The Lowly Preposition

Even though rulers sit and speak against me, your servant meditates on Your statutes.  Psalm 119:23  NASB Against – You will translate this tiny preposition according to the way you read the previous verse.  Why?  Because bĕhas a very wide range of meanings and context is often the only way to tell which English word to use.  Harris notes:…

The Way Back

Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and those who turn back in her, through righteousness.  Isaiah 1:27  Robert Alter Through – The NASB renders this verse differently.  “Zion will be redeemed with justice And her repentant ones with righteousness.”  The difference is the translation of the preposition bĕ.  As you know, Hebrew prepositions play a lot of…

Muted

The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.   Genesis 6:6  NASB Was sorry – Forget the discussion of anthropomorphism.  Forget the theological back peddling of analogous attribution.  Instead of worrying about the doctrinal issues, pay attention of the spiritual concern in this verse.  God is grieved about…