Article May 9, 1936 Issue

Bible Notes

"He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down" (Job 14:2)—The Hebrew verb translated "is cut down" is more literally "fades" or "withers" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 576). Hence, Moffatt renders simply: "He flowers and fades;" while Smith has: "Like a blossom he comes forth and is withered;" and Kent: "He springs up like a flower, then withers."

"The mercy of the Lord is . . . upon them that fear him" (Ps. 103:17) —The term "chesed," translated "mercy" in this verse, is used in a variety of different senses in Hebrew, including goodness, kindness, loving-kindness, and even love; while the verb rendered literally "fear" was constantly employed in the sense of "to reverence" or "to stand in awe of." Thus, Smith suggests: "The kindness of the Lord is . . . upon those who revere him;" and Moffatt: "The Eternal's love . . . ;" while the Genevan Version had: "The loving kindnesse of the Lord endureth . . . upon them that feare him."

"Ye were sometimes darkness" (Eph. 5:8) —"Sometimes" here doesnot mean "occasionally." In the seventeenth century, when our Authorized Version was prepared, "sometimes" was equivalent to our modern "once," which provides an exact rendering of the Greek word found in this verse.

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