Literature. — C. Wilson, in Murray'8 Handbook to Asia Minor, 1895, p. 70 f. ; W. M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, 1904, p. 251 f.
James Strahan.
SOBERNESS, SOBRIETY The object of this
article is to determine the meanings of the two word-groups, vrjcpaKio^ (i'^0w) and (rujtppojv (and cog- nates), which are translated 'sober' in the NT. (The term iyxpireia is discussed in the art. Temper-
ance.) These two groups of words differ both in their origin.al and in their secondary meanings and are accdrdingly treated .separately here.
1. vT)4pdXio? (vr]())u). — The A V translates the adjec- tive twice and the verb four times by ' sober ' (1 Ti 3", Tit 2- ; 1 Th 5«- «, 1 P 1'^ 5*), the adjective once by 'vigilant,' and the verb twice by 'watch' (1 Ti 3'^ 2 Ti 4^ 1 P 4'). The reason for this variety of rendering on the part of the AV may be the n.atural desire to avoid dull uniformity, but probably also it is due to dubiety as to whether in the original the words are used in their primary or in their secondary sense. The RV adopts a uniform render- ing— for the adjective always ' temperate ' and for the verb 'sober.'
The primary meaning is clearly seen in a passage such as Xen. Ci/r. VII. v. 20. The elder Cyrus encourages his soldiers to attack Babylon, and he reminds them that once before they overcame those enemies when they (i.e. the enemy) were awake (iyp-rj-yopoTas), sober (v^^ovras), armed (e^air'Siffixii'ovs), and drawn up in battle array (amreTayfi^vovs). Tlierefore they should overcome tliem now when many of them are asleep (/caSei''5oiwi), many of them drunk {/j.eOuouai.), and all of them unprepared (duOpraKTot). The word v^i^u is thus the direct opposite of ixeSiw, and it is excellently rendered 'sober' (Lat. sohrius=.^ine + ebriu.^). There is such a literary similarity between the above passage from Xenophon and 1 Th S^"'- that, if it were con- ceivable, one might say that St. Paul had it in his mind ; and therefore it is especially instructive as a parallel. To be sober, then, is more intensive (1 Th 5**-) than to be awake (ypiiyopiii}), for a man may not be asleep and yet noli be sober. His wits may be wandering, the loins of his understanding may be loose. (In 1 P 5^ however, yp-qyopiu seems to be the stronger word.) From the Latin equivalent of ypt]yop4w we get ' vigils ' and the proper name Vigilantius ; and in the history of the Church the vigilantes did not always escape the vices of drunkenness and lust, as even Jerome, who with his usual coarseness of language defends them against Vigilantius (a curious irony in the name), has to admit (c. Vigilantium, 9). The primary meaning of I'vj^u in the NT thus excludes two ideas — on the one hand the sluml^er of the drunkard, and on the other the listless stupor which is char- acteristic of the half-awakened, or the weariness which creeps over those who watch long. The word is also used tropically in the NT, but the literal meaning is almost invariably in the back- ground, and in some cases it is i>reponderant. I'his is probably largely due to the influence of our Lord's parable (Mk 13'^"^'), in which some are depicted as overtaken by their lord's coming, in a drunken .state ; and it is appalling to think how many even yet in Christian lands die in this sad condition.
To describe the transition from drunken sleep to sobriety iKvri<j>oi is used in the LXX (i'tj^w and i/7)0<iXios do not occur), of Noah (Gn 9-''), of Nabal (IS [LXX 1 Kings]252'), of the drunkards of Joel's time (Jl P). When Eli asks Hannah to put away her wine from her, his meaning is that she should sleepitofr(lSl"; LXX TrepteXoC). In Sir 34- (31) the word is used tropically and transitively. 'Wake- ful anxiety will crave slumber, and a grievous sickness will banish sleep' (eKvfi\j/ci iiirvov — the re,ading, however, may be iiTrvo^). In the only passage where iKrq(()w occurs in the NT (1 Co 15^'', ' Awake to a righteous life of sobriety and sin not ') the tropical sense is evident but the original force of the word is not absent. The Corinthians must not forget the Resurrection, for 'evil communica- tions corrupt good manners.' If they did, their motto would soon become, ' Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.' Already at the love-feasta
so HEKNESS, SU BK 1 HI V
SOBERNESS, SOLKIETY
515
did not some of them get drunk, while tlieir poorer brethren hail neither food nor drink siitlieient for their needs (1 Co 11=')? It Is thus clear tli:U the danger of actual drunkenness is included in the warning, 'Do not err.' The ideas of sobriety, righteousness, and the I'arousia are here associated, as in St. Paul's speech to Felix, where he spoke of righteousness, temperance, and the judgment to come (Ac 24'''''). The word ciiijiw indeed is commonly used with a reference to the coming of the Lord (1 Tlio';'-, 1 P 1"). To be ignorant of this or to forget it in pleasure is foolish and dangerous. Included in the idea of sobriety or closely akin to it is the thought of vigilance, as of the sentinel, and of preparedness and armed security, as of the soldier. There is a military atmosphere about the word. It is the necessary equipnumt of nrayer — the watchful longing of the Christian soldier for the coming of his Lord (1 1* 4'). He is not to sleep on duty even if his Lord should tarry till the third watch. Nor should the Christian lorget that he lights against a subtle, powerful enemy — the Great Adversary who is ever on the outlook to devour liim (1 P 5*). This is also a favourite idea with St. Paul. The ignorance of the day and hour of Christ's coming is an additional motive to sobriety — cf. Kev 16"' : ' Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that wateheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.' But this ignorance has for its sphere a day of moral and spiritual life in which Christians are to live as children of the day. So in 1 Tli 5''"'- St. Paul con- trasts the Christian with the heathen who sleeps and is drunken in the night. He means not simply the avoidance of intoxication ; lie means also spiritual sobriet3\