LATCHET does not mean a small latch, but a shoelace or thong to fasten a shoe or

sandal. In Gen. 14: 23 Abraham tells the king of Sodom, "I will not take from a thread

even to a shoe latchet" (from him), and John the Baptist, referring to the Lord declares:

"there cometh One mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to

stoop down and unloose".

LEASING. This is an archaic word for lying or falsehood. In Psa. 4: 2 we have in

the A.V. "how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing", and in Psa. 5: 6 we read,

"Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing".  In I Tim. 1: 10 Wyclif's version reads

"lesyngmongers" for liars. Both words are quite obsolete today.

LET.  There are two English verbs spelled LET, but which come from two distinct

Anglo-Saxon roots and they have opposite meanings. One means to hinder or prevent

and the other, permit or allow. Both were used in 1611 and occur in the A.V. Only the

second is in use today except in the legal phrase `without let or hindrance'. In our old

English Bible the first meaning occurs three times: Isa. 43: 13, "There is none that can

deliver out of My hand: I will work, and who shall let it?" This means "who can hinder

it?" Paul speaks of his intention to visit the believers at Rome: "often times I purposed

to come to you, (but was let hitherto)", that is, he had been prevented from coming.

In II Thess. 2: 6, 7 we have an important occurrence: "He Who now letteth will let,

until he be taken out of the way". The difficulty of these verses is increased by this

obsolete English word. The Greek word means to hold fast or restrain. The N.I.V.

renders the passage "And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be

revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but

the One Who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way".

LIBERTINES.  This occurs only once in the A.V.: "then there arose certain of the

synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines . . . . . disputing with

Stephen" (Acts 6: 9). These were not dissolute or licentious men, but respectable

freedmen, probably descending from the Jews who had been taken as prisoners to Rome

by Pompey in B.C.63 and there sold as slaves. In modern English we should render the

phrase as `the synagogue of the Freedmen'.

LIGHT. In the A.V. this is easily understood as a verb or adjective when applied to

things, but twice the translators use it of persons in the obsolete sense of shallow

character. Abimelech, we are told, `hired vain and light persons, which followed him'

(Judges 9: 4). But the word `light', in its obsolete sense, is not strong enough. The