Finished

They almost destroyed me on earth, but as for me, I did not abandon Your precepts. Psalm 119:87  NASB Destroyed – What will be the final line in your obituary?  “A good husband?”  “A loving wife?”  “A cherished father/mother?”  “A provider?”  “A friend?”  How about “committed to God?”  Or “a Torah-keeper?”  Would you think to add…

Strong Conditions

I will keep Your statutes; do not utterly abandon me!  Psalm 119:8  NASB Utterly abandon – The Hebrew text isn’t exactly like this English translation.  The syntax in Hebrew is “not forsake me even with power.”  “Utterly abandon” might capture the emotion but what’s interesting is the implication that God would deliberately, and with strength, leave…

Salvation Synonyms

Do not abandon me, Lord;  My God, do not be far from me!  Hurry to help me, Lord, my salvation!  Psalm 38:21-22  NASB Salvation – What does tĕšûʿâ mean?  It’s commonly translated “salvation,” but the ancient Hebrew idea isn’t loaded with theological content in the way we use the English word today.  In our world, salvation tows in…

Not Exactly

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,”  Hebrews 13:5  NASB Desert/ Abandon – The author of the letter to the Hebrews does what so many ancient writers of sacred texts tended to…

Down The Rabbit Hole—Again

“I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 NASB Forsake – This verse in Hebrews is really a modified quotation from a verse in Deuteronomy 31:6. The passage in Deuteronomy reads eemach lo yarpeka velo ya’azveka (He will not fail you, nor forsake you). The promise is very old. It…

Hebrew Anagrams

Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not failed in His kindness to the living or to the dead! For,” Naomi explained to her, “the man is related to us; he is one of our redeeming kinsmen.”  Ruth 2:20  JPS Failed – “Hebrew words suggest each other,” says Eskenazi.[1] …

Down The Rabbit Hole

“I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5  NASB Forsake – This verse in Hebrews is really a modified quotation from a verse in Deuteronomy 31:6. The passage in Deuteronomy reads eemach lo yarpeka velo ya’azveka (He will not fail you, nor forsake you).  The promise is very old.  It…