Captured by the Arabs in the 7th, and by the Crusaders in the 11th cent.. Tarsus ultimately fell into Ottoman hands in the 16th century. It has now a population of 25,000, a congeries of many nationalities.
LrrERATiTRE. — W. J. Conybeare and J. S. Howson, The Life and Epistles of St. Paul, 2 vols., London, 1S77, i. '26 f., 69 f. ; A. Hausrath, a' History of the NT Times, 4 vols., do., ISll.'i, iii. 4 II. ; W. M. Ramsay, The Cities o/ St. Paul, do., 1907 ; C. Wilson, in .Murray's Handbookto Asia Minor, dn., 1S9.S, p. 184 f.
James Strahan. TARTARUS.— See Hell.
TATTLERS.—' Tattlers ' is the translation of ipXOapoim 1 Ti5'''. As a noun the word is found only here in the NT. As a verb (pXvapeu occurs in
3 Jn '", where it stigmatizes Diotrephes. In
4 Mac 5'" it is used as an adjective, and applied to a worthless kind of philosophy (drd t^s (p\vdpov (pL\oao(pias).
In classical Greek the word is in common use to denote ' foolery,' ' silly chatter,' and generally 'playing the fool'; and not infrequently with a tinge of moral blameworthiness. In 1 Ti 5'^ the word (frXiapoi ('trilling silly talkers') is applied to the baser sort among the order of widows, and especially to the younger women of that order : ' And withal they learn also to be idle, going about from house to house ; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.' ' From leisure springs that curio.sity which is the mother of garrulity ' (Calvin). Bengel translates by garrulm. ' The social intercourse of idle people is naturally characterised by silly chatter' {EOT, Edinburgh, 1910, in lac.).
We have here one of the vignettes of character, so abundant in the Pastorals, where one sees as in a mirror the frivolous side of the Greek tempera- ment, its restlessness and curiosity, its 'itch' to hear or to tell some newer thing. In the land of gossips this propensity had invaded the Church, and threatened to become (as we can well believe) troublesome to good order, as well as hurtful to the grave and restrained life which was impera- tive on Christian women in the relaxed moral con-
550
TAVERNS
TEACHING
ditions of the cities of the Empire. Timothy is tlierefore warned to liold a tiglit rein over the troops of gadabout women witli their prurient talk (XoXouffat TCL lij) S^ovTa). See BABBLER.
W. M. Grant. TAVERNS See Three Taverns.
TEACHER Comparison of Ac 13' with Ro 12',
2 Ti 1" 4^ Ja 3' shows that 'teachers' (SiodrrKaXoi) are not a separate order of ofiicials, but a class of men endowed with a particular gift, which they exercised in congregations already established. As distinct from the ecstatic exhortations of 'prophets,' the instruction given by 'teachers' would be exposition of the OT and of the words and acts of Christ. ' Teachers ' were inferior to 'apostles' and 'prophets,' and were connected with 'pastors' (1 Co 12-8- =», Eph 4"). 'Apostles' always had the gift of teaching ; ' prophets ' and 'pastors' usually possessed it: but men might have it without belonging to any of these classes. See Church Government, Ministry.
A. Plummer.
TEACHING {SLSax'n, SiSao-TOXfo).— The place and function of teaching in the establisliment of Chris- ianity are facts of great historical interest and practical importance. That its effectiveness, as an instrument for the diffusion of the Christian religion, was recognized by the Jewish rulers is apparent from the prohibitions and persecutions with which they sought to prevent the apostles teaching ' in the name of Jesus ' (Ac 4'* 5°*). As in the ministry of Jesus teaching occupied a pro- minent place (together with preaching and healing), so also with His followers it was one of the main features of their evangelical work. It was a chosen instrument for the spread of the new re- ligion, and it gradually tended to reduce the truths which expressed the faith of the early Church to a recognized body of doctrine.
A distinction is to be drawn between the process of teaching and the subject-matter of teaching. To speak of the ' teaching of St. Paul,' for example, is ambiguous, since ' teaching ' may mean either 'instruction' (the act of imparting truth) or 'doctrine' (the body of truth imparted). Some- times, indeed, the biblical usage includes both meanings. The NT employs two terms for ' teach- ing,' viz. SiSax^ and Sioa(rKa\ia. Generally speak- ing, the former signifies the act and the latter the substance of teaching. This distinction is not made so apparent in the AV, where both diSaxv and diSadKaXla. are usually rendered 'doctrine,' whereas in the RV didaxv (which occurs 16 times) is always rendered 'teaching' (Ro 16" RVm), and diSaiTKaXla (occurring 17 times) is rendered ' doctrine ' (11 times), 'teaching' (5 times), and 'learning' (once). To render 5i5axv by the somewhat ambigu- ous word 'teaching' is convenient, as it always signifies the act and in many instances both the act and the content of Christian instruction, whereas Si.Saa-Ka\la more frequently denotes the content alone, and is well expressed by 'doctrine.' Literally SiSasKaXia means ' that which belongs to a teacher' (SiSdo-icaXos), and, in the judgment of H. Cremer (Bibl.-Theol. Lex. of NT Greelc\ Edinburgh, 1880, p. 182), is used ' for the most part in the objective, and therefore passive sense, that which is tauifht, the doctrine. That the content of teaching is suggested by this term is apparent from such phrases as ' precepts and doctrines ' (Col 2-*), 'sound doctrine' (1 Ti 1'", 2 Ti 4^, Tit 1»), and absolutely ' the doctrine' (1 Ti 6'- », Tit 21").