SUPERFLUOUS; SUPERFLUITY

su-pur'-floo-us, su-per-floo'-i-ti (sara`; perissos (2 Corinthians 9:1), perisseia): According to the Levitical Law, "a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a fiat nose, or anything superfluous" could not fulfill priestly functions (Leviticus 21:18; 22:23). According to Dillmann (Baentsch, BDB) the word should be rendered "a limb too long," but Ewald (following the Septuagint) suggests "having cropped ears." The only instance of superfluity occurs in James 1:21, the King James Version "superfluity of naughtiness"; according to Mayor "overflowing ebullition of malice" (the Revised Version (British and American) "overflowing of wickedness," margin "malice"); but the Greek word is used in other connections, e.g. of "grace" (Romans 5:17); "joy" (2 Corinthians 8:2).

T. Lewis

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