In a previous post, we turned our attention to a literal rendering of Proverbs 22:6,[1] which being one of the most hurled about texts, whether in accusation, self-defense, or hopeful soothing, suffers much in the shadow of questionable translation. The problem phrase “על־פי דרכו upon the mouth of...
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November 11, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, HAGALAH, Old Testament Studies
Proverbs 22:6 is one of the most quoted, potentially mistranslated and, thus, misunderstood verses in the Bible. As commonly rendered, it is interpreted as a glorious promise of “do it right & it’ll be right” in regard to parenting. It is also often used as an anchor of...
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November 9, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Language Issues, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
In a previous post, “What Makes a Pagan Pagan?: The Word Faith Heresy” I began discussing the two foundational errors of heart and mind that feed the many errors of Word Faith teachers. At the root of their corrupted fruit tree is a pagan vision of God that...
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November 7, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, New Testament Studies
I am a patient scholar. I regard the entire process of biblical interpretation as a complex interdependence of people over millennia trying to plumb the depths of Scripture through an ongoing dialogue. Many souls bring things to the corporate table. Most Bible interpreters have done their best, even...
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November 4, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds
While foolishly engaging a Twitter troll the other day, as this egomaniacal barbarian cursed the idea of God and Scripture, declaring Christianity and all other religion the source of all evil, (200 million dead at the hands of atheists not withstanding) I asked the man if he understood...
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October 24, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies, Society
So, in a recent post I discussed the church’s first heresy (Judaizers/the circumcision party) who sought to require gentiles to become Jews before becoming Christians, or in addition to becoming Christian, as if a proper expression of Christianity is encapsulated in a fixation on the letter of the...
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October 5, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
So, I’ve been discussing Torah food laws and how the two main texts that Christians appeal to for ignoring them are improperly interpreted. Mark 7 is talking about Halakic regulations popular during Jesus’ day which sought to drive a wedge of hatred between Jew and Gentile, abandoning the...
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October 3, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
One of the challenges of being a Biblical theologian rather than a systematic theologian (no disrespect to Systematic theology or Systematic Theologians intended) is to speak about theological issues rooted in particular texts without being drawn unwilling into the systematic entanglements of most informed Christian’s existing mental categories....
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September 30, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
In an earlier post, we discussed how common interpretations of the words spoken from heaven to Peter in Acts 10:13, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat” and in Acts 10:15, “What God has made clean, do not call common,” are often misinterpreted as abolishing Torah food laws.[1] My purpose...
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September 28, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
We’ve been discussing the Traditions of the Elders, Halakah and food laws in Mark 7.[1] Convinced that the Christian church is not responsible to keep Torah food laws (And rightly so, I believe) many have gone too far in their understanding of Jesus’ remarks, which are summarized for...
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September 26, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
In previous posts,[1] we’ve discussed the misconception that many people have about the discussion that Jesus has with the Pharisees over “The Traditions of the Elders” in Mark 7. That’s the place where Jesus “declares all foods clean.” We tend to read the event through our lens—like Christians...
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September 23, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Intertestamental History & Literature, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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
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
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
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
No Comment
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
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
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
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
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
