pḗ-kūl´yar: The Latin peculium means “private property,” so that “peculiar” properly = “pertaining to the individual.” In modern English the word has usually degenerated into a half-colloquial form for “extraordinary,” but in Biblical English it is a thoroughly dignified term for “esp. one’s own”; compare the “peculiar treasure” of the king in [Ecc 2:8] (the King James Version). Hence, “peculiar people” (the King James Version [Deu 14:2], etc.) means a people especially possessed by God and particularly prized by Him. The word in the Old Testament (the King James Version [Exo 19:5]; [Deu 14:2]; [Deu 26:18]; [Psa 135:4]; [Ecc 2:8]) invariably represents סגלּה, ṣeghullāh, “property,” an obscure word which Septuagint usually rendered by the equally obscure περιούσιος, perioúsios (apparently meaning “superabundant”), which in turn is quoted in [Tit 2:14]. In [Mal 3:17], however, Septuagint has περιποίησις, peripoı́ēsis, quoted in [1Pe 2:9]. the English Revised Version in the New Testament substituted “own possession” in the two occurrences, but in the Old Testament kept “peculiar” and even extended its use ([Deu 7:6]; [Mal 3:17]) to cover every occurrence of ṣeghullāh except in [1Ch 29:3] (“treasure”). the American Standard Revised Version, on the contrary, has dropped “peculiar” altogether, using “treasure” in [1Ch 29:3]; [Ecc 2:8], and “own possession” elsewhere. the King James Version also has “peculiar commandments” (ἴδιος, ı́dios, “particular,” the Revised Version (British and American) “several”) in The Wisdom of Solomon 19:6, and the Revised Version (British and American) has “peculiar” where the King James Version has “special” in The Wisdom of Solomon 3:14 for ἐκλεκτή, eklektḗ, “chosen out.”
