Entreat (Hastings' Dictionary)

See Intreat. ENYY is a feeling of uneasiness or displeasure occasioned by beholding the prosperity or advant- ages enjoyeif by others. Butler, in a note to the first of his Sermons on Human Nature, indicates it as the vice of that quality of soul of which Emula- tion is the corresponding virtue.

The latter is that ' desire and hojie of equality with, or superiority over, others, with whom we compare ourselves,' which not only may be free from any unworthy feeling towards them, but is obviously the very spring of human progress. The characteristic of Envy, on the other hand, is ' to desire the attain- ment of this equality or superiority by the par- ticular means of others being brought down to oui own level or below it.'

The scriptural use of the term is quite in accord- ance with this description of it, and of its relation to the emotion of which it is a perversion. Of the three words, one in OT and two in NT, of which it appears as a translation, only one, ip06i>os (vnth its cognate verb ipdofiw), has uniformly the evil signification. The difficult verse Ja 4° ' Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain. The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy ? ' is scarcely an exception.

If, as seems probable, having regard to the context, the rendering of the second clause given in RVm is correct — ' That spirit which he made to dwell in us yeameth for us even unto jealous envy ' — the phrase must be held as merely illustrating the intensity of the divine afi'ection, which requires the exclusive devotion of its object, by a reference to the human passion of jealou.sy or envy. (See Expos. Times, viii. [1896] p. 76f.)

The other two words, of which mention has been made, are Kjff (noun riKip) in OT, and f^Xos (verb fijXcfu) in NT ; and of each of these wor'is both mean- ings, the worthy and the unworthy, often appear. Njfj, the original force of which is, apparently, burning, glowing, naturally denotes, in the first instance, intense emotion.

It is used to express the indignation of Joshua (Nu IP"), the zeal of Phinehas (Nu 25"), and the jealousy of Elijah (1 K 19"'- '*), as well as the envy of Rachel for her sister (Gn 30'), of his brethren for Joseph (Gn37"), of the people for Moses (Ps 106''), or the mutual envy of Judah and Ephraim (Is 11"). In the Book of Proverbs the evil sense alone appears.

Con- trasted with ' a sound heart,' which is ' the life of the flesh,' Envy is 'the rottenness of the bones' (Pr 14*") ; it is more formidable than wrath or anger, for ' who is able to stand before envy ? ' The corresponding NT term is f^Xot, in which the same variation of sense is found.

In 1 Co 14' (RV) we read ' Desire earnestly spiritual gifts ' ; in Gal 4'* 'it is good to be zealously atl'ected (RV 'sought') always in a good thing ' ; and in Rev 3" the com- mano ' Be zealous ' is coupled with an admonition to repent. In like manner the ' zeal ' of Jn 2", Ro 10', 2 Co 7" 9'^ Ph 3«, Col 4", the ' fervent mind' of 2 Co 7', and the ' jealousy ' of 2 Co IV, illustrate the commendable -vspect of the emotion indicated.

In lists of vices, on the other band, such as those in Ro 1"", 1 "Ti 6, en\'y has a conspicuous place Trench, in Nexc Testavient S;/non!/in.<i, points out that in the list given in Mk 7^'- * the place of 09oVos is taken by the circumlocution 6(t>6a\pi.6s irovqpbi, 'an evil eye ' (compare Mt 20">, also 1 S IS" ' Saul eyed D.avid '), which reminds us of the derivation of the Lat. inindia, Eng.

' envy,' from invidco ' to look closely at,' so ' to look maliciou-lv ' It may be noted that in the following passages, Job 5-, Pr 27'. Ac 7» 13« 17». Ro 13", 1 Co 3», 2 Cc EPAEXETtJS EPHESIAN 713 12", Ja 3'*-" RV substitutes 'jealousy,' or its co"rnates, for 'envy.' For the iliffurence between f^Xot and ^(Jixot see Trench, Syrian, of NT, p. 83 U., and art. Zeal. A. Stewart. EPAENETUS CY.nltrro%).—One of the Christians greeted by St. I'aul at the end of the Ep. to the Koinans ( 16').

He is mentioned at the beginning of the list immediately after Prisca and Aquila, is de- scribed as * my beloved ' {t6v aya-r-qrbv /xoy), and as the ' first fruits (airapxh) of Asia unto Christ ' (the read- ing Achaia of TK is clearly wrong, being derived from 1 Co 16"). The name, which is Greek, is not uncommon, occurring in inscriptions both of Rome and Asia. One from the former place mentions an E. who was a native of Ephesus [CIL vi. 17171). The mention of Prisca, Aquila, and E.

forms the basis of the theory that Ro 16'' was addressed to the Church at Ephesus ; but three names — two of them belonging to persons original Ij' resident at Rome — out of a totnl of more than twenty, are not sufficient evidence for it.

It was natural that the Christian body in the capital should consist largely at first of foreigners ; and even one hundred j'ears later, in tlie time of Justin Martyr, out of a body of seven Christians condenmcd to death in Rome, three are foreigners (Acta Justini, § 4). LrriRATURB.— Kenan, St. Paul, p. Ixv ; Li),'htfoot, Biblical Euaps, p. 301 ; S&nday and tleadlani, iluinanx, p. 421. A. C. Headlam.

EPAPHRAS ('Ero^pof, a shortened form of "ETa- iPpbiiToi ; see El'APHROiiiTUS) was a native of Colossffi (i ii ii/iJj» Col 4"), and as we learn from the correct reading of Col 1' the founder of the Col. Church (Kaduit iiuiOtre airb 'Ewa(ppd, ' even as ye learned of Epaphras,' where the omission of Kal (also) of Tli makes Epaphras more than an acces-sory teacher). It is prob. that he was also the evangelist of the neighbouring towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis (Col 4''-'^). He visited St.

Paul during his first Rom. imprisonment, bringing him an encouraging report of the state of tlie Colossian Church (Col I*''), and for liis zeal would seem to have been condemned to share the apostle's im- prisonment (6 ffwaijyuiXuiTit /iou Pliilem^), though the reference may be to spiritual ratlier than pliysical captivity (cf. Ro 16', Col 4'°). To him alone (except once Timothy, Ph l')doe3 St.

Paul apply the designation he uses several times of himself, 'a bond-servant of Jesus Christ' (5ou\os XpiffToC 'iTjffoO Col 4'^) ; while the extent of his services is further proved by the description ' a faithful minister OI Christ' {viaris StiKovos toO XpurroO, Col 1'). G. MiLLlOAN. EPAPHR0DITU3 (•ETo0p65trot 'handsome' = Lat. ' venustus,' a common name in the Rom. period; see, e.g. Tacit. Ann. xv. 55; Suet. Dumit. 14 ; Jos.

Life, § 76), to be distinguished from Epaphras [which see], and known to us only from one or two allusions in the Kp. to the Philiiipians. From these we learn that he visited St. I'aul during his first Roman imprisonment, bringing pecuniary aid to him from the Church at Philippi, and that instead of at once returning home ne remained with the apostle in Rome, devotin" him- self to the ministry under his guiilance (Pli ii**" 4'"""). The strain, however, was too great for him.

He lost his health, ami 'was sick nigh unto death'; but the danger pa-iseil. 'God had mercy on liim,' says St. Paul, "and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow' (Pli 2-''). On his recovery K. was anxious to return to Philippi to quiet his friends' alarm on his behalf (Ph '2-") ; and this St. Paul api)roveil, making him at the sanu- time the bearer of the Ep. to the Philippians. St. Paul's sense of E.'

s services is marked by his description of him as ' my brother and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier,' the three words being arranged in an aseendini; scale to denote 'common .sympathy, conuuun work, cummon danger and toil and suU'ering ' (Lightfoot on I'h 2"). Literature.— The Coinm. on Ph 2». e«p. Liuhtfoot, p fli ft., 122; Ellicctt, p. 80; Moulc, p. 79; and VinLcnl. |ip. xviii, 75. Also Thayer, AT Lex. t. 'ETaj^it ; Wnier, liWIi.n. ■ E|ia|ihras' ; and lieet in Ezpositur, 3rd Ser. ix.

(ISS'J) (il-75, ' Kpa|ihr<Hlicua and the pit (rom Phillppf G. MlLLIQAN.