appear especially under trees and by streams of water. Huge oaks are
often found in burying-grounds and in front of houses of worship. "Rag
trees" also may be seen in many localities in Syria. A rag tree
(_shajeret-omm-shrateet_) is a supposedly sacred or "possessed" tree,
generally an oak, on whose branches the people hang shreds of the
garments of afflicted dear ones for the {377} purpose of securing
healing power for them. When the angel visited him, Gideon, we are
told, was threshing wheat by the wine-press. The more correct
rendering of the Revised Version and of the Arabic is, "Gideon was
beating out wheat in the wine-press." As I have already stated,[5] the
grapes are squeezed by being trodden in a large stone-flagged
enclosure, which is about the size of an ordinary room. As the harvest
time comes early in the summer, long before the wine-making season,
Gideon could use the clean floor of this enclosure to beat out wheat,
with a fair chance of escaping being discovered by his oppressors, the
Midianites. He was not "threshing." He was beating with a club the
sheaves he had smuggled, before threshing time came when the Midianites
exacted their heavy toll from oppressed Israel. Threshing is done with
the threshing-board (_nourej_), which is called in the Bible the
"threshing instrument." The _nourej_ resembles a stone-drag. It
consists of two heavy pine planks joined {378} together, and is about
three feet wide, and six feet long. On its under side are cut rows of
square holes into which sharp stones are driven. It is these sharp
stones which Isaiah, refers to when he says, "Behold, I will make thee
a new sharp threshing instrument _having teeth_; thou shalt thresh the
mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff."[6]
The sheaves are scattered on the threshing-floor about a foot deep; the
thresher attaches the threshing-board to the yoke and sits on it, with
his goad in his hand. As the oxen which "tread the corn" drag the
heavy board round and round, the sharp stones cut the sheaves. In
three days the "threshing" is ready to be sifted. The finely cut
sheaves are thrown up into a heap and tossed up in the air with large
wooden pitchforks. The breeze blows the chaff and straw away, leaving
the heap of the golden grain in the center of the threshing-floor to
gladden the eyes of the grateful tiller of the soil. To this "purging"
of the threshing-floor--that {379} is, the freeing of the wheat from
the chaff and straw--Luke alludes in the third chapter, the seventeenth
verse, where he says, referring to the Christ, "Whose fan is in his
hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat
into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable."
The reference to the burning of the chaff is meant to show its
comparative worthlessness. I am not aware that the Syrian farmer
always takes the trouble to burn the chaff, which is not easy to gather
after the wind has carried it away from the threshing-floor and
scattered it over acres of ground. The coarser part of it, which falls
near the floor, is gathered and saved to be used in making the clay
mortar with which the houses are plastered, and also sun-dried brick.
We always went to the threshing-floor and secured a few bagfuls of
chaff which we used in the annual plastering of the floor of our house.
Among the chief joys of my boyhood days were those hours when I was
permitted to sit {380} on the threshing-board and goad the oxen which
carried me round and round over the glistening, fragrant sheaves. I
often bribed the owner to grant me the precious privilege; and even now
I should in all probability prefer threshing after this manner to an
automobile ride.
In the seventh chapter of the Book of Judges we have a description of
the simple process by which Gideon's army, with which he attacked the
Midianites, was selected. The very honest record states that out of
thirty-two thousand men whom Gideon had first mobilized only three
hundred stood the final test. That test was very simple. In the fifth
verse it is said, "So he brought down the people unto the water: and
the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his
tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every
one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them
that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three {381}
hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees
to drink water." The three hundred constituted Gideon's army.
Bowing down upon the knees while drinking from a stream or a bubbling
spring (_fowwar_) is the prevailing custom in Syria. This kind of
drinking is called _ghebb_; that is, the sucking in of the water with
the lips. But to strong and wary men this is disdainful. Such a
prostration betokens lassitude; besides it is not always safe for one
to be so recklessly off his guard while traveling, and to render
himself an easy prey to lurking robbers. Therefore the men of strength
and valor (_shijaan_) upon approaching the water assume a squatting
position, lift the water with the hand to the mouth and lap it quickly
with the tongue. This manner of drinking indicates strength,
nimbleness, and alertness.
One of the most reprehensible Syrian habits is the mocking of those
afflicted with diseases, or any sort of physical defects. I have no
{382} doubt that the afflicted of Palestine flocked to Jesus to be
healed by him as much for the purpose of escaping the shame of the
affliction as of securing bodily comfort. "There comes the one-eyed
man [_'awar_]"; "there goes the limping man [_afkah_]"; "the half dumb
[maybe one who stutters] is trying to discourse"; "the hunch-back is
trying to class himself with real men"; "the diseased head [_akkra'_]
is approaching, give way." These and other stigmatizations are very
extensively current in the East. In the story of Elisha[7] it is said,
"And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the
way, there came forth little children ["young lads," Revised Version]
out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald
head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them,
and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she
bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them."
What those children really said to Elisha {383} was, "Go up thou
_akkra'_." The _akkra'_ is one who is afflicted with a disease of the
scalp, a malady not uncommon among the poor people of Syria. Complete
baldness of the head is spoken of also as _qara'_. It was this perhaps
which the ill-mannered children noticed in the itinerant prophet. His
cursing of the lads "in the name of the Lord" was no less an Eastern
characteristic than their mocking of him.
As to the coming of the hungry bears out of the wood and devouring or
tearing forty-two of those children, all I can say is that such
narratives, which filled my childhood days, are deemed by Syrian
parents to be the best means to teach the children not to be naughty.
In the opening verses of the fourth chapter of the Second Book of Kings
we have the record of Elisha's kindness to a poor widow. "Now there
cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto
Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that
thy servant did fear the Lord: and the {384} creditor is come to take
unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What
shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she
said, Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil.
Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even
empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt
shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all
those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she
went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who
brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass,
when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a
vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil
stayed."
The belief in the miraculous increase of certain products, especially
oil and wheat, is prevalent in Syria. In almost every community
stories of such occurrences are told. Godly men and women, largely of
the past, are said to have {385} seen such wonders, and to have spoken
of them to many before their death. Such blessings are supposed to
come especially on the blessed night of Epiphany.[8] In the locality
where I was brought up, the miracle of "increase" was said to happen in
this wise: In some holy hour the cover of the jar of oil is thrown off
by some unseen power and the oil begins to flow out of the mouth of the
jar. The person who is fortunate enough to see such a sight must show
neither fear nor surprise, but in the spirit of deepest prayer he must
bring empty vessels and receive into them the increase. If he should
fear or manifest surprise, the blessed flow would immediately cease,
but if he receives the blessing in a spirit of gratitude and prayer the
flow continues until all the vessels that can be brought are filled.
But only godly men and women can see such a sight. Among the noble
traditions of our clan is the story of one godly man of the Rihbany
stock who witnessed the "miracle of increase" in his own storehouse.
The flow of {386} the blessing stopped, however, when his wife, who
went into the storehouse to see why he was there so long, came in and
threw up her hands in surprise at the strange occurrence. From
childhood I heard this enchanting story, but I never felt deeply
curious to investigate it until after I had gone to the American
mission school in my native land. Then I sought the son of the "godly
man" and begged him to tell me all that he knew about it. He assured
me of his firm conviction that the miracle did happen in their
storehouse when he was too young to see such wonders, and that his
father and mother both saw it and spoke of it on occasions. At the
time I became interested in the study of the origins of such
narratives, both those good parents were dead.
But why allow shallow curiosity to weaken one's faith in the great
spiritual principle which underlies all such beliefs? Attach all such
pious tales to the Oriental's foundation belief that all good comes
from God, and they become intelligible and acceptable. His
intellectual {387} explanations are faint attempts to grasp the great
mystery of divine providence, to explain the ways of the Great Giver.
If you do not attempt to make an infallible creed of these spiritual
imaginings, they will serve as well as any intellectual devices to urge
upon the mind the truth that ultimately "every good and every perfect
gift cometh from above." Whether the resources were a few loaves and
fishes, or thousands of loaves and fishes, it was God who fed the "five
thousand," and it is he who feeds all the millions of his children
through the annual miracle of increase in all the fields and vineyards
of the world.
In his heart-stirring prayer, which begins with, "Out of the depths
have I cried unto thee, O Lord," the writer of the one hundred and
thirtieth Psalm says, "My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that
watch for the morning: I say more than they that watch for the
morning." The Revised Version's rendering, "More than watchmen wait
for the {388} morning," limits the sense of the text, and,
consequently, fails to express fully the phase of Eastern thought to
which the Psalmist alludes. I have no doubt that the ancient poet
meant that his longing for the manifestation of God was as keen as the
longing of _el-mûtesehhid_ for the dawn. This term comes from _sûhad_
(sleeplessness). Eastern poetry is full of references to the _sûhad_,
either from fear or other intense feelings like sorrow or love. In a
land of tribal feuds and where wild beasts abound, the night is full of
terror. _El-mûtesehhid_ "wrestles" with the night, keenly observes the
stars which mark the night watches, and restlessly watches for the
advent of the day to dispell his haunting fears. The Arabian poet
exclaims, "Oh, the night's curtains which are like the waves of the sea
are fallen upon me, to afflict me with every type of anxiety. It seems
that the Pleiades [which marked the march of the night] have been
arrested in their course by being tied with hemp ropes to an adamant!"
It is not the watchman only that is meant {389} here. He might watch
keenly for the morning in times of fear, but the reference is to all
those who watch for the morning in times of _sûhad_--a state which
Orientals readily understand. The Psalmist would have that confidence
and cheer in the presence of the Lord which come to the restless
watcher of the night with the dawning of the day; that inward calm and
peace which only the presence of God in the soul can give.
"Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the
Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring
thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their
shoulders."[9]
The reference in these lines is to the custom of carrying the children
in the East. The habit of carrying the children on the shoulders is, I
believe, unknown to the West, but is universal in the East. In early
infancy the little ones are carried in the arms. (The Revised Version
{390} prefers the word "bosom.") As soon, however, as the child is old
enough to sit up alone, it is carried on the shoulder. The mother
lifts the child and places it astride her right shoulder, and
instinctively the little one clings to her head, where there is no
dainty hat to hinder. The custom is so familiar to the mothers that
often one sees a mother spinning or knitting with the child astride her
shoulder.
As is well known, the message in the lofty strains of the later Isaiah
is the glad tidings of the restoration of scattered and oppressed
Israel. It is a prophecy born of Israel's ever-lasting hope that God
will not cast off his own forever. So the prophet assures Israel in
the name of the Lord that he will lead the alien peoples, not only to
let Israel return to its own home, but to carry the children of the
"chosen people" in their arms and on their shoulders, as do the
servants of aristocratic parents. The prophet's hope of the
restoration of his own people appears in the succeeding verse clothed
{391} in language which Oriental aristocrats love to use. It is the
phraseology of earthly glory and a narrow vision of national destiny,
which the New Testament liberates and enlarges. Says Isaiah: "And
kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing
mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces toward the earth,
and lick up the dust of thy feet." Our world still has many grave
faults, but it has certainly progressed since the days of Isaiah.
In the third chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, the eleventh verse, John
the Baptist, in paying his tribute to the coming Messiah, says: "I
indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after
me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." The same thought is
expressed in the somewhat different presentation in the third chapter
and sixteenth verse of Luke's Gospel, where it is said, "the latchet of
whose shoes I am {392} not worthy to unloose." I have already stated
elsewhere that to the Syrians the feet are ceremonially unclean;
therefore it is very improper for one to mention the feet or the shoes
in conversation, without first making ample apology by saying to his
hearer, _Ajell Allah shanak_ (may God elevate your dignity); that is,
above what is about to be mentioned. In the presence of an aristocrat,
however, no apology is sufficient to atone for the mention of such an
unclean object as the shoes. Therefore, when one says to another, in
pleading for a favor, "I would carry your shoes, or bow at your feet,"
he sinks to the lowest depth of humility. So when some of those who
came to him to be baptized thought that John the Baptist was the
Promised One of Israel, he humbled himself in Oriental fashion by
saying that he was not worthy to carry the shoes of the coming
Deliverer, or even to touch the latchet with which those shoes were
tied to the ankles. In this last expression, the sandals, rather than
the shoes, are meant.
{393}
The three evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, speak of the woman who
was healed from a long illness by touching the hem or border of Jesus'
garment. Luke's version is found in the eighth chapter, and the
forty-third verse, and is as follows: "And a woman, having an issue of
blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians,
neither could be healed of any, came behind him, and touched the border
of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus
said, Who touched me? ... Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that
virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid,
she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him
before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she
was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good
comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace."
The belief that holy persons and holy things impart divine power to
those who trustfully and reverently touch them is not exclusively an
{394} Oriental possession. The Orientals, however, have always
believed this doctrine. The woman mentioned in the Gospel followed a
custom which no doubt antedated her own time by many centuries. The
practice is followed by Orientals of all shades of religious opinion.
As a son and adherent of the Greek Orthodox Church in my youth, I
always considered it a great privilege to touch the hem of the priest's
garment as he passed through the congregation, elevating the Host. To
me the act was a means of spiritual reinforcement. I never would pass
the church building without pressing my lips to the door or to the
cornerstone of the sanctuary. Virtue, as I believed, came out of those
sacred objects into me. The interpretation of the details of such
records as the passage which is before us can be easily pressed too
far. Such Gospel pictures should be sought for the general impression
they make upon the mind, and not subjected to minute critical analysis
as the reports of a scientific expedition. Jesus' reported saying,
"for I perceive that virtue is {395} gone out of me," refers perhaps to
the belief that holy persons impart virtue or spiritual power to those
who come in touch with them. Whatever really happened in Palestine
nineteen hundred years ago, this belief is well founded. Whomsoever
and whatsoever we love and reverence becomes to us a source of power.
Many indifferent and merely curious persons touched Jesus, but nothing
happened; for the _garment_ possesses no healing virtues. But when an
afflicted woman came to him with dearest hope and deepest prayer, the
mere touch of his person reinforced her strength and revived her
spirits. The Master indicated plainly that the healing power was not
in the garment when he said to the woman, "Daughter, be of good
comfort: _thy faith_ hath made thee whole; go in peace."
In the story of the crucifixion[10] we read: "And as they led him away,
they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country,
and on him they laid the cross, that {396} he might bear it after
Jesus. And there followed him a great company of people, and of women,
which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus, turning unto them,
said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves,
and for your children.... For if they do these things in a green tree,
what shall be done in the dry?"
The saying with which the passage ends is current in Oriental speech in
various forms. Of one who is greedy and voracious it is said (when the
thing he eats is not very tempting), "If his tooth works so effectively
in the bitter, what would it do in the sweet?" And, reversing the
Scriptural saying, "If the dry is so palatable to him, how much more
must the green be!" Again, "If one is not good to those that are his
kin, what must he be to strangers?"--and so forth.
Jesus' saying to the women who followed him, "Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and your children,"
facilitates the understanding of the closing sentence {397} of the
passage. He admonishes them not to lament the state of one who, though
condemned, is utterly innocent, but the state of those who are so hard
of heart, so devoid of human sympathy as to condemn one so innocent.
With amazement he exclaims, "For if they do these things in a green
tree, what shall be done in the dry?" If they deal so cruelly with a
good and innocent person, what must be their attitude toward a real
culprit.
The mention in the Gospel of the crowing of the cock recalls to my mind
a very familiar Oriental expression. The shrill sound of the wakeful
fowl always served us in the night as a "striking clock." We always
believed that the cock crew three times in the night, and thus marked
the night watches. The first crowing is at about nine o'clock, the
second at midnight, and the third about three in the morning. The
common people of Syria house the chickens in a small enclosure which is
built, generally, immediately under the floor of the house. It has one
{398} small opening on the outside, which is closed at night with a
stone, and another opening on the inside, through which the housewife
reaches for the eggs. So "the evening crow," "the midnight crow," and
the "dawn crow" can be very conveniently heard by members of the
household. And how often, while enjoying a sociable evening with our
friends at one of those humble but joyous homes, we were startled by
the crowing of the cock, and said, "Whew! it is _nissleil_ [midnight]."
The hospitable host would try to trick us into staying longer by
assuring us that it was the evening and not the midnight crow.
Now some "enlightened" critics assert that "in fact the cock crows at
any hour of the night." Well, the critics are welcome to their
"enlightenment." For us Syrians of the unsophisticated type the cock
crowed only three times, just as I have stated, and thus marked for us
the four divisions of the night.
The New Testament makes definite reference to the "evening crow" and
the "dawn {399} crow." As a rule the cock crows three times (separated
by short intervals) at the end of each watch of the night. We are told
that after the Last Supper, the Master and his disciples "went out into
the mount of Olives," where Jesus said to them, "All ye shall be
offended because of me this night.... But Peter said unto him,
Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus saith unto
him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before
the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice."[11] This refers to
the "evening crow," for the entire scene falls in the early evening.
And so it was that when Peter did deny his Master in most earnest
terms, "he went out into the porch; and the cock crew."[12] Again,
while Peter was still being questioned as to whether he was not one of
Jesus' followers, "he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not
this man of whom ye speak. And the second time the cock crew."[13]
{400}
The other passage[14] refers to the "dawn crow." "Watch ye, therefore:
for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at
midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning."
In speaking of the speedy and mysterious "coming of the Son of man," in
the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, Jesus alludes to the grinding at
the handmill--a very common Syrian custom. The portentous saying in
the forty-first verse is: "Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the
one shall be taken, and the other left."
The _jaroosh_ (handmill, literally, "grinder") has always been
considered a necessary household article in Syria.[15] Our family
possessed one, which, however, was shared by the families of my two
uncles. The _jaroosh_ consists of two round stones--an upper and a
nether--from eighteen to twenty inches in diameter, and about four
inches in thickness. It is a portable {401} article. The two stones
are held together by a wooden pin which is securely fastened in the
center of the nether stone, and passes through a funnel-shaped hole in
the center of the upper stone. A wooden handle is inserted near the
outer edge of the upper stone. As a rule a strong woman can grind a
small quantity of wheat at this mill alone. But as coöperation tends
to convert drudgery into pleasant work, the women grind in pairs. The
mill is placed on a cloth--something like a bed-sheet--or on a
sheepskin. The two women sit on the floor, exactly opposite, and of
necessity close to each other, with the mill between them. They both
grasp the wooden handle and turn the upper stone with the right hand,
while they feed the mill through the funnel-shaped hole with the left
hand. The circular shower of coarse flour falls from between the
stones onto the cloth or skin below.
At present the handmill is rarely used in Syria for grinding wheat into
flour, which is now ground by the regular old-fashioned, {402}
waterwheel flouring mills. The _jaroosh_ is used in the Lebanon
districts and in the interior of Syria for crushing wheat into
_bûrghûl_. The wheat is first boiled and then thoroughly dried in the
sun on the housetop. Just before it is poured into the mill the wheat
is dampened with cold water, so that while it is being crushed it is
also hulled. The _bûrghûl_ is one of the main articles of food among
the common people; it is especially used for making the famous dish,
_kibbey_.[16] The whole season's supply of a family is ground in one
or two evenings. The occasion is usually a very gay one. The
neighbors gather around the mill, the men help in the grinding, and the
telling of stories and singing of songs make of what is ordinarily a
hard task a joyous festival.
The foregoing makes evident the meaning of the passage as used by the
evangelist. "The coming of the Son of man," that great consummation of
all things in the advent of the Kingdom, which the faithful disciples
of Christ {403} hoped and prayed for, was to be so swift and so
mysterious that only the fully awake and watchful could have a share,
in it. No one could tell who would be included in the Family Kingdom.
For even those, who in this world sat as close together as "two women
grinding at the mill," were not certain of being taken together.
"Watch, therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."[17]
It is vain to deny that this watchfulness, this expectation of the
sudden and mysterious coming of the Kingdom, has been a mighty factor
in the development of the Christian Church.
Among my correspondents who have been readers of my articles in the
"Atlantic Monthly," are those who are interested to know the attitude
of the Syrian Christians in general toward the creeds and dogmas of the
Church as they are known and accepted in the West, and also whether I
would not enlarge the scope of this publication so as to include {404}
in it a discussion of certain doctrines which claim to have firm
Scriptural basis.
As may be very readily seen, these questions involve the study of a
complexity of subjects which the original plan of this book was never
intended to compass. Again the author feels that it would be
inexcusable boldness on his part to enter a field of thought which
noted scholars and historians have thoroughly explored, and to pretend
to discuss issues which only such scholars have a right to discuss.
However, in compliance with the requests of those interested readers I
will contribute my mite to the vast literature of a very old subject.
As is well known to church historians, the Syrian Christians of the
Semitic stock have had very little to do with the development of the
"creeds of Christendom." Theological organization has been as foreign
to the minds of the Eastern Christians as political organization. They
have always been worshippers rather than theologians, believers rather
than systematic {405} thinkers. Their religious thinking has never
been brought by them into logical unity, nor their mysticism into full
metaphysical development.
The Oriental has been a lender in religion and a borrower in theology.
The course of religion ran from the East to the West, the course of
theology ran from the West to the East. Had it been left to itself, it
is certain that the Christianity of Palestine never would have built up
such a massive structure of doctrine as the Athanasian Creed. Wherever
the great doctrinal statements of our religion may have
originated,--whether in Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, or
Alexandria,--their essential parts were Greek and Roman, and not
Oriental.
The Christian Church had its simple origin with a group of Jewish
followers of Jesus Christ in Palestine, but it had its marvelous
expansion and organization among the "Gentiles." In Palestine the
faith of the Church may be said to have been instinctive, but {406}
among the Gentiles and under Greek and Roman influences that faith
became highly reflective. Faith in God the Father, and in his Son (by
anointing) Jesus Christ, and love of the brethren, constituted the
simple creed of the Palestinian Christians.
It is not within my power, nor do I deem it necessary here, to trace
the steps by which this simple faith was transformed into a ponderous,
learned, and authoritative creed, whose essentials were finally fixed
in the early years of the fourth century. It is sufficient for the
purpose of this sketch to state that when the great doctrines which
were wrought by the Ecumenical Councils were thus fixed, sealed with an
"anathema," and backed up by imperial and ecclesiastical power, the
churches which refused to accept them had but a very slender chance to
live. The intention of those beneficent ecclesiastics and politicians
who controlled the actions of the Councils was to do away with the
schismatic spirit in the Church and to have "one flock and one
shepherd."
{407}
Thus it may be readily realized that it was not very long after the
crucifixion when the subtle mentality of the Greek and the organizing
genius of the Roman began to assume control of the thought and practice
of the Syrian churches. Excommunication, exile, and martyrdom swept
away in course of time all obstacles out of the way of the
"authoritative creed"; simple faith in Christ was forced to be
hospitable to intricate scholastic statements of doctrine, and "love of
the brethren" gave way, as a bond of union, to ecclesiastical
authority. When the ambitious ecclesiastics of Rome and Constantinople
finally brought about the great schism which divided Christendom into
two bodies, known as the Eastern and the Western, or the Greek and the
Latin churches, the churches of Syria aligned themselves with either
the one or the other. The creeds became to those churches party
slogans and means of division and hatred, and thus Christ was
"divided," and those who claimed to be his followers, in both the
Orient and the Occident, {408} took up the cry, "I am of Paul; and I of
Apollos; and I of Cephas." So the doctrines of the Syrian churches of
every name are essentially those of the two great Roman Catholic and
Greek Orthodox communions.
In answer to the second question I will say that I have refrained from
doctrinal discussion in the present work; first, because so many of the
speculative doctrines of Christendom have very little to do with the
New Testament; second, because the central purpose of this publication
is simply and purely to give the Oriental background of certain
Scriptural passages, whose correct understanding depends upon knowledge
of their original environment. I have deemed it unnecessary even to
follow in the footsteps of the "higher critics" and inquire into the
"genuineness" and "non-genuineness" of some of those passages. For the
purpose of this work every Scriptural passage which reflects a phase of
Eastern thought and life is "genuine." The aim of the author is {409}
that this book shall be as free from labored arguments as the simple
statements of the Gospel themselves.
There is perhaps no phase of human thought which the Christian churches
have not used in the advancement of their divisive creeds and pet
speculative doctrines. There is an untold number of doctrinal
documents which are now lying in the libraries of the world as
repositories of moth and dust. They are of the earth earthy. The idea
of universal brotherhood and human solidarity which is agitating the
minds of men of all races and countries at the present time, is leading
the Christian bodies back to the simple faith of Jesus of Nazareth, and
causing them to heap contempt upon their technical subtleties and
forced uniformities of intellectual belief. At least Protestantism is
beginning to be sympathetically aware of its own precious heritage, and
to feel the urging of its own genius. Free and coöperative
individualism is winning signal victories over the unnatural authority
of creed in the Protestant {410} bodies, and the bondage of the letter
is giving way to the freedom of the spirit. The Gospel of Christ is
triumphing over the theories _about_ Christ, and spiritual
self-fulfillment by becoming Christ-like is crowding out of existence
all theories of magical salvation. The creed of the theologians
consists of many "articles"; the creed of Christ only of two,--"Love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself."
I prefer Christ's creed.
THE END
[1] Gen. xxiv: 2-4.
[2] Matt. xxvii: 59, 60.
[3] Exod. xii: 34.
[4] See page 198.
[5] See page 283.
[6] Is. xli: 15. Revised Version.
[7] 2 Kings 11: 23-24.
[8] See my autobiography, _A Far Journey_, page 94.
[9] Is. xlix: 22.
[10] Luke xxiii: 26-31.
[11] Mark xiv: 27-30.
[12] Mark xiv: 68.
[13] Mark xiv: 71, 72.
[14] Mark xiii: 35.
[15] See Deut. xxiv: 6.
[16] See page 233.
[17] Matt. xxiv: 42.
{413}
INDEX
Admittance of an infant into the Church, 37-40.
Agricultural life, in America, 285; in Syria, 286-94.
_'Aish_, the sacred, 194.
American and Syrian modes of thought, contrast between, 126, 127.
American farmer, lack of romance in his life, 285.
American life, interpretation of, 9, 10.
American mind, attitude toward conception and birth, 22.
American women, highly regarded by men, 314; cultivation and privileges
of, 316.
American youth, seem to be indifferent to filial obedience, 52, 53.
Angels as heavenly messengers, 12.
Anglo-Saxon, the, and the Oriental, as they appear to each other, 57;
the reserve of, 72, 73; uses deeds rather than words in his quarrels,
95; curtness of, 108; has high regard for woman, 313.
Anointing the feet, 226-28.
Arabic, the language of the Syrians, 175; poetry, 354.
Athanasian Creed, 405.
Atheism unknown among the Orientals, 84, 85.
Athens, 264.
Baking of bread in Syria, 200-02.
Baldness, 383.
Baptism, 38, 221.
Barrenness, 20.
Basins for kneading, 198, 374.
Beard, swearing by the, 172, 173; the sacredness of the, among
Orientals, 172.
Bears, 382, 383.
Bed, letting down the, 270-72; taking up the, 272.
Bethlehem, star of, 31, 36, 37, 41.
Betrothals, 221.
Bible, the, cast in Oriental moulds of thought, 4; reads like a letter
from Syria, 5, 6; characteristics of, 5, 6; as a repository of divine
revelation, knows no geographical limits, 6; as literature, an imported
article in the Western world, 7; misunderstood through misunderstanding
of Syrian life, 11; critics of, 41, 119, 128; inaccuracy of statement
in, 110-14; metaphors and exaggerations of, 119-25; many passages of,
to be judged by what they mean rather than by what they say, 139; the
positiveness of speech of, 184, 188; prominent mention of Mary and
Martha as Jesus' entertainers in, 207, 335; the words _home_ and
_house_ in the translation of, 243; purpose of St. John's Gospel,
343-45.
_Passages cited or expounded_:
Acts x, p. 277-79; xvi: 15, p. 210; xvii: 17, p. 264; xviii: 18, p. 17;
xxi: 10-13, p. 116; xxi: 23, p. 18; xxvi: 8, p. 21.
Amos iii: 12, p. 308; iv: 5, p. 98; vi: 3-4, p. 229.
1 Cor. vii: 4, 14, p. 326; vii: 26, p. 184; xi: 5, p. 332; xi: 7-8, p.
329; xiv: 34, p. 333.
2 Cor. ix: 6, p. 83; xi: 26-27, p. 246.
Deut. xxi: 15-17, p. 100; xxi: 18-21, p. 336; xxiii: 25, p. 291; xxiv:
6, p. 400; xxv: 7, p. 98; xxv: 15, p. 100; xxviii, 15, 42, p. 294;
xxviii: 62, p. 32; xxxii: 39, p. 91.
Eccles. vii: 6, p. 290.
Ephes. v: 22-23, p. 328; v: 25-29, p. 326.
Exod. x: 40, p. 293; xii: 3, 6, p. 233; xii: 11, p. 254; xii: 34, p.
373; xii: 39, p. 374.
Ezek. xvi: 1-4, p. 30; xxxiv: 11-13, 16, p. 304.
Gal. iii: 28, p. 325; vi: 7, p. 83.
Gen. i: 27, p. 330; iii, p. 54; iv: 23, p. 138; xv: 5, p. 33; xviii:
2-3, 5, p. 206; xviii: 16, p. 221; xxi: 23, p. 167; xxii: 16, p. 169;
xxiii: 3-6, p. 370; xxiii: 8-9, p. 371; xxiii: 11, p. 371; xxiii:
15-16, p. 372; xxiv: 2-4, pp. 367, 368; xxiv: 10-11, p. 260; xxiv:
30-33, p. 192; xxiv: 53-54, pp. 192, 193; xxiv: 60, p. 23; xxvii:
28-29, p. 338; xxvii: 38, p. 339; xxx: 1, p. 23; xxxi: 53, p. 171;
xlix: 25, p. 346.
Hebr. vi: 13, p. 170.
Is. iv: 6, p. 241; xxxviii: 12, p. 296; xl: 11, p. 306; xli: 15, p.
378; xlvii: 13-14, p. 36; xlix: 22-23, pp. 389-91; lviii: 11, p. 248;
lxii: 8, p. 170; lxiii: 2, p. 283.
Jerem. lxviii: 38, p. 275.
Job xiii: 15, p. 180; xxi: 32, p. 213; xxiv: 11, p. 284, xxix: 1-6, p.
141; xxxi: 32; p. 213.
John i: 47-48, p. 282; ii: 4, p. 340; ii: 13-16, pp. 134, 135; iv: 21,
23, p. 342; x: 1-4, pp. 297-99; x: 1-16, p. 295; x: 11, p. 304; xii: 2,
p. 224; xii: 3, p. 226; xiii: 23, p. 65; xiii: 26, p. 68; xiii: 28-29,
p. 69; xv: 5, p. 280; xv: 9, 12, p. 102; xix: 25-26, p. 345; xxi:
15-16, p. 183.
Joshua ix: 12, p. 251.
Judges vi: 11, p. 376; vi: 36-40, pp. 181, 182; vii: 5-6, p. 380; vii:
12, p. 260; viii: 7, p. 290; xii: 5-6, p. 176; xix: 5-10, pp. 219-21;
xix: 14-21, pp. 211, 212.
1 Kings viii: 37, p. 292; xix: 4, p. 375; xix: 19, p. 287.
2 Kings 11: 23-24, p. 382; iv: 1-6, pp. 383, 384; iv: 22, 24-25, p. 14.
Lament. v: 10, p. 202.
Lev. xii: 2-4, p. 385; xxv: 35, p. 123; xxvi: 26, p. 202.
Luke i: 28, 31, p. 20; ii: 8-14, pp. 42, 43; ii: 12, 15-16, p. 28; ii:
22, p. 37: ii: 29, p. 39; ii: 41, p. 48; ii: 44, p. 50; ii: 51, p. 51;
iii: 16, p. 391; iii: 17, p. 379; iv: 18, p. 186; v: 19, pp. 270-71;
vi: 1-11, p. 291; vi: 38, p. 267; vii: 36-38, p. 226; viii: 33, p. 158;
vii: 43-48, p. 393; ix: 62, p. 288; x: 4; p. 255; xi: 5-7, p. 214; xi:
8-9, p. 217; xi: 11, 23, 27, p. 346; xii: 13-15, p. 156; xiii: 12, p.
342; xiv: 16-23, p. 210; xv: 8-16, pp. 152-57; xv: 20-23, pp. 206, 207;
xviii: 2-5, p. 179; xxii: 15, p. 74; xxii: 19, p. 65; xxii: 44, p. 75;
xxiii: 26-31, p. 395.
Mal. iv: 1, p. 202.
Mark 1: 32-33, p. 110; ii: 3-4, p. 270; iii: 20, p. 222; v: 13, p. 158;
vi: 31, p. 223; viii: 15, p. 152; x: 17-21, p. 101; x: 24, p. 132; xii:
38, pp. 263, 264; xiii: 35, p. 400; xiv: 17-20, p. 60; xiv: 23, p. 63;
xiv: 27-30, 68, 71-72, p. 399; xiv: 53, 66-71, p. 177.
Matt. i: 20-21, p. 16; ii: 11, p. 27; iii: 7-9, pp. 117, 118; iii: 11,
p. 391; v, p. 120; v: 29-30, p. 119; v: 34-37, pp. 173, 174; v: 39-41,
p. 121; v: 42, p. 122; v: 43-45, p. 97; vii: 2, p. 265; viii: 32, p.
158; x: 9-10, p. 249; x: 12-13, p. 87; x: 16, 22, 26-27, p. 274; xi:
16-17, p. 264; xiii: 24-30, pp. 146-48, 288; xiii: 33-35, pp. 149, 199;
xiii: 34, p. 145; xiii: 44, p. 161; xv: 28, p. 342; xvi: 6, p. 152;
xvi: 13, p. 112; xvi: 21-23, p. 134; xvi: 25-26, p. 112; xvii: 1, p.
112; xvii: 19, p. 128; xviii: 3, p. 187; xviii: 10, p. 89; xviii:
12-14, pp. 308, 309; xviii: 15-17, pp. 135, 136, 139; xviii: 21-22, p.
133; xviii: 23-35, pp. 136, 137; xix: 24, p. 130; xx: 9, p. 277 n.;
xxiii: 24, p. 133; xxiv: 17, p. 269; xxiv: 41, p. 400; xxiv: 42, p.
403; xxvi: 7, 20, p. 224; xxvi: 21, p. 59; xxvi: 23, p. 58; xxvi: 27,
29, p. 237; xxvi: 37-39, p. 76; xxvi: 49, p. 71; xxvi: 73, p. 177;
xxvii: 59-60, p. 371; xxviii: 20, p. 65.
Mic. iv: 4, p. 282.
Prov. x: 7, p. 89; xi: 22, p. 351; xii: 4, p. 351; xxi: 9, p. 273;
xxvii: 22, p. 234; xxxi: 10-31, pp. 355-57; xxxvii: 22, p. 234.
Psalms v: 7, p. 38; viii: 3-4, p. 31; xviii: 2-3, p. 245; xix, p. 36;
xix: 1-2, p. 32; xix: 9, 11, p. 86; xx: 22, p. 39; xxiii, pp. 73, 295;
xxiii: 1, p. 297; xxiii: 3, pp. 302, 303; xxiii: 4, pp. 305, 309; xli:
9, p. 193; xliv: 14, p. 141; xlvi: 1-2, p. 245; li, p. 73; lxi: 3, p.
241; lxxx: 8-9, 14-15, p. 281; cix: 8-13, pp. 92, 93; cxix: 71-72, p.
245; cxxviii: 3, p. 281; cxxix: 5-8, p. 88; cxxx: 1, 6, p. 387; cxxxix:
1-6, p. 82; cxlv: 16, p. 195; cxlvii: 4-5, p. 33.
Rom. vi: 13, p. 120; ix: 1, p. 168; ix: 13, p. 99; xii: 1, p. 168; xii:
19, p. 91.
Ruth ii: 4, p. 88.
1 Sam. xx: 27-29, p. 235.
2 Sam. x: 4-5, p. 172.
Sol. ii: 10-14, pp. 352, 353; iv: 1-3, p. 353; vii: 1-9, p. 353.
1 Thess. iii: 6, p. 64.
Zeph. i: 4-5, p. 276.
Birth, of Jesus, 12; a miracle, 20; attitude of Syrian mind toward,
20-25; attitude of American mind toward, 22, 24; of man-child, 27-29;
customs at, 28. _See_ Nativity.
Blood Covenant, the, 160.
Books on the East, 10.
Borrowing and lending, 122-24, 215.
_Bosom_, in the translation of the Bible, 267.
Bread, unleavened, 150; not to be eaten until errand is known, 191,
192; considered to possess mystic sacred significance, 193; the
"life-giver, " 194; offering of, 194; of life, Christ, 194; "our daily
bread, " 196, 197; the Oriental's attitude toward, is religious, 197;
the process of mixing, 198-200; the process of baking, 200-02; bought
by weight, 203; always eaten with a sense of sacredness, 237, 238;
carried on a journey, 250, 251; does not mould in Syria, 251.
Bread and salt, 191-95, 238.
_Bûrghûl_, an article of food, 402.
Burning pit, the, 201.
Burying-places in the East, 370, 371.
"Business success, " 53.
Cakes of the Bible, 374-76.
Cameleers, 260-63, 265.
Camels, caravans of, 259, 260; the watering of, 261, 262; riding on,
262, 263.
Caravans, 259, 260.
Carnivals, 233.
Carob tree, the, 158, 159.
Carrying children on the shoulder, 389-91.
Chaff, 379.
Childlessness, evidence of divine disfavor, 20, 23.
Children, a heritage from the Lord, 23, 24; presentation of, at the
temple, 37; owe obedience to both mother and father, 335, 336; carrying
on the shoulder, 389-91.
Christ. _See_ Jesus.
Christian Church. _See_ Church.
Christians, oaths of, 170, 171; Syrian, of the Semitic stock, have had
little to do with the development of creeds, 404; creed of the
Palestinian, 406.
Christmas, 41.
Christmas carol, 41, 45.
Church, spoken of as the vine which God has planted, 281; the origin
and the expansion and organization of, 405; division of, 407, 408.
Churches, of Syria, 407, 408; the Greek and the Latin, 407; the Roman
Catholic and the Greek Orthodox, 408.
Clarke, Adam, and Jesus pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 49; on the parable of
the treasure hid in the field, 161, 162.
Clocks in Syria, 277 n.
Clothing made at home in Syria, 363.
_Coat_ and _cloak_, the words, 121, 253.
Cock crow, 397-99.
Coin, lost, parable of the, 152-55.
Coming of the Son of man, the, 400-03.
Conception, attitude of the Syrian mind toward, 20-25; attitude of the
American mind toward, 23, 24.
Constantinople, 405, 407.
Corruption, fermentation considered to be, 151, 152.
Couches, reclining on, 227-30; sleeping on, 271, 272.
Courtesy, example of Oriental, 370-73.
Creed-makers of Christendom, 128.
Creeds, 403, 404, 407, 409, 410.
Crier from the housetop, 273, 274.
Critics, of the Bible, 41, 119, 128; of Paul and Christianity, 328;
higher, 408.
Crowds, 222-24.
Crowing of the cock, 397-99.
Crucifixion, the story of the, 395-97.
Culture gives strength and symmetry to religious thought, 85.
Curses. _See_ Imprecations.
Curtness of the Anglo-Saxon, 108.
Da Vinci, Leonardo, his painting of The Last Supper, 58, 59, 67.
Dependence of the Oriental, 72, 73.
Dialects of the Oriental's speech, 175-78.
"Dipping in the dish, " 58, 60, 61.
Disobedience, 54, 335, 336.
Distaff, the, 359, 360.
Dough, 373.
Drawing water, 261.
_Drink_, the word as used in the Bible, 193 n.
Drinking, at feasts, 61-63, 236, 237; manner of, 380, 381.
Eating, 58-61, 222-24.
Ecumenical Councils, 406.
Eleventh hour, the, 277 n.
Elijah, 375.
Elisha, the story of, 382, 383; his kindness to a poor widow, 383, 384.
Enemies, love of. _See_ Love.
Evolution, not altogether compulsory, 242.
Exaggeration, Oriental fondness for, 118.
"Eye-of-the-needle" passage, the, 130-32.
Faith, of the Oriental, 21; Syrian idealization of, 129; early
Palestinian, 406.
Familiar friend, the, 193.
Family, spoken of as a vine, 281.
Farmer, the American, 285; the Syrian, 286-94.
Fasting, 15.
Feasts, fraternal, in Syria, 56-69, 221; family, 231-38.
Fecundity, a gift of the Lord, 20; leaven a symbol of, 150.
Feet, washing and anointing, 226-28; unclean in a ceremonial sense,
228, 292.
Fermentation, considered to be corruption, 151, 152.
Fig tree, and the vine, the Oriental's chief joys, 280; sitting under,
281, 282.
Filial obedience, 51-55, 335, 336.
Flocks of sheep and goats, and their folds, 295, 296; returning, 300;
the shepherd's guidance of, 301, 302; the gathering of the, 303.
Folds, sheep and goat, 295-98.
Forgiveness, 133-39.
Forty days, the purification period, 38.
Garment, cure effected by touch of, 393-95.
Gathering of the flock, the, 303.
Gentiles, the, 405, 406.
Gesticulation of the Oriental, 115-17.
Gethsemane, the kiss in, 70, 74, 76.
_Ghebb_ (sucking of the water with the lips), 381.
Gideon, the story of, 376, 377; his army, 380, 381.
Girdle, the Syrian, 252, 253; placing the hand under, 369.
Goad, the Syrian, 286, 288, 378.
Goatfolds, 295-98.
Goats, the calling of, by name, 299.
God, called shelter and refuge, 241, 244, 245; the Oriental's belief
that all good comes from, 386, 387.
Good pleasure, 335-39.
Gospel. _See_ Bible.
Gracious woman, a, 348-64.
Grain, measuring, 265-67; threshing, 377-80.
Greeks, their custom of reclining at meals, 225.
Green tree, 396, 397.
Grinding wheat, 400-03.
Guest, at the feast, 62; sudden arrival of, 213-16; delaying the
departing, 218-21; departure of, 221; invited in families, 221, 222;
sit on the floor, 222; and _zad_, 250.
Hair, cutting the, release from vow, 17, 18.
Handmill, 400-03.
_Harem_, the, 333, 334.
_Hate_, the word, in the Arabic tongue, 99; in the Bible, 99, 100.
Hatred and love, 104-06.
Hidden treasures, 161-66.
Holidays, 221.
Home, no word for, among the Syrians, 241, 243; the word in the
translation of the Bible, 243.
Honoring father and mother, 335.
Horn, symbol of strength, 245 n.
Hospitality, of Orientals, 205; extended by the man, not the woman,
205-07, 334, 335; Syrian fashion of extending, 208-13; compulsion to
accept, 210, 214; Syrian rules of, 213-21; to the traveler, 249, 250.
Host, the man, not the woman, acts as, 205-07, 334, 335; the urging of
hospitality by, 208-21; bringing the guest on the way, 221; and _zad_,
250.
_House_, Syrian use of the word, 241-44; the word in the translation of
the Bible, 243; the word precious to the Oriental, 244.
House, the Syrian, 242, 269.
Housetop, the shouting of wares from, 269, 273; easily reached, 269,
270; making an opening in, 270-72; the construction of, 271; sleeping
on, 272; to dwell on, 273; calling from, 273, 274; used for household
purposes, 275, 402; praying on, 275-79.
_Hûrmat_, term for _wife_, 333; term for _woman_, 342.
Husband and wife, according to St. Paul, 326-29, 358.
Husks, 158.
Hyenas, 307, 308.
Imploring, Oriental habit of, 178-81, 217.
Importunity, Oriental habit of, 178-81, 217.
Imprecations, 88, 91-95, 146. _See_ Swearing.
Impressions _vs._ literal accuracy, 115-39.
Inaccuracy, intellectual, of the Oriental, 108-14.
Increase, the miracle of, 384-87.
Indefiniteness, effect produced by, 138, 139.
Individualism, 409.
Infant, the, in Syria, 28, 29; admittance of, into the church, 37-40.
Ingersoll, Robert, 128.
Inheritances, division of, 155, 156.
Interpretation, sympathetic, a duty of present-day culture, 19.
Isaiah, 36.
_Jaroosh_ (handmill), 400-02.
Jerusalem, arraignment of, 30; Jesus goes on pilgrimage to, 47-51.
Jesus Christ, a man without a country, 3; belongs to all races and all
ages, 3; as regards his modes of thought and life and his method of
teaching, was a Syrian of the Syrians, 4; never out of Palestine, 4;
story of his birth, 12; goes on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 47-51; filial
obedience of, 51-55; closing scenes in his personal career, 56, 72; his
command to his countrymen to love their enemies, 96; and the
money-lenders, 123-25; tendency of, to use parables, 146; his command
in regard to swearing, 173, 174; his words to Peter, 183; entertained
by Mary and Martha, 207, 335; the anointing of his feet, 226-28;
sending his disciples forth, 249; his injunction, "Salute no man by the
way, " 255, 257; his first meeting with Nathaniel, 282; on dishonoring
the sacred day, 291, 292; and his mother, 340-45; his conversation with
the Samaritan woman, 342; as the incarnation of the Logos, 343-45; cure
effected by the hem of his garment, 393-95; the crucifixion of, 395-97;
conversation of, with Peter after the Last Supper, 399; the Gospel of
Christ is triumphing over the theories about, 410; his creed, 410.
John, "leaning on Jesus' bosom, " 65-67.
John the Baptist, 391, 392.
Joseph, story of, 16.
Journeys. _See_ Traveling.
Judas, the treachery of, 67-71.
Judicial contests, swearing in, 169.
_Keyyal_ (measurer), 265, 266.
_Kherrûb_ (carob), 158, 159.
_Kibbey_, a dish of meat and crushed wheat, 233, 234, 402.
Killing of the sheep, the, 231-33.
Kiss, Judas's, 70, 71.
Kissing, among men, a Syrian custom, 70, 71; of the hands of parents,
335.
Kneading done in the evening, 373.
Kneading-day, 198-200.
Kneading-troughs, 374.
_Kummer_ (girdle), 252, 253.
Lambs, newly born, carried by shepherd, 306, 307.
Language, daily, of the Syrian, is Biblical, 87-90; abstinence from
"pious, " in America, 90. _See_ Speech.
_Lap_, in the Bible, 267.
Last Supper, the, 56-69, 74; in harmony with Syrian life, 56, 57;
painted by da Vinci in Occidental form, 58, 59; appointments of, were
Oriental, 59-69; no women at, 207, 334; conversation of Jesus and Peter
after, 399.
Leaven, parable of the, 149, 199; held in esteem by the Syrians, 150;
the meaning _corruption_ figurative, 152; use of, in making bread, 199.
Lent, 233-38.
Leopards, 307.
Levite, the story of the, 211, 212, 219-21.
Life, of a people, cannot be studied from the outside, 7-11; to the
Oriental an inheritance, 242.
_Like_ ("to be favorably inclined toward"), not in the Bible or the
Arabic tongue, 98; in English version of the Bible, 98.
Literature, difficult to understand if it has not sprung from the
people's racial life, 6; the Bible as, 7.
Loaves, parable of the three, 214-17.
Locusts, 292-94.
Lord's Prayer, the, 196.
Love, of enemies, 96-106; not of our own making, 97; meaning of, in the
West, 98; meaning of, in the East, 98-102; speaks of the greatest thing
in the world, 103; and hatred, 104-06; assurances of, 182.
Man-child, birth of, 27-29.
_Marafeh_, feast of the, 233-37.
Market-place, Syrian, and the caravan, 259; a place of sociability as
well as business, 263, 264; measuring grain in, 265-68.
Marriage in the East, 348-50.
Marriage wishes, 23, 24.
Martha, not at the Last Supper, 207, 208, 335.
Mary, not at the Last Supper, 207, 208, 335; Jesus and, 340-45.
Maternity, pilgrimage for, 12-16.
_Mathel_, meaning of, 140.
Mattresses, 216.
Measure, the generous, 265-68.
Measurer, the, 265-68.
Mecca, 47.
_Melleh_ (cakes), 374, 375.
Merchants, muleteer, 269, 273.
Metaphor, Oriental fondness for, 118.
_Midd_ (a wooden measure), 265, 266.
Miracles, 20, 21, 384-87.
Mocking of the afflicted, 381-83.
Modesty the chief charm of the Oriental woman, 332.
Mohammedans, pilgrimages of, 47; oaths of, 169, 170; position of women
among, 318 n., 331.
Molasses, the method of making, in the East, 285.
Money-lenders, 123-25.
Mortar, 379.
Mother, claiming same obedience as father, 335, 336; Jesus and his,
340-45; the mother's milk, 345-47.
_Mouldy_, in translation of the Bible, 251.
Mount Zion, meeting in the upper room on, 56-69.
Muleteer, merchants, 269, 273.
Mustache, swearing by, 171-73.
Mysticism, 41, 42.
Nativity, narrative of the, 37, 41-44.
Nazarite (_nedher_), 16, 18.
_Nezel_, 62.
Oaks, 376.
Oaths. _See_ Imprecations, Swearing.
Obedience, filial, 51-55, 335, 336.
Oil, miraculous increase of, 384-86.
Open space, the, in Syrian villages, 210.
Optimism, 45.
Oriental, the, and the Anglo-Saxon, in each other's eyes, 57; not
afraid to "let himself go, " 57, 72; dependence of, 72, 73; craves
sympathy, 73; the vision of, 77; his manner of speech, 81; has not
achieved much in the material world, 83; his supreme choice has been
religion, 84; always conscious of God and the soul, 84; does not know
of atheism, 84, 85; has always lived in a world of spiritual mysteries,
86; his imprecations, 91-95; considers his personal enemies to be the
enemies of God, 93; more cruel in words than in deeds, 95; the
unveracious, 107-14; intellectual inaccuracy of, 108; expects to be
judged by what he means, not by what he says, 115, 125; his speech is
always illustrated, 115; fond of metaphor and exaggeration, 118; does
not maliciously misrepresent, 126; use of parables and proverbs, a
characteristic of, 140; makes no distinction between a parable and a
proverb, 140; his contempt for swineherds, 157, 158; his tendency to
swear, 167-74; the dialects of his speech, 175-88; his habit of
imploring, 178-81; the intimacy and unreserve of his speech, 181-83;
the unqualified positiveness of his speech, 183-88; bread and salt to,
191-95; his understanding of the prayer "Give us our daily bread, "
196, 197; religious attitude of, toward bread, 197; bread-making of,
198-204; hospitality of, 205-17; his table appointments, 222, 320; life
is an inheritance to, 242; the word _house_ precious to, 244; his
method of salutation, 255-58; knows no business without sociability,
263; his reputed lack of regard for women, 314, 315; gives man the
precedence, 316, 317; his manner rather than intentions toward woman at
fault, 318, 319, 322, 323; has only comparatively slight acquaintance
with the art of living, 319; his life simple and without exacting
standards, 319, 320; his social activities simple, 321; hates to be
standardized, 321; abhors formalities in the family circle, 321, 322;
the family system of, patriarchal, 323, 328; his attitude toward woman
according to St. Paul, 325-33; limits woman's social privileges because
of fear for her, 330, 331; his descriptions of feminine loveliness,
351-55; his description of the virtuous woman, 355-64; example of
courtesy of, 370-73; his belief that all good comes from God, 386, 387;
his belief in the efficacy of touch to impart divine power, 394; has
been a leader in religion and a borrower in theology, 405. _See_
Syria, Syrians.
Oven, of the Bible, 200-02.
Overcautiousness in the pulpit, 186, 187.
Palestine, 405.
Parable, of the prodigal son, 142; 152, 155-61, 206, 207; to picture
demoralization beyond redemption, 143, 144; on partiality, 144, 145; of
the wheat and the tares, 146-49; of the leaven, 149, 199; of the lost
sheep, 152, 308; of the lost coin, 152-55; of the treasure hid in the
field, 161-66; of the unrighteous judge, 179, 180; of the three loaves,
214-17.
Parables, speaking in, 140-66; and proverbs, Oriental makes no
distinction between, 140; fondness of Oriental for, 140, 141;
sociableness of, 142.
Parents, honoring and obeying, 51-55, 335, 336.
Passover, feast of the, 49.
Path, the beaten, 301, 302.
Patron saints as heavenly messengers, 12.
Paul, his statements concerning the Syrian attitude toward women,
325-33.
Pebble, the covering of the, 203, 204.
Personality, secret of, an impenetrable mystery, 4.
Pessimism, 45.
Peter, his experience in the palace of the high priest, 177, 178; Jesus
and, 183; his vision, 276-79.
Pilgrimage, meaning, to a Syrian, 13, 14; the _zeara_, 13-17, 47, 48;
of Jesus to Jerusalem, 47-51; still common in Syria, 47; occasion of
union among the common people, 221.
Place of residence, the term, 243.
Plough, the Syrian, 286-88.
Poetry, dominant feature of Oriental speech, 108; description of
feminine loveliness in, 354, 355.
_Porter_, in translation of the Bible, 298.
Positiveness of speech, Oriental fondness for, 118, 132, 183-88.
Prayer, 15; the Lord's, 196.
Prayers of the Scriptures, due to persistence in petitioning, 180.
Praying on the housetop, 275-79.
Presentation of child at temple, 37.
Prodigal son, parable of the, 142, 152, 155-61, 206, 207.
Pronunciation of the Syrians, 176-78.
Protestantism, 409.
Proverbs, use of, an Oriental characteristic, 140; and parables,
Oriental makes no distinction between, 140.
Psalms due to persistence in petitioning, 180.
Purification period, 38.
Purse, the, 252.
_Rada'_ (cloak), 121, 122.
_Radha_ (good pleasure), 335-39.
Rag trees, 376.
Rationalism, modern, 19.
Rebecca, 23, 26.
Reclining at meals, 224-30.
_Refuge_, use of the term, 241, 244.
Religion, gives life and beauty to culture, 85; the course of, has been
from the East to the West, 405.
Religions, the three greatest, have originated in Syria, 86.
Remembrance, 63-65.
Reproduction, attitude of Eastern peoples toward, 25, 26; attitude of
Anglo-Saxons toward, 26.
Retribution, 133-39.
Revenge, idea of, lies deep in Oriental nature, 91.
Rome, 405, 407.
Roof. _See_ Housetop.
St. John's Gospel, the purpose of, 343-45.
Sacrament, feasts and, 56-71.
Salt, used at births, in Syria, 28; bread and, 191-95, 238.
"Salted, " 28-30.
Salutation, the Oriental method of, 255-58.
Sarah, 26.
Scribes and pharisees, rebuke of, 132, 133.
Scrip, the, 250.
Scriptures, spring from soil whose life is active sympathy of religion,
85.
Scriptures, the. _See_ Bible.
Sermon on the Mount, the, 97.
"Seventy times seven, " 133-39.
Sheep, lost, parable of the, 152, 206-08; the killing of the, 231-33;
the calling of, by name, 299; the return of, at evening, 300; guided by
the shepherd, 301, 302; the gathering of, 303; their trust in their
shepherd, 307.
Sheepfolds, 295-98.
_Shelter_, use of the term, 241, 244.
Shepherd, solicitous watchfulness of, 296, 297, 299; his tent and dog,
298; going before the flock, 299, 300; the guidance of, 301, 302; the
good, 304, 305; carrying newly born lambs, 306, 307; rescuing from wild
beasts, 307-09.
Shepherd life in Syria, 295-309.
Shoes, 228 n., 292.
Signs and wonders, 181.
Sin, origin of, 54.
Sitting at meals, 58, 224-30.
Sleeping, on couches, 271; on the housetop, 272.
Sleeplessness, 388, 389.
Snow in Syria, 362, 363.
Sociability, no business without, 263.
Sociableness of parabolic speech, 142.
Solomon's Song, the realism of, 352-55.
"Sop, " the, handed to Judas, 68-70.
Sower, the Syrian, 286-94.
Sowing in Syria, 288, 289.
Speech, Oriental's, his manner that of a worshipper, 81, 185; his
daily, 81-90; imprecations, 90-95; intellectual inaccuracy of, 108;
always illustrated, 115; full of metaphor and exaggeration, 118-39,
372; its positiveness, 118, 132, 183-88; parabolic, 140-66; swearing,
167-74; the many and picturesque dialects of, 175-78; habit of
imploring, 178-81; its intimacy and unreserve, 181-83.
Spindle, the Syrian, 359-61.
Spinning in Syria, 358-61.
Spiritual visions, little room for, in modern life, 46.
Springs of water, 248, 249.
Staff, the Syrian, 254.
Star of Bethlehem, 31, 36, 37, 41.
Star-gazers, 34, 35.
Stars, Oriental attitude toward, 31, 32; multitude likened to, 32, 33;
of persons, 33, 34; belief that they are alive with God, 36.
Stoves, 200.
"Strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, " 133
Streets, 210-13.
Superstitions, 18-20.
Swaddle, the, 28, 29.
Swearing, 167-74. _See_ Imprecations.
Swineherds, 157.
Syria, life in, to-day, the same as in the time of Christ, 5, 6; life
of, must be studied from the inside, 8, 10, 11; pilgrimages still
common in, 47; events on Mount Zion and in Gethsemane illustrative of
life in, 56-71; belief in regard to tares in wheat-field, common in,
148; hidden treasures in, 164, 165; sitting and reclining at meals in,
224-26; traveling in, 247-58; the market-place in, 259-68; caravans in,
259, 260; drawing water in, 261; measuring grain in, 265-68; the
housetop in, 269-77; the vineyard and the fig tree in, 280-82; making
wine in, 282-84; agricultural life in, 286-94; shepherd life in,
295-309; status of woman in, _see_ Oriental, Woman; marriage in,
348-50; the process of spinning in, 359-61; snow in, 362, 363; grinding
wheat in, 400-03. _See_ Oriental, Syrians.
Syrian and American modes of thought, contrast between, 126, 127.
Syrian churches, 407, 408.
Syrians, attitude toward miracles, 21; attitude toward conception and
birth, 22; customs of, at birth, 28; attitude of, toward the stars,
31-36; their custom of kissing, 70; life revolves around a religious
center to, 81, 82; their daily language is Biblical, 87-90; have no
secular language, 87; mixture of piety and hatred characteristic of,
94; expect to be judged by what they mean, not by what they say, 115;
love to speak in pictures, 115-17; their use of figurative language,
117; their regard for leaven, 150; the dialects of, 175-78; hospitality
of, 205-30; family feasts of, 231-38; their use of the words _shelter_,
_house_, _refuge_, 241-45; live for the most part out of doors, 241,
242; have no word for _home_, 243; lovers of their homes, 243. _See_
Oriental, Syria.
_Sûhad_ (sleeplessness), 388, 389.
Table appointments, 222, 320.
Tares, 146-49.
Tare-sickness, 147.
_Tennûr_, for use in baking, 201.
_Tent_, the term, 243.
_Thaub_ (gown), 121.
Theology, the course of, has been from the West to the East, 405.
Theories about Christ, 410.
Thigh, placing the hand under, 367-69.
Thorns, 289, 290.
Threshing, 290, 377-80.
Threshing-board, 290, 377-80.
Tiles, 271.
Timepieces in Syria, 277 n.
Touch, divine power imparted by, 393-95.
Tourists, books by, 8, 10.
Traitors, 67.
Traveling, in America, 246; in the East, 247-58.
Treading, the grapes, 283, 377; the grain, 290, 378.
Treasure hid in a field, parable of, 161-66.
"Treating, " 62.
Unleavened bread, 150.
Unrighteous judge, parable of the, 179, 180.
Unveracity of the Oriental, 107-14.
Vengeance, Oriental idea of, 91.
Vine, and the fig tree, the Oriental's chief joys, 280; symbol of
spiritual as well as physical family unity, 280; the church as a, 281;
the family as a, 281.
Vineyard, blessings for the increase of, 25.
Vows, 16-18, 49.
Wakefield, Mr., quoted, 162.
Wallet, the, 250.
Washing the feet, 226-28.
Watching for the dawn, 387-89.
Wedding songs, 247.
Weddings, 221.
Wheat, measuring, 265-67; plucking and eating, 291; threshing, 377-80;
miraculous increase of, 384; the grinding of, 400-03.
Wild beasts, 307-09.
Wills, 155.
Wine, the method of making, in the East, 282-84, 377; sweet and bitter,
284.
Wine cup, the mystery of, 280.
Wine-drinking, 15, 237.
Wine press, 282, 283, 377.
Wise Men, the, 27, 37, 44.
Wolves, 307.
Woman, with child, 26; East and West differ greatly in status of, 313,
314; Anglo-Saxon regard for, 313; reputed Occidental contempt for, 314,
315; culture and privileges of the American, 316; the Oriental
indifferent to fine points of behavior toward, 316, 317; the Oriental
does not consider man superior to, 317-19; Christian and Mohammedan, in
Syria, 318 n., 331; explanation of the Oriental's attitude toward, 318,
319, 322; in home of cultivated Syrian, 323, 324; Syrian attitude
toward, according to St. Paul, 325-33; of Syria, not always submissive,
329; her social privileges in the East limited because of fear for her,
330, 331, 349; a reason for veiling, in the East, 332; modesty the
chief charm of Oriental, 332; why called _hûrmat_, 333; the _harem_,
333, 334; reason for man's precedence of, in social affairs, 334, 335;
her place is in the home, 348; classified with reference to virtue and
its opposite, 351; the Oriental's descriptions of, 351-55; the
virtuous, description of, 355-64.
_Woman_, as a term of address, 340-45.
Woman-stealing, 330, 331.
Wrestling in prayer, 12.
Yusuf Balua', 305-09.
_Zad_, 249-51.
_Zeara_, the (pilgrimage to a shrine), 12-17, 47-48.
_Zûkreh_ (remembrance), 63, 65.
The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS
U. S. A.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Syrian Christ, by Abraham Mitrie Rihbany