104
PEOCHOEUS
PEOMISE
I
To be privy to a thing (1 K 2**, Ac 5') is simply to have a knowledge of it. C£. Calderwood, llistori, of the Churck of Scotland, 140, ' Argile came to St. Andrews the day following, privie, as ap]ieared, to the purpose ' ; Bishops' Bible, Ps 19" ' \Vho can knowe his owne errours ? Oh dense thou me from those tliat I am not privie of ' ; Spenser, Shep. Cal. viii. 153 —
* Te carelesse bjrds are privie to my cries.
J. Hastings.
PROCHORUS (Ilpixopos). — One of the 'seven' appointed, Ac 6". Later tradition made him bishop ol Nicomedia, and a martyr at Antiooh. He was commemorated by the Latins on April 9, by the tJreeks on July 28. See Baronius, i. ad ann. 44 ; Acta Sanctorum, Ap., i. S18. There is published in Magna Bibliutheca Patrum, Colon. Agr. 1618, i. 49-t)9, a spurious Historia Prochori, Christi Discipuli, de vita B. loannis Apostoli.
A. C. Headlam.
PROCONSUL (Lat. proconsul; Gr. avduTraTos).— The technical term for the governor of a senatorial province, used Ac 13'*-'' of Sergius Paiilus in Cyprus; IS'- of Gallio at Corinth; IQ^* of the governors of Asia. Some little difficulty has been elt by the use of the plural in the last case, but it quite normally expresses what is habitual : * H any man has a definite charge, there are law courts and judges,' as we should say. The proconsuls were of two classes — those who were ex-consuls, viz. the rulers of Asia and Africa, wlio were therefore correctly (according to republican usage) proconsuls, and those who were only ex-praetors. For fuller details see under Province.
A. C. Headlam.
PROCURATOR.— The technical terra to describe the ofhce held by Pontius Pilate and the other governors of Jud:ea. The word means originally a baUiff or steward ; under the empire it was used for the imperial officials, sometimes of equestrian rank, sometimes only freedmen, who were appointed in the provinces to collect the imperial revenue or fiscus. In imperial provinces they managed the whole of the revenue ; in senatorial provinces, where there were quasstors, only that part which belonged to the emperor. Even in senatorial pro- vinces their authority had a tendency gradually to increase, and they obtained judicial powers in revenue cases ; but in addition to that there were certain provinces which were governed directly by a procurator, who possessed all the powers ot an ordinary governor. The provinces so governed were usually those in a tran.«itional state — provinces whicli had not been thoroughly romanized, and were passing from the rule of one of the reqes socii to the conditions of a province. The following pro- vinces were governed in this way (at any rate at certain periods) : — Mauritania, liha^tia, Noricum, Thrace, Cappadocia, the Maritime Aljis, the Alps of Savoy, and Juda?a. These provinces, governed by procurators, were in some sense subordinate to the governor of the neighbouring province : for instance, Cappadocia was subordinate to Galatia, and Judaea to Syria. With this limitation, the procurator had the full power of the governor. He commanded such troops as were within bis pro- vince, he held the power of life and death, and full judicial, administrative, and financial authority.
The technical term in connexion with Juda'a is given in Tacitus, Annal. xv. 44 : Christus Tibcrio imperitante per procurntorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio ndfcctus est. The proper Greek transla- tion would be eiriTpowos, but in the NT we find the vaguer term riytfuiv. which might include rultrs of sther categories (Mt 2T-- "• "• '»■ "• -'' 28", Lk 3' 2u-», Ac 23-"- '^- ^ --M'- '" 2G*'). In Josephus we find both triTporot and rjyepiuv. A. C. HeADLAM.
PROFANE The Eng. word comes from Lat.
pro/amis (through Fr. profane), which is taken to oe pro 'before' and finuin 'the temple,' hence outside the temple limits," outside the limits of that which is holy, unholy, secular, t
The incorrect spellint?pro^fta/i€ became common in the 16tb cent., and is the spelling in the 1011 ed. of AV everywhere except Ezk 2333- 39, 1 Mac 351, 2 Mac (i^, Ac 246.
Tlie Heb. word so tr'' in AV is S'rn to pollute, with its derivatives Sn pollution, and "^^ici (adj.) polluted. Once also (Jer 23") the verb [ijn], and once (Jer 23") its deriv. n?jq are tr^ '[is] profane' and ' profaneness.' AVm gives 'hypocrisy' in the second passage, Anier. RV prefers ' ungodliness.' In Greek, the verb is ^e^riXiu and the adj. jiifirjXoi. The subst. ^f^TiXao-ts is thrice (Jth 4»- '^, I Mac 1«) tr'* ' profanation.' The ptcp. dTroSiearaX/i^i'os is also tr'' ' profane ' in 2 Mac 6* (RV ' abominable '). In 2 Mac 4" the subst. tr'' ' profaneness ' is d^a-zi-cio. Finally in 2 Es we find the vb. profanare ti^ ' to profane' (10--), and the adv. irreligiose tr^ 'pro- fanely' (15'). See Unclean, Uncleanness.
J. Hastings.
PROFESS, PROFESSION.— The verb to 'pro- fess ' and tlie subst. ' profession ' have acquired a narrow ' professional ' meaning ; in AV they still have the sense of ' speak out,' ' declare openly ' (from profteri, ptcp. professus). Thus Dt 26' ' I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us' ('n-;;.!) ; Mt 7^ ' And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you' (o/jLoXoyfiaa avroU) ; 1 Ti 6'^ ' Thou hast professed a good profession before man}' wit- nesses ' (u)fio\6yT)aa.t ttjv KaXrjv dfj.o\oyiav, RV 'didst confess the good confession ') ; He 3' ' Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession ' {ttjs ofioXoylas rj/iiov, RV ' of our confession,' that is, says Rendall, 'whom our Christian confession of faith acknowledges in this character').