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."
"Ten pieces of silver" (Luke 15:8)—The word rendered "pieces of silver" is "drachmas" in Greek, the "drachma" being a silver coin worth about ten pence (twenty cents), representing roughly a "shilling" or "quarter." In the New Testament period, one of these coins represented a day's wages, and in view of this, the joy expressed by the woman in finding her lost shilling is the more readily appreciated. Moffatt has the rendering "shillings," though Goodspeed prefers, "silver coins."
"I will extol thee, my God, O king" (Ps. 145:1)—While the word "extol" can mean simply "praise," its original sense, suggested in the corresponding Hebrew verb, is "lift on high," and so "exalt," the latter rendering being the one now found in Smith's translation of the Old Testament.
"Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die" (Hab, 1:12)—By the change of a single letter in the Hebrew, "We shall not die" would become "Thou diest not," which, according to Jewish tradition, is the original reading. So Moffatt renders: "Art thou not the Eternal from of old, my God, my Majestic One?—thou diest not;" and Smith: "Art thou not from of old, O Lord, my holy God? Thou diest not!"
"Thou ... canst not look on iniquity" (Hab. 1:13)—The Hebrew term "amal," which is here rendered "iniquity," means primarily "labor, toil, or trouble;" but was often employed to express the thought of "misery, sorrow, suffering," or, again, "mischief, wrong, oppression." The Margin of the Authorized Version suggests the translation "grievance," since the word "amal" is thus rendered in verse 3 of this chapter; while Moffatt has: "Thou canst not look on at oppression"
"Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness! ... He ... filleth the hungry soul with goodness" (Ps. 107:8, 9)—Our English word "goodness," as used in these verses, represents two different Hebrew terms. In verse 8 it translates the Hebrew "chesed," which has a wide variety of meanings, including "love, mercy, kindness," as well as "goodness." The term "tobah," however, which is rendered "goodness" in verse 9, means more specifically "good things, prosperity, good, welfare, benefit." Kent suggests this distinction by rendering: "Let them give thanks to Jehovah for his 'lovingkindness' ... the hungry soul he filleth with 'good.' "
"He ... brake their bands in sunder" (Ps. 107:14)—Moffatt's rendering is more in accord with the present-day idiom: "He ... snapped their chains;" while Smith has: "He ... burst their bonds asunder."
"The vanity of their mind ... the blindness of their heart" (Eph. 4:17, 18)—The word which is here rendered "vanity" has the general meaning of "unreality, instability, emptiness"; while "porosis," which is here translated "blindness," refers literally to the covering with a thick skin or callous ("poros"), and was often used metaphorically to denote "obtuseness, stubbornness, stupidity, mental dullness." Goodspeed suggests: "their frivolity of mind ... their obstinacy their obstinacy of heart."
"The day after" (Luke 7:11)—The best manuscripts of the original do not include the word for "day"; and bearing this in mind, Goodspeed renders: "soon afterwards," and Moffatt: "shortly afterwards."
"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (I Cor. 15:55)—The Greek word "kentron" means primarily "sting," but was also employed as a name for the iron goad or spur which was used to urge forward oxen. Compare Acts 9:5, where, in the account of Saul's conversion, we find that he is warned not to "kick against the pricks" (i.e., "goads"—kentra). Following two of the chief early manuscripts, Dr. Moffatt renders the passage: "O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?"
"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law" (I Cor. 15:56)—Since the word translated "strength" means literally "power," we find that Goodspeed renders: "Sin is the sting of death, and it is the Law that gives sin its power."
