Unanswered Questions
472 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
10
votes
1answer
595 views
What is the significance of the structure of Ecclesiastes 3:2-8?
Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 lists 28 events grouped in contrasting pairs which are connected by the phrase עֵ֥ת...וְעֵ֣ת. Each couplet is made up of one event which can considered as positive and another which ...
8
votes
2answers
208 views
Is Leviticus 16:2 an explanation or instruction?
The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to
come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain
in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will ...
8
votes
3answers
267 views
Why are there so many unusual weapons used in Judges?
There are a number of unusual or unconventional weapons used in the book of Judges:
Shamgar uses an oxgoad to strike down Philistines (3:31)
Jael uses a tent peg to kill Sisera (4:21)
Gideon's army ...
8
votes
1answer
249 views
Hebrew translations of the Aramaic Texts
Several sections of the Old Testament are written in Aramaic. With the Old Testament, we will often examine translations like the Greek Septuagint, the Aramaic Targumim, and the Syriac Peshitta in ...
7
votes
2answers
160 views
The use of הָאֵ֑לֶּה and הָהֵ֔ם in Zechariah 8
In Zechariah 8 we read (KJV):
[9] Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these (הָאֵ֑לֶּה) days these (הָאֵ֑לֶּה) words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in ...
7
votes
2answers
311 views
Is Revelation 12:6, 14 considered an inclusio?
Would the term inclusio be correctly applied to Revelation 12:6 ("Then the woman fled into the wilderness . . .") and verse 14 ("the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she ...
7
votes
3answers
387 views
How might Matthew 16:22 in the Codex Vaticanus be best translated to reflect the etymology of the text?
While translating Matthew 16 today, I ran across what the NET Bible calls a "highly elliptical expression" in verse 22:
καὶ προσλαβόμενος αὐτὸν ὁ Πέτρος ἤρξατο ἐπιτιμᾶν αὐτῷ λέγων·
Ἵλεώς ...
7
votes
4answers
323 views
Did Jesus call his disciples before or after going to the Capernaum synagogue?
I have a question concerning a potential contradiction in the order of events in Galilee.
In Luke 4:31-36, Jesus visits the Capernaum synagogue and heals the man of unclean spirits. Early in Luke 5, ...
6
votes
3answers
103 views
Psalm 96 (95) Why does the LXX translate אלילים as δαιμόνια?
Psalm 96 (95) v. 5
(Westminister Leningrad Codex) כִּ֤י ׀ כָּל־אֱלֹהֵ֣י הָעַמִּ֣ים אֱלִילִ֑ים וַֽ֝יהוָ֗ה שָׁמַ֥יִם עָשָֽׂה׃
(LXX) ὅτι πάντες οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν δαιμόνια, ὁ δὲ κύριος τοὺς ...
6
votes
1answer
688 views
Luke 15:8-10, Silver Coin Semedi Headdress in 1st Century Palestine?
In Luke 15, verses 8-10, the Bible tells a story about a woman who loses a silver coin or drachma:
“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the proper understanding of παιδία in 1 John?
"Children" and/or "little children" are found 13 times in 1 John. Seven (2:1, 12, 28;3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21) are the word τεκνίον, which is the diminutive of τέκνον which is used four times (3:1, 2, 10; 5:...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
Is there an implicit comparison between the lines of Cain and Seth?
Many commentators note that the lineage of Cain in Genesis 4 is followed by a genealogy of Seth in Genesis 5 and compare the two lines, treating Cain's line as godless and Seth's line as godly. This ...
6
votes
2answers
214 views
Does “first” demand a “second” in Zechariah 12:7?
Does the Hebrew for "first" in Zechariah 12:7 carry the same logical implication we would apply in English that there must then be, at least, a second?
“And the LORD will give salvation to the ...
6
votes
1answer
222 views
Psalms superscripts: completion or choirmaster?
Many (56) of the Greek Psalms begin (in what is the superscript in English on most chapters, not represented at all in a few):
Εἰς τὸ τέλος.
This is a mystery to me. The NETS translates it, ...
5
votes
0answers
58 views
Is the letter to Titus a more relevant source of John's “the Word,” ὁ λόγος, than Philo, Hellenistic philosophy, or Jewish Wisdom literature?
When considering the meaning of terms Paul applied to Jesus in the letter to Titus, the phrase "the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" (2:13) is much debated. There are grammatical arguments for ...
