For man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward. Job 5:7 NASB Born for trouble – Surprise, surprise! We often imagine that it is Job who utters these familiar words, but it isn’t. It’s Eliphaz. That makes a difference. Even if we resonate with his aphorism about the human condition, his comment is couched within…
May the stars of its twilight be darkened; may it wait for light but have none, and may it not see the [e]breaking dawn; because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb, or hide trouble from my eyes. Job 3:9-10 NASB Hide trouble – “History is a nightmare.” So said Abraham Heschel, and although we…
Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed [a]the day of his birth. Job 3:1 NASB Cursed – As you recall, two other actors in this drama have cursed others. haśśāṭān first suggested that Job would “curse” God if he experienced great tragedy. The word there was the sarcastic use of bārak. Job’s wife employed the same term…
But of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her”; And the Most High Himself will establish her. The Lord will count when He registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah Psalm 87:5-6 NASB Born there – Football in Italy is a religion (that’s “soccer” for Americans). The rivalry between teams is…
A good name is better than fragrant oil, and the day of death than the day of birth. Ecclesiastes 7: 1 JPS Day of death – “Many individuals report that they rarely think of their own death but are obsessed with the idea, and the terror, of transiency. Every pleasant moment is corroded by the…
A good name is better than good oil, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. Ecclesiastes 7:1 NASB Day of one’s death – Qohelet (Koheleth, “the Teacher”) is an empirical pessimist. That alone made the decision to place this work within the canon quite controversial. It’s virtually impossible that the material was written by…
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. I will satisfy him with a long life, and show him My salvation. Psalm 91:15-16 NASB My – Do you think we’ve plumbed this verse? Is there nothing more to mine here? Well, maybe we…
But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why am I in this condition?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. Genesis 25:22 NASB Why am I? – What happens to us before we are born? We usually believe that gestation is the perfect world of complete need satisfaction. Helpless, that’s true, but…
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” Genesis 1:6 NASB Expanse – Birth is painful. If you’re the mother, I don’t have to tell you that, but I’m not talking about birthing. I’m talking about being born. It’s a blessing that…
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” Genesis 1:6 NASB Expanse – Genesis chapter 1 is undoubtedly the least understood and most misunderstood chapter in all the Bible. Oh, it’s so familiar to us that we think we know what…
