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Showing 3101 to 3125 of 4943 results

3101. Queen Vashti Deposed

Esther 1:1-22

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... ). The royal gala did not just provide an opportunity for extravagant exhibition; it was also a time for generous hospitality. The royal host welcomed everyone in the kingdom (at least in representative form) into his home. The guests sat down to a virtually continuous meal with an endless supply of drinks, in keeping with the king’s liberality (v. 7). They, as his guests and patrons, were expected only to enjoy the banquet as a form of royal provision. A description of the first Persian king could easily ...

3102. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 16:1-33

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... the divinity is reflected in similar words in Ahiqar (viii, 115; ANET, p. 429). Less likely is the interpretation that sees the reply as a gift of God because plans stand in need of divine help in order that a reply be made. Others regard the lines as continuous: both plans and reply are from the Lord. The differing views are due to a selective emphasis. See also Amenemope 19.16–17 (ANET, p. 423); Anchsheshonq 26.14 (AEL, vol. 3, p. 179). 16:2 Antithetic. Several sayings are similar: 3:7; 14:12; 21:2; see ...

3103. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 20:1-30

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... The NIV warns against rash vows (cf. Eccl. 5:2–6). However, the text is difficult; see Additional Notes. 20:26 Synonymous. For verse 26a, see verse 8. The idea is clear, but the mode of punishment is not clear. The NIV adds threshing to wheel, and thus continues the idea of winnows. See the Additional Notes. 20:27 The Hebrew of verse 27a is ambiguous, as the margin of the NIV attests. The marginal reading is to be preferred. It seems to mean that the life-breath from God, by which a person lives (cf. Gen ...

3104. Sayings of the Wise

Proverbs 22:17--24:22

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... by the machinations of the rebellious. The LXX adds 5 verses to verse 22, numbered 22a–22e in Rahlf’s edition of the Septuagint. These verses are followed by the insertion of 30:1–14, the “sayings of Agur.” In the Hebrew text verse 22 is continued by a small collection of sayings (vv. 23b–34), for which verse 23a serves as a superscription. Additional Notes 22:17 Because the LXX has akoue emon logon, many would read “to my words” after listen. The comparison of 22:17–18 and Arnenemope 3.9 ...

3105. More Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 28:1-28

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... :15 An implicit comparison by means of juxtaposition. A tyrant’s affliction of poor subjects is compared to the instinctive roar and speed of wild beasts (cf. 29:2b). 28:16 Antithetic. The text is uncertain; see Additional Notes. The NIV understands verse 16a as a kind of continuation of verse 15. On verse 16b see 10:2. 28:17 Synthetic. The NIV supposes that a murderer will be driven on by a sense of guilt till the end of his life. A command is issued that no support be given him (lit. “do not lay hold ...

3106. Let Him Kiss Me

Song of Songs 1:1-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... the first note of military imagery used in connection with the woman. Verse 10 is transitional. When read in connection with the previous verse, its image of jewelry implies a comparison of the woman’s adornments with those of royal horses. The verse also points forward to verse 11, which continues the jewelry image. On first reading, it is natural to assume (as do the NIV translators) that the man, who is the likely speaker in 1:9, now describes the loveliness of the woman when wearing jewelry and ...

3107. The Call of Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... is commissioned to deliver is not just focused on Judah, but over nations and kingdoms. Most explicitly, we will see this in the oracles against the nations (chs. 46–51). 1:11–16 After reporting his call to the prophetic ministry, the book continues by giving a preview of oracles to come. Two oracles introduce the prophetic activity of Jeremiah. They illustrate the prophet’s technique as well as two major themes that pervade the book. The word of God that comes to Jeremiah creatively articulates past ...

3108. God and Idols

Jeremiah 10:1-16

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... a nail! How ridiculous to worship it as a powerful deity. Of course, the finished product is more than a lump of wood. It was the practice of ancient Near Eastern peoples to ornament their deities with precious metals (silver and gold). The sarcasm continues with an analogy between the idols and a scarecrow in a melon patch. Birds may be frightened of scarecrows, but human beings know better. In this way, Jeremiah makes the biting observation that humans should know better than they do about idols. There is ...

3109. Keeping the Sabbath Holy

Jeremiah 17:19-27

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... the palaces of those leaders who ignored the divine command to observe the Sabbath. As we know, the people of Judah did not listen to this warning and they were exiled. It is sad to realize that even after they are restored to Jerusalem that Sabbath observance continued to be a serious problem as Nehemiah notes in Nehemiah 13:15–21. Additional Notes 17:18 Since it is distinguished from all the other gates of Jerusalem, the gate of the people must be a specific gate. We do not know of this gate from other ...

3110. Disaster Because of Idolatry

Jeremiah 44:1-30

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... , says). It is addressed to all the people, but the women are particularly mentioned because of their special role in the worship of the Queen of Heaven. In verse 25 the Lord indicates that he has heard them clearly. They have announced their intention to continue their offensive and false worship. In the light of this explicit statement, God will now give up his attempts through the prophet to persuade them otherwise (Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows!). But he will now be clear with them ...

3111. Remember, O Lord, What Has Happened to Us

Lamentations 5:1-22

One Volume

Tremper Longman III

... Appeal: Lamentation ends with a prayer asking God to remember the suffering of God’s city, Jerusalem, and his people. The prayer is one of the community as indicated by the consistent use of the first person plural pronoun. After the invocation in verse 1, the prayer continues with a long description of the suffering of a once proud and glorious place (vv. 2–18). It ends with a series of “why” questions (vv. 19–22), similar to the laments of the psalms (see Pss. 10:1, 13; 22: 1; 42:5, etc., and ...

3112. Hosea's Wife and Children

Hosea 1:1-2:1

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... to the time in which they were living. As the great preacher Paul Scherer once remarked, “God did not stop speaking when his book went to press.” The word of God, once spoken into a specific time in history, continues to act in human life in each subsequent generation. And so we, who stand in continuity with that sacred history through Christ, find the word of God as spoken to Hosea acting in the specificity of our lives also. The word is never to be understood apart from history—it always applies to ...

3113. Judgment Against Israel

Hosea 5:1-15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... of God’s attack. God will carry this people off—a veiled reference to the people’s exile—and there is no one who can “save” (nṣl) the people of God from that God-decreed fate. Some commentators have understood the simile of the lion to continue into verse 15, so that the picture in that verse is one of the lion returning to his lair. More probably, the verse is either the prophet’s or the collector’s transitional device, to introduce the litany of repentance in 6:1–3. The thought that ...

3114. Israel Unrepentant

Hosea 6:1--7:16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... will lose them. Life cannot be had apart from the Lord. Israel’s Loss of Identity (7:8-12): 7:8–12 Hosea 7:3–7 dealt with Israel’s internal politics. Hosea 7:8–12 now looks to its international relations. Israel mixes with the nations, verse 8. Continuing the metaphor of baking from 7:3–7, Israel’s relation with other nations is compared to the mixing of oil with flour to form a flat loaf of bread (cf. Exod. 29:2; Lev. 2:5). In short, Israel has become like all the other nations. The passage ...

3115. Blessings for God's People

Joel 3:17-21

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... As the NIV points out in a footnote, Joel 3:18 reads literally in the Hebrew, “the Valley of Shittim,” which is that deep and rocky portion of the Kidron Valley or wadi that begins northwest of Jerusalem, bends around east of the city, and then continues through a deep gorge southeast toward the Dead Sea. Usually the valley is dry, but acacias grew in abundance in its dry soil in biblical times, and the valley was often named the Wadi or Valley of the Acacias, as the NIV has correctly interpreted. The ...

3116. A Lament and Call to Repentance

Amos 5:1-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... on them is carried out in the sorrow of a disappointed lover (cf. Matt. 23:37–38 and parallel). We shall encounter the same tenderness in 7:1–6, and it is a good note to keep in mind when interpreting Amos’s judgment oracles. Verses 4–5 continue the divine speech and point out to Israel what it should have done. Scholars have interpreted these verses in a variety of ways—as irony, as spoken only to the under classes; as offers of hope for the future—but their meaning is similar to that set forth ...

3117. Jonah's Anger at the Lord's Compassion

Jonah 4:1-11

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... go on living. Jonah, like Abraham, demands that the judge of all the earth do right (Gen. 18:25; cf. Job), and the judge has refused. Jonah’s attitude could be compared to that of all those who, weary of evil, ask, “Why does God permit such evil to continue?” (cf. Hab. 1:1–4), and the answer comes back, “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” Jonah, from the first, has set himself up as the human judge of his divine God, thinking that he knows what is ...

3118. Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

Micah 3:1-12

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... a century later in the time of Jeremiah (26:16–19, esp. v. 18). The announcement made by Micah has been handed down through the generations. And the truth is that Micah’s words in verse 12 were not fulfilled in his time. But God’s word continued to work in Israel’s history, and it did not return to him void. In 587 BC, the armies of Babylonia destroyed Jerusalem with its temple, and the people mourned: O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have ...

3119. A Call to Return to the Lord

Zechariah 1:1-6

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... to God could also require a long and dangerous journey back to Jerusalem. (See Ezra 8:15–32 for an account of such a journey decades later.) God addresses the invitation, “return to me” (v. 3) to every generation of audiences of Zechariah’s book. The book continues to look for a return from dispersion. Beyond physical return to the land is the constant call to everyone who believes in God to align their steps with the way of the Lord. Additional Notes 1:3 Return to me, . . . and I will return to you ...

3120. The Flying Scroll

Zechariah 5:1-4

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... and his audience may have been aware of readings of the scroll of the Law during the last years of the kingdom of Judah. Josiah’s first public reading had taken place a century earlier (2 Kgs. 23; 621 B.C.), and the practice may have continued under his successors. The flight of the scroll that is a curse over all the land or earth addresses the question of the “reach” of the written covenant. It is not limited to the residents of Jerusalem but is powerful throughout the earth. The Hebrew word ...

3121. The Lord Promises to Bless Jerusalem

Zechariah 8:1-23

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... like them (cf. 8:23). Do not be afraid usually begins a salvation oracle. Here it comes almost at the end, to support the final encouraging word, but let your hands be strong. Because the Lord has promised to save you, do not be afraid to continue building the temple. 8:14–17 The fulfillment of judgment prophecies in the past confirms the reliability of God’s word about the present and future. (Just as I had determined . . . so now I have determined, vv. 14–15.) The next oracle also combines the three ...

3122. Two Shepherds

Zechariah 11:4-17

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... and gives its interpretation, introduced by “for” (ki, v. 6). God gives Zechariah ambiguous instructions—Pasture the flock marked for slaughter. A good shepherd would typically protect members of the flock from death so that the sheep could continue to provide their wool and the goats could continue to give milk. This flock has been marked for killing, however. There was no factory farming in ancient Israel. The population of some place had been marked for death. Someone had sold them at a profit, and ...

3123. When Jesus Prays

John 17:20-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... least not outside our little town. So it might be easy for him to think himself a failure, but he’d be wrong. Because I think he’s achieved a success far beyond riches and fame.” Looking at her former teacher the governor gestures with a sweeping hand and continues, “Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each one of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony, Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. And we are the music ...

3124. An Army Officer Deeply Concerned

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... sent some friends to Jesus to say, “Sir, don’t inconvenience yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of any such honor . . .” Can you believe this man--compassionate, generous, and deeply humble as well? “Just speak a word from where you are,” he continued, “and my servant will be healed. I know because I am an officer. All I have to do is speak and my men obey. So just say, `Be healed!’ and my servant will be well again!” The Bible tells us Jesus was amazed. Turning to the crowd ...

3125. A Woman Burdened with Guilt

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

King Duncan

Years ago a religious talk show hostess was interviewing a new believer. The new believer had come from the wrong side of the tracks--economically, socially, morally, and spiritually. As he gave his testimony, this man, who had seen it all and done it all continually thanked God for the change God had made in his life. “I can’t express,” he said, “the gratitude I feel that God has changed my life.” The talk show hostess knew where he was coming from--for she, too, had walked on life’s wild side ...

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