Exodus and Leviticus - Knowing and Acknowledging Again
Exodus and Leviticus - Knowing and Acknowledging Again
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Knowing and Acknowledging Again EXODUS 11: 1-10 EXODUS and Leviticus for Everyone 1Yahweh said to Moses, “There is yet one more blow I shall bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will send you off from here. When he sends you off, it will be complete. He will finally thro…
Job for Everyone - Leviathan
Job for Everyone - Leviathan
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Leviathan Job 41:1- 34 My wife is a bit apprehensive about monsters and can occasionally be scared for a moment by a shadow that might be some strange creature. For our honeymoon she was nevertheless keen to go to Scotland, from where her ancestors came, even though Scotland is a…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Leaderly Calculation and Mother Love
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Leaderly Calculation and Mother Love
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Leaderly Calculation and Mother Love 2 Samuel 19: 41- 21: 22 We care about what happens to the bodies of our loved ones. My wife and I long ago agreed that we would be cremated and then have our ashes scattered in the valley where we had spent the first night of our honeymoon. No…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Kings, Priests, Levites, Prophets
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Kings, Priests, Levites, Prophets
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Kings, Priests, Levites, Prophets Deuteronomy 17: 14- 18: 22 In the seminary where I taught in England, from time to time we would have someone delivering a prophetic message in the context of worship. Generally these messages were reassuring and general, promising people God’s l…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Last Chance to take the Torah and The Prophets Seriously
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Last Chance to take the Torah and The Prophets Seriously
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Last Chance to Take the Torah and the Prophets Seriously 2 Kings 22:1-23:24 Being the principal of a seminary occupied the middle ten years of my time as a professor. I had felt no desire to be in that position, but once it became clear that it was the right thing for a time, I r…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Land, Promises and Politics
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Land, Promises and Politics
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Land, Promises and Politics NUMBERS 33:1- 34: 29 I have several friends in Beirut, including a former student who teaches the Bible in a Christian university (actually he is the guy who once threw me into the pool, as I mentioned in connection with Numbers 28–29). He has a hard t…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Justice and Only Justice ( Absolute Faithfulness)
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Justice and Only Justice ( Absolute Faithfulness)
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Justice and Only Justice Deuteronomy 16: 18- 17: 13 The last time I took a student group to Israel, among the speakers we had in the evenings was a Christian Palestinian Israeli called Naim Ateek; his son was subsequently a student at our seminary. Dr. Ateek was born in Palestine…
Exodus and Leviticus - Knowledge and Acknowledgement
Exodus and Leviticus - Knowledge and Acknowledgement
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Knowledge and Acknowledgement EXODUS 9: 1-21 Eventually Pharaoh’s ministers of state see the point and surely risk their lives with the boldness of their confrontation of Pharaoh: “Do you not yet acknowledge that Egypt is lost?” (10:7). Can he not see they are like animals caught…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Miriam the Prophet, Aaron the Priest, Moses the Teacher
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Miriam the Prophet, Aaron the Priest, Moses the Teacher
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Miriam the Prophet, Aaron the Priest, Moses the Teacher NUMBERS 12: 1-15 The movie Live and Become is the story of a boy among the Ethiopian Falasha Jews airlifted to Israel at the time of the Marxist revolution in the 1980s. Except that Schlomo (Solomon) is not a Jew but a Chris…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Genesis 1:6-19 At the weekend my wife and I like to have lunch by the ocean, and while doing so we watch the surf hurling itself at the beach. No matter how hard giant waves batter the beach, they will never climb the rocks to where we sit, still less t…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Meanwhile in Judah
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - Meanwhile in Judah
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Meanwhile in Judah 1 Kings 14:21-15:24 A couple of weeks ago a student asked me with some anxiety whether there was any evidence that any of the events in the Old Testament actually happened. Were there any records from surrounding peoples that people such as Abraham or Moses or …
Exodus and Leviticus - Making Reparation
Exodus and Leviticus - Making Reparation
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Making Reparation LEVITICUS 5: 1- 6: 7 When my wife and I knew we were in love and wanted to get married, my wife’s parents opposed the match for various reasons. I was a mere would-be pastor with no career prospects to compare with Ann’s as a physician. I was too informal and no…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Meanwhile, in the Whorehouse
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Meanwhile, in the Whorehouse
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Meanwhile, in the Whorehouse JOSHUA 2: 1-24 In this commentary, Joshua 2 is the only chapter for which I will not attempt to provide an opening story in accordance with the usual format of The Old Testament for Everyone series. How could I compete with this actual story about the…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Maintaining the Family Name
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Maintaining the Family Name
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Maintaining the Family Name Deuteronomy 25: 1-19 I have just read about a court in Britain sending a woman to prison for killing someone in a car crash that happened while she was texting. The victim’s mother and the prosecution are appealing for a stiffer sentence. The newspaper…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - No, But...
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - No, But...
by SPCK - John Goldingay
No, But… Deuteronomy 1:46- 3: 29 I noted at the beginning of this commentary that my wife, Ann, died just before I started writing it. She had multiple sclerosis for forty-three years. The Sunday after her death, the set Scripture readings included Paul’s account in 2 Corinthians…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Negotiations and Love Songs
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Negotiations and Love Songs
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Negotiations and Love Songs NUMBERS 30:1- 16 About a year after he got married, one of my students set off from Los Angeles for Chicago, driving the opposite way to the one recommended in the song “Route 66,” in order to begin graduate school. Only subsequently in an e-mail did h…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Never Again
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Never Again
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Never Again Genesis 8: 21b- 9: 4 A few years ago, a couple who were friends of mine left the seminary and moved to another part of the country; he, to be a pastor; she, to be a counselor. We kept in occasional touch through e-mail, and it eventually emerged that their marriage wa…
Psalms for Everyone - Neither Militarist nor Pacifist