History Untold

Because for You I have borne reproach, disgrace has covered my face.  Psalm 69:8 [Hebrew Bible]  Robert Alter Because for You – David makes an astounding claim, a claim that hardly seems accurate.  He says that the damage to his reputation is due to his upholding God’s name.  Has he forgotten his sins?  How can…

Idolatry in Action

Woe, offending nation, people weighed down with crime, seed of evildoers, sons acting ruinously.  They have forsaken the LORD, scorned Israel’s Holy One, they have fallen behind.  Isaiah 1:4  Robert Alter Have forsaken – Now we turn to the first of three verbs describing the cause of Israel’s crime wave: ʿāzab.  “The basic meaning of…

Mary Mallon

Because of all my adversaries, I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.  Psalm 31:11  NASB Reproach– Are you the Mary Mallon of sin?  Remember her?  She was “the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic…