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NASB | 2 Samuel 21:19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Samuel 21:19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver's beam. |
Subject: The NKJV? |
Bible Note: Makarios, I awoke this morning thinking I might have been unfair to the NKJV. "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb." Psalm 139.13 (NKJV) is a solid state, lyrical translation and I could live with the NKJV exclusively for sure, but I just love the gritty literalness of the KJV "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb." "Possessed" in Strongs is rendered "qanah (888d); a prim. root; to get, acquire: - acquire (6), acquired (1), acquires (2), bought (20), buy (23), buyer (4), buying (2), buys (1), formed (1), gain acquisition (1), gained (1), get (3), gets (1), gotten (1), owner (1), possessed (1), possessor (2), purchased (3), purchaser (3), recover (1), redeemed (1), sold (1), surely buy (2)." A strong word here, but not as familiar to our ear as "formed", yet the word contains a resonance from another time, a mystery "What can this mean?" it makes me ask, and I go out looking. That's the coolness factor of oddball words, they fibrillate me a little and get me going. Then there's "reins" or "kidneys". Amazing thing to say: "You possesed my kidneys!" I clipped this note from Barnes: "...it comes to denote the inward part, the mind, the soul, the seat of the desires, affections, and passions. Jer_11:20. See Psa_7:9, note; Job_19:27, note." Again, wierd word, great insight into the ancient mind. However, "covered me in my mother's womb" is more literally "wove" (NASB). Interesting that "matriz" (matrix) is "womb" in Spanish. Here's the old Websters: "MA'TRIX, n. (L. matrix, from mater, mother.) 1. The womb; the cavity in which the fetus of an animal is formed and nourished till its birth. 2. A mold; the cavity in which any thing is formed, and which gives it shape; as the matrix of a type. 3. The place where any thing is formed or produced; as the matrix of metals; gang. 4. In dyeing, the five simple colors, black, white, blue, red and yellow, of which all the rest are composed." So the NASB (and the LITV) give the proper sense of His having woven us into our mothers' womb. Perhaps the KJV translators felt the "wove" and "womb" were redundant as the former is nearly a verb equivalent of the latter. Also, the KJV uses matrix a lot for "womb" in the OT: Exo 34:19 "All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male." So a terrific word study is born from this one oddball KJV verse. I love it. Colin |