The ordinary uses of this word require no illustration. But the very serious passage in may suitably be noticed in this place. In the Authorized Version it is translated, 'I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment.' The whole question depends upon the meaning, or rather the force, of the term rendered 'idle word,' concerning which there has been no little difference of opinion. Many understand it to mean 'wicked and injurious words;' but this interpretation has been examined with much nicety by Dr. Tittmann, and shown to be untenable. He contends that we must necessarily understand by the phrase a certain kind of words or discourse, which, under the appearance of sincerity or candor, is often the worst possible, and 'condemns a man,' because it is uttered with an evil purpose. The meaning of the expression, then, seems to be void of effect, without result, followed by no corresponding event. Therefore 'idle words' are empty or vain words or discourse, i.e. void of truth, and to which the event does not correspond. In short, it is the empty inconsiderate, insincere language of one who says one thing and means another. This Tittmann confirms by a number of citations; and then deduces from the whole that the sense of the passage under review is: 'Believe me, he who uses false and insincere language shall suffer grievous punishment: your words, if uttered with sincerity and ingenuousness, shall be approved; but if they are dissembled, although they bear the strongest appearance of sincerity, they shall be condemned.'
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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