others. (Rom. 10:9-14; 1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Cor. 4:13) Therefore the preachers were willing to be treated as foolish by the worldly-wise or be persecuted as heretics by the Jews. (1 Cor. 1:21-24; Gal. 5:11) For this reason, too, their preaching was accompanied by the use of reasoning and persuasion to aid the hearers to believe and exercise faith. (Acts 17:2; 28:23; 1 Cor. 15:11) Paul speaks of himself as being appointed “a preacher and apostle and teacher.” (2 Tim. 1:11) These Christians were not salaried heralds but dedicated worshipers giving themselves, their time and strength to the preaching activity.—1 Thess. 2:9.

Since all who became disciples also became preachers of the word, the good news spread rapidly, and by the time Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians (c. 60-61 C.E. or about thirty-seven years after Christ’s death) he could speak of the good news “which was preached in all creation that is under heaven.” (Col. 1:23) Hence, Christ’s prophecy of the ‘preaching of the good news in all the nations’ saw a certain fulfillment prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 C.E. (Matt. 24:14; Mark 13:10) Jesus’ own words, as well as the book of Revelation, written after that destruction, point to a greater fulfillment of this prophecy at the time of Christ’s beginning to exercise Kingdom rule and preliminary to the destruction of all adversaries of that kingdom, a logical time for a great heralding work to be accomplished.—Rev. 12:7-12, 17; 14:6, 7; 19:5, 6; 22:17.

What results should Christian preachers expect for their efforts? Paul’s experience was that “some began to believe the things said; others would not believe.” (Acts 28:24) Real Christian preaching, based on God’s Word, requires a response of some kind. It is vigorous, dynamic and, above all, it presents an issue on which people must take sides. Some become active opposers of the Kingdom message. (Acts 13:50; 18:5, 6) Others listen for a time, but eventually they turn back for various reasons. (John 6:65, 66) still others accept the good news and act upon it.—Acts 17:11; Luke 8:15.

PREACHING WITHIN THE CONGREGATION

Most preaching activity recorded in the Christian Greek Scriptures relates to the proclamation done outside the congregation. In Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to “preach the word, be at it urgently in favorable season, in troublesome season,” however, the context places primary emphasis on preaching within the congregation, but in a general way and on a broader scale, as done by a general overseer. (2 Tim. 4:2) Paul’s letter to Timothy is a pastoral letter, that is, it was directed to one who was doing pastoral work among the Christians and provides counsel on such superintending ministry. Previous to this exhortation to “preach the word,” Paul warned Timothy of the apostasy beginning to manifest itself and which was to develop to serious proportions. (2 Tim. 2:16-19; 3:1-7) Following up his exhortation to Timothy to hold to and not be sidetracked from “the word” in his preaching, Paul shows the need for the urgency, saying, “for there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the healthful teaching,” but, rather, will seek teachers who teach according to their own desires and so will “turn their ears away from the truth,” hence describing, not outsiders, but those within the congregation. (2 Tim. 4:3, 4) Timothy, therefore, was not to lose his spiritual balance but be constant in boldly declaring God’s word (not human philosophies or useless speculations) to the brothers, even though this might bring him trouble and suffering from those wrongly inclined within the congregations. (Compare 1 Timothy 6:3-5, 20, 21; 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13; 2:1-3, 14, 15, 23-26; 3:14-17; 4:5.) By so doing, he would act as a deterrent to the apostasy and be free of responsibility for bloodguilt, even as Paul had been.—Acts 20:25-32.

PREACHING TO THE SPIRITS IN PRISON

At 1 Peter 3:19, 20, after describing Jesus’ resurrection to spirit life, the apostle says: “In this state also he went his way and preached to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient when the patience of God was waiting in Noah’s days, while the ark was being constructed.” Commenting on this text, W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says: “In 1 Pet. 3:19 the probable reference is, not to glad tidings (which there is no real evidence that Noah preached, nor is there evidence that the spirits of antediluvian people are actually ‘in prison’), but to the act of Christ after His resurrection in proclaiming His victory to fallen angelic spirits.” (Vol. III, p. 201) As has been noted, ke·rysʹso refers to a proclamation that may be not only of something good but of something bad, as when Jonah proclaimed Nineveh’s coming destruction. The only imprisoned spirits referred to in the Scriptures are those angels of Noah’s day who were ‘delivered into pits of dense darkness’ (2 Pet. 2:4, 5) and “reserved with eternal bonds under dense darkness for the judgment of the great day.” (Jude 6) Therefore the preaching by the resurrected Jesus to such unrighteous angels could only have been a preaching of judgment. It may be noted that the book of Revelation transmitted in vision to John by Christ Jesus toward the close of the first century C.E. contains much about Satan the Devil and his demons and their ultimate destruction, hence, a preaching of judgment. (Rev. chaps. 12-20) Peter’s use of the past tense (“preached”) suggests that some such preaching had been done even prior to the writing of his first letter.

PREFECT

An official lower than a satrap in the Babylonian government. The title is used at Daniel 2:48 in conjunction with the “wise men.” It seems that these “wise men” were classed as to their official functions. Daniel, besides being one of the three high officials of Nebuchadnezzar, was appointed chief prefect over all the “wise men.”—Dan. 2:48; 3:2, 3, 27.

Under the rule of King Darius the Mede, the royal officials entered before Darius “as a throng,” indicating that a goodly number were involved, and said that all the officials, including the prefects, recommended the making of a law limiting petitions to the king only, for thirty days. Daniel continued to petition Jehovah, and was delivered, the conspirators themselves suffering death in the lion’s pit.—Dan. 6:6, 7, 24.

PREGNANCY

By his command to Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth,” Jehovah indicated that pregnancy was to be part of the woman’s normal role. (Gen. 1:28) With the introduction of imperfection into the human family, God explained that the pain of pregnancy would be increased. (Gen. 3:16; see LABOR PAINS.) The Hebrew word rendered “pregnancy” comes from the root ha·rahʹ, meaning “to conceive, to become pregnant.” The equivalent thought in Greek was expressed by the idiom “having in belly [Gr., en ga·striʹ eʹkhou·sa],” which meant ‘to be with child’ or to be pregnant.—Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18, 23.

Among the Jews, children, and especially male children, were viewed as a blessing (Ps. 127:3; 128:3; Gen. 29:32-35; 30:5, 6), and barrenness as a shame and a reproach. (Luke 1:24, 25; Gen. 25:21; 30:1) Consequently pregnancy was something a married woman desired. (1 Sam. 1:2, 11, 20) When once a child had been conceived, the developing embryo or fetus was considered a soul. Action that resulted in killing a developing child in the womb was handled according to the rule “soul for soul.” (Ex. 21:22, 23) it was a horrendous act for an enemy to rip up or split open a pregnant woman.—Hos. 13:16; Amos 1:13; 2 Ki. 8:12; 15:16.

Pregnancy would include pain at its termination (Ps. 48:6; 1 Thess. 5:3), but that temporary grief