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Category: Interpreting The Old Testament

  • How To Pick Up Commentaries For Cheap

    Part of building a theological library is trying to get resources cheaply. It probably goes without saying that if you’re starting out in ministry or you’re currently a seminary student, you don’t have a lot of disposable cash for buying books. Or, we could say you definitely do not have as much money in your…

  • How To Build A Theological Library: Old Testament Backgrounds

    I meant to post this yesterday (as readers in RSS will have noticed), so rather than wait until next week, it seemed like the thing to do while I watch some college football. To give a preview of how this series will unfold, here’s a table of contents: General Overview Old Testament Backgrounds (what you’re…

  • The Return of The Chaos Monster

    Well, it’s Halloween. Which means it is the perfect day to review a book called The Return of The Chaos Monster – And Other Backstories of The Bible. A couple of weeks ago, I actually listed out the backstories for you, and now that I’ve finished the book I can give you my thoughts. Overview Gregory…

  • Christ and The Desert Tabernacle

    Earlier this school year, I was teaching Exodus to two classes of 9th grade students. Because of time, we didn’t linger too long on the later half of the book, but instead focused most of our attention on the plagues, the red sea crossing, and 10 commandments. When I teach it again next year (if,…

  • Hearing The Old Testament: Surveying The Old Testament

    As October wraps up, so does our look at Hearing The Old Testament: Listening For God’s Address. We first looked at a brief overview of the book and the initial essay by one of the editors, Craig Bartholomew. I previewed somewhat the next section of the book called “Learning To Listen,” before giving it a more detailed…

  • Hearing The Old Testament: Learning To Listen

    A couple of weeks ago, we started looking at Hearing The Old Testament: Listening For God’s Address. I gave you a brief overview of the book and the initial essay by one of the editors, Craig Bartholomew. I previewed somewhat the next section of the book called “Learning To Listen.” In it, we are treated to…

  • Imagery In The Psalms

    Psalm 23 has been particularly cherished in Jewish and Christian spirituality, though it is most associated with funerals. Its preciousness derives in part from its lyricism and metaphor. One cannot tie down any aspect of some concrete situation that its author had in mind. Everything is imagery. The consequence is that readers can directly access…

  • Expressing Anger In The Psalms

    The attitude of the psalms and of the martyrs is that when people resist God and persist in oppressing other people, eventually God must punish them for their wrongdoing and free their victims. But such action lies in God’s hands, not in ours. We trust God to take action; and “it is an act of…

  • Plea Prayers In The Psalms

    The balance between protest or expression of pain, and plea or request, is the reverse of that which characterizes Christian prayer. Christians are reticent about telling God things that God presumably knows, though they are then oddly unrestrained about itemizing what God should do even though they recognize that God could work this out. Prayer…

  • Set Apart By Kisses

    With these scriptural themes in mind, the depth of the beloved’s words to and about her lover begins to become apparent. If the “best ointments” are those given by the Lord to us—if, as Leviticus puts it, the “anointing oil of the Lord” (oleum unctionis Domini; 10:6–11; 21:10–12) is what sets apart the priests of…