I’ll Take Allegories & Analogies for 200: The Prodigal Son in Reflection, Part 1
I’m sure most of you have heard at least five prodigal son sermons in your lifetime… I’ve been around a while and can lay claim to at least 20 myself……
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Train Up a Child and Everything Is Your Fault, Part 3: Is Proverbs 22:6 a Promise?
In two previous posts I’ve been discussing Proverbs 22:6 and the translation issues involved in what seems a rather ambiguous central phrase, “upon the mouth of his way” which seems…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Language Issues
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Train Up a Child and Everything Is Your Fault, Part 1: Translation Issues in Proverbs 22:6
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…
Genesis as Ancestor Epic Part III: The First Law as the Seed of All Just Law
In two recent posts we began to discuss the implication of reading Genesis as an Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) Ancestor Epic, a collection of stories that a people tell themselves…
Genesis as Ancestor Epic, Part II: What is an Ancient Creation Story?
In a recent post we began discussing the nature of Genesis as an ancestor epic—the stories that a people tell themselves about how they almost weren’t a people. Crises have…
Genesis as Ancestor Epic, Part I: Getting with the Program
When reading any document it helps to know what you are reading. Is this document a comic meant to be funny, mocking or otherwise derisive? Is this document a fiction…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
He’s No Idiot: Peter’s Interpretation of the Vision of the Sheet in Acts 10
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…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Peter & Ezekiel Argue with God and Win: Acts 10 in Light of Ezekiel 4
We’ve been discussing the Traditions of the Elders, Halakah and food laws in Mark 7. Convinced that the Christian church is not responsible to keep Torah food laws (And rightly…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Intertestamental History & Literature
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Some Traditions Deserve to Die: The Traditions of the Elders in Mark 7
In previous posts, 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…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Mark 7:19 and the Little Participle that Could
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”…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Language Issues
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
What You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know about the “Still Small Voice” Could Fill A Blog Post
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…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Though Your Sins be Made White as Snow, You Still Might Goof Isaiah 1:18: Part 2—Nasty Grammar Questions
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…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Though Your Sins be Made White as Snow, You Still Might Goof Isaiah 1:18: Part 3—Context
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…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Re-imagining David and Goliath—Slings of Outrageous Proportion
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…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Re-imagining David and Goliath: Foreheads, Legs, and Sling Stones
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…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Theology
Take My Daughters, Please!—The Righteous Offering of Lot’s Daughters
Yes, you read that title correctly, but don’t throw stones, yet. There are things to be discovered in this event that our modern gender issues, word meanings and culture may…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Theology
Getting out the Pagan Within Part 5: The Significance of the Central Saying—A Biblical Theology of I Samuel 15:27-31
Samuel’s speech to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:28-29 contains an important theological message for both Saul and the reader. It’s meaning, however, has been concealed within rather strange cultural practices…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
New Testament Studies
Body Parts, Wives and Other Stuff in 1st Thessalonians 4:4
Let’s consider three different translations for 1 Thessalonians 4:4 in context. Paul uses a figure of speech that has many people scratching their heads. The King James takes a rather…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Getting out the Pagan Within Part 6: A Biblical Theology of I Samuel 15:27-31 in Context
In our last few posts on 1 Samuel 15:27-31, we attempted to unpack the text in context in order to draw out of it, the narrator’s intended theological message… i.e.…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Getting out the Pagan Within Part 4: The Sanctimonious Serenades of Saul—A Biblical Theology of I Samuel 15:27-31
So far, we have considered 1 Samuel 15 from a different angles. We have discovered how serious Saul’s sin is. A sin akin to defiling the Ark of the Covenant…