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"Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of woman in travail" (Psa. 48:,
[47:] 6).
"Fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken here, as a woman in travail"
(Jer. 49: 23, [24]).
"Therefore this evil hath happened unto you" (Jer. 44: 23).
If "fear" and "evil" can be said to "take hold upon" those concerning whom the
Psalmist and the Prophet wrote, "the fear of death" can be said "lay hold of" those
concerning whom the Apostle wrote. It is suggestive that those passages, which do take
upon themselves any colour at all, are parallel with the suggested interpretation of
Heb. 2: 16. While we would not say that these three passages prove anything, we must
say that Heb. 2: 16 should still be considered on its merits, our survey of the LXX
giving us just a little more inclination to believe that the interpretation offered above is
the true one.
Will others readers search and see and let us hear from them? Our desire is the truth,
and while endeavouring to teach others we are anxious and willing from others to learn
also.
pp. 46-48
No. 30.--K.E.B.(Lanarkshire). "There seems to be a contradiction in
Exod. 33: 11 and 20. `The Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a
man speaketh unto his friend', and `He said, Thou canst not see My face:
for there shall no man see Me and live'."
The sense of contradiction arises out of the mental addition to the statement in
verse 11, that Moses saw the face of the Lord, which you will observe is neither the
statement nor the meaning of the passage. It will be a help to us to notice that the
Hebrew word "face" is of wider application than the English usage, and we must not fall
into the error of judging Hebrew thought and expression by modern western ideas. We
will confine ourselves in the first place to chapter 33:, and give every occurrence of
the Hebrew word "face":--
"I will send an angel before thee" (verse 2).
"The Lord spake unto Moses face to face" (verse 11).
"My presence shall go with thee" (verse 14).
"If Thy presence go not with me" (verse 15).
"Upon the face of the earth" (verse 16).
"My goodness pass before thee . . . . .
the name of the Lord before thee" (verse 19).
"Thou canst not see My face" (verse 20).
"My face shall not be seen" (verse 23).