gāʾal

  • Next of Kin

    BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

    Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to Your word.  Psalm 119:154  NASB Redeem – The close-by-ness God listens.  In fact, He listens even when we argue.  That’s the sense of “plead my cause” (rîbā(h)’ rîbî).  You might understand it better if we didn’t use synonyms:  “Argue my argument.”  The word is used twice.  The…

  • Reworking the Paradigm

    BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

    Come near me, redeem me.  Because of my enemies, ransom me.  Psalm 69:19 [Hebrew Bible]  Robert Alter Ransom – Let’s examine the implicit paradigm in this verse.  Remember that the true role of the exegete is to interpret the text according to the thought patterns of the original audience and author.  That means making crystal…