It’s a stretch, but: Matthew uses the word pneuma 19 times, and uses the word with reference to the Holy Spirit 12 times (1:18, 20; 3:11, 16; 4:1; 10:20; 12:18, 28, 31, 32; 22:43; 28:19). That’s neat: A twelvefold Spirit for the twelve tribes of Israel. But then there’s the . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus cries out with a loud voice, and some say He calls for Elijah. He cries out again with a loud voice (Matthew 27:50, and then Jesus gives up, or sends away, His spirit (Greek apheken to pneuma ). So too Elijah: At his sacrificial ascent in fire, he gives up his spirit to Elisha, as the Spirit . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus cries out using the words of Psalm 22, and the people standing at the foot of the cross say He’s calling for Elijah. Why? They must be Jews, since they immediately associate “Eli” with “Elijah.” But if they are Jews, why don’t they . . . . Continue Reading »
“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” Jesus cries on the cross. He’s crying out for Elijah, someone says. But the Greek eli is exactly the name of another Old Testament figure, the High Priest Eli, priest during the childhood of Samuel (1 Samuel 1-4). That allusion works: Eli . . . . Continue Reading »
Exum notes that for the lovers of the Song “nature in all its glory reflects and participates in their mutual delight. And everything is experienced more intensely, from the thrill of watching a lavishly outfitted palanquin approach from a distance . . . to the pleasure derived from the . . . . Continue Reading »
Yesterday, I noted Exum’s observation that the Song’s imagery is not straightforward visual, but describes the experiences of the lovers. Exum is drawing on a 1967 JBL article by Richard Soulen, who says, “It should be obvious that comparisons of the female body to jewels (7 . . . . Continue Reading »
What is wisdom? Follow the canonical progression of wisdom books. Proverbs: There are two women. Choose Lady Wisdom and reject Lady Folly. Ecclesiastes: All is hebel . Death looms. Therefore, eat, drink, rejoice in the wife of your youth. Joy in your wife is the way to . . . . Continue Reading »
Terry Eagleton gives a neat summary of Alain Badiou’s account of faith, an account that seems to me to be quite close to the biblical view of faith in several respects: “ . . . the kind of truth involved in acts of faith is neither independent of propositional truth nor reducible to it. . . . . Continue Reading »
A couple of disconnected notes on Matthew 27. First, the death of Jesus responds to the mockery of passers-by and Jewish leaders. The passers-by mock Jesus for His claim to be able to destroy and rebuild the temple (v. 40), but at the death of Jesus the temple is essentially immobilized when . . . . Continue Reading »
Commentators often resort to some embarrassing expedients in trying to explain the bodily imagery of the Song of Songs. The assumption is that the images are mainly visual. Breasts are like fawns grazing among the lilies? Well, the fawns must be bent over, their backs rounded and . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
