The Sermon on the Mount begins with beatitudes, and the Olivet Discourse begins with Woes. As N. T. Wright and others have shown, the two series are similar in a number of particulars. The connections between the two discourses continue after the beatitudes/woes section, evident in . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus sits on a mountain and opens His mouth to teach (Matthew 5:2). The phrasing is unusual; I have found only one place in the OT where opening the mouth is linked with teaching - Proverbs 31, 26, where it is the excellent woman who opens her mouth with wisdom and teaches kindness. . . . . Continue Reading »
You are the salt of the earth. You are a light on a lampstand. Where does Jesus get this? From the temple: Salt is added to the animal sacrifices, and in the Holy Place there are lights on lampstands. Does he ever get into the Most Holy Place? Yes: In Matthew 5:17-20, He . . . . Continue Reading »
Bonhoeffer notes that the disciples had “bodily fellowship and communion” with Jesus, and that to follow Him they had to “cleave to him bodily.” Because He was incarnate, “they live and suffer in bodily communion with him.” The necessity of bodily communion . . . . Continue Reading »
Taking up and extending the argument of Hugh Lloyd-Jones’ The Justice of Zeus , William Allan argues that, contrary to common opinion, there si no real contrast between the operations of justice in the two Homeric epics. Nor is “popular picture of ‘amoral’ . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 1982 article on justice in the Oresteia in the American Political Science Review , Peter Euben observes that the dualism of passion and action, violence adn renewal, obliteration and revelation that stymies politics and ethics in Argos seem to be overcome in the just city of Athens: . . . . Continue Reading »
INTRODUCTION Isaiah “sees” a “vision” (1:1), but what he sees is a call to “hear” (1:2; cf. 2:1: “the word that Isaiah . . . saw”). Like John, Isaiah turns to the Lord to “see” the voice speaking to him (Revelation 1:12). It’s a . . . . Continue Reading »
From what I can see, Isaiah uses the root yasha , “save,” 48 times in his prophecy. ”Salvation” ( yeshua ) appears 19 times, while the verb, used both in the perfect/imperfect (“save”) and as a substantive participle (“Savior”) appears 29 times. . . . . Continue Reading »
Because of an invasion (probably of Assyrians), Daughter Zion is left like a hut in a “cucumber field” (Isaiah 1:8). It’s clearly an image of diminished glory: Jerusalem or the temple was once a glory of the earth, now it’s no more than a hut. But Isaiah probably . . . . Continue Reading »
Borrowing from the Song of Songs, Isaiah describes Judah the Bride from head to foot. He moves from head to heart to foot and back to head (1:5-6). Four body parts are mentioned (3 different, with “head” used twice). He is inspecting Judah to the four corners. Instead . . . . Continue Reading »
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