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
43 - The Magi from the East (ft. Rosa Lía Gilbert) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:17
“We Three Kings” is my favorite Christmas carol. However, there weren’t three of them, and they weren’t kings!But yes, this caravan did come from the east and the Greek calls them magoi, or magicians or wizards.But these…
42 - Prayer - Noah Snoke [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:58
A conversation with portraitist and comic artist Noah Snoke about how to pray from Philippians 4:6-7.Paul tells us to pray with supplication, but supplication is a phrase we don’t use all that often. Supplication sounds…
41 - Vengeance (ft. Olivia Oster) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:37
Vengeance is arguably the number one trait of our times. It lives on all sides of the aisle, among old, young and rich and poor.And it is antithetical to Christianity. But why?This episode digs deeper into “ekdikesis” (ἐ…
40 - Pride - Chase Replogle [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:11
[Continuing last week’s conversation with Chase Replogle about how pride is connected to offense.]When Jesus said that the last shall be first and the first shall be last, the concept of ga’on is certainly implied. The “…
39 - Offense - Chase Replogle [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:04
A conversation with Chase Replogle about how Jesus handled offense. There’s no way to not get offended. It will happen. We can’t control that part. All we can control is how we respond to that inevitable offense. Satan h…
38 - Supernatural Harvest (ft. Megan Huwa) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:41
You plant the seed. You let it grow. Then you take the fruit.That’s the normal way of things. It was just common sense.In fact, Jesus quotes an old Greek saying: “There’s still four months to the harvest!”The implication…
37 - Scorning Shame - Anne Kennedy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:22
So much of the ancient world was explicitly built to avoid shame. So much of the modern world is all about people pleasing to avoid shame or rejection. That makes sense as shame is one of the most damaging things a perso…
36 - Yom Kippur [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:57
Yom Kippur begins on October 1st in 2025, but what is it all about?Covering. God’s covering for us.At the beginning of history, Adam hid, which was silly if you think about it.Adam knew that God created the world, and Go…
35 - Renewing - Chris Barras [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:44
We all want to be new. We all want the world to be new. But we take many radically different paths toward that renewal. Yet, Paul says Jesus is the only path for real personal renewal. But when Paul speaks of renewal, he…
34 - Feast of Trumpets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:02
Ancient Israelites used alarms for the same reason you set an alarm on your cell phone, to wake up, or to remember something or to be alerted to a danger. So the Feast of Trumpets was all about blowing shofars to wake th…