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Matthew 8-9 records three clusters of miracles, interspersed with snatches of Jesus’ teaching about various aspects of discipleship. Just as the Sermon on the Mount displays the authority of Jesus’ Word in teaching, these chapters display the authority of Jesus’ Word over sickness, uncleanness, the creation, demons, and death. In…
Since the early 1980s, several of the conservative Reformed Churches have debated and wrestled with the issue of paedocommunion (infant communion). The PCA and the OPC assigned study committees to examine the question, both of which produced useful reports both in support of and against the position. Though the debate…
(This issue of Biblical Chronology concludes a discussion of the Biblical and Assyrian chronologies, begun in previous posts. Click on the category link of "Biblical Chronology" above to see previous issues. Did Shalmaneser Know Jehu? Allis writes: "The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser contains, in addition to brief accounts of the…
Movies Movies as an art form have a powerful impact because they take place in a dark room, on a large screen, with no distractions, and because they entail many of the arts: music, acting, choreography, design and color, etc. A movie can be an overwhelming experience for a young…
The Hebrew word translated as "grain offering" or "cereal offering" is minchah . Like the translation of `olah as "burnt offering," the translation of minchah as "grain offering" is somewhat deceiving, since minchah does not refer to grain or cereal. In liturgical contexts outside of Leviticus, in fact, the word…
"He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces" (Leviticus 1:6). The normal word ( `olah ) that is translated as "burnt offering" and "whole burnt offering" has nothing to do with either burning or wholeness. It is the noun form of a verb meaning "to…
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I have little sympathy overall with the work of Heikki Raisanen, but he makes some shrewd comments on Paul’s argument in Philippians 3. As he points out, several of the items on Paul’s list of “fleshly” advantages are things that he has received through no work of achievement of his…
And they dwelt three years. There was not war between ?Aram and between Yisrael. And it was in the third year And came down Yehoshafat king of Yehudah to king of Yisrael. And said the king of Yisrael to his servants, ?Do you know that to us is Ramoth-gile?ad? And…
Another benefit of considering hermeneutical issues through reflection on humor: People can say and do things that are unintentionally funny. On a strict construal of authorial intention as the source and foundation of meaning, this would have to be explained with some kind of Hirschian distinction between “meaning” and “significance,”…
The NASB translates 1 Kings 22:21 as “then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’” But the Hebrew has the definite article with “spirit” (RUACH), and the mentioned in v 23 is explicitly the Spirit of Yahweh. Apparently, it’s THE Spirit that…
I posted this a few weeks ago, but since then my web site has been experiencing technical difficulties and this post disappeared. Apart from a couple of slight stylistic changes, this is the same post. My work is cited several times in the recent Mississippi Valley Presbytery Report on the…
1 Kings 21:9-10: ?Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the people; and seat two sons of Belial before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ?You cursed God and the king.?E Then take him out and stone him to death.?E Jezebel?s plot involved proclaiming a…
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