“And it shall be, if you truly heed the voice of the LORD your God to keep to do all His commands that I charge you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.” Deuteronomy 28:1 Robert Alter All His commands – Keep them all! That’s the…
From the openings of the righteous ones is heard her voice; and from the congregation of the pious ones her song. Psalm 154:12 DSS The righteous ones – Go ahead. Look this psalm up in your Bible. Ah, wait a minute. It isn’t there. In the Masoretic text there are only 150 psalms. But the…
Look. Wisdom calls out, and Discernment lifts her voice. Proverbs 8:1 Robert Alter Calls out – Since the discovery of significant archeological artifacts in the late 19th Century, biblical scholars have had to face the question, “How does archeological evidence impact biblical faith?” The answers have not been easy. As Haggai Misgav points out, “The…
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,” Hebrews 13:5 NASB Desert/ Abandon – The author of the letter to the Hebrews does what so many ancient writers of sacred texts tended to…
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to [a]desire and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 NASB Work out – Recently I conducted a month-long study…
All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB Inspired – Paul’s choice of the Greek word for “inspired” leaves us hanging. Why? Because the word isn’t used anywhere else in the apostolic writings. Theópneustos literally means “God breathed,” but that leaves a lot…
Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day. Joshua 4:9 NASB In the middle – The story of Israel crossing the Jordan leaves us with a lot…
All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB Inspired – Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to poke holes in your favorite English Bible translation. But I do want to point out that there might be a great many…
As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:30 NIV Flawless – Yes, that’s right. The title of this little investigation is not “the Bible.” It is “the Bibles.” Why? Because there is no such thing as the Bible. Hold on! Take a deep breath—and…
In May of 2020 I wrote the following brief study. You can review it here before we continue: Now this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel; Deuteronomy 4:44 NASB Who Wrote It? Set before – You want your life to conform to God’s standard, right? You want to know what…
