2. In e7notional expression. — Gnashing of the teeth, with weeping and wailing (Mt 8^2 13^-- s" 22^^ etc. ), is the physical exjiression of regret over re- membered advantages and opportunities lost. It was also a sign of evil possession (Mk O^*), and a manifestation of malignant hatred (Ac 1^*). Among the modern inhabitants of Palestine, on account of the similarity in physical accompani- ment, the same Arabic word is used to indicate both violent indignation and the sorrow of bereave- ment. When a forgotten promise or matter of neglected duty is suddenly recollected, or it is dis- covered that a grave mistake has been committed, Orientals indicate their feeling of annoyance and regret by slapping the hand on the thigh (Jer 3p9, Ezk 21'-), and by thrusting the knuckle of the forefinger into the mouth, as if instinctively seek- ing something on which to press and clench the teeth. G. M. Mackie.
TORCH. — In the six passages in Avhich the word ' torch ' occurs in the Gospels (AV and RV), once in the text (Jn 18^) and five times as an alternative rendering in the margin (Mt 25^- ^*- ''^•), it answers to the Greek Xd^Tras, which in the LXX represents the Hebrew lappid in Gn 15", Ex 20'8, Jg V^- 2" 15«-, Job 4P9, Is 621, E2k lis, Dn 10«, Nah 2\ Zee 126. Now the regular meaning of lappid is 'torch,' by which it is mostly rendered in the OT either in the text or in the margin. This meaning fits in very well with the context in Jn 18*, but seems unsuit- able in the other passages, where a light fed with oil is required. Probably we are to think in them of a lamp borne on a pole, and therefore bearing some resemblance to a torch, or of a torch fed ■\^•ith oil in some way from time to time. The use of the former is attested for Arabs in the Middle Ages by a statement to which Lightfoot called attention (Works, ed. 1684, vol. ii. p. 247), found in the medioeval lexicon 'Aruch, and, on the authority of Rabbi Solomon, in a gloss on the reference to lappid in Kelim, ii. 8. It has been often cited or referred to, but a literal translation from the gloss may be of interest :
It is a custom in the land of Ishmael for the bride to be con- ducted from the house of her father to the house of her husband in the night before she goes into the huppah (cf. Ps 19^), and for ten poles to be borne before her, on the top of eacli of which is a sort of saucer of brass containing pieces of gannents and oil and pitch — these are kindled, and give light before her.
The other custom, the use of torches fed with oil, is said by the German writer, Ludwig Schneller, who was born in Jerusalem, and was for a time a minister in Bethlehem, to be in force in the Holy Land at the present day. These torches consist of long poles, round the upper end of which are wrapped rags saturated witii olive oil. Unless fed with fresh oil, they burn down in less than a quarter of an hour {Evangel ienfnhrten, p. 460). The maidens of Bethlehem, says the same writer {ih. p. 459), assemble at sun.set on the occasion of a marriage, and move with dance and song through
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TORMENT
TOUCH
the street to the house of the marriage festival bearing torclies in their hands. Bauer also ( Volks- leben im Lande der Bibel, p. 94) mentions the use of oily torches by the women who g-o out to meet the bridegroom. On the other hand, Robinson Lees ( Village J^ife in Palestine ^, p. 87 f . ) affirms that small earthenware lamps are still carried in villages by the virgins who go to meet the bride- groom, together with little jars containing an additional sujiply of oil. He admits, however, that torches are used in the cities. With our pre- sent slender knowledge of the marriage customs of the Jews in the time of our Lord, it is impossible to determine exactly the nature of the torches or lamps of the jjarable, but the balance of probability seems to incline to some kind of lamp-torch lifted high into the air. See LAMP.
Literature. — Besides the authorities cited above, see Wet- stein and Zahn on Mt 25i ; Edersheini, LT ii. 455.
W. Taylor Smith.
TORMENT. — The literal and figurative references to suifering in the Gospels are to be distinguished. 1. In the natural sense of pain caused by disease the words /Sdcravos and jSacravii^eLv are used (Mt 4-^ 8^) ; also, of evil spirits anticijjating Christ's displeasure (Mt 8-^ |I). Similarly, the use of the word 'tormentors' {pa<rai>Lcrrai) by Christ (Mt 18^^) must be taken as a reflexion of well-known severities of the time ; cf. ' cut him asunder ' (with scourging) in Mt 24^^. It has not been an infrequent occur- rence that cruelties have been inflicted on prisoners with a view to inducing their friends to raise the sum of money demanded for their release.
2. The one example of the figurative use of the word in the Gospels is in the parable of Dives and Lazarus (Lk IG'-'*'-^ jSdaavos, 'torment'; oSwdaOai, ' to be tormented '). Christ addressed the startling language of this parable to men who were hurting their souls by covetousness. To pierce the hard crust of complacency born of wealth He used the heaviest strokes of threatening ; and, choosing language that was most fitted to cause a smart to the softness of their luxury, He spoke of torture, agony, and fire. Ethical truth has always to be exjjressed in terms of jjhysical sensibility, and these were things His hearers could understand. Christ read off to them in vivid words what their vision was too dull to see, — the penalties attached to their sin by the law that 'Justice founded and eternal Love.' T. Gregory.