MALXDZOTZOM
569
MALHERBE
branche's system, and he was supported by Bossuet
who styled the system puichra, novOf falsa " . Natu-
rally a chief topic of discussion wasthe Question of grace,
though the Jansenist and the Oratorian both claimed
the authority of St. Augustine. The discussion grad-
ually became verv bitter, and ended not altogether to
the credit of Malebranche's orthodoxy, for it was Male-
branche who had been on his defence, and his work
had b^n censured at Rome. Among other opponents
of Malebranohe were Pierre Silvain Regis and Dom
Francois Lamy, who attacked bis explanation of
pleasure and of good. His answer in Traits de
I'amour de Dieu was well received in Rome and had
the further good fortune of reconciling him with Bos-
suet. His "Entretiens d'lm philosc^he chr^tien et
d'un philosophe ohinois sur Texistence de Dieu", in
which he accused the Chinese of Atheism, drew from
the Jesuits, Fr. Toumemine and Fr. Hardouin, a coun-
ter charge of Spinosism and Atheism against his own
system. There can be little question of the novelty
and dangerous character of his publications. But his
own loyalty, his zeal, and piety are still less question-
able. He led a simple and austere life, giving hinujelf
but little rest from his studies, and finding his chief
relaxation in the company of little children. He was
of an affable disposition, always ready to converse
with the numerous visitors who called to see him.
And diuing his lifetime his reputation as a thinker and
writer was remarkably high. The following are his
principal works: — "Recherche de la V^rit^" (1674):
two English versions; "Conversations chr^tiennejs "
(1677); "Traits de la nature et de la grace" (1680);
"M^itations chr^tiennes et m^taphysiques" (168«'{);
"Traits de morale" (1684) ; " Entretiens sur la m^ta-*
physique et sur la religion" (1687); "Traits de
I'amour de Dieu" (1698); "Rdponses" (to Amauld),
published together, 1709, etc; two editions of his
works by Jules Simon, 2nd (1871) not complete.
BouiLUBR, Hitl, de la Philoa. CartSnenne; Blampiunon, Ettide 8w Malebranehe (Tapres des documenU manuscrita, suivie d'une corretpondance inf^ite (Paris, 1862); OUiK-LAPHi^E, Ija Philoaopkie de Malebranehe (1870); Jolt, Malebranehe in Orande PhUoeophee seriee (Paru, 1901); Gaonach, La thiorie dee idiee done la philoeophie de Maldminche (Brest, 1908); Cairo, Eaeaye on Literature and PkUntophy (New York, 1892).
James Bridge.
Malediction (in Scriiture). — Four principal words are rendered maledictio in the Vulgate, "curse" in Douay Version: (1) 118 the most genenal terra, used more often perhaps of men than of God. (2) ppp lit- erally " to treat lightly", but also used in the sense of "cursing", whether of God, Dent., xxi, 23, or of men, Prov., xxvii, 14. It frequently expresses no more than "to revile", II Kings, xvi, 6-13; and so perhaps I Pet., ii, 23, in Sept. hnKaTapdofuu. (3) n{)«,"tO curse", Deut., xxix, 19-20, more correctly "to take an oath", apparently from the root rpH and meaning "to call God to witness", Gen., xxvi, 28; Lev., v, 1; Deut., xxix, 13, also in the sense of " calling God down on any one ". Job, xxxi, 30, hence in margin of R. V. "adjuration**, in Sept. dpo, or SpKos, (4) Din "to devote a thing", the thing may be devoted to God, Lev., xxvii, 28, or condemned to destruction, Deut., ii, 34. The Sept. seems from the MSS. to use di^BiifjM of the thing devoted to God, but dpdde/ia of a thing doomed to destruction, cf. Luke, xxi, 5; and Thack- eray, " Grammar of the Old Testament in Greek ", p. 80. The accepted translaticxi of Din is " ban ", signi- fying that something is interdicted and hence ao- ciu-sed, cf. Deut., vii^ 26; Mai., iii, 24.
Amongst the Semitic peoples cursing was a religious act ; and the Sinaitic legislation was rather of the nature of a purification of already existing usages than a newly-bestowed religion; as appears from the Code of Hammurabi. For tn^ Semites the tribal deity was the protector of liis pec^le (III Kings, xx, 23, and cf . the Moabite Stone 11,4,5, 14), and to " curse " was but
to call down his vengeance on their opponents. A gain,
the Hebrews were a chosen people, they were set apart,
and in this seclusion lay tneir defence; hence at the
conquest we find the cities and peoples of Chanaan declared to be Din, or under a "ban"; their religion
was to bring salvation to the world, so it required the
highest sanction and needed to be ned^ about with
anathemas against all who infringed its regulation.
Again, the curses of the O. T. must be interpreted in
the light of the times, and those times were hard, the
"lex talionis" was the rule not only in Palestine but in
Babylonia as well, cf . the Code of Hammurabi, nos.
196, 197, 200. It was the specid feature of the New
Testament that it abolished this spirit of retaliation,
Matt.. V, 38-45; the abuse of cursing was, however,
forbiaden by the Old Law as well. Lev., xx, 9; Prov.,
XX, 20. At the same time there are passages where
the use of curses is hard to explain. The so-called com-
minative psalms must always remain a difficulty; few
would be now prepared to defend St. Augustine^s view
that they expressied not a desire but a real prescience
of what would happen ("Contra Faustum'^, xvi, 22,
and " F^narr. in Ps. cix.'* ; see Psalms). Similarly the
curse of Eliseus on the little boys, IV Kings, ii, 23-24,
is at first repellent to modern ears, but it is to be
viewed " in speculo aitemitatis ", as St. Augustine says
expressly (Enarr. in Ps. Ixxxiii, 2, and in Ps. Ixxxiv,
2). But though cursing plavs a very prominent part
in the Bible, we rarely find irrational curses in the
mouths of Biblical characters. Nowhere do we find
in the Bible curses on those who shall violate the
tombs of the dead, such as we find everywhere in
Egypt and Babylonia, or on the sarcophagus of
Eshmunazar at Sidon.
We referred above to the Din, or "anathenia". This is the most import^int of the O. T. curses in its bearing on N. T. doctrines. The doctrine enshrined in this word lies at the root of S. Paul's expressions touching the Atonement, c. g. in Gal., iii, 10-14; and it is the precise meaning of the word " cherem " which en- ables iiim to treat of our redemption from sin as he does; cf. II Cor., v, 21. The same idea is manifested in the words of the Apocalj^jse, xxii, 3: "And there shall Iw no curse any more." Of. also I Cor., xii, 3, and xvi, 22.
Sci{()Rt:R. A HiHory of the Jewi-ih People in the time of Jesua Christ, II, ii, 61; Gikolkstone, Synonyms of the O. T. (Lon- don, 1871): RoBKRTSON -Smith, Religion of the Semites iEtlin-
hxiTgh, 1907), 180. Hugh Pope.
Malherbe^ Fkan^ois, French poet, b. at Caen, Normandy, m 1555; d. at Paris, 16 October, 1628. He was the eldest son of Francois Malherbe, councillor of the inferior court of judicature at Caen, and of Louise de Valois. It was the elder Malherbe's wish that FranQois should follow his profession and succeed him in his office, and with this end in view, he sent his son, after his early studies at Caen and Paris, to com-
Slete Kis education at the Universities of Basle and [eidelbei^. But the natural bent of his mind was not towaras the law, and when he was barely twenty Francois entered the service of Henri d^Angoul6me,
Sana prieur of France and Governor of Provence, alherlxj's earliest experience in Provence was his in- fatuation for a young woman of the country, whose S raises he sang under the name of N6r6e; out on 1 kitober, 1581, he married Madeleine de Coriolis, and the union seems to have been a happy one. He re- mained ten years in Provence, Dccomin^ known throiiffh his "Larmes de St. Pierre", an imitation of Tansulo's verses and at best a puerile production. In 1586 Henri d'Angoul6me was slain in a duel by Philip Altoviti, and M^herbe returned to Caen. He ad- dressed an ode to Henry IV on the capture of Mar- seilles in 1596, and in 1600 presented to Maria de' Medici, who stopped at Aachen on her way to become the queen of Henry IV, verses which show his tal- ent to have reached it« maturity «
