Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy. Proverbs 27:6 NASB Wounds – Someone you know well comes to you with criticism. Not abuse. Not condemnation. Constructive criticism. A gentle reproof. A sincere attempt to help. How do you react? I know what happens to me. I resist. I feel…
Topical Index: Iceland, waterfall, photo
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, Psalm 23:2 NIV Make me – You probably learned this psalm with the traditional rendering like the NIV. “He makes me . . .” has the sense that I am caused to lie down in safe and secure sustenance. Green pastures…
Each one must do just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7 NASB Cheerful – Did you know that there are at least 680 words in the New Testament that appear only one time? These are called hapax legomenon. They are particularly interesting for exegetes…
Cain talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Genesis 4:8 NASB Talked – The verb translated “talked” is ʾāmar. Here it’s a Qal vav-consecutive + imperfect. So, it should really be “Cain speaking to his brother.” But because…
Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.’ Matthew 6:9 NASB Our – In the past a few notable Christian scholars attempted to assert that Jesus’ statement concerning the communal relationship to God was unique, that is to say, that prior to his use of the plural “our,”…
Who knows if a man’s lifebreath does rise upward and if a beast’s breath does sink down into the earth? Ecclesiastes 3:21 JPS Rise upward – Scholars often note that the Tanakh is almost silent concerning an afterlife. Abraham dies and is gathered to his kin. The end. Job notes that all go to the…
For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals [a]is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility. Ecclesiastes 3:19 NASB Futility – In this commentary on Ecclesiastes, Michael V. Fox…
For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals [a]is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility. Ecclesiastes 3:19 NASB Futility – Qohelet’s assessment of the human condition is very…
The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating disaster; I am the Lord who does all these things. Isaiah 45:7 NASB Creating Disaster – If Isaiah 45:7 just said that God is behind the various calamities in the world, we might—maybe—be able live with this. Maybe. At least that’s the way most Christian commentators have tried to skirt the implication that God…
