The book of Deuteronomy 6:4 (NABRE) features a prayer that the Jewish tradition calls the Shema. It begins: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!” This prayer takes its name from the Hebrew word that opens the prayer, שְׁמַע (shema), a word that means “hear, listen, …

The Letter to the Hebrews 5:2–3 (NABRE) presents a powerful and potentially problematic view of Jesus—”for he himself is beset by weakness, and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people.” The implication of this passage seems to be that Jesus experiences …

One of the more familiar Old Testament messianic prophecies of the Old Testament appears in the Book of Isaiah 53:10 (USCCB): “If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through …

In the Gospel According to Mark 10:17 (NABRE), Jesus talks with a man who wants to know what he must do to inherit eternal life. As the discussion progresses and shifts to the subject of material possessions, it’s easy to read over something extremely interesting in the initial question. The …

In the Gospel According to Mark 10:2–12 (NABRE), Jesus talks about divorce. Like many encounters with Jesus, this one shows the contrast between Jesus’ point of view and that of the Pharisees or even the law. The question at hand is whether divorce is legal. The Greek word used for …

In this Sunday’s reading from the book of Numbers 11:25–29 (NABRE), God comes down “in a cloud.” This is a rather common occurrence in the Torah, and a brief look at what’s going on with the language may help us understand why. The Hebrew word for cloud, עָנָן (anan), is related …

In the Letter of James 3:17 (NABRE) we see that “the wisdom from above is first of all pure.” This is an interesting verse that bears a bit more scrutiny. Ancient Greek has two words that can be translated as “pure.” The first is καθαρός (katharos), related to the English …

In eighth chapter in the Gospel According to Mark (NABRE), Peter has a big win when he correctly identifies who Jesus is, but this is followed almost immediately by a setback when Peter shows that he doesn’t really fully understand what that means at this point. It seems to be …

In the Gospel According to Mark 7:31–37 (NABRE), Jesus heals a man who is deaf and mute. One of the more interesting parts of this account is that it preserves in some detail how Jesus effects this healing. Mark tells us that Jesus said the word ephphatha, a Greek rendering of …

The Gospel According to Mark 7:2 (NABRE) describes Jesus being challenged because some of his followers are not following all the ritual cleanliness practices: “Some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.” There’s an interesting contrast taking place here that’s lost in the translation. The Greek …