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Showing 4726 to 4750 of 4958 results

4726. The Table of Nations

Genesis 10:1-32

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... an enigma that a Cushite is ruling among peoples of Mesopotamia. Some scholars therefore identify Nimrod as a great Egyptian ruler; proposals include Pharaoh Amenhotep III, who also had the name Nimmuri (fourteenth century B.C.). On one hunting expedition this pharaoh claimed to capture 102 lions. Since Nimrod is tied to Mesopotamia, Cush is more likely the city Kish, which in Mesopotamian tradition was the center of kingship after the flood. Another view links Cush with the Kassite rulers in Babylon in the ...

4727. Abram and Lot Separate

Genesis 13:1-18

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... of his offspring was without limit. Yahweh next commanded Abram to walk through the length and breadth of the land, explaining why Abram journeyed throughout the land rather than settling down, especially in the initial years in Canaan. By moving throughout the land, he was laying claim to all of the land. 13:18 After this word from Yahweh, Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre, which were in the vicinity of Hebron. These lush oaks, which grow to a height of twenty to twenty ...

4728. God’s Covenant with Abram

Genesis 15:1-18

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... a factor in determining the owner of this land. God could now define more specifically his promises to Abram. Given that the occupation of the promised land by Abram’s seed lay far in the future, God provided the covenant as a promissory note to guarantee their claim to the land. 15:8–10 Abram responded with a question: how could he know that he was going to possess this land? Although his question was pointed, it was free from the caustic tone he had used in the preceding exchange (vv. 2–3). Abram ...

4729. The Death of Sarah

Genesis 23:1-20

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... he had acquired inalienable property, i.e., property classified as “a hereditary estate” (R. Westbrook, “Purchase of the Cave of Machpelah,” in Property and the Family in Biblical Law [JSOTSup 113; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991], pp. 32–34). Westbrook claims that the Hittites participated with Ephron in the sale as is evidenced in Akkadian land contracts found at Ugarit. 23:16 Since coins had not yet been minted, merchants carried small, collapsible scales for weighing commodities against weights ...

4730. Isaac and Abimelech

Genesis 26:1-35

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... had given them, thereby reclaiming for himself these valued sources of water. 26:19–22 Isaac’s servants next dug for water in the valley of Gerar. They found fresh water, but when the herdsmen of Gerar heard the good news, they came to claim the well. So Isaac named the well Esek, meaning “quarrel.” His servants then dug another well, leading to another quarrel with the herdsmen of Gerar. This new well he named Sitnah, “hostility.” Detesting the continued conflict, Isaac moved on further and dug ...

4731. Jacob’s Flocks Increase

Genesis 30:25-43

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... years of labor, Jacob sought Laban’s permission to return to Canaan with his wives and children. His approach implies that Laban continued to have authority over his daughters’ departure from his household. Laban, however, entreated Jacob to stay on with him, claiming to have learned by divination that his prosperity was the result of Yahweh’s blessing him for Jacob’s sake (cf. 12:3). The reference to divination may be figurative or literal, but Laban affirmed that the gods had confirmed Jacob’s ...

4732. Jacob Flees from Laban

Genesis 31:1-21

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... Laban confronts Jacob (vv. 25–42), and Laban and Jacob make a covenant (vv. 43–55). 31:1–3 Jacob became aware that Laban’s sons were disgruntled with him, complaining that he had gained much wealth at their father’s expense. They claimed that he had taken everything that their father owned. Jacob also noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him had become more unfavorable. Yahweh used these circumstances to motivate Jacob to leave Laban’s household and return to Canaan. Then one day Yahweh told ...

4733. Jacob Meets Esau

Genesis 33:1-20

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... ’s blessing was on his brother’s life and that God had intended the blessing of Abraham to go with Jacob. Esau yielded to Jacob’s pressure and accepted the gifts. In this act Esau humbled himself, for he honored Jacob’s desire and relinquished any claims he had against Jacob. This gift sealed a bond between them, a bond that had not existed in their youth. 33:12–16 Enthusiastically Esau stated that both of them needed to resume their journey. He offered to accompany Jacob on his way. His men would ...

4734. Dinah and the Shechemites

Genesis 34:1-31

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... the city was in confusion, the rest of the sons of Jacob looted the city and seized the flocks and herds and donkeys, along with the women and children. 34:30–31 On hearing of his sons’ treacherous raid, Jacob reprimanded Simeon and Levi, claiming that they made him a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites. He feared that these people living nearby might be so angered that they would join forces and avenge the Shechemites by destroying his household. By giving only the reason of self-preservation and ...

4735. The Second Journey to Egypt

Genesis 43:1-34

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... overtaking these Semites, the steward accused them of theft as Joseph had directed. Protesting vociferously, the brothers proclaimed their innocence with an argument and an assertion. By pointing out that they had sought to return the money they had found inside their sacks, they claimed it would be unlikely for them to steal silver or gold from the overseer’s house. They went on to assert that if the cup should be found with any of them, that one would die and the rest of them would become slaves to ...

4736. Jacob Goes to Egypt

Gen 46:1–47:12

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... but Num. 26:38–40 and 1 Chron. 8:1–2 mention only five, and 1 Chron. 7:6 only three. Perhaps this list includes grandchildren in anticipation of their birth (Kidner, Genesis, p. 209). 46:34 Egyptian texts do not support the claim that Egyptians despised shepherds. What Joseph might have meant is that Egyptians did not like foreign shepherds moving about, especially given the scarcity of arable land in Egypt. It is possible that Semitic shepherds, accustomed to moving about, did not sufficiently control ...

4737. Joseph Reassures His Brothers

Genesis 50:15-21

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... s presence and fearful that Joseph might seek revenge, the brothers felt the need to define their relationship with Joseph. Not sufficiently confident of Joseph’s forgiveness to approach him directly, the brothers sent word to Joseph pleading for his forgiveness. They claimed that his father, before he died, had instructed Joseph to forgive . . . the sins and the wrongs of his brothers that they had committed in treating him so badly. By identifying Jacob as “your father,” they appealed to the special ...

4738. Love and Obey the Lord

Deuteronomy 11:1-32

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... 26:18–20.). The statements that Yahweh was responsible for the fertility of Canaan (v. 12), that it was he who gave the rain (v. 14), and that he could as easily withhold it (v. 17), are deceptively simple. They actually conceal a strongly polemical claim. For among the inhabitants of Canaan it was Baal who was lord of rain, fertility, and agricultural fecundity. The warning of verse 16 is thus very pointed. Israel would indeed face, and repeatedly succumb to, the temptation to pay homage to the gods that ...

4739. The Year of Canceling Debts

Deuteronomy 15:1-11

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... metaphorical use of body-language in the chapter as a whole, but especially in this section of it (cf. P. D. Miller, Deuteronomy, p. 136). Three terms are used: The hand. Cancel (vv. 2f.) is lit. “release the hand,” i.e., renounce one’s claim to, or power over, the pledge and thus the debtor. Similarly, in verses 7, 8 and 11, opening or closing the hand (openhanded, tightfisted) speaks of the power that the creditor wields over the debtor. The text is thus addressed, significantly, to those who have ...

4740. Cities of Refuge (II)

Deuteronomy 19:1-14

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... of uncontrolled litigation. The severity of this law reflects the wayjustice in Israel was a matter of the utmost seriousness. Yahweh, by his character as well as his action, demanded commitment to social and judicial justice among the people who claimed his name. The most essential components of that justice were the impartiality of judges and the integrity of witnesses; hence the presence of the ninth commandment in the Decalogue and hence this direct and uncompromising attack upon perjury. Its deterrent ...

4741. Solomon's Daily Provisions

1 Kings 4:20-28

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... all the others in 1 Kings 1–11, until the combined explosion occurs in chapters 11–12. 4:29–34 This negative note notwithstanding, we proceed now with an exultant passage about the wisdom of Solomon, which seeks to exalt him above all others who have ever claimed to be wise. His wisdom was certainly great enough (v. 29) to govern the numberless people of verse 20. It was greater, even, than the wisdom of any of those folk from places (v. 30) proverbial for their wisdom (the East, cf. Matt. 2:1–12 ...

4742. Solomon Builds the Temple

1 Kings 6:1-38

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... syncretistic. Even if we wished to interpret some of this symbolism in terms of “Canaanite” religion (and 1 Kgs. 6–7 give us no obvious warrant for doing so), the real question is whether these symbols were not from the start re-contextualized so that they embodied the claim that in fact it was the LORD, and not the god Baal, who was the giver of fertility (the point at issue in 1 Kgs. 18); the LORD, and not the king, who was the establisher and maintainer of the cosmic order. Much depends here on the ...

4743. Solomon's Adversaries

1 Kings 11:14-25

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... He is Jeroboam son of Nebat; his name will later echo throughout the book as that of the arch-idolater. 11:14–22 “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him” (Prov. 16:7). Thus Solomon had claimed in 1 Kings 5:4 that he was without adversary. Now the blessing has departed and the peace is fractured. We hear of two adversaries, enemies who had hitherto not caused significant problems but are now raised up by God to oppose the apostate king in his old ...

4744. Elijah Fed by Ravens

1 Kings 17:1-6

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... 24). In one sense she already believed it, but now that she has seen death transformed into life, she knows. She is the first to know what will soon be public knowledge when Elijah’s credentials are put to the test in confrontation with hundreds of others who claim to be “prophets” of a living god, but who are found wanting. Additional Notes 17:9 Go . . . to Zarephath: The incident is referred to by Jesus in Luke 4:25–26. Like Elijah, he implies, he has been sent, not (only) to Jews, but to Gentiles ...

4745. Elijah Flees to Horeb

1 Kings 19:1-8

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... appears, like the LORD himself (v. 11), to have passed him by. Privileged like Moses to see (Exod. 33:12–23), he remains steadfastly like Jonah: slow to understand. There is, indeed, just a suggestion that he does not particularly wish to understand. He has always claimed to “stand before the LORD” (Hb. ʿmḏ lipnê YHWH; cf. the NIV’s “whom I serve” in 17:1; 18:15). Yet now, in spite of the command of verse 11 (“Go out and stand . . . in the presence of the LORD,” ʿmḏ lipnê YHWH), he ...

4746. Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria

1 Kings 20:1-12

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... different prophet takes up the running (Elijah does not appear at all) and in which a different king of Aram (Ben-Hadad) loses a war with Ahab. The message of chapter 19 is thus underlined. Elijah is not the only servant of God left, in spite of what he has claimed (19:10, 14), and the quiet ways of God must take their course yet a while before the events that 19:17 speaks of come to pass. At the same time, chapter 20 picks up themes from chapter 18. Ahab is the “troubler of Israel,” the Achan and the ...

4747. An Axhead Floats

2 Kings 6:1-7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... been captured (v. 20, cf. v. 17). Jehoram wants to kill them; is this an attempt to avoid his father’s mistake in 1 Kings 20? The circumstances, however, are not the same. Jehoram would not kill men captured with his own sword or bow, Elisha claims—and these are not even men like that. After a great feast, they are accordingly sent home, and there is a peace between Aram and Israel that transcends the uneasy peace described in 5:1ff. Arameans no longer venture into Israel’s territory (cf. the bands ...

4748. Famine in Besieged Samaria

2 Kings 6:24-7:2

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... “windows” in the heavens (ʾarubbôt) but via four (Hb. ʾarbāʿâ) rather more mundane lepers. 7:3 At the entrance of the city gate: We are never told why they found themselves at the city gate, but there is certainly no hint (as some commentators have claimed) that they are in some kind of quarantine because of their disease (cf. Lev. 13:11, 46). They consider the possibility of going into the city (v. 4), implying that they have the freedom to do so. 7:13 Five of the horses: It is unclear whether ...

4749. Athaliah and Joash

2 Kings 11:1-21

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... temple (7:15–22, 41–42). Given the context, most likely either Jakin or Boaz are in view here (cf. 7:21). The emphasis on custom is interesting, for it is clearly one of the purposes of the authors throughout the chapter to stress the legitimacy of Joash’s claim to the throne. He is the rightful heir (vv. 2–3) and is regarded as king by Jehoiada (and the authors) even before the coronation (vv. 7–8, 11), which takes place in line with law (vv. 12, 17) and custom (vv. 12, 14; cf. the parallels with ...

4750. Zechariah King of Israel

2 Kings 15:8-12

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... to power for a mere month before losing both crown and life to Menahem, whose power base is apparently in the old Israelite capital of Tirzah (vv. 14, 16; cf. 1 Kgs. 15:33; 16:8, 15, 23). In what will be the last action of an Israelite king claiming control of a Solomon-like empire, Menahem then attacks Tiphsah on the Euphrates river at the northernmost extent of Solomon’s empire (1 Kgs. 4:24; cf. the commentary on 2 Kgs. 14:25, 28 and the additional note on 14:25), forcing the city’s capitulation and ...

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