How to cite this article: Joshua N. Tilton, “Bible Versus Scriptures: Part 6—Are You Talking to Me?” Jerusalem Perspective (2026) [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/38068].
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More than once I’ve had someone look in my direction, smile, and say, “Hi! How’re you doing?” and after I’ve started to reply with, “I’m doing fine, how are you?” my answer petered out as I realized that the person who extended their greeting wasn’t talking to me but to someone else standing just behind me where I hadn’t noticed them. Maybe that’s happened to you, too. And if so, you’re probably also familiar with that feeling of deflated embarrassment that comes along with it. The polite thing for that person to do when they see I’ve made that mistake is to turn to me and say, “Hi, Josh! It’s nice to see you, too.” If the person goes on talking to their friend and pretends not to notice my mistake, it only increases my embarrassment, making me feel small and excluded.
Thinking that you’re being spoken to when someone else is really being addressed is embarrassing in social situations, but the same mistake is frequently made without any awareness or consequent feeling of embarrassment when it comes to the Scriptures. But if we fall into this error, we can end up looking even more silly than I do when I start to reply to a greeting that wasn’t meant for me.
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| [*] Music in the Audio JP files is excerpted from the Hebrew song Moshe written by Immanuel Zamir in a recording sung by Yaffa Yarkoni obtained from Wikimedia Commons. |
