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These passages deal not with the kosmos, and by comparing these three passages together
we shall see that the A.V. gives us truth, but veils a great deal more than it reveals.
A considerable amount of thought has been given to the word translated "foundation."
In the original it is katabole, which etymologically means a casting or a laying down.
Some say that it means to lay as a foundation, others, that it means to overthrow. Let us
briefly consider the usage of the word. The following are all the occurrences of the word
katabole in the N.T.:--
"From the foundation of the world" (Matt. 13: 35; 25: 34; Luke 11: 50; Heb. 4: 3;
Rev. 13: 8 and 17: 8).
"Since the foundation of the world" (Heb. 9: 26).
"Before the foundation of the world" (John 17: 24; Eph. 1: 4; I Pet. 1: 20).
"Received strength to conceive seed" (Heb. 11: 11).
It is clear from the above occurrences being translated "foundation," with the
exception of one passage, and being practically the same expression, either from or
before the foundation of the world, that we must look elsewhere for some means of
testing its meaning.
The verb kataballõ occurs in II Cor. 4: 9; Heb. 6: 1; and Rev. 12: 10, and is
translated in the A.V., "cast down" and "laying." II Cor. 4: 9 certainly means that the
apostle was thrown down; it cannot mean anything to do with laying a foundation.
Turning to the Septuagint (the Greek version of the O.T. in use at the time when the N.T.
was written) we find the verb kataballõ used to translate the following Hebrew words (we
give some of the A.V. translations of them):--
Haras.--Beat down, break down, overthrow, pull down, ruin.
Shachath.--Destroy, batter, waste, mar.
Naphal.--Fall, overthrow, to fell (Psa. 73: 18).
Parats.--To break down, make a breach, break up.
Shaphel.--To lay low, abase, cast down (Isa. 26: 5).
These are some of the Hebrew words which kataballõ is used to translate, and these
five words, as also the others, mean to overthrow, break up, &100: Such passages as
II Sam. 20: 15 and Psa. 106: 26, 27 should be read, substituting "foundation" or
"establishing" for overthrow, &100:, and the utter incongruity and untruthfulness of the
rendering will be apparent. A consideration of alternative translations to kataballõ of the
various Hebrew words will further assist us in arriving at a just conclusion. For instance,
in Prov. 25: 28 we read, "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is
broken down and without walls." In this passage the LXX renders "broken down" by
kataballõ. In Neh. 2: 13 the same Hebrew word occurs, "and viewed the walls of
Jerusalem which were broken down." This time the LXX renders it by kathaireõ, which
is the verb used with its noun in II Cor. 10: 4, 5 and 8, and is translated in the A.V.,
"pulling down," "casting down," and "destruction."
Isa. 26: 5 furnishes another example, "The lofty city He layeth it low, He layeth it
low even to the dust." The first phrase, "He layeth it low," is rendered in the LXX by
kataballõ, the second by katago, which means to bring down as in Rom. 10: 6. It seems