But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.” Psalm 31:14 NASB 1995 Trust – By now we should be quite familiar with bāṭaḥ (trust). TWOT’s reminder is important: in Hebrew, bāṭaḥ expresses that sense of well-being and security which results from having something or someone in whom to place confidence. It is significant that the LXX never…
A worthless person, a wicked man, is one who walks with a perverse mouth, who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who points with his fingers; who, with perversion in his heart, continually devises evil, who spreads strife. Therefore his disaster will come suddenly; instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing. Proverbs 6:12-15 NASB Walks –…
And it happened after the LORD has spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My wrath has flared against you and your two companions because you have not spoken rightly of Me as did My servant Job. Job 42:7 Robert Alter Rightly – The end of the story is…
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” Exodus 3:13 NASB What – What a stupid question! …
A merciful person does himself good, but the cruel person does himself harm. Proverbs 11:17 NASB Merciful – It should come as no surprise that the word translated “mercy” is really ḥesed. The translation relies on the way ḥesed is treated in the LXX, but as you know, even there we find eight different Greek words for…
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8 NASB The sound – You’ll remember Avivah Kushner’s brilliant exegesis of this unusual verse (CLICK HERE). She points out that…
But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.” Psalm 31:14 NASB Trust– By now we should be quite familiar with bāṭaḥ (trust). TWOT’s reminder is important: in Hebrew, bāṭaḥ expresses that sense of well-being and security which results from having something or someone in whom to place confidence. It is significant…
Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to You I cry all day long. Psalm 86:3 NASB Be gracious – Some days it just feels like the world is conspiring against us. Some days we are overwhelmed with troubles. They might be the result of our own mistakes or they might seem to be the…
Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. Genesis 13:12 NASB Moved – Lot didn’t start out corrupted. In fact, there are Jewish legends that he attempted to demonstrate a life of righteousness even while living in Sodom. Perhaps…
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Psalm 51:1 NASB Blot out – When a scribe writes a Torah scroll, meticulousness is absolutely required. Not one extra mark or mistake is allowed. Today the sofer stam follows strict guidelines regarding the size…
