Your people will volunteer freely on the day of Your power; in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. Psalm 110:3 NASB Womb of dawn – Not to belabor the point, but if you read this verse in the NASB you will discover that it contains four footnotes, all indicating alternatives or…
He will redeem my soul in peace [l]from the battle which is against me, for they are many who are aggressive toward me. God will hear and humiliate them—even the one who sits enthroned from ancient times— Selah Psalm 55:18-19a NASB Sits enthroned from ancient times – Before we tackle this text, we need to understand the caution provided by Nahum Sarna: Translations, particularly those adopted…
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 NIV Word of God – I’ve just read again the excellent introduction to the Hebrew Bible found as the…
When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Genesis21:15 NIV Put – Most of us are captive to our mother tongue. As a result, we read the Scriptures in languages other than the original. As everyone knows, translations leave things on the table, especially nuances, idioms,…
You are my protection and my shield; I hoped for Your word. Psalm 119:114 Chabad Protection – Interpretive translation. That’s when the translator decides that the reader isn’t smart enough to understand the text as it is written and so he interprets the text by changing the translation so that it actually becomes the meaning…
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, קֻם לָךְ; לָמָּה זֶּה, אַתָּה נֹפֵל עַל-פָּנֶיךָ So the Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Joshua 7:10 NASB וַיֹּאמֶר – “What is the best translation?” Perhaps this is the most frequent question I am asked. In the past I have often replied, “Every translation…
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: Matthew 1:1 NASB Record – “It is obvious that the Torah contains much idiomatic usage, and translating it literally (as do most translations) distorts the meaning of the text. To a large degree, the ‘Oral Torah’ consists of a tradition as…
On that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the survivors of Israel. Isaiah 4:2 NASB The survivors – Who are the survivors? Who are the pĕlêṭât? TWOT provides some linguistic analysis: the primary use of this noun is to refer to the remnant…
If you assent and listen, the land’s bounty you shall eat. But if you refuse and rebel, by the sword you shall be eaten, for the Lord’s mouth has spoken. Isaiah 1:19-20 Robert Alter If – Do you remember the examination of the previous verse? The conjunction ʾim? Remember that the NASB rendered ʾim as…
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 1 Timothy 3:16 KJV God – The King James translation of the Bible held sway over Protestant Christendom for 400…
