Article July 24, 1937 Issue

Bible Notes

"To fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways" (Deut. 10:12)—The Hebrew verb which is here translated "fear" can also be rendered "reverence" (Feyerabend: Hebrew Dictionary, p. 134). Consequently, Smith has: "To stand in awe of the Lord your God;" while Moffatt suggests the interesting rendering: "To reverence the Eternal your God, always to live his life."

"With all thy heart and with all thy soul" (Deut. 10:12)—While this is a literal translation of the Hebrew, the term "lebab" (heart) is usually employed to denote the "inner man, mind, will" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 523ff.), while "nephesh" (soul) is used to express a wide variety of ideas, including "living being, life, self, person, desire, appetite, emotion" (ibid., p. 659). Some scholars hold that where the two Hebrew terms are found together, as in this passage, "'lebab' (heart) is used of the intellect, while 'nephesh' (soul) is used of the feelings" (ibid., p. 661). Moffatt renders: "With all your mind and all your heart;" and Smith suggests: "With all your mind and heart."

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34)—This verse is often read with almost complete disregard of the semicolon, but the Greek as well as the English suggests a somewhat definite pause at the word "another," before proceeding with the remainder of the sentence. Goodspeed suggests this even more clearly by the adoption of the following translation and punctuation: "I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must love one another;" while Weymouth (Fifth Edition) has: "A new commandment I give you, to love one another; that as I have loved you, you also may love one another." Moffatt suggests: "I give you a new command, to love one another—as I have loved you, you are to love one another." Dr. Plummer notes that the words "as I have loved you" are "rightly placed in the second half of the verse. They do not mean 'love one another in the same way as I have loved you;' but they give the reason for the fresh commandment—'even as I have loved you'" (St. John, p. 271f.).

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