LIGHT; LIGHTNESS

lit'-nes: "Light" is used in Scripture, as in ordinary speech, in the sense of what is small, slight, trivial, easy; "lightness" with the connotation of vacillation or lasciviousness. Thus in the Old Testament, "a light thing," a small, easy, slight thing (qalal, 2 Kings 3:18; Isaiah 49:6; Ezekiel 8:17; 22:7, in the last case "to treat slightingly"). "Lightness" (qol) occurs in Jeremiah 3:9 ("the lightness of her whoredom"); in Jeremiah 23:32, the Revised Version (British and American) changes "lightness" (a different word) to "vain boasting." In the New Testament the phrase occurs in Matthew 22:5, "made light of it" (ameleo), i.e. "treated it with neglect"; and Paul asks (2 Corinthians 1:17), "Did I show lightness?" (the Revised Version (British and American) "fickleness"). These examples sufficiently illustrate the meaning.

James Orr

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.