BY
BYWAY
33£
the way,' very common in Eng. of the 17th cent, and earlier ; as Dt 1 1*' ' by the way where the sun goeth down' [Ti'i '1"-?) ; Lk 10' 'salute no man by the way' (Kara r))i/ oSov, KV 'on the way') ; Sir 8" ' Travel not by the way with a bold fellow ' (€» oSi^, RV ' in the way ') ; cf. 2 P 3' ' by way of remem- brance ' {i)' virotif^ia-ei, RV ' by puttinj^ you in re- membrance'); and Sliaks. Jul. Cws. U. i. 218 —
' Now, good ilelellus, po along by him,' where Pope, mistaking the phrase, changed ' by ' into ' to,' and was followed by other early editors. In the same drama (III. i. 161) Sliaks. puts a play apon the word into the mouth of Antony, who says to Cffisar's murderers —
* No place wilt please me so, no mean of death, Ab here by Ciosar and by you cut off.*
S. In such a phrase as 'go by the way' {e.g. Job 21® * Have ye not asked them that go by the way ? ') the ivai/ is in a sense tlie means, and this is believed to have led to the extensive use of ' by ' as the prep, introducing the means, instrument, or origin, tor this purpose 'by' is the tr. of many Heb. and Gr. expressions, and there is no part of the Eng. IJible where we are so liable to be led astray, either by an archaism (of which one notable example will be referred to), or by a mistrans- lation (of which many examples might be given). The danger is ^eatest in NT, because of the number and variety of the Gr. preps., and also because these Gr. preps, are often all'ect«d by the Hebrew. The Revisers have rendered an incal- culable service by their watchful care in trans- lating the preps. ; and even when they have not been Dold enough to disturb familiar but mislead- ing renderings, they have nearly always indicated the correct tr. in the margin. Thus in Jn P- '° ' All things were made by liim,' ' The world was made by him ' (AV, RV, but RVm through, Gr. Ji' aCrroO) ; while in He 6' ' herbs meet for them by whom it is dres-sed ' (even AVm gives '/or whom,' RV text ' for whose sake,' Gr. St' oCs). The most important and treacherous arcliaism is the use of 'by,' which now denotes the agent, to express the t'n- ttrument, the a"ent being expressed by ' of.' Thus we read, Mt 4' ' Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit {virb ToO Trvev/MTot) into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil' (uiri toC Sia^iXov); but in v.* ' Man shall not live by bread alone ' {4ir' iprif) ■ again in 2- ' being warned of God in a dream ' ; but v.^ 'which was sjioken by the pro])liets' (5id TUX Tpo(t>riTwv, the prophets Being the channel of communication, KVm 'through the prophets'). Lightfoot [Fresh Revision of NT, pp. 13211'.) emphasizes the importance of this distinction, pointing out that it atlccts the doctrines of In- spiration and the Person of Christ. ' Wherever the sacred writers have occasion to quote or to refer to OT, they invariably apply the prep. Sii, as denoting instntmcniitliti/, to tiie lawgiver, or the prophet, or the psalmist, while they reserve {rr6, as signifying the primary motive agency to Go<l himself; thus Mt 1*' 'that it miglit be ful- filled which was spoken of the Lord by tlie prophet ' (iwi [toD] Kvplov Sid. ToS Tpo<p:/jTov, RV ' by tlie Lord through the prophet'). Again, 'the prep, which U especially apidied to the office of the Pivine Word is did.' liut hero we have to deal «ath not only an archaic meaning of the prep. ' by,' but also with a capricious use of it in the AV. Thus Jn !*• '" ' All things were made hij him,' ' The worlil was maile /'// him' (both Si' airov) ; v.' 'that all men through him might believe' {Si oi'toC), and v." 'grace and truth came /;y .lesus Christ ' (5id 'Itjitou XpKTToC). The fact is that about 1011 the word ' by ' was losing its special sense of instrumentality, and there are a few clear exami>les of its em|iloy- ment to express the primary source or agent, as
Mt 22" ' have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God?' {iiwi toO $eov) where all the previous versions have ' of God.' (See Of.)
3. 'Two by two,' 'three by three,' means two beside two, three beside three. But in older Eng. these phrases were frequently shortened ; thus 1 Co 14-'' ' let it be by two (Kara 5i;o) or at most by three'; Lk O" 'by fifties in a company' (RV 'in companies, about fifty each ') ; so I K 5" ' by courses,' 2 K 5- ' by companies.' And this idea of nearness is present in certain fig. expressions of time, as 1 S '25'- ' if I leave of all that pertain to hira by the morning light ' ; Ex 22-" ' by that ( = by the time that) the sun goeth down ' ; even in the phrase 'by the space of,' where the meaning is dui-ing, as Ac 13-' ' by (RV ' for ') the space of forty years.'