WORDS OF CURRENT INTEREST

[The words in this issue are related to the Lesson-Sermon in the Christian Science Quarterly designated to be read in Christian Science churches on December 24, 1961.]

The true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:9)

In the Greek the phrase translated "that cometh [literally 'coming'] into the world" may refer to "every man" (as indicated in the King James Version) or to the "coming" of the Light. Weymouth translates, "There was the true Light, which lightens every man, coming into the world," adding in a footnote that "the participle is ambiguous in gender and case."

Grace for grace (John 1:16)

The Greek charis anti charitos can be literally rendered "grace for grace," but Thayer and other authorities consider it to be an idiomatic phrase, meaning "grace succeeding grace perpetually, i.e., the richest abundance of grace." Moffatt well suggests this thought by translating "grace after grace."

A light to lighten the Gentiles (Luke 2:32)

Literally "a light for revelation [apokalupsis] of the Gentiles." Apokalupsis is the word from which our English word "apocalypse" is derived.

Doctors (Luke 2:46)

The word didaskaloi means literally "teachers" and is thus rendered by most modern translators.

Traversed

(trav'erst—a as in add, e as in maker; or urst—u as in urn; or tra-vurst'—a as in sofa, u as in urn). Lay or extended across; moved or traveled across.

Benighted

(be-nit'ed—first e as in event, second as in end, i as in ice). Overtaken by night or darkness; involved in or due to moral darkness or ignorance; as, benighted prejudice.

Theory

(the' o-ri—e as in eve, o as in obey, i as in is). The word comes from the Greek theoria, meaning a beholding, spectacle, contemplation, speculation. In English "theory" has come to mean the result of contemplation; hence, an analysis or explanation; a hypothesis offered as a basis of thought on a given subject. In ordinary usage, hypothesis may denote any assumption without proof; theory is opposed to practice, sometimes to fact.

Pale (noun)

Originally the word meant a stake or pointed slat; and then a fence or enclosure of or as of pales; a paling. A space or field having bounds; an enclosure; also, limits; bounds. Hence the metaphorical phrase, "Beyond the pale."

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