Yodh – On the Runway

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

Your hands made me and fashioned me; enable me to understand, and I shall learn Your commandments.  Psalm 119:73 Chabad Fashioned – First, the acrostic section that begins with yod. יָדֶ֣יךָ עָ֖שׂוּנִי וַיְכֽוֹנְנ֑וּנִי הֲ֜בִינֵ֗נִי וְאֶלְמְדָ֥ה מִצְו‍ֹתֶֽיךָ יְרֵאֶיךָ יִרְא֣וּנִי וְיִשְׂמָ֑חוּ כִּ֖י לִדְבָֽרְךָ֣ יִחָֽלְתִּי יָדַ֣עְתִּי יְ֖הֹוָה כִּי־צֶ֣דֶק מִשְׁפָּטֶ֑יךָ וֶֽ֜אֱמוּנָ֗ה עִנִּיתָֽנִי יְהִי־נָ֣א חַסְדְּךָ֣ לְנַֽחֲמֵ֑נִי כְּאִמְרָֽתְךָ֥ לְעַבְדֶּֽךָ יְבֹא֣וּנִי רַֽחֲמֶ֣יךָ וְאֶֽחְיֶ֑ה…

Public Debate

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed. Psalm 119:46  NASB Shall not be ashamed – If you’ve discovered anything at all in this vav section, it’s that each of these verses not only begins with a vav but also is a past statement of God’s faithfulness and the poet’s…

Promise or Proclamation?

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

And I shall keep Your Torah constantly, forever and ever.  Psalm 119:44  Chabad I shall keep – What is the psalmist actually saying?  Is he claiming that if God allows him to speak the whole truth (verse 43), he will then keep Torah forever?  Or is he saying that, unlike Moses, he knows God gives…

Past Is Present

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

And I shall answer a word to those who disgrace me, for I trusted in Your word.  Psalm 119:42  Chabad Shall answer a word – Are you ready to reread the text in vav-conversive?  As you can see in the translation of Chabad, this verb (ʿānâ) is treated as a future tense, that is, “I…

Vav – Some Hebrew Magic (1)

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

May Your favor also come to me, Lord, Your salvation according to Your [o]word; Psalm 119:41  NASB Also come to me – Here’s the vav section of our acrostic.  Notice the first word of the first line –  וִֽיבֹאֻ֣נִי.  You’ll see the vav but you might not know how it works.  Let me explain.  Vav has two functions.  As…

Public Debate

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed. Psalm 119:46  NASB Shall not be ashamed – If you’ve discovered anything at all in this vav section, it’s that each of these verses not only begins with a vav but also is a past statement of God’s faithfulness and the poet’s…

Days of Future Past

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying,   Joshua 1:1  NASB It came about – Once more I ask you recall that odd Hebrew verb tense called the waw-conversive.  You remember the discussion from Genesis 3:10 where Adam says (in…

Just a Little Change

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 7:12  NASB Treat – There’s a footnote attached to the translation of the Greek poiéō in this NASB version.  It reads, “Lit[erally] you, too, do so for them.”  That’s the way most of us learned this verse. …

The Future Past

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”  Genesis 3:10  NASB Was afraid– The story is familiar, perhaps too familiar.  As a result of its familiarity in translation we rarely see the incredibly profound nuances in this story.  We are deprived…