Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’ Ezekiel 5:7 NASB Of the nations – This is a curious judgment. We expect God to declare that Jerusalem has not…
Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Psalm 25:4 NASB Make me – Robert Alter’s translation of this verse carries a decidedly different tone. Alter translates the verbs as petitions; the NASB translates them as imperatives. Our previous citation from TWOT establishes the biblical emphasis on choice.[1]You are responsible. Not even God…
“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…
For whatever things were written before were written for our instruction, that through patience and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4 Whatever – First word emphasis. Once again we see Paul rearrange the vocabulary in order to highlight a thought. Here the first word is “whatever” (hosa), a word that we…
