Category Archives: Study Helps

Isaiah 61:11

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Isaiah 61 is known by many Christians because Jesus quoted it to start His ministry. This Chapter begins with ‘the Spirit (ruah) of the Sovereign Lord’ (verse 1), but it also ends with ‘the Sovereign Lord’ (verse 11), or Adonay YHWH. In between you will notice the word ‘will’ used many times in connection with what was in store for Israel. I believe there are three sections or ‘words’ in this chapter: verses 1-7; 8+9; and an Isaiah praise break in 10-11. Yes, verses 1-3 could be another commission for Isaiah and it does talk to Jesus’ ministry. After some housekeeping I will look at verse 11.

  • God bless translators, that is not an easy ministry/job.
  • I appreciate the work of Langton and Estienne in creating chapters and verses, they did the best they could.
  • Our concordances work around the root words in the Hebrew language. There are variations of these words that can aid translators and academics in their work, but would make a printed volume very LARGE. (Think jots and tittles with prefixes and suffixes.)  Bible Hub text analysis gives a better look into these Hebrew words by grouping similar variations together. It can add a new level to your studies.
  • Commentaries may not be text analysis. Mounce New Testament Version in Bible Gateway does give a list of verses and word variations.
  • I believe Isaiah will make more sense if you read about the history in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles; cross check the king list in Isaiah 1:1. I also believe our Book of Isaiah is not chronological.
  • Assyria is the ‘forgotten enemy’ as we tend to focus on Egypt and Babylon. They were not nice to anyone in the Levant. Two different kings are named in attacks on the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.

 Isaiah 61:11 For just as the earth brings forth its plants, or a garden makes its plants spring up, so Adonai, God, will cause victory and glory to spring up before all nations. (Complete Jewish Bible, CJB)

Isaiah 61:11 For as Eretz bringeth forth her tzemach, and as the gan (garden) the things that are sown in it tatzmiach (causes [them] to spring forth); so Adonoi Hashem will tzedakah (righteousness) and tehillah (praise) yatzmiach (cause [them] to spring forth) before kol HaGoyim. (OJB, Orthodox Jewish Bible)

  • as the earth – H776, kaares is used twice. See Isaiah 51:23; here it is referring to the practice of Assyrian kings to walk on and over their defeated foes as they lay on the ground.
  • brings forth – H3318, towsi is used a total of eight times, here are a few. Exodus 12:46, they could not bring any of the lamb out of the house after the first Passover. Deuteronomy 14:28, they are to bring all of the tithe. Psalm 143:11, David is asking God to bring him out of trouble.
  • Its sprout – H 6780, simhah is used four times. Psalm 65:10, David is thanking God for the rain that helps the crops to grow. Ezekiel 17:9+10 has a vine growing sprouts; it is part of a parable about Babylon carrying away the people and king of Jerusalem.
  • and as the garden – H1593, ukegannah is used twice. Isaiah 1:30 is a garden with no water; it is referring to people who forsake the Lord. Gardens (gan), plants, trees, crops, and vineyards are used throughout Isaiah to teach lessons and represent things. 61:3 refers to ‘oaks of righteousness as a planting of the Lord’, and verse 5 where foreigners will tend Israel’s crops.
  • Sown in it – H2221, zerueha is used only here. The other form of this word is used in Leviticus 11:37 where it is concerned with a purity law of not sowing different seeds together.
  • makes sprout – H6779, tasmiah is used four times. Genesis 3:18 is the thorns and thistles as part of the curse after the Garden of Eden. Deuteronomy 29:23 is the land of Israelite who chooses to not obey God; it will be like Sodom and Gomorrah. Isaiah 45:8 is part of the prophecy about Cyrus and this calls for righteousness and salvation to spring up and grow after it rains righteousness.
  • will make sprout – H6779, yasmiah is used twice. 2 Samuel 23:5, David knows he is right before God who will make salvation to grow for him.
  • Righteousness – H6666, sedaqah is used thirty times. The first one is Genesis 15:6 where Abram believes God and is credited with righteousness. (See Psalm 60 with Abraham) There are other Zedek words for righteousness. The last time this one is used is in Malachi 4:2 where the sun of righteousness will rise. It is also the robe in verse 10. Isaiah uses this form nine times.
  • and praise – H8416, utehillah is used three times; once before Isaiah and once after. 2 Chronicles 20:22 when Jehoshaphat had the people praise their way into battle. Nehemiah 9:5 is when the people repented of mixed marriages and other sins, so they had a praise fest.
  • Before – H5048, neged is used fifty-two times.
  • The nations – H1417, haggowyim is used 180 times and appears in Isaiah eighteen times.
  • Isaiah 61:11 Hebrew Text Analysis

The words I highlighted connect with many important events, themes, and people. As I read Isaiah 61:11, I thought of the first Garden in Genesis and the last Garden in Revelation. The picture in my mind is how it could have been and how it will be.

GOOD

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What does an excited teenager describing something, me talking about my blood pressure, and a lukewarm conversion about a movie have in common? Well, good could have been used in all of those moments. (The teenager used slang that in my old mind does not fit.) Then I thought how God describes things and Genesis, especially Chapter 1, took over. This will help you in your own study. Hebrew Concordance: ṭō·wḇ — 271 Occurrences   Strong’s Hebrew: 2896. טוֹב (towb) — Good, pleasant, agreeable, beneficial, beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, fair, favor, fine, glad, goodly, graciously, joyful, kindly, loving, merry, pleasant, precious, prosperity, ready, sweet, wealth, welfare, well-favored

In Genesis 1 God uses the word tov. God bless translators. As you can see the base-word for tov is used in many applications. If you look in a thesaurus or dictionary, in English, there are many listings for good; add in adjectives that go above ‘good’ and the compound words of good, the idea is huge. In Hebrew those jots and tittles, and prefixes and suffixes are used by the translators to help us out. I am finding that the ‘occurrences’ list helps me with the understanding of specific uses of a word. Back to Genesis.

I have taken classes, read, and studied the first part of Genesis many times. So, I may have seen this before, but I do not remember it. Tov surprised me with its various forms, and where it was absent in the first three chapters.

Day 1 and 7, according to the Bible app/Englishmen’s Concordance that I use is ט֑וֹב. The sky/expanse is not called tov, at this time. Day 3 through the animals in Day 6 are called tov, but it is written טֽוֹב׃; the best explanation I found for those two dots was it may be a pronunciation mark. In Day 6 man got blessed but not called tov. Day 7 pronounces everything very tov, and God rest; Day 1 is light. I have more questions than answers at this point, but now maybe a time to keep silent. The only thought I had about Day 2, and the air was in Ephesians 2:2.

Chapter 2 – the food from the trees was a form of tov, but spelled וְט֣וֹב. The ‘good’ used with the Tree of Knowledge is ט֥וֹב. Hebrew Concordance: wə·ṭō·wḇ — 15 Occurrences

All of these words are tov. So, why did the Holy Spirit use these different forms of tov? The easy and possible explanation is grammar and tenses, but I find the associations of these various forms of tov in Scripture interesting.

With all that said, I now have no problem calling something tov without trying to beef up my comment using many adjectives or ‘better’ words.  

God, Lord God, Lord – Psalm 68

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When you open the Book, Father God will open the Word for you.

This strange study-help started because of verse 20, I saw four different “God” words there and did a text analysis in Bible Hub. Then the large number of God, Lord, and other references in Psalm 68 needed a look. If you have a translation that capitalizes pronouns these are not included but are the work of the translators (God bless those people) making it easier for us to read and comprehend.

The Holy Spirit used the words He wanted where He wanted them. My point is, I counted 78 entries/forms of the Name Elohim (H430); so, study. As I said in God, Lord God, Lord our concordances list the root word. Many other forms of the word may be used, and they carry with them some part of grammar. Bible Hub has these in the column marked Morphology.

Some verses and words that caught my attention: verses 20 and 26 Yahweh. Verses 4 and 18 two forms of Yah.

This is the verse number, the Hebrew “God” word, and a link if it was the first time it was used.

Psalm 68

There are other reference tools, find the one that helps you. An analogy about different translations: Bible translations are like pepper products, find the one for you.

God, Lord God, Lord

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How David and the other writers of the Psalms introduce and address their work started this post. About 130 Psalms have God, Lord God, or Lord at the very beginning (verse 1). I compared this to Jesus addressing our “Father in Heaven” in the Lord’s Prayer; Jesus left no doubt Who He was talking to and where the Father was.

I noticed someone trying to denounce Hebrew because the word for God was also used with demon deities in Aramaic. No, I could not bring myself to listen to the video, but it made me think about the abuse the world heaps on the name of God/Jesus and how we Christians use the name of our Savior. Now, we can add in spellcheck, writing styles, and AI that will influence the casual writer/reader to question how we acknowledge God. The devil has diluted the name of Jesus by causing it to become associated with cursing; and adding an initial H in between Jesus and Christ does not make it or you more powerful. Ask for wisdom on how to challenge yourself and others who do that and stop it. Why should others honor His Name when His own children do not?

The thought that prompted this inquiry was – Did David start his Psalms with a particular name of God for what he was writing about? So, I started by listing all of the Psalms that were addressed to Yahweh and Elohim. I counted 48 addressed to Elohim (H430) and 87 that began with Yahweh (H 3068, 136, 113). About 20 of those use a combination of the two names. My leaf and ink Strong’s only list words by their main root word. Online text analysis and concordances will help you find specific forms of words for God and Lord, some of those are below.

My “overload” alarm went off, and I realized; if I could do my first idea that it would require more than one post. Since David was a writer and a musician, I realized he may have used various names for rhyming or musical benefits. Not being fluent in Hebrew or music, I am rethinking how to explore my question.

Here are my beginning notes. The verses are the ones that had Yahweh and Elohim. The links will take you to Bible Hub. There are other on-line reference works. Yes, I did use my leaf and ink Strong’s in finding all of the verse 1’s.

OTHER VERSES THAT FOUND ME

H410  Strong’s Hebrew: 410. אֵל (el) — God, god, mighty one  God, gods, mighty, Mighty One, God’s, power

H430  Strong’s Hebrew: 430. אֱלֹהִים (elohim) — God, gods, divine beings, judges  God, gods, God’s, judges, goddess, great

H3069  Strong’s Hebrew: 3069. יְהֹוִה (Yhvh) — LORDzzz  God

Yahweh = H3068  Strong’s Hebrew: 3068. יְהֹוָה (Yhvh) — LORD, GOD, LORD’Szzz 1. (the) self-Existent or Eternal 2. Jehovah, Jewish national name of God

H136  Strong’s Hebrew: 136. אֲדֹנָי (Adonay) — Lord, Master  Lord, lords

H113 Strong’s Hebrew: 113. אָדוֹן (adon) — Lord, master, owner  lord, master, master’s, lord’s, masters, lords

Assyria, Our Forgotten Enemy – A Little Background

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Spiritualizing the influence of Egypt and Babylon has been done many times, I really cannot remember a sermon about the evils of Assyria. From my background studies I will say they were not nice and taking populations captives or razing whole cities to the ground was common, Assyria did it to Babylon twice.

Assyria/Ninevah and the Books of the Bible that cover that time period.

This would be my order of reading for a timeline.

Kingdoms

There was history going on outside of Israel. Some of these major players are in the story of God’s People some are not. There were many other kingdoms that do not make it into Scripture, but they were there. This is just a list, their interactions and treaties were complex and changed through the years.