What does "the word of God" really mean? Guest scholar Sergio DeSoto traces the Hebrew root davar beneath the English and it changes everything. (157 characters)
Amen! I'm 6 months postpartum, and it is here in this pit that I can speak with Job in 42:5, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." It's like I am reading the Bible for the first time. I'm seeing and knowing God deeper and deeper with every word from the Word.
3 years ago, I read through the Tanakh, in my childhood's tattered RSV. Tattered from 56 years of reading IN it, not getting around to reading IT. Reaching the New Testament, was confused by some verse, early in Matthew. Opened my phone to its Bible app, pulled up 3 translations: KJV 1611, Diodati 1649, Louis Second 1911. Finding, as always, that I receive a different version of a message when working in other tongues. For John's gospel I felt the need to read as he had written, so went back to my old Textus Receptus, interlinear, as that language is least familiar to me. And I hold fast in memory the first sentence, of that book in that tongue. Hebrew I do not (yet) have, and you, Dianne, are making me well aware of the lack.
Oh, this is such a beautiful comment! The image of that tattered RSV, worn from 56 years of living IN it, is just beautiful. And yes, working across translations opens up layers that a single translation simply can't. The good news is that Hebrew is closer than you think, especially once you start noticing the roots, the wordplay, the way meaning is just knit into the letters themselves. You are clearly someone who knows how to sit with a text, and that is exactly the posture that makes Hebrew come alive.
And in return, many thanks to you both. Actually several pages of Genesis have fallen out, despite husband's re-binding the volume once? twice? And some of those pages also now lack their page number, making reading them a puzzle. Three errors in my comment which I was unable to edit out: not 56, but 66 years! Given me by my church June 1958. Even worse! On the other hand the "push" to get down and actually read, came two years into my retirement, when I had TIME. The next error was not Louis "Second" (thanks, auto correct) but Segond. Third error: writing an extra "n" in your name. Having started an effort to replace my first Bible, and come to realize that wokery was moving along even through the 19th C. in scriptural translation, I think I now see it in that early 20th C. French edition. Originally chose the KJV 1611 and Diodati 1649 because of the adage "Latin at 3, Greek at 6, and Hebrew at 11". Figuring those 17th C. boys really knew their Hebrew --Diodati was made professor of Hebrew at University of Geneva(?) at 19. Unlike modern Protestant ministers who start Greek at seminary, and Hebrew when? In my experience, learning a language requires many years of attention.
Psalm 119 describes the "Word" in 175 different verses - how it shapes us, drives us, comforts us, and corrects us. These are not mere words, but they are the character of God, the Living Word, on the page. Deut. 32:47 says "These are not idle words for you - they are your life!" That is why Jesus is called the Word of God in Rev. 19 - he is alive, more alive than anything in creation, and the "Word" gives us that life.
John 1:1c God is a crowd, Hebrew Elohim. This one person of the crowd is finally identified in verse 14. The Word became flesh. That person of the crowd. Who created all things.
I was reading this in a memorial garden, surrounded by ancient trees. A sweet little breeze blew through and I “saw” the voice of God. We are surrounded by the word. Thank you.
Amen - I love this! The combo of “sola scriptura” and English-mindedness really flattened it. Years ago when I first discovered John used the word logos, I felt my heart come alive in a new way.
Curiosity, digging in the soil, and faith — beautiful recipe! 💜🙏🏽
Amen! I'm 6 months postpartum, and it is here in this pit that I can speak with Job in 42:5, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." It's like I am reading the Bible for the first time. I'm seeing and knowing God deeper and deeper with every word from the Word.
Love it!
P.S. what a powerful partnership this is.
👊 thank you !
I cannot tell you how much this unveiling of the “breath” of God speaks to me right now, in regard to how I have been praying. Thank you.
💙😉
3 years ago, I read through the Tanakh, in my childhood's tattered RSV. Tattered from 56 years of reading IN it, not getting around to reading IT. Reaching the New Testament, was confused by some verse, early in Matthew. Opened my phone to its Bible app, pulled up 3 translations: KJV 1611, Diodati 1649, Louis Second 1911. Finding, as always, that I receive a different version of a message when working in other tongues. For John's gospel I felt the need to read as he had written, so went back to my old Textus Receptus, interlinear, as that language is least familiar to me. And I hold fast in memory the first sentence, of that book in that tongue. Hebrew I do not (yet) have, and you, Dianne, are making me well aware of the lack.
Oh, this is such a beautiful comment! The image of that tattered RSV, worn from 56 years of living IN it, is just beautiful. And yes, working across translations opens up layers that a single translation simply can't. The good news is that Hebrew is closer than you think, especially once you start noticing the roots, the wordplay, the way meaning is just knit into the letters themselves. You are clearly someone who knows how to sit with a text, and that is exactly the posture that makes Hebrew come alive.
And in return, many thanks to you both. Actually several pages of Genesis have fallen out, despite husband's re-binding the volume once? twice? And some of those pages also now lack their page number, making reading them a puzzle. Three errors in my comment which I was unable to edit out: not 56, but 66 years! Given me by my church June 1958. Even worse! On the other hand the "push" to get down and actually read, came two years into my retirement, when I had TIME. The next error was not Louis "Second" (thanks, auto correct) but Segond. Third error: writing an extra "n" in your name. Having started an effort to replace my first Bible, and come to realize that wokery was moving along even through the 19th C. in scriptural translation, I think I now see it in that early 20th C. French edition. Originally chose the KJV 1611 and Diodati 1649 because of the adage "Latin at 3, Greek at 6, and Hebrew at 11". Figuring those 17th C. boys really knew their Hebrew --Diodati was made professor of Hebrew at University of Geneva(?) at 19. Unlike modern Protestant ministers who start Greek at seminary, and Hebrew when? In my experience, learning a language requires many years of attention.
Amen!
Psalm 119 describes the "Word" in 175 different verses - how it shapes us, drives us, comforts us, and corrects us. These are not mere words, but they are the character of God, the Living Word, on the page. Deut. 32:47 says "These are not idle words for you - they are your life!" That is why Jesus is called the Word of God in Rev. 19 - he is alive, more alive than anything in creation, and the "Word" gives us that life.
Amen, amen, amen. I love it!
John 1:1c God is a crowd, Hebrew Elohim. This one person of the crowd is finally identified in verse 14. The Word became flesh. That person of the crowd. Who created all things.
I was reading this in a memorial garden, surrounded by ancient trees. A sweet little breeze blew through and I “saw” the voice of God. We are surrounded by the word. Thank you.
That is beautiful, Lucy.
Amen - I love this! The combo of “sola scriptura” and English-mindedness really flattened it. Years ago when I first discovered John used the word logos, I felt my heart come alive in a new way.
Curiosity, digging in the soil, and faith — beautiful recipe! 💜🙏🏽
I love that connection! Amen!