Questions tagged [historical-interpretation]
Questions about the interpretation of a passage across different periods of history.
149
questions
1
vote
1answer
36 views
St. John the Baptist and strong drink?
We know quite well that St. John the Baptist had a rather unique diet while living his ministry on earth. John lived an austere life.
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a ...
9
votes
3answers
114 views
Why did the captive Jews refuse to sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
As I focus on Psalm 137:4; the part of the psalm which relates to where the Jews declined to singing the Lord’s song in their land of captivity; I am still pondering over why those captive Jews said:
...
8
votes
3answers
135 views
How did the medium of Endor suddenly realize that Saul had fooled her?
Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”
“Bring up Samuel,” he said.
12When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and
said to Saul, “Why have you ...
2
votes
3answers
139 views
Who is the woman in Revelation 12:1? [duplicate]
Who is the woman in
Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a
crown of twelve stars:
? and ...
2
votes
6answers
142 views
What Kind of Poor, are the Poor in Spirit?
The “poor” in the verse “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven[,]” (Mat. 5:3 NIV) is the An.Gr. “ptōchoi”. While this word does refer to poor people Strong’s Concordance ...
3
votes
4answers
91 views
What are the “things above, where Christ is seated” as said in Colossians 3:1-2?
What are the "things above, where Christ is seated" as said in
Colossians 3:1-2 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the
things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right ...
2
votes
3answers
133 views
Does Ephesians 5:3 mean that if a person fall into sins “sexual” or “covetous” he/she should not confess it to anyone in the Church?
Does
Ephesians 5:3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness
must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
mean that if a person fall into sins that are "sexual" or ...
3
votes
1answer
76 views
What is the meaning of “blood of her purifying” (Leviticus 12:4)
The MT reads,
וּשְׁלֹשִׁים יוֹם וּשְׁלֹשֶׁת
יָמִים תֵּשֵׁב בִּדְמֵי טָהֳרָה בְּכָל-קֹדֶשׁ לֹא-תִגָּע
וְאֶל-הַמִּקְדָּשׁ לֹא תָבֹא עַד-מְלֹאת יְמֵי טָהֳרָהּ.
Then she shall continue for ...
3
votes
3answers
117 views
Song of Songs 8:9 - allusion to virginity and promiscuity?
8 We have a little sister, and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build a tower of silver to ...
2
votes
3answers
109 views
To whom does the “Lord” refer in 2 Corinthians 3:17?
Reading through
2 Corinthians 3:14-17 English Standard Version (ESV) 14 But their
minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant,
that same veil remains unlifted, because ...
1
vote
1answer
78 views
What is the “gospel of the Glory of Christ” in 2 Corinthians 4:4?
What is the gospel of the Glory of Christ in 2 Corinthians 4:4 ?
2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded
the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light ...
4
votes
2answers
74 views
Is there a difference between מַסְוֶה and צָעִיף (veil)?
I noticed that in Exodus 34, the term מַסְוֶה is used throughout in reference to the veil Moses wore on his face to hide his radiance. However, in Genesis throughout the Hebrew term used (for veil) is ...
5
votes
1answer
93 views
What does the sentence “their grapes are filled with poison” in Deu 32:32,33 (NIV) mean?
Sodom is known for having been more decadent than Israel. And judging on the below Bible verses, their decadence seem to have had something to do with their drinking culture. Was their grapes ...
2
votes
1answer
49 views
Is the alternate translation of προέθετο, “foreordained,” in Rom. 3:25 still considered acceptable?
A parallel Bible I used this morning from the 1800s notes that the Greek "προέθετο" from Romans 3:25 can be alternatively translated as "foreordained." However, modern parallel and interlinear Bible ...
4
votes
2answers
339 views
Why should Timothy use wine?
In 1Timothy chapter 5 Verse 23 it is written:
Μηκέτι ὑδροπότει ἀλλ᾽ οἴνῳ ὀλίγῳ χρῶ διὰ τὸν στόμαχον σου καὶ τὰς πυκνάς σοῦ ἀσθενείας
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake ...
11
votes
2answers
217 views
What is חֶמְדַּת נָשִׁים in Daniel 11:37
Daniel chapter 11 speaks of the Willful king that will profane the temple and persecute the Jews. One of the many descriptions given to him is found in verse 37,
וְעַל-אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתָיו לֹא יָבִין, ...
3
votes
3answers
269 views
What is the “hope” talked about in Hebrews 10:23
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
What is the hope referred into in the above verse?
Is this the same hope talked about ...
1
vote
5answers
143 views
What is the “Sabbath-rest for the people of God” in Hebrews 4:9-11 referring to
Hebrews 4:9-11 New International Version (NIV) 9 There remains,
then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters
God’s rest also rests from their works,[a] just as God did from ...
0
votes
0answers
31 views
Is it possible that the soldiers near Pontius Pilate were less in number than the people in the crowd at Jesus' trial?
Matthew 27:24 KJV — When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but
that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands
before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood ...
2
votes
1answer
33 views
Are pulpits Scriptural requirements for preaching during Christian corporate worship?
The use of some sort of pulpit dates back to Old Testament times as I observed it was first mentioned in Nehemiah 8:4:
And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made
for the ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
Did the event spoken of in Jude 9 literally happen? [duplicate]
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. — Jude 9
This event ...
2
votes
2answers
93 views
What does “as Jesus did” mean in 1 John 2:6?
In 1 John 2:6 NIV, it says that
6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
What is the meaning of this verse in general, but more specifically the part of living "as Jesus did"? Jesus ...
3
votes
4answers
319 views
Was God's motive for barring man from eating of the “tree of knowledge” as given by the serpent true?
According to the serpent in Genesis 3:5, God's motive for prohibiting man from eating from the "tree of knowledge" was that man shall not become godly like him,
For God knows that when you eat from ...
1
vote
1answer
67 views
In Isaiah 59:21 are the descendants of the apostles (even today) likewise infallible?
KJV Isaiah 59:
(20) And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
(21) As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My ...
3
votes
2answers
393 views
Why did they celebrate again the day after the New Moon in 1 Samuel 20:27?
1 Samuel 20:24-27
So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the
king sat him down to eat meat. 25And the king sat upon his seat, as at
other times, even upon a seat by ...
6
votes
6answers
404 views
What is the significance of Sarah denying having laughed in Genesis 18:15?
Gen. 18:12-16
So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and
my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” 13 Then the LORD said
to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say,...
3
votes
3answers
109 views
The incongruity of God's covenant with Abram in Gen 12:1?
Gen 12:1
1The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and
your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make
you into a great nation,
and I will bless ...
1
vote
1answer
59 views
In Psalm 81 how does the blowing of the horn relate to the Exodus?
Psalm 81:3-6 (NIV)
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on
the day of our festival; 4 this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of
the God of Jacob. 5 When God ...
0
votes
2answers
71 views
Is ἱεράτευμα (hierateuma) intrinsically male?
In 1 Peter 2:5 and 2:9 we find the word ἱεράτευμα (hierateuma), translated "priesthood," which Strong's Concordance defines as "the act or office of priesthood." The word's root appears to be ἱερεύς (...
3
votes
3answers
95 views
Was there some other secret ingredient added to the testing formula in Numbers 5:11-31?
Num. 5 goes into great length to preserve an ancient Israelite test for the unfaithful wife. The test was in the form of a drinking formula. The formula basically consisted of water, soil and the ...
1
vote
1answer
190 views
What is the meaning of “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”? - Amos 6:10
Amos 6:9-10
If ten people are left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if the
relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them
asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is ...
2
votes
2answers
469 views
How does George Howard's The Hebrew Gospel of Matthew (1987; 1995 2nd ed. quoted) help our understanding of Matthew 5:17-20?
There are many verses in the New Testament that have been interpreted to mean that the commands and covenants of the Old Testaments have been done away with. However, there are also verses in the New ...
1
vote
3answers
268 views
How can we trust the Gospels if nobody was there to witness? [closed]
I am reading the Gospels and sometimes I wonder how can some stories have been recorded and then written down. The case is when Jesus is basically by himself and nobody there to witness or when he is ...
3
votes
1answer
104 views
What is the significance of copulating in the same place one was born (in Song of Songs)?
I can think of few times in the Song of Songs where the sexual union is strongly connected with the place of birth
8:5 (NIV):
Under the apple tree I roused you;
there your mother conceived ...
2
votes
3answers
190 views
In 1 Corinthians 10:11 to the end of what “ages” does Paul refer?
NIV 1 Cor 10:11 These things happened to them as examples and were
written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages
has come.
My own thought is that he is referring to the ...
3
votes
4answers
1k views
Why the leaven prohibition in Exodus 23:18 and Leviticus 2:11?
We find many times in the OT that leaven or anything containing leaven is not to be served to God.
For example, Leviticus 2:11 exhorts the Israelites:
No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
In 2 Chronicles 35:20-22 why did Josiah fight Necho?
From 2 Chronicles 35 (NIV):
20 After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Necho king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in ...
1
vote
0answers
82 views
The “traditional” reading of Genesis 1:1 [duplicate]
This is how the book of Genesis starts:
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
There are two viable ways of reading this rather complicated verse.
"In the beginning of god's ...
6
votes
3answers
330 views
In Gen. 4, Seth is “appointed” as another seed “instead of Abel.” What is the ancient interpretation of this appointment?
In Genesis 4:25, it states: "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a son, and called his name Seth: 'for God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel; for Cain slew him"
What is the ...
2
votes
2answers
3k views
What were the four standards around which the tribes of Israel were camped (Numbers 2:1-34)?
H1714
Original: דּגל
Transliteration: degel
BDB Definition:
1) banner, standard
Numbers 2:17 (NKJV)
"And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the camp of the
...
2
votes
3answers
1k views
What does it mean to “Kiss the Son” Psalm 2:12?
Psalm 2:12
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the
way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who
put their trust in Him.
What did it mean to "Kiss ...
1
vote
2answers
131 views
In Acts 19:14 - How else could “Seven sons of Skeva” be translated?
In Acts 19:14, Is "Seven Sons of Skeva" a valid translation? Are there any other plausible interpretations?
Westcott and Hort / [NA27 variants] ἦσαν δέ τινος Σκευᾶ Ἰουδαίου
ἀρχιερέως ἑπτὰ υἱοὶ ...
4
votes
1answer
669 views
What did Lilies mean in Solomon's era or from what he taught about plants that caused Huram to cast them onto the pillars of the temple? 1 Kings 7:19
According to Exodus 31:2-3, Bezalel had divine wisdom and used it in his crafting of the tabernacle. Huram succeeded him and crafted the articles for the temple.
The capitals which were on top of ...
1
vote
1answer
216 views
Was Ezekiel's prophecy referring to only Egypt or does it imply that Africa (the land of Ham) will become the lowest of the Kingdoms? Ezekiel 29:14
Egypt is still relevant today contrary to what we should expect going by Ezekiel's prophecy.
Ezekiel 29:14
"I will bring back the captives of Egypt and cause them to return to
the land of ...
1
vote
1answer
302 views
Why are false teachers referred to as “late autumn trees” in Jude 1:12
Men are referred to as trees throughout scripture.
Abimelech and the men of Shechem in Judges 9:8-19
Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:20-22
Pharaoh and the King of Assyria in Ezekiel 31:2-18
In Jude:1.4, ...
3
votes
1answer
179 views
Of what relevance is the “song of the well” in the broader scriptural narrative (Numbers 21:17-18)
Songs are of prophetic significance through out the Bible e.g
Song of Moses (Ps 90)
Song of Miriam (Exo 15)
Song of Deborah (Judg 5)
Song of Hannah (1-Sam 2)
Song of the Lamb (Rev 15:3)
But I don't ...
4
votes
6answers
5k views
What does “wandering stars” mean in Jude 1:13?
Jude:1.4
For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were
marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of
our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and ...
3
votes
1answer
297 views
In Jeremiah - Who is the “Queen of Heaven”?
In Jeremiah - Who is the "Queen of Heaven"? Is this a reference to a god in chaldea or somewhere else?
NKJV, Jeremiah 44:25 - Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘You and your ...
2
votes
2answers
705 views
How is Japheth is enlarged if confined to the tents of Shem? Gen 9:27
In this passage, Noah explicitly states that Japheth will have no dwelling place of his own.
Genesis:9.27
May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents
of Shem;....
Note: Japheth will ...
0
votes
3answers
58 views
bible ownership [closed]
Apart from the Ethiopian, whom Philip meets Acts 8;29, is there any evidence for the private ownership of any works of Scripture before about 400 A.D.? Otherwise, what is the earliest evidence that ...
