Spice, Spices – Stocks

Spice, Spices

1. fisssm, Song of Songs 5:2, RVm ‘balsam’; Wsem [once. Exodus 30:23. besem], plur. besamlm. In Exodus 30:23 is a list of various aromatic substances included under the name besHmim. These were stored in the Temple (1 Chronicles 9:29), and in Hezekiah’s treasure-house (2 Kings 20) they were used for anointing the dead (2 Chronicles 16:14), and also as perfumes for the living (Song of Songs 4:10 etc.). 2. sammlm. Exodus 30:34 ‘sweet spices’; and, along with ‘incense,’ Exodus 30:7 40:27, Leviticus 4:7, Numbers 4:16 etc. In the first passage, the ‘sweet spices’ are enumerated as stacte, onycha, and galbanum (all of which see). 3. nekB’th, Genesis 37:25 ‘spicery’ (RVm ‘gum tragacanth or storax’), 43:11 (RV ‘spicery ‘). The gum tragacanth is the product of the Astragalus gummifer, of which several species are known in Syria. The storax (Styrax offlcinalis), a shrub with beautiful white flowers, also affords an aromatic gum valued by the ancients. Whether nekd’th corresponded definitely to one of these, or was a generic term for’ perfumes,’ is an open question. 4. 6. Gr. arSmata (Mark 16:1, EV ‘spices’) and amBmon (Revelation 18:13, RVm ‘amomum,’ RV ‘spice,’ AV omits) are probably both generic. E. W. G. Masteeman.

Spider

1. semamUh; see Lizard (7). 2. ‘akkablsh (cf. Arab, ‘ankabut), Job 8:14, Isaiah 59. Both references are to the frailness of the spider’s web.

E. W. G. Mastebman.

Spikenard

Spikenard (nSrd, Song of Songs 1:12 4; also Gr. nardos pistike, Mark 14. John 12:3). — The fragrant oil of an Indian plant, Nardostachys jatamansi, which grows with a ‘spike.’ The Arab, name sunbul hindi, Indian spike, preserves the same idea. The perfume when pure was very valuable (John 12:3).

About the meaning of the Gr. epithet pistike there has been much speulation. See note^in RlVm at Mark 14, and cf . art. ‘Spikenard’ in Hastings’ DCG. E. W. Mastebman.

Spindle

See Spinning and Weaving, § 3.

Spinn

Spinn nrG AND WE AVDTG.— 1 . The raw material.— In aUjperiods of Hebrew history the chief textile materials were wool and flax, and to a less extent goats’ hair. As for the last named, it will be remembered that St. Paul was proud of being ‘chargeable to no man’ (2 Corinthians 11:9) in virtue of his trade as a weaver of tent curtains (Acts 18:3), doubtless from the goats’ hair (.cilicium) for which his native province was famed. ■The preparation of the various materials for the loom differed according to the nature of each. Wool, before being spim, was thoroughly scoured and carded, probably, as now in the East, by means of a bow-string. In the case of flax, the stalks were rippled and exposed to the sun till thoroughly dry (Joshua 2:6) thereafter by repeated processes of steeping, drying, and beating, the fibres were ready for the ‘heckling’ or combing. Representations of these processes are preserved in the tombs of Egypt. Isaiah 19:9 also refers to the flax industry on the banks of the Nile; the emended text runs: ‘And confounded shall be the workers in linen; the combingwomen and weavers shall grow pale, and they that lay the warp shall be broken in spirit; (even) all that work for hire shall be grieved in soul.’

2. Spinning. — "The spinning was done, as all the world over, by means of the distaff and spindle, and was pre-eminently women’s work (Exodus 35:25 f.; 2 Kings 23:7, Fr 31). Both men and women, on the other hand, plied the loom. The distafE probably consisted, as elsewhere, of a piece of cane slit at the top to hold the wool. The spindle everywhere consists of a round shank of wood, 9-12 inches in length, furnished with a hook at the top for catching the wool or flax, and having its lower end inserted into a circular or spherical whorl of clay, stone, or other heavy material to steady the rotary motion of the spindle (see Rich, Diet, of Rom. and Gr. Ant. s.v. ‘Fusus’; cf. ‘Colus’). Many spindle-whorls have been found in the course of the recent excavations in Palestine (for illust. see Bliss and Macalister, Excavations, etc., pi. lxx. viii.; PEFSt 1902, 39; 1904, 324 and oft.). Sometimes a piece of broken pottery served as a whorl (id. 1902, 338). Distaff and spindle are named together in Proverbs 31:19. RV, however, rightly reversing the renderings of AV. In 2 Samuel 3:29 for ‘one that leaneth on a staff’ recent scholars render ‘one that holdeth a spindle,’ expressive of the wish that Joab’s descendants may be womanish and effeminate.

3. The three varieties of loom. — ‘Loom’ does not occur in AV; in RV it wrongly appears (Isaiah 38:12) for ‘thrum’ (so RVm). It is almost certain, however, that Delilah’s loom is meant by the word rendered ‘beam’ in Judges 16:14 (see 4 (c)). Three varieties of loom were in use around the Mediterranean in ancient times — the horizontal loom and two varieties of the upright loom, distinguished by the Romans as the tela pendula and the tela jugalis.

(a) The horizontal loom is at least as old as the twelfth Egyptian dynasty, and probably goes back to pre-historic times. That the Hebrews were early familiar with it is evident from the incident of Samson and Delilah above referred to, the true interpretation of which will be given in a later section, 4 (c). It is still, with some modifications, the loom in use to-day from Morocco to the Ganges and the farther East.

(6) The oldest variety of the upright loom is that familiar to classical students from the well-known representation, on a Greek vase, of Penelope’s loom. It consisted of two uprights joined at the top by a cross-beam, from which, or from a second beam below it, depended the threads of the warp. These were kept taut by having small stone weights attached to their lower ends, hence the name tela pendula. In view of the numerous ‘weavers’ weights’ recently unearthed at Gezer and elsewhere (illust. PBFSt 1903, 311, plate iv.; cf. 1904, 324), it can no longer be doubted that this form of the upright loom was also in use in Palestine, even as far back as the later Stone Age (Vincent, Canaan d’aprls I’pxploration recente, 405).

(c) The second and later variety of the upright loom had for its distinguishing feature a second cross-beam at the foot of the uprights, which served as a yam -beam or as a cloth-beam, according as the web was begun at the top or at the bottom of the loom. By providing a third cross-beam capable of revolving, a web of much greater length could be woven than if the latter were confined to the height of the loom. The loom in ordinary use in NT times was of this type, as is evident from many passages in the Mishna.

4. OT references to the processes of weaving. — In its simplest form the art of weaving consists in interlacing a series of parallel threads, called the warp, with another series called the weft or woof, in such a way that each thread of the weft passes alternately over and under each thread of the warp. In the beginnings of the art this interlacing was laboriously done by the fingers of the spinner as in plaiting, of which weaving is only a more complicated variety. Now the first process is to stretch the threads of the warp (Leviticus 13:48 ff.) evenly between the upper and lower beams of the loom. This process of warping is mentioned in the literal sense only. Isaiah 19:9 (§1), but is elsewhere used in a metaphorical sense, as Job 10:11 (RV ‘knit together’), Psalms 139:13 RVm, and the difficult passage Isaiah 30:1. Of the four alternatives here given by the Revisers the only admissible rendering is the first of RVm ‘weave a web,’ or, still better, ‘warp a warp,’ an apposite figure for commencing a new ‘web’ of political intrigue (cf. the similar metaphor59«). The Heb. law forbade the use of wool and linen, the one as warp, the other as woof, in the same web.

In the process of uniting warp and woof there are ‘the three primary movements,’ as they are called, to be considered. These are (1) shedding, i.e. dividing the warp into two sets of odd and even threads for the passage of the weft; (2) passing the weft through the ‘shed’ by means of a rod or a shuttle; and (3) beating up the weft to form with the warp a web of uniform consistency. These three processes, so far as applicable to the Egyptian and Hebrew looms, are the subject of a special study by the present writer in the article ‘Weaving’ in EBi iv. 5282-87 (with illustt.), to which the curious student is referred. It must suffice here to mention only such of the details as bear on certain OT references, most of them misunderstood hitherto.

(o) The formation of the shed was effected by at least two leash-rods or shafts, the Roman lidatoria, suspended from the upper cross-beam (see illust. Wilkinson, Anc. Egyp. ii. 171) or otherwise, connected by loops or leashes with each of the odd and even warpthreads respectively. The two sets of threads were alternately brought forward (or raised in the horizontal loom) by pulling the leash-rods, thus forming a shed for the passage of the shuttle-rod carrying the weft. Now, with a heavy warp, the rods must have been of considerable thickness, — a stout branch of a tree serves as a leash-rod, for example, in a modern Anatolian loom figured in Smith’s Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Ant.’ ii. 179. Accordingly, when the shaft of Goliath’s spear is compared to a weaver’s manor (1 Samuel 17:7. 2 Samuel 21:19. 1 ch 20:5; of. ll^), it is not to either of the ‘beams’ of the loom but to ‘a weaver’s shaft’ or leash-rod that the comparison applies. The original term above given, it may be added, is from the same root as nlT, one of the Mishna terms for the leash-rod (cf . Jerome’s true rendering, guasi lidatorium. texentium) .

(b) The weft or woof (Leviticus 13:48 ff.) was passed through the shed by means of a staff or rod on which the yarn was wound. Homer, however, was already familiar with a shuttle-rod at one end of which was a revolving spool from which the weft-thread unrolled itself in its passage. It is uncertain whether Job 7:6, the only EV occurrence of shuttle, refers to a shuttle-rod, or to the loom as a whole.

(c) The weft was beat up at each passage of the shuttle-rod by a thin lathe or batten, or, as later, by a special comb.

In Egypt, however, under the Middle Empire, it would appear that the more efficient ‘reed,’ still used in modem weaving, had already been invented for this purpose (Garstang, Burial Customs of Anc. Egyp. [1907], 133 ff. with illust.); the two reeds there figured are 27 and 29 inches in length, showing approximately the width of the web. The Bedouin women of Moab to-day weave their tent curtains in strips about 5 yards longandfrom 16 to 20 inches wide, according to Jaussen (Coutumes dea Arabes, etc. [1908], 74).

The Hebrews in early times used a batten simply to beat up the weft withal, as we learn from the true text of 6 which reads thus: ‘If thou weavest the seven plaits of my head with the warp land beatest them up with the batten, then shall I become weak and be as other men; and she made him sleep, and wove the seven plaits of his head with the warp], and beat them up with the batten (EV ‘pin’), and said (as in EV) . . . and he awaked out of his sleep and pulled up the loom together with the warp.’ For Delilah, seated on the ground beside her horizontal loom with Samson’s head upon her knees (v. 19). it -was an easy matter to use his flowing locks as weft and weave them into the warp of her loom. When Samson awoke he pulled up the loom, which was fastened to the ground with pegs.

With Penelope’s type of loom, the web could be woven only from the top downwards. This was also the Jewish custom in NT times with the other form of upright loom. Our Lord’s tunic, it will be remembered, ■was without seam, woven from the top throughout’ (John 19:23). For the weaving of such seamless robes, which were in vogue in Egypt under the later dynasties at least, It was necessary to mount a double warp and to weave each face of the warp with a continuous weft (see EBi iv. 6289).

6. When the web was finished, the weaver cut the ends of the warp threads, those left hanging being the thrum of Isaiah 38:12 RVm, and rolled up the web. These two processes are the source of the figures for premature death in the passage cited. The ‘new’ cloth of Matthew 9:16, Mark 2 AV was unfulled (RV ‘undressed’), that is. cloth fresh from the loom. The milling or fulling was the work of the fuller (Arts and Crafts, § 6).

6. Special kinds of fabrics. — By appropriate arrangement of the warp, woof, and leash-rods, striped, checked, and other varieties of cloth were produced. The cloth intended by the ‘chequer work’ of Exodus 28:4 is quite uncertain. The Revisers probably mean by the phrase a species of check, produced by alternating different coloured bands in the warp, or in the woof, or in both. The ‘work of the cunning workman’ (Exodus 26:1 etc.), of which the inner curtains of the Tabernacle were composed, was probably a species of tapestry (EV Proverbs 7:16 31:22 but here doubtful), in which a design was traced by inserting short coloured threads behind a varying number of warp threads.

A weft of gold thread was employed for the high priest’s robes (Exodus 28:5 f. 39:2 ff.; cf. Judith 10:21. 2 Maccabees 5:2 ‘cloth of gold’). Herod Agrippa’s ‘royal apparel’ (Acts 12:21) is said by Josephus to have been woven throughout of silver thread.

In OT times the finer textile fabrics were imported from Babylonia (Joshua 7:21). Phoenicia (Ezekiel 27:16 f.), Egypt, and in NT times even from India for the high priest’s dress (Mishna, Ydma, Hi. 7). In the days of the Chronicler the weavers formed a trade guild (1 Chronicles 4:21), and so continued in later times. As a class they were held in disrepute by the mass of the people, so much so that the Talmud declares weaving to be ‘the lowest of crafts.’ A. R. S. Kennedy.

Spirit

The term is applied to God as defining His nature generally (John 4:24), and also as describing one element in that nature. His self-consciousness (1 Corinthians 2:11). It expresses not only God’s immateriality, but also His transcendence of limitations of time and space. In the phrases ‘Spirit of God,’ the ‘Spirit of the Lord,’ the ‘Spirit of Jesus Christ,’ the ‘Holy Spirit,’ the ‘Spirit of Truth,’ the third Person in the Godhead is described (see Holy Spirit). The term is applied to personal powers of evil other than man (Matthew 10:1 12:45, Luke 4:33 7:21, 1 Timothy 4:1; cf. Ephesians 6:12), as well as personal powers of good (Hebrews 1:14), and to human beings after death, either damned (1 Peter 3:19) or blessed (Hebrews 12:23). It is used also as personifying an influence (1 John 4:6, Ephesians 2:2, Romans 8:15). Its most distinctive use is in the psychology of the Christian life. The contrast between ‘soul’ and ‘spirit,’ and between ‘flesh’ and ‘spirit,’ has already been noted in the articles on these terms. While soul and spirit are not to be regarded as separate faculties, yet ‘spirit’ expresses the direct dependence of the life in man on God, first in creation (Genesis 2:7). but especially, according to the Pauline doctrine, in regeneration. The life in man, isolating itself from, and opposing itself to, God, is soul; that life, cleansed and renewed by the Spirit of God, is spirit; intimate as is the relation of God and man in the new life, the Spirit of God is distinguished from the spirit of man (Romans 8:16). although it is not always possible to make the distinction. In Acts the phrase ‘holy spirit’ sometimes means the subjective human state produced (‘holy enthusiasm’), and sometimes the objective Divine cause producing (see ‘Acts’ in the Century Bible, p. 386). As the Spirit is the source of this new life, whatever belongs to it is ‘spiritual’ (.pneumatikon) , as house, sacrifices (1 Peter 2), understanding (Colossians 1:9), songs (3:16), (ood_ drink, rock (1 Corinthians 10:3, 4) and the ‘spiritual’ and ‘soulish’ (rendered ‘carnal’ or ‘natural’) are contrasted (1 Corinthians 2:14 15:44, 46). Spirit as an ecstatic state is also distinguished from mind (1 Co 14:14, 15), as inwardness from letter (Romans 2:29 7, 2 Corinthians 3:6). The old creation — the derivation of man’s spirit from God (Genesis 2:7. Isaiah 42:5). offers the basis for the new (Romans 8:1–17, 1 Corinthians 2:11, 12), in which man is united to God (see Inspiration). Alfred E. Garvie.

Spirits in Prison

See Descent into Hades.

Spiritual Gifts

1. The term.— A special Gr. word, charismata, is used in NT for spiritual gifts. It usually stands alone, but in Romans 1:11 it is coupled with the adjective pneumatikon (‘spiritual ‘) . It means concrete manifestations of the grace of God (cliaris), and is almost a technical term, though in Romans 6:23 etc. it is used generally of the gift of God, without reference to its visible result in the life of the believer. The principal passages which deal with spiritual gifts are Romans 12:6 ff.; 1 Corinthians 12. 13. 14, Ephesians 4:7 ff.; 1 Peter 4:10. The gifts may be divided into the apparently miraculous and the non-miraculous, (a) The miraculous include speaking with tongues (probably ecstatic utterances, usually unintelligible to the speaker; see ToNOUES [Gift of]), and their interpretation; gifts of healing, and the working of miracles or’ powers’; of these we may instance the power of exorcism ([Mk] 16, Acts 16:18 19:12), and the punishment of offenders (Acts 5:1–11 13:9. 1 Corinthians 4:21 5:5). On the border-line come prophecy, discerning of spirits, and the receiving of revelations, where the miraculous element is less strongly marked. (6) From these we pass to the non-miraculous gifts, gifts of character, and mental and spiritual endowments of various kmds. We find mentioned the power of exhortation and of speech (closely akin to prophecy); wisdom, knowledge, and faith; helps and governments (i.e. powers of administration); mercy and almsgiving; money, as affording opportunity for service and hospitality;1 Co 7:7 adds the gift of continence, and Galatians 5:22 gives a list of the fruits of the Spirit, as shown in the Christian character. Romans 12:6 and 1 Peter 4:10 mention only non-miraculous gifts, and in the Epp. the chief evidence for the miraculous is connected with Corinth.

2. Their nature. — Most of these gifts may be regarded as the raising of natural endowments to a higher level. Without going at length into the question of miracles, we may note that the evidence of their reality in this connexion is very strong; they are referred to in the Epistles(contemporarydocuments)as matters of pommon knowledge; St. Paul speaks of his own powers in this respect as well known (1 Corinthians 2:4 14:18, 2 Corinthians 12:2)) and Hebrews 2:4 mentions them as a recognized characteristic of the first age of Christianity. Further, these miraculous gifts of the Spirit belong to the class which may most easily be reduced to psychological law, and are to some extent paralleled in modern times, being mainly the well-attested manifestations which accompany times of revival, and are found in connexion with peculiarly gifted individuals.

‘What we read about miracles — especially about the charismata— in the Epistles of St. Paul is of the nature of things unusual, obedient to laws that are somewhat recondite, distinctly implying Divine impulse and Divine guidance.and yet at most non contra naturam sed contra quam est nota natura’ (Sanday, Dife of Christ in Recent Research, p. 219) .

A striking feature of these gifts is their apparently wide-spread and democratic nature. The new life, with its hopes and powers, had been offered to all classes of society, and the humblest Christian felt the thrill of being ‘filled with the Spirit.’ Hence —

‘the first age of the Christian Church was characterized by a vivid enthusiasm which found expression in ways which recall the simplicity of childhood. It was a period of wonder and delight. The flood-gates of emotion were opened: -a supernatural dread alternated with an unspeakable joy’ (Robinson, Ephesians, p. 121).

The results of this enthusiasm, as described in 1 Cor,, were startling and visible to all; that it could not be without its dangers is obvious. Slaves or women, people of no account before, found themselves in possession of mysterious powers, which gave them a position of importance among their fellow-Christians. There arose the temptation to covet and strive by artificial and illegitimate methods for the more striking gifts, and to look on them as marks of superior sanctity, or the means of personal advancement. Others, on the contrary, felt themselves forgotten, and yielded to jealousy or despair. Rivalry led to disorder where the gifts were used in the public services of the Church.

3. Hence the tone of St. Paul’s teaching as to their use. (a) He insists on their regulation. The gifts may be sporadic and intermittent; none the less their use must be orderly (1 Corinthians 14:40) ecstasy is no excuse for loss of self-control (v. 32). Each Christian must recognize the limitations of his powers and not attempt to transcend them (Romans 12:6).

There arises the question of the relation of the charismata to_ the ministry. Some have maintained that there was originally no fixed ministry, but only unorganized charismata; others again have tried to assign a definite office to most of the charismata. The truer view would seem to be that the charismata and the official ministry existed side by side, but were by no means identical (see Sanday-Headlam, Rornans, p. 358) . All Christians had their share in the gifts of the Spirit, though there were special endowments which would be looked for in the case of officers of the Church; in 1 Timothy 4:14, , 2 Timothy 1:6 a charisma is connected with ‘the laying on of hands.

(6) The purpose of the gifts is the ediflcaiion and the service of the whole body. Chrysostom, in his remarkable homily on 1 Corinthians 12, calls attention to the change of word in vv. 4, 5.. The ‘gifts’ are also ‘ministrations’ Wakoniai), i.e. opportunities of service; hence the greater the gift the greater the responsibility, and the harder the work to be done. And so St. Paul passes on to the doctrine of the one body, served in different ways by all its members. Similarly in Ephesians 4:11 the possessors of the endowments are themselves gifts ‘given’ to the Church. The same truth is emphasized in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 14, 1 Peter 4, in fact in every place where the charismata are mentioned at any length; St. Paul’s own object is always to ‘impart’ to others (Romans 1:11. 1 Corinthians 14:19; cf. John 7:38). It is obvious that this way of looking at the gifts would check ambition, pride, and selfishness in their use.

(c) Relative importance of the gifts. The more startling and apparently miraculous gifts are consistently treated as subordinate to gifts of character and edification. The former, indeed, are not decisive as to their origin; they are not peculiar to Christianity, and may be the accompaniment of evil and falsehood (Matthew 7:22 24:24, 2 Thessalonians 2:9. 1 Corinthians 12:3, Revelation 13:13, 14). Indeed, in an age when exorcisms and miracles were associated with magic, and the heathen mantis, or frenzied prophet, was a familiar phenomenon, it was impossible to ascribe all ‘powers’ and ecstasy to the Holy Spirit. The test is on the one side doctrinal (1 Corinthians 12, 1 John 4) on the other the moral life (Matthew 7:15 ff.: Romans 8:9, 1 Corinthians 13) and the practical tendency to edification (1 Corinthians 14). The ‘discerning of spirits’ is itself an important gift (1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:21. 1 John 4:1). It is, indeed, remarkable how steadily the NT? concentrates attention on the inner and less startling gifts of character, which the popular mind would ignore; and if it does not disparage, it certainly does not exaggerate, those which at first sight seemed to give more direct evidence of the presence of the Spirit. As a fact of history these tended to degenerate and finally to disappear. Justin and Irenseus mention them, and they played a large part in the Gnostic and Montanist movements, but after the 2nd cent, they practically died out as normal endowments of the believer, to be revived only sporadically in times of religious excitement. C. W. Emmet.

Spittinc

Spittinc f. — See Gestures.

Sponge

Sponge (Gr. spongos, Matthew 27:48, Mark 15:36, John 19:29, used in the Crucifixion scene). — Sponges have been used from early times, and are common along the Syrian coasts of the Mediterranean.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Spoons

Spoons (Exodus 25:29). See Tabehnacle, 6 (a).

Springs

See Fountain, Israel, ii. 1 (5).

Spy

See War, § 3.

Stachys

A Christian greeted by St. Paul in Romans 16:9.

Stacte

Stacte (nOtaph, Exodus 30:34 [cf. Sirach 24), lit. ‘drop,’ cf. Job 36:27). — Some fragrant gum collected in drops, either storaz, or, more probably, myrrh.

E. W. G. Mastekman.

Staff

See Rod, Sceptee.

Stair

See Hodse, 5.

Stall

See Manger.

Standard

See Banner.

Stars

The stars form part of the Divine creation in Genesis 1. They are invisible in the sunlight, but begin to appear about sunset (Nehemiah 4:21). In poetical passages hyperbolical expressions are used concerning them. At the creation ‘the morning stars sang together’ (Job 38:7) at the battle between Barak and Sisera ‘the stars in their courses fought against Sisera’ (Judges 5:20) in the former passage it may be that the angels are described as stars (cf . Kev 1:20 ‘the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches’). The difference of magnitude in the stars is recognized by St. Paul: ‘one star differeth from another star in glory’ (1 Corinthians 15:41). The stars were looked upon as innumerable: ‘tell the stars, if thou be able to tell them’ (Genesis 15:5). The appearance of a bright particular star was supposed to portend some great event. Thus Balaam prophesied ‘There shall come forth a star out of Jacob’ (Numbers 24:17). and this was afterwards interpreted as applying to the Epiphany star (Matthew 2:2; see Star of the Magi) ; and so in 2 Peter 1:19 we read of the day-star arising in men’s hearts. Caution is given against the worship of the stars, in the legislation of Deuteronomy (4). and the punishment of death assigned for the convicted worshipper(see Host of Heaven). In Apocalyptic literature(Rev 22) our Lord describes Himself as ‘the bright, the morning star’; whilst ‘they that turn many to righteousness’ are to shine ‘as the stars for ever and ever’ (Daniel 12). The day of the Lord is to be heralded by signs in the stars as well as in the sun and moon (Luke 21:25). The appearance of shooting stars, which come out of the darkness and go back into it, is alluded to in Jude " ‘wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved tor ever.’ Special numbers of stars are mentioned; in Revelation 1:16 12:1). the seven stars and twelve stars illustrate a conventional use of those numbers common in apocalyptic literature. In the OT the seven stars of the AV of Amos 5:8 are the Pleiades ; and the ‘eleven stars’ which made obeisance to Joseph in his dream are simply a conventional number to correspond with that of his brethren.

Of individual stars or constellations, the Bear (AV Arcturus), Orion, and the Pleiades occur; all three in Job 9:9 38:31, 32, the last two also in Amos 5:8. The mazzaroth (Job 38:32) are most probably the signs of the Zodiac (RVm; cf. 2 Kings 23:5. margin). In 2 Kings 23:5 the Heb. form of the word mazzaloth is different, and RV (text) renders it ‘the planets.’ The chambers of the south (Job 9:9) are probably the stars of the southern hemisphere.

Of worship connected with the stars we have two notable instances. That of ‘the queen of heaven’ was popular in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 7:18) immediately before the Captivity, and to the neglect of it the captives in Egypt ascribed their disasters, in an address to Jeremiah (44:15–23) at Pathros. This worship consisted of the offering of incense and drink-offerings, and the making of cakes, with her figure, apparently, upon them. This Queen of Heaven seems to have been without doubt Venus, or Istar, whose star was considered the most beautiful in the heavens. This goddess is identical with Ashtoreth or Astarte. The second instance of star-worship is one that presents some difficulty. In Amos (5) we meet with an image of Ohiun, if the word be a proper name, who is called ‘the star of your god.’ This passage is quoted by St. Stephen (Acts 7:43). where the expression is rendered ‘the star of the god Rephan.’ There seems little reason to doubt that Chiun is the same as the Assyrian Kaiwan, identical with the planet Saturn, to whom divine worship was paid. The form of name ‘Rephan’ seems to have arisen from a corrupt reading of the Hebrew, which is as old as the Septuagint. There are very few allusions to astrology in the OT, but m Isaiah (47) we have mention of ‘the astrologers (Heb.’ dividers of the heavens ‘) the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators’ ; all these persons drew their utterances and professed knowledge of the future from the heavens. The magicians and soothsayers of the Book of Daniel were a similar class, to which belonged the Magi or wise men who had seen the star which heralded the birth of the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:1, 2). See next article.

H. A. Redpath.

Star of the Magi

The character of the star which was seen by the Magi has been the source of many conjectures. While some consider it to have been an absolutely miraculous appearance, others have tried to connect it with some recognized form of celestial phenomenon. Some have held that it was a comet [the Greek word for the ‘star’ is applied to comets], and if such a comet as Donati’s of 1858, which the present writer remembers well, had been visible at the time of the Nativity, it would have fulfilled the conditions of the narrative, and the difficulties about the star standing over ‘where the young child was’ (Matthew 2:9) would have been lessened. None such, however, seems to have been recorded. Others, noting that there were conjunctions of two of the brighter planets, Jupiter and Saturn (b.c. 7) , and Jupiter and Venus (b.c. 6), have tried to connect this appearance with one of these. Others, again, have explained the appearance as that of what is known as a Stella nova, i.e. a star which suddenly flashes out with great brightness in the firmament and then either dies out again altogether, or diminishes in the magnitude of its brightness, so as to be scarcely, if at all, visible to the naked eye. The difiSculty connected with all these interpretations is due to the necessity that has been felt for giving a literal interpretation to the account that ‘the star . . . went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.’ But we may take it that the language here is of the same character as that which we constantly use about the sun or moon rising and setting. If, then, we assume that the star, whatever it was, was near the horizon in front of the wise men when they started on their journey, its relative position to them, so long as they kept a direct course, would vary but little. The place in the heavens of any fixed star varies only about one degree, or four minutes, each succeeding day.

A somewhat more difficult question than that about the appearance of the star is, Why did the wise men connect it with the birth of a king of the Jews? The traditional answer to this question is that there had been handed down from generation to generation among the wise men of Babylon a knowledge of Balaam’s prophecy, ‘There shall come forth a star out of Jacob’ (Numbers 24:17), and that, when this notable star appeared, it was considered to be the herald of the appearance of a great person. There certainly was a Jewish population in Babylonia in our Lord’s day, and if this prophecy was recognized as coming from a Hebrew document, and reference was made to the Jews, it would be most natural for the wise men, if they were Babylonians, to set their faces towards Jerusalem. There is this difBculty, however, about referring the ‘star’ of Balaam’s prophecy to a phenomenon in the heavens, that from the parallelism of the Hebrew poetry we gather that the ‘star’ is intended to refer not to a star in the sky, but to some great prince or ruler (cf., for this use, Daniel 8:10). Still, the explanation of the journey may be much the same. There was a great ferment in the East and a wide-spread anticipation, even in the Roman world, of some great Saviour or deliverer to arise, as the poets Virgil and Horace testify, just about the time when the Saviour was bom. If some such brilliant star appeared, this would be taken as portending that the moment tor the appearance of such an one had arrived, and search would be made for the Great One. So, in the Apocalypse (Revelation 22:16), our Lord is represented as claiming for Himself that He is not only ‘the root and the offspring of David,’ but also ‘the bright, the morning star.’

H. A. Redpath.

State of the Dead

See Eschatology, PakaoisE, Sheol.

Stater

See Money, § 7.

Stealing

See Chimes, § 6 ‘Theft.’

Steel

See Mining and Metals.

Stephanas

A Corinthian, apparently of some importance, whose household were baptized by St. Paul personally (1 Corinthians 1:16), and are called ‘the first-fruits of Achaia’ (16:15). Stephanas himself had joined the Apostle at Ephesus when he wrote, and was of great assistance to him there. A. J. Maclean.

Stephen

Early in the history of the Christian Church it was found necessary for the Apostles to devolve some of their duties on others. There is no reason for supposing (with Prof. Ramsay) that presbyters had yet been appointed, though they soon followed; but in Acts 6 seven persons, commonly (but not in NT) called ‘deacons,’ all but one probably Hellenistic or Greek-speaking Jews (see art. Nicolas), were appointed to manage the distribution of alms to the Hellenist widows. Of the Seven, Stephen was the most prominent. Their duties were not eleemosynary only; Stephen at once undertook evangelistic work and won great success, persuading many, and working miracles. His success resulted in the first persecution of the Church, and false witnesses were brought who accused him of blasphemy, and of speaking against the Temple and the Law. He made a long defence (Acts 7:2–53). which is not easy of interpretation. He summarizes OT history from the call of Abraham to the building of Solomon’s Temple (ct. St. Paul’s sermon in Acts 13), in a manner which shows that he depended partly on tradition, for there are many discrepancies between his speech and OT. He speaks with great respect of the Mosaic Law (vv. 35–38. 6S). Some think that he disparages the Temple as having been built against God’s will (v. 48 ff.). But this is very improbable. Perhaps the defence was not completed; yet what was delivered gives its drift. The Jews had misunderstood their own Law. God had not confined His presence to the Tabernacle and the Temple; He had appeared to Abraham and others before the Law was given; Isaiah (66) had preached that God’s worship was not confined to one place. But the people had persecuted the prophets as they now had killed Jesus. This defence provoked the Jews so much that they cast Stephen out of the city and stoned him — undoubtedly an illegal murder, not sanctioned by the Roman law. Stephen, whose dying prayer for his murderers (v.) recalls that of his Master, thus became the first Christian martyr. His death led to a persecution, and to a dispersal of the disciples from Jerusalem. This caused the spread of the gospel to many lands. But the most prominent fruit of the martyrdom, doubtless, was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who was present (7:58 8:1), and of whom, as is generally acknowledged, Stephen was in his preaching the forerunner. A. J. Maclean.

Steward

This term is found six times in AV of OT. It is applied to Eliezer in Genesis 5:2, where RV rightly tr. ‘he that shall be possessor of my house.’ In Genesis 43:19 44:1–4 Joseph’s ‘steward’ (AV and RV) is lit. ‘he who was over his house’ (cf. 43:16, 1 Kings 16:9 in RV). In 1 Chronicles 28:1 AV ‘stewards’ is tr. of Heb. sarlm (lit. ‘princes,’ RV ‘rulers’). For the ‘steward’ of Dn !"• " (RV), see Melzar. The NT terms are (1) epitropos, ‘steward’ in Matthew 20:8. Luke 8:3; also translated in Galatians 4:2 AV ‘tutors,’ RV ‘guardians.’ (2) oiftonomos, the usual term, found both literally and metaphorically, as is also the cognate noun oikonomia ‘stewardship.’ The latter is used literally in Luke 16:2, 3, 4, and metaphorically in 1 Corinthians 9:17, Ephesians 3:2, Colossians 1:25. 1 Timothy 1:4) [in last three ‘dispensation,’ RVm ‘stewardship ‘].

W. F. Boyd.

Stocks

See Chimes, 9; Phison, p. 756.