and so are somewhat similar in meaning to the Hebrew terms already discussed.)

Jesus’ teachings emphasized purity of heart, singleness of outlook and intent, freedom from hypocrisy—all these being qualities that characterize integrity. (Matt. 5:8; 6:1-6, 16-18, 22, 23; Luke 11:34-36) The apostle Paul showed the same concern as had David and earlier servants of God for proving blameless and faultless in his ministry, free from any charge of corruption or deviousness in his dealings with others.—2 Cor. 4:1, 2; 6:3-10; 8:20, 21; 1 Thess. 1:3-6.

Perseverance in a God-given commission in the face of opposition, and endurance of privations, persecution and suffering for adhering to a course of godly devotion, also marked Paul and other early Christians as persons of integrity.—Acts 5:27-41; 2 Cor. 11:23-27.

INTEREST

The price or rate paid by a debtor for the use of what he borrows. Already in the second millennium B.C.E. Babylon had a fully developed loan system. The Hammurabi “code” indicates a 20-percent interest rate on money and grain, and stipulates that a merchant charging a higher rate would forfeit the amount lent. By contrast God’s law to Israel prohibited making loans on interest to needy fellow Israelites. No one was to profit from another’s financial reverses. (Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:36, 37; Deut. 23:19) And Proverbs 28:8 indicates that fortunes acquired from interest wrongfully collected would eventually become the possession of the “one showing favor to the lowly ones.”

Foreigners, however, could be charged interest by the Israelites. (Deut. 23:20) Jewish commentators understand this to apply, not to cases of need, but to business loans. (The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, edited by J. H. Hertz, 1950, p. 849) Usually foreigners were in Israel only temporarily, often as merchants, and could reasonably be expected to pay interest, particularly since they would also be lending to others on interest.

Whereas upright Israelites obeyed God’s law about making interest-free loans (Ps. 15:5; Ezek. 18:5, 8, 17), lending on interest apparently became common and brought hardships on needy debtors. (Neh. 5:1-11; Isa. 24:2; Ezek. 18:13; 22:12) Jesus Christ, though, upheld God’s law in this regard and gave it an even broader application, saying: “Continue . . . to lend without interest, not hoping for anything back.” (Luke 6:34, 35) It would therefore be improper to withhold assistance from one who because of continued adversity and through no fault of his own might be unable to repay a debt. But when actual need is not involved, there would be no objection to a person’s charging interest on a loan. Jesus himself, by having the wicked slave in one of his illustrations censured for failing to deposit his master’s money with the bankers so as to draw interest, implied that receiving interest from invested capital is proper.—Matt. 25:26, 27; Luke 19:22, 23.

INTERPRETATION

In the Bible an interpreter may be either of two kinds. He may be a translator, one who conveys the meaning of words spoken or written in one language to persons reading or speaking another, and he can do this either orally or in writing. On the other hand, an interpreter may be one who explains Bible prophecy by giving others the meaning, significance and understanding of prophetic dreams, visions and messages of divine origin.

TRANSLATION

The confusion of man’s language during the building of the Tower of Babel resulted in the human family suddenly becoming a multilingual race. This, in turn, gave rise to a new profession, that of interpreter or translator. (Gen. 11:1-9) Some five centuries later, in order to conceal his identity as the prime minister of Egypt, Joseph employed a translator to interpret for him when speaking to his Hebrew brothers in the Egyptian language. (Gen. 42:23) The Hebrew word luts—a form of which is rendered “interpreter” in this text—basically means to stammer, or to mimic a foreigner’s speech. The same word is sometimes rendered ‘spokesman’ when referring to an envoy versed in a foreign language, as were “the spokesmen of the princes of Babylon” sent to converse with King Hezekiah of Judah.—2 Chron. 32:31.

The gift of speaking in foreign tongues was one of the manifestations of God’s outpoured holy spirit upon the faithful disciples of Christ on Pentecost, 33 C.E. However, this was no duplication of what occurred on the Plains of Shinar twenty-two centuries earlier. For, instead of replacing their original language with a new one, these disciples retained their mother tongue and at the same time were enabled to speak in the tongues of foreign-language groups about the magnificent things of God. (Acts 2:1-11) Along with this ability to speak in different tongues, other miraculous gifts of the spirit were bestowed on members of the early Christian congregation, including the gift of translating from one language to another. Christians were also given instruction on the proper use of this gift.—1 Cor. 12:4-10, 27-30; 14:5, 13-28.

The most remarkable example of translation from one language to another is the rendering of the Bible into many, many tongues, a monumental task that has consumed centuries of time. Today this Book appears in whole or in part in well over 1,300 languages. However, none of such translations or their translators were inspired. Historically, such translation work dates back to the third century B.C.E. when work on the Septuagint Version was begun in which the inspired Holy Scriptures in Hebrew and Aramaic, the thirty-nine books as they are now reckoned, were rendered into the common koi·neʹ Greek, the international language of that time.

Bible writers of the twenty-seven books that make up the Christian Greek Scriptures, which books completed the Bible’s canon, often quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures. Apparently they sometimes used the Greek Septuagint translation rather than personally translate from the Hebrew text of the Scriptures. (Compare Psalm 40:6 [39:6, LXX] with Hebrews 10:5.) They also made their own rather free translations, however, as seen by comparing Hosea 2:23 with Romans 9:25. An example of where they paraphrased, rather than making a literal translation, may be noted by comparing Deuteronomy 30:11-14 with Romans 10:6-8.

These Bible writers often translated the names of persons, titles, places and expressions for the benefit of their readers. They defined and gave the meaning of such names as Cephas, Barnabas, Tabitha, BarJesus and Melchizedek (John 1:42; Acts 4:36; 9:36; 13:6, 8; Heb. 7:1, 2), also the meaning of the titles Immanuel, Rabbi and Messiah (Matt. 1:23; John 1:38, 41), the meaning of places like Golgotha, Siloam and Salem (Mark 15:22; John 9:7; Heb. 7:2), and translations of the terms “Talʹi·tha cuʹmi” and “Eʹli, Eʹli, laʹma sa·bach·thaʹni.”—Mark 5:41; 15:34.

Matthew first wrote his Gospel account in Hebrew, according to the ancient testimony of the noted Jerome, Eusebius Pamphili, Origen, Irenaeus and Papias. Who translated this Gospel later into Greek is not known. If Matthew did so himself, as some think, then it is the only known inspired translation of Scripture.

The Greek word her·me·neuʹo means “to explain, interpret.” (John 1:42; 9:7; Heb. 7:2) It is similar to the name of the Greek god Hermes (Mercury), regarded by ancient mythologists, not only as the messenger, envoy and interpreter for the gods, but also the patron of writers, speakers and translators. The pagans in Lystra called Paul “Hermes, since he was the one taking the lead in speaking.” (Acts 14:12) The English word “hermeneutics” pertains to interpretation or exegesis. The prefix me·taʹ implies “a change,” and so, added to her·me·neuʹo, the word