I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. Me He drove off, led away—darkness and no light! Lamentations 3:1-2 Robert Alter Affliction – I’ve lived long enough to know. To know defeat. To know heartache. To know loss. To know distress. To know evil. To know adversity. To know…
You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have committed acts of lewdness.In you they have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; in you they have humbled her who…
His life will repose in bounty, and his seed will inherit the earth. Psalm 25:13 Robert Alter translation Will inherit – When the ESV, NIV, NLT and NASB choose to translate ‘erets as “land,” we miss the vital connection between David’s poetry and Yeshua’s beatitude. Translators may sometimes be justified in choosing “land” rather than…
For the sake of Your name, O LORD, may You forgive my crime, which is great. Psalm 25:11 Robert Alter translation For the sake of – Why does God forgive? What benefit accrues to Him for this act? He has nothing to gain by forgiving those who despise and resist Him. There is no guarantee…
Happy those who keep justice, who do righteousness at all times. Psalm 106:3 (Robert Alter translation) At all times – “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you’re happy and you know it then your life will surely show it.” So…
