In his benediction to the Galatian churches, Paul employs the unique phrase – the “Israel of God.” This expression in Galatians 6:16 has proven to be difficult for interpreters because the grammar around the phrase allows for it to be understood in several, defensible ways, ranging from a reference to (1) the church as the … Read more
While Hosea 11:10-11 identifies the “roaring lion” as Yahweh, the prophet’s use of the Balaam Oracles in verses 10–11 evokes the promise of a new exodus led forth by the roaring lion of Judah (e.g., Gen 49:9; Num 24:9). The paradigm of the Exodus from Egypt serves as the pattern, or type, for the promised … Read more
In his most explicit teaching on church discipline, Jesus appealed to the Old Testament law of two or three witnesses to establish a matter (Matthew 18:16). Paul argued that an accusation could not be brought against an elder unless the accusation was brought by two or three witnesses (1 Timothy 5:19). References to the law … Read more
Many biblical theologies go wrong when they fail to take account of the genre of the Bible and privilege one of its many genres—whether narrative, law, or hymn—over the others. I have spent much of the last decade writing The Genres and Formulas of the Hebrew Bible: A Glossary which will be coming out in … Read more
§1 According to the Ante-Nicene Church, “the good Lord revealed everything to us beforehand” (Ep. Barn.); and “material things are typical of spiritual things” (Origen); a thought memorably stated by Augustine as “In the Old Testament the New is concealed, in the New the Old is revealed.” Agreeable to these classic sentiments is Carl R. … Read more
2 Peter’s claim that the delay of the Parousia is a direct result of God’s desire that “everyone might reach repentance” raises more questions than it purportedly answers (2 Peter 3:9). What exactly is God waiting for? With whom is he being patient? Whom does he want to repent? How does the work of the … Read more
The Gospel of John presents Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Messiah, who is equal in essence with the Father (Yahweh) through the wilderness motif. Jesus says in his debate with the religious leaders that the Father gives testimony of the Son (John 5:37), but we never clearly see any explicit statements coming … Read more
This paper argues that Gen 3:15 has three main interpretive threads in Matthew. Some scholars have made important contributions to the study of Gen 3:15. These include Ojewole who observes it being the center of a chiastic structure highlighting the problem of sin and especially its resulting “enmity.” Hamilton reveals many initial fulfillments of this … Read more
Starting with the publication of N.T. Wright’s The New Testament and the People of God in 1992, the field of biblical theology has seen a growth in scholarship on the biblical theology of exile and restoration. N.T. Wright’s thesis that the story of an ongoing exile drastically shaped the worldview of Jews in the first … Read more
This paper evaluates eight perspectives on Jesus’s perfection in the Epistle to the Hebrews—moral, cultic, glorification, vocational, definitive attestation, eschatological, unmediated access, and postmortem state—assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each. It also identifies which parameters, not previously addressed within a single framework, a new approach to this topic should encompass. The moral view, advanced … Read more