He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! Luke 17:1 NASB Woe – Forget blue. The Bible doesn’t come in blue. Blue is not an obedient color. The Bible comes in red, yellow and green. Green is for obedient living. Green is good. …
Yes, let all who hope in You be not shamed. Let the treacherous be shamed, empty-handed. Psalm 25:3 Robert Alter translation Hope – After our recent discussion of batah, you might expect to find that word behind the English “hope.” To trust is to hope. The result is a public display. But that’s not what…
My God, in You I trust. Let me be not shamed, let my enemies not gloat over me. Psalm 25:2 Robert Alter translation Be not shamed – The Hebraic world is public. Its concepts of integrity, reliability, honor and disgrace are public. What happens in the world of the community determines character. The Greek world…
My God, in You I trust. Let me be not shamed, let my enemies not gloat over me. Psalm 25:2 Robert Alter translation I trust – When I read these words from the psalmist, I get discouraged. He trusted in God in everything. Why can’t I be like that? Growing up in Hellenism, I learned…
My God, in You I trust. Let me be not shamed, let my enemies not gloat over me. Psalm 25:2 Robert Alter translation Trust – Trust in God is more than a motto on the back of a coin. In fact, we might wonder if biblical “trust” can even be understood apart from Hebrew thought. …
For David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my heart. Psalm 25:1 Robert Alter translation To You – Lamentations and Psalms use a form of poetry called acrostic. In poems of this type, each new line begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this psalm, every letter is represented except the…
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. Psalm 25:10 NASB Lovingkindness – By now you certainly know the difficulties of translating hesed. And you certainly know just how important this word is. Hesed is the single most important expression of the character of YHWH. …
The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. Genesis 2:22 NASB Brought – “bôʾ, the fourth most frequently occurring verb in the ot, is used 2570 times, for the most part with everyday meanings of “go, arrive, enter a house,” or,…
The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. Genesis 2:22 NASB Had taken from – The purpose of marriage is unity. Genesis 2:24 tells us that we are joined together in order to become one flesh. But it isn’t just about…
“and a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39 ESV Like it – The Greek word homoia is a word about equivalence. It means “of the same kind” or “belonging equally.” It is often used in rabbinic teaching in the phrase, “Who is like?” We need to recognize that…
