49 - Persecution (ft. Sarah Dixon Young)

49 - Persecution (ft. Sarah Dixon Young)

Author: Exploring Bible Words in Greek and Hebrew April 9, 2026 Duration: 22:52

Jesus promised the ancient church at Smyrna both persecution and peace. He promised the same thing to all believers, actually… But how does that work?

This episode continues the miniseries about the seven churches that Jesus directly addressed. Remember, these words to the seven churches are important because this is the biggest chunk of direct speech that Jesus directs to his church anywhere in the scripture.

A big thank you to Sarah Dixon Young for the use of her poem entitled “Contours” at the end of this episode!

Check out her substack entitled: Love Much

To the second church at Smyrna, Jesus promised thlipsis. Thlipsis comes from a root word meaning narrow, crowded, pressured or squished. Remember that part in the gospels where there was a giant crowd threatening to push, shove and crush Jesus as they clambered around him? The same root word is used there.

Thlipsis is the precise opposite meaning of the Hebrew word Bammerhab, for which this podcast is named. Remember, Bammerhab means a going into broad, wide open place.

On the contrary, Jesus warns the second church of Revelation, a small faithful church in Smyrna, that they’re about to go into a narrow, squished pressure-cooker of persecution.

So what did they do?

This episode digs deeper into “thlipsin” (θλῖψιν - meaning ‘persecution’) in Revelation 2:9.

Revelation 2:9 - “I know your persecutions and your poverty—yet you are rich!” (NIV)

Mentioned:

Sarah Dixon Young’s Substack “Love Much”

Bammerhab - Episode 34 about the “Feast of Trumpets”

Bammerhab - Episode 36 about the “Yom Kippur”

Thanks to:

Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

What is a Bammerhab?

“You have not given me into the hands of the enemybut have set my feet in a spacious place.” (Ps. 31:8 - NIV)

The phrase “in a spacious place” is the Hebrew word: bammerhab.



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com

The journey through ancient texts often hinges on a single, potent term, a concept that loses dimension in translation. Bammerhab-Words from the Word is a quiet, focused excavation of those foundational terms. Each episode is a deep dive into a specific Greek or Hebrew word from scripture, peeling back layers of historical context, cultural nuance, and original meaning. This isn't about rushed readings or surface-level commentary; it's a deliberate unpacking, led by a writer with a scholar's curiosity and a storyteller's touch. You'll hear how a word's usage in everyday ancient life informs its theological weight, discovering connections and insights that typically remain hidden in plain sight. The aim is to enrich personal study and reflection by returning to the source material, offering listeners a more textured, grounded understanding of familiar passages. This podcast lives in the details, believing that a closer look at the building blocks of language can lead to a fuller appreciation of the text itself. For anyone interested in the intersection of faith, language, and history, these explorations provide substantive, contemplative material. Find more from this exploration of Bible words in Greek and Hebrew on the associated Substack page.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 55

Bammerhab: Bible Explainer
Podcast Episodes
54 - Creation - Sandra Lewis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:06
Yatsar is what a potter does to clay. Yatsar is also what God did to us. Yatsar is a cognate for another Hebrew which means to squeeze, to push, to pressure and to be distressed.This is because the image of formation tha…
53 - Burden of Prophecy (ft. Rebecca Gomez) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:21
This episode is the midpoint of the miniseries about the seven churches that Jesus directly addressed. And this one gets heavy, and it is longest letter, the heaviest letter to a tiny little church that wasn’t in a major…
52 - Heirs - Henry & Cindy Smith [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:37
Henry Smith wrote the song “Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart” in 1978. But he only sang it at his local church in Williamsburg, Virginia with his wife Cindy. So, understandably, they were both utterly stunned when they…
51 - Thrones & Swords (ft. Rebecca Gomez) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:43
Jesus told the ancient church at Pergamum that they were living right next to Satan’s throne. Then Jesus said he had a sword ready for battle… but maybe not quite in the way you’d expect! This episode continues the minis…
50 - God is Unchanged - Jared Luttjeboer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:41
Jared Luttjeboer, is the creator of The Church History Project which is a deep dive into church history but with a unique “epic cinematic” feel where Jared explains to us all about the past through making it into the epi…
48 - The Funny Parts - Keith Foskey [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:50
Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:18 describes the church as a body with lots of different parts. These parts are not supposed to be the same, as Paul makes clear using an extended joke. Can a foot see? Can a hand hear? Can an ey…
47 - Jesus' Message to Ephesus [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:09
Season five has finally arrived!This episode also kickstarts a miniseries within season five about the seven churches of Revelation. Jesus said a lot to his disciples during his ministry, and they recorded some of it in…
46 - Enduring Word - David Guzik [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:15
What comfort can God offer against the inevitable collapse of all great men and great movements? Qum that’s what. Because qum can mean something that endures forever, but endures can also be translated as fulfills, stand…
45 - The Spiritual World [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:04
The spiritual world abhors a vacuum.That means if you reject Christ, you don’t revert back to being where you were as a pre-Christian, no, you actually get seven times worse. Jesus warns us of this in Luke 11:26.For exam…
44 - For the Good (ft. Samantha Coté) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:39
Paul says in Romans 8:28 that everything will work out for good for the believer. Agathon means good in Greek. It’s a root word, an ancient word with no certain etymology. It just means good.I guess we just all know what…