Peter J. Leithart

Like Paul, John begins his “letter” with a benedictory greeting: Grace and peace. The blessings does not end until verse 8, and it is chiastically structured: A. From Him who is, was, coming B. From seven Spirits C. From Jesus Christ D. Glory to Him C’. Behold, He comes (who? see . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 8 gives Israel a choice of water. If they don’t want teh gentle waters of Shiloah, He’ll provide other water. Shiloah is the water source for Jerusalem. It was a stream running from outside the city into the city, and it was the source that kept Jerusalem fruitful and alive. . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah is not supposed to walk in the way of the people (8:11), and the specific difference between the people’s way and Yahweh’s has to do with fear. The people live in “fear and dread” of the turmoil and conspiracies of the nations (v. 12), but Isaiah is instead of make . . . . Continue Reading »

Yahweh speaks to Isaiah “with a strong hand,” and the force of the instruction is to refuse to walk in the way of the people. “Strong hand” is an exodus image, the strong hand by which Yahweh yanked Israel from Egypt. Now, His words to Isaiah are the strong hand yanking him . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 8:9-10 is a complex, intricate passage. Verse 9 repeats two different verbs two three times (“gird” 2x, and “be shattered” 3x). The verbs “give ear” ( azan ) and “gird” ( azar ) form a pun. Verse 10 uses the repetitive phrases “counsel . . . . Continue Reading »

Because Israel rejects the gentle river of Shiloah, which supplies water to Jerusalem and makes Jerusalem the garden-city of Yahweh, Yahweh threatens to bring another river, the River, a personification of the King of Assyria, flowing through Judah with all his glorious chariots and armor and . . . . Continue Reading »

In the early chapters of Mark’s gospel, the only beings to identify Jesus as “Son of God” are the Father and demons. No human being recognizes Him until He dies, and then it’s a Roman centurion. Perhaps Mark intends us to remember the demonic identifications when we get to . . . . Continue Reading »

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so shall the Son of Man be lifted up,” Jesus told Nicodemus. It’s a chiasm: A. Lifted up B. Serpent C. Wilderness B’. Son of Man A’. lifted up. Two interesting questions emerge here: Birst, by whom is the Son of . . . . Continue Reading »

In an article some years ago in the Tyndale Bulletin , Andrew Perriman argues that Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:24 about “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” does not refer to eschatological “Messianic woes” nor to an inadequacy in . . . . Continue Reading »

AE Harvey exaggerates, but his suggestion is provocative:,. Speaking of Paul’s meditation on suffering in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, he wrote “For the first time in his extant letters, and possibly for the first time in the entire philosophical and religious tradition of the West, we find . . . . Continue Reading »