bible-study:

Weekly Bible Study - November 9, 2026

Welcome to our weekly study! Each week, our reading plan will take us through three different parts of the Bible: a psalm, a passage from Proverbs, and a few chapters from another book as we journey through the entire bible.

These notes aren't meant to be an exhaustive commentary. Think of them as a friendly guide to get you started. My hope is to provide a little context, point out interesting literary details you might not notice, and highlight key themes—all to help enrich your own reading and our conversation together. (AI helps me write these notes.)

Bible passages for this week:

Psalm 3

Repeated Words

יְהוָה (YHWH) "LORD" ×6 (vv.1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8).
אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) "God" ×2 (vv.2, 7).
ישׁע (yšʿ) "save, salvation" ×3 (vv.2, 7, 8).
רבב / רַב (rbb / rab) "many, multiply" ×4 (vv.1, 1, 2, 6). The forms are מָה־רַבּוּ "how many are" (verb), רַבִּים "many" (adjective, vv.1, 2), and רִבְבוֹת "myriads, ten thousands" (v.6).
סֶלָה (selah) ×3 (vv.2, 4, 8).
קום (qum) "rise, arise" ×2 (vv.1, 7). The forms are קָמִים "rising up" (participle, v.1) and קוּמָה "Arise!" (imperative, v.7).
(-î, -nî) "my/me" ×13 (vv.1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7).
"you/your" ×5 (vv.3, 7, 7, 8, 8).

Maybe interesting:

עַם (ʿam) "people" ×2 (vv.6, 8). The forms are עָם "people" (v.6, the hostile myriads) and עַמְּךָ "your people" (v.8).
עַל (ʿal) "against, upon" ×3 (vv.1, 6, 8). The exact form עָלָי "against me" occurs twice (vv.1, 6), and עַל־עַמְּךָ "upon your people" once (v.8).
לְ (lə) "to, for" ×3 (vv.2, 2, 8). The forms are לְנַפְשִׁי, לּוֹ, and לַיהוָה.
וְ (wə) "and" ×4 (vv.3, 3, 4, 5).
כִּי (ki) "for, surely" ×2 (vv.5, 7).
מִן (min) "from" ×2 (vv.4, 6). The forms are מֵהַר "from the mountain" and מֵרִבְבוֹת "of myriads." The מ in וּמֵרִים (v.3) is not this preposition; it is the participle prefix.

Points of Interest

Psalm 3 follows the double introduction of Psalms 1–2 and opens the first Davidic collection (Psalms 3–41).

It reads as a narrative instance of Psalm 2. Psalm 2 presents "many" nations raging against the LORD's anointed, and Psalm 3 shows the anointed king actually besieged by "many." Psalm 2:12, "Blessed are all who take refuge in him," is enacted in Psalm 3. The link is reinforced by the shared "holy hill" (2:6 and 3:4).

Psalms 3 and 4 form a morning/evening pair: "I awoke" in 3:5 and "I will lie down and sleep" in 4:8.

Psalm 3 is the first psalm with a historical superscription. Psalm 63, set "in the wilderness of Judah," is often read against the same flight, since David crosses toward the wilderness in 2 Samuel 15:23 and 28.

The psalm is also framed by an inclusio. In verse 2 the enemies claim 'en yeshu'atah lo be'lohim, "there is no salvation for him in God," and verse 8 answers with laYHWH hayeshu'ah, "salvation belongs to the LORD." The same root appears in between in the cry hoshi'eni, "save me" (v. 7).

The imagery carries some fine grammatical and narrative detail. In verse 3, God is magen ba'adi, a shield "around me" rather than merely "for me," which suggests protection on every side against enemies who surround him. He is also kevodi, "my glory," which is striking from a king who has just lost his throne and his honor. And he is merim roshi, "the lifter of my head." That phrase reverses a specific scene in the narrative: in 2 Samuel 15:30, David climbs the Mount of Olives weeping, with his head covered in mourning.

Old Testament Connections

The heading "A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son" ties the psalm explicitly to a narrative text (2 Samuel 15–18). This is not a quotation, but it is the strongest structural link, and it lights up nearly every line of the psalm.

v. 1, "How many are my foes": compare 2 Samuel 15:12–13. The conspiracy "grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing," and "the hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom." The Hebrew root rabab/rab ("many") governs both.
v. 2, "There is no salvation for him in God": compare Shimei's curse in 2 Samuel 16:7–8, which declares that the LORD has handed David over to his evil. Ahithophel's counsel in 2 Samuel 17:1–3 also treats David as already finished.
v. 3, "the lifter of my head": compare 2 Samuel 15:30, where David climbs the Mount of Olives "with his head covered, weeping." The psalm reverses that gesture of mourning and shame.
v. 4, "from his holy hill": compare 2 Samuel 15:25, where David sends the ark back to Jerusalem. The psalm has God answering from the very place David had to abandon.
v. 5, "I lay down and slept; I awoke": compare 2 Samuel 17:16 and 22. Hushai warns David not to spend the night by the fords, and by morning light the whole company has crossed the Jordan.
v. 6, "ten thousands of people": compare 2 Samuel 18:3, where the troops say "you are worth ten thousand of us." Compare also 2 Samuel 17:1, where Ahithophel proposes 12,000 men.

New Testament Connections

Psalm 3 is not directly quoted anywhere in the New Testament. Its setting, however, has a strong typological bond with the Passion. David crosses the Kidron and climbs the Mount of Olives in grief, betrayed by his trusted counselor Ahithophel, who later hangs himself (2 Samuel 15:23, 30–31; 17:23). Jesus crosses the Kidron to the Mount of Olives (John 18:1), is betrayed by an intimate, and Judas hangs himself (Matthew 27:5). Psalm 41:9, often linked to Ahithophel, is explicitly applied to Judas in John 13:18.

Proverbs 6

Nothing really to say. It's a good chapter.

Genesis (Week 4 of 10)

We will spend 10 weeks in Genesis, feel free to read at your own pace. Over these weeks ome might have the opportunity to read them once, others might have time to read them 7 times.

But if you really want a minimum reading plan here it is:

Week 1, 1-5, Creation, the Fall, Cain and Abel, Adam's line
Week 2, 6-11, Noah and the flood, Babel
Week 3, 12-17, Abraham's call and God's covenant
Week 4, 18-24, Sodom, Isaac's birth, the binding of Isaac, Rebekah
Week 5, 25-29, Jacob and Esau, Bethel, Leah and Rachel
Week 6, 30-36, Jacob in Haran, wrestling at Peniel, Dinah, Esau's line
Week 7, 37-40, Joseph sold, Judah and Tamar, Potiphar, prison
Week 8, 41-44, Pharaoh's dreams, the brothers' first trips to Egypt
Week 9, 45-48, Joseph's reveal, Israel moves to Egypt
Week 10, 49-50, Jacob's blessings, Joseph's death, plus review