If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. Psalm 139:8 NASB In Sheol – This verse is often used as a proof text for the omnipresence of God, but I don’t think David had any theological doctrine in mind when he wrote it. It…
And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, Acts 9:5 NASB Who are you? – Good question, wrong subject. Sha’ul asks the right question but of the wrong person. The question should have been, “Who am I?” Of course, Sha’ul recognized immediately that the person he…
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! Psalm 1:1 NASB How blessed – What should we do now while we are waiting for the return or an exit? Do we just continue with…
Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; Exodus 34:6 NASB Compassionate – Consider the last twenty-four hours. Oh, not the ones that have just gone by, although after the coming investigation you might want…
He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Ezekiel 37:3 NASB You know – yadaetta. “You know.” Implication? I don’t know! In fact, no one except You, Lord, knows. No point in speculating. No guessimating. No wishful thinking. No theological pontificating either. “Only You…
He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Ezekiel 37:3 NASB Bones live – How is it possible for skeletons to live? Maybe you thought this was just a question about the end times? Maybe you read Ezekiel’s vision as if it were some…
“For after I turned back, I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated because I bore the reproach of my youth.” Jeremiah 31:19 NASB Turned back – Shuv. To turn back. To return. To turn around. Shuv assumes prior defeat. One does not turn back…
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Psalm 51:5 NASB In iniquity – In Hebrew, hen-be-awwon comes first in the sentence. “Behold-in-iniquity” is the opening cry. English translations regularly transpose this forlorn sound of desperation by placing the verb before it, as if David is concerned with his…
God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NASB It was good – Sometimes the most important thing is what’s missing. Of course, we wouldn’t notice what’s missing…
So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali. Genesis 30:8 NASB Mighty – What a tangled verse! Avraham Weiss translates Rachel’s statement as “I wrestled with God and prevailed.” But you won’t find that in English. Instead, English translators interpret elohim…
