Article January 8, 1938 Issue

Bible Notes

"The tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month" (Rev. 22:2)—The words "manner of" and "and" are not represented in the original text, which reads literally: "the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits yielding its fruit every month;" and some scholars take "twelve fruits" to be equivalent to "twelve crops of fruit" (cf. margin of the Revised Version), one of which, on this view, would ripen every month. Weymouth (fifth edition) has: "It produced twelve kinds of fruit, yielding a fresh crop month by month."

"The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (Rev. 22:2)—It is of interest to compare this verse with a passage in the prophecy of Ezekiel, where the prophet writes of a tree which is to "bring forth new fruit according to his months," while "the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine," or, more literally, "for healing" (see Ezek. 47:12).

"Blessed are they that do his commandments" (Rev. 22:14)—The Sinaitic and Vatican manuscripts, supported by the Ethiopic and Vulgate versions, read "plunontes tas stolas auton"—"they that wash their robes" (cf. Rev. 7:14), instead of the similar appearing words: "poiountes tas entolas autou"—"they that do his commandments." Wycliffe appears to have been the first of the English translators to accept this interesting reading, and it is followed by Moffatt, who has: "Blessed are those who wash their robes;" while closely similar renderings are offered by Weymouth, Souter, Goodspeed, and the Revised Version.

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