“Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Matthew 11:6 ESV Stumble – David Flusser points out that the Hebrew verb behind this Greek gospel expression is a word that means “to be led into sin, to go astray from the right understanding of the will of God.”[1] In other words, the…
Jabez called upon the God of Israel saying, “Oh that you would bless me . . .” 1 Chronicles 4:10 ESV Bless – This word is barak. Examining it as a noun, we find that receiving a blessing in the Old Testament means getting something favorable from someone greater. The paradigm case is the transmission…
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you. Proverbs 25:21-22 NASB Burning coals – The Hebrew word gahelet literally describes the burning coals used to ignite wood for…
Blessed is the man to whom YHWH does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Psalm 32:2 Guile – There are two important verbs for blessing in the Hebrew text. The first is barak. This is the verb used to bless God and it is the verb used by God to…
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners Psalm 1:1 How Blessed – Isn’t it nice to know that God has a sense of artistic symmetry? He is the author extraordinaire. Throughout Scripture, He demonstrates His literary skills with tiny subtleties…
