Sension is not a new idea. It is impossible to etermine if the widows who were enrolled Mere bound to give some service in return for tiie assistance which they received. The probability is that they were not, assuming, of course, the early
date of the Epistle (see H. R. Reynolds, in Expos., 1st sen, iii. [1880] 382-390; HDB, art. 'Widows'). The dispensing of charity to widows was a great and grave problem in the early Church. The rule about enrolment only when the threescore years had been reached was evidently intended to restrict the number of those who were entitled to receive regular help. Nestle calls attention to ' the punning observation in the Didasealia ( = Const. Apost. iii. 6) about itinerant widows who were so ready to receive that they were not so much x'7pa' as TTTJpai.' (Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 109, note). The pun may be rendered in English as ' not so much " widows "as " wallets." ' In l_Ti 51 and 1 P 5' 'elders' (Trpeff^vrepoi) has the primitive signification of ' men of advanced age.' Cf. also the following article.
John Reid. AGED. — In Philem * the writer speaks of himself as llavXos irpeff^&rris (AV and RV ' Paul the aged,' RVm 'ambassador'). In strictness the transla- tion 'ambassador' requires vpeapevr-qs, a word which does not occur in the NT. The two forms may have been confused in transcription or in common use. The translation 'ambassador' is more fitting because Philemon, as father of Archip- pus, who was old enough to hold some 'ministry' in the Church (Col 4'^), must have been the equal, or nearly the equal, of St. Paul in age ; and there would be little or no ground for an appeal based on considerations of age. It is also to be noticed that the phrase ' ambassador and . . . prisoner of Jesus Christ' is practically repeated in Eph 6^", 'an am.bassador in bonds.' Taking the word as meaning 'ambassador,' the appeal would have in it a note of authority. It is not a relevant objec- tion to say that St. Paul is beseeching Philemon 'for love's sake' (v.^). It is the peculiarity of the Christian ambassador that he beseeches those whom he addresses. Love and authority are com- mingled in his mission, as in 2 Co 5'^' ^**. The likelihood of 'ambassador' being the right trans- lation is strengthened by the fact that here as elsewhere (2 Co 5-», Eph 6-") St. Paul uses a verbal and not a noun form to express his position as an ambassador. See J. B. Lightfoot, Com. on Col. and Philemon^, 1879, in loc. ; and cf. art. Ambassador.
John Reid. AGRIPPA.— See Herod.
AIR. — The apostles, like other Jews of their time, regarded the air as a region between earth and the higher heavens, inhabited by spirits, especially evil spirits. In Eph 2^ the air is the abode of Satan (see below) ; in Eph 6^^ ' the heavenlies' (rot iirovpavia) — a vague phrase used also in Eph P- 20 2« 3'» to denote the heavenly or spiritual sphere, the unseen universe* — is where the wrestling of the Christian against the spiritual hosts of wickedness takes place, and is apparently in this case equivalent to 'this darkness' (cf. Lk 22^*, Col 1'^ 'power of darkness,' i.e. tyranny of evil). In Rev 12'' the war between Michael and the dragon is in 'heaven.' This can hardly refer to the first rebellion of Satan, nor yet can we with Bede interpret ' heaven ' as the Church ; but rather the fighting is in the heavens, a struggle of Satan to regain his lost place, ended by his final expul- sion. ' As the Incarnation called forth a counter- manifestation of diabolic power on earth, so after the Ascension the attack is supposed to be carried into heaven' (Swete, Com. in loc). But the con- ception is not unlike that of St. Paul as noted above.
There are several parallels to these passages in that class of literature which is thought to be a
• The Peshitta renders it * in heaven,' except in 61* where it siprniflcantly has ' under heaven.'
AKELDAMA
ALEXAisDRIA
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Christian rehandling of Jewish apocalyptic writ- ings. In the Testaments of the XII. Patriarchs (q.v.)vfQ read of the ' aerial spirit Beliar ' (Benj. 3). In the Ascension of Isaiah (q.v.) there is described an ascent ' into the firmament,' where were Sammael and his powers, and there was a great fight (vii. 9) ; Christ descends from the lowest heaven to the firmament where was continual war- fare, and takes the form of the angels of the air (x. 29). In the Slavonic Secrets of Enoch the apostate angels are suspended in the second heaven awaiting the Last Judgment (§ 7 ; see Thackeray, Relation of St. Paul to Contemp. Jewish Thought, London, 1900, p. 176 f.). These works in their present form probably date from the latter part of the 1st or the beginning of the 2nd cent. A.D. The ideas seem to have had much currency among Christians, for we find Atlianasius {de Incarn. 25) speaking of the devil having fallen from heaven and wandering about 'our lower atmosphere,' 'there bearing rule over his fellow-spirits . . .,' 'while the Lord came to cast down the devil, and clear the air and prepare the way for us up into heaven.'