Hebrews 10:5 is part of a longer quotation of Psalm 40 in Hebrews 10. The Epistle presents Jesus as having cited the Psalm and applied it to himself or his ‘body’ in relation to his sacrifice. However, whilst the …
This article will examine the interpretation of Heb 1:10-12 and, after dismissing current interpretations, present a new reading. A corollary of the study is that it is shown that the text does not presuppose the pre-existence of the Son.
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The crux interpretum that defines much of the liberal critical approach to Isaiah is the Cyrus prophecy in Isaiah 44-45. Dennis Bratcher sums it up as follows:
“From such a perspective, the “prediction” of the coming of Cyrus in Isaiah …
Critical commentators view the mention of Cyrus as proof that Isaiah 40-48 was written by a prophetic hand other than Isaiah of Jerusalem. Conservative scholars, on the other hand, think that Isaiah could have predicted the rise of Cyrus, …
In this article, the exegetical question is: how can Jesus be said to be the one through whom the world was made (John 1:10).
In the prologue of John, v. 10 is a transitional verse in which the text moves …
Introduction
In this article I consider the historical approach to Jesus and who he claimed to be by looking at the title ‘Son of Man’ in the Gospels. We adopt the historical method of NT scholars (with its limits) in …
“Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.”
This text is most likely to be interpreted in …
Babylon is mentioned in several of Isaiah’s prophecies, and scholars typically date such prophecies to be later than Isaiah of Jerusalem. However, Babylon was a major player in the days of Isaiah, and it is possible to interpret Isaiah’s oracles …
There is no consensus in ancient literature about the nature of demons or evil spirits. The early Jesus traditions pre-suppose or assume an understanding of demons; the Gospel authors assume their readers[1] will readily understand the mention of …
There are three broad positions on the meaning of the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost. Pentecostal scholars like Robert Menzies define the gift solely in terms of an added gift enabling and supporting the missionary work of the church.1 Non-Pentecostal scholars of a broader …
A common suggestion by commentators is that Acts 1:8 announces the plot of Acts. B. Gaventa offers a variation on this suggestion, “The story that follows conforms so closely to this statement that it serves as something like a table …
Is the New Testament truly an “eye-witness” account of events that occurred at the time of Christ and during the life of Paul, or is it a later composition—an account recorded by a second generation of Christians and influenced by …
Bible scholars and readers constantly make intertextual connections. In discussion, such connections are subject to disagreement. The question arises therefore as to how a connection can be assessed as valid. Richard Hays has proposed seven criteria for assessing the validity …
Hebrew writings were not laid out with the apparatus of footnotes and parentheses. Marginal corrections and marks above and below the line were used to comment upon the accuracy of the text. This does not mean that the phenomenon of …
The Day of Atonement is a complex subject. The problem addressed in this article is: If the Day of Atonement is a post-exilic feast, does it have an origin rooted in the history of Israel – as does, for …
The etymology of the name ‘Ăzâ’zêl, cited four times in Leviticus 16 has long been a source of puzzlement. The lots were cast for two goats, one was “for Yahweh”, and the other “for ‘Ăzâ’zêl” (the scapegoat) – in …
Isa 47:6 is usually taken to refer to the sixth century Babylonian captivity. Critical scholars take it as an utterance of Second Isaiah living in Babylon; conservative scholars take it as a long range prediction of such captivity. How can …
Sargon II had pursued the policy of deporting and exchanging populations. The record of his capture of Samaria states,
“At the begi[nning of my royal rule, I…the town of the Sama]arians [I besieged, conquered…I led away prisoners…[The town I] re[built] …
Isaiah 24-27 is usually regarded by scholars as “apocalyptic”, and as later than the time of Isaiah of Jerusalem. However, we view their content as entirely applicable to the Assyrian crisis.[1] The “Zion triumphant” perspective of these chapters …
The problem with this text is: Why should Jesus be baptised? Commentators observe that John baptised with a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins but Jesus was sinless. Christadelphian solutions answer the problem by saying …
Professor James D.G. Dunn is a New Testament theologian who employs the exegetical methods of “historical context of meaning” and “conceptuality in transition,” to illuminate the first-century meaning of key New Testament texts that bear directly on the development of …
It has been argued by H. A. Whittaker that the terms “Assyria” and “Babylon” are confused in prophetic oracles.[1] The purpose of this article is to review the evidence presented by Whittaker for such confusion. We have noted …
Personification is a well recognised figure of speech. Wisdom is personified in Proverbs 8, and there are many examples of personification phrases. In this article, we will lay out a theoretical framework for handling the topic of personification. With this …
The question arises as to what a NT author or the first audience knew of scripture; what did an author require of his real audience and what did he imply in his use of scripture? This topic is vexed by …
It is often asserted that the divine purpose with Israel as a nation and with the Jewish people as a distinct ethnicity is a thing of the past – the nation has been replaced by the church.
In dealing with …
The impact that John the Baptist made on the national psyche cannot be underestimated; he is mentioned by the historian Josephus[1] and had a lasting effect on the early church as well as influencing the preaching of Jesus …
The manifestation of the Spirit features strongly at the beginning of Luke’s story. Luke narrates a prophetic witness in terms that evoke Joel 2:28-32, which predicts dreams, visions and prophecies for old men and young men, sons and daughters, handmaids …