We do not see Jesus. How do we know He is present? Smell and hearing are the senses of presence-in-absence, the senses that enable us to know the presence of what we do not see. Protestants know all about hearing Jesus. The fragrance of Christ is an undeveloped area of Christology. Smell is a . . . . Continue Reading »
Following up some suggestions by Toby Sumpter on Isaiah 24:2, which lists six pairs of social/religious classes that will be caught up in the devastation that is coming. There’s a sociology assumed and manifested in the verse. The six pairs are organized into three groups, with a 1 + 2 + 3 . . . . Continue Reading »
Oil is an extremely important part of the biblical world in a number of ways. Oil is a food. Oil is used for cooking. Oil is placed on grain offerings that are baked or fried before being offered to Yahweh (Leviticus 2), and the bread on the table of showbread is baked with oil (Exodus 29:2). . . . . Continue Reading »
When Panikkar writes, “neither the name Father nor the name God is the proper name of the Absolute. They are simply the names by which we designate him . . . . independently of us, in himself and for himself, what is He? Ultimately such a question does not even make sense . . . . God’s . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah’s vision of the procession of nations to Jerusalem includes this beautiful image: “Who are these who fly like a cloud, and like the doves to their windows” (Isaiah 60:8). A cloud - Yahweh’s glory, which is the nations. A cloud coming to a house, consecrating it. A . . . . Continue Reading »
The last five words of Isaiah 24:16 are all from the same root, bagad , which means “to deal treacherously.” The Hebrew sounds something like this: bogdim bagadu ubeged bogdim bagadu , and might be translated like this: “traitors do treachery and treachery traitors do . . . . Continue Reading »
After the desolation of the city, Isaiah holds out the hope that there will be a remnant left, pictured as the gleanings of olives and grapes (Isaiah 24:13). The following verse suddenly uses third person plural verbs: “they raise voices, they shout, they cry.” The only evident . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah is the great prophet of tohu , formlessness. Of the 20 uses of the word in the Hebrew Bible, 11 are in Isaiah. Isaiah is the great prophet of the dissolution of form, and its re-establishment. Cities are cities of tohu (24:10). Nations are tohu before Yahweh, and so too are their princes and . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 24:7-8 consists of six clauses, each of which begins with a verb, most of them verbs of lamentation: “mourns the wine, languishes the vine, sighs all joyful-hearted ceases mirth of tabrets ends noise of rejoicers ceases joy of the harp.” The parallel clauses highlights the links . . . . Continue Reading »
The Hebrew verb lawah means “to join, to adhere.” It also means “to lend” and, confusingly, to “borrow.” James Barr will be upset with me, but I can’t help but wonder if ancient Hebrews viewed loans as a sort of glue that joins the borrower and lender. And . . . . Continue Reading »
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