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PresenceAid to Bible Understanding
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lying signs and portents and with every unrighteous deception.” This, too, illustrates the point that pa·rou·siʹa means more than a momentary coming or arrival, for the effecting of all these works, signs, portents and this deception clearly requires a period of time of some length.
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PresentsAid to Bible Understanding
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PRESENTS
See GIFTS, PRESENTS.
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Presiding OfficerAid to Bible Understanding
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PRESIDING OFFICER
See SYNAGOGUE.
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PressAid to Bible Understanding
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PRESS
Since the harvest of olives came after that of grapes, the same presses were often used for extracting both grape juice and olive oil, although there was also a pillar type of press used for olives.
Common presses usually consisted of two shallow sinklike cavities cut out of natural limestone, the one on a higher level connected by a small channel to the lower one. (Num. 18:27, 30; 2 Ki. 6:27) The grapes or olives were trodden or crushed in the upper basin (gath, Neh. 13:15), allowing the juices to flow by gravity into the lower vat (yeʹqev, Judg. 7:25; Prov. 3:10; Joel 2:24; Hag. 2:16). In Joel 3:13 both terms occur: “Come, descend, for the wine press [gath] has become full. The press vats [yeqa·vimʹ, plural of yeʹqev] actually overflow.” Apparently the term yeʹqev was also used in reference to single-basin presses, in which both the treading of the grapes and the collecting of the juice took place. (Job 24:11; Isa. 5:2; 16:10; Jer. 48:33) The bottoms of these presses were more on an incline than the conventional two-basin type, to allow for the collecting of the juice at the lower end. If the press was long and narrow, like a trough, it was called pu·rahʹ. (Isa. 63:3; Hag. 2:16) The Christian Greek Scriptures also speak of the winepress (le·nosʹ, Matt. 21:33), as well as the “vat for the wine press” (hy·po·leʹni·on, Mark 12:1).
One such winepress was found, the upper basin of which measured eight feet (2.4 meters) square and fifteen inches (38 centimeters) deep. The smaller vat, some two feet (.6 meter) lower in elevation, into which the juice ran, was four feet (1.2 meters) square and three feet (.9 meter) deep. Such a winepress served Gideon as a place in which to thresh his wheat.—Judg. 6:11.
Crushing the fruit in these presses was usually done by bare feet or by heavy stones. From two to seven or more treaders worked as a team in the press. It was therefore noteworthy that Isaiah said the great Treader Jehovah will tread the wine trough alone. (Isa. 63:3) Above the heads of the treaders was a crossbeam from which ropes extended for the men to hold on to for support. The splashing of the “blood of grapes” stained the upper garments of the treaders. (Gen. 49:11; Isa. 63:2) Although it meant plenty of hard work, the crushing season was usually a time of rejoicing; joyful shouting and singing helped to keep rhythm in the treading. (Judg. 9:27; Jer. 25:30; 48:33) The expression “upon the Gittith” (rendered “wine presses” in the Septuagint and the Vulgate) appearing in the superscription of three Psalms (8, 81, 84) may indicate that they were vintage songs.
FIGURATIVE USE
There are a number of Scriptural instances where the winepress is referred to in a figurative sense. (Isa. 63:2, 3; Lam. 1:15) In the day of Jehovah when crowds are assembled in the low plain of decision, the command goes forth: “Thrust in a sickle, for harvest has grown ripe. Come, descend, for the wine press has become full. The press vats actually overflow; for their badness has become abundant.” (Joel 3:13, 14) Similarly, John saw in vision “the vine of the earth” hurled “into the great wine press of the anger of God,” there trodden until the “blood came out of the wine press as high up as the bridles of the horses.” The one called “Faithful and True,” “The Word of God,” is the one who treads this winepress of the “anger of the wrath of God the Almighty.”—Rev. 14:19, 20; 19:11-16.
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PresumptuousnessAid to Bible Understanding
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PRESUMPTUOUSNESS
The taking upon oneself of more than right or propriety warrants, or without authority; impertinent boldness in conduct or thought; the taking of undue liberties; the undertaking of something in rash defiance. The word is related to haughtiness, arrogance, pride and forwardness. Its antonyms are meekness and modesty.
PRIDE, ANGER BRING PRESUMPTUOUSNESS
The Hebrew word za·dhohnʹ is derived from the verb zidh or zudh, “to boil up, seethe,” hence, “to boil up with pride, to act proudly toward.” The heat of anger or pride can cause one to act rashly, to become unwarrantedly bold and to overstep his rights. The proverb says: “Presumptuous, self-assuming braggart is the name of the one who is acting in a fury of presumptuousness.” (Prov. 21:24) At Deuteronomy 1:43 the verb form is used in describing the action of the people of Israel in disobeying God’s command and running ahead without authorization. Moses said to them: “So I spoke to you, and you did not listen but began to behave rebelliously against Jehovah’s order and to get all heated up, and you tried to go up into the mountain.” Another Hebrew word, ʽa·phalʹ, means “to swell or become tumid.” This word is employed in the account of the same incident at Numbers 14:40-44: “Moses said: ‘. . . Do not go up, because Jehovah is not in your midst’ . . . However, they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain,” where they met defeat at the hands of the inhabitants. They were ‘puffed up’ with false confidence.
The fact that anger can bring destructive presumptuousness and gross violation of God’s law is also shown in God’s command to Israel: “In case a man becomes heated [form of zidh] against his fellow to the point of killing him with craftiness, you are to take him even from being at my altar to die.”—Ex. 21:14.
TO BE CAREFULLY GUARDED AGAINST
King David, who was granted many favors and great authority by God, realized that, nonetheless, he could be guilty of presumptuousness. He prayed: “Mistakes—who can discern? From concealed sins pronounce me innocent. Also from presumptuous acts hold your servant back; do not let them dominate me. In that case I shall be complete, and I shall have remained innocent from much transgression.” (Ps. 19:12, 13) The danger is great, therefore, and something to be closely guarded against. A presumptuous act is a much more serious sin than a mistake. Whether one is in a high position or low, the taking of liberties is a detestable thing in God’s sight. Uzziah, though a mighty king who had experienced God’s blessings, was struck with leprosy for presumptuously taking priestly duties into his own hands. (2 Chron. 26:16-21) Presumptuousness prompted King Saul into rebellion against Jehovah. Not willing to wait for Samuel’s arrival, Saul took it upon himself to offer sacrifice. (1 Sam. 13:8-14) He also used his own judgment in sparing Amalekite King Agag and the best of the spoil, when Jehovah’s command had been to devote the Amalekites to destruction. For his presumptuous course Saul was rejected as king.—1 Sam. 15:8, 9, 11, 18, 19.
A notable example of presumption on the part of a non-royal Israelite is that of Uzzah. The ark of the covenant was being transported to Jerusalem in a cattle-drawn cart. When the cattle nearly caused an upset, Uzzah, who was not a Kohathite Levite and hence had no right to touch the Ark (Num. 4:15), reached out and grabbed hold of it to steady it. For this faithless presumption Jehovah struck him and he died.—2 Sam. 6:6, 7.
One not sure of what action to take on a matter, or not certain whether it is within his authority to do so, should by all means first consult others who have knowledge and discernment. The Scriptures counsel: “By presumptuousness one only causes a struggle, but with those consulting together there is wisdom.” (Prov. 13:10) Presumptuousness leads to disastrous results; modesty will save a person. The wise man says: “Has presumptuousness come? Then dishonor will come; but wisdom is with the modest ones.”—Prov. 11:2.
DISRESPECT FOR AND DEFIANCE OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY
When a person acts presumptuously toward God he is showing disrespect for Jehovah’s sovereignty and Godship. Those claiming to be his servants and misrepresenting him are most reprehensible. Of the false prophets, Jehovah said: “The prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded him to speak . . . that prophet must die. . . . When the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, . . . with presumptuousness the prophet spoke it.”—Deut. 18:20-22.
Also, disrespect for Jehovah is shown by disrespect for his appointed servants, which can be caused by presumptuousness. In Israel, difficult cases were brought to ‘the place Jehovah chose’ (which, from David’s day onward, was Jerusalem). Anyone who flouted the judgment rendered was to be put to death, for in standing up against God’s representatives he was acting in defiance of God. The law read: “In accordance with the law that they will point out to you, and according to the judicial decision that they will say to you, you should do. . . . And the man who will behave with presumptuousness in not listening to the priest who is standing to minister there to Jehovah your God or to the judge, that man must die; and you must clear out what is bad from Israel. And all the people will hear and become afraid, and they will not act presumptuously any more.” (Deut. 17:8-13; compare Numbers 15:30.) The apostle Peter speaks of some who show great disrespect for God and his anointed servants, describing them as “daring [from Greek tol·me·tesʹ, “presumptuous,” AV], self-willed, they do not tremble at glorious ones but speak abusively.” Such men, Peter says, “suffer destruction in their own course of destruction.”—2 Pet. 2:10, 12.
Presuming on fleshly connections can be a snare. John the Baptist discerned the Jews’ thinking when they approached him. He warned them: “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘As a father we have Abraham.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” (Matt. 3:9) The Greek word here is doʹxe·te, from do·keʹo, which, basically, means “to think; to form an opinion (right or wrong).”
PRESUMPTUOUSNESS TO END
Ancient Babylon was a prototype of presumptuousness against God, for which God’s everlasting enmity was against her. The prophet Jeremiah said to her: “‘Look! I am against you, O Presumptuousness,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord. . . . Presumptuousness will certainly stumble and fall.” (Jer. 50:29, 31, 32) Symbolic Babylon the Great has proved to be God’s bitter and most presumptuous enemy on earth, making the inhabitants of the earth drunk “with the wine of her fornication” and responsible for “the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.” For this she will suffer everlasting destruction. (Rev. 17:2, 5; 18:7, 8, 20, 24) This is in harmony with Jehovah’s promise to bring an end to all Babylonish presumptuousness: “I shall actually cause the pride of the presumptuous ones to cease, and the haughtiness of the tyrants I shall abase.”—Isa. 13:11.
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PrideAid to Bible Understanding
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PRIDE
Inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable feeling of superiority as to one’s talents, beauty, wealth, rank, and so forth; disdainful behavior or treatment; insolence or arrogance of demeanor; haughty bearing. Pride can, more rarely, have also the good connotation of a sense of delight or elation arising from some act or possession. Some synonyms of pride are egotism, arrogance, haughtiness.
Forms of the Hebrew root word, ga·ʼahʹ, translated “pride” may also be rendered “haughtiness,” “self-exaltation” and, in both good and bad senses, “eminence,” “eminent,” “exultant,” and with other English terms bearing the basic meaning of ga·ʼahʹ, namely, “to rise up, to be high or exalted.”
The Greek word kau·khaʹo·mai, meaning “to boast, to vaunt oneself, to glory, to exult, to rejoice,” likewise is used in both a good and a bad sense, the usage being determined by the context.
PRIDE DECEPTIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE
The proud person may not recognize that he is proud and may attribute his actions to other causes in order to avoid facing the fact of his pride. One should examine himself and his motives thoroughly to determine whether he has this bad trait. The apostle Paul shows the need for the right motive, and the knowledge one should have of himself in this respect, when he says: “If I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body, that I may boast [kau·kheʹso·mai], but do not have love, I am not profited at all.”—1 Cor. 13:3.
Pride should therefore be rooted out of one’s personality for one’s own benefit. More importantly, it must be done if a person hopes to please God. One must even come to hate it, for God’s Word says: “The fear of Jehovah means the hating of bad. Self-exaltation and pride and the bad way and the perverse mouth I have hated.”—Prov. 8:13.
The individual who does not get rid of his pride will suffer. “Pride is before a crash, and a haughty spirit before stumbling” (Prov. 16:18), and “the house of the self-exalted ones Jehovah will tear down.” (Prov. 15:25) There is an abundance of examples of the crash that proud individuals, dynasties and nations suffered.—Lev. 26:18, 19; 2 Chron. 26:16; Isa. 13:19; Jer. 13:9; Ezek. 30:6, 18; 32:12; Dan. 5:22, 23, 30.
Pride is deceptive. The apostle Paul counsels: “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is deceiving his own mind.” (Gal. 6:3) The proud person seems to be taking the way most beneficial or profitable to him, but he is leaving God out of account. (Compare Jeremiah 49:16; Revelation 3:17.) The Bible says: “Better is it to be lowly in spirit with the meek ones than to divide spoil with the self-exalted ones.”—Prov. 16:19.
BOASTING
The Greek word kau·khaʹo·mai, “to boast,” is used frequently in the sense of selfish pride. The Bible shows that no man has any ground for boasting in himself or his accomplishments. In the Christian congregation at Corinth, some were puffed up with pride in themselves or in other men, bringing about divisions in the congregation. They were thinking in a fleshly way, looking to men instead of to Christ. (1 Cor. 1:10-13; 3:3, 4) These men were not interested in the congregation’s spiritual welfare, but wanted to boast in outward appearances, not really wanting to help fellow Christians develop good hearts before God. (2 Cor. 5:12) Consequently, the apostle Paul severely reproved the congregation, showing that there was no room for them to be boasting in anyone but Jehovah God and what he had done for them. (1 Cor. 1:28, 29; 4:6, 7) The rule was: “He that boasts, let him boast in Jehovah.”—1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 10:17.
Jesus’ half-brother James went even farther in condemning those who boasted about certain worldly projects they were intending to carry out, telling them: “You take pride in your self-assuming brags. All such taking of pride is wicked.”—Jas. 4:13-16; compare Proverbs 27:1.
A GOOD CONNOTATION
The Hebrew word ga·ʼahʹ and the Greek word kau·khaʹo·mai can also mean a pride that is delight
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