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Luke 16:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... disappear, once again throwing the indebted ones back into the gracious arms of God, the one who dwells in the "eternal homes." Verses 8b-13 are generally understood as later editorial additions which sought to accomplish much the same thing as all biblical scholarship since to explain the meaning of this most difficult parable and to make the unjust steward into a more comfortable model of Christian integrity and service. Verse 11 appears to point most directly at all those who have been on the receiving ...

2. Gabriel Brings an Answer to Daniel’s Prayer

Daniel 9:20-27

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... from a different “anointed one” who comes “sixty-two ‘sevens’” later in 9:26 (NRSV, ESV, NJPS). This interpretation first appeared in the third and fourth centuries AD[8] and then reemerged in the nineteenth century with the rise of modern scholarship. The numbers are generally understood as figurative or symbolic,[9] and the combined era mirrors that described in Daniel 8 and 10–12: the persecutions of Antiochus against the Jews in Jerusalem. This view addresses the key issues raised above in ...

3. Isaiah 50:4-9a

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... discourses within Isaiah, hypothesizing that at least three separate authors (dubbed proto, deutero, and trito-Isaiah), or perhaps even the efforts of an entire "Isaiah school," are responsible for each of the scroll's different "voices." Recently some English scholarship has begun to tune in to the commonalities, the logical sense of wholeness, that holds the complex Isaiah scroll together. While different tones are emphasized within the course of Isaiah's witness, these scholars hear a coherent message ...

4. Doing What is Good

Titus 3:1-11

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... (see “Greek Ethics and Christian Conversion”) sees these terms as personifications; however, both the language and Philonic parallels are pressed a bit too hard in order to draw such a conclusion. 3:5 It is of more than passing interest to watch NT scholarship, already convinced of the non-Pauline authorship of these letters, argue that many features in this sentence (vv. 5–7), including the not … but clause in this verse, are not fully Pauline. In this case the failure to say “works of Law” or ...

5. Witnesses of the New Covenant

Romans 12:1-8

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... be conformed (sysch?matiz?) to this age but rather to be transformed (metamorpho?) to the age to come (implied) by the renewing (anakain?sis) of the mind. The two verbs are imperatives. While older scholarship distinguished these verbs as outward conformity and inward transformation, recent scholarship rightly rejects such a distinction. Rather, both verbs suggest a total commitment. Thus, Christians should continually reject this age in favor of the age to come. “Renewing” (anakain?sis) is similar to ...

6. Eliphaz

Job 4:1–5:27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... does so again at Job 29:1, a point again where Job seemingly has been speaking all along. Up to now, the narrator has interjected only to change speakers and has used different wording, “Then x replied.” 5. Zophar has no third speech. Most scholarship rearranges, in some fashion, the contents of Job 24:18–27:23. Clines has charted an array of proposals for the puzzle (2006, 629). How does one go forward through the maze? Measured against two previous cycles, the third exhibits a different pattern and ...

7. Philippians 3:4b-14

Philippians 3:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ” and “loss,” he “reckons” up the tally and compares these two balance sheets: his life lived under the law, and his new life lived “in Christ.” In an astonishing move, Paul’s accounting shifts everything, every profit of heritage, scholarship, zeal, and obedience, from the “asset” column to the “loss” column. The accounting ledger is turned upside down. The plus column is now a w: complete write-off. Replacing all those previous assets is one great new reality: “the surpassing ...

8. Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of all?" harkens back to a similar confrontation between the Judaic rabbi/scholar Hillel (40 B.C.-10 A.D.), who was taunted by a pagan to "teach me the whole of the Torah while I am standing on one foot." Cutting through the heft of traditional scholarship and scriptures, Hillel replied, "What is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary; go and learn it." Jesus' response is similar. He combines Deuteronomy 6:4-5 with Leviticus 19:18 to give a two-pronged ...

9. 1 Peter 2:2-10

1 Peter 2:2-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... clear contrast for readers. 1 Peter's focus on "infant" Christians here and the newness of these Christian communities in general has suggested to some scholars that these texts originally might have been part of a baptismal service. While more recent scholarship has discounted the actual liturgical use of these texts, there is later evidence that shows the baptismal influence of 1 Peter's references. In the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, newly baptized Christians were served not only the bread and wine ...

10. Matthew 10:40-42

Matthew 10:40-42

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... or the gospel message he brings with him. The verb continues, however, into verse 41, where it focuses more expressly on the missionary first "a prophet," then "a righteous person." Jesus' distinction between these two "types" has caused considerable scholarship. The identity of "prophets" has been the easier to discern. In the first century, "prophets" appear to be traveling, itinerant preachers. Welcoming a prophet and offering him hospitality was a short-term commitment. A "prophet" would enter the town ...

11. Luke 10:25-37

Luke 10:25-37

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... on what he knows, Jesus allows the one who would "test" him to parade his own knowledge. The lawyer is only too pleased to demonstrate his expertise. Quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, he articulates the two commandments that Jewish scholarship and tradition felt represented the ultimate distillation of the 613 points of the Mosaic Law. The first tenet to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength and mind was Hebrew shorthand for insisting that the totality of all that makes up ...

12. 1 Timothy 1:12-17

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The so-called "pastoral epistles" have experienced a varied life in biblical scholarship. They have been present in the acknowledged canonical books ever since it was first established (c. A.D. 170) - with the notable exception of Marcion's quixotic selections. They "fell from grace" in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when critical textual analysis began to develop. Despite the long ...

13. John 15:9-17

John 15:9-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to Jesus' remarks in 14:30-31, an "ending" that appears scrambled in the middle of these chapters, hence Moffatt's "re-orderings" of this Discourse into 13:1-30a; 15:1-27; 16:1-33; 13:30b-38; 14:1-31; 17:1-26. Most recent scholarship, however, is much more inclined to conclude that John had access to two different accounts of Jesus' final discourse to his disciples. Unwilling to omit one or judge one version superior to the other, the gospel writer simply included both as one long discourse and left in ...

14. 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Christians had made a deal with the city rulers, promising that Paul himself would not be invited back within the city. But neither Acts 17 nor 1 or 2 Thessalonians themselves give any explicit evidence to confirm such a hypothesis. Other recent scholarship has noted that the whole ancient tradition of sending envoys, or messengers, who bore the full authority of their sender was based not just on the physical unavailability of the sender, but on the level of effectiveness the sender wished to accomplish ...

15. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... prodigal son parable offers pointed commentary through the unhesitating, exuberant joy exhibited by the father and the wrong-headed, hardhearted attitude of the elder brother. We should resist investing Luke's parable with wholly allegorical interpretations, however. Some scholarship has sought to describe the elder brother, for example, as Luke's allegorical representative of Pharisaic Judaism. While the older son's attitude is in concert with the displeasure voiced by the Pharisees and scribes in verses 1 ...

16. John 3:1-17

John 3:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... oriented as these words may have been for John's community, they could scarcely have had that same connotation for Nicodemus. As a Jew, a Pharisee, there is no reason to assume that Nicodemus would understand Jesus' words as a call to baptism. More recent scholarship has suggested that perhaps we should think as literally as Nicodemus at this point in interpreting Jesus' words. If Jesus is making a distinction between flesh and spirit in verse 6, why should he not be doing the same in verse 5? Thus Jesus ...

17. John 11:1-45

John 11:1-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus' followers his true identity as the Messiah (v. 25), and gives those who are against him an even stronger motive for seeking his death {vv.47-48). While the actual historicity of Lazarus' resurrection is beyond the pale of critical scholarship, John's telling of this story is crucially important to the theology of the Johannine community. The rich, tightly woven narrative is heavy, with theological overlay, the most central concern being how believing, reborn Christians are to understand the reality ...

18. Romans 10:5-15

Romans 10:5-15

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... offered here. In verses 14-15 Paul poses four rhetorical questions. This form, notable for a word repeated from the previous question tying to the next question, is known as a "logic chain" - and Paul forges these links tightly to make his point. Some recent scholarship has explored the relationship between Paul's use of the oral and the written word. We all know Paul was an early master of written communication, for a large percentage of our New Testament is made up of his writings. But Paul's commitment ...

19. Mark 1:1-8

Mark 1:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... prologue we get an explanation of John the Baptist's predicted appearance and mission, which the narrator reveals is the key to correctly understanding John's identity. Whereas scholars initially included only these eight verses as Mark's introductory material, more recent scholarship has concluded that the prologue extends to verse 13, with some studies pushing this literary boundary all the way to verse 15. It has been suggested by some recent Markan scholars that the thrust of this gospel is its focus on ...

20. Mark 1:29-39

Mark 1:29-39

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... contrary, given the circumstances, the woman's fever is more of an awkward inconvenience than anything else. After all, how can the woman of the house be incapacitated when four hungry men have just walked in the door? Notwithstanding the bulk of biblical scholarship, perhaps Jesus can be credited here with an act of compassionate healing anyway. Given the cultural standards of her day, Simon's mother-in-law, unless she were practically dying, would have obediently risen from her bed and served the men in ...

21. Mark 4:26-34

Mark 4:26-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... we are in many respects members of that uncomprehending crowd listening to Jesus' parables instead of being part of that select group of privately tutored disciples. For there are two different ways of interpreting Jesus' comparison. Historically, the bulk of scholarship has tied Jesus' description of the mustard seed's growth into a huge plant capable of sheltering birds, with other Old Testament texts that discuss the restored Israel. (See C.H. Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom [London: The Religious ...

22. Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... a number of parables, one after the other; while 4:35-5:43 pulls together some of Jesus' most remarkable and impressive miracles. The possible theological motives behind these groupings has been somewhat less clear than their organizational nature. Some scholarship has suggested, however, that Mark uses these homogeneous units (a parable section, a miracles section) to demonstrate a two-pronged thrust to Jesus' ministry as well as to the ministry he conceives for his disciples. According to this argument ...

23. James 1:17-27

James 1:19-27

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus did for our salvation. James presents the essence of what Jesus the teacher, preacher, healer, presented to the curious crowds that followed him about Galilee. Jesus the Jew, the keeper of the Torah, the one whose observance was not cemented in scholarship but whose relationship with the Father resonated throughout all his actions and words. James doesn’t want to talk about Jesus. James wants to talk like Jesus. So he speaks about God’s people, about the law, about life. James’ text venerates ...

24. Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... opinions about who are meant by the “saints” (“hoi hagioi”). Some scholars insist this is a reference to God’s holy people, those who through baptism and faithfulness are “in Christ” and so have been welcomed into the kingdom of light. More recent scholarship, however, finds both Old Testament (Zech.14:5; Dan.7:27) and Quran (1 QS 11:7-8) evidence that “the saints in the light” refers to angelic beings. Yet in the context of this text, where the community of “the saints” is so ...

25. Romans 15:4-13

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... on their behalf were a pure act of “mercy.” As he noted in v.4, Paul now returns to citing scripture texts that are newly revealed and fulfilled when viewed from this side of the cross with the eyes of faith in Christ. Paul’s Pharisaic scholarship is revealed by his selection of citations. He chooses texts from all three portions of Hebrew scripture. 1) From the Law Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32:43 (Romans 15:10). 2) From the Prophets the promise of Isaiah 11:10 (Romans 15:12). 3) From the Writings, the ...

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