All Questions
1
vote
4answers
334 views
Is Jesus equal to or less than the Father [closed]
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.
Joh 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again
unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto
the Father: ...
6
votes
2answers
630 views
Is the “captain of the Lord's host” an angel or God Himself?
After Joshua and the people of Israel crossed over the Jordan and before they assaulted Jericho, Joshua had this strange encounter:
Once, when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man ...
3
votes
2answers
214 views
How are verses indicating that God is a God of war, and others indicating that he is a God of peace reconciled to not be contradictory? [closed]
Sometimes, skeptics note that the Bible makes contradictory statements about God. For instance, is God warlike:
Exodus 15:3—The Lord is a man of war.
Psalm 18:34—He teacheth my ...
2
votes
0answers
23 views
Who is the captain of the Lord's Host spoken of in Joshua 5:13-15? [duplicate]
Joshua 5:13-15 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua ...
5
votes
2answers
254 views
Was John the Baptist confused or mistaken about the nature of Jesus' ministry?
John preached a message of imminent judgment:
Luke 3:7-9
John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear ...
11
votes
7answers
869 views
What does “image” in Genesis 1:26-27 mean?
Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV)
26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the ...
4
votes
1answer
24 views
Historical Context and Fulfillment of Isaiah 7:8
Isaiah 7:8 (NET) reads:
For Syria’s leader is Damascus, and the leader of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation.
As the IVP OT Commentary points ...
7
votes
1answer
100 views
Was Abiathar the son of Ahimelech or was Ahimelech the son of Abiathar?
According to the following three verses, Abiathar was the son of Ahimelech:
1 Samuel 22:20.
1 Samuel 23:6.
1 Samuel 30:7.
But a couple other passages down the road claim that in fact Ahimelech ...
6
votes
1answer
119 views
How did Judas die?
In fact, there are multiple discrepancies between these two verses, what did really happen?
Matthew 27:5-8
5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged ...
9
votes
3answers
294 views
How can we understand “fear”?
It seems that (throughout the Bible), we have been told to "not fear" but also to "fear God".
How can we understand this word "fear" in these two contexts? If this word in these two contexts carries ...
-2
votes
1answer
223 views
Was Abimelech a granny chaser?
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
In Genesis Chapter 20 we find the following sister/wife story:
And Abraham journeyed from there to the land of the Negev, and he ...
0
votes
1answer
117 views
Why does Moses grill leavened bread on Yahweh's altar?
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
In Exodus 34:25 we read this injunction:
You will not slaughter the blood of my altar on leavened bread ...
This injunction is ...
0
votes
1answer
89 views
Why is Joseph taken to prison, and yet still seems to be with Potiphar?
This is a response to the meta call for contradictions.
In Genesis 39, there is a fantastically vivid story of Potiphar's wife seducing Joseph, or rather, attempting to. The result is that Joseph is ...
4
votes
2answers
198 views
Did Noah take two doves, or fourteen?
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
In Genesis 6:18 we read the following:
And I will make my covenant with you: and those that come on the ark, you and your sons and your ...
2
votes
1answer
37 views
How is Deut. 2:29 reconciled with Num. 20:18-21?
After the Exodus, and prior to the conquest of Sihon and Og, Israel attempted to pass through Edom. (The Edomites were the descendents of Esau.) Numbers 20:18-21 records Edom's response as follows:
...
4
votes
1answer
404 views
Is the punishment for sex during menstrual period banishment or a week's defilement?
There are two passages in Leviticus which discuss the degree of uncleanliness one should associate with sleeping with a woman during her period.
Leviticus 15:19
And a woman who will be ...
4
votes
2answers
491 views
Why is Isaac called Abraham's only son? [duplicate]
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
In Genesis 22, we find the following passage:
And it was after these events that the God tested Abraham; and said to him "Abraham", who ...
4
votes
2answers
40 views
Those who believe are “especially” saved?
1 Timothy 4:10 (NET emphasis mine) reads:
In fact this is why we work hard and struggle, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of believers.
...
14
votes
6answers
434 views
What role does the Holy Spirit play in hermeneutics?
As Christians in the NT age of the Church it is understood that believers have an indwelling of the Holy Spirit who acts as a counselor and guide, enabling them to rightly understand God's word. How ...
8
votes
2answers
353 views
The splitting of the Mount of Olives
Daniel Block, in his commentary on Ezekiel, speaks of a style in that book of resumptive exposition, in which a theme is initially dealt with briefly, and later examined in much more detail. Zechariah ...
5
votes
2answers
67 views
To what degree is understanding the feelings of a biblical author necessary in exegesis?
I find that miscommunication is often about feelings and not words. Ancient writings requires linguistics, history and cultural knowledge to provide accurate English versions that convey the original ...
9
votes
6answers
980 views
Why does Paul get annoyed with the slave girl in Acts 16?
The story in Acts 16 of the demon-possessed slave girl is a curious story to me for many reasons. If it's better to break up my questions into several, I can do so; but for now I'd like to keep them ...
6
votes
2answers
71 views
Did Jesus teach people to literally pluck their eye out and cut their hand off?
The passage from the Sermon on the Mount (and see also Matthew 18:8-9) is a familiar one:
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at ...
10
votes
1answer
94 views
How did Aaron avoid Pharaoh?
The famous story of Moses in Exodus 2 shows how, as a baby, he avoided Pharaoh's demand that baby boys be put to death.
Maybe it is somewhere in the text and I've missed it, but I'm wondering how ...
9
votes
3answers
677 views
Who are the morning stars in Job 38:7?
In Job 38:7 (ESV), Jehovah claims that the cornerstone of the earth was laid
when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy
implying that the morning stars were ...
7
votes
5answers
214 views
What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
Mark 3:20-30 contains a familiar passage with a long debated phrase:
3:20 Now Jesus went home, and a crowd gathered so that they were not able to eat. 21 When his family heard this they went out ...
6
votes
1answer
215 views
“Back in ships to Egypt” in Deut. 28
At the end of the curses for disobedience in Deuteronomy 28, verse 68 says:
And the Lord will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that you should never make again; and ...
15
votes
5answers
864 views
Did Jephthah actually sacrifice his daughter?
It's clear that what Jephthah intended was to sacrifice the first animal that he met when he returned home:
Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He marched through Gilead and Manasseh, ...
9
votes
1answer
80 views
Genesis 3:12: What is the underlying Hebrew word translated into English as “with me” (in KJV)?
In Genesis 3:12, is the underlying Hebrew word, translated into English as "with me" (in the KJV), supposed to be Strong's H5978 as the HCSB and HiSB suggests, or Strong's H5973 as the KJV suggests?
...
7
votes
1answer
78 views
What does Genesis 3:16 literally say?
I've noticed that sometimes words are repeated in the hebrew text.
Gen 3:16 אֶֽל־ H413 to הָ·אִשָּׁ֣ה H802 Unto the woman אָמַ֗ר H559 he said הַרְבָּ֤ה H7235 I will greatly אַרְבֶּה֙ H7235 ...
4
votes
2answers
116 views
Matthew 27:62: “the day that followed the day of the preparation” - Why not call Sabbath a Sabbath?
In the following verse
Matthew 27:62 Now the next day, that followed the day of
the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto
Pilate
Why didn't Matthew simply say "on ...
1
vote
4answers
311 views
What else can “Fifteen cubits from above” in Gen 7:20 mean?
When translating Genesis, I took pains to preserve the implied flat-Earth cosmology that a naive reading suggests. One of the places where this made a big difference is in the story of Noah. Noah is ...
1
vote
1answer
121 views
Grammar-Literal Translation of Genesis 1:3 and 12:3
In Biblical Hebrew there are two simple verb types (Qal and Niphal) which convey no causation. Are the below revisions of the King James Version more accurate to the thoughts expressed by the grammar? ...
6
votes
1answer
72 views
Does the LXX of Proverbs 1:7 have influence on the use of εὐσέβεια in the NT?
Is there any New Testament text wherin an influence of this LXX expanded translation is of interpretive importance in the NT (esp. with regard to εὐσέβεια)?
Edit (question clarification):
I find this ...
6
votes
3answers
136 views
Why did the Samaritans worship God in Mount Gerissim rather than Jerusalem?
In John chapter 4, Jesus has a discussion with a woman of Samaria:
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in ...
8
votes
2answers
504 views
What happened to the 500 witnesses in 1 Corinthians 15?
This week I taught Sunday School from this text:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was ...
5
votes
2answers
276 views
Does the New Testament predict Jesus' return on Rosh Hashanah?
The day of the Lord's return is sometimes associated with trumpets in the New Testament:
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and ...
5
votes
2answers
85 views
“The Name of Yahweh” a name for God?
I have often been told that "name" in the Old Testament has much more weight than it does to us today. Then I noticed this passage recently:
See, the Name of the Yahweh comes from afar, with ...
6
votes
2answers
61 views
Blessed is the man who WALKS NOT or HAS NOT WALKED?
I noticed in studying the Psalms that Psalm 1 in the old Coverdale text reads, "Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, and hath not sat ...
6
votes
4answers
472 views
“the first day of the week” in 1 Corinthians 16:2
I heard somewhere that in 1 Corinthians 16:2
Upon the first [day] of the week let every one of you lay by him in
store, as [God] hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I
come
...
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 ...
3
votes
2answers
72 views
God's speech in Job 38-42
For me the Book of Job is one of the most contraversial books in the Bible yet. In chapters 38-41 we see the Lord's unnecessary boasting in front of his slave. Job 41:5 is an example of a cynism:
...
4
votes
2answers
58 views
How should רָגַז be translated in Psalm 4?
A quick survey of English translations of Psalm 4:4 shows that there is little agreement about how ragaz should be rendered:
NIV
In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your ...
8
votes
2answers
99 views
What is the “systematic typology” hermeneutic method and how does it work?
There's a hermeneutic method that's been used on this site called "systematic typology". What is it? How does one apply it? Are there contexts where it is considered to be a particularly good or ...
4
votes
2answers
35 views
Why does the YLT render “thunder” as “voices” in Exodus 20:18?
Most modern translations of Exodus 20:18a render it something like the ESV (all emphasis mine):
Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet ...
6
votes
3answers
124 views
Does Deuteronomy 12:21 reference a missing commandment?
In Deuteronomy 12:21 G-d tells the Jewish people that when they arrive to their homeland and settle into the areas they will be assigned, "[t]hen you may slaughter of your herd and flock...as I have ...
5
votes
2answers
156 views
Is there external historic or scientific evidence of a particular flood that corresponds to the Genesis 7 account?
Some have posited that the flood account in Genesis 7 corresponds to the flooding of the Mediterranean basin, others have suggested it may correspond to the refilling of the black sea.
My question is ...
4
votes
2answers
87 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
160 views
Who is the prophetess in Isaiah 8:3?
The bible doesn't seem to give much information for who "the prophetess" in Isaiah 8:3 is. Who is she? Many seem to assert that she is his wife, but cite no evidence to support this.
The word ...
11
votes
4answers
4k views
Translation of “Hosanna” (ὡσαννά)
What does "Hosanna" (ὡσαννά) mean (as it appears in the Gospels)? What is its etymology/derivation from Hebrew/Aramaic?
