Sermon and Worship Resources

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1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... room for complacency. The urgency of the appeal is verified by the doubling of the verbs (cf. 3:2, “to strengthen and encourage”): We ask you and urge you … to do this more and more (cf. 4:10). Erōtaō, used in classical Greek only of asking a question, acquired by this time the additional sense of making a request (cf. 5:12; 2 Thess. 2:1). But “request” is too weak a term, and so the other is added parakaleō, see disc. on 3:2). Added also is the phrase, in the Lord Jesus, which puts the appeal ...

2. Proverbs of Solomon

Proberbs 10:1--22:16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... broadcasting odious scandal (cf. same verb in Gen. 34:30; Exod. 5:21) and suffer the consequences (13:5b, 6b). Wealth and poverty are examined in 13:7–11. Wealth can be feigned (13:7) or life-saving (13:8a) and can rapidly disappear if acquired dishonestly rather than through sustained effort (13:11). Those living in poverty, in contrast, cannot respond to a painful rebuke (13:8b; cf. 13:1b), much less a death threat. Verse 9 affirms that the righteous shine more brightly than the wicked, whom God will ...

3. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 13:1-25

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... :34–36; 8:8–9; 9:14–16). See Additional Notes. 13:21–22 Antithetic. Both sayings illustrate the traditional doctrine of reward and punishment. According to verse 22, the good (must) prosper and can leave a legacy to descendants. Even if sinners acquire some wealth, this cannot remain with their progeny; it is bound to end up with the righteous. Catchwords for both verses are righteous and sinner. 13:23 The Hebrew is difficult and probably corrupt. Literally: much food—tillage of the poor; and (but ...

4. The Death of Sarah

Genesis 23:1-20

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... open to dealing with him by using the pronoun us. They responded first with a general offer of the choicest of their tombs for burying his deceased. Skillfully, they spoke to his major concern while at the same time avoiding his request to acquire his own property. They did not yet indicate whether they would permit Abraham to take full ownership of the land. 23:7–9 Abraham stood up. Since negotiations were usually conducted while sitting, his standing indicated his eagerness to persuade the Hittites to ...

5. God Subjugates Judah under Babylon

Daniel 1:1-21

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... 8, 15; 12:8). Finally, the mention of Cyrus (1:21) anticipates the historical markers in the following Aramaic (6:28) and Hebrew (10:1) sections, alluding to the exile’s end. Historical and Cultural Background In contrast to instructional wisdom acquired through learning and experience (Proverbs), Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts (mostly the latter) speak of mantic or prophetic wisdom, which is given to Daniel alone in this narrative.1The exercise of this kind of wisdom was the work of diviners in decoding ...

6. Wisdom’s Final Appeals

Proverbs 8:1-36

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... origin and earliest activities. Although God is the subject of all verbs in verses 22–29, wisdom’s close association with him is emphasized repeatedly. A number of interpretive difficulties are found in this section. God’s first action is to create/bring forth or to acquire/possess wisdom. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew verb qanah can be used to express both of these activities. Elsewhere in Proverbs (cf. 1:5; 4:5, 7; see commentary on 4:1–27) and in the majority of its Old Testament occurrences ...

7. In Pisidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-52

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... gained the upper hand and ruled over the more numerous tribes of the Phrygians and Cappadocians. Their chief cities were Tavium, Pessinus, and Ancyra (Ankara). During the Roman civil wars of the first century B.C., the Galatian prince Amyntas acquired a large domain that, by favor of Augustus, he was allowed to retain. This “kingdom of Galatia” comprised, besides Galatia proper, parts of Phrygia, Lycaonia, Isauria, Pisidia, Pamphylia, and western Cilicia. In 25 B.C., Amyntas’ kingdom passed into the ...

8. The Song of Moses and Miriam

Exodus 15:1-21

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... richest Hebrew word in this culminating praise is translated in the phrase, “the people you bought” (qanah). The Hebrew means “acquired by some effort.” It can mean “created” or “gave birth to,” both requiring strenuous effort by the Creator or begetter (see also ... Exod. 4:22; Num. 11:2). It can also mean “acquired through cost” (such as the loss of life in Egypt) or through labor (as in the Lord’s many interventions). All ...

9. Boaz Marries Ruth

Ruth 4:1-12

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

... is of the essence. Anxious clients are waiting for a decision. To this, the kinsman immediately responds, I will redeem it. 4:5 In stage two, however, Boaz deftly adds, On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire (reading Qere qanitah) the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property. This, finally, is the fine print, the catch shrewdly worded in three preconditions. First, although this is a land transaction, fundamentally it has to do ...

10. Nehemiah Helps the Poor

Nehemiah 5:1-19

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... with the surrounding narrative. However, verse 16 supplies a clue that 5:1–13 is still inside the wall-building time frame—the 52 days of 6:15. Nehemiah informs us in passing in 5:16 that he did not exploit an opportunity that presented itself to acquire land, but instead concentrated on the wall project. This information ties the wall theme together with the material in 5:1–13 and takes us into the heart of that passage, to a detail about Nehemiah’s provision of loans in verse 10. So we are assured ...

11. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 11:1-31

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... (three times). In v. 15b, subject and predicate are juxtaposed participles. 11:16 Evidence for the uncertainty of the text can be seen from the LXX: “A gracious woman acquires honor for her husband, but a woman who hates righteousness is a throne of dishonor. Sluggards end up lacking in wealth, but the courageous acquire riches.” 11:19 The Hb. is difficult: “Thus righteousness (is) to life / but whoever pursues evil (is) to his death.” W. McKane (Proverbs: A New Approach [Philadelphia: Westminster ...

12. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 17:1-28

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... wrongs the right” (both an abomination). The point is the upholding of justice in judicial cases. 17:16 Synthetic? The saying underscores the hopelessness of the fool, whose wealth cannot acquire wisdom. Besides, according to Job 28:14–19, wisdom is beyond any price. For the one who will listen, there is no charge for acquiring wisdom, according to Sirach 51:25. 17:17 Antithetic? Commentators are divided on the meaning. Does true friendship rate higher than blood relationship (see 18:24; 27:10; cf. 18 ...

13. Warnings and Exhortations for Jerusalem and Judah

Zephaniah 2:4-7, Zephaniah 2:8-11, Zephaniah 2:12, Zephaniah 2:13-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... my people” and “my nation.” They will plunder Moab and Ammon; but what is there to plunder? They will “inherit” these peoples’ land, enter into secure and permanent possession of it (the verb nakhal denotes acquiring such assured possession rather than indicating specifically that one acquires it when someone within the family dies); but what is the use of it? To judge from what follows (v. 10), however, the significance of this is that it all serves to underline hyperbolically the completeness ...

14. Cain and Abel

Genesis 4:1-26

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... ”), which sometimes means “give birth, produce” (e.g., Exod. 15:16; Ps. 74:2; 78:54; Prov. 8:22), the child was named Cain (qayin). Eve proclaimed proudly that she had brought forth or acquired (qaniti) a man. She identified the newborn as “a man” rather than as “a son” or “a child.” She made a wordplay based on her having been taken from “a man” (’ish) and thus called “a woman” (’ishah; 2:23); now she, a woman, had borne “a man” (’ish). She ...

15. Worshipping Other Gods

Deuteronomy 13:1-18

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... with a curse, but a shrug, and then have the gall to claim morally higher ground than ancient Israel. Similarly, if we can no longer identify with the scale of priorities and values that undergird Deuteronomy 13, it is manifestly not because we have acquired a greater appreciation of the value of human life, but because we have lost any sense of the awful majesty of God’s reality. The western church, more than it cares to admit, has imbibed that dichotomized, privatized, cultural worldview in which God is ...

16. The Reversal of the Deuteronomic Curses and Blessings: Replacing Law with Faith

Romans 9:30--10:21

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... capable of fulfilling the law, for all are affected by sin (see Rom. 3:20; 7:5–11). Nor does one need to obey the Torah, for Christ’s coming has spelled the end of that approach in the divine program (10:4). Rather, what is needed to acquire God’s righteousness is faith in Christ, as he is revealed in the kerygma (preaching of the gospel) (10:6–8). This is the way to life and the Deuteronomic blessings. More recently, however, a positive rendering of 10:5 has been offered by some scholars,5claiming ...

17. Wisdom is Supreme

Proverbs 4:1-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 3:2, 18, 22). “Get” (Hebrew qanah, 4:5, 7) is a favored term, used fourteen times in Proverbs. There is an intimate relationship between retaining (godly) parental instruction and acquiring wisdom and understanding, and the latter should be one’s top priority. The metaphorical Lady Wisdom is hinted at in 4:5 (since one can “get” or “acquire” a wife; cf. Ruth 4:5), but she emerges clearly in verses 6–9 (similar to 3:13–18): you should not “forsake” (also 4:2) wisdom but rather lovingly ...

18. The Last Supper

Luke 22:7-38

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of the testing that the disciples and Jesus will face is now explained more fully. On their previous mission the disciples lacked nothing, presumably because others met their needs. But now the time of opposition has set in. Jesus’s words on acquiring a sword (22:36) should not be interpreted literally; they are a sign of the conflict and opposition the disciples will face. Indeed, Jesus himself will be considered a criminal (cf. 23:32–33), fulfilling Isaiah 53:12. The disciples mistakenly interpret ...

19. Slaves to Righteousness

Romans 6:15-23

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... performed labors of drudgery, but some were bureaucrats, artisans, teachers, and even physicians. But like their American counterparts, ancient slaves were considered the property of their masters, literally bondspersons. They were acquired through a variety of means, including birth, war, and auctions. Some slave traders acquired babies exposed in temples or at public dumps, and in times of famine adults not uncommonly sold themselves into slavery to avoid starving. The exact percentage of slaves in Greece ...

20. Causing to Sin

Mark 9:42-50

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... at Matt. 18:6–9, see also Matt. 5:29–30, where what seems to be the same saying appears in another context. 9:50 If it loses its saltiness: Other ancient writers attest that the unrefined salt gathered from the Dead Sea, which is mixed with impurities, could acquire a stale and flat taste. Of course refined salt does not become unsalty, but the unrefined salt known in ancient Palestine could. (Cf. Luke 14:34–35; Matt. 5:13; Col. 4:6 for other symbolic uses of salt in the NT; and IDB, vol. 4, p. 167.)

21. To the Church in Laodicea

Revelation 3:14-22

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... (3:19) and realize that you are … poor, blind and naked. Accordingly, they are to buy from me gold to become rich toward God (cf. Luke 12:21); they are to wear white clothes to cover their nakedness (cf. James 2:15); and they are to acquire salve to put on your eyes to see (cf. John 9:35–41). These symbolize repentance and also divine gifts that provide the repentant one with the spiritual goods necessary to turn around and follow Christ. Christ warns of severe consequences that result from spiritual ...

22. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... characterize Jewish and Gentile would-be believers. Jews, as the Old Testament amply demonstrates, demand "signs" from God - signs of power, deliverance, chosenness. Greeks - or Gentiles - don't want to see, they want to know - to be filled with self-acquired wisdom. In response to those very separate desires, Paul offers a common solution - Christ crucified. Little wonder that his news is perceived as a roadblock on the way to deliverance by Jews, and a foolish inconsistency in logical progressivism by ...

23. Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... : Fortress Press, 1981]). Nevertheless, the context here supports the sense of "created" or "established." Wisdom "was set up" (v.23) and "was brought forth" (v.24,25); elsewhere in Proverbs, the word qanah appears 12 times with the sense of to gain or acquire. Clearly, wisdom is not a divine being whatever the translation of qanah, but an aspect of Yahweh's glory providing a glimpse into his creative power and work. Wisdom, however, would become for an emerging Jewish community in the second and third ...

24. Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... who are false teachers, Paul stresses "knowledge" that is coupled with "spiritual wisdom" and "understanding." This is not some philosophical footnote to be mastered that then has no bearing on behavior in daily life. The "knowledge" the Colossians are urged to acquire is always made manifest in right action and conduct a connection first forged in the faith of the Hebrew Scriptures. True knowledge, in the Hebrew sense, is relationship with God not some special knowledge about how the Divine plans and works ...

25. The Things Close to Your Heart

Mark 13:1-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... amount of money imaginable. This woman has spent half a lifetime on touring the sights and galleries of the world’s greatest art. And she has now become bored and weary. Then she meets a Frenchman who has no money but a love for beauty and a self-acquired knowledge of art. And in his company, suddenly things became different. In her words, “I never knew what things were like until you taught me how to look at them.” Life in Christ is like that. When we see life in the light of Jesus’ light, we hear ...

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