Today’s Word

Today’s Word

  • Gut-level Goodness

    to sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted and humble in spirit”  1 Peter 3:8  NASB Kind-hearted – eusplanchnoi in Greek.  Wow! Don’t even try to say this word.  The prefix eu means “well” or “good” (you remember eulogize?).  But “good” what?  The second part of the word (splanchnon) means “intestine” or in…

  • The City on the Hill

    to sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted and humble in spirit.  1 Peter 3:8  NASB Brotherly – This is a word you are not likely to forget, once you know what it is.  The word is philadelphio.  We have a city in Pennsylvania by that name.  It literally means “brotherly love.”  There…

  • Sui Generis Sensitivity

    to sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted and humble in spirit.  1 Peter 3:8  NASB Sympathetic – Sumpatheis.  A combination word from sum (with or added to) and pathos (suffering, misfortune).  This word means a lot more than the watered down version we have in English.  Sympathetic in English carries the idea…

  • Fuller Fear

    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.  Proverbs 1:7  NASB Fear – Last year (October 2, 2011) we examined Moses Luzzatto’s insight into the meaning of yirat adonai (YHWH).  Ira Stone commented on Luzzatto’s examination.  It’s worth reading again: “It should by now be clear that the term yirat Ha-Shem [yirat adonai] cannot simply…

  • Ruth 2:13-23

    Here is the lecture on Ruth 2:13-23 [audio:https://skipmoen.com/audio/ruth-chapter-2-verse-13-23.mp3] (To listen, hit the Play button above, or right-click here, select “Save as…” and download the file to your computer.)

  • Double Deal

    Thus Naomi returned from the country of Moab; she returned with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabite.  Ruth 1:22  JPS Returned – Did you ask, “Why is this verb repeated?”  Isn’t it enough to say, “Thus Naomi returned”?  Why say it twice – unless there is something for us to learn from this reoccurrence?  The literal…

  • Confession of Faith

    “For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”  Ruth 1:16  JPS Your people – No declaration in the Tanakh carries more impact than Ruth’s declaration of personal commitment.  It has been used over and over as a statement of…

  • Who’s to Blame?

    “My lot is far more bitter than yours, for the hand of the LORD has struck out against me.”  Ruth 1:13  JPS Than yours – The Hebrew phrase mar li me-od me-kem (“more bitter than yours”) can be read another way.  It can also mean “more bitter because of you.”  You can see a hint…