Author: Skip Moen, Ph.D.

  • The Acronym

    These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. Deuteronomy 6:6  NASB Heart – What is an acronym?  Technically, “an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word.”  You’ll know a few of these from their current usage in modern English.  For example, LOL, ASAP, ZIP, and PIN.  But did you know that there are…

  • The Other Part of the Verse

    “Behold, as for the impudent one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous one will live by his faith.”  Habakkuk 2:4  NASB Impudent – We’ve looked at the second part of the famous verse quite a few times because it is the foundation verse of Paul’s letter to the Romans (Romans 1:17): For in…

  • Waiting for God (2)

    I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the watchtower; and I will keep watch to see what He will say to me, and how I may reply when I am reprimanded.  Habakkuk 2:1  NASB    Reprimanded – Why are we looking at the same verse and the same word again?  Because the scope of this word, tôkēḥâ, includes another possible translation…

  • Waiting for God (1)

    I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the watchtower; and I will keep watch to see what He will say to me, and how I may reply when I am reprimanded.  Habakkuk 2:1  NASB   Reprimanded – Are you waiting for the judgment of God?  The prophet was waiting.  But notice the oddity of his metaphor.  Standing guard . . . stationed…

  • If — Then

    O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice in my hands, if I have done evil to my friend, or have plundered ]my enemy for no reason, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah  Psalm 7:3-5  NASB Injustice…

  • No, They Won’t

    “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  Matthew 5:8  NASB See God – But, of course, לֹֽא־יִרְאַ֥נִי הָֽאָדָ֖ם וָחָֽי, “no man can see and live.”  So what is Yeshua saying.  Is it just theory?  If we were but righteous enough (which, by the way, we aren’t), then we could see God.  But, of…

  • Rabbinic Reconstruction (2)

    He further said, “You cannot see My face, for mankind shall not see Me and live!” Exodus 33:20  NASB Mankind – Now that we’re cleared up the mistake in the NIV (“you” instead of “man”), we see that the NASB translates the Hebrew ʾādām as “mankind.”  This corrects the vocabulary, but it doesn’t solve the problem…

  • Rabbinic Reconstruction (1)

    But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”  Exodus 33:20 NIV   One – Let’s begin this investigation by noticing an important change in the English translation.  The NIV (as above) uses the phrase “no one,” rather than the direct Hebrew “no man.”  The actual Hebrew word is ʾādām, but the NIV translators have offered…

  • What Does It Really Say?

    Your people will volunteer freely on the day of Your power; in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.  Psalm 110:3  NASB Womb of dawn – Not to belabor the point, but if you read this verse in the NASB you will discover that it contains four footnotes, all indicating alternatives or…

  • Obscure and Unintelligible

    He will redeem my soul in peace [l]from the battle which is against me, for they are many who are aggressive toward me.  God will hear and humiliate them—even the one who sits enthroned from ancient times— Selah  Psalm 55:18-19a  NASB     Sits enthroned from ancient times – Before we tackle this text, we need to understand the caution provided by Nahum Sarna:   Translations, particularly those adopted…