One thing that has intrigued me of late, that y'all can think about while I'm gone. We were going through Genesis 18 in Sunday morning Bible Class, and after Sarah laughs at the news of her having a child, verse 14 has the Lord's response: "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" And then there's a little, tiny footnote - easy to miss - which says that the word "hard" may also be "wonderful." That's quite a difference! One of my eagle-eyed members caught it, and asked: Well, which is it?
Turns out that the word in Hebrew there can be translated either way, but it seems that "wonderful" may indeed be the primary meaning. My member then pointed out the Messianic promise in Isaiah 9, where the child to be born will be called Wonderful . . . hmmm . . . same word. Then, in the Treasury reading for today, from Judge 13, it came up again! After the angel of the Lord tells Samson parents that they are going to have a child, he says (v. 18): "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" Same Hebrew root. Hmmm. When I get back from vacation, I think I would like to do some digging into this . . .
So, let me go finish things up. See you in a couple of weeks!
1 comment:
I am sure you are aware of it, but not all of your readers may be: nowadays you need not be a Hebrew or Greek scholar in order to look up the words in the original language, and where else they occur in the Bible. Here is the link:
http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html
A slight problem lies in the fact that the King James version is used as the English text. Therefore, if you are looking for “Holy Spirit”, you will find the few places where the King James uses that. “Holy Ghost” will get you the others.
There are of course some tricks with tense, form, etc. in each language, so whatever information one may find, may not be all there is to know. We still need experts in these languages to give us the complete scoop.
I hope you enjoy your vacation.
Peace and Joy!
George A. Marquart
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