Delicate; Delicately - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

DELICATE; DELICATELY

del'-i-kat, del'-i-kat-li (`edhen, `anogh; en truphe):

"Delicate" usually an adjective, but once a substantive (Jeremiah 51:34 the King James Version). "He hath filled his belly (the Revised Version (British and American) "maw") with my delicates." the Revised Version (British and American) retains the word, but the American Standard Revised Version very properly has replaced it with "delicacies." In Sirach 30:18, the Revised Version (British and American) agatha, "good things." The adjective seems to have two meanings, though not easily distinguished:

(1) tenderly reared, and

(2) wanton or voluptuous. In Deuteronomy 28:54,56; Isaiah 47:1; Jeremiah 6:2, "luxurious" or "daintily bred" would certainly be nearer the original than "delicate." "Delicate children" of Micah 1:16, the King James Version, is changed by the Revised Version (British and American) to "children of thy delight," i.e. beloved children, rather than children begotten in passion. The adverb "delicately" is employed in the same sense as the adjective (Lamentations 4:5; Luke 7:25). In the old English writers "delicate" is often used for voluptuous:

"Dives for his delicate life to the devil went" (Piers Ploughman). The meaning of "delicately" (ma`adhan) in 1 Samuel 15:32 (the King James Version) is a real puzzle. The King James Version reads, "And Agag came unto him delicately," with a possible suggestion of weakness or fear. the American Standard Revised Version and the Revised Version, margin substitute "cheerfully." Others, by metathesis or change of consonants in the Hebrew word, translation "in bonds" or "fetters."

W. W. Davies

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'DELICATE; DELICATELY'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.