Article June 29, 1940 Issue

Bible Notes

[The Biblical citations given in the Christian Science Quarterly are from the Authorized King James Version. The Bible Notes in this column can be used, if deemed necessary, to elucidate some of the words or passages contained in the Bible Lessons.]

"O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help and their shield" (Ps. 115:9)—As is well known, the Hebrew Bible contained originally only consonants, the vowels being added by the reader. In this passage the words for "O" and "thou" are not in the original; and the consonants of this verse can be read as, "Israel trusts in the Lord; he is their help and their shield." Evidence for this reading is to be found in the Septuagint and Syriac versions, while it is accepted by Moffatt and other modern translators.

"He will bless them that fear the Lord" (Ps. 115:13)—The Hebrew verb which is here rendered "fear" is clearly not used in this context in the sense of "dread" or "be afraid of," but rather in the meaning which the word often has in the Old Testament, namely, "reverence" or "revere." It is, then, the reverent ones who obtain this blessing.

"I will give thee tables of stone" (Ex. 24:12)—The reference is clearly to the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments are said to have been inscribed (compare Deut. 5:22).

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