“Come now, and let us debate your case,” says the Lord, “though your sins are as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:18 NASB Debate – You are probably most familiar with the King James version, “Come, let us reason together.” The Hebrew verb…
They gave for my nourishment wormwood, and for my thirst they made me drink vinegar. Psalm 69:22 [Hebrew Bible] Robert Alter Wormwood – I’m guessing that you have no idea what “wormwood” is. And I’ll bet you’re no better informed about “gall,” the other English translation. But I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the verse before…
Lord, how my enemies have increased! Many are rising up against me. Psalm 3:1 NASB Enemies – Have you noticed how often the psalms speak about enemies? This verse from the third psalm is just one example. Psalms 4 and 5 contain the same idea, and, of course, so do many, many others. These psalms are…
“And I—I appointed My king on Zion, My holy mountain.” Let me tell as is due of the LORD. He said to me: “You are My son. I Myself today did beget you.” Psalm 2:6-7 Robert Alter Beget – Perhaps the first thing we need to read about this verse is Alter’s comment: “Despite Christological…
He also chose His servant David and took him from the sheepfolds; from the care of the ewes with nursing lambs He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hands. Psalm 78:70-72 NASB Ewes with nursing lambs – “The…
Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep, like a warrior overcome by wine. He drove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting disgrace. He also rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved. Psalm 78:65-68 NASB Rejected – Now the politics comes…
And He gave up His strength to captivity and His glory into the hand of the enemy. He also turned His people over to the sword, And was filled with wrath at His inheritance. Psalm 78:61-62 NASB The hand of the enemy – Okay, let’s agree that Asaph is a poet, not an historian. Let’s agree that he…
Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 1 Kings 4:26 NASB 40,000 – Like a few others comparative passages between the books of Kings and the books of Chronicles, this verse has a parallel. 2 Chronicles 9:25 says almost the same thing. But rather than 40,000, it reads 4,000. It’s…
A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3 NASB Voice– Exodus is a book about the wilderness. It begins with God’s miraculous demonstration of redemption, the removal of His chosen people from bondage in Egypt. It doesn’t take a theological degree to see…
“And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” 1 Samuel 8:18 ESV In that day – The day will come when those who have chosen leadership other than YHVH will cry out to Him. They will finally realize…
