RR Favor on top of Favor By David Harwood
Shabbat Shalom,
The word, “grace” is found four times in John’s Gospel. Take a look. These verses are wonderful. I’ve put grace in small caps to help emphasize it.
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John testifies about Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘The One who comes after me is above me, because He existed before me.’ ”
Out of His fullness, we have all received grace on top of grace. Torah was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Yeshua the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God; but the one and only God, in the Father’s embrace, has made Him known. (John 1:14–18)
Yeshua is the source of grace on top of grace. Please keep in mind that most translators have chosen to translate charis as grace rather than favor. It was a choice. After all, charis’ biblical background is this: In the Septuagint, charis translated the Hebrew word chen which means favor. Charis conveys an emotion: favor. One favors what one finds worth favoring. Favor, charis, proceeds from the emotion of liking, or loving, something.
The English word, favor, does not communicate the theology most translators of the New Testament want to emphasize. After all, favor is stimulated in the beholder who gives the favor. This differs from their concept of grace. Apparently, grace has nothing to do with the value of the graced one. It is commonly held that the divine grace giver looks upon the recipients of grace and sees nothing of any worth. grace is seen as being utterly unmerited. What does the biblical background of charis/chen actually teach?
It teaches that this common view of charis is sub-biblical. Charis means favor.
When we substitute the word favor for grace, we read this:
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of favor (charis/grace) and truth.
Yeshua is full of favor and faithfulness. He is filled to the brim, and overflows, with goodwill towards those He loves. John wrote that He imparts favor. He overflows with favor towards His people. You are one of those people. In the following verse I’ve substituted favor for grace.
Out of His fullness we have received favor (charis/grace) on top of favor (charis/grace (Tree of Life Version)
To reinforce this reality let’s look at three other translations. Again, I’ve substituted favor for grace.
... favor (charis/grace) upon favor (New American Standard),
... favor after favor (Lexham English Bible),
... one manifestation of favor after another (New English Translation).
Herein is a principle. We receive favor upon the foundation of already existing favor. Several have likened it to successive waves rolling onto a beach. One wave after another ... after another .,, Unceasing waves of fresh favor (charis/grace).
There is more favor to be received than saving-favor. The love behind saving-favor is the foundation of the varied expressions of grace Father wants us to experience. Favor/grace in all its manifestations reveals the emotional motive of favor: The giver of grace feels favorably towards the recipient of the favor.
A notable example of receiving favor (chen/charis) following favor is in Exodus 33. Here we find a request for favor so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and find renewed favor in His sight.
Now then, I pray, if I have found grace in Your eyes, show me Your ways, so that I may know You, so that I might find favor in Your sight. (Exodus 33:13a)
Do you desire favor to know the Lord and His ways so as to receive the increase of favor to know Him and walk in His ways? If so, Yeshua is Abba’s answer to this petition. In Him we have favor for our relationship with God and, along with that, we can expect favor in the midst of every circumstance.
Adonai favors you.
His favor is in Yeshua who overflows towards you with one manifestation of favor after another.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sat10-Jan-202621st of Tevet, 5786 Parashat Shmot
Ex 5:1-6:1Isa 27:6-28:13; 29:22-23Ac 7:17-37
The word, “grace” is found four times in John’s Gospel. Take a look. These verses are wonderful. I’ve put grace in small caps to help emphasize it.
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John testifies about Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘The One who comes after me is above me, because He existed before me.’ ”
Out of His fullness, we have all received grace on top of grace. Torah was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Yeshua the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God; but the one and only God, in the Father’s embrace, has made Him known. (John 1:14–18)
Yeshua is the source of grace on top of grace. Please keep in mind that most translators have chosen to translate charis as grace rather than favor. It was a choice. After all, charis’ biblical background is this: In the Septuagint, charis translated the Hebrew word chen which means favor. Charis conveys an emotion: favor. One favors what one finds worth favoring. Favor, charis, proceeds from the emotion of liking, or loving, something.
The English word, favor, does not communicate the theology most translators of the New Testament want to emphasize. After all, favor is stimulated in the beholder who gives the favor. This differs from their concept of grace. Apparently, grace has nothing to do with the value of the graced one. It is commonly held that the divine grace giver looks upon the recipients of grace and sees nothing of any worth. grace is seen as being utterly unmerited. What does the biblical background of charis/chen actually teach?
It teaches that this common view of charis is sub-biblical. Charis means favor.
When we substitute the word favor for grace, we read this:
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of favor (charis/grace) and truth.
Yeshua is full of favor and faithfulness. He is filled to the brim, and overflows, with goodwill towards those He loves. John wrote that He imparts favor. He overflows with favor towards His people. You are one of those people. In the following verse I’ve substituted favor for grace.
Out of His fullness we have received favor (charis/grace) on top of favor (charis/grace (Tree of Life Version)
To reinforce this reality let’s look at three other translations. Again, I’ve substituted favor for grace.
... favor (charis/grace) upon favor (New American Standard),
... favor after favor (Lexham English Bible),
... one manifestation of favor after another (New English Translation).
Herein is a principle. We receive favor upon the foundation of already existing favor. Several have likened it to successive waves rolling onto a beach. One wave after another ... after another .,, Unceasing waves of fresh favor (charis/grace).
There is more favor to be received than saving-favor. The love behind saving-favor is the foundation of the varied expressions of grace Father wants us to experience. Favor/grace in all its manifestations reveals the emotional motive of favor: The giver of grace feels favorably towards the recipient of the favor.
A notable example of receiving favor (chen/charis) following favor is in Exodus 33. Here we find a request for favor so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and find renewed favor in His sight.
Now then, I pray, if I have found grace in Your eyes, show me Your ways, so that I may know You, so that I might find favor in Your sight. (Exodus 33:13a)
Do you desire favor to know the Lord and His ways so as to receive the increase of favor to know Him and walk in His ways? If so, Yeshua is Abba’s answer to this petition. In Him we have favor for our relationship with God and, along with that, we can expect favor in the midst of every circumstance.
Adonai favors you.
His favor is in Yeshua who overflows towards you with one manifestation of favor after another.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sat10-Jan-202621st of Tevet, 5786 Parashat Shmot
Ex 5:1-6:1Isa 27:6-28:13; 29:22-23Ac 7:17-37
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May
RR Psalm 28:5 Part 5RR Psalm 28:6 Part 6RR Psalm 28:7a Part 7RR Psalm 28:7b Part 8RR Psalm 28:7c Part 9RR Psalm 28:7d Part 10RR Psalm 28:8 Part 11Rabbi’s Reflections - Saturday, May 10, 2025 by David HarwoodRR Psalm 28:9 Part 12RR Psalm 28:9 Part 13RR Psalm 28:9 Part 14RR Psalm 28:9 Part 15RR Psalm 29:1 Part 1RR Psalm 29:2 Part 2Favor From a Fooled Philistine By David HarwoodRR Psalm 29:3 Part 3RR Psalm 29:4 Part 4RR Psalm 29:5 Part 5RR Psalm 29:6 Part 6RR Psalm 29:7 Part 7RR Psalm 29:7 Part 7Favor/Grace in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings By David HarwoodRR Psalm 29:8 Part 8RR Psalm 29:9 Part 9RR Psalm 29:10 Part 10RR Psalm 29:11 Paert 11RR Psalm 30:1,2 Part 1RR Psalms 30:3 Part 2RR Psalm 30:4 Part 3Favor (Chen/Charis) in the Psalms By David HarwoodRR Psalm 30:5 Part 4
June
RR Psalm 30:6 Part 5RR Psalm 30:7 Part 6RR Psalm 30:8 Part 7RR Favor (Chen/Charis) in Proverbs By David HarwoodRR - Psalm 30:9-11 Part 8RR Psalm 30:12,13 Part 9RR Psalm 31:1,2 Part 1RR Psalm 31:3 Part 2RR Psalm 31:4 Part 3RR Psalm 31:5 Part 4RR Psalm 31:6 Part 5RR Psalm 31:7 Part 6RR Kohelet By David HarwoodRR “Taking Our Thoughts Captive – Part 2” By Jerry MillerRR Psalm 31:8 Part 7RR Psalm 31:8 Part 8RR Psalm 31:9 Part 9RR - Psalm 31:10 Part 10RR Psalm 31:11 Part 11Zechariah and Favor By David HarwoodRR - Psalm 31:12-14 Part 12RR Shalom SpecialRR Psalm 31:15 Part 13RR Psalm 31:16,17 Part 14RR Psalm 31:18 Part 15RR Psalm 31:19,20 Part 16RR Adonai-Tzva’ot and End-Time Favor By David HarwoodRR Psalm 31:21 Part 17RR Psalm 31:22 Part 18RR Psalm 31:23 Part 19
July
RR Psalm 31:24 Part 20RR Psalm 31:25 Part 21RR Psalm 32:1 Part 1Rabbi’s Reflections - Favor and Luke By David HarwoodRR Taking Thoughts Captive Part 3 by Jerry MillerRR Psalm 32:2 Part 2RR Psalm 32:3,4 Part 3RR Psalm 32:5 Part 4RR Psalm 32:5 Part 5RR Psalm 32:6 Part 6Some Nuances of Charis By David HarwoodRR Psalm 32:8 Part 8RR Psalm 32:7 Part 7RR Psalm 32:8 Part 9RR Psalm 32:9 Part 10RR Psalm 32:10 Part 11RR Psalm 32:11 Part 12RR Psalm 33:1 Part 1RR Psalm 33:2,3 Part 2RR Psalm 33:4,5 Part 3RR Psalm 33:6,7 Part 4Favor In Acts 1 by David HarwoodRR Psalm 33:8,9,10 Part 5RR Psalm 33:11,12 Part 6RR Psalm 33:13,14 Part 7RR Psalm 33:15,16 Part 8RR Psalm 33:17,18,19 Part 9RR Psalm 33:20,21 Part 10RR Psalm 33:22 Part 11