therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; . . Genesis 3:23-24a NASB Drove – Did you notice that God’s action of expelling the man from the Garden is repeated. Verse 23 says, “God sent him out,” and then…
To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you” Genesis 3:16 NASB (1995) Pain in childbirth – Yesterday we discovered (again) that the addition of the diacritical mark indicating syllables…
If I speak, my pain is not lessened, and if I refrain, what pain leaves me? Job 16:6 NASB Not lessened – There was a time not too long ago when I knew exactly what Job was talking about (in fact, it was quite a while ago, but it seems like yesterday). Something was wrong with my left…
I am full of shame, and conscious of my misery. Job 10:15b NASB Conscious – There are a few universal languages. Mathematics is one. Any person regardless of ethnicity or native tongue can understand the mathematical language of numbers and relationships. This is, however, a created language. Artificial but incredibly useful. Is there an uncreated, natural language…
May that day be darkness; may God above not care for it, nor light shine on it. Job 3:4 NASB Darkness – “Little doubt surrounds the meaning of this denominative verb coming from the noun ḥōšek (darkness). It occurs eighteen times, seventeen times in poetical books. Exodus 10:15 is the only occurrence of ḥāšak in…
Now when Job’s three friends heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, they came, each one from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him. Job 2:11 NASB Sympathize/ Comfort – “It’s just too much to…
Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am wretched. Heal me, for my limbs are stricken. Psalm 6:2 Robert Alter My limbs – On the 30th of April of this year, I wrote a piece about the excruciating pain I was experiencing in my left knee. I asked for your prayers (thank you). I wrote…
Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am wretched. Heal me, for my limbs are stricken. Psalm 6:3 Robert Alter My limbs – Now you will read a reflection that I wrote more than a month ago. My left knee still hurts, every day, all the time. But it isn’t excruciating. No wheelchair. Nevertheless, it’s…
“Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God” (Job 1:22). I received numerous emails following my description of the constant pain I have in my knee. They were very encouraging, offering prayers and empathy. But one in particular really touched me. It was about another person’s pain, a young man who…
11:45 PM 5 April 2023 Pain. 24/7. Never stops. Never. Injections, opioid drugs, therapy. Nothing makes it stop. Thirty days now without relief. Every night it gets worse. No sleep. My knee aches in waves. Then sharp like someone has a drill bit turning under the knee cap. Always in the same spot. Continuously. What…
