“search the scriptures” John 5:39

Author –

Brian Clatworthy
Articles by this Author
A Word for Today
?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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today: Earth (Heb. Adamah)
A Word for Today: Confidence, Boldness (Gk. Parresia)
A Word for Today: Glory (Hb. Kabod)
2019 Volume 74 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today – ‘Es (Tree, wood)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2016 Volume 71 Issue 4
Study
A Word for Today – ‘Ol (Yoke)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2019 Volume 74 Issue 4
Study
A Word for Today – ‘Or
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2016 Volume 71 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today – Agape
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2019 Volume 74 Issue 3
Study
A Word for Today – Grace
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2016 Volume 71 Issue 3
Study
A Word for Today – Graphe
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2020 Volume 75 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today – Katharos
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2015 Volume 70 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today – Kurios
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2017 Volume 72 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today – Leb, Lebab
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 …
Brian Clatworthy
2020 Volume 75 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today – Mashah
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2017 Volume 72 Issue 4
Study
A Word for Today – Panim
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2017 Volume 72 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today – Pistis
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2017 Volume 72 Issue 3
Study
A Word for Today – S(h)emesh (Sun)
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 …
Brian Clatworthy
2015 Volume 70 Issue 4
Study
A Word for Today – Shebet
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2018 Volume 73 Issue 4
Study
A Word For Today – Time, Season (Gk. Kairos)
Kαιπερ (kaiper) Although Kαιρος (kairos) Time, season Καισαρ (kaisar) Caesar Time plays a very important part i…
Brian Clatworthy
2021 Volume 76 Issue 3
Study
A Word for Today – Torah
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2015 Volume 70 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today – Yeshu’ah
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 …
Brian Clatworthy
2019 Volume 74 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today – Zoe
One of the distinctive features of the Greek New Testament is that words which are used to describe ordinary mundane things are often elevated by the Holy Spirit to express ethical and spiritual truth…
Brian Clatworthy
2015 Volume 70 Issue 3
Study
A Word for Today – καινός
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2016 Volume 71 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today: Advocate, Pleader, Intercessor (Gk. Para-kletos)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2014 Volume 69 Issue 3
Study
A Word for Today: Assembly, Church (Gk. Ekklesia)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2022 Volume 77 Issue 3
Study
A Word for Today: Be Just, Righteous (Heb. Sedek)
The Semitic word-group known as the ts-d-q family from which the Hebrew word sedek arises, generally relates to individual behaviour (right conduct) or some form of implied status (being right) derive…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2010 Volume 65 Issue 3
Exposition
A Word for Today: Blood, Bloodshed, Bloodguilt, Murder (Heb. Dam)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2014 Volume 69 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today: Coming (Gk. Parousia)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2010 Volume 65 Issue 2
Devotional
A Word for Today: Confidence, Boldness (Gk. Parresia)
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 …
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2023 Volume 78 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today: Covenant (Gk. Diatheke)
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 …
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2011 Volume 66 Issue 4
Study
A Word for Today: Degree, Step, Stair (Hb. Ma’alah)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2021 Volume 76 Issue 4
Study
A Word for Today: Earth (Heb. Adamah)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2022 Volume 77 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today: Fear (Gk. Phobos)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2022 Volume 77 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today: Fellowship (Gk. Koinonia)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2012 Volume 67 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today: Firstfruits (Heb. Bikkûr)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2012 Volume 67 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today: Glory (Hb. Kabod)
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 …
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2023 Volume 78 Issue 4
Study
A Word for Today: Good (Gk. Kalos)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2013 Volume 68 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today: Hear, Obedience (Heb. Shema)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2011 Volume 66 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today: Hope (Gk. Elpis)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2010 Volume 65 Issue 4
Exposition
A Word for Today: Kinsman Redeemer (Heb. Go’el)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2012 Volume 67 Issue 3
Study
A Word for Today: Loving Kindness (Heb. Hesed)
‘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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2010 Volume 65 Issue 1
Exposition
A Word for Today: Manna (Hb. Mannah)
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 ‘…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2022 Volume 77 Issue 4
Study
A Word for Today: Melek
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2018 Volume 73 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today: Missing the mark, Guilt, Sin (Gk. Hamartia)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2018 Volume 73 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today: Play-acting, Pretence, Hypocrisy (Gk. Hypokrisis)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2014 Volume 69 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today: Price of Release, Ransom (Gk. Lutron)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2011 Volume 66 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today: Reconciliation (Gk. Katallage)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2012 Volume 67 Issue 4
Study
A Word for Today: Righteousness, Justice (Gk. Dikaiosynen)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2024 Volume 79 Issue 2
Study
A Word for Today: Shield, Protection (Heb. Magen)
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 …
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2013 Volume 68 Issue 1
Study
A Word for Today: Skandalon
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2018 Volume 73 Issue 3
Study
A Word for Today: Step, Walk (Heb. Hálak)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2011 Volume 66 Issue 3
Study
A Word for Today: Vine, Grapevine (Heb. Gephen)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2013 Volume 68 Issue 4
A Word for Today
A Word for Today: Wisdom, Skill, Aptitude (Heb. Hokmah)
The story is told that on one occasion a prayer was delivered in Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral (to Queen Victoria’s amusement) ‘that the Almighty would send down His wisdom on the Queen’s Ministers, who…
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2014 Volume 69 Issue 4
Study
A Word for Today: Word (Gk. Logos)
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. …
Brian Clatworthy
A Word for Today
2009 Volume 64 Issue 4
Exposition
Charles Gahan
‘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 …
Brian Clatworthy
2015 Volume 70 Issue 4
Contemporary Issues
Day of Atonement
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…
Brian Clatworthy
The Appointed Seasons of Jehovah
1975 Volume 26 Issue 5
Exposition
Editorial – ‘Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light’, John 3. 19.
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2020 Volume 75 Issue 4
Editorial
Editorial – May 2023
‘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…
Brian Clatworthy
2023 Volume 78 Issue 2
Editorial
Editorial – November 2023
‘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…
Brian Clatworthy
2023 Volume 78 Issue 4
Editorial
Editorial – ‘A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ’, Jas. 1. 1
‘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…
Brian Clatworthy
2021 Volume 76 Issue 3
Editorial
Editorial – ‘My brethren, these things ought not so to be’, Jas. 3. 10.
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2021 Volume 76 Issue 2
Editorial
Editorial – May 2022
‘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 …
Brian Clatworthy
2022 Volume 77 Issue 2
Editorial
Editorial – November 2021
‘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…
Brian Clatworthy
2021 Volume 76 Issue 4
Editorial
Edward Dennett
Not long after the start of the First World War in 1914, the biblical scholar Edward Dennett died after a short illness. He was 83 years of age and had spent a considerable part of his life teaching t…
Brian Clatworthy
2014 Volume 69 Issue 4
History
Feasts of Tabernacles
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…
Brian Clatworthy
The Appointed Seasons of Jehovah
1975 Volume 26 Issue 6
Exposition
Feasts of Weeks and Trumpets
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…
Brian Clatworthy
The Appointed Seasons of Jehovah
1975 Volume 26 Issue 4
Exposition
Hebrews – ‘Wrestling with Angels’
‘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 …
Brian Clatworthy
The Teaching in the Letter to the Hebrews
2023 Volume 78 Issue 3
Study
Hebrews – Introduction
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…
Brian Clatworthy
The Teaching in the Letter to the Hebrews
2023 Volume 78 Issue 1
Study
Hebrews – Introduction – Part 2
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 …
Brian Clatworthy
The Teaching in the Letter to the Hebrews
2023 Volume 78 Issue 2
Study
Henry Alford, biblical scholar and polymath (1810-1871)
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2021 Volume 76 Issue 1
History
Image Cover – Volume 75 Issue 1
‘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…
Brian Clatworthy
2020 Volume 75 Issue 1
Cover Image
Introducing the Feasts
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…
Brian Clatworthy
The Appointed Seasons of Jehovah
1975 Volume 26 Issue 1
Exposition
John Calvin – A man predestined for greatness?
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2009 Volume 64 Issue 4
Exposition
Martin Luther – Doctor of Theology – Full Article
Introduction Five hundred year ago this year in 1512, 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, …
Brian Clatworthy
2012 Volume 67 Issue 3
Contemporary Issues
Martin Luther – Doctor of Theology – Part 1
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…
Brian Clatworthy
Martin Luther – Doctor of Theology
2012 Volume 67 Issue 2
History
Martin Luther – Doctor of Theology – Part 2
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…
Brian Clatworthy
Martin Luther – Doctor of Theology
2012 Volume 67 Issue 3
Contemporary Issues
Paul’s View of the Law
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…
Brian Clatworthy
2005 Volume 60 Issue 4
Exposition
Paul’s view of the Person of Christ
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, …
Brian Clatworthy
Some Aspects of Pauline Christology
2006 Volume 61 Issue 2
Exposition
Paul’s view of the Person of Christ
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…
Brian Clatworthy
Some Aspects of Pauline Christology
2006 Volume 61 Issue 1
Exposition
Pauline Metaphors – Part 4: Slavery and Manumission
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…
Brian Clatworthy
Studies in Pauline Metaphors
2022 Volume 77 Issue 4
Study