Bill
Bill
(, se’pher, ), any thing written, and usually rendered book. The passage in Job 31:35, ” Oh! that one would hear me! …. that mine adversary had written a book,” would be more properly rendered, ” that mine adversary had given me a written accusation,” or, in modern phraseology, “a bill of indictment.” In other places we have the word “bill,” as “bill of divorcement” (Deu 24:1; Deu 24:3; Isa 50:1; Jer 3:8; Mat 19:7; Mar 10:4) SEE DIVORCE, and in Jer 32:10-16; Jer 32:44, ” the evidence,” or, as in the margin, ” the book,” which there implies a legal conveyance of landed property.
In the New Testament, the word (properly a written mark) is translated ” bill” in the parable of the unjust steward (Luk 16:6-7). Here, too, a legal instrument is meant, as the lord’s ” debtors” are presumed to have been tenants who paid their rents in kind. The steward, it would appear, sought their good-will, not merely by lowering the existing claim for the year, but by granting a new contract, under which the tenants were permanently to pay less than they had previously done. He directed the tenants to write out the contracts, but doubtless gave them validity by signing them himself. This, like the Hebrew term, signifies a “letter” or written communication (1Ki 21:8; 2Ki 5:5; 2Ki 10:1; 2Ki 19:14; 2Ki 20:12; 2Ch 32:17; Est 1:22; Est 3:13; Est 8:5, etc. Act 28:21; Gal 6:11).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Bill (2)
(, se’pher, ), any thing written, and usually rendered book. The passage in Job 31:35, ” Oh! that one would hear me! …. that mine adversary had written a book,” would be more properly rendered, ” that mine adversary had given me a written accusation,” or, in modern phraseology, “a bill of indictment.” In other places we have the word “bill,” as “bill of divorcement” (Deu 24:1; Deu 24:3; Isa 50:1; Jer 3:8; Mat 19:7; Mar 10:4) SEE DIVORCE, and in Jer 32:10-16; Jer 32:44, ” the evidence,” or, as in the margin, ” the book,” which there implies a legal conveyance of landed property.
In the New Testament, the word (properly a written mark) is translated ” bill” in the parable of the unjust steward (Luk 16:6-7). Here, too, a legal instrument is meant, as the lord’s ” debtors” are presumed to have been tenants who paid their rents in kind. The steward, it would appear, sought their good-will, not merely by lowering the existing claim for the year, but by granting a new contract, under which the tenants were permanently to pay less than they had previously done. He directed the tenants to write out the contracts, but doubtless gave them validity by signing them himself. This, like the Hebrew term, signifies a “letter” or written communication (1Ki 21:8; 2Ki 5:5; 2Ki 10:1; 2Ki 19:14; 2Ki 20:12; 2Ch 32:17; Est 1:22; Est 3:13; Est 8:5, etc. Act 28:21; Gal 6:11).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Bill
BILL.1. Bill of divorcement: Mar 10:4, Mat 19:7 ( Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ): Gr. (a scroll or letter) ; shorter equivalent, Mat 5:31. In all three passages the expression is used of the demanded in Deu 24:1-4 of the husband who divorces his wife. In contrast with the older usagestill prevalent in the Eastof divorce by a merely verbal process, the need of preparing a written document was calculated to be a bar against hasty or frivolous action, while the bill itself served the divorced wife as a certificate of her right to marry again. The Rabbis, who dwelt with special gusto (non sine complacentia quadamLightfoot) on the subject of divorce, had drawn up regulations as to the proper wording of the bill of divorcement, its sealing and witnessing, and the number of linesneither less nor more than twelvethe writing must occupy. In the eyes of Jesus, no document, however formal, could prevent divorce from being a violation of Gods purpose in instituting marriage. See Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. in Mat 5:31.
2. A bond (so Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ) or written acknowledgment of debt, Luk 16:5; Luk 16:7 : Gr. (Ti., Tr., WH [Note: H Westcott and Horts text.] ) , (TR [Note: R Textus Receptus.] ) . The word itself is indefinite (literally = the letters), and throws no light upon a question much discussed by commentators on the parable of the Unjust Steward, viz. Was the bond merely an acknowledgment of a debt, or was it an undertaking to pay a fixed annual rental from the produce of a farm? Edersheim decides, though without giving his reasons, for the former alternative; Lightfoot inclines to the latter. Against the theory of a simple debt is the fact that the amount of the obligation is stated in kindwheat and oiland not in money; and the probability of the story is heightened if we are to understand that the remissions authorized by the stewardamounting in money value, according to Edersheim, to the not very considerable sums of 5 and 25 respectivelyaffected not a single but an annual payment. But, on the other hand, as van Koetsfeld, who argues strongly for the view that the document was of the nature of a lease, admits, there is no precedent for the word () rendered debtors being used for tenants. Jlicher dismisses the whole controversy as irrelevant. Another point in dispute is whether the old bond was altered, or a new one substituted for it. Lightfoot and Edersheim again take different sides. The alteration of the old bond is suggested, though not absolutely demanded, by the language of the passage, and would be, according to Edersheim, in accordance with the probabilities of the case. Acknowledgments of debt were usually written on wax-covered tablets, and could easily be altered, the stylus in use being provided, not only with a sharp-pointed kthbh or writer, but with a flat thick mhk or eraser. In any case it is clear that the bill was written by the person undertaking the obligation; that it was the only formal evidence of the obligation; and that its supervision belonged to the functions of the steward. Hence, should the steward conspire with the debtors against his masters interests, the latter had no check upon the fraud.
Literature.Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, ii. 268273; Lightfoot, Hor. Heb., in loc.; see also the various commentators on the Parables.
Norman Fraser.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Bill
BILL.1. In the parable of the Unjust Steward (Luk 16:6 f.) bill, RV [Note: Revised Version.] better bond, renders the Gr. grammata, the equivalent of the contemporary Heb. legal term shetr (lit. writing), an acknowledgment of goods or money received written and signed by the debtor himself (Baba bathra X. 8). Edersheims statement (Life and Times of Jesus, ii. 272) that the Gr. word was adopted into Hebrew is based on a false reading. See, further, Debt. 2. Bill of divorce; see Marriage.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Bill
primarily “a small book, a scroll, or any sheet on which something has been written;” hence, in connection with apostasion, “divorce,” signifies “a bill of divorcement,” Mat 19:7 (AV, “writing”); Mar 10:4. See BOOK, SCROLL, WRITING.
from grapho “to write” (Eng., “graph, graphic,” etc.), in Luk 16:6, AV, is translated “bill.” It lit. signifies that which is drawn, a picture; hence, a written document; hence, a “bill,” or bond, or note of hand, showing the amount of indebtedness. In the passage referred to the word is in the plural, indicating perhaps, but not necessarily, various “bills.” The bonds mentioned in rabbinical writings, were formal, signed by witnesses and the Sanhedrin of three, or informal, when only the debtor signed. The latter were usually written on wax, and easily altered. See LEARNING, LETTER, SCRIPTURE, WRITING.