Today’s Word
I Just Can’t Imagine
How has the faithful town become a whore? Filled with justice where righteousness did lodge, and now—murderers. Isaiah 1:21 Robert Alter How – אֵיכָכָה (ʾêkākâh) how? There doesn’t appear to be anything remarkable about this, right? It’s just an interrogative. After all God’s pleading with Israel, it doesn’t seem strange to ask how all this…
Conditionals (2)
If you assent and listen, the land’s bounty you shall eat. But if you refuse and rebel, by the sword you shall be eaten, for the Lord’s mouth has spoken. Isaiah 1:19-20 Robert Alter If – Now we know that the poetic context of Isaiah’s opening probably requires nuanced conditionals, not declarative absolutes. ʾim needs…
Conditionals (1)
If you assent and listen, the land’s bounty you shall eat. But if you refuse and rebel, by the sword you shall be eaten, for the Lord’s mouth has spoken. Isaiah 1:19-20 Robert Alter If – Do you remember the examination of the previous verse? The conjunction ʾim? Remember that the NASB rendered ʾim as…
Judgment Postponed
“Come now, and let us debate your case,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 NASB Though – The problem with Hebrew conjunctions is their implicit ambiguity. Unlike Greek (or English), Hebrew conjunctions cover a very…
God’s Subpoena
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, Isaiah 1:18a NJKV Come now – You probably remember this verse in its King James version suggesting that God wants you to enter into a rational discussion with Him (“reason together”). I’ve often heard this phrase cited in classical apologetics, and, of course, the rest of the…
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