"Health to all their flesh" (Prov. 4:22)—The Hebrew word "marpe," translated "health," can also be rendered "healing or cure" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 951). Kent suggests: "healing to all their being;" and Moffatt: "health to all their being;" while Smith prefers to retain: "health to all their flesh." A literal translation as given in the Septuagint would be: "healing to all flesh;" and since the phrase "all flesh" was regularly used as an idiomatic expression for "all living beings or mankind" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 142; cf. Gen. 6:17), we should be justified in rendering: "healing to all mankind" or "to all living beings."

"Keep thy heart with all diligence" (Prov. 4:23)—A more literal rendering of the Hebrew would be: "Watch your heart more than all that you guard." Hence Moffatt renders: "Guard above all things, guard your inner self;" and Kent: "Guard your heart above all things;" while Delitzsch has: "Above all other things that are to be guarded, keep thy heart."

"For out of it are the issues of life" (Prov. 4:23)—The term rendered "issues" is literally "outgoings," and so "sources" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 426). Hence Kent has: "the sources of life;" and Smith: "the well-springs of life."

"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us" (Deut. 29:29)—Moffatt offers the following interesting translation: "The hidden issues of the future are with the Eternal our God, but the unfolded issues of the day are with us and our children for all time, that we may obey all the orders of this law."

"This commandment . . . is not hidden from thee" (Deut. 30:11)—The term translated "hidden" means more literally "to be surpassing, extraordinary" or "to be beyond one's power," "to be hard or difficult," and when followed by the preposition here translated "from," the phrase may be rendered, in accord with Hebrew idiom, "too difficult for" (see Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 810). Hence the Revised Version translates: "This commandment . . . is not too hard for thee;" and Moffatt: "This command . . . is not beyond your power, it is not beyond your reach."

"Which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?" (Luke 12:25)—The Greek word "pechus," here translated "cubit," means literally "forearm"; and the cubit was properly the distance from a man's elbow to the tip of his little finger. Of course the distance varied with individuals, but the cubit was generally reckoned at twenty-one, or sometimes eighteen, inches. Occasionally it was used in a more general sense as a measurement of time (cf. Souter: Greek Lexicon, p. 202). Thus while Moffatt reads: "Which of you can add an ell to his height by troubling about it?" and Weymouth: "Which of you is able by anxious thought to add a foot to his height?" Goodspeed has: "Which of you with all his worry can add a single hour to his life?"

"The pride of life" (I John 2:16)—The Greek word "alazonia," here translated "pride," is generally used 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: Greek Lexicon, p. 25). Thayer renders the phrase in I John 2:16 as: "display in one's style of living;" and Weymouth has: "the show and pride of life;" while Moffatt suggests: "the proud glory of life;" and Goodspeed renders the 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 give their concept of the meaning in a less literal form: "The world and all that it gratifies is passing away." Commenting on the phrase "and the lust thereof" Dr. Plummer justly observes: "Not the lust for the world, but the lust which it exhibits, the sinful tendencies mentioned in verse 16. The world is passing away with all its evil tendencies." "The lust thereof," the writer adds, is equivalent to "all that is in the world" (Epistles of St. John, p. 104).

"Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way" (Matt. 7:14)—A more literal rendering would be: "Narrow is the gate and contracted the way." The Greek word here translated "narrow" in our common version, means literally "compressed, restricted, contracted"; hence, in a figurative sense, "troubled or distressed" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 291). Moffatt renders: "The road that leads to life is both narrow and close." Weymouth suggests: "Narrow is the gate and contracted the road which leads to Life;" while Goodspeed translates: "The gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life."

"At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps. 16:11)—Scholars contend that the Hebrew term which is here rendered "pleasures" is definitely used of "spiritual delights" in this passage (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 653). Moffatt's translation of the complete verse is as follows: "Thou wilt reveal the path to life, to the full joy of thy presence, to the bliss of being close to thee for ever."

"A certain nobleman" (John 4:46)—The Greek term "basilikos," which is here translated "nobleman," is clearly connected with the word "basileus," meaning "king." Consequently, Weymouth renders: "a certain official of the King's court;" the margin of the Revised Version suggests: "a King's officer"; while Moffatt has, "a royal official."