“Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4 ESV Puffed up – Let’s get the Greek out. Neither Habakkuk nor Paul nor God Himself use the word “soul.” The Hebrew is nephesh. We have the English translation “soul” because of the…
“Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4 ESV Behold – How would you summarize Paul’s entire message in a single verse? The question is important not only for theological reasons but also because your answer will reveal what you believe…
“because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) Mark 7:19 NASB Clean – What a mess this verse has created! Why it became a mess is a study in the program of self-identity that the Church undertook in the third century. Suffice…
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1 NASB Son of God – Jewish orthodox rabbi Daniel Boyarin (yes, the Daniel Boyarin) wrote The Jewish Gospels, just published this year. In it he makes the claim that the gospels are thoroughly Jewish, including the idea of a divine Messiah…
“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’” Matthew 25:40 NASB The least – Benevolence toward others without any expectation of gain. That’s the idea. …
Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin. James 4:17 NASB Right thing – Two factors are immediately apparent from James’ statement. First, sin attaches to what I know, not what I don’t know. And second, if I know what is the right…
for not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. Romans 2:13 NASB Will be justified – It’s hard to escape the obvious implication of Paul’s statement. What matters is doing Torah. Anything less means exclusion from the Kingdom. Paul’s words are a fatal blow…
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1 NASB Son of God – “What the sages have done with Scripture then becomes clear. They have taken its narrative and discerned a pattern within it, and this pattern then has guided them in thinking about the present. Whatever happens finds…
My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you have destroyed all those who go astray from you. Psalm 73:26-27 Hebrew World translation Have destroyed – Justice will prevail. Oh, we like the sound…
Whom have I in heaven but You? And beside You, I desire nothing on earth. Psalm 73:25 NASB Desire – A lot gets added in translation to fill in Asaph’s blurted exclamation. In Hebrew, the text literally reads, “Who in heaven? I do not desire in earth.” NASB, ESV, NIV and others add conjunctions, pronouns…
