Comments on: Is death precious or grievous to God? http://agaphseis.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/is-death-precious-or-grievous-to-god/ ΑΓΑΠΗΣΕΙΣ is Greek for 'you will love'. This blog is devoted to the intersection of biblical exegesis, linguistics, and translation. It is offered as a spiritual discipline of the mind in order to love God and love others. Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:01:33 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: J.Massie http://agaphseis.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/is-death-precious-or-grievous-to-god/#comment-203 J.Massie Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:28:56 +0000 http://agaphseis.wordpress.com/?p=251#comment-203 death for each of God’s people is truly a rarity and thus all the more precious to God when he finally calls them home. Housewife here, reading this page I stumbled across looking for the Psalm. Very good reading, and I will enjoy pondering the above statement. Blessings death for each of God’s people is truly a rarity and thus all the more precious to God when he finally calls them home.
Housewife here, reading this page I stumbled across looking for the Psalm. Very good reading, and I will enjoy pondering the above statement. Blessings

]]> By: Psalm 116:15 - My ‘Precioussss’ « ΑΓΑΠΗΣΕΙΣ - you shall love http://agaphseis.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/is-death-precious-or-grievous-to-god/#comment-126 Psalm 116:15 - My ‘Precioussss’ « ΑΓΑΠΗΣΕΙΣ - you shall love Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:31:00 +0000 http://agaphseis.wordpress.com/?p=251#comment-126 [...] thus, the recent interaction with Dr. Claude Mariottini between his blog here and mine here and here about the meaning of the word יקר (yāqār) ‘precious’ in Psalm 116:15 prompts me to [...] [...] thus, the recent interaction with Dr. Claude Mariottini between his blog here and mine here and here about the meaning of the word יקר (yāqār) ‘precious’ in Psalm 116:15 prompts me to [...]

]]> By: bzephyr http://agaphseis.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/is-death-precious-or-grievous-to-god/#comment-124 bzephyr Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:25:08 +0000 http://agaphseis.wordpress.com/?p=251#comment-124 Dear Dr. Mariottini, I had the joy today of asking a friend if he was familiar with Psalm 116:15, and right away he said, "You mean the one that says, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones"? He reminded of the observation that death in the Old Testament is not usually a good thing and is not associated with being present with God in heaven. He felt like this was also an argument for understanding this verse to mean that the death of the faithful is 'too costly' or that it is the preservation of life for the faithful that is still in focus because death is a precious rarity. Yet, just because most OT texts follow one pattern, that does not preclude this text from having its own unique voice in the Hebrew canon. Dear Dr. Mariottini,

I had the joy today of asking a friend if he was familiar with Psalm 116:15, and right away he said, “You mean the one that says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones”?

He reminded of the observation that death in the Old Testament is not usually a good thing and is not associated with being present with God in heaven. He felt like this was also an argument for understanding this verse to mean that the death of the faithful is ‘too costly’ or that it is the preservation of life for the faithful that is still in focus because death is a precious rarity.

Yet, just because most OT texts follow one pattern, that does not preclude this text from having its own unique voice in the Hebrew canon.

]]> By: Claude Mariottini http://agaphseis.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/is-death-precious-or-grievous-to-god/#comment-123 Claude Mariottini Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:02:21 +0000 http://agaphseis.wordpress.com/?p=251#comment-123 Bzephyr, Thank you for writing this post and providing additional information on Psalm 116:15. By including additional versions to your post, you added much content to my post. I agree with you that Psalm 116 is a song of thanksgiving in which the psalmist praises God for delivering him from death. It seems that the psalmist came close to death but with God's help, he survived. However, that experience taught him that the death of faithful people is very special to God. I still argue that the emphasis of verse 15 is on death not on life. Thank you for this outstanding post. Claude Mariottini Bzephyr,

Thank you for writing this post and providing additional information on Psalm 116:15. By including additional versions to your post, you added much content to my post.

I agree with you that Psalm 116 is a song of thanksgiving in which the psalmist praises God for delivering him from death. It seems that the psalmist came close to death but with God’s help, he survived. However, that experience taught him that the death of faithful people is very special to God. I still argue that the emphasis of verse 15 is on death not on life.

Thank you for this outstanding post.

Claude Mariottini

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