The other Scripture references to Spain are few, and in all of them liravla, a form of the Roman name, takes the place of the older Greek ones. 1 Mac 8' refers to the Roman conquest, and to the acquisition of the gold and sliver mines. On his third Missionary Journey the Apostle Paul formed the purpose of extending his evangelistic labours into the lands west of Greece. In writing to the Corinthians from Macedonia he indicated his intention of preaching the gospel in ' the ii.'uts beyond' them (2 Co 10") ; and in writing a little later from Corinth to Rome he explained his pur- pose as specially including Italy and Spain (Ko J524.211) whether he ever carried out this inten- tion as regards Spain is a matter of much disjiute, and the question is important only from its con- nexion with that of the authenticity of the Pastoral Epistles. St. Paul certainly did not visit Spain before his first Roman iniprisunment. On the hypothesis of his liberation and second imprisonment he may have done so at a later time. The Pastoral Epistles themselves only refer to his journeyings in the eastern iiart of the Mediterranean ; but if the fact of his liberation be admitted, credence may be given to the statement of Clement of Rome (1st Ep. i. 4), that the ajiostle, before his martyrdom, preached the gosi>el ' to the extremity of the west ' {(irl t4 ripii-a t^s Suaewt). Clement's expression naturally suggests Si)ain, and the Muratorian Canon shows that the apostle's visit to Spain was an accepted tradition of the Church before the end of the 2nd cent. It says that l.uke in the narrative of the Acts omits ' profcrtionem Pauli ab urbe ad Spaniam prolicis- centis' (see PAUL, vol. iii. p. 714'). See, further, Lightfoot, Clement, I.e., and Bihlicnl Essays, 423 11"., where the whole of the evidence is collected.
Jamks Patrick.
SPAN See Weights and Measures.
SPARROW (-i^Dir fippCr). — There is only one
pas.snge where the context makes it reasonably
certain that the house sparrow is intended by
tippOr (Ps 84* [LXX (npovdlov], where AV and
VOL. IV. — 39
RV both tr. 'sparrow).' The ' pppSr alone upon a housetop' (Ps 102' [LXX pvKTiKopa^]) may also be this biro. It is true that this is one of the most gregarious of birds, and that it is usually seen in large Hocks, Hitting from branch to branch, and from the ground to tlie roofs of houses and stables. Hut it ha])peiis soinetinies that a single bird perches alone on a hrandi or on the roof. The tact of its generally sociable habits would make this the more phenomenal and illustrative of the loneliness of the psalmist. The attempt to identify it with the blue thrush Petrocossi////ius cynnciis, Boie, is strained. If it does not refer to a solitary house sparrow, it is probably intended to indicate any small solitary bird. In addition to the above two pa.ssages, RV tr. zippdr ' si)arrow,' in Pr 26' [LXX 6pi'(a], unhapjiily, for the sparrow never wanders. Elsewhere in the 40 or more passages where it occurs, both Eng. VSS render it bj 'bird' or 'fowl.' In some of these passages it is doubtless generic for small birds, corresponding to the^ Arab, 'usfxir (.Job 41» [LXX dpytov}, Ps II' [LXX <TTpovBiov'\, etc.). It is also used for such birds as are caught by fowlers (Pr 6° 1'^, Am 3° [LXX in all three tpyeov]), which would exclude the house sparrow, as it is notoriously far too cunning to bo so taken. The Arabs have a pro- verb, ' tlie duri (house sparrow) cannot be taken with bird-lime,' applying it to persons who are too shrewd to be entrapped by guile. Zippdr is also used generically for birds, and even for birdi of prey (Ezk 39'", see Fowl). The meaning of the Hei). root to twitter or chirp, which caused its original aiiplication to the passerines, has been overlooked in this broader apiilication. The con- siderable number of LXX renderings shows this. The NT aTpovSiov (Mt 10=», Lk 12« ') refers to the sjiarrow Passer domcstiens, L., or two closely allied sjiecies, P. Italica, Vieill., the Italian sparrow, and P. /ij.57<anio/cj!sis,Temm., theSpanish sparrow. The latter is found in great abundance in the Jordan Valley, where it breeds in Zizyplms bushes. The house s]iarrow is .so familiar that any allusion to its habits would be sui)erlluous. G. E. POST.
SPARTA.— See LaceDjEmonians.
SPEAR. — The spear of antiquity was a near relation of the sword. The primitive knife might be littcd with a short h.andle and become a sword Ijr(i|ier, or be mounted on a pole and become a spear ; hence possibly the doubt whether the pop.<f>ala (see SwoRD) waa a sword or a spear.
|||«V^^
BRONZR SI'KAR-nilAD FBOli TBUL E1.-1IK8Y (LAI:BIBD).
(liy kind permission of the PEF).
The spear-hcad was of flint or bronze (see the illustrations in Bliss, Monnd of mnny Cities, pp. 36, 37) or of iron (1 S 17': Bliss, pp. 106, 107). Egyptian spears (perhaps only for hunting and lishing) have been found made of wood throughout. Dili'erent kinds of spears were : — 1. The javelin (|\T3 kldOn) : RV of Jos 8'»- "-« ( A V ' spear ') ; 1 S 17« (AV 'Urget'): v.« (AV 'shield'); Jer 6-' (EV ' spear ') ; .W- (A V ' lance ') ; Joli 39^ ( AV ' shield ') ; 41 Jiiail (KV . iiie rushing of the javelin ' ; AV ' the shaking of a spear '). This weapon was for ertsfinrj. In the Heb. Sirach (46-') /cidOu preserves the refer- ence to Jos 8'", which is lost in the Or. ^on<pala (EV ' sword ').