All Questions
3
votes
1answer
141 views
How Do We Know Paul's Opponents in Galatians Profess to be Followers of Jesus?
I have a question about the nature of the professed faith of Paul's opponents, which is difficult to answer because we are just seeing one side of this debate. So Paul's opponents are trying to get ...
0
votes
2answers
107 views
Were the apostles “expert” witnesses?
The testimony of an expert witness depends on the competency of the witness, whereas, the testimony of an ordinary witness is validated by corroborating testimony.
We are free to challenge an expert ...
3
votes
2answers
221 views
Is Psalm 119 an ode to just the Torah or to something more?
Virtually every line in Psalm 119 praises some aspect of God's law. In the past, I assumed it was an ode to the Torah. But lately, I've been wondering if were in praise of something outside of the ...
3
votes
2answers
512 views
What are the possible interpretations of 1 John 2:19?
What are the possible interpretations and implications of 1 John 2:19, specifically as it relates to the doctrine of eternal security?
1 John 2:19 (NASB)
19 They went out from us, but they ...
1
vote
2answers
127 views
Why does God warn Moses to not allow the priests or the people to approach Sinai?
In Exodus 19, God describes a number of preparations that Moses should make before He will descend to the top of Mount Sinai. One of them is to cordon off an area around the mountain:
You shall ...
6
votes
3answers
466 views
What's going on with Saul and the prophets?
After Samuel anointed Saul, he sent him home with a few signs that will be fulfilled in 1st Samuel 10:9-13 (NJPS):
As [Saul] turned around to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all ...
4
votes
2answers
748 views
Was Jesus anointed once or twice on the feet with perfume?
Disclaimer: I've already asked this question on Christianity SE and got a great answer. I'm asking it here to get an expert response (and because it is one of my favourite stories). If the community ...
8
votes
1answer
185 views
Does Luke's supposed profession matter when interpreting his work as an author?
Paul makes reference to a physician named Luke:
Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas.—Colossians 4:14 (ESV)
Tradition also assigns Luke as author of the gospel that bears ...
5
votes
1answer
111 views
Who is Simeon addressing?
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword ...
5
votes
1answer
120 views
David's Brinkmanship with the Philistines at Apheq
In I Sam 28 Achish enlists David in his forces for the coming battle between the Princes of Philistine and the Israelites in which Saul meets his end. David's words to Achish are ambiguous, leaving us ...
2
votes
2answers
129 views
Does Galatians 6:9 contain a causality that could imply works salvation?
Related to: Does reaping in Galatians 6:9 refer to salvation?
Galatians 6:9 (NASB)
9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
If the word ...
3
votes
2answers
95 views
Does reaping in Galatians 6:9 refer to salvation?
Related to: Does Galatians 6:9 contain a causality that could imply works salvation?
In the immediate context (based on verse 8), reaping in Galatians 6:9 appears to refer to salvation.
Galatians ...
5
votes
3answers
58 views
What is indicated by “δοξάζω” being in the aorist in Romans 8:30?
Every verb in Romans 8:30 is in the aorist:
οὓς δὲ προώρισεν, τούτους καὶ ἐκάλεσεν·
καὶ οὓς ἐκάλεσεν, τούτους καὶ ἐδικαίωσεν·
οὓς δὲ ἐδικαίωσεν, τούτους καὶ ἐδόξασεν.
Those whom he ...
7
votes
1answer
135 views
How many and who were the people the women found at Jesus' tomb?
In the empty tomb stories, somebody was already there when the women arrived. But how many people and who were they?
For reference:
Mark: a young man
Matthew: an angel of the Lord
Luke: two men
...
3
votes
1answer
446 views
How do the books in the Bible get their names?
It seems like the first few chapters are named after the people who wrote them, but I was wondering how the other titles were decided upon.
1
vote
3answers
220 views
What does Cain say to Abel in Genesis 4:8?
The Masoretic version of Genesis 4:8 reads as follows:
וַיֹּאמֶר קַיִן, אֶל-הֶבֶל אָחִיו; וַיְהִי בִּהְיוֹתָם בַּשָּׂדֶה, וַיָּקָם קַיִן אֶל-הֶבֶל אָחִיו וַיַּהַרְגֵהוּ.
And Cain said to his ...
5
votes
2answers
124 views
Meaning of “Body of Flesh” in Colossians 2:11
In Colossians 2:11, what does Paul mean by τοῦ σώματος τῆς σαρκός? Paul uses σάρξ to refer to the body or the physical far less than John, and it is clear that isn't what he's referring to here: the ...
1
vote
2answers
195 views
What is Leviticus 13:55 all about?
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
Here is Leviticus 13:55 in context:
And he burned the cloth or the warp or the woof, of wool or of linen, or any of the leather ...
9
votes
2answers
316 views
What was destroyed in Galatians 2:18?
In Galatians 2:18, Paul writes, "If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker." What is he referring to when he mentions rebuilding what was destroyed and how does that answer the ...
5
votes
2answers
729 views
Psalms, Hymns, Songs: What are the meanings of these words Biblically?
Verses in Question
Let the word of Christ 18 dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace 19 in your hearts ...
3
votes
1answer
136 views
Is tola'at sheni a knit?
The Hebrew phrase
תוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי
appears throughout Exodus, and it usually occurs paired with "Shesh Mashzar", but I suppose someone can know the answer to one question without knowing the answer ...
0
votes
1answer
144 views
Does a leper have yellow hair or black hair?
This is a response to the meta call for contradictions. I got plenty of these that nobody else notices.
And a man or woman that will have an affliction in him, in the head or in the beard. And the ...
-1
votes
1answer
209 views
Does the story of Tamar and Judah in Genesis 38 typify gender relations in Genesis? [closed]
I don't have my Bible with me at the moment, so I can't quote, but the interactions between Tamar and Judah indicate, and perhaps provide a categorical example of, the mode of intersexual interaction ...
5
votes
1answer
137 views
How did David trick Achish?
I got to this section this week and I feel like I'm missing something:
David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Gizrites, and the Amalekites—who were the inhabitants of the ...
10
votes
2answers
184 views
Why isn't there a taxonomic distinction between clean and unclean birds?
Leviticus 11:13-19 has a list of non-kosher birds that match a list in Deuteronomy 14:11-18 (NJPS):
You may eat any clean bird. The following you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, and the black ...
7
votes
1answer
240 views
Why did David and Jonathan need the arrow signal?
Just before David left Saul's service for the last time, he and Jonathan arraigned a way to communicate with one another in code:
Jonathan, out of his love for David, adjured him again, for he ...
3
votes
3answers
736 views
What Scriptures is Paul referring to in 1 Cor 15:4
In 1 Cor, when Paul is laying out the the tradition of the resurrection to his readers, he lays out a tradition with his own testimony at the end.
1Cr 15:3-8 For I delivered to you as of first ...
5
votes
1answer
193 views
What is the difference between “righteous” and “just” in the NT?
I've basically always used these words synonymously. Can someone elaborate on whether there is a difference?
8
votes
1answer
212 views
How does Canon Criticism relate to the concept of a Gesamtbiblische Theologie?
It is my understanding that Brevard Childs's so-called canonical (or canon) criticism places an emphasis on looking at the Bible as a complete work. This reminds me of the concept of a Gesamtbiblische ...
6
votes
2answers
185 views
How can the Pastoral Epistles not be Pauline?
According to my own reading and Wikipedia:
On the basis of their language, content, and other factors, the Pastoral Epistles are today widely regarded as not having been written by the Apostle ...
7
votes
1answer
483 views
How should the story of David's concubines be read?
There's a small story of ten concubines spread across Samuel:
And a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” Then David said to all his servants ...
8
votes
3answers
278 views
Is Revelation 3:14 saying that Christ was created by God?
Revelation 3:14 (KJV)
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Most ...
-1
votes
1answer
105 views
Is there any scriptural warrant for the literalist approach to scripture?
Jesus appears to establish the Christological approach used by the apostles:
Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal
life: and they are they which testify of me.
...
9
votes
1answer
218 views
Structuralism's influence on Biblical interpretation
What is the structuralist view of literary criticism, and how has structural literary theory influenced modern approaches to Biblical interpretation?
11
votes
5answers
2k views
Are the 'ten virgins' told in Jesus' parable multiple brides or just general wedding party?
Jesus told a parable about the kingdom of God involving "ten virgins" and a "bridegroom". It starts out in the beginning of Matthew:
Matthew 25:1-2 (ESV)
1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be ...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Did Ruth uncover Boaz' feet, or something else?
Naomi advises Ruth as follows, in Ruth 3:
One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home[a] for you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose ...
8
votes
2answers
618 views
Why does Noah curse Canaan?
Genesis 9:23-25 NLT, reads,
Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they ...
4
votes
1answer
107 views
How do Revelation 19 and 20 relate to one another?
I know some people think that the visions in Revelation 20 are a chronological continuation of the one at the end of chapter 19, while others think that the visions in chapter 20 are a re-framing and ...
4
votes
1answer
103 views
Is there a published version of the Bible, where the text is ordered chronologically in the order it was written?
Has there been a published version of the Bible where the text was ordered in the order it is best assumed that it was written?
I'm not interested in a version that is ordered in a chronological ...
9
votes
2answers
260 views
What does it mean to “receive the kingdom of God like a little child?”
The story of the little children coming to Jesus in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18 is, of course, well know. And most often I have heard it interpreted that the kingdom requires faith like a child. ...
6
votes
3answers
433 views
Why, in Ezekiel 28, is the King of Tyre conflated with Lucifer?
Most of what Christians know about Lucifer comes from Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. Especially in Ezekiel, however, the oracles are clearly addressed to the King of Tyre.
11 The word of the LORD came ...
6
votes
2answers
486 views
What are the arguments in favor of Matthean Priority?
The synoptic problem refers to scholars' attempts to understand the relationship among the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (known as the synoptic gospels because they have so much material in ...
5
votes
1answer
57 views
Does Mark 1:32 indicate two separate time periods?
The NET Bible reads:
When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and demon-possessed.—Mark 1:32 (NET)
Two time references are present:
"When it was evening" ...
3
votes
2answers
159 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
How did the proverb about Saul and the prophets come about?
I asked a previous question about Saul and the prophets in 1st Samuel 10:9-13, but now I've read on and I see an alternate origin story:
David made good his escape, and he came to Samuel at Ramah ...
2
votes
2answers
191 views
Is interpretation and application of the Bible dynamic?
For example, take a Bible passage X, which is in debate about how literally it should be applied.
Say we have person A and person B—in completely different life situations.
Is it possible ...
2
votes
2answers
178 views
Does the “lost leaf” theory for Mark's abrupt ending fail if written on a scroll?
I really like this explanation of Mark's rather abrupt ending:
There are three possible explanations for Mark ending at 16:8: (1) The author intentionally ended the Gospel here in an open-ended ...
8
votes
5answers
341 views
Who named the wrong priest in Mark 2:26?
Here's a story Jesus told about David according to Mark 2:23-28 (ESV):
One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ...
8
votes
1answer
224 views
Was Goliath killed twice?
In 2 Samuel, we are told that Goliath was killed by Elhanan:
19 In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, who had a ...
2
votes
1answer
97 views
Who are the “little children” in 1 John 2?
2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. ...
12 I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.
13 I am ...
