And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, just as you have sworn to her.” Joshua 6:22 NASB As you have sworn – Without the context you won’t see the judicial problem this verse…
All the people, experiencing the thunder and lightning, the trumpet blast and the smoking mountain, were afraid Exodus 20:18a The Message Experiencing – When was the last time you saw thunder? Ah, probably never. We perceive thunder as audible, not visual. So when we try to translate this particular verse from Hebrew, we run into…
Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve Him forever.” 1 Chronicles 15:2 NASB Except – If you grew up in any of the Protestant denominations, you’re probably familiar with the doctrinal statement about the “priesthood of…
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,…
whom I wished to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel; Philemon 1:13 NASB On your behalf – Nothing particularly special about the use of this preposition, hypér. It simply means, “in the place of,” translated here as “on your behalf.” What’s interesting…
Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, Philemon 1:8 NASB Confidence – If we only had this sentence, we would think that Paul is acting like the Pope. Of course, the next sentence makes it clear that he isn’t issuing a papal bull, but we haven’t investigated that next sentence…
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philemon 1:3 NASB Lord – It’s hard to miss that fact that Paul distinguished between God the Father (patḗr) and Yeshua the kýrios (lord). That distinction creates an issue for Trinitarian doctrine, but not nearly as significant as Paul’s statement that…
All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB Inspired – Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to poke holes in your favorite English Bible translation. But I do want to point out that there might be a great many…
If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights. Exodus 21:10 NASB (first published in February 2014, with additions) Conjugal rights – If you were ever to doubt the upside-down nature of the Hebraic view of the role of women, this verse would surely seem to…
“But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Luke 5:24 NIV Authority on earth – I wrote Cross Word Puzzles seven years ago. A lot has changed since then. In…
