Appeal (Hastings' Dictionary)

I. In the Old Testament.— There is no provision made in the OT for appeal in the proper sense of the word, that is, for the recon- sideration by a hif^her court of a case already tried. The distinction made in the Law between the com- petence of higher and lower courts is of a different nature. A ' great matter ' must be reserved for the supreme court, while the lower otlicers are competent to decide a small matter. This dis- tinction is found in one of the oldest parts of the Pent.

(Ex 18"'- -^ [E]), and in Dt H'-* [D]. And the allusion to the delays in legal proceedings of which Absalom took advantage, 2 S 15^ also points to the antiquity of what is, after all, an obvious device inevitable in a growing nation. The supreme court for the hardest cases was cither the king or the priest or the prophet, as the mouth- piece of J" Himself.

The law of Dt 19'«-"* is more like real appeal, for there a 'controversy' and ' false witness seem to be presupposed before 'the judges make diligent inquisition ; but prob- ably the first proceedings were rather admini- strative than judicial, and it hardly amounts to a second hearing of the case on appeal.

According to 2 Ch 19" Jehoshaphat placed Zebadiah over the judges whom he appointed city by city through- out Judali ; but it docs not follow that ne was to hear ajjjieals from the local courts. For the appellate jurisdiction of later times, see Saniikdrin. II. In the New Testament — Ac 25, 26, and 28". St. Paul was liable to be tried either by (1) a Jewish, or by (2) a Roman court. (1) The Roman government at this period allowed the authorities of each synagogue to exerci.se di.

scipline over Jews, only they were not allowed to i)ut any one to death, 'fhe Sanhedrin at Jerusalem appears to have had more moral weight and a wider juris- diction (Ac 9' 2G"), but not larger legal powers (Jn 18") J and the incidents of Ac 7'* 22' 20'" are to be regarded as in the ej-e of the law cases of lynching, at which the Roman government con- nived. A Roman citizen was entitled to claim exemption from the jurisdiction of the synagogue, but nevertheless St.

Paul submitted to it five times (2 Co 11", Ac 28"'). (2) He was also liable to be brought before the Roman governor in charge of the province or dis- trict (Ac IS'^etc). When, then, I'estus asked him whether he w.na willing t(> go up to Jerusalem and there be judged ' belore me' (Ac '25"), it is not clear whether the iropo.

Mul was that he should be tried (1) by the iaiilicdrin in the ])re8enoe of Festus, or (2) more probably by Festus himself at Jerusalem rather than Ciesarea, on the pretext that the charge could be belter sifted there; but if so, why is the prironer's consent necessary (Ac 26°'*')? In the ^: one case St. Paul 'appeals' from the Jewish tribunal to the Roman, invoicing Caesar himself as supreme magistrate, because Festus was about to surrender him to the Jewish authorities (see Ac 25").

In the other case he ' appeals ' from Festus the delegate (procurator) to the lei^al governor of the province, viz. Cicsar himself. It is further uot clear whether the alternative in Ac 25'^'* was that St, Paul should be released at once (Ac 2(j'-' 28'"), or that he should be compelled, in spite of his ' appeal,' to stand his trial at Jerusalem. This last is not impossible, for we learn from other sources [e.ff.

Suetonius, Galba 9) that at this time even a Roman citizen could not insist on being sent on to thesupreme court from that of a provincial govenior, who had the power of life and death {J iis yladii) ; but only it was at his peril that the governor refused such an appeal. It was not uncommon for the governor in such a case to write to the emperor for instructions. The appeal in St. Paul's ca.

se has no connexion with either the provocatio ad jwpulum, or the appeal to the tribunes of the plebs, as they existed under the Roman Rei)ublic. (See Momuisen, liomisches Siaaisrecht', ii. 2.58, 931.) W. O. BuitROW.S. APPEASE. ^To a. in its mod. use is to pro- pitiate an angry person. In this sense is Gn 32-'^ ' I will a. him with the present ' ; 1 Mac 13^' ' Simon was a'' toward them (RV ' reconciled unto them ') ; and Is 57« RV ' shall I be a" for these things?' Everywhere else in AV a.

has the ob.s. meaning of to quieten (which is the orig. meaning, ad pace m, to ' hrin" to peace'), as Ac 19^' when the townclcrk had a^ (RV 'quieted') the people'; Pr lo'" ' But he that is slow to anger a"" strife ' ; Est 2' ' when the wTath of king Ahasuerus was a"" ' (RV 'pacified'); Sir 43«» 'he a'l* the deep' (RV ' hath stilled ') ; 2 Mac 4" ' Then came the King in all haste to a. matters' (RV 'settle matters'). J. Hastings.