Strain

STRAIN [ISBE]

STRAIN - stran (diulizo, "to strain off," "to filter"): Mt 23:24, "Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel" The imagery is that of a drinking-vessel full of liquid, from which tiny impurities are carefully removed while immense masses of other impure matter (Lev 11:4) are overlooked (compare Mt 7:3 f). The first edition of the King James Version read the same as the Revised Version (British and American), but in the later editions a misprint converted "strain out" into "strain at," an error that has never been corrected.