Article November 7, 1936 Issue

Bible Notes

"If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Rom. 8:13)—The word "mortify"—literally, "to cause to die, or to put to death" (cf. Thayer: Greek Lexicon)—is the exact opposite of "quicken"—literally, "to make alive"—used in verse 11. Moreover, the word rendered "deeds" is more exactly "doings" (ibid., p. 534). Hence, Goodspeed translates: "If, by means of the Spirit, you put the body's doings to death, you will live;" and Weymouth (fifth edition): "If, by the power of the spirit, you put your merely bodily habits to death, you will live."

"The pride of life" (I John 2:16)—The Greek word "alazonia," which is here rendered "pride," is commonly employed in the sense of " 'empty braggart talk,' sometimes also empty display in act, swagger,' " while it has also been described as denoting "an impious and empty presumption which trusts in the stability of earthly things" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 25). Weymouth renders the phrase in I John 2:16 as "the show and pride of life;" Thayer: "display in one's style of living;" while Moffatt suggests: "the proud glory of life;" and Goodspeed renders the complete verse as follows: "For all that there is in the world, the things that our physical nature and our eyes crave, and the proud display of life—these do not come from the Father, but from the world."

"The world passeth away, and the lust thereof" (I John 2:17)—Moffatt suggests the rendering: "The world is passing away with its desire;" and Goodspeed: "The world with its cravings is passing away;" while the translators of the Twentieth Century New Testament provide a less literal rendering: "The world and all that it gratifies is passing away."

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