422
RULER
■SABBATH
Hellenistic Jew (cf. Ac 2'° 6' 13'). who gave his sons Gentile names.
2. In Ko 16'^ a certain Rufus is saluted by St. Paul. If we admit the Koiiiiin destination of these salutations it is natural to wish to identify 1 and 2, but the name is so common tliat there are no real grounds for doing so. Kufus is described as ' the chosen in the Lord ' {t&i' ^kXckt^k ^o Ki'pi'v), a phrase applicable to every Christian (Col 3'-, etc.), but perhaps jieculiarly appropriate in his case on account of ' special circumstances, in which a strik- ing intervention of the Divine grace had been re- cognised, by which his conversion was ell'ected' (C. von Weizsiicker, Apostolic Age, Eng. tr.-, i. [18U7] 395). Possibly, however, the meaning is rather 'eminent as a Christian' (Sanday-Headlam, ICC, 'Romans'", 1900, p. 427), i.e. distinguished among his fellow-Christians in character and usefulness. The only otherChristianssodescribed intheNT are ' the elect lady ' and her sister in 2 Jn 1''. Coupled with Rufus in the salutation is ' his mother and mine' (riji' fiijHpa aiJrou koJ ifaov). The allusion has generally been supposed to mean that ' this name- less woman had done a mother's part, somehow and somewhere, to the motherless Missionary' (H. C. G. Moule, Expositor's Bible, ' Romans,' 1894, p. 429) and that he felt towards her ever afterwards as a son. The Apostle had not visited Rome before writing his Epistle to the Roman Christians. If, therefore, we regard Ro 16 as an integral part of 'Romans,' we shall place this mother and her son elsewhere at the time when she showed kindness to St. Paul, and imagine that later they became residents in Rome. It is perhaps easier to believe that Ephesus was the scene of the woman's hospi- tality and care, and that the greeting is directed to Rufus and his mother in that city.
T. B. Allworthy.
RULER, — ' The ruler of the temple ' occurs in Ac 4' AVm, but is more correctly represented by ' the captain of the temple ' ( AV and RV). He was a priest, second in command to the high priest him-
self, and had under him the officers who commanded the Temple police. His duty was to superintend the priests and Levites who guar<led the Temple and its precincts. The word ' ruler,' however, generally represents &px'^'> or some derived word, and the general idea behind ipx^v is that of a magistrate of a city, whereas ■^7«m'^>' suggests rather a governor of a country (see Government). In 3" 4»-* 13'-'' &PXoiiTei is used of the Jews in authority who had Jesus put to death, and therefore includes the high priests (cf. R. .1. Knowling in EGT, 'Acts,' 1900, on 4'). In 4-« T"-^ (referred to Moses in Egypt) 23' the word occurs in quotations from the LXX. In Ro 1.3^ magistrates (and possibly also governors and the Emperor) are referred to. In Ac 13'° rulers of the synagogue are mentioned at Pisidian Antioch. In Asia Minor there is evidence that the title was one of honour, and therefore could he held by more than one person simultaneously ; there is a case known of even a woman bearing this title at Smyrna. In Corinth, however (18"), the normal practice of having one ruler of the synagogue with real power appears to have been maintained. In 14° the leading men among the Jews at Iconium are intended, probably including the honorary rulers of the synagogue. In 16'" Luke first uses the general term S.pxofm, and then the specific aTpcTniyol for the two leading Roman magistrates of the colonia Philippi (see under Pr^tor). In 17*, again, it is the leading magistrates of Thessa- lonica, the TroXirapxa', to whom reference is made (see under Magistrate). In Eph 6'- ' the rulers of the darkness of this world' (AV) might be more exactly rendered ' the world-rulers of this darkness ' (RV). The reference here is to spiritual powers of evil to which this world is really m bondage, while all the time it falsely asserts its independence of the only true God. This world is the realm of darkness of these powers. References to such powers under various names are frequent in the NT where they are pa,rt of the heritage from later Judaism. A. SOUTEE.
s
SABAOTH 'Lord of Sabaoth' {i.e. 'Lord of
Hosts,' niK3s nin;) is a common title for Jahweh in the prophets, with the exception of Hosea and Ezekiel. The appellation may not have originated with them, but they invested it with a deeper significance. What was the original meaning of the title is still a subject of dispute. Some take the ' Hosts ' in question as the armies of Israel which Jahweh le.ads on to victory (Jg 4'''), while others find an allusion to the stars, the host of heaven, or to tlie armies of angels (but it is con- tended that in the plural riin^^f is used only of earthly warriors). Whatever the original mean- ing of the phrase, it came afterwards to denote the all-controlling power of God, as represented by the rendering of the LXX Kvpios wavroKpdrap ; cf. 2 Co 6'* (also Kiipios tCiv Swdniuv). Sometimes, however, the LXX renders xipioi Sa/3aii9 as in Is 1', which is reproduced verbatim from the LXX in Ro Q-*^. The only otiier instance of the use of the phrase in the NT is Ja 5*, where God is so named to suggest the awful majesty of the great Judge who will avenge the oppression of the poor. There are several instances in Rev. of the title made familiar by the LXX, Kvpios i debs o ircwTOKpaTap, ' Lord God Almighty.'