The meaning of Far; Farther in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
far, far'-ther: "Far" (adj.), distant, remote; (advb.) widely removed, is most frequently in the Old Testament the translation of rachoq, and in the New Testament of makran, but also of other Hebrew and Greek words. The word chalilah, an exclamation of abhorrence or aversion Septuagint me genoito; see FORBID), is rendered "far from me," "far from thee," etc. (Genesis 18:25; I Samuel 2:30; I Samuel 20:9; I Samuel 22:15; II Samuel 20:20; II Samuel 23:17; Job 34:10). Besides its literal sense, distance in a spiritual sense is expressed by "far," as "Salvation is far from the wicked" (Psalms 119:155; compare Proverbs 15:29), "far from righteousness" (Isaiah 46:12), "not far from the kingdom of God" (Mark 12:34), etc. For "far" the Revised Version (British and American) has "aloof" in Job 30:10; in several places the word in the King James Version is omitted (Judges 9:17; Psalms 27:9; Isaiah 19:6; Isaiah 26:15; Mark 13:34); "a far country" is changed to "another" (Matthew 21:33; Matthew 25:14; Mark 13:34), etc. For "God forbid" the Revised Version (British and American) has "far be it," "far be it from me" (Galatians 6:14; in the American Standard Revised Version, Genesis 44:7, Genesis 44:17; I Samuel 12:23; Job 27:5, etc.).
The comparative "farther" occurs only once in the Old Testament (Ecclesiastes 8:17), and thrice in the New Testament (Matthew 26:39; Mark 1:19; Mark 10:1), and in each case is replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by another word or phrase. The Revised Version (British and American), on the other hand, has "its farthest height" for "the height of his border" (Isaiah 37:24), and "his farthest lodging-place" for "the lodgings of his borders" (II Kings 19:23).
W. L. Walker
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