Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
21. Under three things the earth quakes. And under four, it cannot bear up. 22. Under a slave when he becomes king, And a fool when he is satisfied with food, 23. Under an odious woman when she gets a husband, And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress. The…
We have looked at the prima facie evidence for a short chronology in Ezra-Nehemiah, a chronology that assumes that the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7ff. and Nehemiah is in fact Darius. This month we examine the argument against the short chronology. There is only one argument, and that is that the…
The Priestly Genealogy Jeshua the high priest, who returned with Zerubbabel, was not a young man at the time. We know this because his father, Jehozadak, was taken into captivity (1 Chron. 6:15). Thus was 50 years before the decree of Cyrus (2 Kings 25:18-22, by implication). Jehozadak’s father Seraiah,…
Thomas C. Oden, After Modernity . . . What? Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990. Reviewed by Rev. Jeffrey Meyers. Reading Oden’s After Modernity . . . What? was tonic. There were passages that launched me out of my chair with a hoot to pace the office floor — of course, the…
Matthew records that Jesus "withdrew" to Galilee to begin His public ministry there after He "heard that John had been delivered up" (Mt. 4:12). Matthew’s typically matter-of-fact style veils the truly remarkable character of Jesus’ withdrawal. Matthew has been presenting Jesus as the Messiah, the Seed of Abraham and Son…
John Brown called this one of the most difficult passages in the entire epistle to the Hebrews, and Hebrews is no easy book. Several questions confront us as we read and meditate on these verses. First, in what sense did the Old Testament saints described in verses 4-38 not receive…
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Galatians 4 is clearly about the law’s role as guardian and steward in charge of Israel during her minority. But Paul’s description of Israel applies just as well to Adam. Adam was created a minor son, an infant, but was promised an inheritance. Paul hints at the Adamic dimensions of…
Matthew 21:23-25 (possible 26:16) all takes place on a single day. Jesus comes to the temple a second time, wrangles with the priests and Pharisees, prounounces woes over them, predicts the destruction of the temple and the final review of sheep and goats. This is the “day of Yahweh,” the…
Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast (Matthew 22:1-14) is normally taken as a parable about Jesus’ ministry. The invitees who refuse to come are the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, and the people from the streets are the tax gatherers and sinners or the Gentiles. The man cast out is…
Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast seems grotesquely exaggerated. Invitees killing the messenger? A wedding host destroying a city? A poor slob without a tux being thrown into “outer darkness”? In a 1996 JBL article, Richard Bauckham addresses these oddities by highlighting the political dimensions of the parable. The feast…
Daniel Olson ( CBQ 2005) revives JM Duncan Derrett’s suggestion that the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22:1-14 is dependent on the LXX of Zephaniah 1. After offering a translation of both passages in parallel, showing verbal links, he adds: “In addition to these highlighted correspondences . .…
INTRODUCTION This section of Proverbs focuses on issues of image, wealth, work, and treatment of employees (vv. 8-12), and ends with two verses that deal again with the use of the tongue (vv. 13-14). The final verses connect this section to the preceding section of this chapter (12:1-7). Thus, the…
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