Bible Notes

"Charge them that are rich . . . that they be not highminded" (I Tim. 6:17)—The Greek verb "hupselophronein," here rendered "to be highminded," means also "to be proud" (cf. Thayer: Greek Lcxicon, p. 646). Weymouth (Sth edition) suggests: "Impress on those who are rich . . . that they must not be haughty;" and Goodspeed: "Charge the rich . . . not to be arrogant;" while Moffatt has: "Charge the rich . . . not to be supercilious."

"A corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit" (Matt. 7:17)—The Greek word "sapros," rendered "corrupt" in this and the following verse, was originally used in the sense of "decayed, crumbling or rotten" (Souter: Greek Lexicon, p. 231); but McNeile contends that in this context the word does not mean " 'rotten,' for a rotten tree would produce no fruit of any kind, but 'worthless' " (Commentary on Matthew, p. 96), a meaning which Souter also records. Goodspeed suggests: "A poor tree bears bad fruit;" Weymouth: "A worthless tree produces bad fruit;" while Moffatt prefers: "A rotten tree bears bad fruit."

"Man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7)—The term "nephesh," here rendered "soul," is used in a wide variety of senses in Hebrew, being often employed to denote "life or soul," while in other passages it signifies rather "self, person, desire, appetite, emotion, passion" (Brown, Driver, Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 659). Moffatt translates: "This was how man became a living being."

"The devil ... setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple" (Matt. 4:5)—The Greek word translated "a pinnacle" means literally "the little wing," and commentators differ somewhat in their views as to what the word was intended to imply. Some suppose that the reference is to the top of "Solomon's Porch" (cf. John 10:23), others, to the top of what was known as the "royal porch," which, according to Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews: XV, xi, 5), "commanded a dizzy abyss;" while still others hold that what is meant is the topmost point of the main temple edifice. According to McNeile (op. cit., p. 39), "the little wing . . . was probably a projecting turret or buttress." Weymouth suggests: "The devil . . . causcd Him to stand on the summit of the Temple;" and Goodspeed offers a similar rendering.

"Satan . . . the devil" (Matt. 4: 10f.)—The word "diabolos," here rendered "devil," means literally, "calumniator, slanderer, false accuser" and was the regular Greek word for "devil" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 135). The alternative name "Satan" came from the Hebrew "satan," meaning "adversary" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 512; Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 966), "opponent, or enemy" (Feyerabend: Hebrew Dictionary, p. 331). Scholars contend that the Jews borrowed the idea of Satan from the Zoroastrian religion (cf. Ernest F. Hume: World's Living Religions, p. 191).

"The Lord is the strength of my life" (Ps. 27:1)—The Hebrew word translated "strength" in this verse can also mean "a place of safety," and so "a fortress or refuge" (cf. Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 732). Consequently Smith prefers to translate: "The Lord is the refuge of my life;" and Moffatt: "The Eternal is the fortress of my life;" while the Septuagint Version has, "the defender."

"They that wait upon the Lord" (Isa. 40:31)—The Hebrew verb here rendered "wait upon" can also be translated "look eagerly for"; moreover, scholars contend that the word comes from a root meaning to "strain or twist" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 875). Hence, as used in the original, the verb appears to imply a condition of eager and active expectancy, rather than of passive "waiting."

"To whomsoever the Son will reveal him" (Matt. 11:27)—The term used is not the future of the verb "to reveal," as might appear from the rendering of our Common Version, for the Greek reads literally: "chooses (or wills) to reveal." Thus Weymouth has: "all to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." (Compare also Moffatt and Goodspeed.)

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28)—The Greek verb here translated "to give rest'' was sometimes used in the rather more active sense of "to give refreshment" (cf. McNeile: op. cit., p. 166). Hence Moffatt suggests: "Come to me, all who are labouring and burdened, and I will refresh you." Another rendering would be: "Come unto me, all you who are restless and burdened, and I will give you rest."

"The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me" (Ps. 116:3)—In the original Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament there were only consonants, and we find that the form "CHBLY" can mean either "sorrows" (as here) or "cords" according to the vowels presupposed by the translator; moreover, the Hebrew term rendered "hell" is "she'ol," which did not necessarily imply an "abode of punishment," for the Jews employed this term in a general sense to designate the "grave," "the realm of the dead" or "the underworld" (cf. Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 982 ; Hastings' Dictionary: Vol. II, p. 343). In Psalms 116:3 Moffatt has: "Death had netted me, in desperate straits, I was in anguish and despair," and continues, "so I appealed to the Eternal."

"Who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered" (Rom. 8:20f.)—By a slight change of punctuation, modern translators appear to clarify the sense of the passage. Thus Moffatt reads: "who thus made it subject, the hope being that creation as well as man would one day be freed;" and the Revised Version: "who subjected it, in the hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered."

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