Keeping
Keeping
KEEPING.The English verb keep, with its equivalents watch, beware of, preserve, observe, is a translation of several Gr. words: (and its compounds . ), (and its compound ), , (and its compounds , ), , .
The most important of these words are and with their respective compounds, and for a discussion of the difference in meaning between them the reader is referred to Grimm-Thayers Gr. Lex., and Westcotts St. John (note on Joh 8:51).
1. Two common usages of the word have to be noticed first. (a) It is=exercise watchful care. The participle translation in Authorized Version the keepers (Mat 28:4) is a part of the same verb () as is rendered watch in Mat 27:36 and they sat and watched him there (Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ), and in Mat 27:54 The centurion and they that were with him watching feared exceedingly (Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ). It is a compound of that verb, too (), which is used to describe the action of putting new wine into new bottlesboth are preserved, i.e. properly cared for (Mat 9:17). And the same compound occurs again in the passage in Mk. (Mar 6:20), where it is said that Herod observed (Authorized Version ) John, or kept him safe (Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ). (b) It is=guard, the direct implication being that this action is necessary in view of possible assaults. For instance, There were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch ( ) by night over their flocks (Luk 2:8); It is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep (Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 guard) thee (Luk 4:10, where the verb used is ). Other instances of the same usage of the word are to be found in Luk 8:29; Luk 11:21; Luk 12:15.
2. Retain may be taken as another general synonym for keep as it is used in the Gospels. For example, at the marriage in Cana the ruler of the feast is reported as having said to the bridegroom, Thou hast kept () the good wine until now (Joh 2:10).
Retention () is described as a stage in the process whereby an honest and good heart brings to the fulfilment of fruitfulness the experience of hearing the word (Luk 8:15). It is opposed to hearing with joy, but having no root, and to hearing and going on ones way, and being choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life.
But, apart from Mar 9:10, where the disciples are said to have kept () the saying which Jesus spoke to them on their way down from the Mount of Transfiguration [Luke says, Luk 9:36, they held their peace () about the things they had seen on the Mount], the two most striking contexts in which the word is used with this meaning are found in Lukes Gospel. When the shepherds made known concerning the saying which had been spoken to them about the child in Bethlehem, all that heard it wondered. But Mary kept () all these sayings (or things), pordering them in her heart (Luk 2:18 f.). She kept them to herself, and did not allow the impression of them to dissipate in mere astonishment. The wonder of the many was a transient emotion; this recollecting and brooding of Mary was an abiding habit (Bruce, Expos. Gr. Test.). Again, referring to what took place on the occasion of the visit to Jerusalem, the narrative goes on to say that Jesus went down with His parents and came to Nazareth; and he was subject unto them; and his mother kept () all these sayings (or things) in her heart (Luk 2:51). She kept them continually and carefully. They were never absent from her consciousness. They were always the subject of her thought. Motherhood, in all its pathos and beauty, in all its self-forgetfulness, and devoted intentness, and jealous vigilance, is revealed in these simple wordsHis mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
3. Two further usages of the word may be grouped together here. (a) In certain contexts it means to celebrate. For example, we read that Herod exercised a watchful care over the Baptist, but when his birthday was kept (, Authorized Version ), he was found off his guard (Mat 14:6). Again, the verb used to describe the celebration of the Passover (Mat 26:18) is keep (a most appropriate term to use in connexion with an ordinance which largely consisted in representing ancient events by means of symbolic actions). Once more, in the report given in Johns Gospel of the anointing by Mary in Bethany, we read that Jesus said of Marys action, Suffer her to keep () it against the day of my burying (Joh 12:7 Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 )the meaning of keep it evidently being to celebrate this as a rite. (b) In several contexts it means generally to observe or conform to. For instance, we read that when the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus why His disciples walked not according to the tradition of the elders, but ate their bread with defiled hands, He replied, Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep () your tradition (Mar 7:9). Again, the conclusion to which some of the Pharisees are reported to have come with regard to our Lords action in healing a man blind from his birth on the Sabbath, was, This man is not from God, because he keepeth () not the Sabbath (Joh 9:16).
4. But keep has the more precise meanings of: (a) believe, in such passages as Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep () it (Luk 11:28), ant If any man hear my sayings, and keep () them not. I judge him not (Joh 12:47); and (b) obey, in such passages as that in which the rich young ruler is reported as having said with reference to the commandments cited by Jesus, All these things have I kept () from my youth up (Mat 19:20 Authorized Version , cf. Mar 10:20, Luk 18:21), and that in which Jesus is reported as having taxed the Jews with failure to keep (Authorized Version ) or do (Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ; ) the Law of Moses (Joh 7:19).
But the significant passages in this connexion are those which (with the exception of Mat 19:17; Mat 28:20) occur in the Fourth Gospel, and in which the verb to keep ( in every instance) is associated with the terms (sing, or plur. word or words) and (plur. commandments). (i.) Westcott points out (note to Joh 8:51) that the phrase keeping Christs word (or words) refers to the observance of the whole revelation in its organic completeness. The opposite of to keep in this connexion is to disregard or disbelieve. He who keeps Christs word (or words) is he who first attends to it, and lets the wonder and significance of the message it conveys sink into his mind, and who then appropriates and makes his own by faith the revelation it brings. To pay no heed to Christs word (or words), to be at no pains to think out the purport of His appearance in history, and of the tidings of salvation He proclaimed; or, the meaning and worth of the gospel having in some measure been realized, to set it aside, to neglect it, to occupy ones self seriously with other things onlythat is the attitude to Himself which Christ describes when He speaks of a man not keeping His word. To keep Christs word, in short, is to take Christ at His wordto believe in Him (cf. Joh 8:51-52; Joh 14:23-24; Joh 15:20; Joh 17:6). The word of Christ is the word of the Father (Joh 14:24, Joh 17:6), and it is the word which the disciples are to proclaim (Joh 15:20). (ii.) The phrase keeping Christs commandments refers to the observance of definite precepts (Westcott, ib.). The opposite of to keep in this connexion is clearly to disobey. He that keeps Christs commandments is he who recognizes their supremacy over his will, and seeks to regulate his inward and his outward life by them. To slight the obligations which Christ imposes, to look upon the principles of conduct which He enjoins on men as subject to qualification and as mere alternatives to other possible and perhaps more congenial maxims, or, their authority being acknowledged, to limit ones conformity to them to an external and superficial obedience, an obedience that is only a travesty of active Christian discipleshipthat is the attitude to Christ which is described when it has to be said of a man that he keeps not His commandments. To keep Christs commandments is to own Him as the sole sovereign of ones life, and to bring ones whole selfmind and will and heartinto captivity to the obedience of Christ (cf. Joh 14:15; Joh 14:21, Joh 15:10).
Love for Christ is described by Him as being the condition that ensures both belief in His word or words (Joh 14:23-24), and obedience to His commandments (Joh 14:15); and obedience to His commandments, on the other hand (Joh 14:21), is described by Him as being the evidence that bears witness to the reality of that love. Further, to believing in His word He attaches two promises. If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him (Joh 14:23), and If a man keep my word, he shall never see death (Joh 8:51)a combination of passages which shows what death involves. Similarly with obedience to His commandments Christ connects this promise, If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I abide in my Fathers love (Joh 15:10); and with the love to Him that is borne witness to by obedience to His commandments, this other: He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him (Joh 14:21).
Finally, Christ describes Himself as standing in this twofold relation to the Father, viz. of keeping his word, and keeping his commandments; I know him, and keep his word (Joh 8:55); I have kept my Fathers commandments, and abide in his love (Joh 15:10).
5. The last usage of the word keep refers to the Divine care of men, and occurs in our Lords Intercessory Prayer (17). (a) Joh 15:11 lets us see one aspect of the meaning of this keeping: Holy Father, keep () them [i.e. those whom thou hast given me (Joh 15:9)] in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are. This was the work which Christ had wrought for the disciples while He was with them. He had kept () them in the Fathers name, and guarded () them (Joh 15:12). In these two phrasesthe former of which suggests positive communication of truth and solicitude that the recipients might not be dispossessed of it, and the latter protection against the assaults of temptationthe educative care which Christ spent on the disciples is summed up (see Expos. Gr. Test. ad loc.). And now that He is to be no more in the world, He prays the Father to keep them in the name of Himself as Father. To be kept in the name means not only to be kept in the knowledge, but to be kept in the experiencethere being other modes or relation and sensibility to God on mans part besides that of knowledge. That the disciples faith in God as Father might be characterized by assurance, is the burden of Christs prayer (see Westcott, ad loc., on the title Holy Father). (b) Joh 15:15 shows us another aspect of the meaning of the Divine keeping: I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from (Gr. out of) the evil (Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 evil one). Whether evil should be interpreted as masculine or neuter need not be discussed here. The point to notice is that the experience, and the only experience, of Divine keeping which Christ by His example encourages men to pray for and anticipate, consists not in immunity from adversity, injuries, suffering, sorrow, and death, but in maintenance in a condition of certitude with regard to the Fathers love and of perseverance in the path and practice of goodnessfreedom from evil. The man who does not lend himself and the man who does lend himself to this keeping are described in Joh 12:25 : He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep () it unto life eternal Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ).
Literature.Moulton-Geden, Concord. to Gr. Test.; Grimm-Thayer, Gr. Lex.; Westcott, Com. on John; Expos. Gr. Test. and works referred to there.
A. B. Macaulay.