Applaud him as a bridegroom proceeding from his wedding-canopy, and as a mighty running in the path. (Ps.19:5)  ARTB

A note from A. Frances Werner:

This wonderful verse describes the motion of the sun and moon in the heavens.  Most other bible versions use the word CHAMBER or PAVILION instead of WEDDING-CANOPY.  But this one couldn't be more clear in the Hebrew.  The word is HUPPA (Strong's 2646) which is the exact word used even today for the WEDDING-CANOPY in a Jewish wedding ceremony.   This is the excitement BEFORE a wedding.  Nothing will stop the bridegroom!

If you are interested in studying a bible that restores all of the color and beauty of the original Hebrew, perhaps the Ancient Roots Translinear Bible (ARTB) is for you.  You can order the Old Testament today at Amazon.com. Register here at the website to receive ARTB Verses and commentary via e-mail.

The spirit-wind purges the center of Egypt and devours the counselors requesting into charms, into fortune-tellers, into mediums, and into wizards. (Isaiah 19:3) ARTB

A note from A. Frances Werner:

This section of Isaiah from chapters 13 to 24 are dedicated to prophecy over various countries and cities, including Tyre, Babylon, Damascus, and Egypt.  Chapters 25 to 33 are prophecies about  the specific tribes of Israel.   This particular verse shows the incredible influence of occult practices in Egypt.  But this verse barely captures the breadth of activity in the Middle East at the time.  There are over 30 different Hebrew words, although most versions capture only about 1/3 of them.  Here's the listing from ARTB:

astrologers, charms, demons, divination, enchantment, fertitlity-gods, fetishes, figures, figurines, groves, high-places, icons, idols, images, incantations, jinx, memorials, magicians, magic-charms, mediums, monstrosity, seers, shaman, shrine, soothsayers, sorcery, spell, teraphim, witch(craft) and wizards

 He said, "Please take your son, your ONLY-CHILD Isaac, that you love. Go into the land of Moriah. Ascend him there as a holocaust over one of the mountains which I say to you."  (Gen.22:2) ARTB

A note from A. Frances Werner:

A couple of days ago, I commented about the word ONLY-CHILD in Psalm 22.  It appears again here in Genesis, and is usually translated as ONLY SON by other versions, even though there is only a single word in Hebrew, YAHID, (Strong's 3173).  The KJV puts the word SON in italics, which is a step in the right direction.  The ARTB uses the hyphenated designation ONLY-CHILD, because the word does apply to daughters, as shown in Judges 11:34:

Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house and beheld his daughter proceeding to greet him with timbrels and with round-dances. Only she was his only-child, for he had no other son or daughter.

Whatever designation is used, this passage may look odd, because we all know that Isaac was NOT Abraham's only child, because Ishmael existed.  Ishmael was a product of Abraham and Sarah's solution for their infertility. But Isaac was regarded by Yahweh as the ONLY-CHILD, the only one who was born of both Abraham and Sarah that could GIVE-INHERITANCE to the people of Israel which would number as the sands on the sea or the stars in the sky. He was the only one of Abraham's son through whom the inheritance would be granted.

I have highlighted the words GIVE-INHERITANCE in the previous paragraph.  Pause for a moment and see if you can join me in clarifying our thinking about this important distinction.  The Jews were expecting the Messiah, the anointed, to be a SAVIOR, like David, to SAVE their lives from death and destruction, from the Goliaths of this world.  Isaac was never considered a Messiah or Savior, but rather a the conduit to GIVING-INHERITANCE.  As long as the Israelites stuck to the law, they had part of Abraham's inheritance because of the bloodline through Isaac.  David, on the other hand, had SAVED lives, but even his kingly blood line was only a fraction of God's inheritance.  

One of the big messages of the Good News of the Gospel was that the Yeshua the Messiah was MORE than a SAVIOR by their definition.  He was also an INHERITANCE-GIVER of a new inheritance of a new kind of life, eternal life, and it was for everyone.  He was anointed (Messiah) like David PLUS Isaac.  And He's a whole lot more...  Selah.    

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Our soul tumbles to the dust, our belly joins to the land. Therefore rise and help us, and ransom us by your mercy. (Psalm 44:25,26) ARTB

A note from A. Frances Werner:

Most versions utilize the words SINK or BOW instead of TUMBLE in this verse.  The original Hebrew is a highly specialized word SUAH, (Strongs 7743) which is only utilized 3 times in the Old Testament.  To me, the original word adds a sense of utter hopelessness and of giving up entirely. David's psalm is a real low point, more than just being physically exhausted.  Why?

For the Jews, touching the dust meant you were unclean.  Animals who did not have hoofs, or their hoof was split (not providing complete protection from the dust) were unclean, and could not be eaten.  Animals who resided with body parts touching the ground or even the floor of the ocean were unclean.  In Genesis, Satan was cursed to be a serpent, thus he was cursed to live with his belly touching the dust.    

In the New Testament, Yeshua (Jesus) tells us to wash one another's feet.  Needless to say, this was not normal practice.  Why would we touch someone else's unclean dust? But he rose from the Passover table the night before he died and demonstrated by His mercy that he was willing to touch our unclean dust, becoming unclean himself, for the sake of making us clean.  Selah.