Pension (Hastings' Dictionary)
Only 1 Es 4% ‘He commanded to give all that kept the city ——_ and wages’ (xAjpous, AVm ‘portions of land,’ RV lands’). This is one of the ‘archaisms’ which Scrivener (Par. Bible, p. xv) blames the AV translators of the Apocr, for retaining. It is first found in the Geneva version, and is used in the orig. sense of ‘payment’ (Lat. pensio). This wider sense of the word is seen in Robinson’s translation of More's Utopia (Lumby’s ed. i, p. 50, Lupton’s ed. p. 83), ‘An other cummeth in wyth his v.
egges, and advyseth ... to bringe to theyr parte certeyne peers of hys courte for greate pensions’ (Lat. certa pensione). J. HASTINGs.
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Pension
Pension pen'-shun (1 Esdras 4:56, the King James Version "and he commanded to give to all that kept the city pensions and wages"; kleros, "allotted portion," usually (here certainly) of lands (the Revised Version (British and American) "lands")): Literally it means simply "payment," and the King James Version seems to have used the word in order to avoid any specialization of kleros. There is no reference to payment for past services. ⇒See a list of verses on PENSION in the Bible. See LOT. ⇒See the definition of pen in the KJV Dictionary ⇒See also the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia