5. The father of Zadok, which latter repaired part of the walls of Jerusalem opposite his house (Neh. iii, 29). B.C. ante 446. He was, perhaps, the same as No. 3.
Immersion, the act of plunging into water, espe- cially the person of the candidate in Christian baptism, as performed by the Baptist (q. v.) denomination, and occasionally by others. There are two controversies that require to be noticed under this head.
I. Is this mode or act essential to the validity of the ordinance itself? — The affirmative of this question is maintained by those denominationally stj'led "Bap- tists," and is denied by nearly all other classes of Christians. For the arguments on both sides, see the article Baptisji.
II. Are the tenns " immerse,'" " immersion," etc, prefer- able or more correct in a version of the Scriptures, than "baptize," "baptism" etc. 9- — The affirmative of this question is taken by many, but not by all Baptists, and it is approved, to some extent at least, by certain schol- ars in most other denominations, while the negative is held by the vast majority of Bible readers. The change was actually made by Dr. Campbell in his Mork on the Gospels, and recently a systematic effort has been made on a large scale to give currency to the alteration by the translations put forth under the auspices of the American (Baptist) Bible Union. See Bible Socie- ties, 5. The arguments for this rendering are set forth in all their strength by Dr. Conant, in a note to his translation of Matthew, at ii, 6, as follows (to each of which we subjoin the counter arguments) :
" i. This word expressed a particular act, viz. immer-
sion in a fluid or any yielding substance. See the Ap- pendix to this volume, sections i-iii." The Appendix thus referred to is Dr. Conant's treatise On the Meaning and Use of Baptizein, etc. The proofs there given, how- ever, do not seem to sustain this precise point ; the pas- sages cited do indeed show that jja-KTi^tn' means to whehn or envelop ^vith a liquid, but do not indicate any miiform method, such as dipping, plunging ; nor do they necessarily imply motion on the part of the subject into the fluid, as " immersion" clearly does.
"ii. The word had no other meaning; it expressed this act, either literally or in a metaphorical sense, through the whole period of its use in Greek literature. Append, sect, iii." This assertion is palpably refuted by the fact that Dr. Conant himself, in but a part of these very quotations here appealed to, has ventured to ren- der (iaTrriZiiv by " immerse ;" for he is very frequent- ly constrained to translate it " immerge," " submerge," " dip," " plunge," " imbathe," " whelm," etc. These words, it is true, have the same general signification ; but, supposing that they were in every case suitable renderings (which in many cases they are not), yet they do not establish the identical point in dispute, nameh', the exclusive translation by " immerse," etc., as if " the word had no other meaning."
" iii. Its grammatical construction with other words, and the circumstances connected with its use, accord entirely with this meaning, and exclude every other. Append, sect, iii, 2." On the contrarj', the prepositions and cases by which it is ibllowed, being generally tv with the dative, indicate precisely the opposite conclu- sion ; insomuch that in even the comparatively few in- stances where " immerse" can be given as a rendering at all, it is scarcely allowable except by the ambiguity " immersed in," which in English is used for " immersed into." In the Greek language, as every scholar knows, no such imprecision exists.
" iv. In the age of Christ and his apostles, as in all periods of the language, it was in common use to ex- press the most familiar acts and occurrences of everj'- day life ; as, for example, immersing an axe in water, to harden it ; wool in a dye, to color it ; an animal in water, to drown it ; a ship submerged in the waves ; rocks im- mersed in the tide ; and (metaphoricall}') immersed in cares, in sorrow, in ignorance, in poverty, in debt, in stu- por and sleep, etc. Append, sect, iii, 1." Bather these examples should be rendered, an axe tempered by cold water, wool tiiiged with dj-e, droicned in water, sunk ly the waves, covered with the tide, overichelmed with cares, etc. The^ familiarity of the word is another matter, be- longing to the next argument.
" V. There was nothing sacred in the word itself, or in the act which it expressed. The idea of sacredness belonged solely to the relation in which the act was performed. Append, sect, iv, 7." This fact is no good reason why, when it is manifestly emploj'ed in such sa- cred relations, it should not be rendered by a term ap- propriate to such a sacredness. This argument applies only to those passages in which the word occurs in a secular sense ; about these there is no dispute.
"vi. In none of these respects does the word baptize, as used by English writers, correspond with the origi- nal Greek word." This has already been met in sub- stance above. The remainder of the arguments, with one exception, need not be reproduced, as they are of a doctrinal character, aimed at the odium theologicum, which is a method of reasoning inconclusive, if not un- worthy in a philological question.