Biblical Studies Carnival 41

Hear ye - hear ye - come one and all. The Sunday School Blog has been given lead billing in the Biblical Studies Carnival LXI - Do take a look. James McGrath of Exploring Our Matrix has done a great job of summing up a complex month.

On toes - for meditation

and there was yet a battle in Gath
and there was a man of great size
and the fingers of his hand and the toes of his foot were six and six
twenty and four in number
and even this one was born to the giant
(2 Samuel 21:20)

Strengthen drooping hands and tottering knees secure
(Isaiah 35:3)

then will be opened the eyes of the blind
and the ears of the deaf will be unblocked
(Isaiah 35:5)
note the assonance in the Hebrew

mouth
- so many to choose from, 78 uses in the psalms alone

my mouth will speak of wisdom and the musing of my heart of discernment (Psalm 49)

nose - and wrath (Psalm 115)
ears to them and they do not hear;
nose to them and they do not smell

Some verse possibilities for body parts

Some parts are hard to find - so כָתֵף is used for back, side, and all sorts of other translations - and there are other words rendered shoulder - but here is a verse from the prophets for shoulder and ears - a tough verse worth learning in its context. (Zechariah 7:9-11)

ט כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת לֵאמֹר מִשְׁפַּט אֱמֶת שְׁפֹטוּ וְחֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים עֲשׂוּ אִישׁ אֶת-אָחִיו
י וְאַלְמָנָה וְיָתוֹם גֵּר וְעָנִי אַל-תַּעֲשֹׁקוּ וְרָעַת אִישׁ אָחִיו אַל-תַּחְשְׁבוּ בִּלְבַבְכֶם
יא וַיְמָאֲנוּ לְהַקְשִׁיב וַיִּתְּנוּ כָתֵף סֹרָרֶת וְאָזְנֵיהֶם הִכְבִּידוּ מִשְּׁמוֹעַ

So says יְהוָה of hosts saying: judge with a true judgment
and mercy and compassion do -
so it should be for anyone to any other who is near
and widow or orphan, stranger or the poor - do not oppress
and evil - anyone to any other who is near - do not imagine in your hearts
but they refused to pay attention
and gave a shoulder to stubbornness
and their ears they stopped from hearing

There are many sounds we have heard in other contexts in these verses alone.

Ideas from anyone else on suitable verses for teaching about how we use head and shoulders, knees and toes?

Note: this post altered to see if the Hebrew letters will work on Apple.

Body Parts - lesson 1

The world premiere of Head and Shoulders, the Bob version, was given today to 9 or 10 children. We sang it together first in English - so they know they knew the tune. Then I reminded them they already knew the first word from Genesis 1:1 The word for beginning בְּראשית bereshit contains the word for head ראש rosh.) - and away I went with the Hebrew version - there were many smiles all around. Then there being three fluent Korean speakers, the eldest sang a bit to us in Korean and the youngest smiled. Some things are universal - like how cultures teach children words.

The version I used is here. I did try and record it if you can play a .wav file. I really should find out what it takes to do the other control for playing things.

Note for a more complete list of body parts see here. I think I could occupy several 5 minute Hebrew lessons with a verse a week on various body parts.

Head and shoulders

רֹאשׁ כְּתֵפַ֫יִם
בִּרְכַּ֫יִם אֶצְבָּעוֹת
ברכים אצבעות
ברכים אצבעות
ראש כתפים
ברכים אצבעות
עֵינַ֫יִם אָזְנַ֫יִם
פֶּה אַף

Now just get the right 'and' with each and you have a new head and shoulders song. Review of all body parts see here.

Palm Sunday - Zechariah 9:9

We had a great procession around the neighborhood. We had a new boy from Korea at Sunday School today - and fortunately for him, our young Korean violinist was there to do simultaneous translation from Hebrew or English to Korean. What a lovely gift. How shall I spell the boys name, Jinyoung in Hebrew? Some sounds are hard to imitate.

Today I simply read Zechariah 9:9 in Hebrew and translated as I read. I asked first what did Jesus ride into Jerusalem on - and one youngster duly guessed a horse - so we talked briefly of war and peace. The three words for donkey in the text provided a nice continuation of our series on animals. I wonder if horse would make a good subject for Easter?