For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Marrow, as we know, is the soft substance found in the
interior of bones, and it’s the substance in which blood cells are produced.
Joints are the links between bones. Unlike the spirit and soul, joint and
marrow are easily distinguishable to the human eye—it takes nothing special to identify
the differences between the two. And separating them is quite possible. A
sharp, two-edged sword would do it.
Yet, distinguishing between soul and spirit requires something
more—it requires the light—and cutting edge—of the Word of God.
Watchman Nee describes
it this way:
Joints and marrow are embedded deeply in the human body. To separate the joints is to cut across the bones; to divide the marrow is to crack the bones. The two-edged sword is able to work thus in our mystical body. Only two things are harder to be divided than the joints and marrow ; the soul and spirit. No sword, however sharp, can divide them. Even so we are wholly unable to distinguish between what is soul and what is spirit. Yet the Scripture tells us how the Living Word can do the job, for it is sharper than any two-edged sword. God's Word is living, operative, and able to penetrate and divide. It is the soul and spirit of man which are thus penetrated and divided.
Additionally, the Amplified translation of this verse includes
a clarifier after “joints and marrow”; namely, “the deepest parts of our nature”. Just as physically, joints and marrow are
deep within us, so spiritually, the division of spirit and soul requires a deep
cut that only the Word of God can do.
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