There is humour in the appeal to tlie practice of (he Kgyjitians and Syrians of calling their tyrannic and woi-thli'ss rulers Kiii-frfetcx, 'Benefactor' (Lk 'I'l^); nnd in tlio niaimiiianyini,' suggestion that the real rhirf anam^ ClirisCs l..ll,,«ers is 'he that doth seiM ' il.k ■_'■_: I, llieiv is a cDiiscious reversal of ordinary n.iii..ns, wliicli would make the hearers smile even while they realized the serious mcaniii-. There is a hint of playfulness in the |ivonii-e il, ,i Peter shall 'catch men' (Lk 5'"). The iineiam put to the rich fool, ' Then whose shall ( 1 a .-, 1 1 , i n ■ be?' (Lk ia»), has a grim toncli. Uaae i- a -n gestion in it of reckonings -lieMnish- widirj ; an.l
something of the kind Im Ls ii, i he lale ,,( i lie ,
who built his hou.se on (he sainl a, lale lol.k il
ful
1 or to do good?' pot would feel, an caught them in a : rich young ruler Is, ' Thou .shall not ' onlo(d<er as odd, I to feel this (Mk
of the camel and ■ to (lie grotesque
lenieniliercd that liar with religious
must be remembered, by one who had been a rcKToiv (Mt 7-''). There are other stories, too, of people of pretension who are ludicrously out in their reckonings, e.ij. tlie king who went to war with a light heart (Lk 14"'), and the man who could not finish his tower (v.^). There is surely grim humour also in the words, ' It cannot be that a prophet perish o«< of Jerusalem' (Lk 13"").
In conclusion, there are in the recorded sayings of Jesus many traces of their origin in conversation. He is a man speaking to men in the language of men, and pathos, contrast, humour, and spon- taneity are the natural and pleasant marks of that language. He, like all great teachers, speaks from the abundance of His heart (Mt 12"*), and a smile is felt in His words, as in the words of all who .see contradiction without loss of inner jjeace. See also art. Laughter.
LlTERATORE.-
Martensen, Christian Ethics, i. 1S6.
T. K. Glover.
HUNGER The substantive 'hunger' (EV) is
the equivalent of a t!reek word (Xi/xo's) which in the NT is used either of the sullering of an individual (Lk 15", cf. 2 Co II-'), or, iiioie generally, of the
widespread plague of laian i. \!k V.'fi, Lk4'-^etc.;
see Blass' Gram. <;/' A '. ; mi, for (he com-
bination XoiMoi Kai >i ,1. The more
frequently occurriii.L; \r,\. i~ an ilioL,etlior dillerent word (irciv^v), and it is sometimes found where we niiglit expect "Kiiuis or its cognates (Mt 5" and Lk 6-'). The latter occurs in but 6 places in the Gospels, while the former is found no fewer than 17 times.
There is, perhaps, no feature of Jesus' human experience so vividly instructive as that which is portrayed for us in the simple ineiih>nf:il expression ' He hungered ■ (Ml 4^ l.k 4^ Ml -IV^ Mk 11'=). This is noted twice l.y I lie Synoplisls ; and though we have no such ilirecl slatement hv S(. .lohn, we are not left by the hi((er witliout 'a reference to this side of ' the humiliati(m of Christ.' The story of Jesus' conversation with the woman of Samaria
conveys the same impr limitations to which lb' are struck in the Synop of the disciples for tiic sa needs (Ju 4"' 'Pa/j/Jci, .;• cause of the boilily wear to rest 'thus l.y tin- wi4i
It is of the'mvatcsl the two occ:
to the
lie physical h which we
■ w lil iii'js. The anxiety sfaclion of their Master's
■ ) explains at least one •ss which compelled Him
cs( intere.st to notice that, on hen it. is definitely stated that Jesus suffered the pangs of hunger, t'lie ^vriter has pointedly attached to the narrative a lesson of p.sychological and spiritual value. St. Matthew and St. Luke both inform us not only that on the completion of His forty days' fast ' he hungered ' ; they also tell us that the Tempter attacked Him on the side of His consequent weakness. ' If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones be- come bread' (Mt 4", cf. the stronger and more graphic mould in which St. Luke casts tlie narra- tive by adopting the singular rip Xiffv tout-w for ol XWoi offroi and d/jros for fipToi, Lk 4"), expresses the subtle nature of this temptation in a manner
liich is profoundly in keeping with all human „ "' Robertson's
experienc 'Elijah,' ;
that this wai
(see
w.
L'pt the S.vnoptic statement
rst of the three teniptjitions,
:i'loptthe order given in the
1 1. Holtziiiann is inclined to
in. ai niii 140-160). The
I I lumber after that
111 . I he series. Holtz-
iii'-n, accordinjj to
■ I I lit ill Anionfif
111 nil the
HUSBANDMAN
miraculous
f'r.inf
I the Gospel according \
iuiMufactured an - .I.ucs.'or bypre■ -..- i-LLtion of hunger, thf world." [For the 1 the Hebrews (. . . i.(y«
Ivlyxi U.I t!; ro »/»5 m ft<y« e«/3»/>)
wliich makes Sit. Tabor the scene of the Temptation, see Origcn, in Joann. torn. ii. 5 6f., given in Nestle's Grcecum Stipple- itieiitum, p. 77. The same passage is quoted more than once by Jerome, who each time refers it to the Evangelium quod gecundttm (j'lxta) Uebraos {e.g. in Js lo")).