Rise up, O Judge of the earth, bring down on the proud requital. Psalm 94:2 Robert Alter Requital – The biblical idea of justice is summarized in the phrase “measure for measure.” In legal parlance, this is lex talionis, the principle of exact retaliation or reciprocal justice. For example, in biblical justice, if a man…
The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 NASB Desperately sick – You probably thought this verse was about the propensity of human beings to sin. You might have been taught that we have this terrible, fatal illness called disobedience. It really doesn’t matter at this point whether…
“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9 NASB Desperately sick– It’s the adjective that is bothersome. ʾānaš is the word in the Hebrew text. It means, quite simply, “sick.” It’s used once in Job, five times in Jeremiah, once in Isaiah, and once in Micah. You can see…
“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9 NASB More deceitful– Just how sick are you? Pretty sick, if you read this verse from Jeremiah as it is typically understood in Christian theology. Many theologians teach that there’s a fatal flaw in human beings. We all have a bad heart,…
The heart is the most deceitful of all things, and it is desperately sick. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 Deceitful – I have been reading Oswald Chambers for fourteen years. It amazes me that I can read the same page year after year and find something new there each time. Perhaps it is a…
“The heart is deceitful above all things and it is incurable. Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9 Deceitful – We don’t think of the heart as an inside scheming deceiver. After all, we know ourselves pretty well, don’t we? We know when we lie and when we tell the truth, so why does God (He…
“The heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9 Sick – The Big C. Health issues today seem to revolve around the fear of Cancer – the Big C. No matter how tiny the infection, cancer is lethal. It is literally cells of the body destroying themselves…
