Woe, who add house to house, who put field together with field till there is no space left and you alone are settled, in the heart of the land. Isaiah 5:8 Robert Alter You alone – Private property and boundaries are at the heart of Israel’s social system. Since the day the tribes settled in…
Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Luke 6:20 NIV Poor – Don’t read it in Matthew—yet. Matthew doesn’t report Yeshua’s statement quite the same way, and for good reason, as we will see. No, read it in Luke. It’s much more comforting. …
They do not plead the cause, the cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; and they do not defend the rights of the poor. Jeremiah 5:28b NASB Poor – Hebrew makes several distinctions when it comes to the poor. “ʾebyôn emphasizes ‘need’ and thus is to be distinguished from ʿonî ‘afflicted,’ dal ‘poor,’ and rāš…
You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Psalm 139:3 NASB Intimately acquainted with– Actually, the text doesn’t really say this. The last word in the sentence, hiskanet-tah, comes from the verb sākan. The translator has added “intimately” in order to capture the tone of this psalm. The verb…
And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Luke 6:20 NASB Poor – Matthew translates Yeshua’s statement differently. In Matthew’s Greek, the text says ptochoi pneumati. He needs this added bit of Greek because his reading audience is Jewish and he must distinguish in Greek…
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things. 2 Corinthians 6:10 NASB Poor/rich – The first set of antonyms in Paul’s list made us reconsider our emotional well-being.[1] The second set forces us to rethink our life goals. We start with some Greek distinctions. Paul…
Blessed is he who considers the poor; YHWH does deliver him in a day of evil. Tehillim 41:1 ISR Considers – Let’s think about the poor. First we have to know what word Hebrew uses to describe the “poor” since there are four different words with this same English translation. Here the word is dal. …
Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? James 2:5 NASB Poor – James was only kidding, right? Who could really imagine that God chose the poor? Especially when these days everyone…
He who mocks the poor taunts his Maker; he who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished. Proverbs 17:5 NASB Mocks – Redistribution of wealth is a hot topic in today’s politics. Aggravating class warfare between the “rich” and the “poor” breeds contempt on both sides. First, the poor despise the success of the rich,…
“For the poor are with you at all times, but I am not with you at all times.” Matthew 26:11 Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels Poor – Did Yeshua speak the truth? We will always have the poor. If you answer “Yes,” then why work to eliminate poverty? If you answer “No,” then is Yeshua a liar? …
