Jan 27, 2022
GENESIS 44-45:
Yesterday we heard of Joseph's brothers on
their first and second trips to Egypt.
At the end of chapter 43, Joseph’s giving wine without limit might be considered as the typical generosity of a wealthy host. The GNT and NET say that Joseph’s brothers became drunk. But under these circumstances, I very much doubt that his brothers would have allowed themselves to become drunk. I prefer NLT and NIV’s translation, saying that the brothers drank freely. We pick up the story, still in Joseph's palace on the second trip.
JOB 27:
When
we turn to Job 27, if you are reading or listening to the NLT, this
chapter is the 2nd chapter of Job’s six-chapter-long speech. But if
you are reading in the GNT, Zophar interrupts starting at chapter
27 verse 13 and carries on through chapter 28.
FIRST PETER 1:
In
the last chapter of Mark’s Gospel, we read about the resurrection
of Jesus. Since Mark very likely wrote his gospel based on Peter's
information, it seems fitting that we move to Peter's two letters
now. Evidently, Peter spent the last decade of his life in Rome,
where he was martyred around the year 64. Mark (whom Peter fondly
refers to as ‘his son’ in chapter 5) was with him in Rome when this
was written. Silas— whom we will hear of later in Acts, was the
secretary for writing this letter. Scholars do not doubt that this
letter is from Peter.
For those who want to delve deeper in studying this short letter, I encourage you to search out and mark every occurrence of these repeated words: trials/suffering, hope, joy, grace, and glory.
As we start this letter, I want to remind you that in Greek, the abstract noun ‘faith’ and verb ‘believe’ have the same root word. It would be better if our translations mirrored this, but instead they have used two dissimilar looking words, faith and belief. Using two dissimilar words damages the cohesion of the text. Unfortunately the NLT has further damaged the cohesion by using the word ‘trust’ in 1st Peter to translate ‘believe’. I encourage you to keep in mind that ‘faith’ and ‘trust’ means ‘fully believing’.