House – Hunger

House

hous (bayith; oikos, in classical Greek generally "an estate," oikia, oikema (literally, "habitation"), in Acts 12:1, "prison"):

I. CAVE DWELLINGS

II. STONE-BUILT AND MUD/BRICK-BUILT HOUSES

1. Details of Plan and Construction

(1) Corner-Stone

(2) Floor

(3) Gutter

(4) Door

(5) Hinge

(6) Lock and Key

(7) Threshold

(8) Hearth

(9) Window

(10) Roof

2. Houses of More than One Story

(1) Upper Chambers and Stairs

(2) Palaces and Castles

3. Internal Appearance

III. OTHER MEANINGS

LITERATURE

I. Cave Dwellings.

The earliest permanent habitations of the prehistoric inhabitants of Palestine were the natural caves which abound throughout the country. As the people increased and grouped themselves into communities, these abodes were supplemented by systems of artificial caves which, in some cases, developed into extensive burrowings of many adjoining compartments, having in each system several entrances. These entrances were usually cut through the roof down a few steps, or simply dropped to the floor from the rock surface. The sinking was shallow and the headroom low but sufficient for the undersized troglodites who were the occupiers.

II. Stone-built and Mud/Brick-built Houses.

There are many references to the use of caves as dwellings in the Old Testament. Lot dwelt with his two daughters in cave (Genesis 19:30). Elijah, fleeing from Jezebel, lodged in a cave (1 Kings 19:9). The natural successor to the cave was the stone-built hut, and just as the loose field-bowlders and the stones, quarried from the caves, served their first and most vital uses in the building of defense walls, so did they later become material for the first hut. Caves, during the rainy season, were faulty dwellings, as at the time when protection was most needed, they were being flooded through the surface openings which formed their entrances. The rudest cell built of rough stones in mud and covered a with roof of brushwood and mud was at first sufficient. More elaborate plans of several apartments, entering from what may be called a living-room, followed as a matter of course, and these, huddled together, constituted the homes of the people. Mud-brick buildings (Job 4:19) of similar plan occur, and to protect this friable material from the weather, the walls were sometimes covered with a casing of stone slabs, as at Lachish. (See Bliss, A Mound of Many Cities.) Generally speaking, this rude type of building prevailed, although, in some of the larger buildings, square dressed and jointed stones were used. There is little or no sign of improvement until the period of the Hellenistic influence, and even then the improvement was slight, so far as the homes of the common people were concerned.

1. Details of Plan and Construction:

One should observe an isometric sketch and plan showing construction of a typical small house from Gezer. The house is protected and approached from the street by an open court, on one side of which is a covered way. The doors enter into a living-room from which the two very small inner private rooms, bedchambers, are reached. Builders varied the plan to suit requirements, but in the main, this plan may be taken as typical. When members of a family married, extra accommodation was required. Additions were made as well as could be arranged on the cramped site, and in consequence, plans often became such a meaningless jumble that it is impossible to identify the respective limits of adjoining houses. The forecourt was absorbed and crushed out of existence, so that in many of the plans recovered the arrangement is lost.

(1) Corner-stone:

Corner-stone (pinnah, Isaiah 28:16; Jeremiah 51:26; lithos akrogoniaios, 1 Peter 2:6).--In the construction of rude boulder walls, more especially on a sloping site, as can be seen today in the highlands of Scotland and Wales, a large projecting boulder was built into the lower angle-course. It tied together the return angles and was one of the few bond-stones used in the building. This most necessary support claimed chief importance and as such assumed a figurative meaning frequently used (Isaiah 28:16; 1 Peter 2:6; see CORNER-STONE). The importance given to the laying of a sure foundation is further emphasized by the dedication rites in common practice, evidence of which has been found on various sites in Palestine (see Excavations of Gezer). The discovery of human remains placed diagonally below the foundations of the returning angle of the house gives proof of the exercise of dedication rites both before and after the Conquest. Hiel sacrificed his firstborn to the foundations of Jericho and his youngest son to the gates thereof (1 Kings 16:34). But this was in a great cause compared with a similar sacrifice to a private dwelling. The latter manifests a respect scarcely borne out by the miserable nature of the houses so dedicated. At the same time, it gives proof of the frequent collapse of structures which the winter rains made inevitable and at which superstition trembled. The fear of pending disaster to the man who failed to make his sacrifice is recorded in Deuteronomy 20:5: "What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle." See illustration, p. 550.

(2) Floor:

Floor (qarqa`).--When houses were built on the rock outcrop, the floor was roughly leveled on the rock surface, but it is more common to find floors of beaten clay similar to the native floor of the present day. Stone slabs were sparingly used, and only appear in the houses of the great. It is unlikely that wood was much used as a flooring to houses, although Solomon used it for his temple floor (1 Kings 6:15).

(3) Gutter:

Gutter (tsinnor).--The "gutter" in 2 Samuel 5:8 the King James Version is obviously difficult to associate with the gutter of a house, except in so far as it may have a similar meaning to the water duct or "water course" (Revised Version (British and American)) leading to the private cistern, which formed part of the plan. Remains of open channels for this purpose have been found of rough stones set in clay, sometimes leading through a silt pit into the cistern.

(4) Door:

Door (deleth, pethach; thura).--Doorways were simple, square, entering openings in the wall with a stone or wood lintel (mashqoph, Exodus 12:22,Exodus 12:23; 'ayil, 1 Kings 6:31) and a stone threshold raised slightly above the floor. It is easy to imagine the earliest wooden door as a simple movable boarded cover with back bars, fixed vertically by a movable bar slipped into sockets in the stone jambs. Doorposts (caph, Ezekiel 41:16) appear to have been in use, but, until locks were introduced, it is difficult to imagine a reason for them. Posts, when introduced, were probably let into the stone at top and bottom, and, unlike our present door frame, had no head-piece. When no wood was used, the stone jambs of the opening constituted the doorposts. To the present day the post retains its function as commanded in Deuteronomy 6:9; Deuteronomy 11:20, and in it is fitted a small case containing a parchment on which is written the exhortation to obedience.

(5) Hinge:

Hinge (poth, 1 Kings 7:50; tsir, Proverbs 26:14).--Specimens of sill and head sockets of stone have been discovered which suggest the use of the pivot hinge, the elongated swinging stile of the door being let into the sockets at top and bottom. A more advanced form of construction was necessary to this type of door than in the previous instance, and some little skill was required to brace it so that it would hold together. The construction of doors and windows is an interesting question, as it is in these two details that the joinery craft first claimed development. There is no indication, however, of anything of the nature of advancement, and it seems probable that there was none.

(6) Lock and key:

Lock and key ("lock," man`ul, Nehemiah 3:3 ff; Song of Songs 5:5; "key," maphteach, Judges 3:25; figurative. Isaiah 22:22; kleis, Matthew 16:19, etc.).--In later Hellenic times a sort of primitive lock and key appeared, similar to the Arabic type. See Excavations of Gezer, I, 197, and illustration in article KEY.

(7) Threshold:

Threshold (caph, 1 Kings 14:17; Ezekiel 40:6 ff; miphtan, 1 Samuel 5:4,1 Samuel 5:5; Ezekiel 9:3, etc.).--Next to the corner-stone, the threshold was specially sacred, and in many instances foundation-sacrifices have been found buried under the threshold. In later times, when the Hebrews became weaned of this unholy practice, the rite remained with the substitution of a lamp enclosed between two bowls as a symbol of the life.

See GEZER.

(8) Hearth:

Hearth ('ach, Jeremiah 36:22,Jeremiah 36:23, the Revised Version (British and American) "brazier"; kiyyor).--The references in the Old Testament and the frequent discovery of hearths make it clear that so much provision for heating had been made. It is unlikely, however, that chimneys were provided. The smoke from the wood or charcoal fuel was allowed to find its way through the door and windows and the many interstices occurring in workmanship of the worst possible description. The "chimney" referred to (Hosea 13:3) is a doubtful translation. The "fire in the brazier" (Jeremiah 36:22 the Revised Version (British and American)) which burned before the king of Judah in his "winter house" was probably of charcoal. The modern natives, during the cold season, huddle around and warm their hands at a tiny glow in much the same way as their ancient predecessors. The use of cow and camel dung for baking-oven (tannur) fires appears to have continued from the earliest time to the present day (Ezekiel 4:15).

See also HEARTH.

(9) Window:

Window (thuris, Acts 20:9; 2 Corinthians 11:33).--It would appear that windows were often simple openings in the wall which were furnished with some method of closing, which, it may be conjectured, was somewhat the same as the primitive door previously mentioned. The window of the ark (challon, Genesis 8:6), the references in Genesis 26:8; Joshua 2:15, and the window from which Jezebel looked (2 Kings 9:30), were presumably of the casement class. Ahaziah fell through a lattice (cebhakhah) in the same palace, and the same word is used for the "networks" (1 Kings 7:41) "covering the bowls of the capitals," and in Song of Songs 2:9, "through the lattice" (charakkim). It would appear, therefore, that some variety of treatment existed, and that the simple window opening with casement and the opening filled in with a lattice or grill were distinct. Windows were small, and, according to the Mishna, were kept not less than 6 ft. from floor to sill. The lattice was open, without glass filling, and in this connection there is the interesting figurative reference in Isaiah 54:12 the King James Version, "windows of agates," translated in the Revised Version (British and American) "pinnacles of rubies." Heaven is spoken of as having "windows" ('arubbah) for rain (Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:2; 2 Kings 7:2, etc.).

(10) Roof:

Roof (gagh; stege).--These were flat. Compare "The beams of our house are cedars, and our rafters are firs" (Song of Songs 1:17). To get over the difficulty of the larger spans, a common practice was to introduce a main beam (qurah) carried on the walls and strengthened by one or more intermediate posts let into stone sockets laid on the floor. Smaller timbers as joists ("rafters," rahiT) were spaced out and covered in turn with brushwood; the final covering, being of mud mixed with chopped straw, was beaten and rolled. A tiny stone roller is found on every modern native roof, and is used to roll the mud into greater solidity every year on the advent of the first rains. Similar rollers have been found among the ancient remains throughout the country; see Excavations of Gezer, I, 190; PEFS, Warren's letters, 46. "They let him down through the tiles (keramos) with his couch into the midst before Jesus" (Luke 5:19) refers to the breaking through of a roof similar to this. The roof ("housetop," gagh; doma) was an important part of every house and was subjected to many uses. It was used for worship (2 Kings 23:12; Jeremiah 19:13; Jeremiah 32:29; Zechariah 1:5; Acts 10:9). Absalom spread his tent on the "top of the house" (2 Samuel 16:22). In the Feast of the Tabernacles temporary booths (cukkah) were erected on the housetops. The people, as is their habit today, gathered together on the roof as a common meeting-place on high days and holidays (Judges 16:27). The wild wranglings which can be heard in any modern native village, resulting in vile accusations and exposure of family secrets hurled from the housetops of the conflicting parties, illustrate the passage, "And what ye have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops" (Luke 12:3).

2. Houses of More than One Story:

(1) Upper Chambers and Stairs:

It is certain that there were upper chambers (`aliyah; huperoon, Acts 9:37, etc.) to some of the houses. Ahaziah was fatally injured by falling from the window of his palace, and a somewhat similar fate befell his mother, Jezebel (2 Kings 1:2; 2 Kings 9:33). The escape of the spies from the house on the wall at Jericho (Joshua 2:15) and that of Paul from Damascus (2 Corinthians 11:33) give substantial evidence of window openings at a considerable height. Elijah carried the son of the widow of Zarephath "up into the chamber." The Last Supper was held in an upper chamber (Mark 14:15). Some sort of stairs (ma`alah) of stone or wood must have existed, and the lack of the remains of stone steps suggests that they were wood steps, probably in the form of ladders. (2) Palaces and Castles:

Palaces and castles ('armon, birah, hekhal; aule, parembole).--These were part of every city and were more elaborate in plan, raised in all probability to some considerable height. The Canaanite castle discovered by Macalister at Gezer shows a building of enormously thick walls and small rooms. Reisner has unearthed Ahab's palace at Samaria, revealing a plan of considerable area. Solomon's palace is detailed in 1 Kings 7:1–51 (see TEMPLE). In this class may also be included the megalithic fortified residences with the beehive guard towers of an earlier date, described by Dr. Mackenzie (PEF, I) .

3. International Appearance:

Walls were plastered (Leviticus 14:43,Leviticus 14:18), and small fragments of painted (Jeremiah 22:14) plaster discovered from time to time show that some attempt at mural decoration was made, usually in the form of crudely painted line ornament. Walls were recessed here and there into various forms of cupboards (which see) at various levels. The smaller cuttings in the wall were probably for lamps, and in the larger and deeper recesses bedmats may have been kept and garments stored.

III. Other Meanings.

The word has often the sense of "household," and this term is frequently substituted in the Revised Version (British and American) for "house" of the King James Version (e.g. Exodus 12:3; 2 Kings 7:11; 2 Kings 10:5; 2 Kings 15:5; Isaiah 36:3; 1 Corinthians 1:11; 1 Timothy 5:14); in certain cases for phrases with "house" the Revised Version (British and American) has "at home". (Acts 2:46; Acts 5:42).

See HOUSE OF GOD; HOUSEHOLD.

LITERATURE.

Macalister, Excavations at Gezer; PEFS; Sellin, Excavations at Taanach; Schumacher, Excavations at Tell Mutesellim; Bliss, Mound of Many Cities; articles in Dictionaries and Encyclopedias.

Arch. C. Dickie

House Of God

In Genesis 28:17,Genesis 28:22 = BETHEL (which see). In Jgs, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezr, Neh, Ps, etc. (beth ha-'elohim), a designation of the sanctuary = "house of Yahweh" (of the tabernacle, Judges 18:31; Revelation 19:18,Revelation 20:5 the King James Version; of the temple, 1 Chronicles 9:11; 1 Chronicles 24:5 the King James Version; 2 Chronicles 5:14; Psalms 42:4; Isaiah 2:3, etc.; of the 2nd temple, Ezra 5:8,Ezra 5:15; Nehemiah 6:10; Nehemiah 13:11; compare Matthew 12:4). Spiritually, in the New Testament, the "house of God" (oikos theou) is the church or community of believers (1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 10:21; 1 Peter 4:17; compare 1 Corinthians 3:9,1 Corinthians 3:16,1 Corinthians 3:17; 1 Peter 2:5).

House, Father's

See FATHER'S HOUSE.

House, Garden

See GARDEN-HOUSE.

Household

hous'-hold: Three words are usually found in the Bible where the family is indicated. These three are the Hebrew word bayith and the Greek words oikia and oikos. The unit of the national life of Israel, from the very beginning, was found in the family. In the old patriarchal days each family was complete within itself, the oldest living sire being the unquestioned head of the whole, possessed of almost arbitrary powers. The house and the household are practically synonymous. God had called Abraham "that he might command his children and household after him" (Genesis 18:19). The Passover-lamb was to be eaten by the "household" (Exodus 12:3). The "households" of the rebels in the camp of Israel shared their doom (Numbers 16:31–33; Deuteronomy 11:6). David's household shares his humiliation (2 Samuel 15:16); the children everywhere in the Old Testament are the bearers of the sins of the fathers. Human life is not a conglomerate of individuals; the family is its center and unit.

Nor is it different in the New Testament. The curse and the blessing of the apostles are to abide on a house, according to its attitude (Matthew 10:13). A divided house falls (Mark 3:25). The household believes with the head thereof (John 4:53; Acts 16:15,Acts 16:34). Thus the households became the nuclei for the early life of the church, e.g. the house of Prisca and Aquila at Rome (Romans 16:5), of Stephanas (1 Corinthians 16:15), of Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 1:16), etc. No wonder that the early church made so much of the family life. And in the midst of all our modern, rampant individualism, the family is still the throbbing heart of the church as well as of the nation.

Henry E. Dosker

Household, Caesar's

See CAESAR'S HOUSEHOLD.

Householder

hous'-hol-der (oikodespotes): The word occurs in Matthew 13:27,Matthew 13:52; Matthew 20:1; Matthew 21:33, for the master or owner of a "household," i.e. of servants ([@douloi). The Greek word emphasizes the authority of the master.

Housetop

hous'-top.

See HOUSE.

How

Represents various Hebrew and Greek words, interrogative, interjectional and relative. Its different uses refer to

(1) the manner or way, e.g. Genesis 44:34, "How shall I go up to my father?" ('ekh); Matthew 6:28, "how they grow" (pos); 1 Corinthians 15:35, "How are the dead raised?";

(2) degree, extent, frequently, "how great" (Daniel 4:3, mah; Mark 5:19, hosos, "how much"); "how many" (Matthew 27:13, posos); "how much" (Acts 9:13, hosos); "how much more" (Matthew 7:11, posos; 1 Samuel 14:30, 'aph ki); "how oft" (Psalms 78:40, kammah; Matthew 18:21, posakis); "how long" (Job 7:19, kammah; Matthew 17:17, heos pote), etc.;

(3) the reason, wherefore, etc. (Matthew 18:12; Luke 12:49, tis);

(4) means--by what means? (John 3:4,John 3:9, pos);

(5) cause (John 12:34; Acts 2:8; Acts 4:21, pos);

(6) condition, in what state, etc. (Luke 23:55, hos; Acts 15:36, pos; Ephesians 6:21, tis); "how" is sometimes used to emphasize a statement or exclamation (2 Samuel 1:19,2 Samuel 1:25,2 Samuel 1:27, "How are the mighty fallen!"); "how" is also used for "that" (Genesis 30:29, 'eth 'asher, frequently "how that"; Exodus 9:29, ki most frequently, in the New Testament, hoti, Matthew 12:5; Matthew 16:12,Matthew 16:21; Acts 7:25; Romans 7:1, etc., in the King James Version).

The Revised Version (British and American) has "wherefore" for "how" (Genesis 38:29, margin "how"); has "what" (Judges 13:12; 1 Kings 12:6; Job 13:1–28; 1 Corinthians 14:26), omits (2 Corinthians 13:5); has "how that" (1 Samuel 2:22); "that" (1 Chronicles 18:9; Luke 1:58; Galatians 4:13; James 2:22; Revelation 2:2); has "that even" for "how that" (Hebrews 12:17);" What is this?" for "How is it that?" (Luke 16:2); omits" How is it ?" (Mark 2:16, different text); has "Do ye not yet," for "How is it that?" (Mark 8:21); "Have ye not yet" (Mark 4:40, different text); "what" for "how much" (Luke 19:15, different text); omits "how that" (Luke 7:22); "then how" (James 2:24); has "cannot" for "How can he" (1 John 4:20); omits "How hast thou" (Job 26:3), "how is" (Jeremiah 51:41); has "how" for "the fashion which" (Genesis 6:15), for "and" (Exodus 18:1), for "what" (Judges 18:24; 1 Samuel 4:16; 1 Corinthians 7:16), for "why" (Job 19:28; Job 31:1; Jeremiah 2:33; Galatians 2:14), for "when" (Job 37:15), for "for" (Psalms 42:4), for "but God" (Proverbs 21:12), for "whereunto" (Mark 4:30); for "by what means" (Luke 8:36; John 9:21), for "how greatly" (Philippians 1:8); "how that" for "because" (Ezekiel 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:5), for "and how" (Acts 20:20); "know how to" for "can" (Matthew 16:3); "how" for "by whom" (Amos 7:2,Amos 7:5).

"How" in compounds gives us Howbeit (how be it). It is the translation of 'ulam, "but," "truly," "yet" (Judges 18:29); of 'akh, "certainly," "only" (1 Samuel 8:9); of 'ephes, "moreover," etc. (2 Samuel 12:14); of ken, "so," "thus" (2 Chronicles 32:31); of rak, "only," "surely" "nevertheless" (1 Kings 11:13); of alla, "but," etc. (John 7:27; Acts 7:48; 1 Corinthians 8:7, etc.); of de, "but," etc. (John 6:23); of mentoi (John 7:13 the King James Version); many other instances.

For "howbeit," the Revised Version (British and American) has frequently "but" (2 Kings 12:13, etc.), "and" (2 Chronicles 21:20; Mark 5:19), "surely" (ERV) (Job 30:24), "now" (John 11:13), "yet" (2 Corinthians 11:21), "nay, did" (Hebrews 3:16); omits (Matthew 17:21, different text); it has "howbeit" for "but" (2 Kings 12:3; Luke 19:27; John 5:34, etc.), for "also" (Leviticus 23:27,Leviticus 23:39), for "nevertheless" (Numbers 13:28; 1 Kings 22:43; Mark 14:36; Luke 13:33 the English Revised Version; Luke 18:8; 2 Timothy 2:19), for "notwithstanding" (Joshua 22:19; Luke 10:20 the English Revised Version, "nevertheless" the American Standard Revised Version; (Philippians 4:14), for "nay" (Romans 7:7).

Howsoever (in what manner soever, although, however) is the translation of kol 'asher, "all that which," etc. (Ze 3:7, "howsoever I punished them," the Revised Version (British and American) "according to all that I have appointed concerning her," margin "howsoever I have punished her"; the English Revised Version omits "have"); of raq, "only," "surely," "nevertheless" (Judges 19:20); of yehi-mah, "let be what" (2 Samuel 18:22,2 Samuel 18:23, the Revised Version (British and American) "but come what may"); in 2 Samuel 24:3 "how" and "soever" are separated (kahem), "how many soever they may be," literally, "as they and as they."

W. L. Walker

Hozai

ho'-za-i (chozay, or as it stands at the close of the verse in question, 2 Chronicles 33:19, chozay; Septuagint ton horonton; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) "Hozai"; the King James Version the seers; the King James Version margin "Hosai"; the American Standard Revised Version "Hozia," the American Revised Version margin "the seers." Septuagint not improbably reads ha-chozim, as in 2 Chronicles 33:18; an easy error, since there we find we-dhibhere ha-chozim, "the words of the seers," and here dibhere chozay, "the words of Hozai." Kittel, following Budde, conjectures as the original reading chozayw, "his (Manasseh's) seers"): A historiographer of Manasseh, king of Judah. Thought by many of the Jews, incorrectly, to be the prophet Isaiah, who, as we learn from 2 Chronicles 26:22, was historiographer of a preceding king, Uzziah. This "History of Hozai" has not come down to us. The prayer of Manasseh, mentioned in 33:12 f,18 f and included in this history, suggested the apocryphal book, "The Prayer of Manasses," written, probably, in the 1st century BC.

See APOCRYPHA.

J. Gray McAllister

Huckster

huk'-ster: A retailer of small wares, provisions, or the like; a peddler. "A huckster shall not be acquitted of sin" (Sirach 26:29). Neither a merchant nor a huckster is without sin.

Hukkok

huk'-ok (chuqqoq): A town on the border of Naphtali named with Aznoth-tabor (Joshua 19:34). It is usually identified with the village of yaquq, which stands on the West of Wady el-`Amud, to the Northwest of Gennesaret, about 4 miles from the sea. This would fall on the boundary of Zebulun and Naphtali, between Tabor and Hannathon (Joshua 19:14). The identification may be correct; but it seems too far from Tabor.

Hukok

hu'-kok.

See HELKATH.

Hul

hul (chul): The name of one of the "sons of Aram" in the list of nations descended from Noah, but a people of uncertain identity and location (Genesis 10:23; 1 Chronicles 1:17).ew>yaquq, which stands on the West of Wady el-`Amud, to the Northwest of Gennesaret, about 4 miles from the sea. This would fall on the boundary of Zebulun and Naphtali, between Tabor and Hannathon (Joshua 19:14). The identification may be correct; but it seems too far from Tabor.

Huldah

hul'-da (chuldah, "weasel"; Holda): A prophetess who lived in Jerusalem during the reign of Josiah. She was the wife of Shallum, keeper of the wardrobe, and resided in the "Mishneh" or second part or quarter of Jerusalem (location unknown). Cheyne says it should read, "She was sitting in the upper part of the gate of the Old City," i.e. in a public central place ready to receive any who wished to inquire of Yahweh. He gives no reason for such a change of text. The standing and reputation of Huldah in the city are attested by the fact that she was consulted when the Book of the Law was discovered. The king, high priest, counselors, etc., appealed to her rather than to Jeremiah, and her word was accepted by all as the word of Yahweh (2 Kings 22:14–20; 2 Chronicles 34:22–29).

J. J. Reeve

Human Sacrifice

See SACRIFICE, HUMAN.

Humiliation Of Christ

hu-mil-i-a'-shun (Acts 8:33; Philippians 2:8).

See KENOSIS; PERSON OF CHRIST.

Humility

hu-mil'-i-ti (~[`anawah]; tapeinophrosune):

(1) The noun occurs in the Old Testament only in Proverbs 15:33; Proverbs 18:12; Proverbs 22:4, but the adjective "humble" appears frequently as the translation of `ani, `anaw, shaphal, meaning also "poor," "afflicted"; the verb, as the translation of `anah, "to afflict," "to humble," and of kana`, "to be or become humbled"; tsana`, "to be lowly," occurs in Micah 6:8. For "humble" (Psalms 9:12; Psalms 10:12) the Revised Version (British and American) has "poor"; Psalms 10:17; Psalms 34:2; Psalms 69:32, "meek"; for "humbled" (Psalms 35:13), "afflicted" (Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 10:33), "brought low"; for "He humbleth himself" (Isaiah 2:9) "is brought low," margin "humbleth himself"; Psalms 10:10, "boweth down"; tapeinophrosune is translated "humility" (Colossians 2:18,Colossians 2:23; 1 Peter 5:5); in several other places it is translated "lowliness" and "lowliness of mind"; tapeinos is translated "humble" (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; elsewhere "lowly," etc.; 1 Peter 3:8, tapeinophron), the Revised Version (British and American) "humble-minded"; tapeinoo, "to humble," occurs frequently (Matthew 18:4; Matthew 23:12, etc.); tapeinosis is "humiliation" (Acts 8:33); for "vile body" (Philippians 3:21) the Revised Version (British and American) gives "body of our humiliation."

(2) (a) In the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament, humility is an essential characteristic of true piety, or of the man who is right with God. God humbles men in order to bring them to Himself (Deuteronomy 8:2,Deuteronomy 8:3, etc.), and it is when men humble themselves before Him that they are accepted (1 Kings 21:29; 2 Chronicles 7:14, etc.); to "walk humbly with thy God" completes the Divine requirements (Micah 6:8). In Psalms 18:35 (2 Samuel 22:36) the quality is ascribed to God Himself, "Thy gentleness (or condescension) hath made me great." Of "him that hath his seat on high" it is said, (Hebrew) "humbleth (shaphel) himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth" (Psalms 113:6). It is in the humble heart that "the high and lofty One, .... whose name is Holy" dwells (Isaiah 57:15; compare Isaiah 66:2).

(b) The word tapeinophrosune is not found in classical Greek (Lightfoot); in the New Testament (with the exception of 1 Peter 5:5) it is Pauline. In Greek pre-Christian writers tapeinos is, with a few exceptions in Plato and Platonic writers, used in a bad or inferior sense--as denoting something evil or unworthy. The prominence it gained in Christian thought indicates the new conception of man in relation to God, to himself, and to his fellows, which is due to Christianity. It by no means implies slavishness or servility; nor is it inconsistent with a right estimate of oneself, one's gifts and calling of God, or with proper self-assertion when called for. But the habitual frame of mind of a child of God is that of one who feels not only that he owes all his natural gifts, etc., to God, but that he has been the object of undeserved redeeming love, and who regards himself as being not his own, but God's in Christ. He cannot exalt himself, for he knows that he has nothing of himself. The humble mind is thus at the root of all other graces and virtues. Self-exaltation spoils everything. There can be no real love without humility. "Love," said Paul, "vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up" (1 Corinthians 13:4). As Augustine said, humility is first, second and third in Christianity.

(c) Jesus not only strongly impressed His disciples with the need of humility, but was in Himself its supreme example. He described Himself as "meek and lowly (tapeinos) in heart" (Matthew 11:29). The first of the Beatitudes was to "the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3), and it was "the meek" who should "inherit the earth. Humility is the way to true greatness: he who should "humble himself as this little child" should be "the greatest in the kingdom of heaven"; "Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Matthew 18:4; Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14). To the humble mind truth is revealed (Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21). Jesus set a touching example of humility in His washing His disciples' feet (John 13:1–17).

(d) Paul, therefore, makes an earnest appeal to Christians (Philippians 2:1–11) that they should cherish and manifest the Spirit of their Lord's humility--"in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself," and adduces the supreme example of the self-emptying (kenosis) of Christ: "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," etc. The rendering of heauton ekenosen (Philippians 2:7 the King James Version) by "he humbled himself" has given rise to the designation of the Incarnation as "the Humiliation of Christ."

(e) There is a false humility which Paul warns against, a self-sought, "voluntary humility" (Colossians 2:18,Colossians 2:23). This still exists in many forms, and has to be guarded against. It is not genuine humility when we humble ourselves with the feeling that we are greater than others, but only when we do not think of self at all. It is not alone the sense of sin that should create the humble spirit: Jesus had no sin. It belongs not merely to the creature, but even to a son in relation to God. There may be much self-satisfaction where sinfulness is confessed. We may be proud of our humility. It is necessary also always to beware of "the pride that apes humility."

W. L. Walker

Humps

humps: Appears in Isaiah 30:6 in the American Standard Revised Version for "bunches" in the King James Version.

Humtah

hum'-ta (chumTah): An unidentified place mentioned between Aphekah and Hebron in the mountain of Judah (Joshua 15:54).

Hundred

hun'-dred (me'-ah; hekaton).

See NUMBER.

Hunger

hun'-ger (ra`abh; limos (subs.), peinao (vb.):

(1) The desire for food, a physiological sensation associated with emptiness of the stomach, and dependent on some state of the mucous membrane;

(2) starvation as the effect of want of food, as Exodus 16:3; Isaiah 49:10;

(3) to feel the craving for food as Deuteronomy 8:3; when used to indicate the condition due to general scarcity of food as Jeremiah 38:9; Ezekiel 34:29 it is replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by "famine." The word is used to express the poverty which follows idleness and sloth (Proverbs 19:15). The absence of this condition is given as one of the characteristics of the future state of happiness (Isaiah 49:10; Ezekiel 34:29; Revelation 7:16). Metaphorically the passionate striving for moral and spiritual rectitude is called hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Matthew 5:6); and the satisfaction of the soul which receives Christ is described as a state in which "he shall not hunger" (John 6:35).

On two occasions it is said of our Lord that He hungered (Matthew 21:18; Luke 4:2); 9 times the old English expression "an hungred" is used, the "an" being a prefix which indicates that the condition is being continued (Matthew 12:1,Matthew 12:3; Matthew 25:35,Matthew 25:37,Matthew 25:42,Matthew 25:44; Mark 2:25; Luke 6:3 the King James Version). In Matthew 4:2 the King James Version, "an hungred" has been changed to "hungered" in the Revised Version (British and American). "Hard bestead and hungry" in Isaiah 8:21 means bested (that is, placed) in a condition of hardship, "sore distressed," the American Standard Revised Version. The word occurs in Spenser, "Thus ill bestedd and fearful more of shame" (I, i, 24). The reference of the aggravation of the sensation of hunger when one who is starving awakes from a dream of food (Isaiah 29:8) is graphically illustrated by the experience of the antarctic voyager (Shackleton, Heart of the Antarctic, II, 9).

Alexander Macalister