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THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - God as Faithful Husband, Israel as Faithless Wife
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - God as Faithful Husband, Israel as Faithless Wife
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
God as a Faithful Husband, Israel as Faithless Wife (Hosea 1-3) In Hosea 1:2, YHWH commands Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a promiscuous wife and bear children of promiscuity, for the land fornicates away from YHWH” (my trans.). Hosea then marries Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, a…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book II
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book II
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Book II (Psalms 42-72) Book II of the Psalter, like Book I, contains many lament psalms. But unlike Book I, not all of the psalms are attributed to David. The Korahites, who were, according to the book of Chronicles, temple singers during the reigns of David and Solomon, mix thei…
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 - 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 - The Call to Choose
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Call to Choose
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Call to Choose (Joshua 23-24) Beginnings and endings of narratives are always important. Joshua 1 begins with the assurance of God’s victory and a call to obedience and strength. Chapter 24 closes the book with a rehearsal of the history of the Israelites and God’s overwhelmi…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book V
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book V
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Book V (Psalms 107-150) Book V of the Psalter opens with Psalm 107, a community hymn celebrating God’s graciousness in delivering the community of faith from exile in Babylon. The psalmist says: “Let the redeemed of YHWH say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from…
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 - The Prelude to the Passion of Jesus
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Prelude to the Passion of Jesus
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Prelude to the Passion of Jesus Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is marked with a curiously ambiguous story, the so-called triumphal entry. On the way into the city, the people welcome him with honor, although their reference to “the coming kingdom [realm] of our ancestor David” (…
friends, FOES and families - You have made them equal to us: the workers in the vineyard
friends, FOES and families - You have made them equal to us: the workers in the vineyard
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
You have made them equal to us: The workers in the vineyard Matthew 20: 1-16 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6.38)...
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 - Creation and Destruction of the Heaven and the Earth
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Creation and Destruction of the Heaven and the Earth
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Creation and Destruction of the Heaven and the Earth (2 Peter 3: 1-13) In order to counter the arguments of the “scoffers” who deny the promise of the Lord’s coming, the author of 2 Peter asserts that “the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire” (3:7), and “the ele…
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