Article June 4, 1938 Issue

Bible Notes

"As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem" (Isa. 31:5)—The Hebrew verb rendered "defend" can also mean "cover" or "surround" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 170); while the Revised Version suggests the rendering "protect." Moffatt reads: "Like a bird fluttering above its nest, shall the Eternal ward Jerusalem;" and Smith: "Like hovering birds ... (so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem)."

"I will feed my flock" (Ezek. 34:15)—The verb rendered "feed" means literally to "pasture, tend, or shepherd" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 944), while in the original the "I" is definitely emphatic. Hence, Moffatt and Smith have: "I myself will tend my flock." The Septuagint, however, reads: "I will feed my sheep," and continues, "and will cause them to rest."

"The Lord God will come with strong hand" (Isa. 40:10)—The word "hand" is not represented in the original, but has been supplied by the translators to complete their sense of the meaning of the verse. However, when we bear in mind the fact that originally Hebrew was written down without the use of vowels, we are justified in reading "CHoZeK" (strength) instead of "CHaZaK" (strong), as did those who prepared the famous Septuagint Version about the third century B.C., and who translate: "The Lord is coming with strength." Moffatt has: "Here is the Eternal coming in power;" while Smith renders: "with might"; and Kent: "in might."

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