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1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - It Takes a Miracle
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - It Takes a Miracle
by SPCK - John Goldingay
It Takes a Miracle 1 Samuel 1:19b-24 In Joshua, Judges, and Ruth for Everyone I referred to one of my students who spent last year preparing to get married but also developed increasingly intense headaches. A month or so before her wedding date she had an MRI that suggested a bra…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - It's Over Even When It's Not Over
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - It's Over Even When It's Not Over
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Importance of a Game Plan JOSHUA 8: 1-21 Three weeks ago I went to my first American football game. It was also my first experience of tailgating in the warm sunshine and of eating breakfast burritos, which (accompanied by mimosas) were perhaps the highlight of the day. I was…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - On Praying for Sodom
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - On Praying for Sodom
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Praying for Sodom Genesis 18: 21-33 Yesterday we prayed in church, as we usually do, for God to grant peace and goodwill among nations. It is tempting to feel cynical about such prayers. Does God listen to them? Do they make a difference? Would it make a difference if we gave …
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Apocalyptic Expectations
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Apocalyptic Expectations
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Apocalyptic Expectations: The Afterlife, Labor Pain and New Birth (1 Thessalonians 4: 13- 5: 28) The recent death of believers in the community prompts Paul to expound on the afterlife. Again he employs the issue of suffering as a marker to distinguish between the Thessalonian co…
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 - Creating and Ordering the World
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Creating and Ordering the World
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Creating and Ordering the World (Genesis 1-11) Creation is not merely the initial coming into being of the universe and its life forms; it includes also the ordering and continuous unfolding of the world. All of Genesis 1–11 is about the creation of the cosmos, including the more…
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 - Elisha and the House of Ahab
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Elisha and the House of Ahab
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Elisha and the House of Ahab (2 Kings 1-8) Second Kings begins at the death of Ahab and the accession of his son Ahaziah. The break between 1 and 2 Kings is purely a pragmatic move, to divide the longer narrative into more manageable chunks, so readers should regard the narrative…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Distribution of Powers
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Distribution of Powers
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Distribution of Powers (Deuteronomy 16: 18-18:22) Deuteronomy 16:18–18:22 deals with four national offices that together comprised Israel’s leadership: the judiciary (16:18–20; 17:8–13); kingship (17:14–20); priesthood (18:1–8); and prophecy (18:10–22). The chapters raise three i…
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 - End of the Age
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - End of the Age
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
End of the Age (Matthew 24: 1-51) Maternal imagery continues into the fifth discourse. Signs of destruction are “birth pangs” (24:8); the metaphor graphically indicates the inevitability as well as the increasing intensity associated with the end time…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Family Wisdom
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Family Wisdom
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Family Wisdom (Prov. 1-9) A prologue announces that the book aims to impart wisdom (1:2–7). Thick with vocabulary essential to that endeavor, the prologue defines wisdom primarily in relational terms. Wisdom requires that everyone, the young and the wise alike, listen to instruct…
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 - God's Realm Breaking In
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - God's Realm Breaking In
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
God’s Realm Breaking In (Mark1-3) Jesus and the Realm of God (Mark 1:1–45) Although “According to Mark” was added later, Mark’s Gospel does have a functioning title in 1:1: “The beginning of the good news [gospel] of Jesus Christ, Son of God.” Each term is important. While “Jesus…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - God as "Father"
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - God as "Father"
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
God as “Father” (Galatians 4: 4-7) 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 …
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 - Idol Meat and Class conflict
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Idol Meat and Class conflict
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Idol Meat and Class Conflict (1 Corinthians 8-10) The problem Paul addresses in these chapters is that some members of the church feel free to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols, while for others this creates a crisis of faith…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Jesus and the New Community