3. The gravity with which sin was regarded is suggested by the application of terms of mourning to the grief over transgression. Sinners are bidden, as a sign of humble penitence, to be afflicted, mourn, and weep. Laughter is to be turned to mourning (Ja 4' ; cf. 1 K 1°'). Among the welcome indications of a repentant Corinthian church is its mourning ((iSup/uos [2 Co 7']). The idea in the writer's mind in Rev 1' ('Behold, he cometli with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him ') was probably the mourning of guilt, regret, and sliame— there was no need to mourn a living Christ returning in glory. Possibly, however, the words indicate that now all nations recognized that the ignominiously crucified One was worthy of a world's mourning.
4. National calamity is presented under the figure of a bereavement (cf. the mourning for Israel [Jl !*• '■']). Babylon in her strength boasts, 'No widow am I, and shall in no wise see mourning' (Rev 18'). In a day she knows the widowhood of retributive disaster (v.*). The re- presentation changes — widowed Babylon is herself mourned for by others (vv.'"'") ; see 1.
5. The emphasis placed by the early Church on the overthrow of death as an elemental power by the resurrection of Jesus, on the certainty of a future life, the conception of a fuller, richer exist- ence beyond the grave — a ' clothing upon ' rather than a stripping of personality — all tended to rob death of its sting and the grave of its victory. The believer had no need to sorrow as did the rest that had no hope. On the other hand, it is signi- ficant that the parting of St. Paul from his children in the faith at Miletus, who expected to see him no more, was with loud lamentation (Ac 20^'), and the Apostle felt that the severance from the brethren at Csesarea was breaking his heart (21"). Faith lights up the tomb, but does not make the human heart unnatural. Human grief 'will have way ' until, as in the Apocalyptist's vision, God shall wipe away all tears from men's eyes, and death and mourning shall be no more (Rev 21-'). H. BULCOCK.
MOUTH, LIPS As in the OT, the mouth (ard/ia)
and li]is (xf(Xi)) are sometimes named simply as a
result of the particularization to which gnijihic description tends, esi)ecially in the t)riental world {e.!j. Ac 8« 11», He 11", Rev 3'"). We may usually, however, trace the inlluence of Hebrew p.sychology, which ascribed psychical or ethical quality even to peripheral organs, regarding them as constituent parts of the unity of personality (cf. H. W. Robinson, in Mansfield College Jissays, 1901), p. 275). Isaiah's lips were purged of their unclean- ness by the coal from 'the altar (Is ()"•') ; with this we may compare the command of the high priest to smite St. Paul on the mouth (Ac '23-)— a com- mand prompted by the apjparent blasphemy of which that organ had been guilty. The same idea underlies the denutnd that the mouths of evil speakers be sto]iped (Tit 1", iwi.aToixiieiv ■ cf. Ro 3'" and the contrasted statement of 2 Co 6"). Even in such purely imaginative descriptions as those of Christ seen in vision, with the sword proceeding from His mouth (Rev 1'", etc. ; cf. 2 Th 2"), or of the frog-vomiting mouths of the three evil powers in the Apocalypse (IG'"), thelatent psychology helps to explani the harshness of the metaphor. ' The mouth as the organ of speech, the chief source of human inlluence, is frequently in the Apocalypse the instrument of good or evil' (H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. ,/o/ih', 1907, p. 207).* The detached ethical quality of the organ of speech gives added force to such apostolic words as 'mortify your members . . . put awaj' . . . shameful speak- ing out of your moutli ' (Col 3'''*) ; ' in their mouth was found no lie' (Rev 14'); 'out of the same mouth Cometh forth blessing and cursing ' ( Ja 3'") ; ' the poison of asps is under their lips ' (Ro 3"= Ps 140').
In apostolic writings, the mouth has a three-fold function in regard to the proclamation of truth— viz. revelation, evangelization, and confession. It was the instrument of the original revelation of the OT, given, e.g., through the ' mouth ' of David (Ac !'« 4=') or of the prophets (3'»-'-'). It is the instrument of gospel-preaching (Ac 15', Eph 6'" ; cf. Odes of Solomon, xlii. 6), and the Epistle of Barnabas claims that 'every word, which shall come forth from you through your mouth in faith and love, shall be for the conversion and hope of many ' (xi. 8). It is the instrument of that con- fession which is neces.sary in order to unite the whole personality, body and soul, w'ith its Re- deemer : ' the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth . . . with the mouth confession is made unto salvation ' (Ro lO*''"). This confession elsewhere a]>])ears as 'a sacrifice of praise,' 'the fruit of lips which make confession to his name' (He 13''; cf. Is 57'^ and the LXX of Hos 14"). The unity of outer word and inner experience in the case of the true Chris- tian is frequently emphasized in the Odes of Solomon, e.g. xxi. 7: 'my heart ran over and was found in my mouth : and it aro.se upon my lips.' On the other hand, the painful contrast possible between the spoken testimony and the real character of the life was not absent even from these early Christian communities ; e.g. Hernias speaks of those 'that have the Lord on their lips, while their heart is h.ardened' (Mnnd. XII. iv. 4; cf. Sim. IX. xxi. 1, 1 Clem. xv. 2, 2 Clem. iii. 4).