Hence the mention of the Descensus would at once suggest to a Jew the abyss, whence the waters of judgment burst forth at the Flood. Of the count- less souls imprisoned there, the writer recalls, naturally and immediately, those who were carried to its depths in that overwhelming visita- tion of God's wrath. To these (but not to the exclusion of others) Christ preached, that, having been judged in the llesh as men are judged [Kara. ap6pwirovi), they might henceforth live in the spirit as (;od lives (xard deii/, 1 P 4"). And so was Christ's 'quickening in the spirit' manifest after His death.
LrrsRATORE. — To the books named under Dbscbnt into Hadbs tnav be added A. Schweizer, IlinalKjr/ahren zur IlMe als .Mi/llnts ohnc hihiixclie ISeijriiinhni:!, Znrieh. ISGS; E. H. Pluinptre, The SjiiriU in Prison, I/uidon, 1SS7 ; R. H. Charles, Kiicliat'i'.ogy, llrf'vew, Jcwitih, and ChrUlian, London, 1899.
J. H. Beknari). SPIRITUAL GIFTS.— See Gifts.
524
SPIEITUAL SONGS
STEALING
SPIRITUAL SONGS.— Spiritual songs (Epli 5'», Col 3"') (.•aiinot be distiiiguislied as such from hymns anil psalms (qn.v.). 15ut the meaning of the epithet 's])iritual' deserves attention. St. I'aul contrasts truly religious thoughts and words in- spired by the Holy Spirit with the eflusions of drunkards or the odes of heatlien poets composed in ecstasy. A. E. BURN.
STACHYS (Srdxw, a Greek name).— Stachys is saluted by St. i'aul in Ko 16" and described as ' my beloved ' (rbv ayair-qTiiv /nov). The only other ]iersons so described in tliese salutations are Ep^jnetus (v.') and Anipliatus (v."). A woman, Peisis {q.v.), is saluted, jierhaps with intentional delicacy, as ' the beloved' (v.'-). The term may indicate a personal convert of the Apostle or one closely associated with his work. Nothing further is known of Stachys. We shall suppose him to have been a Roman or Ephesian Christian, according to our view of the destination of Ivo 16. The name is comparatively rare, but occurs in inscriptions of the Imperial hou.sehold (J. B. Lightfoot, Philip- plans', 1878, p. 174). T. B. Allworthy.
STAFF.— The word pd/35os is translated ' sceptre ' in He 18 and 'rod' in 9^ 1 Co 4^\ Rev 2=', etc. In He 11-', 'Jacob . . . worshipped [leaning] upon the top of his statt'.' The reference is to the act of the patriarch when he received the solemn oath of Joseph, that he would bury him with his fathers ('Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head,' Gn 47"). In Hebrews the words are an exact quota- tion from the LXX. The ditt'erence of translation has arisen from the ditt'erent ways of vocalizing ni5D. The LXX read it as n^D, 'staff,' and the Massoretes as nap, ' bed.' The question is, W^hich is the more likely to be right? The date of the LXX is uncertain (see HDB, art. ' Septuagint '), and the rise of the Massoretic system of vocaliza- tion is even more obscure (see HDB iv. 730"). It is not improbable that the LXX gives an earlier and more correct interpretation. The phrase ' bed's head ' is botli curious and difficult. It suggests ideas which are associated with an early Victorian ' four-poster,' and are quite out of place in relation to a bed in the East (see HDB, art. 'Bed'). Usually the bed was laid on the floor or on a low platform, but sometimes a slight portable frame was used (2 S 3^'). There is a reference to the head of a bed in 1 S 19'^. The bed's head may simpl.y mean the place where the pillow was laid. Dillmannand Driver (Cojram. on Ge«csi.s) accept the reading of the Massoretic text. To get over the difficulty, Cheyne (EBi, art. ' Stafl'') suggests that iff».\ 'head,' should be read as s/-fi, 'couch.' There is no difficulty of interpretation if the LXX is followed : Jacob may have stood up to receive the oath of Joseph. Equally it may be said that there is no difficulty if tlie bed or couch had an end which might be called its ' head,' and that Jacob leaned upon it. It is impossible to decide whether ' staft'' or ' bed ' is right, but the fact that the LXX is the oldest commentary on the Hebrew Bible makes its reading the more probable.
Literature. — Comm. on Genesis bv A. Dillmann (1897), S. R. Driver (Westminster Com., 1904), and J. Skinner (ICC, 1910) in toe. ; F. Rendall. Com. on Uebrexvs, 1883 ; EBi, art. 'Stiff; HDB,a.rtt. • Bed,' ' Rod," Sceptre ' ; Smith's /)B, art. 'Staff'; C. Geikie, Hours with the Bible, new ed. vi. [1S84]
28 n. John Reid.
STAR. — There are only two passages in which the word ' star ' occurs outside its frequent sym- bolical u.se in the book of Revelation. The first is in St. Stephen's defence, where he quotes a passage from the prophet Amos (Am 5**"*'), speaking of the idolatry of the Israelites and mentioning ' the star of the god Rephan' (Ac 7''^). It is admittedly a
difficult passage, but the probable reference is to the Assyrian star-god. The other is in St. Paul's well-knosvn argument on the resurrection of the body: 'One star dilfereth from another star in glory' (1 Co 1.5*'). As in nature we observe identity of sub-stance with diversity of form, so will it be in the risen bodies of God's people.