PLACE (HIS OWN)
POISON
241
1890, p. 203). This is, however, a vnliii distinction between iXeetv and olKTeipeiv for cliissical Greek only. In biblical Greek it scarcely holds true lliat oiKTcipeiv carries no implication of the intent to help. In the LXX it is not seldom equivalent to (\eety in this respect (cf. l^s 102'»- '■"). . For the NT oiKTelpeiv is almost a ne<jligible quantity, the verb occurring onlj- in Ko 9'°{ = E.\ 33'"). It is there predicated of God ; the adjective occurs of men in Lk62«, of God in Ja5".
That Aeos, notwithstanding its strong practical connotation, has none tlie less a rich ideal con- tent appears from its frequent equivalence to ion, 'loviny kindness.' It is not bare pity aroused by the sight of misery, but has a background of ante- cedent love and affection. In this respect it also dillers from olKreipciv, which in the LXX stands usually for am. This feature is of importance soteriologieally. Trench (Synonyms of the, NV, pp. 166-171) represents the IXcos as preceding the Xdpis in the movement of the Divine mind towards the sinner, whereas in the order of manifestation the x''P" would come hrst. This overlooks the association of fXeos with ion. The word was not colourless but had acquired from ion the sense of pity inspired by affection. Inasmuch as the same element of ati'ection is present in x^P" likewise, the latter also can be said to underlie the aeos (cf. Eph 2* : God is rich in.l\eos Sia rr^v iroXXjjv ayairifv). The order in tlie epistolary salutations (xap" "ai ?Xeo5) is therefore not merely the order of mani- festation, but also a refle.x of the order in the Divine mind (1 Ti 1», 2 Ti P, 2 Jn"). As in the case of (TTrXaTxWff ffSai so with Affii-, ,the exciting cause can be spiritual distress as well as physical. Heine (Synonyinik des neutest. Grieckism, p. 82) observes that fKeos cannot have reference to sin. It would be more accurate to say that IXeos has no reference to sin as such, but can have reference to sin in its aspect of misery, as is proved by Mt 5' (e\eT)B-qcrovTai, eschatologically) 18^ (with parabolic allusion to God's forgiveness), Ro 9"- "• '» 113»-si- »=, 2 Co 4', 1 Ti !"■ ", 1 r 2i». Particularly in the Epistle to the Hebrews the ' sympathy ' of Christ has primary reference not to the suffering of be- lievers in itself, but to the suffering in its moral aspect as exposing to temptation, whence also its first effect is the shielding from sin or the propitia- tion of sin : 2"- ^* ('a merciful . . . high priest to propitiate the sins of the people ') 4"- '*(' that we may obtain mercy and grace') 5''° (sympathetic appreciation of the nature of obedience on Christ's part for the benefit of those who have to obey). Wherever fXeos is applied to spiritual salvation the aspect of sin as misery inevitably enters into the conception, and with this the further idea of the unworthiness of the recipient and the gi'acious character of the Divine mercy. It is perhaps different, as regards the latter element, in the miracles of the Gospels. Here the question may be raised, whether the regular translation by ' mercy ' does not unduly suggest the moral un- worthiness of those who were helped, and whether ' pity ' would not more faithfully reproduce the associations of the original.
LiTERATTTKE. — Cremer-KbgTel, Bibl.-theol. W&rterbuch der nmteKt. Grdzitmo, 1912 £f., pp. 420-423; J. A. H. Tittmann, De Sjjtionymis in Xovo Testamento, 1829-32, i. 68-72 ; R. C. Trench, NT Synonym^, 1880, pp. 166-171, 393 ; J. H. H. Schmidt, Handtmch der lat. und g-riech, Synmiymik, 1889, pp. 750-755 ; G. Heine, Synrniymik dfi.s ne^iteai. Gricckisch, 1898, p. 82 ; B. B. Warfield, ' The Emotional Life of our Lord," in Pri-aceton Biblical and 'Theoloffical Studies, 1912, pp. 40-45.
Geerhardus Vos. PLACE (HIS OWN).— The expression occurs in the ordination prayer for Matthias (Ac l'^) where St. Peter states tiiat Judas, into wliose place lie was being appointed, 'fell away' (irapi^ri, Vulg. prcBvaricatus est) from the ministry and apostle- VOL. II. — 16
ship, to ' go to his own place.' The phrase seems to remind us of the frequent OT phrase ' to jjo {or return) unto his place,' though no doubt with a special significance of its own here, to which the case of I5ala.am (Ss iiiadbv dSiKlas rj-yaTt-qaev, 2 P 2'°) suTiplies the nearest but still inexact parallel (Nu 24^) ; cf. akso Job 2", where the three friends came each ' from his own place.' In both passages Rabbinic interpreters appear to have taken this to mean hell, though, of course, without any justili- fication according to our modern methods (see J. Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr., ed. Oxford, 1859, iv. 19). In the present passage, nevertheless, the projier place of the apostate is evidently conceiveti to be that spoken of by our Lord Himself (Mt 25^'; cf. Lk 12"). A. Plummer has pointed out (11 DB ii. 798) that some of the early Fathers, notably Origen (Com. in Malt. 35) with his characteristic ingenuity and large-heartedness, have suggested that Judas's motive for hurrying away from this world to the other was not remorse but contrition ; having faile<l to obtain Christ's pardon here, he hastened to meet Him and obtain it in the place of the departed. At all events, if, as St. Matthew seems to indicate, the act of suicide took place before the Cruci- fixion, it is a striking thought to dwell upon, that the souls of the Saviour and His betrayer did meet for a brief space and perhaps held commune (v tj>v\aKy (1 P 3"); and if so, with what merciful consequences to the latter, who shall say ?