Today’s Word
“And in the End”
A good name is better than fragrant oil, and the day of death than the day of birth. Ecclesiastes 7: 1 JPS Day of death – “Many individuals report that they rarely think of their own death but are obsessed with the idea, and the terror, of transiency. Every pleasant moment is corroded by the…
You’ll Never Know
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 NASB Without the possibility – The highlighted phrase in this verse is a translator’s addition. Robert Alter’s translation reads: “Everything…
Gift of the Giver (5)
I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 NASB Gift of God – Just one last thing to add—fulfillment. Qohelet (the Teacher) is the ultimate…
Gift of the Giver (4)
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 NIV Male and female – A few weeks ago we explored this verse for its latent connection to ḥesed. Since we’ve just looked at the relationship between ḥesed, šāmar, and pāqad, determining that these words are…
Gift of the Giver (3)
You have granted me life and goodness; and Your care has guarded my spirit. Job 10:12 NASB Care – Be very careful with this one. “It has been said of this verb, which occurs more than three hundred times in the ot; ‘There is probably no other Hebrew verb that has caused translators as much trouble…
Gift of the Giver (2)
You have granted me life and goodness; and Your care has guarded my spirit. Job 10:12 NASB Goodness – As we discovered the last time we examined this verse, the translation “goodness” just misses the point. God doesn’t grant us goodness, at least not in this verse. What He grants is ḥesed—relationship, reciprocity, transitivity, and action. …
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