Peter J. Leithart

Translations confuse the point of Isaiah 2:9.  The NAS has “So the common man has been humbled, and the man of importance has been abased, but do not forgive them.”  The italicized words are not in the Hebrew, which reads more simply: “And bowed down will be man ( adam ) . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah uses the word “fill” four times in 2:6-8.  A fourfold fullness is a fullness that extends to the four points of the compass.  From one boundary to another, Judah is filled from the east, with gold and silver, with horses and chariots, with idols. There is a progression . . . . Continue Reading »

Initially in the Bible, Yahweh alone has a treasury.  His heaven is a treasury of rain, and therefore of abundance (Deuteronomy 28:12).  When Joshua defeats the Canaanites, the plunder goes into Yahweh’s earthly-heavenly treasury, the tabernacle (Joshua 6:19, 24). One of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah charges that the people of Judah are “filled from the east” (2:6).  What does that mean? As the passage goes on, Isaiah condemns Judah’s “filling” with silver and gold, horses and chariots; these are the things that Judah is bringing from the east. There . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah uses the phrase “days of east” ( yemey-qedem ) several times in his prophecy (23:7; 37:26; 51:9).  At times, the word “east” by itself is used in context where it seems to have a temporal significance ( 45:21; 46:10).  East is the direction of the sunrise, . . . . Continue Reading »

Does Isaiah follow a creation week sequence in 2:5-22? The details don’t match, it seems, but in general and roughly there is a movement from the “light of Yahweh” in verse 5 to the exaltation of Yahweh in the splendor of His majesty in verse 21 - perhaps a sabbatical image. In . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus’ conversation with the disciples at Caesarea Philippi  in Matthew 16:13-28 includes eight statements, alternating between Jesus and the disciples: 1. Jesus asks who people think he is 2. Disciples: various answers 3. Jesus: Who do you think I am? 4. Peter’s confession 5. . . . . Continue Reading »

The episode where the disciples fail to bring bread along with them (Matthew 16:5-12) is organized in parallel: A.Disciples forget bread (“take”) B. Jesus: warnings of Pharisees and Sadducees C. Disciples think it’s because they lack bread A’. Jesus asks them about the two . . . . Continue Reading »

The word “evening” ( opsios ) is used seven times in Matthew’s gospel.  Before we look at the details, we suspect that seven evenings prepare for the dawning of a new day, an eighth day that is the beginning of a new week. What are the seven evenings? 1. At evening, they . . . . Continue Reading »

Charles Taylor neatly contrasts Augustine’s conception of time and eternity to that of Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus.  Eternity is not for him timelessness but “gathered time.”  He expounds: Augustine’s “instant is not the ‘nun’ of Aristotle, . . . . Continue Reading »