They who sow in tears in glad song will reap. Psalm 126:5 Robert Alter In tears – Don’t take this verse out of context. Read the whole psalm. David clearly writes about the historical circumstances of Israel. The nation has suffered. For centuries it has been afflicted by others. Now he summarizes Israel’s perspective. Suffering…
For when Gentiles who do not have the Law instinctively perform the requirements of the Law, these, though not having the Law, are a law to themselves, Romans 2:14 NASB A law to themselves – We’ve spent a lot of time looking at Paul’s idea of nómos, or perhaps more accurately, his ideas about all the variations encompassed…
And Joshua had charged the people, saying, “You shall not shout and you shall not let your voice be heard, and no word shall come out of your mouths until the moment I say to you, “Shout,’ and then you shall shout.” Joshua 6:10 Robert Alter And Joshua had charged the people, saying – One…
having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 NASB Cares – If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: the fundamental message of the Bible is “God cares.” I believe it, but don’t ask me why. Don’t ask because I feel what the prophets discovered. “History…
to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 NASB Christ in you – “Jesus lives in me,” she said, thinking that “Christ in you” meant a spiritual/physical union with the Messiah. What she didn’t understand is that…
And He gave up His strength to captivity and His glory into the hand of the enemy. He also turned His people over to the sword, And was filled with wrath at His inheritance. Psalm 78:61-62 NASB The hand of the enemy – Okay, let’s agree that Asaph is a poet, not an historian. Let’s agree that he…
Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” Daniel 4:29-30 NIV By my mighty power – “Life is not as fate designs,…
No verse today. Just some personal reflections. For many years now, you and I have been exploring the origins of our faith. That means investigating the history of the ideas that we once accepted as part of our religious beliefs. What I’ve learned, and perhaps what you have also learned, is that most of my…
In the beginning . . . let him go up! Genesis 1:1a – 2 Chronicles 36:23c NASB In the beginning/ go up – These are the first and the last words of the Tanakh: be-rēʾ šît; yāâl. In the beginning God assents to descend, voluntarily creating a universe with agents who are capable of resisting…
There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed [b]Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 2 Samuel 21:19 NASB Killed Goliath – Read it carefully. Okay, now answer the question, “Who killed Goliath?” Translators of the NASB provide a footnote to this verse…
