And showing mercy to thousands of those who love me, and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:6 Jewish World translation Love Me, and keep – Back to the pictographs. Here is the phrase “of those who love Me” in pictographic Hebrew. Once again the word begins with the preposition le signifying “control” or “authority.” It…
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. Psalm 25:10 NASB Lovingkindness – By now you certainly know the difficulties of translating hesed. And you certainly know just how important this word is. Hesed is the single most important expression of the character of YHWH. …
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4 (almost NASB) Friend of the world – Who is a philos tou kosmou (friend of the world)? This is a vitally important question, perhaps equal to the scribe’s inquiry, “Who is my neighbor?” If we have the…
I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. Exodus 20:2 JPS I am – Before we can look into this verse and this word (anoki), we have to step backward, to the first verse in the twentieth chapter. Why? Because there is something unusual…
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 NASB Not Burdensome – Rules are heavy. Regulations weigh us down. So when John says that God’s commandments are not burdensome, we should be reminded of two other men who say that same thing. …
“He who has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is who loves Me, and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.” John 14:21 NASB Keeps them – From Adam until now, no man has been able to fulfill this requirement. …
For the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. Deuteronomy 30:14 Do – “Evil is not man’s ultimate problem. Man’s ultimate problem is his relation to God.”[1] We might need to read this line from Heschel a few more times. It underscores the difference…
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. Genesis 3:7 Naked – Why did Adam and Havvah realize they were naked? Were they in such a joyous stupor prior to eating from the Tree that they just…
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. 1 Corinthians 7:19 What Matters Is – Those who claim that the writing of Paul set aside the Law and proclaim the age of grace tend to read only the first half of this verse. Since circumcision…
“For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.” Deuteronomy 30:11 Commandment – From time to time we have spoken about the 613 mitzvot (commandments) found in the Torah. The actual count might vary a bit but the list complied by Maimonides (in Judaism…
