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For
CREDITOR
see
LEND
,
LENDER
For
CREEK
see
BAY
CREEP, CREEPING, CREPT
A. Verbs.
1.
$
(
#
"
, 1744), properly, “to envelop in” ( , “in,”
$
, “to enter”), “to
put on,” as of a garment, has the secondary and intransitive significance of “creeping
into, insinuating oneself into,” and is found with this meaning in 2 Tim. 3:6. Cf.
$
,
“to clothe.”¶
2.
$
(
$ )
, 391), “to enter in by the side” (
, “beside,”
, “in”),
to insinuate oneself into, by stealth, to creep in stealthily, is used in Jude 4.¶
B. Noun.
(
=$
, 2062) signifies “a creeping thing” (
, “to creep”; Eng.,
“serpent,” Jas. 3:7 (
RV
, “creeping things,” for
KJV
, “serpents,” which form only one of
this genus); it is set in contrast to quadrupeds and birds, Acts 10:12; 11:6; Rom. 1:23. See
SERPENT
.¶
For
CRIME
see
CHARGE
For
CRIPPLE
see
HALT
CROOKED
(
, 4646), “curved, crooked,” was especially used (a) of a way, Luke
3:5, with spiritual import (see Prov. 28:18, Sept.); it is set in contrast to
and
$
$
, “straight”; (b) metaphorically, of what is morally “crooked,” perverse, froward,
of people belonging to a particular generation, Acts 2:40 (
KJV
, “untoward”); Phil. 2:15; of
tyrannical or unjust masters, 1 Pet. 2:18, “froward”; in this sense it is set in contrast to
, “good.”¶
CROSS, CRUCIFY
A. Noun.
$
(
$
, 4716) denotes, primarily, “an upright pale or stake.” On such
malefactors were nailed for execution. Both the noun and the verb
$
, “to fasten to a
stake or pale,” are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two
beamed “cross.” The shape of the latter had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as
the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his
name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd
cent. A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of
the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system
pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were
permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most
frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the “cross” of
Christ.
As for the Chi, or X, which Constantine declared he had seen in a vision leading him
to champion the Christian faith, that letter was the initial of the word “Christ” and had