1 hath committed to Apollo for freedom.' In this example we have the whole process of manumission described, whereas the very numerous documents dealing with it are usually more concise. Nicaea-she is called a 'female body' (oŵμa yvvaikeîov) in the text, as we speak of a mill-hand or a poor body-had saved up enough money to buy her freedom, and had paid it into the temple treasury. Now, the god Apollo bought her from her master with this money 'for freedom.' She was not made a temple slave, but merely became, by a legal fiction, the property of the god, and thereby freed from all obligations to her former master, free-as another inscription puts it-to do the things that she will.' Now, let us turn to St. Paul. 'You are not your own, for you are bought at a great price' (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20); 'You were bought with a price: be not made the bondslaves of men' (1 Cor. vii. 23); For freedom hath Christ made us free; stand fast, then, and be not held again under the yoke of servitude'; 'For you were called for freedom (e' ¿λevlepia)' (Gal. v. 1, 13). As we read these words of St. Paul in the light of the manumission documents, we are able to realize something of the force with which they must have appealed to his readers, to whom manumission through purchase by the god was a well-known practice. We find the same idea insisted upon in another passage: The creature also itself shall be delivered from slavery to corruption unto the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that every creature groaneth and travaileth in pain even till now. And not only it, but ourselves also, who hast the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, awaiting adoption, the redemption (àπoλúтpwow) (ἀπολύτρωσιν) of our body' (Rom. viii. 21-23). The word aπоλúтρwσis was a technical term for manumission through a god; it is a very rare word, and yet we find it used nine times by St. Paul. One can hardly doubt that its use would have called up-and, indeed, was meant to call up the familiar formalities of this freeing by divine purchase, and thereby 1 Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscr. Gr., 2845: the idea of liberation from the slavery of sin through the redeeming intervention of God the Son would have gained immensely in clearness and force. In this same passage there is another curious phrase for the elucidation of which many scholars have looked to the papyri. This is the first-fruits of the Spirit' (T ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ πνεύματος, ν. 23). A very suggestive use of the word arapyn is found in what at first sight seems a very unlikely quarter-a Code of Special Revenue Regulations for Roman Egypt. From this we learn that the word ȧwapxń was used as the technical term for a birth certificate, a use which is confirmed by other documents. Section 47 of this Code states: If any female citizen marries an Egyptian under the mistaken impression that he also is a citizen, she is not liable to penalty. And if both parties present birth certificates [of their children (?)], the latter preserve their status as citizens.' 1 Some are of opinion that this is the meaning of the word in the passage from St. Paul, which may be thus rendered: 'The Spirit Himself giveth testimony along with our spirit [ovμμapтupêl— compare the μaртuρожоinois of Egyptian parents to establish their children's civil rights] that we are the sons of God, and if sons, heirs also . . . ourselves also, who have the testimony of the Spirit to our sonship [literally, the birth certificate from the Spirit], even we groan within ourselves, while awaiting adoption, the redemption of our body' (Rom. viii. 16, 23). Although we can call on the Holy Spirit to certify that we are sons of God and citizens of Heaven, we have not yet received the full measure of our privileges as such, but we await, as does all creation' with eager straining,' our manifestation as sons of God, our formal release from slavery to corruption unto the freedom of the glory of the children of God' (v. 21). Connected with the idea expressed in the above passage is another Pauline word which to us has seemed to lack force and reality because we had no background against which to view it. This is the word 'Parousia,' meaning the 1 H. Stuart-Jones, Journal of Theological Studies, 23 (1922), p. 282. second Advent or Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ in glory. In 1 Thessalonians ii. 19 and 2 Timothy iv. 8, St. Paul speaks of this Advent of Christ, and on each occasion in connexion with a crown that is prepared for the just man. When we turn to the papyri we find this idea of Parousia and its association with crowns familiar to all. It was the ordinary name for the visit of a great personage, generally the king, and we find numerous records of taxes imposed to meet the expenses of the visit, and, at times, to provide a crown. So, e.g., in a papyrus of the Ptolemaic period we find a note of receipt for another crown on the occasion of the parousia, 12 artabae.' 1 So, too, we have the report of Egyptian local officials who speak of themselves as applying ourselves diligently, both night and day, to the fulfilling what was laid down and the provision of 80 artabae imposed towards the parousia of the king.' So, too, we find coins struck and eras dated in honour of the parousia of the Emperor or one of the Imperial family. Thus at Corinth coins were struck bearing the inscription ‘Adventus Aug[usti] Cor [inthi]' in honour of Nero's visit. In short, if we remember that the sovereign claimed to be divine, we see that the term Parousia or Advent was exactly the word which would convey to St. Paul's readers the idea he wished to convey-that of the coming of Christ the King in solemn majesty to judge the world and reward the elect. 'Behold thy king cometh to thee' (Matt. xxi. 5); 'They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty (Matt. xxiv. 30). 2 In Colossians ii. 14, St. Paul speaks of Christ 'blotting out the handwriting with its decree that was against us, that was contrary to us.' Here again the central word xeɩpóypapov χειρόγραφον (handwriting) is a technical term found frequently in the papyri, and meaning a bond, a certificate of debt. A number of these have been preserved which have been cancelled by being crossed out (xiao@ĥvai); but St. Paul uses a term 1 1 Wilcken, Griechische Ostraka i. p. 274. denoting more complete remission, 'blotting out' (èžareípoas), this was the word used to signify the washing out of all writing from the papyrus, so as to leave it with a clean surface for fresh writing. In the papyri we find both terms employed, e.g., 'a decree neither washed out nor written over.' Thus the sense of the passage is: ... forgiving us all our transgressions, cancelling-nay, washing out entirely that bond of debt in the Ordinances [of the Mosaic Law] that stood against us.' Another Pauline idea on which light is thrown by the Egyptian documents is that of Beßaiwois-translated 'confirmation.' In Greek Beßaiwois was a legal term signifying that the seller of an article gave an undertaking-in Latin evictio-to defend the validity of the purchaser's right against the claims of any other person, or in a wider sense it was used of any legal guarantee. This meaning is seen in several passages of the Epistles: Yea, the witness [rendered] to Christ hath found such warrant (eßeßaion) in you that in no gift are ye lacking. . He in turn will be to the end your warrant against arraignment (BeBaιóσel ὑμᾶς àveуkλýτous) in the day of Our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Cor. i. 6-8, Westminster Version); again: 'I hold you in my heart-you who one and all share with me grace, both when I am in bonds and when defending and confirming the Gospel (ἐν βεβαιώσει τοῦ εὐαγγελίου) (Phil. i. 7, Wr. Ver.). Here the sense is that he not merely defends his Gospel in his own case, but also guarantees it to those to whom he delivers it against all attack-exactly the sense of evictio. Thus we might translate in my defence and proof of the genuineness of my gospel.' In like manner when writing to the Corinthians, living in a great commercial centre, he uses the language of commercial law Now he that is warrant (ó Beßaiov) for us and for you unto Christ, who also hath anointed us, is God: He, too, hath sealed us and given us the earnest (appaßiva) of His Spirit in our hearts' (2 Cor. i. 21, 22, Wr. Ver.). It is worth noting, too, that the word 'sealed ' in 1 Berliner Griechische Urkunde, 717, 22 ff. (oppayiσáμevos) carries with it a certain commercial suggestion, an idea which fits in with the general sense. For it seems probable from the papyri that the sealing was a definite formality, denoting that the quality and correctness of what was sealed was thereby guaranteed. This implication of the work is almost essential in another passage (Rom. xv. 28), where St. Paul writes, à propos of the Greek collection for the Christian poor of Jerusalem : When I have made sure to them this offering' (Wr. Ver. ; literally, having sealed to them this fruit'-oppayiaáμevos αὐτοῖς τὸν καρπὸν τοῦτον). Here the only suitable meaning is that of taking all due precautions to ensure correct delivery of the gifts. Another word with a legal connotation which we find in St. Paul is imóσTaσis. Meaning primarily substance, it came to have the secondary meaning of the collection of documents proving a man's title to his substance-his worldly possessions—and so we find it used in the sense of 'title-deeds.' In this sense it is used in legal documents-e.g., Oxyrhynchus Papyri, ii. 237, where it is associated with another legal term, heyxos (in the phrase 'proofs of an accusation'). This applied meaning of ὑπόστασις, particularly in association with ἔλεγχος, has seemed to some scholars to give an improved rendering of Hebrews xi. 1, where the two words occur in the same sentence. For the literal rendering: 'Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not,' they would translate: Faith is the titledeeds of things hoped for-i.e., the sure foundation of our hopes, the proofs of things that are not seen.' We may conclude with two parallels to facts related in the Gospels. St. Mark tells us : ' And so Pilate, being willing to satisfy the people, released to them Barabbas, and delivered up Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified' (Mark xv. 15). An interesting illustration of this practice of releasing to the people on certain days prisoners at their choice is given in a papyrus of A.D. 85 which contains a report of proceedings before the Governor of Egypt, G. Sept. Vegetus. To a certain Phibion who was |