Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Vessel
Subjects in this Topic:
ves´el: Is used freely in English Versions of the Bible to translate כּלי, kelı̄, the Aramaic מ×ן, maÌ„'n, and σκεῦος, skeuÌos, words all meaning “an implement or utensil†of any kind, when the context shows that a hollow utensil is meant. In , however, the translation of the plural of kelı̄ by “vessels†is dubious. English Versions of the Bible evidently intended something in the nature of provision wallets, and the “holiness†of such objects finds partial parallels in ; -34, etc. But in , in the immediate context of the verse above, kelı̄ certainly means “weapons,†and this translation is quite intelligible in also. For war among the Hebrews was a holy function, calling for extreme ceremonial purity (-14). See the commentaries. and especially RS2, 455-56. In addition, “vessel†appears in for × ×‘×œ, nebhel, “jarâ€; in for ἀÌγγος, aÌggos, “vesselsâ€; and in Sirach 21:14; for ἀγγεῖον, aggeıÌon, a diminutive form of aggos. A different use is that of The Wisdom of Solomon 14:1, where “vessel†represents πλοῖον, ploıÌon, “a boat,†while The Wisdom of Solomon 14:5, 6 the King James Version has “weak vessel†for σχεδιÌα, schedıÌa, “raft†(so the Revised Version (British and American)). Vessels of all sorts and kinds and for all sorts of uses were so familiar as to make them natural illustrations for different sorts of human beings (; ; , etc.; see POTTER), and through the word “vessel†has passed into Christian theology as signifying simply a human being. But the figure of such “vessels†as (passively) filled with different contents is not Biblical. In “vessel†may be taken as a figure for either the man's own body or for his wife. Between these possibilities the commentaries are almost equally divided.