Mention should be made of the ingenious theory of Prof. C. C. Everett in his GosjkI of Paul, which denies tlie [lenal character of the death of Christ on the cross, and sees in this supreme event only the ceremonial defilement which Christians share who take Christ as Lord and who thus likewise Ijecome accursed (Gal 3^'), and so have the power of the Law over them removed. But this theory misses the deeper aspects of the whole problem, by overstraining an incidental truth connected with the death of Christ on the cross. See the matter well disposed of by Bruce, St. Paul's Conception of Christianity, p. 184 fl".
LiTKRATUBE.— Zockler, i)n«ffrfwzCAris«i(1875); Brandt, Die EmngelUche Geschichte, etc. (1S93); Fulda, Das Kreuz mid die Kreuzimim (187S) ; Lipsius, de Cruce (1595) ; Everett, The Gospel of Paul (1893) ; articles on 'Cross' in Hastings' DB, in Smith's DB, in Herzog's PRE, and in the Enei/c. Bibl. ; Cremer, Bibt.Thtol. Lex. of ST Greek (1892) : the Lives of Christ and Paul ; the critical Commentaries ; the Biblical Theologies.
A. T. R0BERT.SOX. CROWD. — In many passages of the Gospels we read of the rapid gatliering of a crowd around Jesus. The healing of the man with the Anthered hand seems to have been the first occasion on which a great company was drawn to Him by curiosity or by tlie hope of healing. ' His fame went throughout all Sj-ria.' The mnltitude was gathered from Galilee," Jerusalem, Juda'a, Idu- msea, and from the district round Tyre and Sidon ; the whole country was moved (Mt 4^, Mk 3"-*, Lk 6"""). AVhen Jesus retired for quiet to a desert place after receiving the news of the death of John the Baptist, He wa-s followed by a crowd of five thousand people (Mt 14", Mk 6«, Lk 9"). The words used for 'crowd ' are 6-)(\o$ and ttX^^os (both usually rendered ' multitude ' in EV, but in
Mk 2^ 5^-3", Lk 8"* 19^ «x^o! is tr. •press' [KV 'crowd']). In classical Greek ttX^Sos means the common people, the plebs, as opposed to Sx'^o'i the inchoate throng that comes together on anj' special occasion, the turba. But in the NT the distinc- tion is not uniformly maintained ; in Mk 3'"' the words are used intercliangeably. St. Luke is more exact in his use of language, and in Ac 15'° uses TrKriBoi in a technical sense, common enough in the inscriptions, as meaning the membership of a political or religious association in its totality "^ ■ I, Bible Studies, Eng. tr. 232). The
question arises whether there were any special 1 cumstances in those days that favoured the coming together of such masses of jjeople upon very short notice.
1. The Messianic expectation was the motive of many such gatherings. The misgovernment under the "Herods had cast the nation's thoughts back upon God, and the Messianic hope awakened with new power. The attention that John the Baptist attracted was due to the belief that he was the Messiah, a belief that he took pains to shatter. To John there flocked at the outset of his ministry the people in the neighbourhood, but afterwards the movement reached the north and the inflam- mable Galilee. Jos. {Ant. XVIII. v. 2) says tliat John was put to death because Herod feared lest the crowds he Avas gathering about him should ' put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, for they .seemed ready to do anything he should advise.' It was in consequence of a similar movement among the Samaritans that Pilate was recalled. The bloodshed with which the movement was cliecked led to an information being laid against him at Rome (Jos. Ant. XVlll. iv. 2). It is clear from these incidents that the Messianic hope was very present with the people ; and whenever the times raised up a man who seemed to lia\e a distinctive message, the Jews were more than willing; to flock to listen to him.
2. The siplciidiii loail system of Palestine facili- tated the gatliering of suili crowds. The Romans made their roads partly on commercial grounds, and partly to permit of tlie passage of troops among the turbulent people. The commerce of the country must have been considerable in spite of the grinding taxation. Herod's annual income (Jos. Ant. XVII. xi. 4) .was 900 talents, nearly £400, (KK) of our money. The regular raising of such a sum implies a settled trade, and much coming and going between difl'erent parts of the country. The excellence of the roads is borne witness to by the fact that the Roman procurator, who resided at C.-esarea, could reach Jerusalem with troops by way of Antipatris in less than twenty-four hours. The distance is about sixty miles. Along these splendid roads the crowd would stream on the first hint of the appearance of one who might be the ]SIessiah.
3. The small size of the country must also be remembered. Palestine bulks so large in spiritual significance that one is apt to forget how small it is. And yet from the shore of the Dead Sea one may view the glittering snow of Hermon, while from the hill above Nazareth may be seen on the one hand the ships in the Mediterranean, and on the other the rolling liills of Gilead. This land, only about Jth tlie size of England, Avas densely popu- lated. To-day its population is a little over 600,000, but in OT and Roman times must have been very much larger. 2 S 24' implies a population of 6,500,000 ; and, while it may be questioned whether the land ever could have carried so great a popula- tion as this, it is clear, both from the notices in liistorj' and from the existing ruins, that the desola- tions of to-day were formerly densely peopled. The populatioii in the time of Christ is generally