Other notices, though less clirect, are worth con- sidering, e.g. our Lord's injunction to the Twelve, 'Freely ye have received, freely give' (Mt 10'); His own compassionate feeding of the hungry multitudes (Mt 14'« 15*=, Mk 6" 8», Lk 9'*) ; His rebuke of the Rabbis' nile, that when sons had rashly or selfishly taken the vow of Corban, they must no longer be sutt'ered to do auuht for their father or their mother (Mt 15=, Mk "^7") ; His ac- ceptance of the Jews' intercession for the Gentile who had built them a synagogue (Lk 7°) ; the praise of the women who ministered unto Him of their substance (8') ; His advice, when we make a feast, to invite the poor (14'^) ; and the vow of the peni- tent ZatcIuL'Us, ' The half of my goods I give to the
ALOES
ALPHA AND OMEGA
^3
poor'(iy'). Nor may we omit 'the words of the Lord Jesus,' quoted by St. Paul, but preserved liy St. Luke (Ac 202«), ' It is more blessed to give than to receive.'
We do not find in the teaching of our Lord Him- self any of those cautions, \yliich are so dear to the present day, against excessive ahiis;;i\in.L; ; though doubtless St. Paul 'had the mind <>i Christ' (1 Co 21S) when he laid down his rule, ' If any man ii-ill not work, neither let him eat' (2 Th 3'"). Not far, at any rate, from this is His parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard (Mt 20'-"'), where Jesus describes God under the figure of a rich and generous householder who gives work and wages (not mere alms) to those w-lio are able to work, asks with surprise of such, ' ^ylly stand ye here all the day idle?' and, on learning it was tlieir misfortune and not their fault, makes them work for the last hour, yet pays them a whole day's wages.
We have seen how Christ condemns the doing of alms to have glory of men. He exposes also the ugliness of boasting of our giving before God (Lk 18" parable of the Pharisee and the Publican) ; insists that justice, mercy, and truth are of in- finitely greater importance than minute scrupulous- ness in tithing, and lays down the comprehensive principle that, however there may be opportunities for us to do more than we have been explicitly commanded, yet we never can do more than we owe to God : ' When ye have done all, say. We are unprofitable servants : we have done that which it was our duty to do ' (Lk 17'°). Again, by His own example, in the case of the woman of Canaan (Mt 15"'"^), He cuts off another unworthy motive, too often active in our so-called almsgiving, the wish to get rid of a beggar's importunity ; while, both in the case of this woman and of her witli the issue of blood (Mt 9™, Mk 5-», Lk 8«), He shows by His OAvn example that true kindness is not in- discriminate, but takes the most careful account, not so much of the immediate and material, as of the ultimate and spiritual benefit which may be done, by its assistance, to the afflicted or the needy. The soul's wellbeing is higher than the body's. And, of course, our almsgiving, like all our works, is to be done in subjection to the two command- ments which are the standing law of His kingdom, that we love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our mind, and that we love our neighbour asourself (Mt22=™-P).
Literature. — Besides the Comipentaries on passages referred to, consult O. Cone, Rich and Poor in the New Testament, Win. ; B. F. Westcott, Incarnation and Common Life, 195- •208; A. T. Lyttelton, College and University Sermona, 256; W. C. E. Newbolt, Counsels of Faith and Practice, '23!? ; F. Temple, Rugby Sermons, ;ind ser. 7 ; Pusey, Sermons.
James Cooper.
ALOES. — We have in the NT only one reference to aloes, Jn 19^', where Nicodemus brings myrrh and aloes with him, when he joins Joseph of Ari- raathea in taking away the body of Jesus for burial. In English, 'aloe' is used to designate (1) Aloe mil- qari.1, A. spicata, etc., of the natural order Lili- acese, from which the medicine known as ' bitter aloes' is obtained; (2) Agave Americana, or American aloe, of the order Amaryllidacese, a plant which is noted for its long delay in flowering, and for the rapidity with which it at lengtli puts forth its flowering stalk ; and (3) AguUaria Agallovha, Aq. secundaria, etc., of the order Aqui- lariacea-, from which is obtained the aloes-wood or eagle-wood of commerce. The substance so named is the result of disease occurring in the wood of the tree. To obtain it, the tree has to be split, as it is found in the centre. With this eagle- wood are probably to be identified the aloes of the Bible.
The grounds on which this identification rests are chiefly these:— (1) Under the name ayiXKoxov
Dioscorides (i. 21) describes an aromatic wood which was imported from India and Arabia, and was not only used for medicinal purposes, but also burned instead of frankincense. Similarly Celsius {Hicrobot. i. 135 tt'.) discusses references of Arab writers to ninny varieties of afjhdh'iji found in India and Crylon wldcli g.ave off, when burned, a s\vc?ct fragrance, and which were used as a perfume for the very same jiurpdses as those which 'aloes' served among tlie Jews (Ps 45', Pr 7", Ca 4"). Quite analogous is the employment of aloes for perfuming the coverings of the dead (Jn 19''-' ; cf. 2 Ch le").