Hole in the Heart
Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, so that I will not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?” and that I will not become impoverished and steal, Proverbs 30:8b-9a NASB Impoverished – What does it mean to be impoverished? Poor? Financially destitute? The Hebrew is yāraš, in the…
Flying Carpets
then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ Joshua 4:22 NASB On dry ground – Are you having fun yet? You’re probably asking yourself, “How many times are we going to look at this incident? È già abbastanza (It’s enough already).” But, you know, I’m just fascinated by the oddities…
Parking Spaces
having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 NASB Anxiety – Many, many years ago, when I was still a teenager, I joined a Bible study group with my friends. It was actually a pivotal point in my life. It introduced me to people who seriously examined the text…
Hebrew Scrabble
I said to the LORD, “My Master You are, my good is only through You.” Psalm 16:2 Robert Alter (Hebrew numbering) Is only through You – “The textual difficulties of this whole segment of the poem being here, because the Hebrew bal-‘aleikha is unclear.”[1] Here are a few other attempts to translate this: I said…
The Jacob Syndrome
And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. Genesis 37:35b NASB Mourning – What happened to Jacob when he thought his son Joseph was dead? By carefully examining this narrative in Genesis we discover a lot about psychological trauma, family dynamics, and unconscious…
We Just Can’t Get Away
All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB All Scripture – How many times have we investigated the nuances and implications of this single verse? A dozen? Two dozen? It seems that Paul’s statement in a letter to a pupil just…
Doubt Doesn’t Matter
Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:24 NASB Doubt Doesn’t Matter (from August 2010, with revisions) Unbelief – What an odd expression? It’s so odd that even good translations stumble over it. The NASB adds “help me in my unbelief” in the 1963 version. The NIV substitutes…
Rock of Ages
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my savior, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2 NASB Rock – Gibraltar or the Grand Canyon? When you read this verse, do you think of granite or sandstone? They’re both rocks. Which one comes to mind? Before you answer,…
