Article September 2, 1939 Issue

Bible Notes

"Him hath God the Father sealed" (John 6:27)—The word which in this verse is literally rendered "sealed" is quite often used metaphorically in the New Testament in the sense of "confirm, authenticate, place beyond doubt" (Thayer: Greek Lexicon, p. 609). Hence Moffatt suggests the following rendering: "The Father, God, has certified him." The Twentieth Century New Testament has: "Upon him the Father—God himself—has set the seal of his approval."

"By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches" (Prov. 22:4)—More literally: "The consequence (or 'reward') of humility and the fear of the Lord is riches" (Brown, Driver, and Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 784). Moffatt gives the sense of the verse as follows: "The humble and reverent are rewarded with wealth and honour and long life."

"Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward" (Prov. 22:5)—The Hebrew term here rendered "froward" is "iqqesh," meaning literally "twisted" or "perverted" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 786); while the Syriac Version and the Targums suggest that instead of "tsinnim" (thorns) we should read "tsammim" (traps), an emendation which is accepted by several modern translators. Thus Smith offers the rendering: "Traps and snares are on the way of the crooked;" and Kent: "Traps and snares are in the way of the lawless;" while Moffatt has: "On crooked courses men step into snares."