“For from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” Acts 15:21 NASB Moses – Typical Christian exegesis of the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 concentrates on the requirements (or lack thereof) for Gentile believers. But this fixation on what Gentiles must believe and…
Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Matthew 3:1 NASB Saying – Yesterday we discovered that the Hebrew expression le ʾmōr is not really a word to be translated. It is the Hebraic substitution for quotation marks. Now, when we look at the Greek text of Matthew, we find the…
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 Name – I’ve often wondered why…
Taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Mark 5:41 NASB Talitha kum – What was the native tongue of Yeshua and why does it matter? The common understanding and teaching of most theological schools of the West is that “Jesus” spoke Aramaic, not…
Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form. Ezekiel 1:5 NASB Figures – Ezekiel’s vision is fodder for all kinds of eschatological grist mills. The history of interpretation of these verses demonstrates how paradigm pre-suppositions affect religious belief. But this penchant to read the text…
And the Lord called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the Tent of Meeting, saying, Leviticus 1:1 Hebrew World And the Lord called – Hebrew is a structural language. What I mean is that each of the consonants are like the structural beams of a building. They communicate in more ways than simply…
(originally November 2, 2007) And when some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” Mark 15:35 This one is worth repeating. About a year and a half ago I wrote this Today’s Word. It was the keystone in the arch of my understanding. For thirty years, I had…
Did Jesus speak Hebrew? The common understanding and teaching of most theological schools of the West is that Jesus spoke Aramaic, not Hebrew. The reasoning behind this is that Aramaic was the language of the Jews during the captivity in Babylon and that the Jews who returned to Israel after the captivity brought Aramaic home…
January 4 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 Frame of Reference And The Earth – Are you so familiar with this opening verse that you no longer think about what it says? Yes, of course, it tells us that God created everything. That’s what the Hebrew idiom hashamayim ve…
January 3 In the beginning, God created [et] the heavens and [et] the earth Genesis 1:1 (Hebrew added) Untranslatable Et – It’s there but you don’t see it. In Hebrew, this verse is Bere’shiyt bara’ Elohim et hashamayim ve et haarets. I have underlined the words translated “the heavens and the earth.” The first three…
