KUDDER
RUM AH
315
eagerly jnircliased in India. It finds a place in the Lapidarium of Marljodus. IJood specimens continue to command a lii<;li price in China. The coral lisheries are a carefuUj* regulated and highly iuijiortant source of wealth on the Mediterranean coasts. On the second point — tliat of colour — the present writer is of opinion that the balance inclines in favour of the coral. Rubies are ot too deep and fiery a hue to be compared at La 4' to the red of even an Oriental's body, notwithstand- ing the fact that there are exceptional gems, such as the one King describes {Antimie Gems, p. 250), 'of the most delicious cerise colour.' But coral is found of every shade — deep red, rose pink, tlesh colour, and even milky white. There is no dilH- cultv about the supposition that the Jews were familiar with it, for it was to be obtained from the coast of India and the lied Sea, as well as from the Mediterranean. J. Taylob.
RUDDER.— See Ships and Boats.
RUDIMENT.- See Element.
RUE (irfiyami', ruta). — Ruta graveohns, L., the officinal rue, is a heavy-smellin", shrubby plant, of the order Sutacecc, 2 to 4 ft. higli, witli glandular- dotted, bi-pinnately parted leaves, and corymbose, 3'ellow Howers. It is cultivated for its medicinal properties, which are antispasmodic and emraena- gogue. It has been inferred from Lk II** that it was one of the plants subject to tillie (but see Plummer, ad loc). The indigenous rue of Pal. is Euta Chahpenais, L., the Aleppo rue, which dill'crs but slightly from the officinal species.
G. E. Post.
RUFUS ('PoP.jios).— In Mk 15-' we are told that Simon of Cyrune, who bore our Lord's cross, was the father of Alexander and Rufus. In Ro 16'^ St. Paul sends his salutation to Rufus, ' the chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.' The name, meaning 'red,' 'reddish,' was among the com- monest of slave names. The mention of Simon as the father of Alexander and Rufus seems to imply that the two latter were known in the circles to which the Gospel was addressed. There is some evidence for tliinking that St. Mark's Gospel was written in Rome ; if this be so, then the same person may be referred to in both passages ; but as the name was so common, this can be only a conjecture. 'Chosen in the Lord' implies some particular eminence as a Christian, and not merely one of the elect, which would not be any special distinction. By 'his mother and mine,' St. Paul means that the mother of Rufus had on some occasion shown to him the care of a mother, and that therefore he felt for her the alfection of a son.
The name of Rufus was made use of largely in legendary hi9tor>'. He is introduced into the Acts of Andrew and of PHer. According to one account he was bishop of Thebea ; aoconJinp to another, bishop of Capua ; according to anotlnT, bishop o( Avi|,'non. The last legend states that he tr:i\xllfd to .Spain, founded the church at Tortosa, went over the Alps to Narhonne, and preached in Avi;.'non. He appears to have been commemorated on the 12th, 14th, and 21st November.
A. C. Headlam. RHG.-Jg 4" RV and AVm. See Mantle, No. 4.
RUHAMAH.— The second child (a daughter) of Gomur, Hosea's unfaithful wife, was called Lo- RUllAMAH, ' unpitied,' Uos l"- », as a type of Israel, when, unnitied by .laliweh, slie was to be given over to calamity. The opi)osite condition of things ie expressed in Hos 2> [Lng. 2'] 'Say ye unto your brethren, Animi (i.e. 'my people,' in opposition to the name of the third child, Lo-AMMI, ' not my people'), and to your sisters, Ruhamah' (tjo-i 'pitied,' LXX 'l^\n\iUrr)). Similarly, when Jah-
well's an-rer is turned away. He declares in v.''<^) ' and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy ' {tvcrihnmti eth-l6 ruhamah, LXX B Koi d7a7r. TJcroi TTjx OvK Tj-favriixivTiv [ AQ have (Xe-fiau for d7ajrv)o-u), and i)\triixivT)v for ^-lairrnjAv-qv, cf. llort on 1 I' 2'"]).
J. A. Selrie.
RULERS OF THE CITY is, at Ac 17« ', the EV rendering of the (Jr. jroXiTdpxai (on the various spelling TToXeiT. see Tisch. N'l^, Prol. p. 86, n. 2), as the special local title belonging to the magistrates in Thessalonica, belore whose bar the Jews of that city, along with a mob of market-idlers, dragged Ja.son and other Christian c<mverts, under a charge of hospitably receiving Paul and Silas, and of en- tertaining treasonable designs against the emperor. The word denotes 'rulers of the citizens,' who, as Thessalonica was a free city, had then the privi- lege of choosing their own rulers. The use of the term TroXirdpx'?' lias been pointed to as an excel- lent illustration of the accuracy of St. Luke (e.g. by Alford and Knowling, ad loc.) ; for, while it is not employed in that form by classical authors, who use TroMapx"! and TroMrapxos, the actual existence of the Lukan form at Thessalonica is vouched for by inscriptions discovered there, one of which (assigned to the time of Vespasian) mentions among the politarchs for the time being Sosipater, Secundus, and Gains — names occurring also as those of com- panions of St. Paul (Boeckh, CIG 1067, quoted by Conybeare and Howson, and by Alford).