"The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness" (Jer. 51:10)—It may be noted that the word "tsedakah," here rendered "righteousness," can also mean "vindication, justification," "righteousness in a case or cause" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 842). As a consequence, one might well render: "The Lord has proved our innocence." Smith has it: "The Lord had vindicated our rights;" and Moffatt: "The Eternal has made good our cause."

"In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1)—The Greek term "Logos," which is translated "Word" in this and the following verses, can be used with reference either to speaking or to thinking; and so it can mean either "word" or "reason." Among the Greek philosophers and others, "logos" was constantly used in the sense of "reason," while in the Septuagint (or Greek Version of the Old Testament) we find that it was by the Logos (the Word or Reason) of God that the heavens were made (Ps. 33:6), while in Psalms 107:20 we are informed that God "sent his word [his 'Logos'] and healed them." It is of interest to note that those who prepared the targums (or Aramaic paraphrases of the Old Testament) constantly substituted the expression "the Word of the Lord" for the terms "the Lord" or "God"—as in Genesis 3:8: "They heard the voice of the Word of the Lord God walking in the garden" (Etheridge: Targums of the Pentateuch, Vol. I. p. 40). It is now generally agreed that this usage helped to prepare for the idea of the Logos or "Word" as a mediator between God and men (of. Plummer: St. John, p. 61). Commentators contend that the primary meaning of "Logos" as John employs it in chapter 1 of his Gospel, is "Word" rather than "Reason" (see Thayer: Greek Lexicon, p. 382); while in commenting on this passage, Loisy holds that "the word is not the Reason of God ... but, if one may say so, the Expression of God" (l'expression de Dieu). (Le quatrieme Evangile, p. 152.)

"Blessed are the undefiled in the way" (Ps. 119:1)—It may be observed that the Hebrew word here rendered "undefiled" is often translated "perfect" in other Old Testament passages, while it can also mean "innocent, simple, upright, honest" (Feyerabend: Hebrew Dictionary, p. 372). Honce, the Revised Version has: "Blessed are they that are perfect in the way;" and Moffatt: "Happy are they who live uprightly;" while Smith has: "How happy are they whose way is blameless."

"Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way" (Ps. 119:37)—The Hebrew term "shave," which is translated "vanity" in this verse, has the literal meaning of "emptiness, nothingness, worthlessness" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 996), and is to be distinguished from the word "chebel" (vapor or breath), rendered "vanity" in Jeremiah 51:18. Incidentally, the word "quicken," as employed in Psalms 119:37, is of course used in its somewhat archaic sense of "to make alive." Moffatt transpose the two clauses and reads as follows: "Make me alive to follow thee, and turn mine eyes from cravings vain;" while Smith offers the interesting rendering: "Turn my eyes away from looking upon unreality; revive me in thy way."

"He hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness" (Isa. 33:5)—The Hebrew word "mispat," here rendered "judgment," can also be translated "justice, law, or right" (Feyerabend: op. cit., p. 202); hence, the American Revised Version has, "justice and righteousness"; and Moffatt: "Justice and equity he pours on Sion."

"A tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken" (Isa. 33:20)—The vividness of the metaphor employed in this verse is more readily appreciated when we note that the term translated "tabernacle" is the regular Hebrew word for "tent"; hence the writer's reference to the stability of the "stakes" (or tent-pegs) and the strength of the "cords" (or guy-ropes). Moffatt translates: "A tent whose pegs are never to be pulled up, whose ropes are never to be rent."

"The glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby" (Isa. 33:21)—There is some difference of opinion among translators and commentators as to the exact implication of the illustration here employed by the prophet. Moffatt's rendering, for instance, brings out the sense that the Lord was the "river" of Israel, "a river never raided by a galley, sailed by no ships of war." On the other hand, the passage has been taken as simply meaning that "the protecting power of the Lord" was "a surer guarantee of safety than the broad rivers upon which other cities prided themselves, or a fleet of war galleys." "If any hostile ship should approach, it would meet with disaster" (Gore, Goudge and Guillaume: A New Commentary on Holy Scripture, p. 456).

"Trouble not yourselves" (Acts 20:10)—The Greek verb can mean either "to be troubled in mind" or else, with reference to the outward expression of grief, "to wail tumultuously" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 291). Hence, Weymouth suggests: "Cease your wailing"; and Moffatt: "Do not lament"; while Goodspeed has: "Do not be alarmed;" and the Revised Version: "Make ye no ado."

"Tares" (Matt. 13:25)—The particular weed referred to appears to be the bearded darnel (lolium temulentum), which is often found among the grain in Palestine to this day and grows to the height of barley or wheat. It is still usual not to root up this and other tall weeds "until the harvest" (see verse 30), when they are easily distinguished from the true grain, and can be readily removed.