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Showing 1451 to 1475 of 1858 results

1451. The Triumphal Entry

Matthew 21:1-11

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... messianic title. To come in the name of the Lord means to come as his emissary, Hosanna in the highest means something like, “Let even the angels in the heights of heaven sing praises.” When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city “went wild with excitement” (NEB). They asked, Who is this? and the crowds answered that he was Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. Unless the multitude was intimidated by those in Jerusalem and decided to softpedal their messianic claims, it is best to understand ...

1452. The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman

Mark 7:24-30

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... the house pets. Dogs: It is true that Jewish tradition sometimes referred to Gentiles derogatorily as “dogs,” but this may not be relevant here. The Greek term Mark uses seems to refer to household dogs, while “dog” as a slur used a Greek term applied to wild dogs or to scavenger dogs of the street. 7:28 The dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs: The woman’s reply confirms that the dogs here are household pets under the table, and she cleverly points out to Jesus that, although children ...

1453. One Body, Many Parts

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... way, so that “unity in diversity” and “diversity in unity” become equal and synonymous statements. They are not. According to Paul, in Christ unity dominates diversity and makes diversity genuinely meaningful and constructive. The problem in Corinth was diversity run wild. 12:13 From the outset of this discussion it is clear that this metaphor is possible because of the unifying work of the Spirit. The emphasis on unity cuts sharply across all social boundaries. Then, as Paul develops the metaphor ...

1454. The Resurrection of the Dead

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... same phrase occurs in 3:3 and 9:8, although there are differences in the contexts of the discussions in which Paul uses the words. The observation by interpreters that Paul’s Roman citizenship would have precluded his being subjected to combat with wild animals is perhaps correct, should Paul have provided proof of his status. 15:33 Orr and Walther (1 Corinthians, p. 336) suggest that the popular maxim found here may come from Euripides. Nevertheless, it is preserved through a line in Menander’s Thais ...

1455. The Seals

Revelation 6:1-17

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... the earth’s poor have need for God’s bounty. The fourth horseman, sent out on a pale horse when the Lamb opens the fourth seal, is named Death, and Hades was following close behind him, gathering the victims of sword, famine and plague, and … the wild beasts (perhaps those used in the Roman persecution of Christians) into its domain. According to Revelation, both Death and Hades (the place of the dead) are destined for the lake of fire as participants in the Evil One’s reign of terror (Rev. 20:14 ...

1456. The Burnt Offering

Leviticus 1:1-17

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... ; indeed, in some places women are instructed to bring offerings (e.g., Lev. 12; 15). In the last phrase of verse 2, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock, the term translated “animal” usually refers to domestic rather than wild animals. Those from the herd would be cattle, those from the flock sheep or goats. The sacrifice of these animals was costly for the ancient Israelite. Meat was a rare luxury in that world; the offering was to be genuinely sacrificial. 1:3 Verses 3 ...

1457. Clean and Unclean Animals

Leviticus 11:1-47

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... the curve or palm of the hand but can refer to the hollow of the foot. Perhaps walking on the “hand” was seen to be a method of locomotion inappropriate for these land creatures. It may also be the case that these creatures are wild and consume meat and blood. The text does center on dead carcasses. When alive, these animals may compete with humans for food resources and so disrupt wholeness by introducing disorder. Such animals might include bears, lions, monkeys, or dogs. These verses emphasize the ...

1458. Balaam’s First Oracle

Numbers 23:1-12

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... misery, for God is with them. The parallelism in verse 21 suggests that the King in the last line is the divine king. The shout is the shout welcoming the king at victory. God has shown strength with the exodus from Egypt. The strength of a wild ox refers to a kind of large bison that was particularly dangerous. The image is of an advancing army with the divine king leading it. Verse 23 suggests that any sorcery or divination Balak might bring forth will not be effective against Israel. Israel will continue ...

1459. Job's Reply to Eliphaz

Job 6:1–7:21

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... to support his arguments with the best of the sages! He follows his opening defense with two proverbs affirming complaint as a natural response to deprivation and suffering. In reverse mode, Job reminds Eliphaz that it is only natural for hungry animals (wild donkey and domesticated ox) to bray or bellow in their discontent. Most commentators understand the food Job describes in the second proverb as disgusting and repulsive, and thus Job’s refusal of it is only natural. This interpretation associates the ...

1460. Eliphaz's Second Speech to Job

Job 15:1-35

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... 5:12–13). The crafty are the ʿarumim, from the noun ʿarum, that can mean “subtle; shrewd; clever; or crafty” with either positive or negative connotations. The term also describes the serpent in Gen. 3:1 as “more crafty [subtle] than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.” Aged Counsel With subtle sarcasm, Eliphaz questions the legitimacy of Job’s wisdom. The wisdom enterprise acknowledges its debt to the sages of the past upon whom the core insights of the wisdom tradition depend. It ...

1461. The Voice of the Lord in the Thunderstorm

Psalm 29:1-11

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... The LORD thunders over the mighty waters; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon; the voice of the LORD . . . strips the forests bare (here we may think of lightning sparking a forest fire); the LORD makes Mount Hermon skip . . . like a young wild ox; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. Appropriately, this powerful and majestic display elicits a response: and in his temple all cry, “Glory!” This cry is also a response to the opening twofold imperative to ascribe to the LORD the glory due his ...

1462. Do Not Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... . God takes care of the birds who neither plant nor gather a harvest into barns. He also dresses the flowers of the field in garments more beautiful than Solomon with all his wealth could secure. Children of the kingdom are certainly of greater value than birds! And wild grass is here today and gone tomorrow. When you worry about such things not only are you like the pagans but you dishonor God as well. He is fully aware of your needs. Worry is practical atheism and an affront to God. In this passage we see ...

1463. The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

Matthew 13:31-35

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... The mustard seed was proverbial for its smallness. It was the smallest of the seeds commonly used in Palestine. Yet when it grew it became larger than any of the garden plants and became a veritable tree some eight to ten feet high. Its size attracted the wild birds, which would come and eat the little black seeds of the tree. It is quite common for writers to interpret the birds as symbolic of the flocking of Gentiles into the kingdom. Though it is true that birds symbolize gentile nations in 1 Enoch 90:30 ...

1464. The Creator and His Providential Ordering of Creation

Psalm 104:1-35

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... ). The psalm expands on his provisions for humans: wine and oil that “gladden” them and bread that sustains them. Also in focus is God’s provision of place for his creatures: the trees for the birds and even the high mountains for the wild goats. The point of these verses lies in God’s providence for these creatures, not on their creation as such (unlike Gen. 1). Particularly striking is the image of Yahweh as gardener (the cedars of Lebanon that he planted), which indicates his regular intervention ...

1465. Praise from the Heavenly Hosts and Creatures Here Below

Psalm 148:1-14

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... great sea creatures, all ocean depths) and those in the waters above the firmament (though birds are not listed here but with other animals in v. 10). Next are listed elements of the land (mountains, hills), vegetation (fruit trees, cedars), and animals (wild animals, cattle, etc.). Two verses are then devoted to humans, first by political designations (kings, nations, etc.) and then by age and gender (young men and maidens, old men and children). Both the heavenly and earthly lists are rounded off with the ...

1466. The Parable of the Tenants

Matthew 21:33-46

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... –39 The second parable directed against those who refused to accept the messianic implications of Jesus’ ministry had to do with a landowner who leased his vineyard to tenants and left home. Preparations included putting a wall around the property to keep wild beasts out, hewing out a wine vat, and building a watchtower from which the entire operation could be overseen. When the harvest time approached, the owner sent his servants to receive his share of the produce. Gospel accounts differ in the number ...

1467. The Burial of Jesus

Matthew 27:57-61

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... 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 of other criminals, his body was put in a trench and covered over by the soldiers (p. 538). No such reworking of the text is necessary. Isaiah, speaking ...

1468. The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-31

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... 5:21). Nebuchadnezzar had to learn that the hard way, for when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he lost his throne for a time (5:20). He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal, being forced to live with the wild donkeys and eat grass like cattle out in the field until he acknowledged the rule of God (5:21). But Belshazzar did not learn from his “father’s” example. Daniel catalogs Belshazzar’s sins: he did not humble himself (5:22) but set himself up against the ...

1469. Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and a Goat

Daniel 8:1-14

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... the silver and gold vessels and utensils (1 Macc. 1:20–24), so that it became “desolate like a desert” (1 Macc. 1:39 NRSV). “The sanctuary was trampled down” (1 Macc. 3:45 NRSV). The gates had been burned, the priests’ quarters were in ruins, and wild bushes were growing in the courts (1 Macc. 4:38). We do not know how extensive the damage was, but we are told that after driving out the pagans, the Jews had to reconstruct the sanctuary (1 Macc. 4:47–48). Verse 12a is full of difficulties ...

1470. The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus

Mark 1:9-13

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... an unsought and uncomfortable experience, an ordeal. The fact that it is the Spirit who drove him into the desert means that the testing there was God-ordained, part of the necessary preparation for God’s chosen Son. For another thing, Mark alone refers to wild animals in the desert experience (1:13), and his intention, apparently, is to show the dangers of the scene. Some scholars suggest that the writer alludes here to the creation accounts, in which Adam in the garden names the animals (Gen. 2:18–19 ...

1471. Jesus Walks On the Water

Mark 6:45-56

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... located on the plain (cf., e.g., Lane, p. 239, n. 127; “Galilee, Sea of,” IDB, vol. 2, pp. 348–50; MBA, 231). Mark does not explain why they wound up here if, as he says, they set out for Bethsaida (6:45), but it is often suggested that the wild storm of 6:48–51 blew the boat westward to this spot. 6:55 The sick on mats: This recalls of the sick man of 2:1–12. 6:56 The edge of his cloak: This reminds us of the woman of 5:25–28 (see comments and notes on ...

1472. Paul's Plan to Visit Rome

Romans 15:23-33

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... have been arrested again a few years later and executed in Rome, for tradition is unanimous that he died there sometime during the latter years of Nero’s reign (ca. A.D. 64–68). Additional Notes 15:24 We are mistaken if we consider Spain the “wild west” of the Roman Empire. It had been for two and one-half centuries an established part of the Empire. An excellent system of Roman roads and bridges crisscrossed the peninsula, of which a bridge at Alcantara and an aqueduct at Segovia remain to this day ...

1473. Balaam's Second Oracle

Numbers 23:13-26

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

1474. Punishment for Disobedience

Leviticus 26:14-46

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... to live without God. 26:21–22 A third set of calamities then comes to the fore, again described as seven times over. Israel is pictured as remaining hostile to God, “walking” or living in opposition to God. Now the threat is wild animals, which will take children and devastate domestic animals, human population, and commerce. Israel thus encounters the consequences of willful disobedience against God. 26:23–26 A fourth set of calamities is prescribed because Israel has not accepted what is called ...

1475. Listening and Doing

James 1:19-27, James 1:1-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... their mischief, but a parent is about to turn the corner, and the very object of their joy, the evidence of their disobedience, will humiliate them within seconds. They are rich—rich fools (Luke 12:13–21). The fact is the rich will pass away like a wild flower. Wealth is very impressive, and the rich seem very important now, but if one looks at them from God’s perspective, one sees that the impressiveness is that of a soap bubble. Death is coming and the wealth will disappear and the rich will descend ...

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