sū́ - pûr´flōō - us , sū́ - pẽr - flōō´i - ti ( שׂרע , sāra‛ ; περισσός , perissós ( 2 Corinthians 9:1 ), περισσεία , perisseı́a ): According to the Levitical Law, "a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a fiat nose, or anything superfluous" could not fulfill priestly functions (Leviticus 21:18; Leviticus 22:23 ). According to Dillmann (Baentsch, BDB ) the word should be rendered "a limb too long," but Ewald (following the Septuagint) suggests "having cropped ears." The only instance of superfluity occurs in James 1:21 , the King James Version "superfluity of naughtiness"; according to Mayor "overflowing ebullition of malice" (the Revised Version (British and American) "overflowing of wickedness," margin "malice"); but the Greek word is used in other connections, e.g. of "grace" (Romans 5:17 ); "joy" (2 Corinthians 8:2 ).
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
WikipediaThe ISBE is a classic Bible reference compiled from nearly 10,000 entries written by over 200 different Bible scholars and teachers. In addition to the encyclopedia articles, all of the major words of the Bible are represented and defined.
The historical, cultural, and linguistic information in the ISBE can be of great value in Bible study and research.
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