Article November 3, 1934 Issue

Bible Notes

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Gal. 5:1) —This translation appears to ignore the colon which divides the sense in the best editions of the Greek text. A literal rendering would be: "For freedom Christ freed us: stand, therefore, and do not be again held down by a yoke of slavery." Compare the translation offered by weymouth (5th edition): "Christ has made us completely free; stand fast then and do not be again hampered with the yoke of slavery;" and that of Goodspeed: "This is the freedom with which Christ hath freed us. So stand firm in it and do not get under a yoke of salvery."

"Witchcraft" (Gal. 5:20) —The literal and original meaning of the Greek word "pharmakeia" (the root of our word "pharmecy," and here translated "witcheraft") is the "use or administering of drugs" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 649); "the use of medicine . . . or of any kind of drugs" (Liddell and Scott: Greek Lexicon, p. 1657; of Abbott-Smith: Greek Lexicon, p. 466). It is used in this sense by Xenophon, Hippocrates, and other Greek writers, and can also mean "poisoning" (references cited).

"Temperance" (Gal. 5:23) —The word "egkrateia" is made up of two Greek words— "kratos" (strength, power, "dominion" —as in Revelation 1:6) and "en" (in or over). So its literal meaning is "self-control or continence" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 166f., 359); i.e., the quality of having "dominion over" one's self.

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