T.iTEKATi'RE. — Of Eng. Coinm. the most complete is that of I-i::litfool. whose conclusions should, however, be carefully cheeked bv reference to the sections in Jndaitttic ChviittianHij, In which flort examines minutely into the characteristics of tlie
fal^e teaching prevalent at Colossae. Other commentaries :— Harrv, .1. LI. Davies, H. C. G. Moide, Alexander Maclaren : and (Oerinan) I>e Wette. Ewald, Lange. Meyer. See also Pfleiderer, rrchriKtentfiiit/i, I'iSS; von Soden tin Jahrb. f. prot. Theol. IS'.l.i, pp. :VJii It'.. 4'J7 ff., 6T2 ff.) ; Holtzmann, Krit. d. Epk. ». Kolimxerhrieff : Weizsackcr. Apoi^t. Age. i. 2ls, ii. 240 If., 383, ayi, and refer to the Literature at end of Ei'iiksi.vns.
J. O. F. Mdkrat.
COLOUR is used in the sense of 'pretence' or 'pretext,' Ac 27*' 'under c. as though they wouUl have cast anchors' {ix€\\6in-uiv iKTclyem) , and 2 Mac 3" ' under a c. of visiting the cities ' (ttJ (^(piirei is ^^oSfi/ffwr). Cf. Greene (1592) 'You carry your pack but for a coulour, to shadow your other villainies.' ■ J. Hastings.
COLOURS. — In his Juventus Mttiidi (p. 540) Gladstone sums up the main conclusions of his investigations into the sense of colour in Homer (cf. Studies on Homer and the Hamerie Ar/e, iii. 457 ff. ) : — ' 1. His perceptions of colour, considered as light decomposed, though highly poetical, are also very indetermiuate. 2. His perceptions of light not decomposed as varying between light and dark, white and black, are most vivid and effective. .3. Accordingly, his descriptions of colour generally tend a good deal to range themselves in a scale (so to speak) of degrees rather than of kinds of light.' Very much the same may be said of the colour-sense among the Hebrews. Even in Mesopotamia the colours used in the painting and enamelling of walls were only some five or six in number, and were used for effects of brilliance rather than of actual representation of natural coloured objects (Perrot and Chipiez, History of Art in Chaldeea and Assyria, vol. ii. p. 296). Among the Hebrews the pictorial arts seem to have been at first unknown, and later were dis- couraged on religious grounds. Dyeing was the only art connected with colours known to them before the time of Ezekiel, and even here the result rather than the process was familiar. Con- se(piently, the references to colour in the oldest literature are very .simple. In the Song of Deborah (.Ig S**) dyed stuffs and embroideries (of various colours) are mentioned without any further dis- tinction. In the Song of the Bow (2 S 1^*), ' scarlet' raiment is the gift of the king. In the ' Oldest Book of Hebrew Hist.' (JE), the only colours men- tioned are black (Gn 3032ff.), vfhite (Gn 49'-), scarlet (Gn 3828- »), red (Gn 25^6) _ and grey (Gn 44-'). All these are used of natural objects. Later, the dyed wares of Phoenicia were introduced and largely used among the Hebrews, whose acquaintance with colours was thus enlarged, though at no time was it very precise in its nature or extensive in its comprehension.
In like manner the symbolism of colours in OT and NT is very simple. It may be classed as (a) literary, (h) apocalyptic, (c) ritual.
(a) Illustrations of the finst use will be found under the individual colours. It is to be found in the literature of most nations, especially in poetical language.
(b) The apocalyptic use of colour as symbol is foimd in a simple form in Zee, in a more developed in Dn, and in its most complete form in the Apocalypse.
(c) In matters pertaining to ritual (esp. in the tabernacle), colours are frequently used, but it has not yet been satisfactorily shown that they were used .symbolically, or thai they were other than the most brilliant colours procurable when the descriptions were given. They are only thus mentioned in P and Ch. In Alexandria, how- ever, in the 1st cent, they were all interpreted symliolically by Philo, who says (de Vila JIos. iii. 0) lliat tiiey rei)reseiit the elements— fine flax (white), the earth; purple, water; hyacinth
COLOUKS
COLOURS
457
(blue), air; scarlet, fire (so also Jos. Ant. III. vii. 7).
Black is used in OT only of natural olijects. (1) nnp of hair Lv 13-«, Ca .5", horses Zee G-'-', .skin that is burnt with the sun Ca 1°, and that peels oil in (Jisea.se Job 3U™. (2) Din is used of sheep only Gn 3U''-'-", and is rendered in LXX by 0ai4s, a word denoting the groyness of twilight, or any mixture of black and white. In v.''" it is an inler- pol.'ition. (3) The verb T}i3 (originally ' to be dirty, foul ') is used of the darkened sky Jer 4-', 1 K 1S^°, and from its original meaning comes to signify mourning Jer 8=' 14^ Ezk 31", Mai 3'^. It is also used of tlie dark colour of ice-covered water Job 6"'. In I'r 7° ' blackne.ss of ni";ht ' is literally as in RVm ' pupil of eye of night.' In Ep. Jer (v.") faces are blackened {tuiieXavuiidfOi) by smoke. In NT lU\as is used of hair Mt 5''', of horses Rev 6', and especially of ink 2 Co 3' etc.; yv6ipos for the dark- ness of night He 12'» (cf. Dt 4"), and fo>os for the darkness of the nether world 2 P 2* (cf. Ilomer, H. xxi. 56). It is used symbolically for afliiction and death Zee 6''' (' famine in consequence of a siege,' cf. Hitzig-Steiner's Comm.), La 4", and as above for 'mourning' generally Mai 3".