Thursday, January 5, 2017

NL-DBRP_006 GEN.11 GEN.12 JOB.6 MRK.4.21-41


GENESIS 11-12:
Yesterday in Genesis 9-10, we heard the story of Noah's drunkenness and his curse on Canaan because of it (which wasn't very fair since it was his father Ham who actually caused the offense to Noah, and because Ham also had other sons). Then we heard about Noah's descendants.

JOB 6:
Eliphaz continues to imply that Job has sinned:
6 Evil does not grow in the soil,
   nor does trouble grow out of the ground.
7 No indeed! We bring trouble on ourselves,
   as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.

Eliphaz’ main point in that chapter was that Job would be forgiven and blessed if he repented:
17 Happy is the person whom God corrects!
   Do not resent it when he rebukes you.
18 God bandages the wounds he makes;
   his hand hurts you, and his hand heals.

There is truth in what Eliphaz says, and a similar statement to verse
17 is found in James 1.

MARK 4b:
Chapter 4 is the parable chapter of Mark. The Parable about the Different Kinds of Soil is in all three synoptic Gospels— which are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. That parable holds deep meaning that one never really grows out of. Each time you hear it, new facets come to light, and every believer should meditate on what kind of soil they are most like at the present time.

———————

To learn about the people who created this reading plan, see the Our Story page at http://dailybiblereading.info.  


GNT Translation notes:
Gen 12:18 Then the king sent for Abram and [complained to him//asked him], “What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she [is/was] your wife?
19 Why did you say that she [is/was] your sister, and let me take her as my wife? Here is your wife; take her and get out!”
====
Job 6:26 [If you//You] think I am talking nothing but wind;
   then why do you answer my words of despair?
====
[Rhetorical questions were often used by Jesus to start a new topic in his teaching, and at the end of the chapter, he used two rhetorical questions to give a mild rebuke to the disciples. In many of the world’s languages, people don’t use rhetorical questions for starting a new topic, but most languages seem to use questions for rebuking. In English, I think it is more natural not to use the verb ‘ask’ in the quote margin if the question is a rhetorical one.]
30 [Jesus began another teaching, “What shall we say the Kingdom of God is like?” _asked_ Jesus.//“What shall we say the Kingdom of God is like?” asked Jesus.] “What parable shall we use to explain it?
Mrk. 4:40 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Why are you frightened? [It’s obvious that you still don’t believe in Me.//Do you still have no faith?]”
[Note that in the podcast recordings, I will often change the word ‘faith’ to ‘believe’ or ‘fully believe’. This is because the English word ‘faith’ is used with all kinds of fuzzy meanings these days and can easily be misunderstood. 1) In Greek, ‘faith’ and ‘believe’ are the noun and verb forms of the same root word. 2) When one uses an abstract noun like ‘faith’ in English, we lose the object— in this case the Person who is being believed. Note that ‘faith’ does not have the a vague meaning like ‘endurance’ or ‘ability to live without fear’— which might be assumed in this passage. Such fuzzy meanings almost always end up placing ‘faith’ in ourselves— which is a big mistake. The ‘faith’ that Jesus is talking about at the end of this chapter is placing our trust 100% in Him!]

NLT Translation notes:
Gen. 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches [into/0] the sky.
====
Mrk. 4:26 Jesus  also said, “The Kingdom of God [can be illustrated as being like when//is like] a farmer [0/who] scatters seed on the ground.
[It bothers me grammatically to say that a 'kingdom' is like a 'farmer'. The king might be like a farmer, both being people. Jesus' illustration shows that the whole package is what is like the Kingdom of God, including farmer, seed, time for growing, and harvest.]
30 Jesus said, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? 31 [God's Kingdom can be compared to//It is like] a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds,
40 Then he [said to/asked] them, “[What a bunch of cowards you are! It is clear that you don't believe fully in me!”//Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”]
[I have treated these rhetorical questions as statements. In English it seems a bit silly to ask “Why are you afraid?” Jesus' question is a rebuke (and we can debate how strong a rebuke was intended). The second RQ is also a rebuke.]
[Note that I will often change 'faith' to 'fully believe'. This might be a good illustration of why the English word 'faith' is often misunderstood. 1) People often have forgotten that the root meaning of 'faith' is 'believe'— having the same Greek root word. 2) When one uses an abstract noun like 'faith' we loose the object— in this case the Person who is being believed. Note that 'faith' does not have the a vague root meaning like 'endurance' or 'ability to live without fear', which might be assumed by some readers. Such words almost always end up placing 'faith' in ourselves. This is very wrong. What faith means here is placing trust 100% in Jesus.]
41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “[Wow, what kind of man is this Jesus?!//Who is this man?]”3 they [said to//asked] each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
[The disciples had not forgotten Jesus' name! This translation is as suggested by Deibler.]


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