Apples of Gold

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     Words are the ripe fruit dangling from the branches of idea trees. Some of these trees are cultivated, others have sprung up voluntarily. The fruit is sometimes flavorful and delightful, sometimes bitter and acrid, and sometimes tasteless. But we could not exist without words and he who would condemn them must make use of words to do so. Words are the bodies with which ideas clothe themselves and assume visible form, and every word, like every living person, is composed of both body and soul.

     In his memorable work On The Study of Words, Archbishop Trench says, "Often in words contemplated singly, there are boundless stores of moral and historic truth, and no less of passion and imagination, laid up--that from these lessons of infinite worth may be derived, if only our attention is aroused to their existence."

     Trench quotes from another eminent writer who said, "In a language like ours, where so many words are derived from other languages, there are few modes of instruction more useful or amusing than that of accustoming young people to seek for the etymology or primary meaning of the words they use. There are cases in which more knowledge of more value may be conveyed by the history of a word than by the history of a campaign." We have found this true.

     Who is not intrigued by the fact that "bootlegger" is derived from the days when men hid a flask of liquor in their high boot legs? Or that union and onion came from the same original and the latter signifies "many skins bound into one"? Or that "nasturtium" literally means "nose twister" because its pungent odor has an effect upon the olfactory nerves? We still speak of a style of writing because men once used a stylus, and we call a writing instrument a pen, from the Latin penna, a feather, because they later used quills.

     There is a temptation to wander into a thousand of these little linguistic byways, but our task is a more serious and deliberate one. We propose, if we live and our Lord tarries in His coming, to devote the entire year to a study of words used by the Holy Spirit. Our aim will be to edify the brethren by sharing with them the result of rather intensive research. We will be seeking to lay hold upon the thoughts of God by grasping the words of God. We hope to make a simple presentation but not a shallow one. All penetration implies an approach in increasing depth and we will try to go deeper into His purpose for mankind.

     The entire series will be entitled Apples of Gold. The choice of title will at once commend itself to most of our readers who will remember the proverb of Solomon as copied down by the official court scribes of the good King Hezekiah. "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" (Proverbs 25:11). A more literal rendering might be, "A word

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spoken in season is golden fruit in silver carvings." The setting, or frame of reference for a word, has a distinct influence upon the impression it conveys, and just as diamonds are displayed in proper settings, so words are made distinctive by their context.

     Judge Learned Hand once wrote: "Words are chameleons, which reflect the color of their environment."

     We invite all members of the fellowship of the concerned ones to stroll with us through the cool aisles of divine revelation as we pluck and examine the precious fruit of God's gracious Word. Great things lie ahead of us and we invoke His aid for our journey. May this year be profitable unto all of us in the Spirit!

     Let us remember that "words once spoken can never be recalled!"