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The Contours of the Land in Israel's History
The Land of Palestine
The land of Palestine took its name from the Philistines (the Pelishtim in Hebrew) who settled along the Mediterranean coast from Joppa to Gaza about 1300–12...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — When Does What Happen? Verb Shifts in Ps 24:2–6
There is debate about the nature of Hebrew verbs. Are they primarily tenses, moods, or aspects? I follow the view that aspect is not the mo...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — Standing with the Lord (Ps 24:4)
Psalm 24 is a hymn to the Lord that praises him as owner of all creation because he is the creator and sustainer (vv. 1–2). The next stanza...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — Build or Help Build (Zechariah 6:15)?
Two of the things to look for in interpreting the biblical text is the roles of God and of people (see Grasping God’s Word, chs. 3–5 for a ...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — Whose Son is Zechariah?
The name Zechariah was a common name in the period of the Old Testament, belonging to 30 or more men in the OT (see “Zechariah” in the Zonde...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — Do Not Kill or Do Not Murder (Exod 20:13; Deut 5:17)?
Murder, defined as unlawful and premeditated killing of another person, is commonly deemed to be wrong. There are some, however, who believe...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — Keeping Sabbath Holy: Purpose or Means (Exod 20:8; Deut 5:12)?
In this post we will compare NASB and NIV as we did in the last, but this time it will cover the phrase modifying the command to remember (...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — From Where Did God Bring Out the Israelites (Exod 20:2)?
When studying the Bible, it is always useful to compare versions. Some differences, though, do not make immediate sense to readers. Two exc...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — The Ten Commandments: Permanent No-No’s
This post is on one simple point: the prohibitions in the Ten Commandments. I begin by analyzing some English grammar, then some Hebrew gram...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — Whose Eye (Zechariah 9:1)?
One of the clear indicators of a difficult passage is when the versions vary. Zechariah 9:1 is a good example. Let’s look at some popular tr...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — No “Yes,” But Two Nos: Zechariah 1:4
The last few posts have been a little heavy. In this post, I would like to focus on a lighter matter, which I hope you find interesting and ...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — Words and Emotion: Isaiah 6:5 (Part 2)
In the last post, we began looking at the question of the emotion implied in the word נִדְמֵיתִי (nidmêtî), translated “I am undone” (KJV, A...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — Words and Emotion: Isaiah 6:5 (Part 1)
A reader posed a question to me about the emotion conveyed in Isa 6:5 by the word נִדְמֵיתִי (nidmêtî). He had grown up with the KJV “I am u...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields — A Postscript and a Christmas Note
Postscript: LXX and Masoretic Text
Last month’s post generated some interest from readers on the Septuagint (LXX). Some may wonder whether t...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields | Outlining the David and Goliath Story: Help from the LXX
Episodes and Context
Modern books have chapters placed at logical places. This helps readers to break up long stories into manageable chunks...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields: Hebrew Verbs and Hebrew Stories
The Old Testament is full of gripping stories that are quite memorable. Understanding something of the Hebrew verbs can enhance one’s readin...
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Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields: Was God Tired and in Need of Rest after Creation?
I suspect the answer to this question is obvious to most who might read this column. Hopefully, however, demonstrating the answer will prove...
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