"ἐπιβαλεῖν τὰς χέρας usually—in the NT always—implies hostile action.
t Cf. Dict Chr. Ant. i. p. 757 f.
¢ See Dillmann on Ly 1472.
eS
LAYING ON OF HANDS
made on behalf of the whole congregation, in the event of a common ἀγνόημα ; (4) the goat ‘let go for Azazel.’ (c) Witnesses laid their hands on the head of a person charged with a capital offence (Lv 244, Sus#). (ὦ) The tribe of Levi at their dedication received imposition of hands from repre- sentative members of the other tribes (Nu 810). (6) Moses appointed Joshua to be his successor in the same manner (Nu 9718: 35. Dt 349). In all these cases except (a), 720, LXX ἐπιτιθέναι, is used.
It is not easy to grasp the common idea which underlies the various OT uses of this primitive ceremony. In (a) and (e) the laying on of hands seems to denote the imparting of a personal gift or function ; see Dt, /.c. ‘Joshua . . . was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him.’* But in (ὁ), (c), (d) the prominent thought is that of the devotion to God of the object on which hands are laid, to which must perhaps be added in the ease of certain offerings the idea of a transfer of responsibility or guilt to the victim (Ly 105}; ef., however, Schultz, OZ Theology, Eng. tr. 1, p. 391 ff, and W. R. Smith, RS? p. 422f.). On the whole, it would appear that the fundamental meaning of the ἘΞ ΕΝ πΕς identification by con- tact, with the subsidiary idea of transference, whether from man to man, or from man to God. By laying his hands on a child or disciple, the patri- arch or prophet signified that he desired to impart to the younger life powers or gifts which had been committed to himself; by laying his hand on an offering, the offerer solemnly identified himself with the victim which he dedicated to the service
of God; by laying their hands on the head of a |
criminal, the witnesses of the crime delivered him over to judgment.
ii. New TESTAMENT. —(a) This symbol was once employed by our Lord in an act of benedic- tion (Mt 19-%=Mk 1018: 6—Lk 18%): ‘then were there brought unto him little children that he should lay his hands on them and pray .. . and he laid his hands on them.’ As the desire originated with the friends of the children, it must have had its origin in the custom of the time (ef. Buxtorf, de Synag. p. 138). The blessing of the ascending Lord was given to the Eleven in the manner pre- scribed to Aaron (Lk 24° ἐπάρας ras χεῖρας αὐτοῦ εὐλόγησεν αὐτούς). (ὁ) Our Lord habitually laid His hands on the sick as a sign of healing (Mt 918-- Mk 5%, Mk 68 7% 8%- 25, Lk 44° 1315) ; we may prob- ably add the passages where ἅπτεσθαι is used in similar contexts with or without ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα (Mt 85: ΜΚ 1%, Lk 5, Mt 815 9% 2035, Mk 7533, Lk 22°1).+ This practice was continued by the apostles and their followers (‘Mk’ 1015, Ac 9! 17; ef, Iren- zeus, ap. Eus. HE v.7, τοὺς κάμνοντας διὰ τῆς τῶν χειρῶν ἐπιθέσεως ἰῶνται). (ὁ) The Apostles used the laying on of hands with prayer in the act of im- parting the Holy Spirit to the baptized (Ac 817: 19 19°), The Lord had breathed upon them when He communicated the Spirit (Jn 20%), and this ἐμφύσησις was peculiarly appropriate (Jn 37, cf. Gn 27); but as it symbolized a divine power and a personal relation to the Spirit of God which was incommunicable, no attempt was made to repeat it; when the Apostles passed on to other believers the gifts are they had received, they were guided to the ordinary symbol of benediction. It is to this use of the imposition of hands that reference appears to be made in He 6? βαπτισμῶν διδαχὴν ἐπιθέσεώς τε χειρῶν (cf. ν." φωτισθέντας γευσα-
* A somewhat different account appears in Nu 2718, ‘take thee Joshua... α man in whom is the spirit (lit. ‘there is apirit,’ i.e, the necessary endowment for the office in view), and lay thine hand upon him.’
t In several of these instances hands were laid upon the
rt affected and not upon the head. The communication of healing power by contact (Mk 5%) is probably the thing signified.
LAZARUS OF BETHANY 85
μένους Te τῆς δωρεᾶς, κ.τ.λ.). (d) The imposition of hands was also used by the Apostolic Church on certain occasions when members of the Chureh were set apart to a particular office or work (Ac 6° 13°, 1 Ti 44, 2 Ti 16). The occasions specified are those of the appointment of the Seven, the sending
| forth of Barnabas and Saul, and the subsequent
sending forth of Timothy to accompany St. Paul (Hort, Ecclesia, p. 215f.). Of the use of the rite in the ordination of presbyters and deacons there is no direct evidence, if we except 1 Ti 5* (on which see below) ; for in Ac 14% χειροτονεῖν doubt- less refers to the election of presbyters in the various churches, and not to the ceremony of their admission to office. Nevertheless, as Dr. Hort points out, ‘ Jewish usage in the case of Rabbis and their disciples * renders it highly probable that (as a matter of fact) laying on of vande was largely practised in the Ecclesiz of the apostolic age as a rite introductory to ecclesiastical office.’ In the post-apostolic Church the rite was practically uni- versal; the exceptions which have been observed admit of an intelligible explanation.t (e) The context of 1 Ti 5” (χεῖρας ταχέως μηδενὶ ἐπιτίθει, μηδὲ κοινώνει ἁμαρτίαις ἀλλοτρίαις) has led some eminent ex- positors (Hammond, Ellicott, Hort) to see in that verse a reference to the use of the imposition of hands in the reconciliation of penitents. The custom was undoubtedly early, if not primitive ; ef. Eus. HE vii. 2; Const. Ap. ii. 41; Cypr. de laps. 16, ep. 15. On the other hand, the main current of patristic interpretation is against this explanation of St. Paul’s words, and it is not im- possible to explain them in reference to ordina- tion without doing violence to the context; see, e.g. Theod. Mops. ad loc. : ‘non facile ad ordina- tionem quemquam producas sine plurima_pro- batione . .. si (inquit) te ut convenit probante ille deliquerit, non est tuum crimen.’