The passage so used is an interesting example of the way in which St. Paul takes OT phraseology out of its original context and employs it for his own purjpose. In the hands of one who viewed Ps 68 as Messianic in its reference, this procedure was both legitimate and appropriate.
In 1 Ti 3' the Apostle, enumerating the charac- teristics requisite for a bishop, says that ' he must have good testimony from them that are without ; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.' There Is considerable uncertainty as to the exact meaning of this passage. One question is, whether ' reproach ' is to be taken alone, or whether ' reproach and snare of the devil ' is to be treated as all one phrase. Some, perhaps feeling that ' reproach of the devil ' is an impossible expression, take dia^dXov here in the general sense of 'slan- derer,' and translate, ' lest he fall into the re- proaches and snares prepared by slanderers.' On the whole, the RV as given above seems to afford the most natural meaning. A bishop's life must be such as not to forfeit the approval in general of surrounding non-Christian society. Should he fail to secure this general approval, there is the proba- bility that his life is open to adverse criticism and that he may thus fall a prey to the wiles of the tempter.
He 10^ recalls how the readers of the Epistle had been ' made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions ' ; but the passages of greater interest in this book are li^s and 13'^ The reference in each is to the ' reproach ' of Christ. In H^it is said that Moses accounted ' the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.' The 'reproach' which Moses endured is called 'the reproach of the Christ' because it was on account of his belief in God's saving purpose that he suH'ered it. ' The reproach which Moses suffered in the fellowship of the People of God— the hard- ship, contempt, and the like, inflicted at the hands of the Egyptian world then — was the same as that inflicted on Christ in the days of His flesh, and tlie same as was borne by the Hebrew believers in their day, or as is borne by believers at all times. Though the reproach and the suft'erjngs are the same, however, Christ is worthy to give name to them ; to others they derive their meaning from having been endured by Him, and in Him they
reached their climax ' (A. B. Davidson, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Edinburgh, n.d., p. '228). The statement does not necessarily imply belief on the part of Mo.ses that a personal Christ was to come. What he did believe in Wiis the fullilment of God's promise, which, in point of fact, was fullillcd in the coiniu"; of Christ.
In He 13" the readers are exhorted to 'go fortli unto him [Jesus] without the camp, bearing his reproach.' They must make their choice between Christianity and Judaism, for the two cannot be amalgamated. Christ's death 'without the gate' was the symbol of His being cast out of the com- munity and religious life of the OT Israel. To realize the full power of His redeeming work. His followers must abandon 'the camp' — the sphere within which the religious life and ordinances of Israel prevail — and must go forth to Him. To be branded as a traitor and to be deprived of Jewish privilege was ' the reproach of the Christ.' This His followers must share.
It is not improbable that the language of Ps 89™"" underlies both of these passages in Hebrews (LXX I's 88*'' '-), ('■"V'^Ovti Kupie, tov oueiSio-- fiov rCjv doOXwv <yov , • • ou wvuoiaav t6 dfTdWayfj-a
TOU XptaToO (70U.
In the AV the word ' reproach ' occurs in two passages in 2 Corinthians. In 11°' it is used to translate the Greek an/ila (RV 'disparagement'). In 12'" it is used to translate C/Sfus (R V ' injury '). Dawson Walker.
REPROBATE.—' Reprobate ' is the rendering of the Greek word dS&i/nos, which is used in the NT only by St. Paul and only of persons, except in He 6', where it is \ised of the land. It is the negative form of S6Kiij.os (from S^x"/'""). ' acceptable,' ' tested,' 'worthy,' and means 'unacceptable,' 'unworthy,' ' rejected after trial.' ' Reprobate silver shall men call them,' says Jeremiah of God's degenerate people, ' because the Lord hath rejected them ' (6'" LXX). In Ro V St. Paul uses the word when speak- ing of the natural condition of the lieathen world, alienated from God, abandoned to their lusts and passions and to a reprobate mind (ei's dS6Ki/j.op vovv), as if, having failed to avail themselves of the light of nature, they were now left without it altogether and without hope of amendment at all. A 're- probate mind ' in the judgment of St. Paul is proof of the deep depravity of the heathen and at the same time its awful punishment. In 1 Co 9-'' St. Paul uses the word in a passage where he is com- paring the Christian life in its strenuousness to the contests in the Grecian games. In them the racer or the boxer must contend strictly according to the rules, for if he is found fouling a rival or transgressing the rules of the contest, he is liable to be cast out of the lists and scourged, and at any rate will be declared disqualified for a prize. It was in this spirit that Ignatius, on the way to martyrdom at Rome, entreated the prayers of his fellow-Christians so as to be found worthy of the lot he had set before him, that in the end he might not be found 'rejected' (dS&iMos) (Ignatius, ad Trail, xii. 3). See CASTAYi^AY. Elsewhere St. Paul urges the necessity of earnest self-examination and the close following of Christ if his readers would escape this reproach (2 Co IS"'') ; and utters words of solemn warning against men who after having made a Christian profession become de- praved in mind and heart, or content themselves with an outward profession, whilst, as regards the faith and every good work, they are discredited, ' reprobate' (2 Ti 3*, Tit 1«).