"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help" (Ps. 121:1)—In the original Hebrew this passage may be read either as a statement or as a question. As a result, the margin of the Authorized Version has: "Shall I lift up mine eyes unto the hills? Whence should my help come?" and Smith: "I raise my eyes to the hills; whence does my help come?" while Moffatt renders: "I lift mine eyes to the mountains; ah, where is help to come from?" The answer to these questions is, of course, to be found in the words of verse 2: "My help cometh from the Lord."

"He shall preserve thy soul" (Ps. 121:7)—The Hebrew word "nephesh," translated "soul" both in this verse and in Psalms 119:175, can also mean "life." Hence, in Psalms 121:7 we find that Smith translates: "The Lord will guard your life;" while Moffatt renders the complete verse as follows: "The Eternal will guard you from all harm, he will preserve your life."

"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places" (Ps. 16:6)—The Hebrew word "chebel" can mean "measuring line," hence the rendering of the Authorized Version, but the sense was often extended to include the "territory" which was measured or enclosed by the "line"; hence, "chebel" came to mean "measured portion, lot, part, or region" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 286) or, metaphorically, "fortune or lot." Consequently, Moffatt is justified in translating: "Fair prospects are allotted me."

"He ... shall not see when heat cometh" (Jer. 17:8)—When the Hebrew Bible was first written, only the consonants were set down, and the reader was left to supply the correct vowels to go with them. In this verse the Hebrew verb could be read either as "Yire" (see) or as "Yira" (fear). The rendering "fear" is preferred by the Septuagint, the Syriac, and other versions. This explains the rendering of the Revised Version: "And shall not fear when heat cometh;" and that of Moffatt: "Untouched by any fear of scorching heat" (see Kittell: Biblia Hebraica).

"Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God" (II Cor. 9:11)—The term "haplotes," which is here rendered "bountifulness," means literally "singleness, simplicity, sincerity, mental honesty," and then the manifestation of these qualities in liberality (cf. Thayer: Greek Lexicon, p. 57). Moffatt renders the verse: "You will be enriched on all hands, so that you can be generous on all occasions, and your generosity, of which I am the agent, will make men give thanks to God." It may be added, by way of explanation, that in this chapter Paul was exhorting the men of Corinth to contribute generously to the fund which he was collecting for the benefit of the poorer members of the church at Jerusalem (see II Cor. 9:1; Rom. 15:25; Gal. 2:10, etc.).

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebr. 11:1)—The Greek term "hupostasis," which is here translated "substance," is used in a very wide variety of senses. Its literal meaning is "a setting, or placing" (stasis) "under" (hupo), and so, in a wider sense, "that which is a foundation, is firm ... substance, real being, courage, resolution, confidence, firm trust, assurance" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 645). In papyrus documents dating from the early centuries of our era it is often found in the sense of "title-deeds," a rendering which Professors Moulton and Milligan suggest in commenting on this verse (Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, p. 660). If this latter rendering be accepted, "faith" would then appear to be regarded as the guarantee or proof of possession of the things for which we hope. It may be added that the word "elegchos" can mean either "evidence" (as here) or, alternatively, "proof, conviction" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 202). Goodspeed renders: "Faith means the assurance of what we hope for; it is our conviction about things that we cannot see;" and Weymouth (5th edition): "Now faith is a confident assurance of that for which we hope, a conviction of the reality of things which we do not see;" and Moffatt: "Now faith means we are confident of what we hope for, convinced of what we do not see."

"With the temptation" (I Cor. 10:13)—The word twice translated "temptation" in this verse means more exactly "trial, proving" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 498). Weymouth, however, prefers to translate: "When the temptation comes;" and Moffatt and Goodspeed: "When temptation comes."

"The deep" (Luke 8:31)—More literally, this means "the abyss" (Greek—"abusson"). This is the same word which is rendered "bottomless pit" in Revelation 20:1, 3 of our Common Version; and is there spoken of as the place where Satan was bound by the angel. So in Luke, "the demons dread being sent to their place of punishment" (Plummer: St. Luke, p. 231).

"The horn of my salvation" (Ps. 18:2)—The term "horn" is very often found in the Old Testament, and occasionally in the New (cf. Luke 1:69), in its figurative sense of "power"; and one authority has well defined it as "an emblem of strength or power derived from the offensive weapons of some animals" (Hastings: Bible Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 415). When the horn is spoken of as "exalted" (as in Ps. 89:17), this suggests, according to the Hebrew idiom, "increased power and prestige;" but when it is "cut off" or "broken" (as in Jer. 48:25), the reference appears to be to destruction or humiliation (cf. Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 901f.).

"Thy gentleness hath made me great" (Ps. 18:35)—There remains some uncertainty as to both the exact form and the meaning of the Hebrew term which is here rendered "gentleness"; and, in consequence, we find various different translations at this point, including: "Thy help makes me great" (Smith); and, "Thine answers to prayer have raised me up" (Moffatt); though the Genevan Version had: "Thy loving kindness hath caused me to increase."