Reproach

The act of finding fault in opprobrious terms, or attempting to expose to infamy and disgrace. In whatever cause we engage, however disinterested our motives, however laudable our designs, reproach is what we must expect. But it becomes us not to retaliate, but to bear it patiently; and so to live, that every charge brought against us be groundless. If we be reproached for righteousness’ sake, we have no reason to be ashamed nor to be afraid. All good men have thus suffered, Jesus Christ himself especially. We have the greatest promises of support. Besides, it has a tendency to humble us, detach us from the world, and excite in us a desire for that state of blessedness where all reproach shall be done away.

The Scriptural sense of reproach is not so generally understood. It means, in the fullest sense of the word, reproach for God or God’s cause. Thus Joshua, when circumcising Israel at Gilgal, is said to have taken away their reproach. The Lord God said, This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you." (Josh. v. 9.) Hence the place was called Gilgal, rolling away. Similar passages we have Gen. xxx. 23. Isa. 4: 1. Isa. 54: 4.) In a gospel sense, the reproach for Christ’s name is when a believer is content to beconsidered vile, rather than relinquish his christian calling. The Holy Ghost, by Peter, pronounceth peculiar happiness on such as are "reproached for the sake of Christ." (1 Pet. 4: 14.)

How Reproach Ceases

Pro_22:10.

The Reproaches Of Man Falling On Jesus Christ

Psa_69:1-9; Rom_15:3.

What Comes With Reproach

Pro_18:3.

What Is A Reproach To Any People

Pro_14:34.

Who Is A Son That Brings Reproach

Pro_19:26.

Who Reproaches The LORD

Psa_74:18; Psa_74:22; Pro_17:5.

REPROACH.—The word is found in Authorized and Revised Versions as a rendering of four Gr. terms that either occur in the Gospels or are used in the NT with reference to Christ Himself—the nouns ὄνειδος, ὀνειδισμός, and the vbs. ὀνειδίζω, ὑβρίζω. ὄνειδος = ‘shame,’ as the ground of reproach (whereas ὀνειδισμός is the actual reproaching), is found only in Luk 1:25 (of Elisabeth’s barrenness). ὑβρίζω is once rendered ‘reproach’ (Luk 11:45), but properly means to ‘insult.’ὀνειδισμός and ὀνειδίζω are the terms with which we are specially concerned. The subject comes before us in three forms: (1) reproach as uttered by Christ; (2) reproach as borne by Him; (3) reproach as falling upon His people.

1. As uttered by Christ.—The language of rebuke (ἐπιτιμάω) is several times ascribed to Jesus (see art. Rebuke), but seldom the language of reproach. When we distinguish between the two, the difference seems to be that rebuke denotes the simple censure of a fault, while reproach carries with it some emphasis upon the personal shame (ὄνειδος) attaching to it. And so it seems to be part of the method of Jesus, as understood by the Evangelists, to point out faults rather than to fasten the stigma of disgrace upon the culprit; He was more anxious to effect improvement than to inflict punishment—His eyes being ever towards the future rather than towards the past (cf. ‘Neither do I condemn thee: go thy way; from henceforth sin no more,’ in the Pericope Adulterae, Joh 8:11). Once in Authorized and Revised Versions (Luk 11:45) the word ‘reproach’ is used with reference to our Lord’s utterances, but there by a misrendering; for the Gr. vb. is ὑβρίζω, which means to ‘insult,’ not to reproach. But the Evangelist, it is to be noted, does not say that Jesus insulted any one; it is ‘one of the lawyers’ who accuses Him of insulting the legal class. It was not our Lord’s way, however, to insult people, even though they were His enemies; and, on examination, the charge of this lawyer serves only to illustrate the tendency of offended pride to regard a declaration of the honest truth as a ground of personal offence.

Only on two occasions is the vb. ὀνειδίζω employed to describe the language of Jesus, and both times Authorized Version renders ‘upbraid,’ which Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 rather inconsistently retains. In Mat 11:20 Jesus reproaches the cities in which most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not; and in the Appendix to Mk. (Mar 16:14) He reproaches the Eleven for their slowness to receive the testimony of His resurrection. These cases suggest that Jesus did not hesitate to add reproach to rebuke when He thought it deserved. Capernaum was ‘his own city’ (Mat 9:1; cf. Mat 4:13); Chorazin and Bethsaida had shared with it in the fullest manifestations of His power and grace. The men whom He is said to have reproached for their unbelief and hardness of heart were those whom He had specially chosen to be the depositaries and messengers of His gospel, and whom He had trained through long months for this very purpose, lavishing upon them all the wealth of His Divine treasures of knowledge and love. No wonder that in these cases the censure of Jesus became reproachful. And indeed His reproach was more frequent than we might gather from the occurrence of the word in the Gospel narratives, and was most frequent when He was dealing with those of whom, loving them the best, He expected the most. Was He not speaking reproachfully when He said, ‘How is it that ye do not understand?’ (Mat 16:11); ‘How long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? (Mat 17:17); ‘Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip?’ (Joh 14:9). Was there not a more piercing reproach in His voice when He said to the traitor, ‘Judas, with a kiss dost thou betray the Son of Man?’ (Luk 22:48); and in His eyes when, as the cock crew, He turned and looked upon Peter (Luk 22:60-61)?

2. Reproach as borne by Christ.—So far as the term is concerned, it is only by the two robbers who were crucified along with Him that our Lord is said to have been reproached (ὀνειδίζω, Mat 27:44, Mar 15:32; see Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ). This reproach by the robbers belongs to the general subject of the reviling of Jesus Christ in connexion with His trial and crucifixion, for which see art. Mockery.

In the Epistles the word ‘reproach’ receives a much wider meaning, as denoting generally the shame and contempt, the hardships and suffering which Christ endured in the days of His flesh. In Rom 15:3 St. Paul exhorts Christians to a life of unselfish consideration for others by pointing to the example of the Master, and quotes in this connexion the exact words of the LXX Septuagint translation of Psa 69:9 (Psa 68:10) ‘The reproaches of them that reproached (οἱ ὀνειδισμοὶ τῶν ὀνειδιζόντων) thee fell upon me.’ The Psalm describes the sufferings of the righteous man at the hands of the ungodly, and the verse quoted represents him as telling how he has to bear the reproaches directed against God Himself. The Apostle, however, transfers the words to Christ, and makes them describe how He bore the burden of reproach for others, and so serve to give point to an exhortation against self-pleasing.

In two passages the author of Hebrews uses the expression ‘the reproach (ὀνειδισμός) of Christ,’ or ‘his reproach,’ to denote the earthly shame and sorrow of Jesus. In the first case (Heb 11:26), Moses is described as ‘esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.’ The writer’s idea appears to be, not only that by identifying himself with his despised people Moses took upon himself a burden of contempt and suffering resembling that which was afterwards borne by Christ on our behalf, but that he had Christ prophetically in view—saw Him afar off, even as Father Abraham did (Joh 8:56), and was strengthened by the vision to run his own race with patience (cf. Heb 12:2-3). In the second passage (Heb 13:13), the Jewish-Christian readers are exhorted to a fellowship with the sufferings of Christ, in the words, ‘Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.’ The allusion apparently is to the sin-offering on the Day of Atonement without the camp of Israel, and to the suffering of Jesus without the city gate; and the meaning is that those Jewish-Christians must forsake the sphere of the OT religion, break off the old ties of national fellowship, and face all the pain and contumely that this would involve, so that they might share in the better blessings of the great Sin-offering.

3. Reproach as falling upon Christ’s people.—Both in Mt. (Mat 5:11) and Lk. (Luk 6:22) reproach forms a part of the last Beatitude—the Beatitude of Persecution. There are, we have seen, two kinds of reproach—a reproach that is just, and one that is unjust; such reproach as Christ uttered, and such reproach as He endured. In deserved reproach there lies great sorrow and shame. The Lord’s backward look through the open door of the hall sent Peter out into the night to weep bitterly (Luk 22:61 f.); the remembrance of the last words addressed to him by his Master must have been as a barb to the arrow of remorse that sank so deep into the soul of Judas (Mat 26:50, Luk 22:48). On the other hand, both honour and blessing belong to undeserved reproach falling upon Christ’s people for their Master’s sake. Jesus frequently forewarned His disciples that persecution would come upon them through following Him (Mat 5:10 ff., Mat 5:44; Mat 10:23; Mat 10:38; Mat 13:21; Mat 16:24, Mar 10:30; Mar 10:38, Luk 6:22; Luk 21:12, Joh 15:20). And in this Beatitude He specially forewarns them of the persecution of false and bitter tongues—more trying to some natures than the stones of the mob or the tyrant’s scourge and sword.

The Apostles and the early Church had their full share of the reproach of evil tongues (cf. Act 2:13; Act 6:11; Act 17:32; Act 21:28; Act 22:22; Act 24:5-6, Rom 3:8, Jas 2:7, 1Pe 4:4). But the glory that lies in being reproached for Christ’s sake, and the Lord’s great promise regarding this experience, were never forgotten. It was this that taught St. Paul to bless when he was reviled (1Co 4:12). It was evidently with the very words of Jesus echoing in his ears that St. Peter wrote, ‘If ye be reproached (ὀνειδίζεσθε) for the name of Christ, blessed are ye’ (1Pe 4:14). And when the author of Hebrews speaks of the ‘reproach of Christ’—telling of the manner in which it was esteemed by Moses, and urging his fellow-believers of the Jewish race to go forth without the camp with that reproach upon them—it may be that he also is recalling how Jesus taught His disciples to rejoice in reproach because their reward in heaven was great (Mat 5:12, Luk 6:23). For in the one case he represents Moses as forming his estimate of the reproach of Christ from his respect unto the recompense of the reward (Heb 11:26), and in the other he exhorts Christians to the bearing of the same reproach, on the ground that they look for the abiding city which is to come (Heb 13:14).

J. C. Lambert.

So far as the Revised Version rendering of the apostolic writings is concerned, this word represents the Greek ὀíåéäéóìüò, It occurs twice in the Pauline Epistles and three times in Hebrews, and affords interesting instances of references to OT thought and employment of OT language. The word ὀíåéäéóìüò belongs to the sphere of Hellenistic as distinct from classical Greek. It is of frequent occurrence in the Septuagint throughout the later prophetic writings and, for the most part, represents the Hebrew çָøְôָּç.

St. Paul (Rom_15:3), in appealing to the ‘strong’ to bear the infirmities of the ‘weak,’ adduces the example of Christ, who ‘also pleased not himself, but’-and here the Apostle breaks the grammatical construction in order to introduce intact an OT quotation-‘the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell upon me.’ This is an exact employment of the words of Psa_68:10 in the Septuagint (English Version Psa_69:9), ïἱ ὀíåéäéóìïὶ ôῶí ὀíåéäéæüíôùí óå ἐðÝðåóïí ἐðʼ ἐìÝ. The general purport of this psalm is to describe the sufferings of the typically righteous man at the hands of the ungodly. Many passages from it are referred to our Lord in various parts of the NT. In Psa_69:10 the righteous sufferer is represented as speaking to God and as saying that he has to bear the reproaches uttered against God. St. Paul here puts the words into our Lord’s lips, who is conceived as speaking, not to God, but to a man, and as saying that in enduring reproaches He was bearing, not His own sufferings, but those of others.

The passage so used is an interesting example of the way in which St. Paul takes OT phraseology out of its original context and employs it for his own purpose. In the hands of one who viewed Psalms 68 as Messianic in its reference, this procedure was both legitimate and appropriate.

In 1Ti_3:7 the Apostle, enumerating the characteristics requisite for a bishop, says that ‘he must have good testimony from them that are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.’ There is considerable uncertainty as to the exact meaning of this passage. One question is, whether ‘reproach’ is to be taken alone, or whether ‘reproach and snare of the devil’ is to be treated as all one phrase. Some, perhaps feeling that ‘reproach of the devil’ is an impossible expression, äéáâüëïõ here in the general sense of ‘slanderer,’ and translate, ‘lest he fall into the reproaches and snares prepared by slanderers.’ On the whole, the Revised Version as given above seems to afford the most natural meaning. A bishop’s life must be such as not to forfeit the approval in general of surrounding non-Christian society. Should he fail to secure this general approval, there is the probability that his life is open to adverse criticism and that he may thus fall a prey to the wiles of the tempter.

Heb_10:33 recalls how the readers of the Epistle had been ‘made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions’; but the passages of greater interest in this book are Heb_11:26 and Heb_13:13. The reference in each is to the ‘reproach ‘of Christ. In Heb_11:26 it is said that Moses accounted ‘the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.’ The ‘reproach’ which Moses endured is called ‘the reproach of the Christ’ because it was on account of his belief in God’s saving purpose that he suffered it. ‘The reproach which Moses suffered in the fellowship of the People of God-the hardship, contempt, and the like, inflicted at the hands of the Egyptian world then-was the same as that inflicted on Christ in the days of His flesh, and the same as was borne by the Hebrew believers in their day, or as is borne by believers at all times. Though the reproach and the sufferings are the same, however, Christ is worthy to give name to them; to others they derive their meaning from having been endured by Him, and in Him they reached their climax’ (A. B. Davidson, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Edinburgh, n.d., p. 228). The Statement does not necessarily imply belief on the part of Moses that a personal Christ was to come. What he did believe in was the fulfilment of God’s promise, which, in point of fact, was fulfilled in the coming of Christ.

In Heb_13:13 the readers are exhorted to ‘go forth unto him [Jesus] without the camp, bearing his reproach.’ They must make their choice between Christianity and Judaism, for the two cannot be amalgamated. Christ’s death ‘without the gate’ was the symbol of His being cast out of the community and religious life of the OT Israel. To realize the full power of His redeeming work, His followers must abandon ‘the camp’-the sphere within which the religious life and ordinances of Israel prevail-and must go forth to Him. To be branded as a traitor and to be deprived of Jewish privilege was ‘the reproach of the Christ.’ This His followers must share.

It is not improbable that the language of Psa_89:50-51 underlies both of these passages in Hebrews (Septuagint Ps 88:51, 52), ìíÞóèçôé êýñéå, ôïῦ ὀíåéäéóìïῦ ôῶí äïýëùí óïõ … ïὖ ὠíåßäéóáí ôὸ ἀíôÜëëáãìá ôïῦ ×ñéóôïõ óïõ.

In the Authorized Version the word ‘reproach’ occurs in two passages in 2 Corinthians. In 2Co_11:21 it is used to translate the Greek ἀôéìßá (Revised Version ‘disparagement’). In 2Co_12:10 it is used to translate ὕâñéò (Revised Version ‘injury’).

Dawson Walker.