All Questions
6
votes
1answer
34 views
Which literary genre of Job has the longer historical pedigree?
There are two primary schools of thought in regards to the genre of Job.
One the one hand, some call it an historical artifact, given no overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
On the other, its ...
5
votes
1answer
72 views
Why does Luke 11:20 read “The Finger of God” instead of “Spirit of God”?
In Matthew's account (12:27-28), we read (All quotes from NIV, all empahsis mine):
And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ...
5
votes
2answers
260 views
What does a mustard seed grow into!
“How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the ...
7
votes
2answers
82 views
What language(s) would the Jewish Christians in the various Macedonian cities have spoken?
In Acts 16-18, Paul is shown moving from city to city in Macedonia - e.g. Phillipi, Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth - many of to whom he would later write letters. Acts 17:2 explains that it was his ...
1
vote
1answer
108 views
How do Aramaic primacists respond to Greek primacy arguments? [closed]
Background: This question is related to another question here on BH.SE. It is an effort to bring balance, strength and integrity to this discussion on BHSE. It is my hope that by having to face the ...
12
votes
1answer
106 views
What is the proper translation of Hosea 11:12?
I have been researching Hosea 11:12 and have come to realize that it is translated differently in many differing translations of the Bible. It is sometimes translated that Judah walked (or ruled) with ...
13
votes
5answers
151 views
Why is the Bible so repetitive?
Some pieces of the Bible are repeated (several times even) without changes. Let's look at the book of Leviticus, especially chapters 13-16, which concerns laws about leprosy, mold, and bodily ...
7
votes
2answers
97 views
Does “days” in prophecy equal “years” (Daniel 9 - Seventy Weeks)
A lot of theologians take Daniel's seventy weeks and interpret the seventy weeks to be 490 years, a year for each day. From a hermeneutic standpoint, I seek to know if this type of calculation is ...
6
votes
3answers
146 views
Upon whom do we call? Reconciling OT & NT
This question was spurred on by my interaction with another related question on BHSE
It appears as though two different names being called upon for Salvation; yet, there is only one whereby we may ...
5
votes
1answer
46 views
How should πονηρός be translated in Matthew 7:11, and why?
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone ...
2
votes
0answers
20 views
Will the NABRE New Testament be primarily a scholarly or liturgical text or both?
The U.S. Catholic bishops last year announced that the NABRE New Testament, last revised in 1986, will be revised again so that the same text could be used for both study and liturgical proclamation ...
5
votes
2answers
72 views
Should Q be considered a Gospel?
According to Wikipedia Q source is sometimes called the Q Gospel. My understanding of Q though is that it is proposed mostly as a collection of sayings. Is it proper to call it a "Gospel"? Why or why ...
2
votes
1answer
20 views
Does the greek word απαυγασμα indicate the person of Christ, or just his qualities?
απαυγασμα is radiance:
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he ...
0
votes
1answer
27 views
Does the Greek verb ὑπακούω generally imply faith?
I noticed the Greek verb ὑπακοῦσαι (hypakousai), a conjugation of the root verb ὑπακούω (hypakouō), is translated as "[to] answer" in Acts 12:13:
Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant ...
0
votes
0answers
16 views
What signs does Q show of stages of composition?
Regarding the Jesus Seminar, N.T. Wright writes in Jesus and the Victory of God:
Great reliance has been placed on the work of John Kloppenborg, who has painstakingly analysed the Q material into ...
2
votes
1answer
25 views
What is the relationship between the Synoptics and the Gospel of Thomas?
I know the Jesus Seminar held that Q and the Gospel of Thomas were prior in composition to the writing of the Synoptics. Is this still a dominant view among scholars (as far as Thomas)? What can be ...
2
votes
2answers
160 views
What is “apocalyptic” literature?
What are the characteristics of what is called "apocalyptic" literature? Why would an author use this literary style? Does apocalyptic literature envision the end of the cosmos? If not, what kind(s) ...
2
votes
1answer
29 views
Was casting the lot in Acts 1:26 a vote or a lottery?
When choosing a replacement for Judas, there are two candidates, and in Acts 1:26, we read (ESV):
And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven ...
3
votes
1answer
39 views
What is the difference between ζωὴ and ψυχὴ?
The word "life" appears in most translations of John 12:25 three times. For example, in the ESV:
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal ...
4
votes
2answers
101 views
What is Paul's advice on anger?
Paul writes:
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.—Ephesians 4:26-27 (ESV)
The first issue I see is that the first clause ...
5
votes
2answers
163 views
Why were the Ten Commandments written on two tablets?
When Moses is given the Ten Commandments they are apparently written on two tablets:
He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on ...
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 ...
4
votes
1answer
75 views
What were the major objections that Augustine had with Jerome's translation of the Hebrew Bible?
I was having a discussion with someone who insisted that one of the major reasons I thought that Augustine objected to Jerome's translation of the Septuagint was completely not true. He argued that ...
1
vote
2answers
63 views
Esther 4:14 observation & translation
What is your observation on passage Esther 4:14? I need a translation and discussion to understand this passage more. Thank you
10
votes
3answers
143 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, ...
0
votes
3answers
483 views
Where does the Tanakh differ from the Christian Old Testament?
Relating to this question: Is the Jewish Tanakh same as the 'Old Testament' which Christians use?
Do they contain the same books and is the textual content same? If not where do they differ?
7
votes
4answers
121 views
Before the Tower of Babel did all speak Hebrew as the original human language?
I find it fascinating that rabbinic literature suggests that Hebrew was the original human language. I have seen Christian authors also argue the same.
For example, from the Jewish Encyclopedia:
...
4
votes
0answers
46 views
Meaning of N .. N+1 pattern in Amos, Proverbs, Job and Psalms [duplicate]
In the first couple of chapters of Amos, we see a number of proclamations from God that all begin with (all ESV)
"For three transgressions of [region/group], and for four, I will not revoke the ...
4
votes
1answer
38 views
Recensions of the Septuagint
Can someone explain to me what the 6 "recensions" of the Septuagint were? Also, how do we know about them? What sort of access do we have to each of them?
9
votes
1answer
116 views
What are the seven middoth (Hillel's rules for interpretation)?
The "middoth" were Rabbi Hillel's rules for interpretation. There are seven of them. What are they? Please list them and include one or two clear examples for each.
8
votes
3answers
124 views
Does Genesis contain a “death sandwich”?
Recently David Musgrave of Amridge University and Gordon Rugg of Keele University presented research that suggests the entire book of Genesis contains an inclusio on the words "life" and "death". ...
6
votes
1answer
110 views
What can we infer about archangel(s) from the text of the Bible?
Among the Christians I know it is believed that Michael is the only Archangel because only he is mentioned as being one (I realize the flaw, but believed nonetheless).
However, there are several ...
7
votes
5answers
175 views
Was the word ἐπιούσιον used prior to the Lord's prayer? What does it mean?
The word ἐπιούσιον has been translated in numerous ways, but the greatest modern consensus is to translate the word as 'daily.' Was the word ἐπιούσιον used prior to the Lord's prayer (Mt. 6:11; Lk. ...
0
votes
2answers
122 views
Why wouldn't the Son of Man know the day and hour of his coming? [closed]
God is all knowing, and Jesus is God. So, why would Jesus not know the day nor the hour?
But of that day and houre knoweth no man, no, not the Angels of heauen, but my Father onely.—Matthew ...
5
votes
1answer
43 views
Was nûn deleted from Psalm 145 in the Masoretic Text?
Psalm 145 is an acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet, except that in most of the MT manuscripts verse 13b is missing along with therefore the letter nûn. The ESV renders it like this:
Your kingdom is an ...
4
votes
2answers
147 views
How can the sacrifice of one animal atone for many? [closed]
It is often thought that the fundamental principle of atonement is "life for life."
In Lev. 6:2, if an individual sinned, he would bring a "trespass offering to YHVH" (Lev. 6:6), and the kohen would ...
2
votes
3answers
118 views
What is the difference in meaning between Χριστός Ἰησοῦς and Ἰησοῦς Χριστός?
In the New Testament, sometimes the authors use Χριστός Ἰησοῦς ("Christ Jesus"), where Χριστός precedes Ἰησοῦς, yet other times they use Ἰησοῦς Χριστός ("Jesus Christ"). What is the difference in ...
3
votes
1answer
49 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 ...
4
votes
2answers
52 views
Why did the commanders put their garments under Jehu?
In 2 Kings 9 we read (ESV):
11 When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the fellow and ...
4
votes
2answers
88 views
Where did that camel come from?
Psalm 13, verse 6, second hemistich, reads:
אָשִירָה לַיהוָה, כִּי גָמַל עָלָי
Which is to say, "I will sing to G-d, because there is a camel upon me."
Can anyone offer a hermeneutic ...
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 ...
5
votes
3answers
92 views
What, if any, is the significance of the color of the cord that Rahab hung out of her window?
Joshua 2 describes Rahab's concealment of the Hebrew spies. Vv. 18
Unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have ...
3
votes
2answers
116 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
4answers
136 views
Should The Creation Story in Genesis Be Understood as Metaphorical?
I have been lead to understand that the creation story of Genesis should be read as metaphorical and not literal. However, there seems to be abundant evidence that the ancients understood the story ...
4
votes
2answers
46 views
Why did Elisha rebuke Gehazi for things he did not accept from Naaman?
In 2 Kings 5:26 (ESV):
...“Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male ...
2
votes
1answer
43 views
Who is the bride of Christ?
If the church is the bride of Christ"
Eph. 5, II Cor. 11:2:
I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to
one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to ...
2
votes
2answers
65 views
Was Abimelech's mother an Israelite?
In Judges 8:31 we read that Gideon had a son by a slave woman from Shechem. In Judges 9 we read about him appealing to the people of Schechem to follow him, and in verse 2, he says
"Remember, I am ...
4
votes
2answers
130 views
A word for the fallacy of assuming whatever brings God the most glory is the correct interpretation a text?
I ran across the word somewhere in my reading, but I can't find it. It is a word that has the idea that it is not right to assume that an answer to any given question is right because it is assumed to ...
0
votes
2answers
148 views
What is the “Light” of Genesis 1:3?
In Genesis 1:3 (ESV), it is written,
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
The Hebrew word which is translated into English as "light" is אֹור (or) (Strong's H216).
Is ...
1
vote
2answers
36 views
Is their a name for a hermeneutic that includes experiential esthetics as a criteria of truthful exegesis?
This question is about the experience of a text. It is therefore a little lengthy because I have to provide some sample experience that I mean.
Background:
As a young man I was introduced to a ...
