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Bible Encyclopedias
Affirmative
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Gr. διαβεβαίομαι , διϊσχυρίζομαι, etc.). Among the Jews the formula of assent or affirmation was כֵּן דַּבִּרְתָּ, σὺ εῖπας , thou hast said, or thou hast rightly said. It is stated by Aryda and others that this is the prevailing mode in which a person expresses his assent, at this day, in Lebanon, especially when he does not wish to assert any thing in express terms. This explains the answer of our Savior to the high-priest Caiaphas (Matthew 26:64), when he was asked whether he was the Christ, the son of God (see also Matthew 26:25, and. comp. John 18:37). Instances occur in the Talmud: thus, "A certain man was asked, ‘ Is Rabbi dead?’ He answered, ‘ Ye have said:’ on which they rent their clothes" — taking it for granted from this answer that it was so (Jerusalem Talmud, Kilaim, 32, 2). — All readers even of translations are familiar with a frequent elegancy of the Scriptures, or rather of the Hebrew language, in using an affirmative and negative together. by which the sense is rendered more emphatic: sometimes the negative first, as Psalms 119:17, "I shall not die, but live," etc., sometimes the affirmative first, as Isaiah 38:1, "Thou shalt die, and not live." In John 1:20, there is a remarkable instance of emphasis produced by a negative being placed between two affirmatives, "And he confessed, and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ." (See OATH).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Affirmative'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/a/affirmative.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
