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The Exegetical Summary Series from SIL International summarizes scholarly interpretation of the Greek or Hebrew biblical texts, helping the spectrum of students and translators with a range of exegetical skills to produce a meaningful translation of the original Biblical text.
Each volume in the Exegetical Summaries series works through the original text phrase by phrase. English equivalents are provided for all Hebrew and Greek words, making this an excellent reference for exegetes of all levels.
Questions that occur to exegetes as they study the text are stated and then answered by summarizing the ways many scholars have interpreted the text. This information should help translators or students in making their own exegetical decisions.
As a basis for discussion, a semi-literal translation of the text is given. The first question to be answered is the meaning of key words in context. Information from standard lexicons is given and then translations of the word are cited from a dozen major Bible versions and from commentaries that offer their own translations of the text.
Questions about the grammar and discourse structure of the original languages are answered by summarizing the views of many commentators. When exegetical disagreements appear in the commentaries and versions, the various interpretations are listed.
This specific free volume covers The Sermon on the Mount.
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Did you know that both the book of Genesis and the Gospel of John start with the same three words? They both start with “In the beginning…” I recently started a Bible reading plan by reading Genesis and the Gospel of John. This made the parallels between these two accounts really jump off the page! It’s clear that John echoes the creation account in Genesis as he reflects on the eternality of the Word. Not only was the Word “in the beginning,” but he is also the creator and source of life, the light that shines in the darkness. Let’s see what we can learn about these parallels by using Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary.
Let’s start by looking at the opening verse of Genesis 1. Genesis opens with these words, “In the beginning”. The Hebrew word translated here as beginning is re’sit. You can access the entry for this word in Mounce’s Dictionary by long-tapping beginning, tapping Lookup, and then tapping the entry for the dictionary. Interestingly, he says this about re’sit in Genesis 1:
“Rarely is re’sit used by itself with no other noun. The two most common passages are Gen. 1:1, which simply says “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The other passage is a description of God in Isa. 46:9-10: “I am God, and there is none like me. I make the end known from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.” The uniqueness of this construction seems to point to the uniqueness of the event: in the beginning; God created, but he did so with the end in view. Furthermore, the beginning of creation is characterized elsewhere in Scripture as ex nihilo; in other words, God created at the beginning of time out of nothing, by his sheer power alone (cf. Ps. 33:6, 9; Heb. 11:3).”
Notice, as well, the relationship between re’sit and ro’s. Both words can be used to designate the beginning of something, but the primary meaning of ro’s is head, the literal heads of people or more metaphorically for a leader of the people. We’ll see that the Greek counterpart of re’sit shares this same relationship in common.
If you followed the steps above to the article in Mounce’s Dictionary on the English word beginning, you can scroll down to read the entries for the Greek words associated with this idea in the New Testament. Or you can Lookup beginning from John 1:1 to access the article. Here’s a screenshot from the NT entry with John 1:1 in the Main Window.
Notice how the Greek word for beginning (arche)expresses both the concept of beginning and ruler. This is how Mounce describes it in the first paragraph:
“Similar to the verb archo, arche means both “beginning” and “ruler”. The double meaning of this Gk. word is derived from the idea that something long ago put the world into motion and established the rules by which the world itself is obligated to obey. This philosophy explains why arche is used in the NT to denote both the beginning of something (Jn. 1:1, “In the ‘beginning’ was the Word”; cf. 1:2; 1 Jn. 1:1; 2:7, 13, 14, 24) and the person or thing that exercises authority over others (“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and the authorities, do not worry,” Lk. 12:11; cf. 20:20).”
It’s clear that John describes the Word as present with God in the beginning of the creation account contained in Genesis 1. John is clearly pointing back to the beginning. But he also seems to be pointing forward. We see this in his description of the Word as the light that shines in the darkness (Jn. 1:5) and the true light which was coming into the world (Jn. 1:9). He also uses arche later in his Gospel to refer to the beginning of Jesus’ miracles and ministry (2:11; 6:64; 8:25; 15:27; 16:4). If we add in how he uses the same word in his first epistle (1 Jn. 1:1; 2:7, 13, 14, 24; 3:8, 11), then this further reinforces the point. Jesus, the eternal Word, was in the beginning with God when he created the heavens and the earth. And he is the beginning of a new creation, the founder and ruler of a new world.
See what you can learn just by looking at a single word in the Bible? Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary is a great resource to have for understanding the meaning of words in the Old and New Testaments. Get yourself a copy today!
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What would you do if you lost all your possessions?
If I lost all of my possessions, I would just start over. Material things are not always meant for us to keep. We brought nothing into this world, so if we lose everything we have, it is just suppose to be that way. Nothing lasts forever, so we can’t hold on to what we did not create in the first place.
If I lost everything I have. I would still praise God, because life is more important than material things. We only get one life on this earth and it should be cherished to the fullest. Material things are good to have, but they are not worth holding on to because those things are just that; THINGS.
Things will always be here, but we will not. Don’t cherish things, cherish life.
When we were children, we had our special hiding place we would go to when we just wanted to be alone. We would go to that place only to find out that it had been found out by someone else. What did we do? We would find another place to go thinking that no one would dare find out about it, but again we were wrong. See, there isn’t a place we can go that God doesn’t already know about. There isn’t a place we can hide that He doesn’t already know that’s there. So, where is your hiding place? Our hiding place is with Jesus Christ. He covers us under the shadow of His wings. The Holy Spirit leads and guides us in the direction we are to go along this path called life.
When we were children, we did not know why we did the things that we did whether they were good, or bad, but even if we knew who Jesus was, we would say, I’m sorry not knowing that we were being heard. Sometimes it may have been a time when we would cry and not know why, but even as adults, we still do it today. Sometimes we can’t find the words, but our tears speak for us from our heart and soul. See, God knows our hearts. He knows what every tear is for. Sometimes all we can do is let God do a work in us that needs to be done so we can be better people, and so He can use us in His service for the Kingdom of Heaven.
We face trials and tribulations every day that we live, but it is not to hurt us, but it is to make us strong and to build our faith and trust in God. Again, where is your hiding place? My hiding place is on my knees praying to Jesus. My hiding place is spending time in the Word of God. My hiding place is praising the name of Jesus, and lifting up God my Creator. My hiding place is singing to God in the spirit. My hiding place is thanking God for all He has done for me my whole life, and for what He is doing in my life right now, and in the future. My hiding place is loving the Lord with all of my heart and soul; every fiber of my being. My hiding place is sharing the Word of God to a lost world to the ends of the earth. My hiding place is encouraging others when they are down and out. My hiding place is being hidden in Jesus Christ, my Savior. Again I ask, where is your hiding place? Who will you choose to serve? Will you choose God and live for eternity, or will you choose Satan and burn for all eternity? The choice is yours.
As always, all of my messages are shared in love because I have a heart for souls. Jesus came that we may have life, and life more abundantly. Stay safe, and as always thank you for joining me on my journey with Food for the Soul.
Click on the link above to see this new video by Toby Mac. God bless you.
What’s the trait you value most about yourself?
The trait I value most about myself is I enjoy learning. I always want to know how something works, how it was built, and what something is for. I enjoy learning because things are constantly evolving around me, such as technology. Technology is something that I have always loved learning about since I used my first Apple computer in middle school, and using my first typewriter, and word processor. When I got my first cell phone, I knew that technology was going to take over the old ways of communicating and how we live our lives.
Being educated is very important to me. I want to learn all that I can while I can. I don’t ever not want to be in the know. Whenever I want to learn something, I do my research on the subject I want to learn about. For instance, I wanted to learn to create ebooks. I did my research and came across the program I use now to create them. I wanted a blog site with a website, so I came across WordPress and the rest is history. There is so much I have learned on my own just because I love learning.
You never get too old to learn something new. For as long as there will be technology, we will be learning something new. Don’t ever stop wanting to learn. Learning is fun. When I learn something new it lifts my confidence. I feel smarter than I was in the beginning.
There are other traits about myself that I value, such as being outgoing, and outspoken. One thing I can say is that I call it like I see it and I tell it like it is. I will not apologize for the truth no matter how harsh it may be. I always get my point across in anything I am discussing. I am very outgoing. I have fun wherever I am. I love to laugh and make others laugh as well. I enjoy working just as much as I enjoy learning. I have always been told that my laugh is contagious because whenever I laugh others laugh with me. Having and sharing joy is what makes me happy. There’s so much sadness in the world. If I can make one person smile, or laugh I have done my part.
We all have things about us that makes us who we are, and there are things about ourselves that we like, or don’t like, but we all have things that we value about ourselves. We just have to take time out to find out what they are by searching our soul to see what those things are. No one can find out what they are except us.
Accept yourself for who you are. Let your love shine through. You never know whose day you will brighten.
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Food for the Soul 