Article February 25, 1939 Issue

Bible Notes

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly" (Ps. 1:1)—The Hebrew preposition rendered "in" in this verse, and in the phrase "in the multitude of thy mercy" in Psalms 5:7, often means "by" and can also mean "because of" or "thanks to" (cf. Brown, Driver and Briggs: Herbrew Lexicon, p. 90). Thus in Psalms 1:1 we find that Moffatt renders: "Happy the man who never goes by the advice of the ungodly," and continues, "who never takes the sinners' road."

"With favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield" (Ps. 5:12)—The Hebrew verb "atar," which is here rendered by the somewhat archaic word "compass," can mean either "surround" or "crown" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 742). Briggs suggests the rendering: "Thou coverest them over with a great shield, with favour crownest them" (Commentary on Psalms, Vol. I, p. 39).

"Jacob sod pottage" (Gen. 25:29)—The Hebrew word rendered "sod" might rather be rendered "boiled," while the word translated "pottage" is derived from the same root, meaning literally "that which is boiled," and has been described as "a kind of boiled leguminous food" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 268), while others would take it as meaning "soup" or "vegetable stew," which in this instance was apparently made from lentils (see verse 34). Smith renders: "Jacob was making a stew;" and Moffatt: "Jacob was cooking some food."

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