In a place like the world of the Bible where people were given names like “Festive” (2 Samuel 3:4~ Haggith), “Hot” (Genesis 10:1 Ham), and “Wild Goat” (Nehemiah 7:58~Jaala), you might imagine that the names of their gods might also have some descriptive quality. Of particular interest is...
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July 18, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, Old Testament Studies
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Covenant is a Genre based on the concept that the Holy is actively involved in the affairs of Man, Holding Men to their oaths. Men call upon the gods to bless or curse them in keeping with promises made concerning general or specific expressions of loyalty to another....
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June 13, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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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. the reason he included the story in the larger Samuel narrative. Individual stories function in larger biblical narrations...
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June 3, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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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 and stealing the golden lampstand for good measure. We have examined the meaning of Saul’s grasp of Samuel’s...
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May 30, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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We are looking at the divine condemnation of Saul’s dynasty in 1 Samuel 15, having already considered the seriousness of the sin which lead directly to it. In the midst of the exchange between discredited king and holy prophet, 1 Samuel 15:27-31, a strange social ballet of sorts...
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May 27, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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Okay, Saul goofed. He failed to perfectly enacts a rather brutal command to exterminate another people group. It’s hard to get our modern hearts around this too much. We aren’t so keen on genocide these days, and we have more than a little resentment for the kind of...
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May 25, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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Even though I specialize in Old Testament Studies and interpretive methodology, I still find certain areas of study quite difficult to unravel. The world of the Old Testament has many secrets that the millennia have yet to whisper into our modern ears. The exact meaning of much...
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April 29, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
Today we have a guest Blogger. John Donnelly, 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 a Masters degree in New Testament studies from the same. So here he is on “The Unseemly Assumptions about...
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April 25, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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Okay, so let’s get one thing straight; covenant is a genre. In fact, covenant is a genre with several sub-genres. (I’ll discuss sub-genres in another post.) This means that covenant has recognizable forms that developed in history through human interaction and communication in particular places among particular people.[1]...
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April 20, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Old Testament Studies
We’ve been discussing some important points about Covenant both in Scripture and in the ancient world. So, if you’ve been following my string of posts on Covenant, here are our facts so far: Today, I’d like to add a 6th element to this list. So here goes: 6....
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April 13, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Old Testament Studies
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Since we live in a contractual world, not a covenantal world, a crash course in biblical era covenant cutting is in order. Now, don’t get me wrong, we still have the tattered remnants of covenant-making in our modern western societies, but it mostly resembles the scattered debris of...
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April 11, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Theology, Old Testament Studies
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Angel, from Pune India, asked: Is getting a tattoo on the body against Scripture? Good question. There are health concerns and there are social concerns… but are there major religious concerns? Let us forget for a moment that health concerns and social concerns ARE ALWAYS religious concerns as...
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March 1, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Communication, HAGALAH, Old Testament Studies, Society
Question: Job 1:4 – Is there a majority scholarly agreement with regards to what “every one his day” means? What is “his day”? I was always under the impression that it was each one’s birthday… What do you say? Is there scholarly agreement in general? If so,...
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August 28, 2015 Andrew Sargent
Old Testament Studies, Question Posts
I must confess, I did not watch the recent televised and much talked about creation debate between Answers in Genesis founder, Ken Ham and, local TV legend, Bill Nye the science guy…aside from a few clips here and there. I did, however, read a good deal about it...
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February 20, 2014 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Studies, Old Testament Studies, Society
