"Form of doctrine" (Rom. 6:17)—Literally, "form (or 'pattern') of teaching." Goodspeed suggests: "Standard of teaching"; while Moffatt prefers: "Rule of faith."

"Ye have your fruit unto holiness" (Rom. 6:22)—The Greek word "hagiasmos" means more strictly "consecration" or purification"; hence Goodspeed's translation: "The benefit you get is consecration;" though the Twentieth Century New Testament suggests: "The fruit that you reap is an ever-increasing holiness," and continues, "and the end Immortal Life."

"In the beginning" (Gen. 1:1)—The Aramaic paraphrases of the Old Testament, generally called "Targums," make interesting suggestions as to the translation and the significance of the phrase rendered in our Authorized Version, "In the beginning." The Targum of Jerusalem has: "In (or 'By') wisdom God created;" and that of Palestine: "At the beginning"; while the Targum of Onkelos has: "In eternity."

"Adam" (Gen. 2:19)—In this passage, as in others in which the word "Adam" occurs, it represents the Hebrew "ha-adam"—meaning literally "the man"—and it is thus translated by most modern translators. In fact, in verse 22 of this chapter the words "the man" found in our Authorized Version translate "ha-adam."

"Be ye therefore followers of God" (Eph. 5:1)—The Greek noun "mimetai" (which is derived from the same root as our word "mimic") has the literal meaning of "imitators," and is thus rendered by several modern translators. Dr. Moffatt, however, prefers the brief rendering: "Copy God."

"Ye were sometimes darkness" (Eph. 5:8)—It will be recalled that as used in this context the term "sometimes" does not mean "occasionally." When our Authorized Version was prepared, "sometimes" was equivalent in meaning to the modern term "once," which provides a more exact translation at this point.

"Have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5:11)—The Greek verb which is used in the latter portion of this verse, and in verse 13, can mean either "reprove" (as suggested in our Authorized Version) or "expose." Consequently we find that Goodspeed renders: "Have nothing to do with the profitless doings of the darkness; expose them instead;" while the Twentieth Century New Testament has: "Take no part in deeds of Darkness, from which no good can come; on the contrary, expose them."

"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph. 5:14)—In Greek the term "legei" can mean either "he said" (as it is rendered here) or "it said," while the "it," if the latter rendering be accepted, would no doubt refer to "the Scripture." Others feel that "legei" was widely recognized in Paul's day as a formula introducing a quotation, whether from the Old Testament or from some other source. Dr. Ernest F. Scott contends that this quotation is "almost certainly ... from an early Christian hymn."

"The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden" (Gen. 2:8)—If the "garden of Eden" be understood as referring to a geographical locality, its position as a part of the Babylonian plain would appear to be settled by the references to the rivers Tigris (the Biblical "Hiddekel") and Euphrates. Those who interpret the passage allegorically naturally find significance in the fact that in Hebrew "eden" means "pleasure, luxury, or delight"—the word being one which implies primarily gratification of the senses.

"Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat" (Gen. 2:16)—As noted in the Margin of the Authorized Version, a strictly literal translation of the original Hebrew would be, "... eating thou shalt eat." Here the repetition, as often in the Old Testament, has the effect of intensifying the meaning of the verb; just as in the following verse, "Thou shalt surely die," is literally, "Dying thou shalt die."

"A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Matt. 7:18)—In this passage our English term "good" represents two different terms found in the Greek. The former of these is the more usual word for "good" (namely "agathos") ; while the latter ("kalos"), though meaning primarily "beautiful" (this beauty being conceived of as the external evidence of goodness or nobility of character), was often used in the sense of "whole" or "sound." This distinction is marked by Moffatt, who renders "a good tree" and then "sound fruit." While in modern English "evil" is a term generally implying moral responsibility, it appears to be here used in the more usual sense of "bad."

"The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept" (Gen. 2:21)—In the Septuagint rendering of the Old Testament the term here rendered "a deep sleep" is represented by a word with the literal meaning of "trance." We learn that as a result of this "trance." We learn that as a result of this "trance" Adam "slept," the Greek verb for "slept" being "hupnose," which is derived from the same root as our modern words "hypnotism" and "hypnotic."

"She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Gen. 2:23)—This rendering well suggests the play upon words in the Hebrew, in which "man" is represented by the term "ish," while woman is "ishsha." It may be added that while "ish" means "man as distinguished from woman," "Adam" (compare also verse 19, etc.) usually means mankind in general.

"So shall I talk of thy wondrous works" (ps. 119:27)—The verb which is translated "talk" at this point can also mean "muse, study, or meditate on." Compare Moffatt's rendering: "That I may muse upon thy wondrous deeds." Briggs, however, translates: "The way of Thy wonders will I sing."

"By the sheep market" (John 5:2)—The word "market" is not represented in the original Greek, as our Authorized Version indicates by italicizing it, and many authorities feel that we should supply instead the word "gate," since we learn from Nehemiah 3:1 that there was near the temple a "sheep gate," doubtless so named from the fact that sheep for sacrifice were sold there.