Article October 4, 1941 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. The Notes in this issue are related to the Lesson-Sermon designated to be read in Christian Science churches on October 12, 1941.]

"Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved" (Jer. 17:14)—In various languages, including Hebrew, the device of repeating a word is often employed to suggest emphasis or completion, and in view of this we could translate: "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be completely healed; save me, and I shall be completely saved."

"Then drew near unto him all the publicans" (Luke 15:1)—The Hebrew "publicans" (that is, "tax-collectors" or "customs officers") employed by the Roman authorities were despised by their own countrymen as men who had bartered their national pride for Roman profit. It may be noted that the Roman officials who hired them were known in Latin as "publicani," and it is from this term that our English word "publican" is derived.

"Ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance" (Luke 15:7)—Among the Jews, the term "dikaios" (just) was commonly applied to those who held strictly to the details of the Mosaic law, and this the scribes and Pharisees undoubtedly did, though they all too often neglected its lofty principles. Thus they were technically "just," though commentators contend that there may well have been a tinge of irony in the Master's use of the term at this point, and also in his employment of the word "repentance."

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