SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Womens' Bible Commentary - God as "Father"
The Womens' Bible Commentary - God as "Father"
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
God as “Father” In addition to bringing about people’s transformation from the status of minor children under guardianship of the law to that of mature heirs able to enjoy their inheritance (see above on 3:23–26), the coming of Christ has other consequences as well…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Mary, Martha, and Jesus
The Women's Bible Commentary - Mary, Martha, and Jesus
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Mary, Martha, and Jesus The miracle of the raising of Lazarus is the climax of John 11:1–44, but it is not its center. Of the forty-four verses that constitute this story, only seven of them take place at Lazarus’s tomb (11:38–44). The story centers on the conversations in which …
The Women's Bible Commentary - Exhortation to Righteousness
The Women's Bible Commentary - Exhortation to Righteousness
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Exhortation to Righteousness The first part of the book addresses “you rulers of the earth,” urging them away from the death they have invited by their ungodly lives and toward the gift of immortality that comes with righteousness and wisdom…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Naomi’s Homecoming
The Women's Bible Commentary - Naomi’s Homecoming
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Naomi’s Homecoming Prologue: Journey to Moab (Ruth 1:1–5) The opening verses briefly recount the migration of a Judean family to Moab. Moab holds the possibility of life when Bethlehem (literally, “house of bread”) has been depleted by famine. But leaving home is often fraught wi…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Models of God
The Women's Bible Commentary - Models of God
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Models of God There is one important respect in which Job’s patriarchal assumptions are put in question by the book. Job’s mounting frustration with God comes from his expectation that God should behave toward him as Job behaves toward his own dependents. Job has envisioned God i…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Experience and the Critique of Tradition
The Women's Bible Commentary - Experience and the Critique of Tradition
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Experience and the Critique of Tradition It is interesting that Job’s outburst against his wife is the last thing he says for some time. Apparently not acknowledging the presence of the three friends who come to comfort him, Job sits in silence for seven days. When he finally spe…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Woman's Characters in the Book of Job
The Women's Bible Commentary - Woman's Characters in the Book of Job
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Women Characters in the Book of Job Although they have only “bit parts,” Job’s daughters and his wife have long intrigued readers and commentators. Job’s daughters seem to have a status within the family that is more prominent than what is typically assumed about the position of …
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Downfall of Haman and the Triumph of Esther
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Downfall of Haman and the Triumph of Esther
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Downfall of Haman and the Triumph of Esther The central section of the book chronicles the rise and fall of the royal favorite, Haman the Agagite, and the actions of Esther that bring about his downfall and save the Jews of the Persian Empire. In this section we witness Esthe…
The Women's Bible Commentary - A "Woman of Substance"
The Women's Bible Commentary - A "Woman of Substance"
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
A “Woman of Substance” Picking up the term hayil (31:3), Proverbs ends with the portrait of “a woman of substance” (’eshet-hayil). Men with hayil, like Lemuel and Boaz in the book of Ruth (2:1), are honourable and affluent. They may be kings, landowners, or those who serve the co…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Woman Wisdom
The Women's Bible Commentary - Woman Wisdom
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Woman Wisdom The beginning of the second part of the book is signalled by a shift from second-person exhortation in 1:1–6:21 to first-person-singular speech. The speaker identifies himself first as a mortal and then as a king…
The Women's Bible Commentary - From the Household into the World
The Women's Bible Commentary - From the Household into the World
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
From the Household into the World Proverbs 1–9 culminates at a crossroads. The youth hears the voices of wisdom (9:3–6) and folly (9:16–17) beckoning him home for supper, each with initially identical invitations (“you who are naive, turn in here,” 9:4, 16). Wisdom and folly, it …
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Women's First Speech
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Women's First Speech
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Women’s First Speech The woman expresses her desire and explores her feelings for her lover, and his for her, through stories in which she and he both play roles, as themselves or in fantasy guises. Here she tells three. In her first story (2:8–17), she conjures her lover up …
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Reign of Solomon
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Reign of Solomon
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Reign of Solomon Four primary markers characterize Solomon’s kingship over Israel as presented in the book of Kings: his superlative wisdom, his remarkable prosperity, his accomplishment of building the temple, and his penchant for marrying foreign women. Solomon’s wisdom is …
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Death of David
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Death of David
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Wives a as Symbol of Kingship Whatever justification Absalom might have claimed for killing Amnon, such as Amnon’s rape of Tamar, Absalom’s own royal ambitions are not hurt by having Amnon out of the way. Indeed, as soon as Absalom is admitted back into the royal household follow…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Wives as the Symbol of Kingship
The Women's Bible Commentary - Wives as the Symbol of Kingship
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Wives a as Symbol of Kingship Whatever justification Absalom might have claimed for killing Amnon, such as Amnon’s rape of Tamar, Absalom’s own royal ambitions are not hurt by having Amnon out of the way…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Michal, Again