Daily Bible Reading Podcast Phil Fields

2SAMUEL 20:
Yesterday we heard the story of how David sent out his army under three commanders, Joab, Abishai, and Ittai. He gave them orders to deal gently with Absalom. Joab— who was always pragmatic, didn't do this. Along with Absalom, 20,000 men died in the civil war. Joab stopped David’s mourning for his son and ordered him to go out to encourage his troops. And finally the people decided to bring David back as their king.
PSALM 118a:
This is one of the antiphonal psalms. Imagine a leader and all the congregation saying the refrain. One of the most often quoted verses about the Messiah is found in verse 22. And I have quoted verse 24 at the beginning of a number of podcasts.
JOHN 2:
John uses simple words, such as light, word, lamb, and door. But the concepts he deals with are anything but simple. The meaning goes deep— so deep that you could spend a lifetime studying the prologue in chapter one alone and never get to the bottom of it. Note also that John very artistically makes use of double meaning— using a word with two meanings simultaneously.
Note how Jesus (and the writer, John) artfully hint at the story of Jacob. Jesus calls Nathanael a true son of Israel. Israel is one of Jacob’s name, and Jacob’s name means ‘cheater’. And then Jesus paradoxically calls Nathanael a man of complete integrity. Finally Jesus didn’t need to make it obvious to his hearers and John didn’t need to explain to his readers that Jesus was quoting from the Jacob’s Ladder story. Just a few words and the previous hint were plenty to imply this: Jesus is claiming to be the Way/Ladder to the Father. The way, the truth, and the life.
NLT Translation note:
Ps. 118:7 Yes, the LORD is [on my side//for me]; he will help me.
I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
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John 2:24 But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew [all people//human nature].
[I believe that John is telling us something miraculous about Jesus here. He wasn’t just a good student of ‘human nature’! He actually knew everyone, just like he knew the Samaritan woman whom we will hear about. ]
25 No one needed to tell him what [anyone was//mankind is] really like.
 
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

2SAMUEL 18-19:
Civil war might have been avoided, but Absalom didn’t choose wisely. And I observe that my being bald has advantages in some situations! But seriously, all of the terrible things that happened here are the consequences of David’s sin.
PSALM 117:
This is a doxology that one day the whole world will sing.
JOHN 1b:
John consciously made an original account, and very consciously left out things that are included in the three Synoptic Gospels. Where he does include things the others wrote about, he includes details that the others didn’t mention. Those stories are made to fit his themes. His gospel is thematically arranged, not chronologically arranged.
In John’s poetic opening to this Gospel, he calls Jesus ‘the Word’. ‘Word’ in Greek (logos) usually means more than just one word. Among its several meanings, in this place its meaning is ‘communication’. Jesus is God’s personal communication or message to the world. And ‘full of grace and truth’ in more traditional translations means that Jesus is all about bringing undeserved kindness (grace) to us and true teachings that are totally worthy of being believed. And this theme is shown again in what Jesus said to Nathanael.
NLT Translation notes:
2Sam 18:22 “Whatever happens,” Ahimaaz said again, “I want to go.” …
23 Joab finally said, “All right, go ahead.” So Ahimaaz took the [flatter//less demanding] route by way of the plain and ran to Mahanaim ahead of the Ethiopian.
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John 1:31 [Before now] I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”
33 I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest [upon, He] is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is [God’s Chosen One.//the Chosen One of God.]l”
45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very [one/person] Moseso and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
50 Jesus [responded//asked him], “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”
[I don’t think we use ‘asked’ to introduce rhetorical questions in English. And Greek doesn’t use this verb either.]
51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see [“]heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on[” Me,] the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.
[It is often necessary in other languages to include ‘I/Me’, because in most languages one just doesn’t talk of oneself using the third person, he. This is not grammatical in most languages.]
 
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

2SAMUEL 17:
Yesterday we heard how Saul's servant, Ziba, showed his loyalty and helped David on his way. And how Shimei from Saul's family cursed and persecuted David all along the way. No wonder David was exhausted after that hike. David refused to put him to death or to punish him. (But we find out later that he didn't forget about Shimei.) David's friend, Hushai, joined himself to Absalom, as David asked him to do. And Nathan’s prophecy to David was unknowingly fulfilled through Ahithophel’s advice to Absolom.
PSALM 116:
This is a poem sharing personal experience. Though this poem is not attributed to David, what we read here could be his prayer during and following what we are reading about in 2nd Samuel 17-18.
John 1a:
I always look forward each year to reading the Gospel of John. John’s Gospel is different from all the other gospels. John was probably very young when he became Jesus’ follower, perhaps 25 years old. But he seems to have waited until very late in life to begin writing, perhaps when he was 85 years old. This was long after the other Gospels and even the epistles were written. The title he gives himself in this book is ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’. This doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t love the other 11!
NLT Translation notes:
[I changed the whole of Ps. 116 to become a prayer to God, like has been done in the CEV. This prayer is a prayer directly to God. Note that the first verse starts, “I love Yahweh hear sound supplication.” One can see that using the proper name (and with no pronoun ‘he’ actually there in the second phrase), that this is easy to understand as a prayer to God. But the standard translation of Yahweh is ‘the Lord’, so that ‘he’ is added in the second phase. That is why most translation sound like this is a poem talking about the Lord, not a prayer directed to Him. It is actually proper and better to understand this as a prayer, so nearly every verse changed. I note here only a few verses where I made special comments.]
Ps. 116:4 Then I called on [You, Lord://the name of the LORD:]
“[Lord, please//Please, LORD,] save me!”
[This use of ‘the name’ is a metonymy based on the Jewish avoidance of actually saying the Lord’s name. ‘The name’ stands for the whole person of the Lord. In English, calling on a name is quite unnatural. I would never call on Chad’s name. I would just call Chad or call on Chad. See v.13.]
13 I will [pour out an offering of wine to You giving thanks for Your saving me//lift up the cup of salvation]
[Before looking into this while I was recording, I wrongly guessed at the meaning of ‘lift up the cup of salvation’, as “I will drink a toast to God because of my salvation.” As it happens, that is kind of what The Message has. This just shows what happens when modern readers confront a literal translation of such a figure. And note that NLT is inconsistent in reverting to a literal translation here, while most of the time translating in a meaning-based way.]
and [I will] praise [You//the LORD’s name for saving me].
[Like we saw in verse 4, if we were really going to literally ‘praise the Lord’s name’— meaning just his name, and not praise His person, it appears like idolatry to me. (I do hear people saying things like that, but when they do I take it that they are parodying Bible language.) How often do we hear people using a phrase like, “They praised Obama’s name for his speech at…” I think almost always, when people say things like that about our president, they just praise Obama and leave his name out of it.]
17 [[[I will offer a sacrifice of thankful prayers to You.////
I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
[and I will give thankful prayers to You.//and call on You, Lord,
because of your wonderful reputation// and call on the name of the LORD].]]]
[Note here that “sacrifice of thanksgiving” is ambiguous in English. It could mean that his offering will consist of thanksgiving, or th

2SAMUEL 16:
Absolom first stole the hearts of all Israel by being a shrewd politician. Then he mounted a rebellion against his own father. David fled Jerusalem to avoid bloodshed, and as he left, he planted several carefully chosen people to work for him.
PSALM 115:
I know I have said it a lot, but can’t help saying it again: This is one of my favorite psalms. Our God is so different than idols. He is in heaven and does whatever He pleases.
ROMANS 16:
Having told of his plans to visit Rome on his way to Spain, and how he must first go to Jerusalem, Paul now turns to greeting his friends in Rome. I really enjoy this section! There is real closeness in the family of God. When we call each other ‘brother’ or ‘sister’, we really mean it. And our love and bonds of fellowship often span long distances. I enjoy seeing this in every phrase in this chapter.
NLT Translation note:
Ps. 115:8 And those who make idols [will be//are] just like them,
as [so will be//are] all who trust in them.
 
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

2SAMUEL 15:
In our last reading, we heard how Joab creatively arranged to persuade David to bring Absalom back from exile. And how eventually David agreed to let Absolom meet him directly.
PSALM 114:
This poem praises God for the miraculous deliverance from Egypt.
Re-reading ROMANS 15:
Chapter 15 of Romans comes to this summary sentence in verse 13: “May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your [believing//faith] in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
NLT Translation notes:
Rom. 15:6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord [Christ Jesus//Jesus Christ].   (similarly in 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 27)
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you [fully believe//trust] in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
22 In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in [those//these] places.
23 But now I have finished my work in [those//these] regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.
30 Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord [Christ Jesus//Jesus Christ] to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit.
 
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 2SAMUEL 14:
There is more than one way in which David did not obey God’s instructions for kings. The big one of course is the Bathsheba affair, but God had already said that kings should not have lots of wives. David’s daughter Tamar was raped by her half brother Amnon. And after two years, Absolom (Tamar’s brother) murdered Amnon.
PSALM 113:
This is a song praising our incomparable God.
ROMANS 15:
Paul continues what he was ‘on about’ in yesterday’s reading. We must accept other believers even though we don’t agree on prohibitions, practices, or rituals. Disputes over these things often come from our differing backgrounds.
NLT Translation notes:
Rom. 15:6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord [Christ Jesus//Jesus Christ].
9 He also came so that the [non-Jews//Gentiles] might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:
“For this, I will praise you among the [non-Jews//Gentiles];
I will sing praises to [you/your name].”
[The psalmist uses ‘your name’ as a metonymy for God himself. To us in English, it sounds like idolatry to praise a name rather than the Person Himself.]
10 And in another place it is written,
“Rejoice with his people,
you [non-Jews//Gentiles].”
11 And yet again,
“Praise the LORD, all you [non-Jews//Gentiles].
Praise him, all you people of the earth.”
12 And in another place Isaiah said,
“The heir to David’s throne will come,
and he will rule over the [non-Jews//Gentiles].
They will place their hope on him.”
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you [fully believe//trust] in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
16 I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you [non-Jews//Gentiles]. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
18 Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the [non-Jews//Gentiles] to God by my message and by the way I worked among them.
 
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.