The narrative of Samson (Judg 13-16) occupies a prominent place within the book of Judges. This narrative, settled between the failed kingship of Abimelech in Judges 9, and several narratives containing the refrain “in those days there was no king in Israel” (Judg 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25; indicating the apparent societal failures in the absence … Read more
This study seeks to situate the revelation of God’s glory in Exodus 34:6–7 in concrete action, namely in the greater context of how God has revealed himself in the book of Exodus through signs and wonders, and in the particular context of Israel’s sin in making the golden calf. In a fresh study on signs … Read more
The Bible presents God’s magnificent divine plan, executed by chosen people for a specific purpose. There are illustrations of those from various regions impacting those worldwide throughout the Bible. While much of the Old Testament takes place in ancient Mesopotamia, the magnitude of God’s plan is global. This paper will examine sub-Saharan people groups in … Read more
The book of Ruth records over a dozen prayers of blessing (1:8-9, 2:4, 2:14, 2:19, 2:20, 3:10, 4:11-12, 4:14), all of which are answered in the book itself. This paper will argue that the prayers in Ruth are an intentional narrative vehicle which drives the development of the plot. For example, Naomi’s initial prayer for … Read more
Beginning with Ewald, Wellhausen, and Stade, scholars have hypothesized that Genesis 4, particularly vv. 17–25, functions as a national etiology of the Kenite people, with Cain as their eponymous ancestor. In the past decade, David Carr and John Day, among others, have offered more thorough defenses of this viewpoint. This etiological reading is based on … Read more
Determining appropriate and necessary application from OT narratives challenges the best of modern expositors. One’s hermeneutical presuppositions, including the place of the author, text, and reader, ground the role of discerning theology in narrative and anticipating the necessary connection to Christ, and then how the text should impact our lives before we unfold it to … Read more
Music plays a vital role in the pivotal points in Saul’s career. In his election as the inaugural king of Israel, he is told by the prophet Samuel to join a procession of prophets “coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes, and harps being played before them” (1 Sam 10:5). In 1 … Read more
Apparent discrepancies between the accounts in Kings and Chronicles of the death of king Ahaziah have frustrated many historical reconstructions. First, it appears in the Kings account that the Judahite princes are killed after king Ahaziah is liquidated. Ahaziah is killed in 2 Kgs 9:27 after which Jehu comes upon the brothers of Ahaziah and … Read more
As is well known, the reading and interpretation of the first three verses of the Hebrew Bible has been the subject of an ongoing debate among scholars for centuries. This continues with the two most recent critical commentaries by David M. Carr, who reads v. 1 is a dependent temporal clause (“At the beginning when … Read more
The corpus of the Former Prophets concludes with a scene of changing clothes, as the fate of Jehoiachin king of Judah at the hands of Evil-merodach of Babylon is related. What are the personal, and national, implications of this one-off experience for the king, prior to the acknowledgment of his ongoing provision? This paper will … Read more