Article April 15, 1939 Issue

Bible Notes

"The valley of the shadow of death" (Ps. 23:4)—The rather unusual Hebrew word "tsalmaweth," which is here translated "shadow of death," can also mean "deep shadow, deep darkness," or "terror" (compare Feyerabend: Hebrew Dictionary; and Brown, Driver and Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 853). Thus we find that Smith renders: "the darkest valley"; and Moffatt: "a glen of gloom;" while Kent prefers: "the valley of gloom."

"Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed" (John 20:29)—It may be observed that in view of the fact that the earliest Greek manuscripts had little or no recorded punctuation, the Greek verb "pepisteukas" could be read as implying either a statement, "thou hast believed," or a question, "hast thou believed?" An interrogation point is indeed found in this passage in the Old Syriac Version. Thus we find that Goodspeed renders: "Is it because you have seen me that you believe?" Weymouth: "Because you have seen me, ... you have believed?" Moffatt: "You believe because you have seen me?" The Margin of the American Standard Version has: "Because thou hast seen me, hast thou believed?" The Riverside New Testament, however, prefers: "Because you have seen me you have believed."

"The body of this death" (Rom. 7:24)—More literally, "this body subject to death" (Thayer: Greek Lexicon). Moffatt suggests: "this body of death," as do Weymouth and the Riverside New Testament; while Goodspeed prefers: "this doomed body."

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

I am especially grateful to Mary Baker Eddy for her...