Article July 20, 1935 Issue

Bible Notes

"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise" (Ps. 57:7)—The Hebrew term here translated "fixed" can also mean "securely determined, certain, steadfast, prepared, ready" (cf. Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 465). Moffatt suggests: "My heart is ready, ready, O God, for song and melody;" and Smith: "My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast, I will play and sing."

"Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early" (Ps. 57:8)—The words "my glory" scarcely seem to fit the context, though they represent a literal translation of the Hebrew as we now have it. On the basis of the Syriac and one Hebrew manuscript, Kent suggests the reading: "Awake 'my lyre'"; while Moffatt has: "Awake, my soul!" In the latter part of the verse, the word "shachar," rendered "early," is properly a noun meaning "dawn" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 1007). Hence, we find: "Let me awake the dawn!" (Moffatt); "I will awake the dawn" (Smith).

"I waited patiently for the Lord" (Ps. 40:1)—Literally, "Waiting I waited." In Hebrew such repetition generally intensifies the meaning of the verb, and we could suggest the English sense, while still preserving the idiom of the original, by translating: "I waited and waited for the Lord."

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