Prophets
An Example of a Woe Oracle
19/07/09 13:22
Form critical scholars who have studied the prophetic
books have identified a number of common forms of
prophetic speech. Today's reading from Jeremiah
23.1-6 is an example of a prophetic "Woe Oracle."
These oracles begin with the Hebrew word that is
translated "woe," and there are strings of these
types of oracles in places like Isaiah 5 (or in the
NT Matthew 23). However, this is not the most
interesting aspect of the woe oracle. Read More...
Amos - The Outsider
12/07/09 10:10
Today's lectionary reading from the Old Testament is
Amos 7.12-15. It is one of the more revealing
passages in the book bearing his name because it
shows several obstacles to the people listening to
his message. I will look briefly at three:
Read More...
The Title Son of Man in Ezekiel
05/07/09 20:56
Today's lectionary reading from the Old Testament
comes from Ezekiel 2. In it we find the most common
title applied to Ezekiel by the Lord. This title is
"Son of Man," which is a complex phrase in the Old
Testament especially when one takes into
consideration the usage in Daniel 7.13. However, the
usage in Ezekiel is a bit more straightforward. It
means something along the lines of "human being," or
if you want to go a bit further, "mere mortal." The
phrase is used in the early chapters of Ezekiel to
contrast the majestic deity from the lowly prophet.
Read More...
Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets
01/06/09 21:09
Bryan over at Hevel.org has started and
intermittently adds to an introduction to the Old Testament
prophets. These posts are helpful as they
are written for the general reader and they are
succinct. If you are looking for a more thorough
introduction to the prophets I have linked to a
couple of texts below that might be helpful. Or,
you may want to check out the Yale Open Course
introduction to the Old Testament which I have a
link to on the courses
page of this site and which is free.
However, if you are looking for a good succinct
introduction check out Bryan's blog and make
sure to sign up for his feed, so you will know
when he adds future posts on the topic.
Read
More...