Peter J. Leithart

Building on some insights from James Jordan’s lecture on Revelation 7, where he explains the absence of Dan from the tribal list there. Dan is the first Rachel son, not a son of Rachel herself but of her handmaid Bilhah. He is the firstborn that comes from Rachel’s house. Dan means . . . . Continue Reading »

We can see, hear, taste, touch, smell. Why? Where do senses come from? What’s the theological rationale for sensation? Why this “mediation” of the world through sensible experience? (Or, is that even the right way to ask the question?) My speculative guess that the answer is in . . . . Continue Reading »

The scene in the first stich of Song of Songs 1:12 pictures the king “at his table.” Some translations say that the king is at his couch. The Hebrew word here is from a verb that means to “surround” ( sabab ). It might be translated as “While the king was compassing . . . . Continue Reading »

Bonnie MacLachlan considers archaic Greece the The Age of Grace . Charis was everywhere: It “flickered when beautiful women sparkled; soldiers brought charis to their commanders when they fought well; charis graced appropriate behavior and speech and was a distinguishing mark of nobility; it . . . . Continue Reading »

At the end of a highly technical 1966 article in the Journal of Hellenic Studies , JH Quincey contrasts Greek expressions of thanks to modern English expressions: “The Greeks’ habit in accepting an offer, service, etc. was to confer praise and not thanks. The difference between their . . . . Continue Reading »

It was “not good” for Adam to be alone. But he wasn’t alone. He was alone with God . But God judged that “alone with God” was “not good.” Adam’s state became fully good only when another person joined him. As John Paul II says ( Man and Woman He . . . . Continue Reading »

The Leviticus system has five basic offerings. Below I use the more literal translations of the Hebrew terms that I’ve used for years: What’s usually called the “whole burnt” offering is better translated as “ascension” offering; the word for “grain . . . . Continue Reading »

Apropos of my posts in the past couple of weeks about Warfield, mediation, regeneration, and changing natures, here is a lengthy and very helpful quotation from Michael Horton’s The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (pp. 572-4). Thanks to Pastor Garry Vanderveen . . . . Continue Reading »

I’ve been teaching an Old Testament survey class to the 5-11 year olds at church this summer. It’s a five-week overview, and I’m trying to teach them the overall structures of the Old Testament and of particular books. In short, I’m trying to James-Jordanize them before they . . . . Continue Reading »

Depending on the Greek text used, the word “Lamb” appears in Revelation 28 or 29 times. Why is Jesus identified so frequently as the Lamb? There’s obviously a rich Old Testament and Johannine background to that title, but, as James Jordan has pointed out, the key seems to be the . . . . Continue Reading »