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.]

"The earth is full of thy riches" (Ps. 104:24)—The word which is translated "riches" in this verse, derives from a root which means literally to "get" or "acquire"; though when used with reference to God, as here, it was sometimes used in the special sense of "to create." This explains Smith's rendering: "thy creations"; and that of Moffatt: "thy creatures."

"The heaven of heavens" (Deut. 10:14)—While this represents a literal translation of the original, many scholars feel that, in accord with a familiar Hebrew idiom, the meaning implied is "the highest heaven." Compare the phrase "vanity of vanities," found in Ecclesiastes 1:2, which appears to mean "absolute vanity" or "complete vanity."

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