Article August 29, 1936 Issue

Bible Notes

"His mercy ... his truth" (ps. 100:5)—The Hebrew term "chesed," which is rendered "mercy" in this passage, can also be translated "loving kindness, goodness, favor, love, loyalty, grace;" while the world " 'emunah" rendered "truth" means literally "firmness, faithfulness, steadfastness, fidelity" (cf. Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 53). The Revised Version has: "his mercy ... his faithfulness;" and Smith: "his grace ... his faithfulness;" while Moffatt renders: "his love ... his faithfulness;"

"Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils" (Isa. 2:22)—Moffatt translates: "Put no more trust in man, with his mere breath of life;" while Smith prefers to render: "Cease trusting man in whose nostrils is breath; for of what account is he?"

"Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm" (Jer. 17:5)—The "arm" as employed metaphorically in the Bible, has been characterized as "an expressive emblem of power to direct, control, seize, overcome" (Hastings' Bible Dictionary). For instance, in II Kings 17:36 the Lord is said to have brought the people of Israel out of Egypt "with great power and a stretched out arm." In Jeremiah 17:5, the phrase "maketh flesh his arm" is virtually equivalent to "makes flesh his support," in contrast to such support as that implied in such a verse as Deuteronomy 33:27, where we read that "underneath are the everlasting arms" of the Deity. God's "arm," we are told, brings salvation (Isa. 59:16). In Jeremiah 17:5 Moffatt translates: "A curse on him who relies on man, and leans upon mere human aid, turning his thoughts from the Eternal;" and Smith: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man, And makes flesh his arm of strength, His mind being turned from the Lord."

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