Category: Something New in the Bible
-
The Past Casts a Long Shadow
Saul is from Gibeah (1 Samuel 10:26). (!!) Gibeah is the site of the atrocity in Judges 19 (Judges 19:12ff). The aftermath of that atrocity draws in Jabesh-gilead (Judges 21), so that the people of Gibeah are related to the people from Jabesh-gilead after that. Saul’s first act as king is to rescue the people […]
-
Maybe Not the Smartest Group
There’s a text critical issue in Judges 7:4-6 – the story of who God picks to go with Gideon to attack the Midianites! It turns on what it means to “kneel” and “lap like a dog.” Different versions, it turns out, resolve it differently. NRSV makes the “lappers” out to be the ones who put […]
-
A double message?
How ironic and paradoxical is this instruction: “… you must destroy the Amalekites and erase their memory from under heaven. Never forget this!” (Deuteronomy 25:19) Ironic because it’s an instruction in a discourse to be preserved continuously for posterity, and paradoxical because how do you erase a memory that you are never to forget? about […]
-
Just Say No More
Noticed in today’s reading: “Nor shall you accept ransom for one who has fled to a city of refuge, enabling the fugitive to return to live in the land before the death of the high priest. You shall not pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can […]
-
Hard-Hearted
This morning’s reading included the story of Jesus walking on the water, as told by Mark (6:45-52) – so, not the one where Peter tries to do it, too, but the one where the disciples are terrified because they think it’s a ghost. This is the second time Jesus has calmed storms on the Sea […]
-
Where did you want to eat?
In Matthew (Mt 26:18) Jesus tells the disciples to “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” [It just sounds more like visiting, less like them hanging out in someone’s spare upper room.]
-
Being Self-Aware
God is self-aware. [Surely, implied by Exodus 3:14. Still, never thought about it before. …]
-
So Temporary
In this morning’s reading, in Genesis 50:11 the Canaanites rename the place of the Egyptians’ mourning for Jacob “Abel-mitzraim,” “because it was a place of deep mourning for the Egyptians.” The mitzraim part refers to the Egyptians, so the Abel part has to be mourning, which got me thinking about Abel in Genesis 4 – […]
-
Names
Genesis 36 is a genealogy, of Esau, “also named Edom” – surprise, the grandfather of Amalek (36:12), whose mother is Timna, the daughter of “Seir the Horite” (36:22), Seir another name for Edom, so here are the connections all laid out. 36:40 says the leaders of the clans of Edom lived “in the places named […]
-
“The Fearsome God of Isaac”
Just noticed this: In Genesis 31:42 and 31:53, Jacob refers to the God of Abraham and the something God of Isaac; NRSV translates it as “the Fear of Isaac” and notes that the Hebrew is uncertain; similarly JPS; NLT translates it as “the fearsome God of Isaac.” So people think it has something to do […]
-
Something Entirely New
Finally realized that I have always missed the point of the metaphor in Matthew 9:16 (“Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth?” NLT). Hello, it’s clearly NOT about patching things up. If what you have is new cloth, you won’t be patching the old clothes, you’ll be making new ones. See Mt. 9:17 […]
-
“Listened to”
“But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe …” Genesis 19:29 (NLT) – suggesting that God knows the entire conversation in Genesis 18:23-33 (“would you really destroy the righteous along with the wicked??”) is all the time about Abraham’s nephew. NRSV & the MT don’t refer back to the conversation as directly; […]
-
Just Wondering
What could the idea of being “famous” have meant to the people who decide to build a city with a tower in Genesis 11:4? For us, being “famous” more or less means being known by lots of people, widely dispersed. But according to the way the story is told, the people of the time are […]
-
Thoughts on “separation from love”
Here’s an additional thought on what, upon reflection, is a peculiar statement in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35) Where does this statement come from? How would hardship or distress or […]
Matters of Interpretation 