Tooth
Tooth
(, shen, ). The Hebrew word is by some derived from , to change or repeat, because the teeth are changed, or replaced by others; but it better comes from , to sharpen. So likewise the Greek is said to be quasi , from , to eat; and the Latin dens, quasi edens, eating. But the three words are probably all primitives, and the latter two at least are’ etymologically connected with the English tooth.
I. In the singular this term occurs first with reference to the literal member itself in man, the loss of which, by violence, is specified by Moses, in illustration of his law concerning taliones, tooth for tooth (Exo 21:24). This outrage occurring between freemen (or between an Israelite and a foreigner, Lev 24:22) admitted, like other cases of maiming, most probably of a pecuniary compensation, and under private arrangement, unless the injured party proved exorbitant in his demand, when the case was referred to the judge, who seems addressed in Deu 19:21. The Targum of Jonathan renders the words, the price of a tooth for a tooth, in Exo 21:24, Lev 24:20, and Deu 19:21 (comp. Josephus, Ant. 4:8, 35, and SEE PUNISHMENT in this Cyclopaedia); but if a master inflicted this irreparable damage upon a servant, i.e. slave, of either sex, he was punished by the absolute loss of the slave’s services (Exo 21:27), The same law applied if the slave was a Gentile, notwithstanding the national glosses of the Jewish doctors (Selden, De Jure Nat. et Gent. 4 , 1468). Our Lord’s comment upon the law (Mat 5:38), which was much abused in his time (Horne, Introd. 2, 377, 6th ed.), prohibits no more than retaliation upon the injurer ( ), not such a defense of our innocence as may consist in words, but private revenge, and especially with such a disposition as actuated the aggressor, with impetuous rage or hatred. His exhortations relate rather to those injuries which cannot be redressed by the magistrate or by course of law; these we should bear rather than resort to revenge (see Rosenmller, Grotius, and Whitby, ad loc.). Indeed, the hermeneutics of our Lord’s precepts in his Sermon on the Mount require much knowledge, care, and discrimination, in. order to avoid a prima facie interpretation of them, which has often been given, at variance with his intention, subversive of the principles of natural justice, and productive of false ideas of Christian duty.
In Psa 3:7 we have , for the human jawbone; for that of an ass (Jdg 15:15-17, , maxillam, i.e. mandibulam; which becomes in Jdg 15:19, molarem dentem in maxilla asini) SEE SAMSON; and for that of leviathan (Job 40:14, , naxillanr). See Jaw. A broken (or rather bad, , that is, decayed; Vulg. dens putridus) tooth is referred to in Pro 25:19, as furnishing an apt similitude of confidence in an unfaithful man in the time of trouble. The teeth of’ beasts, or rather tooth , is a phrase expressive of devastation by wild animals; thus, I will send the tooth of beasts upon them (Deu 32:24), ( , dentes bestiarumz; comp. 2Ki 17:25).
The word is sometimes used metaphorically for a sharp cliff or summit of a rock (Job 39:28); thus, The eagle dwelleth and abideth upon the tooth of the rock, ( , inaccessis rupibus). So also (1Sa 14:4), a sharp rock on the one side and a sharp rock on the other side, ( , quasi in modun, dentium scopuli); these eminences were named Bozez and Seneh.
II. TEETH, , shinna’yim (), is found in the dual number only, referring to the two rows, yet used for the plural (1Sa 2:13). The word occurs first with reference to the literal organs in man (Gen 49:12), His teeth shall be white with milk, which the Sept. and Vulg. understand to mean whiteness greater than milk( , lacte candidiores; Num 11:33; Pro 10:26; Son 6:6). Although . be the general word for teeth, yet the Hebrews had a distinct term for the molars, or jaw teeth, especially of the larger animals; thus, (Job 29:17; Psa 57:4; Pro 30:14; Joe 1:6); and by transposition (Psa 58:6, , molce and 1inolares). The apparent teeth of the leviathan (gyrus dentium) are, however, called (Job 41:14). Ivory, elephants teeth, 1Ki 10:22, is simply (Sept. omits; Vulg. dentes elephantorum); dens in Latin is sometimes so used. In 2Ch 9:21 the word is ( , ebur), where evidently denotes a tooth; but the signification of the latter part, is unknown, and Gesenius thinks that the form of the word may be so corrupted as to disguise its original meaning. May it not be of foreign origin, imported with the material from Ophir? SEE IVORY.
In other passages the reference to teeth is metaphorical; thus, a flesh-hook with three teeth, that is, prongs (1Sa 2:13). SEE HOOK. The teeth of lions is a symbol of the cruelty and rapacity of the wicked (Job 4:10), To take one’s flesh into one’s teeth signifies to gnaw it with anguish (1Sa 2:13-14; comp. Rev 16:10). The skin of his teeth, with which Job says he had escaped in his affliction, is understood by the Vulgate. of the lips derelicta sunt tantummodo labia circa dentes meos; but Gesenius understands it as a proverbial expression, meaning, I have scarcely a sound spot in my body. To smite upon the jaw bone and to break the teeth mean to disgrace and to disable (Psa 3:7; comp. Mic 6:13; 1Ki 20:35; Lam 3:30). The teeth of calumniators, etc., are compared to spears and arrows (Psa 57:4; comp. 1Sa 24:9). To break the teeth of such persons means to disable them (Psa 58:6). To escape the malice of enemies is called an escape from their teeth (Psa 124:6; Zec 9:7). Oppression is compared to jaw-teeth like swords, and grinders like knives (Pro 30:14).
Beautiful teeth are compared to sheep newly shorn and washed in Son 4:2; Son 6:6; but the remaining part of the comparison, whereof every one beareth twins, and none is barren among them, is much better rendered by Le Clerc, all of them twins, and none hath lost his fellow. To break the teeth with gravel stones is a most hyperbolical metaphor for inflicting the harshest disappointment (Lam 3:16). Iron teeth are the symbol of destructive power (Dan 7:7; Dan 7:19). A nation having the teeth of lions, and the cheek-teeth of a great lion, denotes one which devours with irresistible force (Joe 1:6; comp. Sir 21:2; Rev 9:8). Prophets who bite with their teeth, and cry Peace, are greedy and hypocritical prophets (Mic 3:5). To take away blood out of the mouth, and abominations from between the teeth, means to rescue the intended victims of cruelty (Zec 9:7). Cleanness of teeth is a periphrasis for hunger, famine (Amo 4:6; Sept. , Symmachus and Theodotion, ). Gnashing of teeth means, properly, grinding the teeth with rage or despair. The Hebrew word so rendered is (Job 16:9; Lam 2:16; Psa 35:16; Psa 37:12; Psa 112:10); it is invariably rendered in the Sept. , and in the Vulg. Infremo, fremo, frendo (see also Act 7:54; Sir 51:2). In the New Test. it is said of the epileptic child (Mar 9:18), , stridet dentibus. The phrase is in the Vulgate stridor dentium (Mat 8:12; Mat 13:42; Mat 13:50; Mat 22:13; Mat 24:51; Mat 25:30; Luk 13:28). Suidas defines . Galen, The phrase lest thou gnash thy teeth (Sir 30:10) is . To cast in the teeth is an old English phrase (for the Hebrew has no such idiom), signifying to reproach; thus the thieves who were crucified with Jesus cast the same in his teeth, (Mat 27:44; Vulg. improperabant ei; compare also the Bible and Prayer book version of Psa 42:11). , a sharp threshing instrument having teeth, literally edges (Isa 41:15). The action of acids on the teeth is referred to in tile proverb the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge (Eze 18:2): , obstupuerunt (Pro 10:26).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Tooth
one of the particulars regarding which retaliatory punishment was to be inflicted (Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21). “Gnashing of teeth” =rage, despair (Matt. 8:12; Acts 7:54); “cleanness of teeth” =famine (Amos 4:6); “children’s teeth set on edge” =children suffering for the sins of their fathers (Ezek. 18:2).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Tooth
TOOTH ().
1. In legal compensation.The tooth was the least important of the particulars enumerated as exemplifying the exaction of like for like (Exo 21:24, Lev 24:20, Deu 19:21). Under primitive conditions of social life, this law acted mercifully in repressing wanton disregard of life and limb in the relationship of master and slave, and of the strong towards the weak generally. It also inculcated respect for the body by the compensation awarded when any mutilation had been inflicted or disability incurred. Although the item of loss was in itself insignificant, the claim connected with it lay within the area and application of a great principle, which by its recognized standard of liability protected both parties, and prevented private abuse. It thus in due time formed part of the boundary line of an outgrown ideal, the transcending of which led at once and definitely into the Kingdom of the Beatitudes (Mat 5:38-39).
2. In emotional expression.Gnashing of the teeth, with weeping and wailing (Mat 8:12; Mat 13:42; Mat 13:50; Mat 22:13 etc.), is the physical expression of regret over remembered advantages and opportunities lost. It was also a sign of evil possession (Mar 9:18), and a manifestation of malignant hatred (Act 7:54). Among the modern inhabitants of Palestine, on account of the similarity in physical accompaniment, the same Arabic word is used to indicate both violent indignation and the sorrow of bereavement. When a forgotten promise or matter of neglected duty is suddenly recollected, or it is discovered that a grave mistake has been committed, Orientals indicate their feeling of annoyance and regret by slapping the hand on the thigh (Jer 31:19, Eze 21:12), and by thrusting the knuckle of the forefinger into the mouth, as if instinctively seeking something on which to press and clench the teeth.
G. M. Mackie.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Tooth
It was ordered by the law of retaliation, that they should give tooth for tooth, Exo 21:24. The opinion that it is every man’s right and duty to do himself justice, and to revenge his own injuries, is by no means eradicated from among the Afghans, a people of India, to the southward of Cashmere, and according to a paper in the Asiatic Researches, supposed to be descended from the Jews; and the right of society, even to restrain the reasonable passions of individuals, and to take the redress of wrongs and the punishment of crimes into its own hands, is still very imperfectly understood: or, if it is understood, is seldom present to the thoughts of the people; for although, in most parts of their country, justice might now be obtained by other means, and though private revenge is every where preached against by the mollahs, priests, and forbidden by the government, yet it is still lawful, and even honourable in the eyes of the people, to seek that mode of redress. The injured party is considered to be entitled to strict retaliation on the aggressor. If the offender be out of his power, he may wreak his vengeance on a relation, and, in some cases, on any man in the tribe. If no opportunity of exercising this right occurs, he may defer his revenge for years; but it is disgraceful to neglect or abandon it entirely; and it is incumbent on his relations, and sometimes on his tribe, to assist him in his retaliation. To gnash the teeth is a token of sorrow, rage, despair, Psa 35:16, &c. God breaks the teeth of the wicked, Psa 3:7. Cleanness of teeth denotes famine, Amo 4:6. The wicked complain, that the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their children’s teeth are set on edge, Eze 18:2, to signify, that the children have suffered for their transgressions.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Tooth
Pro 25:19 (a) The unfaithfulness of a friend in time of need hurts the soul, breaks the heart, and causes mental pain.