"Fared sumptuously" (Luke 16:19)—The Greek word rendered "fared" means, literally, "was glad, was merry, rejoiced," though it was sometimes used in the sense of "lived"; while "lampros" (sumptuously) can also be rendered "splendidly, magnificently." Goodspeed translates: "Used to . . . live in luxury every day" (cf. Thayer: Greek Lexicon, pp. 263, 371).

"[He] . . . was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom" (Luke 16:22; cf. verse 23)—Godet notes that this figure of speech, which was a common one among the Jews, "denotes intimate communion in general (John 1:18), or more specially the place of honour at a feast." (Commentary on Luke: Vol. II, p. 177.) Compare the incident in John 13:23, where the beloved disciple is said to have learned "on Jesus' bosom" during the course of the last supper.

"Lasciviousness" (Gal. 5:19)—The Greek word "aselgeia," thus translated, is supposed by many to have been derived from "Selge"—a city situated in Pisidia, one of the districts of Asia Minor, and famed for its strict morals. Since the prefix "a-" means "not," "aselgeia" came to denote the immoral conduct shunned by the citizens of Selge.

"Witchcraft" (Gal. 5:20)—The literal and original meaning of the Greek term "pharmakeia" (the root of our English word "pharmacy" and here translated "witchcraft") 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; compare also Abbott-Smith: Greek Lexicon, p. 466). It is employed in this sense by Xenophon, Hippocrates, and other well-known Greek writers, and can also mean "poisoning."

"Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (I Cor. 6:20)—The words "and in your spirit, which are God's" are omitted by the Revised Version, Goodspeed, Moffatt, Weymouth, and other modern translators in accordance with the evidence afforded by the very early Sinaitic, Vatican, Alexandrian, and Bezan manuscripts, and various ancient versions, including the Ethiopian and the Armenian.

"Where moth and rust doth corrupt" (Matt. 6:19f.)—The word rendered "corrupt" here and in the following verse, means literally "to cause to vanish away, destroy, consume" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 88). Moffatt has: "corrode"; Goodspeed, "destroy"; the Revised Version, "consume"; and Weymouth offers the rendering, "where the moth and wear-and-tear destroy."

"Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering" (Ps. 51:16)—An alternative rendering permitted by the Hebrew, and favored by Smith, is: "for thou desirest not sacrifice and should I give burnt-offering thou wouldst not be pleased." Similarly, Moffatt translates: "Thou carest not for sacrifice, thou would'st not have burnt-offerings from me." (See also Kittel: Biblia Hebraica.)

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Ps. 51:17)—Moffatt suggests the following interesting rendering: "God's sacrifice is a soul with its evil crushed: a heart broken with penitence never wilt thou despise."

"Lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word" (James 1:21)—The passage could be literally translated as follows: "Therefore, putting of all filthiness, and the overflow of malice, receive with gentleness the implanted word." The term rendered "malice" may also mean "ill-will or wickedness" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 320), while that translated literally "implanted" means sometimes "inborn" or "natural" (Moulton and Milligan: Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, p. 209). Goodspeed has: "So strip yourselves of everything that soils you, and of every evil growth, and in a humble spirit let the message that has the power to save your souls be planted in your hearts;" while Moffatt suggests: "So clear away all the foul rank growth of malice and make a soil of modesty for the Word which roots itself inwardly with power to save your souls."

"Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground" (John 8:6)—The words that follow in the Authorized Version, "as though he heard them not," are not found in the original Greek (as indicated by the fact that they are printed in italics). Many scholars contend, with some plausibility, that in the early centuries of our era, stooping down and writing on the ground was recognized as an action suggesting dismissal of the subject on hand, or, sometimes, lack of interest in it. (See Loisy: "Quatrieme Évangile," p. 546; Plummer: St. John, p. 178; Bernard: St. John; McGregor: St. John, p. 212.)

"In their mouth was found no guile" (Rev. 14:5)—The Greek term here translated "guile" means literally "that which is false, falsehood; a lie" (Souter: Greek Lexicon, p. 287). Moffatt has: "On their lips no lie was ever detected;" while both Goodspeed and Weymouth have the rendering "lie."

"An hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1)—It would appear from Revelation 7:4-8 that the number here given was reached by selecting twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Weymouth translates: "One hundred and forty-four thousand people, having His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads"—a reading which is based on the best manuscripts of the original. A similar rendering is given by Moffatt.

"Who shall not fear thee?" (Rev. 15:4)—The Greek word translated "fear" has also the meaning of "reverence, venerate, treat with deference." (See Thayer: op. cit., p. 656.)