Article March 4, 1939 Issue

Bible Notes

"Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore" (Ps. 105:4)—In the original, this verse has two different Hebrew verbs, but since they are virtually synonymous, the rendering "seek" for both is permissible. Both are practically equivalent to "worship," when used, as here, with reference to Deity. Then the Hebrew term translated "face" can also mean "person or presence" (cf. Brown, Driver, and Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 816). Thus Moffatt has: "Worship the Eternal and his might, worship in his presence evermore;" though Smith prefers: "Inquire of the Lord and his might! Seek his face continually !"

"According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise" (Ps. 48:10)—It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word "shem," generally translated "name" as in this passage, is quite often used in the sense of "character," particularly the "character of God" (see Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 1028b).

'When I awake, I am still with thee" (Ps. 139:18)—Dr. Briggs takes this clause as "an expression of faith in the resurrection" (Commentary on Psalms, Vol. II, p. 490) and paraphrases his concept of the meaning in the words, "Have I wakened from the sleep of death, I am still with thee," though Moffatt renders: "I wake from my reverie, and I am still lost in thee." Smith, however, prefers to take the whole of verse 18 as though it referred to God's "thoughts" (verse 17), for he suggests: "Were I to count them—they would outnumber the sands! Were I to come to the end of them, my life-span must be like thine!" The rendering, "Were I to come to the end of them," is due to the fact that the Hebrew verb rendered "awake" in our Common Version could also be derived from a root meaning "end."

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