VESSEL. — Though the drift of the passage ' That each one of you know how to possess him- self of his own vessel in sanctification and honour' ( 1 Th 4'') is clear, the e.\act meaning to be attached to 'vessel' (o-kcCos) has long been a matter of dis- pute. Some take it to refer to the body ; others interpret it as meaning ' wife.' The Krst interpre- tation is adopted by many early writers, and is found as far back as Tertullian {dc IlesHrrectione Cariiis, 16): ' Caro . . . vas vocatur apud A]ios- tolum, quam jubet in lionore tractari.' This meaning is adojited by Chrysostom, Theodoret, Calvin, Beza, and many others.
No objection can be raised to this sense of o-KeCos. The term ' vessel of the soul ' is applied to the body l>y classical \\Titers, e.fj. Lucretius, iii. 441 : ' corpus, quod vas quasi constitit ejus {,sr. anima') ' ; and the i)assage 2 Co 4' gives the same idea : 'ExoM''' 0^ rbv 0r}aavp6v tovtov 4v 6(TTpaKivois ffKeveaiv. But this interpretation forces an unnatural meaning on KTaadai, which can mean only 'to acquire,' not 'to possess' or ' to keep.' Chrysostom, who saw this dillicultj', tried to get over it by explaining uraaOai as equivalent to 'gain the mastery over': i^ixeh avrb KTiti/j.fOa, dTau fi^vrj Kadapdy Kal iariv iv a.yta<Tixi^' Srav 5i aKdOaprov, a^apria. But this meaning does not lit in with in aytaa/xif, etc.
The interpretation of aKevoi as 'wife' is held by Augustine : ' ut sciret unusquisque eorum sunm poBsidere vas, hoc est, uxorem ' (r. Jul. IV. x. 50). With this agree Scliott, de Wette, and many German commentators, and, among English,
Alford, Jowett, and EUicott. Lightfoot seems unable to decide.
Hence neither word presents any difficulty, as KTatrffai is used of marrying a wife : *a/ ye'PovO Ti)p JIwaj8ftTif Tijc yi'i-aiKa MaaXu'f K^Krrjfxat i^avTf^ (It yvyaiica (Ku 4'" LXX) ; 6 K'Tut/zefOS yvvaiKa ivipx^Tai KTTiffew! (Sir 3(i™).
The sen.se of tlie passage, then, will be that men should avoid fornication, and that, if a man cannot exercise continence, he shouhl marry. The same thought occurs in 1 Co "^ : Sia 5i rds wopfdai iKaaros Tr]f eatrToO ^waisa ^x^ru. The objection which ha-s been raised, that the injunction would thus be made to a])ply to men only, is not serious, for, as is often the case, the corresponding obligation on the part of the woman is implied. Lightfoot considers it a more serious objection that by using such an ex- pression as (TKcvoi KTonrBai the AjMJstle would seem to be lowering himself to the sensual view of tlic marriage relation, and adoi)ling the depreciatory estimate of the woman's jiosition which prevailed amou" both Jews and heathen at the time, whereius it is his constant ellort to exalt both the one and the other. But is it the fact that the term crKfCos was necessarily depreciatory ?
On the whole, the second interpretation seems to harmonize the better with the context and to avoid thedilhculty of a strained interpretation of KToudai., but it must not be overlooked that many names of weight are in favour of the lirst.
MoKLEV Stevenson.
VESTURE.— See Clothes.
VIAL.— See Bowl.
VINE (4/xireXos, ^rfrpi/s, d/itireXii)/). — Apart from the Gospels, the only books in the NT containing a reference to the vine or to grapes are the Epistle of St. James (3'-) and the Apocalypse (14'"). In 1 Co 9' a vineyard suiiplies the subject for one of St. Paul's rhetorical questions. Wine is frequently alluded to, chiefly in apostolic exhortations against excess in this direction (see art. ABSTINENCE).
In the apocaly[itic vision, as elsewhere in the NT, the work of judgment is comjiared to the vintage. In the OT both the vintage and the wheat-harvest are used as similes of the overthrow of the enemies of Jahweh, but here the wheat-harvest represents the ingathering of the faithful (.see art. Harvest).
In Palestine the vintage is the latest crop gathered in the autumn. In the warmer parts of the country it commences at the beginning of September. There are few countries so well adapted for the cultivation of the vine, and the extensiveness of the industry in ancient times is attested by the numerous presses and vats found all over the country. From the Mishna we learn that vine-culture was still nourishing about A.D. 200, but with the coming of the Arabs it almost entirely disappeared. ANithin the last centurj", however, it has revived under Europe.an influence, and large numbers of imported vines have been planted by German and .lewish colonists.
The mode of their cultivation depends on the natural characteristics of the particular district. In very stony soils parallel ridges are made of the loose stones, and the vines are planted near the side of one or other of these ridges. The shoots are traineil up the.se ]>rimitively constructed walls, carried over the top, and brought down to the other sides by stones attached to them. AVbcre, however, the conditions permit, and the vineyards are extensive, the plants are arranged at a con- siderable distance apart, and are allowed to grow to a height of about 6 or 8 ft. ; the bearing .shoots stip- porteil by poles are carried horizontally across to the adjoining row. In ancient times they were carefully fencetl in to protect them from human spoliators.
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