Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
If you’re a preacher looking for good commentaries on Ezra, you’ll struggle. Certainly to find ones that wrestle in good detail with the text. And certainly ones that don’t cost you an arm and a leg. There’s a good bit more for Nehemiah, which is odd, as the two are…
Quick thought experiment: try to pretend you’ve never read 1 John before. Read 1:1-6. Go ahead; I’ll wait. Now, on to v. 7: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with ______….” What word would you expect in that blank, based…
In my work as a Bible translator, I was recently checking our translation team’s draft of Genesis 8:8, which says of Noah (translating the Hebrew quite literally): And he sent out the dove from with him to see: had the waters lessened from upon the face of the ground? Part…
Just in case a reader may not know Weinberg, he is a theoretical physicist and the winner of the Nobel prize in physics in 1979, as well as countless other prizes for his research. He is also a prolific, lucid, and captivating writer. If you want to read something on…
Colossians 1:15-20 is a famous passage in Paul’s epistles because it is a succinct and powerful poem. It appears even to have been a hymn. Given the uniquely Pauline language — “reconciliation” is a term used only by Paul — it should not seem odd to attribute the poem/hymn to…
Stalker (1979) is a film by Andrei Tarkovsky based on Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers. It shows a day from the life of a stalker, a man who enters the so-called "Zone", an Alien landing site, where he leads people to a room that grants people’s innermost desires, which…
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A couple of reflections on Ruth, after reading some student papers. First, it’s fairly common to note the reverse inclusio around the book - Naomi loses sons at the beginning, and gains a son at the end. But in 4:15b, the women of the city claim that Ruth is better…
Let’s say that angels ruled were associated with the great powers of the ancient oikoumene (the period between Nebuchadnezzar and Nero). This is (perhaps) what’s in view in Daniel 10:13, 20. Jesus establishes the new imperium , and in Revelation 2-3 sends out letters to the “angels” of the churches.…
In John’s vision, Jesus has bronze feet, a golden girdle, a face shining like the sun and hair as white as wool and snow (Revelation 1:13-15). This seems to be a tabernacle image: The bronze altar, the gold of the holy place, and the shining glory of the cloud in…
Paul (Colossians 1:18) and John (Revelation 1:5) both describe Jesus as the “firstborn from the dead.” The firstborn is the heir, and so the firstborn of the dead is the heir of the world of death. He has the keys to death and hades. Death holds no fear, no dangers;…
The NASB translates Deuteronomy 32:43, “Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants.” Hebrews 1:6, partially quoting the LXX of the same passage, says “and worship Him all angels of God.” The LXX also includes an exhortation to the “sons of God” to…
The English verb “keep” often translates the Hebrew shamar , “guard,” often used to describe the temple ministry of priests and Levites. Priests and Levites guarded the house of Yahweh, and also, literally, guarded the commandments, written on tablets and placed in the ark of the covenant. When the OT…
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