All Questions
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
76 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
101 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
36 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
157 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
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 ...
7
votes
2answers
162 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?
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 ...
7
votes
3answers
310 views
What is the meaning of “calculate” in Revelation 13:18?
This is perhaps the most famous prophesy in popular culture:
This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his ...
5
votes
6answers
213 views
What is the baptism of fire?
In Luke 3, some are wondering if John the Baptist could be the Christ. He denies this claim like so:
John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the ...
4
votes
1answer
79 views
Were they Roman guards who watched Jesus' tomb in Matthew 27?
A recent question about the securing of a tomb on the Sabbath made me wonder whether the guards posted at Jesus' tomb in Matthew 27:62-66 are Roman guards (which I guess I'd always assumed) or Jewish ...
4
votes
2answers
29 views
Understanding “Likewise” in Romans 8:26
I'm trying to understand what the "likewise" is referring to in Romans 8:26. Here is some surrounding context (ESV):
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of ...
4
votes
1answer
35 views
Are Psalms 23 and 24 both by David according to their prefixes?
Psalm 23 begins with the annotation:
מזמור לדוד
While Psalm 24 begins with a similar, but slight different one:
לדוד מזמור
Yet both are marked in the NET (and elsewhere) as "A psalm of David". I ...
5
votes
1answer
334 views
Redaction criticism and grammatical-historical hermeneutics
It appears that redaction criticism can be viewed either positively or negatively by proponents of a grammatical-historical hermeneutic (see this article)? What are the primary arguments for and ...
5
votes
1answer
52 views
When the Kingdom of Israel split, what happened to Benjamin?
All my life I've been told that the tribe of Benjamin remained with the faithful tribe of Judah. And I've read the passage in 1 Kings 11:29-35 where the kingdom is split in two many times before, but ...
3
votes
1answer
52 views
When did separation between Israel and Judah happen?
Before the First Book of Kings there was only one nation - Israel named after Jacob (whose other name was Israel and who was called the Father of Israel). But in the Second Book of Kings it is not ...
8
votes
5answers
3k views
What is the “hidden manna” and the “white stone”?
From Revelation 2:17:
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a ...
1
vote
2answers
164 views
What is special about the Feast of Tabernacles in Zechariah 14?
In his closing vision of the end-times prosperity of the people of God, Zechariah writes,
Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship ...
7
votes
1answer
147 views
Jesus and the adulterous woman: was stoning a practical possiblity?
In John 8:5, the Pharisees ask Jesus:
In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say? (NIV)
Was stoning a woman for adultery often/sometimes done during Jesus' days, or ...
6
votes
1answer
67 views
How should Psalm 22:16 read?
Psalm 22:16 seems textually quite difficult. The NET for example reads:
Yes, wild dogs surround me –
a gang of evil men crowd around me;
like a lion they pin my hands and feet.
Yet, they note that ...
4
votes
1answer
84 views
Would the Pharisees go to Pilate and secure the tomb on the Sabbath?
This is in relation to another post in which the question was asked why the Sabbath was called "the day after the Day of Preparation."
It strikes me odd that Pharisees would be about this sort of ...
4
votes
1answer
34 views
In 1 Peter 1:4, why did the translators of the KJV translate εἰς ἡμᾶς as “for you”?
The Greek text of the Textus Receptus:
εἰς κληρονομίαν ἄφθαρτον καὶ ἀμίαντον καὶ ἀμάραντον τετηρημένην ἐν οὐρανοῖς εἰς ἡμᾶς
εἰς ἡμᾶς are basic Greek words, so how could such learned Greek ...
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
44 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 ...
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
4answers
187 views
What did Isaiah intend with his unusual usage of “create” in Isaiah 45:7?
In Isaiah 45:7 (ESV):
I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the LORD, who does all these things.
The word "create" (01254) is the same word used in ...
2
votes
2answers
56 views
God and Passive Hebrew tense and aspect
I know King James as well as other translators and even some commentators did not translate or recognize the passive tenses or aspects correctly. I've read about the Hophal, Niphal, and Pu'al stems ...
2
votes
2answers
163 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) ...
3
votes
2answers
209 views
Is “wept on his neck” a Hebrew idiom?
In a number of places, the English Standard Version uses a phrase like "wept on his neck," e.g.
Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. —Genesis ...
5
votes
1answer
73 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
267 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 ...
0
votes
2answers
123 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 ...
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
62 views
Does Peter allude to the stones removed in the Maccabbean revolt?
In 1 Peter 2:4-10 (NIV) we read a comparison between Jesus as a rejected living stones, and those Peter is writing to being likewise living stones. He says that though they were once not a people, now ...
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 ...
4
votes
1answer
114 views
Are the Psalms intended to be didactic?
I have kind of a lot of questions here, but hopefully it makes sense what I'm getting at. What is the nature of the Psalter as a whole in terms of how it was meant to be used? I've always assumed that ...
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 ...
12
votes
1answer
107 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 ...
14
votes
4answers
2k views
What is the difference between exegesis and hermeneutics?
What is the difference between exegesis and hermeneutics? Are they the same, is there overlap, or does one pick up where the other leaves off?
7
votes
5answers
720 views
What are the differences between Hebrew and Aramaic?
Can anyone give a review on the main differences between Hebrew and Aramaic? Of course, I am asking in the context of the Bible, but if there are some other known ones that lay outside of the biblical ...
15
votes
5answers
563 views
Are women really saved by childbearing according to 1 Timothy 2:15?
In 1 Timothy, Paul says:
1 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)
15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
Does the "she" refer to ...
3
votes
2answers
669 views
Does Exodus 22:28 call for child sacrifice?
In Genesis, we see a motif of first-born sons being overly aggressive and ambitious. Kain slays Abel out of a jealous wrath. Firstborn Esau and Jacob have a long-running rivalry that ends with Jacob ...
5
votes
3answers
184 views
What is the “worship of angels”?
In Colossians 2:18, Paul warns his readers, "Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize" (NIV emphasis mine). Of course, that it is in the ...
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 ...
9
votes
4answers
172 views
Does Peter intend to identify the Pauline Epistles as canonical?
In 2 Peter 3:15-16, Peters states:
And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his ...
17
votes
5answers
546 views
What does Jesus mean by generation when talking about the end times?
In Luke 21:32-33 (ESV) Jesus says:
"Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
What ...
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 ...
