Today’s Word
Absentee Landlord
And they say, “How could God know, and is there knowledge with the Most High?” Psalm 73:11 (Robert Alter translation) Know – Put this verse into the ancient near-Eastern world. Is there any doubt that God knows? Of course not. God knows everything that happens. But in the ancient near-East, God (and the gods) doesn’t…
Exegetical Guesswork
Therefore, his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. Psalm 73:10 ESV Turn back – Sometimes the biblical text that we have doesn’t seem to make any sense at all. Alter notes that this cryptic verse “has almost certainly suffered mangling in scribal transmission.”[1] Alter follows the proposed emendation of Hans-Joachim…
Let’s Take a Walk
They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Psalm 73:9 ESV Struts – Yes, we know it’s poetry, but does that explain why it sounds so odd? Do we just dismiss the improper grammar and the misplaced imagery simply because we give Asaph poetic license? And how would you…
Counting Calories
Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. Psalm 73:7 ESV Fatness – Asaph’s description of the physical qualities of the wicked is certainly metaphorical. Asaph is not writing about corneal edema. He is poetically describing the results of a life of opulence; a life that pursues luxury. But his use of…
Applied Hesed
or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:8 NASB Mercy/ cheerfulness – Paul completes his inventory of charismata with the phrase ho eleon en hilaroteti (“he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness”). But the typical English translation presents us…
Prosperity Terrorism
Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Psalm 73:6 ESV Violence – Do you connect prosperity to pride? Yes, you might think of that connection. But what about connecting prosperity to violence? For those who share the Greek idea of individualism, this seems like a real stretch. Why would Asaph suggest…
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