G. E. Post.
CDLTDRE.— Only 2 Es 8« AV and RV, ' give us
seed unto our heart, and culture to our under- standing, that there may come fruit of it.' The Eng. word is a direct and accurate tr. of the Lat. (cultura), and is used in its own earliest sense of the cultivation or tillage of the soil. Coverdale, Matthew, and the Bishops have ' build,' Geneva ' prepare,' but Dooay 'give tillage to' the under- standing. J. Hastings.
CUMBER (from old Fr. combrer, 'to hinder,' which is from low Lat. cumbrus, i.e. cumulus, 'a heap' ; thus c. = 'put a heap in the way'). — 1. To harass, worry, Lk 10*" ' ilartha was cumbered about much serving.' Cf. Coverdale's tr. of 1 K 21' ' What is ye matter that thy sprete is so combred ? ' The usual prep, is ' with ' ; here 'about' is a lit. tr. of the Gr. irepi (7repie<nraTo irfpi ttoWtiv iiaKovlav). RVm gives ' distracted,' like Ostervald's distraite, and as 1 Co "^ ' without dis- traction,' AV and RV (dTrfpto-irdo-Twt). ' Cumbered ' is Tindale's ; Wyclif has ' martha bisied aboute the oft seruyse ' ; Coverdale, ' Martha made hir self moch to do to serue him.' 2. To 'block up,' ' burden,' Lk 13' ' Cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground ? ' again from Tindale (and scarcely obsolete in this sense); Wyclif 'ocupieth,' fr. Vulg. occupat ; Geneva, ' why feepeth it the ground baren?' a better tr. of the Gr. here {Karapyiu, a favourite word with St. Paul, elsewhere only in this passage and He 2", AV ' destroy,' RV ' bring to nought ). Cf. Bunyan, ffoly War (Clar. Press ed. p. 47), 'Thou hast been a Cumber-ground long already.' Cumbrance, only Dt 1" 'your c' (crtnp), and Is 1" RVm ' your new moons . . . are a c. unto me ' (irioS •'?v v.i, AV and RV ' trouble '). Tlie mod. forms 'encumber,' etc., are not quite equi- valent, being too wholly passive. As Davies {Bible Eng. p. 211) remarks, Spenser's 'cum- brous gnattes '(F. Q. I. i. 23) seems now a singu- larly inappropriate epithet. J. Hastings.
COMI See Tautha.
CDMMIN ([i!3 kammSn, Hiiuror, eyminum). — The seed of Cuminum eyminum, L., an umbelliferous plant cultivated in Bible lands. It is known in Arab, by the same name as in Heb., kammiin, and is used in cookery as a condiment, esp. in the dislies prepared during the fasts, which, being made with- out meat, require more seasoning to make them palatable. It has also carminative properties, and is used in poultices for the dissijiation of swellings. It has a penetrating odour and savour, not over-agreeable to most Europeans. It is twice mentioned in Scripture. Once the reference is to the mode of threshing it (Is 28"-") by a rod instead of the m6rag. 'This is still practised with this and other seeds of plants cultivated in small quantities. It is also mentioned as subject to tithe (Mt 23=»). G. E. Post.
CUN (ps), 1 Oh 18'.— See Berothal
CUNNING. — The Anglo-Saxon cunnan meant both ' to know ' and ' to be able,' whence both can, which Bacon uses as a finite verb. Essays (Gold Treas. ed. p. 40), 'In Evill, the best condition is, not to will ; "The Second, not to Can ' ; and also cunning, which is really the pres. Ptcp. of the A.-S. cunnnn as it appears in its Middle-Eng. form cunnen, to know. ' Cunning,' then, up to and after 1611, is generally knowledge, skill. Cf. Purvey's Preface to tfie Wycliflite Version of l.SSS, ' the Holy Spyrit author of all wisdom and cunnynv'e and truth ' ; Bp. Barlowe's translation of .Ia3'M/)«j/o.7e(;i531], e<l. of 1897, p. 34), 'Who that among you is v\-yse endued with connynge'; and Sliaks. Othello, III. iii. 50, ' That errs in
CUP
CURIOUS
63S
ignorance, and not in canning.' In AV the subst. •cunning' ocean only Ps 137', 'If I forget thee, O JenuuiJem, let my right band forget ner cun- ning.' * The adj. is common, applied to men who are skilful in some work, or to the work they do Bkilfully. Thus Ex 35*> 'the c. workman . . . and . . . those that devise o. work.' Once to women, Jer 9", in ref. to their skill as hired moumerB (on which see Thomson, Land and Book, iii. 403). But in Eph 4" ' c. craftiness,' 2 P I'* ' cunningly devised fables,' the meaning is probably 'wily,' 'deceitful.' Amer. KV prefers ' skilful ' where cunning has that meaning (except Is 3* ' expert '). J. Hastings.
CDP. — 1. In OT the rendering of rarious words, the precise distinction between which, either as to form or use, is unknown to us. The usual word is B\s k6i {wor-/ipioy, calix), the ordinary drinking- vessel of rich (Gn 40"- '»• ") and poor (2 S 12») alike, the material of which varied, no doubt, with the rank and wealth of the owner. Numerous illus- trations are found on the reliefs of the Assyrian palaces, such, e.g., as the cups in the hands of Assurbanipal and his queen, in a scene often re- produced. With these compare the specimens of pottery actually found on Jewish sou, in Bliss, Mound 0^ Many Cities, Nos. 174, 181, etc., and the illustration cited below.