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Showing 351 to 375 of 3926 results

351. The Son Superior to Angels

Hebrews 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... 110:4, the Melchizedek passage, is cited or alluded to in 5:6, 10; 6:20; and throughout chapter 7 (vv. 3, 11, 15, 17, 21, 24, 28). Why is this psalm so important to our author? Two main arguments of the epistle can be supported by Psalm 110: the incomparable superiority of Christ (as revealed in his exaltation to the right hand of God) and the extraordinary high priesthood of Christ (as paralleled and prefigured by Melchizedek). The ascension of Christ to the position of power and authority at the side ...

352. The Remaining Promise of Rest

Hebrews 4:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... for the people of the era of fulfillment (v. 6). What the Israelites failed to receive becomes available to those who believe in the good news of Jesus Christ (cf. vv. 2 and 3). Thus the negative argument of the quotation serves ultimately as a support for the argument concerning the continuing availability of rest. God declared on oath that the Israelites would never enter his rest even though that rest was already a reality. The implication is that he had others in mind who would indeed enter that rest ...

353. Concluding Exhortations

Hebrews 13:1-25

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... that matter, and hence the body, is evil. Marriage is thus to be avoided by those who would cultivate the life of the spirit. This form of asceticism is argued against elsewhere in the NT (e.g., 1 Tim. 4:3). This provides some support for T. W. Manson’s thesis that Hebrews was written to the same gnostic-influenced community in the Lycus Valley to which Colossians is addressed. R. Jewett has adopted this viewpoint in his commentary. A similar asceticism, but with very different presuppositions, was held ...

354. Water from the Rock

Exodus 17:1-7

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... five steps for surviving this crisis. God told him to “take some of the elders of Israel” and walk ahead of the people. This could also be translated “walk in front of the people,” which would make this a visible sign of Moses’ leadership and support by some of the elders. The Lord also instructed him to take in your hand the staff, the symbol of Moses’ original commission and the instrument with which he struck the Nile. The staff that Moses used to transform water to blood in judgment would ...

355. Offerings for the Tabernacle

Exodus 25:1-9

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... inspected and “saw” that they had made the tabernacle, “just as the LORD had commanded” (39:43; 40:16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 32). Jon Levenson concludes that “the depiction of the sanctuary as a world, that is, an ordered, supportive, and obedient environment” corresponds to the description of creation in Genesis 1 (Levenson, Creation, p. 86). Fretheim adds, “The tabernacle is a microcosm of creation, the world order as God intended it writ small in Israel, a beginning in God’s mission ...

356. The Sun Stands Still

Joshua 10:1-15

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

... later how important it was to consult the Lord and to receive this promise. Joshua’s counterattack on the five kings demonstrates he had learned two lessons from previous battles. He fights a wise, well-planned operation, and yet victory depends largely on support from God, the divine warrior. Joshua launches a forced march, a 32-kilometer journey that is a demanding, twisting, steep climb from Gilgal. A night march ensured the victory by the element of surprise (10:9–10), as the coalition’s troops ...

357. Saul Takes His Life

1 Chronicles 10:1-14

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... that the united kingdom split into two monarchies at the end of Solomon’s reign. Two kingdoms arose: the kingdom of Judah, associated with two of the southern tribes and the royal line of David, and the kingdom of Israel, with its support base among the northern tribes and its capital in Samaria. When the Deuteronomists looked back on this history, they did not hesitate to point out the sins, rebellion, disunity, foreign influence, and idolatry that characterized the united kingdom and led to its downfall ...

358. Ezra Comes to Jerusalem

Ezra 7:1-10

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... backs up verse 25. The relevance of verses 25–26 to the account of the implementation of the second mission is that the third of the four punishments is echoed in 10:8, and thereby the view of intermarriage as an infringement of the Torah receives support. 7:27–28a Now Ezra’s own voice breaks in, although the editor has in fact been quoting him for most of the chapter. The doxology traces Artaxerxes’ patronage not to his own endeavors, as in verse 6, but ultimately to providential grace. Once again ...

359. List of the Family Heads Returning With Ezra

Ezra 8:1-14

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... The pattern of the list suggests that and Zaccur was originally “the son of Zaccur” (NJB), as 1 Esd. 8:40 attests (see BHS), and as the following “with him” in the MT implies. The NIV has changed this to with them with some ancient support, which looks like a correction made to cope with the textual alteration. There was ancient uncertainty whether the name was “Zaccur” or “Zab(b)ud” (REB, NJB). 8:15 A series of canals ran from the Euphrates and Tigris to irrigate and provide transportation ...

360. Ezra's Prayer about Intermarriage

Ezra 9:1-15

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... 1–2 here in chapter 9 are actually the first-fruits of his labors, when some of the community’s leaders reported evidence that a Torah prohibition was being ignored. The account goes on to tell how Ezra persuaded the rest of the people to support his assessment. He worked slowly and in a roundabout way to let his teaching seep into their minds and consciences. He preferred not to parade his authority as a Persian administrator, functioning rather as a Judean religious leader, only too aware that he was ...

361. Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls

Nehemiah 2:11-20

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... was to rebel against the empire—the old trick of Ezra 4:12–16. In response to their challenge, Nehemiah disputed their right to interfere. First, however, he redefined the issue in spiritual terms, claiming divine support. This reinforced the theme of verse 18 and was meant for the ears of his new supporters, as a pastoral antidote to the intimidating circle of secular opposition. Their role as servants of God made them eligible for supernatural help, as Nehemiah had argued in his prayer in 1:10. He ...

362. Opposition to the Rebuilding

Nehemiah 4:1-23

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... the work, would respond to it and a trumpeter accompanying him would sound the alarm. Then the mobilized people, and evidently the permanent force, would converge on the isolated working party to defend it. In closing, Nehemiah assures them that their divine ally would support them and fight on their side (v. 14). The result of Nehemiah’s measures from verse 16 onward was that the workers were able to work long days with high morale and a bolstered sense of the spiritual nature of their task. 4:22 ...

363. Esther's Request to the King

Esther 5:1-8

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... is a loss to his honor. Haman’s wife and friends (like Xerxes’ counselors) are ready with a straightforward solution: have Mordecai executed now, thereby removing the threat from his presence (as the king had done with Vashti). If Haman could win royal support for an edict to annihilate an entire ethnic population, surely he could ask the king’s permission to rid himself of one individual. Haman’s superficial “happiness” returns with the thought that he will be rid of his nemesis on the next day ...

364. The Call of Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... the date of Jeremiah’s birth rather than the beginning of his formal ministry. The conclusion is reached because there are few oracles able to be dated to Josiah’s reign and there is no clear affirmation or distancing from Josiah’s reforms. An appeal to 1:5 supports the idea that the prophet felt he was called to his prophetic office in the womb. However, in spite of 1:5, which seems to be hyperbole, it is more natural to take the reference in the superscription to his actual call narrated in 1:6–10 ...

365. Restoration of Israel

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... the verb as a perfect form (“he has saved”). As Lundbom (Jeremiah 21–36, p. 423) suggests in favor of the MT, “nothing precludes a cry of gladness occurring simultaneously with a plea of salvation,” but he also notes that the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QJerc) supports the reading of the verb as a perfect. 31:15 This verse is cited in the infancy narrative of Jesus in Matthew (2:18) in reference to Herod killing the young boys in the city of Bethlehem in an attempt to eradicate the expected Messiah. In ...

366. Israel Unrepentant

Hosea 6:1--7:16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... the true nature of the biblical covenant relationship (cf. Matt. 9:13; 12:7). Additional Note 6:5 The Hb. reads “Your judgment,” as in the LXX and Syr., and it really is not necessary to emend the text as the NIV, RSV, and NRSV have done. Supporting Evidence of Sin (6:7-11a): It is very difficult to know whether or not these verses should be understood as a continuation of the unit in 6:1–6. Certainly they give evidence of the fact that Israel’s repentance is totally hollow, and the Hebrew connects ...

367. The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh

Nahum 1:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... (veyodeaʿ, [and] He cares). Verse 8b begins with kaf (kalah, an end). There are a number of alphabetical poems in the OT, though most are psalms (Lam. 1–4 are other examples). So this is an aspect of the hymn-like nature of verses 1–8 and it may support the suggestion that Nahum delivered his prophecy in the context of worship. The fact that the sequence is imperfect (the actual order in the alphabet is ʾ, b, g, d, h, v, z, kh, t, y, k) is not an indication of corruption in the text; it is common for ...

368. Robbing God

Malachi 3:6-18

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... (14:29). Numbers 18:21–24 assigns all tithes to the Levites as their inheritance from the Lord in lieu of land and in payment for their service at the tent of meeting. Malachi 3:6–12 does not mention priests or Levites, so their worthiness to receive this support is not the issue in this passage. The purpose of bringing the tithes to the temple storehouse (as in Neh. 13:12) is that there may be food in my house. The word for “food” (teref) is rare (Ps. 111:5; Prov. 31:15), but the idea is similar ...

369. The Tower of Babel

Genesis 11:1-9

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... stones prodded people to make buildings out of dried bricks. They used bitumen as mortar, but peoples west of there did not. 11:4 “With its head in heavens” is a Semitic expression for something very tall (e.g., Deut. 1:28; 9:1); this is supported by a line in the Babylonian Creation Epic that reads, “they raised the head of Esagila (the name of the temple) toward heaven” (Westermann, Genesis 1–11, p. 547). 11:6 Two rare roots, z-m-m (“purpose, devise”) and b-ts-r (“be impossible”) occur ...

370. Offerings for Priests and Levites

Deuteronomy 18:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... be called “Levi,” as there would be for Judah, Ephraim, and the other tribes. However, they were provided with forty-eight cities scattered throughout all the tribes, with some surrounding pasture land (cf. Num. 35:1–8; Josh. 21). And they were to be supported by the gifts and offerings of the people, along with the portions of the sacrifices that were given to the priests (for details, cf. Num. 18, which is probably what the text refers back to in the expression, as he promised them). Because they ...

371. Jesus’ Compassion and Authority to Do the Miraculous

Matthew 14:13-21, Matthew 14:22-36

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... and you lose your footing and begin to fall. Just beside you as you fall is a branch sticking out of the very edge of the cliff. It is your only hope and it is more than strong enough to support your weight. How can it save you? If your mind is filled with intellectual certainty that the branch can support you, but you don’t actually reach out and grab it, you are lost. If your mind is instead filled with doubts and uncertainty that the branch can hold you, but you reach out and grab it anyway, you will ...

372. Challenge and Counterchallenge

Luke 20:9-19, Luke 20:1-8

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... rest of chapter 20 will continue the public confrontation. While the authorities remain hostile, the larger crowd in the court of the Gentiles remains at least potentially open to Jesus’s appeal. It is only when they are able to detach Jesus from his popular support that the authorities will be able to carry out their plan to silence him, in chapters 22–23. Meanwhile, Jesus proves more than a match for them in open debate. Historical and Cultural Background The whole of chapter 20 is set in the court of ...

373. On the Mount of Olives

Luke 22:47-53, Luke 22:39-46, Luke 22:7-38

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... place” [22:40]). That was what Judas was relying on. Interpretive Insights 22:36 if you have a purse, take it. The previous missions of the disciples (9:1–6; 10:1–4) were in Galilee, where they could travel light and rely on the hospitality of supporters. But now that they are in Jerusalem, and Jesus’s enemies are moving against him, they should expect hostility and rejection. They will need to look after themselves. if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. In 22:49–51 Jesus ...

374. The Death of Jesus

Luke 23:44-49, Luke 23:26-43

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... 23:4, 14–15, 22, 41) that Jesus was innocent. 23:49 all those who knew him. These may include some or all of the Eleven (Luke has not told us what happened to any of them except Peter after Jesus’s arrest) but probably also a wider circle of supporters (such as Joseph [23:50]) and perhaps also family members; we will hear of disciples additional to the Eleven in 24:9, 13, 33 (cf. Acts 1:13–15). The special mention of the women (whom we met earlier at 8:2–3) prepares us for their important role as ...

375. The New-Covenant Ethic of Love

Romans 12:9-21

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... . That the early Christians did so magnificently is documented by Adolf von Harnack in a chapter entitled “The Gospel of Love and Charity.”10Harnack lists at least ten acts of charity by early Christians: (1) alms, (2) support of teachers and officials, (3) support of widows and orphans, (4) support of the sick, the infirm, and the disabled, (5) care of prisoners and people languishing in the mines, (6) care of poor people needing burial, and of the dead in general, (7) care of slaves, (8) care ...

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