Follow, follower

In the OT 'follow' is sometimes the tr° of the adv. vin ahar (often in plur. constr. "inN), after, with some verb meaning to go or walk, thrice with r^l!^ to be (Ex 23^ 2S 2'", 1 K 16-'). This verb is often omitted, however, a pregnant Heb. idiom being the result, as 1 S 13' ' all the people followed him trembling ' (v-jnN nin, literally, as AVm ' trembled after him ') ; Am 7'° ' the Lord took me as I followed the flock ' ('nfiXD [Nvn, lit.

as AVm ' from behind the flock,' RV ' from following '). Still more idiomatically, the verb 'to fill' is used with this adv., and then the Eng. is ' follow fully ' or 'wholly,' as Dt 1»« 'he hath wholly followed the Lord ' (m.T '-inn kVc, lit. ■ he hath filled up after the LORD,' or as AVm ' fulfilled [to go] after'). Occasionally, the meaning is to follow so as to overtake, to pursue, when the Heb. is <\Ti, as Ps 38" 'I follow the thing that good is.' Then the Eng.

is most often ' follow after,' as Gn ii* ' Up, follow after the men ; and when thou dost over- take them, say unto them.' The force of these passages is probably lost to the modem Eng. reader. "Thus in Is 5" ' Woe unto them tliat rise np early in the morning, that they may follow • Cf.

Kethe'8 version of Ps lOfM (as it first appeared in Dare's Psalter, 1660-61 >- ^ ^ • The_ Lord ye know is God in dede with out our aide, he did us malce ; We are his folck, he doth us tede, and for his shepe, he doth us take.' Modern editors have altered ' folck,' which represents ' people ' In the prose veisii~08, into ' flock," which represents nothing. strong drink,' though RV retains ' follow,' the word conveys the sense of determined pursuit (LXX SiiJKetp, Vulg.

scctari, Luther siih bcJlcUvigen). Cf. Shaks. Uuriol. IV. v. 104 — 'Since I have ever followed thee with hate.* In Ps 23° 'Surely goodness and mercy shall foUow me all the days of my life,' the Heb. is the same (•jiD-;-;:), but the Eng. is probably rather 'accom- pany me,' as 1 Co 10'^ Tind. ' 'riiere hath none other temptacion taken you, but soche as foloueth the nature of men.' To the Ilcb. text IS-jl, i.e. ' pursue ' of Jg S^s (EV ' FoUow after me'), Moore prefers IT), i.e.

'follow down,' after LXX Kat»«- ^tjTi ««■->» (tMw, and the Heb. of the next clause. Another Heb. phrase tr ' follow ' is lit. ' at the ;")3, feet of,' as Jg 8' ' the people that follow me ' (• lit. 'at my feet'); so Ex ll, 1 S '25-'', 1 K '2U'^ 2 K 3". Finally, the Heb. verb ps'j to cleave to ia occasionally translated 'foUow close after,' Jer 42'", or ' f. hard" after,' Ps 63" (and in Hipli. 1 S 14, , 2 S 1», 1 Ch 10=); or • f . hard upon,' 1 S 31= (lliph.)

' And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons.' Cf. Job 13== Gov. 'Wilt thou be so cruell and extreme unto a flyenge leaf, .and folowe upon drye stubble?' and Bingham (16'23), Xcnophon, 115, 'They dare and will be readie to follow upon us if we retire.' RV adds .Jg 20''' 'the battle followed hard after them ' (AV 'over- took them '). In 2 Mac 4''' irpoayopeiui in its solitary occurrence in bibl.

Greek is tr^ in AV 'followed the matter ' (ol irpoTryoprfiaavTe^, RV ' they that were spokesmen '). The word is common enough in class. Greek in the sense here intended, viz. to speak for, or claim a right, in public. The Eng. of AV means to pursue the matter to its accomplishment, to prosecute the att'air ; for which cf. Hum. Tou-n (1693), i. 30, ' gi\ ing his lawyer double Fees, that his Cause may be wefl followed ' ; and Shaks. 2 Henry IV. I. i. 21 — ' O I such a day.

So fought, so followed, and so fairly won, Came not till now to dignify the tinies. Since Caesar's fortunes.' No other obsolete or unusual expression seems to be used in the Apocr. which is not represented in OT or NT. But the variety of words tr* in AV ' follow ' is instructive. The foil are found : i-xtXeuBm, Jth 1613, sir 2328 (RV omits), 2 Mac 4" SM , iltcxckeuiioi. Sir 62, Three 1»; iir««x«i/ei«, Ad. Est 1&, Sir 469 ; ie«™»«ioi/fli«,, Jth 118 ; »««««»A»i/«i», 2 Mac 8" ; 8.

i«», Sir 1110(RV ' pursue ') 278 2919 (Or. anl««. i(!>-oXapi;«£, AV ' he that under- taketh and followeth other men's business for gain,' RV ' under- taketh contracts for work ') 31' 342 ; «aT«S<«.«», Sir 27" (RV ' pursue ') ; Tof>iuof.cKi, To 4' ; ^opiuofjuct ivlrai. Sir 4610. RV ' walk after'; 'iirtrroptCo^j.cti,2 Mac 223 (Or. ^oViW^9optC^r^aivol!u■x^■ypottl.lJ.6i< T^c iTiTfl^rc arovoi/yTif, AV 'labouring to follow the rules of an abridgement,' RV 'and atr.ain having no strength fmarg.

'making no effort'] to fill in [niarg. 'enlarge on'] the outlines of our abridgement'); ii=pyi>i^a, itrritru, 1 Mac '2^ (RV come forth after'); yivopL^ pie, 2 Mac 1129 ; ^rAeai, Sir 511S (A V earnestly I followed,' RV ' I was zealous for '), 2 Mac 416 (a V followed so earnestly,' RV ' earnestly followed ') ; aCuvui, 2 Mac tH (RV ' accompany '). Besides those verbs there are the expressions rrr v^oyty-pafMuivn 'tTfiTToky.

k, lEs2i6, AV 'these letters following, RV 'the letter following; ri CireyfypiK/iu.ivet, 'as followeth * ; rij Ix^f^'-^n. 'on the day following ' ; and in 2 Es gequor 6'- 9 1113, suhseAjUor 735. In NT the most frequent word is the simple verb iKoXovOiu, which is used 77 times in the Go.spels of following Jesus, and only once otherwise (Mk 14") of following the man with the pitcher of water.

We And also 5 of its compounds tr'' either ' follow ' or ' follow after' : (1) i^aKo\ovBiu}, to follow out oi to the end, 2 P l'« 2, "> ; (2) (iraKoXovdiui , to follow close upon, Mk 16™, 1 Ti 5'° (EV 'diligently followetl'), 5-'' ('Some men's sins are open before- hand, going before to judgment ; and some men they follow aftei," i.e.

may be undetected by man, but follow them hard to God's judgment-seat), 1 P 2=^ ; (3) KarnKokovBiui, to follow behind, used onlj- ot women in NT, Lk 23*', Ac 16" ; (4) TrapaKoXovBia, to follow close, to follow up, tr'' ' follow ' in AV only in 'Mk' 16" 'these signs shall follow thom that FOLLY FOOD 27 believe,' but the same vb.

is used in Lk 1* of following up the details of a narrative (AV ' having had understanding,' KV 'havingtracedthe course '), also in 1 Ti 4° of closely following Paul's teaching, so as to teach alike ( AV ' good doctrine wliereunto thou hast attained,' RV ' which thou hast followed until now), and in 2 Ti 3^° so as to practise it (AV ' hast fully known my doctrine,' RV ' didst follow my teaching ') ; (5) avfaKoXovd^i,!, to follow b.y one's side, to accompany a leader, JNIk 5" 14", Lk 23".

As radhaph in OT is almost invariably tr"" bv Siwku in LXX, so SiuKw itself is sometimes tr^ in t^T by ' follow,' He 12''' ' Follow peace with all men,' 1 Th 5'» ' f. that which is good,' 2 Ti 2-» ' f. right- eousness,'and Lk 17^; or 'follow after,' Ro 9^°- " W\ 1 Co 14', Ph 3l^ 1 Ti 6". RV has ' follow after' throughout, except Ph 3" 'press on.'

The compound KaraoiwKu is used in Mk 1**, its only occurrence, and tr'' in EV ' followed after ' ; but, as Gould says, that tr" is inadequate, since the Kard gives the idea of hard, persistent search, as in our phrase ' to hunt down,' hence ratlier ' pursued liim closely.' In all those passages, however, the Eng. ' follow,' even Avith the addition of 'after,' is now inadequate. In the tr° of some of the compounds of iKo\ov64u> the sense of ' follow ' is very nearly ' imitate.'

This is unmistakably the meaning where the Gr. is /u/iflffffoi, 2 Th 3'- 9, He 13', 3 Jn ". Thus in He 13' 'whose faith foUow.' RV has always 'imitate.' Cf. T. Adams (1615), Spirit. Navig. 41, ' Glasse among atones is as a foole amongst men ; for it followee precious stones in colour, not in virtue.' So ^ij.rrrfi% in all its occurrences (1 Co 4' 11', Eph 5', 1 Th 1« 2', He 6'=) is rendered by ' follower ' in AV, l-v ' imitator ' in RV ; and ampuij.

-ip-ri%, Pli 3", is in A'^ ' followers together,' in RV ' imitators together.' Cf. Burke (1781), Corresp. ii. 437, ' We, who ought to have taken the lead in so noble a work, are but ill followers even of the examples which are set to us.' In 1 P 313 the edd. prefer ?nX«T«; aft«r the beet MSS to tM^riTdt of TR, hence ' zealous ' in RV for AV ' followers.' J. Hastings.