?0Aver of evil) should never prevail against it. St. 'eter, in shoAving himself a man of faith, is a specimen of the believing ones avIio shall constitute the strong foundation on Avhich the Church is to rest. As irirpos is a fragment of irirpa, so the believing St. Peter is an example of all Avho should hereafter believe (cf. 1 Ti P").
It is Avell to note that the Fathers took the rock to mean either Christ Himself, or the faith or the confession of St. Peter, but never St. Peter as an individual. In later days, the text Mt 16^^ Avas used for polemical purposes, in defence of the Papacy. The Reformers returned to the earlier vieAv of the Fathers, mostly holding that the confession of faith made by St. Peter Avas the rock. Another vicAV held by Luther, folloAving Augustine, Avas that Ciu'ist, in speaking the Avords, pointed to Himself as the rock. Perhaps this would best accord Avith the general teaching of the NeAV Testament. St. Paul calls Christ the foundation (1 Co 3'^), and again sjaeaks of Apostles and prophets lieing the foundation, Avhile Christ is the chief corner-stone (Ei)h 2-"). Is it not most likely, hoAvever, that our Lord looked on St. Peter as tlie type of converted, believing men, on Avliom, as a foundation, an un- conquerable Ciiurcii sliould be built? Origen Avell says : ' If thou hast Peter's faith, thou art a rock like him. If thou hast Peter's virtues, tiiou hast Peter's keys.' See also artt. Cesarea Philippi and Church.
3. Tlie Avord ' rock ' occurs in Lk 8"- ^^, in the parable of the SoAver. It is the equivalent of the 'stony (RV 'rocky') places' of Mt 135' "-" (to. TreTpibd-rj), and gives at once the right sense, a thin coating of soil covering a hard rocky surface, Avhere there could be no depth of earth. The rock here, in the interpretation, signifies a sinful a\ orldly nature, incapable of being penetrated by the living
536
ROLL
ROME, ROMANS
seed. That which makes a good foundation is not at all fitted to be a good seed-bed. See art. Seed.
4. In Mt 27^^ we read that the rocks (weTpai) were rent, at the hour of Christ's death on Calvary. There is nothing figurative here; but the earth- quake would make it appear to men's minds as if the very earth shuddered at man's wicked deed, so that its hardest elements were broken asunder.
5. Finally, the sepulchre in which our Lord was laid was 'liewn out of a rock' (Mt 27''**= Mk 15''<'). D. M. W. Laird.
ROLL (^L^\iov, Ke(pa\is). — The word ' roll ' is found in NT only in the RV, and in the Gospels only as a marginal reading. In the account in Luke of our Lord's sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth it occurs thrice in the margin (4i7!'is. 2(i) as the rendering of jSifSXiov, where AV and text of RV give 'book.' In He 10' 'In the volume of the book it is written of me ' RV gives ' roll ' for A V 'volume' as the rendering of Ke<pa\is. The latter word occurs here only in NT, but it is quoted from the Septuagint (Ps 40'), and thus its meaning is determined, as it is the ti'anslation of the Heb. n^xp, ' roll,' although in Liddell and Scott Ke4>a\is is given as meaning 'chapter or passage.' Why Ke<pa\is is taken to represent ."i^^p is uncertain, although it has been held that the reference was to the knobs or rounded heads of the roller about which the manuscript was rolled (see Grimm- Thayer, Lex. s.v.). The roll was the form of the book both in Palestine and Egypt, although usually, if not always, the Hebrew rolls were, originally at least, of skins which had gone through some process of tanning (see art. BOOK), while the Egyptian rolls were of pajiyrus. When papyrus began to be used in Palestine it is difficult to say. The codex form of book is generally held to have been introduced after the invention of parchment, but there is reason to believe that the Egyptians occasionally employed it for papyrus manuscripts, while the roll was the prevailing foi'm.
Literature. — Comni. on the NT ; Kenyon's art. 'Writing' in Hastings' DB, and his Textual Criticism of the NT, p. 19 f.
Geo. C. Watt. ROME, ROMANS.— Though the name 'Romans' appears only once in the Gospels (Jn 11^^), if we except the adverb 'Pco/iato-rt (Jn 19^"), which is tr. ' in Latin ' by AV and RV, Rome and the Romans are a very real presence in the Gospel narratives, forming a sort of background to the action of the leading figures. The influence of the world-power is shown by the references to the Emperor (Mt 22'', Mk 12'^ Lk 21 31 2022 232, Jn W^), the governor Pontius Pilate (see Pilate), the tax-gatherers (Mt 5^8 etc.), the centurions (Mk IS^s, Lk7'^etc.), and the soldiers (Mt 27^' etc. ). The Gospels testify to the ultra-national feeling of those Jews who were antagonistic to the Roman power, and illus- trate the hatred and contempt felt for those of their countrymen— the tax-gatherers, for example — who took employment from the government. The more intellectually enlightened among the Jews— the Sadducees, for instance — welcomed the Roman rule as they welcomed the Greek civiliza- tion and culture which it brought with it ; but the great mass of the people were in a state of unreasoning opposition to it. The disposition of Pilate may be advanced as an excuse for their attitude, but in general it cannot be denied that the Jews did not deserve to retain their former liberty, that they were ungrateful to the Romans for the special privileges conferred on them, and that they forgot the advantages which the powerful protection of Rome and the advancement and security of trade thus accruing brought to them. Tlie student of history will regard the fate which