Presence – Priest, Christ As

Presence

prez'-ens: In the Old Testament nearly always the rendition of panim, "face" (Genesis 3:8; Exodus 33:14 Psalms 95:2; Isaiah 63:9, etc.); occasionally of `ayin, "eye" (Genesis 23:11; Deuteronomy 25:9; Jeremiah 28:1,Jeremiah 28:11, etc.); and in 1 Kings 8:22; Proverbs 14:7, "the presence of" represents the preposition neghedh, "before"; compare also Aramaic qodham, in Daniel 2:27 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "before"). In Greek, "presence" has an exact equivalent in parousia, but this word is rendered "presence" only in 2 Corinthians 10:10; Philippians 2:12; the Revised Version (British and American); Philippians 1:26 (the King James Version "coming"). Elsewhere parousia is rendered "coming," but always with "presence" in the margin. Otherwise in the New Testament "presence" represents no particular word but is introduced where it seems to suit the context (compare e.g. Acts 3:13 the King James Version and Acts 3:19).

See PAROUSIA.

Burton Scott Easton

Present

prez'-ent.

See GIFT.

Presently

prez'-ent-li: The strict meaning is of course "at the present moment," "instantly," and the modern force "after a short interval" is due simply to the procrastinating habits of mankind; hence, the Revised Version (British and American) modifications of the King James Version use of the word into "immediately" (Matthew 21:19), "even now" (Matthew 26:53), and "forthwith" (Philippians 2:23). In Proverbs 12:16, the uncertainty of the meaning (margin "openly," Hebrew "in the day") has led to the retention of the King James Version word.

President

prez'-i-dent (carakh): Used only in Daniel 6:2–7. Probably a Persian derivative from sar, "head," and the Aramaic equivalent for Hebrew shoter. The meaning is self-evident and refers to the appointment of Daniel by Darius to be one of the three princes who had rule over the satraps of the empire.

Press

pres: As a verb is used in the Revised Version (British and American) as a translation of no less than 13 Greek and Hebrew words (rather more in the King James Version). All the Revised Version (British and American) uses are modern. In the King James Version may be noted The Wisdom of Solomon 17:11, "pressed with conscience" (the Revised Version (British and American) "pressed hard by"); 2 Macc 14:9, "pressed on every side" (the Revised Version (British and American) "surrounded by foes"); Acts 18:5, "pressed in the spirit" (the Revised Version (British and American) "constrained by"). As a noun, the King James Version uses "press" in Mark 2:4 for ochlos, "crowd" (so the Revised Version (British and American)). For wine press see VINE; WINE.

Pressfat

pres'-fat (Haggai 2:16 in the King James Version, the English Revised Version "winefat," the American Standard Revised Version "winevat").

See WINE.

Presume; Presumptuous; Presumptuously

pre-zum', pre-zump'-tu-us, pre-zump'-tu-us-li: "To presume" ("to take or go beforehand") is to speak or act without warrant or proudly. In the Old Testament the words are for the most part the translation of zudh, and zidh, "to boil up" (as water), and derivatives; hence, to act proudly, to speak unauthorizedly, etc. (Deuteronomy 18:20,Deuteronomy 18:22, of the prophet; Exodus 21:14; Deuteronomy 1:43; Deuteronomy 17:12,Deuteronomy 17:13; Psalms 19:13, "presumptuous sins" (zedh, "proud"); compare Psalms 86:14; Psalms 119:21, etc.; Proverbs 21:24, etc.). Other words are male', "to fill," "to be full" (Esther 7:5, "presume"); `aphal, "to lift oneself up" (Numbers 14:44); beyadh ramah, "with a high hand" (Numbers 15:30, the Revised Version (British and American) "with a high hand"); in 2 Peter 2:10 tolmetes, "bold," "daring," is translated "presumptuous," the Revised Version (British and American) "daring"; in 2 Macc 3:24; 5:15 we have katatolmao; thrasus, is rendered "presumption" in 2 Macc 5:18, the Revised Version (British and American) "daring deed."

W. L. Walker

Prevent

pre-vent' (qadham; prophthano, phthano): "Prevent" occurs in the King James Version in the literal but obsolete sense of "to come or go before," "to anticipate," not in the sense of "to hinder." It is the translation of qadham, "to be sharp," "to be in front," "to be beforehand" (2 Samuel 22:6,2 Samuel 22:19, the Revised Version (British and American) "came upon" Job 3:12, the Revised Version (British and American) "receive"; 30:27, "are come upon"; 41:11, "first given"; Psalms 18:5,Psalms 18:18, "came upon"; 21:3, the American Standard Revised Version "meetest"; 59:10, the American Standard Revised Version "meet"; 79:8, the American Standard Revised Version "meet"; 88:13, "come before"; 119:147,148, the American Standard Revised Version "anticipated"; Isaiah 21:14, "did meet"; Amos 9:10, the American Standard Revised Version "meet"). In the New Testament prophthano, with same meaning, is translated "prevent" (Matthew 17:25, "Jesus prevented him," the Revised Version (British and American) "spake first to him"); phthano (1 Thessalonians 4:15, "shall not prevent," the Revised Version (British and American) "shall in no wise precede"). "Prevent" in the above sense occurs in The Wisdom of Solomon 6:13, the Revised Version (British and American) "forestalleth" (phthano); 16:28, "we must prevent the sun to give thee thanks," the Revised Version (British and American) "rise before."

W. L. Walker

Prey

pra (baz, Tereph, shalal): "Prey" is frequent in the Old Testament, chiefly as the translation of baz, "spoil," "plunder" (Numbers 14:3,Numbers 14:11; Deuteronomy 1:39; Isaiah 10:6, etc.); of Tereph, "prey of wild beasts," "torn thing" (Genesis 49:9; Numbers 23:24; Job 4:11, etc.); of malqoah, "a taking" (Numbers 31:11, etc.; Isaiah 49:24,Isaiah 49:25); of shalal, "spoil" or "booty" (Judges 5:30 twice; Judges 8:24,Revelation 8:8; Isaiah 10:2, etc.). Maher-shalal-chash-baz (the Revised Version margin "The spoil speedeth, the prey hasteth") was the symbolical name given to a son of Isaiah (Isaiah 8:1,Isaiah 8:3). "Prey" does not occur in the New Testament, but is found in the Apoc: 1 Esdras 8:77, "for our sins .... were given up .... for a prey" (pronome); Judith 9:4; 16:5; 1 Macc 7:47; Ecclesiasticus 27:10 (thera); Judith 5:24 (katabroma).

In the Revised Version (British and American) shalal is generally translated "spoil" (Judges 5:30; Revelation 8:7,Revelation 8:8; Isaiah 10:2, etc.), while, conversely, "prey" (noun and verb) is occasionally substituted for "spoil," "booty" (Numbers 31:32, ere).

See BOOTY; SPOIL.

W. L. Walker

Price

pris: Represents various words in the Old Testament; time, is the usual Greek word for "price" in the New Testament. "Of great price" is polutimos, in Matthew 13:46, and poluteles, in 1 Peter 3:4. The verb occurs in Zechariah 11:13 the King James Version and the English Revised Version as "prised." The spelling "prized" in the American Standard Revised Version and some editions of the King James Version is due to a confusion with "prize." For "price of a dog" (Deuteronomy 23:18 the King James Version) see DOG.

Prick

prik: As a noun (= any slender pointed thing, a thorn, a sting) it translates two words:

(1) sekh, a "thorn" or "prickle." Only in Numbers 33:55, "those that ye let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes," i.e. "shall be a source of painful trouble to you."

(2) kentron "an iron goad" for urging on oxen and other beasts of burden: "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (the King James Version of Acts 9:5, where the Revised Version (British and American) omits the whole phrase, following the best manuscripts, including Codices Sinaiticus, A, B, C, E; the King James Version of Acts 26:14, where the Revised Version (British and American) has "goad," margin "Greek: `goads' "), i.e. to offer vain and perilous resistance. See GOAD. As a verb (= "to pierce with something sharply pointed," "to sting"), it occurs once in its literal sense: "a pricking brier" (Ezekiel 28:24); and twice in a figurative sense: "I was pricked in my heart" (Psalms 73:21); "They were pricked in their heart" (Acts 2:37, katanusso, Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) compungo; compare English word "compunction").

D. Miall Edwards

Priest

prest (kohen, "priest," "prince," "minister"; hiereus archiereus; for hiereus megas, of Hebrews 10:21, see Thayer's Lexicon, under the word hiereus:

I. NATURE OF THE PRIESTLY OFFICE

1. Implies Divine Choice

2. Implies Representation

3. Implies Offering Sacrifice

4. Implies Intercession

II. THE TWO GREAT PRIESTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, MELCHIZEDEK AND AARON

III. PRIESTLY FUNCTIONS AND CHARACTER

1. A Strictly Religious Order

2. Priestism Denied

3. The High Priest's Qualifications

4. Symbolism of Aaron's Rod

IV. CONSECRATION OF AARON AND HIS SONS (EXODUS 29; LEVITICUS 8)

1. Symbolism of Consecration

2. Type and Archetype

LITERATURE

A priest is one who is duly authorized to minister in sacred things, particularly to offer sacrifices at the altar, and who acts as mediator between men and God. In the New Testament the term is applied to priests of the Gentiles (Acts 14:13), to those of the Jews (Matthew 8:4), to Christ (Hebrews 5:5,Hebrews 5:6), and to Christians (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6). The office of priest in Israel was of supreme importance and of high rank. The high priest stood next the monarch in influence and dignity. Aaron, the head of the priestly order, was closely associated with the great lawgiver, Moses, and shared with him in the government and guidance of the nation. It was in virtue of the priestly functions that the chosen people were brought into near relations with God and kept therein. Through the ministrations of the priesthood the people of Israel were instructed in the doctrine of sin and its expiation, in forgiveness and worship. In short, the priest was the indispensable source of religious knowledge for the people, and the channel through which spiritual life was communicated.

I. Nature of the Priestly Office.

1. Implies Divine Choice:

The Scriptures furnish information touching this point. To them we at once turn. Priesthood implies choice. Not only was the office of divine institution, but the priest himself was divinely-appointed thereto. "For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God. .... And no man taketh the honor unto himself, but when he is called of God, even as was Aaron" (Hebrews 5:1,Hebrews 5:4). The priest was not elected by the people, much less was he self-appointed. Divine selection severed him from those for whom he was to act. Even our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, came not into the world unsent. He received His commission and His authority from the fountain of all sovereignty. At the opening of His earthly ministry He said, "He anointed me. .... He hath sent me" (Luke 4:18). He came bearing heavenly credentials.

2. Implies Representation:

It implies the principle of representation. The institution of the office was God's gracious provision for a people at a distance from Him, who needed one to appear in the divine presence in their behalf. The high priest was to act for men in things pertaining to God, "to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17). He was the mediator who ministered for the guilty. "The high priest represented the whole people. All Israelites were reckoned as being in him. The prerogative held by him belonged to the whole of them (Exodus 19:6), but on this account it was transferred to him because it was impossible that all Israelites should keep themselves holy as became the priests of Yahweh" (Vitringa). That the high priest did represent the whole congregation appears, first, from his bearing the tribal names on his shoulders in the onyx stones, and, second, in the tribal names engraved in the twelve gems of the breastplate. The divine explanation of this double representation of Israel in the dress of the high priest is, he "shall bear their names before Yahweh upon his two shoulders for a memorial" (Exodus 28:12,Exodus 28:19). Moreover, his committing heinous sin involved the people in his guilt: "If the anointed priest shall sin so as to bring guilt on the people" (Leviticus 4:3). The Septuagint reads, "If the anointed priest shall sin so as to make the people sin." The anointed priest, of course, is the high priest. When he sinned the people sinned. His official action was reckoned as their action. The whole nation shared in the trespass of their representative. The converse appears to be just as true. What he did in his official capacity, as prescribed by the Lord, was reckoned as done by the whole congregation: "Every high priest .... is appointed for men" (Hebrews 5:1).

3. Implies Offering Sacrifice:

It implies the offering of sacrifice. Nothing is clearer in Scripture than this priestly function. It was the chief duty of a priest to reconcile men to God by making atonement for their sins; and this he effected by means of sacrifice, blood-shedding (Hebrews 5:1; Hebrews 8:3). He would be no priest who should have nothing to offer. It was the high priest who carried the blood of the sin offering into the Most Holy Place and who sprinkled it seven times on and before the mercy-seat, thus symbolically covering the sins of the people from the eyes of the Lord who dwelt between the cherubim (Psalms 80:1). It was he also who marked the same blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering in the Court of the Tabernacle, and on those of the golden altar, that the red sign of propitiation might thus be lifted up in the sight of Yahweh, the righteous Judge and Redeemer.

4. Implies Intercession:

It implies intercession. In the priestly ministry of Aaron and his sons this function is not so expressly set forth as are some of their other duties, but it is certainly included. For intercession is grounded in atonement. There can be no effective advocacy on behalf of the guilty until their guilt is righteously expiated. The sprinkling of the blood on the mercy-seat served to cover the guilt from the face of God, and at the same time it was an appeal to Him to pardon and accept His people. So we read that after Aaron had sprinkled the blood he came forth from the sanctuary and blessed Israel (Leviticus 9:22–24; Numbers 6:22–27).

II. The Two Great Priests of the Old Testament, Melchizedek and Aaron:

These were Melchizedek and Aaron. No others that ever bore the name or discharged the office rank with these, save, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom they were distinguished types. Of the two, Melchizedek was the greater. There are two reasons why they are to be considered chiefs: first, because they are first in their respective orders. Melchizedek was not only the head of his order, but he had no successor. The office began and terminated with him (Hebrews 7:3). The ordinary priests and the Levites depended for their official existence on Aaron. Apart from him they would not be priests. Second, the priesthood of Christ was typified by both. The office is summed up and completed in Him. They were called and consecrated that they might be prophecies of Him who was to come and in whom all priesthood and offering and intercession would find its ample fulfillment. In the Epistle to the Hebrews the priesthood of both these men is combined and consummated in Christ. But let it be noted that while He is of the order of Melchizedek He exercises the office after the pattern of Aaron. He perfects all that Aaron did typically, because He is the true and the real Priest, while Aaron is but a figure.

III. Priestly Functions and Character.

1. A Strictly Religious Order:

These are minutely prescribed in the Law. #In the institution of the office the Lord's words to Moses were, "Take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office" (Exodus 28:1 the King James Version). Their duties were strictly religious. They had no political power conferred upon them. Their services, their dependent position, and the way in which they were sustained, i.e. by the free gifts of the people, precluded them from exercising any undue influence in the affairs of the nation. It is true that in process of time the high office degenerated, and became a thing of barter and sale in the hands of unscrupulous and corrupt men, but as originally appointed the priesthood in Israel was not a caste, nor a hierarchy, nor a political factor, but a divinely-appointed medium of communication between God and the people.

2. Priestism Denied:

The Hebrew priests in no wise interfered with the conscience of men. The Hebrew worshipper of his own free will laid his hand on the head of his sacrifice, and confessed his sins to God alone. His conscience was quite free and untrammeled.

3. The High Priest's Qualifications:

There were certain duties which were peculiar to the high priest. He alone could wear the "garments for glory and for beauty." To him alone it pertained to enter the Most Holy Place and to sprinkle the blood of the sin offering on the mercy-seat. To him alone it pertained to represent the congregation before the Lord as mediator, and to receive the divine communications. He was to be ceremonially pure and holy. He must be physically perfect. Any defect or deformity disqualified a member of the priestly family from performing the duties of the office (Leviticus 21:17–21). The Law spoke with the utmost precision as to the domestic relations of the high priest. He could marry neither a widow, nor a divorced woman, nor one polluted, nor a harlot; only a virgin of his own people, a Hebrew of pure extraction, could become his wife (Leviticus 21:14,Leviticus 21:15). Nor was he to come in contact with death. He must not rend his clothes, nor defile himself, even for his father or his mother (Leviticus 21:10,Leviticus 21:11). His sons might defile themselves for their kin, but the high priest must not. For he was the representative of life. Death did not exist for him, in so far as he was a priest. God is the Ever-Living, the Life-Giving; and His priest, who had "the crown of the anointing oil of his God upon him," had to do with life alone.

4. Symbolism of Aaron's Rod:

Adolph Saphir believes there is deep significance in the miracle of Aaron's rod that budded and bare almonds (Numbers 17:1–13). It was a visible sign of the legitimacy of Aaron's priesthood and a confirmation of it, and a symbol of its vitality and fruitfulness. The twelve rods of the tribes were dead sticks of wood, and remained dead; Aaron's alone had life and produced blossoms and fruit. It was the emblem of his office which correlated itself with life, and had nothing to do with death.

IV. Consecration of Aaron and His Sons (Exodus 29; Leviticus 8).

The process of the consecration is minutely described and is worthy of a more detailed and careful study than can here be given it. Only the more prominent features are noticed.

(1) Both the high priest and his sons were together washed with water (Exodus 29:4). But when this was done, the high priest parted company with his sons.

(2) Next, Aaron was arrayed in the holy and beautiful garments, with the breastplate over his heart, and the holy crown on his head, the mitre, or turban, with its golden plate bearing the significant inscription, "Holy to Yahweh." This was Aaron's investiture of the high office.

(3) He was then anointed with the precious oil. It is noteworthy that Moses poured the oil on his head. When he anointed the tabernacle and its furniture he sprinkled the oil, but in Aaron's case there was a profusion, an abundance in the anointing (Psalms 133:2).

(4) After the anointing of the high priest the appointed sacrifices were offered (Exodus 29:10). Up to this point in the ceremony Aaron was the principal figure, the sons having no part save in the bathing. But after the offerings had been made the sons became prominent participants in the ceremonies, sharing equally with the high priest therein.

(5) The blood of the offering was applied to the person of father and sons alike (Exodus 29:20,Exodus 29:21). On the tip of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the great toe of the right foot was the consecrating blood-mark set.

1. Symbolism of Consecration:

The significance of this action should not escape the reader. The whole person and career of the priest were thus brought under power of the blood. He had a blood-stained ear that he might hear and obey the divine injunctions, that he might understand the word of Yahweh and interpret it to the people. His will was brought into subjection to the will of His Lord that he might be a faithful minister in things pertaining to God. He had a blood-stained hand that he might execute, rightly and efficiently, the services of the sanctuary and the duties of his great office. He had likewise a blood-stained foot that he might walk in the statutes and commandments of the Lord blameless, and tread the courts of the Lord's house as the obedient servant of the Most High. Sacrificial blood, the blood of atonement, is here, as everywhere else, the foundation for saints and sinners, for priests and ministers alike, in all their relations with God.

2. Type and Archetype:

The priests of Israel were but dim shadows, obscure sketches and drafts of the one Great Priest of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Without drawing out at length the parallelism between the type and the archetype, we may sum up in a few brief sentences the perfection found in the priestly character of Christ:

(1) Christ as Priest is appointed of God (Hebrews 5:5). (2) He is consecrated with an oath (Hebrews 7:20–22).

(3) He is sinless (Hebrews 7:26).

(4) His priesthood is unchangeable (Hebrews 7:23,Hebrews 7:24).

(5) His offering is perfect and final (Hebrews 9:25–28; Hebrews 10:12).

(6) His intercession is all-prevailing (Hebrews 7:25).

(7) As God and man in one Person He is a perfect Mediator (Hebrews 1:1–14; Hebrews 2:1–18).

See CHRIST, OFFICES OF, sec. V.

LITERATURE.

Smith, DB; HDB; P. Fairbairn, Typology of Scripture, II; Soltau, Exposition of the Tabernacle; the Priestly Garments and the Priesthood; Martin, Atonement; A.B. Davidson, Hebrews; Moorehead, Mosaic Institutions.

William G. Moorehead

Priest, Christ As

See CHRIST, OFFICES OF.