Communion

The word koivwAo. is variously rendered in the English Bible by ' communion,' 'fellowship,' 'contribution,' 'distribution.' It is used in relation to the Christian Society to express the idea of the fellowship in which it is united, and the acts of fellowship in which the idea is realized. Its general NT use deserves to be considered as intro- ductory to its specific application to the Eucharist, or Holy Communion (see Lord's Supper).

The corresponding verb Komuviiii has two senses ; (1) 'to have a share in,' (2) 'to give a share to'; BO that we are prepared for a twofold meaning of KOivuvla. : (1) 'fellowship' as recognized and en- joyed, (2) ' fellowship ' as manifested in acts which give it expression. Four passages, or groups of passages, deserve special examination. 1. 2 Co 13" ' The fellowship of the Holy Spirit' ; Ph 2' ' If there be any fellow.ship of the Spirit.'

The first of these passages is one of the few in which, as in the Baptismal formula (Mt 28'^), the three Persons of the Holy Trinity are brought into emphatic juxtaposition : ' The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the lo%'e of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.' • In Mt 6>7 Lk 24", Eph 4» the Or. is simply xiyi, word, speech. The order is remarkable. It is explained, how- ever, when we observe that we have here an expansion of the final salutation with which St.

Paul regularly closes his epistles. Thus in 2 Th 317. 18 ^vg read : ' The greeting of me Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle : thus I write : The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.' It was his invari- able habit to take the pen from his amanuensis at the close and write a parting salutation as his sign-manual.

This was always a prayer that ' grace ' might be with his readers ; the word tvas characteristic of his teaching, and it always occurs, even in the briefest form of the closing salutation. To understand the enlarged form of this saluta- tion in 2 Co, we nmst recall the circumstances of the Corinthian Church. Party divisions were distracting it : all its manifold troubles St. Paul traces to this root.

Unity must be restored : this is the first injunction of the first epistle (1 Co 1'"), and the last injunction of the second (2 Co 13"). His remedy for disunion was his doctrine of the One Body, which he brought to bear on their sin of fornication, their difficulty about idol-meats, their jealousy as to spiritual gifts, their profana- tion of the Lord's Supper. The secona epistle opens with an outburst of relief at their return to obedience.

Y'et at the close he shows that his fears are still alive. What will he find when he comes ! ' Strife, jealousy, wraths, factions, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults ? ' If so, he warns them that he will not spare. He closes with exhortations to unity and peace, and promises the presence of ' the God of love and peace.'

Then his final salutation runs at first in its accustomed form, ' the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ ' ; but it is expanded to meet the occasion and its needs : 'the God of love' suggests the addition 'the love of God ' ; and the true sense of membership which the One Spirit gives to the One Body is prayed for in the words ' the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.' It is clear, then, that the genitive here is subjective and not objective ; and this is confirmed by the parallel clauses.

' The grace ' which is ' of the Lord Jesus,' and ' the love ' which is 'of God,' are parallel with 'the fellowship' which is ' of the Holy Spirit.' The meaning in this place seems to decide the otherwise doubtful sense of Ph 2' ' if there be any fellowship of the Spirit.' Here, again, the context speaks of love and unity.

So that it is most natural to interpret the phrase in both places of the sense of unity, membership or fellowship, which it is the peculiar work of the Holy Spirit to preserve in the Christian Church. 2. Ac 2^" ' They continued steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles and the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers.' This is the first de.scription given us of the newly-baptized converts after Pentecost, when they numbered already about 3000.

It is expanded in the next verses, in which two at least of its phrases are almost verbally repeated : ' the breaking of bread ' is represented "by ' breaking bread house by house,' and ' the fellowship ' or ' communion ' (noii'ui'ia) it echoed in the words, ' all they that believed to- gether held all things common {Kotyd). Thus ' the fellowship ' seems to refer to the tinity of recognized membership, the ' comraunity,' in which the first brethren lived together.

Tlie words ' they held all things common ' are illus- trated by the statement that they sold their goods, and distributed to all ' according as any had need.' No systematic plan of relief for the poorer brethren is implied: the wealthier were moved to supply their nccils as they occurred, in a way that must have been reckless had they not looked for a speedy return of Christ.

The method was incom COMMUNION COMMUNION 461 patible with the liigher organization of the Body ; but it was a strikin" exeinplilication of the new spirit of ffllowsliij), tne sense of tommon interest, the realization of oneness. This oneness is again emphasized in 4*"'- : ' Of tlie whole company of them that believed there was one heart and soul : and not one said that anj' of his possussions was his own ; but they held all things common . .

nor was there any in need among them : for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things sold and laid them at the feet of the apostles ; and dis- tribution was made to each, according as any had need.' Then follows the account of Barnabas, who thus disposed of his estate ; and of Ananias and his wife, who sold a possession and otlcrcd a part of the price as the whole. St.

I'eter makes it plain that Ananias need not have parted with his property at all. It was his own, and in his own power. Ills oH'unce lay, not in niggardliness, but in deceit. This makes it evident that ' community of goods ' was not a j)art of the apostolic teaching ; nor is this the meaning of the term Kotvuvla. The reference to laying the price at the feet of the apostles shows that indiscriminate almsgiving was quickly yielding place to a central fund for common relief. The events of ch.

6 indicate that a common table for the poorer members was one method of their clief, and so one sign of ' the fellowship ' which characterized tlie Body. This ' daily ministration ' led to ditliculties which imperilled the sense of unity itself, and so necessitated a more developed organization of the Body.

Turning back to Ac 2*", we now see that the words ' the breakin" of bread and the prayers ' are not to be regarded as an exjilanatory clause exhau-iting tlie meaning of the phrase ' the fellow- iihip,' whicli precedes them. We have four phrases, which fall into two groups: (1) 'the teaching of the apostles and the fellowship,' (2) ' the break- ing of the bread and the prayers.'

Tlie ' breaking of bread ' took place in the homes of the brethren ; ' the praj-ers " are perhaps those which they ofi'ered in the leniple (cf. 2*^ and 3'). Tlie ' fellowship ' was exemplified, no doubt, in these acts ; but it was wider than any of its special manifestations : it was the unity and membership in which the whole Body was constituted and maintained. 3.

The third group of passages needing special investigation is that in which the word KOivuvia, is used in the limited sense of the ' contribution ' or ' distribution ' of alms. As a general duty this is enforced in Ro 12", He 13'«, 1 Ti 6'», in each of which places the radical meaning of the word employed is that of 'fellowship.'

Each act of Christian almsgiving was a witness to the central principle of fellowship in the Christian Society, ^lost conspicuously is this the case with the great collection for ' the poor saints at .lerusaleni,' upon which St. Paul expended so much labour and anxiety. He regar(le<l this as of supreme import- ance, as the external pledge of the living fellow- ship of the whole Christian Church. He insisted on carrj'ing it in person, even though he was aware that the visit to .Jerusalem endrcn.'

i'red his liberty 9Jid his life. The Gentiles had enjoyed fellowship »ith the spiritual blessings of the Jews: it was hilt right that they should oUer a return of fellow, ship such as was in their power (Koivuvlav rivit TOi^iratrOai, Bo 15», cf. 2 Co 8* 9"). The stress which the apostle lays on this collection is only explained when we regard it as the emblem and the instrument of the corporate fellowship of the locally scattered Christian Society. 4.

We come, lastly, to the passage (1 Co lO"- ") in which the word is iLsed in connexion with the Holy Eucharist. To understand this passage, the whole section, commencing at 8', ' Concerning meats oD'ered to idols,' needs to be studied con- tinuously. The more immediate context begins with 9'^. Just as not all who run receive the victor's crown, so in the history of the Chosen I'eople not all who had spiritual privileges were saved thereby.

These privileges are described in metaphors borrowed from the Christian Sacra- ments. They were aU 'baptized into Moses,' as when the Cloud overshadowed them, and when they passed through the Sea : ' spiritual food ' and ' spiritual drink ' they all partook of, namely, the Manna and the Water from the Kock ; the Kock was the Messiah. These words are of importance as showing incidentally that St. Paul, like St.

John, thought of the Eucharist as ' spiritual food and drink,' although this is not the side of it on which he ordinarily insists. The idolatry into which the Israelites fell in spite of their spiritual privileges is the starting-point of the warning of 10". From two sides the apostle has approached the dani^er of idolatry — the idolatry ol the Gentiles of his own day, the idolatry of Israel in the past. Worship, whether true or false, implies a fellowship.

The Christian fellow- ship must be recognized and vindicated from con- tamination. ' The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not Koifuvia of the blood of Christ ? the bread which we break, is it not Koivufia of the body of Christ J because one bread, one body, we the many are, for all of us partake (/ierfxcMf) of the one bread.' What is the meaning of noiyui'ia here ? The AV renders ' the communion of ' ; the RV ' a com- munion of,' with tlie marg. alternative ' a par- ticipation in.'

In the Greek the word, being a predicate, does not take the article ; but in English the definite article is in such cases usually supplied ; so that in this respect syntax makes no demand for alterin" the AV. Secondly, as to the word itself. It is no doubt tempting to take it in the simple sense of ' partaking of ' ; but this loses the force of its aerivation from Koiv6s, which implies jointness, or com- munity of some kind. In this very place St.

Paul expresses mere ' partaking ' by /lerix"", not Kotvuveiy. Fellowship is the ruling idea of tha word, and we must not lose sight of it. In regard to the second of the clauses, the apostle himself interprets his meaning to us. The single loaf, broken and distributed and eaten, linked all who partook of it into unit}'. ' We are one loaf, one body, many though we be ; for of the one loaf we all partake.' Thus the loaf was nothing less than ' fellowship with the Body of the Chri.st.'

This interpretation is borne out by the apostle's next words : You are God's new Israel — Israel after the Spirit ; look at Israel after the flesh : they bring their sacrihces to the temple, they eat of them, and thereby they are in fellowship with the altar. Then, recurring to the Gentile sacri- fices, he points out that to partake of tliem is to be in fellow,sliip with the demons to whom they are ofl'ered.

lie contrasts ' the cup of the Lord ' and ' the cup of the demons,' ' the table of the Lord' (i.e. the Bread) and 'the table of thedemons' {i.e. the idol -meats). ' I would not have you to enter into fellowship with the demons (koo/wfoi)! TuJi' iatiioylwv ylfejOat).' It is in sharp contrast with such a conception as this that St.

Paul declares that to partake of the Eucliaristic Cup is to be in fellowship with the Blood of Christ, and to partake of the Eucliaristic Bread is to be in fellow- ship with the Body of Christ. Thus interpreting St. Paul by himself, we see once more the side of the truth on which he peculiarly insisted : fellow- ship in the New Covenant made by the Death of I Christ ; fellowship in the Body of Christ, that 462 COMPANY CO.

MPEL living corporate unity of which, to his view, Christ is at once the Head and, in a deeper, fuller sense, the Wliole (1 Co 12", Eph 4'»). J. Armitage Robinson. COMPANY was formerly used with more freedom than now, ' a great c' being loosely employed where we should say 'a great number,' or 'a great crowd.' Thus 2 Ch 20'^ ' this great c. that cometh against us ' (/UlnUJn, crowd) ; Ac 6' ' a great c.

of the priests were obedient to the faith ' {6x^os ; so Lk 5-* 6" 9^" II-'' 12", Jn 60) ; Lk 23^ ' there followed him a great c. of people' (irX^Sos, RV 'multitude'); and He 12~ 'an innumerable c. of angels' (^lupids, RV ' innuni. hosts '). Even when the Heb. is a military term, as mahdneh, camp (Gn 32"''" -i 50^ 1 K 5", 1 Ch 9"), hayll, force, army (2 Ch 9'), gedhudh, troop (1 S 30""'=», 2 K 5-), ?dbh/i\ host (Ps 68" ' great was the c.

of tliose that published it,' RV 'the women that publish the tidings area great host '), the meaning is quite indetinite. In P» 6830 the word hayydh has been taken by AV in the Bense of c.' ( Rebuke the c. of spearmen '), after Ibn Ezra, Calvin, etc. : but there is no absolutely certain instance of this meaning of the word (see Driver, Notes on Sam.^ on 1 S 1&^^ 2 S 2313, and Oa/. Heb. Lex. i.v.), and RV returns to the tr. of Vultf.

' Increpa feroa arundinis,' and Wyclif ' Blame thou the wielde beestis of the reheed, givin^r Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds,' the reference then being to the crocodile or hippopotamus of the Nile as sj-mbolical of the power of Egj-pt. Ca 613 A V renders What will ye see in the Shulamite ? As it were the c. of two armies,' tiiis time following Wyclif ( ^^^lat echalt thou se in the Sunamj'te, no but cumpenj'es of ooetis ? '), who takes the * nisi choros castrorum ' of Vulg.

in that sense, which is the sense given by most of the VSS and Jewish com- mentators. But RV takes the Heb. mih6ldh in its in\ariable meaning of 'dance 'and mahilnHi/imaB a proper name, 'Why will ye look upon the Shulammite, as upon the dance of Mahanaim ? ' The vb. ' to c. together ' is used in Apoor. (Sus 1"- <"■ ") in the sense of ' to cohabit.' In NT ' to c. ■with ' is simply to associate with ; 1 Co 5° ' I WTote unto you in an epistle not to c. with fornicators ' (RV ' to have no c.')

; Ac 1-' ' these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us.' J. HASTINGS. COMPASS (cum together, passus step, hence ' a route that comes together or Joins itself ' — Skeat) is used both as subst. and as vb. 1. As subst. c. = (a) a ' circle,' ' sphere,' the vault of heaven (Is 40^, see Circle), or the horizon, PrS-'' 'he set ac. upon the face of the depth ' (:!n, RV 'circle') ; (b) instru- ment for making a circle. Is 44" ' the carpenter . .

marketh it [the image] out \rith thee' (njinp, RV ' the compasses ') ; (c) circumference, margin round. Ex 27' 38* (nS-ij), 1 K 7^ (r??); (d) the space within a circle, range, limit, 1 Es I'' ' within the c. of their holy temple ' (jrcpucituXv, RV ' round about their holy temple ), 1 Mac 14" ' within the c. of the sanctuary' (irepl^oXo^, RV ' precinct'). The phrase fetch a c. is ' make a circuit ' or 'go round about,' Heb. ajp, Ku 34», Jos 15», 2 S 5^, 2 K 3» ; Gr.

ir«pt^pxo;xai, Ac 28" ' from thence we fetched a c., and came to Rhegium ' (RV ' made a circuit'). 2. As verb the meaning is either (a) make a circle round, surround, or (A) make a circuit round, go round. Thus (a) 1 S 23'-' ' Saul and his men c" David and his men round about to take them'; Lk 21^ 'When ve shall see Jerus.

c* with armies' ; 2 S 2'2^=Ps "l8' ' the sorrows of hell c"'' me about ' (3J5, RV ' the cords of Sheol were round about me'); Ps 139' 'Thou c"' my Sath and mj- lying down ' (•tt, RV ' searchest out ') ; er SI' 'A woman shall c. a man' (i.e. prob. as protector, cf. Dt 32'<', Ps 32">). And (6) Dt 2' ' we c"* mount Seir many days' ; Jos 6" ' so the ark of the Lord c"" the city, going about it once ' ; Jer 31" 'the measuring line . . shall c. about to Goah" (3;?

, RV 'shall turn about unto Goah'); Mt 23'° 'ye c. sea and land to make one proselyte.' J. Hastings.