Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (Ex. 20:7)—The words "in vain," which are found twice in this verse, represent the Hebrew "la-shave," meaning literally "for 'emptiness, vanity, nothingness, worthlessness' " (Brown, Driver, and Briggs: Hebrew Lexicon, p. 996), while the word rendered "take" means also "to lift up, bear, carry" (ibid.). Thus a literal translation would be: "Thou shalt not bear the name of the Lord thy God for naught," a rendering which is of not a little interest in view of the words of the prophet Jeremiah: "O Lord, . . . we are called by thy name" (Jer. 14:9). Smith renders: "You must not invoke the name of the Lord your God to evil intent;" and Moffatt has: "You shall not use the name of the Eternal, your God, profanely;" while the Margin of the Revised Version suggests "for vanity or falsehood" instead of "in vain."

"For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest . . ." (Jer. 10:3)—Smith translates this verse as follows: "For the cults of the peoples are vanity—they are but a timber which one cuts from the forest, which the carpenter's hands have wrought with the axe;" while the Septuagint translators had: "For the customs of the nations are vain; it is a tree cut out of the forest, the work of the carpenter, or a molten image."

"They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not" (Jer. 10:5)—The Hebrew word translated "palm tree" is thought by most commentators to refer to a post or pillar resembling a palm tree, rather than to the actual tree itself; and there is good reason to suppose that in this particular passage it means "a scarecrow" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 1071; and Streanc: Jeremiah and Lamentations, p. 84). Then, too, the unusual Hebrew term "miksha," which is here rendered "upright," can mean "a garden of cucumbers," and is thus translated in Isaiah 1:8 (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 903). As a consequence, we find that Smith translates: "They stand like scarecrows in a garden of cucumbers, and cannot speak;" and Moffatt: "Idols are like scarecrows in a field, they cannot say a word;" while a further rendering, which is quoted by Streane (loc. cit.), is; "like pillars in a garden of cucumbers."

"Six cubits and a span" (I Sam. 17:4)—The cubit, literally forearm, was the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, and is generally counted as from 18 to 21 inches, though it naturally varied with individuals; while the span—the distance from the tip of the thumb to that of the little finger of the outstretched hand—is reckoned as equivalent to half a cubit. In other words, Goliath's height must have been somewhere between 9 feet, 9 inches, and 11 feet, 4 inches (cf. Kirkpatrick: Cambridge Bible, Samuel, p. 153).

"And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him" (I Sam. 17:32)—The Hebrew preposition "al," here rendered "because of," is often translated "within" in other passages of our Common Version (compare Ps. 42:6), "My soul is cast down within [Hebrew, "al"] me." Hence the rendering favored by the Margin of the revised Version: "Let no man's heart fail within him." It would appear, however, that the very early Hebrew manuscripts from which the translation known as the Septuagint was made, had "adonai" (my lord) instead of "adam" (man), for that version reads: "And David said to Saul; Let not, I pray thee, the heart of my lord be dejected within him." On the basis of this evidence, Moffatt and Smith translate: "Let not my lord's courage fail him."

"David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it" (I Sam. 17:39)—Moffatt seems to clarify the meaning of this passage by translating it into more modern idiom: "David buckled his sword over his coat and tried to walk, but in vain, for he was not used to such armour. So David said to Saul, 'I cannot move with these; I am not used to them.' "

"A scrip" (I Sam. 17:40)—This is the only place in the Old testament in which the Hebrew term occurs. It seems to mean a small bag or wallet (literally "a collector"). (See Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 545; and Hastings: Bible Dictionary, Vol. IV, p. 423.) the English word occurs again in our Common Version in Matthew 10:10. In I Samuel, Moffatt suggests the rendering, "knapsack"; and Kent, "shepherd's bag"; while Smith has simply, "bag."

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning" (Isa. 14:12)—The term which is rendered "Lucifer" means literally "shining one," but there is, among commentators, some difference of opinion as to the significance of the word in this particular context; though it is usually agreed that the metaphor is taken from the waning of a star at the approach of dawn. There seems, moreover, to be little doubt that when the prophet refers to the downfall of "the shining one" his primary reference is either an allusion to the mighty Babylon, or Assyria (cf. verse 25), or to one of the kings of these territories (cf. verse 4) who oppressed the Jews during the 8th, 7th, and 6th centuries B. C. (Cf. G. B. Gray: Isaiah, Vol. I. pp. 251 ff.; Hastings, op. cit., articles on "Lucifer" and on "Israel.")

"Open thou mine eyes" (Ps. 119:18)—The Hebrew word "gal," which is here rendered "open," means more literally to "uncover or reveal, or remove" (Brown, etc., op. cit., p. 162). So one might almost translate, "Uncover my eyes;" or, as Smith suggests: "Unveil my eyes"; though Moffatt prefers to retain: "Open mine eyes."

"Thy faith hath made thee whole" (Luke 8:48)—The Greek verb used in this verse means primarily "to save or deliver," but was also used quite often in the special sense of "to save from suffering," in short, "to cure." Hence the Margin of the Revised Version has: "Thy faith hath saved thee."