Article April 1, 1939 Issue

Bible Notes

"A spirit of infirmity" (Luke 13:11f.)—The word which is translated "infirmity" in these verses has the more literal meaning of "weakness" or "lack of strength" (compare Thayer: Greek Lexicon. p. 80). In verse 11, Moffatt renders: "weakness from an evil spirit;" Weymouth (fifth edition) and the Riverside New Testament: "a spirit of weakness;" while the Twentieth Century New Testament renders: "a woman who for eighteen years had suffered from weakness, owing to her having an evil spirit in her."

"Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved" (Jer. 17:14)—In Hebrew, as in a number of other languages, the repetition of a word often suggests emphasis or completion, and therefore we we might translate: "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be completely healed, save me, and I shall be completely saved."

"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life" (John 5:39)—It is of interest to note that the Greek term "ereunate" can be taken either as imperative (Search!) or as indicative (Ye search). Hence, the Revised Version has: "Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life;" and Moffatt: "You search the scriptures, imagining you posses eternal life in their pages;" while Goodspeed suggests: "You pore over the Scriptures, for you think that you will find eternal life in them."

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