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Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

Showing 1401 to 1425 of 4963 results

1401. Vows

Numbers 30:1-16

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... these commitments. 30:3–9 The remainder of this chapter relates to women’s vows. The first context considered is that of a young woman still living in her father’s house. If she makes a vow or pledge and her father does not object to it, the vow remains in force and is to be fulfilled. If the father objects when he hears about it, the vow is null and void. The LORD will release her from the vow. The father’s objection must come upon his hearing of the promise. The second scene (vv. 6–8) concerns ...

1402. Vengeance on the Midianites

Numbers 31:1-24

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... of the victory. Josh. 13:21–22 and Judg. 6–8 also recount wars with Midian and are related to Num. 31. 31:18 For further comment, see Susan Niditch, “War, Women and Defilement in Numbers 31,” Semeia 61 (1993), pp. 39–57. 31:32 The sense of the plunder remaining is unclear. Is it what is left after the army’s journey back to the camp? Some persons and animals may have been lost, and the army would have had to eat. More probably the phrase refers to what ...

1403. Samuel Rebukes Saul

1 Samuel 13:1-15

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... could be seen as following a similar pattern and making the same theological error. God’s presence and God’s blessing could not be guaranteed simply by the use of cultic ritual, particularly not when it is wrongly applied by one who was not a priest. God remained the true king, and absolute obedience to him was essential for any lasting kingdom in Israel. So far, apart from the brief reference to Saul’s family in 9:20, there has been no indication that a dynasty was ever in view. It is possible, even ...

1404. Jonathan Attacks the Philistines

1 Sam 13:23–14:14

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... used did not suit Jonathan’s activist nature, and therefore Saul was not told. Saul’s having not been informed is significant for the unfolding story. 14:2–5 Saul was still based near his home at Gibeah with the six hundred troops who had remained loyal when Saul’s defeat of the Ammonites was not repeated with the Philistines. One of the six hundred was Ahijah, Eli’s great-grandson, who comes into the picture in verse 18. This fits the pattern of announcing characters prior to their involvement ...

1405. Eliphaz

Job 4:1-5:27

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... : property (v. 24; 1:13–17), children (v. 25; 1:18–19), and his personal physical well-being (v. 26; 2:7–8). The fact that both passages recount the losses and reversals in the same order confirms the link between these accounts. Job’s tent will remain secure and he will not lose any of his property. His children will be many, and so he will have abundant descendants. And, in stark contrast to Job’s weakened body ravaged by disease and wracked with pain, his submissive being will come to the grave ...

1406. Zophar

Job 11:1-20

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... Job is also claiming to be pure or unadulterated to anyone who, like Zophar and the other friends, takes the trouble to scrutinize him carefully. This kind of “purity” is accomplished by “sorting” or “sifting out” the bad so that only the good remains (from the verb brr, meaning “sort, sift”). Zophar rather scathingly assumes that such claims in the mouth of the suffering Job are patently dishonest. 11:5 Zophar’s desire that God would appear to respond to Job’s complaint—Oh, how I wish ...

1407. Eliphaz's Second Speech to Job

Job 15:1-35

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... methodology of traditional wisdom—because it would shake the very foundation of their belief. Instead Eliphaz is seeking to force Job to ignore the implications of his experience and submerge his doubts beneath the cautious consensus of the sages. This Job remains steadfastly unwilling to do. On the other hand, this reference to listening in on God’s “council” has the further ironic effect of reminding the reader of the private knowledge that the opening chapters of the book provide of the heavenly ...

1408. Job's Second Reply to Eliphaz

Job 16:1-17:16

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... . The “intercessor” Job envisions would be able to do what Job fears he could not—the mediator will plead with God as easily as if he were a man pleading for his friend. 16:22 The matter is urgent, because Job knows only a few years remain before his death—years Job would rather not spend in deep suffering. Using traditional language regarding Sheol, the abode of the dead, Job describes his conviction that death marks the end of his hope for vindication: I go on the journey of no return. Additional ...

1409. Eliphaz's Third Speech to Job

Job 22:1-30

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... creation order—are charged “with error” by God (4:18–19; 15:15–16; see also Ps. 8:5), how then can sinful humans hope to escape the divine punishment they all deserve? Now Eliphaz takes a further step to argue that God remains essentially unaffected by human conduct—whether exceedingly wicked or exceedingly righteous—and thus we can trust his judgments in all cases to be unbiased. As a result, since Job is suffering harshly, his sin must be richly deserved. Whybray expresses this well: “God ...

1410. The Escape to Egypt

Matthew 2:13-18

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... Egypt of any size had a colony of Jews (in Alexandria, over 2 million). Certain later traditions attempt to convey the idea that it was in Egypt that Jesus learned magical tricks that he used later in connection with his miracles (cf. Abodah Zarah 16b–17a). Joseph is to remain with his family in Egypt until the angel of the Lord returns and tells him to leave. In verse 8 Herod claimed he wanted to know where Jesus was so he could go and worship him. Now we see that his real intent was to murder the Christ ...

1411. The Baptism of Jesus

Matthew 3:13-17

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... to those who continue in unbelief (cf. 2 Cor. 2:16). The synoptic accounts give no specific indication that others saw the descent of the Holy Spirit. John’s testimony, as recorded in the Fourth Gospel, is, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him” (John 1:32). That others witnessed the event is implied by Matthew’s This is my Son, whom I love, as contrasted with the “You are” in Mark (1:11) and Luke (3:22). In the Synoptics the voice from heaven is heard once again at ...

1412. The Fulfillment of the Law

Matthew 5:17-20

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... by the letter i) or keraia (“little horn”). They are often held to represent the smallest Hebrew letter (yoḏ) or the decorative serif that would distinguish similar letters in Hebrew. Beare writes that the “Law remains in force to the last dot on the last ‘i’ ” (p. 139). The meaning is clear: the law remains in toto. Therefore, to break even the least significant of these commandments and lead others to do the same is to be least esteemed in the kingdom of heaven. To obey them and encourage ...

1413. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Matthew 14:13-21

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... . Beare, for instance, writes. “It is of course preposterous, if it be taken literally, as an account of an actual event” (p. 236). Barclay is a bit more gentle toward those who have no need to go beyond the simple story itself: he writes, “Let them remain for ever undisturbed in the sweet simplicity of their faith” (vol. 2, p. 102). Those who resist taking the account as an actual miracle offer various explanations. Perhaps everyone had a lunch, but no one was willing to bring it out lest he or she ...

1414. The Faith of the Canaanite Woman

Matthew 15:21-28

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... days and no longer had food. Learning from his disciples that they had seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, Jesus had the crowd seated, and they were fed. After they all had eaten their fill, the leftovers were gathered, and there remained seven basketfuls. Not counting the women and children, some four thousand had been fed from the meager supply of the disciples. A question that is always asked concerns the relationship between the two miraculous feedings as reported both by Matthew (14:13–21 and ...

1415. Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

Matthew 15:29-39

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

1416. The Burial of Jesus

Matthew 27:57-61

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud. He then placed it in his own new tomb, which had recently been hewed out of solid rock. Rolling a big stone in front of the entrance, he left, but Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained in front of the grave. Roman law allowed the relatives of a criminal to claim his body for burial. Otherwise it would be left on the cross for wild dogs and vultures. Beare holds the account of Jesus’ burial to be “legendary” and surmises that, like those ...

1417. Daniel in the Den of Lions

Daniel 6:1-28

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... once does it refer to God’s “law” (v. 5); every other time it refers to the “law” of the Medes and Persians (vv. 8, 12, 15). In this way, he creates a tension between divine and human requirements, so that as the story plays out, Daniel remains faithful to Jewish law, or religion, by praying, even though he risks his life to do so. Seven times we find words from the root meaning “to seek,” “to ask,” or “to pray.” The conspirators “tried” or “sought” (v. 4) to find a way to trap ...

1418. The Kings of the South and the North

Daniel 11:2-35

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... revolt. Elsewhere there were apostate Jews who were all too happy to abandon their religion in order to please the king: “Many of the people, everyone who forsook the law, joined them, and they did evil in the land” (1 Macc. 1:52 NRSV). However, others remained faithful: the people who knew their God were resolute in their actions (Dan. 11:32), refusing to eat pork or meat sacrificed to pagan gods: “But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. They chose to ...

1419. Jesus' Mother and Brothers

Mark 3:31-35

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... of the veneration of the mother of Jesus and the general high respect for his family in later church tradition. In the Roman Catholic tradition there is a special difficulty with the references to Jesus’ family because of the official dogma that Mary remained perpetually a virgin and thus did not have children other than Jesus (see note). Of course, this information about Jesus and his family was not preserved for curiosity’s sake but to demonstrate by Jesus’ example the cost of discipleship and—by ...

1420. Jesus Presented in the Temple

Luke 2:21-40

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... had been completed: Luke’s “their” is somewhat misleading, for, strictly speaking, this would be a time of purification for the mother only (and not also for the father or for the infant). For seven days the woman is unclean and for 33 days more she remains confined (Lev. 12:2–8; see Lachs, p. 31). Jerusalem: The name of this historic city occurs in the Lucan writings more frequently than in any other book in the NT. Tradition has identified the city with Salem; see Gen. 14:18; HBD, pp. 463–73 ...

1421. Paul's Plan to Visit Rome

Romans 15:23-33

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... claim. As we noted at verse 19, the claim that there is no more place for me to work is surely tempered by the prospect of the imminent return of Christ. The nail of Christianity had been set in the east due to his missionary efforts, but it remained for others to drive home. 15:24 Paul’s last frontier was Spain, the western-most limit of the Roman Empire. Exactly why he chose to evangelize Spain (as opposed to Gaul, for instance) we are not told. We know that Spain had an established Jewish population at ...

1422. The Thousand Years

Revelation 20:1-7

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... , John refers here to all those within his seven churches who repent or endure and so overcome evil for good (cf. Rev. 2–3). Insofar as the experiences of these seven congregations parallel those of congregations of every age, this first resurrection includes all believers who remain faithful to Christ. They are seated together on thrones symbolic of their earthly reign (cf. Dan. 7:9; Luke 22:30, par.; 1 Cor. 6:2–3) as priests for God (cf. Rev. 1:6; 5:10; Heb. 9:14)—a royal priesthood on earth (Exod ...

1423. The People Rebel

Numbers 14:1-45

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... year for each of the forty days you explored the land (v. 34; see 13:25). This generation gets deserving punishment, but at the same time receives a second chance as a community. God continues to be present with them, and the divine promise of the land remains for the next generation. 14:36–45 The ten spies who had given the bad report about the land (13:32) then suffer the consequences of their faithlessness and die by way of a plague before the LORD. Only Joshua and Caleb survive. These deaths prefigure ...

1424. Dividing the Spoils

Numbers 31:25-54

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

1425. The Grain Offering (II)

Leviticus 6:14-23

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... (1 Sam. 2:12–26), the system could be abused, so clear standards were needed. Chapters 6–7 deal with each type of sacrifice, beginning with the most common. 6:14–18 This segment further instructs priests on the grain offering and the disposal of its remains—verse 15 echoes chapter 2. The portion of the offering which is not consumed by fire is eaten by the Aaronic priests. Since the offering is holy to God, it must be eaten in a holy place, at the sanctuary. (The prohibition against yeast reflects ...

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