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…
Lord, who will sojourn in Your tent, who will dwell on Your holy mountain? Psalm 15:1 Robert Alter Sojourn/ dwell – Who do you suppose the psalmist has in mind? You have all the clues you need: a tent, a mountain, a temporary encampment, a permanent residence. Who else could it be but Moses? The…
I am a stranger on earth. Hide not your commandments from me. Psalm 119:19 (Abraham Heschel translation) Stranger – John Oswalt’s book, The Bible Among the Myths, is an excellent analysis of the concept of myth in the ancient world. His insights help us see why the Bible is not to be categorized as myth,…
The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:39 NASB Second – In biblical thought, you can’t have the first without the second. You can’t love God with all your heart unless you also love your neighbor as yourself. Yeshua rightly points the scribe to both answers to the same…
“When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:33-34 NASB…
I am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me. Psalm 119:19 NASB Stranger – What is required for a stranger to become a welcomed member of the community? You might find yourself in that situation if you travel outside your native land. You want to establish connection, create new bonds, become…
. . . remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, Excluded From – Paul likes to use opposites to capture important ideas. We do the same thing, contrasting opposites in order to make our ideas clear. But Paul’s use of opposites isn’t quite the same as…
