SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Women's Bible Commentary - The House of David and the House of Saul
The Women's Bible Commentary - The House of David and the House of Saul
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The House of David and the House of Saul At the end of 1 Samuel, Saul and three of his sons are killed in battle. Second Samuel begins with David’s reaction to the deaths of Saul and his sons…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Money, Shame and Authority
The Women's Bible Commentary - Money, Shame and Authority
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Money, Shame and Authority Because of subtle differences between chapters 8 and 9, many scholars regard them as two separate letters, even though they concern the same topic: instructions regarding a collection of money in Paul’s Gentile congregations to be sent as a gift to the …
The Women's Bible Commentary - Community in Formation
The Women's Bible Commentary - Community in Formation
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Community in Formation And Jesus sets off again. Mark 4:35–8:26 presents more healing stories, all around the Sea of Galilee, but also stories of miraculous feedings and miraculous deeds on the sea. There are clear echoes between stories and clear echoes of Scripture. Although ne…
The Women's Bible Commentary - David and Jonathan
The Women's Bible Commentary - David and Jonathan
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
David and Jonathan Jonathan, Saul’s son and king-in-waiting (or so it would seem), is a pivotal character in David’s replacement of Jonathan’s father as king. Immediately after the Goliath incident, we are told that Jonathan felt he was a soul mate of David’s and loved him as muc…
The Women's Bible Commentary - David and Goliath
The Women's Bible Commentary - David and Goliath
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
David and Goliath Up to this point, besides the fact that YHWH has told Samuel to anoint him, David has shown no special qualities that would qualify him to rule Israel as king: it is the battle with Goliath that establishes David as a potential leader for Israel…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Jesus' Parables of God's Realm
The Women's Bible Commentary - Jesus' Parables of God's Realm
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Jesus’ Parables of God’s Realm Chapter 4 presents a more extended example of Jesus’ teaching—teaching in parables, colourful little stories that suggest a comparison to think about, to puzzle over. The dominant comparison is of the realm of God and the life of seeds. Although the…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Jesus and the New Community
The Women's Bible Commentary - Jesus and the New Community
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Jesus and the New Community A new section of Mark’s narrative opens with a summary statement of Jesus’ healing and teaching beside the Sea of Galilee, where persons come to him from all the places he will later go. This compact summary closes with the unclean spirits recognizing …
The Women's Bible Commentary - David and Saul
The Women's Bible Commentary - David and Saul
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
David and Saul Much of 1 Samuel is dedicated to the fact that Israel’s first king did not establish the dynasty that offers stability to united Israel and later the southern kingdom of Judah; rather, David did. Because of the switch from Saul’s family to David’s, it is possible t…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Groaning in Labor Pains
The Women's Bible Commentary - Groaning in Labor Pains
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Re-creation of Land and People In chapters 36 and 37 God acts not just to renew Israel and the land, but to re-create them entirely. Chapter 36 has the re-creation of both people (36:26–27) and land (36:1–15, 35) in view, whereas 37:1–14 famously focuses on the rebirth of the peo…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Re-creation of Land and People
The Women's Bible Commentary - Re-creation of Land and People
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Re-creation of Land and people In chapters 36 and 37 God acts not just to renew Israel and the land, but to re-create them entirely. Chapter 36 has the re-creation of both people (36:26–27) and land (36:1–15, 35) in view, whereas 37:1–14 famously focuses on the rebirth of the peo…
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Kandake’s Eunuch
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Kandake’s Eunuch
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Kandake’s Eunuch (Acts 8:26–40) The diakonos Philip travels to the desert of Gaza, authorized by “the Spirit” (8:26). His mission: the ideological conquest of “land’s end” to the south: Nubia (or Ethiopia), more specifically the city-state of Meroe ruled by the Kandake (NRSV …
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Comment: 2 John
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Comment: 2 John
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Comment: 2 John The author of 2 John, who identifies himself as the “elder” (v. 1), uses feminine imagery to speak of the church. The community to which he writes is addressed as “elect lady” (vv. 1, 5), and the community from which the elder writes is identified as “your elect s…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Sapphira
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Sapphira
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Sapphira Sapphira’s story is perhaps the ideal example of the competing interpretative stances promoted by Luke’s narrative. Reading darkly, that is, from those without power or privilege, Sapphira’s story illustrates a divine option for a community in which there are no class di…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Jesus' Last Days
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Jesus' Last Days
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Jesus’ Last Days John 13-21 Chapters 13–17 are known as the Farewell Discourse, because here Jesus speaks to his disciples just prior to his arrest, trial, and death. Jesus prepares his disciples for his departure from them and for their life in his absence. What Jesus envisions …
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Resurrection Issues
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Resurrection Issues
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Limited Divine Hospitality Not all discussions of foreign nations in Isaiah are so dispiriting. Isaiah 25 offers one of the best loved of all portraits, one which Christians often associate with eucharistic liturgies…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Limited Divine Hospitality
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Limited Divine Hospitality
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Limited Divine Hospitality Not all discussions of foreign nations in Isaiah are so dispiriting. Isaiah 25 offers one of the best loved of all portraits, one which Christians often associate with eucharistic liturgies…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Excursus 4: Echoes of Mercy
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Excursus 4: Echoes of Mercy
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Excursus 4: Echoes of Mercy Through a lens of slavery and segregation, African Americans read Acts 10:34–36 and 17:26 as biblical critiques of oppression. Acts 10 became a rallying cry against slavery from the early part of the nineteenth century…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - "My Servant" Israel