Article July 9, 1938 Issue

Bible Notes

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

"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, which include "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).

"This commandment ... is not hidden from thee" (Deut. 30:11)—The term translated "hidden" means more literally "to be surpassing, extraordinary," or "to be beyond one's power," "to be hard or difficult," and, when followed by the preposition here translated "from," the phrase may be rendered in accord with Hebrew idiom, "too difficult for" (see Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 810). Hence, the Revised Version translates: "This commandment ... is not too hard for thee;" and Moffatt: "This command ... is not beyond your power, it is not beyond your reach."

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