Author –

Brian Clatworthy
Articles by this Author
?γιασμ?ς (consecration) ?γιος (holy, sacred, dedicated) ?γι?της (holiness) Our understanding of the word ‘holy’ is sometimes coloured by the way in which the word has been used in various Christian tr…
Trees play an essential part in protecting our environment and meeting many of our practical needs. They produce large amounts of oxygen on a daily basis, and constantly absorb harmful carbon dioxides…
Oklah (Food, fuel, meat) ‘Ol (Yoke) Olah (Ascent, burnt offering) The use of a yoke or harness in modern-day farming, especially in the West, would be regarded as a somewhat backward step, almost anac…
hay (life, living, alive) ‘Or (Light, bring or give light) baraq (lightning) Light plays an important part in how we perceive the world around us, Ps. 36. 9. In fact, without visible light, there woul…
agapeo (to love, to feel and exhibit esteem) agape (love, brotherly love, affection) agapetos (beloved, esteemed) Perhaps the one major word group in the New Testament whose origin and use is misunder…
The hymn writer John Newton published his first edition of the Olney Hymns in 1779, which he arranged into three books. He states in the preface that, ‘In the first I have classed those which are form…
Graptos (Painted/Written) Graphe (Written characters) Grathma (A Letter/Document Record) Many years before the invention of pens and keyboards, writers in antiquity found a variety of ways of communic…
Personal hygiene is a feature of everyday life that most of us take very much for granted, yet it so often comes to the forefront when some major health scare arises. Even in the very places where per…
Kyrieyo, e, to be lord or master of Kyrios, e, lord, master kyriotes, lordship, dominion It must appear somewhat ironic to those who do not live in the United Kingdom that the mother of Parliaments ha…
Ktt (beat fine) Leb, Lebab (Heart) Labba (Flame) Throughout history, the heart has always been regarded as an important part of the human body. According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, the heart …
Mashah (Anointing) Most office holders today are usually appointed without a great deal of ceremony. But this was not the case in Old Testament times where those who were appointed as prophets, priest…
Human beings have always been fascinated with faces, simply because the face says a lot about an individual. We can quickly detect a person’s mood from their facial expression. Our appearance can chan…
During his imprisonment in Tibet by the Chinese communists, the English missionary Geoffrey Bull was subjected to a continuous period of interrogation aimed at breaking his Christian faith. Just befor…
Shakespeare’s tragedy Richard III opens with these famous lines, ‘Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York’. This forms part of a longer soliloquy, where the Duke …
Sheber (Corn, victuals) Shebet (Sceptre, rod, staff) Shebi (Captivity, prisoners) The sceptre has been an emblem of those in authority, such as kings, judges and military leaders as well as priests, d…
Kαιπερ (kaiper) Although Kαιρος (kairos) Time, season Καισαρ (kaisar) Caesar Time plays a very important part i…
Where people have sought to live in harmony with one another, there has always been some basic code of behaviour, whether written or otherwise, that regulated the interaction of individuals within tha…
Yeshimon (desert, wilderness) Yeshu'ah (deliverance, salvation, help) Yesod (foundation) When our Lord met the woman at Jacob’s well and told her that ‘salvation is of [or better rendered “from"] the …
It is not an exaggeration to suggest that human beings have an insatiable appetite for new things. We seem to be obsessed about new products, and people will often queue for hours on end to be the fir…
One of the enduring features of English common law is that it is based on the adversarial system of justice. This gives rise to the practice of advocacy, where parties are represented by advocates who…
ekkleio (To shut out)ekklesia (Assembly, congregation, church)ekklino (To turn aside, deviate) The Greek noun ekklesia, used in the New Testament and translated as the words ‘assembly, congregation or…
Some of us may have seen the Moody Institute of Science presentation entitled ‘Red River of Blood’, which, although now somewhat dated, never ceases to make one realize just how ‘awesomely and wonderf…
The Greek noun parousia, meaning presence or coming, is often misunderstood by Bible students. One of the recognized dangers of studying a word by itself is that it expresses very little in terms of m…
Paropsidos (A side-dish)Parresia (Confidence, boldness, openness, freedom of speech)Eparresiasato (To speak freely or preach boldly) One of the things that is highly prized in a democratic society is …
The terms ‘covenant’ or ‘deed of covenant’ are rarely used today in general conversation other than in formal legal contexts. But the practical use of prescribed ‘deeds of covenant’ was quite popular …
Maal - Above, forward, upward Ma’alah - Degree, step, stair Maalal - Endeavour, invention, work The feminine noun ma’alah is regularly translated as ‘degree’ in the Old Testament. It is derived from a…
Adam (Man, man of low degree)Adamah (Earth, land, ground)Adamdam (Reddish) We hear a considerable amount today about the environment and the preservation of planet earth. The green agenda has never be…
phbaytron - Terrorphobos - FearPhoebe - Phoebe The Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition 1989) defines the word ‘fear’ as ‘the emotion of pain or uneasiness caused by the sense of impending danger…
One of the things that cricket enthusiasts are always keen to see, especially if they are English(!), is meaningful batting partnerships. This sort of partnership emphasizes the very English concept t…
Unsurprisingly, with an agrarian economy that formed the major part of Israel’s day to day existence in the Promised Land, the term ‘firstfruits’ was employed by God as a motif to underline the variou…
Kabed (Liver) Kabod (Glory) Kabsah (Ewe lamb, lamb) When Eli’s daughter-in-law heard the news that the ark of the covenant had been taken by the Philistines, and both Eli and her husband were dead, 1 …
It is not uncommon today, when someone is asked the question ‘How are you?’ to hear the response ‘Good, thanks’. What, of course, the respondent means is that they are well in terms of their overall h…
One of the remarkable features of the Bible is the way in which God uses simple words to convey the most profound truth. This point is effectively demonstrated by the single Hebrew word shema’ (Englis…
The writer SAMUEL JOHNSON once said that no place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library. Johnson, however, failed to appreciate that of all texts, the B…
Such is the complexity of modern family life that most societies today have enacted specific laws that relate to families and domestic relationships. In the recent Queen’s speech, which opened this ye…
‘Here is love vast as the ocean, Loving kindness as the flood, When the Prince of Life, our ransom Shed for us His precious blood’ Little did William Rees realize what an impact these words would ha…
Mana (Deny, keep, withhold)Manah (Portion, part)Manammim (Dainties) The third line of the first verse of William Williams Pantycelyn’s most famous hymn ‘Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah’ refers to the ‘…
The overwhelming majority of British monarchs have been kings and very few of these have been constitutional monarchs. Most have been able to exercise supreme and absolute authority over their subject…
hamartema, n (Sin, evil deed) hamartia, n(A missing the mark, guilt, sin) hamartolos(Devoted to sin, a sinner) Although there are at least nine different words in the Greek New Testament to describe s…
Sadly, we live in a world that is characterized by hypocrisy. How often do we hear politicians saying one thing on the hustings, and then completely reverse their policies when in government? Or the f…
In his famous paraphrase of Psalm 103 (‘Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven’), Henry Lyte compresses verses 3 and 4 of the psalm to simply read, ‘ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven’. In doing so, he…
In Shakespeare’s historical play ‘Richard the Third’, the Duke of Buckingham makes the following comment to the queen, ‘Ay, madam: he (Richard) desires to make atonement between the Duke of Gloucester…
dikaios (righteous, correct)dikaiosynen(righteousness, justice)dikaioo (to declare, pronounce righteous) Anyone who seeks to understand the biblical doctrine of righteousness or justification will imm…
One of the important features of heraldry is the graphic design of individual or family coats of arms, usually displayed on some form of shield. This decorative imagery goes back to at least medieval …
σκανδαλ?ζω, v (to put a snare or stumbling block in the way) σκ?νδαλον, n (stumbling-block/offence) σκ?πτω, v (to dig) Almost everyday throughout the world, newspapers report one scandal or another. I…
In the twenty-first century, private and public transport makes a significant contribution to our modern way of life. It is often therefore difficult for us to appreciate that previous generations had…
Viticulture or vine cultivation has been practised for many thousands of years. The Greeks were the leading exponents of this science, and it was extended by them throughout the Mediterranean world wh…
In this new feature we will look at a number of selected Greek/Hebrew words found in the Bible. We will trace their historical development and then describe their meaning and usage in the scriptures. …
‘Where there are not faithful ministers of the word of God, the people decay’, Prov. 29. 18 GNV The background to the biblical text quoted is likely to have been Exodus chapter 32 verses 25-26, where …
Suggested readings. Lev. 16; 23.26-32; Num. 29.7-11; Zech. 12.10, 12; Rom. 4.4-5; Rev. 1.7. The word is better translated atonements, as the Hebrew is in the plural signifying the various aspects of a…
At this time of the year in the United Kingdom, daylight hours are very short, and darkness seems to pervade most of our lives. Nature seems to be moving inexorably towards the winter solstice marking…
‘As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head’ Obadiah 15b NIV One of the most neglected books in the Old Testament is the prophecy of Obadiah, yet it has much t…
‘For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh’, 2 Cor. 10. 3. Living in the world is a constant challenge for the believer. Paul reminds us, however, that we do not conduct our Chris…
‘A servant of God’ – nothing more, nothing less! How do we see ourselves? James, who is widely recognized to be the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, could have claimed that human link…
There is a famous children’s rhyme which suggests that ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words shall never hurt me’. The rhyme was intended to be used as a defence mechanism against name-call…
‘The cloke … and the books, but especially the parchments’, 2 Tim. 4. 13 Have you ever left or lost something? Sometimes, the item is not that valuable, but there are some things that are undoubtedly …
‘He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar’, Ps. 99. 7. Paul reminds us that one of the things that should characterize us as Christians is a forbearing or gentle spirit towards everyone. The reason for…
Suggested readings. Lev. 23.33-43; Num. 29.12-40; Deut. 16. 13-15; Ezek. 45. 25; Zech. 14. 16-19; John 7. 2, 39; Rev. 14.10,18,19; 20. 4-6. This feast is also known as the feast of “ingathering" or “b…
4. The Feast of Weeks. Suggested readings, Lev. 23. 15-22; Num. 28. 26-31; Deut. 16. 9-12; Acts 2.1; 1 John 1. 8; James 1. 18. It has already been stated in the introduction to the feasts that God esp…
‘A more excellent name than angels’ Have you ever considered why the writer to the Hebrews seems to pay little attention to the communication of the prophets, Heb. 1. 1, yet, by contrast, dedicates a …
In this introductory article we consider the historical context of this New Testament letter and its sustained argument. Put in another way, how does God reveal Himself in this letter as it focuses on…
The doctrinal argument of Hebrews The writer presents his basic doctrinal argument in the first two chapters of the letter, but at the same time provides us with several themes that will be developed …
Henry Alford was born in the city of London on 10 October 1810. Sadly, his mother died giving birth to him, and so he spent much of his formative years living with relations in Somerset. His father, w…
‘Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?’ Mark 6. 3 A carpenter in the ancient world was a highly skilled worker in wood who provided a variety of services to local communities. This included, amo…
The series now commencing is devoted to Leviticus 23 and other portions of both Old and New Testament Scriptures dealing with the “Feasts of Jehovah”. By means of annual religious appointments, a fore…
This year marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of the magisterial1 reformer John Calvin who was born in Noyon, northeast of Paris, in 1509. Calvin is probably the most loved and hated of all the R…
Introduction Five hundred years ago this year, Martin Luther was awarded a doctorate by the University of Wittenberg. We may not think that this was anything out of the ordinary, but, in fact, this pr…
Today’s Relevance When Paul visited the city of Thessalonica, he was accused of turning the world upside down by fomenting sedition against the authority of Rome, Acts 17. 6-7. In effect, his detracto…
What is the Law? In Gilbert and Sullivan’s famous operetta ‘Iolanthe’, the Lord Chancellor provides us with an interesting insight into English Law when he explains that: ‘The Law is the true embodime…
Comment on Colossians 1 verses 15 to 20 We consider next Colossians 1.15-20, which begins, ‘Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, …
This article follows our brother’s first article on Paul’s View of the Law in the November 2005 volume of Precious Seed. Did Paul concentrate on the risen exalted Christ so that he abandoned the histo…
Slavery and Manumission1 Even though we have seen public demonstrations against those individuals and institutions that have benefited in the past from the slave trade, slavery remains an ugly featur…
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the biblical scholar S. P. Tregelles. He was born in Falmouth in Cornwall on 30 January 1813. His father was a merchant, and both his parents were…
‘Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets’, Amos 3. 7.’ A short introduction The Minor Prophets come after the major prophetic books in the Old…
This New Testament letter had a significant impact on the six-teenth century reformer Martin Luther who once stated that ‘The Epistle to the Galatians is my Epistle; I have betrothed myself to it; it …
Chapters 3 and 4 – The argument from precedent (Old Testament theology) In these chapters Paul develops the main argument of the letter, namely that righteousness was dependent on the work of Christ a…
Revelation 2. 12-17 Verse 12. Pergamos was a famous city of the Roman province of Asia. It had already achieved fame in antiquity as according to Pliny the invention of parchment had taken place at Pe…
Caveat There are two obvious dangers to be avoided when we seek to explain the nature of any of the blessed persons within the Godhead. The first is reluctance on our part to state how the separate, y…
Continuing our examination of the essential characteristics or attributes of God: Omnipresence It is difficult for us as human beings who think in terms of being in one place at any one time in the wo…
This is the only private letter of the apostle Paul still in existence and, although it is pithy, it is a masterpiece of courtesy and diplomacy. The Pastoral Epistles, e.g. the epistles to Timothy and…
2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread – Sanctification. Suggested readings, Deut. 16.1-8; Num. 28.17-25; Exod. 12. 4-20; 13. 3-10; i Cor. 5. 6-8. The second of the feasts of Jehovah is very intimately conn…
An Introduction to Revelation Chapters 2-3 Part 2 We thought mainly in the first article about the political and social background to these letters. We now look at their structure and other common tra…
The Book of Revelation is unlike any other New Testament book, yet it has a resonance with other biblical material especially that in the Old Testament. Curiously though, there are no direct Old Testa…
Understandest thou what thou readest? Acts 8. 30b 1 When people read the above text from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, they often react in at least two different ways. Some accept that th…
THE ARGUMENT OF HEBREWS CHAPTER 7 Apart from the historical record of the meeting of Abraham and Melchisedec contained in Genesis 14 and one obscure reference in Psalm 110 v. 4, we are totally indebte…
i. The Passover. Suggested readings: Exod. 12; Deut. 16. 1-8; Num. 28. 16-25; 1 Cor. 5. 7; Ezek. 45. 21. In Leviticus 23 the feasts are proclaimed in verse 2; in verse 3 God informs His people of His …
Introduction Hosea prophesied during the reigns of five kings, four of Judah (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah) and one of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (Jeroboam II), Hos. 1. 1. He was a prophet of…
In chapters 2 and 3, we are mainly concerned with the interaction between God and Israel, mirrored in the relationship between Hosea and his promiscuous wife, Gomer. We feel the frustration of both Go…
The prophet Nahum prophesied sometime between the fall of the Egyptian capital city of Thebes, which is dated to 663 BC,1 and the later fall of the city of Nineveh, which is dated to 612 BC. Many Jewi…
Perhaps the first question we should ask ourselves is what we actually understand by the word eternality or eternal in relationship to God? At its most basic level, we mean that God in His essential b…
In a powerful discourse recorded for us by the Apostle John, our Lord indicates how, as the Son of man, He would be glorified by the Father through being lifted up upon a cross, John 12. 23-36. This d…
For the sake of ease, these eighty-four self-references can be clustered into three main groups of texts: Cluster 1 This is concerned with the work and activities of our Lord as the Son of Man on eart…
teleo (To bring to a close, to finish)telos (End, termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be)telones (A tax-gatherer) We often use the word ‘end’ and its associated words to describe the ide…
anaspao (to draw up) anastasis (resurrection) anastatoo (to stir up, excite, unsettle) Who would have thought that in a very short space of time, practically the entire world would be in a state of l…
Qirba (Approaching) Qorban (Offering, gift) Qrh (Happening) The Hebrew noun qorban gives prominence in the Old Testament to the word ‘sacrifice’, and the nature of that sacrifice. It occurs some eigh…
Shebo (Agate)Shebuah (Oath, curse)Shebuth (Captivity) We usually think today of the word ‘oath’ or ‘vow’ in a number of specific contexts. This could be, positively, the swearing of an oath in a court…
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