15
votes
Accepted
What are the oldest known records of interpretation agreeing with New Perspective on Paul?
1977 and All That
There is a clear consensus marking the starting point of the "New Perspective on Paul" -- it was the landmark publication of E.P. Sanders' Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison ...
- 24.7k
15
votes
Why is Revelation 19:11-16 interpreted by some to refer to Jesus Christ?
I’m not saying that your postulate is an impossibility but it seems unlikely that this passage refers to a representative of Christ instead of Christ himself for the following reasons:
The theme of ...
- 159
14
votes
Was Potiphar, being a captain of an Egyptian guard, likely a eunuch?
I regret that I do not have access to the article by Johnston, but I understand his gist from Susan’s answer.
First of all, the argument that “research has failed to turn up any evidence for the use ...
- 5,270
13
votes
Accepted
Was Potiphar, being a captain of an Egyptian guard, likely a eunuch?
The word used to describe Potiphar's relationship with Pharaoh (37:36, 39:1) is sārı̂s, which is indeed commonly glossed "eunuch" (e.g. BDB; cf. LXX εὐνοῦχος). However, to my knowledge no major ...
- 26.2k
11
votes
Accepted
Is Ephesians 6:5-9 inapplicable with modern Christians who don’t have a “slave”?
One could consider the master/slave relationship here to be an extreme example of the more general employer/employee relationship, or any relationship where one person has the power to tell the other ...
- 5,823
10
votes
Accepted
Why is Revelation 19:11-16 interpreted by some to refer to Jesus Christ?
The Rider on the white horse of Rev 19 is clearly Jesus Christ for the reasons listed in the appendix below. The sticking point is the title/name, "The Word of God". This title in the ...
- 95.4k
10
votes
Proverbs 18:22's grossly oversimplified, glib, nonchalant view about getting married
Here's a more positive way to look at Proverbs 18:22.
Proverbs 18 is an anthology of traditional sayings for a variety of different circumstances that are not elucidated in the text itself because at ...
8
votes
Was there precedent for John to link the satan and the serpent?
Mark Edward did a fantastic job of covering the Biblical link between the serpent and Satan, so I will not re-hash that, but I would like to directly address the second part of the OPs question:
was ...
- 7,652
8
votes
The Ten Commandments were based on the Code of Hammurabi?
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 ...
- 207
8
votes
Historical Evidence that the Jewish Calendar Day Began at Sunset?
Clarification on Terms
My definitions for clarification.
Evening: The period of the Sun descending toward the horizon to set.
Sunset: The exact time the Sun is no longer visible above the horizon.
...
- 20k
8
votes
What are the oldest known records of interpretation agreeing with New Perspective on Paul?
(Note: I am answering this question at the request of another user, made here.)
The "New" Perspective on Paul
The New Perspective on Paul is really a whole collection of overlapping and sometimes ...
- 511
8
votes
How should the, "discernment of spirits," in 1 Corinthians 12:10 be interpreted taking cultural context into account?
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 ...
- 12.1k
8
votes
Was Melchisedeck eternal in Hebrews 7:3?
While I am sure that Melchisedek is eternal in the sense that he is in heaven with Christ, Heb. 7:3 was not saying Melchisidek never had a mother or father. The understanding comes from knowing ...
- 9,795
8
votes
Accepted
Son of theos vs son of kyrios
We can translate John 11:27 from Greek to English.
John 11:27 (Greek New Testament)
λέγει αὐτῷ· ναὶ κύριε, ἐγὼ πεπίστευκα ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ
θεοῦ ὁ εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐρχόμενος.
She said to ...
- 1,471
7
votes
How did Joanna "get away with" sponsoring Jesus' ministry?
Luke 8:3 says that Joanna was the wife of Chuza Herod’s "epitropos". Another text may shed further light on this. In John 4:46ff we read that:
46 So he [Jesus] came again to Cana in Galilee, where ...
7
votes
How is the Shema interpreted by those who think Israel had henotheistic beliefs?
In the article Hebrew Henotheism: Challenging the notion of Biblical Monotheism, the case is made that the Shema was to be understood relationally with Israel.
The 1985 edition of the Jewish ...
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7
votes
Accepted
How Should "Mammon" be Interpreted - Linguistically?
The word is Aramaic (ממון in Hebrew script) and means something like "wealth". μαμωνᾶς is simply the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic word. Here is Jastrow's entry for it:
It appears throughout ...
- 12.1k
7
votes
Proverbs 18:22's grossly oversimplified, glib, nonchalant view about getting married
I liked the other answers and have upvoted; this answer is not intended to compete with them but to complement them.
Passages like Prov 18:22 appear glib and simplistic, somewhat akin to a motherhood ...
- 95.4k
7
votes
Accepted
Exegesis - Paraclete as the antichrist or Satan?
I do not intend to take the space here to demonstrate that exegetes in every age have shown a decided tendency to interpret prophecy to be fulfilled in their own time. Muhammad and his teacher/pastor,...
- 95.4k
6
votes
What does "the assembly of the LORD" refer to?
The Tanakh translates בִּקְהַ֖ל יְהוָֽה in Deuteronomy 23 as "congregation of the LORD." Bernard M. Levinson's commentary in the JPS Study Bible states:
The congregation of the LORD (v.2) served ...
- 15.4k
6
votes
What does Paul mean by "unworthy manner" in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32?
The word Paul uses here, is αναξιως, a compound word consisting of αν + αξιως. So, it means "not" + "appropriately" or "inappropriately".
In 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, Paul records how Jesus instituted ...
- 4,999
6
votes
Genesis 2:18 - How to interpret "before", in "helper before him"?
Koehler Baumgartner (HALOT) lists נֶגֶד here as originally a substantive, not a preposition. So with the 3rd person pronominal suffix, and the כ inseparable preposition, would be something like "...
- 161
6
votes
John 19:30 - What did Jesus say "was finished"?
The phrase actually translates one word in Greek, tetelestai, from the root teleō, which means "to finish, fulfill."
Significantly, this specific form of the verb, tetelestai, is only found twice in ...
- 61
6
votes
Accepted
How far was a "Sabbath's Day Journey"?
The Rabbis determined their answer based on Joshua 3:4 where the distance from the tents to the Tabernacle was about 2000 cubits (.5+ miles). So the Jewish people would have been allowed to travel at ...
- 396
6
votes
Accepted
Who first interpretated John 8:58 ego eimi as Yahweh claim?
So there are perhaps two angles to this question:
What's the first literal claim of 'I Am' = 'Yahweh' in reference to this verse?
How early was this understood as a claim to divinity?
I introduce ...
- 5,596
6
votes
Accepted
How did Paul became a Roman citizen?
Paul was born a Roman citizen:
And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this
freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born (Acts 22:28).
This means that a) Paul's father was a ...
- 16k
6
votes
Is "God is light" more than metaphor in 1 John 1:5?
“Light” has different semantics: in the direct sense, it is a principle of a physical visibility for human eyes that has its source in a luminous, light-producing object, like the sun, for example.
In ...
- 10.1k
6
votes
Is Ephesians 6:5-9 inapplicable with modern Christians who don’t have a “slave”?
Some precepts apply only to an empirical historical reality, but they can have universal dimension also. For instance, in the Decalogue "do not covet for a donkey of your neighbor", is ...
- 10.1k
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