Mark 1:22

I'm still behind on watching Worship Anew programs, but when I watched the program for 28 January (the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany) a couple weeks ago, I noticed a significant contrast in the Gospel reading from Mark 1.  In the ESV, Mark 1:22 is "And they [the people in the synagogue] were astonished at his [Jesus'] teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes."  While following along in the Latin Vulgate, I noticed that what's translated as a relative clause in the ESV ("who had authority") is a participial in the Latin ("potestatem habens"), as it is in the Greek (ἐξουσίαν ἔχων), so it's more like "having authority."  Since participles are verbal adjectives, there's some of the action quality of a verb here, and this contrasts with the more static nature of the noun "scribes" (γραμματεῖς, "scribae").

For what it's worth:  in my German New Testament, this participial is translated as a prepositional phrase ("mit Vollmacht" "with power"), but my French New Testament retains it as a participial ("ayant autorité").

Deuteronomy 28:47-48a

I've been reading Deuteronomy in the NIV lately.  A couple weeks ago, I read chapter 28 and found an-other chiasm highlighting opposites (bridging verses 47 and 48):

47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God

joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, 

48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty,

you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you.

I referenced the underlying Hebrew and a couple other translations, but this structure isn't in any of them.  The ESV follows the Hebrew word order more closely:  "47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything."

The Conversion of Saul

A couple weeks ago, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 25 January.  The text was Acts 9:1-22, the conversation of Saul:

I think it's not until Acts 13:9 that Saul is also named Paul, but in hearing the account in Acts 9 about his conversion and Pastor Smith's sermon, in which he mentions the significance of names, I realized that Paul's new name embodies John 3:30 where John the Baptist says, "He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease" since the Latin adjective paulus, -a, -um, from which Paul's name comes, means "small" or "little."  Coincidentally, the same day I watched the CUW chapel service, I also watched a Daily Dose of Greek video on Hebrews 2:7, and in the Latin Vulgate (which I always reference), the Greek word βραχύ is translated as "paulo."

Psalm 49:6

A couple weeks ago, I read Psalm 49 and noticed a feature in verse 6.  In the NKJV, the sense continues beyond verse 6 into verse 7:  "6 Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, 7 none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him."

In the ESV, however, verse 6 continues the sense from verse 5:  "5 Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, 6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?"  The NIV is similar:  "5 Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me - 6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?"

In any case, what I noticed is that the parallelism between "their wealth" and "their riches" highlights this abundance.