Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Let us now switch gears and move to a discussion of art, literature, architecture, and music. In English, we speak of "playing" games and also of "playing" musical instruments. There is a connection between the two, in that both involve some degree of pleasure and recreation. At the same time,…
Leviticus 20:22-26 22. And you shall guard all My decrees and all My laws and do them, so that the land will not vomit you out, where I am bringing you thither to live in it. 23. And you shall not walk in the decrees of the nation that I…
For a year or so we have been reading about date rape. It amazes me how many "conservative" commentators have taken the attitude that "boys will be boys," and that it is somehow the girl’s fault if she lets the boy go too far. I have to agree that we…
According to 1 Kings 16:29, Ahab came to the throne of Israel in the 38th year of Asa of Judah, which was the year A.M. 3087. He reigned 22 years, dying in the year 3108. Ahab married a princess of Tyre named Jezebel (Jeze-baal). Under Jezebel’s influence, Ahab turned away…
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Most Christians today, when they hear the phrase "abomination of desolation," think of some political figure who is to arrive on the scene some time in the future, and who will oppress God’s people. More careful exegetes have seen that the prophecies concerning "abomination…
Deuteronomy 17:6 tells us that a matter is to be regarded as established if it is testified by two or three witnesses. One of the most important characteristics of Biblical chronology is that it is very often supported by more than one witness. A case in point is the fact…
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In the time of the New Testament, Judea was a multi-lingual region. Aramaic was the common speech among Jews; but most had at least a smattering of Greek, could hear Latin spoken all over Jerusalem, not to mention Hebrew in certain settings. Linguistically, first-century Palestine was far more like Switzerland…
Curtius also has an excursus on numerical composition in the patristic and medieval period. 33 was a favorite structuring device - Augustine’s Contra Faustum has 33 sections, as does Cassiodorus’s Institutione . Verse in 33 stanzas was popular, and “Nicholas of Cusa provided in his will that 33 old men…
Why would Barr, Saussure, and others think that speakers and writers have only the present meaning of a word in mind? Does it perhaps have something to do with the fact that they have only the present sense in mind? As the previous post showed, this is hardly a universal…
We’re consistently told by contemporary commentators and theorists of hermeneutics that etymologies ought not be used in biblical studies. One text says that it is “always dangerous” to interpret etymologically. There are at least two reasons for this: 1) Word meanings change, and so the original or historical meaning of…
INTRODUCTION This section of Proverbs departs from the two-line structure used through much of the book. Instead, these proverbs run to at least two, sometimes several verses. Verses 17-21, for instance, constitute a single section. Verse 18 is connected to verse 17 by the particle “for,” so that verse 18…
The English delegation to Dort didn’t want the Synod to condemn the view that reprobates can be regenerated and justified for a time, only to lose those benefits. The English delegation was successful; this was not among the errors rejected by the Synod. That is itself a remarkable fact, but…
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