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Firmament— ^ (ra-kee-ang) is a beaten-out thing, and so, an expanse. 
Contraction and expansion, solidification and fluidity, are idealized 
in this word, and exemplified in its usage. 
Lights. — rntoo ( me-d-rdth ) is not to be confounded with the simple word 
tin ( ohr ) light. “Lights” is rightly expressed in the Vulgate by 
Luminaria and in the Septuagint by (piocrrypeg, lamps. 
As the receptacle of light the word is feminine, as the dispenser of light 
it is masculine. 
Living Soul. — rrn TO (nephesh chdy-ydh) is a bodily frame with life 
in it. Its historical usage exemplifies the modifications of the applica- 
tion of a word in the progress of a spoken language. In the Pentateuch 
the word nephesli is all but exclusively applied to the body ; in the 
Psalms it is invariably applied to the soul. 
Life. — V ( chaee ) seems etymologically to mean activity, and therefore 
motion. Hence the word was applied to running water. 
In its feminine form the word was joined with TO (nephesh), a bodily 
frame, to express a living animal ; but when we come to the times of 
Ezekiel, it is used without nephesh to express the living animals 
which Ezekiel saw in vision. Hence St. John describes the same 
symbolical creatures as living creatures, or beasts, in the old 
English meaning of the word. 
A very instructive use is made of the word life as applied to 
animals or to men. In the latter case it is almost invariably plural, 
in the former always singular. This implies two lives in a man, and 
but one in an animal. Body, soul, and spirit is the threefold com- 
plexity of man. 
Priest.— ( co-hain ) is another illustration of the historical modifica- 
tions of language. In its earlier usage it applied to a publio 
functionary, whether secular or sacred. In later times it was 
limited to the priesthood. 
Whether we assume language to be a divine gift or a 
human invention, it is remarkable that the most ancient 
language in the world should have words indicative of a more 
profound knowledge of natural phenomena than science could 
have discovered at so early a period. How could any one 
account for the most ancient language in the world giving such 
a name to the earth as the runner, except by Divine gift ? This 
is the more striking when we remember that the name, without 
its significance^ has found its way into other languages. Eretz 
is plainly the original of Erde , earth. 
From these suggestive hints of the origin of language let 
us pass on to the consideration of the marvellous variety of 
languages. Here again a suggestion is given in one Scriptural 
phrase worthy of our most profound study : Go to, let us go 
down and there confound their language, that they may not 
Understand one another’s speech.” The various languages are a 
