Bible Notes

[The Biblical citations given in the Christian Science Quarterly are from the Authorized King James Version. The Bible Notes in this column can be used, if deemed necessary, to elucidate some of the words or passages contained in the Bible Lessons.]

"The seraphims" (Isa. 6:2)—The word "seraphims," found in our familiar Authorized King James Version, is really a double plural, for "seraphim" is the regular Hebrew plural form of "seraph." The literal meaning of the word, which occurs only in this passage in Isaiah, is uncertain. What seems to be the most probable view as to its derivation is that which connects it with the verb "saraph," which means to burn or consume; and, thus considered, the "seraphim" were doubtless agents of purification; indeed, we are told in verses 6 and 7 that "one of the seraphims" touched Isaiah's lips with "a live coal" and his iniquity was taken away.

"Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes" (Isa. 6:10)—It may be observed that in the Septuagint (Greek) version, we do not find the series of commands in this and the previous verse, recorded in the Hebrew text in its present form, and so reproduced in our Common Version; but it is suggested that it is the people who have themselves "shut their eyes," etc. Thus in verses 9 and 10, as set down in Bagster's rendering of the Septuagint, we read: "Ye shall hear indeed, but ye shall not understand; and ye shall see indeed, but ye shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed."

"But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten" (Isa. 6:13)—The verb here rendered "eat" appears to mean more literally "consume" in the sense of "burn," doubtless with the metaphorical implication of the flames of affliction or of testing. Thus we find that Smith translates: "Even if a tenth remain in it, this must pass through the fire again."

"Thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations" (Ps. 135:13)—The Hebrew term which is here translated "memorial" can also be rendered "remembrance or memory," and was sometimes used in the sense of "renown." Hence both Moffatt and Kent prefer the rendering "fame."

"Is it time for you . . . to dwell in your cieled houses . . . ?" (Hag. 1:4)—One might very naturally connect the word "cieled" with the less archaic term "ceiling," which is occasionally spelled "cieling," but, as a rule, the Hebrew word refers primarily to the "paneling" of the walls of a house, which was considered as a mark of luxury. Haggai, then, would appear to be drawing a vivid contrast between the elaborately paneled homes of his contemporaries and the ruins of the temple, which he describes as lying "waste." Moffatt translates this verse as follows: "And is it a time for you to be living in panelled houses of your own, when this House is lying in ruins?"

"Be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua" (Hag. 2:4)—It may be observed that while Haggai exhorted Zerubbabel and Joshua (sometimes spelled "Jeshua") and the people as a whole to rebuild the temple which the Babylonians had razed to the ground some sixty-six years before he wrote his book, he also supported his precept by example, for he himself took part in the work of reconstruction, as we learn from Ezra 5:1f.

"The heaven of heavens" (II Chron. 6:18)—Some scholars take this phrase to mean "the highest heaven," in accordance with a familiar Hebrew idiom.

"The Jews' passover was at hand" (John 2:13)—The Gospel of John has often been referred to both in ancient and in modern times as the "universal gospel" ; and this verse, with its reference to "the Jews' passover," provides one of the indications of the fact that the writer expected many Gentiles to be numbered among his readers. Had he been writing solely for Jews, the natural expression for him to use would have been simply "the passover," since that feast, as one of their great national institutions, was, of course, well known to every one of them; though Gentiles might well think of it, or refer to it, as "the Jews' passover."

"In the temple" (John 2:14)—The Greek word "hieron," here rendered "temple," was regularly used with reference to something more than the actual edifice of the temple, for it refers to "the whole sacred enclosure, with the courts and porticoes," and so doubtless corresponded to what today is called the "Temple Area" or "Haram" at Jerusalem. It seems that it was in one of the outer courts of the temple, namely, the so-called "court of the Gentiles," that the trading referred to in the remainder of the verse took place. When the sacred central edifice of the temple was referred to, to the exclusion of its outer courts, the word used was a different one—the Greek "naos" (cf. John 2:20).

"Those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money" (John 2:14)—The men who sold these oxen, sheep, and doves carried on their trade for the convenience of those who came to the temple that they might offer the sacrifices ordained by the law of Moses (Lev. 5:7). Moreover, the annual "per capita" tax of half a shekel (Ex. 30:13), which was payable to the temple authorities, could not be paid in Roman or Greek, but only in Jewish money; hence the business of the money-changers. Up to a point, then, the business of these men was legitimate enough, but exorbitant fees were charged for their services, and their noisy desire for gain virtually desecrated the very sanctuary itself.

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