"The only wise God" (I Tim. 1:17)—In a number of the earliest and most authoritative of the manuscripts of our New Testament, such as the Sinaitic, Alexandrian, and Bezan Codices, the term rendered "wise" is omitted from this verse. Its inclusion in some manuscripts has been explained as an effort to bring this into conformity with Paul's reference in Romans 16:27 (Revised Version) to "the only wise God" (see Souter: Novum Testamentum Graece). In I Timothy 1:17 Moffatt and the Revised Version have simply, "the only God"; and Goodspeed, "the one God"; while Weymouth (fifth edition) has: "who alone is God."

"He shall direct thy paths" (Prov. 3:6)—The verb translated "direct" means literally "to make smooth or straight" (Brown, Driver and Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 448); hence Smith's rendering: "He will make straight your paths." It may be noted that the Septuagint translators render the verb by the rather unusual Greek term which is to be found also in II Timothy 2:15, and is there rendered "rightly dividing."

"I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious" (Acts 17:22)—The original sense of the Greek term "deisidaimon" was "reverencing God, or the gods, pious, religious," though it was occasionally employed in a bad sense with the meaning "superstitious" (see Thayer: Greek Lexicon, p. 127); just as, in English, "to fear God" may imply either terror or reverence. Moffatt translates: "I observe at every turn that you are a most religious people;" and Weymouth: "I perceive that you are in every respect remarkably religious;" while Goodspeed has: "From every point of view I see that you are extremely religious." Thus it would appear that Paul's famous address to the Athenians opened with words of commendation, rather than with criticism and a blunt accusation of "superstition." The Athenians were, at least, more God-fearing than were many of the other Greeks (compare Meyer: Acts, Vol. II, p. 112; and Thayer: loc. cit.).

"I passed by, and beheld your devotions" (Acts 17:23)—The word "sebasta" refers properly to "objects of worship or of devotion," rather than to "devotions" in the ordinary sense of "worship or prayer"; and it was often used with reference to "temples, altars, statues, etc." (Thayer: op. cit., p. 572), being applied, indeed, to any things which were religiously honored.

"Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" (Job 11:7)—The Hebrew term "taklith," which is here translated "perfection," means more literally "end or completeness," and sometimes "boundary or limit" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 479), and since the word rendered "Almighty" is "Shadday," we find the suggested rendering (ibid): "'unto the end of Shadday wilt thou reach' (so as to know him fully)." Moffatt's translation of the verse is as follows: "Can you discover the deep things of God? Can you reach the Almighty's range of wisdom?" Smith renders: "Can you find out the limits of God? or can you attain unto the boundary of the Almighty?"

"Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?" (Job 12:9)—The Hebrew preposition which is here rendered "in" can also be translated "by" or "among" (Brown, etc., op. cit., pp. 88ff.). Hence the verse may be understood in various ways. Smith translates it: "Which among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?" Moffatt renders: "For which of them all knows not that this is the Eternal's way?" The margin of the Revised Version has: "Who knoweth not by all these, that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?"

"The testimony of God" (I Cor. 2:1)—The manuscripts of the original are almost equally divided between the reading "marturion" (testimony) and "musterion" (mystery). So we find that the Revised Version has: "mystery"; and Moffatt: "secret purpose"; though Weymouth prefers "testimony."

"An understanding heart" (I Kings 3:9, 12)—In verse 9, this phrase represents the Hebrew "leb shomea," literally "a hearing heart," and is rendered by Moffatt as "a thoughtful mind"; and by Smith as "an attentive mind." On the contrary, in verse 12, the phrase as set down in the original is "leb nabon," literally "an understanding heart," as in our Common Version; though Smith prefers the translation: "a ... discerning mind"; and Moffatt has: "a ... thoughtful mind."

"Thou shalt love the Lord ... with all thy mind" (Mark 12:30)—It would appear that in this passage, Christ Jesus is quoting from the Greek Version of the Old Testament (Deut. 6:5), for the words which correspond to "with all thy mind" do not occur in the Hebrew text as we now have it. The Septuagint, however, has this reading: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy mind" (or "understanding," the Greek word being "dianoia"). Compare the scribe's answer to Jesus, which included the words "with all the strength" (verse 33). "Strength" and "might" (see the Authorized Version rendering of Deut. 6:5) appear to be simply different translations of the same Hebrew word.

"I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel" (Jer. 31:31)—The Hebrew word literally translated "covenant" is "berith." When the Septuagint translators rendered this passage into Greek, they translated "berith" by the word "diatheke," which can mean either "covenant or "testament." It may well be recalled in this connection that, in II Corinthians 3:6, Paul writes, according to our Common Version, that God "hath made us able ministers of the new testament" (diatheke), which can thus be translated "new covenant" as in the Revised Version; while Christ Jesus is quoted as saying (I Cor. 11:25): "This cup is the new testament [or covenant] in my blood" (see Souter: Greek Lexicon, p. 62).