From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Psalm 119:104 NASB Get understanding – What does it mean to “get understanding.” In our word-intensive, dictionary-based culture, we would probably say that it means to gather useful information. For that we can (sometimes) just Google. What’s delivered is information, but that isn’t “understanding” in…
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…
And I will walk [q]at liberty, For I seek Your precepts. Psalm 119:45 NASB At liberty – “The high plateau in the heart of the Dolomites is a natural paradise in summer and winter and a wonderful destination for versatile day trips.”[1] Click on the footnote below if you want to see this fabulous place. And now I’ll…
Behold, I long for Your precepts; revive me through Your righteousness. Psalm 119:40 NASB Long – Well, it’s not exactly a hapax legomenon, but it might as well be. tāʾeb, translated “long for,” is used only twice; once here and once in verse 174 (which we will eventually examine). Since it is only found in this…
yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” Exodus 34:7b NASB Inflicting – I like the NASB. I use it as my standard English Bible text. But in this verse, the translation couldn’t be worse! There is simply no…
Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth. Psalm 31:5 NASB I commit my spirit– Exodus 34:7. Yes, that’s right. The infamous verse about “visiting the iniquity of the fathers” uses the same verb we find here, pāqad. Speiser writes, “There is probably no other Hebrew verb that has caused translators…
. . . she heard that the LORD had taken note of His people and given them food. Ruth 1:6 JPS Had taken note – Once or twice in life it’s nice to hear something from the Lord. Two times is the extent of direct mention of God in the story of Ruth. Yes, the…
