Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
The book of Joshua opens by confirming the death of Moses, followed by a curious instruction: Now you go into the Promised Land. Imagine that, an entire nation was put on hold, unable to move—until Moses died. Moses had to die for them to receive what God had promised to give them. What if Moses […]
In my post “Translation Confusion,” I pointed out that the Bible has word-for-word translations, thought-for-thought translations, and paraphrases (more technically known as “functional equivalence”). These all exist on a continuum, so the lines of distinction between them are blurry. Here is how Ministry Today magazine recently broke them down: Word-for-word Translations Popular word-for-word translations are […]
After spending 430 years in Egypt, the Israelites are finally free. They head out for the Promised Land and one of the first things they do is complain. They beg to go back to Egypt. Then they spend forty years in the desert. When they finally cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land, […]
In earlier posts, I noted that after the Israelites left Egypt, they spent 40 years in the desert before entering the land God promised for them. I also observed that Moses waited 40 years before leading them out of Egypt. This makes for an unnecessary delay of 80 years. However, why were they in Egypt […]
The Israelites left Egypt for what should have been an eleven-day trek across the desert to the “promised land.” However, because of their disobedience, God gave them a 40-year timeout in the desert. This, however, may not have been the first delay. Prior to that, Moses sensed that his place was to rescue his people, […]
After the Israelites left Egypt, God gave them a 40-year timeout in the desert. This was because of their lack of trust in his pledge to provide for them as they entered into the land he promised. This meant that what should have been an eleven-day journey, ended up being a 40-year desert experience—which for […]
When God told Moses to confront Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses objected. He said, “I have never been eloquent… I am slow of speech and tongue.” Moses’ self-perception was that he was not able to do the job God asked of him, that he lacked the essential qualifications needed for success. […]
In continuing our discussion on Bible translations, let’s pretend I’m translating an ancient text. In doing a strict word-for-word translation, I come up with: “She hit him, I never said.” Even with punctuation inserted—which is a requirement—it is confusing (and sounds a bit like Yoda). Somewhat modifying a strict word-for-word methodology might result in: “I […]
In the FAQ section of A-Bible-A-Day, one question is “Which version or translation of the Bible should I use?” The short answer is to pick whatever version you will actually read. Unfortunately, there is much vociferous, albeit unwarranted, debate about this issue. With what seems like a countless list of versions to pick from, they […]
Asking respectful questions about the Bible is not a sign of rebellion or indication of disbelief, but can be a means of more fully pursuing the God who is revealed in the Bible. It is from this perspective that I’ve been pondering the creation account and asking some questions. My final query is: Question 6: […]