"The Lord is the strength of my life" (Ps. 27:1)—The Hebrew word translated "strength" in this verse can also mean "a place of safety," and so "a fortress or refuge" (cf. Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 732). Consequently, Smith prefers to translate: "The Lord is the refuge of my life;" and Moffatt: "The Eternal is the fortress of my life;" while the Septuagint Version had: "the defender."

"The valley of the shadow of death" (Ps. 23:4)—The rather unusual Hebrew word "tsalmaweth," which is here translated "shadow of death," can also mean "deep shadow, deep darkness" or "terror" (compare Feyerabend: Hebrew Dictionary; and Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 853). Consequently, Smith renders: "the darkest valley"; and Moffatt: "a glen of gloom;" while Kent has: "the valley of gloom."

"A lively hope" (I Pet, 1:3)—The word rendered "lively" is the regular Greek term for "living" (zosan). Consequently, Weymouth (5th edition) renders: "A living hope"; while Moffatt and Goodspeed have: "A life of hope."

"The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold ... though it be tried with fire" (I Pet. 1:7)—It may be observed that the word "dokimion" (trial) means literally "proving," and should be distinguished from the "temptations" (peirasmoi—literally "trials") of the preceding verse; similarly, "tried" is more exactly "proved." Compare the rendering offered by the Revised Version: "The proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perisheth though it is proved by fire."

"Ponder the path of thy feet" (Prov. 4:26)—The Hebrew verb "palas" has the primary sense of "to be even," and from this are derived its two most common meanings: (1) "To even the scales of a balance," and hence "to weigh"—whether literally or metaphorically (hence the rendering "ponder"); and (2) "To make even, or smooth." Consequently, the Revised Version translates: "Make even the path of thy feet;" while Moffatt suggests: "Keep a clear path before you."

"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 employed, in this context, to describe "spiritual delights" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 653). Moffatt's rendering 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."

"He that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger" (Job 17:9)—Moffatt paraphrases the passage as follows: "A stainless soul grows ever stronger."

"Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried" (Dan. 12:10)—The Hebrew word here rendered "be purified" means literally "to purify oneself or show oneself pure" (see Feyerabend: op. cit., p. 49); while "to be made white" means more exactly "to make oneself white." In its primary sense, the verb "tsaraph" (tried) is used with reference to the refining of metals, and so its literal meaning is "smelted or refined" (ibid., p. 292). Consequently, Moffatt and Smith and the Revised Version translate: "Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined."

"Thy coming" (Matt. 24:3)—The primary and literal meaning of the Greek word "parousia," which is here rendered "coming," is "presence"; and we find that it is thus translated in II Corinthians 10:10 and in Philippians 2:12 (see Abbott-Smith: Greek Lexicon, p. 347). In many of the early papyri written in Greek and found in northern Egypt, it means "presence" (Moulton and Milligan: Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, p. 497); while in others it is used in a semitechnical sense with reference to the "arrival" or "visit" of any important person (ibid.).

"Take heed that no man deceive you" (Matt. 24:4)—The literal meaning of the word translated "deceive" in this and the following verse is "to cause to wander" or "to lead astray," and so, in a moral sense, "to cause to err" (Souter: Greek Lexicon, p. 204).

"Thomas ... called Didymus" (John 20:24)—It may be observed that the name "Thomas" denotes "twin" in Hebrew; and that "Didymus" has exactly the same meaning in Greek.

"Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed" (John 20:29)—In the old Syriac Version and some Greek manuscripts we find an interrogation point after the word "believed." Therefore, Moffatt prefers to translate: "You believe because you have seen me?" and Weymouth: "'Because you have seen me,' replied Jesus, 'you have believed?'" while Goodspeed has: "Is it because you have seen me that you believe?"

"If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (II Cor. 5:1)—It may be noted that the words translated "of God" mean literally "from God," while in some editions of the Greek text a comma is found after the word "aionion" (eternal), suggesting that "eternal in the heavens" need not be taken as a single phrase. This helps to explain the change in the order of the words to be found in some modern renderings. Thus we find that Weymouth translates: "For we know that if the mere tent, which is our earthly house, is taken down, we have in heaven a building from God, a house not made by human hands, but eternal;" and Goodspeed: "For I know that if this earthly tent that I live in is taken down, God will provide me a building in heaven to live in, not built by human hands but eternal."