Jesus’ Ministry
January 21, 2019
Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen’, lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. –Nehemiah 8:5-8
My introduction to the Bible was the King James version. Although my family purchased the Revised Standard Version when it first was published, several years passed before my church adopted newer translations. I still believe no version can transcend the King James for beauty in presentation. Yet many of its words have different connotations today and some Greek and Hebrew translations are subject to newer interpretations. The discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls provided earlier versions of some books some providing different insights. Since the oral traditions were first recorded interpretation became a constant part of Bible study. My guess is that might have also occurred in the oral tradition.
My impression in some of the stories in the Hebrew Bible is that the Israelites, perhaps due to circumstances beyond their control, went for years at a time without hearing the Bible read. I cannot imagine how I might react to hearing again the words of the Bible after not hearing them for years. I have read accounts of prisoners of war who worked to recall as many scriptures as they could in their captivity as they did not have access to a Bible. Since the early teachings were most likely transmitted orally, memory was an important tool in learning the scriptures.
My memorizing of the Bible primarily occurred in my childhood using the King James Version. As I write and study verses pop into my head that I might want to use. I am not as adept at remembering book, chapter, and verse as I am at remembering the words. I like to cite my sources, so I consult a commentary and as often as not cannot find the verse unless I start with a King James commentary. Out of curiosity I check out the verse in a more modern version and sometimes see that the words mean essentially the same thing but on occasion I have found verses where the meaning was totally changed. I am forced to explore deeper what is being said and how that impacts my faith path.
This practice has enriched my Bible study because it requires me to think about what I otherwise take for granted. Life would be very complicated if we did not take a lot for granted, but we do need to understand why we take things for granted and when indicated change old familiar patterns in our lives because they are no longer relevant and may be destructive to our faith path. For example, when Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” the example he gave was a Samaritan, a people considered outcasts among the Jews at that time. We need to ask and seek the interpretations to all the “Who is my neighbor?” type questions in our faith practices today.
Prayer: Lord, enable our study so that we may gain insight from the riches of our scriptures while understanding them considering our world today. Amen.