sizes this point. Possibly our Lord was alluding to Is 14^-. A similar idea appears in Rev 12^. Wellhausen regards the verse in Lk. as apocry- phal ; but Jesus frequently used apocalyptic im- agery. In the Koran (Sura 72) the demons are cast out of heaven at the coming of INIohammed, the angels bombarding them with stars.
2. Mt 24-' ' For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the Avest ; so shall be the coming of the Son of Man ' (cf. Lk 17'-^). The idea seems to be that of widespread and un- mistakable evidence. The coming of the Son of Man Avill be seen everyAvhere, and that very mani- festly (so Plummer, Wellhausen, etc.). A second thought, the suddenness of the flash (Plummer), is not so apparent, if it is even present at all, in this application of the idea of lightning to the Parousia. For the apparent contradiction betAveen this thought and that in Lk IT-*^ see Obsera'ation.
3. The one other Gospel reference to lightning is in the description of the angel of the Resurrection (Mt 28^), Avhose appearance is 'as lightning,' the idea being dazzling brightness.
W. F. Adeney. LILY. — The lily {]mv, nmv, Kplvov) is mentioned by various OT Avriters (1 K 7^'-', 2 Ch 4^, Ca ^ etc., Hos 14^). In the NT there is but one reference (Mt 6-8 and || Lk 12-"). From the expression ' lilies of the field,' Ave gather that they A\ere Avild flowers, Avhile the comparison of them Avith the regal robes of Solomon (Mt 6-^) implies that they Avere not Avhite, but coloured (cf. Ca 5^^). The plant that best accords Avith these conditions is the scarlet anemone {A. coronaria), AA'ith Avhich, in the spring of the year, the Galilaean hillsides are clothed. (See Tristram, Fauna and Flora of Palestine, p. 208 ; Nat. Hist, of Bible, p. 462). The nature of the reference might, hoAvever, favour the suppo- sition that our Lord used the term ' lilies ' in a very general Avay, and that it should be taken as comprising a A'ariety of floAvers, such as anemones, poppies, and tulips. Hugh Duncan.
LINEN {^v(T(xos, (Tivdibv). — Cloth of various kinds prepared from the flbre of flax Avas largely used in Egypt and Palestine for under-garments. It A\as preferred to cotton or avooI, as being cleaner and cooler in the hot climate. It formed an important element in priestly dress, and in the Temple hang- ings. Worn together Avith purple it constituted the characteristic clothing of the Avealthy (Est 8^^, Lk 16^^), and probably of royalty (Gn 41'*-). Linen AA'as used in Egypt to prepare the bodies of botli men and animals for burial, and in Palestine it Avas the common Avrapping of the dead. "Wool Avas avoided, the belief being tliat it tended to breed Avorms. To this day linen is used for these purposes in Palestine by all avIio can att'ord it. Coarser cloth Avas made in the country, but the finer sorts Avere imported, the products of Egypt being held in high esteem. As an article of mer- chandise, linen ranked Avith gold, silver, jn-ecious stones, silk, etc. (Rev 18'-).
fivdwu (Mk 14^i- ^-) probably corresponds to the Rabbinic sadin or sedina, a linen cloth, or loose linen Avrapper ; although possibly it may also mean a night-dress (Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus, 1900, ii. 545). In this garment the body of Jesus Avas Avrapped Avhen taken from the cross (]Mt 27^'). It may have been torn into strips to form the odovia in Avhich, Avith the spices, the body Avas bound (Jn 19^" 20^«-). Probably, however, these Avere the bandages fastening the aivSihv.
W. EWING.
LIP. — This Avord, in the plural, is found in the Gospels only in Mt 15* || j\Ik 7^, Avhere it stands for Xeikiaiv in a free quotation from the LXX. It is rendered by AV, ' This people honoureth me tvith
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LITTLE OXES
LLITLE OXES
thzir lips, but their heart is far from me' (cf. Is 29^^). St. Matthew, Avho quotes oftenest from the LXX, does so here (v.'*'-), even though it departs considerably from the Hebrew. But he modifies its phraseology so as to improve it, and to bring out the prophet's thought more clearly than would be done bj' a literal translation of the Hebrew. (See Toy, NT Quotations from the OT). The ex- pression ' honoureth me with their lips ' is ex- plained by some a,s an allusion to the Jewish custom of putting the tassel of the tallith to the lips during worship, as a sign that the Law was accepted, not as of dutj' only, but as the enthusiastic preference of tlie heart (cf. Job 31'^, where putting the hand to the lips is an act of astral worship ; and the Oriental salutations in which putting the hand to the lips is supposed to have been originallj' a sign and assurance of sincerity ; see Jeivish Encyc. art. 'Lip'). Others explain this clause, in relation to the entire passage, as intended to put in sharp con- trast a worship of God, or a form of religion, that is taught of men (cf. ' teaching teachings which are precepts of men,' w.^), and a worship that is really according to the teachings of God's word, i.e. which springs from a devout and trusting heart (cf. 'But their heart is far from me, v.**, with tlie suggestion of emptiness in v.^ ' In vain do they worsliip me,' etc.).