Literature.— W. M. Ramsav, ' Greek of Early Ch. and Pagan Ritual' in ExpT x. (1809) 107 ; J. Smith, Chr. Character ax a Social Power (1899), 143 ; H. Bushnell, The Aeir Life, 176 ; W. J. Dawson, Threshold of Manhood (1889), 102; F. W. Robertson, Seitn., 3rd ser. (1876) 122 ; A. Maclaren, Serm. in Manchester, 2nd ser. 112; R. \V. Church, Village Serm., 2nd ser. 180; J. R. Illingworth, UniiK and Cath. Serm. 99; H. C. G. Moule, A'cci/ and Ftdiiess (1895), 57 ; C. G. Montefiore, Truth in Religion (1906), 73. E. P. BOYS-SMITH.
PURPLE.— The adj. troptpvpF.oi had originally no
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PURSE
QUEEN
connexion with a particular colour either by der- ivation or by use (see Liddell and Scott's Lex. s.v. wop<pvpui). Similarly in the Latin poets purpureus regularly stands for nothing more than 'bright.' In Greek, after the discovery of the purple dye, the notion of colour became inherent. The grada- tions of colour were <polvi.^ (darker shades — purple to crimson), Trop4>upeos (brighter red, rosy), kokklvos (scarlet). In Mt 27"^Ml Mk ISi'-^", Jn 19^-5, the last two words are used indiscriminately for the same colour (see art. Scarlet). Manufactured purples were of various kinds, all extracted from the juice of sea molluscs. The following is a sum- mary of their varieties, though the terms employed to describe them were not always confined to their proper use.
(1) Purple proper ; of a bright red hue ; obtained from the purple-snail (Top^Opa, purpura). This was used sometimes pure (called blatta), sometimes diluted {conchyliurn). Of the pure there were two sorts — (a) Tyrian, the most celebrated, which was ' twice-d.ved ' ; {b) amethjstine, of a paler tint. One pound of wool d\'ed with Tvrian purple cost 1000 denarii, with ame- thystine 100 (Plin. HN ix. 38, 63). The use of such purples (especially the former) is mentioned frequently in satirists and historians as a feature of ancient luxur}' (cf. Juv. Sat. vii. 134 ff.; Mart. viii. 10, etc.) ; hence Christ's expression in Lk 16^9.
(2) Common purple ; of a violet hue {i.e. (pdivii. rather than ■jopi^ipioi) ; obtained from the trumpet-snail (zii^uj, bucciman, murex). This was much less esteemed. Its colour apparently could even be compared to the dark blue of an Eastern sky (Jos. Ant. III. vii. 7) : but probably there were different tints.
The hery-red purple (projDer) of antiquity had practically no resemblance, as a colour, to the modern purple : the latter could never be described, even approximately, as 'scarlet' (Mt 27^^). Yet, independently of the hue, the name carries with it in both cases the distinction of being the royal colour. Under the Roman Empire restrictions were imposed from time to time as to its general use ; and the purple toga was the garb of the Emperor alone. It was as the badge of kingship that the purple formed part of the soldiers' mockery (Mk 15"- 20 II).
Literature. — Becker, Gallus, Excursus ii. p. 446 ft. ; Schmidt, Forschtingen auf dem Gebiet des Alterthums, pp. 96-212. An older work upon the subject is Amati, de fiestitutione Pur- piimrxm. F. g. RaNKEN.
PURSE. — 1. paWdvTLov, peculiar to St. Luke, which occurs in LXX as the tr. of n'n? (Job 14")
and D'? (Pr P^). ' The purse of the modern Syrian peasant is a little bag, sometimes of woven silk thread, but usually of yellow cotton. The open mouth is not drawn close by a string, but is gathered up by one hand, and then by the other the neck of the bag is carefully whipped round ' (Hastings' DB, art. 'Bag'); it, no doubt, corre- sponds to ^aWdvTiov. The ' Seventy ' were directed not to carry a purse (Lk lO'*) ; in 22^''f- Christ asked the Apostles, ' When I sent you forth without purse, lacked ye anything?' and gave the new^ direction, 'He that hath a purse, let him take it.' In v.^*^ RV gives ' and he that hath none,' i.e. no purse (so Co v., Rheni., Gen., Meyer, etc. ; on the other hand, Tind., Cran., Beza, Ewald, Godet prefer to supply /udxatpa as AV ('he that hath no sword'). The passage, says Wendt, is to be explained from foresight of an impending period of persecution for the disciples : Jesus sets the necessity of buy- ing a sword in contrast to the freedom from all want hitherto enjoyed by His disciples in their work as His messengers, and bases His exhorta- tion on a reference to the doom about to fall on Himself ; a period would begin Avhen the disciples would no longer be unharmed, but would be in the midst of conflicts and persecutions (see Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, ii. p. 358). In Lk 12^^ /SaXXdirta is used in a figurative sense, ' make for yourselves purses (AV after Tind. ' bags') which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not ' ( ' con- tinens pro contento,' de Wette).
2. ^divrj (Mt 109 = Mk 6« in the directions to the Twelve), properly the girdle, which is still in Syria made ' double for a foot and a half from the buckle, thus making a safe and well-guarded purse' (Hastings' DB, art. ' Bag'). RVm tr. 'girdle.'
'There was no extraordinary self-denial in the matter or mode of their mission. We may expound the instructions given to these primitive evangelists somewhat after the following manner — "Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses. You are going to jour brethren in the neighbouring villages, and the best way to get to their hearts and their con- fidence is to throw yourselves upon their hospitalitj'. . . ." At this day the farmer sets out on excursions quite as extensive without a para in his purse' (Thomson, LB p. 345 f.).