IMPORTUNITY occurs only in tlie Parable of the Loaves, Lk 11* ' because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he necdetli.' The word means radically 'ditficultj' of access' (from portus, a harbour) ; but the Lat. adj means 'unsuitable,' 'troublesome,' 'rude' ; and tliesubsi. importunitas, 'unfitness,' 'insolence,' as Cic. DeSen. iii. 7, 'importunitas et inhumanitas omni jetate molesta est.' In the course of its history as an Eng. word ' importunity ' has lost some of its force. Even when introduced by Tindale in 1326, it was scarcely strong enough to translate tlie Gr. avalSeia [T, Wfi acaiSia] of Lk 11", since that word is liter- ally 'shamelessness.' Christ spoke by contrast, not comparison ; if shameless persistence can win a boon from one who is not a friend, surely we may oiler prayer that is earnest enough to obtain our Father's blessings. J. HASTINGS.
IMPOTENT.— Impotent is 'without strength,' •weak,' as tlie Geneva tr" of Gal 4^ ' how is it, that ye are tourned backwarde unto impotent and beggerly ceremonies ? ' [aaSerfi^, Wye. ' feble,' Tind. and others 'weak'). The word is applied in AV to persons who are infirm of body : I5ar 6^, Ac 14* (dSiVaros) ; Jn 5'- ' (aaOevfiv, RV ' sick ') ; Ac 4* (dcrefi-Tis). So Fuller, Holy Warre, i. 18, p. 28, ' In which compasse (i.e. in Palestine) in David's time were maintained thirteen hundred thousand men, besides women, children, and impotent jiersons'; and Holy State, ii. 19, p. 124, ' When Religion is at the stake, there must be no lookers on (except im- potent people, who also help by their prayers), and every one is bound to lay his shoulders to the work.' Adams contrasts it with 'potent' in his Exposition of II Peter (on 1' p. 26), ' But is there nothing that God cannot do ? Yes, he cannot lie, he cannot die, he cannot deny himself. He is foi potent, not for impotent works.' J. Hastings.
I.MKAll
L\
457
IMRAH (t;:;;).— An Asherite chief, 1 Ch 1^. See Gexkalogy.
IMRI (noK).— 1. A Judahite. 1 Ch 9*. 2. Father of Zaccur, who helped to build the wall, Neh 3^. See Genealogy.
IN. — 1. • In ' is sometimes used in AV where we bIiouM now use at, as Mt 1 1" ' liut I say unto you, Tliat it shall be more tolerable for tlie land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for tliee ' ; but in 11^^ 'But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre aud Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.' The Gr. is if rj/x^pg. Kpifffus in both places, and RV has ' in the day of judgement' in both. This apparent looseness is due to two causes : (1) the wide range of meaning of the Heb. prep. ^, mucli of which was taken up in NT by ip ; and (2) the greater freedom about ICU and earlier in the use of the smaller Eng. prepositions. Shaks. has ' at the day of judgment ' in Merry Wives, III. iii. '227, the only place in which that phrase occurs ; but he says in Othello, I. ii. 93—
' How ! the Duke in council Id tills time of tlie ni^fiit;'
and Merck, of Venice, ll. iv. 1 —
* Nay, we will slinli away in supper time.*
So also To 2' ' there was a good dinner prepared me, in the which I sat down to eat ' (/tol ivi-irtaa To5 ipaytiv, KV ' and I sat do\vn to eat ').
2. The Heb. 3 being used for the agent and the instrument, and being often followed in this respect by the Gr. iv, it is not surprising to find the instru- mental iv represented in Eng. by ' in ' instead of 'by' or 'through.' So Gal 3" 'it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator ' (5i dyyiXuv h X«pi fi-fulTov, RV ' tlirough angels by the hand of a mediator'). It is dithcult to decide in many places whether the iv is instrumental or (.spirituaUj') local. IIV often [irefers 'in' to AV 'by.' Thus He 1'- ' ' God having of old time spoken unto the fathers in (AV 'by') the prophets by divers por- tions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in (AV 'by') his Son.' See the Heb. Grammars and Lexicons on ;. the Gr. NT Grammars and Lexicons on iv, and the com- mentaries on the various passages, as Sandav- Headhvm on Ro l'», Lightfoot on Gal 1'" and Col I*- '», Abbott on Eph 4" ; also Wcstcott in Expos. Times, iii. 396 ; and cf. I P 3" ^^■yc. ' made dede in fleisch, but made quyk in spirit ' (so Tind. ' was kylled as pertayninge to the llcsshe ; but was quyekened in the sprete,' AV ' by the Spirit,' RV 'in the spirit'). In 2 P !'• ' ^V'yc., Tind., and Rhem. have ' in the righteousness,' and ' in the knowledge,' but Cran. and AV ' through,' Geneva ' by.' Aldis Wright refers to Gn 21"' where AV and RV have ' Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand,' under the influence of Heb. ?, though the meaning is ' take him by the band,' and lie quotes Shaks. liich. III. IV. i. 2 —