I’m still following the division of David W. Baker’s commentary on Leviticus in the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary on Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Today’s passage equates to Leviticus 5:14-26 in the Hebrew text, and the Hebrew text is indeed better divided than the English or the LXX. While the section is indeed properly grouped together, the…
I’m moving through this fairly quickly, paced by the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. (See the last entry.) The pace of reading is an interesting issue. In order to study Leviticus with Milgrom’s Anchor Bible commentary, I spent time nearly daily for more than a year. Now I’m covering about a chapter a…
There’s a bit of a change of gears in the second chapter of Leviticus, which contains only food sacrifices. (See Leviticus 1. Abbreviations at the end of the post.) These sacrifices are most commonly not offered because of some sin or impurity, but rather as sacrifices of thanksgiving or for some celebration. I think that…
I’ve now read through the first chapter of Leviticus using the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary on Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. I want to caution readers that I’m reflecting on and responding to the text of the commentary, and not just repeating it. If I don’t identify a thought as coming from Baker (David W. Baker, author…
I received the Orthodox Study Bible free from Thomas Nelson in their blogger book review program, and as I have been using it in my personal devotions and study for my lectionary notes, (which notes have languished during a very busy period), I have already written about it substantially. But just what does it mean…
I have written quite a bit about this topic on this blog, and am also doing a series related to it on my Threads blog, so I was glad to see another summary article (HT: Dr. Platypus). Most lay people are not well acquainted with critical theories about the Pentateuch, as they get the briefest…
Bruce Alderman wrote an interesting post today on what has to be somewhere close to my favorite book of the Bible–Jonah. He referenced an earlier post of mine from my Threads blog, but I’m not really commenting on that part. I should also note that while I call Jonah somewhere close to my favorite book,…
What meaning is evoked in people’s minds by the word “sacrifice?” One of the things I like to do when teaching is to simply write a word on the board that is commonly used in Biblical and/or Christian discourse and get people to give me various things that this word means to them. I try…
In chapter six of his book God’s Problem, Ehrman tackles the book of Job. (My notes on the book as a whole are here.) He describes the book as coming from two sources, one containing the narrative portions, and one containing the poetic dialogues. This view is not that exceptional, though one should also consider…
2 Corinthians 3:12-18 (CEV) (from BibleGateway.com). This post is less about the exegesis, which I’m only covering briefly, and more about application. I have frequently heard this passage (verses 17 and 18) cited in support of a free and unscripted style of worship. In particular, the phrase “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there…
