I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. Psalm 3:5 NASB Awoke – There are times, perhaps too often, when I just can’t sleep. I lay down and the memories of past actions creep into my consciousness, reminding me of my failures, my guilt, my remorse. I can’t shove them aside. They pursue me…
Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Psalm 119:1 NIV According to – When we began the long study of Psalm 119, we started by investigating the Hebrew terms for “blessed,” “blameless,” and “walk.” But we probably should have taken a long look at the preposition bĕ as…
Deal with Your servant according to Your graciousness, and teach me Your statutes. Psalm 119:124 NASB According to – Perhaps the most important word in this verse is the preposition ki. It’s attached to the word ḥesed like this: כְחַסְדֶּ֗ךָ (ke–ḥăsdĕ’-kā, “according to ḥesed yours”). Such a tiny addition. Why is it so critical? Because the psalmist…
This has become mine, that I comply with Your precepts. Psalm 119:56 NASB Has become mine – My wife, Rosanne, carries an Italian identity card. Anywhere she goes in the EU, all she needs is this little card as her identification document. Of course, this is an entirely modern invention. In the past, identity was a…
Take disgrace and contempt away from me, for I comply with Your testimonies. Psalm 119:22 NASB Disgrace and contempt – How do you read this? Is the poet asking God to remove something that is happening to him, or is he asking God to removing something that he too often does? What is his situation? Are…
Now it will come about that instead of balsam oil there will be a stench; Instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; instead of fine clothes, a robe of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. Isaiah 3:24 NASB Branding instead of – Something is missing from the Masoretic text, and because something is missing,…
Leave off from man, who has breath in his nostrils. For of what account is he? Isaiah 2:22 Robert Alter Of what – כִּֽי־בַמֶּ֥ה ki-va me(h). Stringing together ki (for, but, thus, because, when, . . .), ba (in, at, with, away from, among, upon . . .), and me(h) (what, which, that, how), the…
Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country, and they crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun. Then they reported to him all that had happened to them. And they said to Joshua, “The Lord has indeed handed over to us all the land; furthermore, all the inhabitants of the land…
Now the man named his wife [a]Eve, because she was the mother of all the living Genesis 3:20 NASB Eve – But of course he did not name her “Eve.” I’m sorry, but the footnote in the NASB (“Genesis 3:20 I.e., living; or life”) is absolutely no help whatsoever. “Eve” is not her name. That word comes from the…
When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you take them away captive, Deuteronomy 21:10 NASB When – The most important word in this verse is not “battle” or “enemies.” It’s not the claim that God will fight on your side. It’s the opening conjunction, the…
