Article February 22, 1941 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 Notes in this issue are related to the Lesson-Sermon designated to be read in Christian Science churches on March 2, 1941.]

"The city of David" (Luke 2:11) —Jerusalem was sometimes known as the "city of David," since it eventually became the chief city of Palestine; but in this verse the reference is, of course, to Bethlehem, the village in which David was born.

"Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes" (Luke 2:12) —In the Near East such "swaddling clothes," in the sense of long bandages or strips of cloth used to give both warmth and support to a newborn infant, are still to be found.

"I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper" (Jer. 23:5)—The word "tsemach," which is here rendered "branch," can also mean "sprout or fruit," and so, metaphorically, "descendent"; while the verb translated "prosper" means more literally "to have insight, act prudently," or, as the Septuagint suggets, "understand." Thus we could render: "I will raise up a righteous descendent of David, and he shall reign as king, and shall have understanding." Moffatt suggests: "The day comes, the Eternal promises, when I raise up a true scion of David, to reign both royally and skilfully."

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