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Showing 3126 to 3150 of 3926 results

3126. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Philippians 1:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... ōn is subjective, not objective, genitive); cf. Moffatt: “for all your remembrance of me.” P. T. O’Brien thinks it “best to understand the phrase as a reference to the Philippians’ remembrance of Paul by means of their monetary support on several earlier occasions” (Introductory Thanksgivings, p. 23). If this is maintained, then Paul mentions three reasons for this thanksgiving: their remembrance of him, their continuous partnership in the work of the gospel (v. 5), and his confidence that this ...

3127. Shining as Stars

Philippians 2:12-18

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... Paul’s envoy Titus, so soon after they had been taken to task in the apostle’s severe letter; in Eph. 6:5 it is used for the sense of reverence and duty toward Christ that should motivate Christian slaves to obey their pagan masters. There is no support in the text or context for the view of W. Schmithals (Paul and the Gnostics, p. 98) that Paul is here warning his readers against the false security of those who believe that they have already attained perfection (see further on 3:12–14). 2:13 Who ...

3128. No Confidence in the Flesh

Philippians 3:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... is defending himself against Gnostics who represent him as a mere man of flesh, lacking the Christ spirit, and therefore no apostle of Christ but at best an apostle of men (Paul and the Gnostics, pp. 90, 91). There is nothing in the text to support this. He is rather defending himself against Judaizers who try to diminish his status in order to exalt their own superior authority. 3:5 Of the tribe of Benjamin. It is one of the “undesigned coincidences” between Acts and the Pauline letters that only in ...

3129. Warning Against Antichrists

1 John 2:18-27

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... . 224–60. 2:20 Elsewhere in the NT Jesus is called the Holy One in Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34; John 6:69; Acts 3:14; and Rev. 3:7. It also occurs in the apostolic fathers, 1 Clem. 23:5 and Diogn. 9:2. The best MSS support the reading all of you know; another group changes the pantes (nominative) to panta (accusative), and translates the verse “and you know everything.” The harder to explain reading is more likely to be original than the one which supplies an object for the verb oidate, a verb normally never ...

3130. The Table of Nations

Genesis 10:1-32

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... to another people of that area. Hadoram may be the Yemenite Dauran, who occupied the upper area of the Wadi Dahr, about ten miles northwest of Sanaa. Uzal has been explained as an earlier name for Sana, capital of Yemen, but the Sabean inscriptions do not support this identification. W. Müller (“Uzal,” ABD 6:775) points out that two other places in Yemen have the name Azal, a region in ar-Radama and a region of the Banu ‘Ammar, northeast of Ibb. If Diklah comes from Aram. diqlah (“date palm”), it ...

3131. From Shem to Abram

Genesis 11:10-32

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... narratives indicates that he died only two years before Sarah did (23:1). The narrator records his death here since he has no role in the following stories. Although the text does not state why Terah left Ur, God prompted his movement. Two facts support this idea. First, his initial destination was Canaan. Second, the description of Abram’s departure from Haran and arrival in Canaan (12:5) is expressed in the same way as Terah’s leaving Ur. What Terah began and failed to complete, Abram accomplished. An ...

3132. Abram and Lot Separate

Genesis 13:1-18

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... true God at a variety of places. The narrator’s interest is in reporting Abram’s worship of Yahweh in the land of promise. 13:5–7 Lot also had a large number of flocks, herds, and tents. The increase was so great that the land could no longer support both Abram and Lot. There is no mention of the size of their camps; however, in the next account Abram was able to muster 318 men born in his household, indicating that a large number of people were moving about with him. As a result of the increase in ...

3133. Abram Rescues Lot

Genesis 14:1-24

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... been adapted for a later audience in its retelling. 14:1 The identity of these ancient kings continues to baffle scholars. In the past some identified Amraphel with Hammurabi, the great king of Babylon in the seventeenth century B.C., but lack of supporting evidence plus linguistic obstacles to the equation of these two names have led scholars to abandon that position. Arioch is a Hurrian name found in several Mesopotamian texts, most of which are prior to the second millennium B.C. The identification of ...

3134. God’s Covenant with Abram

Genesis 15:1-18

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... the antecedent is Abram. According to that reading, Abram accepted God’s promises as evidence that God was acting justly toward him. The traditional reading with God as the subject has the advantage of fitting best with the flow of ideas. Support comes from the fact that the noun “righteousness” is used only for human activity in the Pentateuch (Wenham, Genesis 1–15, p. 330). 15:9 S. Talmon (“ ‘400 Jahre’ oder ‘vier Generation’ [Gen 15, 13–15]: Geschichtliche Zeitangabe oder literarische ...

3135. The Treaty of Beersheba

Genesis 21:22-34

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... whose specific name had become lost. Or it may be a case of using a familiar name for a people who were indirectly related to the later, famous inhabitants of this region. If the name Phicol has its origin in Anatolia, this fact supports a connection between these Philistines and the Aegean. These Philistines, however, had a very different politicocultural orientation from the later Philistines. They were governed by a king, not a council of lords from the five lead cities. Since our information is limited ...

3136. Jacob and Esau

Genesis 25:19-34

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... “finagle,” based on the Arab. root meaning “follow at the heel or footsteps” to “take the place of another by deception” (W. D. Whitt, “The Jacob Traditions in Hosea and Their Relation to Genesis,” ZAW 103 [1991], pp. 28–29). This interpretation is supported by 27:36. 25:30 The range of colors a given term conveys varies from culture to culture. Since cooked lentils are yellowish brown in color, the Hb. term ’adom includes this color in its range of meaning, in contrast to Eng. “red ...

3137. Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

Genesis 28:10-22

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... (Josh. 16:2). It is possible that in time the name of the sanctuary became the name of the city. 28:21 Another way to read “Yahweh will be my God” is as the sixth condition of Jacob’s vow (Hamilton, Genesis: Chapters 18–50, p. 248). The grammar strongly supports this reading. Theologically, however, this statement about his commitment to God leads to, and is necessary grounds for, his identifying this place as his place of worship and agreeing to pay a tithe.

3138. Dinah and the Shechemites

Genesis 34:1-31

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... sons of Jacob were more interested in their sister’s honor than in material gain. The fact that Jacob’s sons made no reference in their counterproposal to trading and buying land, the two motivating factors that Hamor had set forth, further supports this. Not picking up on these incongruities, Hamor and Shechem blindly accepted their terms. This episode illustrates the dangers that the seed of Abraham faced any time they entered into a pact with the inhabitants of Canaan. A cornerstone for accommodation ...

3139. Esau's Descendants

Genesis 36:1-30

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... Esau took all of his family and settled in the hill country of Seir, or Edom (Deut. 2:4–6, 12, 22; Josh. 24:4). Thereby he officially separated from his brother Jacob, for he did not think that the land of Canaan was able to support . . . both of their clans. This step portrays Esau as an insightful person, taking steps to avoid conflict. Esau’s settling in Edom is paralleled with Jacob’s settling in Canaan (37:1). This note gives the reason Jacob could settle there unhindered by the size of ...

3140. The Second Journey to Egypt

Genesis 43:1-34

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... he sent an additional ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey to Egypt. Joseph had his brothers take back such a huge amount of supplies not so much to meet the family’s needs as to provide evidence to support the incredible report that Joseph was alive and a high official in Egypt. He concluded by ordering his brothers not to quarrel on the way. His gentle admonition reminded them that his living in Egypt was a result of their quarreling in the past. Certainly ...

3141. Love the Lord Your God

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... uniquely used as a noun in its own right and is open to various translations, of which strength is the most common. However, the earliest Jewish versions (including the Targum) translated it as “your substance” or “your possessions”—an acceptable possibility that has some support in Proverbs 3:9 and may lie behind some of Jesus’ parables and conversations (such as Matt. 6:19–24; Luke 12:13–21). It may even be that this third word is simply intensifying the other two as a climax. “Love the ...

3142. Do Not Forget the Lord

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... as doing to Israel what Deuteronomy repeatedly urges human parents to do—to exercise educative discipline over their children. The metaphor of Israel as child was used in 1:31, but with a different point. There the picture was of God’s parental protection and support for a young child who needs carrying. Here the emphasis is on God’s parental discipline of the growing child who needs to learn life’s lessons. This was the purpose of the Sinai theophany (Deut. 4:36). The wilderness, then, was the time ...

3143. Not Because of Israel's Righteousness

Deuteronomy 9:1-6

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... own nation and its cause. The temptation to equate military superiority with moral superiority, with all its political and propaganda potential, is hard to resist. And so is the idolatrous tendency to claim for one’s own cause the name and support of the God otherwise excluded from all consideration. Recent history has given us, in the Falklands and Gulf Wars, for example, some disturbing examples of military victories being decked out with all the aura of self-righteous self-congratulation that deserves ...

3144. Marriage Violations

Deuteronomy 22:13-30

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... year, but they are rarely investigated or prosecuted with any success. 22:22 For further discussion, see commentary and additional notes on 5:18. See also Leviticus 20:10. The inclusion of the guilty man in the sentence shows that the law did not support a double standard of sexual morality, as did those who brought only the woman caught in adultery to Jesus (John 8:2–11). 22:23–29 This series of three laws relating to unlawful extramarital sexual intercourse shows a similar concern to make important ...

3145. Exclusion From the Assembly

Deuteronomy 23:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... 15 makes this OT law the direct negation of standard slave law, which would have insisted on returning the slave to his master. If this law applies to slaves in general and not just to foreign slaves, as suggested by some (though without any textual support), then it implies two things. First, the law seems to assume that the experience of slavery in Israel would not be so intolerably harsh that there would be a glut of runaways. Indeed, the slave release law allows for the possibility that a slave might ...

3146. Firstfruits and Tithes

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... Israel’s existence, which will be fulfilled only by its obedience to the covenant, is expressed with the same phraseology by Jeremiah in his acted prophecy (Jer. 13:1–11; cf. 33:9). If these close parallels are allusions to the Deuteronomic text, then they support the understanding that it is primarily the honor of Yahweh that is the goal of the exaltation of Israel. And this impression is further strengthened by the final phrase of the chapter, that Israel would be a people holy to the LORD, for this ...

3147. Solomon's Officials and Governors

1 Kings 4:1-19

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... they have a broader administrative role? It is, of course, not only the months of the year that number twelve; this is also the traditional number of the Israelite tribes. The casual reader might well assume, therefore, that we have here a tribal system of support for central government. But this is not so. It is true that some of the tribal names known to us from elsewhere in the OT do appear here (Ephraim, v. 8; Naphtali, Asher, Issachar, Benjamin, vv. 15–18). Naphtali, Issachar, and Benjamin may well ...

3148. Preparations for Building the Temple

1 Kings 5:1-18

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... with people. 5:13 Solomon conscripted laborers: The description of the task force is often taken as implying that Solomon conscripted Israelites (from all Israel, v. 13) to work abroad; 1 Kgs. 11:28 and 12:3–4, 18 are drawn into the discussion to provide support for this view. Yet 9:15–23 go out of their way to deny that this is so, explicitly stating that he conscripted workers only from the Canaanite population of Israel. This is exactly what the Hb. word mas ([he] conscripted laborers, is in Hb. ya ...

3149. Jehoshaphat King of Judah

1 Kings 22:41-50

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... 9:23). Jehoshaphat controls Edom as Solomon had controlled his districts, and that is why the “king” of Edom (Hb. melek, the same word that lies behind the NIV’s ruled here) turns up in alliance with Judah in 2 Kgs. 3, in what is noticeably a supporting role. Judah’s control of Edom is not, in fact, challenged until the reign of Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram (2 Kgs. 8:20–22). 22:50 Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers: We shall hear of Jehoshaphat again in 2 Kgs. 3, in a “flashback” to the first ...

3150. The Widow's Oil

2 Kings 4:1-7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... on your behalf?: Elisha offers the woman unspecified benefits, through his patronage, from the king or the commander of the army—two of the most powerful people in the land. She has no need of their help, since she is living among her own kinsfolk and has their support and protection. This will not always be the case (2 Kgs. 8:1–6). 4:23 It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath: The implication is that it was customary to consult prophets on rest days (cf. Amos 8:5). A further implication is that the ...

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