3
votes
1answer
51 views
In what way is OT Scripture profitable . . .
This is in follow-up to this Q & A
Paul wrote the following passage in II Timothy 3:16
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been
assured of, knowing from whom you ...
3
votes
1answer
83 views
Is conscience (συνείδησις) a particularly Pauline idea?
At the end of Hebrews (13:18) Autor petitions his hearers: "Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things." (ESV)
I was reading this recently ...
3
votes
1answer
453 views
Do the “original texts” use fractional numbers?
The Bible, for example, uses fractions. In Lev. 5:16 - "He must make restitution for what he has failed to do in regard to the holy things, add a fifth of the value to that and give it all to the ...
3
votes
1answer
45 views
Why does Revelation 8:1 use ὅταν instead of ὅτε?
I do not know Greek, so hopefully I am not just embarrassing myself with this question; but here goes.
For the first six seals in Revelation, John introduces them using ὅτε:
1 - Καὶ εἶδον ὅτε ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views
Is Uzziah and Azariah name of the same king?
This is with reference to the two chapters :
2 Chronicles 26
Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old,
and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
2 He ...
3
votes
1answer
109 views
A woman is not to put on a man's dress?
I came across a web page belonging to a christian person/org.
The page (carrying on a trait I find frequent among christian fundamentalist web sites) critiques other fundamentalist christian ...
3
votes
2answers
159 views
What is the referent for “brother” in 1 John 4:20-21?
1 John 4:20-21
20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this ...
3
votes
4answers
180 views
What is the connection between manna and living on the Word of God?
In Deuteronomy 8, Moses gives the theology of manna:
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know ...
3
votes
1answer
372 views
What does the Old Testament phrase 'cut off from their people' mean?
What does the Old Testament phrase 'cut off from their people' mean?
I have often read it, but am having difficulty imaganing how it may have actually been practiced? If it was determined that so and ...
3
votes
1answer
166 views
Did Lot or the men of Sodom recognize Lot's visitors as angels?
When the two angels arrive in Sodom in Genesis 19, Lot seems to immediately recognize them as such. He bows down to them, calls them "My lords", and invites them into "your servant's house." When the ...
3
votes
2answers
245 views
Why did Jesus tell Mary not to hold onto Him?
John 20:17a:
Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father."
Why did Jesus tell Mary not to "hold on to" Him? Presumably it was not a problem with touching, since ...
3
votes
1answer
237 views
How many common hermeneutical approaches are there and how do they differ?
How many distinctly different common hermeneutical approaches are there, and what are the major distinctives of each approach?
I'm not asking for a long description of each - just a concise summary ...
3
votes
2answers
173 views
What does Paul mean by “if we preach…contrary to [ourselves]”?
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble ...
3
votes
1answer
99 views
What is the temple that Paul refers to in 2 Thessalonians 2:4?
2 Thessalonians 2:4 talks about the man of lawlessness, "who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming ...
3
votes
1answer
170 views
What does “lawlessness” refer to in 1 John 3:4?
In 1 John 3:4 (ESV), we read:
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
My understanding is that in the LXX, the Greek word ἀνομία usually refers ...
3
votes
1answer
190 views
Request for parallels between Psalms and Proverbs
Can someone either post themselves or give me a link to a somewhat detailed comparison between Psalms and Proverbs where fairly word for word parallels are found?
I am looking for all the instances ...
3
votes
2answers
97 views
Do any Hermeneutical approaches provide an explanation of the limited information on Shamgar the Judge?
Shamgar is mentioned only twice in the bible, Judges 3:31 and an oblique reference in Judges 5:6.
It is striking in that certain facts are made completely plain such as the number of Philistines he ...
3
votes
1answer
266 views
How should “ektroma ” be translated in 1 Corinthians 15:8?
Paul delivers his famous account of the death and resurrection of Jesus:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the ...
3
votes
3answers
762 views
What does “reconciling all things” mean in Colossians 1:20?
In Colossians 1:19-20 (NIV) we read:
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by ...
3
votes
2answers
260 views
“That they may be one, even as we are one” in John 17:11
In John 17:11, Jesus prays that his disciples "may be one":
11And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you ...
3
votes
1answer
39 views
Who is the “elect lady” of Second John?
The Second Epistle of John begins (NIV empahsis mine):
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth—because of the truth, ...
3
votes
1answer
32 views
Did 70 or 75 Hebrews go down to Egypt with Jacob?
Acts 7:14 states that "Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all." This seems to contradict Deut. 10:22, Ex. 1:5; and Gen. 46:27 ...
3
votes
1answer
36 views
Galatians 4:13: What was Paul's “infirmity of the flesh”?
Galatians 4:13 A.V.
Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
3
votes
1answer
37 views
Why is 'Sabbath' often plural in the Greek text (both LXX and NT) yet translated as if it were singular?
Why is 'Sabbath' often plural in the Greek text (both LXX and NT) yet translated as if it were singular? In my research online, I've been finding that this issue is hotly debated between Seventh Day ...
3
votes
2answers
107 views
Ya'akov's prophecy regarding his son, Yosef (Gen. 49:24)
Here is the KJV translation of Genesis 49:24:
But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd, ...
3
votes
1answer
114 views
The meaning of the phrase “mustard seed”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Does Jesus always use the mustard seed to signify the property of “smallness”?
The phrase "mustard seed" is found in the New Testament several times. I am not sure, ...
3
votes
1answer
85 views
How does geography impact the interpretation of Galatians?
There are two major views for the destination of Paul's letter to the Galatians: the Northern and Southern views. I understand that these views impact the possible timing of the letter, but what ...
3
votes
1answer
47 views
How Hebrews 1:5-14 talks about Jesus?
Hebrews 1:5-14 should prove that Jesus is superior to angels, citing several Old Testament sources:
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
today I have become ...
3
votes
1answer
118 views
Is the name Israel intended to be ambiguous?
Jacob is renamed Israel by God as explained in this passage:
Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he ...
3
votes
4answers
130 views
Was it Jesus' flight to or return from Egypt that fulfilled Hosea 11:1?
This question is related to this one about Matthew 2:14-15.
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was ...
3
votes
1answer
99 views
How does Pharaoh know to summon Abram?
In the first story about Abram after his calling, he goes down to Egypt because of a famine and Pharaoh takes Abram's wife Sarai into his household. As a result God inflicts Pharaoh with plagues.
...
3
votes
1answer
165 views
Difference between “work” and “labour” in 1 Thessalonians 1:3
1 Thessalonians 1:3 states (NIV):
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord ...
3
votes
1answer
177 views
Catholic explanation of the “spiritual sense” of Scripture?
In Catechism of the Catholic Church we read the following, pertaining to Biblical Hermeneutics:
115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the ...
3
votes
1answer
219 views
How many “layers” are there to the Scriptures?
In my quest to understand hermeneutics, I am at the stage of reviewing the different "layers of meaning" to the Scriptures. So far I have identified two layers; a "literal" meaning and a "divine" ...
3
votes
1answer
101 views
Acts 1:19: “that field is called in their proper tongue” - spoken by Peter or by Luke?
Acts 1:15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of
the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an
hundred and twenty,)
Acts 1:16 Men [and] brethren, this ...
3
votes
3answers
79 views
The significance of the designations of families who will mourn in Zechariah 12
As the prophet Zechariah proclaims the greatness of Jerusalem's mourning, he says:
12“All Israel will mourn, each clan by itself, and with the husbands separate from their wives. The clan of David ...
3
votes
2answers
241 views
Unfamiliar metaphors in Hosea 14:6-7
Hosea 14:5-7 (ESV) reads,
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall ...
3
votes
1answer
91 views
The meaning of 'grace' and 'sinner' in Psalm 26
In the final verses of Psalm 26, David contrasts himself with 'sinners' and speaks of his own 'integrity' (as in earlier verses where he says: "I have walked in my integrity" and "I wash my hands in ...
3
votes
1answer
196 views
Did Saul intend to offer a peace offering in 1st Samuel 13?
When Samuel rebuked Saul for improperly making an offering before the Lord, he asks for both a burnt offering and a "sacrifice of well-being":
He waited seven days, the time that Samuel [had set]. ...
3
votes
1answer
2k views
Original meaning of the expression “sexual immorality” in modern translations of Old Testament
For the Old Testament, a modern tool will translate the hebrew ערוה as “unchastity”, “nakedness” or “incest”.
This term is translated in modern versions as “sexual immorality”, but that expression is ...
3
votes
1answer
201 views
Why does Jesus include “persecutions” in the list of things received by his followers?
Shortly after Jesus' interaction with the rich young man:
Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left ...
3
votes
2answers
128 views
Does base-10 numbering in Genesis 4:24 argue against the Wiseman hypothesis?
This question is a bit esoteric. Looking at numbers in the Bible I noticed this story about one of Cain's decedents:
And Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
O wives of ...
3
votes
3answers
143 views
Who is included in “us” in Ephesians 1:3-10
In verses 11-14 of Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul seems pretty clearly to make a distinction between "we" and "you". My understanding is that the contrast is between "we" the Jewish believers and "you" the ...
3
votes
1answer
35 views
In John 18, who was high priest at the time of Jesus' arrest?
First the text in John 18 (NIV) seems to make clear that Caiaphas was high priest:
18:13 They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that ...
3
votes
1answer
25 views
Who is it that “wills” in 1 Corinthians 12:11?
I'm not concerned with anything but what 1 Corinthians 12:11 and the immediate context states.
Greek text of Stephanus 1550:
πάντα δὲ ταῦτα ἐνεργεῖ τὸ ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα διαιροῦν ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ ...
3
votes
2answers
154 views
How would Elisha plowing with 12 oxen have been understood at the time of writing?
In 1 Kings 19 we see Elijah finds Elisha plowing with 12 yoke of oxen. What would this have said about Elisha to the people of the time?
Note: I'm not looking for an allegorical answer about the ...
3
votes
1answer
37 views
How should the phrase ἐλέγξει τὸν κόσμον περὶ in John 16:8 be translated?
The 1984 NIV of John 16:7b-11 reads (emphasis mine):
Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of ...
3
votes
1answer
49 views
How is Deuteronomy 22:6-7 relevant to the context surrounding it?
Deuteronomy records a lengthy exhortation by Moses to the second-generation post-exodus Israelites, in which he repeatedly urges them to love and obey God, love others, and not fall into idolatry.
...
3
votes
1answer
63 views
Should Matthew 27:6-7 Be Taken as a Demonstration of Hypocrisy?
Would the people who heard Matthew's account of what was done with the 30 silver pieces have understood that to be a hypocritical act by the chief priests?
6 And the chief priests took the pieces ...
3
votes
1answer
98 views
Is there a link between the Jewish expectation of a literal Messianic kingdom and the command to witness to the ends of the earth in Acts 1?
In Acts Chapter one we find:
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or ...
