SPARROW.— See Animals in vol. i. p. 66''.
SPEAR.— This word occurs in NT only in Jn 19^^ ' one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear ' (\6yx.'n)- -A- comparison, however, of Mt 27*^ ' put [the sponge] on a reed ' (Trepideh KaXd/ju^), makes it probable that in Jn 192" for vaaibinp irepLdevre's, ' put it upon hyssop,' vaaQi it. should be read, vacrbs is the MoTn&vv pilum (Polybius, i. 40. 12, etc.). The head of this spear is said to have been- buried within the principal church of Antioch, where, under direc- tion of Peter of Amiens, it was discovered by the besieged Crusaders, and proved their salvation from the onslaught of the prince of Mosul in 1098.
T. H. Weir.
SPICES (Lat. species). — Tlie word denotes pri- marily the kind of a thing, a sample or specimen of anything. Then it means a certain touch or taste of something. More definitely, it denotes any aromatic or pungent substance. In general, spices are aromatic condiments used for seasoning food, or fragrant ointments used as perfumes. In the NT the term is used in both of these senses ; and, in a f cav cases, it lias a somewhat wider meaning.
In the Gospels there are several words used to describe various kinds of spices. It is scarcely possible to classify them. See artt. Myrrh, Frankincense, Nard, Spikenard, Mint, Anise, Cummin, Rue.
Spices (Gr. apdifiara, Lat. aromata) are mentioned in Mk IQ\ Lk 23^6 24S Jn 19^". We have here probably a general term to denote the mixed spices used in embalming the bodies of the dead.
Francis R. Beattie.
SPIES {iyKaderoi, best derived from €yKadiT]/j.L, ' to send down in (secret) ' [Grimm-Thayer], ' men suborned to lie in wait'; Vulg. insidiatorcs).^ Though the word occurs only once in the Gospels (Lk 2020 ; cf. Job 1912 3p^ gij. gu)^ t^gre is abundant evidence of a regular system of espionage directed against Jesus from the time when He first at- tracted the notice of the ruling classes. Emissaries were sent from Jerusalem for this purpose (Mk 7^ and Mt 15' RV), and in the latter portion of His public ministry He could hardly speak in any synagogue or other public place without seeing some of these spies in His audience. Their action is variously described: (1) 'They watched him' {waparripelv, Traparripeladai, ' to watch insidiously, in a furtive manner' — ' ex obliquo et occulto,' Bengel) ; cf. Mk .32=Lk 6^ 14^ 2020, where EV add 'him,' though tlie verb is probably used generally of watching for an opportunity. (2) ' They began to press upon him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things (aTroa-TOfiaTl^ecv avrdv), laying wait for him to catch something out of his mouth ' {^i/edpevovTes avrbv dripedaai tl €k tov arofJiaTos auTov, Lk 1 1^*), where awo(TToixa.Ti^eiv is explained by Euthym. Zig. as dTraiTerf ai)ro(7Xf5tous /cat dveTrtcTK^Tr- Tovs diroKpiaeis epwrijfidTcov 5o\epwv (the Vulg. gives OS ejns opprimere, as if from a reading eTria-To/jii^eii'). So Lk 2020 tells how the chief priests and scribes watched and 'sent forth spies, which feigned them- selves to be righteous, that they miglit take hold of his speech, so as to deliver him up to the rule
SPIKENARD
SPIRIT
671
and to the authority of the governor. ' The putting of the question about the tribute money, which immediately follows, was a cunning plot, in which the Pharisees and the Herodians, two mutually hostile parties, joined (cf. for a similar union in Galilee, Mk 3"). The Pharisees sent their disciples (Mt 22^"), young men apparently, fresh, earnest, zealous, and anxious to do I'ight, hoping thus to avoid exciting suspicion of their designs. Si. Mark (12'^) describes their object as 'that they might catch him in talk ' (IVa avrbv dypevcrwcn Xoyqi) ; St. Matthew (22'^) says they took counsel ' how they might ensnare him in his talk ' (7ra7t5ei;(rco(7t;' ^v Xoyiii), the verb used being from vayls, ' a trajj co- snare,' into which if He fell He would be held fast with a view to further proceedings. Compare also Mt 19^, Jn 1 ]■'•', and Lk 19^^ where some Pharisees mingled with the rejoicing multitude, no doubt for a similar purpose. The murmuring in favour of Jesus mentioned in Jn 7^^ was possibly reported to the Pharisees by spies. Christ was always conscious of the presence of such men, and on these occasions seemed to court publicity for His actions ; cf. the direction to the man with the withered hand, ' Stand forth ' (Mk 3^). The futility of the system of espionage as directed against Him was sho^vn at the trial, where all their efforts re- sulted in inability to bring forward anything as a charge except His words about the Temple.
The use of spies for a different purpose, viz. to facilitate His arrest, is implied in Mk 14*, where His enemies sought how they might take Him with subtilty {ev SoXw), and in Jn 11" by the command that if any man knew where He was he should give information {fj.rjvvari), that they might take Him. Such a measure was necessary because of His
Sopularity with the multitude. In this sense udas was the great spy, being in close touch with Jesus, and familiar with all His movements, — a fact which explains the roundabout directions given to the two Apostles as to where they should prepare the Passover meal. It was essential that Judas should not know the place beforehand, in order that the solemn proceedings and Christ's last discourse might not be interrupted by the coming of the band from the priests to effect His arrest.