15 votes
Accepted

What are the oldest known records of interpretation agreeing with New Perspective on Paul?

1977 and All That There is a clear consensus marking the starting point of the "New Perspective on Paul" -- it was the landmark publication of E.P. Sanders' Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison ...
Dɑvïd's user avatar
  • 24.7k
15 votes

Why is Revelation 19:11-16 interpreted by some to refer to Jesus Christ?

I’m not saying that your postulate is an impossibility but it seems unlikely that this passage refers to a representative of Christ instead of Christ himself for the following reasons: The theme of ...
Joe Ricciardi's user avatar
14 votes

Was Potiphar, being a captain of an Egyptian guard, likely a eunuch?

I regret that I do not have access to the article by Johnston, but I understand his gist from Susan’s answer. First of all, the argument that “research has failed to turn up any evidence for the use ...
fdb's user avatar
  • 5,290
13 votes
Accepted

Was Potiphar, being a captain of an Egyptian guard, likely a eunuch?

The word used to describe Potiphar's relationship with Pharaoh (37:36, 39:1) is sārı̂s, which is indeed commonly glossed "eunuch" (e.g. BDB; cf. LXX εὐνοῦχος). However, to my knowledge no major ...
Susan's user avatar
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11 votes
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Is Ephesians 6:5-9 inapplicable with modern Christians who don’t have a “slave”?

One could consider the master/slave relationship here to be an extreme example of the more general employer/employee relationship, or any relationship where one person has the power to tell the other ...
Ray Butterworth's user avatar
10 votes
Accepted

Why is Revelation 19:11-16 interpreted by some to refer to Jesus Christ?

The Rider on the white horse of Rev 19 is clearly Jesus Christ for the reasons listed in the appendix below. The sticking point is the title/name, "The Word of God". This title in the ...
Dottard's user avatar
  • 103k
10 votes

Proverbs 18:22's grossly oversimplified, glib, nonchalant view about getting married

Here's a more positive way to look at Proverbs 18:22. Proverbs 18 is an anthology of traditional sayings for a variety of different circumstances that are not elucidated in the text itself because at ...
Abu Munir Ibn Ibrahim al Yahud's user avatar
8 votes

Historical Evidence that the Jewish Calendar Day Began at Sunset?

Clarification on Terms My definitions for clarification. Evening: The period of the Sun descending toward the horizon to set. Sunset: The exact time the Sun is no longer visible above the horizon. ...
ScottS's user avatar
  • 20k
8 votes

How did Joanna "get away with" sponsoring Jesus' ministry?

Luke 8:3 says that Joanna was the wife of Chuza Herod’s "epitropos". Another text may shed further light on this. In John 4:46ff we read that: 46 So he [Jesus] came again to Cana in Galilee, where ...
K.S. Rosenthal's user avatar
8 votes

What are the oldest known records of interpretation agreeing with New Perspective on Paul?

(Note: I am answering this question at the request of another user, made here.) The "New" Perspective on Paul The New Perspective on Paul is really a whole collection of overlapping and sometimes ...
Lee Woofenden's user avatar
8 votes

How should the, "discernment of spirits," in 1 Corinthians 12:10 be interpreted taking cultural context into account?

If you are suggesting that the "discerning" or "distinguishing" of spirits in verse 10 refers to something along the lines of divination, I don't believe that this is how the verse was understood. It ...
user33515's user avatar
  • 12.2k
8 votes

Was Melchisedeck eternal in Hebrews 7:3?

While I am sure that Melchisedek is eternal in the sense that he is in heaven with Christ, Heb. 7:3 was not saying Melchisidek never had a mother or father. The understanding comes from knowing ...
Gina's user avatar
  • 9,997
8 votes
Accepted

Son of theos vs son of kyrios

We can translate John 11:27 from Greek to English. John 11:27 (Greek New Testament) λέγει αὐτῷ· ναὶ κύριε, ἐγὼ πεπίστευκα ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐρχόμενος. She said to ...
ktm5124's user avatar
  • 1,471
7 votes

How is the Shema interpreted by those who think Israel had henotheistic beliefs?

In the article Hebrew Henotheism: Challenging the notion of Biblical Monotheism, the case is made that the Shema was to be understood relationally with Israel. The 1985 edition of the Jewish ...
Joshua's user avatar
  • 2,982
7 votes
Accepted

How Should "Mammon" be Interpreted - Linguistically?

The word is Aramaic (ממון in Hebrew script) and means something like "wealth". μαμωνᾶς is simply the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic word. Here is Jastrow's entry for it: It appears throughout ...
user33515's user avatar
  • 12.2k
7 votes
Accepted

How did Paul became a Roman citizen?

Paul was born a Roman citizen: And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born (Acts 22:28). This means that a) Paul's father was a ...
Hold To The Rod's user avatar
7 votes

Proverbs 18:22's grossly oversimplified, glib, nonchalant view about getting married

I liked the other answers and have upvoted; this answer is not intended to compete with them but to complement them. Passages like Prov 18:22 appear glib and simplistic, somewhat akin to a motherhood ...
Dottard's user avatar
  • 103k
7 votes
Accepted

Exegesis - Paraclete as the antichrist or Satan?

I do not intend to take the space here to demonstrate that exegetes in every age have shown a decided tendency to interpret prophecy to be fulfilled in their own time. Muhammad and his teacher/pastor,...
Dottard's user avatar
  • 103k
6 votes

What does Paul mean by "unworthy manner" in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32?

The word Paul uses here, is αναξιως, a compound word consisting of αν + αξιως. So, it means "not" + "appropriately" or "inappropriately". In 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, Paul records how Jesus instituted ...
enegue's user avatar
  • 5,082
6 votes

What does "the assembly of the LORD" refer to?

The Tanakh translates בִּקְהַ֖ל יְהוָֽה in Deuteronomy 23 as "congregation of the LORD." Bernard M. Levinson's commentary in the JPS Study Bible states: The congregation of the LORD (v.2) served ...
Revelation Lad's user avatar
6 votes

Genesis 2:18 - How to interpret "before", in "helper before him"?

Koehler Baumgartner (HALOT) lists נֶגֶד here as originally a substantive, not a preposition. So with the 3rd person pronominal suffix, and the כ inseparable preposition, would be something like "...
Paul's user avatar
  • 161
6 votes

John 19:30 - What did Jesus say "was finished"?

The phrase actually translates one word in Greek, tetelestai, from the root tele­ō, which means "to finish, fulfill." Significantly, this specific form of the verb, tetelestai, is only found twice in ...
Michael King's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

How far was a "Sabbath's Day Journey"?

The Rabbis determined their answer based on Joshua 3:4 where the distance from the tents to the Tabernacle was about 2000 cubits (.5+ miles). So the Jewish people would have been allowed to travel at ...
user6053's user avatar
  • 396
6 votes

How is Japheth is enlarged if confined to the tents of Shem? Gen 9:27

God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. - Genesis 9:27 There is no indication that anything in this verse is mutually exclusive. That is ...
dieuwe's user avatar
  • 61
6 votes
Accepted

Who first interpretated John 8:58 ego eimi as Yahweh claim?

So there are perhaps two angles to this question: What's the first literal claim of 'I Am' = 'Yahweh' in reference to this verse? How early was this understood as a claim to divinity? I introduce ...
Steve can help's user avatar
  • 5,655
6 votes

Is "God is light" more than metaphor in 1 John 1:5?

“Light” has different semantics: in the direct sense, it is a principle of a physical visibility for human eyes that has its source in a luminous, light-producing object, like the sun, for example. In ...
Levan Gigineishvili's user avatar
6 votes

Is "God is light" more than metaphor in 1 John 1:5?

In him was life and the life was the light of men. John 1:4. It is the life of the divine being which lights the consciousness of the created creature. If not, the creature has only darkness within ...
Nigel J's user avatar
  • 30.8k
6 votes

Is Ephesians 6:5-9 inapplicable with modern Christians who don’t have a “slave”?

Some precepts apply only to an empirical historical reality, but they can have universal dimension also. For instance, in the Decalogue "do not covet for a donkey of your neighbor", is ...
Levan Gigineishvili's user avatar

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