Persecute, persecutor

Persecute (from Low Lat. persecutare, Lat. ee) and pursue (fr. Lat. prosequi, through Old Fr. porsuir=pour- suivre) are now kept distinct, but were formerly used almost interchangeably. Thus ‘ pursue’ has the mod. meaning of ‘ persecute’ in the Homilies, ‘to pray for them that pursue him’; and in AV ‘persecute’ is often equivalent to mod.

‘pursue,’ as Jer 2918 ‘And I persecute them with the sword’ (ca’1nx ‘maT, RV ‘ And I will pursue after them’); Wis 11” ‘Being persecuted of vengeance’ (ὑπὸ τῆς δίκης διωχθέντες, RV ‘Being pursued by Justice’). Cf. Jos 8 Cov. ‘There remayned not one man in Hai and Bethel, which wente not out to folowe upon Israel, and they lefte the cite stondinge open, that they mighte persecute Israel.’ So Persecutor means pursuer in Neh 9" ‘ And thou didst divide the sea before them...

and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps’ (RV ‘their poe) La 419 ‘Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven; they pursued us upon the mountains’ (RV ‘Our pur- suers ... they chased us’). As with the verbs, so with ‘ utor’ and ‘ pursuer,’ they are used in AV with none of the present a istinction between them. J. Hastinas. PERSECUTION (verbs διώκω, ἐκδιώκω, subst. διωγμός, θλίψις)., -ΟἿΥ Lord spoke of persecutions (e.g.

Mt 5-44 10”) to come from both Jews (Mt 23%, Mk 13°, Lk 9113 Jn 15”) and Gentiles (Mt 1018, Mk 13°, Lk 21? [ἐπὶ βασιλεῖς καὶ ἡγεμόνα5])). The first attacks came from the Sadducees (Ac 41° 5%), while the people were favourable (Ac 2“ 5%), and the Pharisees moderate (Gamaliel) and sometimes willing (Ac 2355.) to defend Christians on the doctrine of a resurrection. Serious persecution began when St.

Stephen alienated the Pharisees and the people by preach- ing (Ac 6") the transitoriness of the law. His lawless execution was followed (Ac 8') by a great persecution in Jerusalem (Saul strove to extend it to Damascus), which involved bonds and probably further executions (Ac 224264). At all events in A.D. 44 we find James the brother of John slain with the sword by Herod Agrippa, and Peter delivered only by an angel. Henceforth the Jews were St.

Paul’s most active enemies, as at Antioch in Pisidia (Ac 13- 5), Iconium and Meda (142: 9), Thessalonica (17°: 13), Corinth (1813). The growth of national antagonism is marked by the change in the description of our Lord’s enemies from the ‘ scribes,’ Pharisees,’ and ‘lawyers’ of the Synoptists to the * Jews’ of St. John’s Gospel (not Apoc.) and Mt 28". The Church was not much troubled by purely Gentile persecution within the period of the Acts.

The only cases not stirred up by the Jews were due to trade jealousy at Philippi and Ephesus (Ac 16. 19). The Roman government protected Christianity as a Jewish sect, though Hebrew Christians may have had much violence to suffer (He 105 124), The Jews might punish offenders according to their own law, though not with death (Jn 18%1, 2 Co 11™; so in Jos. Ant. Xx. ix. 1 the younger Ananus is removed from the priesthood or the murder of James the Lord’s brother in A.D. 62).

Pilate (supra) and Gallio (Ac 18") refuse to hear charges of heterodoxy. The only effectual εἶπ was to lay a charge of treason or unlawful worship, and back it up with mob violence. Thus Pilate crucified our Lord for treason in spite of his own decision (Ac 3"), and the pretors at Philippi scourged Paul and Silas unheard for unlawful worship (Ac 16-") ; but the politarchs of Thessa- lonica were content to take security from Jason and others (Ac 17) on a charge of treason, and the VOL, II.

PERSEUS 758 recorder at Ephesus warns the crowd (Ac 19°) that a riot against Christians may be punished. The charge against St. Paul as shaped by Tertullus (Ac 24°- ®) was a mixed one: ‘We found him a man of Belial—this is onl reface—(a) a mover of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the world, (δ) a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, (c) who also essayed to profane the temple.’ Festne was puzzled (Ac 20".

5); but Agrippa’s decision (Ac 26") must imply that (a) and (c), which were punishable, were not proved, while (4), which was avowed, was not punishable. And this would seem to have been the final sentence at Rome. In any case, the Pastoral Epp. (except 2 Ti) seem to imply (1 Ti 6), Tit 2°) that Christians were in no danger yet of anything worse than slander. Indeed they were unpopular enough, and needed to walk warily. Ac 28“ may be diplomatic; but the ex- pression of Tac. Ann. xv.

44, per flagitia invisos (before the fire) is confirmed, ¢.g., by 1 P 2" ὡς κακοποιῶν, and 4'*17, which seem clearly aimed at the scandalous charges against them; and appereedy by 2 Ti 2° ὡς κακοῦργος, and repeated exhortations not to be ashamed. Roman toleration was thrown away by the decision of the apostolic conference ; for if Chris. tians needed not to become Jews by circumcision, they were not a Jewish sect. Persecution was certain, as soon as the authorities found this out.

Mob hatred (Tac. supra) and perhaps false brethren (ζῆλος five times in Clean: ν. 6) minds the Christians the scapegoats Nero needed after the fire at Rome in July 64. Three books of NT bear the marks of the Neronian persecution. In 2 Ti 4° St. Paul is already being offered, and in 3’?

he expects per- secution for all that will live a godly Christian life; the terror of the persecution pervades his letter as in 4156, 1 P—may be some years later— comforts the Christians from Asia to Pontus in their fiery trial (413, and constant exhortations to patience). In the Apocalypse St. John is in Patmos (relegated) and persecution is rampant in Asia, with (2?) patience at Ephesus (2"), tribula- tion at Smyrna (2%), and Antipas a martyr at Pergamum.

The saints are slain (6%), and that with the axe (20*), and Rome is drunk with their blood (16° 17° 18% 103); and the abiding impression of the scene is shown by St. John’s defiance of the world in his First Epistle, as 2 5” St. Paul's martyrdom is implied in 2Ti throughout, St. Peter's by Jn 21" and by 2 P 1" (g evidence, whether genuine or not), but the only other martyr named is Antipas (supra). See, further, art. NERO; and, for the persecu- tion of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes, art.

MACCABEES. H. M. GwWATKIN.