Compassion – Confidence

Compassion

kom-pash'-un: Compassion is the translation of racham, "to love," "pity," "be merciful" (Deuteronomy 13:17; Deuteronomy 30:3); of rachamim, "mercies" (1 Kings 8:50); of chamal, "to pity," "spare" (Exodus 2:6; 1 Samuel 23:21); rachum (Psalms 78:38; Psalms 86:15; Psalms 111:4; Psalms 112:4; Psalms 145:8), is rendered by the American Standard Revised Version "merciful." We have splagchnizomai, "to have the bowels yearning," in Matthew 9:36; Matthew 14:14, etc.; sumpatheo (Hebrews 10:34), "to suffer with (another)"; sumpathes (1 Peter 3:8, the Revised Version (British and American) "compassionate," margin, Greek, "sympathetic"); metriopatheo (Hebrews 5:2, the Revised Version (British and American) "who can bear gently with"); eleeo, "to show mildness," "kindness" (Matthew 18:33; Mark 5:19; Jude 1:22, the Revised Version (British and American) "mercy"); oikteiro, "to have pity" or "mercy" (Romans 9:15 bis).

Both racham and splagchnizomai are examples of the physical origin of spiritual terms, the bowels being regarded as the seat of the warm, tender emotions or feelings. But, while racham applied to the lower viscera as well as the higher, splagchnon denoted chiefly the higher viscera, the heart, lungs, liver.

The Revised Version (British and American) gives "compassion" for "mercy" (Isaiah 9:17; Isaiah 14:1; Isaiah 27:11; Isaiah 49:13; Jeremiah 13:14; Jeremiah 30:18; Daniel 1:9 the King James Version "tender love with"; for "bowels of compassion," 1 John 3:17); for "mercy" (Hebrews 10:28); "full of compassion" for "merciful" (the American Standard Revised Version "merciful" in all cases) (Exodus 1:1–40:38, Exodus 34:6; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalms 103:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2); "compassions for mercies" (Isaiah 63:15; Philippians 2:1), for "repentings" (Hosea 11:8).

Compassion, literally a feeling with and for others, is a fundamental and distinctive quality of the Biblical conception of God, and to its prominence the world owes more than words can express.

(1) It lay at the foundation of Israel's faith in Yahweh. For it was out of His compassion that He, by a marvelous act of power, delivered them from Egyptian bondage and called them to be His own people. Nothing, therefore, is more prominent in the Old Testament than the ascription of compassion, pity, mercy, etc., to God; the people may be said to have gloried in it. It is summed up in such sayings as that of the great declaration in Exodus 34:6: "Yahweh-- a God full of compassion (the American Standard Revised Version merciful) and gracious" (compare Psalms 78:38; Psalms 86:15; Psalms 111:4; Psalms 112:4; Psalms 145:8; Lamentations 3:22, "His compassions fail not"). And, because this was the character of their God, the prophets declared that compassion was an essential requirement on the part of members of the community (Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:8; compare Proverbs 19:17).

(2) In Jesus Christ, in whom God was "manifest in the flesh," compassion was an outstanding feature (Matthew 9:36; Matthew 14:14, etc.) and He taught that it ought to be extended, not to friends and neighbors only, but to all without exception, even to enemies (Matthew 5:43–48; Luke 10:30–37).

The God of the New Testament, the Father of men, is most clearly revealed as "a God full of compassion." It extends to the whole human race, for which He effected not merely a temporal, but a spiritual and eternal, deliverance, giving up His own Son to the death of the cross in order to save us from the worst bondage of sin, with its consequences; seeking thereby to gain a new, wider people for Himself, still more devoted, more filled with and expressive of His own Spirit. Therefore all who know the God and Father of Christ, and who call themselves His children, must necessarily cultivate compassion and show mercy, "even as he is merciful." Hence, the many apostolic injunctions to that effect (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:12; James 1:27; 1 John 3:17, etc.). Christianity may be said to be distinctively the religion of Compassion.

W. L. Walker

Compel

kom-pel': Our English word always has in it now the flavor of force, not always, however, physical. It may be strong moral urgency, though "constrain" better expresses this.

1. In the Old Testament:

There are several words indicative of such strong pressure:

(1) 'anac "to press": "none could compel" to drink (Esther 1:8);

(2) nadhach, "to drive," "force": "compelled Judah thereto" (the King James Version, the Revised Version, margin); "led Judah astray" the Revised Version (British and American) (2 Chronicles 21:11). The same word rendered "force," as the adulteress by flattering words her victim (Proverbs 7:21);

(3) 'adhadh, "to serve": not to compel him to serve as a bond servant (Leviticus 25:39 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "make him serve");

(4) parats, "to break forth upon," "urge": "his servants compelled him" (1 Samuel 28:23 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "constrained").

2. In the New Testament:

In the New Testament two words are found:

(1) aggareuo: The word is of Persian origin and means to employ a courier. The Aggaroi were public couriers stationed by appointment of the kings of Persia, at fixed localities, with horses ready for use, to transmit speedily from one to another the royal messages. These couriers had authority to press into their service, in case of need, horses, vessels, and even men, they might meet (Josephus, Ant, XIII ii, 3); "compel thee to go a mile" (Matthew 5:41 the King James Version; the Revised Version, margin "impress"); "compelled Simon to bear his cross" (Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21 the King James Version; the Revised Version, margin "impressed").

(2) anagkazo, "to constrain," whether by force, threats, entreaties, persuasion, etc.: "compel them to come in" (Luke 14:23 the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) "constrain"). This has been a favorite text of religious persecutors. As Robertson says in his history of Charles V, "As they could not persuade, they tried to compel men to believe." But it simply means that utmost zeal and moral urgency should be used by Christians to induce sinners to enter the Kingdom of God. Compare Acts 26:11.

George Henry Trever

Complaining

kom-plan'-ing (tsewachah, "cry," "outcry," siach, "meditation," "complaint"): tsewachah is translated "complaining" (Psalms 144:14, the Revised Version (British and American)) "outcry," "no complaining (outcry) in our streets," i.e. "open places" where the people commonly assembled near the gate of the city (compare 2 Chronicles 32:6; Nehemiah 8:1); a picture of peace in the city (compare Isaiah 24:11; Jeremiah 14:2); some render "battlecry"; siach (the Revised Version (British and American) Proverbs 23:29, the King James Version "babbling"), of the drunkard.

Complete

kom-plet': In the King James Version for pleroo, the verb ordinarily used for the coming to pass of what had been predicted. the King James Version translates this "complete" in Colossians 2:10; Colossians 4:12 to express the final and entire attainment of what is treated, leaving nothing beyond to be desired or hoped for; otherwise rendered in the Revised Version (British and American) ("made full"). In the Revised Version (British and American), c. appears once for Greek artios, from aro, "to join," in 2 Timothy 3:17, in sense of "accurately fitted for," where the King James Version has "perfect."

Composition; Compound

kom-po-zish'-un, kom'-pound (mathkoneth, "measure"); (subst.) (raqach, "to make perfume," roqach, "perfume"): Used of the sacred anointing oil (Exodus 30:25,Exodus 30:32,Exodus 30:33) and of the holy perfume (Exodus 30:37,Exodus 30:38), which were not to be used for any profane purpose.

Comprehend

kom-pre-hend': Used in a twofold sense in both the Old Testament and New Testament. This double meaning appears in two Hebrew and two Greek words which signify in turn

(1) mental or spiritual perception,

(2) capacity to hold or contain, as in a measure or in an all-inclusive principle, e.g.:

(1) yadha`, "to see with the eyes or the mind," hence, "know," "understand." Job was urged by Elihu to accept as inscrutable the ways of God, inasmuch as His operations in the physical world are so mighty and mysterious that "we cannot comprehend" them (Job 37:5). Modern science, in unveiling the secrets of Nature, is opening the way for a better understanding of God's creative purpose and plan.

katalambano, "to lay hold of," hence, mentally to apprehend: used of the spiritual capacity of the Christian "to comprehend (the Revised Version (British and American) "apprehend") with all saints" (Ephesians 3:18) the measureless love of God; and of the inability of the unrenewed heart to know or perceive the revelation of God made in Christ: "the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:5 the Revised Version (British and American) "apprehended"; the Revised Version, margin "overcame"; compare John 12:35).

(2) kul, "to measure" or "contain," as grain in a bushel. So God's immeasurable greatness is seen in His being able to hold oceans in the hollow of His hand and "comprehend the dust of the earth in a measure" (Isaiah 40:12).

anakephalaioo, "to sum up under one head," e.g. love includes every other moral principle and process. The entire law on its manward side, says Paul, "is comprehended (the Revised Version (British and American) "summed up") in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Romans 13:9).

Dwight M. Pratt

Conaniah

kon-a-ni'-a (konanyahu, "Jah has rounded or sustained"; the King James Version Cononiah):

(1) A Levite, appointed with his brother Shimei by Hezekiah, the king, and Azariah, the ruler of the house of God, to be overseer of the oblations and tithes and the dedicated things (2 Chronicles 31:12,2 Chronicles 31:13).

(2) One of the chiefs of the Levites mentioned in connection with the passover celebration in Josiah's reign (2 Chronicles 35:9).

Conceal

kon-sel' (parakalupto): Found but once in the New Testament (Luke 9:45). The primary meaning is to cover by hanging something in front of the object hidden. The purpose of the one concealing is made prominent. There is, therefore, a reserve and studied progress in regard to the statement of facts, that is not always a suppression of truth (Proverbs 12:16,Proverbs 12:23). God withholds more than He reveals (Proverbs 25:2; compare Psalms 97:2; 1 Timothy 6:16).

Conceit

kon-set': An idiomatic rendering of a phrase, phronimoi en heautois, in Romans 11:25; Romans 12:16; meaning literally, "wise with one's self," i.e. "in one's own opinion," or, as in parallel Old Testament passages (Proverbs 26:5,Proverbs 26:12 the Revised Version, margin), "in his own eyes" (Hebrew `ayin).

Conception, Immaculate

See IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.

Conception; Conceive

kon-sep'-shun, kon-sev' (harah, and derivatives; sullambano): Physically, the beginning of a new life in the womb of a mother, "to catch on," used thus some forty times, as in Genesis 3:16; Genesis 4:1; Psalms 51:5. Metaphorically, applied to the start and growth within the heart, of thought, purpose, desire, e.g. "conceive mischief" (Job 15:35; Psalms 7:14), "conceive chaff" (Isaiah 33:11). This figure is carried out in details in James 1:15: "Lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin."

Concerning

kon-surn'-ing:

The Revised Version (British and American) makes frequent changes, such as "for," "as for," "from," "about," for "concerning"; "concerning" instead of "for," "of," "over," "in," "against," etc. Some of the other changes are, "unto that which is good" for "concerning" (Romans 16:19), "concerning" instead of "because of" (Jeremiah 23:9), for "the miracle of" (Mark 6:52); for "with" (Mark 10:41), for "of the Lord" (Acts 18:25), "concerning Jesus" (diferent text), "by way of disparagement" (2 Corinthians 11:21), instead of "concerning reproach"; "Why askest thou me concerning that which is good?" (Matthew 19:17) instead of "Why callest thou me good?" (different text; see the Revised Version, margin).

W. L. Walker

Concision

kon-sizh'-un (katatome, "mutilation," "cutting"): A term by which Paul contemptuously designates the merely fleshly circumcision upon which the Judaizers insisted as being necessary for Gentileconverts (Philippians 3:2), as distinguished from peritome, the true circumcision (Philippians 3:3). Compare Galatians 5:12 and Deuteronomy 23:1, and see CIRCUMCISION.

Conclude

kon-klood' (sumbibazo): Used only in Acts 16:10, where the King James Version has "assuredly gathering," i.e. "inferring." Where the King James Version has "conclude," the Revised Version (British and American) more accurately renders "reckon" (Romans 3:28); "giving judgment" (Acts 21:25); "shut up" (Romans 11:32; Galatians 3:22).

Conclusion

kon-kloo'-zhun (coph): In Ecclesiastes 12:13 the King James Version, where the Revised Version (British and American) has "the end," namely, a summary of the entire argument of the book.

Concordance

kon-kor'-dans:

1. Nature of Work

2. Classes of Concordances

3. Their Indispensableness

4. Concordances to Latin Vulgate

5. Concordances to the Hebrew Old Testament

6. Concordances to the Septuagint

7. Concordances to the Greek New Testament

8. Concordances to the English Bible

LITERATURE

1. Nature of Work:

The object of a concordance of Scripture is to guide the reader to any passage he is in search of by means of an alphabetical arrangement of the words found in Scripture, and the bringing together under each word of all the passages in which that word occurs. Thus, in the verse: "Cast thy burden upon Yahweh" (Psalms 55:22), the reader will look in the concordance under the words "cast" or "burden," and there will find a reference to the text. The merit of a concordance is obviously exhaustiveness and clearness of arrangement. There are abridged concordances of the Bible which give only the most important words and passages. These are seldom satisfactory, and a fuller work has in the end frequently to be resorted to.

2. Classes of Concordances:

The ordinary reader is naturally most familiar with concordances of the English Bible, but it will be seen that, for scholarly purposes, concordances are just as necessary for the Scriptures in their original tongues, and for versions of the Scriptures other than English There are required concordances of the Old Testament in Hebrew, of the New Testament in Greek, of the Septuagint version (Greek) of the Old Testament, of the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A. D.) version (Latin) of the New Testament, as well as of the translations of the Scriptures into German, French and other living languages. There are now, further, required concordances of the RVV of the English Old Testament and New Testament, as well as of the King James Version. There are needed, besides, good concordances to the Apocrypha, alike in its the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) forms. Textual criticism leads to modifications of the earlier concordances of the Hebrew and Greek texts. It is customary in concordances of the English version to facilitate reference by giving not only single words, but also phrases under which several passages are grouped, and to make the work more useful by furnishing lists of Scripture proper names, with their meanings, and, in the larger works, references to the Hebrew or Greek words for which the English words stand.

3. Their Indispensableness:

The indispensableness of a good concordance for the proper study of the Bible is so apparent that it is not surprising that, since the idea was first conceived, much labor has been expended on the preparation of such works. The wonder rather is that the idea did not occur earlier than it did. No single scholar could ever hope to produce a perfect work of the kind by his own efforts. Modern concordances are based upon the labors of previous generations.

4. Concordances to Latin Vulgate:

The oldest concordances date from the 13th century, and are based, as was then natural, upon the Latin Vulgate. A Concordantiae Morales is attributed to Antony of Padua (died 1231). The first concordance of which we have actual knowledge is that of Hugo of Caro, Dominican monk and cardinal (died 1263). It was called Concordantiae S. Jacobi from the monastery in which it was compiled. 500 monks are said to have been engaged upon its preparation. Hugo's Concordance became the basis of others into which successive improvements were introduced. The words of passages, at first wanting, were inserted; indeclinable particles were added; alphabetic arrangement was employed. Verse divisions were unknown till the time of Robert Stephens (1555).

See BIBLE.

5. Concordances to Hebrew Old Testament:

The earliest Hebrew concordance seems to have been that of Rabbi Mordecai ben Nathan (1438-48). It went through several editions and was translated into Latin by Reuchlin the (1556). Both original and translation contained many errors. It was improved by Calasio, a Franciscan friar (1621), and more thoroughly by John Buxtorf, whose Concordance was published by his son (1632). This latter formed the basis of Dr. Julius Furst's Libr. Sacrorum Vet. Test. Concordantive Heb atque Chaldaic; 1840 (English translation, Hebrew and Chaldean Concordance). A later Hebrew Concordance in Germany is that of Solomon Mandelkern (1896). In England, in 1754, appeared the valuable Hebrew Concordance, Adapted to the English Bible, by Dr. Taylor, of Norwich. With it may be classed The Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldaic Concordance (1843; revised edition, 1876).

6. Concordances to the Septuagint:

Though earlier attempts are heard of, the first printed concordance of the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) was that of Trommius, published in Amsterdam in 1718, in the author's 84th year. This important work remained the standard till quite lately.

It is very complete, giving references not only to the Septuagint, but to other versions (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) in which the words occur, and showing by an index at the end the Hebrew or Chaldaic words to which the Greek words correspond. In 1887 Bagster published A Handy Concordance of the Septuagint. Earlier works are superseded by the recent publication (1892, 1897, 1900) of Hatch and Redpath's scholarly Concordance to the Septuagint, and Other Greek versions of the Old Testament.

7. Concordances to the Greek New Testament:

Concordances of the Greek New Testament began with that of Xystus Betulius (his real name was Birck) in 1554. The Concordance (Tameion) of Erasmus Schmid (1638) has often been reprinted and reedited. On it is based the useful abridged Concordance published by Bagster. Recent works are Bruder's (1842; 4th edition, 1888; based on Schmid, with many improvements); in America, Hudson's Critical Greek and English Concordance, revised by Ezra Abbot (1870); in England, Moulton and Geden's Concordance to the Greek Testament according to the Texts of Westcott and Hort, Tischendorf, and the English Revisers (1897).

8. Concordances to the English Bible:

The list of concordances to the English Bible is a long one; it is necessary here to particularize only a few of the chief. The oldest is a Concordance of the New Testament, brought out before 1540 by one Thomas Gybson, though, as appears from the Preface, it was principally the work of the printer John Day (the producer of Foxe's Book of Martyrs). The first Concordance to the whole Bible was that of John Marbeck (1550). In the same year was published a translation by Walter Lynne of the Index Librorum of Bullinger, Conrad Pelican and others, under the title of A Briefe and a Compendious Table, in manor of a Concordance, openying the waye to the principall Histories of the whole Bible, etc. Alex. Cruden, whose own Concordance, the most adequate of all, was published in 1737, enumerates most of his predecessors in the intervening period. Cruden's personal history is a pathetic one. A recurring mental malady overshadowed his career; but his indomitable perseverance and fixity of purpose, joined with a clear idea of what he wished to accomplish, enabled him to overcome all obstacles, and produce a book for which the Christian world is grateful. The work is entitled A Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, etc.; to which is added, a Concordance to the Books called Apocrypha. Mr. Spurgeon said regarding it, "Be sure you buy a genuine unabridged Cruden, and none of the modern substitutes, good as they may be at the price. .... You need only one; have none but the best." Many editions of this valuable book have been published. It no longer remains, however, the only authority, nor even the most complete and serviceable, though perhaps still the most convenient, for the purpose of the student. In 1873 was published the Analytical Concordance to the Bible by Robert Young, LL. D., to which an appendix has since been added. This bulky work contains "every word in alphabetical order, arranged under its Hebrew or Greek original; with the literal meaning of each and its pronunciation." It marks 30,000 various readings, and gives geographical and antiquarian notes. Yet more comprehensive is The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible by James Strong, LL. D. This includes the new feature of a comparative concordance of the Authorized and Revised (English) versions It embraces also condensed Dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek words, to which references are made from the English words by figures. It thus differs in plan from Young's, which gives the Hebrew and Greek words in the body of the concordance at the head of the passages coming under them. Lastly must be noticed the very valuable work published in the same year (1894) in America by J. B. R. Walker, Comprehensive Concordance, with an Introduction by Marshall Curtiss Hazard. It is stated to give 50,000 more passages than Cruden.

LITERATURE.

See articles on "Concordance" in the various Dictionaries and Encyclopedias; articles by Dr. Beard in Kitto's Encyclopedia (Volume I); and by Dr. C. R. Gregory in the New The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge Encyclopedia (Volume III); Preface to Cruden's complete Concordance, and Introduction by Hazard to Walker's Comprehensive Concordance.

James Orr

Concourse

kon'-kors (hamah, "to hum," "to make a noise"; sustrophe, "a turning" or "twisting together"): Hamah, usually translated by some word signifying "sound" is rendered "concourse" in Proverbs 1:21 (perhaps from the noise made by people thronging and talking together; compare 1 Kings 1:41, "uproar"), "She (wisdom) crieth in the chief place of concourse," the Revised Version, margin, Hebrew "at the head of the noisy (streets)"; sustrophe is translated "concourse" (Acts 19:40), a riotous crowd. Compare Judith 10:18.

Concubinage

kon-ku'-bi-naj.

See FAMILY.

Concupiscence

kon-ku'-pi-sens (epithumia): Not used in the Revised Version (British and American), but in the King James Version, Romans 7:8; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:5. The Greek noun, like the verb from which it comes, meaning "to yearn," "to long," "to have the heart set upon a thing," is determined in its moral quality by the source whence it springs or the object toward which it is directed. Thus, our Lord uses it to express the intensest desire of His soul (Luke 22:15). As a rule, when the object is not expressed, it refers to longing for that which God has forbidden, namely, lust. It is not limited to sexual desire, but includes all going forth of heart and will toward what God would not have us to have or be, as its use in the Septuagint of the Ten Commandments clearly shows, for "Thou shalt not covet" (Exodus 20:17).

H. E. Jacobs

Condemn; Condemnation

kon-dem', kon-dem-na'-shun:

1. In the Old Testament:

(1) The causative stem of rasha` "to declare (or make) wrong," "to condemn," whether in civil, ethical or religious relations. Taken in this sense the word needs no comment (Exodus 22:9; Deuteronomy 25:1; Job 40:8); "Who then can condemn?" (Job 34:29, the King James Version "make trouble").

(2) `anash, "to fine." "Condemned the land" (2 Chronicles 36:3 the King James Version; the King James Version margin "mulcted"; the Revised Version (British and American) "amerced"; the American Standard Revised Version "fined"); "wine of the condemned" (Amos 2:8; the Revised Version (British and American) "fined" (unjustly)).

(3) The active participle of shaphaT, "to judge." "From those that condemn his soul" (Psalms 109:31 the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) "that judge his soul").

2. In the New Testament:

The New Testament usage is much more complicated, both because of the greater number of Greek words rendered "condemn" and "condemnation," and because the King James Version translates the same word in several different ways, apparently with no rule whatever.

(1) The most important word is krino, "to judge." From it are a number of derivative verbs and nouns. the Revised Version (British and American) has rigidly excluded the harsh words "damn" and "damnation," substituting "judge," "condemn," "judgment," "condemnation." This is proper, since the word damn (Latin, damnare, "to inflict loss" upon a person, "to condemn"), and its derivatives has, in process of time, suffered degradation, so that in modern English it usually refers to eternal punishment. This special application of the word for some centuries ran side by side with the original meaning, but even as late as Wycliffe's version the word "damn" is usually employed in the sense of condemn, as in Job 9:20, "My mouth shall dampne me." It is even applied to the condemnation of Jesus by the chief priests and scribes (Mark 10:33). This degeneration of the word is perhaps due, as Bishop Sanderson says, "not so much to good acts as to bad manners." Krino is rendered uniformly "judge" by the Revised Version (British and American), even where the context. compels the thought of condemnation (John 3:17,John 3:18; John 12:47; Acts 7:7; "might be damned," 2 Thessalonians 2:12 the King James Version; Romans 14:22; James 5:9).

(2) The more specific sense of condemn, however, is found in katakrino, "to judge one down" (Matthew 12:41,Matthew 12:42; Mark 14:64): "is damned if he eat" (Romans 14:23; 1 Corinthians 11:32 the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) "condemned"). See also Mark 16:16; 2 Peter 2:6.

(3) For "condemnation" there is the noun krima, or krima (for accent see Thayer's Lexicon), in a forensic sense, "the sentence of the judge" (Luke 23:40; Matthew 23:14, omitted in the Revised Version (British and American); "condemnation of the devil" 1 Timothy 3:6; 1 Timothy 5:12; Jude 1:4).

(4) Much stronger is katakrima, "condemnation" (Romans 5:16,Romans 5:18; Romans 8:1) with reference to the Divine judgment against sin.

(5) krisis, "the process of judgment," "tribunal" (John 3:19; John 5:24), with reference to "the judgment brought by men upon themselves because of their rejection of Christ."

(6) A stronger word is the adjective autokatakritos, "self-condemned" (Titus 3:11; compare 1 John 3:20,1 John 3:21).

G. H. Trever

Condescension, Of Christ

kon-de-sen'-shun.

See KENOSIS.

Conduct

kon'-dukt.

See ETHICS.

Conduit

kon'-dit.

See CISTERN.

Coney

ko'-ni (shaphan (Leviticus 11:5; Deuteronomy 14:7; Psalms 104:18; Proverbs 30:26)): The word "coney" (formerly pronounced cooney) means "rabbit" (from Latin cuniculus). Shaphan is rendered in all four passages in the Septuagint choirogrullios, or "hedge-hog," but is now universally considered to refer to the Syrian hyrax, Procavia (or Hyrax) Syriaca, which in southern Palestine and Sinai is called in Arabic wabar, in northern Palestine and Syria Tabsun, and in southern Arabia shufun, which is etymologically closely akin to shaphan. The word "hyrax" (hurax) itself means "mouse" or "shrew-mouse" (compare Latin sorex), so that it seems to have been hard to find a name peculiar to this animal. In Leviticus 11:5 the Revised Version, margin, we find "rock badger," which is a translation of klip das, the rather inappropriate name given by the Boers to the Cape hyrax. The Syrian hyrax lives in Syria, Palestine and Arabia. A number of other species, including several that are arboreal, live in Africa. They are not found in other parts of the world. In size, teeth and habits the Syrian hyrax somewhat resembles the rabbit, though it is different in color, being reddish brown, and lacks the long hind legs of the rabbit. The similarity in dentition is confined to the large size of the front teeth and the presence of a large space between them and the back teeth. But whereas hares have a pair of front teeth on each jaw, the hyrax has one pair above and two below. These

teeth differ also in structure from those of the hare and rabbit, not having the persistent pulp which enables the rabbit's front teeth to grow continually as they are worn away. They do not hide among herbage like hares, nor burrow like rabbits, but live in holes or clefts of the rock, frequently in the faces of steep cliffs. Neither the hyrax nor the hare is a ruminant, as seems to be implied in Leviticus 11:5 and Deuteronomy 14:7, but their manner of chewing their food may readily have led them to be thought to chew the cud. The hyrax has four toes in front and three behind (the same number as in the tapir and in some fossil members of the horse family), all furnished with nails that are almost like hoofs, except the inner hind toes, which have claws. The hyraxes constitute a family of ungulates and, in spite of their small size, have points of resemblance to elephants or rhinoceroses, but are not closely allied to these or to any other known animals.

The camel, the coney and the hare are in the list of unclean animals because they "chew the cud but divide not the hoof," but all three of these are eaten by the Arabs.

The illustration is from a photograph of a group of conies in the Syrian Protestant College at Beirut, prepared by Mr. Douglas Carruthers, who collected these specimens in a cliff in the neighborhood of Tyre. Specimens from the Dead Sea are redder than those from Syria.

Alfred Ely Day

Confection; Confectionary

kon-fek'-shun, kon-fek'-shun-a-ri (roqach "perfume," "spice," raqqahah, feminine "perfumer"):

(1) "Confection" is found in the King James Version only and but once "a confection after the art of the apothecary" (Exodus 30:35; the Revised Version (British and American) "perfume"); but the Revised Version (British and American) renders 1 Chronicles 9:30, "the confection (the King James Version "ointment") of the spices." It stands for something "made up," a mixture of perfumes or medicines, but never sweetmeats, as confection means with us.

(2) Likewise a "confectionary" is a perfumer. This word, too, is found but once (1 Samuel 8:13), "He will take your daughters to be perfumers (the King James Version "confectionaries"), and to be cooks, and to be bakers."

See PERFUME.

George B. Eager

Confederate; Confederacy

kon-fed'-er-at, kon-fed'-er-a-si: "Confederate" as an adjective in the sense of united or leagued is twice the translation of berith "covenant," in several instances translated "league" (Genesis 14:13, ba`al berith, "lord or master of a covenant," "an ally,") "these were confederate with Abram"; compare Psalms 83:5; once of nuach, "to rest," "Syria is confederate with Ephraim" (Isaiah 7:2, the Revised Version, margin "resteth on Ephraim"; also 1 Macc 10:47).

As a noun "confederate" occurs in 1 Macc 10:16, summachos, "confederates" (1 Macc 8:20,24,31; 14:40; 15:17).

Confederacy, as a "league," occurs as the translation of berith, "the men of thy confederacy" (Obad 1:7); as a conspiracy it occurs in Isaiah 8:12 twice, as translation of qesher from qashar, "to bind": "Say ye not, a confederate." Compare 2 Samuel 15:12; 2 Kings 12:20, etc.

W. L. Walker

Confer; Conference

kon'-fer, kon'-ferens: The equivalent of three Greek words of different shades of meaning. In Galatians 1:16, prosanatithemi, had been used in classical writers for resorting to oracles (Lightfoot on Galatians 2:6; Ellicott on Galatians 1:16); hence, "to take counsel with," "to consult." In Acts 4:15, sumballo, "to compare views," "discuss"; and in Acts 25:12, sullaleo, "to talk together." Compare the single passage in the Old Testament (1 Kings 1:7).

Confession

kon-fesh'-un (yadhah; homologeo, and their derivatives): The radical meaning is "acknowledgment," "avowal," with the implication of a change of conviction or of course of conduct on the part of the subject. In English "profession" (the King James Version 1 Timothy 6:12; Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 4:14), besides absence of the thought just suggested, emphasizes the publicity of the act. Confession, like its Greek equivalent, connotes, as its etymology shows (Latin, con; Greek, homou), that the act places one in harmony with others. It is the uniting in a statement that has previously been made by someone else. Of the two Greek words from the same root in the New Testament, the compound with the Greek preposition ek found, among other places, in Matthew 3:6; Acts 19:18; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:11, implies that it has come from an inner impulse, i.e. it is the expression of a conviction of the heart. It is referred anthropopathically to God in Job 40:14, where Yahweh says to the patriarch sarcastically: "Then will I also confess of (unto) thee"; and in Revelation 3:5, where it means "to recognize" or "acknowledge."

When man is said to confess or make confession, the contents of the confession are variously distinguished. All, however, may be grouped under two heads, confession of faith and confession of sin. Confessions of faith are public acknowledgments of fidelity to God, and to the truth through which God is revealed, as 1 Kings 8:33. They are declarations of unqualified confidence in Christ, and of surrender to His service; Matthew 10:32: "Every one .... who shall confess me before men." In Philippians 2:11, however, confession includes, alongside of willing, also unwilling, acknowledgment of the sovereignty of Jesus. The word confession stands also for everything contained in the Christian religion--"the faith" used in the objective and widest sense, in Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 4:14. In both these passages, the allusion is to the New Testament. The "High Priest of our confession" (Hebrews 3:1) is the High Priest, of whom we learn and with whom we deal in that new revelation, which in that epistle is contrasted with the old.

Confessions of sins are also of various classes:

(1) To God alone. Wherever there is true repentance for sin, the penitent freely confesses his guilt to Him, against whom he has sinned. This is described in Psalms 32:3–6; compare 1 John 1:9; Proverbs 28:13. Such confession may be made either silently, or, as in Daniel 9:19, orally; it may be general, as in Psalms 51:1–19, or particular, as when some special sin is recognized; it may even extend to what has not been discovered, but which is believed to exist because of recognized inner depravity (Psalms 19:12), and thus include the state as well as the acts of sin (Romans 7:18).

(2) To one's neighbor, when he has been wronged (Luke 17:4): "If he sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him." It is to this form of c. that James refers (5:16): "Confess .... your sins one to another"; compare Matthew 5:23 f.

(3) To a spiritual adviser or minister of the word, such as the c. of David to Nathan (2 Samuel 12:13), of the multitudes to John in the wilderness (Matthew 3:6), of the Ephesians to Paul (Acts 19:18). This c. is a general acknowledgment of sinfulness, and enters into an enumeration of details only when the conscience is particularly burdened.

(4) To the entire church, where some crime has created public scandal. As "secret sins are to be rebuked secretly, and public sins publicly," in the apostolic age, where there was genuine penitence for a notorious offense, the acknowledgment was as public as the deed itself. An illustration of this is found in the well-known case at Corinth (compare 1 Corinthians 5:3 ff with 2 Corinthians 2:6 f).

For auricular confession in the sense of the medieval and Roman church, there is no authority in Holy Scripture. It is traceable to the practice of examining those who were about to make a public confession of some notorious offense, and of giving advice concerning how far the circumstances of the sin were to be announced; an expedient that was found advisable, since as much injury could be wrought by injudicious publishing of details in the confession as by the sin itself. The practice once introduced for particular cases was in time extended to all cases; and the private confession of sin was demanded by the church as a condition of the absolution, and made an element of penitence, which was analyzed into contrition, confession and satisfaction. See the Examen Concilii Tridentini (lst edition, 1565) of Dr. Martin Chemnitz, superintendent of Brunswick, for a thorough exegetical and historical discussion of this entire subject. On the historical side, see also Henry Charles Lea, History of Auricular Confession and Indulgences in the Latin Church (3 volumes, Philadelphia, 1896).

H. E. Jacobs

Confidence

kon'-fi-dens (baTach, and forms, kecel; parrhesia; peitho, pepoithesis, hupostasis): The chief Hebrew word translated "confidence" (baTach, and its forms) means, perhaps, radically, "to be open," showing thus what originated the idea of "confidence"; where there was nothing hidden a person felt safe; it is very frequently rendered "trust." In Psalms 118:8,Psalms 118:9 we have "It is better to take refuge in Yahweh than to put confidence in princes," and in 65:5, "O God of our salvation, thou that art the confidence (mibhTach) of all the ends of the earth." MibhTach is translated "confidence" in Job 18:14; Job 31:24; Proverbs 21:22, etc.

Kecel ("firmness," "stoutness") is rendered "confidence" in Proverbs 3:26, and kiclah in Job 4:6; peitho ("to persuade") is translated "confidence" in 2 Corinthians 2:3; Galatians 5:10, etc.; pepoithesis, in 2 Corinthians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 8:22, etc.; hupostasis ("what stands under"), in 2 Corinthians 11:17; Hebrews 3:14; 2 Corinthians 9:4; parrhesia ("out- spokenness," "boldness") is invariably translated in the Revised Version (British and American) "boldness" (Acts 28:31; Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 10:35; 1 John 2:28; 1 John 3:21; 1 John 5:14); tharseo or tharrheo ("to have good courage") is so translated in the Revised Version (British and American), "being therefore always of good courage" (2 Corinthians 5:6); "I am of good courage concerning you" (2 Corinthians 7:16), the King James Version "confident" and "confidence." Revised Version has "confidence" for "hope" (Job 8:14); for "assurance" (Isaiah 32:17); for "trust" (2 Corinthians 3:4); for "same confident boasting" (2 Corinthians 9:4); "is confident" for "trusted" (Job 40:23); "to have confidence" for "thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust" (Philippians 3:4); "confidently" for "constantly" (Acts 12:15); "confidently affirm" for "affirm" (1 Timothy 1:7); conversely, we have for "his confidence" (Job 18:14), "wherein he trusteth," for "with confidence" (Ezekiel 28:26) "securely therein."

The Bible teaches the value of confidence (Isaiah 30:15; Hebrews 10:35), but neither in "gold" (Job 31:24), nor in man, however great (Psalms 118:8,Psalms 118:9; Jeremiah 17:5), nor in self as revealed in Christ (Ephesians 3:12; 1 John 5:13,1 John 5:14). (Proverbs 14:16; Philippians 3:3), but in God (Psalms 65:5; Proverbs 3:26; Proverbs 14:26),

W. L. Walker