Article December 11, 1937 Issue

Bible Notes

"The heaven of heavens" (Deut. 10:14)—Some scholars take this as equivalent to "the highest heaven," in accord with a well-known Hebrew idiom. (Compare such phrases as: "holy of holies"—"most holy" (Ex. 26:33) ; "vanity of vanities," i.e., "absolute vanity" (Eccl. 1:2). (See Davidson: Hebrew Syntax, p. 49.) Smith renders it: "the highest heavens."

"Sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant" (Ps. 135:3)—The words "it is" are not represented in the original text, being simply added to complete the sense in English. Moffatt prefers to supply "he is," thus taking the adjective here rendered "pleasant" as referring to God, and translates the verse: "Praise the Eternal, he is good; sing to his name, he is gracious;" while Smith suggests: "Sing praises to his name, for he is gracious." Kent, however, prefers to read: "Make melody to his name, for it is lovely."

"Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations" (Ps. 135:13)—The Hebrew word "zeker," here translated "memorial," can also be rendered "remembrance" or "memory," and sometimes "renown" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 271); hence Kent suggests: "Thy fame"; and Moffatt: "thy fame from age to age."

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