LUST.  This word was used at the time of the A.V. for any desire for something

good, but it later became limited to the bad sense that it has today. The Greek verb

epithume means to long eagerly, to desire strongly and is used in a good sense as well as

a bad one. This is seen in Luke 22: 15 where the Lord says "with desire I have desired

to eat this Passover with you before I suffer". We should take great care with our strong

desires and inclinations to see that they are totally in line with the Lord's will.

MANSIONS.  This word in the seventeenth century had no reference to a manor

house or a large building: It simply meant a place of abode and would have described the

smallest dwelling place. We must keep this meaning in John 14: 2, "In My Father's

house are many mansions". The Father's house evidently describes the whole of the final

new creation embodying heaven and earth and in this vast and wonderful dominion there

are many `abodes', some earthly and some heavenly into which God wills that His

redeemed children shall enter in resurrection and enjoy for ever.

MAUL. This word occurs once in Prov. 25: 18, "A man that beareth false witness

against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword and a sharp arrow". "Maul" means the same

as "mace", a heavy club made of metal and was used as a weapon of war.

MEAT is used in the A.V. for food in general and not restricted to flesh foods. In

Ezekiel 47: 12 "tress for meat" means "trees for food".  "Purging all meats" in

Mark 7: 19 means "thus He declared all foods clean" (that is, from a ceremonial

standpoint).  The Lord said to the disciples "I have meat to eat that ye know not of"

(John 4: 32) which refers to nourishment generally and not the flesh of animals (see also

verse 8). In the O.T. we have the `meat offering' mentioned over 100 times, but it

contained no flesh and was a meal or cereal offering. We still sometimes use the phrase

`grace before meat' and this of course means saying grace before any meal.

MESS. This is an old word for a portion of food. We are told that Joseph sent to his

brethren "messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so

much as any of theirs" (Gen. 43: 34). We would point out that the often used phrase `a

mess of pottage' in connection with Esau's sale of his birthright is not Scriptural. It does

not occur in the Bible.

This word occurs once in  Lev. 19: 35,  "Ye shall do no

unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight or in measure". "Meteyard" is an

ancient word for a rod to measure length. It is now obsolete.