one Lord, one faith, one baptism, Ephesians 4:5 NASB One faith – “‘Religion’ comes from the Latin ligare, meaning to join or bind. Religion binds people within a group – Christian to Christian, Muslim to Muslin, Jew to Jew. More specifically, since some of the most bitter conflicts take place within a faith, it bonds…
and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” Mark 5:7 NASB What business do we have with each other – This entire phrase is a gloss attempting to capture a Greek…
And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Luke 17:4 NASB Forgive – Read these words from Yeshua again. Slowly. Let them sink in. If someone sins against you over and over, and keeps coming back saying, “I repent,” what are you…
But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. Exodus 9:34 NASB Sinned again – “Although Pharaoh has said earlier that he sinned, the text has never before characterized Pharaoh’s change of mind in that way. Why, all…
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…
