SCULPTURE

from a i)ast action. Thus it always conveys the thought that Scripture, although it was wntten long ago, does not belong to the past, but is in existence to-day,.ana its inherent present authority is thus emphasized as that of a law now m force. The impeisonal character of the passive verb also adds dignit3^ to the citation thus introduced, as something weighty on its own account.

3. No NT writings during the Apostolic age are treated as Scripture— a title, with its associated authority, always reserved by the Apostles for the OT. There is an apparent exception in 2 P 3"- ", where the Epistles of 'our beloved brother Paul' are associated with 'the other scriptures'; but this is a strong argument in favour of assigning 2 Pet. to a late period In the second century. Apart from this, we first meet with the technical phrase 'it is written ' attached to a NT passage in Barn. iv. 4; but here it is a Gospel citation of a saying of Christ: 'As it is written. Many are called but few chosen.' Thus the authority of Christ's words leads to the record of them being cited as Scripture. In Polycarp (,PhU. xii. 1) we have the title ' Scripture' applied to the source of a NT quotation, but only in the Latin tr. (his scripturis). In 2 Clem. ii. 4 a saying of Christ is cited as Scripture. But, apart from these rare instances, no writer previous to the second half of the second century appeals to the NT as technically Scripture. Clement of Rome, Barnabas (with the one exception referred to), Hermas, and even Justin Martyr use the title for the OT only. Theophilus of Antiooh (c. 180) cites passages from St. Paul as 'the Divine word' (ad AiUol. iii. 14). Irenseus (180), on the other hand, con-stantly treats NT passages as the word of God and authoritative Scripture. For an explanation of this remarkable development, see Canon of NT.

W. F. Adenet, SGULPTTTRE. — See Art. SCURVY. — See Medicine, p. SOS'. SCYTHIANS.— A wandering race of the Indo-European stock who lived between the Danube and the Don, and spread over the territory between the Caucasus and the Caspian. They were a cruel and savage people, of huge build. The Athenians employed them as police. In Col 3" they are mentioned as a degree worse than barbarians. The latter word simply connoted those who spoke neither Greek nor Latin. A. Souter.

SCYTHOPOLIS. — See Beth-shean. SEA in Scripture generally means the Mediterranean, when the context introduces no distinction by which the particular sea is defined, e.g. in Nu 33', Jos 24"' etc. 'The Great Sea' is the Mediterranean (Nu 34«, Ezk 47i» etc.). 'The Sea of the Arabah' is the Dead Sea (2 K 1425 etc.). The 'Sea of Chinnereth' is the Sea of Galilee (Nu 34"' etc.). The 'Sea of the Philistines' is the Mediterranean off the Philistine coast (Ex 23"). Yam SUph, 'Sea of Weeds' (Ex 10" etc.), is identical with 'the Bed Sea' of He 11", Jth 5" etc., and is always so translated. The Nile, as in modern Arabic (.el Bahf), is called 'the sea' (Is 18* etc.), so also the Euphrates (Is 21', Jer SI"). 'The sea' of Jazer is a scribal error (Jer iS'^; ct. Is 16'). yam, 'sea,' Is the usual word for 'West'; the Mediterranean forming the W. boundary of Palestine (Gn 12> etc.). The phrase 'from sea to sea' (Am 8'* etc.) probably signified the ends of the earth. The influence of the Babylonian myth of the conflict of the gods with the primeval sea may be traced in certain Scripture representations of the sea (Job 7" etc. See art. ' Cosmogony ' in Hastings' DB). Tehdm (EV 'deep') of Gn V etc. resembles the Bab. Tiamat. By the dismemberment of this monster the ordered world is produced (Gn 1«). The turbulent and dangerous character of the sea is often referred to m Scripture (Ps 46^ 89», Is 17'2, Jer 4922 etc.). From the sea came up the monsters of Daniel's vision (7^)\ so also in the Apocalypse (13'). It in the literature of the Hebrews there is manifest a certain horror of, and shrinking from, the sea, which seem strange to a sea-

SEAL, SIGNET

faring people, we must remember that, as a nation, Israel nevef knew the sea; nor need we wonder if, viewed from their mountain heights, stretching vast and mysterious into the far horizons, it seemed to them the very home of storms and vague terrors. So when the Jewish seer depicts the future home of the blessed there is 'no more sea '^ (Rev 21'). Ct. Dualism, 1, Rahab, 2. ~ "^ W. EwiNO.

SEA (BRAZEN).— See Temple, § 6 (c).

SEA OP GALILEE.— See Galilee [Sea of].

SEA OF GLASS.— One of the features of the heavenly landscape described in Rev 4" 15'. By its side stood those who had been victorious in the struggle with the beast, singing to the glory of God. Its location was apparently before the throne of God. Just what the symbolism here intended is, it is difficult to state. The probability is, however, that there is no distinct symbol-ism whatever, but that the reference is rather to the brilliancy of the waters as one element in the supremely beautiful land of heaven. Shailer Mathews.

SEAH. — See Weights and Measures, II.

SEAL, SIGKET. — Theexistence of seals is attested for the early dynasties of Egypt, and for an equally remote period in the history of Babylonia. The first mention of a seal in the OT is in connexion with the patriarch Judah, who fared forth with his staff hi his hand and his seal hung round his neck by a cord (Gn 38" RV), precisely as was the custom of every Babylonian gentleman in the days of Herodotus (i. 195). The seals hitherto found in Palestine show little initiative on the part of the Hebrews in this branch of the fine arts, the great majority plainly showing the predominant influence of Egypt, or to a less extent of Babylonia.

As regards material, almost every variety of precious stone was used for this purpose, although ordinary limestone, and even baked clay, were used by those who could afford nothing better. An almost equal wealth of form is attested by the extant seals. Thus the scarab and the scaraboid forms were distinctive of Egypt, as the cylinder was of Babylonia. Other seals, again, were conical in shape, while the square form is not unknown.

Most of the extant seals bearing evidence of a Hebrew origin, however, are oval in outline. This was also the usual form for seals intended to be set in the bezel of a ring. In this case it was customary to wear the ring on one of the fingers of the right hand (Jer 22"; cf. Gn 41«). The distinctively Jewish type of seal is marked by two features: (a) the absence of figures. Divine or human, in the field, and (6) the presence of two parallel Imes, set close together, which cross the field longitu-dinally, and divide the inscription into two parts. The legend, as a rule, contains the name of the owner, preceded by the preposition signifying ' belonging to ' — thus '[the property] of X, the son of Y,' or 'of M, the daughter of N,' for women also had their seals. Many seals, however, whose owners, to judge from their names, were Hebrews, bear figures and symbols in the field, one of them showing the earliest example of the so-called 'shield of David.'

Another of this class is the finest known specimen of a Hebrew seal. It is of jasper, and oval in shape; the greater part of the field is occupied by a lion, of the most delicate workmanship in the Babylonian style, while above and below is the legend: ' [The property! of Shema, the servant ii.e. court official] of Jeroboam.' This seal was discovered in 1904 during the German excavations on the site of the ancient Megiddo, and is fully described by Kautzsch in MNDPV 1904, 1-14, 81-83; of. Lidzbarski.EpAemeris f. Sem. Epigra^hik, ii. 140 ff., where other seals are also discussed; andPEFSt 1904, 287 ff ., with reproductions of the size of the original and enlarged. It is impossible to decide whether or not the Shema of the Megiddo seal is identical with the original owner of another seal of the more severe type above described, the legend of which runs : ' [the property] of Shema, the servant of the king.'

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