Article March 27, 1937 Issue

Bible Notes

"Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it" (Job 35:13) —The Hebrew word "shave," here translated "vanity," means more literally "emptiness, nothingness," and has also been translated "worthlessnes" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 996). Smith renders: "God will not hear falsehood;" and Moffatt: "God will not listen to an idle outcry."

"Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4)—The rendering of our Common Version is constantly read as though it simply implied that "surely death would not be liable to follow the disobedience of Adam and Eve," or that their death was not certain; however, the idiom of the original Hebrew proves that a strong and definite denial is intended (cf. Gen. 2:16f.); hence one might almost render it: "You shall certainly not die." Hence Smith translates: "You would not die at all."

"The fear of the Lord" (Job 28:28)—The Hebrew word "yireah" is often used in the sense of "fear" or "terror," but not seldom in the pages of the Old Testament it is employed to mean reverence or piety (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 432), especially in the phrase commonly rendered "the fear of the Lord" (cf. Prov. 1:7). Consequently, Moffatt translates: "To revere me is your wisdom;" and Kent: "To revere the Lord is wisdom."