practicing what is bad.”—Rom. 13:2-4; Titus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:11-17.

Christian subjection to the superior authorities is not based merely on their ability to punish evildoers. With a Christian, it becomes a matter of conscience. He is submissive to human authorities because he recognizes that this is in harmony with God’s will. (Rom. 13:5; 1 Pet. 2:13-15) Therefore, subjection to the superior authorities—to worldly political authorities—could never be absolute. It would be impossible for a Christian to preserve a good conscience and do the divine will by breaking God’s law, if that is what the political authority demanded. For this reason subjection to superior authorities must always be viewed in the light of the apostles’ statement to the Jewish Sanhedrin: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.”—Acts 5:29.

Since the governmental authorities render valuable services to ensure the safety, security and welfare of their subjects, they are entitled to taxes and tribute in compensation for their services. The governmental authorities can be termed “God’s public servants” in the sense that they provide beneficial services. (Rom. 13:6, 7) At times such services have directly assisted God’s servants, as when King Cyrus made it possible for the Jews to return to Judah and Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. (2 Chron. 36:22, 23; Ezra 1:1-4) Often the benefits are those shared by all from the proper functioning of the authorities. These would include the maintenance of a legal system to which persons can appeal for justice, roads, protection from criminals, illegal mobs, and so forth.—Phil. 1:7; Acts 21:30-32; 23:12-32.

Of course, a ruler who misuses his authority is accountable to God. Wrote the apostle Paul: “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but yield place to the wrath; for it is written: ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says Jehovah.’”—Rom. 12:19; Eccl. 5:8.

SUPH

[reed(s)].

One of the locations mentioned to indicate where Moses spoke to the Israelites in the fortieth year of their wilderness wandering. (Deut. 1:1) Instead of “Suph,” the Greek Septuagint Version (as well as the Latin Vulgate) reads “Red sea,” perhaps because it was thought that the Hebrew word yam (meaning “sea”) had been dropped, leaving suph as an abbreviation for yam suph (“Red Sea”). In such a case, the reference would be to that part of the sea called the Gulf of Aqabah. However, taken as it stands, the Hebrew Masoretic text says that Moses spoke to Israel “on the desert plains in front of Suph.” And verse 5 adds that this was “in the region of the Jordan in the land of Moab.” Therefore, though its exact site is unknown, Suph apparently was a place E of the Jordan. It is sometimes identified with Khirbet Sufa, about four miles (c. 6 kilometers) S-SE of Madaba.

SUPHAH

(Suʹphah) [stormwind].

As ordinarily rendered, a region or valley, probably in the vinicity of the Arnon River. (Num. 21:14) This Hebrew word has been translated by such terms as “hurricane” (Ro) and “storm” (AS ftn.). However, most modern translations indicate that it was a region or valley, saying that Vaheb was located “by Suphah” (JB) or “in Suphah.”—AT, JP, NW, RS.

SURETY

Security for the fulfillment of an obligation, a pledge, guaranty or bond; one who has made himself responsible for another. The psalmist appealed to Jehovah to act as his Guarantor, protecting him from defrauders.—Ps. 119:122.

The customary mode of becoming surety for another remained unchanged for centuries. The patriarch Job made the following reference to it: “Please, do put my security with yourself. Who else is there that will shake hands with me in pledge?” (Job 17:3) Proverbs 17:18 is helpful in determining the procedure followed: “A man that is wanting in heart shakes hands, going full surety before his companion.” Evidently a person became surety for another when, in the presence of witnesses, he struck, clasped or shook the hand of the creditor of the transaction and promised to assume the obligations of the debtor if he should fail to make payment. In the Orient this act of striking or touching hands meant that a bargain or covenant was sealed. (Prov. 11:21) Apparently in this way Jehu confirmed Jehonadab’s affirmative reply to the question, “Is your heart upright with me, just as my own heart is with your heart?” For he said to Jehonadab: “If it is, do give me your hand.”—2 Ki. 10:15.

Employing other means, Judah gave his seal ring and cord and his rod as security to Tamar until he should send her a kid of the goats as payment for sex relations. (Gen. 38:17-20) Reuben offered surety to Jacob for Benjamin, when proposing to take him to Egypt, saying: “My own two sons you may put to death if I do not bring him back to you.” Jacob refused. Later, Judah successfully offered himself as surety for Benjamin: “I shall be the one to be surety for him. Out of my hand you may exact the penalty for him.” When it appeared that Benjamin would become a slave in Egypt, Judah stood ready to take his place as slave, since he was surety for the boy. This was the legal basis of his plea to Joseph: “For your slave became surety for the boy when away from his father . . . So now, please, let your slave stay instead of the boy as a slave to my master.”—Gen. 42:37, 38; 43:8, 9; 44:32, 33.

Pledges given as security by a debtor to his creditor were closely regulated by the Law. As commerce increased in Israel, so did suretyship in mercantile affairs. The proverbs warned that this was a dangerous, foolish practice, especially when one could not afford it without risking the loss of essential items of living.—Prov. 6:1-5; 11:15; 22:26, 27.

SUSANNA

(Su·sanʹna) [lily]. 1

One of the many faithful women, who, out of their own belongings, cared for the needs of Jesus and his twelve apostles during Jesus’ Galilean ministry of 31 C.E.—Luke 8:1-3.

SUSI

(Suʹsi) [horse].

Father of Gaddi, who represented the tribe of Manasseh in spying out the Promised Land.—Num. 13:2, 11.

SWALLOW

[Heb., d^erohrʹ].

The Hebrew word d^erohrʹ is also translated “liberty” in certain texts (Lev. 25:10; Isa. 61:1), and some commentators consider the name as describing the graceful free-flying swallow with its uninhibited movement. Others associate the Hebrew name with the Arabic darra, meaning to flow copiously or stream, and connect this with the swift darting of the bird as it catches insects in flight.

The psalmist, in proclaiming his yearning for the courtyards of Jehovah’s house, makes reference to the swallow’s finding a nest for herself in which to place her young. (Ps. 84:1-3) Swallows frequently build their cuplike nests (formed of mud pellets) on buildings or houses, often under the eaves, and hence some understand this passage to mean that swallows nested in the temple structure, as they do today in similar buildings throughout the land. However, the psalmist does not state this and seems, rather, to be employing a simile here in which the swallow, having found her nest, is a symbol of peace and security such as the psalmist found in Jehovah’s courts.

The other reference to the swallow occurs at Proverbs 26:2, stating that even “as a bird has cause for fleeing and just as a swallow for flying, so a malediction itself does not come without real cause.” (NW) Some translations render the Hebrew instead as a “curse that is causeless [and] does not alight” (RS; see also AS, Ro), and so consider the text to mean