Article July 13, 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.]

"They eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence" (Prov. 4:17)—The idiom of the original suggests that where we find literally, "They eat the bread of wickedness," the sense is rather, "They eat bread obtained by wickedness," while, similarly, the second clause would be "and drink wine obtained by violence." Bearing this idiom in mind, Dr. Moffatt renders: "They eat ill-gotten food and drink wine won by cruelty;" while Smith translates: "The bread they eat is won by crime, and the wine they drink is won by lawlessness."

"The shining light" (Prov. 4:18)—This may also be rendered "the light of dawn," which leads on very naturally to the conclusion of the verse— "that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

"Health to all their flesh" (Prov. 4:22)—The Hebrew term which is here translated "health" also means "healing" or "cure"; so we find that Kent renders: "healing to all their being." A literal translation of the Septuagint (Greek) version of the verse would be: "healing to all flesh;" and since "all flesh" is constantly employed in the Old Testament in the sense of "all mankind," we should be justified in translating: "healing to all mankind."

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