them everything that I myself command you.” (Jer. 1:17) Jeremiah was encouraged to acquire strength and prepare for vigorous activity in God’s service.

A person has strong muscles in the hips or loins. When these muscles are tensed, or braced up, there is tremendous potential power. The Bible proverb speaks of the capable wife as girding “her hips with strength.” (Prov. 31:17) In symbol, therefore, the prophet Nahum tells those who were about to experience an invasion: “Let there be a safeguarding of the fortified place. Watch the way. Strengthen the hips. Reinforce power very much.” (Nah. 2:1) Here hips are used figuratively in connection with strength or power.

This is also the case in Jehovah’s prophecy regarding the Persian conqueror Cyrus, in which God says: His “right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue before him nations, so that I may ungird even the hips of kings.” (Isa. 45:1) This expression means that God would take away the strength or power of these kings, so that Cyrus would be victorious. Those who have had their power removed and are in a weakened condition are therefore said to have wobbling or shaking hips.​—Ps. 69:23; Ezek. 21:6; 29:7.

Interestingly, the expression “gird up the loins of your mind” is used by the apostle Peter. However, to make the sense of the expression clear to the modern reader, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures renders the expression: “Hence brace up your minds for activity.”​—1 Pet. 1:13.

BOSOM AND INTESTINES

Other parts of the human body also came to be associated with particular qualities and emotions. For example, it was the custom, and still is today, to hold a dearly beloved or cherished one close to one’s bosom or breast. (Ruth 4:16; Song of Sol. 1:13) That place, therefore, came to signify favor or intimacy. Thus, when Jesus is spoken of as in the bosom position with the Father, and Lazarus as in the bosom position with Abraham, it means that they are in a favored position. (John 1:18; Luke 16:22, 23) Also, when God is said to carry his lambs in his bosom, it indicates that he cherishes and tenderly cares for them.​—Isa. 40:11.

Consistently, therefore, the expression is used in the Bible, “the wife of thy bosom.” It is so rendered in many Bible translations, including the King James and American Standard versions. (Deut. 13:6; 28:54, 56) However, for clarity of understanding, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures at Deuteronomy 13:6 says: “Your cherished wife.”

In both the ancient Hebrew and the Greek Scriptures deep feelings and emotions were associated with the intestines or bowels. It was undoubtedly observed that the feeling of deep emotions caused abdominal distress, or at least stirrings in this region of the body. The bad tidings concerning the coming calamity upon Israel caused Jeremiah to exclaim: “My intestines, my intestines! I am in severe pains in the walls of my heart.” (Jer. 4:19) Later, at Jerusalem’s destruction, the great sorrow that Jeremiah felt caused painful commotion within, causing him to lament: “My very intestines are in a ferment.”​—Lam. 1:20; 2:11.

That feelings of compassion or pity also affect the intestines is indicated by God’s expression as he contemplated the condition of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, represented by Ephraim: “That is why my intestines have become boisterous for him. By all means I shall have pity upon him.”​—Jer. 31:20; Isa. 63:15; 1 Ki. 3:26.

In the Christian Greek Scriptures the Greek word for intestines or bowels is splagkhnon, and, while used literally (Acts 1:18), it is much more often used in a figurative sense, representing compassion or affection. Therefore, for clarity of understanding, instead of rendering the word “bowels” or “intestines” in such places, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures translates it “tender affections” or “tender compassions,” as at Philippians 2:1 and; 1 John 3:17.​—Col. 3:12.

Really, it is amazing how often in the Scriptures body parts are used in a figurative sense. While this adds color and vividness to accounts, Bible translations that show the significance of the words are very helpful, particularly when the figurative use of the expression is not common in the language into which the translation is made.

Questions From Readers

● Proverbs 25:11 and other texts in the Hebrew Scriptures mention “apples.” However, many authorities insist that this refers to another fruit. Were apples grown in Palestine when the Hebrew Scriptures were written?

There is much conjecture as to the identification of the tree and fruit denoted by the Hebrew tappuwahh, appearing at Proverbs 25:11, where opportune speech is likened to “apples of gold in silver carvings.” The apple tree is considered mainly in The Song of Solomon, where the expressions of love by the Shulammite’s shepherd companion are likened to the pleasant shade of the apple tree and the sweetness of its fruit. (Song of Sol. 2:3, 5) In turn, he compares her breath to the fragrance of apples. (Song of Sol. 7:8) The Hebrew word translated “apples” in the New World Translation indicates that which is distinguished by its fragrance or scent.

Several fruits have been suggested in place of the apple, including the orange, the citron, the quince, and the apricot, the main objection raised to the apple being that the hot, dry climate of most of Palestine is unfavorable to apple culture. However, the related Arabic word tuffakh primarily means “apple,” and it is notable that the Hebrew place names Tappuah and Beth–Tappuah (probably so named due to prevalence of this fruit in their vicinity) have been preserved in their Arabic equivalents by the use of this word.​—Josh. 12:17; 15:34; 16:8; 17:8.

Those places were not in the lowlands but in the hill country, where the climate is generally somewhat moderated. Additionally, the possibility of some climatic variations in the past cannot be completely ruled out, as is pointed out by Dennis Baly in his book The Geography of the Bible (pages 72, 74). Apple trees do grow in Palestine today and thus seem to fit the Bible description satisfactorily. Dr. Thomson, who spent forty-five years in Syria and Palestine in the past century, reported finding apple orchards in the area of Ashkelon on the plains of Philistia.

● How old was Abel, the second son of Adam, at the time his brother Cain murdered him?

The Bible account does not give us his exact age at the time of his murder, but his approximate age can be deduced. Since the Bible records nothing in the way of history between the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden and their producing of their first two sons, Cain and Abel, it is reasonable to conclude that the boys were born within the space of a few years after their parents’ fall into sin. But as for the next-recorded events, leading to the death of Abel, it is written that these did not take place until after “the expiration of some time.” (Gen. 4:3) How much time?