13
votes
Accepted
Should we ONLY say the Lord's Prayer?
Two comments about the instruction of Jesus in Matt 6:9 -
If Jesus had intended that we ONLY pray the prayer He gave we would have the exact wording recorded precisely. However, the version recorded ...
7
votes
What does it mean "the earth is God's footstool"?
Adding a visual to Dottard's excellent information.
A stone relief of Xerxes seated on a throne. Note Xerxes feet are on a footstool.
A lot has been written about ancient thrones and footstools and ...
7
votes
Accepted
Does anyone know precisely whether the gospel of Matthew was written before or after AD 70?
The Gospel of Matthew does not come with a copyright date=); however, we can make some pretty reasonable inferences from the available data.
The budget answer is to say that Matthew was written post-...
6
votes
Should we ONLY say the Lord's Prayer?
Jesus presents this prayer as a model or example. He is not imposing a rigid formula for prayer. He is providing a framework for prayer. The Lord's Prayer serves as a template such as acknowledging ...
6
votes
Accepted
Why does Jesus change the "me" to "you" in Matthew 11:10
Matthew reports the words of Jesus regarding the specifics noted in the question and Mark takes this up in the opening verses of his own account.
In the opening verses of his gospel account, the ...
5
votes
What does it mean "the earth is God's footstool"?
The pertinent word here is הֲדֹם (hadom) = "footstool". It always denotes the footstool of God and is laden with overtones which may be classified as follows:
The earth is God's footstool ...
4
votes
Accepted
Why do Matthew & Luke report that Joseph (Jesus' stepfather) had two different fathers?
The genealogies
There have been many explanations proposed to answer the contradiction. The 2 most popular are:
Matthew gives Joseph's genealogy and Luke gives Mary's (the inverse is sometimes ...
3
votes
Was Jesus's mentioning of the "Killing of the heir" a reference to Himself in foreknowledge?
There are several records that Jesus predicted His death would happen.
Matt 16:21 - and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Matt 17:23 - They will kill him, and on the ...
2
votes
Allusion to Herod the Great in Matthew 7:24-27?
This is an intriguing connection of ideas. I cannot answer all of your questions, and some speculation would be required.
However, there are some clear historical sources regarding questions 2 & 3....
2
votes
What does it mean "the earth is God's footstool"?
It seems that this is referring to God's transcendence, with the world being "as nothing" to his power.
Compare Isiah 40:15-17:
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are ...
2
votes
Reconciling the accounts of the calling of Simon Peter
A basic mistake is often made when reading John's gospel as if it was an account parallel with the other three gospels. It is radically different, written at a different time, and for a different ...
2
votes
Why was "doing good" on the Sabbath not included in Exodus by God?
Yes, there were allowed exceptions to the Sabbath rest law. It’s known today within certain forms of Judaism, as the spirit or heart of the law. Preventing harm and death of humans or animals is and ...
2
votes
Why was "doing good" on the Sabbath not included in Exodus by God?
To add to the previous answers:
The Sabbath
God was very, very serious about His command in Exodus 31:13-17 (and others). Violators were to suffer the death penalty! So, what is the Sabbath?
There are ...
2
votes
Why didn't Christ outrightly discourage/condemn the taking of oaths in Matthew 23:16-22?
In Matthew 23:16-22, Jesus doesn't merely address the act of taking an oath, but rather, He condemns the hypocrisy of those who enforce strict adherence to laws they themselves disregard. While the ...
2
votes
Was St Joseph alive during the initial stages of Jesus' public life?
The New Testament does not answer this question. The most detailed ancient source (I am aware of) that treats this subject is The History of Joseph the Carpenter; which indicates that Joseph died when ...
2
votes
Should we ONLY say the Lord's Prayer?
A retro- translation of the Lord's Prayer into Aramaic, the language believed to have spoken by Jesus, was attempted by Jack Kilmon, Bible scholar and researcher. The retro translation is available on ...
1
vote
What is the best translation of Matthew 7:14?
The two operative words here are:
στενός (stenos)
According the BDAG this word means:
in reference to dimension, narrow ... Matt 7:13 so that it would
be difficult for even a relatively small man to ...
1
vote
Why do Matthew & Luke report that Joseph (Jesus' stepfather) had two different fathers?
Answer
There is no contradiction because these are partly two different genealogies.
Explanation
Luke gives the list right from Adam and Matthew gives the list from Abraham.
The list is the same from ...
1
vote
Why was "doing good" on the Sabbath not included in Exodus by God?
Although there is no permission given to "do good [work]" generally on the Sabbath, the text does indicate that there were exceptions to the rule about "no work.". Specifically:
...
1
vote
Is the English word sky a better translation for the Greek word “Ouranios” than heaven in the sermon on the mount?
Is the English word sky a better translation for the Greek word “Ouranios” than heaven in the sermon on the mount?
I'll attempt an in-depth answer to add to Dottard's. However, the sort answer is: no.
...
1
vote
Is the English word sky a better translation for the Greek word “Ouranios” than heaven in the sermon on the mount?
The instances of οὐρανός (ouranos) = "heaven" in Matt 5-7 can be classified into several types:
"kingdom of heaven" as per Matt 5:3, 10, 19, 20, etc
"Father in heaven" ...
1
vote
Why was "doing good" on the Sabbath not included in Exodus by God?
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor תַּֽעֲבֹ֔ד֮, and do all thy work מְלַאכְתֶּֽךָ֒: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God ...
Exodus 20:8-10 (KJV)
...
1
vote
What does it mean "the earth is God's footstool"?
In addition to those, it seems unavoidable to also take it as an indication that the size and scope of God is far greater than anything imaginable. All earthly rulers, palaces, cities, armies, ...
1
vote
Accepted
Who does God prepare the praise for in Matthew 21:16/Psalm 8:2
Great question that involves some subtleties. First the original Hebrew phrase in Ps 8:2 is:
מִפִּ֤י עֹֽולְלִ֨ים ׀ וְֽיֹנְקִים֮ יִסַּ֪דְתָּ֫ עֹ֥ז = "out of the
mouth of babes and sucklings [...
1
vote
Why does Jesus change the "me" to "you" in Matthew 11:10
In addition to needing to being familiar with the larger collection of literature Jesus refers to, consider these verses...
While it doesn't change anything, it may be easier to make sense of if read ...
1
vote
What is the meaning of “blessed are those who mourn” in Matthew 5:4?
The word Blessed as has been written comes from the Greek word Makarios, and one of its applications is that those who receive it are being given Divine Favour, and those who mourn shall receive the ...
1
vote
Did Jesus allow people to eat meat forbidden by Moses (Matthew 15)?
Jesus' teaching in Mt 15:10-20 has two senses, an immediate and a mediate one.
The immediate sense was to reject the mandatory status that the Pharisees wanted to give to their purely human tradition ...
1
vote
Why did Jesus say, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Jesus - barely able to breathe, can only utter the first verse of the Psalm. He's saying - "go read this... this is how I feel."
The Jews knew these Psalms... they were like familiar songs. ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
Related Tags
matthew × 1214jesus × 187
greek × 134
luke × 130
contradiction × 104
mark × 80
john × 72
parables × 62
word-study × 54
christology × 50
gospels × 49
prophecy × 46
olivet-discourse × 45
eschatology × 40
law × 36
textual-criticism × 34
history × 33
new-testament × 29
soteriology × 28
acts × 26
sermon-on-the-mount × 25
john-the-baptist × 24
grammar × 22
translation-philosophy × 22
lords-prayer × 22