[Note by Editor. — Professor Price has been permitted to state his view of this question unre- servedly. For he is himself an accompiislied student of As.syriology, and he has the support of some eminent scholars (see especially McCurdy, Huitory, Prophecy, and the Monuments, i. 87 tf.). But the Editor thinks it necessary to say that the weight of authority is undoubtedly on the other side, lead- ing Assyriologists everywhere having come to the conclusion that the view which Professor Price com- bats is substantially true. Tlie reader should, how- ever, consult the literature which Professor Price has given below, representing both sides of the ques- tion, and the articles As.svuia and Babylonia.]
LmRATTB*.— Schrader, Zur Fragi nach d. Urtpr. d. altbab. Kuitur, 1883; HAXipt.Akkadisehe und .'<u7nfruche Enitchr\ft-
UxU, 16811.; Die SumeriMch-Akkadische Sprache, VerK.
bten Or. C&ng. tl. pp. 249-287 ; Die SumerUchen
FamiXimgttetu, 1879 ; Hommcl, Zeittch./. KtiUchr\ftJor$chung, vol 1. p. 2U f. : Zimmern, Babylonitch* liuttjimttrwn, 1886, p. 71 1.; Hommel, Om. Bah.-A: 1885, 240 II. ; Tiele, Bab.Ai. Get. 188fif., 68; lial6vy, Aper^ grammaticat <U CAlUt^jraphie
oj.-bab. 1HS3 ; Milatujet de critique «t d'hittoirf retatyft
aux pniplr* »fmit\qxif4, 1883: Delitzsch, At. (framrtuUiJc, 1880,
1 26 ■ McCurdy, Pretb. and Kc/- Beviev. J»n. 181(1, pp. 68-81 ;
Hist. Proph. and Hon. 1894. I. H 7»-8.'i ; llomiml,
Sumeritche Letettiielu, 1804 ; several articles Id Znitehryft Jtir Attyriotogi*, by UalAvy, Ouyard, and otliers.
Ira M. Prick. ACCEPT, ACCEPTABLE, ACCEPTATION. — 1.
Besides other meanings, accept is used in the sense of ' receive with favour ' : Gn 4' ' If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?' Dt 33" ' IJless, Lord, bis substance, and a. tne work of his hands.' It is then sometimes followed by 'of: Gn 32* ' I will appease him with the present . . . per- adventuro ne will a. of me' (liV 'accept me');
2 Mac 13** ' And the king accepted well of Mao- caba?u8.' ' Accept ' or ' accept the person ' is often the translation of Heb. 0')5 Hi;'; ' to lift up the face,' i.e. to look favourably on : Job 42* ' Tlw
22
ACCEPTANCE
ACCOMPLISH
Lord also accepted Job ' ; Pr 18" ' It is not good to a. the person of the wicked.' This Heb. idiom has been tr. into Gr., and is found in the NT as ■rp6auTor Xafifidru, always in a bad sense, ' par- tiality,' ' respect of persons.' Lk 20*' ' Neither acceptest thou the person of any ' ; Gal 2" ' God accepteth no man's person.' Then this phrase is turned into Tpo<7<iiiroX7)^imjt (Ac 10^ ' respecter of persons'), rptxjuvoXrinirriu (Ja 2* 'have respect to persona,' RV 'of persons'), and rj>oaioTro\riix\pla. ('respect of persons^ Ro 2", Eph 6», Col 3^, Ja 2'), three words found nowhere but in the NT and (thence) in eccles. writers. The' English ' accept the person ' is derived from the eccles. Lat. acceptare perscmam. 2. Acceptable is used in the sense of ' favourable ' : Is 49' ' In an a. time have I beard thee ' ; 61* ' To proclaim the a. year of the Lord ' (».«. the year of Jehovah's favour). 3. Ac- ceptation = favourable reception, is found in 1 Ti 1" 4» ' worthy of all a.'
LmaATinuL — UfbUooi on Qftl V \ Sanday and Headlam on Bo2U.
J. Hastings. ACCEPTANCE. — Accept and connate words are used in Scripture to denote the relation of favour and approvELl in which one man may stand to other men, and especially to God. Of the various phrases employed to convey the idea, those of most frequent occurrence are in OT, fty'j ' to raise,' and nyi 'to associate with, have pleasure in,' and in N'r, tvap4<TTos, ' well pleasing.' The conditions of A. with God appear in OT partly as ceremonial, partly as moral ana religious. Purifications and sacrifices (which see) are necessary in view of human ignorance and sin. But the sacrifices must be offered in a spirit free from greed or deceit. To enforce the moral disposition which must accom- pany every offering, is one of the great functions of the propnets. When the covenant has been established between God and Israel, entrance into it becomes a condition of receiving, and especially of having a joyful assurance of, the divine grace and favour. Similarly in NT, A. is set forth as only in Jesus Christ and for His sake (Eph 1», 1 P 2») ; and, as the history of the patriarchs presents us with living pictures of what is acceptable to God under the old covenant, so Jesus is Himself the Beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased (Mt 3" 17°), and the type of all that God receives and approves. A. Stewart.
ACCESS.— This word (not found in OT) occurs in NT in Ro 5», Eph 2i8 3" as the rendering of TrpojayuY/i. The Gr. word may express either an actual ' bringing near,' or ' introduction,' or merely a 'means of access,' or 'aright to approach.' In class. Gr. the idea suggested might be that of ' introduction to the presence - chamber of a monarch.' The OT associations of the kindred verb Tpoaiyiir seem to connect the word rather ■n-ith the peculiar relation in which Isr. stood to J", and to give the term a special appropriateness in describing the admission of Gentiles into a new covenant relation with God (t^jk x^P^' raiimiv, Ro 5', cf. Eph 2"), cf. Ex 19« and 1 P 3'^ and the approach of Christian worshippers to the Father (Eph 2" 3"), cf. Lv 1> etc., Lv 4", Mai 1", Ezk 44>« etc. This last idea is worked out in detail in He J0i9-ia_ Our ' right to approach ' or ' our introduc- tion' is uniformly described by St. Paul (cf. Jn 14') as given us by Christ.