Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2851 to 2875 of 3852 results

Proverbs 14:1-35

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... adopted: “his deeds” (Hb. mmʿllw) parallel to ways. 14:17 Quick-tempered is lit. “short of face” (contrast “long of face” for “patient,” v. 29). The contrast in the parallelism is better preserved in the LXX, which seems to be based on an original Hb. verb, yiśśaʾ, “bear, carry.” Therefore v. 17a in the LXX reads, “the thoughtful person endures many things.” 14:18 If Hb. nḥlw in v. 18a is read as the Niphal of ḥlh, (“be adorned with”), the parallelism is strengthened. So ...

2852. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 19:1-29

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... 16:32). The presumption is that the offense is not criminal. See 10:12. 19:12 Antithetic. For verse 12a see 20:2. On the power of the king, see 16:14 and 28:15. 19:13 Synonymous. These two examples of domestic problems could have been separate lines originally. For verse 13a see 10:1; 17:21, 25. The comparison in verse 13b is found in 27:15. 19:14 Antithetic. On the whole, everything was under the control of the LORD (cf. 16:33). But some things were more dependent on human factors than others. Among these ...

2853. Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

Proverbs 31:10-31

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... the adjective yārēʾ, which one would expect to be vocalized as y e rēʾat or y e rēʾt. “Fear of the Lord” was read by the Gk. (“an intelligent woman will be praised, but let her praise the fear of the Lord”). It is possible that the original reading was: woman, the fear of the Lord, she (hyʾ) is to be praised. The apposition of woman and fear of the Lord (the beginning of wisdom) would confirm the symbolism of the woman in vv. 10–31. Both Woman Wisdom (in 9:1–6) and Wisdom in 31:10 ...

2854. All Night Long

Song of Songs 3:1-11

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... , reported what she did in the night after waking, or told us her fantasy. O. Keel connects the language of this passage with imagery of a goddess searching for a dying and rising god. Therefore he finds strong evidence in this passage for a cultic origin for the Song (The Song of Songs [trans. F. J. Gaiser; CC; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994], pp. 121–22). The very human terms of this passage, though, combined with the fact that longing for an absent lover is hardly limited to deities, makes his claim less ...

2855. The Call of Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... was not having a vision of the branch of an almond tree, but rather was looking at a cultic object which represented Aaron’s blossoming rod (Num. 17). He does not believe this rod was actually Aaron’s. Indeed, he suggests that it was originally a fertility symbol, but later was associated with the story in Numbers. He further suggests that the boiling pot was also something that Jeremiah actually saw while he was on priestly duty at the temple. While van der Toorn has shown this is a possibility ...

2856. Israel Forsakes God

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... honeymoon.” God remembers Israel’s early love, the love that characterizes the honeymoon period, before all the troubles of later life intrude. A Case against God’s People (2:4-13) 2:4–5a This oracle has a lengthy introduction that emphasizes the divine origin of the words of Jeremiah. The prophet has no authority in his own right; he is a messenger, and thus we are not surprised that a common messenger formula (This is what the LORD says) is frequently used to introduce God’s words in Jeremiah ...

2857. Disaster from the North

Jeremiah 4:5-31

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... but see Isa. 5:28 for a similar description of a human enemy). Perhaps the best understanding is that it is God, the Divine Warrior, leading the tool of his judgment, the Babylonians, against his people. This would explain the plurals (chariots/horses). The northern origin of this attack is made clear in v. 15. The voice proclaiming disaster comes from Dan (Tell el-Qadi), a site in the northernmost reaches of Israel. In the second colon the voice is from the hills of Ephraim, north of Jerusalem, but closer ...

2858. Not One is Upright

Jeremiah 5:1-31

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... ) actually comes. Additional Notes 5:24 The autumn and spring rains (also known as the early and late rains) bring life-bringing waters to Israel. The rainy season begins in October-November and concludes in April. While Israelites were tempted to attribute these rains to Baal, Jeremiah rightly attributes their origin to God himself.

2859. Jerusalem Under Siege

Jeremiah 6:1-30

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

Jerusalem Attacked! (6:1-8): The oracles in chapter six continue the difficulty of distinguishing individual oracles. Fortunately, the major effect on the reader is not dependent on proper division of the text or accurate dating of the original setting of the oracles. A further difficulty is determining who is speaking. Subtle clues indicate whether it is Jeremiah or God. This too, however, is not a major obstacle to understanding the message, since Jeremiah, after all, is Yahweh’s spokesperson. We take ...

2860. The Covenant is Broken

Jeremiah 11:1-17

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... evil will mean their judgment. Verse 16 must point to Israel before it sinned, since a thriving olive tree is not only beautiful, but productive. Hosea 14:6 also uses the image of the olive tree to refer to Israel. However, in spite of the nation’s original beauty, God will judge it. God’s angry appearance may be implied in “the roar of a mighty storm.” Perhaps the storm is thought to be accompanied by lightning by which God burns down this tree which he planted but will now destroy because of the ...

2861. A Linen Belt

Jeremiah 13:1-11

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... is a priest (or the son of a priest) and priests wear linen undergarments. “Belt” may be a misleading translation anyway (see Additional Notes). What is clear is that this garment is worn around the waist tightly and touches the skin. This position illustrates the original relationship that the people enjoyed with God (v. 11). Jeremiah is to buy the linen belt, put it on, but then not let water touch it.The latter probably signifies washing; in other words, Jeremiah is to put on the linen belt and then ...

2862. Day of Disaster

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... make his presence known on earth. The sanctuary is the temple located on Mount Zion, which was thought to be the place where the divine king had his throne (Isa. 6:1–3; Jer. 14:21; Ezek. 1:26–28; 43:2–5). Elsewhere the ark of the covenant, originally located in the Holy of Holies, was called his footstool (1 Chr. 28:2; Ps. 132:7). Two cherubim statues held outstretched wings over the ark with their heads face down, so as not to be overwhelmed by the glory seated above them. Jeremiah knew that God was ...

2863. Judgment Against Evil Kings

Jeremiah 22:1-30, Jeremiah 23:1-8

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... –8) Jeremiah invokes another important prophetic theme of the time, the second exodus, to talk about the future salvation of the remnant. The future judgment will cause many Judaean’s to depart from the promised land. The future return is likened to the original entry after liberation from Egypt. Additional Notes 22:15 Cedar was an expensive and precious wood imported from Lebanon. It was an indication of luxury and great wealth. The fact that the king built his house in such a luxurious manner during a ...

2864. Lying Prophets

Jeremiah 23:9-32, Jeremiah 23:33-40

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... pronouncement of judgment that has a stereotypical introduction: I am against the prophets who. God begins by proclaiming that those who prophesy lies, fabricated by their own imaginations, have not escaped his notice. They claim to have a dream of divine origin, but God denies that he gave them this dream. Indeed, these false dreams are instruments of false religion. They will turn the people against Yahweh. While dreams are sometimes legitimate vehicles of divine revelation in the Bible (e.g., Joseph’s ...

2865. A Letter to the Exiles

Jeremiah 29:1-23

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... duration of the judgment is specified as seventy years. After that period of time in Babylon, God will come to the exiles and return them to their homeland. It is hard, even in historical retrospect, to know the precise significance of seventy. Even the original hearers may have wondered if this number was symbolic for a long, but unspecified period of time, since seven is a well known symbolic number for completion and seventy is, of course, seven times ten. Then there is the difficult question of knowing ...

2866. Restoration of Israel

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... and This is what the LORD says). The second phrase introduces a number of the oracles in chapters 30–31 (see 30:12, 18; 31:2, 7, 15, 16, 23 [with expansion on the divine name]). Toward the end of these oracles the reader gets a reminder of the divine origin of the oracle with the phrase declares the LORD (30:10, 17, 21; 30:14, 16, 17, 20). The latter also occurs in 31:32, 34, 37. Notice again (see comment on 30:1–3) that the object of the oracle is referred to as Israel and Judah and not ...

2867. Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll

Jeremiah 36:1-32

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... with repentance and beseech the Lord to spare them of the fate that their sins deserved. 36:8–10 Baruch followed Jeremiah’s instructions exactly and read the words of the Lord from the scroll to the people at the temple. (Some time had passed since the original divine command to make a scroll [compare 36:1 with v. 9]). He did so at a time when public fasting was taking place. Perhaps this was a special occasion of fasting specifically to beseech the Lord at a time of great need. The fact that this ...

2868. Disaster Because of Idolatry

Jeremiah 44:1-30

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... Upper Egypt and the northern as Lower Egypt. 44:11–14 The postexilic Jewish community is known from extra-biblical texts like the Elephantine papyri. The Jewish community located at Elephantine was a military garrison and the inhabitants were mercenaries. The origin of this community is not known, but they were there before the Persians defeated the Egyptians around 520 B.C. Hence, they may be connected to this group that fled in the early exilic period. The most interesting texts from Elephantine derive ...

2869. A Message About the Philistines

Jeremiah 47:1-7

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... are indications of an early incursion of the Philistines into Canaan. In any case, it is true that the bulk of Philistine occupation of the coastal region of Canaan came in the twelfth century B.C. as part of the Sea People’s movement. They probably originated somewhere in the Aegean and came east via Crete (Caphtor, see v. 4). After trying and failing to establish a beachhead in the Delta region of Egypt, they moved up the coast and settled in Canaan. The core of Philistia centered on their five capital ...

2870. A Message About Ammon

Jeremiah 49:1-6

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... in a basically south-to-north direction. Just to the north of Moab lay Ammon, to the east of the Jordan River and extending to the desert on its eastern boundary. As with Moab (see above), the book of Genesis paints a dark picture of Ammon’s origins. Moab and Ammon were the children born to Lot after he slept with his daughters (Gen. 19:30–38). Israel under Moses came into contact with the Ammonites as they journeyed toward the promised land. God told Israel not to bother the Ammonites (Deut. 2:19), but ...

2871. A Message About Edom

Jeremiah 49:7-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... south-to-north orientation that we have encountered thus far. Edom is located south of Moab in the region to the southeast of the Dead Sea. It is a region of rugged mountains and wadis, making it difficult to attack. The Bible attributes Edomite origins to Esau, Jacob’s brother, whose other name is Edom or “Red” (see Gen. 36). Notice that by the time Jacob returned from his sojourn in Paddam-Aram, Esau, having already amassed a significant fortune, was dwelling in the region of Seir (a common ...

2872. I am the Man Who Has Seen Affliction

Lamentations 3:1-66

One Volume

Tremper Longman III

... homes in Jerusalem. His experience is all bitterness and gall (for gall, see comment on v. 15). Such thoughts lead to depression (my soul is downcast within me). The language is reminiscent of Pss. 42–43 (see 42:5, 11; 43:5). These psalms (probably an original unity as indicated by the repeated refrain and lack of title on 43) bemoan separation from the presence of God and likely separation from Jerusalem. Even so, the final line in this stanza moves to hope. While denying a sense of hope in verse 18, the ...

2873. Remember, O Lord, What Has Happened to Us

Lamentations 5:1-22

One Volume

Tremper Longman III

... broken down so that slaves have assumed an oppressive leadership over the rest of the community. The wisdom literature worried about such a “world upside down.” Qohelet said, “There is an evil that I have observed under the sun, an error indeed that originates from the ruler. The fool is placed in important positions, while the rich sit in low places. I observed slaves on horses and nobles walking on foot like slaves” (Eccl. 10:5–7; see also Prov. 19:10; 30:21–22). Indeed, an apocalyptic ...

2874. Israel Punished and Restored

Hosea 2:2-23

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... disciple who arranged chapters 1–3 has included a passage that serves as a summary of much of Hosea’s preaching (2:16–14:9). All of 2:2–15 represents genuine oracles of Hosea, but it is possible that this unit as a whole has been put together from originally independent oracles, such as 2:2–4; 2:5–7a; 2:7c–10; 2:11–13; and 2:14–15. As it now stands, however, the pericope forms a rhetorical whole. The setting for these words is a court of law, indicated by the initial imperative verb, rîb ...

2875. The New Covenant Acted Out

Hosea 3:1-5

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... a wealthy man. 3:3 I will live with you: In the Hb., the last line reads, “And even I to you.” That is, just as Gomer must be celibate, so also Hosea will be to her. 3:5 And David their king is probably a Judaic addition to the original, found elsewhere only in Jer. 30:9 and intended to update Hosea’s prophecies after the time of the Babylonian exile.

Showing results