The Straight and Narrow

I will give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.  Psalm 119:7   NASB Uprightness – It’s not a familiar English word although we have no trouble reading it.  But what exactly does “uprightness” mean?  Alter translates yōšer as “honest.”  That’s better if we understand the literal meaning of the term….

Hebrew Greek

because God did not make death nor does he delight in the destruction of the living.  Wisdom of Salomon 1:13  A New English Translation of the Septuagint Death – It’s fairly widely recognized that The Wisdom of Salomon was composed in Greek in the mid first century B.C.E. It contains many Hellenistic themes, most likely imported…

Who Is He?

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 They do not defend – Jeremiah rails against the wickedness of Israel in the days before the Babylonian captivity.  He charges them with idolatry, insolence, and a…

Peace in Our Time

Lord, You will establish peace for us, since You have also performed for us all our works. Isaiah 26:12 NASB Since – ki is a very flexible conjunction in Hebrew. TWOT notes: “(kî) as though, as, because that, but, certainly, except, for, surely, since, that, then, when, etc.” The range of meanings is broad. Context…