Divide

DIVIDE di-vid':

It is difficult to decide whether ragha` (Job 26:12; Isaiah 51:15; Jeremiah 31:35) should be rendered "to stir up" or "to still." The Hebrew has both meanings. Some render "He causes the sea to tremble." the Revised Version (British and American) reads "to stir" in text and "to still" in margin, while the King James Version has "to divide" in all three cases. 2 Chronicles 35:13, "carried them quickly" (the King James Version "divided them speedily"). Since cholaq, may mean either "to distribute" or "to be smooth," Hosea 10:2 reads "their heart is divided" in the text, but offers "smooth" in margin (the King James Version "divided"). The Greek orthotomeo, means "to cut straight," hence, the more literal translation of 2 Timothy 2:15, "handling aright the word of truth" (note "holding a straight course in the way of truth" or "rightly dividing the word of truth"; the King James Version "rightly dividing").

A. L. Breslich

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'DIVIDE'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.