Bible Notes

"Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck" (Hab. 3:13)—The noun here literally translated "head" can also mean simply "the top of anything" (cf. Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 910), while the verb rendered "discover" denotes rather "to uncover or lay bare" (cf. ibid., p. 788). Moreover, some scholars contend that at some time in the history of the text the Hebrew form "TSW'R," here translated "neck," was inadvertently set down instead of "TSWR," which means literally "rock" (cf. Kittel: Biblia Hebraica; and Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 849). Consequently Smith translates: "Laying bare the foundations even to the rock;" while Moffatt has: "Thou hast unroofed the enemy's house, hast laid it bare to the foundations."

"That cover with a covering, but not of my spirit" (Isa. 30:1)—The Hebrew word "nasak," here translated "cover," and its cognate noun "masseka" (covering), are used in a variety of senses. The usual meaning of "nasak" is "to pour," especially "to pour a libation ... in making a covenant" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 651); hence the Septuagint translates: "Ye have made covenants that are not by my Spirit;" Smith: "who form an alliance that is not according to my mind;" Kent: "establishing a treaty contrary to my spirit;" and the American Revised Version: "that make a league, but not of my spirit."

"The Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose" (Isa. 30:7)—Scholars contend that this thirtieth chapter of Isaiah was composed shortly before 700 B.C. Palestine at this period was under the power of Assyria, and the death of the Assyrian ruler Sargon, in 705 B.C., appears to have encouraged the Jews to oppose his successor Sennacherib (705–681 B.C.) with a view to regaining their independence. It is held that Isaiah here opposes an attempted alliance with Egypt against Assyria, reminding the Jews that their true strength lay "in quietness and confidence" (Isa. 30:15). The prophet's counsel was amply justified. When Sennacherib finally encamped against Jerusalem, King Hezekiah prayed for God's protection (II Kings 19:15–19), and was commended by Isaiah (19:20); while in verse 35 we find no reference to Egyptian aid. It was, we read, "the angel of the Lord" that "smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand.... So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed" (verse 36). (Cf. Wade: Isaiah, p. xxivff.; G. A. Smith: Isaiah, Vol. I, p. 312; Skinner: Isaiah, Vol. 1, p. xxxix, etc.)

"The Lord of hosts" (Isa. 44:6)—It is interesting to remember that this phrase is represented in the New Testament (Rom. 9:29 and James 5:4) by "Lord of Sabaoth"; for "Sabaoth" was simply an attempt to put the Hebrew word for "hosts" first into Greek, and then into English letters, without translating it.

"All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3)—The Greek preposition "dia," rendered "by," can also mean "through"; and the word translated "without" is more exactly "apart from" (cf. Souter: Greek Lexicon, p. 286). Hence Goodspeed has: "Everything came into existence through him and apart from him nothing came to be;" and Moffatt: "Through him all existence came into being, no existence came into being apart from him;" while Weymouth (5th edition) suggests: "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing that now exists came into being."

"Praise ye the Lord" (Ps. 146:1)—It may be noted that our English word "hallelujah" is simply the anglicized form of the Hebrew term which is here translated: "Praise ye the Lord."

"Which keepeth truth for ever" (Ps. 146:6)—The Hebrew word " 'emeth" can mean "truth," but has the more literal sense of "firmness, faithfulness, stability" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 54). Hence we could translate: "He keepeth troth forever." Smith renders it: "fidelity"; Kent, "faithfulness"; while Moffatt has: "He remains ever true."

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly" (Ps. 1:1)—The Hebrew preposition rendered "in" often means "by," and so Moffatt renders: "Happy the man who never goes by the advice of the ungodly," and continues, "who never takes the sinners' road."

"Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matt. 6:24)—"Mammon" is properly an Aramaic word with the meaning of "riches," and possibly derived from the root " 'aman," "to be firm or steadfast, to trust or put confidence in," hence, "what is trusted in" (cf. Hastings' Bible Dictionary: Vol. III. p. 224; Thayer: Greek Lexicon, p. 388). We might translate: "You cannot serve God and gold." Moffatt and the Revised Version leave "mammon" untranslated; Goodspeed and Weymouth and the Twentieth Century New Testament prefer the word "money"; while Wyclif and the Genevan Version had "riches."

"The mount of Olives" (Matt. 24:3)—The mount of Olives was not really a single peak but a range of hills lying to the east of Jerusalem, separated from Mount Zion, on which the temple stood, by the Kidron valley (cf. Hastings' Bible Dictionary, p. 667).

"Take heed that no man deceive you" (Matt. 24:4)—The literal meaning of the word rendered "deceive," in this and the following verse, is "to cause to wander" or "lead astray," and so, in a moral sense, "to cause to err" (Souter: op. cit., p. 204). Incidentally, this verb (Greek—"planao") is the root of our word "planet." In the early days "planets" were supposed to be wandering stars (cf. Abbott-Smith: Greek Lexicon, p. 363). Moffatt and Goodspeed translate: "Take care that no one misleads you."

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