Category: Text of the Week – Notes
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Exegetical Exercise (Judges 11:4-11, 29-31)
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, June 18 is a section from Judges 11, the portion of the story of Jephthah where the elders of Gilead convince Jephthah to lead them in the fight against Ammon, and Jephthah’s vow. Here’s the text: 4/ After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5/ And when…
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Exegetical Exercise (Judges 6:11-18)
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, June 11, is Judges 6:11-18, in which Gideon receives his call or commission from God. Here are my notes on this text: First impressions: This narrative in particular seems very incomplete without its background (Judges 6:1-10) and the subsequent stories, which continue through the end of chapter 8, with…
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Exegetical Exercise (Judges 4:1-10)
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, June 4 is Judges 4:1-10, the first part of the story of Deborah and Barak vs. Sisera. These are my notes on the text: First impressions: there are a lot of place names; Deborah is located, Barak is located, the instructions Deborah gives Barak for mobilizing troops are detailed…
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Exegetical Exercise – Jonah 4
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, May 28 is the fourth and final chapter of the book of Jonah. My notes on the text include: “Anger” or “angry” shows up five times in the chapter’s 11 verses; almost all the anger is Jonah’s, although God is mentioned as “slow to anger.” Jonah’s anger is in…
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Exegetical Exercise – Jonah 3
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, May 21 is Jonah 3 – the aftermath of Jonah’s escapade with the big fish. This is the text: (1) The word of YHWH came to Jonah a second time, saying: (2) “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell…
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Exegetical Exercise – Jonah 2
According to the Biblia Hebraica, Jonah 2 starts with what the NRSV and others make out to be the last verse of ch. 1. Jonah 2 is the Uniform series text for Sunday, May 14. Mostly NRSV with some modifications … (1) Then YHWH provided a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was…
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Exegetical Exercise – Jonah 1
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, May 7 is Jonah 1:7-17 – it’s the first in a series of four lessons on Jonah, which will cover the entire little book, which is itself one of “the Twelve” (as these short books are known in Hebrew) or the “Minor Prophets” (as we were taught in “learn…
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Exegetical Exercise – John 10 1-15
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, April 30 is John 10:1-15. This is the text (NRSV): “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. (2) The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of…
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Exegetical Exercise – Romans 5 6-11
There are two texts in the Uniform Series selection for Sunday, April 23: Romans 5:6-11 and Romans 8:31-39. These are my notes on those texts: Background: Romans is one of Paul’s later letters, usually given a date in the late 50s CE; the longest letter (that’s why it’s first in book order, which is longest…
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Exegetical Exercise – 1 Peter 1 3-9
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, April 16 is actually two texts, John 20:1-10 and 1 Peter 1:3-5 & 8-9. Here are my notes on these texts: John 20:1-10 / First impressions: I can’t help taking a “real events” perspective on this text, thinking about how Mary Magdalene (or anyone, I) would feel in the…
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Exegetical Exercise – John 3 1-16
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, April 9, is John 3:1-16. This is another very familiar text for lots of people, and I don’t have a whole lot to add by way of exegetical notes. First reading – I wonder whether Jesus and Nicodemus know each other at all, or have ever met before; and…
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Exegetical Exercise – Psalm 23
The Uniform Series text for Sunday is Psalm 23. This is such a familiar text, it’s almost pointless to make notes on it. This is the NRSV’s version, which differs slightly from the probably more familiar King James: (1) The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (2) He makes me lie down in…
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Exegetical Exercise – Joel 2 12-32
Sunday’s Uniform Series text is Joel 2:12-13, 18-19, 28-32; but here for reference is all of Joel 2:12-32: (12) Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; (13) rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he…
Matters of Interpretation 