Recently, we’ve discussed the controversial aside which Mark seems to have added in Mark 7:19 to the effect that Jesus’ debate with the Pharisees over the “Traditions of the Elders” leads naturally to Jesus’ denouncement of Torah food laws[1]—A happy day for squirrel hunters and scallop eaters the...
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September 21, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy the gastric freedom of gentile existence. Whether my arteries enjoy it is another discussion altogether. I love lobster, shrimp, and bacon, and though I have never actually eaten dolphin or alligator, I’d happily try them if you slathered them with...
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September 19, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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I learned Hebrew from a Rabbi.[1] Then I had to re-learn it from other sources. The Rabbi, you see, had a rather relaxed philosophy of language learning. He immersed our class in the world of the Hebrews, into the world of the Jews. He said things like, “Greek...
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September 16, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies
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Today we have a recently engaged guest Blogger. John Donnelly is a Biblical Literacy Ministries Educator, Church Planter, & Part-year missionary to India. John has a Master’s in Old Testament Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is nearly finished with a Masters degree in New Testament studies from the...
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September 14, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Language Issues, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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Isaiah 1:18—almost every Christian I know can quote it. It is a common favorite of preachers who see in this verse a solid Old Testament promise of forgiveness in Jesus, a powerful prediction of His work, centuries before the “shadow” of the Spirit loomed over Mary. Unfortunately, that...
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September 12, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues
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In part 1 of this series, I focused on the tendency to make too many assumptions about color terms in the Bible. The dilemma is that while we have no instance in Scripture in which “scarlet” garments, or scarlet in general is set against white in terms of...
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September 9, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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In parts 1 & 2 we discussed the wide range of possibilities available to us for Isaiah 1:18 in keeping with both the flexibility of dye/color imagery in the Biblical world and the grammatical flexibility of Hebrew poetry and verbs in general. We posited 6 interpretations commonly given...
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September 7, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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Weasel words are highly emotive words that are used to manipulate perception, transferring feeling to ideas or products or policies. Weasel words take people hostage emotionally pressuring them to buy, or accept, or reject something. Buyer beware! Thinker beware! Voter beware! In my post, “Abuse Can Be a...
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September 5, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Communication, Society
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In every area of life, one needs to be cautious with highly emotive words…. especially highly emotive words that, like most highly emotive words, have no clear definition, or no clear limitations. Weasel words are words that are used manipulatively to transfer emotional sensation from one thing to...
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September 2, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Communication, Society
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We’ve been discussing the puzzle of David’s assault on Goliath, whether David hit Goliath in the head or the leg, given that the Hebrew terms for forehead and grieve are identical.[1] We’ve looked at the nature of slings and sling stones (To which we will shortly return). Some...
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August 31, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, Old Testament Studies, Text Criticism Issues
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In our last David and Goliath post, we considered the puzzle regarding David’s defeat of Goliath. The place where David struck Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:49 is the same Hebrew term for the greaves of bronze on Goliath’s legs in 1 Samuel 17:6. We posed the question: Did...
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August 29, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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Imagination has a good deal to do with how the story of David & Goliath is used in modern times, even among scholars and in commentaries. Given its status as one of the most repeated lessons in Sunday School, right up there with the prodigal son and the...
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August 26, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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If you consider yourself a leader in the church, whether pastor or lay leader, you should seriously consider taking the plunge to learn biblical languages. It is easier than you think, and more rewarding than you can imagine. Here are 12 quick reasons why you should: Learning Biblical...
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August 24, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Language Issues
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Can men and women be friends? Of course men and women can be friends… so long as one defines the term friend properly. The real question is, can men and women be friends the way two men or two women are friends? Can men and women have a...
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August 22, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
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Let’s face it, the Corinthian church was a mess. They remind me of the struggles of frontier ministers, like Peter Cartwright, who once beat the crud out of some hecklers, only to have them return for his evening service and dedicate their lives to Christ. The scene in...
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August 19, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Studies, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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The identity of “HE” in Isaiah 44:18[1] is in the end a mystery, but the question itself and the journey that results from the pursuit of an answer is invaluable. Isaiah says of Idol makers and Idol worshipers, “They do not know; they do not understand because he...
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August 17, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Language Issues, Old Testament Studies
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I don’t read Christian fiction. As an Old Testament scholar, I have an affinity with message in story and, like many of the investigators in my favorite novels, I enjoy the Sherlock Holmes-iness of reaching back through the ages to discern the intention of those masters who wrote...
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August 15, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Ethics, Society
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In Genesis 1:26, we find, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Genesis 3:22 reads, “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil.” These are two of the most profound, yet debated,...
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August 12, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Language Issues, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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Living, as Americans, in a culture of divorce makes any dialogue on divorce and the Christian difficult. Indeed, any teaching set forward on divorce and remarriage will no longer be a marginal issue affecting only a small fraction of the Church, but will be tested in every conceivable...
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August 10, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Ethics, Society
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“You are attempting the impossible,” the Dean said to me in 1992. “You can’t get a PhD, be a husband, father, and employee. If you manage to get the degree, you will not be human when it’s over.” That was the best advice I ever ignored. I got...
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August 8, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society, Theology
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