Synonyms: thirstiness, dryness, parched, craving, strong desire, longing, yearning, avidity, hunger, voracity, keenness, eagerness, lust, appetite, passion, love, crave, want, covet, desire, hunger for/after, lust for/after, hanker for/after, have one's heart set on
Antonyms: aversion, distaste, apathy, dislike, hatred, antipathy, disgust, disregard, abhorrence, acrimony, wet, animosity, animus, antagonism, bad feeling, bitterness, be averse to, detestation
Showing 1501 to 1525 of 1838 results
Understanding Series
J. Ramsey Michaels
... of material preserved in connection with that early Passover visit, not all of it directly related to the controversy over the Sabbath and over Jesus’ authority as the Son. It is entirely possible that traditions of Jesus defending his authority against bitter opponents were remembered and handed down alongside traditions in which he unmasked the pretensions of some who aspired to be his disciples. Verses 41–44 show traces of belonging to the second category, but in the present form of the Gospel ...
1502. The Last Day of the Feast
John 7:45--8:11, John 8:12-30
Understanding Series
J. Ramsey Michaels
... ? they ask Jesus (v. 25), and they are told that all along from the very beginning of his ministry he has been making himself known, if only they would listen (v. 25). There is much he could say now in condemnation, but Jesus refuses to be drawn into bitter argument (v. 26). His intention is rather to deliver the message the Father has given him (vv. 26, 28b). Insofar as this revelation is a self-revelation, it centers on the strange phrase, I am the one I claim to be (vv. 24, 28). Literally, the phrase in ...
1503. The Impending Departure II
John 16:5-16, John 16:17-33
Understanding Series
J. Ramsey Michaels
... a woman in labor to dramatize the point that the disciples’ sadness will later give way to joy (v. 21). The reversal implied by this imagery seems at first to demand that at the moment when the disciples’ sadness turns to joy, the world’s joy turns bitter. The metaphor of birth pangs (cf. 1 Thess. 5:3), as well as such distinctly eschatological terms as that day (vv. 23, 26) and the word used for anguish (or “suffering”; Gr.: thlipsis, v. 21), suggest a revelation that is visible both to the world ...
Understanding Series
J. Ramsey Michaels
... and Here is the man! in verse 5 could suggest that he is merely resuming the mockery of verses 1–5 and bringing to an end his grotesque mock coronation. But something has changed. There is a seriousness in Pilate’s behavior and a bitter solemnity here that was not present before. Realizing that the Jewish authorities have forced him to accede to their demands, Pilate takes his revenge. By sitting in the judge’s seat, he gives to the announcement Here is your king a ceremonial and quasi-official ...
Understanding Series
F. F. Bruce
... it difficult to credit that followers of Christ could actually find satisfaction in thus rubbing salt into Paul’s wounds, it may be because we fail to realize how controversial a figure Paul was, even within the Christian fellowship, and how deep and bitter was the opposition maintained by some to his gospel interpretation and missionary policy. But if they thought Paul would be annoyed or resentful, they mistook their man. If they were more successful than he in propagating the gospel, that was all to ...
1506. Jacob’s Children
Genesis 29:31--30:24
Understanding Series
John E. Hartley
... ’s exclamation of victory over her sister. While polygamy was not forbidden in ancient Israel, it was never romanticized, not even in the family of the patriarch who gave the nation its name. In Scripture, most polygamous families experience deep, bitter conflicts. 30:9–13 Bilhah’s fertility eased Rachel’s distress at her own barrenness for a while, but the rivalry between the sisters intensified. No longer fertile, Leah elevated her handmaid Zilpah to be a surrogate. Zilpah immediately conceived ...
Understanding Series
John E. Hartley
... of the texts in which Caleb is mentioned leads J. Milgrom to postulate that Caleb belonged to an Edomite clan that joined the tribe of Judah (e.g., Numbers [JPS Torah Commentary; Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990], pp. 391–92). 36:12 Amalek was a bitter enemy of Israel (Exod. 17:8–16). The command not to abhor an Edomite did not extend to the Amalekites (Deut. 25:17–19). 36:16 Since the Sam. Pent. omits the name Korah, it is possible that its inclusion here is a secondary development ...
1508. Pharaoh's Dreams
Genesis 41:1-40
Understanding Series
John E. Hartley
... this time Asenath bore Joseph two sons. The firstborn he named Manasseh, . . . because God had made him forget all his trouble and all his father’s household. It is not that Joseph no longer remembered his family or the hard times but that the bitterness of that memory had been eased. His second son he named Ephraim, . . . because God had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering. The meanings of these names illustrate Joseph’s attitude toward the hard years he had endured and foreshadow the way ...
Understanding Series
John Goldingay
... brave men and not just the powerless who cry (see, e.g., 5:7) because of what they see and experience in the streets (5:25; 10:6; 24:11), like Moab (15:3). The envoys (30:6) who had worked so hard for peace now only weep, and weep bitterly—though that was what Judah had chosen (5:20). But we know that Yahweh will achieve peace (32:18) and bring an end to weeping (30:19). The highways that Yahweh had promised (11:16; 19:23) but that had been the scene of a significant confrontation (7:3) are ...
1510. Signs and Oracles of Judgment
Ezekiel 4:1-5:17, Ezekiel 6:1-14, Ezekiel 7:1-27
Understanding Series
Steven Tuell
... . God is more like a wronged spouse, smarting from rejection and betrayal. Jerusalem’s faithlessness has broken God’s heart as well as God’s law; as in 5:13, God responds out of zeal and passion. The image of the Lord as a bitter, wronged spouse will recur vividly in Ezekiel 16. The exiles, then, are no righteous remnant who should rejoice in their deliverance from destruction by a just God. Instead, having been saved in spite of themselves, their deliverance will cause them to remember the Lord ...
1511. The Glory Departs
Ezekiel 8:1-18, Ezekiel 9:1-11, Ezekiel 10:1-22, Ezekiel 11:1-15, Ezekiel 11:16-25
Understanding Series
Steven Tuell
... effort to reliance upon God’s transformative power. This idea may remind the reader of Paul’s insistence that we cannot earn a right relationship with God, but only receive it as a gift (e.g., Rom. 3:21–31). Ezekiel, too, has learned from sad and bitter experience that if Israel’s deliverance depends upon its own righteousness, then Israel has no hope at all. Israel can only have real hope for the future if they ground this hope in God’s activity and depend upon God’s character. 11:22–25 The ...
1512. Riddles and Metaphors
Ezekiel 15:1-8, Ezekiel 16:1-63, Ezekiel 17:1-24
Understanding Series
Steven Tuell
... the interconnections that bind the material in this chapter into a unity, he observes, “such intricate, and often very lengthy, structural patterns are a decisively literary stage in the book’s development.” In particular, “sudden and unexpected transitions from bitter invective to assurance and hope of ultimate salvation” would have been confusing in Ezekiel’s immediate, oral context: “how could the hearers have taken to heart the utter indictment of the mashal of the Foundling Child in vv. 1 ...
1513. Miscellaneous Oracles of Judgment
Ezekiel 21:1-32, Ezekiel 22:1-31
Understanding Series
Steven Tuell
... (v. 5). There will be no respite until the city is destroyed and the land is laid waste. In the vision of the city’s destruction in Ezekiel 9, the prophet protests the wholesale slaughter he witnesses (9:8). Here again, Ezekiel groans with broken heart and bitter grief (v. 6)—but this time, in response to the divine command, he does so as a sign before his community. When the people ask Ezekiel what is wrong, he is to reply, “Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt and every hand ...
1514. Tyre, Sidon—and Israel
Ezekiel 26:1-21, Ezekiel 27:1-36, Ezekiel 28:1-19, Ezekiel 28:20-26
Understanding Series
Steven Tuell
... , famously unsinkable, which nonetheless sank on its maiden voyage (Leslie Allen titles this chapter, “Tyre in Terms of the Titanic,” Ezekiel 20–48, p. 78). Seafarers react to Tyre’s sinking with horror and sorrow. They weep over you with anguish of soul and with bitter mourning (v. 31; their rites of mourning, described in vv. 30–31, compare with those described in 24:16–17 and 26:15) and raise a song of lament (vv. 32–34). The song of the sailors echoes in brief the structure of the entire ...
1515. Egypt
Ezekiel 29:1-21, Ezekiel 30:1-26, Ezekiel 31:1-18, Ezekiel 32:1-32
Understanding Series
Steven Tuell
... Solomon, Pharaoh Sheshonk I (the biblical Shishak, 954–924 B.C.) demonstrated his supremacy by marching his armies throughout Canaan (2 Chr. 12:2//1 Kgs. 14:25). When the Assyrians also laid claim to Palestine (mid-eighth century B.C.), Egypt and Assyria became bitter rivals, until Assyria’s conquest of the Egyptian city of Thebes (665 B.C.) forced Egypt to sue for peace (Nah. 3:8–10). Pharaoh Psammeticus I (664–610 B.C.) and his successor Necho II (610–595 B.C.) were loyal Assyrian allies. Even ...
1516. Oracles of Restoration
Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ezekiel 35:1-15, Ezekiel 36:1-38, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Ezekiel 37:15-28
Understanding Series
Steven Tuell
... to arise between Edom and Israel: “You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck” (Gen. 27:40). Because Edom has wielded the sword in ancient, bitter enmity against Israel, the Lord decrees, “bloodshed . . . will pursue you” (v. 6). God’s judgment is annihilation for Edom: “I will make you desolate forever; your towns will not be inhabited (v. 9; compare 25:13). God pronounces the third judgment “Because you ...
1517. Epilogue to the Law of the Temple: River, Land, City
Ezekiel 47:1-12, Ezekiel 47:13-23, Ezekiel 48:1-29, Ezekiel 48:30-35
Understanding Series
Steven Tuell
... effectively cut Zion free from its geographical, historical, and political referents. The mountain, temple, and river of Ezekiel’s last great vision have become timeless symbols of divine presence. Though the earthly Zion, with its city and temple, had been a bitter disappointment, the heavenly Zion, the home of the Lord, remained a worthy ground for hope. 47:13–23 The vision of the river, and the miraculous transformation it brings to the land, provides the context for the final legalistic insert into ...
1518. Through His Faithful Death, Jesus as Messiah Redefined Brings Life
Matthew 27:27-31, Matthew 27:32-44, Matthew 27:45-56, Matthew 27:57-61, Matthew 27:62-66
Teach the Text
Jeannine K. Brown
... this scene is that readers know the identity of Jesus as king, and so they understand that what the soldiers say as mockery is actually true. 27:34  he refused to drink it. Jesus refuses the wine mixed with gall (chole) offered to him. Gall is bitter and can refer to poison (BDAG 1056). If Matthew’s reference to wine mixed with gall alludes to Psalm 69:21, then it heightens the sense of the mockery of Jesus’ enemies during his crucifixion. “You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; . . . my ...
Teach the Text
Grant R. Osborne
... held firm and secure, regardless of the tide, wind, swells, or storms. In the same way, faith in God’s promises provides hope that holds our souls firm and secure regardless of the storms that we face in life. Faith and hope help us battle worry, guilt, shame, regret, lust, bitterness, and so on. Have you put your trust in the promises of God?
1520. Praying in Faith
Mark 11:20-25 (26)
Teach the Text
Grant R. Osborne
... Japanese camp. Though brutally tortured, he was determined to forgive his captors. In 1948 he returned to Japan and went to the Sugamo Prison, where 850 guards and prison-camp personnel were imprisoned, many awaiting execution. These prisoners were assembled for Louis. Instead of expressing bitterness, he told them of his new faith in Jesus and gave each of them a Bible. He told them that he forgave them. In 1950 Louis returned to Japan as a missionary to bring the gospel to the very people who had not only ...
Teach the Text
Grant R. Osborne
... . These were likely two revolutionary brigands captured with Barabbas, with Jesus replacing the latter in the center of the terrible tableau; indeed, Jesus the Suffering Servant was “numbered with the transgressors” (Isa. 53:12), and Luke 22:37 makes note of this.6 There is also bitter irony in the earlier request by James and John to sit on Jesus’s right and left (10:37), for there is no glory in those positions now.7 Theological Insights The King of the Ages is crucified as a threat to Rome and an ...
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... the authority of God to call out a new people for himself. Illustrating the Text Sometimes it is highly instructive when the authority of an established power group is challenged by a newcomer’s reaction. Literature: “The War Prayer,” by Mark Twain. This bitterly ironic, short prose indictment of war is told in the form of a very short story. It was published in 1916, several years after Twain (1835–1910) died. Twain attacks more than people’s mere attitudes about war; he asks them to examine ...
1523. Jesus Takes the Initiative
Luke 21:5-38, Luke 21:1-4, Luke 20:41-47
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... witness in the face of fierce opposition. Church History: John Wesley. Fox’s Book of Martyrs reports the persistent witness of the Wesley brothers. The successes won by Methodist preaching had to be gained through a long series of years, and amid the most bitter persecutions. In nearly every part of England it was met at the first by the mob with stonings and peltings, with attempts at wounding and slaying. Only at times was there any interference on the part of civil power. The two Wesleys faced all ...
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... witness in the face of fierce opposition. Church History: John Wesley. Fox’s Book of Martyrs reports the persistent witness of the Wesley brothers. The successes won by Methodist preaching had to be gained through a long series of years, and amid the most bitter persecutions. In nearly every part of England it was met at the first by the mob with stonings and peltings, with attempts at wounding and slaying. Only at times was there any interference on the part of civil power. The two Wesleys faced all ...
1525. The Trials of Peter and of Jesus
Luke 22:66--23:25, Luke 22:63-65, Luke 22:54-62
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... for whom Jesus has already been brought before the leaders, but for Luke, he is still in the courtyard. His accusing (or pitying?) look, following immediately after the cockcrow, was enough to bring Peter to his senses. 22:62  he went outside and wept bitterly. In the light of 22:32, we should probably understand this as the moment of Peter’s “turning back.” It is this repentance that differentiates his “betrayal” of Jesus from that of Judas. For Peter, there is still a future. 22:63–65  The ...
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