21
The position in the question, that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is not original to Matthew 28:19 is held today by very few scholars. Those that do point to a quotation from the early church historian Eusebius. In Demonstratio 3.6, he replaces "name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" with "my name."
This is then taken as a direct quote from the copy of ...
20
The (relatively) small amount of bronze needed to make that serpent/snake (or נְחַשׁ נְחֹשֶׁת nĕḥaš nĕḥōšet) in the story of Num 21:4-9,1 even if it was as large as the monument now on Mount Nebo in Jordan,...
...would still have been quite small compared to the amount of bronze (let alone silver and gold) needed to make the utensils required for the ...
18
I believe your first option is the best but with a little modification. Moses originally had an Egyptian name that sounded almost exactly like a Hebrew name.
The pun involved in the name is elaborate and crosses languages. Names like Tutmose, Ramose, Amenmose are well attested from Egypt. The addition of -mose makes it "born of Amen," "child of Tut," or "...
17
According to classical Jewish interpretation, Dt 22:22-29 all deal with various situations of forcible and statutory rape as well as extramarital relations. The differences in the cases are mainly:
the woman's marital status
the woman's virginity
the degree of consent or lack thereof that can be inferred from the geography
Verse 22:28 deals with only one ...
17
Dr. Meshulam Margaliot points out that Midrashic tradition is divided about what was written on which tablet. The options seem to be:
1–5 on one and 6–10 on the other. (This is the tradition interpretation that is most common in art and synagogue decoration.)
All 10 on each tablet.
Even numbered on one and odd on the other (as suggested by ...
15
No. The tetragrammaton was not used in Jesus' time. Faithful Jews would avoid saying it so as to not transgress the third commandment. The most common circumlocution was "Lord" (Andonai in Hebrew or Kurios in Greek), though he might also be referred to simply as "Heaven."
In answer to Jesus using El from the cross. El is the common word for God from all ...
15
The Phrasing is Not a Direct Comment on Jesus being over 40 Years Old
Irenaeus is in error with his logic here, partly because he is missing the context and particular significance of the statement.
Background
Rather than being a direct comment on Jesus' age (i.e. over 40 years old), the number 50 is stated because of its significance in Levitical service....
14
Carrier's thesis1 is highly improbable. He overstates the similarities between Luke and Josephus, and ignores the possibility that the similarities that do exist could be the result of two historians writing as contemporaries.
Carrier makes several claims in his conclusion. I'll discuss a few of them:
Luke-Acts was written in the late 1st or early 2nd ...
14
Stephen's interpretation is called "telescoping," conflating two very similar accounts into one. Telescoping was not an unusual phenomenon in the Land at the time. (Bruce, FF. The Book of Acts: New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT), pg 137, note 35). The account says nothing about Luke (the author) except that he was very careful to allow ...
14
The question of how "adoption" as used metaphorically by Paul relates to modern notions of adoption is not as important as comparing it to other ancient understandings. Once this is in place, however, the further comparison of the concept from Roman antiquity with modernity (in industrialized West, by implication?) can benefit from those findings.
The Texts
...
14
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 of eunuchs as officials in Egypt” is likely to convince only those who believe that the story of Joseph is an authentic record of historic events. It will not ...
13
The word in Exodus 20:21 which you translate as 'tool' is the Hebrew חרב which most literaly means 'sword'. Rashi there explains that a sword is designed to shorten life, while an altar is designed to lengthen life by being used to achieve atonement. It makes sense, therefore, that one should not be used in the formation of the other.
13
The original word here is closest to yawan, aka Javan son of Japheth—who is credited in the Bible with being the start of the tree of descendants that populated the Greek region. So the translation isn't unreasonable, but it may be talking more about the people rather than a traditional "kingdom".
For more information, see this page.
13
This theory is pretty credible. There a great deal of scholars which entertain this idea who are collectively known as Panbabylonists. This seems to raise the ire of many purists who would like to believe that Genesis was influenced by God alone.
In my opinion, however many fail to consider the idea that perhaps sections of Genesis were not derived from ...
12
It is very important to keep in mind that we have no manuscripts of Macion's gospel and no translations of it. Furthermore, we have no extant neutral or pro-Marcion commentaries. The two commentaries we have, by Tertullian and Epiphanius, have a strongly anti-Marcion agenda, furthermore they disagree with each other at some key points. This makes saying ...
12
What are the reasons for identifying Ezra's Artaxerxes as Artaxerxes I vs Artaxerxes II?
Why is there a problem?
In Ezra 7:7, reference is made to Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem in "the seventh year of King Artaxerxes" (= 458 BCE), as depicted earlier in the chapter:
7:1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra ... 7:6 ... ...
12
Regarding "key differences":
When one battles, one has also encountered - no issue.
When one engages, one has also met - no issue.
When one is said to have been killed "by" a commander of troops, that does not mean one was necessarily killed directly by that commander. It can just as easily have been by the troops that were under his command. For example, ...
12
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 English translation, including the KJV, translates it thus in this pericope (rather "officer" or "official"). There are several reasons for this, but perhaps the most ...
11
There are several creation accounts in antiquity from two main areas in the fertile crescent; Babylon/Sumer and Egypt. I will attempt to summarize and compare/contrast points of each creation myth with Genesis, so I will apologize at the outset to readers for the long answer. I'm sure the OP did not realize what a tall order this was, and as curiousdannii ...
11
(This answer is from a Christian perspective.)
Since this question deals with the significance of the imagery, it is helpful to look at other places in Scripture that use similar imagery.
1) 1 Kings 18:30-32 recounts a time when Elijah rebuilt one of these altars after it had been torn down:
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Now come to me.” So they ...
11
This is the historical record regarding The Temple and the Samaritans from the Bible.
Moses instructed the Israelites that there should be only one place of worship.
Deuteronomy 12:8-11 (NIV)
You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit, since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God ...
11
D. A. Carson's commentary on John (generally considered to be the best available commentary on this book of the Bible) explains the following: (See p. 220-222)
Different Canon...
The Samaritans limited the canon to the Pentateuch. As a result, they accepted Deuteronomy 12:5 as authoritative...
But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your ...
11
"Anachronism" is not a distinctive technical term in biblical hermeneutics, nor does it have a nuance which would distinguish it from its meaning in English more broadly. The Wikipedia article catches it nicely: "anachronism" is
...a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of person(s), events, objects, or customs from ...
11
Before anything, though, I must say that no, king Joash would not know that he must strike the ground five or six times. But, he really should have did that. All verse emphasis mine.
First of all, we would have to look at the reason why Elisha would be angry at an answer to a seemingly minuscule command,
2 Kings 13:14 (NKJV)
14 Elisha had become ...
11
The short answer is that, no, despite a persistent urban legend that NASA modeled this on one of their early computer systems, the reality is that such a simulation is impossible. According to Dr. Danny Faulkner writing for Answers in Genesis
From time to time, one hears that NASA computers have proved the account of the unusual day that accompanied the ...
10
Could they have innovated separately?
Certainly, but they didn't as "apolgias" were common in those days. Unbiased accounts of history are as much a myth then as today. They did not report just to report. History was written for a purpose. Luke tells us straight out in Luke and Acts that he is writing to show what Jesus began to do and teach and what ...
10
Calvin, Gill citing Maimonides, and Mathew Henry all give the reason as the prevention of idolatry. Drawn from them:
Such an altar is easily thrown down to prevent idolatry associated with it.
This would remove the temptation of making it into a sort of graven image.
The other nations cut stones for their altars
Many holiness laws have them not do things ...
10
Occam writes:
In Genesis 1:26, there aren't in fact three instances of "us". There is only one instance, "We will make", or "Let us make", followed by two possessives of the same number. The verse can be translated equally well as "Let us make mankind in our image and likeness" - with only two "us"s, as the Cambridge "New English Bible" translates. ...
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