He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave woman, from where have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” Genesis 16:8 NASB From the presence – How easy it is to forget that Hebrew is concrete! Removing the physical element by translating according to our social…
And I on My part gave them statutes that were not good and law through which they could not live. And I defiled them with their gifts when they passed every womb-breach in sacrifice, so that I might desolate them, so they might know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 20:25-26 Robert Alter Not good…
In the evening one beds down weeping, and in the morning, glad song. Psalm 30:6b [Hebrew text] Robert Alter In the morning – The Gnostic thinks that this world is a place of bondage, of ignorant slumber, a prison house of matter deceiving the soul. Of course, his view emanates from philosophical assumptions derived from…
For what does a man have from all his toil and from his heart’s care that he toils under the sun? For all his days are pain, and worry is his business. Ecclesiastes 2:23 Robert Alter Heart’s care – Let’s cover the technical issues first. One of the reasons scholars believe Ecclesiastes was written after…
The words of Koheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem Ecclesiastes 1:1 JPS Koheleth – What do you know about the book of Ecclesiastes? Did you assume it was written by Solomon (son of David)? Do you know why it is so gloomy? Did you know that the insertion of a positive ending is probably…
But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why am I in this condition?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. Genesis 25:22 NASB Why am I? – What happens to us before we are born? We usually believe that gestation is the perfect world of complete need satisfaction. Helpless, that’s true, but…
to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 NASB Christ in you – “Jesus lives in me,” she said, thinking that “Christ in you” meant a spiritual/physical union with the Messiah. What she didn’t understand is that…
Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; Matthew 25:41 NASB Eternal fire – Matthew 25 is essentially a collection of parables about the Kingdom. The foolish virgins, money given to servants, and the separation…
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 NASB Rulers – Spiritual warfare. That’s how most people interpret Paul’s enigmatic statement. Our fight is with the Devil and all his minions in this world and in heaven. …
Let’s take a break. We’ve been thinking very hard. Here is one of the ceilings of Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. Built hundreds of years ago, you have to wonder, first, how in the world they did this, and second, why is there no one who can do this today? Times change, not always…
