Status Updates From NLT Study Bible, Personal Size

They have said the only reason there are Books 1 & 2 in the Old Testament was because there was a physical limit to how long a scroll could be. Seems right. Kings 1 ends abruptly in tumult, where I expect the next book will pick up. Like Judges all over again

I don’t usually make notes on specific chapters, but in my mind Rehoboam vs. Jeroboam is oddly reminiscent of Christophe vs. Pétion dividing Haiti. Christophe always believed there could be a reunion. But also enslaved people for his building projects, sowing the seeds of his own destruction

This Bible edition does a good job of emphasizing the Chronicler’s purpose for writing (during the Babylonian Exile) as an explanation for why episodes of David’s life are framed differently - omitting many of David’s personal failings as detailed in 2 Samuel. An added prayer for Solomon attributed to David in 1 Chronicles: serve wholeheartedly… be strong and do the work

2 Samuel portrays David in his power as much more corruptible and culpable than in his youth. Arguably a rapist, and certainly a completely absent father. Most memorable in this chapter is David’s astonished prayer of thanks, when he asks to build a temple, God refuses him, and instead offers to guarantee his presence in David’s descendants. It’s a beautiful expression of gratitude

1 Samuel is the start of David’s narrative, but it is also Samuel and Saul’s stories. Saul seems as weak as the Judges in providing Godly leadership; I agree with observations that Saul paid more attention to what others thought of him than God’s law. Jonathan protects David but still is slain in battle. Even Samuel’s sons fail to carry on his inspired legacy in the priesthood. Nasty, brutish, short…

Ruth is the reminder that even in an immoral world (Judges was bleak!), God works through sinners and his guidance can still be followed. Those who go against the grain, give more than just what is reasonable, and take personal risk to protect the vulnerable stand out as examples of what it looks like to live the faith of Yahweh.

Judges concluded. This book somehow feels less jarring than Joshua because we’re no longer celebrating death and destruction. The background that this is supposed to be a decline narrative is helpful in making sense of figures like Gideon and Samson, who flagrantly disobey all the rules we just had to read in Leviticus & Deuteronomy, but still benefit from the Spirit’s strength

Joshua was simpler to read than Numbers and Deuteronomy due to the lack of new rule-making. But totalitarian holy war doesn’t sit well in a modern setting. A takeaway suggested to me: the story of God’s fulfilled promise happens in a real place, not in an inaccessible or fantasy realm. Many of these places - Jerusalem, Gaza, the Golan Heights, the West Bank - we know by the same names today

Torah complete! Funny that the Christians thought to tack on an extra 2000 pages of extra reading, eh? Kind of ends on a downer; Song of Moses foreshadows betrayal and exile. Curious to know who actually put this depressing mantra to music…

Finished Numbers. Spoiler: Everyone died but it was OK because their sons replaced them. Although short, the story of Balaam resonates: sometimes the way is hard because the way is shut

Finished Leviticus! Still have difficulty discerning which law is relevant vs irrelevant for modern Christians, either by virtue of Jesus’ sacrifice or just the evolution to modern civil codes. God seems extremely sensitive to idolatry and anything that reminds him of paganism

Finished with Exodus. The irreverent part of me giggles that Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt to form a wilderness cult systematically working its way through all its viable livestock (just count all those offerings!). Also, there are a lot more than 10 commandments. More thoughtfully, I note how much emphasis is placed on breaking with pagan tradition

Well into Exodus now. Still very much enjoying the notes on translation: « Unfailing love = Hebrew khesed, the undeserved kindness and loyalty of a superior to an inferior »

Guy is really going for it with these poetic metaphors for suffering and abandonment

This is a very pitiful lament. I imagine we all identify with its frustration and hopelessness from time to time

Skipped to Job in my chronological reading. Notes definitely helping; I wouldn’t have understood Eliphaz’s reference to prosperity gospel otherwise

Reading the notes after the full book is somewhat tedious. And they answer some of the comments I’d made in the notes. Will probably read them side-by-side for further books

The way the Creation story is written - Gen 1:5 - is the reason Hebrew days (and modern Jewish holidays) begin at sundown rather than at dawn 🤔

Ah. So there’s really no historical evidence that Abraham existed? Or (moreover) that The Exodus ever happened? “Moses himself has about as much historic reality as King Arthur,” say archeologists. I suppose I never really thought about it, not being a classicist, but wow.

Looked up the original Hebrew word translated as « covenant » because it’s used so often. The way the ritual is described, maybe I’d go so far as to say the accurate translation is blood pact? I appreciated the context. Interesting commentary also on whether the first 5 books of the Bible can be attributed to Moses

I have already read more than I’d ever want to to know about the process of Bible translation, thanks to Nicolson’s book God’s Secretaries. Interesting in this intro,though, the contrast between tenants of paganism and monotheism: gods in men’s image, or men in God’s

Departing from Genesis for now. Maybe the most unexpected part was about humans living hundreds of years, and then not anymore? This translation plays it very much like God: « Sigh. These humans are really tedious, My Spirit cannot with this. Reduce lifespan by 90%. »