The Divine Gift of Enduring Shame
When I was growing up, if you said “trigger” everyone thought about guns or Roy Roger’s horse… maybe shooting guns while riding Roy Roger’s horse. Today if you say “trigger”…
My Review of The Art of Bible Translation by Robert Alter
Shared with permission from Criswell Theological Review The Art of Bible Translation. By Robert Alter. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019, 129 pp., $24.95, Hardback In The Art of Bible Translation,…
A Still Small Voice in the Cool of the Day Part 2 of 2 (Video)
In part two of A Still Small Voice in the Cool of the Day we conclude our discussion on two often overlook storm theophanies, one in Genesis 3 and the…
A Still Small Voice in the Cool of the Day Part 1 of 2 (Video)
In this video, I begin a discussion about two overlooked storm theophanies in the Bible, one in Genesis 3 when God comes on in judgement against Adam and Eve, and…
A Colored Past to Dye For
I’ll never forget a visit I made many years ago to a full scale temple model with my wife. The woman running the guided tour was just chuck full of……
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
New Testament Studies
Jesus as Gospel: Is there Emperor Typology in Mark 1:1?
Some have suggested that the “OF” case in Mark 1:1 in the phrase “Gospel of Jesus” is objective… meaning that Jesus is the gospel and not merely the preacher of…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Text Criticism Issues
Getting out the Pagan Within Part 1: A Biblical Theology of I Samuel 15:27-31
Even a brief scan of 1 Samuel 15 should be enough to perplex the average reader. Here YHWH commands Samuel to command Saul to utterly destroy a people called the…
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Intertestamental History & Literature
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
A Baptism in Confusion: 3 Baptisms in Mark 1:2-13
In our last episode, we introduced the bare bones essence of water baptism as an ancient covenant ratification act saturated with typical death imagery and corresponding OT interests in ordeal…
Biblical Language Issues
Inductive Study Methods
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
“As” if: Mark 1:2-4 as a Single Sentence
There is a certain beauty in translation. It is not only a science, but also an art… some would say not even a science. There are all kinds of philosophies…
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Inductive Study Methods
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Technical Terms We Only Think We Understand: Gospel in Mark 1:1
There are many bingo phrases that Christian’s throw around at church that I am convinced they barely understand. If you ask them what their favorite terms mean, you will, more…
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
Fearsome Holiness
Though appearing over 1000x in Scripture, HOLY is a tricky notion to express in modern secular communities. Few raised in the modern western tradition today have the proper mental and…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Old Testament Studies
What’s Good for the Gander is Good for the Goose: “The Foreigner at the Well” in Ruth
In recent blogs, I’ve been considering the alluring and powerfully theological type-scene “Foreigner at the Well.” It is common for people to develop in their entertainment of any form typical…
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
Old Testament Studies
Text Criticism Issues
There is no Jehovah
Being that few of my friends and neighbors have names that really mean something to us, (Other than Marsha Mello, Amanda Lynne, and Justin Case Yelle). I am intrigued about…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
Hallelujah: Call “of” Praise or Call “to” Praise
After discussing, in my recent blog post, “Hallelujah is a Sentence,” that the biblical “term” Hallelujah has grammar and that we should both be aware of that grammar and use…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Without a Vision, People are Certain to Misinterpret Proverbs 29:18
I’m not sure which is worse, the constant misuse of Proverbs 29:18a (KJV) or how many times I find myself saying, “That’s not a good translation,” whenever I try to…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
Theology
Why the Word “God” Makes me Uncomfortable
“Whose an Elohim? Raise your hand.” One of the problems with being a biblical theologian is the discomfort I suffer whenever someone’s question crosses lines between biblical and “Christian” categories.…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Intertestamental History & Literature
Old Testament Studies
Tweaking Your Enemies Hebrew Style
In my previous blog, “What’s in a Name?” I started a discussion on the importance of paying attention to the meaning of names in the Bible. Sometimes what comes out…
A Tribute to the Musical Story Teller
One of the great things about learning Hebrew is the ability to share in the feel of the stories beyond raw content. Good writing uses language as more than just…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
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What’s in a Name?
In our own western culture the connection between names and meaning is rather slight. I know this, in part, because I am one of those annoying, but well meaning, people…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
New Testament Studies
Old Testament Studies
Hallelujah is a Sentence
At the risk of sounding like a petulant child… well, a petulant child that complains about the frequent misuse of ancient Hebrew in weekly church services…. Which now that I…