Article July 14, 1934 Issue

Bible Notes

"The Word of life" (I John 1:1)—The Greek term here translated "Word" is "Logos" (cf. John 1:1), which has a wide variety of senses, including "reason, instruction, message," besides "word" (cf. Thayer: Greek Lexicon, p. 380ff.). Hence Moffatt renders: "The Logos of Life;" Goodspeed: "The very message of life."

"To fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways" (Deut. 10:12)—The Hebrew verb here translated "fear" can also be rendered "reverence" (Feyerabend: Hebrew Dictionary, p. 134). Smith has: "To stand in awe of the Lord your God;" while Moffatt offers the interesting translation: "To reverence the Eternal your God, always to live his life."

"For this commandment ... is not hidden from thee" (Deut. 30:11)—The term translated "hidden" means, more literally, "to be surpassing, extraordinary," "to be beyond one's power," "to be hard or difficult;" and when it is followed by the preposition translated "from," the phrase may be rendered, in accord with Hebrew idiom, "too difficult for" (see Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 810). Consequently, the Revised Version reads: "This commandment ... is not too hard for thee;" and Moffatt: "This command ... is not beyond your power," and continues, "it is not beyond your reach."

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