8:28.-We here find the word "Gadarenes" instead of "Gergesenes." In Mark 5 T, where the same events are related, we read "Gadarenes," in the Authorized, and "Gerasenes" in the Revised Version. Gadara was the chief town of Perica. Gerasa was at some distance from Gadara, between Petraea and Arabia. Gergesa, according to Origen, was situated on the sea of Galilee, but no other writer mentions the existence of the place. Some have explained the difficulty by supposing that " Gadara" was a name applying not only to the town itself, but to the surrounding district, and that Gerasa or Gergesa was the particular locality in which the events here recorded took place.
9:2.-" Thy sins are forgiven." This is undoubtedly the meaning of the passage. The rendering of the Authorized Version, " thy sins be forgiven thee," sounds like the expression of a wish, and not like a positive statement.
9:13.-" I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." The words " to repentance," which are added in the Authorized Version, have been omitted by the Revisers.
9:17.-" Old wine-skins." The ancients, as is well known, kept wine either in large jars or in the skins of animals. The latter custom seems to have been universal in Palestine.
10:3.-" Thaddaeus." Other authorities have "Lebbaeus" only, and some "Lebbaeus whose surname was Thaddaeus," which is the reading of the Authorized Version. The names Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus signify "my breast," and "my heart," respectively; it is therefore easy to understand how both names could belong to the same person.
( To be continued.)
5:15.-The expressions "lamp" and "stand" are preferable to "candle-stick." Candles and candle-sticks do not appear to have been commonly in use among the ancients. The word translated "candle" in Job 18:66The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him. (Job 18:6) and similar passages, means simply "light," and the "candle-stick" in the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:3131And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. (Exodus 25:31)) was really a lamp-stand, and not a candle-stick at all in the modern sense of the word.
5:16.-"Even so let your light shine before men." This rendering connects verse 16 with what precedes. In the Authorized Version, verse 16 appears to be independent, as if it were said, "Let your light shine before men, so that they may see," &c.
5:21.-" Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time:" The translation "by them," besides being less literal makes the passage somewhat mysterious. The various precepts quoted in this chapter (verses 21, 27, 31, 33, 38,) were of course spoken by God to Israel.
5:22.-" Every one who is angry with his brother." The words "without cause" are omitted in the Vatican manuscript, though given, as the margin here tells us, by many ancient authorities. "The hell of fire " is substituted for " hell fire." The margin says "the Gehenna of fire." "Gehenna" is a corruption of the Hebrew "Gey'-hinnem," or the valley of Hinnom, called also (Jer. 7:3232Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place. (Jeremiah 7:32)) "the valley of the son of Hinnom." This valley was on the southern side of Jerusalem, and is first mentioned in Josh. 15:88And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward: (Joshua 15:8). The origin of its name is not known. We next hear of this place in 2 Chron. 28:33Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. (2 Chronicles 28:3), where we are told that king Ahaz used it for the performance of idolatrous rites. It was here especially that children were "caused to pass through the fire" in honor of Molech, an idol of the Ammorites. (1 Kings 11:77Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. (1 Kings 11:7); 2 Kings 23 to.) This custom seems to have existed in Palestine from the earliest times (Deut. 12:3131Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:31)). Owing to these human sacrifices the name of Topheth (or abomination) was given to the valley of the son of Hinnom, and the word " Gehenna" is therefore used in the New Testament in order to convey the idea of a place of horrible sufferings. Such is the place reserved for the wicked. It is worth while to mention that the Greek word "Hades" is also translated "hell" in the Authorized Version, (Acts 2:27, 3127Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Acts 2:27)
31He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. (Acts 2:31), and elsewhere). Hades, however, means merely the place of departed spirits. We therefore find that the Revisers have very properly retained the Greek word wherever it occurs, in order to distinguish Hades from "Gehenna" or "hell."