You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed, who wander from Your commandment. Psalm 119:21 NASB Arrogant – We have a contemporary proverb, based on an ancient one (Proverbs 16:18-19). It goes something like this: pride comes before a fall. If we wanted to say it in Hebrew, we’d most likely use the word zēd. Here it is plural encompassing…
he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” Daniel 4:30 NIV I have built – Nebuchadnezzar lacked the humility of recognizing that God is the true builder—and destroyer. Thinking that he was the author and finisher of his…
“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” Ezekiel 16:49-50 NIV Sod-Foot and Ball-morrah The cheapest Super Bowl LV ticket available on StubHub on Thursday cost $5,975. The highest price on…
My enemies have taunted me all day long; those who deride me have used my name as a curse. Psalm 102:8 NASB Deride – The psalmist finally gets down to the real reason for his complaint. It took a while. All those verses about how he feels—abandoned, anxious, abused, avoided, alone—come down to this: “My enemies taunt me and…
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Ephesians 6:11 NIV Full armor – Body armor. Every civilization has some form of personal physical protection. Paul uses a term that was quite familiar to his audience. After all, they observed the Roman legionnaire’s equipment daily. The…
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…
“Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4 NASB Proud one – The NASB translation attempts to capture the idiomatic meaning of a phrase that literally says, “behold, swollen not straight his nephesh (person).” “Not straight” is the Hebrew lo…
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB Weakness – We live in a world of power. Anyone who demonstrates weakness…
He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Ezekiel 37:3 NASB You know – yadaetta. “You know.” Implication? I don’t know! In fact, no one except You, Lord, knows. No point in speculating. No guessimating. No wishful thinking. No theological pontificating either. “Only You…
For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 2 Timothy 3:2 NASB Boastful – Not exactly! The NASB translation of alazon doesn’t quite capture the idea Paul has in mind. That’s because in the Tanakh and the LXX, alazon points us to yahir, a Hebrew…
