The evidence suggests that the secret of Jesus' birth was not at first generally made known. ' The doctrine of the Virgin Birth was not generally re- vealed in the earlier part of the Apostolic Age.' Mr. Arthur Wright (Synopsis 2, p. xlii) believes it ' to have been kept back until conflict with heresy brought it forward.' This is not improbable. It has already been pointed out above that in all probability one strong motive at work in the Matth?ean account was to meet Jewish calumny regarding Jesus' birth. If this view is correct, the Mattha^an narrative must have been composed later than the Lukan, which shows no such strong interest, and contains more original material.
5. Meaning of the virgin birth. — If we assume, then, that tiie virgin birtli is a fact, in accordance with tlie conclusions reached above, Ave have further to ask. What is tlie meaning of the fact? In the Lukan account tlie Inrtii is already invested with a Cliristological significance. Jesus is Son of God, because He is begotten in the womb of the Virgin by the Divine energy. This represents an
* This is substantially the position taken up by Lobstein in his Essay on Tlie Vin/iii Birth of Christ (En^;. tr. , Williams & Nor- gate, 1903). Lobstein contends that ' the conception of the miraculous birth of Christ is the fruit of religious feeling, the echo of Christian experience, the poetic and jiopular expression of an attirmatioii of faith ' (p. 9(1). He also denies pagan in- fluence, an<l maintains that the conception ' has its roots deep down in Israel's religion transformed by the new faith ' (p. 75, of. p. 69 f.).
t Op. cit. p. 49 f .
early stage in Christological development. In St. Mark the Divine Sonship of Jesus is connected with the Baptism (1"); in St. Luke (P*- ^), with the supernatural birtli ; in St. Paul, with the Kesurrection ; in St. John (Prologue to the Fourth Gospel), with the essential and eternal relationship subsisting between the Father and the Son.
But the central and abiding significance of the fact consists in the expression it afibrds of the perfect moral and spiritual purity of Jesus. It proclaims the entrance into the world of a sinless manhood, in which ' the sinful entail ' has been broken. ' It involves the introduction of a new factor, to which the taint of sin does not attach. If like produces like, the element of unlikeness must come from that to which it has itself affinity. Our names for the process do but largely cover our ignorance, but Ave may be sure that there is essential truth contained in the scriptural phrase, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the poAver of the Most High shall overshadoAv tliee ; Avherefore also that which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of God." ' *
Literature. — To the literature already cited in the body of the art. and in the art. Birth of Christ, add W^. C. Allen, ' St. Matthew' (ICC) on chs. 1-2; an art. by Briggs in the A'orth American Review (June 1906) on ' Criticism and the Dogma of the Virgin Birth' ; a series of Lectures on 'The Virgin Birth of Christ,' by Dr. J. Orr (1907). G. H. BoX.
VIRTUE.— AV tr. in Mk S^", Lk G^^ 8^^ of Swo^is (RV ' poAver '), referring to the healing influence that went out from Jesus. On the early English use of the term see art. DB.
Virtue' in Hastings'
YISION.— See Dream.
VISITATION — 1. The ecclesiastical term applied to the visit of the Virgin Mary to Elisabeth three months before the birth of the Baptist (Lk ps-ss)^ commemorated in Western Church Calendars on 2nd July.
2. ^iriaKoirr) (Lk 19**). Occurs only once in the Gospels, but is found also in Ac l'-'", Avliere it = 'charge,' 'office,' 'bishopric' (AV) ; cf. 1 Ti 3^, Avhere it=' oversight,' 'office of a bishop' (AV). It occurs in a sense more nearly approaching that of Lk 19^^ in 1 P 2^'\ Avhere, hoAvever, ' the day of visitation ' (v/x^pa iirLCKoirriz) seems to imply trial and affliction, Avhereas in Lk 19'''' ' the time of visitation ' (6 Kaipbs t^s iwL(TKOirris) is suggestive rather of the special care and mercy of God, and the opportunity thereby aftbrded.
In classical Greek iritrxe-r-'i is found only in Lucian, iTi(i-xi],if being the usual form. In LXX nps, .Tips are rendered by st/it-
y,ETTO/*a(, ITlirxoT-h (Gn 5024-25^ Ex ijlB 1319, Is 103 [;5 r,!J.lpx. ty,;
tTirrxoTr,? , as in 1 P 212], jer 1015 [»a,ip'o; Itjo-xotjiV, as in Lk 19-'4], Ps 84). In the Apocrypha the word is used in the sense of in- spection or examination, though in Wis 1411 there is an implica- tion of Divine wrath, deri\ed, however, mainly from the context. In NT triirxirTti/xxi is used to signify visitation in sympathy or compassion (Mt 2536- ^-i, Ja 127) ; God's gracious regard (Lk 188- ■<** 7i'>, Ac l.'ji'i, He 2^) ; in the sense of ' going and seeing ' (Ac 723) ; and to imply enquirv for the purpose of selection (Ac 63).
To the general use of ^■jricrK^TrTo/j.ai, iTnaKoirrj, Ave may find a parallel in the use of the Englisli Avord 'regard,' Avhich, in addition to the sense of 'obser- vation,' may imply also a kindly or gracious pur- pose. 4wi(TKoirr) may be said generally to signify critical inspection (by God), in Avhich due regard is had to the good and bad features in the charac- ters of the persons inspected. (TncrKtTrTOfjLai implies also a Divine purpose of blessing. [The technical use of ewKTKOTrri, indicated above, to denote the office of a bishop, is of course secondary]. Thus in Lk 19** Ave may understand the ' time of visitation ' as being either the time during Avhich Jerusalem * Sanday (»/< cit. siipra).