Great blessings under Kingdom rule are assured to obedient mankind due to Jehovah’s promise: “For here I am creating new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart.” (Isa. 65:17-25) In that system of things promised and created by God “righteousness is to dwell.” (2 Pet. 3:13) The certainty of its establishment is emphasized by John’s apocalyptic vision and his statement: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth.”—Rev. 21:1-5.

CREEPING THING

[Heb., reʹmes; Gr., her·pe·tonʹ].

The verbal root of the Hebrew term means “to creep” or “to move about.” The Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of Koehler and Baumgartner suggests that the term indicates a rather aimless movement. (Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, p. 895; compare Habakkuk 1:14.) The noun reʹmes appears to embrace a broad variety of living creatures and, in its usage in the different texts, generally distinguishes such “moving animals” from the wild and domestic beasts, the birds and the fish. (Gen. 1:24, 25; 6:7, 20; 7:14, 23; 8:17, 19; 9:3; Ezek. 8:10; 38:20) This would allow for its including reptilic and other forms of animal life not within those other more prominent categories. It can apply not only to land creatures but also to aquatic creatures.—Ps. 104:25.

Among wise King Solomon’s three thousand proverbs were some about “the beasts and about the flying creatures and about the moving things and about the fishes.” (1 Ki. 4:33; compare Proverbs 30:19, 24-28.) Hosea 2:18 describes a covenant made with the wild beast, flying creature and the creeping thing of the ground, and Psalm 148:10 includes them among the creatures serving to their Creator’s praise.

The Greek her·pe·tonʹ corresponds closely to the Hebrew reʹmes, being used frequently with reference to reptiles. It is used with regard to the vision Peter had at Joppa (Acts 10:12; 11:6), by Paul in discussing man’s idolatry (Rom. 1:23), and by James as to creatures being tamable by man.—Jas. 3:7.

CRESCENS

(Cresʹcens) [increasing].

One mentioned by Paul in his second letter to Timothy as having gone to Galatia.—2 Tim. 4:10.

CRETE, CRETANS

The fifth-largest island of the Mediterranean and its inhabitants. The island measures some 160 miles (257.4 kilometers) long and varies in breadth from seven and a half to thirty-six miles (12.1 to 57.9 kilometers). Crete lies at the southern end of the Aegean Sea about sixty-five miles (104.6 kilometers) SE of Greece, about twice that distance from Asia Minor, and nearly three times that distance from the North African coast. Casos, Carpathos and Rhodes form a chain of smaller islands connecting Crete with the SW corner of Asia Minor. Mountains, some covered with snow during part of the year, run the full length of the narrow island. Near the center of Crete, Mount Ida rises 8,058 feet (2,456 meters) above sea level. The N coast has some good harbors, but the southern coastline is more regular and along much of it the mountains drop off steeply to the sea. So, the S coast provides few favorable harboring sites, as indicated in the account of Paul’s voyage to Rome, considered later.

The climate of Crete is quite mild and, despite the generally rugged terrain, there are some fertile valleys, upland basins and low-lying plains where wheat, barley, olives and grapevines could be cultivated in ancient times and where flocks of sheep and goats were pastured. Crete’s woodlands were anciently renowned, but the once abundant stands of cypress and other trees are now vastly reduced.

Crete is generally accepted to be the “Caphtor” referred to in the Hebrew Scriptures, and hence the place from which the Philistines migrated to Canaan. (Jer. 47:4; Amos 9:7) Some scholars also connect the “Cherethites” with the Cretans; the Septuagint Version reads “Cretans” instead of “Cherethites” at both Ezekiel 25:15-17 and Zephaniah 2:5-7. (See CHERETHITES.) If the identification of Caphtor with Crete is accepted, as seems reasonable, then the early inhabitants of the island were descendants of Mizraim, whose name is Biblically equivalent to Egypt.—Gen. 10:13, 14.

HISTORY

Little is known definitely of the history of the early Cretans. Tablets found in Crete consist primarily of palace inventories and similar records but provide no history. While many historians suggest an initial migration to Crete from the S coast of Asia Minor, there is also some evidence indicating that early immigrants arrived there from Egypt, perhaps at the time of the claimed unification of Egypt under Menes. Archaeological excavations reveal objects imported from Egypt throughout the early period of Cretan civilization. During the first half of the second millennium B.C.E. the Cretans apparently were carrying on regular maritime trade, not only with Egypt, some 300 miles (482.7 kilometers) to the SE, but also with the Syrian coast and with the islands and coastlands of the Aegean.

The language spoken by the original people of Crete is unknown. Similar to the Egyptians, the Cretans had a hieroglyphic system of writing but, unlike the Egyptian, the earliest forms have not yet been deciphered. A later type of hieroglyphic script is believed to have been adapted for Greek, perhaps due to increased association with or infiltration by Greek-speaking people, particularly the Mycenaeans (of the eastern part of the Peloponnesus).

Buildings and art

Because Greek writers such as Homer, Herodotus and Aristotle referred to a Cretan king named Minos, modern historians have given the name “Minoan” to the early civilization of Crete, dividing up the periods of its history on the basis of pottery finds and connections with Egypt. The civilization the Cretans developed was very distinctive from those of Mesopotamia and Egypt but equally resplendent. Archaeologists have unearthed the capital city of Knossos with its splendid palace remains. The 200-room palace was apparently multistoried, its architecture surpassing that of the Mesopotamian emperors. Towns excavated, such as Knossos, Phaestus, and Hagia Triada, gave evidence of well-kept streets, ample water supply, with royal buildings and larger homes even having baths and toilet facilities equipped with drainage and sewage disposal. Evidently due to the strength of the Cretan fleet and the skill of its mariners, the people of the island’s ancient capital felt no need to build protective walls against invaders.

Vividly colored wall paintings in the richly decorated royal buildings depict clean-shaven men wearing patterned loincloths and elegantly dressed women dressed in narrow-waisted, flaring skirts, tight bodices with bared breasts, elaborate coiffures, and large conical hats. The Cretan religion clearly placed emphasis on the female element with a Mother Goddess receiving greatest prominence. As with other fertility religions, the serpent is regularly present in the representations of the goddess, either held in her hands or coiled around her body. A minor male deity is usually associated with her, perhaps in the mother-son relationship frequently found in this type of cult. At Knossos a marble cross was found, the cross likewise being an ancient sex symbol. Fresco paintings, bronzework and ivory carvings also show a daring sport or religious ritual in which young men and women do a somersault via the horns and back of a charging bull.

Ancient civilization disappears

A wholesale destruction of uncertain causes seems to have struck the cities of Crete about the middle of the second millennium B.C.E. The island is thought to have been dominated by Mycenaean or Dorian Greeks thereafter, and the ancient civilization disappeared from view toward the last centuries of the second millennium. While many scholars suggest that the Philistine emigration took place about the time of the destruction of Cretan cities, the Bible record shows that they entered the land of Canaan at a much earlier date.

During the first millennium B.C.E. Crete came finally under Greek domination. It is given little importance in the “Classical period,” being renowned at that time only for the exporting of expert archers as mercenaries. By the second century B.C.E. the island had become a center and hideout for pirates who preyed on Mediterranean shipping. Then, in 67 B.C.E. Pompey subdued Crete and it was made a Roman province together with Cyrene in North Africa.

PAUL’S ACTIVITY THERE

Cretan Jews and/or proselytes were among those in Jerusalem on Pentecost of 33 C.E. (Acts 2:5, 11) Perhaps as a result of this, Christianity was introduced into Crete.

The apostle Paul, on his way to Rome for trial, passed by Crete aboard a grain ship of Alexandria, about the fall of the year 58 C.E. The ship, with 276 passengers on board, “sailed under the shelter of Crete,” that is along the southern leeward side of the island where the ship was protected from the adverse northwesterly winds. From Salmone on the E coast of Crete, the ship worked its way slowly westward until reaching Fair Havens, a small bay providing anchorage at a point just before the southern coastline makes a sharp turn to the N. Here, contrary to Paul’s counsel, the decision was made to try to reach Phoenix, another harbor some forty miles (64.4 kilometers) farther up the coast. Rounding Cape Littinos (Matala), the ship “began coasting inshore” when a tempestuous E-NE wind, suddenly sweeping down from the mountainous heights, struck the ship, forcing it to heave to and run before the wind. From here the boat was driven past the island of Cauda, some thirty-five miles (56.3 kilometers) from Fair Havens.—Acts 27:6-16, 37, 38.

The evidence is that, following his two years of imprisonment in Rome, Paul visited Crete and engaged in Christian activity there during the final period of his ministry. On departing, he assigned Titus to remain in Crete to correct certain conditions among the congregations, making appointments of older men “in city after city.” (Titus 1:5) Later, when discussing congregational problems in a letter to Titus, Paul quoted the words of a Cretan prophet to the effect that “Cretans are always liars, injurious wild beasts, unemployed gluttons.” (Titus 1:10-12) These words are thought to proceed from Epimenides, a Cretan poet of the sixth century B.C.E. This estimate of the ancient Cretans was shared by the Greeks, among whom the name Cretan became synonymous with lying.

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GREAT SEA

CRETE

Rnossos

Salmone

Phoenix

Fair Havens

Cauda

CRICKET

[hhar·golʹ].

A kind of leaping insect related to the grasshopper, though differing from the latter in that it has prominent feelers at the tip of its abdomen. Both the house cricket and the field cricket are to be found in Bible lands. Sole mention is made of this insect at Leviticus 11:22, where it is listed as being clean for food.

A number of Bible translations (AV; Yg) render the Hebrew term hhar·golʹ as “beetle,” the most typical species of which creep rather than jump. But it is generally agreed that the Hebrew word refers to a kind of leaping insect, as indicated by its being listed along with the locust. There is uncertainty, though, as to the exact leaping insect meant. Translators have variously rendered hhar·golʹ as “dropping locust” (Mo); “flying locust” (AT) and “cricket” (AS; NW; RS), and at times the Hebrew word has simply been transliterated.—Da; JB; Le.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

From the very earliest times man, made in the image of the God of justice (Ps. 37:28; Mal. 2:17), has possessed the attribute of justice. (Gen. 1:26; Isa. 58:2; Rom. 2:13-15) Jehovah’s first pronouncement of a sentence as the enforcement of justice was given to the first human pair and to the serpent, representing the Devil. The sanction for disobedience to God, which amounted to rebellion against the sovereignty of the Ruler of the universe, was death. (Gen. 2:17) Later on, knowing that men possessed the attribute of justice, Cain realized that they would want to kill him to avenge the murder of his brother Abel. But Jehovah did not appoint or authorize anyone to execute Cain, reserving the administration of retribution to himself, which he carried out by cutting off Cain’s line at the Flood. (Gen. 4:14, 15) About 900 years before the Flood, Enoch declared God’s coming execution against those who had committed ungodly deeds.—Gen. 5:21-24; Jude 14, 15.

AFTER THE FLOOD

After the Flood God issued further laws, among them being the first authorization to man to execute the penalty for murder. (Gen. 9:3-6) Later Jehovah stated concerning Abraham: “For I have become acquainted with him in order that he may command his sons and his household after him so that they shall keep Jehovah’s way to do righteousness and judgment.” (Gen. 18:19) This shows that that patriarchal society was under the laws of God, with which they were familiar. God’s view of adultery and his punishment therefor was stated to Abimelech when he told Abimelech that he was as good as dead for taking Sarah with intentions of making her his wife (although Abimelech did not know that she belonged to Abraham). (Gen. 20:2-7) Judah decreed the death penalty for Tamar for harlotry.—Gen. 38:24.

GOD’S LAW FOR ISRAEL

When Israel was organized as a nation God became their King, Legislator and Judge. (Isa. 33:22) He gave them the “Ten Words” or “Ten Commandments,” as they are often called, setting forth the principles upon which the body of about 600 other laws was based. He began the “Ten Words” with the statement: “I am Jehovah your God, who have brought you out of the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 20:2) This serves as the primary reason for obedience to the entire Law. Disobedience was not only a violation of the law of the Head of government but also an offense against the Head of religion, their God, and blasphemy of God was lese majesty, treason.

Under the Law the same principles applied as had governed patriarchal society. The Law, however, was more detailed and covered the whole scope of man’s activities. A. S. Diamond, in Primitive Law (1950, 2d ed., p. 90), says of the book of Deuteronomy that the rules written therein are “of a very high order of morality.” The entire Law, which is set forth in the Pentateuch, was so real and of such a high standard of morality that no man could