For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of YHWH, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances Ezra 7:10 JPS 1917 To Seek – More than a decade has passed since I wrote this initial study of Ezra 7:10. When I read Gordon Tucker’s footnote about this verse…
The LORD is my light and my rescue. Whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1 Robert Alter Rescue – I checked twenty-seven English Bible translations of Psalm 27:1. Every one of them translated these words as “the Lord is my light and my salvation.” In fact, I doubt you’ve ever heard it any other way. The…
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” Exodus 3:13 NASB To you – When Moses arrived,…
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” Exodus 3:13 NASB Has sent me – Sometimes divine…
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” Exodus 3:13 NASB Has sent me – Perhaps character…
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” Exodus 3:13 NASB What – What a stupid question! …
Yet I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt; and you were not to know any god except Me, for there is no savior besides Me. Hosea 13:4 NASB Any god except Me – Martin Buber comments on passages like this one in Hosea: “Only by acknowledging YHVH as One, Whom they are willing to follow in…
When God began to create heaven and earth—the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water—God said . . . Genesis 1:1-2 JPS A wind from God – One might reasonably argue that this text forms the backbone of the Western…
“Many daughters have done worthy things, but you—you surpass them all.” Proverbs 31:29 Robert Alter You—you – This hymn to wives is well known in religious circles. Apparently written by the mother of King Lemuel, it is not only a glorious recounting of the strength and valor of a wife, it is also a stern…
The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. Proverbs 31:11 NASB Trusts – What does it mean to “trust” your wife? How will that turn out to be prosperous for the husband? In the past we examined the Hebrew word bāṭaḥ in the context of the ‘ezer…
