DILIGENCE; DILIGENT; DILIGENTLY

dil'-i-jens, dil'-i-jent-li: This word is used in various senses in our English Bibles.

1. In the Old Testament:

In Ezra 5:8, "with diligence" means "with care"; in Ezra 6:12; 7:17, "with speed," "speedily"; in Proverbs 4:23 "watchfulness"; in Deuteronomy 4:9; 6:17; 19:18; Psalms 77:6; Proverbs 27:23; Isaiah 55:2; Micah 7:3, "with care," "scrupulously," "earnestly." Sometimes it means "early" "with haste" (Job 8:5; Proverbs 8:17). It may mean "industrious," "exacting" (Proverbs 10:4; 12:27; 22:29).

2. In the New Testament:

The American revisers have rendered "diligence" for various words in the King James Version, e.g. for "business" in Romans 12:11; "giving diligence" for "endeavoring" (Ephesians 4:3); "give diligence" for "study" (2 Timothy 2:15,), for "labor" (Hebrews 4:11); "diligently" for "carefully" (Philippians 2:28; Hebrews 12:17); "be diligent in" for "meditate upon" (1 Timothy 4:15). It is well also to remember that the Old English meaning of diligence is "with love," from diligo, "to love."

G. H. Geberding

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.