that in neither is there a single reference to the saving significance of the death of Christ. The accusation of having put the Holy One to death is brought home most forcibly in the speeches of Peter and Step…

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SECTION 769

Section 769

5. It is in the writirujs of St. Paul, however, that the Cross of Christ attains its pre-eminent position. The whole gospel is to him the jjreaching of the Cross. 'Christ and him crucified' is the subject of all his teaching. Yet the emphasis he lays on it is never one-sided ; for the death of Christ is but the consumm…

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SECTION 770

Section 770

6. We now come to the Epintle to the Hebrews, which, more than any other NT writing, relates the sacrifice of Christ to those of the Mosaic ritual. In this relation the author views the sacrifice of Jesus as the only one that can satisfy the needs of men, the one which alone requires no repetition. Fol- lowing the exam…

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SECTION 771

Section 771

On the whole subject this must be added, that sacrifice is acceptable to God only in virtue of the spirit which lies behind it and which it expresses. It is never the outward value of the offering, never the amount of suffering it entails, that makes it precious in God's sight. The multiplicity and costliness of the sa…

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SECTION 772

Section 772

2. The Mosaic ritual was inaugurated by a covenant (Ex 24). The sacrifices then oflered are called burnt-offerings and peace-offerings (v.^). This latter term usually implies that the flesh of the sacrifices was eaten by the worshippers, and accord- ingly we read that the elders did ' eat and drink ' in the presence of…

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SECTION 773

Section 773

In the sacrifices which involved the death of animals, a sense of the sacredness of life was ex- pressed by the reverent use of the blood (Lv 17"). Whatever was ratified by the taking of life ob- tained a sanctity thereby, and the putting away of human sin in making approach to God Avas so rati- fied, and the transacti…

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SECTION 774

Section 774

5. Finally, the sacrifices of the OT do not cover in analogy the Avhole of the Saviour's work. The Epistle to the HebreAvs employs the priesthood of Christ, as Avell as His sacrifice, to set forth all He is to us. Moses and Joshua and Aaron and Mel- chizedek were imperfect anticipations of Christ, besides the sacrifice…

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SECTION 775

Section 775

3. Special characteristics. — The chief outstand- ing feature of the Sadducees was probably tiieir conservatism. They stood by the established posi- tion, held by tiie old points of view, and rejected everything tiiat partook of the nature of novelty. They were priests, but priests of aristocratic family, and, as such…

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SECTION 776

Section 776

Literature. —See under Pharisees and Scribes. Joseph Mitchell. SADOC— A link in our Lord's genealogy (Mt 1"). SAINTS. — The word 'saints' [oi dyioi) occurs in the Gospels in Mt 21^^ only. Elsewhere in the NT it is never used of any but Christians {e.g. Ac 9^^, Ro 1213, Rev IV«). In the LXX (Dn 722.25.27 324) aytoi is…

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SECTION 777

Section 777

SALIM SALT 551 AiVwv d^ffaXfxbs fiaadvov Kai "ZaXrjfj, avrbs 6 ava^alvwv. In tlie Com. on 3'-'^ the new edition has in the text SaXt'/x, but thinks in the apparatus that HaXruj. ■would perliaps be better. With the view of a plural agrees the fact that most MSS spell the ending -ei/x, and not -17/u, as m the Comi)lut…

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SECTION 778

Section 778

Literature. — Besides the authorities quoted in the article> see Wieseler, SK, 1840, p. 648 iT.; art. 'Salome' in Hastings' DB (cf. art. ' Ilcrod,' lit.), in Enci/c. Dihl., and in Herzog's PHE ; Commentaries of H. A. W. Meyer (Eng. tr. 1880), Alford, and Lutliardt (on St. John's Gospel, iii., Eng. tr. 1880, where, agai…

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SECTION 779

Section 779

Twelve, p. 215, notes ; Kelnian, Expos. Times, xii. [1900] p. Ill ; Siialders, Expositor, 1st ser. xi. [1880] p. 79 ff. John Reid. SALUTATION.— See Greetings. SALVATION.— The Gospel usage of this word is closely connected with that of OT. The corresponding Heb. words are derivatives of VtS*' and b)ii. Of the former,…

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SECTION 780

Section 780

In the Gospels adi^eiv occurs 54 times (not count- ing Lk 17^^, where ^(j}oyovr)(T€i is better attested than o-wo-et of the TR, nor Mt 18", a verse omitted by the best authorities). The noun (xurripia occurs 5 times (not counting aiuivLo^ crwrripia in the rejected shorter conclusion of Mk.)— Lk l''»- ''• " 19«, Jn 4^2…

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Public-domain historical reference work (1906–1908); OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.

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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.