Cunning – Cyprians

Cunning

kun'-ing (chakham, chashabh): In Bible-English "cunning" means always "wise" or "skilful"; the word does not occur in the bad sense, and it is found in the Old Testament only. The chief Hebrew words are chakham, "wise," "skilful" (2 Chronicles 2:7 the King James Version "a man cunning to work in gold"; 2 Chronicles 2:13; Isaiah 3:3 the King James Version, etc.); chashabh, "to think," "devise," "desire" (Exodus 26:1,Exodus 26:31; Exodus 28:6,Exodus 28:15 the King James Version, etc.). We have also da`ath, "knowledge" (1 Kings 7:14 the King James Version); bin, "to be intelligent" (1 Chronicles 25:7 the King James Version); machasbebheth, "thought," "device," "design" (Exodus 31:4; Exodus 35:33,Exodus 35:15 the King James Version); 'aman, "artificer" (Song of Songs 7:1 the King James Version); yadha`, "to know," once translated "cunning" (Daniel 1:4 the King James Version).

For cunning the American Standard Revised Version gives "skilful" (Exodus 31:4, etc.; Isaiah 3:3 "expert"); for "cunning work" the work of the "skilful workman" (Exodus 26:1,Exodus 26:31, etc., the English Revised Version "cunning workman"); for "curious," "skilfully woven," the English Revised Version "cunningly woven" (Exodus 28:8, etc.).

W. L. Walker

Cup

(Most frequently, koc; four other words in one passage each; poterion): A vessel for drinking from, of a variety of material (gold, silver, earthenware), patterns (Esther 1:7) and elaboration.

Figurative: By ordinary figure of speech, put sometimes for the contents of the cup, namely, for that which is drunk (Matthew 26:39). In both Old Testament and New Testament applied figuratively to that which is portioned out, and of which one is to partake; most frequently used of what is sorrowful, as God's judgments, His wrath, afflictions, etc. (Psalms 11:6; Psalms 75:8; Isaiah 51:17; Revelation 14:10). In a similar sense, used by Christ concerning the sufferings endured by Him (Matthew 26:39), and the calamities attending the confession of His name (Matthew 20:23). In the Old Testament applied also to the blessedness and joy of the children of God, and the full provision made for their wants (Psalms 16:5; Psalms 23:5; Psalms 116:13; compare Jeremiah 16:7; Proverbs 31:6). All these passages refer not only to the experience of an allotted joy and sorrow, but to the fact that all others share in this experience. Within a community of those having the same interests or lot, each received his apportioned measure, just as at a feast, each cup is filled for the individual to drain at the same time that his fellow-guests are occupied in the same way.

The Holy Supper is called "the cup of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 10:21), since it is the Lord who makes the feast, and tenders the cup, just as "the cup of demons" with which it is contrasted, refers to what they offer and communicate. In 1 Corinthians 11:25, the cup is called "the new covenant in my blood," i.e. it is a pledge and seal and means of imparting the blessings of the new covenant (Hebrews 10:16 f)--a covenant established by the shedding of the blood of Christ. The use of the word "cup" for the sacrament shows how prominent was the part which the cup had in the Lord's Supper in apostolic times. Not only were all commanded to drink of the wine (Matthew 26:27), but the very irregularities in the Corinthian church point to its universal use (1 Corinthians 11:27). Nor does the Roman church attempt to justify its withholding the cup from the laity (the communion in one form) upon conformity with apostolic practice, or upon direct Scriptural authority. This variation from the original institution is an outgrowth of the doctrines of transubstantiation and sacramental concomitance, of the attempt to transform the sacrament of the Eucharist into the sacrifice of the Mass, and of the wide separation between clergy and laity resulting from raising the ministry to the rank of a sacerdotal order. The practice was condemned by Popes Leo I (died 461) and Gelasius (died 496); but gained a firm hold in the 12th century, and was enacted into a church regulation by the Council of Constance in 1415.

See also BLESSING, CUP OF.

As to the use of cups for divination (Genesis 44:5), the reference is to superstitious practice derived from the Gentiles. For various modes of divining what is unknown by the pouring of water into bowls, and making observations accordingly, see Geikie, Hours with the Bible, I, 492 f, and article DIVINATION.

H. E. Jacobs

Cupbearer

kup'-bar-er (mashqeh, "one giving drink"; oinochoos): An officer of high rank at ancient oriental courts, whose duty it was to serve the wine at the king's table. On account of the constant fear of plots and intrigues, a person must be regarded as thoroughly trustworthy to hold this position. He must guard against poison in the king's cup, and was sometimes required to swallow some of the wine before serving it. His confidential relations with the king often endeared him to his sovereign and also gave him a position of great influence. This officer is first mentioned in Scripture in Genesis 40:1 ff, where the Hebrew word elsewhere translated "cupbearer" is rendered "butler." The phrase "chief of the butlers" (Genesis 40:2) accords with the fact that there were often a number of such officials under one as chief (compare Xen. Hellen. vii.1, 38). Nehemiah (compare Nehemiah 1:11) was cupbearer to Artaxerxes Longimanus, and was held in high esteem by him, as the record shows. His financial ability (Nehemiah 5:8,Nehemiah 5:10,Nehemiah 5:14,Nehemiah 5:17) would indicate that the office was a lucrative one. Cupbearers are mentioned further in 1 Kings 10:5; 2 Chronicles 9:4, where they, among other evidences of royal splendor, are stated to have impressed the queen of Sheba with Solomon's glory. The title Rabshakeh (Isaiah 36:2), once thought to mean "chief of the cupbearers," is now given a different derivation and explained as "chief of the officers," or "princes" (BDB under the word). See further on cupbearers Herod. iii.34; Xen. Cyrop. i.3, 8, 9; Josephus, Ant, XVI, viii, 1; Tobit 1:22.

Benjamin Reno Downer

Cupboard

kub'-erd (kulikion, 1 Macc 15:32): A kind of sideboard in or on which Simon's gold and silver vessels were displayed, and which, among other evidences of his glory, amazed the Syrian envoy Athenobius. Compare the Roman abacus, said to have been introduced into Rome from Asia.

Curdle

kur'-dl (qapha', "to congeal," "harden," "curdle"): Occurs in Job 10:10, "Hast thou not .... curdled me like cheese?" i.e. made him take solid form. "The formation of the embryo is a mystery on which the Hebrew dwells with a deep and reverential awe: compare Psalms 139:13–16." These similes are often met with in the Koran and oriental poetry. See Speaker's Commentary in the place cited

Cure; Cures

kur: Represents the words gahah, marpe', raphdh; therapeuo, iasis. Gahah in Proverbs 17:22 translated "medicine" means properly the removal of a bandage from a healed wound, and, is used figuratively in Hosea 5:13; marpe', "healing," is used in the sense of deliverance of the city in Jeremiah 33:6; with a negative particle in 2 Chronicles 21:18 it is used to describe the bowel disease of Jehoram as incurable. The Greek words are used of physical cures (iasis in Luke 13:32) as contradistinguished from the casting out of demons as Matthew 17:16; Luke 7:21; John 5:10. Cure is only used in the New Testament in the sense of physical healing; in the Old Testament usually in the sense of spiritual or national deliverance from danger.

Alex. Macalister

Curious

ku'-ri-us (machashebheth; periergos): The above Hebrew word, meaning "thought," "device," "design," is translated "curious," Exodus 35:32 the King James Version "curious works"; the English Revised Version "cunning"; the American Standard Revised Version "skilful"; cheshebh ("device," "devised work"), translated the King James Version "curious girdle," is translated by the English Revised Version "cunningly woven band," the American Standard Revised Version "skilfully" (Exodus 28:8,Exodus 28:27,Exodus 28:28; Exodus 29:5; Exodus 39:5,Exodus 39:20,Exodus 39:21; Leviticus 8:7). In Psalms 139:15 raqam, "embroidered," "variegated" is used figuratively of a child in the womb, translated "curiously wrought"; "the body or the fetus is described as woven together of so many different-colored threads, like a cunning and beautiful network or tapestry" (Perowne in the place cited.). See also CURDLE. Periergos, "working round about," is used of the "curious arts" of some in Ephesus who brought their books to be burned (Acts 19:19 the American Standard Revised Version "magical").

See ASTROLOGY 14.

W. L. Walker

Current Money

See MONEY, CURRENT.

Curse

kurs ('alah (Numbers 5:21,Numbers 5:23,Numbers 5:17, etc.), me'erah (Proverbs 3:33; Malachi 2:2, etc.), klalah (Genesis 27:12,Genesis 27:13); katara (Galatians 3:10,Galatians 3:13)): This word as noun and verb renders different Hebrew words, some of them being more or less synonymous, differing only in degree of strength. It is often used in contrast with "bless" or "blessing" (Deuteronomy 11:29). When a curse is pronounced against any person, we are not to understand this as a mere wish, however violent, that disaster should overtake the person in question, any more than we are to understand that a corresponding "blessing" conveys simply a wish that prosperity should be the lot of the person on whom the blessing is invoked. A curse was considered to possess an inherent power of carrying itself into effect. Prayer has been defined as a wish referred to God. Curses (or blessings) were imprecations referred to supernatural beings in whose existence and power to do good or inflict harm primitive man believed. The use of magic and spells of all kinds is based on the belief that it is possible to enlist the support of the superhuman beings with whom the universe abounds, and to persuade them to carry out the suppliant's wishes. It has been suggested that spells were written on pieces of parchment and cast to the winds in the belief that they would find their way to their proper destination--that some demoniac being would act as postman and deliver them at the proper address. In Zechariah 5:1–3 the "flying roll," with curses inscribed on it "goeth forth over the face of the whole land." It would find its way into the house of every thief and perjurer. But it was not always possible to commit curses to writing, it was enough to utter them aloud. Generally the name of some deity would be coupled with such imprecations, as Goliath cursed David by his gods (1 Samuel 17:43). Such curses once uttered possessed the power of self- realization. It was customary for heads of families in their declining years to bless their children, such a blessing being, not simply a paternal wish that their children should prosper in life, but a potent factor in determining their welfare (Genesis 9:25). in this case Jacob seeks his father's blessing, which was more than his father's good wishes for his future career. Such blessings and curses were independent of moraI considerations. Before moral distinctions played any part in molding theological conceptions it was not necessary, before a spell could be effectual, that the individual against whom the spell was pronounced should be deserving, on moral grounds, of the fate which was invoked on him. It was sufficient that he should be the foe of the author of the curse. We may assume that such curses signalized the commencement of a battle. But in process of time such indiscriminate imprecations would not satisfy enlightened moral judgment. In the dramatic situation depicted in Deuteronomy 11:29; Deuteronomy 27:12 f the curse was placed on Mt. Ebal and the blessing. on Mr. Gerizim. But the curse was the penalty for disobedience, as the blessing was the reward for obedience. The Book of Proverbs 26:2 summarily dismisses the traditional belief--"the curse that is causeless alighteth not." "In the discourses of Jesus we find blessings and curses. They are however simply authoritative declarations of the eternal connection between right doing and happiness, wrong doing and misery" (Cheyne).

Whereas curses by ordinary persons were considered more or less efficacious--some god being always only too glad to speed them on their way to their destination--yet special persons--"holy" persons--in virtue of their special relation to Divine beings possessed special powers of pronouncing effectual curses on account of their powers of enlisting supernatural aid. Balaam, according to the narrative in Numbers 22:1–41, was an expert in the article Balak was convinced that Balaam's curse would bring about the defeat of the Israelites (see Gray, "Numbers," ICC).

The term--and the thing signified--plays an important part in Paul's interpretation of the cross. In the light of the law all men are guilty. There is no acquittal through appeal to a law that commands and never forgives--prohibits and never relents. The violator of the law is under a curse. His doom has been pronounced. Escape is impossible. But on the cross Jesus Christ endured the curse--for "cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Galatians 3:10,Galatians 3:13)--and a curse that has overtaken its victim is a spent force.

See PUNISHMENTS.

Jesus commands His disciples, "Bless them that curse you" (Luke 6:28; compare Romans 12:14). He Himself cursed the fruitless fig tree (Mark 11:21)--a symbol of the doom of a fruitless people.

Curse as the rendering of cherem, implies a totally different, idea.

See ACCURSED.

T. Lewis

Curtain

kur'-t'-n, -ten, -tin: The word ordinarily used for curtain is yeri`ah. Thus in Exodus 26:1 Exodus 36:8 ff of the curtains of the tabernacle (see TABERNACLE); in 2 Samuel 7:2; Psalms 104:2; Song of Songs 1:5; Isaiah 54:2; Jeremiah 4:20; Jeremiah 10:20; Jeremiah 49:29; Habakkuk 3:7.

Figurative: In Isaiah 40:22 (like Psalms 104:2, of the heavens), the word used is doq, literally, "gauze."

Cush (1)

kush (kush):

1. The Ancestor of Many Nations:

(1) The first of the sons of Ham, from whom sprang Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabtecah. He was also the father of Nimrod, who rounded Babel (Babylon) and the other great states of Shinar or Babylonia (Genesis 10:6–8). The meaning of the name is uncertain.

(2) The name of the country around which the Gihon flowed (Genesis 2:13), rendered "Ethiopia" in the King James Version, but in view of the distance of that country from the other rivers mentioned, this seems to be an unlikely identification.

2. A District of the Garden of Eden:

Fried. Delitzsch has suggested (Wo lag das Paradies? 74 ff) that the watercourse in question is the canal Gu-hande or Arahtu, which, coming from the South, entered Babylon a little to the East of the Euphrates, and, flowing alongside the Festival-Street, entered the Euphrates to the North of Nebuchadrezzar's palace. Koldewey (Tempel von Babylon und Borsippa, 38) regards the Gu-hande as the section of the Euphrates itself at this point. There is no indication, however, that the district which it enclosed was ever called Kusu or Cush, and the suppression of the final syllable of Gu-hande would remain unexplained. Moreover, the identification of Cush with a possible Cas, for Kasdu, "Chaldea," seems likewise improbable, especially as that name could only have been applied, in early times, to the district bordering on the Persian Gulf (see CHALDEA).

3. Probably not in Asia Minor:

Another theory is, that the Cush of Genesis 2:13 is the Kusu of certain Assyrian letters, where it seems to designate a district in the neighborhood of Cappadocia. This identification apparently leads us back to an ancient tradition at one time current in the East, but later forgotten, which caused the Pyramus river to assume the name of Jihun (i.e. Gihon). This stream rises in the mountains Northeast of the Gulf of Alexandretta, and, taking a southwesterly course, flows into the Mediterranean near Karatash. Though nearer than the Ethiopian Cush, this is still too far West, and therefore unsatisfactory as an identification--all the streams or waterways of the Garden of Eden ought to flow through the same district.

4. The Ethiopian Cush:

(3) The well-known country of Cush or Ethiopia, from Syene (Ezekiel 29:10) southward--Egyptian Kos, Babylonian Kusu, Assyrian Kusu. This name sometimes denotes the land (Isaiah 11:11; Isaiah 18:1; Zechariah 3:10; Ezekiel 29:10; Job 28:19; Esther 1:1; Esther 8:9); sometimes the peopl (Isaiah 20:4; Jeremiah 46:9; Ezekiel 38:5); but is in many passages uncertain. Notwithstanding that the descendants of Ham are always regarded as non-Semites, the Ethiopians, Ge`ez, as they called themselves, spoke a Semitic language of special interest on account of its likeness to Himyaritic, and its illustration of certain forms in Assyro-Babylonian. These Cushites were in all probability migrants from another (more northerly) district, and akin to the Canaanites--like them, dark, but by no means black, and certainly not Negroes. W. Max Muller (Asien und Europa, 113 note) states that it cannot be proved whether the Egyptians had quite black neighbors (on the South). In earlier times they are represented as brown, and later as brown mingled with black, implying that negroes only came to their knowledge as a distinct and extensive race in comparatively late times. Moses' (first?) wife (Numbers 12:1) was certainly therefore not a Negress, but simply a Cushite woman, probably speaking a Semitic language--prehistoric Ge`ez or Ethiopian (see CUSHITE WOMAN). In all probability Semitic tribes were classed as Hamitic simply because they acknowledged the supremacy of the Hamitic Egyptians, just as the non-Sem Elamites were set down as Semites (Genesis 10:22) on account of their acknowledging Babylonian supremacy. It is doubtful whether the Hebrews, in ancient times, knew of the Negro race--they probably became acquainted with them long after the Egyptians.

5. Negroes Probably not Included:

In the opinion of W. Max Mailer (A, und East, 112), the Egyptians, when they became acquainted with the Negroes, having no word to express this race, classed them with the nechese, which thereafter included the Negroes. If the Hebrew name Phinehas (Pi-nechas) be really Egyptian and mean "the black," there is still no need to suppose that this meant "the Negro," for no Israelite would have borne a name with such a signification. The treasurer of Candace queen of Meroe (Acts 8:27–39)--the Ethiopian eunuch-- was an Abyssinian, not a Negro; and being an educated man, was able to read the Hebrew Scriptures in the Greek (Septuagint) version. Cush (mat Kusi, pr. Kushi) is frequently mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions in company with Melubha (Merohha) to indicate Ethiopia and Meroe.

See EDEN; ETHIOPIA; TABLE OF NATIONS.

T. G. Pinches

Cush (2)

kush (kush; Septuagint Chousei, Psalms 7:1–17 title): A Benjamite, perhaps he that "was without cause" the "adversary" of David (compare Psalms 7:4).

See CUSHI.

Cushan

kushan: In the psalm of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:7) "the tents of Cushan" are mentioned in an individualizing description of the effects of a theophany. Parallel is the phrase "the curtains of the land of Midian." Septuagint renders Cushan, kushan, by Aithiopon, reading perhaps kushim, or kushin (kushin). The context indicates that the same land or people is intended as the Old Testament elsewhere calls Cush, yet vaguely and not in any strict geographical usage that would limit it to Africa.

Cushan-Rishathaim

ku'-shan-rish-a-tha'-im (kushan rish`athayim, translated, or rather interpreted, as "man from Cush, he of the twofold crime"; Septuagint Chousarsathaim, the King James Version Chushan-rishathaim): Mentioned in Judges 3:8–10 as a king of Mesopotamia who was chosen by God as his tool to chastise the Israelites for their idolatry. After Joshua's death the children of Israel soon began to affiliate themselves with the heathen peoples among whom they dwelt. This was the fertile source of all their troubles. God delivered ("sold") them into the hands of the heathen. C.-r. is the first whose name is given in this connection. Barring this short passage in Jud nothing is known of the man. Eight years the Israelites were under his dominion, when the Lord raised up a deliverer to them, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother--the first of the judges.

William Baur

Cushi

ku'-shi: This name represents kushi, (in the original Septuagint Chousei, Chousi), either with or without the article. With the article (so in 2 Samuel 18:21–32 seven out of eight times, all readings supported by the Septuagint) it simply indicate that the person so designated was of the Cushite people, as in Jeremiah 38:7 ff. Its use without the article has doubtless developed out of the foregoing according to a familiar process. For the Cush of Psalms 7:1–17, title read "Cushi" with Septuagint.

(1) The messenger (the Revised Version (British and American) "the Cushite") sent by Joab to acquaint David with the victory over Absalom. That this man was in fact a foreigner is indicated by his ignorance of a shorter path which Ahimaaz took, by his being unrecognized by the watchman who recognizes Ahimaaz, and by his ignorance, as compared with Ahimaaz, of the sentiments of David, whom he knows only as a king and not as a man. 2 Samuel 18:21 (twice, the second time without the article), 2 Samuel 18:22,2 Samuel 18:23,2 Samuel 18:11 (twice), 2 Samuel 18:32 (twice).

(2) The great-grandfather of Jehudi, a contemporary of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 36:14). The name Jehudi itself ("a man of Judah") is sufficient refutation of the opinion that the use of Cushi as or in lieu of a proper name "seems to show that there were but few Cushites among the Israelites."

(3) The father of Zephaniah the prophet (Ze 1:1).

J. Oscar Boyd

Cushion

koosh'-un (proskephalaion): In New Testament, only in Mark 4:38 the Revised Version (British and American). The word means literally, a cushion for the head (the King James Version "pillow") but was also used of one for sitting or reclining upon, e.g. of a rower's cushion. The article used with it in this passage suggests that it was one of the customary furnishings of the boat, and it was probably similar to the cushion placed for the comfort of passengers in the stern of modern boats on the Sea of Galilee. "Silken cushions" of Amos 3:12 the Revised Version (British and American) is a rendering of the Hebrew demesheq from its supposed connection with damask. These cushions formed the divan, often the only article of furniture in an oriental reception room. "Cushions" occurs further in the somewhat doubtful the Revised Version, margin rendering of Proverbs 7:16; Proverbs 31:22.

Benjamin Reno Downer

Cushite

kush'-it: Whereas kushi, is elsewhere rendered Ethiopian, in 2 Samuel 18:21–32 it is rendered Cushite in the Revised Version (British and American) (see CUSHI and compare CUSHITE WOMAN). Its plural, which occurs in Zephaniah, Daniel and 2 Chronicles, also in the form kushiyim, in Amos, is uniformly translated Ethiopians, following Septuagint. The other Old Testament books use simply kush, for people as well as land.

Cushite Woman; Ethiopian Woman

kush'-it: In Numbers 12:1 Moses is condemned by his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron "because of the Cushite woman ha-'ishshah ha-kushith whom he had married"; and the narrator immediately adds by way of needed explanation, "for he had married a Cushite woman" ('ishshah khushith). Views regarding this person have been of two general classes:

(1) She is to be identified with Zipporah (Exodus 2:21 and elsewhere), Moses' Midianite wife, who is here called "the Gushite," either in scorn of her dark complexion (compare Jeremiah 13:23) and foreign origin (so most older exegetes), or as a consequence of an erroneous notion of the late age when this apocryphal addition, "because of the Cushite," etc., was inserted in the narrative (so Wellhansen).

(2) She is a woman whom Moses took to wife after the death of Zipporah, really a Cushite (Ethiopian) by race, whether the princess of Meroe of whom Josephus (Ant., II, x, 2) romances (so Targum of Jonathan), or one of the "mixed multitude" (Exodus 12:38; compare Numbers 11:4) that accompanied the Hebrews on their wanderings (so Ewald and most). Dillmann suggests a compromise between the two classes of views, namely, that this woman is a mere "variation in the saga" from the wife elsewhere represented as Midianite, yet because of this variation she was understood by the author as distinct from Zipporah. The implication of the passage, in any case, is clearly that this connection of Moses tended to injure his prestige in the eyes of race-proud Hebrews, and, equally, that in the author's opinion such a view of the matter was obnoxious to God.

J. Oscar Boyd

Custody

kus'-to-di (yadh, pequddah): In Esther 2:3,Esther 2:8 bis. 14, yadh, "the hand," is translated "Custody": pequddah, "numbering," "chanrge"; occurs in Numbers 3:36 the Revised Version (British and American) "the appointed charge," margin, Hebrew "the office of the charge."

Custom (1)

kus'-tum (tax):

(a) halakh, Ezra 4:13,Ezra 4:10; Ezra 7:24 the King James Version;

(b) belo, Ezra 4:13, etc.;

(c) telonion, Matthew 9:9; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27, "receipt of custom" the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "place of toll," the collectors' office;

(d) telos, Matthew 17:25 (the Revised Version (British and American) "toll"); Romans 13:7; Romans 13:1 Macc 11:35 (the Revised Version (British and American) "tolls"; compare 1 Macc 10:31).

The tax designated by halakh in Ezra 4:13, etc., is usually taken to mean a road tax, a toll, from root halakh, but compare Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen, II, 463, which derives from root ilku, a command, a decree, hence, an imposed tax. Belo from root yabhal is supposed to be a tax on merchandise or produce (as distinguished from "tribute" or the tax on houses, lands and persons), usually paid in kind and levied for the support of the native or provincial government. See Ryle, Cambridge Bible, Ezra- Nehemiah, in the place cited Telos in New Testament and Macc is an indirect tax farmed out to the publicans.

Walter R. Betteridge

Custom (2)

kus'-tum (usage): In the Old Testament, except, Genesis 31:35 where the Revised Version (British and American) renders, better, "manner" (derekh, "way"), the words translated "custom" are choq, chuqqah, "statute," and mishpaT, "judgment." Such passages as Judges 11:39; Jeremiah 32:11, and especially Ezra 3:4 (the King James Version "custom," the Revised Version (British and American) "ordinance"), illustrate the difficulty of deciding upon the proper translation, in cases where "custom" might become "statute," "usage" establish itself as "law." In Leviticus 18:30; Jeremiah 10:3 the reference is to heathen religious practices.

In the New Testament Luke 1:9; Luke 2:42; Acts 6:14; Acts 15:1 (the King James Version "manner"); Luke 16:21; Luke 21:21 (ethos), and Luke 2:27 from the same Greek root, refer likewise to definitely established religious practices; in every case except Acts 16:21, those of the Jewish law. The Revised Version (British and American) makes the translation of ethos uniform, reading "custom" in Luke 22:39 (the King James Version "wont") and in John 19:40; Acts 25:16; Hebrews 10:25 (the King James Version "manner"). Greek eiothos, from the same root, is rendered "custom" in Luke 4:16 by English Versions of the Bible, and by the Revised Version (British and American) also in Acts 17:2, its only other occurrence in the New Testament. In John 18:39; 1 Corinthians 11:16 "custom" is the translation of Greek sunetheia, in the sense of "usage" rather than of "law."

F. K. Farr

Cut; Cutting

(karath, gadha`, kachadh, nathach; apokopto, ekkopto): Many Hebrew words are translated "cut." Of these karath, "to cut down, out, off," is the most frequent. As "cut off" it is used in the sense of laying or destroying (Genesis 9:11; Deuteronomy 12:29; 1 Kings 11:16; Psalms 101:8, etc.), also for cutting off transgressors from the community of Yahweh, which meant probably separation, or exclusion, rather than death or destruction (Genesis 17:14; Exodus 12:15,Exodus 12:19). Other words are damam, ("to be silent," "cease" Jeremiah 25:37 the King James Version; Jeremiah 48:2); tsamath "to destroy" (Psalms 54:5 the King James Version; Psalms 94:23, etc.); gadhadh, "to cut, one's self," is used of the cutting of one's flesh before heathen gods and in mourning for the dead, which was forbidden to the Israelites, (Deuteronomy 14:1; 1 Kings 18:28; Jeremiah 16:6; Jeremiah 41:5; Jeremiah 47:5); sereT, sareTeth, "incision," are also used of those "cuttings of the flesh" (Leviticus 19:28; compare Leviticus 21:5). See CUTTINGS IN THE FLESH. The cutting of the hair of head and beard in mourning for the dead is referred to in Isaiah 15:2; "Every, beard is cut off" (gadha`), and Jeremiah 7:29, gazaz, "Cut off thy hair" (the Revised Version, margin "thy crown"), O Jerusalem (compare Isaiah 22:12; Jeremiah 16:6; Ezekiel 7:18; Amos 8:10). This early and widespread practice was also forbidden to the Israelites as being unworthy of them in their relation to Yahweh (Leviticus 19:27; Deuteronomy 14:1).

Charosheth, "carving," "engraving," is used for the cutting of stones (Exodus 31:5; Exodus 35:33).

In the New Testament we have apokopto "to cut away" (Mark 9:43,Mark 9:15; Galatians 5:12 the King James Version; see CONCISION); diaprio, "to saw through" (Acts 5:33, "they were cut to the heart"); dichotomeo, "to cut in two" (Matthew 24:51); suntemno, "to cut together" (Romans 9:28), "finishing it and cutting it short," i. e; "making it conclusive and brief."

"mutilate themselves," the American Standard Revised Version "go "rest"), "noontide," margin "Or, tranquillity" (Gesenius, Delitzsch, etc., "in the quiet of my days"); instead of, "I would that they were even cut off which trouble you" (Galatians 5:12), Among the changes of the Revised Version (British and American) are "brought to silence" for "cut down" (Jeremiah 25:37), also for "cut off" (Zechariah 12:3); for "cut off," "pass through" (Job 11:10), head" (Amos 9:1), "break them in pieces on the head of"; for "in the cutting off of my days" (Isaiah 38:10; Hebrew demi, "silence," the English Revised Version has "cut themselves off," margin beyond circumcision," margin, Greek: "mutilate themselves." W. L. Walker "gone" (Psalms 90:10); "rolled up" (Isaiah 38:12); "cut off" for "destroy" (Psalms 18:40; Psalms 69:4; Psalms 118:10,Psalms 118:11,Psalms 118:12); for "cut them in the (Jeremiah 49:26; Jeremiah 50:30); "sore wounded" for "cut in pieces"

Cuth; Cuthah

kuth, ku'-tha (kuth, kuthah; Choua, Chountha): The longer writing is the better of the two, and gives the Hebrew form of the name of one of the cities from which Sargon of Assyria brought colonists to fill the places of the Israelites which he deported from Samaria in 772 BC (2 Kings 17:24,2 Kings 17:30). Probably in consequence of their predominating numbers, the inhabitants of Samaria in general were then called kuthiyim, or Cutbeans. 1. The Ruins of Cuthah:

From contract-tablets found at Tel-Ibrahim by the late Hormuzd Hassam, on which the ancient name of the place is given as Gudua or Kutu, it would seem that that is the site which has to be identified with the Biblical Cuthah. It lies to the Northeast of Babylon, and was one of the most important cities of the Babylonian empire. The explorer describes the ruins as being about 3,000 ft. in circumference and 280 ft. high, and adjoining them on the West lies a smaller mound, crowned with a sanctuary dedicated to Ibrahim (Abraham). From the nature of the ruins, Rassam came to the conclusion that the city was much more densely populated after the fall of Babylon than in earlier times. A portion of the ruins were in a very perfect state, and suggested an unfinished building.

2. The Temple:

The great temple of the city was called E-mes-lam, and was dedicated to Nergal (compare 2 Kings 17:30), one of whose names was Meslam-ta-ea. Both city and temple would seem to have been old Sumerian foundations, as the name Gudua and its later Sere form, Kutu, imply.

LITERATURE.

See Rassam, Asshur and the Land of Nimrod, 396, 409, and, for details of the worship of Nergal, PSBA, December, 1906, 203-18.

T. G. Pinches

Cutha

ku'-tha (Koutha; 1 Esdras 5:32, the King James Version Coutha): Head of a family of temple servants who returned with Zerubbabel from Babylon; not mentioned in the canonical lists.

Cuthah

See CUTH, CUTHAH.

Cuthean; Cuthite

ku-the'-an, kuth'-it.

See CUTH; SAMARITANS.

Cutting Asunder

See ASUNDER; PUNISHMENTS.

Cutting Off

See CONCISION; PUNISHMENTS.

Cuttings In The Flesh

(sereT, sareTeth): For relatives or friends to cut or beat themselves even to free blood-flowing, especially in the violence of grief in mourning for their dead (see BURIAL; MOURNING), was a widely prevalent custom among ancient peoples, and is well-nigh universal among uncivilized races today (see Spencer, Prin. of Soc., 3rd edition, I, 163 ff). The fact is abundantly attested for most of the nations of antiquity, but there are two notable exceptions, the Egyptians (Herod. ii.61, 85; Wilkinson, Anc. Egyptian II, 374), and the Hebrews (Deuteronomy 14:1; Leviticus 21:5). According to Plutarch (Sol. 21) Solon forbade the women of Athens to beat themselves to the effusion of blood, and the laws of the Twelve Tables, quoted by Cic. (De leg. ii.23) contained a like injunction. Among the ancient Arabs the forbidden practice was associated, as among the Hebrews, with the cutting off of the hair (Wellhausen, Skizzen, III, 160 f).

That the prohibition among the Hebrews was urgently called for is made clear by the way it is dealt with by the Law and the prophets. The Law of Holiness reads: "Ye are the children of Yahweh your God: ye shall not cut yourselves" (Deuteronomy 14:1), or "make any incision" (sereT; Leviticus 19:28, sareTeth; Septuagint entomis) in the flesh "for the dead." Probably the earliest reference to the custom as actually prevalent among the Hebrews is in Hosea 7:14 (ERVm). It was widely prevalent in the time of Jeremiah among his countrymen, even as among the Philistines (Jeremiah 47:5) and the Moabites (Jeremiah 48:37; compare Amos 8:10; Isaiah 3:24; Isaiah 15:2; Isaiah 22:12; Micah 1:16; Ezekiel 7:18).

In seeking for the reason or purpose underlying all such prohibitions, we may note, first, that the "cuttings" and "baldness" forbidden are alike said to be "for the dead." Not less explicitly are they said to be incompatible with Israel's unique relation to Yahweh--a relation at once of sonship (Deuteronomy 14:1) and of consecration (Deuteronomy 14:2). Moreover such mutilations of the body are always dealt with as forming part of the religious rites of the heathen (as of the Canaanitish Baal (1 Kings 18:28) note "after their manner," see article in HDB, under the word). Both such shedding of blood and the dedication of the hair are found in almost all countries of that day in intimate connection with the rituals of burial and the prevailing belief in the necessity of propitiating the spirit of the deceased. The conclusion, then, seems clearly warranted that such tokens of grief were prohibited because they carried with them inevitably ideas and associations distinctly heathen in character and so incompatible with the pure religion of Yahweh, and unworthy of those who had attained to the dignity of the sons ("children") of Yahweh.

See also STIGMATA, MARK;

LITERATURE.

Benzinger, Heb Arch., section 23; Nowack, Heb Arch., I, 33 f; Tylor, Prim. Cult.; W. R. Smith, Rel Semitic, Lect IX; and Comm., Knobel-Dillmann, Ex-Le on Leviticus 19:28; Driver, De on 14:1; and Lightfoot, Ga on 6:17.

George B. Eager

Cyamon

si'-a-mon (Kuamon, Judith 7:3): Probably identical with JOKNEAM (which see).

Cymbal

sim'-bal.

See MUSIC.

Cypress

si'-pres.

See HOLM-TREE.

Cyprians

sip'-ri-ans (Kuprioi): Occurs in 2 Macc 4:29. Menelaus who was high priest at Jerusalem, and Sostratus who was governor of the citadel, were summoned by King Antiochus to appear before him. "Menelaus left his own brother Lysimachus for his deputy in the high-priesthood; and Sostratus left Crates, who was over the Cyprians." The Cyprians were the inhabitants of the island of Cyprus. Barnabas, who was Paul's associate on his first missionary journey, was a Cyprian (Kuprios; see Acts 4:36). the Revised Version (British and American) designates him as a man of Cyprus. The governor of the island was called a Cypriarch (see 2 Macc 12:2, and compare ASIARCH).

A. W. Fortune