Supervisor Operis, the superintendent of works, also called mai/ister ojieris.
Suph (CjlO, a sea-iceed [see Flag], Jon. ii, 6) is the characteristic epithet of the Red Sea ( q. v. ), which abounds in sedge (Exod. x, 19, and often). In one passage (Dent, i, 1) it has been supposed by some to designate a place, but no locality of that name has been discovered, and most interpreters (with the Sept. and Vulg.) understand it there to stand for the Red Sea (l)y the omission of C^, sea). So in Numb, xxi, 14, nS^O, suphah (Sept. Ziuof3; Vulg. Mare Ruhmm), some think a place (perhaps the same) to be indicated, but others with better reason render the word as an appellative, storm, i. e. violence (as in Job xxi, 18, and elsewhere).
Supper StiTTt'ov (Mark vi, 21: Luke xiv, 12, 16; John xii, 2, etc.; sometimes rendered "feast"), a word used indifferently in the Homeric age for the early or the late meal, its special meaning being the principal meal. In later times, however, the term was applied exclusively to the late meal — the S6f>7rov of the Ho- meric age. It was the chief meal of the Jews, and also of the Greeks and Romans, being taken towards or at evening, after the labors of the day were over (Matt. xxiii, 6; Mark xii, 39; Luke xx, 46). In the New Test, it is also specially spoken of the paschal supper (.John xiii, 2; iv, 21, 20), and of the Lord's supper (1 Cor. xi, 20); and of any meal (ver. 21); metaphori- cally of a marriage-feast, as figurative of the Messiah's kingdom (Rev. xix, 9) ; and of heaps of the slain as a feast for birds of prey (ver. 17). See Sup.
A modern Oriental supper-party is thus described by Lamartine : " Our apartments consisted of a pretty
court, decorated with Arabic pilasters, and with a spout- ing fountain in the centre falling into a large marble basin; round this court were three rooms and a divan, that is to say, a chamber larger than the others, formed by an arcade, which opened on the inner court, and which had neither door nor shutters to close it. It is a place of transition between the house and the street, serving as a garden to the lazy Mussulmans, its motion- less shade supplying for them that of the trees, which they have neither the industry to plant nor energy to go and seek where nature herself causes them to grow. Our rooms, even in this magnificent palace, would have appeared ruinous to the poorest hut of our peasants; the windows had no glass, an unknown luxury in the East, notwithstanding the rigor of winter in these mountains; no beds, tables, or chairs; nothing but the naked walls, mouldering and riddled with rat and lizard holes; and as a fioor, the beaten cla\', uneven, and mixed with chopped straw. Slaves brought mats of rush, which they stretched upon this floor, and Damascus carpets, with which they covered the mats ; tliey after- wards brought a small table of Bethlehem manufacture, made of wood, encrusted with mother-of-pearl. These tables are not lialf a foot either in diameter or in height; they resemble the trunk of a broken column, and are not capable of holding more than the tray on which the Mohammedans place the five or six dishes which com- pose their repasts. Our dinner, which was served on this table, consisted of a pilau, of a dish of sour milk mixed with oil, and certain gourds like our cucumbers, stuffed with hashed mutton and boiled rice. This is, in fact, the most desirable and savory food which one can eat in the East. No knives, spoons, or forks ; they eat with the hands : but the repeated ablutions render this custom less revolting for the Mussulmans." See Eat- ing.
SUPPER OF THE LORD (Kvptaicov Shttiw), so called by Paul in his historical reference to the Pass- over supper as observed by Jesus on the niglit in which he was betrayed (1 Cor. xi, 20; INIatt. xxvi, 20-31).
I. Scriptural Statements. — Several controverted points may perhaps be best adjusted by a connected harmony of the last Passover of the Lord, constructed from the evangelic narratives alluding to it, but filling nji the various omitted circumstances from the known Passover rites. See I'assover.
" Now, when it was evening, Jesus sat down with the twelve (Matt.) apostles" (Mark). The first cus- tomary' washing and purifications being performed, the l)lessing over the frst ciqj of wine, which began the feast, would be pronounced, probably in the usual form — "We thank thee, O God, our Heavenly Father, who hast created the fruit of the vine." Considering the
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peculiarity of the circumstances, and the genius of the new dispensation about to be established — that the great Teacher had already declared the superiority of simple forms to the involved traditions of the Jewish doctors, and that his disciples alone were present on this occasion — it may be supposed that, after the bless- ing over the herbs, the recital of the liturgy (or haf/a- dah) explanatory of the redemption of their ancestors from Kgyjitian bondage would be somewhat simplitied, and perhaps accompanied with new reflections.
Then probably the second cup of wine was mingled, and with the flesh of the paschal lamb, feast-offerings, and other viands, placed before the Lord. " And he said unto them. With desire have I desired to eat this Pascha with you before I suffer; for I say unto you, I shall no more eat tliereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took tlie [second] cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide among you, for I sav unto you, I will not henceforth drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come" (Luke).