* Dalman (Worte Jesu, i. 269) calls 8372 the earlier and fuller form. See Zahn, Hind. in das NT. *. § 18, Anm. 11,
MARBLE
MARDOCHEUS
To the question why the apostle deserts the Greek for the Aramaic language here, many con- e:tural answers have been given: such as, to tumble the pride of his Corinthian converts by reminding them that the gospel did not originate with them ; to affect the more readily his Jewish opponents by a phrase from their vernacular; .to suggest that Christ will judge all nations and tongues, and the like. These may pass for what they are worth. The expression, as embodying the consummation of Christian desire and aspira- tion, may have become a current ejaculation among the early disciples (cf. ‘Abba,’ Mk 1455, Ro 815 Gal 4°), and as such would doubtless be intelli- gible to the Christians of Corinth. This supposi- tion gains plausibility from the recurrence of the term, in varied connexions, in the Teaching and the Apostolic Constitutions. Its specitic tone it takes from its context : in the Ep. to the Cor. it is admoni- Lee in the Apostolic Constitutions it is jubilant.
hether it is a fragment of some confession, creed, or hymn (cf. Het NT’... op nieww uit den Grondtekst overgezet, De Nederlandsche Bijbel- Compagnie, 1868, ad Joc.), or is a germ of some early liturgical formulary, this is not the place to consider (see Bickell, ‘Die Lehre d. Apostel u. d. Liturgie,’ in the Ztschr. 7. Kath. Theol. as above; Weizsiicker, Apostolic Age, ii, 286; Spitta, Zur Gesch. u. Lit. des Urchristentums, i. 256 f., 1893 ; Th. Zahn, Forschungen z. Gesch. w.s.w. iii. 1884, p. 294 f.).
LiTERATURE.—Some of the more extended discussions of the term are by Anthony Legerin Hase and Iken, Thes. Nov. Theol.- Philol. (1732), vol. ii. 879-883; A. Klostermann, Probleme im Aposteltexte (1883), 220-246 ; G. Wohlenberg, as above, pp. 78- 85; and especially N. Schmidt in the Journ, Bibl. Lit. for 1894, pp. 50-60; cf. the same Journ, for 1896, p. 44, n!4. More- over, Schmiedel’s note in the Hand-Commentar, as above, should not be overlooked. J. H. THAYER.
MARBLE (vi, wy, udpuapos) denotes, strictly speaking, limestone (carbonate of lime), which is sufficiently hard and close-grained to be capable of receiving a polish. It is valuable both as an orna- mental building stone and as a material for sculp- ture. The most famous kinds are those associated with classic statuary and architecture, such as the Pentelic and Parian marbles of Greece and the Carrara marble of Italy. The purest marble is white, but many coloured varieties are found, and some of these were highly valued in ancient times. Among them may be mentioned the ‘Breccia di Verde,’ which varies from all shades of green to a purplish red, the ‘ onyx’ marble, and the so-called ‘Oriental alabaster.’ All these are Egyptian stones. The last named is quite different from true alabaster (sulphate of lime), being a carbonate of lime of stalagmitic origin and of an amber colour. The famous obelisk of Shalmaneser Π., found Ὁ Layard at Nimrad, is of black marble (Hull, Building and Ornamental Stones, 148-152).
In 1 Ch 29? ‘marble stones in abundance’ are mentioned among the materials bg by David for the building of the temple. The Heb, is ew (B πάριον, A mdpos). According to Josephus, Solo- mon’s temple was built of white stone (λευκὸς λίθος, Ant. Vill. iii. 2), quarried and prepared in Lebanon (ib, VIII. iii. 9). Whe OT narrative (1 K 57-38) does not expressly state the locality from which the stone came. Hard white limestone is found in Lebanon, and has been used in the temples of Baalbek (Robinson, BRP iii. 508 ; Thomson, Land and Book, iii. 341, 342). But the stones in the
foundation walls of the temple, as seen at the |
Jews’ Wailing Place, appear to have been brought from the neiglibourhood of Jerusalem. The lime- stone found in the quarries under Bezetha is ‘ hard, compact, and Paget variegated, and is capable of being cut as marble into objects of ornament
and use, and of receiving a polished surface (Hull, SWP 59; Warren, Underground Jerusa- lem, 60; King, Recent Discoveries on Temple Hill, ch. i.). Josephus (Wars, v. ν. 2) says that the pillars of Herod’s temple were μονόλιθοι λευκοτάτως μαρμάρου. Some of the marble used in Roman and post-Roman buildingsin Palestine, and found still in their remains, may have been imported from abroad.
In Est 1° the palace of Ahasuerus at Shushan (Susa) is described as having ‘pillars of marble’ (ey “pny, LXX στύλοι πάρινοι), while in the same verse the pavement of the palace is said τὸ have been of ‘red, blue, white, and black marble’ (AY), or ‘red, white, yellow, and biacx narble’ ‘RV). Of the four words thus translated the second is ow (LXX πάρινος λίθος), and this was evidently under- stood as ‘white marble’ in AV as well as in RV, in spite of the transposition which has taken place in the former, since ‘marble’ is the second word in the alternative rendering in the margin. The other three words are »73, 77, and πηπῦ, and they occur only in this verse. LXX renders the first by σμάραγδος or σμαραγδίτης λίθος, the second (appar- ently) by πίννινος, and does not translate the third. AVm and RVm give ‘porphyre (porphyry), ala- baster, and stone of blue colour.’ Oettli (Awrzgef. Comm.) translates ον by ‘ Marmor,’ and has for the other three words ‘ Alabaster und Perlmutterstein und Fleckmarmor.’ The LXX rendering of »73 suggests some green stone, and that of 77 some stone with a pearly lustre. Malachite (a green mineral) is found in Persia, as is also the stone called ‘ Yezd marble.’ The latter is described as a stalagmitic carbonate of lime resembling the Egyptian stone known as ‘Oriental alabaster,’ except that the colour is greenish-white instead of ΟΝ (Blaneford in astern Persia, ii. 486). larble capitals and broken shafts were found in the ruins of Susa by Layard (Karly Adventures, ii. 296). The palace of the Shah at Ispahan has columns of Tabriz marble, while white and coloured marbles are profusely used in the interior of the building (Hull, Building and Ornamental Stones, 152).