Article March 30, 1940 Issue

Bible Notes

[The Biblical citations given in the Christian Science Quarterly are from the Authorized King James Version. The Bible Notes in this column can be used, if deemed necessary, to elucidate some of the words or passages contained in the Bible Lessons.]

"The Lord of hosts" (Isa. 44:6)—The exact significance of this name for Deity, which occurs upwards of two hundred and eighty times in the Old Testament, is somewhat uncertain, but David's statement in I Samuel 17:45, to the effect that he came "in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel," would lead one to suppose that God, when referred to as "the Lord of hosts," was conceived of as the true leader and guide of the forces of the chosen people. In other passages, however, it would seem that the "hosts" in question are rather "the spiritual forces which stand at God's disposal" (see Hastings' Shorter Bible Dictionary, p. 551).

"They that make a graven image are all of them vanity" (Isa. 44:9)—The Hebrew term which is here translated "vanity" is rendered "without form" in Genesis 1:2, and was used by the Hebrews to express "unreality, formlessness, confusion, emptiness." The term translated "graven image" suggests by its derivation an idol which has been carved or hewn into shape, and is applied to images of this type, whether they were of wood, stone, or metal; though occasionally, as in verse 10 of this chapter, it was applied to an image made of "molten" or cast metal.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

I am very grateful for all the help I have received...