COSMOPOLITANISM
COUCH
371
and Philip), and the trilingual ' title ' on the cross (Jn 19»).
Jewish exclusiveness was apparently endorsed by Christ Himself (Mt 5" (RV) 6'- »=) ; the Twelve are forbidden to go into any way of the Gentiles (Mt 10^) ; and the Syrophoenician woman is at first addressed in thoroughly Jewish language (Mt 15", Mk T*). On the other hand, our Lord speaks the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk lO^™-) ; com- mends the faith of a Roman centurion as greater than any faith He had found in Israel (Mt 8'°, Lk 7") ; and, notwithstanding His first words to the Syrophoenician woman, recognizes and rewards tlie greatness of her faith (Mt IS^i"-, Mk 7^^-}. Simeon welcomes the infant Messiah as a light to lighten the Gentiles (Lk 2'-), in spite of the markedly Jewish tone of Lk 1 and 2. St. Matthew is the narrator of the visit of Wise Men from the East (Mt 2') ; and if he traces the genealogy of Christ to Abraham (Mt 1"), St. Luke takes it back to Adam and God (Lk 3^8).
It is true that the Gospels are full of protests against Jewish exclusiveness (Mt 3" 'Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father'; cf. Jn 8^'"-, where the claim founded on de- scent from Abraham is contemptuously dismissed ; alsoMtl2"'-,LklP"- 'themenof Nineveli . . . the queen of Sheba shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and sliall condemn it' ; Mt 8"'-, Lk 13°' ' many shall come from the east and the west . . . but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth ' ; and Mt 1 1'^', Lk 10", where tlie unrepentant Bethsaida and Chorazin are contrasted ^vith Tyre and Sidon). So far as this break witli tlie Jews shows itself, it rests on («) enthusiasm for humanity ; cf. esp. the references to publicans and sinners, Mt 9" 1P», Mk 2'S Lk 5» 7" 15', and the fragment in Jn 7''-8" ; (6) the universalism of the gospel, Mt 24", Mk 14" (' what she hath done shall be preached in all the world'), Mt 28i», Mk 16^=, Lk 2i^'-> ('make disciples of all the nations'); so Jn 3'" 12^ ('I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto myself); the same thing would result from Mt 20^8, Mk 10« (' to give his life a ransom for many '), if carried out to its logical conclusion ; ('■) anti- legalism in regard to the Sabbath (Mt 12', Mk 2-^ Lk 6' 13"), ceremonial ablutions (Mt 15', Mk 7'"), the provisions of the Law (Mt 5'-'- '■'''■ '■^- "), and the inadequacy of the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Mt 5'-"). It is noteworthy that the ground of marriage fidelity is carrii-il l);iik fnim Moses to the Creation (Ml lit^. Mk lo''i. :nu\ ili.- Sadducees are referred, 1)11 tlic-uliini cii ili.' i.-m rection, to God's langua-i- (o tin: |uv-M(,„u. |uiii archs (Mk 121", Lk 20''') ; .-(ill Chiist ic-ards a., final a combination of Dt 6^ and Lv 19'" (Mk 12™'^), and He asserts that His purjiose is not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it (Mt 5", cf. Mt 3'").
The real nature of Christ's teaching cannot be understood apart from the deductions from it in the Acts, where the recognition of the cosmo- politanism of the gospel is forced on the Apostles almo.st against their will {Ar. S"' 10"-'* 11="), and even opposed by a powerful party in the Cluirch when explicitly stated by St. I'aul (Ac 15=) : but it reaches its full statement in Ro 1U'=, Gal 3-«, Col I ('neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free'), and Ph3=<'('our citizenship is in heaven'). (Cf. J. R. Seeley, Ecce Homo, ch. xii. ' The Universality of the Christian Republic '). It will thus be seen that the recognition of cosmopolitanism in the sense of a universal mission of (Christianity is, in the Synoptic Gospels, only slight (cf. Harnack, E.r- pansion of Christinnitij, Eng. tr. vol. i. pp. 40-48, especially the statement that, omitting what is probably unauthentic, 'Mark and Matthew have almost consistently withstood the temptation to introduce the Gentile mission into the words and
deeds of Jesus,' p. 40). St. Luke differs from them in a slight colouring of expression rather than in the narration of fresh facts. St. John had both watched and taken part in the expansion ; but the universalism of the Fourth Gospel is chiefly con- fined to tlie striking use of the expression 'the >vorld' (see above and i*- 6" 12" 17^ etc.), which silently bears out the view — to a Christian, abund- antly confirmed after 70 A.D. — that the Jews were a reprobate people. From the rejection of one race followed the acceptance of all (Ro 11"-'=). See also articles ExcLusivENE.ss, Grecians, and Uni- versalism. W. F. LOFTHOUSE.
COUCH.— The word ' couch ' is found in Lk 5"- -* (as tr. of kKivISlov), where Mt 9=- ^ and Mk 2*- " \\&\e 'bed' (kX(h7 and Kpd/3aTTos respectively; KXlvq also in Lk 5'*). It is found also in RVm of Mk 1* as tr. of KKlrq. In Ac 5"*, where the AV and RV have ' beds and couches,' the correct text is iiri KXivaplui' Kai Kpa^aTTwv, 'small beds and couches,' or, as some render, ' small couches and beds.' The fact is, the terms used for ' couch ' and ' bed ' are not always sharply distinguished — certainly not by translators. The distinction made by Bengel and Kuinoel between kXij'cDj' (TR of Ac 5'*) and Kpa- piTTuv, that the former denotes 'soft and costly,' and the latter ' poor and humble,' beds is quite arbitrary (Meyer). In English usage the distinc- tion between ' bed ' and ' couch ' is clear enough ; a couch is a piece of furniture on which it is customary to repose or recline when dressed. A like distinction was made by the Romans, and in a measure by the Jews in the time of Christ, when ' couches ' were often used for the purpose of reclining at meals. They were known among the Romans as triclinia, because they ran round three sides of a table. Such ' couches ' were undoubtedly in common use among the Jews of Christ's day, though they are not mentioned in the Gospels in express terms, unless, against the best authorities, we accei)t icai kKivCiv in Mk "i*. They were provided with cushions, such as are now in vogue, on which the left elbow could rest, so as to leave the right arm free ; and were often arranged around three sides of a table in the form of a parallelogram, the fourth side of wliiili was left oiien for the con-