Pass, Passage, Passenger

pas, pas'-aj, pas'-en-jer: "To pass" bears different meanings and corresponds to various words in Hebrew and Greek. It occurs frequently in the phrase "and it came to pass" (literally, "and it was"). This is simply a Hebrew idiom linking together the different paragraphs of a continuous narrative. As a rule "pass" renders the Hebrew word `abhar. This verb has various meanings, e.g. "to pass over" a stream (Ge 31:21); "to cross" a boundary (Nu 20:17); "to pass through," or "traverse," a country (Nu 21:22); "to pass on" (Ge 18:5); "to pass away," "cease to exist" (Job 30:15). The word is used metaphorically, "to pass over," "overstep," "transgress" (Nu 14:41). In the causative form the verb is used in the phrase "to cause to pass through fire" (De 18:10; 2Ki 16:3). In the King James Version "pass" sometimes has the force of "surpass," "exceed," e.g. 2Ch 9:22, "King Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom"; compare also Eph 3:19, "the love of Christ which passeth knowledge," and Php 4:7, "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding."

Passage in the King James Version renders ma`abhar, or ma`abharah. The former word denotes (1) the ford of a river (Ge 32:23 King James Version margin); (2) the pass of a mountain range (1Sa 13:23). In the only other instance of the use of the shorter form (Isa 30:32 margin), the King James Version renders "where the grounded staff shall pass." A more correct translation would be, "and every sweep (or stroke) of the appointed staff." The longer form bears both meanings, namely, "ford" (e.g. Jos 2:7; Jg 3:28, etc.) and "pass" (1Sa 14:4; Isa 10:29). In Jos 22:11, the rendering `towards the region opposite the children of Israel' would be more correct than the King James Version, "at the passage of the children of Israel." In English Versions of the Bible of Nu 20:21 "passage" seems to mean "right of way," and renders the infinitive of the Hebrew verb. In Jer 22:20 the King James Version the word rendered "passage" should be translated "from Abarim" (as in the Revised Version (British and American)), a mountain range in Moab, Northeast of the Dead Sea.

Passenger in the King James Version means a "passer-by." In Eze 39:11,14-15 where the word occurs 4 times in the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) translates "them that pass through."

T. Lewis