Nation
Nation
In Mar 7:26, Gal 1:14 m the Revised Version rightly changes nation to race (); cf. Act 4:36; Act 18:2; Act 18:24, a Cyprian by race, an Alexandrian, a Pontican. In the NT generally designates a non-Jewish nation; but it is also used of the Jewish nation when spoken of officially (Luk 7:5; Luk 23:2, Joh 11:48 f., Joh 18:35, Act 10:22; Act 24:2; Act 24:10; Act 24:17; Act 26:4; Act 28:19), and even of the Christian society (Mat 21:43, Rom 10:19). In 1Pe 2:9 Christians are called both an elect and a holy .
Jesus spoke to the Jewish nation as a collective personality, a community bearing a common responsibility. As they that were his own they received him not (Joh 1:11), and the national crime of His crucifixion was the precursor of their downfall, although it did not result in their being cast off (Rom 11:1). His passionate love for His own nation was evidenced by the fatigues, the privations, the contradictions that He endured, by the tears of wce that gushed from His eyes (Luk 19:41; cf. Rom 9:3). He seldom referred to other nations till near the close of His earthly course; yet He spoke of the Ninevites as having acted in their corporate capacity when they repented (Mat 12:41; cf. Jon 3:7). He recognized the right of the common law of the Empire of which He was a subject (Mat 22:21). All the nations, He said, should finally appear before Him as their Judge, and He would reward the works of love done by those whom He set on His right hand as having been done to Himself (Mat 25:31 f.). When He appeared to His disciples on the mountain in Galilee, He said, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth: Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations; and it is significant that He did not say of all men but of all the nations-thus pointing out that the object to be aimed at was national religion, the national confession of His authority (cf. Martensen, Ethics, General, p. 443f.). Further, if in Act 2:9-11 the words , be omitted as being probably ancient glosses on the text, we are left, as Harnack says (Acts, p. 65f.), with a list of twelve nations, whom St. Luke may have specified as heralding the great theme of his book-how Jesus was brought to all the nations of the known world, the new Israel (cf. Act 19:7).
The great missionary successes of the Apostolic Age prepared the way for the reception of the Christian faith on a grand national scale. St. Paul, before his death, had planted more churches than Plato had gained disciples (Bossuet, Pangyrique de Saint Paul, 1659)- , as Clement says (ad Cor. i. 5). Besides the Dispersion (q.v. [Note: .v. quod vide, which see.] ), there were other two co-operating factors that assisted the progress of the gospel-the political unity of the Empire, and the influence of the Stoic creed. In the ancient heathen world, national life had been particular and exclusive: the nations were isolated from and ignorant of each other. But when they all looked to Rome as mistress and mother, they were on their way to the belief in the spiritual unity of mankind proclaimed by Christianity (cf. Flint, History of the Philosophy of History, pp. 26, 61). The influence of the Stoic doctrine of world-citizenship is well attested by the fragment from Cicero (de Rep. iii. 22) quoted by J. Adam, Vitality of Platonism: Hymn of Cleanthes, p. 146:
And there will not be one law at Rome and another at Athens, one law to-day and another law to-morrow; but the same law everlasting and unchangeable will bind all nations at all times; and there will be one common Master and Ruler of all, even God, the framer, the arbitrator, and the proposer of this law.
This noble utterance justifies the remark of S. Dill (Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, London, 1904, p. 328): The Stoic school has the glory of anticipating the diviner dream, yet far from realised, of a human brotherhood under the light from the Cross. This diviner dream will be realized when all nations, now united by bonds far surpassing those of blood-relationship, or common speech, customs, or history-the bonds of a common love and obedience to Christ-shall form together one august Kingdom of God (Rev 11:15).
Literature.-J. Adam, The Vitality of Platonism and other Essays, Edinburgh, 1911, pp. 113 n. [Note: . note.] , 142, 146-147; R. Flint, History of the Philosophy of History, do., 1893, pp. 26, 48, 61, 63, 449; T. von Haering, The Ethics of the Christian Life, London, 1909, p. 403f.; A. Harnack, Acts of the Apostles (NT Studies, iii.), Eng. translation , do., 1909, pp. 49, 64, 65f.; H. Martensen, Christian Ethics, General, Edinburgh, 1873, pp. 214, 442f., Social, do., 1882, p. 88f.; G. Uhlhorn, Christian Charity in the Ancient Church, Eng. translation , do., 1883, pp. 40-42.
James Donald.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Nation
This word in the Auth. Ver. generally represents the Heb. , i.e., the nation as a body politic; in plur. , esp. of foreign nations, the GENTILES SEE GENTILES (q.v.); usually in the Sept. , , Vulg. gens, gentes. Sometimes it represents the Heb. , which means esp. the PEOPLE SEE PEOPLE (q.v.), Sept. ; in poetry,
; and in Chald. . It means sometimes all the inhabitants of a particular country (Deu 4:34), the country or kingdom itself (Exo 34:10; Rev 7:9); sometimes countrymen, natives of the same stock (Act 26:4); sometimes the father, head, or original of a people (Gen 25:23). In the prophets the term “nations” is often used as a general name for the heathen or Gentiles (Isa 9:2; comp. Mat 4:15). SEE ETHNOLOGY.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
NATION
Within Gods overall government of human society, he has allowed a great variety of nations. Most of these have arisen out of commonly held interests or characteristics such as race, language, homeland culture, religion and law-code. According to this understanding, a nation in the biblical sense may differ from a nation in the present-day sense. Today a nation is usually defined by territorial boundaries imposed by military or political power, regardless of other considerations. In biblical usage, a nation was primarily a people group defined by the sorts of unifying characteristics outlined above (Gen 10:32; Deu 32:8; Act 17:26).
In Old Testament times God chose one nation, Israel, to belong to him (Exo 19:5-6). This was not because Israel was better than other nations (Deu 7:6-7; Deu 9:9), but because God wanted a channel of communication through which he could send his blessings to all the people of the world (Gen 12:3; Gen 22:17-18; see ELECTION). God loves all nations and desires their good (Isa 19:24-25; Amo 9:7; Mat 28:19; Act 1:8; Act 13:47).
Nevertheless, nations may fall under Gods judgment, and God may use other nations to punish them. This does not mean that those whom God uses as his instruments of judgment are free to do as they like. If they do wrong, they too may fall under Gods judgment (Isa 10:5-19; Isa 37:23-26; Hab 1:6-7; Hab 2:15-17). God may also use nations as his instruments to bring deliverance and blessing (Isa 45:1-5), for he controls the destinies of all nations (Jer 18:7-10; Dan 4:17).
Sometimes people become nationalistic to the extent of putting pride in their nation ahead of moral values. God may have to remind them that national power and glory can be very shortlived. The only lasting kingdom is the kingdom of God (Dan 2:44; Dan 4:30; Dan 4:34). Gods people may well love the nation to which they belong (Jer 8:18-22; Mat 23:37; Rom 9:3) and be loyal citizens (Rom 13:1-7; 1Pe 2:13-14; cf. Jer 29:4-7), but their first allegiance must always be to God (Exo 20:3; Mar 12:17; Act 5:29; see GOVERNMENT).
Israelites of Old Testament times made such a clear distinction between themselves and others that their usual word for nations (plural) developed the special sense of other nations (often translated Gentiles or heathen) (Deu 18:9; Psa 2:1; Isa 11:10; Isa 30:28; Isa 36:18; Isa 49:22; Jer 10:1-5; Jer 10:10; see GENTILE). Israelites of New Testament times made the same mistake as many of their ancestors in thinking that their nationality guaranteed their salvation (Mat 3:9; Rom 9:6). God accepts people into his family on the basis of their faith, not their nationality (Luk 4:25-27; Rom 2:28-29; Rom 4:1-3; Rom 4:16-17).
This truth is clearly demonstrated in that vast international community known as the Christian church. The concern of this community is to win people of all nations for Christ and promote a true fellowship in which there are no national or racial barriers (Joh 17:20-23; Gal 3:28; Eph 2:13-16; Rev 5:9; Rev 7:9; see RACE).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Nation
NATION.This word has two meanings, according as it distinguishes Israel from other peoples, or as it concerns Israel within itself. In the former sense it signifies a State more or less organized, and its keynote is independence; in the latter, a race of common speech and religion, and its keynote is unity. There are two pairs of Greek words corresponding to this distinction. is used under the former category, and most frequently by John, who wrote when the Jewish and Christian communities were decisively separated from one another;* [Note: Paul, too, puts on the same secular footing as ; cf. the phrase (1Co 10:32).] whereas is used always with a note of affection and pride by those who count themselves as its members, sharers in the Divine choice and covenant. There is a similar contrast between the words and , the former and (in the phrase all nations) being used generally of political States. has the special meaning of the Gentiles, the non-Jewish peoples (Heb. ), and gradually became ethically blackened, so that Authorized Version instinctively translates heathen (Gal 1:16; Gal 2:9, cf. Mat 6:7 ). But the common noun which corresponds with is . It conveys the sense of Gods possession and purpose, which are creative of the national unity maintained by the sacrifices and observances of the Law. Its analogue in Heb. is . As sank down into the meaning of heathen, so is at length appropriated by the Christian consciousness. The few exceptions to the above rules should be noted. In Luk 7:5; Luk 23:2, and throughout the Fourth Gospel, is used in the place of ; for, as was just stated, in the later Apostolic circles the old prerogatives of Israel were claimed for the Israel of God, i.e. the Christians. In Luk 2:10 is translated in Authorized Version as if it were ; but Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 corrects it from all people to all the people.
1. , , .In so far as the Jews constituted a body politic, they had lost their independence since Pompeys occupation of Jerus. [Note: Jerusalem.] in b.c. 63, and the Roman hold was tightened by the rule of the Imperial protg Herod the Great, b.c. 374. He obtained from Augustus the title of king in b.c. 30, and large slices of territory, first Samaria, Jericho, and towns in the west, and afterwards the regions between the Lebanons and the Lake of Gennesaret, and eastwards. He greatly enhanced the material glories of the Holy Land, especially by wealth expended on the Temple (Mat 23:16; Mat 24:1, Joh 2:20), by which he hoped to secure the loyalty of the nationalists. But, though he gave lavishly with one hand, he took away cynically with the other. He filled the high priests office with his own creatures; and by building theatres and pagan temples showed scant respect for the national ideal. He founded (i.e. temples of Caesar) in many towns outside Judaea (Josephus Ant. xv. ix. 5). His strength lay in his bodyguard of 3000, who were drawn from the Samaritan population, and in the fortified palaces which he built at Jerusalem and Caesarea. By intrigue and assassination he exterminated the rival Hasmonaean house, including his favourite wife and her popular sons. The frenzied act of massacre of the babes of Bethlehem, for which Mat 2:16 is the only authority, is quite in accord with his temper in the later years of his life.
On the death of this Idumaean tyrant an even sadder chapter from the standpoint of national independence began. For Herods kingdom was divided among three sons: Philip having the newly added territories of Trachonitis, Ituraea (Luk 3:1), etc.; Antipas succeeding to Galilee and Peraea; and Archelaus, after a long suit at Rome, obtaining the most important part with an allotted income of 600 talents. In a.d. 6, the last-named was finally summoned for his evil courses to Rome, and the unhappy people sank one stage lower in the scale of national independence, being placed under a procurator. This was an exchange for the worse, even from the tyranny of Herod the Great and the iniquities of his son. For although these were only half Judaeans, and in subtle and sometimes pronounced antagonism to the nationalist party, they did not fail to give it some regard; whereas Pontius Pilate and his four predecessors mostly gave up even the attempt to understand so impracticable a people. No wonder the revolutionary current was continually increasing among the Jewish people in the time of Christ (Schrer).
These procurators ( in NT, more often in Josephus) were not of senatorial or praetorian, but only of equestrian rank, and not absolutely independent of the Syrian governor, though their dealings were mostly direct with Rome. Their power included (a) military and police control. The Jews were themselves free from conscription for military service. But there were plenty of Gentiles in the land to supply the small garrisons required. The centurion (Luk 7:2; Luk 23:47) and his cohort would be required only in a few of the larger towns. The Temple was dominated by the tower of Antonia. The procurator had also (b) judicial authority. His confirmation was required for capital sentences (Joh 18:31), and his executive force carried them into effect (Mat 27:27). Ordinary civil and criminal cases, however, affecting Jews were dealt with at the sessions of the Sanhedrin, and when they appeared to have the people behind their verdict, Pilate was loth to deny them (Mat 27:18; Mat 27:24). He also used his powers of release with a view to propitiating the populace (Mat 27:15). But the name of procurator conveys a special reference to the duties respecting (c) the Roman treasury. Being an Imperial province, the taxes of Judaea were paid to the account not of the Senate, but of Caesar (Mar 12:14). The country was divided into some ten toparchies for fiscal purposes. Tacitus (Annals, ii. 42) speaks of Judaea in a.d. 17 as fessa oneribus. The taxes (land and poll) were collected by State officers; but the customs were farmed to publicani such as Zacchaeus (, Luk 19:2) of Jericho.
The rights of the procurator were also enjoyed by the tetrarchs, as well as the right to issue copper coinage. Herod Antipas built Tiberias, S.W. of the Lake, for his capital. Like his father, he tried to propitiate or rather seduce national sentiment by his outlay on public works; and he was at any time ready to use it for his own ends (Mar 3:6; Mar 12:13). Jesus warned His fellow-countrymen against the leaven of Herod (Mar 8:15); and, in response to a crafty attempt to get rid of Him, described the tetrarch as a fox (Luk 13:32). John the Baptist, whose preaching was in his territory, was his victim (Mar 6:17 ff.). But though his partisans were hand and glove with the Pharisees in their hostility to Jesus (Mar 3:6; Mar 12:13), and though we learn from Luke that he associated himself with the condemnation of Jesus, he was not ready to take that awful responsibility upon himself (Luk 23:7-12). The advent of Jesus apparently raised no political excitement in the regions under Philip, because the bulk of the population was non-Jewish. But there was often danger in Galilee (Luk 4:29); and infinitely more in the furnace of fanaticism at Jerusalem (Mar 10:32 f., Joh 11:8).
When Herod the Great died, his policy of getting material benefit for the nation at the cost of its religious ideals was continued by the priests, who exercised the highest civil as well as religious functions. They constituted the majority of the Sanhedrin, which, as the supreme court of appeal, professedly represented the remnant of Jewish independence. But it represented no cause so truly as the vested interests of an order dependent first on the favour of Herod, and then on the pleasure of Rome. Thus in the name of a bastard independence, which meant that they had leave to grow rich and their country leisure to grow outwardly splendid, they opposed any national movement which might provoke the Romans to take away not only the nation, but also our place (Joh 11:48). It was, e.g., the high priest Joazar who checked the threatened revolt in a.d. 7 on the taking of the census by Quirinius. There were even some of the Pharisees who, whether because they were satisfied with the measure of religious liberty accorded under the Imperial administration, or because they shut their eyes to the facts (Joh 8:33), or because they saw in the foreign yoke the discipline of God, resented any movement towards national independence; and perhaps it was some of these who associated themselves with the Herodians in Mat 22:16.
2. , .But while the independence of the Jewish people was irretrievably mutilated, and the State as a geographical or governmental entity about to perish, the other note of national existence, viz. unity as focussed in the word , was very completely realized. Indeed, as the outer husk decayed, the inner shell grew the harder and tougher. The succession of Pharisees and scribes proved a far surer defence than the dynasty of David. The soul of Judaism was not devoured even by the omnivorous influences of Greek culture. The first steps in this movement were taken by Ezra and Nehemiah, who put an end to mixed marriages among those who had returned from the Exile. The race was adulterated, however, even so late as b.c. 125, when the Idumaeans, being defeated by Hyrcanus, submitted to circumcision. And in respect to language, the Jews of the Dispersion spoke Greek, and read the Scriptures therein; while the people of the land understood Aramaic only (Act 21:40). Religiously, however, the nation was undivided after the Exile, feeling itself to be the special property and instrument of God (Mat 2:6; Mat 3:9, Luk 1:68, Joh 8:41). This unity was expressed not only by the rite of circumcision (Joh 7:22), but also by the keeping of the Sabbath (Mar 3:4), the abstinence from unclean foods, and the worship, without images, of one only God. And these distinctions were guarded by a multitude of observances, which called into requisition the school of scribes trained in the principles of the Pharisees.
But although the scribes claimed to sit in the seat of Moses (Mat 23:2), their authority was not recognized in what may be called the outer circles of Judaism. The Samaritans declined to follow the national Church in its later developments. Hence they were referred to with contempt (Joh 8:48) as outsiders (Luk 17:18), because of their particular objection to the religious monopoly of Jerusalem (Luk 9:53, cf. Joh 4:30). But for all that, they were counted Jews, though grudgingly, as hereticsthe foolish people who dwell in Sichem (Sir 50:25 f.), and were proud of the Israelite strain in their blood (Joh 4:12). More than that, their doctrinal shortcomings received some countenance in high places; for the Sadducees say only what is written is to be esteemed as legal the tradition of the fathers needs not to be observed (Josephus Ant. xiii. x. 6).
Taken as a whole, however, in despite of the home-land being penetrated under Herodian and priestly influence with Hellenistic speech and culture, and although, what with Essenes on the one hand, and Samaritans on the other, they did not all keep step, the people preserved such unity that they became, if not politically independent, socially isolated. On the one hand, their exemption from military service, from Sabbath employment, and their refusal of market food, drew out the dislike of the populace and the contempt of the cultured classes, so that they were regarded as haters of mankind. On the other hand, the word , meaning the nations outside the Law of the chosen , gathered more and more of moral connotation, as it passed through the meanings of Gentile, heathen, and finally sinners (Mat 26:45; cf. Gal 2:15). The symbol of this rejuvenated Judaism was still the Temple, whither the tribes went up at the national festivals; but its rallying-point was the synagogue, where men were instructed in the Law and Hope of Israel, and where the Pharisees ruled supreme. Their rivals, the Sadducees, had no influence beyond the aristocratic circles at Jerusalem, in the Hellenized cities, and perhaps in Samaritan villages; and though they had a large place in the Sanhedrin, they had to comply with Pharisaic watchwords.
Thus the national life was knit from within, and ruling functions were exercised through officers of the synagogue, such as (Mat 21:23; Mat 26:47), (Luk 19:47), (Mar 9:11), or (Luk 10:25). Although Palestine was not politically the mistress of her own territories, she was religionsly the mother of a people throughout the Empire. The Jews of the Dispersion could but rarely visit the Temple, and they read the Scriptures in the Greek tongue; but in their separate communities they maintained the precepts as to Sabbath rest and clean food under the protection of Roman governors and the Emperor (cf. Act 18:12-15). The Jews could say with Josephus, Even if we were deprived of wealth, of towns and of other possessions, the Law remains to us for ever. And no Jew will be so far from his native land, or so much fear a hostile ruler, as not to fear the Law more than him (c. [Note: circa, about.] Apion. ii. 38).
If it was by the hands of the priests, in the name of national independence, that the Lord was betrayed to the nations, so the chief antagonism which He met in His ministry, and which His spirit encountered afterwards in the Apostolic mission, came from this close-knit theory and practice of national unity. The Pharisees pursued Him from the first because they instinctively saw that the tendency of His teaching (see Nationality) was to break the bonds their traditions had woven, and to act as a solvent on the rigidity of national isolation, which was the only thing left to their pride.
Literature.Cremer, Bib.-Theol. Lex. s.vv. , ; Schrer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] [indicates all possible sources of information, the fullest of these being the Antiquities and Wars of Josephus]; Ewald, Hist. of Israel, vol. vi.; Hausrath, Hist. of N.T. Times; Milman, Hist. of the Jews, vol. ii; Keim, Hist. of Jesus of Nazara, vols. i. and ii.; Stanley, Lectures on Jewish Church artt. Gentiles and People in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible .
A. Norman Rowland.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Nation
Sins of
Isa 30:1-2
Chastised
Isa 14:26-27; Jer 5:29; Jer 18:6-10; Jer 25:12-33; Eze 2:3-5; Eze 39:23-24; Dan 7:9-12; Dan 9:3-16; Hos 7:12; Joe 1:1-20; Amo 9:9; Zep 3:6; Zep 3:8
Perish
Psa 9:17; Isa 60:12
National adversity:
– Prayer in
Jdg 21:2-4; 2Ch 7:13-14; Psa 74; Joe 2:12
– Lamented
Ezr 9:1-15; Neh 1:4-11; Jer 6:14; Jer 8:11; Jer 8:20-21; Jer 9:1-2 Sin, National
Prayer for
Psa 85:1-7; Lam 2:20-22; Lam 5; Dan 9:3-21
Involved in sins of rulers
Gen 20:4; Gen 20:9; 2Sa 24:10-17; 1Ch 21:7-17
Involved in sins of other individuals, as Achan
Jos 7:1; Jos 7:11-26
Peace of
Job 34:29; Psa 33:12; Psa 89:15-18
Promises of peace to
Lev 26:6; 1Ki 2:33; 2Ki 20:19; 1Ch 22:9; Psa 29:11; Psa 46:9; Psa 72:3; Psa 72:7; Psa 128:6; Isa 2:4; Isa 14:4-7; Isa 60:17-18; Isa 65:25; Jer 30:10; Jer 50:34; Eze 34:25-28; Hos 2:18; Mic 4:3-4; Zec 1:11; Zec 3:10; Zec 8:4-5; Zec 9:10; Zec 14:11
Prayer for peace
Jer 29:7; 1Ti 2:1-2
Peace given by God
Jos 21:44; 1Ch 22:18; 1Ch 23:25; Psa 147:13-14; Ecc 3:8; Isa 45:7
Instances of national peace
– General references
Jos 14:15; Jdg 3:11; Jdg 3:30; 1Ki 4:24-25 War
Righteousness exalteth
Pro 14:34 Government; King; Rulers
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Nation
originally “a multitude,” denotes (a) “a nation” or “people,” e.g., Mat 24:7; Act 10:35; the Jewish people, e.g., Luk 7:5; Luk 23:2; Joh 11:48, Joh 11:50-52; Act 10:22; Act 24:2, Act 24:10, Act 24:17; in Mat 21:43, the reference is to Israel in its restored condition; (b) in the plural, “the nations” as distinct from Israel. See GENTILES.
“a race:” see KIND (Noun).
“foreign, of another race” (allos, “another,” phulon, “a tribe”), is used in Act 10:28, “one of another nation.”
Note: For Phi 2:15, genea (AV, “nation,” RV, “generation”), see AGE.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Nation
1Pe 2:9 (a) The Church of GOD is thus named. All who are saved are in the kingdom of GOD where CHRIST is King over them. As such we are to trade together, promote the welfare of each other, and speak the same language.