Unto them which are exercised thereby (trois 8:’ adrijs yeyuuvacpevois). Who have been subjected to the severe discipline of suffering, and have patiently undergone it. For the verb see on 1 Tim. iv. 7. Rend. “it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness.” This preserves the Greek order, and puts righteousness in its proper, emphatic position.
VOL. Iv. —385
546 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. (Cu. XII.
12. Wherefore (dic). Because chastening is thus neces- sary, and serves for wholesome discipline, and issues in holiness.
Lift up (avop@écate). Found in L. xiii. 18; Acts xv. 16 (cit?). Occasionally in LXX. It signifies to set up, make, erect. In O. T. to establish, as a throne (2 Sam. vii. 13, 16) ; a house (2 Sam. vii. 26; 1 Chron. xvii. 24); to raise up one who is down (Ps. cxlv. 9; Sir. xi. 12). In Acts xy. 16, to build anew. By medical writers, to straighten; to set dislo- cated parts of the body. See L. xiii. 18.* The translation here should be more general: not lft up, which is inappro- priate to paralyzed knees, but set right; brace. As falling in with the thought of this passage, comp. the LXX of Ps. xvii. 35, which, for the A. V. “thy gentleness hath made me great,” gives “thy discipline hath established me or set me up.” See also Ps. xix. 8.
The hands which hang down (tas zrapepévas yeipas). Rend. the slackened or weakened hands. Comp. Isa. xxxv. 8 ; Sir. xxv. 23; 2 Sam. iv. 1. The verb srapiévar (only here and L. xi. 42) originally means to let pass, disregard, neglect ; thence to relax, loosen. See Clem. Rom. Ad Corinth. xxxiv, who associates it with vwOpos slothful (comp. Heb. v. 11).
And the feeble knees («ai 7a mrapanredupeva ydvara). For feeble rend. palsied. See on L. v. 18.
13. Make straight paths for your feet (tpoyids dpOds Toveite Tos Troolv buov). After the LXX of Prov. iv. 26. The corresponding Hebrew means to tear, to cut into: hence to cut through as a path; to make firm or plain. ’Op6ds N. T. only here and Acts xiv. 10; commonly straight or upright, but also right, safe, happy. Comp. Prov. viii. 6; xv. 14; ee ee ere ae
* A copious list of references to Hippocrates and Galen may be found in W. K. Hobart’s Medical Language of St. Luke, p. 22.
Cu. XII.) THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 547
xxi. 8. Here, not in the sense of straight as distinguished from crooked, but more generally, right, plain, by implication even or smooth.* Tpoxyid N. T.° is literally a wheel-track (tpoxyes a wheel). Very rare in profane Greek. Tois zroolv tpav “for your feet,” not with. That is, exert yourselves to make the course clear for yourselves and your fellow- Christians, so that there be no stumbling and laming.
That which is lame (70 ywrdv). XwdAds lame, halting, only in Synoptic Gospels and Acts. Mostly in the literal sense. Proverbial in Isa. xxxiii. 28. Metaphorically here, and partly Matt. xviii. 8; Mk. ix. 45. The verb yoratvev to be lame or to make lame (not in N. T.) is used metaphorically in LXX, Ps. xviii. 45; 1 K. xviii. 21, where the A.V. “how long halt ye between two opinions” is éws mdre tyeis ywraveite ex’ audorépats Tais iyviats how long do ye go lame on both your hams? To xywdov here signifies the lame part or limb.
Be turned out of the way (éxtpav7). Rend. “be put out of joint.” The A.V. is according to the more usual meaning of the verb, which, in N. T., is confined, with this exception, to the Pastoral Epistles. See 1 Tim.i.6; v.15; 2 Tim. iv. 4. LXX only Am. v. 8. But it is also used by medical writers in the passive, with the meaning to be wrenched or dislocated. There is nothing strange in the use of this word in a medical sense by our writer, whose work bears the stamp of Alex- andria. The Greeks received their knowledge of surgery from the Egyptians, and mural paintings and documents,. and even hieroglyphic symbols, prove that that people had. attained remarkable proficiency in the science. Herodotus: