Article October 31, 1936 Issue

Bible Notes

"So will we render the calves of our lips" (Hos. 14:2)—This is a literal rendering of the original Hebrew as it stands, but since in the Biblical period the "calf" was regarded as symbolizing "sacrifice or offering," one might render: "So will we render the offerings of our lips" (verbal offerings, offerings of praise). Similarly, Smith renders: "We will ... requite thee with the fruits of our lips;" though Moffatt has: "Let us bring thee flocks of the fold."

"Man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7)—The term "nephesh," here rendered "soul," is used in a wide variety of senses in Hebrew, being often employed to denote "life or soul," while in other passages it signifies rather "self, person, desire, appetite, emotion, passion" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 659). Moffatt translates: "This was how man became a living being."

"The Word was with God" (John 1:1)—The preposition "pros," here rendered "with", is used in the New Testament in a variety of senses. Primarily it connotes "motion toward" an object; though it also came to be used as we would employ the preposition "at" (see Thayer: Greek Lexicon, p. 541f.); thus, as Dr. Macgregor notes, it could here be taken as expressing "'nearness' combined with the sense of 'movement towards' God, and so indicates an active relationship" (Commentaty on St. John, p.4); and he adds that in his view "the Logos and God do not simply exist side by side, but are on terms of living intercourse" (ibid.). A similar thought is expressed by Dr. Abbott, who suggests the translation: "The word was in converse with God," while he holds that another possible rendering would be: "was 'devoted to' God" (Edwin A. Abbott: Johannine Grammar, pp. 274ff.).