Article May 20, 1961 Issue

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 May 28, 1961.]

Balaam ... Balak (Num. 23:5) ba'lam—first a as in ace, second as in account; ba'lak—first a as in ace, second as in add). Balaam was a soothsayer who came from Pethor, near the headwaters of the Euphrates (see Num. 22:5), in the territory of Aram (a'ram—first a as in ace, second as in add; or ar'am—first a as in care, second as in account). Balak, king of Moab, situated due east of the Dead Sea, brought Balaam some 400 miles to curse the Israelites, but he blessed them instead.

Let (II Thess. 2:7)

In this context "let" does not mean "allow" or "permit," but is used in its archaic sense of "restrain, withhold, hinder." In fact, elsewhere in the King James Version the same verb in Greek, katecho, is rendered "withhold."

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