The NT gives no encouragement to a morbid or excessive self-scrutiny, as an end in itself. Intro- spection is implied in 1 Jn 3°", but only to issue in the encouraging declaration that ' God is greater than our heart' : and in Gal 6' (aiiOTTu>v aeavrdv) we are reminded that the inspection of our own hearts tends to stimulate charitableness towards the erring. On the other hand. Apostolic Christi- anity lemls no weight to the modern tendency to rule introspection altogether out of the religious life.
LlTERATCRE. — In addition to the works cited above, see R. C. Trench, Suimiyms of the ST", London, 1S80, p. 278 fl.
R. Martin Pope. SENATE.— See Sanhedrin.
SENTENCE In the NT this \vord is used only
three times: (l)as indicating a judicial sentence (f7n^•pil'u, Lk 23" ; see Ti!IAL-at-Law) ; (2) as giving a decision or judgment on a matter sub- mitted for settlement {Kplva) : 'My sentence (KV 'judgement') is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God ' (Ac 15'") ; (3) as a conclusion come to, or an answer given to a question put in certain circumstances (dwdKpiua) : ' But we had the sentence of death in ourselves' (2 Co 1* AV ; RV, 'Yea, we ourselves have had the answer [RVm 'sentence'] of death within ourselves'). The word is of very frequent use in Acts and the Epistles in the sense of express- ing a personal judgment or decision, or of holding an opinion (Ac 26", 1 Co 2^ etc.). John Reid.
SEPULCHRE.— Three Greek words are employed in the NT to express the idea of tomb or burial- place : (1) ini'vtJ.a, Ac 2-'« 7", Rev IP ; cf. Lk S-" 23« 241, Mk 53- »: (2) /i-'Wf'of, Ac 13"; cf. Mt 23-» 27"'-- " ; (3) Td0os, Rev 3'3 ; cf. Mt 23"- ••» 27<"- "'■ «« 2S' ; the Hebrew equivalent of all three being t^jj. The word ' grave,' though found eight times in the AV, is not regarded by the Revisers as an adequate English eciuivalent.
1. Ancient burial customs. — The Hebrews uni- versally disposed of their dead by burial ; other- wise they felt the soul of the deceased in Sheol would not lind rest. The aboriginal cave-dwellers in Canaan, however, seem to have disposed of their dead bv cremation (cf. R. A. S. Macalister, Bihic Side-Lights from the Mound of Gezer, 190G, p. 48 tt'.). Burning was resorted to by the Hebrews only in the case of tho.se who had committed crime (Gn 38", Lv 20'*). They used spices in pre-
paring the body for burial, but they did not embalm. There was not the same incentive for it as prevailed in Egypt, where other- worldliness was so emphatically illiistr.ited by temple and jiyramid. .Still, to the later Jews as we'll as to the Egyptians the tomb was 'the house of the living.' Swift burial was necessary because of the climate, and as a rule took place on the same day as the person died. Stones were placed over a grave, not only to mark the site, but to prevent jackals and other beasts from disturbing the body (cf. 2 S 18'"). In the case of a criiiiinal the heap of stones over his grave kept on growing, as every passer-by felt compelled to express his contempt for him by add- ing new stones to the heap. Ancient tomlis are still very numerous in Petra, which is indeed ' the city of tomb-s.' Of the 700 (more or less) sepulchres extant there, some date back as far as the 6th cent. B.C., or even earlier, probably belonging to the ancient Edomites who once inhabited those jiarts. Others, perhaps the great majority, are those of the Nabata^ans, or early Arabs, who flourished in Petra from 350 li.C. till A.D. 100. These tombs, which are of varied styles and types, are all cut in the sides of the massive sandstone mountains. One is filled with columbaria for receiving the ashes of the dead. As a necropolis Petra is worthy of spec:ial study.
2. Ancient types of sepulchre. — Like their neighbours, the Hebrews through their sepulchres gave expression to their belief in imnu)rtality. The limestone rocks of Canaan yielded to their desire for a permanent place of abode. And yet, though they must have been perfectly familiar with the Babylonian and Egyptian custom of building costly mausolea, the Hebrews insisted on simplicity. No elaborate or extravagant sepul- chres were ever erected by them. Thej' regarded .such monuments as tending towards ancestor-wor- ship, and they studiously avoided all kinds of idolatry. In preparing sepulchres for the dead they aimed at safety and (iiidurance rather than elaborateness and ornamentation. Men of position sometimes prepared their sepulchres while yet alive ; but, though the Phoenicians were their models, they seldom used a sarcophagus. The practice of raising monuments over their tombs was first inaugurated by Simon the Maccabee (1 Mac 13'-'"^-)- Through the influence of the Greeks, the Hebrews began to build separate tomb- chambers. These varied in style as follows :
(1) The simplest type of Jewish sepulchre was a sitnken receptacle for a single body, hewn in the rock. Oftentimes caves were appropriated and used by them to save labour and expense. Abraham, for example, buried Sarah in the cave of Machpelah (Gn 23'- "). A slab of stone was prepared to cover tightlj' the lectangular de|ires- sion. This was whitewashed annually, to guard against ceremonial delilement(Mt 23-' ; cf. Lk U"). Ancient tombs of this kind are very common in Palestine still. Some have been found with shafts, as at Tell el-Judeideh (cf. Bliss and Macalister, PEF Excavations, 1898-1900, p. 199 If.).