J. R. Willis. LAKE OF GENNESARET.-See Sea of Galilee.
LAMB.— See Animals (vol. i. p. 64^), Names AND Titles of Christ, and Shee^.
LAME. — This Avord, perha])s originally meaning bruised, signifies a crippled or disabled condition caused by injury to or defect of a limb or limbs ; specifically Avalking Avith difficulty, inefficient from injury or defect, unsound or impaired in strength. It is applied metaphorically to all kinds of in- efficiency, such as inadequate excuses, or verses Avhich ofiend against the laAvs of versification. The term embraces all varieties of defect in Avalk- ing arising from various causes, and includes halt- ing and maimed (see artt.), Avhicli are separate and distinct species of lameness.
The Greek word is x'^^'>^< from obsolete y_(ka or ■xa.'ka.u (to loosen, slacken), which is tr. ' lame ' in Mt 115 1530. si 211*, Lk 72i 1413 ; but in other passages for no apparent reason the same word is translated ' halt.' In Jn 53 x"'^'"'' is rendered ' halt ' without any indication that a special species of lameness is intended, where the description is quite general as in the above passages. In Mk 9'*^-'*5 it is used synonymously with xtjXXcc, where a.va.Tv,pi>; might have been expected in both cases, seeing that the injurj- referred to is the definite cutting off of the hand or foot. y.uKXo; is, however, most commonly associated with the hand, while %«A.(if more specificallj' has to do with lameness in the foot or feet. In Mt 18* we have %aX«» •>, zt-xxcv — trans- posed in the authorities followed by RV, making the corre- spondence between x^'P and xuXXov, and truk and ^iiAov.
Healing of the lame was a characteristic Avork of Christ. Among the multitudes that gathered round Him seeking restoration for Aarious ailments Avere i^robably sufierers from many different kinds of lameness (as Mt 15^", Lk 7^-). Jn 5^ gives a comprehensive list of such sick persons, including the feeble, the blind, the lame, and the Avithered (Tr\rjdos tQiv daGevovvTcov, TV(p\wv, x'^^'^", ^VP^")- Prob- ably these miscellaneous cases Avould include those suffering from chronic rheumatism and from in- firmities having a nervous origin, manj' of Avhich resulted in a Avithering of the limbs and of the bodily frame. It is significant that Jesus is never said to have restored the d.va.w7]poi, the badly mutilated — deprived of their limbs (see Maimed). T. H. Wright.
LAMECH. — Father of Noah, mentioned in our Lord's genealogy, Lk 3^.
LAMENTATION (epr,vos, ep7}velv).—An expression of sorroAV accompanied by Availing and other demon- strations of grief. It is associated in Jn IG-" Avith Aveeping, and also in Lk 23-^, in the case of the Avomen accompanying the SaA'iour to the Cruci- fixion. It is applied equally to soitoav for the dead and to gi'ief for approaching disaster (Mt 2'*, Jn 1620, Lk 2327), and it is referred to by the Lord as one of the common games of children.
When a death occurred, it Avas intimated at once by a loud Avail AA'hich is described (Mk 5^^) as accom- panied by a ' tumult,' and this lamentation Avas reneAved at the grave of the deceased. Oriental demonstrations of grief are very vivid. Mourners hang over the lifeless form and beg for a response from its lips. When a young person dies un- married, part of the ceremony of mourning is a form of marriage (see art. Mourning). Lamenta-
LA:Nrp
LANGUAGE OF CHRIST
tion for the dead was also accompanied by beating the breast and tearing the hair, as well as by rend- ing the garments (see Rexdixg of Garmextsj and fasting. W. H. Raxkixe.
LAMP. — There are two words in the Gospels translated 'lamp,' Xi'xvos and Xa/xirds. The former (RV 'lamp,' AV 'candle) is used Mt 5'^ Mk 4-', Lk 8'* of the usual means of lighting a house. In Mt 6-- the eye, as the source of light, the organ bj- which light is appreciated, is called the lamp (RV ; AV ' light ') of the Ixxly. In Jn 5** the same word is applied to John the Baptist, who is not the eternal light (0ws, Jn 1-), but the burning and shin- ing lamp kindled by it and bearing witness to it.
The word Xo/urds occurs in Jn 18*, where it is rendered 'torch.' It is also used in the j>arab]e of the Ten Virgins, Mt 25, where it would be lietter translated 'torch.' In Eastern countries the torch, like the lamp, is fed with oil, which is carried in small vessels constructed for the purpose {dyyelov, Mt 25^). See Caxdle, Light, Torch.
LrrKRATTRE. — Trench, SyiujiiyiM, yl\\. ; Hasting-s' DB, artt. 'Lamp' and ' Lant«m' ; Eiiersheim, Li/e and Timt^, u. 455 ff. ; H. J. van Lennep, Blhle Landi and Custams, p. 13-2 ; W. S£. Thomson, Land and Boole, m. 472.
C. H. Pbichard. LANE.— See STREET.
LANGUAGE OF CHRIST.— Recent historical
and critical research has narrowed the ground which it is necessary to cover in the discusision of the question as to the language spoken by Christ. It has ruled Hebrew out of court. The practically unanimous verdict of recent scholars is that, considerably before the time of Christ, though when is uncertain, Hebrew had ceased to be spoken in Palestine, and its place as the ver- nacular had been taken by Aramaic, the language represented in OT by Ezr i^'^^ 7^"*, Jer lO^^, and Dn 2^-7^, and mistakenly named ' Chaldee.'