many centurii'^ If II--. il ;nili- -tin- i>:it of caution) ; I' I ' 1 I . ■- /
GJV'i (Eng. tr, // ■ ' I ■ ' I-
Vidiication. .i , ,■'■- - ■■ '.-- .'"-'
by Edersheini, liidmi, Farrar, Ktini, Goi Brough's work applies t^o some of tht articles in the Bible Dictionaries and Biblical Archmology, ii. 17Sfl. §111; Nowack and of Benzinger. s,v, ' Familie. Much ' local colour ' is to be gained fri Palestine— Kitto, Tristram, Bobit
' '/ .\azareth; Schiirer, ■I, llor. Hcb. et Tal- ' "< ; Joseph Simon, , the 'Lives of Christ' ae, etc. (the remark on >e also); the relevant Encyclopedias; Keil, the Hcb. Archdol. oi
s of the PEFSt.
George Farmer.
BOYHOOD OF JESUS.— 1. The Biblical data.— The preceding article expresses the present writer's ideas as to religious training, education, and recreation in the time of Christ. The Gospels tell us nothing except by inference. The complete absence of haggaddth, i.e. such religious fiction as we find in the Talmud, from our Lord's teaching, implies either want of training in it, or positive rejection of it. But Christ acquired such a know- ledge of the Old Testament, and perhaps of some books outside the Palestinian canon, that the teacliers in the temple 'were astonished at his understanding and answers' (Lk 2^'). We do not doubt that Scribism andRabbinism had begun, and had a considerable follo>ving. But we doubt if it had made such progress that a good Israelite in the provinces, living in private life, was bound to live and to order his household according to the rules laid down and enforced by the leaders of the nation in the next and following centuries after the great upheaval of the Jewish war with Rome. Then, by
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political necessity, the ' traditions ' of a sect became the life of a nation. Perhaps, also, Christianity took out of Judaism those pious souls who were ' zealous of the law,' b>it not necessarily so of the 'traditions,' and there were left only those leaders and followers whose sayings supply us witli the picture of 2nd century Judaism (cf. Schiirer, HJP II. i. § 25, ' Scribism '— especially pp. 365- 379). Yet it must be admitted, in favour of a contrary view, that Peter at least was guided hy some rules which went beyond those of the OT, and which came from the scribes, Pharisees, and Rabbis (Ac lO^S; Gal 2'=— eating with non-Jews). But if any pious persons and households were as yet free from the Rabbinical ' yoke of bondage ' (Gal 5'), surely that freedom was to be found in the liousehold of Nazareth. A protest is needed, be- cause some writers illustrate (?) Christ's early life entirely by Rabbinical rules. The many illustra- tions from Jewish books which are brought forward to prove that all Jewish boys learnt a trade are hardly needed to prove that Christ did so. Apart from Mk 6* (the only passage in which He is called 6 TinTuiv, and not merely 6 rod t^ktocos kMs), common sense would teach us that He who deigned to live in a carpenter's household, under real human con- ditions, in His youth, would help Joseph, and learn the art he practised. This is implied in His subjection to Joseph (Lk 2^'). Perhaps the parable of the Mote (chip or splinter) and Beam (Mt 7""°) derives its outward form from the work of His youth (cf. Justin Martyr, c. Tryjihon. 88).
During the stay at Nazareth, where Joseph and Mary settled after their return from Egypt (Mt 2-*), the Babe (ri /3/)^0os, Lk 2"*) passed into the stage of young boyhood. He grew in bodily height (r)Siavc, Lk 2*) and in bodily strength (fVpaToioOxo, Lk 2'"). The omission of wvev/xart in this verse by NBDL Vulg. and most crit. edd. takes away any ground for discussing its meaning. The next words wXripoi- ixevov (ro0ias (or (ro0(9) imply a gradual, progressive lilling.* What does 'wisdom' mean? Just as any manifestation of ' supernatural ' power was out of place in this stage of our Lord's life, so would have been any such manifestation of knowledge, of adult acquirements, of power to instruct others, or of any other form of ' wisdom ' which was clearly unsuitable to His age. He was the perfect child, with the perfection suited for each successive stage of childhood. And others recognized and valued this, no doubt (cf. ' in favour . . . with men,' Lk 2^2). But nothing occurred in His childhood (or later, up to the time of His beginning His ministry) to prevent His neighbours being astonished when His work began, and wondering at His words and works, which clearly were new to them and une.\- pected by them (Mk 1" '2^'^&-'' etc.).
Had it been found that He knew all human knowledge (e.g. reading, writing, arithmetic) with- out any instruction, there would have been a contradiction to the above facts. The <roipla then was (as we should exjiect in this Hebraistic pas- sage) the opposite to ' folly ' in the OT sense. As each fresh experience of life, each external diffi- culty (perhaps temptation) from His environment came on, pari passu, with His growth, there was heavenly wisduiu to meet it. Tact, gentleness, veracity, the ' soft answer,' were the sort of things which distin-uished Him from other lads, and not miraculous knowledge, or miraculous power such as is described in the Apocryphal Gospels.