Dumbing Down
“Dumbing Down” is an expression you hear in the media. It refers to TV programmes or magazine and newspaper articles that present their content in a simple rather than a complex way, cutting out detail, the use of complex ideas, …
Archives
The Christadelphian eJournal of Biblical Interpretation, Vol 3
The Translation of “ehyeh asher ehyeh” (I AM that I AM) in Exodus 3:14a
The “Jews” in Luke-Acts
The term “Jews” () is used seldom in Luke but frequently in Acts. Moreover, it occurs frequently in the latter part of Acts (after Acts 9) but seldom in the early chapters (only Acts 2). This distribution is significant: the …
Solomon and the Sons of God
Introduction
The fulfilment of the Davidic covenant promises lie in a ‘human’ descendant. In the first instance this descendant or ‘Son of God’ was Solomon:
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. (2 Sam.7: 14)
There …
The Issue of “Authority” in 1 Tim 2:12
Introduction
Considerable debate has raged over the last twenty years over the meaning of a single Greek word in 1 Tim 2:12 and its application to the role of women in the church (authenteō, “authority”). A selection of versions is …
Launching an EJournal
The Christadelphian EJournal of Biblical Interpretation was conceived in the back garden of a house in Yorkshire, England by P. Wyns and A. Perry at the beginning of a preaching campaign in the autumn of 2006. There were a number …
Fallen Angels in Jude and 2 Peter
Introduction
The notion of “fallen angels” is one that is mentioned in Jude and in 2 Peter. For the moment we will leave the question of the relationship between Jude and 2 Peter to one side and we will treat …
The Parting of the Ways Between Judaism and Early Christianity
Introduction
It is well known that Christianity has its roots in Judaism; our question is why Judaism and Christianity parted ways. Was Christianity always destined to be a new and distinct religion? Was it doctrine or circumstances that drove a …
Book Notice: “To Speak Well of God: An Exposition of the Book of Job” by John Pople
It begins with the Divine injunction: “Have you considered my servant Job?” The Biblical drama of Job is haunting. A blameless man is tormented by ‘the Satan’: stripped of wealth, status, possessions, health and children – all with God’s permission! …
“Speaking With” and “Praying To” in Acts 7:55-56
Speaking with someone and praying to someone are two different types of speech act. Actually speaking with Jesus, who is in heaven, puts communication on a different level. Where it is two-way audible communication, this does not happen in prayer.
…
A Model of Collective Prayer in Acts 4:24-30
This passage offers a paradigm for a prayer of request. Psalms of petition are another source for prayer form(s). This prayer shows an awareness of how scripture can be used to ‘read’ a circumstance, and thereby facilitate the relevant construction …
John 1:18 – The Only Begotten Son
Textual Criticism is a necessary, if sometimes maligned, activity. The substance of textual criticism is the comparison of manuscripts to determine which reading is most likely to be the original. John 1:18 is a case in point.
No one has …
Isa 34:5 – “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens”
This text rendered above as in the RSV correctly captures the Perfect aspect/tense of the Hebrew verb which places the “drinking” of the sword in the past. The KJV has “shall be bathed in heaven” which incorrectly directs the English …
Isa 13:17 and the Medes
In an earlier article, “Babylon in Isaiah 13-14”,[1] it was suggested that Isa 13:17 referred to Median harassment of Israelite places of settlement in Media after the captivity of 722 (2 Kgs 17:6). The purpose of this note …
The Fourth Gospel and Revelation
Introduction
In earlier articles, links were established between the Fourth Gospel (4G) and the epistles to the Ephesians and Hebrews. It was suggested that they were all addressed to different elements within the Ephesian community at different stages of its …
The Fourth Gospel and Hebrews
Introduction
Previous articles on the Fourth Gospel (4G) suggested that the Gospel was written to the Diaspora at Ephesus and discovered links between the 4G and Luke-Acts.[1] Luke is regarded as Paul’s companion and biographer; therefore his employment …
The “Darkening” of the Sun, Moon and Stars in Joel 2:10
Introduction
The “darkening” of the sun, moon and stars is a convenient shorthand for describing Joel 2:10,
The earth has quaked before him; the heavens have trembled: the sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have gathered …
The First Century Influence of John the Baptist
“The Teacher of Righteousness” in Joel 2:23
Introduction
The KJV margin offers “teacher of righteousness” as an alternative for the Hebrew of Joel 2:23, but this proposal is rarely followed by commentators and a rare choice in other versions. Is this marginal alternative correct and does it …
Specialization in Biblical Studies
Introduction
Specialization in Biblical Studies is the norm. Scholars will be “Old Testament” or “New Testament”; perhaps “Intertestamental Judaism” or “Second Temple Judaism”, and possibly some topic in the area of “The Bible and the Modern World”. A quick glance …
“To Speak Well of God” – An Overview of the Biblical Drama of Job
Introduction
The Biblical drama of Job has proven a long-standing enigma. A faithful disciple is seemingly tortured at the hands of his God, apparently so that the Deity might win a barter. It sounds like the most deplorable of Greek …
What Might be Wrong in Old Testament Scholarship? (Editorial)
What might be wrong in Old Testament scholarship? The question is deliberately vague and all-encompassing. We might ask, similarly, what might be wrong in Church Doctrine? What would we answer in this case? Suggested answers might include: the doctrine of …
An Eighth Century Obadiah
Introduction
While Obadiah has no dateable information in its superscription, the consensus of scholars is that the work is just exilic, or on the cusp of the exile, and partly a reflection upon Edom’s involvement in the sack of Jerusalem …
Dating Obadiah to the Babylonian Invasion of Judah
Introduction
The book of Obadiah carries no dateline (e.g. ‘in xth year of…’), nor does it bear the name of any king (cf. Hos 1:1; Amos 1:1; etc.). There is no biographical information about the prophet, save the name ‘Obadiah’, …
“The Way” in Acts 9:2
It has long been recognised by scholars that “the Way” is a term of reference for the early Christian community:
…and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the …
Marginal Notes on John 21:8
The epilogue of John appears to be an appendix, written by a disciple of John, in order to clarify the destiny of Peter and John, and lending supporting testimony to the veracity of the Gospel. This addition was probably necessitated …
Consensus Politics in Old Testament Scholarship
Time and again in OT scholarship one comes across an appeal to a consensus view as a way of persuading the reader that an interpretation is correct. More often than not, such a consensus was laid down in older German …
Searching for Proto-Christadelphians throughout History
Introduction
A common theme in many Christadelphian writings, particularly in continuous-historic interpretations of Revelation, is a concept of the ‘faithful remnant’, i.e. the idea that throughout history there has been individuals and groups who have remained faithful to “the Truth”. …
Should “Hebrew” be read as “Aramaic” in the New Testament?
Introduction
In this article we counter the assumption operative in two recent English translations (NIV, NET) summed up in the footnote text “For ‘Hebrew’ we should read ‘Aramaic’”. There is a family of words to discuss and we first set …
The Fourth Gospel and Paul
In the previous article on the destination and purpose of the 4G, it was proposed that the Gospel was written to the Ephesian Diaspora community by John the son of Zebedee before the definitive split with Christianity. It was suggested …