Questions tagged [historical-interpretation]
Questions about the interpretation of a passage across different periods of history.
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Why is Isaiah 14:12-15 interpreted by some to refer to Satan?
Is 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend ...
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9
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What is the significance of '14 generations' in Matthew’s account of Jesus's genealogy?
After giving Jesus's genealogy in the first chapter, Matthew goes on to point out the number of generations between significant events:
Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to ...
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How did Joanna "get away with" sponsoring Jesus' ministry?
Luke 8:1-3
Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ καθεξῆς καὶ αὐτὸς διώδευεν κατὰ πόλιν καὶ κώμην κηρύσσων καὶ εὐαγγελιζόμενος τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ οἱ δώδεκα σὺν αὐτῷ, 2 καὶ γυναῖκές τινες αἳ ἦσαν τεθεραπευμέναι ...
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Are Job's friends the voice of the Accuser?
I have often struggled with the book of Job, wondering what rubric should guide my interpretation as I read through the speeches of Job's "friends". They say so much that is "true" (so much that ...
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What does Paul mean by "unworthy manner" in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32?
In 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 (NKJV) :
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man ...
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Was there precedent for John to link the satan and the serpent?
In Revelation 20:2, John links the satan and the serpent:
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
A couple preliminary questions: ...
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Was Potiphar, being a captain of an Egyptian guard, likely a eunuch?
In Genesis, we read the infamous story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Potiphar's wife (who is named Zuleikha, at least according Sefer HaYashar) repeatedly makes sexual advances on Joseph, and as we ...
16
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Are there two different types of "tongues" spoken about in the NT?
My question comes directly from 1 Cor 14: 2, 4:
2 For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for
no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.....4 One who ...
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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 ...
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Does the idea of being "born again" have a root earlier than John/Peter (or Jesus)?
In John 3:3, Jesus famously tells Nicodemus that to see the kingdom of God, one must be born again. Likewise, 1 Peter 1:3 and 1:23 both use this idea of a new or second birth.
1 Peter 1:3[...] In his ...
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"Cakes of Raisins" in Hosea 3
Hosea 3:1 reads (ESV):
And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other ...
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In Joshua 20:1-6 why must the man-slayer wait until the death of the high priest?
Joshua 20:1-6 (noting verse 6 in particular):
1 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,...
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Historical interpretations of Ezekiel's vision of a temple
From Ezekiel 40 to the end, the author records a pretty detailed vision of a temple. Historically, what are the main ways this vision been interpreted?
Did the rabbis consider this vision to be ...
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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, ...
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What are the oldest known records of interpretation agreeing with New Perspective on Paul?
The "New Perspective on Paul", often abbreviated as "NPP", is a modern interpretation of Paul. The "old" perspective was that Paul characterized the Judaism of his day as a religion of legalistic ...
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What does "the assembly of the LORD" refer to?
Deuteronomy 23:1-8 lists some people that are forbidden to enter "the assembly of the LORD".
Deuteronomy 23:1-8 (NKJ)
Those Excluded from the Congregation
1 “He who is emasculated by ...
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Was there any significance to the term χριστὸς in koine Greek outside of Judeo-Christian thought?
This question is motivated by a reading of John 20:31:
SBLGNT
ταῦτα δὲ γέγραπται ἵνα πιστεύητε ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ
θεοῦ, καὶ ἵνα πιστεύοντες ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ.
...
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In Matthew 18:34, what does the Greek word βασανισταῖς (“torturers”) mean?
At the end of the parable of the unmerciful servant, the master has him jailed and handed over to be tortured:
34 And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should ...
user2055
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The significance of the designations of families who will mourn in Zechariah 12
As the prophet Zechariah proclaims the greatness of Jerusalem's mourning, he says:
12“All Israel will mourn, each clan by itself, and with the husbands separate from their wives. The clan of David ...
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Is "God is light" more than metaphor in 1 John 1:5?
1 John 1:5 states that God is light - but Genesis 1:3 describes God creating light. Obviously God cannot create himself; nor does his nature change.
I see a few options here, and I'm wondering which, ...
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Assessments of the evidence for the "Gap Theory" reading of Genesis 1:1-2?
Ever since the emergence of an understanding of "geological time" in the 18th Century, there has been a perceived tension with the six-day account of creation in Genesis 1 -- at least, if those "days" ...
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Genesis 19:24, Two Yahwehs?
How is Genesis 19:24 best translated?
Some translations translate it by apparently saying there are two Yahweh(s) involved in the act:
ESV: Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire ...
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What is an "anachronism" in Biblical Hermeneutics?
I have run across several definitions as it relates to "anachronism" in Biblical Hermeneutics and I am confused:
An anachronism in word studies takes place when we read a definition
of a word ...
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"Seven spirits of God" - literal or numerogical interpretation in early Christianity?
In Rev. 5:6 "... a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth" and also 4:5 and 3:1 Bible speaks ...
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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:
...
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What is the judgment in Psalm 1?
The ending of Psalm 1 provides great hope for those who delight in the instruction of the Lord:
Not so the wicked;
rather, they are like chaff that wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked ...
9
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What is the historical basis for viewing Genesis 3:15 as the 'protoevangelium'?
Genesis 3:15 is referred to by Christian theologians as the protoevangelium (first proclamation of the [Christian] gospel). The text reads:
Hebrew (MT):
וְאֵיבָ֣ה׀ אָשִׁ֗ית בֵּֽינְךָ֙ וּבֵ֣ין ...
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In Daniel 9.26 does the end "come like a flood" or will the end "be with a flood"?
I am reading from the Book of Daniel Chapter 9:26 (NIV) concerning an end-time prophecy, where it is written,
26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death
and will have ...
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What does Isaiah 55:1 mean by "buying without money"?
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no
money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and
without price.
Isaiah 55:1 (ESV)
What does Isaiah 55:1 ...
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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 ...
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Is the "four hundred years" the equivalent of the "four generations" in the Gen. 15:13-16 prophecy?
Gen. 15:13
Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred
years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own
and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.
...
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The Ten Commandments were based on the Code of Hammurabi?
A topic that was discussed among peers was that the Ten Commandments of Christian and Jewish faith were based off the Code of Hammurabi.
I looked into the Wikipedia article and was informed that ...
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What does a mustard seed grow into?
Jesus said, “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 ...
user2027
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Was Melchisedeck eternal in Hebrews 7:3?
Was Melchisedeck eternal in Hebrews 7:3?
Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest ...
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Son of theos vs son of kyrios
I'm hesitant to speak in absolute terms about this, but perhaps it can be generally agreed upon that in many cases where we see Χριστὸς we tend not to see κυριος as a relational lexicon to describe ...
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John 6:39 and Jesus' Confidence
I've done a decent amount of study from theologians and teachers of the Word regarding John 6:37-40, I've even studied it apart from the teachers. It seems most apparent and obvious that Jesus will ...
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Who is Apollyon in Greek Culture?
NASB, Revelation 9:11 - They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Who is "Apollyon", and how does an understanding ...
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What is the story behind mourning for Hadad-rimmon in Zechariah 12:11?
Zechariah, like Revelation which draws on it, is a tough nut to crack but very rich. In the twelfth chapter, the prophet records the word of Yahweh that
The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that ...
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Who is the Prince of Tyre?
In Ezekiel 28:2 it says,"
Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I
sit in the seat of God, in the ...
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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 ...
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Unfamiliar metaphors in Hosea 14:6-7
Hosea 14:5-7 (ESV) reads,
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall ...
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4
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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 ...
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Is King Solomon the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon?
A few objections against Solomon being the bridegroom are that Solomon was a king, not a shepherd (1:7), that he had hundreds of wives (versus 6:9, remembering that Solomon's first wife was an ...
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Psalm 51:5 CEV vs ESV
How can we determine which translation is more close to the original message? Clearly "the day I was born" vs "mother conceive me" paints a completely different picture - and arguably, a different ...
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9
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What is the meaning of the phrase "purge your conscience from dead works" in Hebrews 9:14?
What does "purge your conscience from dead works" mean in
Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
...
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How is the Shema interpreted by those who think Israel had henotheistic beliefs?
Deut. 6:4 says,
שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד ׃(Westminster Leningrad Codex)
"Hear O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord (is) one:"
I know there are a few people ...
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What did "ekklesia" mean in the Classical Greek and later the Septuagint, and did the meaning change when it was translated in the KJV bible? [closed]
I have a scholarly friend who believes if you examine the meaning of the word "ekklesia" in the original Classical Greek and later in the Septuagint it had the meaning of a "meeting"(an event in time) ...
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How Should "Mammon" be Interpreted - Linguistically?
Closely Related:
- In Luke 16 : Are the Uses of "Mammon" Contradictory, in the Same Context?
1. Question - Historical Interpretation And Lexical Semantics :
How is "Mammon" ...
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Was John the Baptist a member of the Essene community at Qumran?
This paper by Alan Farnes is one of many that have identified John’s appropriation of Isaiah 40:3 as reminiscent of the Qumran documents (a.k.a. Dead Sea Scrolls):
John 1:23 (ESV)
He said, “I am ...
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5
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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 ...
