So That You Will Know
02/08/09 09:57
There is a very concentrated concern in the Book of
Exodus that acts are being performed "so that
you/he/they will know that I am the Lord," sometimes
"the Lord your God." This goes both for pharaoh and
for the Israelites. It seems strange that no one
knows who the Lord is at this point in the
Biblical story, at least with regard to the
Israelites. Apparently there is some disconnect. The
years of servitude must have made them forget. But, I
think this is one of the lessons that the later
generations learned (at least in principle, though it
may not have made it into common practice) and that
we find in the responsive reading for today. Psalm
78.3-4 reads as follows: Read More...
Ralph Klein on The Tabernacle
30/07/09 11:53
In one of the e-mails that I send out to my e-mail
list, I note some of the other websites that
I like for studying the Old Testament. One of
those is Ralph Klein's website, and today I am
going to point there once again. Today's
lectionary reading is on the Tabernacle. Since
this section of the Old Testament is one of
the...okay I'll just come right and say it, more
boring ones to read, many people are
unfamiliar with the Tabernacle. So, this topic
requires a bit more than a brief blog post for
those who want to understand it. Fortunately,
Ralph Klein has written a good little
introduction to the Tabernacle. You can find it
HERE. Read More...
Michelangelo's Moses with Horns
29/07/09 20:45
Posted earlier on the issue of
Moses potentially having horns. Here is a picture
of Michelangelo's depiction of Moses with horns:
Read More...
John Hobbins on Did Moses Have Horns?
29/07/09 13:08
The lectionary reading for today presents probably
one of the more interesting issues I have
encountered. The word translated something like "had
become radiant" or "shone" (vs. 29) also has a
tradition of being translated "grew horns." Both
translations seem possible, and some have tried to
find a way of combining the meanings. I would go into
this issue in more detail; however, John Hobbins over
at Ancient Hebrew Poetry has already done a very good
job of dealing with this issue. Check out his post
HERE. Read
More...
Free ICC Exodus Commentary
29/07/09 10:23
Last week I blogged on the opportunity to download a
free copy of the older version of the International
Critical Commentary. I put a link to what I
thought was all volumes; however, I realized in going
back through the list that Exodus is not there. That
is because it is not in the University of Toronto
collection that I linked to in that post. It has,
however, been uploaded by Princeton University. The
Exodus Commentary is here. Read
More...
"Face to Face" - Idiom or Separate Streams of Thought?
28/07/09 19:04
Today's lectionary reading presents an interesting
issue. Did Moses see God face to face? For some there
are two streams of thought in the Old Testament with
regard to seeing God face to face. According to one,
no person can see God face to face and live (Ex.
33.20-23). And according to the other, people can see
God face to face with examples being Moses (Ex.
33.11) and (perhaps) Jacob. For others the use of the
terminology face to face is an idiom that attempts to
relate the intimacy of the relationship between God
and Moses. These words are not to be taken literally
and thus are not evidence that different sources are
being used or that there are different streams of
thought.
What do you think? Do you think there are two different streams of thought here? Or, do you think the "face to face" language is idiomatic? Or, is it some other option? Feel free to comment below. Read More...
What do you think? Do you think there are two different streams of thought here? Or, do you think the "face to face" language is idiomatic? Or, is it some other option? Feel free to comment below. Read More...
Can You Guess What's Wrong With This Picture?
27/07/09 13:21
Can you guess what is wrong with this picture? Scroll down to see the answer.
Read More...The Exodus as a Type of Creation
21/07/09 09:29
In today's responsive reading (which comes from
Exodus 15 rather than Psalms), the Exodus is
presented as a Type of creation. This is suggested by
verse 5 of the chapter, which reads "The floods/deeps
covered them." The word "deeps" is the same word from
Genesis 1 where darkness is over the "deep." In both
scenarios, something important happens in relation to
a watery chaos. WIth this link back to creation, it
is beneficial to think of the Exodus as the creation
of something new. Scholars have noted that this is
the creation of a nation. Whereas Israel goes down
into Egypt as a family, they come out as a
nation. Read
More...
An Egyptian Perspective on the Red Sea: "Dude, ... I don't know if this such a good idea"
21/07/09 06:49
Last night I stayed up reading and thinking for a
little while, and I decided to look ahead at today's
Old Testament readings (Ex 14:21-15:1). I am not sure
why exactly I was struck by this again last night,
but for whatever reason I was struck by just how
matter-of-factly Biblical stories are told sometimes.
I am thinking here particularly of verse 23: "The
Egyptians followed in pursuit..." No deliberation, no
anything, just followed in pursuit. There is no
Egyptian perspective whatsoever. So, I tried to think
of some funny things that some of the Egyptians could
have thought or said to one another if some Hollywood
style comic relief were added to the story. And, here
is what I came up with for some dialogue between one
Egyptian soldier and another as they looked on at the
sea that had been parted (please forgive my brutally
terrible sense of humor): Read More...
Why Is Moses Crying Out to the Lord - A Potential Example of Redaction
20/07/09 09:40
In today's reading (Ex. 14.5-18) we find a potential
example of what is referred to as redaction, which is
basically another word for editing. It looks like
there may have been two sources for this particular
story that were combined together by an editor. This
can be seen in an abrupt shift that takes place. I
will briefly trace out the story line: Read
More...