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Category Archives: bible
Proverbs 13
1. A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a scorner does not hear rebuke. The Western approach makes this a matter of inflated reverence, even fearfulness, for the social system. Hebrew folks were not like that; there is no … Continue reading
Psalm 51
A psalm by David, this refers to events narrated in 2 Samuel 11-12. That story has it all: adultery, murder and scandal. We struggle to understand a biblical morality that is so foreign to Western instincts. Because of our longstanding … Continue reading
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Tagged call to repentance, divine justice, divine mercy, hebrew poetry, King David, Psalms
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Proverbs 12
We start to see a number of proverbs that appear little more than statements of obvious fact. These are most likely figures of speech meant to apply quite broadly as parables of something deeper. 1. Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge; … Continue reading
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Tagged ancient hebrew culture, figures of speech, proverbs, scripture, wisdom literature
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Proverbs 11 (Part 2)
16. A gracious woman keeps honor, and the strong keep riches. This one is a little ambiguous and often mistranslated. The image is not a contrast between men and women, but a woman who either acts like a lady or … Continue reading
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Tagged ANE, proverbs, scripture, wisdom literature
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Proverbs 11 (Part 1)
(This chapter in Proverbs is a little long with my commentary, so I won’t burden you with more than the first half. We’ll cover the second half later.) We begin to see a more frequent grouping of proverbs by common … Continue reading
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Tagged ancient hebrew culture, moral character, proverbs, righteousness, scripture, wisdom literature
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Psalm 50
If we take Asaph as the name of the man known to lead the Temple musicians, then he must have also been a prophet of some sort, for his psalms typically deal with the judgment of God. Were Jehovah like … Continue reading
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Tagged covenant of moses, Creation, divine justice, divine revelation, Psalms, spirituality
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Psalm 49
We should not assume that figurative language indicates actual belief. The Ancient Near Eastern civilizations as whole generally avoided discussing the afterlife because they made no pretense of understanding it. Instead, they relied on a range of confused metaphors to … Continue reading
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Tagged ANE, figurative language, human understanding, material wealth, moral character, mortality, mysticism, Psalms, spirituality
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Psalm 48
The third in the praise trilogy, we have now the emphasis on Zion. We’ve seen God as Protector, as King, and now His earthly capital reflects His glory. Depending on the particular translation, there is reference to Mount Zaphon or … Continue reading
Proverbs 10
We begin with an early collection of proverbs Solomon heard or spoke himself. Scripture text is in italics. 1. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son is the sorrow of his mother. Whatever sorrows life might … Continue reading
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Tagged ancient hebrew culture, Hebrew language, King Solomon, moral character, proverbs, wisdom literature
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Proverbs: Section 2
Section 2 — Chapters 10-29 In this section we will generally quote the proverbs verbatim, followed by an explanation. The Scripture text will taken be Green’s Modern King James Version (MKJV). Let’s take a moment to review a critical concept: … Continue reading
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Tagged ancient hebrew culture, ANE, civilization, culture, epistemology, Modern King James Version, mysticism, philosophy, scripture
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