It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’ Genesis 31:29 NASB Power – In his book, The Exodus You Almost Passed Over, David Fohrman points out that this verse employs the…
She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?” Ruth 1:20-21 Mara…
that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, Ephesians 4:22 NASB Lusts of deceit – The odd translation of the NASB is revised by the ESV to read “deceitful desires.” The NASB simply tries to more literally…
“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.” Luke 8:11 NASB Parable – Peter complained that Paul’s writing was difficult to follow, but Paul’s letters are a piece of cake compared to the teachings of Yeshua in the Gospels. Why? Because I can at least follow Paul’s arguments and reasoning with…
What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Romans 3:3 NIV What if – “Sanity – what we get when we quit hoping for a better past.”[1] What if you and I had only been different? What if we had grown up in a Hebraic culture? What if those family patterns weren’t…
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24 NASB Be joined – We can hardly overemphasize the minimization that occurs when the Hebrew verb dabak is translated in this seminal verse. NASB suggests, “be joined.” ESV “hold…
So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. Ruth 1:22 NASB Returned – How are you going? No, it’s not a typo. It’s not “where are you going?” that matters at this moment. It’s “how.” The verbs used to describe Naomi’s return are quite interesting….
Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service. Nehemiah 13:14 ESV Remember me – And Naomi said, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me”…
She said to her, “All that you say I will do.” Ruth 3:5 NASB You say – We are concerned when a translated text either adds or eliminates words. After all, this is sacred Scripture. Don’t mess with the text. But there are some cases where “messing with the text” is precisely what has been…
