Col. 4:10; 1 Thess. 4:2, 11; compare 1 Timothy 4:11), but he preferred to appeal to the brothers on the basis of love, entreating them by “the compassions of God” and by the “mildness and kindness of the Christ.” (Rom. 12:1; 2 Cor. 6:11-13; 8:8; 10:1; Philem. 8, 9) He was gentle and expressed tender affection for them, exhorting and consoling them like a father. (1 Thess. 2:7, 8, 11, 12) While he was entitled to receive material support from the brothers, he chose to work with his hands in order not to be an expensive burden. (Acts 20:33-35; 1 Cor. 9:18; 1 Thess. 2:6, 9) As a result, a close bond of brotherly affection existed between Paul and those to whom he ministered. The overseers of the Ephesus congregation were greatly pained and moved to tears upon learning that they might see his face no more. (Acts 20:37, 38) Paul was very much concerned about the spiritual welfare of fellow Christians and wanted to do what he could to assist them to make their heavenly calling sure. (Rom. 1:11; 15:15, 16; Col. 2:1, 2) Constantly he remembered them in his prayers (Rom. 1:8, 9; 2 Cor. 13:7; Eph. 3:14-19; Phil. 1:3-5, 9-11; Col. 1:3, 9-12; 1 Thess. 1:2, 3; 2 Thess. 1:3) and requested that they also pray for him. (Rom. 15:30-32; 2 Cor. 1:11) He drew encouragement from the faith of fellow Christians. (Rom. 1:12) On the other hand, Paul was firm for what is right, not hesitating to correct even a fellow apostle when that was necessary for the advancement of the good news.—1 Cor. 5:1-13; Gal. 2:11-14.

NOT OF THE TWELVE

Though having strong conviction and proofs as to his own apostleship, Paul never included himself among “the twelve.” Prior to Pentecost the Christian assembly, as a result of Peter’s Scriptural exhortation, had sought a replacement for unfaithful Judas Iscariot. Two disciples were selected as candidates, perhaps by vote of the male members of the assembly (Peter having addressed himself to the “Men, brothers” [Acts 1:16]). Then they prayed to Jehovah God (compare Acts 1:24 with 1 Samuel 16:7; Acts 15:7, 8) that He should designate which of the two he had chosen to replace the unfaithful apostle. Following their prayer they cast lots and “the lot fell upon Matthias.”—Acts 1:15-26; compare Proverbs 16:33.

There is no reason to doubt that Matthias was God’s own choice. True, once converted, Paul became very prominent and his labors exceeded those of all the other apostles. (1 Cor. 15:9, 10) Yet there is nothing to show that Paul was personally predestinated to an apostleship so that God, in effect, refrained from acting on the prayer of the Christian assembly, held open the place vacated by Judas until Paul’s conversion, and thus made the appointment of Matthias merely an arbitrary action of the Christian assembly. To the contrary, there is sound evidence that Matthias was a divinely appointed replacement.

At Pentecost the outpouring of holy spirit gave the apostles unique powers, inasmuch as they are the only ones shown as able to lay hands on newly baptized ones and communicate to them miraculous gifts of the spirit. (See APOSTLE [Miraculous powers].) If Matthias were not in reality God’s choice, his inability to do this would have been apparent to all. The record shows this was not the case. Luke, the writer of Acts, was Paul’s traveling companion and associate during certain missions and the book of Acts therefore undoubtedly reflects and coincides with Paul’s own view of matters. That book refers to “the twelve” as appointing the seven men who were to handle the matter of the food distribution problem. This was after Pentecost of 33 C.E. but before Paul’s conversion. Hence Matthias is here acknowledged as one of “the twelve” and he shared with the other apostles in laying hands on the seven designates.—Acts 6:1-6.

Whose name then appears among those on the “twelve foundation stones” of the New Jerusalem of John’s vision—Matthias’ or Paul’s? (Rev. 21:2, 14) In the earlier part of this work the article on APOSTLE pointed to Paul as the more likely one. This view was based on the fact that Paul contributed so much to the Christian congregation by his ministry and particularly by his writing a large portion of the Christian Greek Scriptures (fourteen letters being attributed to him). In these respects Paul ‘outshone’ Matthias, who receives no further direct mention after Acts chapter 1.

But sober consideration makes evident that Paul also ‘outshone’ many of the original twelve apostles, some of whom are rarely even named outside the apostolic lists. By the time that Paul was converted the Christian congregation, spiritual Israel, had been established or founded and growing for perhaps a year or even more. Then, too, Paul’s first canonical letters were evidently not written until about 50 C.E. (see THESSALONIANS, LETTERS TO THE) or as much as seventeen years after the foundation of the new nation of spiritual Israel on Pentecost of 33 C.E. These facts, plus the evidence submitted earlier in this article, thus clarify the matter. It seems reasonable, therefore, that God’s original choice, namely, Matthias, as the one to replace Judas among “the twelve apostles of the Lamb,” remained firm and unaffected by the later apostleship of Paul.

What, then, was the purpose of Paul’s apostleship? Jesus himself stated that it was for a particular purpose—not as a replacement for Judas—but that Paul might serve as an ‘apostle [sent one] to the nations’ (Acts 9:4-6, 15), and Paul recognized this as the purpose of his apostleship. (Gal. 1:15, 16; 2:7, 8; Rom. 1:5; 1 Tim. 2:7) This being so, his apostleship was not needed to serve as a foundation when spiritual Israel was established on Pentecost, 33 C.E.

PEʼ

[פ; final,ף].

The seventeenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, also later used outside of the Hebrew Scriptures as a number to denote eighty. It is one of five Hebrew letters that have a different form when used as the final letter of a word. The name assigned to the letter means “mouth.”

From the Hebrew peʼ comes the Greek pi, from which the Latin and English “p” is derived. The Hebrew sound corresponds to our English “p,” when it has the point (dagesh lene) in it; but without this point it is pronounced like “ph,” as in “philosophy.” This letter initiates each of the eight verses in the Hebrew text of Psalm 119:129-136.

PEACE

The Hebrew word sha·lohmʹ is broader in its application than the English term “peace.” Besides referring to the state of being free from war or disturbance (Judg. 4:17; 1 Sam. 7:14; 1 Ki. 4:24; 2 Chron. 15:5; Job 21:9; Eccl. 3:8), sha·lohmʹ can convey the idea of health, safety, soundness (Gen. 37:14, NW, 1953 ed., ftn.), welfare (Gen. 41:16), friendship (Ps. 41:9) and entirety or completeness. (Jer. 13:19) The Greek word for peace (ei·reʹne) can also denote welfare. For instance, the farewell exclamation ‘go in peace’ somewhat corresponds to the expression ‘may it go well with you.’—Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50; 8:48; Jas. 2:16; compare 1 Samuel 1:17; 20:42; 25:35; 29:7; 2 Samuel 15:9; 2 Kings 5:19.

Since “peace” is not always the exact equivalent for the original-language words, the context must be taken into consideration to determine what is meant. For example, to be ‘sent away in peace’ could signify being sent away amicably, with no fear of interference from the one granting permission to leave. (Gen. 26:29; 44:17; Ex. 4:18) To ‘return in peace,’ as from battle, meant returning unharmed and/or victoriously. (Gen. 28:21; Josh. 10:21; Judg. 8:9; 11:31; 2 Chron. 18:26, 27; 19:1) ‘Asking concerning the peace’ of a person meant inquiring as to how he was getting along. (Gen. 29:6; 43:27, NW, 1953 ed., ftns.) ‘Working for the peace’ of someone denoted working for that one’s welfare. (Deut. 23:6) For a person to die in peace could mean his dying a tranquil death after having enjoyed a full life or the realization of a cherished hope. (Compare Genesis 15:15; Luke 2:29; 1 Kings 2:6.) The prophecy concerning Josiah’s ‘being gathered to his own graveyard in peace’ indicated that he would die before the foretold calamity upon Jerusalem. (2 Ki. 22:20; 2 Chron. 34:28; compare 2 Kings 20:19.) At Isaiah 57:1, 2 the righteous one is depicted as entering into peace at death, thereby escaping calamity.

ACQUIRING PEACE

Jehovah is the God of peace (1 Cor. 14:33; 2 Cor. 13:11; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 13:20) and the Source of peace (Num. 6:26; 1 Chron. 22:9; Ps. 4:8; 29:11; 147:14; Isa. 45:7; Rom. 15:33; 16:20), it being a fruit of his spirit. (Gal. 5:22) For this reason true peace can be had only by those who are at peace with God. Serious transgressions put a strain on a person’s relationship with God and cause the individual to be disturbed. The psalmist said: “There is no peace in my bones on account of my sin.” (Ps. 38:3) Those who desire to seek and pursue peace must therefore “turn away from what is bad, and do what is good.” (Ps. 34:14) Without righteousness, there can be no peace. (Ps. 72:3; 85:10; Isa. 32:17) That is why the wicked cannot have peace. (Isa. 48:22; 57:21; compare Isaiah 59:2-8.) On the other hand, peace is the possession of those who are fully devoted to Jehovah, love his law (Ps. 119:165) and heed his commandments.—Isa. 48:18.

When Christ Jesus was on earth, neither the natural Jews nor the non-Jews were at peace with Jehovah God. Having transgressed God’s law, the Jews had come under the curse of the Law. (Gal. 3:12, 13) As for the non-Jews outside God’s covenant, they “had no hope and were without God in the world.” (Eph. 2:12) However, by means of Christ Jesus both peoples were given the opportunity to come into a peaceful relationship with God. Pointing forward to this was the angelic announcement made to shepherds at Jesus’ birth: “Upon earth peace among men of good will.”—Luke 2:14.

The peaceful message proclaimed by Jesus and his followers appealed to ‘friends of peace,’ that is, to persons desiring to be reconciled to God. (Matt. 10:13; Luke 10:5, 6; Acts 10:36) At the same time this message caused divisions in households, as some accepted it while others rejected it. (Matt. 10:34; Luke 12:51) The majority of the Jews rejected the message and thus failed to discern the “things having to do with peace,” evidently including repentance and acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. (Compare Luke 1:79; 3:3-6; John 1:29-34.) Their failure resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies in 70 C.E.—Luke 19:42-44.

However, even the Jews who did accept the “good news of peace” were sinners and needed to have their transgressions atoned for so as to enjoy peace with Jehovah God. Jesus’ death as a ransom sacrifice cared for this need. As had been foretold: “The chastisement meant for our peace was upon him, and because of his wounds there has been a healing for us.” (Isa. 53:5) Jesus’ sacrificial death on the torture stake also provided the basis for canceling the Mosaic law, which divided the Jews from the non-Jews. Therefore, upon becoming Christians, both peoples could be at peace with God and with one another. The apostle Paul wrote: “[Jesus] is our peace, he who made the two parties one and destroyed the wall in between that fenced them off. By means of his flesh he abolished the hatred, the Law of commandments consisting in decrees, that he might create the two peoples in union with himself into one new man and make peace; and that he might fully reconcile both peoples in one body to God through the torture stake, because he had killed off the hatred by means of himself. And he came and declared the good news of peace to you, the ones far off, and peace to those near, because through him we, both peoples, have the approach to the Father by one spirit.”—Eph. 2:14-18; compare Romans 2:10, 11; Colossians 1:20-23.

The “peace of God,” that is, the calmness and tranquillity resulting from a Christian’s precious relationship to Jehovah God guards his heart and mental powers from becoming anxious about his needs. He has the assurance that Jehovah God provides for his servants and answers their prayers. This puts his heart and mind at rest. (Phil. 4:6, 7) Similarly, the peace that Jesus Christ gave to his disciples, based on their faith in him as God’s Son, served to calm their hearts and minds. Although Jesus told them that the time was coming when he would no longer be with them personally, they had no reason to be concerned or to give way to fear. He was not leaving them without help, but promised to send them the holy spirit.—John 14:26, 27; 16:33; compare Colossians 3:15.

The peace that Christians enjoyed was not to be taken for granted. To preserve peace among themselves, they had to exercise care so as not to stumble fellow believers. (Rom. 14:13-23) They were counseled to pursue peace and to do their utmost to be found at peace with God. (2 Tim. 2:22; Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 3:11; 2 Pet. 3:14) Therefore, they had to fight against the desires of the flesh, as these would cause them to be at enmity with God. (Rom. 8:6-8) The fact that remaining in a peaceful relationship with God was necessary for divine approval lends much weight to the oft-repeated prayerful expression ‘may you have peace.’—Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; 6:16; Eph. 1:2; 6:23; Phil. 1:2.

Christians also wanted others to enjoy peace. Therefore, “shod with the equipment of the good news of peace,” they carried on their spiritual warfare. (Eph. 6:15) Even within the congregation they waged warfare in overturning reasonings that were out of harmony with the knowledge of God, so that these reasonings did not damage their relationship with God. (2 Cor. 10:4, 5) It was not a verbal fight or quarrel, not even when correcting those who had deviated from the truth. With reference to handling cases of those who had departed from a right course, the apostle Paul counseled Timothy: “A slave of the Lord does not need to fight, but needs to be gentle toward all, qualified to teach, keeping himself restrained under evil, instructing with mildness those not favorably disposed; as perhaps God may give them repentance leading to an accurate knowledge of truth, and they may come back to their proper senses out from the snare of the Devil, seeing that they have been caught alive by him for the will of that one.”—2 Tim. 2:24-26.

PEACEFUL RULE

The Son of God, as the one to have ‘the princely rule upon his shoulder,’ is called the “Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6, 7) It is, therefore, noteworthy that Christ Jesus, while on earth, showed that his servants should not arm themselves for physical warfare, when saying to Peter: “Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matt. 26:52) Figuratively speaking, those who became Christians “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears.” They learned war no more. (Isa. 2:4) This and God’s past activities, especially in connection with Israel during Solomon’s reign, point to the peace that will prevail during Jesus’ rule as King. Regarding Solomon’s reign, the Bible reports: “Peace itself became his in every region of his, all around. And Judah and Israel continued to dwell in security, everyone under his own vine and under his own fig tree, from Dan to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.” (1 Ki. 4:24, 25; 1 Chron. 22:9) As evident from other scriptures (compare Psalm 72:7, 8; Micah 4:4; Zechariah 9:9, 10; Matthew 21:4, 5), this served as a pattern of what would take place under the administration of Christ Jesus, the One greater than Solomon (whose name means “peaceable”).—Matt. 12:42.

PEACE BETWEEN MAN AND THE ANIMAL CREATION

Jehovah God promised to the Israelites, if obedient: “I will put peace in the land, and you will indeed lie down, with no one making you tremble; and I will make the injurious wild beast cease out of the land.” (Lev. 26:6) This meant that the wild animals would stay within the confines of their habitat and not bring harm to the Israelites and their domestic animals. On the other hand, if the Israelites proved to be disobedient, Jehovah would allow their land to be invaded and devastated by foreign armies. As this would result in reducing the population, wild animals would multiply, penetrate formerly inhabited areas and do injury to the survivors and their domestic animals.—Compare Exodus 23:29; Leviticus 26:22; 2 Kings 17:5, 6, 24-26.

The peace promised to the Israelites in connection with the wild animals differed from that enjoyed by the first man and woman in the garden of Eden, for Adam and Eve enjoyed full dominion over the animal creation. (Gen. 1:28) By contrast, in prophecy, like dominion is only attributed to Christ Jesus. (Ps. 8:4-8; Heb. 2:5-9) Therefore, it is under the governmental administration of Jesus Christ, the “stump of Jesse” or God’s “servant David,” that peace will again prevail between men and the animals. (Isa. 11:1, 6-9; 65:25; Ezek. 34:23-25) These last cited texts basically have a figurative application, for it is obvious that the peace between animals, such as the wolf and the lamb, there described did not find literal fulfillment in ancient Israel. Persons of harmful, beastlike disposition were thus foretold to cease their vicious ways and live in peace with their more docile neighbors. However, the prophetic use of the animals figuratively to portray the peaceful conditions to prevail among God’s people implies that there will also be peace among literal animals under the rule of the “stump of Jesse,” Christ Jesus, even as there evidently was in Eden.

PEACOCK

[Heb., tuk·ki·yimʹ (plural)].

The term “peacock” properly applies to the brilliantly colored male of the peafowl. It is a large bird of the pheasant family, about the size of a turkey. The peacock is particularly noted for its magnificent train of iridescent green and gold feathers marked with large “eyespots” of blue. The train can be spread at will to form an impressive semicircular screen or fan touching the ground on either side. The peacock shakes the fanned train, producing a rustling sound and causing the feathers to shimmer with their iridescent hues. The neck and breast are also of a beautiful metallic greenish-blue color. Due to its majestic beauty the bird was greatly prized from ancient times.

In King Solomon’s time the triannual voyages of his fleet of ships of Tarshish brought cargoes of “gold and silver, ivory, and apes and peacocks.” (1 Ki. 10:22) While certain of Solomon’s ships made trips to Ophir (evidently in the Red Sea area; 1 Ki. 9:26-28), 2 Chronicles 9:21 mentions ships “going to Tarshish” (likely in Spain) in connection with the carrying of the above commodities, including peacocks. It is not certain, therefore, from what place or area the peacocks were imported. These beautiful birds are held to be native of SE Asia and are abundant in India and Ceylon. Some believe that the Hebrew name (tuk·ki·yimʹ) is to be connected with the Old Tamil name for the peacock, tokei. The peacocks obtained by Solomon’s fleet could have been obtained, of course, along their usual route at some trading center having contacts with India. Of interest, also, is the statement in The Animal Kingdom (1954; Frederick Drimmer, M.A., Editor, Vol. II, p. 988): “For centuries scientists assumed that there were no peacocks in Africa—their known dwelling places were the East Indies and southeastern Asia. The belief of the naturalists was shattered in 1936, when the Congo peacock was discovered in the Belgian Congo.”

The peacock apparently reached Greece at least by the fifth century B.C.E. and is said to have been bred on the island of Samos off the coast of Asia Minor. The Greek poet Aristophanes spoke of “Persian Peacocks” and some suggest that the bird reached Greece from India by way of Persia.

PEARL

A smooth, relatively hard, globular and generally white gem with a soft iridescent luster, which has from ancient times been used for adornment. (1 Tim. 2:9; Rev. 17:4; 18:11, 12, 15, 16; 21:2, 21) It is a hardened mass of calcium carbonate that forms inside oysters and certain other mollusks. When a foreign particle (such as a grain of sand or a small parasite) enters the area between the body and the shell of a mollusk, this stimulates the creature’s secretion of a calcareous substance called “nacre,” which hardens into a pearly layer around the irritating intruding material. Successive layers of this shell-like substance are built up around the foreign particle that serves as a nucleus. If the nucleus remains free from the shell due to the contractions of the mantle lining the shell, a beautiful pearl is formed in the course of several years.

Pearls of gem quality are taken from the sea pearl oyster, a native of most warm tropical waters, and notably of the vicinity of Bahrein Island (ancient Tylos) in the Persian Gulf, and of the Red Sea.

ILLUSTRATIVE USE

The Bible at times alludes to the preciousness of pearls in an illustrative way. With reference to the surpassing value of true wisdom, Job said: “A bagful of wisdom is worth more than one full of pearls.” (Job 28:18) In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ counseled: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, neither throw your pearls before swine, that they may never trample them under their feet and turn around and rip you open.” (Matt. 7:6) Evidently Jesus meant that, if a person shows that he is like a dog or a swine, with no appreciation for spiritual things, one should not further endeavor to share spiritual thoughts and teachings with him. Such corrupt persons would only trample upon valuable spiritual things and abuse or injure anyone endeavoring to share these with them. Jesus also illustrated the preciousness of the kingdom of the heavens by “one pearl” of such high value that a traveling merchant seeking fine pearls “promptly sold all the things he had and bought it.” (Matt. 13:45, 46) Thereby Jesus showed that an individual appreciating the true worth of gaining the kingdom of the heavens would be willing to part with anything in order to do so.—Compare Matthew 11:12; Luke 13:23-25; Philippians 3:8-11.

PEDAHEL

(Ped·ahʹel) [God has ransomed].

A chieftain of Naphtali appointed by Jehovah to help divide the Promised Land among the tribes; son of Ammihud.—Num. 34:16, 17, 28.

PEDAHZUR

(Pe·dahʹzur) [the Rock has ransomed].

A man in the tribe of Manasseh whose son Gamaliel was appointed chieftain of their tribe after the Exodus.—Num. 1:10, 16; 2:20; 7:54, 59; 10:23.

PEDAIAH

(Pe·daiʹah) [Jehovah has ransomed].

1. Father of Joel; during David’s reign he was prince of the half of the tribe of Manasseh dwelling W of the Jordan.—1 Chron. 27:20, 22.

2. Father of Jehoiakim’s mother Zebidah; Pedaiah lived in Rumah.—2 Ki. 23:36.

3. Third-named son of King Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) born during the Babylonian exile. Pedaiah became father to postexilic Governor Zerubbabel and was therefore a vital link in the line leading to Jesus.