◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 119:41-48 (I will keep God’s law); Exodus 34:29-35 (Moses’ shining face); James 2:14-26 (Faith without works is dead) (New English Translation)

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October 27, 2020

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 119:41-48

ו (Vav)

⁴¹May I experience your loyal love,^[a] O Lord,
and your deliverance,^[b] as you promised.^[c]
⁴²Then I will have a reply for the one who insults me,^[d]
for I trust in your word.
⁴³Do not completely deprive me of a truthful testimony,^[e]
for I await your justice.
⁴⁴Then I will keep^[f] your law continually
now and for all time.^[g]
⁴⁵I will be secure,^[h]
for I seek your precepts.
⁴⁶I will speak^[i] about your regulations before kings
and not be ashamed.
⁴⁷I will find delight in your commands,
which I love.
⁴⁸I will lift my hands to^[j] your commands,
which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.

Footnotes

Psalm 119:41 tn Heb “and may your loyal love come to me.”
Psalm 119:41 tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions).
Psalm 119:41 tn Heb “according to your word.”
Psalm 119:42 tn Heb “and I will answer [the] one who insults me a word.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the jussive (see v. 41).
Psalm 119:43 tn Heb “do not snatch from my mouth a word of truth to excess.” The psalmist wants to be able to give a reliable testimony about the Lord’s loyal love (vv. 41-42), but if God does not intervene, the psalmist will be deprived of doing so, for the evidence of such love (i.e., deliverance) will be lacking.
Psalm 119:44 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the negated jussive (see v. 43).
Psalm 119:44 tn Or “forever and ever.”
Psalm 119:45 tn Heb “and I will walk about in a wide place.” The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive gives a further consequence of the anticipated positive divine response (see vv. 43-44). Another option is to take the cohortative as expressing the psalmist’s request. In this case one could translate, “and please give me security.”
Psalm 119:46 tn The series of four cohortatives with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive in vv. 46-48 list further consequences of the anticipated positive divine response to the request made in v. 43.
Psalm 119:48 tn Lifting the hands is often associated with prayer (Pss 28:2; 63:4; Lam 2:19). (1) Because praying to God’s law borders on the extreme, some prefer to emend the text to “I lift up my hands to you,” eliminating “your commands, which I love” as dittographic. In this view these words were accidentally repeated from the previous verse. (2) However, it is possible that the psalmist closely associates the law with God himself because he views the law as the expression of the divine will. (3) Another option is that “lifting the hands” does not refer to prayer here, but to the psalmist’s desire to receive and appropriate the law. (4) Still others understand this to be an action praising God’s commands (so NCV; cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

Exodus 34:29-35

The Radiant Face of Moses

²⁹^[a] Now when Moses came down^[b] from Mount Sinai with^[c] the two tablets of the testimony in his hand^[d]—when he came down^[e] from the mountain, Moses^[f] did not know that the skin of his face shone^[g] while he talked with him. ³⁰When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone,^[h] and they were afraid to approach him. ³¹But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and Moses spoke to them. ³²After this all the Israelites approached, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. ³³When Moses finished^[i] speaking^[j] with them, he would^[k] put a veil on his face. ³⁴But when Moses went in^[l] before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out.^[m] Then he would come out and tell the Israelites what he had been commanded.^[n] ³⁵When the Israelites would see^[o] the face of Moses, that^[p] the skin of Moses’ face shone, Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord.^[q]

Footnotes

Exodus 34:29 sn Now, at the culmination of the renewing of the covenant, comes the account of Moses’ shining face. It is important to read this in its context first, holding off on the connection to Paul’s discussion in 2 Corinthians. There is a delicate balance here in Exodus. On the one hand Moses’ shining face served to authenticate the message, but on the other hand Moses prevented the people from seeing more than they could handle. The subject matter in the OT, then, is how to authenticate the message. The section again can be subdivided into three points that develop the whole idea: I. The one who spends time with God reflects his glory (29-30). It will not always be as Moses; rather, the glory of the Lord is reflected differently today, but nonetheless reflected. II. The glory of Yahweh authenticates the message (31-32). III. The authentication of the message must be used cautiously with the weak and immature (33-35).
Exodus 34:29 tn The temporal clause is composed of the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), followed by the temporal preposition, infinitive construct, and subjective genitive (“Moses”).
Exodus 34:29 tn The second clause begins with “and/now”; it is a circumstantial clause explaining that the tablets were in his hand. It repeats the temporal clause at the end.
Exodus 34:29 tn Heb “in the hand of Moses.”
Exodus 34:29 tn The temporal clause parallels the first temporal clause; it uses the same infinitive construct, but now with a suffix referring to Moses.
Exodus 34:29 tn Heb “and Moses.”
Exodus 34:29 tn The word קָרַן (qaran) is derived from the noun קֶרֶן (qeren) in the sense of a “ray of light” (see Hab 3:4). Something of the divine glory remained with Moses. The Greek translation of Aquila and the Latin Vulgate convey the idea that he had horns, the primary meaning of the word from which this word is derived. Some have tried to defend this, saying that the glory appeared like horns or that Moses covered his face with a mask adorned with horns. But in the text the subject of the verb is the skin of Moses’ face (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 449).
Exodus 34:30 tn This clause is introduced by the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh); it has the force of pointing to something surprising or sudden.
Exodus 34:33 tn Heb “and Moses finished”; the clause is subordinated as a temporal clause to the next clause.
Exodus 34:33 tn The Piel infinitive construct is the object of the preposition; the whole phrase serves as the direct object of the verb “finished.”
Exodus 34:33 tn Throughout this section the actions of Moses and the people are frequentative. The text tells what happened regularly.
Exodus 34:34 tn The construction uses a infinitive construct for the temporal clause; it is prefixed with the temporal preposition: “and in the going in of Moses.”
Exodus 34:34 tn The temporal clause begins with the temporal preposition “until,” followed by an infinitive construct with the suffixed subjective genitive.
Exodus 34:34 tn The form is the Pual imperfect, but since the context demands a past tense here, in fact a past perfect tense, this is probably an old preterite form without a vav consecutive.
Exodus 34:35 tn Now the perfect tense with vav consecutive is subordinated to the next clause, “Moses returned the veil….”
Exodus 34:35 tn Verbs of seeing often take two accusatives. Here, the second is the noun clause explaining what it was about the face that they saw.
Exodus 34:35 tn Heb “with him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

James 2:14-26

Faith and Works Together

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters,^[a] if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith^[b] save him?^[c] ¹⁵If a brother or sister^[d] is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs,^[e] what good is it? ¹⁷So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. ¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.”^[f] Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by^[g] my works. ¹⁹You believe that God is one; well and good.^[h] Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear.^[i]

²⁰But would you like evidence,^[j] you empty fellow,^[k] that faith without works is useless?^[l] ²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²²You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,”^[m] and he was called God’s friend.^[n] ²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Footnotes

James 2:14 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
James 2:14 tn Grk “the faith,” referring to the kind of faith just described: faith without works. The article here is anaphoric, referring to the previous mention of the noun πίστις (pistis) in the verse. See ExSyn 219.
James 2:14 sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.
James 2:15 tn It is important to note that the words ἀδελφός (adelphos) and ἀδελφή (adelphē) both occur in the Greek text at this point, confirming that the author intended to refer to both men and women. See the note on “someone” in 2:2.
James 2:16 tn Grk “what is necessary for the body.”
James 2:18 tn There is considerable doubt about where the words of the “someone” end and where James’ reply begins. Some see the quotation running to the end of v. 18; others to the end of v. 19. But most punctuate as shown above. The “someone” is then an objector, and the sense of his words is something like, “Some have faith; others have works; don’t expect everyone to have both.” James’ reply is that faith cannot exist or be seen without works.
James 2:18 tn Or “from.”
James 2:19 tn Grk “you do well.”
James 2:19 tn Grk “believe and tremble.” The words “with fear” are implied.
James 2:20 tn Grk “do you want to know.”
James 2:20 tn Grk “O empty man.” Here the singular vocative ἄνθρωπε (anthrōpe, “man”) means “person” or even “fellow.” Cf. BDAG 82 s.v. ἄνθρωπος 8 which views this as an instance of rhetorical address in a letter; the pejorative sense is also discussed under the previous heading (7).
James 2:20 tc Most witnesses, including several significant ones (א A C² P Ψ 5 33 81 436 442 1611 1735 1852 2344 2492 M al sy bo), have νεκρά (nekra, “dead”) here, while P⁷⁴ reads κενή (kenē, “empty”). Both variants are most likely secondary, derived from ἀργή (argē, “useless”). The reading of the majority is probably an assimilation to the statements in vv. 17 and 26, while P⁷⁴’s reading picks up on κενέ (kene) earlier in the verse. The external evidence (B C* 323 945 1175 1243 1739 sa) for ἀργή is sufficient for authenticity; coupled with the strong internal evidence for the reading (if νεκρά were original, how would ἀργή have arisen here and not in vv. 17 or 26?), it is strongly preferred.
James 2:23 sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.
James 2:23 sn An allusion to 2 Chr 20:7; Isa 41:8; 51:2; Dan 3:35 (LXX), in which Abraham is called God’s “beloved.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

ו (Vav)

Footnotes

The Radiant Face of Moses

Footnotes

Faith and Works Together

Footnotes