Literature. — An ample bibliograph.v will be found in Schiirer's (iJV \l\.^ [Leipzig, 1909] 555-592, though he does not mention some of the English contributions, lilte W. Whiston's A Vindication of SihijUine Oracles (London, 1715) and J. Floyer's similar volume, The Sibylline Oracles, translated from the best Greek Copies (London, 1713). The authenticitj' of the oracles formed a topic of discussion among the English Deists of the ISth cent., in connexion with prophecy, but the debate led to no critical advance, owing principally to the defective spirit of historical criticism and to the corrupt state of the text. The latter difficulty was eased by Angelo Mai's discoveries of fresh material and M.SS at Milan and Rome (1S17, 1828), on the basis of which the first modern edition was published by a French scholar, C. Alexandre, Oracula Sibyllina, Paris, 1S41- 1856 ; the second edition of this standard work (1869) is not quite so full as the first. Almost simultaneously J. H. Friedlieb issued a short edition {Die sibyllinischen Wei^sagunfjen, Leipzig, 1852), with a German metrical version. Alexandre's version had been in Latin. A. Rzach's edition of the text {Oracula Sibyllina, Vienna, 1891) is only one of a long series of contribu- tions which he has made to the historical and textual criticism of this literature. Lastly, J. Geffcken edited the oracles criti- cally for Die griechischen christlichen Schri/tsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte, Leipzig, 1902. Geffcken's edition is not final, but it forms an indispensable basis for study. The Jewish oracles in bks. iii. -v., together with the fragments, are trans- lated into German by F. Blass in E. Kautzsch's Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des AT, Tiibingen, 1900, ii. 177-217, and translated into English by H. C. O. Lanchester in Charles's Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, Oxford, 1913, ii. 368-406. A German version of Christian oracles in bks. i.-v. and vi.-viii., etc., is pubUshed by GefTcicen in E. Hennecke's Neutestamentliche Apokryphen, Tiibingen, 1904, but there is no modern English version of them, even of selected passages. The blank verse translation by M. S. Terry, New York, 1890, the present writer has not been able to see. In addition to the authorities cited throughout the course of the article, he is specially indebted to the courtesy of Professor Walter Scott, formerly of Merton College, Oxford, and Toronto University, Who has placed at his disposal unpublished materials relating to bks. iv. and viii. JaMES MoFFATT.
SICARII.— See Assassins.
SICKLE {dpiiravoi').—'[n the NT the .sickle is re- ferred to only in St. Mark's Gospel (Mk 4-'') and in the Apocalyp.se (Rev 14'''"'"). In the latter passage the victorious Christ comes with a sharp sickle in His hand to gather in the fruits of His triumph. P^or the simile cf. Jl 3'^ Jer 51'^ In the earliest times sickles were made of flint. They had only one cutting edge, which was generally slightly concave and serrated. As a rule the back edge was quite thick. The bone or wooden handle in which tliey were set followed approximately the curve of the flint edges. The flints projected from the hafts about half an inch or less. Flint sickles continued to be used throughout the Bronze Age. The reason probably was that the.y were on the one hand comparatively inexpensive, and on the other hand quite as efficacious as sickles made of bronze. It was not until iron came into general use in the
* This lies side by side with the proof from the Sibylline oracles, in Constantine's Orat. ad saact. coetum (19). Kendel Harris (HZ>ZJ v. 67 f.) thinks that the Vergilian element in bk. .\i., to which Dechent had already called attention, the refer, ences to /Eneas and the claim of priority to Homer, must mark the period of Constantine as the date when the problem of the ChristiaD Sibyl's relation to Homer became acute.
SICKNESS
SIDON
491
l''ourth Semitic perioil that flint sickles were en- tirely siipoisoded. Iron sickles are conlinoil to the Kourlli Semitic nnd the Hellenistic [leriods. The breadth of tlie blade varies from ij to '-'i ins., the commonest breadth bein«; from about 1 to 1:} in. The handle sometimes consisted of two halting plates secured by thongs or metal pins; occasion- ally, liowever, the butt-end of the sickle was tanged, while socketed sickles also sometimes occur. See, further, HARVEST.
LiTKRATCRE. — R. A. S. Macalister. The Excavation of Gezer, 3 vols., Lonilon, lillli, i. SXi, 342, ii. 32-34, 124, 127; R J. Bliss, A .iluunil of Mani/ Cilics, do., ISM, pp. 105, 107 (witti fig. 210), lOS, 123; H. Vincent, Canaan, d'apr^s l'rxj>loratwn recente, Paris, 1007, p. 3S8 f. ; C. Steiiemagrel, Telt f'/-Hj uti'seUini, Leipzig. lOOS, plate .vxvii.; H. B. Swete, The Apocat/jpae of St, John-, LoTidim, 1907, pp. 18S-191 ; SDIl, pp. S62-S:".3 ; P. S. P. Handcock, The Archaeology of the Holy Land, London. lOlG, pp. 14S-149, 188, 208. P. S. P. UANDCOCK.
SICKNESS.— Outside of the Gospels little atten- tion is paid to sickness in the apostolic writings. This is very noticeable if one comjiares tliese writings witli the OT or even the Gos|)els. Only five particular kinds of disease are specified : pal.sy (Ac 8' 9'^) ; impotence {Ac 3^) ; a digestive trouble (Tc/crai do-fleVeiai, 1 Ti 5'-^) ; dysentery (.Ac 28*) ; abdominal disease associateil with worms (Ac 12-"'-). In addition we have those sullering from nervous disorders (Ac 5"^ ; cf. also IG'^''" 19'-). Individuals are, in general terms, 'sick' (Dorcas [Ac 9*'], Epaphroditus [Ph 2-'''-'], and Tropliimus [2 Ti 4-'"]), yet no sym])toms are mentioned by which the nature of the illness may be delined.