“You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” Leviticus 19:2b JPS Be holy – The English translation doesn’t quite capture the force of this command. Baruch Levine translates it as “You must be holy!” He adds: “The verse is distinctive in that it provides a rationale for a commandment: Israel must…
Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Matthew 6:9 NASB Hallowed – Recently we looked at this verse through the scholarship of Ernst Lohmeyer. We discovered that “hallowed” meant changing God’s hiddenness into observable glory. “Hallowed be Your name” really means doing all we can to reveal God in this world. Whether…
All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB Scripture – What does Paul mean when he uses the Greek term graphḗ? Before we can answer that, we need to know something about the wider meaning of the term in the first century. graphḗ…
And it came about, as soon as Moses approached the camp, that he saw the calf and the people dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. Exodus 32:19 NASB Hands – Exodus 32:15, a few verses earlier, reads, “Then Moses turned and…
To the [a]saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. Colossians 1:2 NASB Saints – You know, some people just have a deeper spiritual connection than most of us. God seems to be more present to them. That’s why we call them saints, right? In fact, if they…
Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine. Leviticus 20:26 NASB Holy to Me – We’re familiar with the citation of this Levitical command in the gospel of Matthew (5:48) where the Greek text translation changes the meaning from “holy”…
Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Ezekiel 20:12 NASB My sabbaths – What is the purpose of the Sabbath? Is it simply to cease working for a day, to rest up, to renew yourself? Or maybe its purpose…
“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’” Leviticus 19:2 NASB You shall be holy – How we have abused this verse! It is cited in Matthew (5:48 in the Greek version, not exactly what it says in Hebrew). …
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; John 10:27 NASB Hear – How do you know if you hear the voice of the Messiah? The answer is simple, but the implications are profound. If you hear the voice of the Messiah, you follow him. Of course, speaking Hebrew, Yeshua would have…
Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 NASB Be perfect – What a terrible translation! No, it isn’t that the words aren’t correct. The Greek esesthe teleioi does mean, “you are to be perfect.” That’s not the problem. The problem is that no one can be perfect! As…
