Who speaks for God?

If God is external but invisible?

Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don’t know anything about it, and without consulting experts on what it “really” means.. Let’s see where this takes us!

Deuteronomy 12

I’m reading Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version.

I’ll first call attention to verse 8 of both translations:

• YLT: “Ye do not do according to all that we are doing here to-day, each anything that is right in his own eyes.”
• NRSV: “You shall not act as we are acting here today, all of us according to our own desires.”

The context is that Israel has yet to settle the Promised Land and live according to established laws. The two translations might mean the same thing, but what I understand doing “anything that is right in his own eyes” means that there are no agents of authority stopping him, whereas acting “according to our desires” means that people can and do whatever they please.

It’s the difference between “they were free to do whatever they wanted” and “they did whatever they wanted.”