The Jewish advance., 1880-01-30

y
eyes than the focus of your sight. you
will see it double. Our selfish little
souls Of great men keep themselves so
close to their own view that they see
themselves double and consequently re-
gard themselves of more than ordinary
Importance. They might perhaps be so
by virtue of their talents if they would
not think of themselves so much.
very much admire the apt German
illustration conveyed by the expression
Wetterhahm when applied to a person
that acts inconsistently. Describing
such person in Hebrew article, | once
used the following explanation Of the
term 77lo7 ws7 " ,wS 1l,a7 1,i,ono
,1Do H,&7o11l n,7,7l1 7'777 ,o'r 7i71 ~
rl5 ,O' tn - 1S Like the iron cock
on the top of the tower, his back bone
is iron ia biblical expression for stub
bolnness) to follow what is too great
and too wonderful for him, and he turns
according to every wind that blows.
This illustration is the more forcible in
Hebrew since in the rabbinical literature
the rooster is identified with pride, i'm
pertinence and sensuality.
Whether it is prejudice or not, do
not know, Hebrew words and expressions
have always deep meaning with me.
For instance, the Hebrew equivalent for
hope" 7,Pn implies to the idea ex-
pressed by this word rational sense,
which is not contained in the living Ian
guages. The same word 7,pn means
also cord or string Thus hope in
the Hebrew sense must be stringing
out from realities it must be some
thing which may be nationally expect
ed" or ''reckoned out" to come; it must
be the end of thing, the beginning of
which we can clearly see; it is not an
event altogether depending on chance.
And this meaning lies in the very word.
What strength there is,in the verse of
Jer. xiv, l9, with this meaning of the
word mp! String out expectations of
peace while there is no good! Q, 7w7 7npl
40 mi time of healing while there
is only CONSERVATION 7l7l ,7o,o nv7l
'70r1] The despair of the time with all
its dangerous consequences to belief
in the future; the logical inference that
God must have rejected Israel, with
which the verse begins, is here admir-
ably expressed The translation of this
passage in the A. V. is, to say the least,
tame. The rendition of mp with look
out" is absolutely false, for we have a
special word for "look out" or expect"
it is 10y.
The Bible must be studied from the
original, or not at all. 1t appears to me
almost like sacrilege to apply the name
of the book to any of the translations
thereof. The historical or narrative
parts of the Bible may bear transla-
ton, but they are of interest and value
to the student only. Thus there is no
part of the Bible for the people in
simple translation. The Roman Church
was perhaps right in keeping that which
she called the Bible chained to the desk
of monastery. But the Jews did much
better by circulating the Bible with
voluminous commentaries. The believer
was ordered to read even the weekly
portion of the Pentateuch along with
Onkelos paraphrase, which is nothing
else than commentary. TIN, S,po DIP
nl0n.
1t is peculiar, painful as we'll as ridic-
ulous to observe how the wisest regula-
tions of our ancient teachers have been
turned into meaningless customs by
fanaticism. I remember how the pious
old folk at home considered it their sa-
cred duty to read the weekly portion of
the Pentateuch twice and Onkelos par
aphrase of that portion once on every
Friday, in accordance with the above
quoted rabbinical ordinance. If you
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