Crocodile (Hastings' Dictionary)

The crocodile is doubtli'ss meant by leviathan in the above passage ami Job o. In Ps 74' leviathan refers to I'iiaraoli, under the simile of a crocodile. Cf . Ezk 29^, where Pharaoh is called ' the great dragon (taiimm, for the usual tanuhi) that lieth in the midst of his rivers,' and 32-, wliere he is compared to a ' whale (also tannim AVm, KV text 'dragon') in the seas,' the reference being to the crocodile of the river (Arab.

6a/tc = sea, the usual Arab, way of speaking of tlieir great river the Nile). See Lkvi.vtha.n. Dr.voon'. The crocodile is a saurian, sometimes attaining a length of 20 feet. His back and sides are covered with an armour, impenetrable to spears, swords, siingsiones, and arrows( Job 4 1 ''■ '^i'- '-" '^- -^) ; not to be injured by clubs (RV for AV ' darts' v.^S), or even spherical bullets. The scales of which this armour is composed are beautifully marked.

HLs jaws are set with numerous sharp-pointed teeth(v.i^). His neck is extremely powerful (v., ). His tail is also very muscular, and a blow from it will crush a man. His legs are short. The toes of the fore feet are five, and of the hind feet only four. The inner two toes of the fore feet and the inner one of the hind feet are destitute of claws. The rest have strong claws (v.^"). The crocodile is well characterized as ' a king over all the chililren of pride' (v.**). In one other passa<;e '^.

Ter U") KVcx gives ' crocodile ' for tannim, AY ' dragons.' The Land Crocodile (Lv 11^ UV) is not a croco- dile, but probably the MoxiTOE (see Ch.vmeleon). G. E. Post. CROOKBACKT (Amer. RV 'crook-backed'), Lv '21-". See Mkduine. 'CROSS is the tr. of the Gr. irravpds, the name applied in X 1' to the instrument upon which Jesus Christ suffered death.

Owing to the variety of the methods in wliioli crucifixion might be inflicted, and the indetiniteness of the terms employed, it is im- possible to determine with certainty the exact nature of the cross used in Ills case, irravpis means properly a stake, and is the tr. not merely of the Lat. crux (cross), but of pa?Hs (stake) as well.

As used in XT, however, it refers evidently not to the simple stake used for impaling, of which wide- sprcatl punishment crucifixion was a refinement, but to the more elaborate cross used by tlie Romans in the time of Christ. Besides the crux simplex, or simple stake, we may exclude from consideration the so-called cross of St. Andrew, shaped like an X> the origin of which is much later, and concerning the actual use of which there is much doul)t.

Tliere remain of the four varieties of cross usually enumerated only two, between which the choice must lie — the crux commissa or St. Anthony's cross, shaped like a Xi ^^'^ consisting of a single upright post, across the top of which is fastened a hori- zontal cross-bar; and the crux immissa or Lat. cross, in which the top of the upright sliaft projects aoove the cross-bar, as in the form with which we are most familiar.

In favour of the latter is not only the testimony of the oldest tradition, which in such a matter is entitled to great weight, but also the statements of the evangelists concerning the title nailed to the cross (Mt 273', Mk 16^, Lk 23«, Jn 19'», ^). Tlie upright post to which alone the name properly belongs, was usually a piece of some strong, cheap wood, olive or oak, of such length that wlien firmly planted in tlie ground the top was from 71 to ii ft. high.

Most modern illustra- tions err in making the upright much too high. •• Copvriohl. 1S9S, bi/ It was erected on some spot outside the city, con- venient for the execution, and remained tliere as a permanent fixture, only the cross-bar or pat- ibulum being carried to the spot, usually by tlie person who was to suffer death.

This consisted sometimes of a single piece of wood, more often of two parallel bars joined at one end, between which the head of the victim passed, and to the ends of which his hands were fastened. The cross which Jesus carried was doubtless simply the cross-bar in one of these two forms.

Keim argues in favour of the simpler, partly because Jesus is represented as clothed, which would hardly have been tlie case had He carried the double patibulum ; partly be- cause of the carrying of it by Simon, which he regards rather as a rude joke of the soldiers than as rendered necessary by the weight of the cross- bar, which could in no case have been very heavy (JesK voii Sazara, iii. 398, Eng. tr. vi. 125).

Be- sides the patibulum, the cross was fm-nished with a support for tlie body called the sedile. This was a small piece of wood projecting at right angles from the upright, upon which the victim sat as upon a saddle. It was designed to bear part of the weight of the body, which would otherwise have been too great to be supported by the hands alone. Whether there was also a support for the feet, the so-called iwoTriSiov, is still in dispute. The origin of crucifixion must be sought in the E.

, probably among the Phoen., from whom it passed to the Greeks and" Romans. The long list of peoples givpii by Winer {R'tVS i. CSO), and often copied, includes aany cases which prove no more than impaling (so the Persians, Egyptians, Indians). For the practice among the Phoenicians, Cartha- ginians, and Numidians we have good authority. We hear of Alexander on one occasion crucifying as many as 2000 T>'rians. Among the Romans this was a very common punishment.

At first they confined it to slaves and seditious persons, but gradually extended its use, especially in the provinces, here following I'uuic examples. In Sicily, Verres crucified even Roman citizens. The same was done by Galba in Spain. But these were rare exceptions, and excited universal indignation. In Judaea the pmiishment was frequently used. Thus Varus crucified 2000 rioters after the death of Herod the Great (.Jos. Ant. xvil. x. 10).

Under Claudius and Nero, various governors, Tiberius Alexander, Quadratus, Felix, Flonis, crucified robbers and rioters of political and religious character, includ- ing two sons of Judas Galilasus (^Ant. XX. v. 2 ; BJ II. xii. 6, U. xiii. 2), and even respectable citizens and Roman knights (SJ U. xiv. 9). Titus cruci- fied so many after the destruction of Jerus. that there was neither wood for the crosses nor place to set them up (BJ v. xi. 1).

Especially under Tiberius, who held that simple death was escape, was this method of punishment frequent. Tlie .lews did not practise the crucifixion of living persons. The case of Janua?us, referred to by Jos. (BJ I. iv. 6), was an exception which called forth universal reprobation. But tlie hanging up of dead bodies meets us frequently in OT. See Jos 10* (the five kings), 2 S 4i- (the murderers of Ish- bosheth), 1 S 3iw (the Philistines and Saul, cf.

2 S 21'-), Ezr 0" (the decree of Darius), and is distinctly authorized in the law (Dt 21-, cf. Nu 25-', where J" commands this punishment in the case of the men who have led the people away to Baal-peor). In such cases the dead body became accursed, and must be buried before nightfall, that the land might not suffer pollution (l)t21-''). Those wlio suffered crucifixion came under this curse, and hence the passage in Dt is applied to Jesus not only in the 'I'alm., but also by NT writers.

This explains the frequent reference to the cro.ss in XT as the tree (JuXor), iliat being the LXX tr. of the Charles Scribner^s Sons CROSS CROWN 529 Htb. yZ. (Cf. Ac 6«» 1(F» IS'-"", 1 P 2-S and csp. Gal 3" ' Christ redeemed us from tlie curse of the law, liavinij become a curse for us ; for it is written, Cui-Sfd is every one ihat haniieth on a tree.') The method of crucilixion is clearly described in NT.

After condemnation, the victim was scourged with the jlagellum, a punishment so terrible that men often died under it. In Jesus' case the scourging seems to have taken place before rather than after, possibly to excite pity (.Jn 19'). The cross-bar was then bound on the victim's back, or his head in- serted in the patihidum, and he was led thront;h the city accompanied by the centurion and four soldiers det<iiled to conduct the execution.

The title, a piece of wood covered with while gypsum on whicli the nature of his offence was set forth in letters of black, w;i.s usually carried before the con- demned person, so that all might know the reason for which he was to die.

This custom of carrying the cross gave rise to ' the proverb alpeiv or Xom- jiipeLV or fiaardj^uv riv CTavpbv auToi which was wont to be used of those who on behalf of tiod's cause do not hesitate cheerfully and manfully to bear persecutions, troubles, distresses, thus recalling the fate of Christ, and the spirit in which lie en- countered it' (Thayer, Lex. p. 586).

In this sense it is used by Jesus Himself in the well-known -saying, ' If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me '" (.Mt 10-*, Mk 8", Lk !i^ ; cf. Mt 10'-, Lk U^'). Arrived at the place of execution, the prisoner was stripped, his garments falling to the soldiers as their booty, lie was then bound to the patibulum, and both were raised on ladders until the cross-bar rested on the notch prepared to receive it. This was the more common custom.

In a few cases the (TOSS piece wa.s fastened to the upright lying on the ground, and the whole then raised together. \fter the paliltnlnm was firmly fastened, the hands were nailed to its extremities, and possibly the feet to the upright, although this was less frequent. Aftfrwards the title was fastened to the head of the cro.ss, and the victim Wiis left to the slow agonies of a death which might endure many hours, and even days.

All authorities agree that of all deaths crucifixion was the most abhorred. This was due not only to its pain, which was of the most intense character (see the account of Richter, quoted in .Smith, DB), but also to its shatne, which in the case of the Koman w.TS due to its servile association, in that of the Jew to its rendering the sufferer accursed. Cicero in his oration against Verres (v.

0(>) declares that it is impossible to find a fit word to descrilje such an outrage as the crucilixion of a Koman citizen. ' Fnrinus ent vinciri rivrm Uomnnum : scelus r^er- berari: prope. parriridinm ne.cari; quid dicam in cnicem loUif Verba nalis digiio tarn nefaria res appellnri nulla modn potest.' The shame of this death is often referred to in NT.

So lie 12- 'Jesus, who endured the cross, de- spising shame ' ; He 13''' ' Let us therefore go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach' ; cf. He U'^. With more particular reference to its relation to the ceremonial law, Gal 3" ' Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us ; fcu' it is written. Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree'; 1 Co 12" 'No man speaking in the Spirit of God saith Jesus is anathema.'

Because of this character, the death I if Jesus upon the cro.ss, viewed in the light of His Messianic claims, became not merely foolish- ness to Greeks, but a stumbling-block to Jews (1 Co l'"-2», cf. Gal 6"). It was an outr.age to JewLsh propriety that He who had become accursed in the sight of the livw by His death on the cross should claim to be the .Messiah in whom the law was ful- filled. This element of ceremonial defilement has VOL. I. — -^d been particularly emphasized by C. C.

Everett in The Gospel of Paul (Boston, 18'.)3), as a clue to the understanding of St. Paul's view of the signi- ficance of Christ's death. This significance he finds not at all in its ])en,al character, but in its character as ceremonial defilement. Christ by His death on the cross became accursed (anathema). Those Christians who accepted this accursed sufferer as the Messiah of God, shared His curse, and were in like manner cut off by the law.

But this cutting off by the law brought with it also freedom from the law, since those who were thus outcast were no longer within its realm. Thus Christ's death under the law, followed by His resurrection, was (iod's way of showing that the Jewish law was done away, and a new method of .salvation, even that through faith in Christ, ushered in. The use of the word ' cross ' in a theological sense, as a brief designation of Christ's saving work, is char- acteristic of St. Paul.

The gospel of salvation is ' the word of the cross ' (1 Co l'"). Those who suffer persecution because of their faith in the saving efficacy of Christ's death, do so ' for the cross of Christ' (Gal Ci-). They who refuse this gospel are ' enemies of the cross of Christ' (Ph 3'^).

The cross is not only the instrument of the recon- ciliation between God and man (Col 1-', Eph 2"=), through the death of Him who there sutfered (Col 1-" ' the blood of the cross '), but also between Jew and Gentile (Col 2i'' the bond nailed to the cross), since by it the ' bond written in ordinances,' which up to that time had barred the way of the Gentiles to God, is put out of the way. " It was through the cross, i.e.

acceptance of the crucified Christ as Saviour, that the world was crucified to Paul, and Paul to the world (Gal 0"). Thus cruci- fixion becomes not merely the means of salvation, but the type of that absolute renunciation of the world which characterizes the true Christian life (Gal 5-*). LiTKHATURE.— The articles on Cronii and CniciJixio7ila9m\lb, his and In Ileraop, RE. Monopraphs by Lipslus, D» Vrtwe, Antwerp, I.'iU5; Nlc(iuetus, TUuIuk m.' Crticin, .\nt.

, lOTu ; Vilnius, JJeClaviiiJJominiciK, Ant., 107(1; UnnuMui, De Ci iice, Amsterdam, 1G70 ; and more recently by Zockler, fJatt Kreuz C/tristi, 1875, and Fnlda. />Uf, A'reiis itiid die Kreminung, I'-TS. Much informntlon Is contahied In the Lives of Christ of Keiin and liase. On the theological slpnlOeanco of the cross, cf. besides the ^iWicafrAeototrj'ea.Evereit, The Ooitpelof I'uul, l!..ston, 1SU3. W. ADA.MS BROWN. CROW occurs once in Apocr.

(Bar Q^) , where the helplessness of idols is illustrated by tlie remark that ' they are as crows (ko/jwtoi) between heaven and earth.' In Jer .3- the L.XX has wad Ko/iiip-q (pyjliovfiiuri for MT "'?';?? '?>;,." ('as an Arabian in tlie wilderness,' RV), which implies the punctua- tioi! 2-y': ('raven') instead of '?■;>:,(' Arabian '). The common LXX equivalent of aiV is /(6po{. See Havkx. j. A. SEMilK.