Sometimes it’s the little thing that mean a lot, especially in Bible study. I usually find something that catches my eye usually means God wants me to look into it more deeply. Let’s look at Mark 10:32-34, for instance:
And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
This is near Passion Week. The disciples were afraid of what was about to happen, and Jesus described exactly what they feared in detail. The point I had missed all the other times I read this passage is that Jesus was walking ahead of the disciples. He was anxious to reach Jerusalem and suffer for us as He described. Hebrews tells us why:
Heb. 12:2 (ESV) looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
What a blessing to see this! You and I are the joy set before Jesus that He treasured enough to rush ahead of the disciples to pay that price.
Just this past couple of weeks, I’ve been reading about Noah and Abraham, and I noticed a term that is grammatically incorrect: “between you and me.” When I was in English class, I was told if you don’t know how to write a particular sentence or how to punctuate it, look in a Bible. They take special efforts to keep their English correct. Yet, it is incorrect in Genesis 9:12, as an example, and it’s God who said it:
Genesis 9:12 (ESV) And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
One interesting thing is this isn’t the only time the phrase appears in Scripture. It shows up 13 times and only in the Old Testament (in the ESV). It also appears this way in the NASB, the KJV, the NIV and others. So, it isn’t an issue to a particular translation. What do we do with something like that? We can look to see if these passages have anything in common:
The first two mentions are God speaking to Noah about His covenant never to destroy the earth through a flood again (Gen. 9:12, 15).
The next four mentions are God speaking to Abraham about His covenant to create a great nation through him (Gen. 17:2, 7, 10, 11).
The next mention is in Exodus 31:13 where God talking with Moses saying the Sabbaths will be a sign between God and His people.
In 1 Samuel 20:42, it is Jonathan speaking to David about their covenant with the Lord between them both.
The next two places, 1 Samuel 24: 12 & 15, are calls for God to judge between David and Saul that David wouldn’t kill him.
The next two speak of a covenant between King Asa and the king of Assyria (1 Kings 15:19 and 2 Chronicles 16:3).
The last is God speaking again to His people telling them to keep His Sabbaths as a sign between Him and His people. (Ezekiel 20:20)
So, from this I can see the difference in grammar from the norm appears only during some sort of agreement, most often by God to His people, but also among kings and the child of a king. So, maybe this is a sign of position or royalty. More study is required.
I did look into a couple of commentaries, but no mention of the odd grammar. I’ve just started looking into this, and I’ll keep looking and mention it here if it leads to something profound. Maybe I’ll write a Hebrew scholar or the ESV translation committee.
Why is this important?
This is important because too often I find myself reading a passage and not really seeing the oddity it might contain. Sometimes researching these sorts of passages brings very little. Sometimes it brings great rewards. We never know when we begin, and even sometimes something simple connects later on with another point to bless us. Bible study is like mining for gold. Sometimes you find a nugget. Sometimes you strike a vein and follow it to great wealth. Then again, sometimes you find very little.
I thought it would be good to look at the process midstream and see ways we can research the things God brings to our notice. While my research is still in progress and may amount to nothing more than just a figure of speech like the royal “we,” it may well lead me to something more.
So, let’s keep our eyes open for these sorts of things. God speaks to us through His Word. I, for one, need to spend more time listening and not just hurrying through passages. Maybe you have the same problem.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 