Amendment
Amendment
The idea of amendment or improvement has been sanctioned by our translators in a few passages in 2Ch 34:10, where we read of the amending of the House of the Lord, the Hebrew word is Chazak, to be strong in Jer 7:3; Jer 7:5; Jer 26:13; Jer 35:15 (‘Amend your ways’), we find Yathav (), to make good. this word is used in a great variety of senses in the O.T. Thus it is said that ‘God saw all that be had made, and behold it was very good,’ Gen 1:31; in Exo 2:9, Moses is called ‘a goodly child ;’ the tents of Israel too are called ‘goodly,’ Num 24:5; it is used of a beautiful woman, 2Sa 11:2; of the fair daughters of men, Gen 6:2; of fair houses, Isa 5:9; of precious ointment, Psa 133:2, Ecc 7:1; of the idol ready for the sodering, Isa 41:7; of welfare, Neh 2:10; of prosperity, Deu 23:6, Zec 1:17; of wealth, Job 21:13; of a good dowry, Gen 30:20; of the tree which was good for food, Gen 3:6; and of a merry heart, 1Sa 25:36. The thought to be gathered from a consideration of these passages is that goodness is not an absolute moral quality, but signifies that which is agreeable or pleasing, whether to God or man. Hence the verb is rendered to please, or to be pleasant in one’s eyes, e.g. Neh 2:6, Psa 69:31; to find favour, 1Sa 2:26; 1Sa 29:6; to be accepted, Lev 10:19,1Sa 18:5. If this view be correct, we are to understand that when Jeremiah says ‘amend your ways,’ he does not mean ‘improve them’ in the abstract, or with relation to what they were before; but rather, ‘make your course suc has is agreeable to God, and do what is well pleasing in his sight.’
There are several renderings for this word in the LXX, but , , and are the most common. is generally but not always used of moral goodness, as opposed to , wickedness, in the N.T., but the idea of what is pleasant in God’s sight is implied in the case of the word , the elements of fairness and nobleness underlie the idea of goodness.
Where is used in the N.T., the idea of kindness or kindliness is specially introduced. Thus where the Lord says (Mat 11:30), we might render his words ‘my yoke is kindly’–something more than easy; it is grateful to the spiritual sense of the converted man. So of wine, we may read in Luk 5:39, ‘The old is more kindly;’ Luk 6:35, ‘He is kind to the unthankful;’ Rom 2:4, ‘The kindness of God leadeth them to repentance;’ 1Co 15:33, ‘Evil communications corrupt kindly manners;’ 1Pe 2:3, ‘If so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is kind’ (quoted from Psa 34:8).