Today’s Word

Today’s Word

  • Midrash and Remez

    He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD has said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.”  2 Kings 21:4  NASB Put – In the conversation with Nicodemus, Yeshua says that He must be “lifted up” just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.  This appears to be…

  • Who is that Masked Man?

    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  James 3:17  NASB Without hypocrisy – Who is a hypocrite?  Someone who says one thing but does another?  Someone who acts in one way under some circumstances but in another way when the circumstances…

  • The Two-Edged Sword

    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  James 3:17  NASB Unwavering – Write up your list of excuses.  Go ahead.  Make sure you get them all.  I’ll wait. The root behind the Greek word adiakritos is krino, a verb that means…

  • A Trip to the Market

    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  James 3:17  NASB Good fruits – What is “good fruit?”  Don’t spiritualize.  Don’t start telling me about love, joy and peace.  Just tell me what you look for when you buy good fruit.  You’re…

  • 99 and 44/100th Percent

    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  James 3:17  NASB Full of mercy – The Greek word mestos means “completely full, replete.”  It is not a term that allows qualification.  All or not all.  Those are the choices.  When James says…

  • Fight Club

    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  James 3:17  NASB Reasonable – Is faith reasonable?  In the post-Kiekegaardian era, this question might be answered, “No, faith goes beyond reason.”  But Kierkegaard’s distinction between faith and reason never crossed James’ mind.  Kierkegaard’s…

  • An Oxford Education

    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  James 3:17  NASB Gentle – When I arrived at Trinity College, Oxford as a graduate student, I was invited to dinner with the president of the college.  I assumed that this was a formal…

  • State of Play

    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  James 3:17  NASB Peaceable –  James writes in Greek, but he isn’t thinking in Greek.  The Greek word he uses is eirenikos.  The root is eirene, and in the Greek world this is a…

  • Two Come First!

    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  James 3:17  NASB First – As you may know, the Greek word for “first” is proton.  Not too hard to remember in this age of science and atoms.  As we discovered, James made a…

  • Triple Play

    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  James 3:17  NASB Pure – James, Paul and John agree.  They each use this rather rare Greek word for the same thing – moral purity.  Paul uses it in 1 Timothy 5:22.  John uses…