in the production of Bible manuscripts, until it was replaced by vellum (fine-grained animal skin) in the fourth century C.E. At 2 John, verse twelve, the apostle wrote that he would rather convey his message “face to face” than with “paper and ink.” Here the word “paper” translates the Greek word kharʹtes, which is said to mean a sheet of paper made of papyrus.

PAPHOS

(Paʹphos).

A city on the W coast of the island of Cyprus. Here Paul, after working his way across the island with Barnabas and John Mark, encountered the sorcerer Bar-Jesus (Elymas), who opposed their preaching to Sergius Paulus the proconsul. For this he was made temporarily blind by Paul, miraculously. Witnessing this act, Sergius Paulus was converted to Christianity.—Acts 13:6-13.

Two Cypriot cities have borne the name Paphos, “Old Paphos” and “New Paphos.” New Paphos, the city referred to in the Acts account, was capital of the senatorial province of Cyprus when Paul visited the island during his first missionary tour. This city is thought to be represented by the ruins at the ancient seaport of Baffo about a mile S of modern Ktima. The natural harbor there, which served as a naval base during Greek and Roman times, was no doubt the point from which Paul and his companions sailed N-NW toward Perga in Asia Minor. Moles of the ancient harbor at Baffo still stand, as do the remains of various public and private buildings and a city wall.

Barnabas and Mark no doubt revisited the site around 49 C.E.—Acts 15:36-39.

PAPYRUS

(pa·pyʹrus; plural, pa·pyʹri).

A large aquatic plant belonging to the sedge family. It has a tapering three-sided stem or stock that grows in shallow water to a height of from eight to sixteen feet (c. 2.4 to 4.9 meters) and terminates in a bush or plume of fine grasslike panicles. The name is also applied to papyrus material used in the manufacture of various items, including a writing material, and to specific manuscripts made from it. The term “papyrus” is of uncertain etymology, but may mean “product of the river” or “the river plant.” The English word “paper” is from the Latin papyrus, a derivation of the Greek word paʹpy·ros.

Papyrus thrives in shallow, stagnant waters or marshes and along the banks of slow-moving rivers, such as the lower Nile, where it once flourished but is now nearly extinct. Bildad asked Job: “Will a papyrus plant grow tall without a swampy place?”—Job 8:11; Isa. 35:7.

Papyrus was once a very valuable commodity in ancient Egypt, where it is thought to have been used as a writing material as early as the time of Abraham. The manufacture of papyrus paper in time became one of Egypt’s main industries. Numerous products were obtained from the plant. The stems were used for making sandals, boxes, sails, boats, baskets and mats. The woody rootstock was chewed for its sweet-tasting licorice-like juice. The pith was boiled and eaten, and when a scarcity of firewood existed, the lower stems were dried and used for fuel.

The plant’s stems are bouyant, and, to prevent the infant Moses’ death, his mother placed him in an “ark of papyrus” coated with bitumen and pitch and set him adrift on the Nile River. (Ex. 2:3) Larger vessels for traveling longer distances were also made from papyrus. These may have been cartlike craft constructed from bundles of papyrus stems lashed together. They had narrow ends, but the beams were broad enough to support standing passengers. In 1970, Thor Heyerdahl and a group of associates traveled across thousands of miles of the Atlantic in such a craft. Reference is made to “vessels of papyrus” at Isaiah 18:2.

When the Egyptians prepared papyrus for writing material, they followed a rather simple process. In gathering the stems, they prized the thick pithy part that grew under the surface of the water because it yielded the broadest and whitest raw material. The outer rinds were peeled off and the remaining pithy cores were cut into convenient lengths of sixteen to eighteen inches (c. 40.6 to 46 centimeters). Next, the cellular pith was sliced into broad, but very thin, strips. The strips were then laid out vertically on a smooth surface and allowed to overlap slightly. After a thin coat of paste was applied, another layer of papyrus strips was placed horizontally over the vertical ones. Mallets were used to beat the layers until they were bonded into a unified sheet. Then after being dried in the sun, the sheets were trimmed to the desired size, frequently in rectangular form about eight by ten inches (c. 20 by 25 centimeters). Finally, they were smoothed and polished with pumice, shells or ivory. This process produced a fairly durable, supple, near-white writing material that was available in many sizes and degrees of quality. The side having the horizontal strips was usually chosen for writing, although at times the reverse side was used to finish a writing. The joints of the strips served to guide the writer’s hand as he wrote with a reed pen and a writing fluid made from gum, soot and water.

These papyrus sheets could be pasted along the edges and joined to make a scroll, normally consisting of about twenty sheets. Or, they might be folded into leaves to form the booklike codex that became popular among the early Christians. The average scroll measured about fourteen to twenty feet (c. 4.3 to 6 meters) in length, though one has been preserved that is 133 feet (40.5 meters) long. The Greek word biʹblos originally applied to the soft pith of the papyrus plant but later conveyed the meaning of a scroll or little book. (Gal. 3:10; 2 Tim. 4:13) It is from this word that the name “Bible” is derived. A Phoenician city was called Byblos after it became an important center for the papyrus industry.

Papyrus rolls were used widely until the beginning of the second century C.E., when they began to be superseded by the papyrus codex. Later, in the fourth century, the popularity of papyrus waned, being replaced extensively by a more durable writing material called “vellum.”

Papyrus had one major disadvantage as a writing material in that it was not very durable. It deteriorated in a damp environment, and, when stored under arid conditions, became very brittle. Until the eighteenth century C.E. the assumption was that all ancient papyrus manuscripts of the Bible had perished. However, in 1778 Biblical papyri were discovered at ancient Fayum in Egypt. Since then further discoveries have been made in Egypt and the region around the Dead Sea, places that afford the ideal dry climate so necessary for the preservation of papyri. Some of the Scriptural papyri found at these locations date back as far as the second or first century B.C.E.

Many of these papyrus manuscript discoveries are designated by the term “papyrus” or “papyri,” such as the Nash Papyrus of the first or second century B.C.E., the Papyrus Rylands iii. 458 (second century B.C.E.) and the Chester Beatty Papyrus No. 1 (probably of the early third century C.E.).

PARADISE

The Greek word pa·raʹdei·sos occurs three times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2:7) Greek writers as far back as Xenophon (c. 434-355 B.C.E.) used the word and attribute it to Persian sources. Some lexicographers would derive the Hebrew word par·desʹ (meaning, basically, a park) from the same source. But since Solomon (of the eleventh century B.C.E.) used par·desʹ in his writings whereas existing Persian writings go back only to about the sixth century B.C.E., such derivation of the Hebrew term is only conjectural. (Eccl. 2:5; Song of Sol. 4:13) The remaining use of par·desʹ is at Nehemiah 2:8, where reference is made to a royal wooded park of Persian King Artaxerxes (Longimanus), in the fifth century B.C.E.—See PARK.

The three terms (Hebrew par·desʹ, Persian pairidaeza, and Greek pa·raʹdei·sos), however, all convey the basic idea of a beautiful park or parklike garden. The first such park was that made by man’s Creator, Jehovah God, in Eden. (Gen. 2:8, 9, 15) It is called a gan, or “garden,” in Hebrew but was obviously parklike in size and nature. (See EDEN No. 1; GARDEN [Garden of Eden].) Adam lost his right to live in that paradise due to sin and lost his opportunity to gain the right to everlasting life, which right was represented in the fruit of a divinely designated tree in the center of the garden. The garden of Eden may have been enclosed in some way, since it was necessary to place angelic guards only at the east side thereof to prevent human entrance.—Gen. 3:22-24.

JESUS’ PROMISE TO THE WRONGDOER

Luke’s account shows that an evildoer, being executed alongside Jesus Christ, spoke words in Jesus’ defense and requested that Jesus remember him when he ‘got into his kingdom.’ Jesus’ reply was: “Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43) The punctuation shown in the rendering of these words must, of course, depend on the translator’s understanding of the sense of Jesus’ words. For in the original Greek text no punctuation was employed, punctuation in the modern style not becoming common until about the ninth century C.E. Whereas many translations place a comma before the word “today” and thereby give the impression that the evildoer entered Paradise that same day, there is nothing in the rest of the Scriptures to support this. Jesus himself was dead and in the tomb until the third day and was then resurrected as the “first fruits” of the resurrection. (Acts 10:40; 1 Cor. 15:20; Col. 1:18) He ascended to heaven forty days later.—John 20:17; Acts 1:1-3, 9.

The evidence is, therefore, that Jesus’ use of the word “today” was not to give the time of the evildoer’s being in Paradise, but, rather, to call attention to the time in which the promise was being made and in which the evildoer had shown a measure of faith in Jesus. It was a day when Jesus had been rejected and condemned by the highest-ranking religious leaders of his own people and was thereafter sentenced to die by Roman authority. He had become an object of scorn and ridicule. So the wrongdoer alongside him had shown a notable quality and commendable heart attitude in not going along with the crowd but, rather, speaking out in Jesus’ behalf and expressing belief in his coming kingship. Recognizing that the emphasis is correctly placed on the time of the promise’s being made rather than on the time of its fulfillment, other translations, such as those by Rotherham and Lamsa, as also the German translation by Reinhardt, render the text similarly to the rendering in the New World Translation, quoted herein.

As to the identification of the Paradise of which Jesus spoke, it is clearly not synonymous with the heavenly kingdom of Christ. Earlier that day entry into that heavenly kingdom had been held out as a prospect for Jesus’ faithful disciples but on the basis of their having ‘stuck with him in his trials,’ something the evildoer had never done, his dying on a stake alongside Jesus being Purely for his own criminal acts. (Luke 22:28-30; 23:40, 41) The evildoer obviously had not been “born again” of water and spirit, which Jesus showed was a prerequisite to entry into the kingdom of the heavens. (John 3:3-6) Nor was the evildoer one of the ‘conquerors’ that the glorified Christ Jesus stated would be with him on his heavenly throne, and that have a share in the “first resurrection.”—Rev. 3:11, 12, 21; 12:10, 11; 14:1-4; 20:4-6.

Some reference works present the view that Jesus was referring to a paradise location in Hades or Sheol, supposedly a compartment or division thereof for those approved by God. The claim is made that the Jewish rabbis of that time taught the existence of such a paradise for those who had died and were awaiting a resurrection. An examination of the evidence gives little support to this theory. As Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible states: “The Rabbinical theology as it has come down to us exhibits an extraordinary medley of ideas on these questions, and in the case of many of them it is difficult to determine the dates to which they should be assigned. . . . Taking the literature as it is, it might appear that Paradise was regarded by some as on earth itself, by others as forming part of Sheol, by others still as neither on earth nor under earth, but in heaven. . . . But there is some doubt as repects, at least, part of this. These various conceptions are found indeed in later Judaism. They appear most precisely and most in detail in the mediaeval Cabbalistic Judaism. . . . But it is uncertain how far back these things can be carried. The older Jewish theology at least . . . seems to give little or no place to the idea of an intermediate Paradise. It speaks of a Gehinnom for the wicked, and a Gan Eden, or garden of Eden, for the just. It is questionable whether it goes beyond these conceptions and affirms a Paradise in Sheol.”—Vol. III, pp. 669, 670.

While this work thereafter refers to certain apocryphal works, investigation here likewise reveals no clear support for the claim that the concept of a paradise in Sheol was commonly believed or prominently taught by the Jewish rabbis in Jesus’ day. Nor does Josephus’ brief reference to a religious belief in the “punishments and rewards in Hades.” (Wars of the Jews, Book II, chap. VIII, par. 14) Even if such were the case, it would be most unreasonable to believe that Jesus would propagate such concept, in view of his condemnation of the non-Biblical religious traditions of the Jewish religious leaders. (Matt. 15:3-9) Likely the paradise truly familiar to the Jewish malefactor to whom Jesus spoke was the earthly paradise described in the first book of the Hebrew Scriptures, the paradise of Eden. That being so, Jesus’ promise would reasonably point to a restoration of such earthly paradisaic condition. His promise to the wrongdoer would therefore give assured hope of a resurrection of such unrighteous one to an opportunity to life in that restored paradise.—Compare Acts 24:15; Revelation 20:12, 13; 21:1-5; Matthew 6:10.

A SPIRITUAL PARADISE

Throughout many of the prophetic books of the Bible divine promises are found regarding the restoration of Israel from the lands of its exile to its desolated homeland. God would cause that abandoned land to be tilled and sown, to produce richly and to abound with humankind and animalkind; the cities would be rebuilt and inhabited and people would say: “That land yonder which was laid desolate has become like the garden of Eden.” (Ezek. 36:6-11, 29, 30, 33-35; compare Isaiah 51:3; Jeremiah 31:10-12; Ezekiel 34:25-27.) However, these prophecies also show that paradise conditions related to the people themselves, who, by faithfulness to God, could now “sprout” and flourish as “trees of righteousness,” enjoying beautiful spiritual prosperity like a “well-watered garden,” showered by bounteous blessings from God due to having his favor. (Isa. 58:11; 61:3, 11; Jer. 31:12; 32:41; compare Psalm 1:3; 72:3, 6-8, 16; 85:10-13; Isaiah 44:3, 4.) The people of Israel had been God’s vineyard, his planting, but their badness and apostasy from true worship had caused a figurative ‘withering away’ of their spiritual field, even before the literal desolation of their land took place.—Compare Exodus 15:17; Isaiah 5:1-8; Jeremiah 2:21.

This undoubtedly provides the key for understanding Paul’s description of the vision (evidently had by him, since it forms part of his defense of his own apostleship) referred to at 2 Corinthians 12:1-7. Caught away to the “third heaven” (see HEAVEN [Third Heaven]), the vision viewer entered “paradise” and heard unutterable words. That this paradise envisioned could refer to a spiritual state among God’s people, as in the case of fleshly Israel, can be seen from the fact that the Christian congregation was also God’s “field under cultivation,” his spiritual vineyard, rooted in Christ Jesus and bearing fruit to God’s praise. (1 Cor. 3:9; John 15:1-8) As such it had replaced the nation of Israel in God’s favor. (Compare Matthew 21:33-43.) Paul’s vision, nevertheless, must logically have applied to some future time, so as to constitute a ‘revelation.’ (2 Cor. 12:1) An apostasy was due to set in among the Christian congregation, was already working in Paul’s day, and would result in a condition like that of a field oversown with weeds. (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43; Acts 20:29; 2 Thess. 2:3, 7; compare Hebrews 6:7, 8.) So, Paul’s paradise vision would not reasonably apply while such was the case but would evidently relate to the time of the “harvest season” when the genuine Christians would be gathered by the angelic reapers and would enjoy rich blessings and spiritual prosperity from God.

EATING OF THE “TREE OF LIFE” IN THE “PARADISE OF GOD”

Revelation 2:7 mentions this “tree of life” in the “paradise of God,” the eating from it being the privilege of “him that conquers.” Since other promises given in this section of Revelation to such conquering ones clearly relate to their gaining a heavenly inheritance (Rev. 2:26-28; 3:12, 21), it seems evident that the “paradise of God” in this case is a heavenly one. The word “tree” here translates the Greek word xyʹlon, which literally means “wood,” and could therefore refer to an orchard of trees. In the earthly paradise of Eden, eating of the tree of life would have meant living forever for man. (Gen. 3:22-24) Even the fruit of the other trees of the garden would have been life-sustaining for man as long as he continued obedient. So, the partaking of the “tree [or trees] of life” in the “paradise of God” evidently relates to the divine provision for sustained life granted the Christian conquerors, other texts showing that they receive the prize of immortality and incorruptibility along with their heavenly Head and Lord, Christ Jesus.—1 Cor. 15:50-54; 1 Pet. 1:3, 4.

PARAH

(Paʹrah) [cow].

A city of Benjamin. (Josh. 18:21, 23) Parah is usually identified with Khirbet el-Farah, about five and a half miles (9 kilometers) NE of Jerusalem. A nearby spring (ʽAin Farah) furnishes water for the Old City of Jerusalem.

PARALYSIS

Impairment or total loss of muscular power or of sensation in one or more parts of the body. Sometimes called palsy, it results from damage or disorder of the nervous system or atrophy of muscles, thus either preventing the transmission of nervous impulses or causing inability of the muscles to react to them. Paralysis has many names and forms, some of which types can be fatal. Among its causes are disease (as in the case of diphtheric paralysis), brain lesions, damage to the spinal cord or pressure from a tumor.

Paralyzed persons were among those miraculously cured by Jesus Christ. (Matt. 4:24) A paralyzed man was brought to Jesus, who cured the sufferer after forgiving his sins. Then, at Christ’s bidding, the former paralytic picked up his cot and went home. (Matt. 9:2-8; Mark 2:3-12; Luke 5:18-26) On another occasion the manservant of an army officer was laid up with paralysis and was about to die, but Jesus healed him from a distance. (Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10) This slave was “terribly tormented” or “terribly afflicted” (Matt. 8:6, NW, 1961 and 1950 editions), which may, but does not necessarily, indicate that he was suffering intense pain. Though usually not painful, paralysis may be. Cramplike pains occur in the spine and the extremities in cases of paralysis agitans (Parkinsonism, or “shaking palsy”) and there is agonizing pain in paraplegia dolorosa, a form of paralysis associated with some cases of spinal cord cancer. “Paralytics” are persons afflicted with paralysis.

The evangelist Philip preached and performed signs in the city of Samaria, curing many paralyzed persons. (Acts 8:5-8) In Lydda, paralyzed Aeneas, “who had been lying flat on his cot for eight years,” was told by Peter: “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Rise and make up your bed.” At that, “he rose immediately.”—Acts 9:32-35.

PARAN

(Paʹran).

The name is of uncertain meaning, possibly from a root defined as “abounding in foliage,” hence “ornamental,” or, more likely, from a root meaning “abounding in caverns or caves.” Paran was the greater part of that vast wilderness region in which the nation of Israel wandered about for some thirty-eight years before entering the Promised Land. (Num. 10:11, 12; Deut. 2:14) Having no fixed boundaries, Paran occupied the central and northeastern portion of the Sinai Peninsula. On the E was that part of the Rift Valley known as the Arabah and also the Gulf of Aqabah, on the S the wilderness of Sinai, on the SW the wilderness of Sin, and on the NW and N the wildernesses of Etham and Shur. Toward the Dead Sea to the NE Paran blended with, and perhaps included, the wilderness of Zin.

For the most part Paran was a rough mountainous region of limestone, plateau-like in places, the central section being between 2,000 and 2,500 feet (610 to 762 meters) high. (Deut. 33:2; compare Habakkuk 3:3.) It was also included as part of “that great and fear-inspiring wilderness” referred to at Deuteronomy 1:1, 19; 8:15. Except during the brief rainy seasons the gravel face of this rude country is devoid of green vegetation; springs are few and far between. These factors emphasize the complete dependence upon Jehovah to provide food and water miraculously during those many years for the nation of Israel, numbering perhaps 3,000,000 persons.—Ex. 16:1, 4, 12-15, 35; Deut. 2:7; 8:15, 16.

Apparently the first reference to this wilderness of Paran was in the days of Lot when Chedorlaomer and his allies defeated a number of cities in the vicinities of the Dead Sea and Edom as far S as El-paran. (Gen. 14:4-6) Later, after Ishmael was dismissed by his father Abraham, he settled down in the wilderness of Paran and occupied himself mainly with the hunt.—Gen. 21:20, 21.

However, the principal references to Paran are in connection with the wanderings of the Israelites. After leaving Mount Sinai, Israel camped at Taberah and Kibroth-hattaavah, then at Hazeroth on the southern edge of Paran, before moving N toward Kadesh-barnea. (Num. 10:12, 33; 11:3, 34, 35; 12:16) Not long after entering Paran the twelve spies were sent out to reconnoiter Canaan. (Num. 13:3, 26) The bad report given by the majority upon returning resulted in Jehovah’s decree that the nation prolong their stay in the wilderness until all the registered ones who had murmured against God had died off. (Num. 13:31-33; 14:20-34) During that forty years by far the majority of Israel’s campsites, from Egypt to the Promised Land, were in Paran.—Num. 33:1-49.

According to the Septuagint Version as found in the Vatican Manuscript No. 1209, David went into the wilderness of Maon following the death and burial of Samuel. However, the Masoretic text, as well as the Syriac, Vulgate and Septuagint (Alexandrine Manuscript) versions say he went into the wilderness of Paran. (1 Sam. 25:1) When David became king and made war on Edom, the young Edomite prince Hadad, together with some of his father’s servants, made his escape to Egypt. On the way down they were joined by certain men of Paran as they passed through that country.—1 Ki. 11:15-18.