Bible Notes

"The sure mercies of David" (Isa. 55:3)—Some scholars translate "to David" rather than "of David," since the word rendered "mercies" (more literally "loving-kindnesses"—cf. Isa. 63:7, Ps. 40:10f., etc.) is regularly used of God's love toward His people. The Septuagint reads: "ta hosia Dauid" (the holy things of—or to—David), which has been rendered, "the holy things (of God promised to) David" (Thayer: Greek Lexicon, p. 456) as a guarantee of the covenant mentioned earlier in this same verse.

"Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace" (Isa. 55:12)—The Septuagint offers this interesting rendering: "Ye shall go out with joy and shall be taught with gladness."

"It shall be to the Lord for a name" (Isa. 55:13)—The Hebrew word "shem" (name) is sometimes employed, as in English idiom, in the sense of "fame, renown, reputation" (Brown, Driver, Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, p. 1028), though some hold that in this passage "shem" has the sense of "memorial or monument" (ibid.). Thus, while Moffatt renders: "All this shall redound to the Eternal's fame," Smith prefers: "They shall be to the Lord a memorial;" and Kent: "It shall be a memorial to Jehovah."

"Praise ye the Lord" (Ps. 148:1)—It may be noted that our English word "Hallelujah" is simply the anglicized form of the Hebrew term which is here translated: "Praise ye the Lord."

"Ye heavens of heavens" (Ps. 148:4)—Some authorities take this as virtually equivalent in meaning to "the highest heaven," in accordance with a familiar Hebrew idiom. Similarly, "vanity of vanities" is taken as implying "absolute vanity" (cf. Eccl. 1:2), while in Exodus 26:33 what is literally "holy of holies" is rendered "most holy" in our Common Version (cf. Davidson: Hebrew Syntax, p. 49).

"Ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new" (Lev. 26:10)—The sense of the original appears to be that their harvests would be so abundant (verses 5 and 9) that before the previous crop (the old store) had been used up, it would have to be cleared out of the granaries to make way for the new. (See Kellog: Leviticus, p. 522; Chapman and Streane: Leviticus, p. 146). Moffatt renders: "You shall eat what has been stored for long; you shall have to clear out the old to make room for new supplies."

"All these things have I kept from my youth up" (Matt. 19:20)—The words "from my youth up" are not represented in the most authoritative manuscripts of this passage, and are therefore omitted by the Revised Version and other translators. Thus Moffatt has simply: "I have observed all these;" and Weymouth: "All of these ... I have carefully obeyed;" while Goodspeed has: "I have obeyed all these commandments."

"Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:23)—It may be noted that the word "hardly" is not here employed simply in the sense of "scarcely," but rather in its more literal signification. Weymouth translates: "I tell you in truth that it will be hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven;" and Moffatt: "I tell you truly, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the Realm of heaven;" while Goodspeed has: "I tell you, it will be hard for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of Heaven!"

"John had heard in the prison the works of Christ" (Matt. 11:2)—According to the contemporary Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, XVIII, v. 2), John the Baptist was confined in the grim fortress of Machaerus, which stood on the summit of a hill some miles to the east of the Dead Sea, and in the district of Perea. John had been imprisoned at the instance of Herod Antipas (Matt. 14:3), who ruled over both Galilee and Perea. In Matthew 11:2 the Greek has the words "ho Christos" (i.e., "the Christ," or "the Messiah") instead of merely "Christ," as in our Common Version, thus suggesting that in this context, at least, "Christ" was intended to be regarded as a title rather than as a proper name. Thus Moffatt has: "John heard in prison what the Christ was doing;" and Weymouth: "the Christ's deeds."

"Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see" (Matt. 11:4)—The Greek verb rendered "shew ... again" means more exactly to "report or announce" (Souter: Greek Lexicon, p. 27). Thus the Revised Version translates: "Go your way and tell John;" while Moffatt, Goodspeed, and Weymouth have: "Go and report to John."

"Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me" (Matt. 11:6) —The Greek word here rendered "offend" means more exactly "to put a stumbling block in the way of, to cause to stumble" (Souter: op. cit., p. 235f.). Moffatt suggests: "Blessed is he who is repelled by nothing in me;" Goodspeed: "Blessed is the man who finds nothing that repels him in me;" and the Revised Version: "Blessed is he, whosoever shall find none occasion of stumbling in me;" while Weymouth prefers: "Blessed us everyone who does not take offence at my claims."

"A city called Nain" (Luke 7:11)—In view of the fact that it was near Nain that Christ Jesus raised the widow's son (verses 12-15), it is of interest to note that Nain was situated less than two miles from the site of the Old Testament town of Shunem (cf. George Adam Smith: Historical Geography of the Holy Land), the home of the Shunammite woman (II Kings 4:8) whose son was brought back to life in response to the prayers of the prophet Elisha (II Kings 4:33-35). Both Nain and Shunem lay in the south of Galilee, close to the great plain of Esdraelon.

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