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There are three variants of the Greek text here:
(a) ... τῇ μεμνηστευμένῃ αὐτῷ γυναικί ... ("his betrothed wife")
(b) ... τῇ μεμνηστευμένῃ αὐτῷ ... ("his betrothed")
(c) ... τῇ γυναικί αυτου ... ("his wife")
Variant (a) is found in the majority of Greek manuscripts, including the Codex Alexandrinus (early 5th century). It is the reading ...
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It is safe to say that commentators through the centuries have found this pair the most puzzling of the catalogue of times in Ecclesiastes 3:2-8. And, as George Barton wrote in his ICC commentary of 1908,
[t]he interpretation of the first clause is difficult.
Observations
There are obvious regularities and patterns in the pairs of opposites that are ...
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In the English language the expression "son of X" usually means an offshoot from X and therefore something which is distinct from X. Therefore "Son of God" may seem to imply a being who is not God. But in Hebrew idiom "A is the son of B" may mean that A shares the same nature as B, or A is a member of the group B. For example:
Genesis 5:32 says literally "...
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The World Health Organization reports that the average weaning age is 4.2 years worldwide at present, however the weaning age has declined in modern times and the weaning age would have been higher in the past.
This is supported by the book of II Maccabees, 7:27 wherein a mother casually mentions giving milk to her son for three years which would be ...
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No, it wasn't a necessary thing to do (in addition to the actual circumcision) because the LORD had not commanded Zipporah to do it. The action and her words ("You [Moses] are a bridegroom of blood to me") certainly had a symbolic meaning, though that meaning, however, may or may not have been derived from "an ancient marital relationship formula recalling ...
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I don't know of any scholar who denies that Hammurabi wrote a code of laws before Moses received the Ten Commandments and the accompanying law. So if the question is: Did Moses invent the idea of having a written code of laws, the answer is clearly "no".
But if the question is: Were the specific set of laws in the Ten Commandments et al not really written ...
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Two reasons barrenness was undesirable
In antiquity there were typically two reasons that barrenness was undesirable. The first, which isn't really an issue in this text had to do with the security of the future. Children were the ancient equivalent of a retirement plan since there were no pensions, social security, etc. Therefore, the only ones to care for ...
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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 simply means the ability to discern false teachers and false prophets.
John Chrysostom, a 4th century Greek, explains the verse:
What is discerning of ...
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Further Analysis
Davïd's answer gives a good statement about the verse, providing a very useful analysis. However, there are a couple of points of analysis for Eccl 3:1-8 that I believe are relevant, yet unexplored (likely both by Davïd and the commentaries he references).
Four More Relevant Observations
"More," because again, Davïd's observations are ...
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In Hebrew the text reads:
וְהִנֵּ֨ה תַנּ֤וּר עָשָׁן֙ וְלַפִּ֣יד אֵ֔שׁ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָבַ֔ר בֵּ֖ין
הַגְּזָרִ֥ים הָאֵֽלֶּה
Lapid Esh (לַפִּ֣יד אֵ֔שׁ) literally means "a torch of fire." This would seem to be redundant, what other kind of torch is there? I submit that the verse should be read as if there was a kof before the lamed of לַפִּ֣יד (i.e. כְּלַפִּ֣יד)...
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In the temptation story, Jesus is quoting a scripture passage, introduced by the words "It is written." The focus at that point is Jesus acknowledging the truth and authority of God's word. He is saying in effect, God has spoken and I must submit to that word.
In the Sermon on the Mount, the focus is different. Jesus here is a rabbi teaching his disciples (...
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I have two answers, a simple meaning and an allegorical meaning.
Simple meaning: After a home is built the excess stones are removed from the home (because they are in the way and no longer useful). Before a home is built we gather the stones to build the house. So this is a parallel of verse 3. See Metzudat David (an 18th C Jewish commentary that focuses ...
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Definition
The Hebrew term often translated "thigh" is ירך (yārēḵ; יָרֵךְ), which HALOT notes can refer to (my numbering; HALOT has only 2 entries and groups a number of meanings under #1 of there entry):
The upper thigh (upper leg); e.g., Exo 28:42 (distinct from the waist here, referring to the bottom extent of priest's trousers), Jer 31:19 (Jeremiah ...
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Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me...
[OP]: Just what does this table represent?
First, except in the most qualified sense, this is not what is in mind in Psalm 23:5 -
The word "table"
The Hebrew term for "table" is שֻׁלְחָן šulḥān (71× in the Hebrew Bible), still the common word in use in Israeli Hebrew. But in the world of the ...
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The setting here is long before the invention of the printing press. The scriptures were hand copied, thus ordinary people would not have been able to own a copy of the scriptures. However, in ancient Judea during the Second Temple Period, the Jewish scriptures(Christian Old Testament) would have been publicly available in the synagogues to read. In fact, ...
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The "Last Day" ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ (yes, usually in the dative case) is a technical phrase, that occurs regularly:
John 6:39, 40 - And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal ...
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A quick methodological note. An answer to the question of what was regarded as "blasphemy" by the Sanhedrin requires an answer rooted in Jewish Law of the Second Temple period,1 rather than in the Hebrew Bible itself.
Scholarship on Jesus' trial in the context of Roman and Jewish law of the period has been carried on for a very long time. One of the ...
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The robe, ring & sandals help show the father’s high level of love, honor and authority for the son. The robe and the ring are symbolic of how well the father will be treating his son (i.e. somewhat like Jacob and Pharaoh treated the favorite son Joseph).
Jacob honored Joseph by getting him a long tunic, and the jealous brothers saw how Jacob was the ...
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Apollyon seems to be a descriptive name based on ἀπόλλυμι: ἀπο- (apo-, “away”) and ὄλλυμι (óllumi, “to destroy”) rather than any Greek god or hero. From apo, we get words like apogee. Apolumi is an intensified form of destroy.
Coincidentally, Apollinaris was the name of the XV Roman legion, one of the four that destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem on Tisha B'...
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There is with little doubt a link between Apollyon and Apollo. Let me elaborate:
The name Apollyon is a Greek play on words for "Apollo" (Apollon in Greek) and "Destroyer." Revelation 9:11 reads, “They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).” Abaddon means “destruction or ...
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It's in Jesus' teachings.
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ... 44 No one can come to me unless the ...
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The operative word in James 2:2 is indeed, συναγωγή (synagoge). However, this does not not necessarily imply that James is referring to Jewish synagogues. The word simply means "place of assembly", or "meeting", "gathering place"
For example the following versions translate this word as "meeting" or "assembly&...
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there were five gifts
The robe: a sign of royalty in the house of the Father, a protection as well from the elements and danger
The sandals: the son is not a servant but also the sandals to protect and guide our way back home.
The ring: the commitment between God and man and father and son that has no beginning and no ending. It is also a representation of ...
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If you further read the text in 1 Samuel 2:5, AFTER Hannah leaves Samuel with Eli and when she is praising the Lord she says, "She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has many sons pines away." Hannah is referring to herself in the first part of that sentence, so by the time she committed Samuel to the Lord as a servant of the priest (which ...
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