All Questions
13
votes
4answers
265 views
Why would God disapprove of rituals he ordained?
In Amos 5:21-24 God says:
I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not ...
4
votes
3answers
93 views
Psalm 51:5 CEV vs ESV
How can we determine which translation is more close to the original message? Clearly "the day I was born" vs "mother conceive me" paints a completely different picture - and arguably, a different ...
3
votes
2answers
964 views
What is the 'cock's crow'?
Another question of semantics - was the cock's crow which Jesus prophesied Peter would hear before he betrayed Him thrice, the crow of a rooster or a trumpet blast which happened every 3 hours, or so.
...
2
votes
0answers
40 views
The time span of growing into Christ the Head in Ephesians 4:13-15
Ephesians 4:13:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of
the fulness of Christ
Does this ...
10
votes
3answers
145 views
Why does the Septuagint contain non-Tanakh books?
The deuterocanonical books, treated as part of the Bible by the Orthodox and Catholic churches, are accepted because they appear in the Septuagint. However, they are excluded from the Jewish Bible, ...
3
votes
1answer
337 views
*Two* miraculous catches of fish in John 21 and significance?
In John 21, Jesus tells the disciples to throw their nets on the "right side of the boat" (verse 6) which enables the second miraculous catch of fish in Jesus' ministry, the catching of 153 fish.
...
8
votes
3answers
121 views
Who was Nimrod?
In the middle of an otherwise repetitive genealogy in Genesis 10, one man is especially singled out:
Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter ...
8
votes
4answers
734 views
How tall was Goliath?
In 1 Samuel 17, David intends to battle against Goliath and ultimately wins by slinging a single stone into his forehead before decapitating him. As Wikipedia can confirm, there are multiple accounts ...
5
votes
3answers
2k views
What is the significance of the floating ax head in 2 Kings 6:1-7?
Now the company of prophets said to Elisha, "As you see, the place where we live under your charge is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, and let us collect logs there, one for each of us, ...
7
votes
2answers
121 views
In the Peshitta, what is the difference between the original word translated “Sabbath” and that translated “week?”
In Matthew 28:1 of the Aramaic Peshitta text, the word translated "Sabbath" and the word translated "week" appear similar but with slight variation.
Does anyone know what the significance is of the ...
5
votes
3answers
721 views
What is the meaning of the reference to 'stones' in Ecclesiastes 3?
Ecclesiastes starts with a series of contrasts, most of which are easy to understand. However one reference is less obvious (at least to me) - the 'stones' in verse 5a:
1 For everything there is a ...
4
votes
0answers
49 views
Just how overpriced was Efron's burial cave anyway?
In Genesis 23 Avraham pays 400 shekels to Efron for a burial cave for Sarah (and, later, other family members). This seems to be an enormous amount of money and Rashi suggests it's even worse than it ...
6
votes
2answers
131 views
Why is “raah” usually translated differently in Amos 3:6 and 9:4
Why is "raah" usually translated differently in Amos 3:6 and 9:4, even in a super-literal translation:
6Is a trumpet blown in a city, And do people not tremble? Is there affliction in a city, And ...
4
votes
1answer
52 views
Did Mark intend to end his gospel at 16:8?
Mark's gospel may or may not end at 16:8. The earliest manuscripts do not contain 16:9-20.
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe
sitting on the right side, and ...
7
votes
3answers
370 views
Why did Stephen give such a long speech?
Before he was stoned, Stephen gives a huge speech (Acts 7) going over Israeli history, from Abraham through Moses to David.
I really don't understand the purpose of it. What is the overall message? ...
3
votes
2answers
87 views
What is the significance of the young man who runs away naked in Mark's gospel?
Mark alone of the four Gospels tells of a young man who fled naked when Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane. Mark 14:51 states,
A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus.
...
17
votes
5answers
740 views
“A god” or “God” in John 1:1?
John 1:1 (NWT):
In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.
This translation, the Jehovah's Witnesses New World Translation is, I think, unique in using ...
4
votes
3answers
89 views
Why does Luke associate the birth of Christ with the census conducted by Quirinus?
Luke states that Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem because of a census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria (2:1-5).
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all ...
8
votes
4answers
569 views
What does “guardian/tutor” mean in Galatians 3:24
Galatians 3:24 reads in the ESV (and several modern translations)
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.ESV
In the KJV it reads:
...
3
votes
0answers
23 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 ...
6
votes
1answer
66 views
Who are the πρεσβυτέροις in 1 Peter 5:1-5?
ΠΕΤΡΟΥ Α΄ 5:5 (SBLGNT)
ὁμοίως, νεώτεροι, ὑποτάγητε πρεσβυτέροις. πάντες δὲ ἀλλήλοις τὴν ταπεινοφροσύνην ἐγκομβώσασθε, ὅτι Ὁ θεὸς ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν.
1 ...
4
votes
2answers
876 views
How did the Greek “charis” come to imply “favor?”
Luke 2:52 (ESV) states that "Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man." The word "favor" in this passage is translated from the Greek word "charis" (Strong's G5485), ...
11
votes
1answer
169 views
What word best captures the spirit of לִּילִית in Isaiah 34:14?
Isaiah 34:14 in the Masoretic Text is the following:
גְשׁוּ צִיִּים אֶת-אִיִּים, וְשָׂעִיר עַל-רֵעֵהוּ יִקְרָא; אַךְ-שָׁם הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית, וּמָצְאָה לָהּ מָנוֹח
Here, לִּילִית is supposedly ...
17
votes
1answer
173 views
Is NWT's translation of John 8:58 reasonable?
I already assumed the opposite in an answer to why there are so many Bible translations, on Christianity.SE. Now that we have an expert community, I'd like to check. The translators of the New World ...
11
votes
2answers
953 views
Is “wait” in Isaiah 40:31 active or passive?
Some translations have this verse reading "They that wait (up)on the Lord" (eg. NKJV) while others have "They that wait for the Lord" (eg. ESV) and still others "Those that hope in the Lord". (eg NIV)
...
6
votes
2answers
1k views
What exactly did Moses do wrong at Meribah?
We read that God commanded Moses to speak to the rock at Meribah so that water could flow out of it. Instead, Moses struck the rock with his staff:
Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly ...
2
votes
2answers
99 views
Is there any exegetical reason for believing the seven churches of Revelation correspond to seven successive “church ages”?
The Book of Revelation self-identifies as a letter to seven churches:
John to the seven churches that are in Asia -v.4
John explains his experience to them as follows:
I, John, your brother ...
2
votes
2answers
71 views
What significance does John perceive in the piercing of Christ's side and the flow of blood and water?
Both the piercing of Christ side and the flow of blood and water (John 19:34) are unique to John’s gospel and it’s clear from the testimony which follows (19:35) he sees in them great deal of ...
4
votes
4answers
120 views
How should ἐκκλησίαις be translated in 1 Corinthians 14:34?
Though it has a couple different meanings, most often ἐκκλησία is translated as "church" in the NT. I'm wondering, though, whether its use in 1 Corinthians 14:34 might be distinguished from its use in ...
5
votes
1answer
36 views
How should the prepositions in Romans 11:36 be translated?
Romans 11:36 has four propositions that provide a neat parallel structure:
ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα· αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν.
The ESV translation is fairly ...
10
votes
6answers
350 views
How should we understand the “Cleansing of the Temple”?
As a preface, I was talking with some good friends last night and this passage came up. On of my friends contributed an interpretation that made my blood boil. He was clearly wrong and clearly ...
7
votes
4answers
403 views
Did Jesus have the legal authority to cleanse the temple?
The narrative of Jesus' cleansing of the temple is present in all four gospels: Mark 11:15-17, Matthew 21:12-13, Luke 19:45-46, John 2:13-17. When He cleanses the temple, there does not seem to be any ...
6
votes
3answers
162 views
Is God still at war with Amalek?
After they are defeated by the Israelites at Rephidim, God promises unending judgement on Amalek in Exodus 17:
14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in ...
7
votes
3answers
163 views
What are the Pharisees saying to search in John 7:52?
The Pharisees say to Nicodemus in John 7:52:
ἐραύνησον καὶ ἴδε ὅτι ἐκ τῆς Γαλιλαίας προφήτης οὐκ ἐγείρεται
Or
Search and see that a prophet has not arisen from Galilee
Is there any way to ...
4
votes
2answers
59 views
Parallelism in the Beatitudes
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit ...
3
votes
4answers
202 views
Was the angel of the Lord the pre-human appearance of Messiah? [closed]
I have noticed some commentators interpret the phrase "Angel of the Lord" ("מַלְאָךְ יהוה" mal'ak YHWH) in the Hebrew Scriptures to refer to a pre-human appearance of Messiah?
I am considering to ...
3
votes
1answer
36 views
What is the significance of the phrase πιστὸς ὁ λόγος (“the faithful saying”) in Pauline epistles?
I was browsing the first epistle of Timotheos, and I noticed that the apostle Paulos sometimes preceded a statement by the Greek phrase πιστὸς ὁ λόγος (cp. 1 Tim. 1:15), which may be translated as ...
8
votes
1answer
88 views
Why does Mark provide two feeding accounts?
The Gospel According to Mark, in contrast to the other three gospels, provides two separate feeding miracles wherein Jesus multiplies loaves and fishes to feed five thousand and four thousand ...
4
votes
1answer
41 views
Was Mark A Scribe?
Given that the ability to write was an unusual skill in the time of the composition of the Gospels, would Mark have been likely to have been a scribe? I mean if the tradition of Peter dictating to ...
6
votes
2answers
68 views
Why is the law about cooking a goat in mother's milk listed with instructions about feasts?
As this question notes, the law concerning cooking a young goat in its mother's milk appears three times in Torah: Exodus: 23:19, Exodus 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21. It's placement in Deuteronomy ...
18
votes
6answers
3k views
What's wrong with cooking a kid in its mother's milk?
In the Pentateuch there are at least three repetitions of the following prohibition:
Exodus 23:19b (ESV)
You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
Exodus 34:26b (ESV)
You ...
0
votes
0answers
26 views
Punishment in Exodus 20.5? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Who are the “third and fourth generation” in Exodus 20:5?
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven ...
0
votes
0answers
43 views
Waltke/O'Connor qal causation references [closed]
According to Waltke/O'Connor, "the Qal...is simple semantically in that notions of causation are absent.". An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax Chapter 22.
I'm having trouble finding ...
0
votes
1answer
45 views
Why does the KJV translate Num. 11:25 as “and did not cease”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Understanding Numbers 11:25
Numbers 11:25 (KJV):
And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that [was] upon him, and gave [it] ...
1
vote
2answers
83 views
When a new translation of the Bible is created
When a new translation of the Bible is created or revised (such as NIV) do they go back to the original text and re-translate? Or do they change an existing version?
I realize that this may have ...
1
vote
0answers
99 views
What is the actual word used in “Thou shall not kill?” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is “kill” a valid translation for Exodus 20:13 (Thou shalt not kill)?
What word is used in the original Ten Commandments for "kill"? What modern equivalent ...
2
votes
1answer
42 views
Judgment like light(ning) in Hosea 6:5
ESV, NIV and NLT each have a rather distinctive translation of the last phrase of Hosea 6:5:
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment ...
2
votes
1answer
284 views
Leaping over the threshold in Zephaniah 1:9
It would seem from the various translations of Zephaniah 1:9 that is is tricky to understand. Some translations give an apparently fairly vanilla, literal rendering:
On that day I will punish ...
1
vote
3answers
101 views
Is Hosea 4:11 teaching total abstinence from alcohol?
In Hosea 4:11 (ESV), God seems to condemn drinking wine:
They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to cherish ...
2
votes
1answer
120 views
Is Hosea 6:1-3 a quotation?
Many translations wrap Hosea 6:1-3 in quotation marks. For instance, in the NJPS:
“Come, let us turn back to the Lord:
He attacked, and He can heal us;
He wounded, and He can bind us up.
In ...
