Notwithstanding the corroboration of the notices in the Ejiistles, the identification of Silas with Sil- vanus has not passed without question. On the ground of an alleged tendency in Acts to connect Paul as closely as possible with the Church of Jerusalem, Weizsiicker suggests that, in the ac- count of the second missionary journey, Silas has been substituted for Silvanus, the actual companion of Paul. As a member of the primitive Church and its agent in conveying the decree regarding circumcision to Antioch, Silas would be a pledge of relationship between Paul and Jerusalem on the second journey, as Barnabas had been on the first ; and so he would be regarded by the author of Acts as a more appropriate associate for the Apostle. For this theory, however, the reasons adduced have not been found convincing, even by those who admit the supposed tendency in Acts. Scarcely more success has attended the various critical attempts to identify Silas or Silvanus with otiier friends and fellow-labourers of Paul, such as Luke (Van Vloten) and Titus (Marcker and Seufert). Of the theories advanced in tliis connexion perhaps the least probable is that which finds two Silases in Acts — one the messenger of the Jerusalem Church to Antioch (15--''^), the other the companion of Paul on his second journey (IS^-IS*) — and identifies the latter with both Silvanus and Titus (Zimmer).
To Silas has been attributed a share, more or less independent, in the writing of several Ejiistles. Thus it has been suggested that some passages of 1 Cor. (l'« 3«'- lo^"-'-' 16'3-i»)are interpolations by him, and that he wrote the apocalyptic portions of the Epistles to the Thessalonians (R. Scott). Even the whole of 1 and 2 Thess. has been supposed to be the work of the Silvanus mentioned in 1 P 5^'. Silas (Silvanus) is also one of the authors to whom Helnews has been ascribed ; but there is no traditional support for this view, and too little is known of him to furnish a compelling argument. As in the case of Barnabas, his connexion with the Jerusalem Church tells rather against his authorship of such an Epistle as Hebrews. There is good reason, however, for associating the name of Silas with 1 Peter, and the part borne by him in the production of that Epistle is obtaining in- creasing recognition. According to 5'^, he was at least the amanuensis by whose hand it was written ; but, if the Petrine origin be accepted, various con- siderations, such as the Pauline cast of the Epistle and its correct Greek, suggest that both matter and style were largely influenced by him. Some scholars.
SILK
SIMON IMAGUS
49::
indeed, suppose tliat Peter entrusted its composi- tion entirely to Silas, and contented himself with revising and approving it. Others j;o further, and think that Silas may have written it independently, after the death of the Apostle.
LlTERATi-RK.— Works on Paul and the Apostolic Age pencrolly, esp. A. C. McGiffert, Itislory of the Apostolic Am, KHinlHirgh, 1897, and C. v. Weizsacker, Das apostoti.sche Zeitaller^ Frei- burj; i. B., ISSO (Kng. tr., 2 vols., London, ISOJ-'J.")) ; Van Vloten, 'Lucas und Silas,'in 2H"y'x. (1807J, xiv. (1871) ; Marcker, 'Titus Silvanus,' in G>nnnas}atpro<ii''i»^m, ISfil ; Seufert, in XWr xxviii. [1S851: Zimraer, in ZKIVL ii. [lasl]; R. Scott, The Pauline Epistles, Kdinburu'h, 100!); J. Weiss, SK Ixv. [181)2] '253; J. Moffatt, LAT, Edinburgh, 1911, pp. SOf., 2<JU, 331 f., 439. D. FKEW.
SILK. — Silk, the fibrous substance produced by the mulberry silk-moth of China, is mentioned (Rev IS'-) as part of the costly merchandise of 'Babylon' (Im]ierial Rome). The Chinese name of the silk-worm is si, Korean soi; to the Greeks it became known as (ttJ/j, the peojile sujiplying it being the ^ijpes, and the fibre itself arjpiKlv, whenc^e Lat. sericum, Fr. soio, Ger. Seiile, Eng. silk. The silk-worm is first mentioned in Western literature by Aristotle {de Ayiim. Hist. v. 19). The silken te.xtures of the East began to be imported into Italy in the earlj' days of the Emjiire. At iirst they fetched fabulous prices, and their use by men was deemed an unpardonable e.\travagance. At a meeting of the Senate, in the time of Tiberius, 'much was said against the luxury of the city by Quintus Haterius, a man of consular rank, and by Octavius Fronto, formerly praitor ; and a law was passed "against using vessels of solid gold in serving up repasts, and against men disgracing themselves with silken garments" ' (Tac. Ajin. ii. 33). The trade, however, grew. Elagabalus was the first Emperor who wore robes of silk. Aurelian complained that a pound of it cost 12 ounces of gold. Under Justinian the Western world at last received from China a sujiply of silk-worms' eggs (E. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, iv. [1902], ch. xl. § 3). James Strahan.
SILVANUS.— See Silas.
SILVER (Hpyvpos, dpyvpiov, Lat. arijentutn ; from apyds, 'shining'). — Silver is one of the precious or ' noble ' metals, used from the earliest times as a means of exchange and adornment. With the exception of gold, it is the most malleable and ductile of all substances. Gold was ' estimated at thirteen times the value of silver' (Herod, iii. 95), but the proportion varied considerably at different period.s.
1. Articles of silver are mentioned among the costly wares sold in the market of the apocalyptic Babylon — Imperial Rome (Rev 18'^). As this metal has a perfect metallic lustre and takes a very high polish, it was often used for mirrors. The aquila, or standard of the Roman legion, was of silver (Cic. in Cat. 1. ix. 24). ' Milites argentati ' were soldiers whose shields were covered or plated with silver (Livy, ix. 40). In a great house there were many ' vasa argentea ' (2 Ti 2-°, Vulg. ; cf. Hor. Sat. ii. 7. 72 f.). Rome's principal supply of silver came from southern Spain. The Maccaoees heard what the conquering race ' did in the land of Spain, that they n)ight become niasters of the mines of silver and gold which were there' (1 Mac 8'). Strabo (in. ii. 10), quoting Polybius, says that 40,000 men were regularly employed in the silver mines of New Carthage (Carthagena), which yielded daily to the Roman people a revenue of 25,000 drachma.