Wednesday,
November 27, 2013 or Day 325
Jonah 1, Psalm 117, Matthew 19
In the study of Holy Scripture it can be very enlightening to study different translations and particularly so when it comes to the Hebrew Scripture (aka Old Testament). The Tanakh is known to be a translation of Hebrew Scripture “unsurpassed in accuracy and clarity”. It is an original translation of the Hebrew Bible based on the Masoretic – the traditional Hebrew – text. In The Episcopal Church the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is the translation of the Bible we use. As we hear the story of Jonah trying to flee from doing God’s will there’s a slight difference in translation between these two versions of the Bible that I find enlightening.
At the end of verse 3 in Chapter 1 of Jonah the NRSV says the reason for Jonah
getting on that get-away ship to Tarshish was to get away from the presence of the Lord. The Tanakh translates this same phrase as Jonah trying to get away from the serviceof [the Lord]. Well that got me to wondering. The two translations may not be that different after all. I wonder if any of us knew we were really in the presence of our Lord – I mean truly REALIZED it, if it might not be virtually impossible for us NOT to serve our Creator God. When any of us know we are to do the right thing… to speak the truth in love, to turn down money from dishonest sources, to give up unhealthy
habits… we too might try to hide from the presence of God… from serving the
Holy One. But there is no place we can go where God is not. If we try and run,
try to hide, eventually, one way or another, we’ll be in the belly of a great
fish. Stuck with no way to get out of the fix we’ve gotten ourselves into
thinking we know better than God. And eventually, one way or another, we’ll
have the divine privilege, to turn to that same God no matter how hard that
might be. And if we do choose to turn, to repent, to finally listen to Wisdom,
we find God still there waiting… ready to guide us once more. And
then, we can rejoice and proclaim with the psalmist, Praise
the Lord, all you nations… the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise
the Lord.
And Jesus tells us, once again, “You want to have eternal life? Give me all of you.
Know that you are always in my presence. Be my light. Love God. Love your
neighbor as yourself. Be willing to be last and you will be first. Don’t run
from serving me. Don’t think I’m not always with you anyway. Trust me. Say Yes
to my way, my truth, my life in you and you in me. I will always be here. I will
always love you. I will wait as long as it takes.”
Wendy Tobias
St. Joseph’s, Boynton Beach
November 27, 2013 or Day 325
Jonah 1, Psalm 117, Matthew 19
In the study of Holy Scripture it can be very enlightening to study different translations and particularly so when it comes to the Hebrew Scripture (aka Old Testament). The Tanakh is known to be a translation of Hebrew Scripture “unsurpassed in accuracy and clarity”. It is an original translation of the Hebrew Bible based on the Masoretic – the traditional Hebrew – text. In The Episcopal Church the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is the translation of the Bible we use. As we hear the story of Jonah trying to flee from doing God’s will there’s a slight difference in translation between these two versions of the Bible that I find enlightening.
At the end of verse 3 in Chapter 1 of Jonah the NRSV says the reason for Jonah
getting on that get-away ship to Tarshish was to get away from the presence of the Lord. The Tanakh translates this same phrase as Jonah trying to get away from the serviceof [the Lord]. Well that got me to wondering. The two translations may not be that different after all. I wonder if any of us knew we were really in the presence of our Lord – I mean truly REALIZED it, if it might not be virtually impossible for us NOT to serve our Creator God. When any of us know we are to do the right thing… to speak the truth in love, to turn down money from dishonest sources, to give up unhealthy
habits… we too might try to hide from the presence of God… from serving the
Holy One. But there is no place we can go where God is not. If we try and run,
try to hide, eventually, one way or another, we’ll be in the belly of a great
fish. Stuck with no way to get out of the fix we’ve gotten ourselves into
thinking we know better than God. And eventually, one way or another, we’ll
have the divine privilege, to turn to that same God no matter how hard that
might be. And if we do choose to turn, to repent, to finally listen to Wisdom,
we find God still there waiting… ready to guide us once more. And
then, we can rejoice and proclaim with the psalmist, Praise
the Lord, all you nations… the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise
the Lord.
And Jesus tells us, once again, “You want to have eternal life? Give me all of you.
Know that you are always in my presence. Be my light. Love God. Love your
neighbor as yourself. Be willing to be last and you will be first. Don’t run
from serving me. Don’t think I’m not always with you anyway. Trust me. Say Yes
to my way, my truth, my life in you and you in me. I will always be here. I will
always love you. I will wait as long as it takes.”
Wendy Tobias
St. Joseph’s, Boynton Beach
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