Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head. Psalm 141:5 NIV That is a kindness – The basis for most English translations is the Masoretic text (MT). However, occasionally the MT just doesn’t make any sense. It might have been slavishly copied from older documents,…
Search me, God, and know my heart; put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24 NASB Any hurtful way – ‘im-derek-ʿāṣab. אִם־דֶּֽרֶךְ־עֹ֥צֶב One word all smashed together (typically Hebrew). So, let’s take it apart. אִם (ʾim) if, not, whether,…
Search me, God, and know my heart; put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24 NASB Put me to the test – Does God really “test” us? Is life an examination, a proving ground where we find out…
Search me, God, and know my heart; put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24 NASB Anxious thoughts – Do you have them? Anxious thoughts, I mean. You know, those deep, dark concerns that just don’t go away. …
Be assured, the evil person will not go unpunished, but the descendants of the righteous will be rescued. Proverbs 11:21 NASB Will be rescued – If you’re like me you might remember the song, Quando, quando, quando. Perhaps you never heard the original Italian version (here it is). Of course, it’s an Italian love song. …
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him. Answer a fool as his folly deserves, that he not be wise in his own eyes. Proverbs 26:4-5 NASB 1995 Do not answer/ answer – Proverbs is instruction in piety. It’s practical. It’s didactic. It’s anthropological (human) rather than divine. “Live…
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. Genesis 21:33 NASB The Everlasting God – In his article, “Genesis 21:33: A Study In the Development of a Biblical Text and Its Rabbinic Transformation,” Nahum Sarna examines several oddities found in this text. The problems begin with the…
having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 NASB Cares – If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: the fundamental message of the Bible is “God cares.” I believe it, but don’t ask me why. Don’t ask because I feel what the prophets discovered. “History…
The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. Joshua 4:12 NIV Ready for battle – What does the odd Hebrew word ḥămūšîm really mean? In the NIV it is translated “ready for battle,” but in the NASB it appears as “in…
The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. Joshua 4:12 NIV Crossed over – The auspicious day has arrived. The tribes are about to conquer the Promised Land. God has given them territories to occupy. Soon the nation of Israel will…
