Article July 18, 1936 Issue

Bible Notes

"The branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low" (Isa. 25:5)— The form "zemir," as used in the original, can mean either "song" or "branch" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 274), while the verb rendered "brought low" can refer to the silencing of the loud tones of a song of triumph (ibid., p. 776). Hence the translation of the American Revised Version: "The song of the terrible ones shall be brought low;" while Smith has: "The song of the ruthless thou stillest."

"Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in" (Isa. 26:2)—It may be observed that an alternative rendering of the Hebrew word " 'emunim," here rendered "truth," is "faithfulness" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 53). Smith translates: "Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter—Those who keep faith;" and Moffatt: "Open its gates for the upright, for folk who keep the faith."

"I will publish the name of the Lord" (Deut. 32:3)—Among the Jews the term "shem" (name) was often used as equivalent to "character or nature" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 1030), somewhat as in English we speak of a man's "name" in the sense of his "reputed character, reputation" (Webster), Moffatt suggests the rendering: "I proclaim what the Eternal is."

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