About this Commentary

Special Features of the Hungry Hearts Bible Commentary

The Hungry Hearts Bible commentary is always a work in progress, based on 40-plus years of daily Bible reading by the author, along with diligent study, comparing English translations with biblical languages and the work of respected scholars. 

1.      The main body of the New Testament text in this commentary is based largely on the Koine Greek Text of Stephens 1550, as found in the Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by George Ricker Berry, the original Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of 1894, and Scrivener’s Greek Interlinear TR of 1894. All is compared diligently with original languages, ancient texts and versions, along with the work of respected commentaries and scholarship. Some New Testament portions of early translators (such as Tyndale and others) are used as well. Tyndale based his work on the Koine Greek of the Majority Text. Koine Greek was the everyday language and lingua franca of the Greek speaking world in the days of the apostles. Koine Greek is the language the New Testament was originally written in.  

2.      Where the text of the King James Version is followed, archaic language is updated in most cases, but The AV (Old & New Testaments) is followed unchanged where the language and sense of the translation is clear to modern readers and in accord with the original languages. Where the meaning is clearer, wording from other translators and non-copyright translations (such as the Julia Smith Translation and others) are used.

3. References containing [TR] in bracketed superscript are alerts that some Minority/eclectic Greek texts contradict the Ben Chayyim Greek text, which is called the Majority/Received Text because there are so many extant (still existing) texts that attest to its reliability—over 5000 of them. Textus Receptus is the Greek text that underlies the New Testament of the King James Version and other Bible versions such as Young’s Literal Translation. In instances where the reader sees bracketed superscript [TR], doctrines essential to the Christian faith, such as the Godhead, the Virgin Birth, the Blood Atonement, the Deity of Christ, and the Physical Resurrection of Christ, are almost always negatively impacted or even deleted completely from certain [usually Alexandrian] texts. What most readers are not aware of, is that verses deleted from some modern translations, because the claim is made that some verse or other is “not found in the best manuscripts,” usually refer only to two manuscripts, of which there is by no means consensus that they are the best. It is always a good idea to read a wide variety of opinions before prayerfully forming our own. In the multitude of counselors, there is safety.

4.     Some interpretive paraphrasing is present in this commentary (sometimes accompanied by footnotes)

5.     For clarification, the names Jesus or YHWH, are sometimes used instead of the words him, he, his or God.

6.     Where a Hebrew or Greek word has no adequate English equivalent—or the traditional translation is in question—the original word may be included but left untranslated. This commentator is not in agreement with common translator habits of leaving words they do not the meaning to, untranslated. The practice is not only insulting to lay-readers but disingenuous and robbery. We have a right to know the word is there, even if no one believes they can understand the translation of it. In some cases [but not all], the Strong’s Greek [G] or Hebrew [H] reference number may be notated beside an untranslated word.

7.    Where the Old Testament is quoted in the New Testament, some of the Hebrew words may be used [alongside in superscript or instead of the Greek equivalent].  

8.      The practice of substituting the words “Lord” and “God” in place of the Hebrew names and titles of our CREATOR, are rooted in superstition on the part of Jewish scribes and later, antisemitism on the parts of English translators. In this commentary, the Hebrew names and titles of the One True GOD may remain untranslated in places. Examples are: YHWH (YAHWEH) instead of LORD / Elohim instead of God / Adonai instead of lord. In any case, it should always be a capital LORD/ Adonai when referring to our LORD and Savior, Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua Ha Mashiach. To his Jewish followers, there was ever only ONE LORD and ONE GOD, YHWH, ADONAI ELOHIM.

9.     The biblical people of GOD, the Jews, worshipped only one GOD. They did not have a GOD and a god. That means any who they called “GOD,” (as in the case of Thomas calling Jesus, “My LORD and my GOD) must of necessity be references to ADONAI ELOHIM, the God of the Burning Bush--YAHWEH. All three of those names/titles are plural, encompassing the Godhead. And all the fulness of the Godhead dwelled in Jesus in physical form.

10.  New Testament quotes of Old Testament passages that include the word “LORD” in referring to Yahweh [YHWH], the Hebrew Tetragrammaton יְ הוָה [YHWH] will be used.

11.  Proper names may appear untranslated in their original form. Mary, for instance, was called Miriam. In the Greek text, the Hebrew names of Old Testament persons may be used.  E.g.: The name of the first woman is not “Eve.” The name given to her, after The Fall, by her husband [who was not commanded by God to name his wife], is the Hebrew, Chavvah [pronounced Kavah]. The name “Eve” is a clichéd misnomer rooted in Greek transliteration. Why translators uniformly and consistently use a Greek transliteration of Chavvah’s name, even in the Hebrew portion of the Holy Scriptures, can only be attributed to historic antisemitism.

12.  Since all the fullness of the Godhead dwelled in Jesus in physical form, the words of The Most High God are in Arial font and in red print, both in the Old Testament and the New.

13.  Scripture cross-references and short alternative readings are noted in-line with the text, in super-script or bracketed. Longer commentary is located in footnotes.

14.  As both the Hebrew and Greek texts were originally written without punctuation, and punctuation is often a controversial sticking point in theological interpretation, most punctuation is removed from the main body of the scripture-commentary text.

15. PARENTHETICAL STATEMENTS: (\) indicates a possible non-chronological parenthetical statement. Bible prophecy has many such passages in which there is a “free-flow” of non-chronological foretelling of events.  (-) indicates a possible chronological parenthetical statement. There are many such in scripture: Parenthetical statements (-\) indicate a possible duality, where a scripture could be speaking to both the people it was initially written to and/or people who will live in the future. There could be a long period of time between one statement (-\) and the statement immediately following it, even if both statements are contained within the same verse. Isaiah 9:6 is an example of a chronological parenthetical prophecy (though not a duality): “For unto us (-) a child is born (-) Unto us a son is given (-) And the government shall be upon his shoulders…” The (-) indicating chronological parenthetical gaps of time between the Savior’s birth (-) death, resurrection, (-) and his 2nd Coming and establishment of his earthly kingdom.

16.  English-Translation-Theology: The Bible was not written in English. This commentator believes, therefore, that some words are better left untranslated as there are no good English equivalents for every Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek word. In some instances, attempting to use one English word [or an English phrase] to convey meaning for a Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic word that has multiple meanings—can cloud understanding and result, not in clarity and truth, but rather, in, what this writer calls misleading English-translation-theology.

 17.  Gender-Biased-English-Translation-Theology: As in every chapter of every Bible [to a lesser or greater degree depending on the translation], there are instances of gender-biased-English-translation-theology. These can be overt but sometimes covert in subliminally elevating the male sex over the female sex. One of the most common covert examples are where all people are referred to as either "he, him, his, or himself," where no such designation can be justified in either the text or the context. God called the human race, 'âdâm, and not “man.” This is important to note because women are not men [male] and should not referred to as such. The word 'âdâm is frequently used in the Hebrew text to describe all humanity, all mortals. In this work, women are referred as women, as she, her, or herself. Mixed crowds are referred to as theythem, themselves, or people, mortals, humans, but not as “he, him, himself, or men.” Because of The Fall, all languages are androcentric (male-centered), including English, but it is time to stop translating ancient sacred texts in such a way, when we know better. Semantics are important, as language informs attitudes 

** Historically loved, poetic, and extraordinarily beautiful passages of the King James Version are left largely unchanged (even in their androcentric forms: e.g., Follow me and I will make you fishers of men).   

 We pray this commentary will be a faith-building blessing to all who read it.

 Some Untranslated and uncommon words in the HHBC: (Partial list only)

'âdâm H120 Pronounced “audawm” is the name God gave to both the first man and the first woman—the entire human race. In the Hebrew Bible, mixed crowds (composed of both females and males) are also referred to as 'âdâm. This Hebrew word, does not mean “man” and is not androcentric (male centered) as are most English and Greek words used to describe the entire human population, words such as: man (when used to describe all people), mankind, human race, anthropos (when used to describe all people), etc..

In this commentary, the phonetic spelling of the Hebrew word 'âdâm (audawm) is used instead of man, mankind, or human whenever the word refers to mixed crowds of both sexes or to the human race in general.

Adelphos G80 Sibling (born of the same mother or father); Old Testament: generally a natural sibling/brother. The word takes on a gender neutral meaning in the New Testament and can refer to natural brothers—who are born of the same mother but was also used of a group of Jesus siblings which included his sisters. In the main, New Testament references are to spiritual siblings, whether sisters or brothers, referring to anyone who is Born Again into the Body of Christ, fellow Christians in general, whether female or male.
Adown H113 Lords
Aggelos G32 pronounced angelos: messenger, translated “angel” 179 times in the AV
Aion G165 [noun] an Age; a period of time. The Greek word aion is thought to be from the same root as another Greek word aei G104 which is an adverb whose root is from an obsolete primary noun meaning: continued duration; perpetual; invariably 
Amen G281 When used at the beginning of a discourse, it means truly or assuredly; When used at the end of a discourse or prayer, it means so be it, let it be so: The word "amen" is a most remarkable word. It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and into English and many other languages, so that it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best known word in human speech. The word is directly related — in fact, almost identical — to the Hebrew word for "believe" (amam), or faithful. Thus, it came to mean "sure" or "truly", an expression of absolute trust and confidence. — HMM
Aner G435 Male, husband, all people, a group of people composed of both females and males (which indicates that G435 could be translated as female unless the context demands otherwise)
Anthropos G444 A human being; The human race in general; Mixed crowds of both men and women; angels who are sometimes mistaken for men; people in general, whether female or male. In instances where this is the case, rather than using a gender specific or androcentric term, the HHBC commentary uses the untranslated Greek word, anthropos, which is frequently used in the Received Text for mixed groups of women and men and of the human race as a whole. Most languages are androcentric (male centered) including the Hebrew and Greek our English scriptures were translated from. Most English translations are even more so, and in many cases supplement the text with the words, man or men where they do not appear. For that reason, where the Greek word, anthropos, occurs, the HHBC often leaves it untranslated, leaving it to the context and the reader to decide if the text is alluding specifically to males, or to a mixed crowd/group composed of both females and males, or of the entire human race in general.
Audawm (The phonetic spelling and pronunciation of the Hebrew H120-’âdâm. Biblical usage of H120 references groups of both females and males, of the human race in general, as well as the name of the first male. In both Old and New Testament of the HHBC commentary, the phonetic spelling of H120-'‘âdâm (pronounced “audawm”) will be used in place of androcentric translation such as man, mankind, or human race when the text calls for it. The same word “H120-'‘âdâm” will be used only when the text specifically references the first male.
Aule G833 Hall, Court, Palace [home/habitation]
Autos G846 a pronoun that could be translated any number of ways: she, he, it, himself, herself, the same, they, their, etc.. In many translations, it is often translated as he or man without textual support. Other translations. In Philippians 4:3 (AV) it was translated as “those women.”
ba`al H-1167 Lord
Beelzeboul G954 A name of Satan
Chayil H2428 Valor; Strength; Might; [The strength and power of] Wealth; [The strength and power of] Riches. Chayil is mis-translated “virtuous” only three times in the Hebrew text; each of these mistranslations is deliberate (about women) due to misogyny. There is no textual reason to translate the Hebrew word, Chayil, as virtuous as it has never had any connotation of virtue.
Christos G5547 pronounced kree-stos: Christ; Anointed One; Messiah
Complementarian: The teaching that women were originally created subordinate to men and are to remain so throughout their lives on earth and all eternity as well.
Diakonia G1248 service; ministry
Eklektos G… Picked out, chosen
Diamonions G1140 Evil Spirits
Ego Emi: I AM
Ekeinos G1565 The one there; That one; That thing or time; Used of persons, things, times somewhat remote from the speaker (Thayer) 
Ekklesia G1577 Called out ones; A gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place or an assembly; Those who anywhere, constitute such a company and are united into one body
Elohiym   Gods, i.e., The Godhead. All references to “God” in Genesis chapter one are Strong’s Hebrew reference 430, “Elohiym”.  The word refers to more than two (Martin/Ankerberg 1985). There is a word in Hebrew that refers to more than one but not more than two, but Elohiym is not that word. The word “Elohiym, is a reference to the Godhead. Genesis 1:1 specifically tells us that it is the LORD God Yahweh Elohiym—the Godhead—who created all things (Isaiah 44:24, 45:18, John 1:3,10). This is the first Biblical evidence that Jesus is Jehovah, and not simply a subordinate that God created then “used” to create all “other” things. Per Philippians 2:10-11, which is a New Testament quote of Jehovah [who is speaking in Isaiah 45:23] Jesus is the LORD GOD—Yahweh Elohiym of Genesis1-3. The fullness (entirety) of the Godhead resides in Jesus in physical form (Colossians 2:9). We serve a God who is one. The Holy of Holies [in the Hebrew Bible] literally means the Holy place of the Holy Ones—i.e., the Godhead (Cooke). Do we understand how God can be three yet be one? No, we do not. It is as impossible for man to analyze and pry apart the Godhead as it would be to attempt to separate the soul and spirit; only God has sufficient understanding and power to accomplish such a thing in His triune personage and yet remain one. It is sin to theologically transform the Triune Godhead into a hierarchical, idolatrous, triad. Just so, it is sin to theologically turn the holy, one flesh, relationship of marriage into a hierarchical duo with a god-man at the helm. Man-made hierarchies accomplish nothing less than the conversion of triune into triad and one flesh into duo.
Elowahh H433 God; The singular of Elohiym (Gods)
Exodus G1841 Departure
Ezer H5828 Help; Succour; Used of God himself in Psalm 33:20
Genea G1074 Genealogy; fathered; birth; nativity; that which has been begotten; whole multitude of people living at the same time—a generation; a presumed derivative of G1085 genos kindred; offspring; descent;
Glossa G1100 Tongue; An organ of speech; Angelic languages; Earthly languages
Gyne G1135 Woman, Wife, M’âdâm                                           
Hades G86 The nether world; the realm of the dead; the lower regions
Harpazo G726 Seize; catch; snatch; take by force; pull
Ho G3588 definite article corresponding to: the; of; this; that. Other usages include: etc.; who; which
Iesous Pronounced Ee-A-Soos G2424 translated Jesus: Yeshua is the Hebrew name, and its English spelling is “Joshua.” Iesous is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name, and its English spelling is “Jesus.” Thus, the names “Joshua” and “Jesus” are essentially the same; both are English pronunciations of the Hebrew and Greek names for our Lord. For examples of how the two names are interchangeable, see Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8 in the KJV. In both cases, the word Iesous refers to the Old Testament character Joshua. Because of disparities in English translation of the word, Iesous will remain untranslated throughout the main body of scripture this commentary. https://gotquestions.org/Yeshua-Jesus.html
'ishshah Hebrew for woman/wife, but not exclusively so. The word is also used for mixed crowds of both females and males, and therefore, can also be used as gender neutral, as context allows, just as the words ‘âdâm and iysh are seen in gender neutral biblical usage. Context must determine translation.
'iysh H376 Hebrew for man/husband/mixed crowds of both women and men/homosapiens-sapians in general, even translated as “you” in Proverbs 3:31 (KJV). The word, Iysh, has no legitimate claim as a word exclusive to males. Context must determine translation.
Keriythuwth H3748 Bill of divorce
Kosmos G2889 The earth, the world/universe, the space time continuum, the system of this world/arranged order of things, the people who inhabit the earth
Logion G3051 Spoken of the words and utterances of God
Logos G3056 Word (said, thought, computation, motive)
Messias G3323 pronounced Me-say-us or Me-sy-us: Messiah; Christ; Savior
Meshuwbah H4878 (from H7725 shuwb) Turning away
Monogenes G3439 One of a kind; Only offspring; God has many children—but all adopted or created. Jesus is neither adopted nor created. He is God’s only, for lack of a better word, natural (or genetic) child—begotten. 
Nephesh H5315 noun Life Soul
Neged H5048 Opposite; Over against; Equal and opposite Counterpart
Panoplia G3833 complete set of armor
Parakletos G3875 Summoned; Called to one’s side; Called to one’s aid; One who pleads another’s cause before a Judge; Advocate; A pleader; Counsel for defense; Legal assistant; In the widest sense a helper, succorer, aider, assistant (Thayer) 
Pneuma G4151 (neuter noun) Pronounced Nu-maa: Spirit
Porneia G4202 (Feminine noun) Sexual sin
Porne G4204 (Feminine noun) Those engaging in sexual sin
Pornos G4205 (Masculine noun) Those engaging in sexual sin (According to Strong’s, all of the Greek “porn” words descend from the word piprasko G4097 which means to sell; of price, one into slavery; to give one’s self up wholly into the control of another. The fact that piprasko is taken from a root word peran G4008, which means beyond, the other side, farther side (not God’s side), all scripture uses of the porn words denote utterly demonic, enslaving behavior)
Porneuo G4203 (Verb) engaging in sexual sin
Rhabbi G4461 A great one, an honorable sir; Rabbi, an honorable title used by the Jews to address their teachers; John the Baptist is addressed by this title in John 3:26; Jesus is addressed by this title multiple times
Ruwach H7307 (Feminine Noun) The Holy Spirit is not an “it.” Neither is the Holy Spirit a “He.” The Holy Spirit is God. In the Hebrew, the Holy Spirit is called Ruwach. The Hebrew word, Ruwach, is a feminine noun. The Holy Spirit is portrayed as a mother hen in Genesis 1:2. Jesus confirmed this in Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34. The scriptures say that, God is not a man Numbers 23:19. Neither is he a woman. But he portrays himself as both mother and father. Jesus himself is the Father of Eternity. The angel Gabriel, called the Holy Spirit the father of the Christ child Luke 1:35. We cannot divide God. We can only take him at his Word. The Holy Spirit is God. In the Hebrew**, the Holy Spirit is feminine. In the Greek, the word used for Holy Spirit is a neuter noun, which translators choose to render as “it” or “he.” However, this commentator maintains that “it” is not an option, and because of the Hebrew testimony (and the neutrality of the Greek), the Holy Spirit is accurately addressed as “She.”

**English-Translation-Theology is always a danger, and presents difficulties—to readers and translators alike (that other languages do not), as English is such a diverse language, with so many options (more words than any other language) for translators to choose from. For example, the Hebrew language has a limited vocabulary (only about 3000 words) as compared with the koine Greek (everyday language spoken by Jesus and his contemporaries). So, we must appreciate that most every Hebrew word has a variety of applications (some a very wide variety) and must be translated according to context. Other applications of the word, ruwach, include: spirit; wind; breath; mind; vain; air; anger; cool; courage.
   James Strong lists 5,624 koine Greek words in his original concordance. This would not represent every koine Greek word in the koine Greek vocabulary—only those which were used in the New Testament of the Received Text. By comparison, the English language has about 200,000 commonly used words, not counting scientific words, which approximate another 200,000.
Satanas G4567 Satan
Shalach H7971 The putting away (sending away or casting off). Shalach (casting off) without a bill of keriythuwthH3748 (bill of divorce) is not the same as a divorce
Shamayim: Strong’s Hebrew reference 8064 Heaven is, “SHAMEH.” The word is used exclusively for all references to heaven from Genesis through Psalm 78:8. In these passages, context alone must determine which “heaven” the verse is referring to, whether the sky, beyond the sky (space), or the third Heaven Paul was caught up to.
Sheowl: Underworld; World of the dead
Shuwb H7725 Turn around; Return
Theos G2316 Deity; god; The reason the word, Theos, is largely left untranslated in this commentary, is to put to rest erroneous teaching that the word must be prefaced by the definite article “ho” (meaning “the” or “of”) in order to be translated as referring to Yahweh (Jehovah). In fact, most New Testament scripture references to Theos are not introduced using the definite article, “ho,” but even in those cases, it is clear when Almighty is or is not being referenced—especially in the case of John 1:1, where John, a Jew who would never commit blasphemy by calling anyone who was not YHWH “A” god. When John called Jesus “God,” he was specifically stating that Jesus is YHWH [Yahweh].
Ton Theon The God; of God as context requires
Ton G5120 The; of
Towrah H8451 Law of Moses; Mosaic Law; Pentateuch
YHWH H3068 (without vowels—Hebrew has no vowels) known as the Tetragrammaton) Yahweh; Sometimes translated as Jehovah; The true name of the name of the Almighty, known to scholars as the Tetragrammaton, the correct pronunciation is, Yahveh.” This pronunciation has never been lost according to Jewish scholar, Kaufmann Kohler. In the HHBC, any New Testament citing of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton from an Old Covenant source will be treated as Hebrew. The letters YHWH will be used in the verse in place of LORD.
Yowm H3117 Strong’s: (from an unused root meaning to be hot [as the warm hours]) Day; Time; Year; Lifetime; Time Period; Age… Gesenius: From the time when; Always; At that/this Time; Now; In all time