Article September 4, 1937 Issue

Bible Notes

"Thou hast shewed ... great mercy" (I Kings 3:6)—The Hebrew noun which is here translated "mercy" is "chesed," a term which it is difficult to render adequately by the use of any one English term, for it includes the ideas of "goodness, kindness, mercy, loving-kindness" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 338f.), as well as "love, good-will, favour, grace, beauty" (Feyerabend: Hebrew Dictionary, p. 104).

"An understanding heart" (I Kings 3:9, 12)—In verse 9, this phrase represents the Hebrew "leb shomea," literally "a hearing heart," and is rendered by Moffatt as "a thoughtful mind"; and by Smith as "an attentive mind." On the contrary, in verse 12, the phrase as set down in the original is "leb nabon," literally "an understanding heart," as in our Common Version; though Smith prefers to translate: "A ... discerning mind."

"I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in" (I Kings 3:7)—Solomon's actual age at this period is not exactly known, but scholars point out that he was almost certainly not "a little child" in the literal sense. We find the prophet Jeremiah employing a similar metaphor when he was called to undertake his mission: "I cannot speak," he cried, "for I am a child" (Jer. 1:6). Dr. Barnes contends that the phrase "to go out or come in" is to be understood as meaning "to begin or complete an undertaking" (Commentary on I Kings, p. 25).

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