Cor-Cy

    

COR  (כר)  A large measure of uncertain quantity.

CORAL  (a.) ראמות (ra mowth); b.) פנינ (paw neen), King James Version 

        uses "ruby")  The red coral of the Mediterranean area, used for jewelry. 

CORBAN  (קרבן)  The term in postexilic Judaism, for a gift consecrated to 

        God for religious purposes; its use originated in circles having to do with 

        the Jerusalem cult.  An object so dedicated could not be used for any other 

        purpose. It was to the strict use of this word that the saying of Jesus in 

        Mark refers. 

CORD, ROPE (a.) חבל (khay bel); b.) מיתר (may thawr); c.) עבת (ab oth 

        aw); d.) scoinion (skoi nee on))  In antiquity a great many fibers were 

        used in the manufacture of rope, such as:  flax; silver; gold; hemp; goat's 

        hair; wool, and later camel's hair. 

                   a.) In one usage, it is a rope strong enough to support a man's 

        weight (Joshua 2 and Jeremiah 38); in another it is cords which tie back 

        curtains (Esther 1).

                   b.)  The cords of a tent (Isaiah 54 and Jeremiah 10), and the strings

        of a bow (Psalm 21).

                   c.)  In the majority of cases the word refers to the bonds of captives, 

        those binding the hands, and those around the waist or neck by which they

        were led.

                   d.)  A rope made of rushes; possibly of esparto grass (John 2; 

        Acts 27).

CORIANDER SEED (גד (gad); korion (kor ee on))  The seeds of an annual 

        plant with umbrella-shaped foliage.  The seeds were used much as poppy,

        caraway, and sesame seeds are used today.

CORINTH  (KorinqoV)  The chief commercial city in southern Greece, on 

        the narrow (5.6 km wide) strip of land between the Gulf of Corinth to the 

        north & the Saronic Gulf to the south; the capital of the Roman province 

        of Achaia.  The city site was about 3.2 km inland from the Gulf of 

        Corinth, on an elevated terrace.  Corinth was strategically located on its 

        narrow strip of land and controlled the ports of Lechaion to the north, and

        Cenechreae to the south.   At its narrowest point the smaller vessels were 

        dragged across from one gulf to the other.  By the 100s A.D., Corinth was

        probably the finest city in Greece.

                   Stone implements and pottery vessels attest to human habitation 

        here in the Neolithic period (5000-4000 B.C.).  Around 2000 B.C. the 

        settlement seems to have been devastated, & then around 1000 B.C. was 

        occupied by the Dorian Greeks.  Corinth reach great power & prosperity 

        under Periander (625-583 B.C. (approximately)).  (See also entry in the 

        Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the 

        Appendix).   

                   Coming from the port of Lechanion to the north, a road led direct-

        ly into the central area of Corinth.  Steps built in the road make it evident

        that it was not intended for wheeled traffic; it was lined with colonnades 

        and shops on each side, and it ended at the agora.  This large, generally 

        rectangular area was divided into two parts, the northern or lower, & the 

        southern or upper part.  From the southern edge of the agora, the road 

        departed which led to Cenchreae.  

                   To the northwest of the agora was the  theater, which originated 

        in the 400s B.C.  Near the theater was a plaza,  some 18 meters on a 

        side, paved with limestone blocks. It is possible that the pavement here 

        was paid for by the Erastus who later became a Christian and a friend of 

        Paul.  To the south of the agora, the Acrocorinth rises to 575 meters 

        above sea level.  On its summit was a temple to Aphrodite, the goddess

        whose worship Strabo said brought so many people and so much wealth

        to Corinth.    

                   In the connection with Paul’s work at Corinth, the bema, which 

        runs east and west across the southern third of the agora, is of special 

        interest.  It consisted of a high, broad platform raised on two steps, with 

        passageways on either side which gave access from the lower to the upper

        area of the agora.   Built of white and blue marble, the bema must have 

        presented an impressive appearance, and it served very well as a public 

        speaking platform.  Archaeologists may also have found the very syna-

        gogue where the apostle Paul preached.

CORINTHIANS, FIRST LETTER TO THE  (KorinqiouV)  A letter written

        by the apostle Paul to the church at Corinth; now found as the 7th book of

        the New Testament (NT).  It is one of the most illuminating documents in 

        all Christian literature.  It sheds light on typical problems, preserves the 

        earliest account of the church's celebration of the Lord's Supper and the 

        origin of the Resurrection faith, & the hymn about love.  The entire letter 

        is full of spiritual depth and lyrical cadence.

                   Corinth: Description and Paul’s First Contact—The letter was 

        written by the apostle Paul from Ephesus to the church at Corinth.  It is 

        reasonable to assume that I Corinthians is to be dated not long before the

        time of Paul's announced departure; i.e. in the late winter or early spring 

        of 55 A.D.  The city in Paul's day was a new and burgeoning metropolis, 

        rebuilt a century earlier after being razed to the ground & left desolate for

        a century.  In Paul's day it was the fourth largest and most important city 

        in the Empire, and the capital of the province of Achaia. 

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                    In the first century of the Christian era, Corinth was a city to 

        which immigrants had been attracted from all parts of the Mediterranean

        world.  Egyptians, Syrians, Jews & other West Asians settled among the 

        earlier Italian & Greek colonists.  Archaeology has identified the remains

        of temples to the Egyptian divinities Isis and Serapis, the Phrygian 

        goddess Magna Mater, the Syrian deity Astarte, the Ephesian Artemis, 

        Helios, Aphrodite and others.  Even at a time when public morality 

        everywhere in the Empire was at a low ebb, Corinth was notorious for 

        its lax morals.  Shortly before Paul's ministry, the cult of Aphrodite had 

        1,000 priestess-prostitutes attached to its Corinthian temple.               

                   Jews in some numbers had settled at Corinth.  There is physical 

        evidence of a synagogue at the western edge of town.  Jews from Rome,

        Naples, Alexandria, & Antioch, rich & poor Jews, gathered each sabbath.

        There were some proselytes among them, men & women of non-Jewish 

        birth who had identified themselves ritually and by formal initiation with

        the Jewish community.  

                   Far more numerous than the proselytes were the so-called “God-

        fearers,” Gentiles who had informed themselves about the Jewish people, 

        who governed themselves by the regulation of Jewish law, but who had 

        not taken the final step of ceremonial identification with the Jewish group.  

        The hesitation to join was due to the anti-Semitic prejudice and to the fact 

        that the proselyte remained a second-class Jew; only their children were 

        admitted to full rights and privileges.

                   The first acquaintance of the Corinthian Jewish community with 

        the Christian sect dated from 49 A.D., when Aquila & Prisca (or Priscilla)

        arrived in the city after being expelled from Rome along with other Jews.

         Early in 50, Aquila and Prisca opened their home to Paul, an itinerant 

        Christian evangelist of the same trade.  He was invited to speak at the 

        synagogue, and he used the opportunity to try and convince his listeners 

        that Jesus was the Messiah of Jewish expectation.  

                   Although tolerant to the extreme, the rulers of the synagogue found

        Paul an exasperating and contentious exponent of what seemed to them

        dangerous heresy.  The  Jewish leaders ordered Paul to withdraw. This

        the apostle did, taking with him a number of Jewish converts, and a

        following of non-Jews.  These “God-fearers” found Paul's  presentation

        of the new faith of Christianity an attractive substitute for Judaism, with

        its circumcision and obedience to strict Jewish regulations.        

                Christian converts, both from Judaism and from paganism, submitted

        to the rite of baptism. Both former Jews and pagans had rituals from their 

        past beliefs of which baptism would remind them.  Paul personally 

        baptized only a few of the Corinthian converts; nevertheless, he thought 

        of the rite as a sacrament. Paul's converts were drawn from the city's lower

        economic & social groups.  Some were slaves; some were poverty-stricken

        wage earners. There were also some people of leisure, wealth, and social 

        influence in the new church.

                   Paul as a Christian missionary followed the rabbinical practice of 

        supporting himself by his own labor, which was that of a leatherworker.  

        He defended the right of a Christian missionary to receive support from 

        those to whom they minister, and at the same time refused to make use of 

        this right.  The earliest historian of Christianity estimates that Paul spent 

        eighteen months in Corinth during the course of his first visit.  Corinthian

        Jews sought the intervention of the Roman Gallio, who refused to become

        involved. 

                   Developments after Paul Left—Paul took Prisca and Aquila with 

        him as far as Ephesus; the married couple became residents there, while 

        Paul stayed only a short time.  During Paul's absence, a Jew by the name 

        of Apollos arrived in Ephesus.  Prisca and Aquila heard him speak in the 

        Jewish synagogue, took him aside, & “expounded to him the way of God 

        more accurately,” converting him, either to the Christian faith or to Paul’s 

        interpretation of it. 

                   Apollos journeyed to Corinth and proved of great service to the 

        congregation of brethren there.  Paul ranked Apollos with himself as ser-

        vants of Corinth. Apollos had come back to Ephesus before going to Syria.

        At Corinth, Apollos had impressed many of the new converts with his 

        “wisdom.”  Some became his personal followers, saying “I belong to Apol-

        los.”  It also possible that Cephas (Peter) had also paid a visit to Corinth 

        after Paul's departure, and unintentionally created a group who said “I 

        belong to Cephas.”  The emergence in the Corinthian church of Apollos’ 

        and Cephas’ cliques led to still other cliques, ones who proclaimed: “I 

        belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Christ.”

                    After developments such as these at Corinth, Paul came back to 

        Ephesus. Despite a busy and successful mission in Ephesus, the apostle 

        contrived to keep in touch by correspondence and by direct inquiry with 

        the turbulent little Christian community.  Paul refers to a letter, written 

        before the first one we have, in which he warns the Corinthians against  

        association with people guilty of sex, immorality, & greed. In I Corin-

        thians, Paul says that he had not meant to prohibit association with 

        immoral people in general, but only those “Christians” who were guilty 

        of immorality.  It is possible that a part of this first letter is preserved in 

        II Corinthians 6:14-7:1. 

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                   Reasons for, Unity, and Authenticity of I Corinthians—Our 

        I Corinthians is in part an answer to a letter that Paul had received at 

        Ephesus from the church at Corinth.  In it the church assured the apostle

        that he was always remembered and the traditions were maintained as 

        he had delivered them.  What it mainly consisted of was a series of 

        questions concerning which the Corinthian congregation desired the 

        apostle's judgment.  

                   Paul felt that the occasion important enough to  warrant a lengthy 

        letter.  In it, he not only answered the questions about sexual intercourse,

        marriage, & in particular “spiritual marriage,” eating the flesh of animals

        sacrificed to pagan gods, spiritual possession, the relative worth of  

        “spiritual gifts,” and the proper ordering of public worship, but he also

         instructed them on other matters that needed correction.  He addressed

         the existence of cliques, litigation by Christians in pagan courts, moder-

         nistic tendencies among women; and the proper observance of the

         Lord's Supper among others.

                   The many different matters mentioned encouraged some interpre-

        ters to regard the canonical document as a composite of several separate

        writings.  It is suggested that the abrupt transitions in our present letter 

        help to support this hypothesis.  While there is nothing inherently impro-

        bable about such a partition hypothesis, I Corinthians can just as easily 

        be understood as a letter composed at one time.  The authenticity of I 

        Corinthians was never questioned in ancient times.  Only a few Dutch 

        and German scholars questioned it in the late 1800s, and now the vast 

        majority of interpreters assume its authenticity.

                   Contents and Date of—In its introduction, Paul follows the 

        pattern evident in his other letters:  address; greeting; and a paragraph 

        of praise and thanksgiving.  In the phrase “the church of God, which is 

        at Corinth,” Paul reflects the idea that the church is one church with local 

        manifestations, rather than a bunch of separate churches.   The apostle 

        knew of at least four factions that were competing for primacy, made of 

        people who felt a special bond to either Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Christ;

        there is disagreement among scholars as to what the “Christ” faction  

        represents.  Paul protested that these various factions gave to individual 

        apostles a place that belonged only to Christ. 

                    His main concern here was a system of “eloquent wisdom.”  Paul

        countered with the observation that God's choice of Corinth's church 

        members shows how little God values the wisdom of the world.  As a

        consequence no church member of the had any right to pride oneself on 

        any natural endowment, for the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,

        and redemption were gifts of God “in Christ.”  Paul reminds his readers 

        that he had deliberately chosen to avoid lofty rhetoric & persuasive words.

        The Corinthians did not accept his message because of its impressive 

        phrasing or logical demonstration, but because they saw in it a manifesta-

        tion of the supernatural power of God.

                   The proclamation of the gospel at times did include a “wisdom.”  

        But this divine wisdom could be presented only among those who had 

        been spiritually endowed to receive and understand what was spiritually 

        imparted.  The Corinthians were not ready for this “wisdom.”  The emer-

        gence of factions among them was evidence that they had still not 

        achieved the status of “spiritual men.”

                   Paul then returns to the main theme.  He and Apollos had been 

        nothing but fellow workmen in God’s service.  Paul himself had laid the

        foundation well, but the structure erected on this foundation might not 

        be above criticism.  Paul reiterates that this world’s wisdom is folly with

        God and that no one should boast of men.  Paul closes this section with 

        a brief passage in his own defense: whether or not he had been faithful 

        was for God alone to judge.  Paul rebukes the troublemakers at Corinth 

        and pleads with his readers to change.

                   The apostle now proceeds to abrupt and angry comment on the 

        tolerance shown by the Corinthians to a member guilty of incest.  Paul 

        would have the church meet in solemn assembly and issue an edict of

        excommunication.  In warning them against association with immoral 

        men, he had not meant those outside the church, but those inside; they 

        were to be excommunicated.  Paul then turns to the problem raised by 

        litigation in pagan courts.  Christians should not have differences, and 

        should settle these matters among themselves. 

                   He gives a list of moral evils, and states that all such sins of the 

        flesh ought to have ended among Christian at baptism, but continued 

        to show themselves at Corinth.  Sexual immorality to Paul the Jewish-

        Christian was a particularly offensive manifestation of moral evil.  The  

        Christian is no longer their own property, so one who makes Christ's 

        body one with a harlot is guilty of an intolerable act of desecration.  

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                   To the question “Should believers marry?” Paul answers with a  

        classic example of an “interim” ethic, a suggested practice to cover the 

        period between the end of one age & the beginning of another. Marriage

        is a desirable state only for those who cannot sublimate the sex instinct. 

        In principle marriage is religiously and ethically indifferent, but in prac-

        tice it can easily interfere with one's dedication to God. 

                   Although Paul believed in celibacy as the ethical ideal, he disa-

        greed with some in Corinth who apparently held married people ought 

        to practice rigorous continence.  The apostle repudiated divorce but 

        acknowledged that he spoke on his own authority. Toward the end of the

        chapter Paul discusses “spiritual” marriage.  Some men and women had 

        undertaken to live together in spiritual fellowship, without sexual inter-

        course.  Paul indicates that it should not be continued if it subjects the 

        natural passions to too great a strain. 

                   In the Greco-Roman world, meat sold on the market had been 

        obtained from a pagan temple.  Paul's position in Chapter 8 was that “It 

        can do us no harm.”  Paul agrees that for Christians there is but one God

        and one Lord.  Out of consideration for those who haven't been emanci-

        pated from belief in idols, he urges his readers to refrain from sitting at 

        table in an idol's temple.  Unless one is governed by the principle of 

        consideration for others, one may be led by thoughtlessness to sin 

        against Christ. 

                   Paul writes in Chapter 9 in support of the right of the apostle to 

        be supported by the community, using four arguments.  1^st, he cites a 

        comparable principle in secular occupations.  2^nd, he finds scriptural 

        authority through the symbolic representation of compensation in scrip-

        ture.  3^rd, temple procedure sets a precedent.  & 4^th, a word of the Lord 

        Jesus Christ enjoins it in Luke 10:7.  Paul waived his right to compensa-

        tion.  Paul also refers to his practice of becoming “all things to all men” 

        for the sake of the gospel, which was open to misunderstanding then as 

        it is now.  As a result, Paul had to defend himself against charges of 

        inconsistency.

                   In chapter 10 Paul returns to a discussion of the matter of eating 

        meat sacrificed to idols.  Paul states categorically that the Lord's Supper

        and pagan, sacrificial meals are not compatible.  Paul deals with eating 

        food that originally had been offered as a pagan sacrifice.  Anxious 

        questions about where the host had obtained the meat needn't be asked. 

        If someone should point out that it is sacrificial meat, the apostle advises

        that one should refrain from eating it.

                   Paul criticizes participation of some women at Corinth attending 

        public worship without wearing veils in chapter 11.  Later in the same 

        chapter the apostle condemns developments at Corinth in celebration of

        the Lord's Supper.  At Corinth the well-to-do often arrived early and ate

        and drank without waiting for wage earners and slaves.  Paul denies that

        this is the Lord's Supper. 

                   Paul then relates the words Jesus used to institute the rite.  Paul's 

        account of the Last Supper has marked variations in order, phraseology,

        and emphasis from the so-called “short text” of Luke.  Paul's account is 

        much the earliest we possess.  Paul's addition to Luke's version of Jesus' 

        words is the command: “Do this in remembrance of me.”  The rite in 

        which the Last Supper was recalled had become a sacrament by which 

        those who participated and shared in some realistic way in the triumph 

        of the Cross and the Resurrection. 

                   Chapters 12-14 answers the question: “Which spiritual gift is the

        more important ‘prophecy’ or ‘speaking with tongues’?”  Paul differen-

        tiates between the Holy Spirit's inspiration and demonic inspiration.  He

        then insists that the varieties of gifts manifest in the life of the church 

        are all from the same Spirit.  Each is indispensable to the welfare of the 

        whole.  Paul interrupts his argument to assert that no gift of the Spirit 

        has any value except as it is exercised in love.  This love which is God's

        grace in Jesus Christ can be recognized both by what it is and by what it

        is not.  Finally, in chapter 14, Paul comes to the relative value of “pro-

        phecy” & “speaking with tongues.”  Both are gifts of the Spirit, but the 

        one edifies and encourages and consoles the church, while the other has

        value only to the speaker.

                   Chapter 15 is frequently but improperly called “Paul's great 

        argument for immortality.”  It is rather, Paul's argument for the resurrec-

        tion, addressed to two different groups with very different views on life 

        after death.  For the Jew there could be no real life in the coming age 

        without a body; for the Greek there could be no true immortality with a 

        body.  Paul begins by establishing the historical fact of Christ's resurrec- 

        tion.  In what is the earliest account of the resurrection and one of great 

        importance to our understanding of Christian beginnings, the apostle 

        declares that faith in the resurrection of Christ rests on visions of the 

        risen Lord. 

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                   After asserting that resurrection is the promise of the resurrection 

        of believers, Paul discusses the nature of the body that the Christian will

        possess when one is raised from the dead.  It will not be the body that 

        clothed one's spirit in this life, but an ethereal, spiritual body.  Resurrec- 

        tion will be the first event of the new age, will take place suddenly, and 

        will involve the overthrow of death.

                   In the final chapter Paul gives instructions for assembling the 

        contribution at Corinth toward the collection being made in various 

        Pauline churches for “the saints.”  After discussing traveling plans and 

        giving instructions, the letter ends with Paul's personal signature, a curse,

        a traditional Armaic prayer, a benediction, and an expression of love.   

CORINTHIANS, SECOND LETTER TO THE   A letter written by the 

        apostle Paul to the church at Corinth; now found as the 8th book of the 

        New Testament (NT) canon.  It covers many aspects of Paul's work 

        during a period that Acts' author passes over.  I Corinthians & this letter 

        provides incomparable source material for a study of a first-century 

        church and of first-century Christianity.  The only information we have 

        on the 6 months between the 2 letters are hints from the apostle's own 

        writing. 

                    Sometime between the writing of I Corinthians & the time of the 

        “severe letter” (Chapters 10-13), a band of teachers came to Corinth, 

        boasting of their pure Jewish descent.  They made a bitter attack on 

        Paul's person, reputation, and apostolic credentials.  These were not 

        “Judaizers” like those mentioned in the Letter to the Galatians, as the 

        issues of circumcision & Jewish Law weren't the issues of II Corinthians.

        Possibly they were Jewish Christians who embraced Gnostic beliefs.

                   Timothy was to travel by land through Macedonia and would not 

        arrive until after I Corinthians.  Paul feared an unfriendly reception for 

        him.  From the fact that he was replaced in later dealings with the 

        Corinthian church, it has been inferred that the apostle's fear were well 

        grounded.  Paul's next emissaries were his young friend Titus and an 

        unnamed “brother”; Titus had “made a beginning” on his brief mission.

                   Paul proposed to stay in Ephesus until Pentecost & then journey 

        to Corinth with the intention of remaining for a considerable period; these 

        travel plans were abandoned.  It is probable that word of new develop-

        ments in the turbulent little Christian community that compelled Paul to 

        pay a second precipitous visit.  He was met with disparagement & insult,

        and suffered what he considered a grievous wrong.

                   On his return to Ephesus, Paul wrote a “severe” letter to the Corin-

        thian church in the hope of correcting the situation; its part in II Corinthians

        will be explained later.  It seems likely that the apostle underwent some 

        nerve-racking experience late in his stay at Ephesus which seemed to 

        threaten his very life and from which he had been delivered only by God’s 

        intervention; some believe that there was an Ephesian imprisonment.  

                   Paul's original plan while at Ephesus had been to visit Corinth.  

        While there on his second trip, Paul said he would return to them.  Back at

        Ephesus he once more changed his mind.  In Macedonia, as at Troas,  

        Paul was torn with anxiety.  Then Titus rejoined him, & his whole mental 

        attitude was transformed.  “[Titus] told us of your longing, your mourning,

        your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more."  Titus' appeal & the apostle's

        “severe” letter had brought about a radical change of heart.  

                   Now that the crisis was over, Paul wrote again to the Corinthian 

        church.  The “majority” had inflicted some form of punishment on the 

        ringleader of the revolt against Paul.  The apostle now set himself against 

        a minority that favored imposing an even heavier penalty; the duty of the 

        Christian community was to forgive & comfort him who had been punished.

                   While in Macedonia, Paul had assembled the collection from Chris-

        tians in that area.  He now pleads with the Corinthian to exhibit a similar 

        generosity.  He introduces Titus again and sends him to them in advance 

        of his own visit.  Accompanying Titus were 2 unnamed Christian brethren.

        By associating them with himself, Paul was protecting himself against 

        being charged with misappropriation of funds.  This advance party was to 

        ensure that there would be no failure, and “so that it may be ready not as

         an exaction but as a willing gift.”

                   The letter we have begins with thanks to God for deliverance from 

        deadly peril.  Paul defends himself against reproaches of fickleness.  He 

        had refrained from coming again to spare the congregation a repetition of 

        his earlier, painful visit.  Paul writes that it is the duty of all to forgive and

        comfort the offender.  As one divinely commissioned, Paul sees his task as

        the spreading of the fragrance of the knowledge of God in Christ.  He is a 

        minister of a new covenant.  The veil with which Moses hid the fading 

        brightness of his face has been a veil that has hidden the truth from the 

        Israelites and one that is lifted only by Christ.

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                   Like treasure in an earthen vessel, this glorious gospel is entrusted

        to a frail and suffering minister to show that God is the only source of its  

        transcendent power.  Once again Paul asserts his sincerity to enable his 

        readers to answer those who had questioned it.  Having been entrusted 

        with the ministry of reconciliation, Paul's aim had been to be an ambas-

        sador on Christ's behalf.

                   While in Macedonia he had been harassed without and distraught 

        within, but all this had changed with the good news that his “severe” letter

         had effected a radical transformation.  Now that relationships of mutual 

        confidence had been re-established, Paul feels free to urge his readers to 

        complete the offering for Jerusalem.  In this they will demonstrate the 

        sincerity of their love and will be acting under the constraint of Christ's 

        own example.  

                   He hopes that the offering will all be in hand in advance of his own 

        arrival.  He assures his readers, God rewards generosity by providing the 

        wherewithal to display it, and will fill those whom they aid with gratitude 

        to God.  Thus, the first nine chapters breathe a spirit of relief and gratitude 

        and can readily be understood in their entirety as the thankful letter Paul 

        wrote and dispatched from Macedonia shortly before his own departure for 

        Corinth on his final visit.

                   Within these nine chapters is the section from 6:14-7:1.  Not only

        does the passage appear as an awkward digression, but its imperatives, 

        rhetorical questions, & appeals to the Old Testament could have supported

        the apostle's warning in I Corinthians “not to associate with immoral men,”

        and caused the misunderstanding he later sought to correct.

                   Beginning with chapter 10, there an abrupt change.  Paul's attitude 

        is one of sharp defense & his words are charged with reproach & a sense

        of injustice.  In words that alternately plead and threaten, words of a hurt, 

        indignant and angry man, Paul seeks to re-establish his authority.  

                   The agitators had implied that Paul didn't belong to Christ.  Paul 

        lays emphatic claim to be Christ's, denies the charges of cowardice, re-

        minds his readers that his knowledge makes up for his lack of rhetoric, 

        and explains that he preaches without pay out of love, and so that he 

        might preach God's gospel without cost.  And, despite an intense dislike 

        of self-commendation, he cannot allow false modesty to prejudice his inte-

        rests.  His conversion experience at Damascus, an early ecstatic experi-

        ence, & some recurring physical ailment were evidence that even his weak-

        nesses could make manifest the power of Christ.

                    With greater restraint, Paul now seeks to correct some serious 

        moral defects of the Corinthian Christians.  His earlier self-defense had 

        been made in the hope that a renewed respect for his authority might lead 

        them to repent.  He warns them that he would not hesitate to resort to the 

        extreme measures that he had threatened. The case for regarding chap- 

        ters 10-13 as originally part of the “severe” letter is a strong one, but the 

        letter contained more than we now have.   Any combining and editing of 

        these 3 letters took place before any portion of it was put into independent

        circulation.

                  If we assume that II Corinthian is a combination of parts of 3 letters,

        it is helpful to understand each part's dating. The section from 6:14-7:1 

        differs in theme and temper from what precedes & follows.  It is possible 

        that this section is a fragment of the letter written late in 54 A.D., before 

        I Corinthians.  It is also possible that Chapters 10-13 is part of the “severe”

        letter Paul mentions in II Corinthians 2:3-4, written in the summer of 55, 

        before Chapters 1-9, which were most likely written in the late autumn or

        early winter of 55.

 CORMORANT  (שלך (shaw lawk))  Any one of a family of large sea birds, 

        which includes cormorants, darters, & gannets.  The common cormorant 

        was reported by Tristram to be found in the 1880s on Palestine's coast, 

        the Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan River.  It would be natural for such a 

        bird to be included in a biblical bird list, but whether this Hebrew word 

        was used to designate it we do not know.

CORN  A general term used in the King James Version for many different 

        food-producing grasses.

CORNELIUS.  (KornhlioV)  A centurion of the Italian Cohort stationed in 

        Caesarea, a “devout man” who “feared God.” His conversion is described

        in Acts 10; only the conversion of Paul is given more attention. Cornelius

        “gave alms liberally to the people.”  Cornelius is described as the type of 

        Gentile ideally suited to bridge the gap between Judaism and Christianity:

        to show that Judaism is proper preparation for the gospel; that the logic of

        belief in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, leads to belief in God, 

        Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  As one who feared God, gave alms, and 

        prayed constantly, Cornelius was ready for revelation.  Since God publicly

        validated his call to Cornelius by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to him, 

        for Peter to reject Cornelius meant to “withstand God.”

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                   The importance of the conversion of Cornelius in Acts is: a.) it 

        provides the occasion whereby Luke can put into Peter's mouth one of the

        summaries of the Christian proclamation; b.) it provides the event-datum 

        by which Peter is made to defend the Pauline mission to the Gentiles; 

        c.) Luke will show that Paul's mission to the Gentile was preceded by 

        Peter's mission to the Gentiles. 

                 It is generally conceded that Luke's narrative rests on some sort of 

        event- and source-data, but beyond this there is no agreement.  His impor-

        tance for Luke is that he was the first Gentile convert with sufficient 

        eminence to be used in challenging and overcoming Jewish particularism 

        in the church.  The events in Acts do not fit well with history outside of 

        the Bible.  It seems best to recognize that here the establishment of the 

        historic facts is beyond any certain recovery. 

                   From chapters 10-11, we can't clearly determine the significance

        of Cornelius’ conversion in the establishment of the universal church, nor 

        the contribution which Peter and the Jerusalem church made toward estab-

        lishing a church of salvation of all men by faith. Luke has used history, 

        but not written history; he has turned a faith-principle into historical form,

        in which faith both creates history and is created by it.

CORNER, UPPER CHAMBER OF (עלית הפנה (‘al leeth  ha paw neh)) The 

        last item of Nehemiah's description of the restoration of Jerusalem's walls.

        The “corner” is the northeast corner of the city.

CORNER GATE  (שער הפונה (shah ‘ar  ha paw neh))  A gate of Jerusalem, 

        close to the city’s northwest angle.

CORNERSTONE  (פנה (paw neh); זויות (zaw vee oth))  Normally the large 

        stone placed at the foundation of a wall angle to bind two walls together;  

        in some passages it may refer to the top stone in a defense tower.

                   In the Old Testament (OT), “cornerstone” usually means the foun-

       dation stone.  Its most striking use is in Isaiah 28.  The meaning of “corner-

        stone” has been variously explained as Yahweh, as the Solomonic temple,

        as the renewed community, as a messianic figure, and as the faith of a 

        renewed Israel.  In Isaiah 19, paneh denotes chieftains who keep tribes 

        firm.  The “chief cornerstone” in Psalm 118 is properly the “head of the 

        corner,” perhaps “the top of the battlement.”

                 All New Testament (NT) references to “cornerstone” are either 

        quotations of or echoes from the OT.  Psalm 118 is quoted from the Greek

        in Matthew 21; Mark 12; and Luke 20.  Like Jewish tradition, the NT 

        writers interpret these OT verses messianically.  The symbol shows Christ

        as the foundation on which the church’s faith rests, a foundation rejected 

        by Judaism but the only stable basis.

CORRECTIONS OF THE SCRIBES  ( נקודות (ne ko doeth), marks)  Dots 

        placed over letters, or even words, in fifteen places to indicate the doubts 

        of the scribes about the text.

CORRUPTION  (fqora (fa tho ra))  Its chief biblical connotation is the 

        transience of the present world order with all that belongs to it.  Fthora 

        refers to the liabilities of the material universe to change and decay. 

CORRUPTION, MOUNT OF (המשחית הר (har  ham mash heeth)) A 

        hilltop east of Jerusalem, presumably the south end of Mount of Olives, 

        where Solomon had built a high place to the gods of his foreign wives.  

        Josiah destroyed this high place along with others.

COS  (KwV)  An island with a city of the same name in the Aegean Sea, off the

        southwest coast of Asia Minor.  It was known as one of the isles of the 

        Blessed, and became a great Jewish center in the Aegean.  Paul called her

        on his voyage from Miletus at the close of his third missionary journey.

COSMETICS  The cosmetics mentioned in the Bible include ointment, 

        perfume, eye paint, and possibly henna.  Perhaps the most common cos-

        metic of the Bible is ointment, which was often perfumed.  In the dry, hot 

        climate of the Middle East ointment is necessary to keep the skin and hair 

        from drying out, perfume counteracts body odors.  Eye paint was usually 

        black and was painted around the eyes; it was associated with women of 

        evil reputation.  Henna is a cosmetic applied to hands, feet, nails, and hair,

        as an orange stain and perfume.  It is not clearly referred to as a cosmetic 

        in the Bible. 

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                    Archaeologists have found cosmetic palettes from around 800-600

        B.C. These were small bowls with wide flat rims, measuring 10 cm across,

        with a shallow depression measuring 5 cm across in the middle.  The rims

        were often decorated in geometric design.  Evidence was discovered in 

        Babylonia and Egypt that rouge was used on the face.  Some cosmetics 

        used by the Jews in antiquity but not mentioned in the Bible are rouge, 

        powder, and hair dye. Their use was strictly regulated, and was prohibited

        on sabbath and Passover.

COSMOGONY (See World, Origin of)     

COTTON  (כרפס (kar pas))  The fibers from the fruit of a plant which have 

        been woven into thread and cloth from very early times.

COUCH (יצוע (yaw tsoo ah); ערש (eh res); klinidion (klin id ee on)) Some-

        thing upon which to recline or sleep; there is no clear distinction between

        4 Hebrew words and one Greek translated as “couch” in the King James 

        Version.  The Revised Standard Version uses “couch” 13 times as a more 

        elegant term than “bed,” or to avoid repetition of “bed” in a sentence.

COUNCIL, THE COUNCIL, COUNCIL HOUSE, COUNSEL (עצה (aw 

        tseh); יעץ (yaw ‘ats), to give (human or divine) counsel; סוד (sode), 

        secret; unedrion (soon ed ree on); boulh (boo lay)) A deliberating 

        body charged with civic, legal and religious responsibilities.

                   In the Old Testament (OT), the most common term for “counsel” is

        tseh, in reference both to counsel given by God & to that given by people. 

        The term sode refers to confidential discourse or secrets, & frequently the 

        council of Yahweh, God's deliberation in the heavenly assembly with the 

        host of heaven gathered about God.  Although the OT does not directly 

        connect the possession of sound counsel with the prophet's, king's, or

        worshipper's entrance into Yahweh's council, true counsel has its source 

        in Yahweh, in God alone. 

                   The New Testament (NT) refers only to human councils.  The term

        sunedrion may refer to either local councils of cities, or to Jerusalem’s 

        high council.  To take or give counsel in the NT is expressed by boule, 

        among others.  It is remarkable that the NT assigns little place to the 

        wisdom tradition.  The elders’ role in the early church may have conti- 

        nued this tradition.  And the church’s sacraments may be understood in

        part as dramatic enactments or representations of God’s secret counsel  

        which has been revealed in Jesus Christ.

COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM  The name given to a conference at Jerusalem 

        to determine the terms on which Gentiles would be received into the 

        church; Acts 15 and Galatians 2 give different accounts of this council. 

        In Galatians, Paul says he went to Jerusalem by divine direction, & that

        his negotiations with Jerusalem leaders was a conference among equals.

        Paul says that he agreed to a request for funds for the needy in Jerusalem,

        & that the Jerusalem leaders “added nothing” to the gospel he had been

        preaching. 

                   In Acts, the Antioch church sends Paul to Jerusalem for his third 

        visit, and in the company of others; the Jerusalem leaders and church 

        appear to hold superior authority.  Acts makes no mention of the request

        for funds, but does mention a letter written by Jerusalem leaders with 

        dietary restrictions for Gentile Christians.   

                   There are 5 important proposals to explain this difference.  1st, 

        the visit in Galatians is the same as a visit reported at the end of Acts 11.

        2nd, the conferences in Chapter 11 and 15 are the same conference, 

        wrongly described as two separate meetings.  3rd, Acts 15 combines 2 

        sources, one dealing with circumcision of Gentiles and the other with 

        rules governing fellowship (There is no linguistic basis for 2 sources.).  

        4th, Acts is not historical material; the author freely composed the 

        council narrative (This denial of historical basis is at odds with the histori-

        cal value of Luke and the latter half of Acts.).  5th, the letter with dietary

        restrictions for Gentiles is wrongly placed towards the end of Acts 15.

                   Of these varied views, none has won general support, and none is 

        so convincing as the view that Galatians 2 and Acts 15 describe the same 

        conference.  The two accounts are independent—Paul writes with the aim

        of vindicating his independent apostleship—but there is broad agreement.

        The differences in the equality or superiority of authority is best explained

        by Paul's going to Jerusalem to seek their agreement, thus recognizing a

        degree of authority, and by the fact that Paul was never given one-sided 

        directive or treated as an inferior. 

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                   The letter with dietary restrictions, which seems to contradict Paul's

        statement that they “added nothing,” also excused Gentiles from circumci-

        sion and other Levitical regulations. This was a great victory for Paul and 

        the Gentiles, with a minimum of pacifying concessions to the opposing 

        side, because keeping the law was no longer necessary for salvation.  If 

        Paul did accept the decree, however, he later saw it used to support the 

        binding character of the Mosaic ceremonial law for all Christians; he then 

        refused to support restrictions.

COUNSELOR  (יועץ (yaw ‘ats); הדבר (had daw bawr); bouleuteV (bool 

        yoo tace))  One who advises.

                   Counselors seem to have been customary court officials of the 

        Israelite kings. David's counselor Ahithophel had an outstanding reputation

        before his defection to Absalom and later suicide.  In a general sense, 

        parents, elders, prophets, and wise men act as counselors.  God is also a 

        counselor, and no one can counsel God.  God's law and testimony are the 

        people's counselor.  God isn't an advice-giver, but his power is the strength

        of the community.  So also the Holy Spirit is the Counselor.    

COURAGE (אמץ (‘aw mats); חזק (khaw zak)) Across the races & genera-

        tions of humankind courage has been a widely celebrated virtue.  But cou-

        rage in the Bible doesn't usually stand as an independent virtue; it is gene-

        rally found in a religious context, inspired by God and displayed in the ser-

        vice of God.

                   Strength and courage are intimately related in Old Testament (OT) 

        usage.  Implicit in the action and movement of the patriarchs is a strong, 

        even an adventurous spirit.  But the accounts leave it to God to supply the

        initiative and provide the way.  There are cases of individual courage, but 

        even David's victory over Goliath is credited to God.  In the OT, loss of 

        courage and faintness of heart generally come from sin and evil, but God 

        supplies the stout heart & the courageous spirit.  (See also the entry in the

        OT Apocrypha /Influences Outside the Bible section of the Appendix.).

                The Greek word for courage does occur in the New Testament (NT),

        but the NT breathes the spirit of courage in its fullest strength.  Here the 

        strong temper that rises above unpopularity, abuse, & hostility to take its 

        stand on the unseen, spiritual realities.  Jesus' own example of courage in 

        his ministry and passion is the inspiration of his followers.  Peter, John, 

        Stephen, and Paul all bravely face their accusers and even death.  The 

        martyrs of the church demonstrate a brave endurance unto death.

COURIER  (רץ (roats))  A royal messenger who traveled overland and by sea.

        Ancient Persians and Romans had well organized carrier services. 

COURT OF BUILDING (חצר (khaw tsare))  An area enclosed by a wall 

        before a building, but without a roof.

COURT OF LAW  Legal proceedings in the Bible are marked by a lot of deve-

        lopments throughout the centuries.  During the patriarchs’ period, legal 

        questions were decided between families & tribes.  With the tribal system

        under Joshua, more difficult cases were settled “before God.”  The earliest

        court mentioned in the Old Testament (OT) is Deborah’s palm tree.  

        Generally, the city gate served as the local place of judgment.

                   With the establishment of the kingship, the king assumed the func-

        tion formerly exercised by the judges of Israel.  The king served as a kind

        of supreme court, with the city gate as the gathering place for judgment.  

        In the case of acts of apostasy, the accused was placed “on high” before 

        all the people & heard the testimony of his accusers.  If the accused were 

        found guilty, all the people executed the punishment of death.  The OT 

        has no specific term for “court of law.”  Where the term “court” is found 

        in the English versions, the translation is generally not a literal one. The 

        same is true of New Testament passages in which “court” appears.

COUSIN  There is no word for “cousin” in the Bible; the Old Testament uses 

        such expressions as “your uncle's son.”  The cousin has certain obligations

        and rights pertaining to economic transactions and especially to marriage.

        The marriage of cousins was common, particularly of first cousins.

                   The King James Version translates suggehiV (soog geh nees) as 

        “cousin” when used of Mary's relation to Elizabeth, but the Greek term 

        actually requires the translation “kinswoman.”

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COVENANT  (ברית (ber eeth); diaqhkh (dee ath ay kay))  A solemn promise

        made binding by an oath, which may be either a verbal formula or a sym-

        bolic action.  Covenants between parties of different socio-political groups

        create a relationship regulated by the terms of the covenant.  A covenant 

        within a legal community assumes obligations which the law does not 

        provide for.  Since the covenant usually had sanctions of a religious nature,

        it was closely connected with religion. In later times, when covenants were

        enforced by political means, the covenant was simply a form of legislation. 

                   Covenants in the Ancient World—In the long time span covered 

        by ancient history there is a great variety of forms and situations in which 

        covenants appear.  Covenants were a very important means for the regula-

        tion of behavior.  The oath seems to have been the primary element which 

        made covenants binding, but not every oath was a covenant, especially if 

        it did not involve future actions. 

                   The covenants which are of greatest importance for Old Testament 

        (OT) history are those between 2 distinct social or political units. Evidence

        of such covenants goes back to around 2500 B.C. in Sumerian sources, 

        but the evidence of those covenants is too fragmentary for effective ana-

        lysis. We do not know much about covenants from the latter part of the 

        Assyrian/ Babylonian period.  We do know that there are numerous differ-

        ences and similarities between these covenants and those of the Hittite  

        Empire. Likewise, the Mari archives from around 1700 B.C. don't contain

        enough details to be very helpful.

                   By far the most useful and extensive body of material comes from 

        the Hittite Empire between 1400-1200 B.C.  These covenants between 

        empire and vassal have been preserved in abundance, & were the formal

        basis of the Empire.  They placed the vassal state under the protection of 

        the Hittites, & placed the vassal state's military resources at the disposal 

        of the ruling authority.  The stipulations of that authority defined the vas-

        sal's obligations, and protected them from arbitrary action on the part of 

        vastly more powerful authority.

                   The historical prologue consists of a description of the previous 

        relationships between the two parties.  In the case of the Hittites, it usually

        described how the vassal gained his throne with the help of the Empire.  

        The stipulations that followed were what the vassal was agreeing to by 

        accepting the covenant.  The military obligations were: no alliances with 

        other independent kings; regulations for the refugees' treatment (apparently

        an important issue during this time); war booty was often regulated in 

        advance of war (also an important issue and a source of often violent 

        disagreement); and a stipulated tribute.  An interesting feature of some 

        covenants is the frequent prohibition of “murmuring” against authority. 

                   Typically there was a provision putting the covenant in the vassal's

        sanctuary, & for reading it in public from 1 to 4 times a year. Ancient legal

        documents normally ended with a list of witnesses.  Here however, the 

        gods of both states are named, sometimes in exhaustive detail, along with 

        important features of the natural world.  

                   Inspiring religious awe was the intent of invoking these divine wit-

        nesses.  Although the Hittite king used military force against vassals, the 

        covenants mention only religious sanctions.  Following the list of divine 

        witnesses was a list of the blessings & curses which the gods were called 

        upon to bring upon the vassal for obedience & disobedience respectively.  

        The written document was not all that was involved in a covenant.  There 

        was an oath required of the vassal of which the covenant gives no details.

                   So far as the covenant’s validity is concerned, it seems clear that 

        the oath was binding only upon the one who swore, & therefore the death

        of the vassal or the ruling authority & his heir’s accession required a new

        covenant.  The normal form of covenants was thus a treaty in which only 

        the vassal is bound by oath.  Covenants between equals existed at this 

        time, where the parties were bound by identical obligations.  Perhaps 

        equally important were covenant alliances for the purpose of obtaining 

        concerted action against empires.

                   Covenant Terminology in the OT—While the term bereeth is the

        most frequent word for “covenant,” there are numerous references to 

        covenants and covenant relationships where this term does not occur. The

        use of the term for “covenant” is quite rare in the OT’s earliest sections. 

        The Decalogue’s designation as the “ten words” rests on an early tradition,

        since covenants were regarded as the “words” of the ruling authority.  

        Theological use of the “word” of God may therefore be closely bound up 

        in its use in describing covenants. 

                   In addition, the Hebrew word translated as “testimony” almost 

        certainly was an designation for the covenant.  Occasionally, the word 

        translated as “oath,” may be a synonym of “covenant,” since it was the 

        act by which a covenant was made binding.  In the New Testament, only

        diatheke has clear connections with covenant concepts; it is also possible,

        though not firmly established, that the Greek word translated as “witness” 

        may have grown out of covenant patterns, since witnesses are an integral 

        part of the covenant process.

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                   In antiquity, covenants were a most frequent basis for human rela-

        tionships not bound by kinship ties.  Of the covenants in which God was 

        at most a witness, rather than one of the parties, the suzerainty covenant, 

        or covenant between a ruler & a vassal, was the most common.  Only the 

        one inferior in power was bound in this type of treaty, but the superior 

        party also gave up some degree of freedom of action.

                   In parity covenants both parties are bound by oath.  The frequent

        warnings against treaties with the Canaanites refer to this kind of treaty 

        as well as others.  Any relationship regulated by covenant would ordina-

        rily have been sworn to by Canaanite deities as well as by Yahweh.  Such

        recognition of Canaanite gods, many of whom must have had consider-

        able local prestige, would have opened the way to reception of their cult 

        and religious values by Israelite towns and villages. 

                    It is difficult to interpret the covenant between David & Jonathon.

        Presumably this was simply an oath of undying friendship and loyalty.  

        Nor can we analyze the covenant(s) by which David became king.  Since

        the kingship meant the conferring of sovereignty, it seems likely that the 

        elders must have sworn allegiance to the king “before the Lord,” but there

        is no hint that David was bound by oath to any specific obligations.  The 

        covenant that David had with Abner may well have been a two-sided 

        bargain in which David was bound to some promises as well.

                   At least from Solomon on, the kings had little hesitation in entering

        into treaties with foreign lands.  The most notable ones were Asa's with 

        Ben-hadad of Damascus, and Ben-hadad's with Ahab.  The prophetic indic-

        tments of foreign alliances in dictate how frequent & commonly accepted 

        such policies were in the later monarchy, although we cannot be sure such

        treaties were in the form of covenants.

                   The patron covenant is one in which the party in superior position 

        binds himself to some obligation for the benefit of an inferior. Surprisingly

        little evidence exists for this type other than the covenant traditions which

        bound Yahweh.  The promissory covenant shows a considerable change 

        from older patterns of behavior and thought in that it was not primarily 

        intended to establish a new relationship between two parties, but simply 

        guarantees future performance of stipulated obligations.  No new relation-

        ship between parties is created by them; they are essentially legislation 

        established by contract between political authority and people, the content

        of which is derived from religious tradition and regarded as religious 

        obligation.  Promissory oaths are more frequent in later narratives. 

                   King Jehoiada made such a covenant with the military leaders in 

        order to re-establish the Davidic dynasty.  Next, Jehoiada acted as interme-

        diary in establishing a covenant between Yahweh, king and people, the 

        only stipulation being that they “should be the Lord's people.”  Finally, a 

        covenant between the king and people is mentioned with no further detail.

                   Covenants in which God is Bound—The classical and probably 

        original covenant of this type is the Abrahamic covenant, preserved by the

        Jahwistic writer(s) or J in Genesis 15, and by the Priestly writer(s) or P in 

        the first part of Genesis 17.  The covenant preserved by J is thought to be 

        from before Moses for three reasons.  1st, the story in which it is found 

        gives every indication of being very old.  The “smoking pot” and “flaming

        torch” represent God, and the two parts of the sacrificed animal represent 

        the fate of the one making the promise if the promise is violated. 

                   2nd, it is known from extra-biblical sources that covenants between

        the head of a family and a particular deity were customary before the time

        of Moses.

                   3rd, while Genesis 15 has been colored by traditions developing 

        after Moses, it can hardly be denied that some kind of tradition of a cove-

        nant between a deity & the patriarchs was an important element in ancient

        Israel.  Circumcision, rather than being an obligation, was a sign, a guaran-

        tee, and an identifying marker of those in later generations who should 

        become the beneficiaries of Yahweh's promise.  The connection of cove-

        nant with a “sign” in such a fashion seems to have developed very late in 

        OT history.

                   Of the later covenants in which Yahweh bound himself, the Davidic

        covenant is by far the most important.  In every form of this tradition it is 

        Yahweh alone who is bound to a promise, & nowhere do we find the story

        as to how this oath of Yahweh, that the Davidic dynasty should remain on 

        the throne forever, was developed & formally established. There can be no

        doubt the effect of this covenant tradition was to establish a stable state

        7 dynasty to avoid the danger of constant revolution & struggle for power

        at the death of each king.  The similarity to Abraham’s covenant is most

        impressive, & it seems most likely that the each of the 2 traditions have 

        been expressed in the Bible in terms which reflects the other tradition. 

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                   In Numbers 25, this same type of covenant is applied to the esta-

        blishment of a priestly line which originated with Phinehas.  In it Yahweh

        chooses to be bound in response to something Phinehas did for God's 

        benefit.  The covenant with Noah is the 3rd of this type and certainly 

        inspired by the Abraham-David covenant tradition.  Again, only Yahweh 

        is bound in a covenant in perpetuity, the benefits of which extends to 

        lineal descendants, and are guaranteed by a sign.

                   Covenants in which Israel is Bound—In contrast to the Abraham,

        David, Phinehas, & Noah covenants, there is a group of stories which is al-

        almost directly opposite, in which Israel is the party bound by the covenant

        There can be little doubt this covenant pattern derives ultimately from 

        Moses & is to be identified with the short form of the 10 Commandments.

                   Most likely, the covenant tradition stemmed from events in Moses'

        time, & resulted in the formation of a religious community.  The covenant

        isn't merely a theological concept, but is rather the original form of social

        and religious organization which tied together religious experience and 

        conviction with religious obligations which preserved the peace.  It seems

        probable that the covenant eventually became more of a symbol than a 

        real foundation of the community, as the political laws replaced the older 

        covenant.

                   Any comparison of the traditions associated with Moses and the 

        international treaty forms will reveal striking similarities.  Nearly all the 

        old covenant form’s characteristics described above are to be found in the

        stories of early Israel’s formative period.  It is possible to identify the Ten     

        Commandments as the covenant between Yahweh & Israel's original text

        which has gone through some expansion & interpretation.  Early  Israel 

        emerged as a religious community on the foundation of this covenant.  

                   And Yahweh was not conceived of as a king, but as a king of kings.

        This transference of ruling authority from a flesh-and-blood emperor to a 

        supreme and unique deity was a religious revolution and a protest against 

        the feudalistic imperialisms.  It placed moral obligations above political 

        and economic interests in the scale of religious values, and placed the 

        religious-ethical obligations above institutions and political structures in 

        the scale of human values.

                   As stated earlier, covenants were made up of: preamble, historical 

        prologue; stipulations; provisions for where the written covenant is kept 

        and when it is to be publicly read; the list of witnesses; and blessings and

        curses.  If this form is used, the following features of the stories about 

        Moses' period fall into place.  The preamble is “I am the Lord your God.”

        No further identification of this ruling authority is necessary or possible.  

        The historical prologue (. . . “who brought you out of the land of Egypt”) 

        is extremely brief in comparison with Hittite treaties, but it has the essen-

        tials.  The revelation of the deity is inseparable from the historical events 

        which are the foundation of the covenant itself.  Since the covenant itself 

        combined history and Law, it is this which explains the fact that narrative

        and law codes are so curiously interwoven in the present form of the first 

        five books of the Bible.

                   The stipulations begin with the exclusion of relationships to other 

        sovereign powers, in this case, other gods.  There is an obligation to 

        engage in or refrain from war on command.  Little is known of the means

        by which those commands were delivered, but charismatic leadership 

        certainly had much to do with the process; failure to wage war was a 

        breach of covenant in both the Hittite & Biblical covenants.  Unwavering

        trust in the ruling authority was also mandatory in both, and murmuring 

        against it was always regarded as a violation of obligation which required

        punishment.  It is important to note that the murmurings that precede the 

        covenant at Sinai weren't punished, while those that took place afterwards

        were punished.

                   The stipulations define the interests of the ruling authority which 

        the vassal is bound to protect and which preserve the peace within the 

        domain of the ruling authority.  The Ten Commandments prohibit those 

        acts which will most likely disrupt the peace of the community.  Except 

        for the Sabbath observance, the Ten Commandments' content wasn't so 

        different from the pagan nations of antiquity's customary law. It was the 

        religious conception of God and the relationship of humans to God in the

        covenant that sharply distinguished Israel from ancient pagan people.        

                   The Ten Commandments' traditional text ends with the stipulations,

        but the other elements of the Hittite treaty form are found throughout the 

        first five books of the Old Testament (OT).  The provisions for where the 

        written covenant is kept & when it is to be publicly read is found in several

        places in Deuteronomy.  Since the list of witnesses was the local gods, 

        there could be no parallel in the exclusive, one God covenant between 

        Yahweh and Israel.  Those lists did include the remarkable features of the

        landscape, which serve a similar role in biblical sources.

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                   The blessings and cursings appear in such variety that little need

        be said of this as a part of the Israelite covenant tradition. The list of 

        blessings and curses in Deuteronomy 27-28 is the most detailed in the 

        Bible.  This aspect of the covenant is referred to throughout the prophetic

        tradition of pre-exilic times.  The content of the oath is lacking in both 

        the Israelite and Hittite covenants.  Almost any action recognized by both

        parties to a covenant might serve to make a promise one which could not

        be violated.  The OT alone gives a surprising number of such forms, from

        the purely verbal oaths to the symbolic actions.  For example, the action 

        of sprinkling blood upon altar and people was simply that which formally

        placed the covenant in effect, like the signing of a legal contract.

                   The story in Joshua 24 preserves almost all the features of the 

        covenant as just described, but differs so radically in detail that it must be

        regarded as an independent story. Where stipulations are expected, Jo-

        shua begins to speak instead.  Some scholars speculate that the missing 

        stipulations may have been separated & can be found elsewhere in the          1st 5 books, but there is no solid evidence supporting this.  At any rate, it  

        is still impossible to find any basis for the unity and yet diversity of the 12 

        tribes other than a covenant, which bound them to religious, ethical, and 

        military obligations and yet left a very considerable degree of local self-

        determination and independence.

                   After the long monarchy period, there was a resurgence of older 

        traditions, initiated by the discovery of a law book in the Jerusalem 

        temple.  King Josiah made a covenant, joined in by all the people, to fol-

        low the “words of this covenant that were written in this book” (II Kings 

        23: 3).  The actions of Josiah identified the legal customs & norms of the 

        past with the covenant obligations to Yahweh.  Though this reform didn't 

        succeed in the short-term, it established a pattern which held until the des-

        truction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.  This covenant was more like a promis-

        sory oath than a covenant between two parties; if there were two parties, 

        they would be the king and the people, not Yahweh and people.

                    In the post-exilic community, poverty, distress, and foreign domina-

        tion was attributed to the failure of the Jews to obey the law. So, a century

        & more after the return of some exiles to Jerusalem, a solemn convocation

        took place in which the law of God was formally enacted as binding upon

        the community.  From this time on, there is an official orthodoxy that 

        demanded obedience to the traditions accumulated in the Torah and now 

        viewed as holy.  Two traditions have fallen together. Yahweh is bound by

        the covenant with Abraham; and Israel is bound by the Sinai covenant.  

        (See also the entry in the OT Apocrypha /Influences Outside the Bible sec-

        tion of the Appendix.).

                Covenant in the New Testament (NT)—In the NT times, the cove-

        nant for Judaism meant the Mosaic law, and for the Roman Empire a cove-

        nant  meant an illegal secret society.  These two attitudes made it nearly 

        impossible for early Christianity to use the term meaningfully.  Most uses 

        in the NT are quotations from or references to OT covenants.  For a time at

        least, the early Christians did regard themselves as bound together by 

        covenant, but that this covenant is a most free, creative reinterpretation of 

        the older traditions.

                   If it is possible to connect the Last Supper with OT covenant tradi-

        tions, then the establishment anticipated the historical event upon which 

        the covenant was based, namely the death of Jesus.  Since the covenant 

        established a personal relationship, stipulations were not necessary.  And 

        the Gospel of John has a reference to a “new commandment.”  There is 

        nothing new about the commandment of love except its place in the cove-

        nant relationship, as the stipulated obligation assumed by those who enter 

        the covenant community.  The purpose of a covenant was to bind together 

        the two parties in a firm relationship.  In this covenant, the relationship 

        becomes the covenant.

                   We don't have internal Christian sources as to how the early church

        saw the Eucharist, whether it was seen an oath binding a covenant, but 

        sources outside the church seem to indicate that the Eucharist was regar-

        ded as the formal act which established a lasting relationship between the 

        community and Christ.  Since the relationship of Christ is both the content

        and the obligation of the covenant, all the detailed prescriptions of Jewish

        law are both unnecessary and (for Paul) actually hostile to Christianity. 

                   In Galatians 4, the old and new covenants are contrasted.  The new

        covenant is a covenant in the Spirit, in contrast to the written code.  The 

        new covenant rejected the detailed stipulations of religious obligation in 

        the Jewish connection of covenant with law.  The Letter to the Hebrews 

        uses the covenant tradition much more frequently.  

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                   Every possible argument is drawn on to show that the new covenant

        fulfills and replaces the old. The great emphasis on covenant in the Letter

        to the Hebrews is a strong indication that the early church did take the 

        covenant seriously.  However, for Western Christianity at least, with its 

        creativity and radical break with Jewish form, the old covenant patterns 

        lost their usefulness as a means of communication of the faith.

                    All we can conclude is that the Last Supper is certainly the central

        feature of early Christian life, in which the community was bound together

        with Christ; but the detailed stipulations of the Mosaic covenant are absent.

        On the other hand, God's act in history, the exclusive relationship to God 

        through Christ, the curse done away with by the Cross, the blessings of 

        freedom, even God’s judgment for rejecting the covenant are taken up in 

        the NT and are inseparable both from Jesus’ person & from the Eucharist 

        sacrament.

                    Neither the act of God in Christ nor the religious obligation of 

        humans to God could be adequately expressed in language.  Therefore,

        Word became flesh, a living being and the means of communicating the 

        message of God. & yet, the Sinai covenant of the OT & the NT covenant 

        in Christ's blood are one: each created a people of God out of those who 

        were no people, & demanded complete self-surrender to God as a joyful 

        response to the love of God.  The simple stipulations of the 10 Command-

        ments were summed up in the yet simpler obligation of love at Jesus' 

        command—but this is no command; it is rather the very nature of the 

        relationship between God and the community. 

COVENANT, BOOK OF THE (ברית ספר  (say fer  beh reeth)) Moses is re-

        ported to have read from the “book of the covenant” in connection with ma-

        king the covenant at Mount Sinai. Most likely this refers to the covenant be-

        tween Yahweh which developed throughout the course of Israelite history.

COVERINGS  (מרבדים (mar ba deem))  Fabric goods used as bedspreads.

COVERLET  (מכבר (mak bar))  Apparently a cloth of some sort which Hazael

        dipped in water & spread upon the face of Ben-hadad until he smothered.

COVETOUSNESS  (אוה (aw vaw); חמד (khaw mad); בצע (baw tsah);     

        pleonexia (play on ex ee ah)  Throughout the Bible, the desire to have 

        something for oneself or more than one already possesses.

                   Covetousness is always considered in the Bible as sinful for a 

        variety of reasons, for to deprive another of their fair share is to deprive 

        them of their God-given inheritance.  Usually and especially in the New       

        Testament,  covetousness is considered a hindrance to true worship and     

        faith in God; one who loves material possessions cannot truly love God.

COW  (עגלה (eg lah))  The basic function of the cow, the reproduction of its 

        kind, is mentioned in Leviticus 22.  Cheese is mentioned in the Bible, only 

        as a by-product of breeding calves; there is no evidence that cows were 

        used specifically for dairy purposes.  The amount & kind of pasture needed 

        for milch cow is much scarcer than that needed for goats.  The only figura-

        tive use of cows is in Joseph's dream (Genesis 41).

COZBI (כזבי (lying, false))  Daughter of Zur, one of the chiefs of Midian. Zimri 

        brought her home; both were slain by Phinehas, thus averting a plague.

COZEBA (כזבה (lying, false)) A village in the Judean highlands, mentioned 

        in I Chronicles 4.

CRACKNELS  (קדים (ka deem))  The King James Version's translation of the 

        Hebrew word The Revised Standard Version translates it as “some bread.”

CRAFTS.  The manual arts requiring special skill.  Many of the crafts were 

        performed in the home by both men and women.  Until after the Exile, it is 

        thought, skilled workers were illiterate.  After the Exile the rabbis were often

        independent by virtue of their skill in some craft.  Still later, rabbis wouldn't  

        take money for their teaching but would take the exchange of skilled servi-

        ces. The craftsman was usually a free artisan; only a small number of 

        slaves were trained in these skills.  Shops were kept by craftsmen, & the 

        people of a single craft often occupied special quarters in Israelite towns. 

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CRANE  (עגור (aw goor))  Any of a class of tall wading birds with long bills, 

        necks, and legs.  A birdwatcher in the 1800s noted the large numbers of 

        these rather noisy birds passing over Palestine on their way to more 

        northerly lands.  The meaning of the Hebrew word is not certain.

CRAWLING THINGS  (זחלי (tsaw kha lay), crawl)  In Deuteronomy 32, the 

        reference is to poisonous snakes; in Micah it is to reptiles generally. 

CREATION  In the Bible the doctrine of creation depends upon & elaborates 

        the redemptive activity of God in history. In both the Old Testament (OT)

        and New Testament (NT), the doctrine stresses the complete dependence 

        of the whole of creation upon the Creator, the supreme position of honor 

        and responsibility which God has given humans, and the divine purpose 

        which is behind history.

                   The most complete and advanced account of the natural world’s 

        creation is given by the Priestly Writer (P) in Genesis 1- verse 3 of 2.  It 

        begins with chaos, a formless substance floating in a primeval sea, soon 

        to be separated into the “waters above” and the “waters below”.  Creation

        takes places as God brings God’s will to bear upon this order-less mass in

        a series of seven decisive actions:

            On the:       God Created:               On the:      God Created:

            1st Day        light; day and night       5th Day      sea creatures and birds

            2nd Day       sky “dome”; heavens    6th Day      land creatures and man

            3rd Day        dry lands and seas       7th Day      rest and the sabbath

            4th Day        sun; moon; stars

                   History and Creation—The NT inherits & transform the OT faith

        that God created all things. The OT affirms that Yahweh, God of Israel, is 

        the creator of heaven and earth. Yahweh's creative work was understood 

        in a completely different sense from the prevalent creation beliefs among 

        Babylonians, Egyptians, or Canaanites, even though there are numerous 

        points of contact between Israel's creation faith & the other ancient views 

        of the universe.

                   The Bible has a three-storied structure of the universe:  heaven, 

        earth, and underworld.  Heaven is made up of highest heaven, heavenly 

        ocean and the firmament.  Earth rests on pillars which are sunk into the 

        subterranean waters, and which also hold up the firmament.  In the under-

        world, there is the subterranean waters.  In this view, the world is surroun-

        ded by the chaos waters above and below, which, unless held back, would

        engulf the world in chaos.  In various ways ancient peoples affirmed that 

        the world emerged out of primordial chaos.  Although the Bible takes for 

        granted the contours of ancient cosmology, it has de-mythologized the 

        ancient understanding of existence.  The pagan language survives only as 

        poetic speech for the adoration of Yahweh, the Lord of history.

                   The earliest summaries of Israel's faith concentrated on Yahweh's  

        mighty deeds of history by which Yahweh revealed creative and saving 

        power, from Creation to the Red Sea & beyond. Absence of a Creation

        story written before the monarchy period doesn’t rule out the existence of

        one.  The Yahwist writer's story dates back to the early monarchy.  It's 

        one sentence allusion to creation implies a longer version of the actual 

        creation besides the Priestly version which is usually dated in the time of

        Exile or later.

                   It is a striking fact that in the early period of Israel's history the 

        creation faith didn't have the prominence that was given it in later times.

        Aside from the Priestly version, the creation doctrine comes to its deepest

        expression in the message of the second part of Isaiah during the Exile.  

        In contrast to other religions, Israel's faith insisted upon the radically histo-

        rical character of human existence.  The meaning of life was not in 

        the rhythms & cycles of nature, but in decisive historical events in which

        men of faith perceived the revelation of God, for Yahweh is the Lord of 

        history. 

                   The conflict between Israel's historical faith and the nature religions

        of the Fertile Crescent continued right to the fall of the nation and the exile

        of the people.  During these years of conflict, creation was associated with 

        the world view of the nature religions, &and their creation mythology.  It 

        was no simple task for Israel's interpreters to de-mythologize the doctrine 

        of creation & to bring it into theological relationship with the sacred history

        of Yahweh's mighty deeds, to convert creation myth into creation history.

                   In the Bible, the story of creation does not stand by itself; creation is

        the starting point of history, & stands in an inseparable historical relation-

        ship to the stories that follow.  In the Priestly version of creation, it is a 

        temporal event, the beginning of a movement of history.  Just as the Crea-

        tion points forward to the Exodus, the covenant faith reaches backward & 

       

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        includes the Creation.  In fact, the Creation serves as a preface to sacred

        history which begins with the call of Abraham, and continues throughout 

        Genesis.  Thus a historical line was traced from the faith situation of Israel 

        to the remotest historical beginnings imaginable, with the result that all 

        human history was seen in the light of the revelation given to Israel.

                   In Israel's understanding, then, creation and history are inseparably 

        related.  Creation is the foundation of the covenant, and stands as the first 

        of Yahweh's saving deeds.  The writer of Isaiah's 2nd part understands the 

        underlying meaning of Creation better than any other prophet.  He appeals 

        to faith in Yahweh's wisdom and power as Creator in order to demonstrate 

        to despairing exiles that Israel's God is sovereign over the whole course of 

        history and that God therefore can and will redeem God's people. 

                   The Sovereignty of the Creator—The Bible does not use a rational

        model of universe. Instead, it speaks of the covenant relationship between 

        the Creator and God's creation.  Israel's understanding is that her life is 

        dependent upon God.  The covenant is the ground for the unity of creation, 

        rather than some rational principle.  The doctrine of creation is a religious 

        affirmation about the sovereignty of God & the absolute dependence of the

        creature.  The proclamation that Yahweh is creator is a summons to 

        worship.  Although the language of creation was often mysterious, it was 

        nevertheless sufficiently intelligible to the man who stood within the cove-

        nant so that he could exclaim that the heavens declare the glory of God. 

                   The 2 stories of Genesis 1-2 both agree in ascribing creation to the 

        free and spontaneous initiative of God.  In the Jahwist's version, the strong 

        portrayal of God in human form does not reduce the Creator to the level of 

        humans or exalt the creature to equality with God.  God's sovereignty is

        expressed more forcefully in the Priestly account, which bears the marks 

        of greater theological reflection about the creation in the widest sense; in 

        it, God punctuates the creative drama with the refrain:  “& God said . . .

        And it was so.”  

                   The Word of God is the sovereign power which shapes men's lives 

        and controls the course of history.  The word that goes forth from Yahweh's 

        mouth accomplishes God's purpose and God's will.  The creation story 

        affirms that God's word, mighty in history, is also the very power which 

        brought the creation into being.

                   The Creator's sovereignty was further emphasized by the doctrine 

        that the world was created out of nothing.  The main intention of the writer

        is to emphasize the absolute sovereignty of God.  There is not the slightest 

        hint that God is bound or conditioned by chaos.  God's creation is charac-

        terized by order; not the order of a Greek cosmos, but rather a divinely 

        decreed order within which each creature fulfills the Creator's will.  The 

        heavenly bodies are God's servants whose appointed function is to desig-

        nate the seasons & to separate the day & the night.  The idea of “nature” as

        an autonomous sphere governed by natural law is not found in the OT.  At

        any moment the Creator could allow the creation to fall back into chaos,

        for God's continuing power is necessary to uphold & renew the creatures.

                   When God looks upon God's works, seeing that each creature cor-

        responds to God's intention and fulfills its assigned function, God pronoun-

        ces that it is “Very good.”  The creation faith represents a repudiation of all

        metaphysical dualism which leads men to suppose that the created world  

        is evil.  On the contrary, as is admirably expressed in Psalm 104, God may 

        rejoice in all God's works.  Most striking however, is the idea that creation 

        was mainly for the human's benefit.  Yahweh formed the earth to be a 

        human dwelling place.  The natural world is the human's God-given habitat,

        wherein the human is to find joy in the service of God.

                   Both creation stories affirm that the human is assigned the highest 

        place of all of God's creatures.  In the Jahwist story, the man is formed 

        from the ground first (which contradicts the Priestly version).  The man's  

        special relationship to God is symbolized by the animation of his body by  

        the divine breath. In the Priestly account that begins Genesis, the creation  

        of man & woman occurs at the climax of the creative drama. God makes a 

        solemn decision:  “Let us make humans in our image, after our likeness.”  

                   In this version the intention is to indicate the human's task & their 

        relationship to God.  The human’s task is to exercise sovereignty within 

        God's sovereignty.  God crowns the human with glory and honor, not only  

        by making humans kings within God's empire, but also by singling them  

        out for God's special concern.  Humans are made to have fellowship with 

        God; their lives are made for conversation with God, for a dialogue in an I-

        thou relationship. It's said of Israel that Yahweh has formed a people that  

        they may declare God's praise and thus fulfill the vocation of every human.

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                   Beginning and End—Just as Israel traced a historical line back to 

        the Creation, so it looked forward in hope toward the end when the Crea-  

        tor's purpose would be finally realized.  The Bible also speaks of threats to

        God's creation which God must overcome before God's purpose is finally 

        realized.  The 1st threat is that of chaos.  God's work of creation did not 

        destroy the chaos & darkness but pushed them back, so to speak.  Ancient 

        people knew that their lives were suspended above the formless Abyss and

        hemmed in by the waters of chaos.  Chaos imagery recurs throughout the 

        OT, especially in poetic contexts.  In the NT, a seer declares that in the end

        time, when God's redemptive work is complete, the sea under the earth 

        will be gone. 

                  2nd was the prophets’ belief that the work of God was threatened by

        human sin.  The OT doesn't speak of fallen creation, but some of its 

        prophets do speak of Israel's fallen or perverted history.  Sin, it was said, is

        “unnatural,” a mysterious fault which characterizes humankind alone.  

                   From Jewish scripture the rabbis derived the view that the human 

        heart is the arena of conflict and decision between 2 tendencies.  For belie-

        vers in the eventual end of this age and the beginning of a new one, this 

        conflict is explained by Satan's rebellion against the Creator, and his sub-

        sequent fall from status within the heavenly council. Satan isn't co-eternal 

        with God, but a parasite on God's creation.  Satan's rule lasts only as long 

        as Satan deceives humans.  Once God’s judgment has been accom-

        plished, God will make a new beginning, giving humans a new heart.

                   The new creation theme dominates the message of Isaiah’s second

        part, which grasps profoundly the interrelation of creation and history.  

        There the prophet perceives that history’s new beginning will be God's 

        new act of creation.  Yahweh's victory over the chaos monster Rahab 

        occurred in the beginning of Israel's history.  God also dried up the waters

        of the “great deep” (the Red Sea), which guarantees that the Creator-

        Redeemer is about to make all things new.  It is characteristic of writings

        about this age’s end that the end-time visions are drawn in terms of the 

        pictures of the first things. History’s goal will be that the Creator’s original

        intention, frustrated by creaturely rebellion, and threatened by chaos, will 

        be fulfilled.

                   Creation Viewed in Relationship with Christ—During the Greek

        period, the doctrine of creation was a cardinal tenet of faith which distin-

        guished Judaism from other religions or philosophies.  The Christian faith

        is at one with Judaism in affirming that God alone created the world with 

        a word and that God determines its purpose from beginning to end.  The 

        vision of the Creator enthroned in glory at the end of this age vividly 

        expresses God's sovereignty over history.

                   In the NT the church understands creation in the light of God's 

        action in Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of Israel's sacred history and

        the inaugurator of the New Covenant.  Since Christ is the center of history,

        he is also the revelation of God's purpose, which underlies all of creation.

        Christ is the bearer of the meaning of history and creation.  By using the 

        concept of pre-existence, those who followed the teachings of Paul and 

        John believed that God created the world through Christ.  The OT belief 

        in a pre-existent and creative Wisdom and creation by the Word converge 

        in the Prologue to John’s Gospel, where Christ is Logos, the Word.

                    For Paul and those who wrote using Paul's teachings, everything 

        has its center in Christ, through whom God creates, upholds, and redeems 

        the world.  The doctrine of creation validates the truth; that history from 

        beginning to end is under God's sovereign purpose as revealed in Jesus 

        Christ.  Indeed, the very title which we find for the first time in the second

        part of Isaiah is in the book of Revelation to Christ: he is “the Alpha and 

        the Omega,” “the first and the last,” “the beginning & the end.”  The whole

        sweep of history, from creation to the new heaven & the new earth, has its

        fulcrum in Christ.

                   The NT gospel's heart is the proclamation that in Christ, God has

        already inaugurated God's kingdom, has already introduced new history. 

        The new creation has already come, but it is a promise & a fore-taste of

        the end-time.  Paul, in commenting on the transformed life of the person

        of faith, exclaims that God's redemptive deed is nothing less than a new

        act of creation. In the writings of both Paul & John the Greek kosmos occa-

        sionally designate the world as God's creation, but usually it means the

        historical sphere—the context of social relationships in which people live.

                   In the social context, the kosmos is a fallen world.  Paul goes so

        far as to say that the whole created order, affected by the sin of humans, 

        groans under the bondage of corruption, waiting eagerly for the creative

        and redemptive act that will reveal the Sons of God.  Through Christ, God

        has offered the promise of redemption, & God has already won the deci-

        sive victory over the world, and thereby has initiated a new history, a new

        humanity.

                  In Jesus Christ, God has restored the human pattern intended at the

        original creation.  Christ is the beginning of the new humanity into which 

        anyone may be born, by their decision in response to divine grace.  The 

        new person lives in a new relation to God and therefore in a new relation 

        to his fellow humans.  Thus, the Christian community looks both back-

        ward and forward, for “In Christ all things were created,” and “God will 

        sum up all things in Christ.”  The truth of both the story of Genesis and 

        Revelation’s poetic visions is perceived by the person who participates in

        the new creation in Christ and who knows in faith that history’s  whole 

        span, from beginning to end, is embraced within the sovereign purpose of

        the Creator and Redeemer.

                  See also World, Origin Of.

     

CREATURE(S), LIVING  (חיה נפש (neh fesh  khaw yaw), living (breathing) 

        creature)  In Genesis 2, this phrase is used to describe Adam after Yahweh

        breathed the “breath of life” into Adam, which he had formed from the 

        ground.  Elsewhere, however, the expression is always applied to animals

        or water creatures. 

 

CREEPING THINGS  (רמש (reh mes); erpeton (er peh ton))  A term usually

        referring to reptiles, insects, or some other animals.  In Genesis 9, the 

        Hebrew remes refers to all animals.

CRESCENS  (Krhskhs)  A companion of Paul who had been with him at 

        one of the imprisonments.

CRESCENT  (שהרנים (sah har oh neem), King James Version translates as 

        “ornament” in Judges 8, & as “round tire like the moon” in Isaiah 3.) A 

        new-moon-shaped decorative pendant or amulet worn around the neck or

        sometimes sewed on garments.  Crescents were of gold, silver, or bronze.

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CRETE (Krhth)  A large island in the Mediterranean southeast of Greece.  

        The highly advanced Minoan civilization flourished there from 2000-1500

        B.C.  They were known as Caphtor to the Hebrews.  Jews were settled on

        the island by the 100s B.C., if not earlier.  Crete is listed as one of the 

        places from which Jews traveled to Jerusalem.  Paul sailed along the coast

        of Crete on his voyage to Rome.  Christianity was introduced early into

        the island, despite the low moral conditions there.

CRIB (אבוס (ay boos))  The receptacle for animal fodder; at times it was the 

        stall or manger for the ox or ass.

CRICKET  (חרגל (khar gole))  Any of several dark-colored insects of the 

        Gryllidae family.  The identification of the edible creature identified as 

        khagol is uncertain; it is most likely a grasshopper, rather than a cricket.

CRIMES & PUNISHMENTS (עשפ (paw shah), transgression; מעל (mah 'al), 

        trespass; parabasiV (par ab as is), violation; עון (aw vone), punish-

        ment; ekdikhsiV (ek dik ay sis), punishment. Note: since these terms 

        may also be rendered by “sin,” it is not always clear whether a wrong is 

        being considered as an offense against God or against people))  Crime is 

        an act in violation of a penal law prohibiting such an act; punishment is the 

        penalty imposed for that violation.  

                   Biblical law does not place the responsibility of prosecuting upon a 

        public body.  It is the person injured who initiates action in biblical law.  In 

        the execution of judgments, often the entire community participates in 

        punishing of the offender.  The fundamental conception of crime & punish-

        ment is from the bodies of laws in the Old Testament (OT).  By the New 

        Testament (NT) period they had been modified, & the influence of Roman 

        penal law can also be seen.

                   List of Topics—Bodies of Law in the Bible; 

        Criminal Law in the OT: 

              1.) Crimes against God & religion; 

              2.)  Homicide;       3.) Sexual crimes;

              4.)  Insubordination and treason;  

              5.)  Perjury & defamation;  

              6.)  Crimes against person;  

              7.)  Crimes against property; 

        Modes of Punishment: 

              1.) Capital Punishment;      2.)  Corporal Punishment; 

              3.)  Pecuniary Punishment; 

        Biblical Criminal Law & Other Near East legal traditions; 

        Relationship of God & Punishment to the Crime;  

        Crime & Punishment in the NT

                   Bodies of Law in the Bible—There were 3 major bodies of law in

        the Bible:  the combined laws of the Jahwist and Elohwist writers; the 

        laws of the Priestly Writer; & the laws of the Deuteronomist.  Each of 

        these three have a history and style of their own.  The body of laws in the  

        Jahwist/ Elowhist writing is a biblical casebook, & contains nearly all the

        rules concerning corporal & property injuries. The Priestly writer deals 

        most fully with incest, because of its bearing on impurity. Deuteronomic

        law considered itself a great authentic compilation of the statutes from the 

        earlier 2 bodies, & was in the form of preached commandments concerned

        with actualizing old legal traditions for its own time. 

                   However, there is agreement between them on matters of principle. 

        The following characteristics are common to all 3 bodies of criminal law:

                   a)  All the bodies of law regard God as lawgiver & the ultimate

              source of punishment.

                   b)  All treat religious as well as secular crimes.

                   c)  All explicitly and consistently distinguish accidental homi-

              cide from murder.

                   d)  None imposes a death penalty for violating a property right.

                   e)  All state the principle of punishment fitting the crime so as 

              to exclude unwarranted punishment,  involving people not directly 

              involved in the offense.

                   f)  None recognizes class differences among Israelites in fixing 

              penalties.                                        

        It should also be noted that the societal framework of all the bodies of law

        is of a tribal organization and not one organized around a monarchy.

                   Criminal Law in the Old Testament        

                    1.) Crimes against God and religion—Having & serving other

            gods is forbidden in the Ten Commandments.  The offense, and in-

            citement to it was punished by stoning. A foreign cult pollutes the

            community; until it is eliminated, all will suffer God's wrath. All 

            that relates to foreign cults is “devoted to destruction.” This status

            is contagious, passing from the object, to the person who took it, to 

            his household's people & objects; all must be destroyed.

                    The slaying of Achan's household isn't an example of “putting 

            sons to death for the sins of their father”; the contagiousness of a 

            taboo status is not subject to limitations by a court.  Magic and divi-

            nation of every kind are banned, both the practitioner & those who 

            seek them out for consultation.  The obligation to prosecute them  

            falls on the witness & the community.  Execution usually takes the 

            public form of stoning.

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                    Cursing God is banned in Exodus 22, and punished by stoning 

            in Leviticus 24.  The law of Leviticus restricts the death penalty to

            the case in which the word “Yahweh” has been uttered, and shows 

            that it falls upon the witnesses to prosecute the offender.  The prohi-

            hibition of labor on the sabbath is enforced in the priestly writings

            by the death penalty; prosecution of sabbath-breakers was regarded

            as a duty of the witnesses.  In the 700s B.C., all commerce was sus-

            pended on the sabbath; later the ban wasn't observed, & in the 400s 

            the ban had to be harshly enforced by Nehemiah. The false prophet, 

            who “presumes to speak a word which I have not commanded him 

            to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods,” must die.

                    2.)  Homicide—In the biblical view life is invaluable.  Crimi-

            nal homicide demands the killer's life, be they human or beast, as 

            penalty for the act.  Prosecuting the homicide is the duty of the 

            “avenger of blood,” but the law holds the community responsible 

            for keeping the redeemer's activity within legal bounds.  When a 

            homicide was committed personally and with intent to harm, the 

            killer was a murderer & must be put to death. Intent was presumed  

            if:  the killer lay in wait; there was enmity between the parties; & a 

            murderous implement was used.

                    The murderer wasn't permitted to ransom his life. This prohi-

            bition is unparalleled among the ancient Near East's laws. And in 

            response to the concern of taking a life for a life the Scripture says,  

            “Your eye shall not pity him.”  It was redeemer of blood's privilege 

            to slay the murderer, but if he didn't others appear to have had the 

            right do so, to cleanse the land of evil. Homicide resulting from an 

            act committed with a purpose to only harm isn't distinguished from 

            murder.  Even the immediate death of a slave from a beating is in-

            cluded in this category.  The law demands that even foreign slaves 

            “be avenged” by Israelite justice.

                    When the homicide was unintentional, the laws provide asy-

            lum for the killer. Establishment of asylums is a communal respon-

            sibility:  if the manslayer is slain by the redeemer of blood before 

            he can reach the asylum, there is bloodguilt on the community, but 

            the redeemer of blood is not accountable.

                    When a man's beast commits homicide, legal personalities are

            involved: the beast,  upon which bloodguilt lies, & the owner, 

            whose degree of responsibility depends on his knowledge of any

            goring history.  If the ox isn't known for goring, the ox is stoned.  

            If the ox was known to gore, & its owner neglected to pen his ox, 

            then both ox & owner must die after the ox gores & kills someone. 

            However, since the owner neither meant harm nor committed it, 

            the law permits him to ransom himself with a sum fixed by the 

            victim's kin.

                    Babylonian laws know nothing of the ox's stoning & its taboo 

            status. The religious notion of blood-guilt has no echo in these laws,

            laws, whose sole concern is compensation. In these laws, it is said 

            that if a child is a victim of goring, the child of the animal's owner 

            is put to death.  Exodus 21:31 repudiates such an idea. Slaying in 

            self-defense entails no bloodguilt.  

                    A householder is privileged to slay a burglar breaking into his 

            house by night, the presumption being that the night housebreaker 

            would not shrink from murder; the daytime housebreaker may not 

            be slain.  Under Babylonian law, every housebreaker, regardless of  

            whether it was day or night, is liable to summary slaying; the pre-

            sumption of theft is enough to warrant the death of the culprit. 

                    3.)  Sexual crimes—Sexual offenses cause “impurity” & "de-

            file” the victim.  Except for cases in which amends can be made, as 

            in the rape or seduction of an unmarried woman, the legal penalty 

            for such offenses is death.  The guilt and pollution they bring on lies 

            upon the whole community.  While the Israelite conception of marri-

            age had, a secular, economic aspect, it went its own way in conside-

            ring the marriage bond as divinely sanctioned. Hence adultery is not 

            just a violation of the husband's rights, but also a sin against God.  

            Near Eastern law, on the other hand, regards adultery as a wrong 

            against the husband alone and gives  him the right to pardon his 

            wife if he wishes. 

                    The law defines as adultery cohabitation of a married woman
       with a man not her husband. Both the woman & the man are put to

            to death if the woman was consenting, which she is presumed to 

            be if the offense occurred in the city. When the offense was commit-

            ted in open country, where no help was available to the woman, she 

            is presumed to have been forced; the man alone is executed. The         

            adulteress' prosecution was the husband’s duty. The law doesn’t re-

            cognize the wife's right to proceed against her husband’s infidelity. 

            The violation of a slave woman who has been designated to marry a 

            man isn't considered adultery.  

                    It appears that ordinary fornication was not punishable; hence, 

            harlotry is prohibited, not penalized.  An exception is the priest's 

            daughter, whose harlotry profanes her father; she is burned.  The 

            newlywed wife who isn't a virgin is stoned.  The rape/ seduction of 

            an unbetrothed virgin are distinguished from the above offenses.  A 

            man who rapes a maiden must pay her father 50 shekels and marry 

            her; he may never divorce her.  If he seduced her, he must still pay  

            marriage present, but her father may refuse to let her marry him.   

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                     The idea of what was a prohibited degree of kinship for sex-

            ual relations appears to have broadened during the course of bibli-

            cal times.  Deuteronomy 27 curses the man who cohabits with his 

            father's wife, his sister, or his mother-in-law.  The priestly law pena-

            lizes by the death of both parties:  union with the father's wife; with 

            the daughter-in-law; and with a woman and her mother.  

                    Later law prescribed scourging for incest not punished by 

            death, but imported several more relations into those laws applying 

            the death penalty.  Sodomy and Bestiality are punished by the death 

            of both parties, including the beast in the case of bestiality. In other 

            Near Eastern laws sodomy is punished by sodomy and castration, &

            bestiality with cattle and sheep is subject to the death penalty; 

            sodomy with horses and mules entails no punishment.              

                    4.)  Insubordination and treason—The parents' authority has 

            divine sanction.  Striking them, showing scorn, or despising them is 

            punishable by death.  Deuteronomy requires the death penalty for 

            all who disobey the supreme court of appeals that was established at 

            the central sanctuary.  Exodus forbids the scorning of a tribal chief.  

            Since the early bodies of law do not anticipate the establishment of 

            the monarchy, crimes against the king aren't dealt with by them. 

                    Biblical stories help illustrate the Israelite concept of treason;

            it consists of: plotting or imagining the king’s death (rival claimants 

            are assumed to fall in this  category, at least in the early monarchy); 

            violating the king's wives (the harem goes to the king's successor, so 

            cohabiting with one is usurping the future king's right); levying war 

            against the king; siding with the king's enemies & giving them aid &

            comfort; slaying the king's officer during the performance of his duty.

                    5.)  Perjury and defamation—The law forbids bearing false re-

            ports and false witness, and punishes the malicious witness with that 

            penalty he had schemed to inflict upon his fellow. A husband who 

            falsely alleges that his newlywed wife wasn't a virgin, is whipped and 

            fined a hundred shekels, which is twice what he had sought to recover 

            by his fraud.  He may not divorce the woman thereafter.

                    6.)  Crimes against person—The stealing of an Israelite for 

            sale, even if the victim has not been sold yet by the kidnapper, is pu-

            nishable by death.  For injury inflicted without planning to, upon a 

            sudden heat of passion, the accused must pay for loss of income & 

            physician's costs.  Punishment is to fit the crime when injuries were 

            inflicted maliciously.  A woman who comes to the aid of her husband 

            and seizes his opponent's privy parts, loses her hand.  A man who 

            strikes a pregnant woman and causes her to miscarry, must pay the 

            husband for the fetus. A slave-owner who injures the eye or tooth of 

            his slave must set him free.  This law has no parallel in Near Eastern 

            law in its treating the slave as a person in their own right.

                    7.) Crimes against property—One who authors or permits da-

            mage is at fault and must make full reparation.  Whoever has acquired 

            the property without consent is considered a thief.  It is immaterial to 

            biblical law whether the property came into the culprit's possession 

            legally or not.  If the thief cannot pay, he is sold into slavery.  Taking 

            property by force or intimidation and withholding from another their 

            rightful due are forbidden in the laws.  

                    It is remarkable, however, that no penalty is prescribed for con-

            victed offenders.  Leviticus 6 & Numbers 5 deal with voluntary resti-

            tution of property with the addition of 1/5 of its value to its rightful 

            owner.  The smallness of the penalty is probably to encourage volun-

            tary surrender, where the robbery victims are the poor & defenseless.  

            Later law only required the convicted robber to make full restitution.

                   Modes of Punishment

                    1.)  Capital Punishment—The commonest form of capital pu-

            nishment specified by the laws was stoning.  The witnesses placed 

            their hands on the offender’s head, thus transferring the whole com-

            munity’s guilt to the criminal, who became an expiatory offering.  

            They then cast the first stone, followed by the others present.  

                     Death by burning is prescribed for 2 sexual offenses.  Death

            by the sword is prescribed for the population of apostate cities. Pre-

            sumably the sword was also the favored weapon of private execution 

            by the redeemer of blood.  Beheading appears to have been the royal 

            mode of executing persons offensive to the king. Hanging wasn’t an 

            execution form, but a means of exposing the body of executed crimi-

            nals as a public warning. 

                    2.)  Corporal Punishment—There are few specific corporal pe-

            nalties prescribed in biblical law.  For bodily injuries inflicted will-

            fully, an exactly corresponding punishment or talion (“eye for an eye 

            . . .") is prescribed. While talion is a principle common to Babylonian 

            & Assyrian law, it is applied differently in the Bible.

              

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                    Biblical law rejects vicarious punishment, the idea that if one  

            causes the death of someone's child, that person's child is forfeit and

            must die.  Since biblical law neither provides for a court executioner 

            or mutilator, nor ever suggests a pecuniary substitute, it doesn't seem 

            seriously to contemplate the infliction of talion as a punishment de-

            creed by the courts.  Hence, the talion rule of the Bible is directed to 

            the private prosecutor. 

                    The 3 passages in the laws which speak of ransom indicate that

            it was the practice to offer and accept monetary settlement instead of 

            equivalent punishment.  The exceptions are that the accidental homi-

            cide or a deliberate murderer may not ransom themselves from banish-

            ment or their life.  In many cases, the injured party is allowed to judge 

            the value of their injury.  Since biblical law recognizes self-help, an in-

            jured party that inflicted talion was within their rights.  Imprisonment 

            is not found as a punishment in biblical law.

                    3.)  Pecuniary Punishment—Penalties involving money are paid 

            in every case to the injured party.  Fines paid to the court or state are 

            unknown.

                   Biblical Criminal Law and Other Near East Legal Traditions—  

        Biblical criminal law differs from that of the other legal traditions of the an-

        cient Near East in its religious content.  In the biblical view, the law is 

        God’s command; hence violation of it is rebellion against God's will, 

        which makes crime a sin.  And if the community does not punish offenders,

        God will punish the community.  Worship of other gods, sexual offenses, 

        and homicide are singled out as involving the entire community.

                   The other law collections of the ancient Near East are the product of

        a secular process of developing laws which recognized the state & king as 

        the ultimate makers & enforcers of law. To make just laws was considered 

        by the king a divinely imposed duty, but the religious motive rarely enters 

        the laws themselves.  The primary concern of penal laws was to safeguard 

        property and make losses good.  Inasmuch as biblical law is evidently an 

        adaptation of ancient Near East common law, the divergences between it 

        and other bodies of law are instructive.  The following law collections are 

        pertinent to the discussion of the criminal law of the Old Testament:  Laws

        of Eshnunna (1800s B.C.); Code of Hammurabi (1700s B.C.); Middle Assy-

        rian Laws (1400-1200 B.C.); and Hittite Laws (from the 1300s B.C.). 

                   Relationship of God and Punishment to the Crime—The notion 

        of objective guilt has but faint echoes in the penal laws of the Bible.  As a 

        rule it is the subjective factor, the mind of the doer, which is determinant in

        evaluating the nature of the offense.  The laws distinguish clearly between 

        murder and homicide through negligence or accident.  Bloodguilt, which is 

        a religious concept, is involved in homicide.  While it is wrong to take the 

        life of someone who accidentally killed someone else, the one who took

        the life, the “redeemer of blood,” can't be punished.  The religion of Israel 

        heightened both the awesome sanctity of all & the importance of the indivi-

        dual's moral choice. 

                Punishment of wrongdoers is an attribute of divine justice.  Capital 

        crimes are a blot upon the whole community; the capital offender must die, 

        not only as punishment, but to “purge the evil from Israel.”  Sexual crimes 

        also “defile” the land and must be purged.  Non-capital punishments aim at 

        a correspondence with the offense.  The principle of “life for life,” “eye for 

        eye,” “tooth for tooth . . .” in Exodus 21 applies to acts involving intentional

        harm to another.  Biblical law differs from other law systems of the ancient

        Far East in not regarding any offense against property as a capital crime.  

        Making ritual atonement for intentional violation of the law plays a negligi-

        ble part in punishment; the penalties of all deliberate offenses are purely 

        civil. Sin and guilt offerings are for unwitting violations of the law.

                    The priestly laws punish some 3 dozen religious & sexual offenses 

        by the offender's being cut off from the people, or kareth.  Many offenses 

        punished by kareth are elsewhere in the priestly law punished by death.  It 

        isn't clear whether kareth involves death or banishment.  Where God pro-

        nounces kareth (Leviticus 20), it is punishment by God of an offender  

        whom men have failed to punish.     

                   Stages in the development of certain concepts are visible in con- 

        flicts between law & practice.  We can't speak of criminal law’s evolution  

        for 2 reasons. 1st, we can't date a given law by the whole body's assumed  

        date.  Each successive body of law most often didn't revise those of their

        predecessors.  Each body of law has some rules in common with the 

        others, & some that are either ignored or only slightly touched upon by the 

        other bodies of law.  In order to gain a view of Hebrew criminal law of the 

        pre-exilic period, the data of the 3 bodies must be combined, which ob-

        scures the possible evolution of the law.

                   The 2nd obstacle is our ignorance of the extent to which biblical 

        law was considered binding in the pre-exilic period. The laws of all soci-

        eties contain ideal norms that aren't actually enforced in life.  This appears  

        to be the case for many biblical laws.  The amount of information available 

        outside the laws concerning Israel's criminal law is, at best, quite small. 

        Our ignorance of the actual disposition of criminal cases makes it very diffi

        cult to date laws. 

                   Biblical allusions to points of criminal law sometimes agree with the 

        rule of law, and sometimes do not.  What references we have are usually of

        questionable relevance.  A significant divergence between law & story ap-

        pears in the attitude taken toward marriage of a paternal sister.  It was ac- 

        cepted as late as the time of David, but banned in Leviticus 18.  The laws

        reflect a later tendency to broaden the concept of incest (The prohibited  

        relations continued to increase as time went on.)

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                   Vicarious punishment is prohibited in Deuteronomy 24 “. . . every 

        man shall be put to death for his own crime.”  The observance of this prohi-

        bition is noted for the first and only time in the story of Amaziah's reign.  

        The examples of the household of Achan and the people of Jabesh-gilead 

        come under the special law of herem (property belonging to God).  Since 

        this principle belongs to the realm of the sacred and the taboo, it operates 

        in accord with divine rather than legal principles.  Other instances of 

        whole families being punished do not have clear legal sanction.  Outside 

        the realm of sacred and taboo, then, there is no evidence whatever of the 

        legal infliction of vicarious or collective punishment.  In general, Israelite

        practice outside the scope of everyday laws fell behind a demand of Israe-

        lite law that is as old as the earliest body of laws.

                   The divine prerogative regarding religious laws has nothing to do 

        with the legal penalty prohibited in Deuteronomy 24.  Later prophets 

        replaced “shall be put to death [legally]” with “shall die” [by divine 

        decree & from divine causes].  These 2 passages refer to entirely separate

        domains & were practiced at the same time in Israelite history.  The non-

        legal literature does furnish several examples of the operation of the laws:

        the redeemer of blood (II Samuel 3 and 14); the altar asylum (I Kings 1 

        and 2); the crime of “cursing” God (and king) & its punishment (I Kings 

        21: 10).

                  Philo & Josephus, &, to a lesser extent, the Apocrypha, are valuable

        witnesses for the views on biblical law held during the last half of the 

        second temple period.  The legal writings of the Tannaim (rabbinic jurists 

        of the first century B.C. to the 200s A.D.), contain much that illuminates 

        biblical law.  The Jews regarded biblical law as a harmonious whole and 

        disregarded historical considerations, which modern critics cannot do in 

        their search for an accurate interpretation of biblical law.                  

                   Crime and Punishment in the New Testament (NT)—The NT 

        does not contain a body of criminal laws.  Jesus' sayings take the form of

        exhortations to saintly behavior, rather than of laws.  For example, in 

        Matthew 5, the demand here is that the injured party waive their rights to 

        sue for reparation of any sort.  This saintly teaching is the direct opposite 

        of a legal prescription.  The NT does not provide clear information as to 

        the legal situations mentioned there.  The authors of the NT were not 

        concerned with furnishing precise information on legal procedures, not 

        even for the trial of Jesus or the trial of Paul. 

                    Judea continued to enjoy a considerable internal autonomy.  Local

        jurisdiction was recognized over all matters involving Jewish law and 

        custom and included Jewish communities outside of the Holy Land.  The 

        right of Jewish authority to deal with capital offenses against Jewish law 

        is not clearly indicated by historical evidence.  Both the Gospel of John 

        and rabbinic tradition indicate that about 40 years before the destruction 

        of the temple, Jewish courts lost the right to exact capital punishment.  

        Yet, there are several instances of capital trials and executions by Jews 

        without the intervention of Roman authority on record.

                   Lynching was recognized as a legitimate mode of punishing gross 

        religious offenses.  An unusual privilege gave the Jews right to slay an 

        foreigner, not excluding Roman citizens, who trespassed on the temple 

        precinct.  It is not clear whether sentence is carried out by the courts or 

        by outraged bystanders.  The religious offenses for which the Jewish 

        authorities prosecuted Jesus and his followers are not clearly defined.  

        The violation of biblical prohibitions not provided with a specific penalty

        was punished by Jewish law with 39 stripes.

                   In the Roman criminal law of the NT, the procurator reserved the 

        right to prosecute under Roman law all cases touching the public peace 

        and order, as in when sedition, riot or brigandage is involved.  While the 

        procurator sentenced and executed in such cases, it was up to the Jewish 

        authorities to arrest, examine, and deliver to him persons dangerous to 

        public order. 

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                   The cruelest and most degrading form of capital punishment was  

        crucifixion, which usually was preceded by scourging.  Beheading was 

        done with the sword, though the ax was still used  in the early empire.  

        Next to death, the severest punishment was condemnation to lifelong 

        work in the mines.  Scourging was used to get information from non-citi-

        zens; imprisonment also served as a coercive measure.

                   Under the law enacted by Augustus, it was a crime to order that a 

        Roman citizen be scourged or placed in  prison.  Being a Roman citizen, 

        Paul enjoyed this immunity, though it wasn't always respected. In capital

        cases, a Roman citizen had the right to be tried, by the governor.  But he 

        was privileged also to refuse this court & to appeal directly to the emperor

        in Rome. 

             

CRIMSON (תולע (toe law), maggot) Red color of varying hues, extracted for 

        dyeing from a female scaled insect.

CRISPUS (KrispoV)  A Jew residing in Corinth; leader of the synagogue, 

        who with all his household was baptized into the Christian faith by Paul,

        whose preaching convinced him that Jesus was the Christ.

CROCODILE  (לויתן (leh vie ah than)  Any of various species of large carni-

        vorous aquatic reptiles, with a long, pointed head, a lizard's body, a long

        and powerful tail, and short legs.  The animal described in Job 41 is now

        commonly thought to be a crocodile. Parts of the chapter clearly describe

        a crocodile, while others could apply to any large sea creature, real or 

        mythical.  The crocodile is the largest of the surviving reptiles; it would 

        certainly be the longest animal known to the Hebrews, and at one time 

        could probably be found south of Mount Carmel.  Lengths of nearly 8 

        meters were reported in ancient times. 

CROCUS (חבצלת (khab ‘ats eh leth), lily, narcissus, meadow saffron, (King 

        James Version translates as “rose”)) 

                   A plant which blossoms abundantly.  The Hebrew word appears  

        in Isaiah 35 in a figure of the blossoming desert.  Several species of 

        crocus are found in Bible lands, but the identification is widely disputed.

CROSS (stauroV (staw ros))  Literally, an upright stake or pole; in the plural, 

        a palisade or stockade.

                   When used for execution, the cross was a vertical stake in the 

        ground. Often, but not always, a horizontal piece was attached to the ver-

        tical, sometimes at the top forming a “T”, sometimes just below the top, 

        producing the form which inspired the Christian symbol.  Generally the 

        condemned man was forced to carry his cross to his execution.  Fre-

        quently an inscription was attached to a cross, to indicate the nature of 

        the crime.

                   To the orthodox Jew it was inevitably a stumbling block that 

        Israel's Messiah had been executed by the Romans. To the Gentile pagan,

        God's son being crucified was a foolish notion.  As Paul said, it could not

        be understood by worldly wisdom.  But, since Christ's death on the cross

        brought salvation, the cross, with all its offensiveness, became the 

        supreme symbol of the new faith. 

                   In the New Testament this symbolic or metaphorical use of “cross”

        is far more frequent than are references to the physical instrument; Jesus 

        himself seems to have used the “cross” metaphor to describe what his 

        disciples must go through. New Testament writers outside of the gospel 

        seem to have mostly shied away from calling their sufferings “crosses.”  

        The “cross” was peculiarly Jesus’ own, & stood for the divine act which

        he alone had accomplished.  For the writers after the New Testament 

        period, the cross of Christ remained the climax and fulfillment of all that

        Old Testament religion had stood for.

CROWN (זר (zare), wreath; נזר (nay zer), dedication, consecration; עטרה 

        (‘at aw raw); stefanoV (ste fan os), wreath)  Headdress symbolic of 

        royal rank or of special merit or achievement. 

                  2 common headdresses, the cap or turban and the cloth band  worn

        around the temples, evolved into crowns.  The band of cloth evolved into

        a band of metal; there was an example of this type found in a Jericho 

        tomb dating from 2000 B.C., namely a copper headband apparently belon-

        ging to an Amorite chieftain. 

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        The turban and diadem (metal band) were frequently combined into a 

        composite crown.  Headbands of leaves or flowers were given by the 

        Greeks and Romans to victorious athletes and sometimes to citizens of 

        special note. 

                   The Hebrew word used for the crowns of Israel also mean “dedica-

        tion” or “consecration.”  Thus, they signify not only the rank & authority

        of the wearer, but also the sacred nature of his office.  The priestly crown,

        which was engraved with the words “Holy to the Lord,” was a plate of 

        pure gold worn on the forehead and bound to the turban by a blue lace.  

        The royal crown was also probably a golden diadem, possibly worn over 

        a turban.  The crown symbolized the king's royal authority and special 

        election, & was worn by him when he sat on his throne and when he went

        to war.  In more general usage, 'atarah, the crown, may be worn by the 

        bridegroom, most likely in the form of a garland.  The Hebrew word 

        occurs often in poetic books as a metaphor for anything which confers 

        honor or authority.

                   In the New Testament, “crown” almost invariably refers to the 

        garland metaphorically used of eternal life as the prize for patient endu-

        rance.  The golden royal crown of princely authority returns in Revelation

        as a possession of the elders, the rider of the white horse, the woman 

        clothed with the sun, and the Son of Man.

CROWN OF THORNS  (stefanon ex akanqwn (ste fa non  ex  ak an 

        thown)  The circlet fashioned by Roman soldiers and forced down on 

        Jesus' head as part of their mockery of Jesus, after Pilate had sentenced 

        him to death.  This crown is not mentioned in the Gospel of Luke.

CRUCIBLE  (מצרף (mits rafe)) A melting pot, probably made of pottery for 

        refining silver.  It is used in Proverbs, chapters 17 and 27, in contexts 

        alluding to the testing or judging of a man.

CRUCIFIXION  (staurow (staw ro oh))  The act of putting to death by 

        nailing or binding the victim to a cross or, sometimes, to a tree.  

                   The cruelty of this form of capital punishment lay in the public 

        shame that was involved & in its slow physical torture.  The public shame

        was in the fact that the condemned man was made to carry his cross to his

        place of execution, and that there he was stripped of all his clothing.  The 

        victim, set astride a peg in the upright beam, was fastened to the cross by 

        nails through the hands or wrists, and through the feet or above the heels. 

        Ropes bound the shoulders or torso to the wooden frame.  He was thus 

        held immobile, unable to cope with heat or cold or insects.  Death came 

        slowly—often after many days—as the result of fatigue, cramped muscles,

        hunger, and thirst. 

                   Crucifixion had been practiced by the Phoenicians and Persians, 

        and from them was taken over by Rome, which reserved the punishment 

        for slaves and foreigners.  In Palestine, crucifixion was used to punish 

        robbery, tumult, and sedition.  Crosses were a familiar sight in Galilee and

        hence provided a powerful metaphor for Christian discipleship.  All 4 

        gospels record that Jesus foretold his own death; only Matthew says that 

        he knew it would be a crucifixion.  Jesus' crucifixion is recounted in Matt.

        27; Mark 15; Luke 23; and John 19. Statements of Acts 5 & 10, that Jesus

        died on a tree, should probably be taken figuratively.  A sign indicating 

        his crime was placed on Jesus' cross (See also the Inscription on the Cross

        entry). 

                   The next day was a Jewish holy day.  So the Roman authorities 

        permitted the victims to be removed from the crosses at evening, their 

        legs being first broken to assure that they didn't escape; Jesus was already

        dead when the executioners came to him.  Some believe that he died of a 

        broken heart, but far more probable is that Jesus' end was hastened by  

        the scourging, which for the crime of sedition was no doubt merciless.

                   Death by crucifixion brought Jesus into public disrepute.  It placed 

        him under an ancient biblical curse (Deuteronomy 21:23), and provided 

        the greatest obstacle in the subsequent effort to convert Jews to the new 

        faith; for many of them, the Christian claim was a shocking blasphemy.  

        To Christians, however, the Crucifixion was the most intense demonstra-

        tion of Christ's love and power.  To become his follower meant to crucify

        one's old and sinful self.

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CRUSE  (צפחת (tsap pakh ath))  A small, elongated pottery jug about 10 to 

        15 cm tall, used to hold olive oil.  It is referred to in the episode of Elijah's 

        visit to the widow of Zarephath, when he asks for food.  (I Kings 17).

CRYSTAL  (גביש (gaw beesh); קרח (kar khoo); krustalloV (kris tal los))  

        A quartz, nearly transparent, either colorless or slightly tinged. The King

        James Version translates gabeesh as “pearl” in the evaluation of wisdom 

        in Job 28.  In the New Testament, the Greek word is a simile for “clear-

        ness,” and in different forms is used to describe the sea of glass, the river

        of life and the radiance of New Jerusalem, all found in Revelation. 

CUB  (כוב , thorn)  A place mentioned in connection with Cush, Libya, and 

        Lydia, and generally regarded as an error for Libya.

CUBIT  (אמה (‘am maw))  A unit of measure based on the length from elbow 

        to tip of middle finger, 18 inches or a little more.

CUCKOO  (שחף (shakh af))  The King James Version translates the Hebrew 

        word as “Cuckoo,” which refers to any of a family of mostly small birds,

        of which two species visit Palestine:  the Common Cuckoo, & the Great

        Spotted Cuckoo.  As the cuckoo is an insect-eater, shahaph is probably  

        not a cuckoo.

CUCUMBER (קשאה (kish shoo ‘ah))  A vegetable or fruit of the cucumber

        family.  Some scholars claim that qishua refers to muskmelons. Linguis-

        tic evidence would tend to argue for the cucumber. 

CUMMIN (כמן)  The caraway-like seed and an herb of the carrot family.  

        The seed was apparently much used in ancient times as a condiment for

        seasoning foods.  The Pharisees define “grain” to include cummin.

CUN  (כון (koon), stability)  A Syrian town from which David took much 

        bronze.

CUNEIFORM  The wedge-shaped syllabic signs impressed on Clay Tablets

        with a stylus or carved on stone. Originally pictographic, the signs soon

        were simplified.  The script invented by the Sumerians was passed to 

        the Akkadians, Hurrians, Hittites, and Elamites. Other cuneiform was 

        developed as Old Persian and Ugaritic.

CUP  (כוס (koce); גביע (gheb ee ‘ah); pothrion (po tay ree on))  The cup of 

        Bible times was either similar to our cup, made with or without a handle,

        or it was a shallow bowl, which was the more common form of cup.  The

        cup was widely used in figurative language; the symbolic cup contained 

        the kind of life experience which God the Host pours out for God's world

        (e.g. “cup of blessing” (Psalms 23 and 116); “cup of wrath” (Psalms 11 

        and 75; Isaiah 51;  Revelation 14, 16, 17, 18; etc); and Jesus' "cup of suf-

        fering” (Matthew 20)). 

                   The Lord might be spoken of as the cup of the faithful.  The “cup 

        of salvation” may be the wine of temple rites, symbolic of the Lord's 

        saving help.  The “cup of consolation” is perhaps the cup of wine presen-

        ted to the mourner at the completion of the fast.  The cup of the Lord's 

        Supper is called the “cup of blessing,” a term used for the third of the 

        cups drunk at the Passover. 

CUPBEARER  (משקה (mash keh))  An official who serves the king wine and

        enjoys his confidence.  Fear of intrigue made this a position of peculiar 

        trust.  Loyalty was a prime requirement.  Nehemiah was a cup-bearer to 

        the Persian King, which, since he was a foreigner is a testimony both to 

        the freedom of Persia and to the astuteness of Nehemiah.

CURDS (חמאה (khay mah), King James Version translates as “butter”)    

        Food prepared by churning fresh milk in a goatskin containing leftover 

        clots from the previous supply.  Curds are a part of the ordinary Near Ea-

        stern diet.  Abraham offers them to three men (angels) in order show 

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        hospitality.  In Isaiah 7, the honey & curds to be eaten by the child Imma-

        nuel probably represent the food of poverty; although later in the same 

        chapter, curds is used as figurative for material abundance. 

CURSE  (קללה (kel aw law); ארר (aw rar); קבב (kaw bab); kataraomai 

        (kat ar ah om ahee)) Expressing of a wish that evil may befall another.  It 

        found a wide variety of uses in Israel & in the cultures surrounding Israel. 

                   Among those cultural institutions exhibiting the use of curses were 

        contractual agreements, especially international agreements or treaties.  

        The curses were designed to protect the terms of the contract by being 

        directed at the future violator of the treaty.  They appear in the Old Testa-

        ment (OT) following the election of a sovereign, which is reflected in 

        Israel's acceptance of the ruling authority of Yahweh, & in the agreement 

        among the independent tribes of Israel, which were gathered in assembly, 

        to bar intermarriage with the tribe of Benjamin.  No Hebrew royal inscrip-

        tions containing curses have been found, but there is an edict of Darius of 

        Persia, which ends in a curse similar to other curses.

                   As a punitive measure, curses are found to have been leveled 

        against murderers or against the land, the scene of the homicide.  Some-

        times, they were used to explain the ancestor or origin of some abnorma-

        lity.  Curses served to castigate and chastise, to protect, and to punish,

        and were employed where other protective or punitive measures were 

        either lacking or inadequate.

                  The distinctive trait of Hebrew curses lies in the manner of their 

        formulation.  In Eastern Semitic curses were formulated in a religious and

        literary tradition which sought divine approval and execution; reliance is 

        placed upon the deity for the execution of the curse.  West Semitic curses,

        including Hebrews, relied not upon deity, but upon the power of the word.

        Since no agent was named to carry out the curse, the power laid within the

        curse itself.

                   There were 2 OT persons against whom curses were never cited:  

        God and David.  Though both have been cursed, the words of the curse 

        were not quoted.  The concern in refraining from quoting these was the 

        protection of the Davidic dynasty; for a curse might come to fruition in 

        future generations.  This reluctance to curse David and God, along with 

        the elaborate arrangements that were made to avoid the curse resulting 

        from marrying into the Benjamin tribe give us a good idea as to the fear 

        and veneration of curses.

CURTAIN  (יריעה (yer ee aw); katapetasma (ka ta peh tas ma))  Nor-

        mally the fabric of which tents were made.  In most uses “curtain” ap-

        pears in parallel with “tent” & is synonymous with it.  The tabernacle of the 

        ark was made up of 10 curtains, each measuring 14 by 2 meters. In the 

        New Testament Letter to the Hebrews, the curtain which covered the inner 

        shrine is a figure of Christ's flesh. 

CURTAIN OF THE TEMPLE  The curtain which separated the Most Holy 

        Place from the rest of the temple; it was torn in two, from top to bottom, 

        at the moment of Christ's death.

CUSH (כוש)  1.  A Benjaminite name whose solitary reference in the title of 

        Psalm 7 permits us to at least infer that he was a bitter foe of David

                   2.  An ancient name of the territory south of Egypt, corresponding

        roughly to the present Sudan.

CUSHAN  (כושן)  A named used to mean the same as Midian, perhaps an 

        older and more poetic name.

CUSHAN-RISHATHAIM (כושן רשעתים, Cushan of double-wickedness)  

        The name or disfigurement of the name of Aram-Naharaim, who was 

        the 1^st oppressor of the Israelites in the book of Judges.  It was the iden-

        tification of a Midianite tribe of Edom and a denouncing of a foreign 

        conqueror.  This king’s identity is uncertain. 

CUSHI  (כושי)    1.  Great-grandfather of Jehudi, a prince in Jehoiakim's court.

              2.  The father of the prophet Zephaniah.  3.  The name of the man 

        who carried the news of Absalom's defeat and death from Joab to David. 

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CUSHION (proskefalaion (pro skeh fa lay ee on))  A regular part of the 

        furnishings of a boat.

CUSTODIAN  (paidagwgoV (pahee da go gos))  A slave who attended a boy,

        took him to school, etc., until he was of age—i.e. 16 years old.  Paul in 

        Galatians uses the term figuratively of the law as custodian, to imply the

        inferior status of those living under it.  The custodian would seem not 

        only to guard, but also in a sense to guide, “to Christ.”  In I Corinthian 4,

        Paul uses the same word to describe the others who have gone to Corinth

        as “guides,” in contrast to himself as the Corinthians' spiritual father. 

CUTH (כות) An ancient northern Babylonian city northeast of Babylon.  It was

        famous as a cult center for Nergal, underworld king. Some city inhabitants

        settled in Samaria, after the Samaritans went into captivity  (721 B.C.)        

CYPRESS  (תאשור (te ash shoor), pine; תרזה (teer zah))  There is not 

        much agreement on the translation of these words, or what word is used for 

        the cypress tree.  Many consider the “gopher wood” of Noah's Ark to refer 

        to cypress, but the actual tree referred to remains uncertain.

CYPRUS (כתים (kit tim)) A Mediterranean island situated almost 65 km south

        of Asia Minor, and 96 km west of Syria.  The oldest name for Cyprus that

        we have written records of is Alashia from several written languages 

        beginning in the 1700s B.C.  The name Iadnan is used in Assyrian inscrip-

        tions from around 700 B.C.  Kittim, a name based on Kition, a city colo-

        nized by Phoenicians, is used for the whole island in the Old Testament. 

                   Already in the Middle Bronze Age, around 1800 B.C., trade be-

        tween Cyprus and the mainland countries of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt 

        flourished.  Cyprus later became the base for export of Cypro-Mycenean

        ware.  Locally made imitations of such wares were found in Palestine, 

        between 1300-1200 B.C.  It was as a source for copper that Cyprus was 

        famous in the ancient world.  The Mari economic archives have affirmed

        the importation of copper from Cyprus already in the 1700s.

                   In the 1300s, Cyprus was raided by Lukku (Lycian).  It has been 

        claimed that Cyprus was invaded by the “People of the Sea” (Philistines) 

        before they tried to invade Egypt, but conclusive proof is lacking.  From 

        1100-1000 B.C., Cyprus was independent.  The 900s brought the Phoeni-

        cians, who colonized Cyprus and spread from there to the eastern shores 

        of the Mediterranean.  The Phoenicians first founded strong outposts in 

        seacoast ports.  There is a close connection between the cities of Tyre and

        Sidon and the island of Cyprus.

                   During the end of the 700s and into the 600s the Assyrians, under 

        Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon, controlled most of Cyprus.  With 

        the decline of Assyria, Egyptian influence grew in Cyprus.  Later, the 

        Cypriotes aided the Persians under Cyrus against Babylon, and were 

        rewarded with self-rule.  Cyprus was the western seaward limit of Persian

        expansion.  After the Battle of Issus (333 B.C.), the kings of the city-

        states joined Alexander, and Cyprus became part of the Greek world.  

        The successors of Alexander who ruled Egypt also ruled Cyprus from 

        294 to 58 B.C.; the island supplied silver, wood for shipbuilding, and 

        grain to them. 

                   There were Jews on the island around 294 B.C., if not a little 

        earlier.  At the time of John Hyrcanus, as we are informed by Josephus, 

        the Jews living in Egypt and Cyprus were in a flourishing state.  In 58 

        B.C., Cyprus was annexed by Rome.  There was a large Jewish commu-

        nity spread throughout the island in the first hundred years after Christ.  

                   Joseph, surnamed Barnabas, was a Cyprus native & an early con-

        vert to Christianity.  Some Christians forced out of Jerusalem by perse-

        cution, preached in Cyprus. Paul & Barnabas preached in Cyprus, tra-

        versing the whole island.  Barnabas revisited Cyprus with Mark for mis-

        sionary work. Paul passed the island twice more, but is not reported to 

        have revisited there. The Jews on the island rebelled against the Romans 

        in A.D. 116-117.  This revolt led to their massacre and banishment from 

        the island.   

CYRENE (Kurhnh)  A Greek city on the northern coast of Africa; capital of

        Cyrenaica.  Cyrene was founded around 630 B.C. by Dorian Greeks from 

        the islands Thera and Crete; they were joined by mainland Greeks.  

        Cyrene was ruled by a dynasty of kings, the Gattiads, until the middle of

        the 400s B.C.  Its wealth was based mostly on agriculture. 

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                   In the 300s B.C., Cyrene was a democracy & acquired fame as the

        seat of a school of philosophers.  The city submitted to Alexander in 331,

        and thus later became part of Ptolemy's kingdom.  Bequeathed to Rome 

        in 96 B.C., it was declared free: but after local strife, it became a Roman

        province and was united with Crete.

                During later Greek and Roman times, a large part of the population 

        of Cyrene consisted of Greek-speaking Jews who were sent as settlers by

        Ptolemies and enjoyed the same rights as the Greeks.  The later Jewish 

        revolt under Vespasian had its repercussions in Cyrene, but the major 

        outbreak occurred in 115-116 A.D., when the pagan monuments of the 

        city were burned & smashed; over 200, 000 inhabitants were reputedly 

        killed in the rioting.  Careless exploitation of the soil led to the decline 

        of Cyrene.

     

CYRUS  (כורש (ko resh))  A Persian king, founder of the  Achaemenian 

        dynasty & the Persian Empire (545-529 B.C.).  Cyrus II was the son of 

        Cambyses, ruler of the unified territory of Parsumas-Ansan and Parsa, 

        and Mandane. The founding ancestor of his house was Achaimenes. 

                   Several years after succeeding his father, Cyrus turned against 

        Astyages (550 B.C.).  Deserted by his own vassals, Astyages was defea-

        ted; Cyrus entered Ecbatana, and took over leadership of Assyria, Mesopo-

        tamia, Syria, Armenia, and Cappadocia.  In the following years he defeated

        the Lydia king Croesus, & captured Sardes, Lydia, and Asia Minor’s Greek

        coastal cities. The extent of Cyrus' eastern conquests is not clear.

                   In the month of Tashritu, when Cyrus attacked Nabonidus' army of 

        Akkad in Opis on the Tigris, the inhabitants of Akkad revolted; Nabonidus

        massacred the inhabitants.  Nabonidus fled.  The army of Cyrus entered 

        Babylon without battle.  Cyrus, then proclaimed himself, “king of the 

        world, great king, legitimate king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and 

        Akkad, king of the four rims, son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan,

        grandson of Cyrus, great king, king of Anshan, . . .”

                   By the fall of Babylon the Hebrews were aware of the political and

        military power of Cyrus and had hopes for the restoration of Israel.  Cyrus'

        Aramaic decree on the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem fits into the 

        general picture of a policy of tolerance and wisdom practiced by Cyrus. 

                   Before leaving on his campaign against Queen Tomyris and the 

        Massagetae, which resulted in his death (529), Cyrus designated his son 

        Cambyses as successor.  In the book of Daniel, Daniel is pictured as retai-

        ning his official position until the Cyrus’ first year, & Daniel’s final vision 

        is dated to the third year of Cyrus.   

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