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The Women's Bible Commentary - Gang-Rape, Murder, and Dismemberment in Times of Peace
The Women's Bible Commentary - Gang-Rape, Murder, and Dismemberment in Times of Peace
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Gang-Rape, Murder, and Dismemberment in Times of Peace In Judges 19, an unnamed woman, identified as pilegesh, a Hebrew term of unclear social status and often translated as “concubine” but sometimes also as “secondary wife,” runs away from her husband, a Levite…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Dividing the Kingdom
The Women's Bible Commentary - Dividing the Kingdom
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Dividing the Kingdom THE WOMEN’S BIBLE COMMENTARY (1 Kings 12-15) From the death of Solomon at the end of 1 Kings 11 until the fall of the northern kingdom in 2 Kings 17, the narrative generally alternates between accounts of the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. The co…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Jerusalem’s Fall and Future
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Jerusalem’s Fall and Future
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Jerusalem’s Fall and Future The second round of judgment/promise begins with a specific and detailed oracle against Jerusalem. The imagery here is graphic; it describes the rulers’ oppressive behaviour as tearing off the skin and flesh, consuming the people (3:1–3)…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - The Messenger, Justice, and the Father’s Special Possession
The Womens' Bible Commentary - The Messenger, Justice, and the Father’s Special Possession
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Messenger, Justice, and the Father’s Special Possession The three dialogues of 2:17–4:3 begin with an accusation: “You have wearied YHWH with your words.” The image of a weary Deity captures the emotional escalation that occurs in these passages…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Hope
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Hope
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Hope Only shreds of hope appear in this book to counterpoise the deep river of devastation, grief, and despair that pervades most of it (3:14–18; 12:14–17; 16:14–15; 17:24–26; 22:2–4; 23:5–8; 24:4–7; 29:10–14; 42:7–12). In a collection of prose and poetry called “the little book …
Isaiah for everyone - (Un)spiritual Practices
Isaiah for everyone - (Un)spiritual Practices
by SPCK - John Goldingay
(Un)spiritual Practices I was talking with a friend about the way Christians in our culture have got interested in “spiritual practices” such as meditation, silence, and fasting. This development is taking place in a context where Christians don’t have as much sense of God as the…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Be Realistic
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Be Realistic
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Be Realistic Reading the line in Ecclesiastes 4 about a triple cord not breaking quickly, I remembered an occasion in seminary when I gave our professor of preaching a hard time for using that line to support the idea that a sermon ought to have three points…
Jeremiah for everyone - Compassion Has the Last Word
Jeremiah for everyone - Compassion Has the Last Word
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Compassion Has the Last Word A variant on whether you see the glass as half full or half empty is whether you look to the future with hope or anxiety. I’m a mildly anxious person myself—I don’t worry much about particular threats or problems, but I’m susceptible to a vague unease…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Drink Is a Brawler
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Drink Is a Brawler
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Drink Is a Brawler A friend who is a recovering alcoholic sometimes comments with dark humour on the process whereby drinking ruins people’s lives. It all but ruined his life, and it has ruined the lives of people he knows…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Faithful Are the Wounds of a Friend
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Faithful Are the Wounds of a Friend
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Faithful Are the Wounds of a Friend Austin Farrer, the warden (that is, president) of my undergraduate college, was one of the great preachers of the day, though more for the wisdom and insight of his content than for the singsong style of his delivery…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - I'm Just a Weary Sojourner, but I Have Some Words from God
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - I'm Just a Weary Sojourner, but I Have Some Words from God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I'm Just a Weary Sojourner, but I Have Some Words from God My wife sits at the desk next to mine working harder than me at a course that is part of her degree program. There’s some kind of incompatibility between the subject and/or the teacher’s method of teaching that is driving…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - It's Not Enough, but It's Not Nothing
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - It's Not Enough, but It's Not Nothing
by SPCK - John Goldingay
It's Not Enough, but It's Not Nothing One sunny January day some years ago I came home after a lecture and wheeled my disabled wife down to the row of shops where there was a magnificent ice cream parlor that alas subsequently closed down (evidently we didn’t go there enough)…
Jeremiah for everyone - On Facing Reality
Jeremiah for everyone - On Facing Reality
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Facing Reality We were doing our monthly stint serving dinner at a homeless shelter last night, and I got to talk to one of the residents. She’d had a successful and lucrative career in the movie business and lived in a house in Malibu…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Covenant Lawsuit: Call and Response