Grant us grace, LORD, grant us grace. For we are sorely sated with scorn. Psalm 123:3 Robert Alter Grant – How did you come to believe? I’m not asking how you came into religion. That happens mostly by drifting through cultural or family expectations. No, I’m asking something else. How did you realize that God…
God has spoken once; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God; Psalm 62:11 [English] NASB Once; twice – You wouldn’t know it from reading this English translation, but the rabbis used this verse as a prooftext for the assertion that every verse in the Bible demands multiple interpretations. Why did they use this verse? …
If I but trust to see the LORD’s goodness, in the land of the living—Hope for the LORD! Let your heart be firm and bold, and hope for the LORD. Psalm 27:13-14 Robert Alter Hope for – “We live in an age of despair, and those who despair would seem justified, considering the compounding crises…
And the LORD said to Moses, “Write this down as a remembrance in a record, and put it in Joshua’s hearing, that I will surely wipe out the name of Amalek from under the heavens.” Exodus 17:14 Robert Alter Record – Compare the translation of the same verse in the NASB: Then the Lord said to Moses,…
For the sake of Your name, LORD, give me life, in Your bounty bring me out from the straits. Psalm 143:11 Robert Alter Give me life – The NASB translates this single Hebrew word as “revive me,” but that implies I only need resuscitation. Alter’s translation is more fundamental. “Give me life,” implies that I…
“Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were recorded in a book!” Job 19:23 NASB Book – It seems obvious, doesn’t it? Scrolls are not books. The Bible wasn’t written as a collection of books. We all know that, but what we might not realize is how this affects our understanding of the text. …
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? …
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:31b NASB The – Other than the fact that Robert Alter’s translation of this verse changes “there was” to “it was,” is there anything really significantly different? To answer that question, we need to read “Introduction to the Five Books” in his translation…
Happy who seizes and smashes your infants against the rock. Psalm 137:9 Alter Happy – It’s difficult to believe God in the midst of great trauma. If God is good, if He cares about us, then why do we suffer so much? It doesn’t feel like a test. It feels like abandonment, or divine failure. …
So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Romans 7:12 NASB Law – Why is the Law holy? Before you answer, consider the radical difference between the Greco-Roman view of Law and the Semitic biblical view of Law. Christine Hays offers some insight: “Divine law can be minimally…
