Category Archives: passage interpretation
a sextary of dore’s dung
Chapter 4 of Book 9 of Antiquities of the Jews, by Flavius Josephus, tells of a time, during a famine, when them of Samaria were willing to buy “a sextary of dore’s dung, instead of salt” for five pieces of silver. This led me to wonder: just what is a sextary? What (or who?) is [...]
proverbs 13:8
Proverbs 13:8 כֹּ֣פֶר נֶֽפֶשׁ־אִ֣ישׁ עָשְׁר֑וֹ וְ֝רָ֗שׁ לֹא־שָׁמַ֥ע גְּעָרָֽה׃ Kofer nafesh-ish ‘ashro verash lo-shama’ ge‘arah. The ransom for a man’s life is his wealth, but the poor hears no threat [of such a thing]. One of the advantages of not having a whole lot of money is that you’re unlikely to be kidnapped and held for [...]
what eved-melek means to me
When I was a little boy I had a little Bible book of cartoon pictures, a far more complete Bible than many children’s Bibles–if I remember right it even included the book of Hosea. Serious children’s Bible. Everyone did, however, look suspiciously European in skin tone. Except for Eved Melek. Eved Melek was black, and [...]
Posted in passage interpretation Tagged babylon, bible, cartoons, ebed melech, egypt, ethiopia, eved melek, jeremiah, jeremiah 38, jewish history, king zedekiah, kjv, kush, kushites, nebuchadnezzar, nubians Leave a comment
Was creationism recently invented?
Christianity always has been and always must be influenced to some extent by traditionalism–the goal of preserving the traditions handed down from the past. Even if the excessive traditionalism which attaches far too much significance to human development is drastically cut back and the Bible is (as it rightly should be) considered the final standard [...]
communism, the free market, and the early church
In a conversation between myself and the legendary Joel Watts, we were discussing socialism versus free market economics. And brother Joel said the following: And what exactly are ’socialist motives’? You mean live feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and having all things common in a community so that everyone is equal? Now, Joel did [...]
is adam israel? maybe, but peter enns of biologos doesn’t do a favor to the theory
Or if I may spell it out in more clearly, is the story of Adam in the beginnings of Genesis a story of the beginning of mankind, or of Israel? Though I still think of it as a story of mankind, the BioLogos foundation is back to its job of making theology and modern scientific [...]
Posted in passage interpretation Tagged adam, biologos, genesis, genesis 1, genesis 2, genesis 4, israel, peter enns 6 Comments
you won’t find this in your bible, but maybe you should
Samuel 28:18 reads, in most Bibles, something along the lines of, Now Absalom in his life had taken and erected himself the pillar which is in the King’s Valley. For he said, I have no son for my name to be remembered by. And he named the pillar after himself. And it is called Absalom’s [...]
Also posted in website links Tagged absalom's hand, absalom's monument, absalom's place, yad Leave a comment
on dialogue and contradiction
Somewhere I have read that the Talmud tells us two contradictory opinions can both be the living Word of God. Now, I really don’t like the way that’s worded, but I think there’s a certain truth in this, whether it’s in the Talmud or not. Related Posts:The Ascension of Mosesbelief in the supernatural is a [...]
on biblical historicity
Here‘s an argument for Adam being a real historical figure. It goes at it not from an angle that focuses on the meaning of particular Hebrew or Greek words or phrases, but rather from the doctrine of the fall and its centrality to our understanding of who Jesus is and what he did for us. [...]
Posted in passage interpretation Tagged adam, fall, greek, hebrew, jesus christ, redemption 2 Comments
what to do?