Proverbs 20:22 revisited

I was curious about the Hebrew behind Proverbs 20:22, so I pulled my BHS off the shelf and took a look. The last phrase of the verse caught my eye:
weyo$a` lak – the vowels on the verb are schwa, holem, patach. Clearly not a vav consecutive, but a hiphil jussive form. Normal translation would be, "and let Him deliver/save/rescue you." So, the whole verse would run "Do not say, 'I will repay the evil.' Wait for the LORD and let him deliver/rescue/save you."

Hmmm. That's not how all the English translations I checked render it. Universally they render it as a future, "and He will save/rescue/deliver you." So, being the inquisitive sort, I pulled my Vulgata off the shelf and found that Jerome rendered it with a future. The Septuaginta, which has screwed up verse order here, renders it with a hINA clause. So, as usual, our translations show that they are more indebted to Jerome and the Vulgata tradition than they are to the original Hebrew and subsequent Greek.

Just an idle musing on a Wednesday morning, the day before leaving for AAR/SBL...

New web design at Eisenbrauns?

We hope so! Want to help?

Our webmaster, Andy, is playing with a new web design for the Eisenbrauns homepage. It seems to work nicely on all the different configurations we've played with, but...

Follow this link, which will take you to the new design. There is a series of drop-downs across the top. Do they work in your browser? How do you like the design?

All feedback is welcome, especially if you break it :)

Thanks!

More from Bonhoeffer

I haven't had much time to read lately, between AAR/SBL preparations and helping Debbie's parents move. But, I have still found some gems, for example:

Obedience without freedom is slavery, freedom without obedience is arbitrariness. Obedience binds freedom, freedom ennobles obedience. Obedience binds the creature to the Creator, freedom places the creature, made in God's image, face-to-face with the Creator. Obedience makes clear to human beings that they have to be told what is good and what the Lord requires of them... —Ethics, page 287.

New Interpreter's Dictionary

The first volume of the long awaited New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible just arrived today. It has been advertised and expected for a while now, and quite a few bibliobloggers have contributed to it. I was quite excited to get it and immediately ripped the shrink-wrap off one...

I was disappointed by a few things:

*The bibliographies are all in English. Was this intentional? If so, what a disappointment.

*The bibliographies are not sorted, or at least I couldn't figure it out. It certainly isn't alphabetically by author or title. Maybe by importance? I looked at the Baal article, and the first book was an Eisenbrauns book The Storm-God in the Ancient Near East, so it must be by importance, right :)

*The bottom margin is terribly close to the bottom of the book. I checked two from different boxes, just in case it was a printer mistake. Nope, both of them only have about 1/8 inch of white space at the bottom of the page.

This series is designed to replace the old Interpreter's Dictionary, and they are hoping to displace the Anchor Bible Dictionary. Well, based on this first volume, I wouldn't start trading in my Anchor Dictionary just yet.

Those of you who contributed, what are your thoughts on this?

Update: Abingdon told me that they intend to increase the bottom margin on the next volumes.

Quote for the day

Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.—Proverbs 20:22 (NIV)

This weekend

How did you spend your Saturday?

I spent mine assisting Debbie’s parents move to Indiana. The weekend before (November 3-6), we went to Oconomowoc, WI to help them pack. I stayed through Monday, packing boxes. When I came back, Debbie stayed there to help them with last minute stuff and cleaning. Before I left, I told her that, if necessary, I could return on Saturday, November 11 to bring anything that they didn’t want the movers to take.

Sure enough, about Wednesday, Debbie said that I should think about coming back. There were some personal files that they didn’t want the movers to take. I asked how many, and she said about 6 boxes. No problem, I’ll just bring the car. She said, “No, you had better borrow the work van.” I agreed, but thought it was overkill for 6 boxes. So, Saturday morning saw me on the road to Wisconsin, a 5 hour trip. I got there around noon and, sure enough, those 6 boxes had managed to have babies throughout the week. As many times as I’ve moved in my life, you would think I would remember that the last minute stuff turns out to be about 20 times more than you expect. Good thing I took the van. By the time all was loaded, it was 2/3 full!

So, 4 hours later, we’re on the road again. Another 6 hours and we are back in Winona Lake/Warsaw. We unload the van and return home. Debbie’s parents stayed behind for a bit, looking around. When we got home, there was a message from them. The garage door wouldn’t shut! Yikes, what a greeting on their first day. Well, by the time we got the message and I returned, it was taken care of. Their new neighbors had returned home, and seeing their plight had attempted to assist them. No success, so they called the landlord. Mind you, it is 11:00 PM by now. The landlord was in the shower, just returned from a 25 hour trip to Colorado. Once he was out of the shower, he drove over and got out of the car wearing slippers and carrying a hair dryer. They wondered about the hair dryer, but he said it was to check for power at the outlet. No power. So, he climbs down, walks over to the wall and pushes the button on the GFCI outlet there. Presto! Power is restored, the garage door closes, and everything is fine.


The moving van arrives today to unload…pray for good weather, they loaded on Friday in a snowstorm!

Quote for the day

Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land. The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing: “Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.” Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening till wine inflames them! They have lyre and harp, timbrel and flute and wine at their feasts; but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord, or see the work of his hands. Therefore my people go into exile for want of knowledge; their honored men are dying of hunger, and their multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her throng and he who exults in her. Man is bowed down, and men are brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are humbled. But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, fatlings and kids shall feed among the ruins. Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, who say: “Let him make haste, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!” Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. – Isaiah 5:8-24 RSV

And then there were two...

Hey! Everybody! Come one, come all! Read some Greek and Hebrew with us on Thursday mornings! Anybody in the Winona Lake/Warsaw, Indiana area who can stumble through Greek or Hebrew is welcome. We started with 3 people, increased to 4, now we're at 2. But, we have a blast. We won't be meeting for the next 2 weeks, since next week John and I will be on our way to AAR/SBL, and the following Thursday is Thanksgiving Day (US). But, be sure to join us November 31 for Hebrew at 7:00 AM!

Revival?

As a follow-up to my post on awakening, I ran across this yesterday:

I have observed the lowering of the standards of holiness from the pulpit to the pew. It appears we are seeking to develop happy churches, but not holy churches. One pastor stated that he wanted his people to leave the Sunday morning worship feeling, “affirmed, approved, and applauded.” Whatever happened to leaving feeling confronted, convicted, confessed, and cleansed? Charles Spurgeon put it in perspective years ago when he said, “Of all the griefs the church ever feels, the keenest is when those who once stood in her midst dishonor the name of Christ by unholy living.”

I have observed more and more churches having fewer and fewer revivals. Of course the rural church will always hold a revival, whether they actually have one or not, the third week of August. Vance Havner once said, “Preachers speak of ‘holding revivals.’ Somebody ought to turn one loose!” Real revival which takes prayer and preparation and sees scores ushered into the kingdom and church members rekindling the fire within is quickly giving way to one day events. We have stopped singing “Take Time To Be Holy,” because we don’t have the time.

That is just 2 of 12 observations after 31 years of preaching "Revivals" over at Observations of a Tennessee Baptist evangelist.

HT: Jim West

AAR/SBL shipment

While I was in Wisconsin, helping my in-laws pack for the move to Indiana, the truck came for our AAR/SBL shipment. It ended up being 5 skids worth of books and display stuff. The truck was supposed to come at 11:30 AM, but didn't arrive until 3:30 PM. Meanwhile, the gang got the stuff ready to go. Here's a picture.

The garage of the warehouse is in the background.

Junia, the apostle

There is an excellent series over at Better Bible Blogs on Junia, the female apostle. You can find an index to the articles here. It doesn't include today's post, another excellent one.

I would encourage everyone to take a look at the series, which is a nice complement to the one that Scot McKnight is doing on women in the church, which is also worth following.

An awakening?

I was reading an interesting article yesterday about what is wrong with the Society of Biblical Literature. In the midst of the article, he made the following comment:

As for the Bible, well, it is living large again because America is in the midst of a religious revival. What some call the Third and others the Fourth Great Awakening is born of the resurgence of conservative Christianity. Among evangelicals, fundamentalists, neo-evangelicals, and Pentecostals, the centrality of Scripture to Christian life is taken as a given. It is estimated that these groups make up roughly 25 percent of the electorate. They also appear to have been the vanguard of the so-called "values voters" in the 2004 campaign.

<idle musing>
Personally, as much as I would love to think we are in the midst of an awakening, I doubt it. The hallmarks of an awakening/revival are an increased sense of awe and an intense desire to be holy, as He is holy.

All I see is an increased sense of greed! Give me all I can get; if god can give me more, then I want him, too. The latest Barna surveys show that there is no difference between christians and nonchristians in ethical actions. The only difference is in rhetoric. Well, Paul dealt with that already in I Corinthians 4:19, "I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power."

People love to quote 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." But, most forget that this is a conditional sentence. God lays out four conditions:
* Humble themselves — Fail, as evidenced by the intense hubris of nationalism amongst evangelicals
* Pray — barely passing.
* Seek my face — barely passing, at best
* Turn from their wicked ways — Fail.

Looks pretty bleak, doesn't it? But that is a good thing. Maybe now we will begin to realize that it is God, and not man, that causes genuine revival. Programs don't work; intense religious activity doesn't work; only God can make it happen. We can set up the conditions, as is evidenced by the conditional statement above, but only God can do it...
</idle musing>

AAR/SBL/ASOR

Just in time for your holiday buying :) We put up on our web page the order forms for AAR/SBL/ASOR today. You can download them here. The prices are good from November 17-December 31, 2006.

If you are going to be at either of the conferences, the cash and carry prices are generally cheaper. Of course, you get to carry them home with you.

We are doing a daily drawing for two $50.00 gift certificates each day at AAR/SBL. Then, on Tuesday, we will draw for two $100.00 gift certificates. Register by dropping a business card in the bowl.

I know some of you have been holding off on getting the Cuneiform mug. Well, we are giving it away free with a $75.00 purchase. Otherwise, $7.50–a steal at twice the price :)

This year Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Harrassowitz, and Carta will be sharing their booths with us. We will also be handling the EVA/TVZ order forms and sales, even though their booth is a half aisle away.

As always, I will be in and out of the booth all day, meeting with vendors and distribution partners. If you want to meet with me, drop me a line and we can set up an appointment.

Veneer

<idle musing>
Veneer is a handy thing. You overlay a thin layer of an expensive wood over cheap wood and it looks good. Nobody suspects that the underlying wood is just particle board. No one that is, until you try to put a load on the shelf and it breaks.

It can be the same with people.

Recently I had the opportunity to spend time with someone I hadn’t seen for a while. Others had told me how much this person had changed and how much they had grown in Christ. I was excited to see it; I always like to see what God does in a person.

At first it seemed that it was true. The person acted the part of a Christian; the vocabulary was Evangelical, God was part of the discussion. But, then came a time of pressure. Pop! The shelf cracked and the particle board of old, unredeemed self shown through.

Does it have to be that way? Do we have to go through life play-acting? Recent events raise this question even more starkly. Is Christianity just a sop thrown to give us hope after death, while we struggle and fail here on earth? Is there no victory over sin? Does the enemy of our souls have the upper hand?

Scripture says, “No!” Emphatically. Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, was able to say, “I have overcome the world!” Note the tense, not I will, not I am, but I have (perfect, active, indicative in the Greek). Paul was able to say, in Romans 8, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (present active indicative in the Greek). John, in I John says, “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.”

So, why the disconnect? Why don’t people seem to be experiencing this in their daily lives?

Well, there can be any number of reasons, but I submit that the main one is that most christians have never really died to self. Evangelical christianity is big on justification, but short on sanctification. We want big numbers, and frankly, death isn’t a good calling card if you are looking for a large following: “Hi, Jesus loves you and wants to put you to death!” But, that is exactly what Jesus calls us to, “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16.24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23, 14.27 (RSV)

Paul develops the theme even more in Romans 6. According to Paul, we died with Christ in baptism and now we are alive in Christ. But, it is in Christ, not in self. As long as we function in self, we function in sin. As long as we seek what we want, when we want it, we are dead to Christ and alive to the world. As long as we live in Christ, we are dead to self and the world. It’s too simple—maybe that’s the problem. We want to make it harder; we want to do it.

The reformation happened almost 500 hundred years ago. Its basic truth was sola gratia, all God and not man. Why is it that we are now trying to do it ourselves? Sola Gratia means just that, by grace alone, or does Galatians 3 not ring true anymore?

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so many things in vain? —if it really is in vain. Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

</idle musing>

AAR/SBL booth done!

Andy again narrates our new display for AAR/SBL here.

And the Designer stepped back, and said he was done. And tMD said it was Cool. And Marti the Great declared it to be Sharp. And then they took the whole thing apart and stuffed it into boxes.

And the Designer found that somehow anticlimactic.

<idle musing>
The truck arrives today to take it all to D.C. Me, I'm in Oconomowoc, WI helping my in-laws pack. They are moving to Indiana at the end of this week...
</idle musing>

AAR/SBL booth saga continues

Andy continues his interesting analogy on creating our skyline display this year. You can read all of it here.

On the third day, the Designer began to call forth continen... fragments, by name, calling them Ancient Near East, Biblical Studies, Archaeology, and Ancient Languages, and behold, each of them were 23.65 inches at their widest point, for lo, that was the widest one could print on a 24-inch printer.

And the Marketing Director looked over the firmament, and said, "Let there be shelves!"

Shelves? How many shelves?

And the Marketing director spake, and said, "Let there be four shelves, so that we may lay proof sets on them, that the masses may see the Good Books that we are bringing forth."

And the Designer did blanch, for he saw only two places fit for shelving. The Designer asked the Marketing Director, "Did Jim really say that we must have four shelves?" And tMD (as he shall be abbreviated from hereon out) said, "let us ask the Boss about this," and the two sojourned forth unto the Office of Jim...

<idle musing>
tMD. Hmm, I've never been called that before...

You definitely should read the rest.
</idle musing>

If you had only $300...

Joe Cathey e-mailed this to both Jim West and me:

As I don’t blog anymore currently I was posed a topic the other day which I just had to share with both of you. You two are bibliophiles as I and I think you will have some fun with this. Yesterday, a student of mine came up and asked if I were going to SBL which I affirmed. He then asked me if I only had $300 what books would I buy and why. I have been giving this some very serious thought and then it struck me that it would make an excellent blog topic. Mores the pity that I don’t currently blog or this would definitely be on the menu for today. I would be curious to see what you two would buy for this sum.

<idle musing>
I think a lot depends on what your interests are. I'm primarily a philologist, so that would be reflected in my choices, because my money would land squarely on language reference works... I miss my Denniston, Greek Particle and von Soden's Akkadische Handwoerterbuch—even though I don't read Akkadian anymore, I like his comparative Semitic references (of course that is over $300 by itself...). Louw & Nida's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains would be nice...

OK, stop! We have to assume he has none of the basics that I own. So, BDAG is essential, as is Smyth's Greek Grammar, to say nothing of Liddell & Scott, the big one. That's Greek. For Hebrew I would need Introductory Biblical Hebrew Syntax (there's the Eisenbrauns plug!), GKC, HALOT Study Edition, BDB, even though it is dated, it is still good.

If he were an archaeologist, he would need Sterns, The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land - 4 Volume Set...
</idle musing>

So, what would you recommend?

Ethics for November 2

“The disciples of Jesus cannot accomplish what Judas Iscariot accomplishes. In this case, their service of God’s cause proves to be weaker in advancing God’s cause than hostility against God. God moves along God’s own path, which cuts across human good and evil. God proves to be the one who alone seeks to do the good and to whose wrath and grace every action must be surrendered.

“Does this mean negating the distinction between good and evil? No, but it means that human beings cannot justify themselves by doing good since it is God alone who does the good. The power of the divine guidance of history leaves human beings dependent on God’s grace.” —Bonhoeffer Ethics, page 227

AAR/SBL preparations

It is winding down to the final days of preparation; the truck will arrive on Monday to haul our stuff to Washington, D.C. I'm still waiting for about 100 Kg. of books from Germany, but other than that we are almost ready.

We are changing the background of the booth this year. Andy came up with a great design based on the scroll theme we used on our EAP catalog. He is documenting the process on his blog, here and here . He is likening the process to the seven days of creation in Genesis...

Here's a nice shot of "day 2"

Ethics for November 1

“No one has the responsibility of turning the world into the kingdom of God, but only of taking the next necessary step that corresponds to God’s becoming human in Christ. Responsible action is nourished not by an ideology but by reality, which is why one can only act within the boundaries of that reality. Responsibility is limited both in its scope and in its character, i.e.., both quantitatively and qualitatively. Every transgression of this boundary leads to catastrophe. The task is not to turn the world upside down but in a given place to do what, from the perspective of reality, is necessary objectively and to really carry it out. But even in a given place, responsible action cannot always immediately do what is ultimately right. It has to proceed step-by-step, ask what is possible, and entrust the ultimate step, and thus the ultimate responsibility, to another hand.

“God became human. That is why responsible action has to weigh, judge, and evaluate the matter within the human domain…However, because it was God who became human, responsible action, although conscious of the human character of its decision, must completely surrender to God both the judgment on this action and its consequences.”—Bonhoeffer Ethics, pages 224-225