The meaning of Still in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
stil: "To be still" is "to keep silence" (Psalms 4:4, etc.) and so "to be quiet" (Psalms 107:29, etc.) or "inactive" in any way (Judges 18:9; I Kings 22:3; Zechariah 1:11, etc.). So "be still" in Psalms 46:10 means "desist from your war" (compare the Revised Version margin "let be"). The "still small voice" of I Kings 19:12 (the Revised Version margin "sound of gentle stillness") is due to taking the Hebrew demamah in its literal force of "silent," but the word here means "whisper"—"a whispering, little voice." This familiar passage, however, has made "still voice" good English, and the combination is used in Job 4:16 by the Revised Version margin. In Psalms 23:2 the translation "still waters" takes "waters of rest" (so literally for menuchah; compare the Revised Version margin) to mean "waters with little motion." But the meaning is either "wells by which the flocks rest" or "wells that give refreshing water." As an adverb "still" is perhaps more emphatic than in modern English; compare "power to keep still the kingdom," II Chronicles 22:9 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "to hold the kingdom").
Burton Scott Easton
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