LiTERATi-TRE. — Reference may be made to Drummond, Sat. Law in tlie Spir. World, p. 123 ff. ; Bruce, Parabolic Teathing, pp. 90-143 ; Marcus Dods, Parables oj our Lord, 1st Ser. p. 47 jf.
B. Whitefoord.
GUARD.— 1. RV rendering of KomruSia (Lat. cnstodia), Mt 21^-^ 28", AV 'watch'; obtained by the chief priests and Pharisees from Pilate to ^ard the sepulchre. The need of Pilate's author- ization and the risk of punishment from him (Mt 28''') show that this guard must liave con- sisted, not of the Jewish Temple police, but of soldiers from the Roman cohort at Jerusalem ; possibly, though not probably, the same as had guarded the cross (^x^^f. 27*°, is probably impera- tive, 'have (take) a guard'). A watch usually consisted of four men (Polyb. vi. 33), each of whom watched in turn, while the others rested beside him so as to be roused by the least alarm ; but in this case the guards may have been more numerous.
2. 'A soldier of his [Herod's] guard' (RV tr. of aireKovXciTup, Lat. speculator, AV ' executioner ') lieheatled John the Baptist, Mk 6". Spemdatore.^ were originally spies or scouts (from .specula, ' a look-out') ; but we find them chiefly employed («)
a> in>-~rTi;^t.-r^ or ciinviers, carrying official de- .s|i.iic li., ; (/,i a^ iiiilit.ir\ i-sr.utioners. A certain nun ill. a- wcrr atlai-ln-.l h.rarli legion, besides others lielc'iii;ing to till- I'ra hiiian uuarJ, who were closely attached to the Einin mr^ ].. axon and ready for any special senuce. Jlnav arc many examples in classical writers (..,;, Scnc, a, ,/. In,, i. ii. 4), Acts of Martyrs, and Rabljiiuc writings, of their employ- ment as executioners ; for refi'. see SchUrer, Wet- stein, etc. The Herods had bodyguards {dopv(p6poi, aoifiaro^iXaKet, Jos. BJ I. xxxiii. 7-9, II. xv. I, etc.), and may have given them the Roman title of spcculatoi-es ; or the word may here be used gener- ally for an executioner. Herod sent some of his guards (Sopv<f>bpoL) to kill his son Antipater (Ant. XVII. vii. 1, BJl. xxxiii. 7).
LiTKRATURB.— Schurer, HJP i. ii. 62f. ; Benson, Cyprian, 505 n. ; Gelling in Hase and Ilcen's This. Sou. ii. 405 ; Mar- quardt, Rbmische Staatsverioaltitng, ii. pp. 420, 547.
Harold Smith.
GUEST — Hospitality was, and to a large extent still is, one of the chief virtues of Oriental life. This was due in large measure to the nomadic cliaracter of Eastern peoples, among whom tliere was no ]iro\ision for the traveller apart from private entertainment. The casual passer-by, the iinknow n stranger, even the enemy, were welcomed to tent or house, provided with food and lodging, waited on often by the host himself, and dismissed without being expected or even allowed to pay for their entertainment. Even yet, where the influence of travellers and tourists from the West has not corrupted the ancient manners, the ofler of pay- ment is regarded as an insult. The practice of ages has invested the guest with a peculiar sacred- ness : a breach of hospitality is an almost unheard of disgrace. Underlying tliis ready hospitality of the East is the idea that every stranger is aaif Ullah, 'the guest of God.' The host himself is a sojourner (Heb. rjir, Arab, jar) with God ; the stranger is a fellow - guest, and loyalty to God demands that he should be hospitably en tertainetl. Not unlike this, though on a higher plane, is the teaching of Jesus as to God's knowledge of and provision for our needs, which frees the trustful, childlike heart from all undue anxiety (Mt &^-^*, Lk 12=^-3').
In the Gospels, however, it is not the free hos- pitality of tlie nomad desert life that meets us, but the more restricted hospitality of the to^vn, of meals and banquets.
and in Lk 19T, \vl ««T.xD«-.j. The- Or dining posture Itua reference to nuiiN ci
RV 'at the'taM- i^ in tlie narrati- l course, had. M
• (RV 'to lodge •)=
indicates the re
frequently ii
vfl; is rendered in is used in Jn 6>1 though they, of
r I linmgattable; e.g
•'.■• ~.-nt as a guest) 148
hief places); cf. art.
io.i,M is similarly used
Lk 7S6 (of an:
(in Christ's wa,,,i... ,.u un-' -
GCBST-CllAMBER. Ihe co-iiate several times, e.g. Mt s" 14'^ e
During His ministry Jesus was frequently in- vited to be guest in private houses. Thus Matthew (Levi) entertained Him when He had called him from the 'place of toll' (Lk 5-™- II); Martha 're- ceived him into her house '.'(Lk lO*""") ; Zacchajus 'received him joyfully' (Lk W-). He was one of tlie guests at the marriage in Cana of Galilee (Jn S'""-), and after His resurrection He ' sat down to meat' in the house of the two disciples at Emmaus (Lk 24**). The Pharisees complained bitterly of His eating with publicans and sinners, yet several of them invited Him to be their guest (Lk 7*'«'- ll""- 14'"-), not, as it seems, with the purest motives of hospitality. The words of Jesus to His host on one of these occasions (Lk 7*'"-)
I
GUEST-CHAMBER
GUIDE
introduce us to the coui'tesies which, if not neces- sarily shown to a guest, were marks of honour and regard, the giving of water to wash tlie feet, the kiss of welcome, the anointing of the head with oil.
It should be noted here that the request of Jesus to the Samaritan woman, ' Give me to drink ' (Jn 4'), was virtually, according to Eastern ideas, a claim on her hospitality, and in ordinary circum- stances it would have been recognized and re- sponded to at once. Her astonishment at the request reminds us that between Jew and Sa- maritan there was no recognition of the law of hospitality (cf. Lk 9^^ 17").