Fear of the Lord will add days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened. Proverbs 10:27 Chabad Fear – The fundamental insight of biblical wisdom is fear of the Lord. That might sound harsh. We’re used to the Western Christian idea of the love of God. Fear seems like something ominous, foreboding,…
Reprove your son while there is hope, and to his moaning pay no heed. A very hotheaded man bears punishment, try to save him—you will make things worse. Proverbs 19:18-19 Robert Alter Hope – What does “hope” mean and how is it connected to discipline? Unfortunately, it’s not possible to run to some biblical text…
Reprove your son while there is hope, and to his moaning pay no heed. A very hotheaded man bears punishment, try to save him—you will make things worse. Proverbs 19:18-19 Robert Alter You will make things worse – What do translators and scholars do with biblical Hebrew words or phrases that don’t make any sense? …
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 NIV Word of God – I’ve just read again the excellent introduction to the Hebrew Bible found as the…
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To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you” Genesis 3:16 NASB (1995) Pain in childbirth – Yesterday we discovered (again) that the addition of the diacritical mark indicating syllables…
He commanded them, saying, “See, you are going to ambush the city from behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. Joshua 8:4 NASB Going to ambush – How do you know what a word means? You might respond, “Look in the dictionary,” but a dictionary is just…
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12 NIV As Far As – How are is the East from the West? How far do you have to travel toward the East to reach the West? The answer is obvious. Infinitely. Forever. Never. If…
And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city. Joshua 8:16 NASB Were called together – Something odd occurs in this verse; something we probably didn’t even notice. It shows up in the qere/ketiv of the text, something you…
“Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” Genesis 11:7 NASB Confuse – When you listen to someone speak, what do you hear? Sounds, of course. Usually sounds that make up words that make up thoughts. But other than the audio signals, do you hear the meaning of those sounds? I live in…
