A Qumran Story
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a memorial stone, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.’” Genesis 31:13 NASB Return – The story is familiar. Jacob is attempting to convince his wives to leave with him and return to Canaan. The wives hesitate. What…
A Problem with Authority
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 1 Peter 2:13-14 NASB Every human institution – Look, Peter is obviously wrong! If we did what he says,…
Do Your Duty
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the multifaceted grace of God 1 Peter 4:10 NASB Employ it – I’ve written a lot of linguistic studies. More than 8000 and counting. But today I just don’t feel like it. I feel spent, lonely, anxious. I’m feeling worn…
A Day To Be Foolish
Have a little fun today.
Don’t Get Me Started (rewind from September 2018)
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB Scripture– Let’s follow up on yesterday’s lengthy (I apologize) description of the Bible as a book about human encounters with God. Peter Enns adds some important insight: Seeing God as a character in the story who…
Once More Around the Block (rewind from September 2018)
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB Scripture– “I wrote that when I was stupid.” So said David Flusser when questioned by one of his students about an article he published years before. That’s how I feel today. If you ask me…
Paul’s Paradigm
All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB Scripture – What does Paul mean when he uses the Greek term graphḗ? Before we can answer that, we need to know something about the wider meaning of the term in the first century. graphḗ…
The Hebrew Stutter
then you shall say to them, ‘That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So, these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:7 NASB Were cut off – Remember…
Just Messing with You
to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, “What do these stones mean?” Joshua 4:6 NIV Ask – Don’t you just love the messiness of Hebrew? It’s so pedestrian. No Greek eloquence. No tight specifications for definitions. Sloppy translations suffice because the language is so flexible. And filled with…
