... exonerates Jews before God, but the doing of God’s will. God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth and impartiality (2:2, 11). Paul proceeds with the present argument in three stages. In 2:1–3 he adopts a style of argumentation called diatribe. Especially common among Stoics, a diatribe was a literary technique in which an imaginary heckler or opponent was engaged in lively argumentation. Paul’s opponents, of course, were not imaginary. In the synagogues and marketplaces of ...
... word of hope to individuals and peoples, to Abraham and his offspring (v. 13). Paul speaks of the promise variously as inheritance (v. 13; Gal. 3:18); life (v. 17; Gal. 3:21); righteousness (Gal. 3:21); a gift of the Spirit (Gal. 3:14; Eph. 1:13); or adoption as children of God (Gal. 4:5). These are not abstract qualities but characteristics of Jesus Christ in whom the promises of God take on human form (15:8). “All the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Cor. 1:20, RSV). God is not a divine ...
... hardening is not an obstacle to Israel, but God’s judgment on Israel. The bulk of the supporting quotation from Deuteronomy 29:4 in verse 8 recalls Israel’s resistance to God in the wilderness. The phrase, spirit of stupor, however, is adopted from Isaiah 29:10 as part of Isaiah’s scathing attack against the city of David for its faithlessness. The word for stupor is a rare word in Greek literature and means “torpor” or “spiritual insensitivity.” Coupled with the references to blindness ...
... of the present. Paul, however, says to be joyful in hope. Christian joy finds its source not in the present (whether favorable or not), for that is a hope which “disappoint[s] us” (5:5). Christian joy consists in the hope of “our adoption as sons [and] the redemption of our bodies” (8:23–25). Not coincidentally, Paul follows being joyful in hope with being patient in affliction (v. 12). Earlier he said that suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope (5:3–4). Afflictions are not ...
... both Jewish and Roman law forbade incest, and the descriptive phrase his father’s wife (see Lev. 18:7–8; 20:11) most likely refers to a stepmother with no indication that adultery was in mind. Specifically, Roman law forbade marriage both between adoptive parents and children and between steprelatives; thus, the man’s father could be dead or divorced from this woman, and an unacceptable liaison would be formed if the “son” and the “wife” became involved sexually. 5:2 Paul names an even greater ...
... , not a major distortion or denial of the truth. Paul argues at length and in a gentle but firm and thorough fashion to redirect the understanding and the actions of the Corinthians. Nevertheless, whatever understanding of the Corinthians’ beliefs one adopts for making sense of this part of the letter, this section resists viewing Christ’s resurrection in isolation as a mythic theme or an eternal timeless truth. Christ’s death and resurrection have a definite, determinative role in both the ...
... identified as Qantir or Avaris-Tanis (Zoan), which is close to the north. 33:5–15 Others have proposed that the route was a northern one, by the Via Maris (near the Mediterranean Sea), or a central one, but the more traditional proposal adopted here seems to most closely follow this itinerary in Num. 33. 33:6 Etham is Egyptian for “wall, fortification.” The route of the exodus and wilderness journey as well as the identification of the various places in the itinerary are difficult and complicated ...
... man thought he was bringing good news (either telling David that Saul was dead and the way was clear for David to become king of Israel or providing the information that he had fulfilled Saul’s last wish and expected a reward), he would not have adopted signs of mourning. Perhaps the story of his involvement in Saul’s death had been a last-minute invention. If so, he badly miscalculated its results. 1:4 Jonathan’s death is specifically mentioned whereas, unlike in 1 Sam. 31, that of his brothers is ...
... that of “a foolish woman” (nebalah). The term nebalah does not indicate lack of intelligence but describes “moral obtuseness and blindness to religious truth” (Gordis, Job, pp. 21–22). Job goes on to instruct his wife in an attempt to sway her to adopt his firmly-held conviction that true piety demands holding firmly on to God whether one experiences good or trouble. Piety is not a form of barter, Job explains, but an irreversible commitment. 2:10b The second test concludes in much the same way ...
... buttresses his opening statement with more aphoristic statements regarding the dangerous foolishness of resentment. While the proverb here seems originally to have concerned resentment and envy directed towards other humans, Eliphaz employs the saying here to caution Job against adopting such attitudes against the punishment that comes from God. Resentment kills, he warns, and so does envy. The fool (ʾewil, see also v. 3) and the simple (poteh) make their first and only appearance here in Job. Both words ...
... behind the disturbing patterns of a world where the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. And that true wisdom is ultimately the possession of God, and not the result of the gradual accretions of human observation and experience. Here Elihu, by adopting this adage without qualification, subjects himself to the criticism of Job’s earlier discourse and undermines his own argument. Like those who are deceived by thinking that their human wisdom can capture the fullness of divine purposes, Elihu offers his ...
... you” (Hb. ʾanî hayyôm yelidtîkā, NIV I have become your Father), might imply a kind of genetic relationship between the Israelite king and God, especially in the ancient Near East. Within the horizon of the OT, however, this language points to legal adoption. First, these phrases issue from a legal decree. Second, they have become a reality only today, that is, the day of the king’s enthronement. Third, this decree echoes the Davidic covenant: “I will become to him a father and he will become to ...
... East (e.g., the personification of the sun; the term for God in v. 1 is “El,” a Semitic name for God held in common with other ancient Near Eastern peoples; see further Gerstenberger, Psalms, p. 101). Like Psalm 29, these verses may have been adopted from preexilic, non-Israelite poetry. Verses 7–10 are akin to the torah psalms (Pss. 1; 119), which reflect on the wonders of Yahweh’s written instruction and stem from the wisdom tradition, probably in the postexilic period (on the law of the LORD cf ...
... one that is explicitly expressed in the petitions of verses 7–12. Thus, we read too much into verses 1–6 if we assume they are meant to report a composer’s actual feelings of confidence. Rather, they express a trust that a worshiper should resolve to adopt. To paraphrase the closing line of verse 3: “in the security of Yahweh’s temple I am determined to trust.” Because the point of verses 1–6 is to lead the worshiper to resolve to trust in Yahweh’s provision of sanctuary (not to publish that ...
... is probably still addressed to him. It is the only verse of the prayer (vv. 1–18) that is not in the “you” form. In view of the alternatives of idols, there may have been the need to name the Lord specifically. 31:10 My affliction: This reading (Hb. ʿonî), adopted by the NIV, follows that of the LXX and Syriac. The MT has “my iniquity” (Hb. ʿawōnî).
... comments below on vv. 4, 10). 41:1–3 The opening blessing is unusual for a prayer psalm. Unlike the rest of the psalm, it is not addressed to Yahweh directly and was thus either spoken by a liturgist overseeing the sick person’s prayer or was adopted into this prayer psalm because of the promises, the LORD will . . . not surrender him to the desire of his foes but will restore him from his bed of illness. (It is interesting to note the subsequent prayer makes no mention of the speaker’s regard for the ...
... and corporate psalms and traditions (Pss. 22; 51; 69; 102). Each of these, in their final forms at least, shows affinity to the crisis of the exilic period (roughly 587–538 B.C. and beyond). In these psalms, it appears the people of the exile adopted prayer psalms of the individual to express corporate lament, where the nation is personified as the speaking “I.” In addition, both halves of Psalm 77 contain literary echoes from the text of the book of Exodus (esp. 34:6), as do other psalms (Pss. 103 ...
... in loyal love” (Hb. ḥesed, vv. 5, 13, 15). Similarly, the psalm presupposes all that a covenant relationship entails. We must keep in mind here that these self-descriptions do not follow from the character of the actual composer; they are to be adopted by worshipers if they wish the psalm to have its desired effect. The fourth motif on which the psalm is founded is that of historical precedents. As noted above, the psalm quotes confessions well rooted in Israel’s historical experience of Yahweh ...
... bind themselves to the LORD” are among those to whom he gives “an everlasting name” (Isa. 56:3–8; cf. 19:25). This action is perhaps comparable to his recording of these foreigners in the register of the peoples in our psalm. This seems to allude to the adopting of foreigners as citizens of Zion. In addition, Zion is depicted as a mother who is surprised by the number of children she has “borne” (Hb. yld, Isa. 49:20–21; 54:1; 66:7–8; cf. 60:4–5, 9). This image is comparable to the birth ...
... addressed to the Davidic kings, his reinterpretation is endorsed by the book of Psalms itself. The historical superscriptions invite readers to re-read the “psalms of David” as those authored by David (see the Introduction). Jesus, in his debate with the scribes, adopts this secondary setting for Ps. 110. There are other cases where an OT passage is reinterpreted in the NT with divergent meanings, esp. when a key term is resignified. For example, the promise of Abraham’s “seed” (Gen. 12:7; 13:15 ...
... war, verses 2–3 state it in terms of “deceitful tongues.” The psalms, in fact, often use the imagery of warfare as a figure for hostile speech (27:1–3, 12; 35; 57:4; 64:3). The psalm surprisingly closes without resolution (unless we adopt the second interpretation of v. 1 below), thus leaving readers/listeners with a profound sense of dissatisfaction at living in a foreign land. It may be for this reason that Psalm 120 became the introductory psalm of ascent, in the collection that appears to serve ...
... not obedience. In this case our eyes seek mercy. 123:3–4 The sole petition makes the simple request that Yahweh have mercy; it does not specify any form of intervention. This reticence makes sense in view of the humble stance explicitly adopted by the petitioners, who are as “slaves.” The distress is one of contempt and ridicule. The instigators are not specified any further than as the proud and the arrogant, the antithesis of the slave image defining the petitioners. This characterization points not ...
... the attitude of fear, the second defines the behavior of “walking” in his ways. As the poetic parallelism suggests, the one considered blessed by Yahweh is an integrated person. Presumably, this promise of blessing is also held out as a motivation that worshipers adopt such an attitude and behavior. What we so often take for granted was not the case in the ancient world, namely that you will eat the fruit of your labor. Because of the uncertainties brought on by war, famine, and disease, this was ...
... the heart of vv. 1–18) is to confirm the rhetorical question and confession of verses 21–22. But we must first note that the wicked in these verses pose no direct threat. They are, in fact, God’s enemies and become the speaker’s enemies only by adoption (vv. 21–22). They do not accuse the speaker: “they speak of you with evil intent” (v. 20). Second, there is no plea for rescue or protection, which is seen so clearly in Psalms 7 and 17. Third, if from the beginning the psalm reflects a notion ...
... opened” in verse 33 (p. 196). It calls attention to the central concern of the blind men: not simply to see but to see Jesus the Messiah. Additional Notes 20:30 Manuscripts vary considerably in reporting the cry of the blind men. The editorial committee of the UBS decided to adopt the reading reflected in the RSV but enclosed kyrie within square brackets (TCGNT, pp. 53–54).