Manner;_Manners

MANNER; MANNERS man'-er, man'-erz (dabhar, derekh, mishpaT; ethos, houtos):

1. As Used in the Old Testament:

"Manner" (probably from manus, "the hand," mode of handling things, or acting) is in the Bible in general equivalent

(1) to way, custom, habit, etc.,

(2) to kind or sort.

There are some special senses, however, and archaic usages. It is frequently the translation of dabhar, "speaking," "word," "thing" (Genesis 18:25, "That be far from thee to do after this manner" (i.e. in this way); Genesis 32:19, "On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau" (in this way); Genesis 39:19, "After this manner (in this way) did thy servant to me"; Exodus 22:9, "every manner of trespass" (every kind, sort, or way); Deuteronomy 15:2; 1 Samuel 17:27,30 bis); also of derekh, "way" (Genesis 19:31, "after the manner of all the earth (way); 1 Samuel 21:5 the King James Version "(the bread) is in a manner common"; "manner" here might be taken as equivalent to "way" or "measure," but the passage is a difficult one and the text uncertain; the Revised Version (British and American) omits "manner," and in the text makes the reference to be to the journey, not to the bread, but in the margin it has "common (bread)"; Isaiah 10:24,26, after the manner of Egypt" (after the way or fate of Egypt); so also Amos 4:10; 8:14, the manner of Beer-sheba liveth" the Revised Version (British and American) "the way," margin "manner, the reference here being to the religious way, or manner of worship); of mishpaT, "judgment," "ordinance," hence, also "manner" or "custom" (Genesis 40:13; Exodus 21:9; 2 Kings 1:7, "what manner of man" (sort or kind); 2 Kings 17:26 the King James Version; 1 Chronicles 24:19; Ezekiel 11:12, "after the manners (the Revised Version (British and American) "ordinances") of the nations"); torah, "instruction," "law," is also translated "manner" (2 Samuel 7:19, "(is) this the manner (margin "law") of man, O Lord God?" the Revised Version (British and American) "and this (too) after the manner of men, O Lord Yahweh," margin "and is this the law of man, O Lord Yahweh?"). Other words are:

'orach, "path," "custom" (Genesis 18:11); dobher, "leading," "pasture" (compare "sheep-walk," "sheep-fold"); Isaiah 5:17, "Then shall the lambs feed after their manner," the Revised Version (British and American) "as in their pasture" (in Micah 2:12, the same word is translated the King James Version "fold," the Revised Version (British and American) "pasture"); demuth, "likeness" (Ezekiel 23:15); dath, "law," "sentence" (Esther 2:12); chuqqah, "statute," "custom" (Leviticus 20:23) in the King James Version. In Numbers 5:13 "with the manner" is supplied to "taken" (in adultery). "Manner" here is an old law-French phrase, "a thief taken with the mainour"--that is, with the thing stolen upon him in manu (in his hand) (Blackstone, Comm., IV, xxiii), the Revised Version (British and American) "in the act" (compare John 8:4 "in the very act"); gam, "also" is translated (1 Samuel 19:24) "in like manner," the Revised Version (British and American) "also."

2. As Used in the Apocrypha:

In Apocrypha, 2 Macc 4:13 the King James Version, we have "increase of heathenish manners," the Revised Version (British and American) "an extreme of Greek fashions"; 2 Macc 6:9, the "manners of the Gentiles," the Revised Version (British and American) "the Greek rites"; in 2 Esdras 9:19, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), "manners" appears in the sense of "morals"; compare 1 Corinthians 15:33, the Revised Version (British and American) "Evil companionships corrupt good morals."

3. As Used in the New Testament:

In the New Testament various words and phrases are rendered by "manner"; we have ethos, "custom," "usage," "manner" (John 19:40; Acts 15:1, the Revised Version (British and American) "custom"); kata to eiothos (Luke 4:16, the Revised Version (British and American) "as his custom was"); tropos a "turning," "manner," "way" (Jude 1:7); hon tropon, "in which manner" (Acts 1:11); houtos, "thus," "so," "accordingly," is "after this manner," "in like manner" (Matthew 6:9; Mark 13:29 the King James Version); in Acts 15:23, "after this manner" stands in the King James Version for "by their hands," the Revised Version (British and American) "thus"; pos (Acts 20:18), "after what manner"; agoge, "course of life" (2 Timothy 3:10, the Revised Version (British and American) "conduct"); biosis, "mode of life" (Acts 26:4); in 1 Corinthians 15:33, we have manners in the moral sense, "Evil communications corrupt good manners," the American Standard Revised Version "Evil companionships corrupt good morals." Acts 13:18 is interesting because of diversities of rendering; the King James Version has "suffered he their manners in the wilderness," margin "etropophoresen, perhaps for etrophophoresen, bore, or fed them as a nurse beareth or feedeth her child, Deuteronomy 1:31 (2 Macc 7:27) according to Septuagint, and so Chrysostom"; the English Revised Version text, same as the King James Version margin "Many ancient authorities read `bear he them as a nursing father in the wilderness.' See Deuteronomy 1:31"; the American Standard Revised Version (text) "as a nursing-father bare he them in the wilderness," margin "Many ancient authorities read `Suffered he their manners in the wilderness.' See Deuteronomy 9:7." The Greek words differ only by a single letter, and authorities are pretty equally divided.

Among other changes the Revised Version (British and American) has frequently "ordinance" for "manner" (Leviticus 5:10, etc.) and "custom" (Ruth 4:7; John 19:40; Hebrews 10:25, etc.); "manner of" is introduced (1 Samuel 4:8, etc.); "manner of" and "manner" omitted (Genesis 25:23; Exodus 35:29, etc.); "what manner of house" for "where is the house" (Isaiah 66:1); "manner of life" for "conversation" (Galatians 1:13; Ephesians 4:22); "after the manner of men" for "as a man" (Romans 3:5; 1 Corinthians 9:8); "how to inquire concerning these things" (Acts 25:20) for "of such manner of questions"; "in an unworthy manner," the American Standard Revised Version, for "unworthily" (1 Corinthians 11:27); "who" for "what manner of man" (Mark 4:41; Luke 8:25, "who then is this?"); in Luke 9:55, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of" is omitted, with the margin "Some ancient authorities add and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of."

W, L. Walker

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'MANNER; MANNERS'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.