Tliere the narrative of the early life of Jesus breaks off" ; of Gospel record of the next eighteen years there is none. With the resumption of the narrative Jesus has arrived at manhood ; Joseph disappears from the scene, and attention accord- inglj' centres on the relations of Jesus Avitli the Avidowed mother. No longer is He a member of the family circle ; Maiy is cared for bj' sons and daughters; but the respect, the affection, the loving solicitude of ' her firstborn son ' is still enjoyed by lier. He asserts His independence, but Avith per- fect courtesy ( Jn 2* ; • the address is tliat of court- eous respect, even of tenderness,' Westcott). He is not to be understood in Mk 332-34 j^g clisoAvning parental ties ; rather as speaking of a family of God that is greater than the human family. The touching incident recorded in Jn 19^^- -'' is signifi- cant of maternal and filial devotion to the very end.
3. Sayings of our Lord. — Attention must noAv be directed to notes struck by Jesus Avhere recorded sayings of His have reference to the parental and filial relations. F'cav in number, thej^ are signifi- cant. For Him parents are the natural guardians (Lk 8^^). He has scathing condemnation for the legal fiction Avhich affords means of escape for children unAvilling to contribute to their parents' support (Mt 153-'% Mk T^-'^) ; the Fifth Command- ment, for Him, is paramount above other religious duties (see CoRBAX). He takes obedience to the Fifth Commandment for granted (Mt 19^^ Mk 10", Lk 18-'^') ; its observance is a condition of 'eternal life.' If in days near at hand parent will betraj' child and child parent, the unnatural circumstance Avill be but evidence of tribulation predicted by Him (Mt W\ Mk 13'=, Lk 21^6). What He says in Mt 10^' (Lk 14-'') is tantamount to a recognition of the strength of family ties. Very beautifully
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PAROUSIA
321
lias it been said that His favourite illusti-ation was drawn from tlie home. Thus in the Lord's Prayer it is the idea of the home that governs the Prayer. The rehxtious between tlie Heavenly Father and His children are set forth in terms richly suggestive of the human relationships. ' Reverence and submission — that the p.arent lias a right to obtain from the children ; support, for- bearance, and protection — that the clrildren on their i)art have a right to ask from the parent ' (A. W. Kobiiison, Church Catcchisjii Explained).
Two sayings may present diHiculty. One of tliem occurs in Lk 18'-" ; it must be compared with Mt 19-''-=*", Mk 10'-''-^«, where descriptions of the blessings of the Messianic Kingdom are set forth in terms familiar to the Jews of our Lord's day. Mention is indeed made of circumstances under which the renunciation of earthly ties may be demanded ; they are, however, exceptional cir- cumstances, where the ties in question are in- compatible with a higher allegiance. The other saying occurs in Mt S'-' (of. Lk 'J^''). Request and rejoinder have been explained of proverbial allu- sion (Adeney) ; it has been held tliat the permis- sion really sought was to remain and support an aged father until he died (Theophylact) ; and this is possible. It is certainly hard to believe that, with burial following so quickly upon death as is the case in the East, a request so thoroughly in accord with Jewish feeling (cf. To 4-"'*) was abruptly refused by Jesus. His reply is, perhaps, capable of metapiiorical interpretation : ' Tliink not only of the dead, remembir the needs of the living.' There may be, however, a reminder in it of the exceptional circumstances above alluded to. Besides, the teaching of Jesus had its sterner aspect.
Literature. — Schiirer, HJ P, ii. ii. 27 ; Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, which ^oes back to earlier days ; Joseph, Judaism as Creed and Life ; Maurice, Social Moralitji ; J. R. Seeley, ' The Church as a Teacher of Morality ' in Lectures and Essays. For the subject in regard to modern life see Mason, Home Education ; TurnbuU, Hints on Child Training ; Mrs. Craik, Sermons out of Church. JJ. L. JACKSON.
PARONOMASIA (Gr. -rrapovofiaa-ia, Lat. annomin- atio).* — A play on words of similar sound. This linguistic use, which in the present day is usually confined to luimorous writing, is found in ancient, and especially Oriental, works in the most serious passages. In Hebrew it is frequent, largely with proper names. There are many exami^les in the OT, e.g. Gn 9^ 25'^6 48^2, Ex 2^", Ru P", Is 63i, Mic li»-i5.t In the New Testament the writ- ings of St. Paul, whose early training had been Jewish, furnish some instances of paronomasia {e.g. Phileni'^, 'Ov-qaitiov — dxprjcTov — €iixp»?o'roj'), but in the Gospels it is rare, being found chiefly, if not wholly, in the Hebraistic Gospel according to St. Matthew. The be.st known and most certain exam])le is Mt IG'** tri) el rieTpos (a l"Ock), Kal i-rrl Tavrr] Trj irexpa (? fragment of rock) oiKo5ofj.riaoi} /jlov Ty)v iKKK-qciav. If, as seems probable, our Lord spoke in Aramaic, the word used would be Kepha (ns'J, cf. Heb. D'95 Jer 4-'*, Job 80"= 'rocks'). The paronomasia makes the reference to St. Peter certain, although there may still be room for doubt whether Christ meant tliat St. Peter, as the leader of the Apostolic band, should be the human founder of the new Church, or that it should be built on the foundation of the con- fession, —1) et 6 Xptcrros 6 vios rod deov tov icovTos. The former of these views is the more reasonable, and would probably have been almost universally ac-