... other occurrence of the verb in the OT). Lebanon and Bashan were part of the warnings in 2:13, Lebanon and Carmel in 29:17 (NIV “fertile field”), Carmel and desert (cf. Arabah here) in 32:15–16, forest in 29:17 and 32:15 (cf. Sharon here). The trees dropping their leaves or fruit recalls 32:10. As a whole, verse 9 thus repeats 32:9–14 and restates the need for 32:15–16. 33:10–12 Yahweh here arises to act. The fact that Yahweh would arise to act was a threat in 2:19, 21; 28:21 ...
... This is one of only three passages in Ezekiel that give the date by the year and day rather than by the year, month, and day. However, the other two are readily explainable: in 1:2 Ezekiel specifies the month in the preceding verse, while in 32:17 the month dropped out due to scribal error (the LXX provides the number of the month). Further, in the final form of Ezekiel the date in verse 1 here is out of sequence, coming a year after the next date in 29:1. Probably this date in verse 1 was added after the ...
... month is lacking in the MT (see 1:2 and 26:1), prompting one to wonder why this would have been done here. Despite the curious wording of the Gk., it seems best to assume that the translators were accurately rendering the text before them, and that the month has dropped out of the MT due to scribal error (Eichrodt, Ezekiel, p. 436).
... ’s jaws). Then, in two striking verses, God describes both Gog’s commission, and Gog’s fate: “I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand” (vv. 2–3). As in chapter 38, these verses make it unapologetically apparent that the God who sent Gog to attack Israel is the same God who, in defense of Israel, disarms and destroys the enemy from the north. As in the priestly ...
... of upward mobility. The remaining 80 percent would have lived close to or below subsistence level. As Bruce Longenecker notes of this larger group, “With 55% of the Graeco-Roman world skimming the surface of subsistence and occasionally dropping down below it . . . , and with another 25% living in an extremely fragile suspension above subsistence level . . . , studies of the early Christian movement cannot be immune to the pressing ‘realities of poverty’ that affected the majority of the imperial ...
... not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs. In their second exchange Jesus responds to the Canaanite woman’s “Lord, help me!” with a picture of the Jews as the children eating at a table and Gentiles as the dogs waiting to catch a dropped morsel. He makes the point that it would not be right to throw the bread intended for the children to the dogs. It is difficult to attribute these words to Jesus if we view him as one who agrees to every request for healing that comes to him. It ...
... Ammoniated window cleaner: Do not spray in eyes. • Electric woodworking drill: This product not intended for use as a dental drill. • Hair coloring: Do not use as an ice cream topping. • Sleeping pills: May cause drowsiness. • Air conditioner: Avoid dropping air conditioners out of windows. Though many are humorous, product warning labels reflect the impulse of caution in the face of potential danger. In an effort to ensure that behavior pleased God and avoid potential sanction for wrongdoing, the ...
... conquest. Unconditional surrender (words included in the Potsdam Declaration) is surrender without conditions, in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party. The decision to accept these terms was not reached easily, coming only after two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The call of every Christian is a full and complete surrender to the will of God. Although people often don’t make this decision (yielding their will and desires to God) easily, this surrender does bring ...
... to describe Jesus’s emotions: “deeply distressed” (ekthambe?) and “troubled” (ad?mone?), a deep-seated anxiety. 14:34 My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Luke 22:44 tells us that Jesus’s “sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” “Overwhelmed with sorrow” intensifies the “distress” in verse 33, and Jesus becomes the “righteous sufferer of the psalms” (Ps. 55:4–5).2The language here echoes the psalmist’s lament, “Why, my soul, are ...
... to his Father, even if it means mortal conflict with the devil. 4:9 the highest point of the temple. Perhaps we should think of the corner of the temple portico that overhung the Kidron Valley. Even now, with the superstructure destroyed, it is a dizzying drop; at that time, according to Josephus, the portico rose a further thirty meters. 4:10 it is written. The devil too can quote Scripture. Psalm 91:11–12 is a promise of God’s protection for all who trust him; how much more, then, should the ...
... Jesus illustrates the reasons why people do not respond to his word. Personal Stories: Every pastor of a congregation or teacher in a classroom can tell personal stories illustrating the three negative responses in this passage: seeds that are dropped on the path, those that fall upon rocks, and those scattered among thorns. One could even call upon individuals for stories illustrating these nuances so that they understand them better. Literature: The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. This demanding ...
... on “what is better” (10:41). It denotes not a proper responsibility in ensuring provision, but a distracting anxiety that closes the mind to higher concerns. 12:24 Consider the ravens. Birds, of course, do have to search long hours for their food; God does not drop it into their beaks. But the point is that food is there to be found because God makes provision for all that he has created. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Compare 12:7; 13:15–16. Such comparative valuations depend on ...
... in its wake unimaginable disaster. Unforgettably, the 9/11 disaster came blasting into the life of New York City, arriving so quickly that thousands had no way to escape. In the history of WWII, both the aerial assault on Pearl Harbor and the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima are other examples of unexpected calamity. Other current events are the bombings of commuter trains in Spain in 2004 and England in 2005, as well as the bombings at the Boston Marathon in 2013. So much can happen in life that we cannot ...
... the field open for a different faction within the Sanhedrin to try a more theological question in 20:28–33. When Jesus is judged to have won that debate as well, the tactic of public questioning will be abandoned (20:40). But the authorities have not dropped the issue: in 23:2 the same matter of Roman tax will be raised, and Jesus will be accused of the very radicalism that here he has carefully avoided. 20:28 raise up offspring for his brother. The verb suggests that the only “afterlife” that the ...
... or in the earliest Greek manuscripts of Luke. It appears to be an early expansion of the Gethsemane story,1current at first primarily in the Latin-speaking church, designed to underline the seriousness of Jesus’s mental conflict (“like drops of blood” does not necessarily mean that Jesus literally sweated blood, but that he sweated so profusely that the sweat fell like dripping blood). It combines human vulnerability with supernatural support. 22:45 he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow ...
... Mark Twain. This parabolic tale (1899) tells the story of a town whose motto has been “Lead us not into temptation.” The people in Hadleyburg live smugly, sure of their virtue and their spiritual standing. One night a stranger, seeking revenge for an offense by the town, drops off a sack at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Richards, claiming that it is filled with gold. He directs that the sack be given to the man who purportedly gave him some good advice and twenty dollars in a time of need. Anyone claiming to ...
... tax, which covered customs, duties, toll taxes, and fees for various services. We know from the Roman historian Tacitus (Ann. 13) that the masses reached a boiling point in AD 58 about exorbitant tax rates, so much so that the emperor Nero considered dropping the indirect tax, although he decided against doing so. So Paul’s letter to the Roman churches tried to keep Christians out of the debate by instructing them to pay their taxes. Interpretive Insights 13:1–2 Let everyone be subject to the ...
... and have attained it, we owe ourselves thanks and expect others to add their approval and recognition. The ability to count prominent people in one’s circle of friends can afford the same sense of significance. The frequency of name dropping makes that abundantly evident. Paul speaks to that exact situation when he reminds the Corinthians that bragging about such things does nothing but reveal how they have missed the gospel (3:21). A proper understanding of accomplishments and relationships recognizes ...
... , not even those currently in positions of power. The sevenfold classification of the inhabitants of the earth points to the comprehensiveness of the coming judgment (cf. a similar list in 19:18). Osborne observes that “terror is a great equalizer, and all social distinctions drop away in light of the shaking of the heavens and the arrival of the terrible judgment of God.”4Horrified at facing the wrath of God and the Lamb, they first attempt to hide and then plead for a violent death (cf. Isa. 2:10 ...
... Adolf Hitler. The man who had proclaimed war against the world ended his days in a bunker, with the world closing in on him. The despot who poisoned millions of Jews, sat beside his wife, who died by poison. The aggressor who launched missiles and dropped bombs died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Hitler, the man who had ordered bodies burned in the furnaces of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, and Dachau, was carried outside his bunker in a rolled-up rug and burned on the ground. Evil always consumes ...
... the lost with the gospel. Scenario: Imagine you are on a hike through the woods. It is a beautiful summer day. As you walk, you hear what sound like a hundred freight trains rushing by. Drawing closer to investigate the sound, you find a vast waterfall, dropping down more than one hundred feet below you to great, jagged rocks. You follow the path upriver. As you do, you encounter a party of people on a raft, floating toward you and the waterfall. They are laughing, joking, and having a good time, utterly ...
... God’s love for us (and the future he has planned) by reflecting upon the godly love relationships we share with other people now, such as a strong marriage relationship. But even when these relationships are at their absolute best, they are merely a drop in the ocean of God’s love. 2. The heavenly city is spectacularly beautiful because of God’s glorious presence. We sometimes hear people talk about God’s glory like it is a detachable substance, a mere theological attribute that can be disconnected ...
... Illustrating the Text God is the true source of life. Nature: Mesquite trees are survivors. These amazing trees are able to live in extremely arid conditions because they are not dependent on the occasional rainfall for survival. In seasons of extreme drought, they can drop their leaves to conserve energy. The key to a mesquite tree surviving is its deep taproot. The mesquite tree sends its taproot up to two hundred feet below the surface, looking for the water table. It knows where true life waits. The new ...
... suspects having been in a state of ceremonial impurity when a fellowship offering was eaten or suspects that the item vowed to Yahweh was not the item that was sent. To dispel such guilty feelings, a guilt offering is made. On this reading, the restitution requirement is dropped. 6:1–7 The law of the guilt offering for false oaths overlaps with the law of Numbers 5:5–10. Where evidence is insufficient to go to court, suspects can be required to swear (see Lev. 6:5) that they “did not lay hands on ...
... a pot of water instead. The woman wonders, “What for?” The traveler replies, “To make a pot of my famous nail stew.” Interested in seeing the traveler eat nails for supper, the miserly woman acquiesces. Soon after the water comes to a boil, the traveler drops a nail into the pot, stirring frequently and making much of the aroma. “Ah,” he sighs, “it’s perfect. If only I had a pinch of salt.” The woman, wanting to see the traveler eat a salty nail, acquiesces. After a while, the traveler ...