Vinegar by itself was too pungent to drink, hence to give vinegar to drink was part of the punisliment of a victim, as in Ps 69-' ; cf. the iTi 6' ii TO.! iihas ii^os in Aristoph. Batrach. 619. Its efl'ects on the mouth are mentioned in Pr lO'", reminding of the description of vinegar as iroTiK aTv<t>bv given by Nikander (Alexi2jharm. Zl!)), or the Acetum acerbum of Plautus (2>mc. i. 2. 83). For other figurative expressions of the irritation and acridity of vinegar see tlie same author in Rudcns, iv. 2. 32 ; Pseu<lolus, ii. 4. 49 ; and Bacchyl. iii. 3. 1 ; cf. the mordax acetum of Persius, v. 86. In the pas.=age in Proverbs the LXX renders the word by 6/j.<pa^, unripe grapes, as though home? was here used in the sense of the Talmudic y^'n.
The eU'ect of vinegar on nitre (an: = natron or crude sodic carbonate) causing efi'ervescence is mentioned in Pr 25-" (see vol. iii. p. 555).
A. Macalister. VIOL.— Thus the Heb. nebhel or ncbliel is ren- dered in AV and RV Is 14", Am 5-» 6°, and in AV Is 5'- (RV here ' lute '). See Music, vol. iii. p. 459^ and Psaltery (the more usual tr. of the Heb.), above, p. 163''. See also Driver, Amos, p. 234 tf., and Wellhausen, Psalms {PB), p. 222 tt'. Tlie 'viol' (from late Lat. vidula, vifula, through Fr. viole, viollc ; cf. Anglo-Sax. fithclc, a fi<lille) is described by Chappell as a six-stringed musical instrument, the position of the fing^crs being marked on the finger-board by frets, as in guitars of the present day. But it was phayed with a bow, not with the fingers as the guitar. Violin is a dim. of viol, as violoncello is of violin. The violin displaced the viol in England in the leign of Charles u.
J. HASTINQS.
VIPER.— See Serpent.
VIRGIN (n^ins, n;':v, rapS^i-o!).- The word n>W3 il commonly used of a virgo intacta, as in Dt 22^,
VIRTUE
VOPHSI
871
2 S 13'. It is frequently applied metapliorically, often with the addition of nj 'a daughter,' to a people, especially to Israel, originally, it would seem, in ttie sense of not yet subdued bj' an enemy, as Is 37", Jer 14", La 1''; but sometimes to other nations, as to Zidon (Is 23'-), Babylon (47'). and sometimes even where t lie original intention of the metaphor is lost, as in Jer 3^^ where the restora- tion of captive Israel is promised. In Is 62^ tliere is a curious mixture of metaphor. ' For as a j'oung man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee.' The word is, however, once used of a young married woman in Jl ,1'.
The meaning of .n^'Ti! is from its comparatively rare use less easily determined. In Gn 24''' it is used with reference to Kebekah, apparently in the sense of a virgo intacta. In Ca F the same mean- ing is perhaps probable, but hanlly necessary. In Ca 6" the meaning Is quite uncertain. The women in the harem of Solomon, distinguished as they are from the wives and concubines, might or might not be virgins. We cannot, therefore, argue from the usage of the word the meaning intended in Is T" ; but the whole context of the passage, as well as the analogy of S'"*, suggests that the sign in- tended did not consist in anything miraculous in the birth itself, but in the speedy coming of the event, and in the symbolical name to be given to the child. The LXX probably understood by rapOdfos a virgin in its strict sense, understanding, it would seem, that the mother of Imnianuel was at the time a virgin — a possible interpretation of the words, though RVm is probably right in rendering 'is with child and beareth.' St. Matthew, quoting trom LXX, takes the passage as a direct pr(j]ilieiy of the birth of Christ from a virgin (see niMANUEL). .Such has till recent times been the practically universal iuterpretiition of the passage by Christians. It has been very naturally disputed by the Jews from the time of Justin Martyr down- wards, and is said to liave been one of the chief reastms for tlie first Gr. tr. of OT by Aquila [? Onkelos], (Lusebius, HE v. 8).
There is nothing remarkable about the usage of irapddios in NT, except in Rev \i*, where it is used of men who have kept themselves free from imjmrity. St. Paul's discussion of the topic of 'virgins' in 1 Co T^'- comae under Maukiage (see vol. iii. p. 266'').
For the c^na of Dt 22">- " (EV 'tokens of vir- ginity'), and the Oriental custom referred to in that jjassage, see art. SoNO OF SoNGS, pp. 595", Sfl'i'', and CI. Driver, Deut. ad loe.
F. H. Woods.
VIRTUE aj the translation of 5wa/»is is used in AV in Mk S*', Lk 6'" S-"" in the sense of power (so KV) or influence. In earlier Eng. it was freely used (.ifler Lat. virtus, from vir, a man, therefore 'what, is manly,' 'courageous') in the sense of
• strength ' or ' power.' Thus Chapman, Odysseys, xvii. 300—
' HU double ^teo, and turrets, built too strong For force or virtue ever to expugn.'
It is Wyclif's usual word for 5wa/»ii after the Vulg. virtus, as Ac I'J" 'And God dide vcrtucs not Bmale hi tlie lioond of I'oul ' ; He 1* 'And berith alio thingis bi word of his vertu.' The same in the IJhem. version, as Lk 9' ' He gave them vcrtue and jiower (Siivo/xii' itol i^oiKrlav, Vulg. virtutem et potcslfitem) over al devils.' The modern meaning of 'virtue' was already in use in 1611, as in the preface to AV, ' Solomon was greater than David, though not in vertue, yet in power ' ; and it is probable that in the above past-ages tlie word was retained from the earlier versions because it conveyed the sense of injhtenre (supernatural in- fluence) to the translators' minds. Cf. Adams,