Article September 30, 1939 Issue

Bible Notes

"The houses ... which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword" (Jer. 33:4)—The "mounts" or, more literally, "mounds," were sloping embankments of earth built against the walls of a city by its besiegers. The attacking force could walk up these "mounds," and so enter the city. The word which is rendered "by" can be more correctly translated "against." So the general sense of the passage would seem to be that "the houses are broken down (to form a defense or barricade) against the mounds, and against the sword." (Compare the Revised Version; and also S. R. Driver: Jeremiah, p. 203.) Moffatt translates: "the houses ... which have been broken up to form a barricade against the siege-works and the sword." Similarly, Dr. Streane (Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations, p. 227) observes that "the houses of the city and of the kings were not thrown down by the besiegers, as our Version suggests, but by the besieged, in order to make room for defensive works to be raised against these forms of attack."

"I will cause the captivity of Judah ... to return" (Jer. 33:7)—In Hebrew, the word "shub," literally translated "return," has the meaning of "to turn back," and so "take away," when used with reference to "captivity." Hence the general sense of the passage is: "I will remove the captivity of Judah;" in other words, "I will cause Judah to return from captivity." Compare Moffatt's rendering: "I will restore the fortunes of Judah." Smith provides an almost identical translation.

"Blessed are the undefiled in the way" (Ps. 119:1)—It may well be observed that the Hebrew word which is here rendered "undefiled" is very often translated "perfect" in other Old Testament passages, while in addition it can mean "innocent, simple, upright, or honest" (cf. Feyerabend: Hebrew Dictionary, p. 372). Thus Moffatt has: "Happy are they who live uprightly;" and Smith: "How happy are they whose way is blameless."

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