CROSS

which is adopted in RVra. See Leviathan. (2) hayyath qSneh, ' the wild beast of the reeds,' Ps eS'" RV, is thought by many to be the crocodile or the hippopotamus as symbolizing Egypt. (3) In Jer 14« tannlm is in RVm 'crocodiles.' See Dhagon. For 'land crocodile' see Lizard. The crocodile probably still exists in the Nahr ez-Zerka, S. of Mount Carmel, called by Pliny the Crocodile River. It is supposed to have been brought there by some Egyptian settlers. A dead crocodile was brought from there to the late Rev. J. Zeller of Nazareth. Herr Schumacher reports that he saw one there, and quite recently a number of crocodile's eggs were brought from this river and sold in Jerusalem. A stuffed speci-men is in the PEF museum, London.

E. W. G. Masterman. CROSS. — The cross in its literal sense is dealt with under Crucifixion, but there are certain spiritual uses of the word in the JfT that call for separate considera-tion. (1) It is a symbol of self-sacrifice. — According to the Gospels, Jesus on at least three occasions affirmed the necessity for those who would follow Him of taking up the cross (Mt lO'S; Mk SM=Mt 16" = Lk 9^; [Mk 10" only in AV]; Lk 14"). The words imply a prophetic anticipation of His own experience on Calvary ; but even although on Christ's earliest use of them this special appUcation was hidden from His disciples (cf. Mt 16" 20'«), the figure of bearing one's cross would con-vey a quite intelligible meaning. In Galilee multitudes had been crucified after the rebellion under Judas the Gaulonite (Jos. Ant. xvn. x. 10, BJ ii. v. 2) ; in Jeru-salem, as we see from the execution of two robbers side by side with Jesus, a crucifixion must have been an ordinary incident of the administration of Roman law. And as it was usual to compel a crudariits to carry to the place of execution the transverse beam (patibtdum) of his own cross, Christ's figure would have a meaning as plain as it was vivid . But , unlike the wretched aruciarius. His disciples of their own free will were to take up the cross and follow Him.

(2) It is a thing of shame. — The author of Hebrews tells us how Jesus ' endured the cross, despising shame ' (12'). Both to the Roman and to the Jew the death of the cross was the most shameful death a man could die — to the former because reserved by Roman usage for slaves, foreigners, or desperate criminals; to the latter because it came under the curse denounced by the Jewish Law upon any one whose dead body hung upon a tree (Dt 2123; cf. Gal 3"). To Jew and Gentile alike this was the great 'stumbling-block of the cross' (Gal 5", 1 Co 1^). And even St. Paul himself regards 'the death of the cross' as the very lowest point in Christ's long pathway of humiliation (Ph 28).

(3) There are certain theological uses of the word peculiar to the Pauline writings. St. Paul makes the cross a summary of the gospel. Thus for ' the preaching of the gospel' in 1 Co 1" he substitutes in v.i^ 'the word of the cross,' and in v.^ 'the preaching of Christ crucified ' (cf . 2^). Again in Gal 6'^ he speaks of suffer-ing persecution ' for the cross of Christ,' where the mean-ing evidently is 'for the confession of faith in the Christian gospel.' And when he glories in 'the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ' (v."), the cross is used, as the clauses following show, to epitomize the saving work of Jesus both for us and in us.

(4) Further, in the Pauline theology the cross is set forth as the great instrument of reconciliation. It is ' through the blood of his cross ' that Christ has eflected a reconciUation between God and man (Col l^™). He took out of the way the bond written in ordinances that was against us, 'nailing it to the cross' (2"). It is ' through the cross' that He has reconciled the Gentile and the Jew, abolishing that 'law of commandments' which rose between them like a middle wall of partition (Eph 2"-"). And there are glimpses of a still wider reconciUation accomplished by Jesus through His cross — a reconciliation of all things unto God the Father,

CROWN

whether they be things upon the earth or things in the heavens (Col 1", cf. Eph l").

(5) Once more, the cross is to St. Paul the symbol of a mystical union with Christ Himself. In the great figure of the Gospels (Mt lO'"!!) cross-bearing stands for the imitation of Christ. St. Paul goes deeper, and sees in the cross a crucifixion with Christ from which there springs a possession of the indwelling life of Christ (Gal 2?'). The old man is crucified (Ro 6«), that a new man may rise from the dead (cf. v.*). The flesh is crucified, with its passions and lusts (Gal 6"), that the Christian may live and walk by the Spirit (v.^s). And yet this mysticism of the cross never causes the Apostle to lose sight of the cross as the means of an objective redemption. On the contrary, he regards the two ideas as inseparably connected; and, glorying in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, does so because through it (o) the world — the sphere of external ordinances — is crucified unto him ; and (6) he himself is crucified unto the world (Gal 6"). J. C. Lambert.

CROW occurs once in Apocr. (Bar 6"), where the helplessness of idols is illustrated by the remark that 'they are as crows between heaven and earth.' See also Raven.

CROWN.— 1. In the OT.— The word represents several Heb. terms with distinct meanings. (1) z5r, properly an edge or border, with the suggestion of a twisted or wreathed appearance. It occurs only in Ex (25" and frequently). It is always of gold, and in the furniture of the Tabernacle surrounds the ark, the table of shew-bread and its border, the altar of incense. RVm gives as alternative renderings 'rim,' 'moulding.' Its purpose seems to have been ornamental merely. — (2) rCezer, properly 'mark of separation or consecra-tion' (fr. nazar 'to separate, consecrate'; whence nSzir='Nazirite'). Originally it was no more than a fillet to confine hair that was worn long (W. R. Smith, BS^ p. 483). It is used of the crown set upon the fore-head of the high priest (Ex 29' etc.) — a plate of pure gold with the engraving 'Holy to J*' (393", cf. Lv 8»), and also of the crown worn by Heb. kings (2 S 1'", 2 K H'2). In both cases it was the symbol of consecration. — (3) kether, similar in meaning to (2) but without the idea of consecration, is used in Est. (1" 2" 6*) to denote the diadem of a Persian king or queen. — (4) 'aiSrah, the word that is most frequent and of the most general significance. It is applied to the crown worn by kings, whether Jewish (2 S 12'" etc.) or foreign (1 Ch 20', Est 8'5 [cf. 68)), to the wreath worn at banquets (Is 28i- ', Ezk 23'2); but also in a fig. sense, as when, e.g. a virtuous woman is called her husband's crown (Pr 12'), a hoary head the crown of old age (16"), the Lord of hosts the crown of His people (Is 28'). — (5) godhqddh is the crown or top of the head, as in the expression 'from the sole of his foot even unto his crown' (Job 2'); cf. Gn 49«, Dt 332" etc.— The vb. 'to crown' is com-paratively rare in the OT: 'atar (corresponding to (4) above) is found in Ps 8= 65" 103<, Ca 3", Is 23'; kathar (corresp. to (3)) in Pr 14"; nisar (corresponding to (2)) in Nah 3".

2. In the NT. — In AV 'crown' represents two Gr. words: (1) Stephanos (whence Stephanos, 'to crown'), (2) diadema; the former being the badge of merit or victory, the latter (found only in Rev 123 131 1912) the mark of royalty. 'This distinction, though not strictly observed in LXX, is properly maintained in RV, where (2) is in each case rendered 'diadem.' The Stephanos (properly ' wreath ' = Lat. corona) was the garland given as a prize to the victors in the games (1 Co 9^; cf. 2 Ti 2>). It is the word applied to our Lord's 'crown of thorns' (Mt 272', Mk 15", Jn 192- »). It is used figuratively of the 'crown of righteousness' (2 Ti 48), 'of life' (Ja l'^, Rev 2'°), 'of glory' (1 P 5'). St. Paul applies it to his converts as being' his joy and reward (Ph 4' 1 Th 21'); and in Rev. it is

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