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Blog Migration

I have moved my blog over to brianpbaucom.com. Visit to read my new blog: "Be Glad," or Rejoice, Part II.

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Rejoice?

Ps 2:11—"Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling" ( ESV ). "Rejoice" is a fairly common word in the Bible. In the NRSV , the English word "rejoice" occurs 280 times. This number is reduced to 268 occurrences in the KJV . It is further reduced to 233 in the ESV . In the ESV , the word "rejoice" is used in the Psalms more than twice the number of times compared to the biblical book with the next most occurrences (i.e., Isaiah). The English word actually translates several different Hebrew terms, which partly explains why there is a difference in the number of occurrences of the word "rejoice" in English Bibles (i.e., versions differ in how consistently they render a given Hebrew word, or they consistently use a different English equivalent for a given Hebrew word). The Hebrew root underlying "rejoice" in Ps 2:11 is גיל (also, for those interested, the word  nagila  in the song "Hava Nagila" [i.e., ...
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Shepherd or Shatter?

Ps 2:9—"You shall break them with a rod of iron" The term usually translated "break" in English Bibles has an interesting rendering in the Septuagint. In the Septuagint, we find, "You will shepherd them with a rod of iron." The explanation is simple enough. In unpointed script the Hebrew could be understood as "break" or "shepherd." That is to say, תרעם could be derived from רעע ("break," or "shatter"; cf. Job 34:24), or רעה ("shepherd," "lead," "rule"; cf. Mic 7:14, which has a very similar construction). The context, at first blush, appears to favor the sense of "break." Because repetition is a well-known literary device in Hebrew poetry, and because the second part of verse 9 reads, "You will dash them in pieces," it would make sense for the first line of the verse to have a similar meaning, namely, "break" or "shatter." It may very well be...
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Scoffers

Psalm 1:1—"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stays in the path of sinners, nor dwells in the place of  scoffers. "      The word lying behind the English word generally translated "scoffers" in Ps 1:1 is the Hebrew word לצים ( le̅tzîm ). The Hebrew word is not too common, but common enough to have a basis for establishing a semantic range. Generally it does have something to do with scoffing or mocking. A helpful text for comparison is Ps 119:51, which reads, "The proud persistently  mock  me; I do not turn from your law." The usage at 119:51 fits the usage at 1:1, and helps to elucidate the meaning here. In the current verse, the fact that  le̅tzîm  is not accompanied by an object indicates that mocking/scoffing is a characteristic behavior. These mockers, just like the evil-doers and sinners of verse 1, detract from the happy man's delight in the instruction of the Lord (v. 2). It's natural for insolent mocking...
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