bible

bible December 16, 2016

Can we really read Genesis 3:15 as a prophecy?

In Genesis 3:15 it is recorded that God states

And I will put hostility between you and the woman
and between your offspring and her offspring;
her offspring will attack your head,
and you will attack her offspring’s heel.

Should this passage be considered to be prophetic?

bible December 15, 2016

Did Mary actually leave Elizabeth before John was born?

When Mary heard from the angel Gabriel that Elizabeth was in her 6th month of pregnancy, Mary quickly left to join her. As the two greeted and the baby John leaped for joy in her womb, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and couldn’t believe Mary would come to her that she exclaimed

Luke 1:42-45 “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

After noting the three had all that excitement and gratefulness, we soon read the following verses in an interesting order:

Luke 1:56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about 3 months and then returned home.

Luke 1:57-58 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

Q: When Mary left to go home, Elizabeth would have been in about her 9th month of pregnancy (6th month + “about 3 months” she stayed). With the author having written verses 56 through 58 in that order, was he saying Mary actually left Elizabeth before John was born?

bible December 13, 2016

"Government shall be upon His shoulder" Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah 9:6:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Pea…

bible December 4, 2016

To what extent was the LORD “sought” and “found” in Isaiah 65:1?

Isaiah 65:1a

נִדְרַ֙שְׁתִּי֙ לְל֣וֹא שָׁאָ֔לוּ
I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;

נִמְצֵ֖אתִי לְלֹ֣א בִקְשֻׁ֑נִי
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. (ESV)

The ESV (also NRSV, NET, NASB; contrast NIV, HCSB) take these two verbs – “ready to be sought … ready to be found” – as tolerative nifals, I gather.

Joüon-Muraoka (a Hebrew grammar) says of the tolerative nifal נדרש:

generally with a notion of effective action….to allow oneself to be asked, and that effectively, hence practically = to answer (speaking of God)

Walkte & O’Connor (another Hebrew grammar) follow this idea, offering the translation:

I answered (< allowed myself to be sought by) those who did not ask (for me);
I revealed myself to (< allowed myself to be found by) those who did not seek me.

This “efficacy” nuance is different from the “ready to…” translation of the ESV etc.

How should we decide in what way to understand the nifal here? Is this verse intended to convey something already accomplished (revealed, answered) or merely offerred?


1. The other uses of the potentially “tolerative” nifal דרש (with subject = Yahweh) are in Ezekiel; mostly these could also be taken either way.


2. The LXX seems to carry a similar sense of “effective”: Εμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, εὑρέθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσιν· = I became visible to those who did not seek me; I was found by those who did not inquire after me. This may have more to do with reading them as passives (“was found” + reconciliation of “did not ask” with “was sought” –> “became visible”) rather than a reflection of the translator having read Jouon, but you never know.

bible December 1, 2016

What were the “Urim and Thummim” (KJV)?

The first mention of these two objects occurs in Exo. 28:30, in which it is written,

30 And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually. KJV, 1769

ל וְנָתַתָּ אֶל חֹשֶׁן הַמִּשְׁפָּט אֶת הָאוּרִים וְאֶת הַתֻּמִּים וְהָיוּ עַל לֵב אַהֲרֹן בְּבֹאוֹ לִפְנֵי יַהְוֶה וְנָשָׂא אַהֲרֹן אֶת מִשְׁפַּט בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל לִבּוֹ לִפְנֵי יַהְוֶה תָּמִיד

  1. In English, how would one describe the objects referred to in Hebrew as הָאוּרִים and הַתֻּמִּים? What were they composed of? How were they made, and who made them?
  2. How did Jerome manage the words הָאוּרִים and הַתֻּמִּים in Latin in the Vulgate? Did he translate or transliterate?
  3. How did the 70/72 manage those words in Greek in the Septuagint? Did they translate or transliterate?
  4. Is there an idea of what the Hebrew words actually mean (since the KJV chose to transliterate rather than translate them)?
bible November 30, 2016

In 1 Corinthians 14:15, what is the difference between praying «τῷ πνεύματι» versus «τῷ νοΐ»?

In 1 Cor. 14:15, it is written,

15 What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. NASB

ΙΕʹ τί οὖν ἐστιν προσεύξομαι τῷ πνεύματι προσεύξομαι δὲ καὶ τῷ νοΐ ψαλῶ τῷ πνεύματι ψαλῶ δὲ καὶ τῷ νοΐ TR, 1550

What, if any, is the difference between praying «τῷ πνεύματι» (NASB: “with the spirit”) versus «τῷ νοΐ» (NASB: “with the mind”)? Or, is the apostle Paul using a parallelism thus equating the πνεῦμα with the νοῦς?