Literature. — Bergel, Die Medeein der Talmudister : Studien ■iiber die naturwissensch. Kenntnisse der Talmudisten ; Bey- schlag, NT Theol. ; Bousset, Jesu Predigt in ihreiii Gecjcnsatz zutn judentum ; Delitzsch, System, of Biblical Psychology ; Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus ; Giinzburg, Dogmat.- histor. Beleuchtung des alten Judentums ; Kopp, Gesch. der Chemie ; Lewj'sohn, Die Zoologie des Talmuds ; E. von Meyer, Hist, of Chemistry; Moorhouse, The Teachings of Jesus; A. Neubauer, G6og. du Talmud ; W. Nowack, Lehrb. der Heb. Arch. ; Karl Pearson, Grammar of Science ; Schiirer, HJP, passim ; Stevens, Teaching of Jesus ; Wendt, Teaching of
Jesus. Newton H. Marshall.
SCORN. — Of scorn pure and simple there is re- markably little trace in the recorded words and actions of Jesus Christ. Whereas other teachers of lofty morality have usually treated with soine contempt those who made no effort to approach their ideals, Christ's attitude towards the sinner was uniformly one of sympathetic help. He alone recognized the intimate relation which exists be- tween the Creator and the human race, and His knowledge of this relation and of the possibilities of each individual prevented Him from despising man, Avhom tlie Father had made in His own image, however much that image might have been defaced. Thus it is that we never find Him using sarcasm, a form of scorn calculated to wound ratiier than to improve. Even the elpuveia of Socrates, the affected self - depreciation which threw ridicule upon the egotism of others, has no counterpart in the Gospels. AVIien Jesus used scorn. He employed it as a skilled physician, Avho wounds with the intention of healing. It is thns that He uses it to the Piiarisees, whose cloak of self-righteousness n(>eded to be jjierced tiirough with some sharp weapon, if tliey were to be brought to tile state of mind in wliich they might be capable of any impiovement.
1. The scorn of contemot.— A single word of unmitigated contempt is recorded by St. Luke as used by C'lirist. It occurs in His answer to the threat used by certain Piiarisees of danger from Herod Antipas (Lk IS^'- 32). 'Go ye,' He said.
'and tell that she-fox.' The phrase rrj dXwireKi TavT-ri is certainly surprising at first sight, and unlike any otiier plirase employed by our Lord, not even excepting His comparison of tiie .scribes and Piiarisees to ' wliited sepulchres,' 'serpents,' and ' offspring of vipers ' (Mt 23-^- ^). The fact of the word d\unreKi being in the feminine gender is perhaps only an accident. The word is found, it is true, in tlie masculine gender in Ca 2'^, but it is generally found in the feminine, e.g. Jg l^, 1 K 21 w, Mt S-°, Lk 9-5«. The fox was and is a type of knavish craftiness. The particular offence of Herod on this occasion was liis crafty endeavour to get rid of an influential preacher of rigliteous- ness by uttering a threat by the mouth of others, Avhicii lie had not tlie courage liimself to carry into effect. He was unwilling to add to the un- popularity caused by his treatment of John the Baptist by a repetition of it in the case of Jesus. No doubt tiie general character and conduct of Herod helped to suggest the application of the expression, — his unscrujiulous nature (Lk 3'^ -rrepi TrdvTwv ihv iTToirjae TrovrjpQv), his tyranny (13^^), his weakness (Mk 14^), his profession of Judaism, com- bined with iiis iieatiien jiractices, his adultery and incest, and his murder of tlie prophet John. Such is the character which elicits the one recorded word of contemptuous scorn from the lips of Jesus.
2. The scorn of denunciation. — Wiiile remarkably free from any contempt for those people who had ideals and failed to reach them (e.g. tiie young man witli great riches and the Apostle Peter), or for those who from lack of any ideal were for the time outcast from society {e.g. the despised publicans, Mk 2'^"^'^), He showed clearly His contempt for ail religious professions and practices which were not of the lieart. ' The vain j^ractices of devotees,' says Renan, ' the exterior strictness wliicii trusted to formality for salvation, had in Him a mortal enemy . . . He preferred forgiveness to .sacrifice. The love of God, charity, and mutual forgiveness were His whole law.' Yet in all His dealings Avitli the systems of tlie scribes and tiie teaciiing of the legal doctors. His words bear little trace of mere contempt, but rather of stern denunciation. His attitude was defined at a comparatively early stage during the ministry in Northern Galilee, when He gave His definition of moral defilement (Mt 15", Mk 7^'^) by saying, ' Not that which goetii into the mouth defileth tlie man ; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man.' This attitude culminated in the sublime anti-Pharisaic discourse in which the foibles and vices of a degenerate piety were depicted with prophetic plainness and scornful denunciation (Mt 23 ; cf. also Mk 1238-«o and Lk 20^5-«).
3. The scorn of silence. — Of all the occasions of scorn displayed by Jesus, none are more marked than those when He met mere captious questions and criticism eitlier by a definite refusal to answer, or by absolute silence. Such an instance is re- corded (Mt 2P*-2^) when Jesus met the question of the chief priests and scribes, ' By what authority doest thou these things ? ' with a counter question, and on tlieir refusal to answer declined in turn to reply to tiieir question. Still more impressive was the silent scorn with which He met His accusers at the various stages of His trial, refusing in turn to answer the accusation of false Avitnesses (^It 2660-63^ Mk 14«i) and tiie questions of the chief priests and elders (Mt 27'^ Mk IS^- »), of Herod (Lk 23-'), and lastly of Pilate iiimself (Mt 27'^ Jn ]9%