As I mentioned in an earlier post I’ve been trying to test the value of Holy Bible: Mosaic NLT (Meditations) for a lectionary preacher or teacher. I use the weekly lectionary texts regularly for my personal devotions, attend a lectionary study group each Wednesday at noon, and also use the texts on those few occasions…
Philippians 1:3-11 is one of the Lectionary passages this week, and so I read through it this morning during my devotional time in Greek. Now Paul is good at long sentences. I remember the embarrassment once working with a Greek student who was translating this passage in his second year. He was doing OK in…
I decided to check on what Holy Bible: Mosaic NLT might have for my lectionary reading this week. First I checked the material for the 18th Sunday in Pentecost. Their readings do not coincide with the Revised Common Lectionary at all this week, though they do follow the church year. The RCL readings (with United…
There are a number of lectionary selections that skip part of a passage. Sometimes this is for time. Sometimes it relates to topic, but sometimes it is simply used to remove material that might offend. I like lectionary preaching and teaching. I think it forces pastors to get out of their comfort zones and expound…
I was delighted to find this quote via the Orthodox Study Bible, though I must add to my complaints about that edition the fact that they cite church fathers by name, but without providing a reference to the particular work. A visit to the St. Pachomius Library and then ewtn.com resolved the latter question. The…
I did the Old Testament/Psalms portion of my lectionary reading today from the Jewish Study Bible. The notes draw attention to the difficulty in separating Psalm 107 into the next book. The division between books 4 and 5 of the Psalms occurs between Psalm 106 and 107. But these divisions are later than the text…
I was looking at this week’s lectionary passages, and a relationship with my current study of Leviticus struck me. How precisely do our actions and rituals symbolize what we’re trying to represent? Is it possible that all they do is open up the questions for us? I wrote about some of the oddness of God’s…
Yesterday I looked at Romans 14:1-12 in these two versions. Today I’m looking at another of this week’s lectionary passages, Exodus 14:19-31. Those who aren’t seriously interested in these two study Bibles should probably skip this whole series. Watch for the first part of the title (Using the NLTSB [NLT] and NISB [NRSV]) and flee…
The man was a good Christian. Any of us would be quite pleased to have his reputation for faith and Christian charity. He was part of a study group I led, and we were discussing witnessing. “I’m afraid to put a fish symbol on my car,” he said. “I might do something that’s not Christlike,…
Since Psalm 104 is in the lectionary for Pentecost (May 11), I thought I’d take this opportunity to link again to my essay on that Psalm which dates from when I was working on my MA. I created a critical (or reconstructed) Hebrew text, provided a translation and notes, and did some analysis on the…
