Today’s Word

Who’s the Author?

So he said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your slave. Now spread your garment over your slave, for you are a redeemer.”  Ruth 3:9 NASB Spread your garment – One of the exegetical assumptions of both Judaism and conservative Christianity is that all of the biblical text is ultimately authored by…
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Wash, Dry, Fold

Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Psalm 51:10  NASB   Steadfast – There’s not much point in washing your clothes if you’re just going to jump back in the mud.  They might be clean for the moment, but unless you stay away from the muck, you’ll be right back where you started—dirty.  That’s the point of…
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Hapax Legomenon Exegesis

Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. Genesis 24:63 NASB 1995 To meditate – Hapax legomenon.  That’s what the word śûaḥ’ is.  A once only occurrence in the entire Tanakh.  If you look in a lexicon, you will find…
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Inside View

When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.  Genesis 37:21 NIV   Tried to rescue – Jonathan Sacks makes an interesting comment about the literal Hebrew in this verse:   It is at this point that the Torah does something it does nowhere else: It makes a statement…
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Two in One

Hide Your face from my sins and wipe out all my guilty deeds.  Psalm 51:9  NASB Hide/ wipe out – Two actions are needed before we find relief from past mistakes.  The first involves re-establishing a right relationship with God.  For that to occur, God must take the initiative.  Since He knows everything about us,…
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Changing the Tune

Let me hear joy and gladness, let the bones You have broken rejoice.  Psalm 51:8  NASB Joy and gladness – I love to listen to the Blues.  For years the plaintive cries of those lyrics have echoed my own struggles.  They remind me of M. Scott Peck’s famous opening sentence, “Life is difficult.”  Yes, it is.  And…
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