The Berean Expositor
Volume 47 - Page 29 of 185
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counsel is given to Christian wives to be "not afraid with any amazement", which means
"let nothing terrify you".
No.4.
pp. 138 - 140
AMERCE.
This is a good example of an obsolete word used in the A.V.
Deuteronomy 22: 18 reads: "And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise
him; and they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver . . . . .". This is an old
Latin-French form which adds the idea of mulcting to that of a simple fine, having the
victim at one's mercy. The angry Prince in Romeo and Juliet (III, 1, 195) says:
"But I'll amerce you with so strong a fine
That you shall all repent the loss of mine."
However, it is not a suitable word in the reference given. This is part of the code of
the law of God given through Moses which is one of justice and the Hebrew word means
to fine, "they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver". There was no thought that he
was being mulcted by this fine.
ANGLE. This is used in the A.V. in its original sense of a fish-hook. ". . . . . They
that cast angle into the brooks" (Isa. 19: 8) means casting fish-hooks into the Nile.
"They take up all of them with the angle" (Hab. 1: 15) would be rendered today "with the
hook". The word came to be used for the rod and line as well.
APPARENTLY and EVIDENTLY. These were originally strong words referring to
sight. They meant, visibly, manifestly, clearly, but in usage their meaning has now
weakened to seemingly, and `evidently' is more often used in cases of inference than
with respect to matters of sight. In Numb. 12: 8 God says "My servant Moses is not so,
who is faithful in Mine house. With him I will speak mouth to mouth, even apparently
and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold". The statement
that God spoke `apparently' to Moses sounds today as though He only seemed to do so
but the context makes this impossible. Substitute `clearly' for `apparently' and there is
no contradiction.
We are told of Cornelius in Acts 10: 3 "He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth
hour of the day an angel of God coming". Here again the word `evidently' gives a sense
of uncertainty, whereas the meaning is "he saw clearly in a vision".  In Gal. 3: 1
"before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you",
means "before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified".
ARK.  The word is frequently used of the ark built by Noah, and the ark of the
covenant in the Tabernacle. The word is a common one meaning a chest or box. The