CHIEF FRIENDS; GOOD MEN

See CHIEF FRIENDS; GOOD, CHIEF; CHIEF.

HEZEKIAH, THE MEN OF

See PROVERBS, THE BOOK OF, II, 5; HEZEKIAH, IV, 2.

WISE MEN

wiz'-men: In addition to the uses of "wise" specified in the article WISDOM, the adjective is employed occasionally as the technical description of men who are adepts in magic, divination, etc. (e.g. in Genesis 41:8 Exodus 7:11 Esther 1:13 Daniel 2:27; Daniel 5:15). Naturally, however, in the ancient world the boundary between genuine knowledge and astrology, etc., was exceedingly vague, and it was never denied that real knowledge could be gained along lines that we know to be futile. So the initiation of Moses into all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts 7:22) or of Daniel into all the learning of the Chaldeans (Daniel 1:4) met with no disapproval. These great men could be trusted to avoid the moral and religious pitfalls of such pursuits. For the ordinary Israelites, however the uncompromising prohibition of idolatry closed the door definitely to all studies of this kind. See ASTROLOGY; DIVINATION, etc. And for the Wise-men of Matthew 2 see MAGI.

Burton Scott Easton

YOUNG; MEN, YOUNG WOMEN

yung, (bachur, na`ar; neanias, neaniskos): "Young man" is generally in the Old Testament the translation of bachur, from bachar, "to prove," "to choose," and of na`ar (literally, "boy," but used sometimes also of a girl). The former term denotes a young man, no longer a mere youth, but liable to military service (Deuteronomy 32:25 Judges 14:10 1 Samuel 8:16 2 Kings 8:12, etc.). In Numbers 11:28, the King James Version "Joshua.... the servant of Moses, one of his young men" (bechurim), the Revised Version (British and American) renders "one of his chosen men," margin "from his youth." Na`ar is frequently used (singular and plural) of soldiers (1 Samuel 14:1, 6; 1 Samuel 21:4; 1 Samuel 25:5, 8, 9 2 Samuel 1:5, 6, 15, etc.). Abraham's "young men" (ne`arim) were "trained servants," "trained men," warriors (Genesis 14:24; compare 14:14 the Revised Version (British and American)). The word is often in the Old Testament translated "servant": thus in the Revised Version (British and American) for the King James Version "young man," "young men" (Genesis 18:7 2 Kings 4:22 1 Kings 20:14, the Revised Version margin). In the New Testament, the ordinary words for "young man" are neanias (Acts 7:58; Acts 20:9; Acts 23:17, 18, 22) and neaniskos (Matthew 19:20, 22 Mark 14:51, etc.). "Young men" in Acts 5:6 is neoteroi, comparative of neos, "young," recent; the feminine of the latter word is "young women" in Titus 2:4, and neoterai is "younger women" (the Revised Version (British and American) "widows") in 1 Timothy 5:14. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament young men are earnestly exhorted to wisdom and sober-mindedness (Proverbs 1:8, 9 Ecclesiastes 11:9; Ecclesiastes 12:1, 13, 14 Titus 2:6, "discreet"; compare The Wisdom of Solomon 9:11), etc.

W. L. Walker