DIVERSITIES IN THE BIBLE.
SALUTATION.
David ... fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times; and they [David and Jonathan] kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.—1 Samuel xx. 41.
Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.—1 Thess. v. 26.
Salute one another with a holy kiss.—Romans xvi. 16.
[See also Exod. xviii. 7; 1 Cor. xvi. 20; 1 Pet. v. 14.]
VALEDICTION.
The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband [Naomi to her daughters-in-law]. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.—Ruth i. 9.
RECONCILIATION.
So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.—2 Samuel xiv. 33.
SUBJECTION.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.—Psalm ii. 12.
APPROBATION.
Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.—Prov. xxiv. 26.
ADORATION.
——All the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.—1 Kings xix. 18.
[See also Hosea xiii. 2.]
And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.—Luke vii. 38.
TREACHERY.
Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.
And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master; and kissed him.—Matt. xxvi. 48, 49.
The kisses of an enemy are deceitful.—Prov. xxvii. 6.
[See also Prov. vii. 13.]
AFFECTION.
When Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house.—Gen. xxix. 13.
Moreover he [Joseph] kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them.—Gen. xlv. 15.
And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.—Gen. l. 1.
[See also Gen. xxxi. 55, xxxiii. 4, xlviii. 10; Exod. iv. 27; Luke xv. 20; Acts xx. 37.]
A Hebrew commentator on Genesis xxix. 11 says that the Rabbins did not permit more than three kinds of kisses, the kiss of reverence, of reception, and of dismissal.
With reference to the expression of reverence or worship in the foregoing quotations, it should be noted that to adore idols and to kiss idols mean the same thing. Indeed, the word adore signifies simply to carry the hand to the mouth, that is, to kiss it to the idol. We still kiss the hand in salutation. Various parts of the body are kissed to distinguish the character of the adoration paid. Thus, to kiss the lips is to adore the living breath of the person saluted; to kiss the feet or ground is to humble one’s self in adoration; to kiss the garments is to express veneration for whatever belongs to or touches the person who wears them. Pharaoh tells Joseph, “Thou shalt be over my house, and upon thy mouth shall all my people kiss,” meaning that they would reverence the commands of Joseph by kissing the roll on which they were written. “Samuel poured oil on Saul, and kissed him,” to acknowledge subjection to God’s anointed. In the Hebrew state, this mode of expressing reverence arose from the peculiar form of government under the patriarchal figure.
