Article October 18, 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 26, 1941.]

"An evil heart of unbelief" (Hebr. 3:12)—While this represents a literal translation of the original Greek, Goodspeed suggests the more idiomatic English rendering: "a wicked, unbelieving heart ;" while the Twentieth Century New Testament has: "a wicked and faithless heart."

"Departing from the living God" (Hebr. 3:12)—The Greek verb which is used here has the literal sense of "to stand off," but can also mean "to depart," while, in addition, it is employed in various senses according to the context, including "desert, shun, fall away, become faithless." Weymouth (Fifth Edition) renders: "a sinful and unbelieving heart, manifesting itself in revolt from the ever-living God;" and Moffatt: "... moving you to apostatize from the living God."

"Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness" (Hebr. 3:8)—This is a quotation from Psalms 95:8, where the Hebrew words translated '"provocation" and "temptation" are "Massah" and "Meribah" respectively. The incident referred to in these passages is recorded in Exodus 17, where Moses is said to have given the double name "Massah, and Meribah" to the spot where the people forced him to provide them with water from the rock, "because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?" (Ex. 17:7.)