Behold, I long for Your precepts; revive me through Your righteousness. Psalm 119:40 NASB Long – Well, it’s not exactly a hapax legomenon, but it might as well be. tāʾeb, translated “long for,” is used only twice; once here and once in verse 174 (which we will eventually examine). Since it is only found in this…
How then can mankind be righteous with God? Or how can anyone who is born of woman be pure? If even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure in His sight, Job 25:4-5 NASB Righteous – Perhaps Moses was delusional. Or maybe just egotistical. He certainly seems to have been affected by some mental mistake when he…
for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:10 NASB Resulting – You’ll need to read a few other English translations of this verse to see the issue. “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses…
Then he believed in the Lord; and He [a]credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6 NASB Credited – You see that little footnote before the word “credited’? In the margin of the NASB you’ll find “or imputed.” Now that’s a problem. Why? Because the word “imputed,” like the word “credited,” strongly suggests some sort of divine accounting,…
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17 NASB 1995 Is revealed – Paul has this tendency to write run-on Greek sentences. In fact, the opening of Ephesians is one long sentence which we break up…
Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is…
For Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; God, who is like You? Psalm 71:19 NASB Who is like You? – Pagan religions don’t need human history. Astrological signs, natural phenomenon, legends, numbers, the cosmic order—they’re enough. Human history is an anecdote to the divine plot. So, when the poet writes, “Who is like…
In Your righteousness rescue me and save me; extend Your ear to me and help me. Psalm 71:2 NASB Righteousness – Conformity is almost a dirty word in the modern world. As we discovered yesterday, self-identity and self-concern were pregnant in the idea of the individual, born into a new sense of Man in the…
The debased in his eyes is repugnant but to LORD-fearers he accords honor. When he vows to his fellow man, he does not revoke it. Psalm 15:4 Robert Alter Repugnant – The NASB translation offers some synonyms that help us understand the sense of this verse: “A despicable person is despised in his eyes, but…
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 – In my dream I’m covered with some kind of black plastic tarry substance. It tries to hold me down to the ground. I try to fight it off, but no matter what…
