Ucal – Unity

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Ucal

u'-kal ('ukhal (see below)): This name occurs along with that of Ithiel (), both being taken by older interpreters as those of ancient sages. Some have suggested (see Toy, Proverbs, 519 f) that Ucal might be the "Caleol" of (). Ucal was also explained as "I can," i.e. "I can maintain my obedience to God," just as Ithiel was taken to be "signs of God." Septuagint, Aquila, Theodotion do not take the words as proper names, and so BDB with others point this word as a vb., "(and) I am consumed" (wa'ekhel, for [~we'ukhal). The last three words of the verse are then translated "I have wearied myself, O God, I have wearied myself, O God, and am consumed."

See ITHIEL.

David Francis Roberts

Uel

u'-el, 'u'el,, "will of God"): One of the sons of Bani who had taken foreign wives (). The name in 1 Esdras 9:35 is "Juel" (Codex Vaticanus Ouel; Codex Alexandrinus Iouel).

Uknaz

uk'-naz (uqenaz, "and Kenaz," probably): Found in the King James Version margin of for the King James Version "even Kenaz," the Revised Version (British and American) "and Kenaz," whereas the Septuagint omits "and." It is probable that some name has dropped out after Elah. Curtis suggests reading "and these are the sons of Kenaz," i.e. those mentioned in f.

See KENAZ.

Ulai

u'-li, u'-lai ('ubhal 'ulay, "river Ulai"; Theodotion , Oubal, the Septuagint and Theodotion in 8:16, Oulai Latin, Eulaeus):

1. The Name and Its Forms:

A river which, running through the province of Elam, flowed through Shushan or Susa. It was from "between" this river that Daniel (8:16) heard a voice, coming apparently from the waters which flowed between its two banks.

2. Present Names and Course:

Notwithstanding that the rivers of Elam have often changed their courses, there is but little doubt that the Ulai is the Kerkhah, which, rising in the Persian plain near Nehavend (there called the Gamas-ab), is even there a great river. Turned by the mountains, it runs Northwest as far as Bisutun, receiving all the waters of Southern Kurdistan, where, as the Sein Merre, it passes through the inaccessible defiles of Luristan, its course before reaching the Kebir-Kuh being a succession of rapids. Turned aside by this mountain, it follows for about 95 miles the depression which here exists as far as the foothills of Luristan, reaching the Susian plain as a torrent; but it becomes less rapid before losing itself in the marshes of Hawizeh. The course of the stream is said to be still doubtful in places.

3. Changed Bed at Susa:

In ancient times it flowed at the foot of the citadel of Susa, but its bed is now about 1 1/4 miles to the West. The date of this change of course (during which a portion of the ruins of Susa was carried away) is uncertain, but it must have been later than the time of Alexander the Great. The stream's greatest volume follows the melting of the snows in the mountains, and floods ensue if this coincides with the advent of heavy rain. Most to be dreaded are the rare occasions when it unites with the Ab-e-Diz.

4. Assyrian References:

The Ulai (Assyrian Ulaa or Ulaia) near Susa is regarded as being shown on the sculptures of the Assyrian king Ashur-bani-pal (British Museum, Nineveh Gal.) illustrating his campaign against Te-umman. Its rapid stream bears away the bodies of men and horses, with chariots, bows and quivers. The bodies which were thrown into the stream hindered its course, and dyed its waters with their blood.

LITERATURE

See Delegation en Perse: Memoires, I, Recherches Archeologiques, 25 ff.

T. G. Pinches

Ulam

u'-lam ('ulam, "preceding"):

(1) A "son"of Peresh; a Manassite clan (,). Lucian reads Elam.

(2) A descendant of Benjamin who had sons, "mighty men of valor" (,). The Septuagint's Codex Vaticanus has Ailam in and Aileim in 8:40; Codex Alexandrinus has Oulam in both verses, and so Lucian.

Ulla

ul'-a (`ulla' meaning unknown): An Asherite ().

Ummah

um'-a (`ummah; Archob, Amma): One of the cities allotted to the tribe of Asher (). By a slight emendation of the text it would read Acco, the name of the place subsequently known as Ptolemais, the modern `Akka. This emendation is generally adopted by scholars, although it is at best a conjecture. No other identification is yet possible.

Umpire

um'-pir.

See DAYSMAN.

Unbelief

un-be-lef': The word (the King James Version) represents two Greek words, apeitheia, "disobedience" (only in ,; ,), and apistia, "distrust," the antithesis to "faith". (which see). The two words are not only akin etymologically but run into one another by mental connection, certainly where spiritual relations are concerned, as between man and God. For when God has spoken, in precept and yet more in promise, distrust involves, at least potentially, an element of disobedience. His supreme claim is to be trusted to command only what is right, and to promise only what is true. He is infinitely sympathetic in His insight, and infallibly knows where distrust comes only of the dim perceptions and weak mis-givings of our mortal nature, and where, on the other hand, a moral resistance lies at the back of the non-confidence. But the presence of that darker element is always to be suspected, at least, and searched for in serious self-examination.

We may remark that it is a loss in our language that "unbelief" is the only word we can use as the antithesis to "faith"; for "faith" and "belief" (which see) are not exactly synonyms. "Unfaith" would be a welcome word for such use, if it were generally so understood.

Handley Dunelm

Unbeliever

un-be-lev'-er: This word follows closely the lines of "unbelief" (which see) in its relation to originals. Once only () it represents the participle apeithountes, "disobeying (ones)." Elsewhere (nine cases) it represents apistos, "faithless," "without faith." In six of these passages (all in 1 and 2 Corinthians) it denotes the unconverted pagan as distinguished from the convert. In the other passages (; ; ) the reference is to the unbelief which comes of moral resistance to God.

Uncertain; Uncertainty

un-sur'-tin,un-sur'-tin-ti: Adjective adelos, 2 Macc 7:34; ; adverb adelos, ; noun adelotes, ; adelos means "not clear," and so "uncertain." Also the King James Version The Wisdom of Solomon 9:14 for episphales, "unsteady," the Revised Version (British and American) "prone to fall."

Unchangeable; Unchangeableness

un-chanj'-a-bl, un-chanj'-a-bl-nes:

I. UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD A TRUTH OF NATURAL THEOLOGY

II. SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE OF THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD

1. Not Lifeless Immobility

2. As Contrasted with the Finite

3. God's Knowledge, Will and Purpose

4. In His Relation to the World

5. His Relations to Men

LITERATURE

The unchangeablehess or immutability of God is that divine attribute which expresses the truth that in His nature and perfections, in His knowledge, will and purpose, He always remains the same in the fullness of His infinite and perfect Being; infinitely exalted above change, becoming and development, which are the specific characteristics of all finite existence. This is one of what theologians have called the incommunicable attributes of God, that is, one of those specific characteristics of the divine nature which make God to be God in distinction from all that is finite. These attributes have also been called negative attributes. By calling them negative, however, it is not meant that they express the nature of God in so far as He is unknowable and incomprehensible by the finite mind, while the positive attributes, such as love and righteousness, express God's nature as revealed and known. Both kinds of attributes can be known only in so far as God reveals Himself, and furthermore the so-called negative attributes involve a positive idea, while the positive ones in turn imply the negation of all finite limitations. Moreover, since the finite mind cannot comprehend the infinite God, back of all that God has revealed of Himself, back even of His absoluteness, eternity and unchangeability, lies the fullness of His infinite Being, unsearchable, unknowable, and incomprehensible alike in His nature and attributes (; ; ; ).

It is these incommunicable attributes, including unchangeableness, which make God to be God, and mark the specific difference between Him and all finite existence. Unchangeableness is, therefore, the characteristic of God's entire nature and of all His attributes. It cannot be limited to His ethical nature or to His love, and, while it is true that these incommunicable attributes are revealed with especial richness in God's saving activity, they cannot be limited to marks of God's saving action or purpose. It is true that God is unchangeable in His love and grace and power to save, but that is only because it is the love and grace and power of the absolute, infinite and immutable God.

I. Unchangeableness of God a Truth of Natural Theology.

As the One infinitely perfect and absolute or self-existent Being, God is exalted far above the possibility of change, because He is independent, self-existent and unlimited by all the causes of change. As uncaused and self-existent, God cannot be changed from without; as infinitely perfect, He cannot suffer change from within; and as eternal and independent of time, which is the "form" of change and mutability, He cannot be subject to any change at all. God's unchangeablehess, therefore, follows from His self-existence and eternity.

II. Scriptural Doctrine of the Unchangeableness of God.

The Scripture doctrine of God reaffirms this truth. It conceives of God as a living Person in relation to the world and man, and at the same time as absolutely unlimited by the world and man, and as absolutely unchangeable. The God who has revealed Himself in the Old Testament and the New Testament is never identified with, or merged in, the processes of Nature. He is complete and perfect in Himself, and is not the result of any process of self-realization. He is so great that His relations to the created universe cannot begin to exhaust His Being, and yet He stands in the closest relations to man and the world as Creator, Preserver, Governor, and Saviour.

1. Not Lifeless Immobility:

On the one hand, then, the Bible never represents the unchangeableness of God as a dead immobility out of all relation to man and the world. This tendency of thought, fearing anthropomorphism, proceeds on the principle that to make any definite predications about God is to limit Him. The logical result of this is to conceive of God as abstract Being or Substance, so that the word "God" becomes only a name for the Unknowable. Over against this error, the Scripture represents God concretely as a Person in relation to the world and man. In the beginning He created the heavens and the earth, and from that time on He is the life of the world, especially of Israel, His chosen people. To bring out this truth anthropomorphisms are employed. God comes and goes, reveals Himself and hides Himself. He repents (; ; ; ); He becomes angry (; ); and lays aside His anger (; ). He sustains a different relation to the godly and the wicked (; ). In the fullness of time He became incarnate through the Son, and He dwells in His people by His Spirit, their experience of His grace being greater at some times than at others.

But on the other hand, the Scripture always asserts in unmistakable terms the unchangeableness of God. He is unchangeable in His nature. Although the name 'El Shadday, by which He made Himself known in the patriarchal period of revelation, denotes especially God's power, this name by no means exhausts the revelation of God in that period. His unchangeableness is involved in His eternity as made known to Abraham (). This attribute finds its clearest expression in the name Yahweh as revealed to Moses, the significance of which is unfolded in the passage . God here reveals Himself to His people as "I AM THAT I AM," using the future tense of the verb "to be," which, as the context shows, is given as the meaning of the name Yahweh. Some recent writers would derive these words from the Hiphil stem of the verb, and affirm that it signifies that God is the giver of life. The verb, however, is in the Qal stem, the tense denoting the changeless continuity of the life and nature of God. The idea expressed is not merely that of self-existence, but also of unchangeableness, and this unchangeableness, as the context clearly indicates (especially ), is here set forth not simply as belonging to the nature of God in Himself, but is brought into closest connection with His covenant relation to His people, so that the religious value of God's unchangeableness is most clearly implied in this fundamental assertion of the attribute. The same idea of God's immutability is reaffirmed in the prophecy of Isaiah. It is connected with the name Yahweh (; compare also 48:12), where Yahweh affirms that He is the first and, with the last, the same God, thereby asserting not merely His eternity, but also that He is the same in His divine existence throughout all ages. This attribute, moreover, is claimed by Yahweh, and set forth as an especial mark of His Godhead in . The unchangeableness of the divine nature is also asserted by the prophet Malachi in a difficult passage (3:6). This is a clear affirmation of the unchangeableness of God, the only question being whether it is set forth as the ground of Israel's confidence, or in contrast with their fickleness, a question which depends partly on that of the text.

In the New Testament the thought of the passage in Exodus 3 is reiterated in the Apocalypse where God is described as He who is and was and is to come (). This is an expansion of the covenant name Yahweh in , denoting not merely eternity but also immutability. The phrases "the Alpha and the Omega" (; ; ); and "the first and the last" (; ); and "the beginning and the end" (; ) bring out the same idea, and are applied to Christ as well as to God, which is a clear indication of our Lord's Deity. The apostle Paul likewise asserts the incorruptibility, eternity and immortality of the divine nature, all of which ideas imply the unchangeableness of God (; ; ).

2. As Contrasted with the Finite:

Not only is the unchangeableness of God's nature asserted in Scripture, and placed in relation to His dealings with men, but also it is declared to be the distinctive characteristic of God's nature as contrasted with the entire universe of finite being. While the heavens and the earth change and are passing away, God endures forever and forever the same God ( (Hebrew versification, 27-29)). The application of the language of this psalm to Christ by the author of the Epistle to the involves the unchangeableness of Christ, which is again explicitly asserted in this Epistle (), being another clear indication of the way in which the Deity of Jesus Christ pervades the New Testament. This idea of God's immutability, as contrasted with the mutability of finite existence which is His creation, is given expression in the New Testament by the apostle James. As Creator of the heavenly bodies, God is called the Father of lights. While their lights, however, are intermittent, God's light is subject to neither change nor obscuration ().

In accordance with this idea of the unchangeableness of God's nature, the Scripture, in ascribing life and personality to Him, never regards God as subject to any process of becoming or self-realization, and the views which so conceive of God are unscriptural whether they proceed upon a unitarian or a trinitarian basis.

3. God's Knowledge, Will and Purpose:

God is also represented in Scripture as unchangeable in His knowledge, will and purpose. He is not a man that He should repent (). His purposes, therefore, are unchangeable (; ; ); and His decrees are accordingly likened to "mountains of brass" (). His righteousness is as immutable as mountains ( ()); and His power also is unchangeable (). Hence, while the Scripture represents God as sustaining living relations to His creatures, it does not conceive of Him as conditioned or determined in any way by men's acts, in either His knowledge, will, purpose or power. God knows eternally the changing course of events, and He acts differently upon different occasions, but all events, including human actions, are determined by God's unchangeable purpose, so that God's knowledge and actions are not contingent upon anything outside Himself.

Although, therefore, the idea of God as pure abstract Being, out of all relation to the world, is unscriptural, it is no less true that conception of God which represents a reaction from this, and which conceives of God anthropomorphically and as conditioned and determined by the world and man, is also quite contradictory to the Scripture conception of God. This latter tendency goes too far in the opposite direction, and falls into the error of conceiving God's knowledge, will, purpose and power too anthropomorphically, and as limited by the free acts of man. While the opposite tendency kept God out of all relation to the world, this one erects God's relation to the world into something which limits Him. This way of conceiving of God, which is the error of Rationalism, Socinianism and Arminianism, is as unscriptural as that which conceives of God as abstract Being, unknowable, and entirely out of relation to the world.

4. In His Relation to the World:

Unchangeable in His nature and attributes, God is likewise unchangeable in His relation to the world, which relation the Scripture represents as creation and providence, and not as emanation. Hence while everything finite changes, God remains ever the same (). Consequently, the pantheistic idea is also unscriptural, which idea, going farther than the anthropomorphic and dualistic conception which places the world over against God, completely merges God's Being in the world and its processes of change, affirming that God comes to self-realization in the evolution of the world and man. In its reaction from the denial of God's living relation to the world, this view does not stop with limiting God by reason of this relation, but merges Him completely in the world-development. The Scripture, on the contrary, always conceives of God as immutably free and sovereign in His relation to all the creation.

In accordance with this idea of the unchangeableness of God's nature and attributes, the Bible always maintains God's absoluteness and transcendence of Nature and her processes in all of the relations which He sustains to the finite universe. It came into being by His creative fiat, not by any process of emanation from His Being. He sustains it in existence, and governs it, not by any process of Self-realization in the series of second causes, but from without, by His sovereign will and power. And He intrudes into the series of finite causes miraculously, producing events in Nature which are due solely to His power. When for man's salvation the Son of God became incarnate, it was not by any change of His nature in laying aside some or all of the attributes of Deity, but by assuming a human nature into personal union with the divine nature. The Scripture passages which speak of the incarnation of our Lord clearly indicate that the Son retained His full Deity in "becoming flesh" (compare especially the prologue to John's Gospel and ). Moreover, the Old Testament doctrine of the Spirit of God as the source of life to the world is always at pains to avoid any mingling of the Spirit with the processes of Nature, and the same thing is true of the New Testament doctrine of the indwelling of the Spirit in the believer, always keeping the Spirit distinct from the spirit of man ().

5. His Relations to Men:

Finally, God is unchangeable not only in relation to the universe, but in His relations to men and especially to His people. This follows from His unchangeable ethical nature. The Scripture often connects the unchangeableness of God with His goodness (; ); with His truthfulness and mercy (; ); and with His covenant promises (). In connection with His covenant promises, God's unchangeableness gives the idea of His faithfulness which is emphasized in the Old Testament to awaken trust in God (; (); (Hebrew 3); ; ). This idea of God's unchangeableness in His covenant promises or His faithfulness is repeated and emphasized in the New Testament. His gifts or graces and election are without repentance (; ); He is faithful toward men because unchangeably true to His own nature (); His faithfulness abides in spite of men's lack of faith (), and is in many places represented as the basis of our confidence in God who is true to His election and gracious promises (; ; ; ; ; ; ). See FAITHFULNESS. It is thus the religious significance and value of God's unchangeableness which is especially emphasized throughout the Scripture. Because He is unchangeably true to His promises, He is the secure object of religious faith and trust, upon whom alone we can rely in the midst of human change and decay. It is this idea to which expression is given by calling God a rock, the rock of our strength and of our salvation (; (); 42:9 (Hebrew 10); 71:3; ). God is even eternally a rock, the never-failing object of confidence and trust ().

It appears, therefore, that the Scripture idea of the unchangeableness of God lays emphasis upon four points. First, it is not lifeless immobility, but the unchangeableness of a living Person. Second, it is, however, a real unchangeableness of God's nature, attributes and purpose. Third, this unchangeableness is set forth as one of the specific characteristics of Deity in distinction from all that is finite. Fourth, God's unchangeableness is not dealt with in an abstract or merely theoretic manner, but its religious value is invariably emphasized as constituting God the one true object of religious faith.

LITERATURE.

Besides the commentaries on appropriate passages, and the discussion of the divine attributes in the general works on systematic theology, see Dillmann, Handbuch der alttest. Theol., 1895, 215-20, 243-44; Oehler, Theology of the Old Testament, English translation, 1883, 95, 100; Schultz, Alttest. Theol., 1896, 419; Davidson, The Theology of the Old Testament, 1904, 45-58, 165. For a fuller discussion see Charhock, "The Immutability of God," Works, volume I, 374-419; Dorner, Ueber die richtige Fassung des dogmatischen Begrifts der Unverdnderlichkeit Gottea, u.s.w.; Article I, "Die neueren Laugnungen der Unveranderlichkeit des personlichen Gottes, u.s.w.," JDT, I, 201-77; II, "Die Geschichte der Lehre von der Unveranderlichkeit Gottea bis auf Schleiermacher," JDT, II, 440-500; III, "Dogmatische Erorterung der Lehre von der Unveranderlichkeit Gottes," JDT, III, 579-660; H. Cremer, Die christliche Lehre von den Eigenschaften Gottea, 1897, pub. in the Beitrage zur Forderung christlicher Theol., I, 7-111; see pp. 10 ff, and especially pp. 102-9.

Caspar Wistar Hodge

Unchastity

un-chas'-ti-ti.

See CRIMES; PUNISHMENTS.

Uncircumcised; Uncircumcision

un-sur'-kum-sizd, un-sur-kum-sizh'-un: The adjective in the Old Testament is `arel (, etc.), from a root of uncertain meaning, with the noun `orlah, "uncircumcised (person)" (; ), and the verb `aral, "count as uncircumcised" (; the Revised Version (British and American) ). In the Apocrypha and the New Testament the noun is akrobustia (a physiological term, 1 Macc 1:15; , etc.), and the adjective aperitmetos (Additions to Esther 14:15; 1 Macc 1:48; 2:46; ), with the verb epispaomai, "become uncircumcised" (). The language of 1 Macc 1:15 suggests the performance of some surgical operation, but no such operation appears to be possible, and "behaved like uncircumcised persons" (as in ) is the probable meaning.

See CIRCUMCISION.

Burton Scott Easton

Uncle

un'-k'l (dodh, "beloved," "uncle," "relation").

See RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY.

Unclean Spirit

un-klen'.

See SPIRIT, UNCLEAN; DEMON, DEMONIAC.

Uncleanness

un-klen'-nes:

I. TERMS

1. In the Old Testament (Hebrew)

2. In the New Testament

3. In the Septuagint

II. POSSIBLE RELATION OF ISRAEL'S LAWS ON UNCLEANNESS WITH THE LAWS OF TABOO AMONG THE NATIONS

III. TEACHING AS TO UNCLEANNESS

1. In the Old Testament

2. In the Apocrypha

3. In the New Testament

LITERATURE

I. Terms.

1. In the Old Testament (Hebrew):

Tum'ah, "uncleanness," "defilement," occurs 26 times (,; ; ,,,,, etc.). niddah, "separation," "impurity," occurs in ; ; . 'erwah, occurs in . 'erwath dabhar, "unclean thing" () is translated "uncleanness" in the King James Version. The adjective Tame', "defiled," "unclean," occurs 72 times (over half in Leviticus), but is never translated "uncleanness," but always "unclean." The verb Tame', "to make" or "declare unclean," occurs often. Other Hebrew verbs "to defile" are ga'al, chalal, chaneph, Tanaph, `alal, `anah.

2. In the New Testament:

The Greek word for "uncleanness" is akatharsia, which occurs 10 times (; ; ; , etc.). miasmos, "pollution," occurs only in . The adjective akathartos, "unclean," occurs 31 times, 23 times in reference to unclean spirits (Luke once using the expression "unclean demon," 4:33), 4 times to ceremonial uncleanness (thee by Peter and one by John the revelator), and 4 times to moral uncleanness (three by Paul and one by John the revelator). Koinos, "common," "unclean," occurs 8 times in the sense of "unclean" (,; ,; ; ; ). The verb koinoo, "to defile," occurs 11 times (,,; , etc.). miaino, "to defile," occurs 5 times (; ; ; ). moluno, "to make filthy," occurs 3 times (; ; ). spiloo, occurs twice (; ) and phtheiro, "to corrupt," occurs 7 times in Greek, once in English Versions of the Bible ().

3. In the Septuagint:

Akatharsia, "uncleanness," occurs 59 times in Septuagint (including many instances in apocryphal books) (1 and 2 Esdras, Tobit, 1 and 2 Maccabees, etc.). Akathartos, "unclean," occurs 134 times in the Septuagint (including one example in 1 Maccabees). Koinos, "unclean," and koinoo, "to make unclean," occur in Esther, Proverbs, Wisdom, 1, 2, 3 and 4 Maccabees). Miaino, "to defile," occurs over 100 times. Moluno, "to make filthy," occurs 18 times (both in the Old Testament and in the Apocrypha).

II. Possible Relation of Israel's Laws on Uncleanness with the Laws of Taboo among the Nations:

W. R. Smith (Lectures on the Religion of the Semites, 152-55) thinks there is a kinship between Israel's laws of uncleanness and the heathen taboo. Frazer, in The Golden Bough, shows numerous examples of the taboo among various tribes and nations which present striking similarity to some of Israel's laws on uncleanness. But does this diminish our respect for the Old Testament laws on uncleanness? Might not Yahweh use this natural religious perception of men as to an intrinsic distinction between clean and unclean in training Israel to a realization of a higher conception--the real difference between sin and holiness, i.e. between moral defilement and moral purification? The hand of Yahweh is visible even in the development of Israel's rudimentary laws on ceremonial uncleanness. They are not explicable on purely naturalistic grounds, but Yahweh is training a people to be holy, and so He starts on the lower plane of ceremonial uncleanness and cleanness (see as to the purpose of Yahweh in establishing these laws respecting clean and unclean animals).

III. Teaching as to Uncleanness.

1. In the Old Testament:

Each term above for uncleanness is used in two senses:

(a) to signify ceremonial uncleanness, which is the most usual significance of the term in the Old Testament;

(b) but, in the Prophets, to emphasize moral, rather than ceremonial, uncleanness. There are four principal spheres of uncleanness in the Old Testament:

(1) Uncleanness in the Matter of Food.

The law as to clean and unclean beasts is laid down in . Notice that the law does not extend to vegetable foods, as does a similar law in the Egyptian religion. Four kinds of beasts are named as fit for food:

(a) among quadrupeds, those that both chew the cud and part the hoof;

(b) among fishes, only those having both fins and scales;

(d) of insects those that have legs above the feet to leap withal (e.g. the cricket, the grasshopper, etc.), but those that go on all four, or have many feet, or go upon the belly (e.g. worms, snakes, lizards, etc.), are forbidden.

See, further, FOOD.

(2) Uncleanness Connected with the Functions of Reproduction (Leviticus 12 and 15).

In , we find the laws applied to issues of men; in 15:19 ff, to the issues of women. Not only is the man or woman unclean because of the issue, whether normal or abnormal, but the bed on which they lie, or whatever or whoever is touched by them while they are in this state, is unclean. The uncleanness lasts seven days from the cessation of the issue. To become clean men must wash their clothes and batheir bodies (though this requirement is not made of women), and both men and women must offer through the priest a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons (). According to , the woman who conceives and bears a child is unclean. This uncleanness lasts seven days if the child born is a male, but 14 days if the child is a female. However, there is a partial uncleanness of the mother that continues 40 days from the birth of a male, 80 days from the birth of a female, at the end of which period she is purified by offering a lamb and a young pigeon (or turtle-dove), or if too poor to offer a lamb she may substitute one of the birds for the lamb.

(3) Uncleanness Connected with Leprosy.

According to and 15, the leper was regarded as under the stroke of God, and so was deemed unclean. The leper (so adjudged by the priest) must separate himself from others, with torn clothes, disheveled hair, and crying with covered lips, "Unclean! Unclean!" That is, he was regarded as a dead man, and therefore unclean and so must live secluded from others.

See, further, LEPER, LEPROSY.

(4) Uncleanness Associated with Death.

According to , anyone who touched a dead beast, whether unclean or clean, was rendered unclean. According to , anyone touching the corpse of a human being is unclean. Likewise, everyone in the tent, or who enters the tent, where lies a dead man, is unclean seven days. Even the open vessels in the tent with a dead person are unclean seven days. Whoever, furthermore, touched a dead man's bone or grave was unclean seven days. Purification, in all these cases of uncleanness as related to death, was secured by sprinkling the ashes of a red heifer with living water upon the unclean person, or object, on the 3rd and 7th days.

See PURIFICATION.

2. In the Apocrypha:

In Tobit 3:7-9; 6:13,14; 7:11; 8:1-3; 1 Macc 1:41-53, and in other books, we find the same laws on uncleanness recognized by the descendants of Abraham. It was regarded as abominable to sacrifice other animals (swine for instance) than those prescribed by Yahweh. There is a growing sense in Israel during this period, that all customs and all conduct of the heathen are unclean. Witness the resistance of the loyal Jews to the demands of Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Macc 1; 2; 6; 7). The sense of ceremonial uncleanness was still a conspicuous element in the religious consciousness of the Jews in the inter-Biblical period. But the training of God in ceremonial purification and in the moral and spiritual teachings of the prophets had prepared the way for an advance in moral cleanness (both in thought and in practice).

3. In the New Testament:

By the days of Jesus the scribes and rabbis had wrought out a most cumbrous system of ceremonial uncleanness and purification. Nor did they claim that all their teachings on this subject were found in the Old Testament. See TRADITION. This is fitly illustrated in the New Testament in the washing of hands. See UNWASHEN. When the Mishna (the collection of rabbinic teachings) was produced, the largest book was devoted to the laws of purification, 30 chapters being used to describe the purification of vessels alone.

See , and note how the Jews had six stone waterpots for purification at the wedding in Cana. See as to the controversy on purification between John's disciples and the Jews. This question of cleanness and uncleanness was a tremendous issue with every Jew. He must keep himself ceremonially clean if he would be righteous and win the approval of God.

Jesus utterly disregarded for Himself these laws of purification, though He orders the cleansed leper to return to the priest and secure his certificate of cleansing. He did not wash His hands before eating, and His disciples followed His example. Therefore, the Pharisees challenged Him to give an account of His course and that of His disciples ( = ). Jesus then enunciated the great principle that there is no ceremonial, but only moral and spiritual, uncleanness. Not what goes into a man from hands that touch unclean things defiles the man, but the things that come out of his heart, evil thoughts, hatred, adultery, murder, etc., these defile the man.

Paul likewise regarded nothing as unclean of itself (,; ), yet no man should violate the scruples of his own conscience or that of his brother (and thus put a stumblingblock in his way). Love, not ceremonialism is the supreme law of the Christian. Paul, in submitting to the vow of purification in Jerusalem, set an example of this principle ().

Unclothed

un-klothd'.

See CLOTHED UPON.

Unction

unk'-shun: The the King James Version translation of chrisma (), which the Revised Version (British and American) renders "anointing," as the King James Version renders the same word in .

Undefiled

un-de-fild': In the Old Testament tam, "perfect," presents the positive side. Hence, is translated in the Revised Version: "Blessed are they that are perfect in the way." In the New Testament amiantos, presents the negative side, "unstained" "unsullied" "without taint." Used to describe the sinlessness of Christ (), to declare the marriage act free from all guilt, disgrace or shame (), to contrast the heavenly inheritance with earthly possessions ().

Undergirding

un-der-gurd'-ing.

See SHIPS AND BOATS, III, 2.

Underneath

un-der-neth' (tachath, "the bottom (as depressed)"): "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (). In these words Moses sums up the history of Israel and gives expression to his final thought about life and time and all things visible. Underneath all phenomena and all the chances and changes of life and time there is unchanging law, everlasting principle, an all-enfolding power, an all-embracing love.

Undersetter

un'-der-set-er (katheph): The word, used in , of supports of the laver, means lit. "shoulder," and is so rendered in the Revised Version margin.

See LAVER.

Undertake

un-der-tak': "To take upon one's self," "assume responsibility," and so in Elizabethan English "be surety." In this sense in the King James Version , "O Lord, .... undertake for me" (`arabh, the Revised Version (British and American) "be thou my surety"). Perhaps in the same sense in Sirach 29:19, although the idea is scarcely contained in the Greek verb dioko, "pursue." In the modern sense in 1 Esdras 1:28; 2 Macc 2:29; 8:10; the King James Version 2:27.

See SURE; SURETY.

Unequal

un-e'-kwal: , for lo' thakhan, "not weighed," "illogical." "Unequally" in , in the phrase "unequally yoked," heterozugeo, is used of the yoking together of two animals of different kinds (compare the Septuagint of ).

Unfeigned

un-fand' (anupokritos, "unfeigned," "undisguised"): The Greek word occurs only in the New Testament (; ) and is designative of the moral quality of faith as "the mark of transparency and simplicity of soul--the most complete and distinct exponent of a man's character--the natural hypothesis of a pure and good heart--a readiness to believe in goodness" (Martineau, Hours of Thought, First Series, 86 ff). Compare ; ; .

Ungodly

un-god'-li (rasha` (), "wicked," beliya`al (), "worthless"; in the New Testament asebes (), e.g. indicating that the persons so called are both irreverent and impious): Trench says that the idea of active opposition to religion is involved in the word, that it is a deliberate withholding from God of His dues of prayer and of service; a standing, so to speak, in battle array against God and His claims to respect, reverence and obedience. Those whose sins are particularly aggravating and deserving of God's wrath are the "ungodly." And yet it is for such that Jesus Christ died ().

William Evans

Unicorn

u'-ni-korn (re'em (; ; ; ,; ; ; ; )): "Unicorn" occurs in the King James Version in the passages cited, where the Revised Version (British and American) has "wild-ox" (which see).

Unity

u'-ni-ti: for (yachadh, "unitedness," and , for henotes "oneness." Also Sirach 25:1 the King James Version for homonoia "concord" (so the Revised Version (British and American)).

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (1915). Public domain. Text from the CrossWire Bible Society.