Storywriter, for 'historian' (i.e. chronicler), occurs in 1 Es '2" (6 7/ja/i/xaTei)j ; RVm 'recorder'), and 2'-^ (6 ypdipuv t4 Trpoairlin-ovTa) ; in the latter verse ypap./j.aTeui is tr'' 'scribe.' J. Hastincs.
STOUT, STOUTNESS.-^The modern meanijig of the Kng. word ' stout,' viz. solid, substantial (and then corpulent), suggests a connexion with Lat. stolidus and the root sto, to stand ; but the word is of Low Germ, origin (coming to us tlirough tlie French), and in its earliest use signified 'brave,' 'bold,' 'impetuous.'
In AV the meaning is hold in Job 4", Dn 7"°, and presumptuous in Is 10", Mai 3". Stouthearted occurs in Ps 76*, Is 46" with the former meaning (Heb. 3^ "i';!<). The sabst. stoutness is found in
Is 9°, also with the meaning of boldness, as in Golding, Calvin's Job, 570, ' For what is the cau,s« that oftentymes wee dare not undertake a good quarell, but for that we have not the stoutnesse and skill too resist so stedfastlyas were requisite?'
J. Hastings.
STRAIT.— The Eng. words 'strait' and 'strict' are doublets, the latter coming directly from Lat. slrictus," ptcp. of stringere, to draw tight; the former through the Old Fr. estrcit or estrait (mod. Hroit).^ 'Strait' is an adj., an adv., a subst., and a verb.
As an adj. 'strait' means in AV either lit. narrow, confined, or fig. strict, rigorous.
1. yarrow, conjined: e.g. 2 K 61 *The place where we dweU with thee is too strait for us ' O^^P "ly, LXX rrtii; «^' n^cu*) ; Mt 713- i-l ' Enter ye in at the strait gate . . . because strait \a the gate' (irTfvoj).
2. Strict, rigorous. — The transition from the lit. to the fig, sense is seen in 2 Es 7^^ 1** &w, thus 718 ' The righteous shall suffer strait things, and hope for wide (/ercnt angunta speraates spatiofsa) ; for they that have done wickedly have suffered the strait things, and yet shall not see the wide.* Then the fig. sense appears in 7^1 'God hath given strait commandment' iiiiundans inandai-it ; RV ' straitly commanded ').
As an adv. ' strait ' means closely, narrowly. It occurs in 1 Es 5'- ' The heathen . . . holding them strait' (TToKLopKouvTet, RVm ' besieging them ') ; and 1 Mac 13«.
As a subst. : e.g. La 1"' All her persecutors over- took her between the straits ' (D'iy?ir I"3, RV ' within the straits ').
As a verb ' strait ' occurs only in Sus ^ ' I am straited on every side,' where mod. editions give ' straitened ' [<mva p.OL TavroOev).
The verb straiten is used both literally and figuratively.
1. Literally it means (1) to shorten or Tiarroip, e.g. Job 371« ' The breadth of the waters is straitened ' (p^lDS, lit * in narrow- ness,' i.e. *in a narrow channel,' RVm 'congealed').
2. Figuratively, 'straiten' means narrow (opp. 'enlarge') or confine, and so hamper : Job 12^ ' He enlargeth the nations and sti'aiteneth them again' (Heb. as RV 'bringeth them in,* RVm ' leadeth them away '), IS", Pr 412 (both of the straitening of steps—' Widening of the steps is a usual Oriental figure for the bold and free movements of one in prosperity, as straitening of them is for the constrained and timid action of one in adversity ' — Da\idson on Job 18").
The adv. straitly means either (1) closely, Jos 6' 'Jericho was straitly shut up' (nnjjrpi n-ijb, RV ' shut the gates, and was shut in ') ; Wis 17" 'was straitly kept' (etppovpuTo, RV 'was kept in ward ') ; Sir 20'" ' keep her in straitly ' {(TTcpiwiroy (puXaKriv, RV ' keep strict watch ') : or (2) strictly, as Ac 4'" ' Let us straitly threaten them ' (TR OTreiXp aTrei\r](Tiific8a ; edd. omit ivciXy, whence RV ' let us threaten them ').
Straitness. — Dt 28^ 'In the siege and in the strait ness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee ' (RV ' shall straiten thee '), so vv."- ", Jer 19". The word also occurs in Job SG'" opposed to 'a broad place,' and 2 Mac 12=i {(TTeySrrit). Cf. Is 58' Cov. ' Wherfore fast we (saye they) and thou seist it not ? we put our lives to straitnesse, and thou regardest it not?' J. HASTINGS.
STRANGE, STRANGER Both these words have
shades of meaning in AV which are now almost obsolete, and tliey are also used to represent various Heb. terms, whose significations are materi- ally distinct. On the other hand, the word 'strange' has a connotation in modem English which it never possesses in the OT, and very rarely in the NT. Hence in many passages considerable con- fusion, which might have been obviated by a
* Chaucer uses the pt<'p. in its lit. sense, 'drawn,* applying it to a sword : Nonne Pree&tcs Tale, 537 —
' Pirrus with his streite swerd When he hadde bent king Priam by the herd. And slajTi him.' t ' Straight ' is a distinct word, from Anglo-Sax. Btreht, ptcp of streccan, to stretch.
STRANGE, STRANGER
STRAW
623
change of rendering in the RV, is produced in the mind of the En<'lish reader.
'Strange ' (Old Fr. estrange, Lat. extraneus) and 'stranger' mean in a great many instances simply ' foreign ' * [a word unknowTi to AV except in 1 Mac 15', 2 Mac 10=^ ; but introduced by RV in Zeph 1', Ac 2G" in place of A\' 'strange'] and 'foreigner' (AV only Ex 12" [wrongly for 'so- journer,' :yiB], Dt 15', Ob ", Eph 2'!* [wrongly for 'sojourner,' Trdpoiicos] ; but introduced by RV in Lv 22-=», Dt 17" 23* 29-, by Anier. RV m Ru 2" and 2 S lo'" for AV ' stranger,' and by RV in Dt 14"' for AV 'alien'). It would conduce to clear- ness if, in the great majority of instances where (as in all the above OT pas.sages except Ex 12" as noted) derivatives of the root n:: are employed, the renderings ' foreign ' and ' foreigner ' were adopted. Thus we should have ' foreigner(s) ' for ■i;;(n)-;2 (lit. ' son of foreignness') or ':(n) -j^i in Gn 17'- (defined by the || ' not of thy seed ') =', Ex 12« [all P], Lv '22='[H], 2S22'»« = Psl8"-*', Ezk44'-9'*', Neh9-, l8 56^-'> 60'" 61° 628, pg 1447.11. ana 'foreign (not ' strange ') god(s) ' ("in 'jn Dt 32''', Mai 2", FsSl'"; '3 ^hx Dn ll**; '3(.i)-rSx Gn Zo~\ Jos 24-'<'- » [all E], Jg 10", 1 S 7', Jer 5'", 2 Ch 33' ; xy^T^-i "■r'^S Dt 31"); 'foreign vanities,' i.e. idolatries (': '^zn Jer 8'") ; ' foreign altars ' ('1 ninsp 2 Ch U-) ; ' foreign soil' ('3 rc-ix Ps ISi') ; 'everything foreign' {'yi^ Xeh IS'").