13
votes
Accepted
Angel or messenger?
History
The Hebrew and Greek terms for 'messenger' do have this natural overlap, and can cause contention in translation. The Latin Vulgate was the first translation which tried to separate the word ...
- 5,191
10
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of the "inverted nuns" (׆ ... ׆) around Numbers 10:35-36?
The question as posed has done pretty much all the "homework" already! Here is how they look in Codex Leningrad:
In the scholarly literature, a fairly authoritative answer comes from Israel Yeivin's ...
- 24.5k
10
votes
Accepted
What factors bear on the authenticity of Matthew 23:14?
Textual Witness Analysis
Here is what the Apparatus to NA28 (which omits the verse) indicates:1
ουαι δε (− 700. 892c) υμιν γραμματεις και Φαρισαιοι υποκριται οτι
κατεσθιετε τας (− Δ) οικιας των ...
- 19.6k
10
votes
What factors bear on the authenticity of Matthew 23:14?
The Idea in Brief
Very able Bible scholars in years past have addressed this question. Both the United Bible Society 4th Edition Greek New Testament (UBS4) and the Nestle-Aland 28th Edition (NA28) ...
- 16.2k
9
votes
Accepted
What is Narcigesis?
This was a new word and a new idea to me, but I found helpful information in this link: https://www.gotquestions.org/narcigesis.html It explains that Narcigesis is
“the explanation of the Bible in ...
- 11.9k
8
votes
Interpretation of Genesis 1:26?
I think it is clear that the final redactor(s) thought of Elohim as one, and therefore as the sole-one who created mankind (human beings).
The phrase 'Let us make...' is a borrowed-motif from other ...
- 89
8
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between a "literal" and "literalistic" interpretation of Scripture?
Vanhoozer answers your question somewhat himself in Is There a Meaning in the Text? (at least from his perspective). He states (emphasis added and comments in brackets added by me):
It is most ...
- 19.6k
7
votes
What is the Sitz im Leben approach in Form Criticism?
For OP: "Sitz im Leben" (German for "setting in life") is not itself an "approach", but is a fundamental component of "Form Criticism".
Sitz im Leben and Genre
I would like to add one caveat lector ...
- 24.5k
7
votes
What factors bear on the authenticity of Matthew 23:14?
Matthew 23:14 is absent from some earlier manuscripts, which is a clue that it was not in the autograph, but not actual proof of this. David E. Garland (The Intention of Matthew 23, pages 15-16, ...
- 12.1k
7
votes
Accepted
What version of the bible uses color coding to indicate the certainty of words attributed of Jesus?
I expect this is The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus, a product of the "Jesus Seminar". You can see more about this "version" on Michael Marlowe's "...
- 24.5k
6
votes
Accepted
What is hermeneutics?
A Basic Definition
Hermeneutics is both the science and the art of interpreting any written communication, but particularly the Bible.
Hermes, the ancient Greek god was considered to be the herald and ...
- 6,808
6
votes
What is the meaning of the "inverted nuns" (׆ ... ׆) around Numbers 10:35-36?
This was taken from the Shabbat Tractate of the Babylonian Talmud(Mishna):
The rabbis taught: Before the passage [Numb. x. 35]: "And it came to
pass when the ark set forward, that Moses said, etc....
- 6,598
6
votes
In John 13:23-25, is Jesus reclining at dinner cuddling with "the disciple that he loved" an intentional dismissal of Leviticus 18:22?
The question in a sense has no answer because it contains an incorrect premise - that Jesus and John were 'cuddling'.
As Benson says,
"This phrase only expresses the then customary posture at ...
- 2,480
5
votes
Is it possible to be unbiased when interpreting Scripture?
A bracketed reading does not allow a reader to approach the text in an essentially unbiased manner. Rather, just the opposite is true: a bracketed reading is one in which the reader adopts a ...
- 35.5k
5
votes
What textual clues are there that the original readers of Genesis would have understood 11:27–50:26 in a different way than Genesis 2:4–11:26?
There are a number of indicators:
Themes
In the texts in Chapter 11 and earlier, all of the stories are about God's punishment of mankind. While the theme of salvation is present in these texts, ...
- 7,381
5
votes
Accepted
What comes "after" hermeneutics?
Hermeneutics is the science and art of interpretation. So "after" one studies the principles of how to interpret (of which there are varying philosophies about what these principles are, hence various ...
- 19.6k
5
votes
Accepted
Did Jesus practice eisegesis?
Midrash and PaRDeS
One aspect of Jesus ministry often centered around demonstrating his authority and credibility above and beyond that of other rabbis like the Pharisees. At the time, Jewish ...
- 7,381
5
votes
What hermeneutic is Paul employing in his approach to 1 Corinthians 9:8-10?
קַל וָחֹמֶר (qal vahome) (from lesser to greater) argument: Jesus used it
9:8–10. Deuteronomy 25:4 was intended as a principle to teach that the laborer should be fed; here Paul may argue in the ...
- 16.5k
5
votes
What hermeneutic is Paul employing in his approach to 1 Corinthians 9:8-10?
1 Cor 9:8-10 is a perfect example of arguing from the lesser to the greater - Paul uses the same argument in V7. There are many examples of this type of hermeneutic in the both the OT and the NT.
...
- 71.9k
4
votes
Accepted
"Spiritual Enlightenment" in John 7:17
Weak Support for A Positive Principle/Law of Hermeneutics
Let's expand the context just a bit, especially since my form of hermeneutics primarily uses the Scriptures themselves in conjunction with ...
- 19.6k
4
votes
Does Genesis 1:14 Talk About Astrology?
Astrology as in the belief that the heavenly bodies control our fate is condemned in the Bible. But there's also astronomy, which is the science used to create calendars.
The Sun and the Moon are ...
- 1,308
4
votes
Should Bible texts that are less clear be explained by texts that are more clear?
Is there an explicit proof-text?
No. There is nothing in the Bible that says "Thou shalt interpret the unclear in light of the clear" or anything like that.
Are proponents reasoning from proof-texts?...
- 11.9k
4
votes
Hebrews 12:24: subjective or objective genitive?
The Greek name Abel (Ἅβελ) is one of the indeclinable proper names in the NT. So it can have a nominative, genitive, dative, or accusative idea with the same form.
Other NT mentions of Abel in ...
- 19.6k
4
votes
Is Leviathan, as meant in scriptures, a unique individual or a species?
The Masoretic Text word here is לִוְיָתָן - liw·yā·ṯān.
The Septuagint renders this word into Greek as δράκων - drakon (whose meaning should be obvious). Looking at the Greek doesn't give much ...
- 9,775
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