Article October 2, 1937 Issue

Bible Notes

"The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free" (Rom. 8:2)—Moffatt translates: "The law of the Spirit brings the life which is in Christ Jesus, and that law has set me free;" while Weymouth, accepting a slight change in the punctuation of the passage, renders: "The Spirit's law—life in Christ Jesus—has set me free from the law of sin and death." On the evidence of a number of early manuscripts, Goodspeed reads "you" instead of "me," and, as a consequence, translates as follows: "For the life-giving law of the Spirit through Christ Jesus has freed you from the Law of sin and death."

"Jesus. ... saw the minstrels and the people making a noise" (Matt. 9:23)—Dr. Smith, in his "Bible Dictionary," notes that the "minstrels" here referred to were "the flute-players who were employed as professional mourners," and who are alluded to in various different Old Testament passages, including Jeremiah 9:17–20 and II Chronicles 35:25. Thus in Matthew 9:23 Goodspeed renders: "Jesus. ... saw the flute-players and the disturbance the crowd were making;" and Weymouth: "Jesus saw the flute-playeres and the crowd loudly wailing."

"Praise waiteth for thee" (Ps. 65:1)—There is some uncertainty as to the root from which the Hebrew word rendered "wait" is derived, and as a consequence it could mean "be like, resemble" or "be silent, rest" (cf. Feyer-abend: Hebrew Dictionary, p. 70f.). Smith suggests the rendering: "Praise befits thee"; and Moffatt: " 'Tis fitting to praise thee;" and these, or closely similar renderings, are now generally preferred by commentators in place of "Praise waiteth for thee."

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

It is with love and gratitude to God for all His goodness...