'Treasurer' occurs only in Ro 16-': 'Erastus the treasurer of the city.' Here the word is olKovd-
/xos (oTkos, 'house,' and vifxu, 'manage'), 'manager of a house,' ' steward,' 'superintendent.' So 6 oIko- I'i/iosT^s jriiXtui! means 'superintendent of the city's business,' 'treasurer' (Vulg. arcarius civUatis) ; cf. Est 8", 1 Es 4« Jos. Ant. XII. iv. 7. The term is ai)plied to apostles and ministers as God's stewards (1 Co 4", Tit V). As a matter of fact the Eunuch of Ethiopia was queen Candace's treasurer 'over all her treasure' (Ac 8-').
A. T. RoiiERTSON.
TREE (JuXoi/). — 'Tree' is used five times in the NT as a synonym for the Cross (Ac 5™ 10» 13* Gal 3'', 1 P 2'^^). In classical Greek JuXox means wood cut, timber (as in 1 Co 3'^ Rev 18'^) ; an instrument of punishment, resembling the pillory (Herod, vi. 75, ix. 37 ; so in Acl6-'') ; rarely a living tree (as in Rev 22-- '■*• '") ; and never a cross. But in the LXX, where ^vXov is used for yv, ' tree,' the phrase 'hang on a tree' occurs several times (Gn 4019, j)t .21^ Jog io») ; and the dread saying, KaTTjpafJ^POS vird 6eov Trds Kpefid^evoi itrl ^u\ou (' male- dictus a Deo est qui pendet in ligno '), seems to have been applied very early in the Christian Church — ap|)arently many years before the writing of the Epistle to the Galatians — with a deep theological meaning as well as a poignant pathos, to the death of Clirist, whose Cross then came to be commonly known as ' the tree.'
Among tlie ancient Israelites the criminal was not executed by being hanged, but hanged after execution, his corpse being exposed before all eyes as a proof that he had met tjie reward of his deeds (2 S 4'- 2P- '"). But Gn 40'','which refers to a case in Egypt, may denote a death by suspension (see J. Skinner, ICC, ' Genesis,' Edinburgh, 1910). Be that as it may, the tree used for this gruesome purpose was no doubt a literal living tree, not an artilicial ' gallows-tree.'
The Cross is called 'a tree' in two addresses which are said to have been delivered by St. Peter (Ac 5^" lU^"), and 1 P 2-'' refers to Christ bearing our sins in His body upon the tree. Cf. also St. Paul's words in Ac 13-'« with Gal 3". The theme 'crux est arbor ' is a favourite one in mediasval poetry, and ' the tree ' is a common synonym for ' the Cross' in modern hymnology.
In Jude 1^ apostates are compared to autumn trees without fruit. The writer of the Apocalypse refers to a conflagration among forest trees (8') ; also to trees spared by hurricanes (V-') and by locusts (9^). See also Tree of Life.
James Strahan.
TREE OF LIFE. — 1. Sources.— There are three sources for our knowledge of the idea of the tree of life : the OT, Jewish apocalypses and Jewish theology, and ethnic legends.
(1) In the OT the tree of life appears neither in Psalms nor in the Prophets, but only in Genesis and Proverbs. The Genesis story (2" 3^^) intimates that there are two objects which man would grasp at — knowledge and immortality. It has been maintained, however, that in Gn2' the tree of life is a later addition, and w,as inserted only when the idea of the under world had suffered such a change that immortality became an object of de- sire (K. Budde, Die bibliscJie Urgeschichte xmter- sucht, Giessen, 1883, p. 53 f. ; but cf. A. Dillmann, Genesis, Eng. tr., Edinburgh, 1897, i. 121 f.). In any case, by reason of his sin man was not per- mitted to eat of the fruit of this tree, which signi- fied fullness of life. Driven out from the Garden of Eden, he was effectually debarred from this Divine good. In Proverbs (3'* 1 1^" 13'= 15*} wisdom, the fruit of the righteous, desire fulfilled, and a wholesome tongue are each a ' tree of life.' The reference is not to the recovery of a lost, or to the winning of a future, but to the enjoyment of a present, good (cf. Budde, op. cit., p. 85 f.).
TKEE OF LIFE
TKIAL-AT-LAW
613
(2) In Jewish apocalyptic three constant factors are associated witli the tree of life : it is in Para- dise ; the righteous have access to its fruit ; it will be avaiialilo only after the judjjinent. Its first appearance is in Enoch, xxiv. 1-6, x.w. 4-6, xxxi. 1-3 (ef. ataronic Enoch, viii. 3-"), 4 Ezr. vii. 123, viii. 52, Pss.-Svl. xiv. 3, Test, of Leri,\\\\\. — a Christian interpolation [?]). According to Jew- ish theology, its branches cover the whole of Para- dise, and it has 5UU,000 kinds of ta>te and smell (K. Weber, Jiid. Thcologie'', Leipzig, 1897, p. 34G ; A. WUnsche, Die Sagen vom Lebensbaum und Lche.nswasser, Leipzig, 1905).
(3| All Oriental religions which have risen above the nature stage have their legends of a tree of life. Sometimes it appears in a simple, at other times in a fantastic, form ; but whoever, even a god, partakes of its fruit or its sap renews and preserves liis life (cf. E. Schrader, JPTh i. [1875] 12411'. ; W. W. von Baudissin, Stiidien zur semil- ischcn Rctiqionsgcm-hu-hle, ii. [Leipzig, 1878] 18911'.; Friedrich Delitzsch, ]Vo lag das P<iradies?, Leip- zig, 1881, p. 148f.). In the Babylonian-Assyrian circle this tree was date-palm, cedar, or vine (F. R. Tennant, The Sources of the DoctHne.s of the Fall and Original Sin, Cambridge, 1903, p. 49 ; T. G. Pinches, The OTin the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia', London, 1903, p. 71(1'.). In the (Jilgamesh Epic the hero obtained a scion from the 'plant of life' which healed his mortal illness (cf. 13. Meissner, Ein altbabylon. Fragment des Gilgamosepos, Ber- lin, 1902 ; A. Jeremias, Die babtjlonisch-assyrisclien Vorstellungen vom Leben narh dem Tode, Leiiizig, 18S7, p. 93). In the Zend-Avesta the tree of life is the white Haoma — death-destroyer — similar to a grape vine, with plentiful buds and jasmine-like leaves ; whoever eats of the fruit becomes im- mortal (SEE xxiii. [1883] 20; cf. Rigveda, x. xcvii. 17). The Hindu tree of life grows in the midst of water ; whoever looks on it is made young.