Life – Log

Life

I. In the OT—

The term ‘life’ in EV is used, with a few unimportant exceptions, as the equivalent of one or other of two Heb. expressions: ( 1) chai, or mostly in plur. chayyim; (2) nepheah. The LXX makes a general (Mstinction between these two, by usually rendering the former as zoe and the latter as psyche. The former term occurs more frequently than the latter. The notion of life and the terms used to denote it belong, like ‘death,’ to the primitive elements in human thought and speech. Roughly speaking, we may explain ( 1) as primarily = what is fresh, new, in active existence; and (2) as primarily = breath.

1. Self-originated movement, especially as seen in locomotion and breathing, were naturally the earliest criteria of life. So still, scientists are investigating life as merely a ‘mode of motion.’ Life, however, has not yet yielded up its secret to human inquiry; not yet has life, by any experiment, been produced from purely inorganic origins. Meantime those who do not stumble at a theistic view of creation hold an entirely worthy and satisfactory positionin following the Genesis Creation narratives, and ascribing the origin of all life to God, who’ giveth toall life and breath and all things’ (Acts 17). The mystery of life abides, but it is not in the least likely that any results of scientific investigation will ever really conflict with this position.

Life as a physical phenomenon is pre-eminently associated with animals — the living creatures of the sea, the land, and the air (Genesis 1:21 ff.). Plant-life is hardly recognized as such. OT writers do not go so far as to predicate life of trees in much the same way as of animals, as is the case with some of the early Greek philosophers (e.g. Aristotle, Eth. Nic. i. 7, 12). Still ‘green’ and ‘dry,’ as applied to plants, correspond to ‘living’ and ‘dead.’ There is the feeling that trees possess ‘a sort of life; and such references to trees as that concerning the fresh sprouting of a stock or root (Job 14:7 ff.: Isaiah 11:1) are very significant. Notice also the way in which the prosperity of man is likened to that of a flourishing tree (Psalms 1:3 etc.), and other frequent illustrative uses.

Physical life is not only primitively connected with the breath, but also with the blood. The effect of the draining away of the blood (as from a wound) in the lessening vitality of the body and finally death — a matter of early observation — naturally explains this. A certain sacredness thus attaches to the blood (1 Samuel 14:33 ff.). and definite prohibitive legislation relating to the eating of flesh with the blood becomes incorporated in the laws of Israel (Leviticus 3:17 7:26 etc.). This primitive conception of blood as the seat of life Ues at the root of the whole OT system of sacrifices and of all the Scripture ideas and teachings based thereupon.

The sacredness of life as such is strongly emphasized. The great value ascribed to human life is indicated by the numerous laws relating to manslaughter and to offences which interfere in any way with a man’s right to live and with his reasonable use and enjoyment of life. The teeUng extends to other creatures. See the suggestive v/ords ‘and also much cattle’ in Jonah 4:11. The beasts are associated with man’s humiliations and

2 U privations (Jonah 3:7 f.: Jl !"■ their life is a thing to be considered. We find the ground of this feeling in the view that God is not only the original Creator or Source of lite, but directly its Sustainer in all its forms (Psalms 36:6. Pss 104. 14S passim). This seems also to be the fundamental significance of the very common expression ‘the hving God’ (lit. ‘God of lite’).

2. Life is predominantly set forth as man’s summum bonum. Life and death are respectively ‘the blessing and the curse,’ and that uniquely (Deuteronomy 30:19). ‘Choose lite’ is the appeal pointing to the one desirable boon. Every man should answer to the description in Psalms 34:12. The language which disparages life and praises death (e.g. Job 7:16. Ecclesiastes 4:1 ff. etc.) is the expression of an abnormal state of feeling, the outcome of man’s experience of misery in one form and another. But it is not mere existence that is in itself desirable. As Orr points out, life in its Scripture use has ‘a moral and spiritual connotation’ (Christian View [1893], p. 393) ; and it is only the godly and righteous life that is a boon from the Scripture point of view. Such is the burden of the Wisdom books, when they speak of ‘finding life,’ and describe wisdom as a ‘tree of life’ (Proverbs 3:18 8:35).

3. The idea of a life to come is in many portions of the OT conspicuous by its absence. There is nothing anywhere that will compare with the NT conception of ‘eternal life.’ The latter expression, it is true, is found in the OT, but only once, and that in the late- Hebrew Book of Daniel (12:2). It is to be remembered that, though this book is in EV numbered among the Major Prophets, its a£Snities are not with that group but rather with later post-Biblical Jewish writings. In these writings the use of this expression is best illustrated. Enoch, Ps.-Sol., 4 Mac. furnish examples. See also in Apocrypha, 2 Maccabees 7. ‘Life’ alone in this later use comes to be used a3 = ‘life eternal.’ (See, e.g., 2 Mac 7:14; cf. in NT, Matthew 7:14 19:17). Later Jewish use, however, prefers the clearer phrase, ‘life of the age to come’: and along this line the genesis of the term ‘eternal life’ must be explained. (Cf. the last clause in the Nicene Creed: ‘the life of the world to come’). Jewish eschatological hopes, first for the nation and afterwards for the individual, contributed largely to the development of this idea.

At the same time, though in some parts of the OT the hope of lite hereafter seems expressly excluded (see, e.g.. Isaiah 38:11, 18, Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 (Ecclesiastes 12:7 is not in conflict, for it embodies the idea of ‘re-absorption,’ and is not to be read in the light of Christian hope and teachingl), and this world alone is known as ‘the land of the living,’ the very asking of the question in Job 14:14 is significant, and the language of Psalms 16 concerning ‘the path of life’ lends itself readily to an interpretation looking to life beyond death.

II. In the Apochypha. — Chs. 1-5 of Wis. yield much that is of interest relating to contemporary Jewish thought; e.g. God is the author of life but not of death (1 2). The wicked live in harmony with the saying, ‘Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die’ (ch. 2). The righteous have immortality as their inheritance, whilst the wicked shall be brought to judgment and shall be destroyed (chs. 3-5). For an impressive presentment of a foolish appreciation of life, see also IS™-. In Sirach 15:17 ‘Before man is life and death,’ we have an echo of Deuteronomy 30:19. The conception of life (‘soul’) as a loan that can be recalled is found in Wisdom 15:8, 16. a close parallel with Luke 12:20. Such phrases as ‘the fountain of life’ (Sirach 21:13) and ‘the tree of lite’ (2 Esdras 2:12 8:52) recall their use in both OT and NT. For the former, see Psalms 36:9, pr iou_ jn 4; for the latter Genesis 2:9. Revelation 2:7 22:2 etc. 2 Esdras 7 furnishes a notable and picturesque view of life beyond death, with the judgment of the righteous and the unrighteous. See especially the long passage beginning at v. 75. The return of the spirit ‘to him who gave it,’ v. 78, has none of the limitations that attend a similar reference to death in Ecclesiastes 12:7. (See above.)

III. In NT—

The term ‘life’ is the Eng. equivalent of three terms used in the original — (1) zoe. This is of most frequent occurrence; generally corresponding^ to chayyim in OT; = life in the absolute: vitality: full, active existence. It is the term capable of embodying all progressive conceptions as to what constitutes life, and so regularly occurring in the phrase ‘eternal life.’ (2) psyche, generally = OT nephesh, but the fluctuation between ‘life’ and ‘soul’ (see, e.g., the well-known passage Matthew 16:25 f.) as its rendering in English is significant. The primary notion is that of the animating principle (in contrast to the ‘body’). It further denotes the specific life or existence of any individual. By an easy transition it comes to stand for a man’s ‘self’ (roughly ‘soul’). (3) bios, occurring only a few times. = the present’state of existence, this life; as in Luke 8:14, 1 ‘Ti 2:2. 2 Timothy 2:4. 1 John 2 3:17 (zde, however, is sometimes used in this sense, with’ this’ or ‘the present’ qualifying it, e.g. 1 Corinthians 16:19) also = means of subsistence: and so = ‘living’ (Luke 8:43 15:12 etc.).

1. The teaching of Jesus. — As regards the present life we gather from the Gospels that Jesus never bewailed its brevity and vanity. The mournful notes of some of the OT Scriptures, the pensive commonplaces of so much of man’s thoughts and moralizings, find no echo here. On the contrary, in His own life He graciously exemplifies the joie de vivre. This in one respect was made even a ground of complaint against Him (Matthew 11:19). The sacredness of life is insisted on, and the Sixth Commandment is accentuated (Matthew 5:21). The preciousness of life, even in its humblest forms (‘sparrows,’ Matthew 10:29 II Luke 12:6). appears in connexion with our Lord’s arresting doctrine of Divine Providence, which stands in such unhesitating defiance of the sterner features of the world of life (In Memoriam, Iv. f.).

Very conspicuously Jesus condemns over-anxiety about this life and its ‘goods.’ Simplicity and detachment in regard to these things are repeatedly insisted on (see, e.g., Matthew 6:19, 31. Luke 12:15). Certainly the accumulation of a superabundance of the ‘goods’ of life at the expense of others’ deprivation and want is in direct opposition to the spirit of His teaching. The deep, paradoxical saying (Matthew 16:25 f.) about losing and finding one’s life is of significance here — a saying found not only in the three Synoptics (see Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24). but also in its substance in John 12:25.

Eternal life figures conspicuously in the teaching of Jesus. He did not originate the expression: it was already established in the Rabbinical vocabulary. The subject was, and continued to be, one greatly discussed among the Jews. The phrasing of Jesus — as when He speaks of ‘inheriting’ (Matthew 19:29). ‘having’ (Jn. passim), ‘receiving’ (Mark 10:30), ‘entering into,’ or ‘attaining’ (Matthew 19:17). eternal life, or life simply— is also that of the Jewish teachers of His own and a later day. (Note even the significance of the wording in Mark 10:17))). ‘Life’ alone as =‘eternal life’ is used in Matthew 7:14, Mark 9:43 etc.; also in John’s Gospel (as 3 10:10 etc.). (See above.)

The Johannine Gospel conspicuously gives ‘eternal life’ as a chief topic of Christ’s teaching; whilst in the Synoptics ‘the kingdom of God’ holds the corresponding place. The connexion between the two conceptions is intimate and vital. The primary characteristic of eternal life is that it is life lived under the rule of God. The definition found in John 17:3 (with which Wisdom 15:3 invites comparison) shows how essentially it is a matter of moral and spiritual interests. The notion of everlastingness rather follows from this: the feeling that death cannot destroy what is precious in God’s sight. Cf. Tennyson:

‘— ^Transplanted human worth Shall bloom to profit otherwhere.’ But the life is a present possession, an actual fact of experience (John 3:36 5:24 6:47 etc.). We have, however, the indication of a special association of eternal life with the hereafter in Mark 10:30 (‘in the world to come’) Matthew 25:46. Cf. also p. 490«.

It is the teaching of Christ that has caused the words ‘eternal life’ to be written, as it were, across the face of the NT. Still more are we to notice the unique claim made as to His relation to that life. The keynote of the Johannine presentation is ‘in him was life’ (John 1:4), and throughout He is consistently represented as giving and imparting this life to His people. Note also, it is eternal fife as predicated of these that is principally, it not exclusively, in view in the Evangelical teaching there is little or nothing on human immortality In the widest sense.

2. The rest of the NT.— The leading theme of ./ Jn. is ‘eternal life,’ and it is handled in complete accord with the Fourth Gospel. — St. Paul is in agreement with the Johannine teaching on the cardinal topic of eternal life. His Epistles throb with tiiis theme, and he conspicuously presents Christ as the source of this life in its fullest conception, or the One through whom it is mediated. See Romans 6:23, and note his strong way of identifying Christ with this life, as in Galatians 2:20, Philippians 1:21, Colossians 3:3, 4. Christ is also presented as author or mediator of life in the widest sense, the life that moves in all created things (Colossians 1:16, 17) cf. John 1:3). St. Paul, again, uses ‘life’ alone as containing all the implicates of ■ eternal life’ (Romans 5:17, 2 Corinthians 5:4. Philippians 2:16). The supremely ethical value associated with life is seen in the definition given in Romans 8, with which cf. John 17:3. The new life of the Spirit as a dynamic in the present and as having the promise of full fruition in eternity, is central in the Apostle’s exposition of Christianity. — For the rest, the Apocalypse should be noticed for its use of such Images as ‘crown of life,’ ‘book of life,’ ‘fountain,’ ‘river,’ and " water of life," and the ‘tree of life’ (which we also meet with elsewhere) — all embodying the Christian hope of immortality. J. S. Clemens.

Light

To the ancient mind light was a holy tiling, and the Scriptures associate it with God. He dwells in light (Exodus 24:10, 1 Timothy 6:16) ; He is clothed with light (Psalms 104:2) ; He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1) His glory is the effulgence of His light (Revelation 21:23). Cf. the ancient Greek Evening Hymn rendered by Keble: ‘Hall, gladdening Light, of His pure glory poured,’ etc. Hence Jesus, God Incarnate, is called ‘the Light of the world’ (Jn =• ‘18:12), " an effulgence of the glory of God’ (Hebrews 1:3) and salvation is defined as walking in His light and being euUghtened by it (John 8:12 12:35, 36, 1 John 1:7, 2 Corinthians 4:6. Ephesians 5:8, 14, 1 Thessalonians 5:5, 1 Peter 2:9). And Christians as His representatives and witnesses are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14, 16, Philippians 2). On the contrary, a godless life is darkness (John 3:19 8:12 12:46, 1 John 2).

David Smith.

Lightning

Our colloquial use of ‘fire* for ‘lightning’ had its counterpart in Heb., e.g. in such a phrase as ‘Are CSsft) and hail’ (Exodus 9:23 etc.; cf. Genesis 19:24, 1 Kings 18:38 etc.). The Heb. ‘iyr (Job 37:3) jg m.’ light’; bdiOq (Ezekiel 1:14) should probably read bdraq; lappid, Ut. ‘torch,’ is used in the plur. for ‘lightnings’ (Exodus 20:18) a word of uncertain meaning, chazlz (Job 28 38:35, Zee 10:1), is evidently related to thunder, and should probably in each case be tr. ‘thunder-cloud.’ The usual Heb. word is baraq, Gr. astrapS (2 Samuel 22:15 etc., Matthew 24:27 etc.). It is used fig. for the gutter of bright metal (Deuteronomy 32:41, Ut. ‘the lightning of my sword’; cf. Ezekiel 21:10, Nahum 3:3, Habakkuk 3:11), and for the guttering weapon itself (Job 20:25). It is suggested, either by the flash of polished metal, or by the speed of the chariot (Nahum 2:4). Lightning is associated with the appearance of God (Exodus 19:16 etc.), and He alone can control it (Job 38:35, Psalms 18:14). With lightnings as with arrows, God scatters His enemies (Psalms 144:6 etc.). A radiant face (Daniel 10:6), and gleaming garments (Matthew 28:3), are like lightning. There is vivid suggestiveness in the comparison of Satan’s overthrow with the descent of lightning (Luke 10:18). . Cf . the name Barak (Judges 4:6), with the Carthaginian Barca.

W. EWINQ.

LI6N ALOES.— See Aloes. LIGITRE. — See Jewels and Pkecious Stones. LIKHI. — The eponym of a Manassite family (1 Ch 7:19).

Liking

In older English ‘liking’ was used for the outward appearance, quaUfled by good or iU. So Job 39:4 ‘Their young ones are in good liking.’

Lilith

The word occurs only in Isaiah 34:14, and is rendered in AV by ‘screech-owl’ and in RV by ‘nightmonster.’ Belonging to the post-exilic time, it is connected vrith Jewish ideas on demons which, as foreign influence became felt, were developed on the hnes of Babylonian and Persian myths. The Lilith is mentioned in connexion with the desolation which would haunt Edom; it was a hairy monster, and specially dangerous to infants (cf. Lamia). Strange stories are told about Lilith by the Rabbins. It was a nocturnal spectre who assumed the form of a beautiful woman in order to beguile and destroy young children. In the Talmud she is associated with the legends of Adam, whose wife she was before Eve was created, and so became the mother of the demons. T. A. Moxon.

Lilt

Lilt (.shUshan, 1 Kings 7:19; shdshannah, 2 Chronicles 4:5, Song of Songs 2:1. Hosea 14:5). — The Heb. word is probably a loan word from the Egyptian for the ‘lotus.’ In Arab, it is sUsan, which includes a great number of allied flowers — ^lilies, irises, gladioU, etc. No doubt the Heb. word was equally comprehensive. Flowers of tills group are very plentiful in Palestine, the irises being pre-eminent for their handsome appearance. The ‘lily work’ (1 Kings 7:19 "■ 23) is likely to have been modelled after the lotus (Nymphcea lotus) itself: lotus-like flowers appear on some Jewish coins. The Gr. krinon of Matthew 6:28, Luke 12:27 probably had as wide a significance as shUshan, and included much more than actual lilies.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Lime

Lime (sldh, LXX konia) is mentioned by name in EV only in Isaiah 33:12, Amos 2. Isaiah 33:12 ‘the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime,’ i.e. they shall be so utterly consumed as to be comparable to the heap of quicklime that is left after limestone has been burned in a furnace. In Amos 2:1 the prophet denounces Moab because they ‘burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime’ — phosphate of lime being the chief ingredient of the ash of well-burned bones. In Deuteronomy 27:2, 4 Sidh occurs both as vb. and noun, but is rendered ‘plaister.’ For Isaiah 27:9 see Chalk-stones. The ‘whited sepulchres’ of Matthew 23:27 and the ‘whited wall’ of Acts 23:3 are allusions to the whitewashing of tombs with diluted quicIcUrae so as to render them conspicuous, and of walls for purposes of embellishment. J. C. Lambeht.

Line

1 . gaw, which is of most frequent occurrence, is properly a measuring line (,e.g. Jeremiah 31:39, Ezekiel 47:3. Zee 1:16). Figuratively it denotes a rule of life (cf. ‘precept upon precept, line upon line’ of Isaiah’s teaching. Isaiah 28:10). Psalms 19:4 ‘their line is gone out through all the earth’ has been variously interpreted. The LXX, taking the line to be a resonant cord, rendered by phthonggos — ‘a musical sound,’ and St. Paul quotes that version in Romans 10:18 (EV ‘sound’). More probably, however, the idea is still that of a measuring line. Cf. Perowne {.Psalms, in loc), who gives ‘line or boundary’ — ‘as the heavens seems to measure and mark out the earth (whence the term horizon or boundary).’ 2. hebhel, a rope or cord, esp. a measuring cord used in measuring and dividing land (cf. Psalms 78, Amos 7:17, Zee 2). ‘The hnes are fallen unto me in pleasant places’ (Psalms 16) alludes to the marking out of plots of land with a measuring cord. 3. tigwah (fr. the same root as qaw) is used of the cord of scarlet thread that Rahab bound in the window (Joshua 2:18, 21). 4. chM, properly a sewing-thread, only in 1 Kings 7:15. 5. pathll, a string or cord, only in Ezekiel 40:3. 6. seredh in Isaiah 44:13 is misrendered ‘line,’ for which RV gives ‘pencil,’ RVm ‘red ochre.’ 7. In NT ‘line’ occurs only in AV of 2 Corinthians 10:16. The Gr. word is kanSn, a measuring rod (AVm ‘rule,’ RV ‘province,’ RVm ‘limit’), and so, figuratively, a rule. Probably the Apostle’s idea is that of a measuring line, as defining the boundary between his own province and another’s. J. C. Lambert.

Linen

Linen is cloth made from the prepared fibre of flax. In ancient Egypt great proficiency was attained in its manufacture (Pliny, HN vii. 56; Strabo, xvii. 41; Herod, ii. 182), and a fiourishing trade was carried on (Proverbs 7:16. Ezekiel 27:7). As material of wearing apparel it has always been esteemed in the East. In a hot climate it tends to greater freshness and cleanliness than cotton or wool. The Egyptian priests were obliged to wear linen (Herod, ii. 37; Wilk. Anc. Egyp. iii. 117). The ‘cotton garments’ mentioned on the Rosetta stone were probably worn over the linen, and left outside when the priests entered a temple. The embalmed bodies of men and animals were wrapped in strips of linen. No other material was used for this purpose (Wilk. ib. iii. 115, 116, 484). Perhaps we may trace Egyptian influence in the place given to linen in the hangings, etc., of the Tabernacle, and in the garments of the priests (Exodus 25:4 26:1 etc., 28:15 etc.). It formed part of the usual clothing of royalty, and of the wealthy classes (Genesis 41:42, Esther 8:15. Luke 16:19). It is the dress worn by persons engaged in religious service. The priests are those who ‘wear a linen ephod’ (1 Samuel 22:18). The child Samuel in Shiloh (1 Samuel 2:18), and David, bringing back the ark (2 Samuel 6:14 etc.), also wear the linen ephod; cf. Ezekiel 9:2 10:2, Daniel 10:5. it formed the garment of the Levite singers (2 Chronicles 5:12). It was the fitting raiment of the Lamb’s wife, ‘the righteousness of the saints’ (Revelation 19:8) presumptuously assumed by ‘the great city Babylon’ (18:16) in it are also arrayed ‘the armies that are in heaven’ (19:14).

No clear and uniform distinction can be drawn between several Heb. words tr. ‘linen.’ bad appears to be always used of garments (Genesis 41:42 etc.), while shesh may perhaps mean the thread, as in the phrase ‘bad of fine twined shesk’ (Exodus 39:28). the cloth made from it (Exodus 25:4 26:1. Ezekiel 27:7 etc.), and also garments (Exodus 28:5 etc.). We cannot, indeed, be certain that ‘linen’ is always intended (Guthe, Bib . W’orterbuch, s,v,). The modem Arab, sha^h means ‘cotton gauze.’ buts is a word of Aramaean origin, occurring only in later books (Ezekiel 27:16, 1 Chronicles 4:21. Esther 1:6)., whence comes the Gr. ftyssos, which covered both 6arfandsAesA(Jos. ^nMli. vl.lf.). By later writers it was taken to represent cotton (Liddell and Scott, S.V.). vishtvm is a general term, denoting the flax, or anything made from it (Joshua 2:6. Judges 15:14. Jeremiah 13:1 etc.). &cidin was a sheet in which the whole body might be wrapped (Judges 14:12 f. Proverbs 31:24 etc.). It probably corresponded to the BindoB ‘hnen cloth’ of Mark 14:51. and the shroud of Matthew 27:59 etc. ‘etun (Proverbs 7) is probably fine Egyptian thread, with which cloths and hangings were ornamented, othone (Ac 10:11) is a large sheet: othonia (John 19:40 etc.) are strips for bandages, omolinon (Sir 40’) was cloth of unbleached flax, sha’ainez (Leviticus 19:19) was probably cloth composed of linen and cotton.

Linen yam (1 Kings 10:28, 2 Chronicles 1:16, miqweh) should almost certainly be rendered with RV ‘drove.’ W. Ewing.

Lintel

See House, § 6.

Linus

One of the Christians at Rome from whom St. Paul sends greetings at the end of the Second Epistle to Timothy (4"). AU writers agree that he is identical with the first Bishop of Rome. Thus Irenseus: ‘Peter and Paul, when they founded and built up the Church of Rome, committed the oSice of its episcopate to Linus.’ And Eusebius: ‘Of the Church of the Romans after the martyrdom of Paul and Peter, the first to be appointed to the ofiice of Bishop was Linus, of whom Paul makes mention at the end of his letter to Timothy.’ His episcopate lasted about twelve years, but there is considerable difference of opinion as to its date.

MoHLEY Stevenson.

Lion

(1) ‘ari. ‘aryek, full-grown Hon (Genesis 49:9, Judges 14:8, 9 etc.).

(2) ‘" ‘" ■ ‘-

etc.).

kephir, a young strong lion (Judges 14:5. Job 4:10. Ezekiel 19:2

(3) labi (cf. Arab, labwah), specially lioness (Genesis 49:9. Nu 23. Job 4:1) etc.); and lebiyyah (Ezekiel 19:2).

(4) layish, particularly in poetry (Job 4:11. Proverbs 30:30. Is 30« ts) shachal, poetically, Ut. ‘the roarer’ (Job 4:10 10:16 28:8. Hosea 5:14, Psalms 91:13).

(6) bene-shMchats is tr. in AV of Job 28:8 lion 3 whelps, but ought to be, as in RVm, ‘sons of pride.’

Lions have been extinct in Palestine since the time of the Crusades, but evidently were once plentiful, especially in the thickets along the Jordan (Jeremiah 49:19 60, Zee 11:3). They were a source of danger to men (1 K 13:24 f. 20, 2 Kings 17:25), and especially to shepherds’ flocks (1 Samuel 17:34, Isaiah 31:4, Amos 3:12, Micah 5:8). The terrifying roar of the lion is referred to in Proverbs 19:12 20:2 etc., and it is compared to the voice of God (Jeremiah 25:30, Joel 3:16, Amos 3:8). Metaphorically, Judah is described as a lion in Genesis 49:9, Dan in Deuteronomy 33:22, and Israel in Numbers 23:24 24:9; but in the NT the lion is usually typical of Satan (1 Peter 5:8; ct. ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah,’ Revelation 5:5).

E. W. G. Masterman.

Lip

(Heb. saphah, saphdm; Gr. cheilos). !. sdphSh, the usual OT word, and of very frequent occurrence. Only rarely are the lips referred to from the point of view of description of physical beauty and charm (Song of Songs 4 5:13). Once they are associated with Idssing (Proverbs 24:26). once with drinking (Song of Songs 7:9, with which cf. Psalms 45:2), once (anthropomorphically of J") as the source from which the breath issues (Isaiah 11:4) once the protrusion of the Ups occurs as a gesture of mocking contempt(Ps 22:7). Twice (2 Kings 19:28. Isaiah 37:29) we have an allusion to the cruel Assyrian custom of passing a ring through the lips of captives and leading them about with a rope or thong. But in the great majority of cases the Ups are referred to as organs of speech (Job 27:4, Psalms 119:171, Proverbs 15:7 24:2). Hence, according to the kind of words they utter and the quality of the heart from which the words come, they are described figuratively as uncircumcised (Exodus 6:12, 30), flattering (Psalms 12:2, 3), feigned (17:1), lying (31:18), joyful (63:5), perverse (Proverbs 4:24), righteous (16:13), false (17:4), burning (26:23), unclean (Isaiah 6:5). By an intensification or extension of this figurative use, swords are said to be in the Ups (Psalms 59:7), adders’ poison to be under them (140:3). or in them a burning fire (Proverbs 16:27). In Isaiah 57:19 ‘the fruit of the Ups’ = praise. For Hosea 14 see Calves of the Lips. 2. sapham (Ezekiel 24:17, 22, Micah 3:7, only in the phrase ‘cover the Ups’), whose equivalent is ‘moustache,’ it being the Eastern custom to cover this as a sign of stricken sorrow. 3. cheiloa occurs 6 times in NT, always in quotations from LXX: Matthew 15:8 and Mark 7:6 29; Romans 3:13 140 [139) 1 Corinthians 14:21 =Is 28) Hebrews 13:15 14; 1 Peter 3:10 = Psalms 34 [33:14). J. C. Lambert.

List

The Old Eng. vb. ‘to list’ occurs in Matthew 17, Mark 9:13, John 3:8, James 3:4. It means ‘to desire or choose.’

Little Owl

See Owl.

Lively

In AV ‘lively’ sometimes means ‘living.’ Thus in 1 Peter 2:5 Christians are ‘lively stones,’ while in the previous verse Christ is a ‘living stone,’ though the Gr. word is the same in both verses. The other passages are Acts 7:38 ‘lively oracles’ and 1 Peter 1:3 ‘lively hope.’

Liver

(JcObMh). 1. In the great majority of cases where the liver is mentioned, it is in connexion with the law of sacrifice as prescribed in P (Exodus 29:13, 22, Leviticus 3 etc.), and always in association with the caul (yStJiereth). The LXX, followed by Josephus (.Ant. iii. ix. 2), takes vBthereth to be a lobe of the liver; but it is now agreed that it denotes the fatty mass at the opening of that organ. According to Semitic ideas, a peculiar holiness belonged to the liver and kidneys (wh. see), together with the fat attached to them; the reason being that they were regarded as the special seats not only of emotion but of life itself. Because of its sacredness the liver with its fat was not to be eaten, but was to be offered in sacrifice to J". 2. Proverbs 7:23 ‘till a dart strike through his liver’ Lamentations 2:11 ‘my liver is poured upon the eartti’ (cf. Job 16 ‘lie poureth out my gall upon the ground’) are further illustrations of the physiological ideas referred to above. Either they are strong expressions for a deadly disease, or they denote sorrowful emotion of the most poignant kind. 3. In Ezekiel 21:21 the king of Babylon, at the parting of the way, ‘looked in the liver’ as one of the three forms of divination he employed. 4. In Tobit 6:4–16 S* the liver of a fish is used for the purpose of exorcism. See, further, art. Magic Divination and Soeceky, p. sesi".

J. C, Lambbbt.

Living Creatures

See Beast, No. 2.

Lizard

(1) JMd’dh, a generic name for ‘lizard.’

(2) tsSb (cf. Arab, dabb), tr. AV ‘tortoise,’ RV ‘great lizard.’

(3) ‘dndgah, tr. AV ‘ferret,’ RV ‘gecko.’

(4) koach, tr. AV ‘chameleon,’ RV ‘land crocodile.*

(5) chamet, tr. AV ‘snail,’ RV ‘sandllzard.’

(6) tinshemeth, tr. AV ‘mole,’ RV ‘chameleon’ (wh. see).

All these names occur in Leviticus 11:29–30. as ‘unclean’ animals ; most of them are very uncertain. (7) semdmith (Proverbs 30:28), tr. AV ‘spider,’ RV ‘lizard.’ Lizards are ubiquitous and exceedingly plentiful in Palestine: over 40 species have been Identified. The most common is the green lizard (Lacerla mridis). The Palestinian gecko ( Ptyodactylus Hasselquistn) is common in all native houses; it is able to walk up the walls and along the ceilings by means of the disc-like suckers at the ends of its toes. If semamlth was, as many scholars claim, a lizard, then probably the gecko is the special species indicated. The dabb is a large lizard ( Uromastix spinipes), with a long spiny tail. The sandlizards or skinks are common on soft, sandy soil; seven species are found in Palestine. The ‘land crocodile,’ known to the Arabs as the warrel, is a large lizard, sometimes five feet long; two species have been found in the Jordan valley — the Psammosaurus sdneus and the Monitor nUoticus. The chameleon is dealt with in a separate article. E. W. G. Mastekman.

Loaf

See Bread.

LO-A

Lo-a mn. — A symbolical name given to Hosea’s son (Hosea 1:9). signifying ‘not my people,’ as Lo-ruhamah, the name of his daughter, signifies ‘not-pitied.’ Opinions are divided as to whether these names are of actual persons used symbolically, or are purely allegorical. See art. HosEA. W. F. Cobb.

Loan

See Debt.

Lock

See House, § 6.

Locust

(l)’ar6eA(root=‘to multiply’) occurs more than 20 times; in Judges 6 7:12. Job 39:20, and Jeremiah 46:23 n jg^ however, tr. ‘grasshopper’ in AV.

(2) chagab (tr. AV and RV ‘locust’ in 2 Chronicles 7:13, elsewhere ‘grasshopper’), possibly a small locust; see Lv II22, Numbers 13:33. Ecclesiastes 12:5, Isaiah 441.

(3) geblm (pi.), Amos 7:1. AV ‘grasshoppers,* RV ‘locusts,’ AVm green worms ‘; oo&ai.Nah 3, AV great grasshoppers,’ RV ‘swarms of grasshoppers.’

The remaining words are very uncertain. (4) gazam, tr. ‘palmer worm’ (i.e. caterpillar). (5) yeleq, tr. (RV) ‘cankerworm.’ (6) cAosii, tr. ‘caterpillar.’ Thesethree(Jl l<22’etc.) may all be stages in the development of the locust, or they may, more probably, be some varieties of grasshoppers. (7) chargdl, Leviticus 11:22 in AV ‘beetle’ ; RV ‘cricket’), and (S)sol’am, Leviticus 11:22) (tr. AV and R V ‘bald locust’) are also some varieties of locust or grasshopper (it is impossible to be certain of the varieties specified) . (9) tseldtsal, Deuteronomy 28:42, from a root meaning ‘whirring,’ may refer to the cicada, which fills the countryside with its striclent noise all through the hot summer.

Locusts and grasshoppers are included in the family Acrididce. The latter are always plentiful, but the locusts fortunately do not appear in swarms, except at intervals of years. The most destructive kinds are Acridium peregrinum and Xdipoda migratoria. When they arrive in their countless millions, they darken the sky (Exodus 10). The poetical description in Joel 2:1–11 is full of faithful touches; particularly the extraordinary noise they make (v. 5) when they are all feeding together. Their voracious onslaught is referred to in Isaiah 33:4, and their sudden disappearance when they rise in clouds to seek new fields for destruction is mentioned in Nahum 3:17. They clear every green thing in their path (Exodus 10:15). No more suitable figure can be conceived for an invading army (Jg &■ 7:12. Jeremiah 46:23). when, some forty years ago, the Anezi Bedouin from E. of the Jordan swarmed on to the Plain of Esdraelon, an eye-witness looking from Nazareth described the plain as stripped utterly bare, ‘just as if the locusts had been over it.’ When locusts are blown seaward, they fall into the water in vast numbers (Exodus 10:19). The present writer has seen along the N. shore of the Dead Sea a continuous ridge of dead locusts washed up. The smell of piles of rotting locusts is intolerable. The feebleness and insignificance of these little insects, as viewed individually, are referred to in Numbers 13:33, ps 109. is 40. Locusts are still eaten (cf . Matthew 3:4). See Food, 8. E. W. G. Mastekman.

Lod, Lydda

A town in the territory of Benjamin, not apparently of pre-Israelite origin, but built (1 Chronicles 8:12), along with Ono, by the Benjamite Shemed (but Luthen and Auanau occur side by side in the lists of Thothmes m.). Elsewhere it is mentioned only in the post- Captivity lists (Ezra 2:33. Nehemiah 7:37 11:35) and in connexion with the healing of iEneas at this place (Acts 9:32). Its inhabitants were enslaved by Cassius, and freed by Antony (Jos. Ant. xiv. xi. 2, xii. 2). Cestius Gallus burned it, and it afterwards surrendered to Vespasian (.BJ. II. xix. 1, IV. viii. 1). In the Middle Ages it was the seat of a bishopric. It is a centre of the cultus of that strange being called by the Christians Saint George (to whom the church is dedicated), and by the Muslims d-Khudr — probably an ancient spirit of vegetation. It was known as Diospolis in the Byzantine period, but the dirty modern town which represents the ancient site retains the old name Ludd. R. A. S. Macausteh.

Loddeus

Loddeus (1 Esdras 8:45, 46). ‘captain in the place of the treasury’ (or ‘at the place Casiphia,’ Ezra 8:17) to whom Ezra sent for Levites; called Iddo in Ezra 8:17.

Lo-debar

A place in Gilead, near to, and apparently east from, Mahanaim. It was the retreat of Mephibosheth till he was summoned to court by David (2 Samuel 9:4, 5). It is mentioned also upon the occasion of David’s flight to the east of the Jordan (I72’). The site has not been recovered. It is perhaps the same as Lidebir of Joshua 13:26.

Lodge

See Cucumbers.

Loft

See House, 6.

Log

See Weights and Measures.