Psalm 112: A Companion to Psalm 111

February 26, 2024Posted inChiasms, Psalm Translations, Psalms Commentary
The content of Psalm 112 is very different from Psalm 111. Psalm 111 praises the Lord for his great works and sure precepts; Psalm 112 blesses the righteous man. Nevertheless, there are three important considerations that demonstrate their close relationship. 1) They are both acrostic according to line rather than verse. Each has twenty-two lines…

Psalm 111: A Chiasm and an Acrostic

February 19, 2024Posted inChiasms, Psalm Translations, Psalms Commentary
Psalm 111 is another carefully constructed song.  It is an acrostic, but its acrostic structure is a little different from other acrostic psalms. Those usually have twenty-two verses of two (sometimes more) lines each, and each verse begins with the Hebrew letter next in order. But this psalm has twenty-two lines, each of which begins…

Psalm 150: Universal Praise

February 7, 2024Posted inPsalm Translations, Psalms Commentary
Hallelujah! Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of his strength. Praise him for his mighty deeds. Praise him according to the abundance of his greatness. Praise him with the blast of the trumpet. Praise him with the lute and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance. Praise him with strings…

The Restoration of Job and His Friends

January 29, 2024Posted inJob
The last eleven verses of Job describe God’s work of restoring first Job’s friends (vv. 7–9) and then Job (vv. 10–17). But these two restorations are different. The restoration of the three friends is to the favor of God through the forgiveness of their sins. The restoration of Job is to the prosperity he had…

Job 40:6 to 42:6 – Behemoth and Leviathan

January 22, 2024Posted inJob
God’s speech to Job in Job 38–41 has two main parts. After the first part (chapters 38–39), God challenged Job:”Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it” (Job 40:2). Job responded by confessing his insignificance and promising to say no more (40:3–5). But God was…

God to Job: Who is This?

January 15, 2024Posted inJob
The Lord’s answer to Job takes up four chapters and has two parts. In chapters 38:1–40:5 God speaks and Job responds (40:3–5), and in chapters 40:6–42:6 the Lord speaks again and again Job responds. Throughout both parts of the speech the Lord continues the theme begun by Elihu, especially in chapter 37:14–24. There Elihu asks…

Job 36 and 37: With God Might is Right

January 8, 2024Posted inJob
The last part of Elihu’s long speech, chapters 36 and 37 in Job, has four parts. In 36:1–23 Elihu addresses Job and further defends the righteousness of God. In fact, this is really the theme of all of Elihu’s argument. In 36:24–37:1 (I think we have another bad chapter break here), Elihu exhorts Job to…

Job 34 and 35: Elihu’s Accusations Against Job

January 2, 2024Posted inJob
Chapter 34 Chapter 34 is the second part of Elihu’s long (chapters 32-37) speech. In it he speaks first to wise men (vv. 1–15), then to Job (vv. 16–33, the second person pronouns are singular), and then again, it seems, to wise men (34–37). The wise men he talks to may be Job’s friends. If…

Job 32 and 33: Elihu Gets It Right

December 26, 2023Posted inJob
There is a lot of judging going on in the first few verses of chapter 34. Job’s friends judge that it is useless to continue to argue with Job because he is righteous in his own eyes. Job judges that he is righteous and his friends are unjust. Elihu judges both Job and his friends;…

Job 29 to 31: Job’s Last Words

December 18, 2023Posted inJob
Chapters 29 to 31 are the third and last part of Job’s final speech. In chapter 26 he had answered Bildad, and in chapters 27 and 28 all of his friends. But in these chapters, though he speaks in their presence, he is really engaged more in soliloquy than arguing with them. Each chapter has…