Deuteronomy 6:4

In his sermon for Trinity Sunday on Worship Anew last month, Dr. Ahlersmeyer mentions Deuteronomy 6:4:  "'Hear, O Israel:  The LORD our God, the LORD is one.'"  I'd had this verse on my list of things to write about for almost a year (since 18 July), but I waited to write about it until the Daily Dose of Hebrew went over this verse to see if I could gain any additional insight.

What I noticed almost a year ago is that there are three nouns here ("The LORD our God, the LORD") that are linkt by the predicate nominative ("one"), so there's something of a picture of the Trinity:  one God, three persons.

I noticed and wrote about a similar feature in Deuteronomy 4:35 back in February, and as I followed along in the Daily Dose of Hebrew videos, I found the same thing in 4:39 and 5:6.

Matthew 28:20

One of the readings for Trinity Sunday earlier this month was Matthew 28:16-20.  In following along in my French New Testament, I noticed something interesting about the last verse.  In English, it's "'teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'"  The French is "et enseignez-leur à observer tout ce que je vous ai prescrit.  Et voici, je suis avec vous tous les jours, jusqu'à la fin du monde."  "Tous les jours" stuck out to me.  At first, I thought this was simply a characteristically French expression, but I found the same phrase ("all of the days") when I lookt at the German ("und lehret sie halten alles, was ich euch befohlen habe.  Und siehe, ich bin bei euch alle Tage bis an der Welt Ende.") and the Greek ("διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν· καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος.").

I greatly prefer "all of the days" or "every day" over "always."  "Always" is broad and rather general where "all of the days"/"every day" is more specific and focused, which gives a greater sense of assurance.

Psalm 146:7-10

Back in January (while watching Worship Anew from 15 December), I noticed some anaphora at the end of Psalm 146, starting halfway through verse 7:

The LORD sets the prisoners free; 8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.  The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.  9 The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.  10 The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations.  Praise the LORD!

I didn't write about it then, probably because I didn't have anything else to say about it.

Psalm 146 was also the Psalm in the Worship Anew program for 10 May, and while watching this last month (only one week late this time!), I realize a function of this anaphora.  "The LORD" is repeated, but His actions are different in every clause, which illustrates the variety of His capabilities.  In a word, His omnipotence.

John 3:12

Back in May 2018, one of the readings in the lectionary was from John 3, and I noticed a chiasm in verse 12.  Jesus says to Nicodemus, "'If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?'"

It breaks down like this:

If I have told you earthly things

And you do not believe, 

How can you believe

If I tell you heavenly things?

In my note to myself, I said that I didn't know if this feature was present in the Greek or whether it has any significance.

The Daily Dose of Greek went over this verse last month, and I learned that this chiasm isn't present in the Greek.  It's a feature unique to the English translation.

Mark 4:41

The Daily Dose of Greek "re-runs" of Mark on YouTube stopt after chapter 2, but I've been continuing on my own and digging through the archives.  Last month, I finished chapter 4, and I noticed a small feature in the last verse:

"And they [the disciples] were filled with great fear and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?'"

Both that translation (ESV) and Dr. Plummer render "καὶ ὁ ἄνεμος καὶ ἡ θάλασσα" as "even the wind and the sea," but since "καὶ... καὶ..." can function as a correlative, that phrase could also be translated as "both the wind and the sea."  In that reading and because ἄνεμος is masculine and θάλασσα is feminine (as opposed to two words of the same grammatical gender), there's an even greater sense of the range of creation that is obedient to Jesus.

That said, I do think "even the wind and the sea" is a better translation.  Even provides greater emphasis.

Ezekiel 36:25

Earlier this month, I read Ezekiel 36, and I found a chiasm in verse 25:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean

From all your uncleannesses, 

And from all your idols

I will cleanse you.

I lookt up the Hebrew text, and I'm pretty sure it also has this feature.

Around the same time I read this particular verse, I was following along with the Daily Dose of Greek series in John 3 where Jesus is talking to Nicodemus and refers to baptism.  Dr. Plummer mentions this verse from Ezekiel in his video on John 3:5, and the study notes in my Bible also reference it.  Clearly, this verse in Ezekiel describes baptism.

But since it has this chiastic structure, it also points to Christ's crucifixion.  The study notes in my Bible explain that "sprinkle" is a "term most often used with the blood of the atonement and covenant," and that description seems to fit more with the crucifixion than with baptism.

Les siècles des siècles

For a little over a year and a half (26 June 2018 to 4 February 2020), I followed along in the Daily Dose of Greek videos on Revelation (copying out each verse).  This is where I learned that the Greek phrase "τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων" literally means something like "the ages of the ages" but is an idiom that means "forever."  (The first instance of this that I could find is in Revelation 11:15.)

As I noted before, since the lectionary started over in December, I've been following along with each Sunday's readings in French.  I have a French New Testament and a French hymnal that has most of the Psalms.  At end of the Gloria Patri after each Psalm, the French has "les siècles des siècles," and for a few weeks, I'd been suspicious that this is the same way that the French New Testament translates "τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων."  I finally lookt it up a couple weeks ago, and not only did I confirm that, but I also discovered that "les siècles des siècles" has the same literal meaning as "τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων" - "the centuries of the centuries."

John 10:11

Once again, I'm behind, but while watching the previous week's Worship Anew last week, I noticed a small feature in John 10:11 in my French New Testament.  "Je suis le bon berger.  Le bon berger donne sa vie pour ses brebis."  "I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  Granted, it's a rather small instance, but in French, there's alliteration in "good shepherd" ("bon berger").  This consonance gives something of an idea of Jesus' perfection.

Ezekiel 29:9-10

I'm still making my way through Ezekiel, but I recently found a note I made in late March about chapter 29 that I forgot to write about.

The Lord tells Ezekiel to prophesy against Pharaoh, and in the second half of verse 9 and into verse 10, He says, "Because you [Pharaoh] said, 'The Nile is mine, and I made it,' 10 therefore, behold, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush."

Pharaoh's claim that "The Nile is mine, and I made it" is very similar to what the Psalmist says of God in Psalm 95:5:  "The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land."  (I lookt up the Hebrew, and while most of it is beyond me, I did notice that both verses use the same verb for "made.")  Pharaoh's claim is prideful and arrogant, but the Psalmist properly credits and (elsewhere in this Psalm) praises God for His creation.


As brief side notes:

"From Migdol to Syene" and "the sea/the dry land" are both merisms.  The first seems simply to indicate a specific geographic area, but the second illustrates the variety and expanse of God's creation and - in turn - His powerful dominion over it.

Psalm 95:5 has a chiastic structure whose elements are features of God's creation ("the sea" and "the dry land") and the act of creation ("he made it" and "his hands formed"):

The sea is his

for he made it 

and his hands formed

the dry land.

Psalm 13:1-2

A couple weeks ago, I heard Psalm 13 and discovered a small feature in the first two verses:

1 How long, O LORD?  Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?  2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?  How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

The repeated "how long" is an example of anaphora, and in its use here, it gives a sense of duration.  Things have been going on in this same way for some time, and the Psalmist wonders when there will be a change.

Psalm 113:3

Last month, Concordia University Wisconsin tweeted Psalm 113:3:

#PassageOfTheDay "From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised!" - Psalms 113:3 pic.twitter.com/aPZQ4cocmc

— Concordia University (@CUWisconsin) March 19, 2020

I'd realized before that "from the rising of the sun to its setting" is a merism, but I had been thinking about it merely temporally:  from morning to night.  The paraphrase "from east to west" made me realize that it can also be taken spatially:  all over the world.

Psalm 28:7

Within the span of one week last month, I ran across references to Psalm 28:7 in two different hymns:  "Be Thou still my strength and shield" in LSB #918 "Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer" and "You are my strength, my shield, my rock" in LSB #734 "I Trust, O Lord, Your Holy Name" (which KFUO posted on Instagram).  Psalm 28:7 is "The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him."

I noticed that there's a bit of alliteration:  "my strength and my shield."  While only slight, this illustrates that God is steadfast and immovable.

For what it's worth, the same feature is present in German:  "Der HERR ist meine Stärke und mein Schild; auf ihn hofft mein Herz, und mir ist geholfen.  Nun ist mein Herz fröhlich, und ich will ihm danken mit meinem Lied."