Pride of Ownership

I am Yours, save me; for I have sought Your precepts.  Psalm 119:94  NASB I am Yours – While the English captures the idea, the Hebrew isn’t quite so straightforward.  The phrase is lekā-‘ănî’.  It’s really a preposition (l – “to, towards, in regard to”) and two pronouns (kā – you, and ănî  – I).  Literally, “to…

Familiar Obscurity

God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still declare Your wondrous deeds.   Psalm 71:17  NASB I still – The Hebrew word is just a tiny add-on, ʿad, stuck in the middle of ve-ăd- hēnnāh (“and still”) I declare.  You can see that there’s something odd about this.  Hebrew uses two words (ăd- hēnnāh) to…

Too Familiar

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16  ESV In him – We are so familiar with this verse that we probably never imagined it could be read any other way.  But my friend John raised an…