SOl'ATEK
aoKCEKY
i)l'j
* Soothsaj-er * is used in Jos 13-2 (AV and RV ; A Vm ' diviner ') to translate Dpip, Qal pt. act. of CCi3. wliinh, with its kiniired terms, is translated ' divine ' in Nu 2'.;' 23-'. Dt 18>o. '*, 1 .s 2,m'', 2 K 1717, Is 44», Kzk 12." 13^ ' 2131- 1" », Mic .■(«• 7, the 1,.\.\ in all these eases eniptoyin}^ ^at-rtc and iU} coi^nales Itnl in 1 S 1523 tlie same Hebrew word is translated ' witchcraft ' (A V aiid RV ; inar;r. 'divination'), tiie LXX using oiwiua-^a ; in I'r 10'" the word is translated ' a divine sentence ' (AV and RV ; niari;. in all three 'divination'), the LXX usin^j in tliis case ^aiTftoi-. Finally, in Is 3'- it is translated 'the prudent* in AV, hut 'diviner' in RV. and the L.\X translates bj" trruxaimiy. 'Sooth- Bayers' is the translation in Is 26 of D'Jjy, Qal pt. act. of ]j'^ in AV and RV, the LXX employing K^rjiovtandv, while in Is 57^ •■TJjy is translated ' sorceress,* possibly because * soothsaycress ' is an impossible word; hut the LXX renders 'ye sons of the sorceress' by vlo't avofjLot. 'Soothsayers' is the translation in Mic 513 of D'aj^iyO (AV and RV), the LXX in this case rendering the word by ano^tefyyo^ievot. In Dn 227 47(4) 57. 11 'soothsayers* is the translation of participles of the verb IJi, 'to cut,* 'to decree,' 'to decide,' the LXX employing participles of a verb which is evidently a mere transliteration of the IIel>rew.*
In Ac 16" the word liavreOo/xaL i.s used to indicate tlie ait of the pythoness of Philippi. The girl's work was to predict accurately, ami hence the word is here used in its strict English sense. ' Sooth- sayer,' then, is u.sed of one who professes to indi- cate the future truthfully by a writer who does not believe that the soothsayer possesses such a power. In Hernias {Mantl. xi. 2) the man who has tlie Divine spirit is ditl'crentiated by his life from the ^€v5o7rpo<prjTT}s to whom doubters go as a /xdvTis. The latter exalts himself, is bold, iminident, talka- tive, lu.\urious, and without reward gives no pre- dictions. The sooth.sayers would ai)])ear, at least at a later time, to liave been superior to and more skilful than the augurs. Perhaps part of their success lay, as in the famous case of Pyrrhus, in the cleverness with which they gave deliverances BO worded that whatever happened their reputation did not sutler, t
Literature.— E. B. Tylor, PC*, London, 1003, i. 146, 147 ; HDB V. 146, 61S» n., and the literature under Uivinatton and
I'vTHON. P. A. Gordon Clark.
SOPATER (Siiirarpos, a common Greek name). — Sopater is mentioned in Ac 20^ as a companion of St. Paul, who accompanied him from Greece to Asia Minor on his return journey to Palestine, whither he was bearing the ofi'erin'' of the churches ' for the poor among the saints tliat are at Jeru- salem ' (Ro 15-^). It has been conjectured that all the persons referred to in Ac 20'' were delegates of their respective communities appointed ' in the matter of this grace' (2 Co 8'"). If this was so, we shall suppose that they went all the way to Jeru- salem. We know th.at one of them, Trophiinus, did so (Ac 21-^), and evidently also Aristarchus (27-). Sopater was perhaps the delegate of the church at Beroea. He is described as a native of that place (Bepoiaios), and was perhaps a Hellenistic Jew, one of those who contrasted .so favourahly with the Jews of Thessalonica, one of the ' many' wlio believed during the Apostle's visit (17"'"'''). If he was not a Jew he cannot be identified, as is .some- times suggested, witli Sosipater (y.?). ), whose saluta- tion is sent by St. Paul in Ro 16-', and who is described as one of tlie Apostle's 'kinsmen,' i.i'.. fellow-Jews. Nothing further is known of Sopater than that he was ' the son of Pyrrhus ' (i^wwarpo^ ni''ppov), of whom, however, we are entirely ignorant. The patronymic is omitted by TK and AV but is found in NABDE, several ancient versions, and RV. See art. Pyrrhus.
T. B. Allworthy.
SORCERY. — The indefiniteness attaching to the meaning of words connected with divination, noticed in the art. SooTH.^AYlN'G, is quite as ap- plicable to sorcery. From sors, 'a lot,' come
* Augustine, (Je Civ. Dei, iii. 11. 17.
f For functions of the Semitic soothsayers see EHr^i xxii. 319''. On Babylonian soothsaying sec ERE ii. 310'', SlQl".
sortiri, ' to cast lots," and sorlinrius, ' one who fore- tells fortunes by lots.' To enable the foreteller to do his work, assistance was gaimd from spirits; and the latter conception gradually banislieil the idea of lot.s, conlined now to 'sortilege,' and sorcery came to mean accomplishing one's object by means of evil spirits. It is applied to making the wind blow in a certain direction, causing storms and disasters ; bringing ou darkness ; manipulating the rain-clouds, etc.*
From the word ']e';, not used in the Qal, but evidently meaning ' to pray,' we have the Piel »]p'3, which means • to pray intensely and effectively.' This word, which baa no connexion with lol«, is used in an anti-religious sense, and in 2 Ch 3;fi is translatet] 'used witchcraft' (AV), 'practised sorcery' (RV); and in the L.XX i<t>apfiaK<vtTo,i The participle of this word r,a';o nieaiis one who by intense prayer, or spell, achieves supernormal results. It is translated in" Ex 711, I>n 22, Mai 3^ 'sorcerers' (A\' and RV), and in LXX (liap^aK6^, while the feminine .l^tr^ in Ex 2217 (18) is translated by ' witch '(AV), ' sorceress '(RV),1 in L.\.\ •hapnaKovi. '■jiJ'rD itself in Dt ISio is translated by ' witch * (AV) ; clearly it should at least he ' wizard,' unless ' witch ' is here used as a word of conuuon gender ; by 'sorcerer' in RV, while in this case the LXX uses oiwrt^oMO'o^-?