"TRUST AND OBEY" IN THE BIBLE

The above was the title of a hymn I used to sing as a child in church. I didn't realize how ancient that song was until I just looked it up on Google. It was written by John H. Hammins in 1887 and was based primarily on James 1:22. In essence, it purports to summarize what it means to be a true follower of Christ. Other verses expressing the same basic idea are said to be Jeremiah 7:23 and I John 1:7. But if one consults various English translations of James 1:22, one will come up with the following variations in wording:

    hear and do (KJV)

    listen and act (NEB)

    listen and do (JB)

    listen and obey (Living Bible)

    listen and put into practice (TEV)

Then adding the other two Bible passages above which are said to convey the same idea, we get:

    pay attention and obey; hear and walk in the light (NIV)

    obey and walk; walk in the light (RSV)

    obey and do as I say; say and walk in the light (Living Bible)

However, a quick search through any good Bible concordance will come up with a host of additional verb pairs which similarly tend to summarize what it means to be a practicing believer. And when you come to think of it, the very phrase “practicing believer” also encapsulates both ideas of listening and doing. Without further ado, below is the result of a by no means exhaustive search of verb pairs, at least in English translation, which attempt to roughly convey that same totality of a Christian's life. And to impose some sort of consistency on what follows, I will try to stick to the NRSV wherever possible since it generally is better than most renderings in adhering throughout to the same English translation for the same original Greek or Hebrew word.

Genesis 2:15-16 “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man...”

“Subjugation of the earth (cf. 1:28) began with cultivation of the garden. Keep it is perhaps a cultic charge, i.e. to guard the sanctity of God's dwelling...” (Kline)

Deuteronomy 4:6-7 “I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe...You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discerning to the people, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!”

“The incident of Peor (Num. 25:1-9) teaches that obedience to God's law is the condition for life in Canaan and a testimony to the wisdom which the LORD graciously gives his people.” (Anderson)

Joshua 1:8 “...you shall meditate on it [i.e. the book of the law], so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that it is written in it.”

“The idea of law observance as a condition for happiness is enlarged here...Joshua is to speak of this book and meditate on it, as later the blessed man of Ps. 1 will do. Daily meditation on the Book and a strict observance of its gracious provisions for a life in covenant fellowship with the Lord, will mean a happy achievement of life's goal and prosperity...The Hebrew word for 'prosper' at this point is salah. Pedersen defines it as 'the power, the ability to live...It designates the efficiency as an inner power to work in accordance with its nature, and at the same time success, prosperity and the carrying out of that for which one is disposed.” (Woudstra)

Job 36:11 “If they listen and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity.”

Hartley says, “The errant righteous respond to God's speaking in one of two ways: either they willingly obey his words or they stubbornly refuse to obey them. Some who are afflicted hear God speaking through their affliction. Welcoming the divine instructions, they humbly submit themselves to God. As they begin to serve (abad) God, a gracious change takes place in their lives.”

Jeremiah 7:23 “Obey my voice...and walk in all the ways that I command you...”

Bright: “The words 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people' are the formula of covenant (cf. Deut xxvi 16-19): God's essential demands (e.g. as found in the Decalogue) did not concern ritual matters, but the keeping of the Covenant stipulations.”

Thompson adds, “Jeremiah was really telling his contemporaries that God was indifferent in the way Israel brought their sacrifices, even if they committed the cultic enormity of eating the whole burnt offering as though it were a peace offering. Where the basic requisite of obedience was lacking, God refused to regard what went on in the temple as a true sacrifice. Here then is the divine demand obey my voice...God required of Israel deep personal commitment to his voice...All else was secondary.”

Matthew 23:3 “...do whatever they [the scribes and Pharisees] teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.”

Nixon says that it is “very hard to take this at its face value in view of 15:1-20. It is likely to refer to everything consistent with the law of Moses...this is not likely to be wholesale condemnation of all Pharisees, many of whom were well aware of the danger of inconsistency.”

Ephesians 3:19 “and to know the love of Christ...so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Martin comments that “so amazing is that love which God's purpose for His church in the world reveals that it eludes our full grasp. It surpasses knowledge, yet at the same time beckons us on to a progressive experience as we are more and more filled 'up to the measure of'... God's fullness.”

Philippians 2:12-13 “...just as you have always obeyed me..., work out your own salvation...for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

“The example of Jesus Christ is not only one of humility; it is also one of obedience...Christ is Example, but supremely He is the Giver of salvation. Yet that salvation is not to be accepted complacently, but worked out in life in a spirit of reverence and fear by men who know that they live in His holy sight and must give account to Him.” (Foulkes)

Colossians 3:22-24 “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything...in order to please them, fearing the Lord.Whatever your task, put yourself into it, as done for the Lord..”

Guthrie says, “Paul does not deal with the wrongs of the system. He is concerned with human attitudes...Singleness points to a consistency of action, and fearing the Lord to a religious approach even to secular work, an idea fully developed in 23, 24.”

James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”

As Ward says, “Note the three stages: they should be hearers of the word; they should receive it; and they should be doers of the word. This recalls the teaching of Jesus; cf., e.g., Mt 7:24-27; and of Paul; cf. e.g., Rom. 2:13. In full: consciousness is informed; belief and faith exercised; and the will moved. Without action the mere hearers are deceiving themselves, for they do not realize what piety really is,”

I John 1:6-7 “If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Morris: “'Religion without morality is an illusion' (Stott)...This does not read as RSV we do not live according to the truth, but 'we do not do the truth'. ..Truth can be a quality of action as well as of speech.”

Finally, consider two of the most ubiquitous commands found in Jesus' many parables. 'He who has an ear, let him hear' or minor variations appears in Matthew 11:15; 13:9,43; Mark 4:9,23; 7:16; 8:18; and Luke 8:8; 9:44; 14:35.” And admonitions to 'go and do likewise' are found in Luke 3:11, 6:31; 10:37; and Luke 13:3.” Between these two commands we again see the elements of (1) listening carefully to God's words and (2) following through with appropriate actions.

We see the same two related themes in Paul's writings also, especially in the intriguing passage Romans 2:12-16. Paul talks about those Gentiles who have never known the teachings the Jews were given by God but nonetheless follow God's law naturally because it is written on their hearts and guides their actions in the right direction anyway. There have been a number of interpretations of these words, the most interesting of which is perhaps found at the end of one of C.S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles in which a single member of a pagan and war-like tribe is saved at the judgment because he was the only one who interpreted his nation's war god differently from the rest of his race. The others see only brutality when they confront Aslan, the type of Christ in the book, while this one man embraces him as the god he had always pictured. Whether Lewis' interpretation is really true to the whole teaching in the Bible is up to you to decide.

 

AMOS 8-9

                                            Amos (mixed media on canvas) 

Scope of the Unit

Those who do not believe that the whole of Amos 7-9 belongs together as a discrete unit are often influenced by a question regarding the authorship of the last verses. The positive tone of 7:8b-15 is not felt by some to be in keeping with the aura of doom pervading the rest of the book. (Childs) But the present literary analysis demonstrates that although there is a unity of sorts to the whole of Amos 7-9, we would have to agree with Moller, who relegates chs. 8 and 9 to a separate section, even though he recognizes that the opening words of these two chapters hark back to the similar openings of the visions in ch. 7.

Dorsey considers Amos 8:4-9:15 to constitute a separate unity. However, he admits, “The internal structure of this final unit is obscure, in part due to textual and exegetical uncertainties.”

Organization

Figure 1 shows one possible way to organize this material.

Figure 1: The Structure of Amos 8:1-9:15

A. Vision 4 (8:1-14)

1. Vision referring to the sanctuary (8:1-3)

                                    2. Reason for Judgment (8:4-8)

                                    3. Description of Judgment on “Jacob” (8:9-14)

a. “on that day” (8:9-10)

                                                        b. “Behold, the days are coming” (8:11-12)

                                                a'. “in that day” (8:13-14)

A'. Vision 5 (9:1-15)

1. Vision referring to the sanctuary (9:1)

                                    2. Inevitability of Judgment on “Jacob” (9:2-8)

                                    3. Reversal of Judgment (9:9-15)

        b. “Behold” (9:9-10)

                                                a. “in that day” (9:11-12)

                                                        b'. “Behold, the days are coming” (9:13-15)

An inclusio for the combined units A and A' is formed by repetition of the word “again” in 8:2 and 9:15 with the negative connotation in the first instance being reversed in the final case. Also, note that “Jacob” appears in the central units of A and A, and another pattern regarding judgment is found by considering the three subsections to A3 and A'3. The opening phrases to these six passages alternate between “in (on) that day” and “behold, the days are coming.” Finally, the themes of the six units of A3 and A'3 form a chiasm of sorts in which the second half reverses the curses of the first half:

Figure 2: Symmetry in Amos 8:9-14 and 9:9-15

a. a bitter day of mourning with omens in nature (8:9-10)

b. the people wander in search of Yahweh (8:11-12)

c. death to idolaters in Israel who say... (8:13-14)

-----------------------------------------------------------

                                    c'. death to sinners in Israel who say... (9:9-10)

b'. Israel reestablished in the land by Yahweh (9:11-12)

a'. days of miraculous fertility and prosperity (9:13-15)

Carroll rehearses these reversals in the following ways:

    (spiritual) hunger in 8:11 vs. abundant food in 9:13

    apostasy in 8:13-14 vs. nations called by God's name in 9:11-12

    rise / fall in 8:14 vs. fall / rise in 9:11

    In addition, he points to the reversed order in the introductory formulas:

        a. “the time is surely coming, says the LORD God” (8:11)

                b. “on that day” (8:13)

                b'. “on that day” (9:11)

        a'. “the time is surely coming, says the LORD God” (9:13)

Prophetic Stances

A. Payne interprets verses 11-15 from a premillennial view as being fulfilled as follows:

verse 11 “the revival of the line of David in the Person of Jesus Christ. The reference must be to His first coming; for Acts 15:16 emphasizes that it is this event which enables the Gentiles, from the apostolic period onward, to seek God.
verse 12 “the effect of the coming of Christ...in respect to 'all the nations that are called by My name.' .The statement that God's name is, lit.' called upon the Gentiles means that He possesses them...The prophecy, moreover, is quoted in Acts 15:17 to explain why Gentile Christians need not be circumcized, so it cannot refer to the times prior to the NT, when circumcision was still enforced.”

verses 13-14 “now will come unprecedented harvests and grape gatherings. Fulfillment... millennial prosperity.”

verse 15 “Israel to be so established as never again to be plucked up. Fulfillment:...the permanence of the New Jerusalem.”

B. And as expected from the Dispensational camp, it goes far beyond the above statements in an attempt to carve out special roles for the ethnic Jews in the end times. For example, Sunukjian states: “After all God's judgments are past, when the nation has received full punishment for her sins, the Lord will move in mercy to renew and refresh His people. God will restore David's kingdom over both the North and the South, and through it He will bless all nations of the earth. He will reverse the covenant curses and bring unprecedented prosperity to the land. Dispersed Israel will be returned to her land, there to dwell securely and enjoy its goodness.”

As Walvoord famously (or infamously) put it, “The present age [the church age] is a parenthesis or a time period not predicted by the Old Testament and therefore not fulfilling or advancing the program of events revealed in the Old Testament foreview.” This view arises from none of the promises seemingly made to the nation of Israel in Old Testament passages such as Amos 9:11-15 being yet literally fulfilled. Therefore it is assumed without further proof that they therefore must be fulfilled during Christ's millennial reign on earth for a 1,000-year period.

C. Then concerning the views of the amillennialists, Hoekema is typical in rightly pointing out that Dispensationalists continue to look for future fulfillments of a rigidly literal nature out of these verses (which appear in passages containing much obviously figurative language) despite the fact that the NT writers have already explained them as having already happened figuratively. As one prominent example, consider Acts 15:14-18 in which James explains to the Council of Jerusalem, that Amos 9:11-12 refers to the inclusion into the ranks of God's people a number of Jews after they had accepted the Gospel as taught to them by Peter and Paul.

The Dispensationals come back with the example of Amos 9:14-15 which, however, obviously refers to to an everlasting residence of God's people on their land, not just a millennial regathering of Israel. And complicating this whole debate is the insistence by the Dispensationalists that prophecies may have, and indeed should possess, multiple fulfillments so that even if a figurative meaning may be applied to a particular OT prophecy, that doesn't exclude later literal fulfillments.

Specific Comments

With these issues somewhat out of the way, below are some additional random comments regarding these two chapters gleaned from the scholarly literature:

Amos 8:1-14 Gary Smith first notes that there is a shift of setting beginning with these verses which “is not clearly defined. However, “The references to the temple songs (8:3), the sabbath and new moon (8:5), festivals (8:10), seeking the word of Yahweh (8:12), and swearing by a god at various temple locations (8:14) reveal a shift of these [earlier] themes toward a temple audience, probably in the Bethel area. Together they emphasize that the end is here, that God's day of forgiveness is past, that his coming day will be filled with mourning and bitterness because of their iniquity.”

Amos 8:1-3 “'A basket of summer fruit symbolizes the immediacy of Israel's end.” (Hicks)

Andersen and Freedman comment on the overall structure of the vision section in Amos as follows: “The first vision contains the word 'beginning'; the fourth [i.e. 8:1-3] contains the word 'end.' Both are references to seasons in the agricultural year. It is therefore conceivable that the entire development, and thus the entire public activity of Amos, took place in less than one calendar year; but we do not think that this frame allows time for all that happens. More time is needed for the series of plagues reviewed in 4:6-11, especially if Amos was personally involved in bringing his message of repentance to the people as disaster followed disaster.”

Amos 8:4-14 Stuart describes the contents of these verses topically as follows, although alternative understandings are certainly possible:

    Hypocrisy in financial practices (vv. 4-6)

    Certainty of punishment (v. 7)

    Varieties of punishment (vv. 8-10)

    Hunger and thirst (vv. 11-14)

Amos 8:4-8 “These verses present the last indictment of socioeconomic injustice in the book...In terms of the book's overall structure...the reiteration of 2:6-7 serves as an important closure to the prophetic denunciation of the exploitation of the poor. The divine oath and the vow never to forget these acts of cruelty add a sober note of finality to Yahweh's decision for judgment (v. 7), the impact of which will literally shake the land of Israel (v. 8).” (Carroll R.)

Hicks notes that in verses 5-6 we see: “The merchants are impatient for the holy days to pass so they can resume their fraudulent business (Is. 1.13-17; Lev. 19.35-36; Dt. 25.13-16).”

Amos 9:1-6 Carroll R. labels this section “A Vision of Divine Sovereignty in Judgment.” He states: “This section begins with the final vision of the five-vision sequence. The most obvious difference between this vision and the others is that there is no exchange between Yahweh and the prophet. Amos simply states that he saw the Lord ('adonay) standing by the altar and giving the order to strike the capitals of the temple (v. 1). The participation of the prophet in the vision accounts progressively decreases, from interceding in the first two to the question and answer format of the third and fourth to only the Lord appearing in this fifth vision with no involvement by the prophet except to record what he sees and hears. This receding in importance in order to foreground God and judgment is appropriate for this final, climactic vision.”

Amos 9:7-11 “The messianic promises of the prophets provide examples of problem-solution. The problem was that the righteous remnant of Israel would suffer alongside the apostates. For them God provided a solution: he promised that he would 'not totally destroy the house of Jacob' (Amos 9:8). While the sinners would die (9:10), God himself would 'raise up the fallen booth of David' (v. 11), using imagery drawn from the Feast of Tabernacles.” (Osborne)
Hicks: “Here Amos' universalism (chs. 1-2) complements the doctrine of election (3.2).”

Osborne adds that, “The infinitive absolute functions as an adverb. Frequently, it is used emphatically to repeat and stress the verbal idea ('killing he will kill,' meaning 'he will surely kill'; cf. Gen 2:17; Amos 9:8).”

Amos 9:11-15

“The 'messianic' promise of such passages as Amos 9:11-15 centers on prosperity (vv. 11-12), agricultural abundance (v. 14) and safety (v. 15).” (Osborne)

Carroll R. says, “This final section of the book of Amos has two parts, 9:11-12 and 9:13-15, which are introduced respectively by in that day and behold, days are coming. Both conclude with reference to Yahweh's speech (a saying of Yahweh, v. 12; says Yahweh your God, v. 15). These verses have connections to previous passages and are a fitting conclusion to the book. Two descriptors that capture the thrust of 9:11-15 are 'restoration' and 'reversal.' They are interrelated, as the restoration of the people of Israel involves the reversal of their current condition and of the impact of imminent judgment. The soon-to-arrive day and days of doom (2:16; 4:2; 5:18-20; 6:3; 8:3,9,11,13) will be replaced by a day and days of renewal The mercy extended earlier on two occasions (7:1-6) rematerializes with great force and permanence.”

 

THE PEACE OF JESUS (JOHN 14:27; 16:33)

 I previously analyzed the symmetrical literary arrangement of John 13-17 as in Figure 1 below:

                                                           Figure 1

        1. Betrayal and denial among the apostles (ch. 13)

                2. Christ will be physically gone but not absent (ch. 14)

                        3. Mutual love between Christ and the disciples (15:1-17)

                        3'. World’s hatred of the apostles (15:18-27)

                2'. Christ will be physically gone but not absent (ch. 16)

        1'. The apostles are preserved by the Father (ch. 17)

Partial confirmation of this structure is provided by the noted parallels between chapters 14 and 16.

    Six times in this section, Jesus instructs his followers to pray to God through Jesus' name (14:13,14; 15:16; 16:23,24,26).

    The coming of the Holy Spirit is announced in units 2 (14:16,26) and 2' (16:7-8). And His function is said to be the leading the community into the truth as revealed in Jesus (14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7,13-14). (R.H. Fuller)

In addition are the following verbal or thematic parallels between these two sections:

    Jesus going to the Father (14:1-11; 16:4b-7,28-30)

    “heart(s)” (14:1,27; 16:6,22)

    “Where are you going?” (14:5; 16:5)

    Unity of Jesus with the Father (14:7-11; 16:15)

    Asking anything in Jesus’ name (14:12-14; 16:15,23-27)

    Disciples see (14:15-31) or don’t see (16:16-22) Jesus

    The sending of the Counselor (14:16-17,25-26; 16:7-15)

    “The Spirit of truth” (14:17; 16:13)

    “A little while” (14:19; 7x in 16:16-19)

    “in that day” (14:20; 16:23,26)

    The Father loves those who love the Son (14:21,23; 16:27)

    “I have said this/these to you” (14:25; 16:6,25,33)

    Peace is given (14:27; 16:23)

    “Rejoice” (14:28; 16:20)

    “The ruler of the world” (14:30; 16:11)

In this post I would like to just concentrate on one of the above pairs of verses – 14:27 and 16:23. Jeske notes the similarities between these two, which I have extended somewhat as shown below:

        “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you; not as the world gives I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)

        “I have said these things to you so that in me you might have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Enhancing the similarities between these two verses is the fact that both are located at or toward the end of their respective chapters.

Since Jeske has already written in Interpretation October 1984 at great length on these two verses, below I will be quite selective in quoting him, and supplement his comments with those of other Bible scholars.

In terms of an overview of this subject, let's begin with a remark by Beck and Brown: “Christ's farewell discourses in Jn. (chs. 14-16; also ch. 20) contain the word ['peace'] 5 times, in each case denoting Christ's gift to his disciples (14:27; 16:33; 20:19, 21, 26).”

John 14:27

The all-important concept of “peace” can, according to Vine, have at least seven different meanings in Scripture. Concerning its specific meaning in this verse, he states that it can be defined as “the sense of rest and contentment consequent on...the harmonized relationship between God and man, accomplished through the gospel.”

“While the Gospel of Jn. stresses Christ's gift of peace to his disciples (Jn 14:27), Christ's missionary discourses make the point that his commissioned followers are to pass it on to others.” (Beck and Brown)

“The Roman Empire achieved its pax Romana of Augustus and his successors by the sword, but here Jesus proclaims a peace far different from the way of the world...This peace was the gift of Jesus which would calm their troubled hearts and ease their fears of his departure. It is the peace that Christians would come to experience in the postresurrection era of the Spirit, when Paul could proclaim a peace of Christ Jesus that goes beyond all human understanding and guards believers 'hearts and minds' (Phil 4:7).” (Borchert)

And Jeske says that “with Jesus' departure his history is by no means at an end. His immediate absence from the world means his mediated presence in the world. The word which the Father has given Jesus to proclaim is now given to Jesus' own, who remain in the world, and Jesus presence is manifested in those who have the gift of this word for proclamation in this world (17:20-21).”

Morris writes, “There has been no talk of peace up till now. But in another way there is noting new, for the peace that Jesus gives men is the natural result of the presence within them of the Holy Spirit... Peace was commonly used at this period as a word of greeting...or farewell. It thus comes in aptly in this final discourse of our Lord's. But the expression used here is not the usual formula of farewell, Jesus is using the term in His own way for His own purpose...the peace of which He speaks is not dependent on any outward circumstances, as any peace the world can give must necessarily be.”

Jeske: “Of course, as we all know, the word 'peace' in the fourth Gospel does not refer simply to the cessation of warfare; it means that, but also much more than that. It also does not simply mean a feeling of inner well-being; it means that too, but also much more than that. It does not only mean an end to psychological tension; it includes that, but it means more than than that. Therefore the peace which Jesus gives stands in in contrast to the peace which the world can offer.”“

John 16:33

Beck and Brown state that “in Jn. 16:33 there is an antithesis between peace and tribulation (thlipsis)...The Gospel of Jn. Insists that this peace differs not only quantitatively but also qualitatively from that of the world (Jn 16:33) in that it is given by Christ himself.”

And concerning the world (kosmos), Guhrt explains that the noun “exhibits three nuances.” These include (1) the universe, (2) “the world as the sphere or place of human life” or (3) “the world of men...where especially in Paul and John, it designates the place and object of God's saving activity.” Zeroing in on that third meaning, Guhrt says, “Man belongs so much to the world that kosmos in Jn. almost always means the world of men...It is ruled by the prince of this cosmos ([John] 12:31; 16:11)...Nonetheless, the Son remains the victor over the world (16:33). This does not lead to the extinction of the cosmos but to the redeemer of the world creating men who are not born 'from out of the cosmos' (15:19; 17:14,16) but of God (1:12f.) and the Holy Spirit (3:5). They endure much anguish in the world, but are removed from its domination (16:33).”

Jeske notes that out of a total of 185 times the word kosmos appears in the New Testament, fully 78 of these are located in the Gospel of John. He concludes: “These statistics indicate a preoccupation of the author of the fourth Gospel with the concept 'the world' and a desire on his part to teach, to alert, to warrn his readers about the world with which the Christian proclamation has to deal. He wants his readers to think realistically about the world and to ask why their task in it has become so difficult.”

The section ends on a triumphant tone in vs. 33...The contrast between 'in me' and 'in the world' shows that the writer is thinking of post-resurrectional Christian existence. The suffering (thlipsis) is the persecution predicted in xv 18-xvi 4a...The theme of peace, which appeared at the end of Division One (xiv 27), appears here too; and once again we stress that it is a salvific gift. The fact that it exists alongside suffering shows that it is not peace in the ordinary sense of the word...Thus the command, “Have courage,” in 33 is very necessary. It reminds the Christian of the never-ending task of choosing between Jesus and the world.”

Jeske concludes his thoughts with the following exhortation to believers: “Be of good cheer. Have courage. Do not be afraid. What all this means is that there is another way than the world's way. An alternative to mutual terror and bilateral threat. The world and its way have been overcome and superseded. Those who believe are those who no longer forecast only doom and hopelessness, but who seek ways to invite others...We have been invited, and now can invite others, to engage in an act of emancipation, for example, to believe, and thereby to give up those things which really enslave. No more manipulating of God, or of others. No more egocentrism. No more nervous calculation. Christians are of good cheer and have courage, for what is left to us is to invite to a new world of hope. We invite, we do not threaten, for we know that there is more life in the inviting.”

EXODUS 33:12-23

                                           Figure 1: Key Phrases in Exodus 33:12-23

A. Moses said to the LORD (12a)

        B. bring up this people (12b)

                C. you have not let me know (12c)

                        D. whom you will send with me (12d)

                C'. I know you by name (12e)

                                E. You / if I have found favor in my sight (12d-13a)

                                        F. show me (13b)

                                                G.your ways (13c)

        B'. This nation is your people (13c)

                        D'. My presence will go with you; if your presence will not go (14-15)

                                E'. I have found favor in your sight (16a)

        B''. I and your people-4x (16b-d)

A'. The LORD said to Moses (17a)

                                E''. You have found favor in my sight (17a)

                C''. I know you by name (17b)

                                        F'. show me (18a)

                                                G'. your glory (18b)

                        D'. I will make all my goodness pass before you(19a)

                C''''. proclaim before you my name (19b)

                                        F''. You cannot see my face (20)

                                                G''. my glory (22a)

                        D'. passes by, I have passed by (22a-b)

                                        F'''. My face shall not be seen (23)

As you can see from Figure 1, this section can be roughly broken into two parts: first Moses speaks to God and then God replies. Most of the same phrases appear in both halves. As Childs says, “Traditionally v. 17 has been regarded as belonging to the passage which follows. However, in terms of both form and content v. 17 provides the natural conclusion to the dialogue without which the whole passage is left hanging (so also the NAB). Personally, I think that point is debatable and prefer to look at v. 17 as serving both functions.

33:12-16 As Knight says: “The verb 'to know' occurs six times in this passage. So 'seeing God face to face' evidently means coming to know him intuitively and thus to know his will. Moses, however, cannot attain to this yet even though God knows his 'name', that is, knows Moses through and through, and has elected him to service, and even though Moses has found grace in God's eyes, v. 12. For to be elect does not mean to have full knowledge. Moses longs to know just what his real task is.”

33:12 “Moses' reply to Yahweh is a response not to 32:34.., but to Yahweh's speech of command in 33:1-3. Yahweh had ordered Moses to 'ascend from this place,' along with the people (33:1). Moses now repeats that order, quoting Yahweh's verb 'ascend.' He then proceeds to raise with Yahweh the question 'How?' Yahweh has not revealed to Moses what only he...can reveal: who is to go with Moses to make possible the departure of such a people as Israel under the promise of Yahweh's absence from such a place as Sinai, the one place where Yahweh's Presence has been most real...As Terrien... correctly points out, Moses really wants (and needs) to know something about Yahweh himself, and Moses presses his question on the strength of the favor he has won with Yahweh.” (Durham)

33:13 A footnote in the Jerusalem Bible explains that the phrase “show me your ways” means “of what nature you are.” As an alternative understanding, B.W. Anderson feels it means a “form of historical action.” And Sanderson similarly defines it as God's “manner of action in the world.”

33:14 The 'rest' promised by God in this verse refers to “the undisturbed occupation of Canaan.” (JB) And concerning God's statement that His presence would go with the people, Anderson interprets it as a reference to the Ark of the Covenant leading the procession through the wilderness.

“Because God accompanies Israel on its journey (Ex. 33:14), there is a noted lack of attachment to permanent religious sites or structures [in the wilderness].” (Dictionary of Biblical Imagery)

33:15-16 God's response had continued to attach itself to Moses himself. Moses shakes it off and demands that the response include the people. The issue is whether God will again accompany his people in such a way as to make them again distinct from all other peoples. This was the essence of the original covenant promise.” (Childs)

33:16 Ramm says that this verse “expands our vision so that now the whole earth is within our perspective. Yahweh is not only the God of this little nation out on this little part of the earth, but the God of all nations!”

33:17 “Thus comes Yahweh's answer a second time, so anxiously anticipated, so carefully prepared for. The answer remains direct and simple, an eloquent affirmation of the clear either/or Moses has posed....This brilliant narrative presents Yahweh 'seeing the point',' and affirming without argument and without repetition (in itself a remarkable rhetorical surprise) that Moses is right, that he must not withdraw his Presence from Israel...It is a brilliantly arresting conclusion to a magnificent narrative sequence, dazzlingly effective in its brevity, masterfully bold in its presentation of a Yahweh who is so secure that he does not mind being upstaged by his own servant Moses.” (Durham)

33:18-23 Cole says regarding the second half of this passage, “God has just granted the petition for His continued presence with Israel. Now Moses' prayer is to see the kabod, the manifested glory (literally 'weight') of YHWH. This is a prayer to see God as He is: but, in these terms, it is impossible. Mortal man cannot endure to see God (verse 20). In vivid pictorial language, the passage says that man may see only where God has passed by (verses 22,23) and so know Him by His past doings and acts. For a full revelation of what God is like, man must wait until Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:9). There is no contradiction between this and Exodus 24:10, where the elders 'saw the God of Israel' (cf. Gn. 32:30). All they saw was the 'pavement of sapphire' that was 'under his feet': all that Isaiah saw was the skirt of the royal garments that filled the vast Temple courtyard (Is. 6:1).”

Thus, as Sanderson says, “This paragraph anticipates the theophany of 34:5-7, the fifth divine appearance of the book.”

33:18 Childs: “'glory of God' is a technical expression...and denotes that side of the divine nature which can be perceived by man through revelation.”

33:19 God granted this request to see His glory, but on certain terms. Moses was not to think that he had cornered God. God responded in his pure sovereign grace.” (Ramm)

33:21-23 Schnittjer: “The story of Elijah and the theophany on Mount Horeb features echoes of relation to Moses on the same mountain...The striking retrospective figural parallels establish a kind of continuity of divine presence.” He especially notes the close parallels between Exodus 33:21-22 and I Kings 19:11-13. Then concerning NT parallels to these verses in Exodus 33, he points to Mark 9:2-7 and Romans 11:2-3. In addition, he notes the similarities between Exodus 33:21-23 with Mark 9:2-3 and its Gospel parallels.

33:22 “The reference in [John 1:14] to Jesus taking up residence among God's people resulting in the revelation of God's glory...harks back to OT references to the manifestation of the presence and glory (kabod) of God, be it in the theopanies, the tabernacle, or the temple (c.f., e.g. Exod. 33:22...).” (Kostenberger)

33:23 The statement here that no one can see God's face and live appears to be a contradiction to v. 11 where it states that Moses spoke to God “face to face.”

Kaiser goes into considerably more detail regarding this vexing question: “'Now show me your glory,' was more than the Lord would grant for Moses' own good. Even so, God allowed his 'goodness' to pass in front of Moses and proclaimed his 'name' in Moses' presence. Thus, instead of showing Moses his person or describing his appearance, the Lord gave Moses a description of who he is. The 'name' of God included his nature, character (Ps 20:1; Lk 24:47; Jn 1:12), doctrine (Ps 22; Jn 17:6, 26) and standards for living righteously (Mic 4:5). Romans 9:15 quotes Exodus 33:19 and applies it to God's sovereignty.” Kaiser similarly explains away other references in the Bible in which someone apparently “sees” God. These passages include: Genesis 32:30; Exodus 24:9-11; and Daniel 7:9.

As to the references to God's hand and backside in this passage, Kaiser explains them as obvious figures of speech since (a) it makes no sense to have God put His literal hand over Moses' eyes and keep it there after God had completely left the scene and (b) “back” similarly makes no sense since, as Isaiah 31:3 and John 4:24 explain, God is spirit not flesh. Kaiser therefore interprets that to mean 'aftereffect.' “Moses did not see the glory of God directly, but once it had gone past, God did allow him to view the results, the afterglow, that his presence had produced.”

And on that same subject, an anonymous article in DBI reads: “God's 'backside' is here a veiling image, distancing the full glory of God from human view, but paradoxically revealing a very full sense of God's glory even as it is partly concealed.”

I CORINTHIANS 12 -- THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

I Corinthians 12 – The Holy Spirit

For those interested in the subject of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, I would highly recommend Frederick Dale Bruner's A Theology of the Holy Spirit. The first half of his book is devoted to a detailed historical review and critique of Pentecostalism, while the second half is a commentary on every NT text which contains mention of this Third Person of the Trinity. Below is a summary of his verse-by-verse remarks on I Corinthians 12. And lest you might think that I am therefore prejudiced against Pentecostals, I have in each case supplemented, and in some cases contrasted, Bruner (coming from a Presbyterian background) with the views of the quite prominent Pentecostal scholar Gordon Fee, with comments taken from his book Paul, the Spirit and the People of God and his Eerdmans commentary The First Epistle to the Corinthians.

12:1 “The Corinthians had probably asked Paul's opinion (or defense) in a matter which was beginning to concern them. What, or who, is truly spiritual?...And in particular, how is Christian spirituality to be expressed in the congregational meeting?” (Bruner)

“In...14:37...Paul says rhetorically, 'If anyone thinks he/she is 'spiritual.' It would also fit well with the problem in Corinth...where the conflict with Paul is not simply over spiritual gifts as such but over the significance of the gift of tongues for 'spiritual life'...both here and in 14:1 the better translation might be 'the things of the Spirit,' which would refer primarily to spiritual manifestations, from the perspective of the Spirit's endowment; at the same time it would point toward those who are so endowed.” (Fee)

12:2 “Paul begins thematically by reminding the Corinthians negatively of what 'spiritual things' (ta pneumatika) are not. The very characteristic of the Corinthians' heathen past, he argues, was the sense of being overpowered and carried away by spiritual forces.” (Bruner)

“In keeping with his Jewish heritage, Paul scorns the idols as mute because they cannot hear and answer prayer, nor can they speak – in contrast to the Spirit of God who can. But he has also argued earlier that the mute idols represent demons (10:20-21) – who can and do speak through their devotees. Most likely, therefore, he is reminding them of what they well know, that in some of the cults 'inspired utterances' were part of the worship, despite the 'mute idols.' If so, then his concern is to establish early on, as v. 3 seems to corroborate, that it is not 'inspired speech' as such that is evidence of the Spirit. They had already known that phenomenon as pagans. Rather, what counts is the intelligible and Christian content of such utterances.” (Fee)

12:3 “Positively, Paul sees the characteristic, perhaps the classic work of the Holy Spirit in the intelligible and simple confession that Jesus is Lord. The man who confesses 'Lord Jesus' has experienced the deep work of the Spirit.The Spirit does not exhibit himself supremely in sublimating the ego, in emptying it, removing it, overpowering it, or in ecstasy extinguishing or thrilling it, but in intelligently, intelligibly, christocentrically using it.” (Bruner)

“Thus it is fair to say with some that Paul's doctrine of the Spirit is Christ-centered, in the sense that Christ and his work help to define the Spirit and his work in the Christian life.” (Fee)

12:4-7 “If the central work of the Spirit is the honoring of Jesus in speech, this work is not in any sense monotonous or uni-form. The Spirit is rich in the variety of his manifestations – hence the three-fold use of the word 'varieties' and its emphasis by being placed at the beginning of each phrase in the sentence...The Corinthians needed to learn that the Spirit not only could and classically did reveal himself in talking rationally and reverently of Jesus, but that he had more ways of honoring Jesus than had occurred to them.” (Bruner)

The Corinthians' extraordinary and imbalanced emphasis on tongues as the evidence of a fully developed spirituality requires theological correction...Thus every paragraph in chapter 12 except for vv. 21-26 has this theme – the need for diversity in order for the community to be built up...The Spirit who is responsible for their being is also the basis for the many parts necessary for the body to function at all.” (Fee)

12:8-11 “Paul now provides a list of some of the various gifts he has in mind. Prominent at the head are gifts of intelligent and thoughtful utterance. Prominent at the end are gifts of ecstatic utterance and their interpretation...Paul looks at gifts from the paramount perspective of the congregation and from this view he does not value any gift simply in its existence but only in its understandable communication to others for their upbuilding. Indeed, it is questionable if, in Paul's thought, a gift can said to 'exist' for the individual if it is not employed for the church. The gift of the 'utterance of wisdom,' according to Paul becomes the gift of wisdom written it is in the act of utterance. The gift of tongues, similarly, becomes a gift in fact only when it is interpreted for the help of the congregation. In Paul's understanding, it appears, you cannot take a gift home with you.” (Bruner)

“It should be noted at this point that only tongues is included in every list of 'gifts' in these three chapters [see 12:8-10, 28, 29-30; 13:1-3, 8; 14:6, 26]. Its place at the conclusion of each list in chap. 12, but at the beginning in 13:1 and 14:6, suggests that the problem lies here. It is listed last not because it is 'least,' but because it is the problem. He always includes it, but at the end, after the greater concern for diversity has been heard.” (Fee)

“But the greatest problem for me is the nearly universal tendency to divorce the list of 'Spirit-manifestations' (Paul's own term in context) from its clear setting in Christian worship...The manifestations...in context means 'different ways the Spirit shows himself when the community is gathered together. Paul's point here is the community's need for diversity.” (Fee)

12:12-13 “There is no necessary contradiction between many gifts and a single Christ, but in fact a fine congruence as the natural analogy of the body serves to illustrate (vv. 14-26)...The historical event is baptism...Spiritual baptism is not a rite which only the ecstatically able can attain. Baptism, like the salvation it applies, has absolutely nothing to do with merit or evidence of ability...If this verse [v. 13] is interpreted as speaking of a second, subsequent, and separate baptism in the Holy Spirit, beyond baptism in Christ, for only some Christians, then violence is done not only to the words of the text...but to the purpose of the text in its Corinthian context. The burden of Paul's Corinthian message is the oneness of all the baptized in Christ Jesus.” (Bruner)

“Some – on all sides, interestingly enough – have argued that the second clause points to a second (definite, recognizable) experience in the Spirit. But against such a view is the parallelism just noted [between 'We were all baptized in the one Spirit' and 'We all were caused to drink one Spirit' ] , plus the lack of such language elsewhere in the whole of Christian literature to an experience of the Spirit.” (Fee)

12:14-27 “With the church's unity as signified by baptism classically sealed in the preceding sentences, Paul can now give his attention to the other side of the truth of organic unity – variety...In any living body there are 'higher' and 'lower' parts, or better, more or less prominent organs; but these differences in a single body, particularly in Christ's single body, are purely functional, they are not qualitative or 'spiritual.' Paul in this passage aptly contrasts the sense of spiritual inferiority which lower and seemingly less important parts of the body could feel toward higher and the superiority which higher and seemingly more impressive or spectacular parts could feel toward lower parts (vv. 14-17). But no part should feel either inferior or superior, for God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose' (v. 18).” (Bruner)

“From here Paul proceeds to develop the imagery of the 'body' (referring always to the church) in two slightly different directions (vv. 15-20, 21-26), which will apply both parts of the figure (one body, many members) to their situation; but the primary concern, as this verse [v. 14] indicates, is with the 'many parts.'...The language of v. 18 in particular indicates that the 'application' to their situation harks back to vv. 7-11 and the insistence on diversity with regard to gifts and manifestations of the Spirit, not to kinds of persons within the Corinthian community. In the second instance, however, the apostle picks up and drives home a point not made previously in this argument, but somewhat intrinsic to the metaphor...Paul begins this argument (v. 21) with three of the members from vv. 15-16, but now with clear implications of alleged superiority.” (Fee)

12:28-31 “Paul concludes this particular part of his argument by offering a second list, this time of persons rather than of gifts (v. 28; cf. Eph. 4:11). As if to stress the fact that in his prior list no rigid, invariable inventory of 'nine' gifts was proffered, Paul now lists several types not readily recognizable in the earlier grouping, notably apostles, helpers, and administrators. Unique to this list also is the stressed numerical order: 'first..., second..., third,' followed simply by 'then.., then.' Similar, however, in both lists in Corinthians are the entries at the very bottom – speaking (and interpreting) 'various kinds of tongues'...Paul then discreetly places a period to this particular discussion by suggesting that the Corinthians 'earnestly desire the higher gifts'' (v. 31).” (Bruner)

“With this sentence [beginning in v. 28] Paul proceeds to give substance to the preceding application, that individually they are part of the one body of Christ...he illustrates that diversity by several remarkable features: (1) He begins with a list of persons (apostles, prophets, teachers), whom he ranks in the order of first, second, third. (2) With the fourth and fifth items...he reverts to charismata, taking two from the list in vv. 8-10. These are both prefaced by the word 'then,' as though he intended the ranking scheme to continue. (3) The sixth and seventh items.., which are deeds of service, are noteworthy in three ways: (a) they are the only two not mentioned again in the rhetoric of vv. 29-30; (b) they are not mentioned again in the NT; (c) they do not appear to be of the same kind, that is, supernatural endowments, as those on either side (miracles, healings, tongues)...That leads to the further question. Does Paul intend that all of these be 'ranked' as to their role or significance in the church? To which the answer seems to be No...The gift of tongues, as noted earlier, is not listed last because it is least but because it is the problem. As before, Paul includes it because it is a part of the necessary diversity; but he includes it at the end so that the emphasis on diversity will be heard first.” (Fee)

Conclusion

I wanted to compare the thoughts of these two particular scholars to demonstrate one main point. In the churches I grew up in there was a deep suspicion against the writings and speeches by anyone who did not subscribe to all the tenets of our particular denomination. There was this profound fear that we would be horribly led astray by heretical teachings, even on occasion by pastors graduating from seminaries affiliated with our own particular movement.

As I began to read more widely in Christian literature (whether it came from Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, Methodist, etc. sources), It became obvious that, with a notable few exceptions, the similarities in their approaches to Scripture and their conclusions were much more obvious than their differences. That was especially true of the teachings of those scholars who placed a higher premium on intellectual honesty than on what their particular denomination or church tradition might happen to say.

Thus, as you have no doubt discerned after reading the comments of Fee and Bruner above, one would be quite hard pressed to pick which of the two scholars was a practicing Pentecostal and which one was deeply suspicious of the teachings and practices of that same denomination. That is because both of them are careful scholars who honestly attempt to glean the intended meaning out of Scripture, not necessarily the one to which their respective denominations subscribe.

My only caveat is in regard to the teachings of those who belong to such strict sects and denominations that they are forced to follow the official doctrine in lock-step or face immediate dismissal from their positions. I myself have been the target of such a witch trial more than once for daring to attempt sticking to the most obvious meaning of a Bible passage even if it did not happen to agree with the official tenets or unofficial traditions of that particular congregation.

I KINGS 7:13-14

The historical books of the Old Testament are sometimes not the easiest to read. For one thing, it is hard to keep track of all the characters in the narrative since some pop up after disappearing for a number of chapters, or are perhaps different people altogether with the same name. In addition, we have to account for the apparent discrepancies we sometimes run across in comparing passages in Samuel-Kings with their parallel narratives in I-II Chronicles. As one example containing both these complicating factors, I will cite the case of Hiram (or Huram), who seems to appear in both I Kings 5 and 7 and II Chronicles 2, all in the context of Solomon's construction of the Temple.

The first time we encounter Hiram is in I Kings 5 where he is described as the king of Tyre, a good friend of the now departed King David. He similarly befriends Solomon and offers to help him with supplies and workmen so that the Temple to the Lord can be constructed. Once the work had progressed and it was time to furnish the inside of the Temple, we learn in I Kings 7 that Solomon fetches another man named Hiram, also from Tyre, who was skilled in metalwork. These two mentions of a “Hiram” thus serve the literary purpose of bookends defining the boundaries of the whole Temple construction narrative.

Moving to the story as told in II Chronicles 2, however, we are told that it was actually King Hiram who took the initiative in sending Solomon a cunning workman named Hiram who was experienced in fashioning fine interior furnishings. Here is what various Bible scholars have to say about these somewhat contrary accounts.

Provan: “The Hiram [of I Kings 7] (called Huram-abi in 2 Chr 2.13) now introduced as the creator of the Temple furnishings fashioned from bronze is not to be confused with the king of ch. 5. The detail about his mother has probably been provided to reassure us that he was not simply a Gentile with no Israelite roots. (cf. Ezra 4.1-3 for similar sensitivity to the question of involvement in Temple building).”

However, Wiseman appears to treat both men in I Kings as if they were the same person.

“Hiram, king of Tyre, called Solomon his brother (1 Kgs 9:13). Brother may, in such an instance, be a covenant term (note that Hiram 'was on friendly terms with ['loved,' NIV] David,' (1 Kgs 5:15).” (Hamilton)

Merrill states in regard to 2 Chron. 2:13-16: “The man whom [King] Hiram chose to send to Solomon was Huram-Abi, a half-Israelite whose mother was from the tribe of Dan.”

Howard says, “He [King Hiram] agrees to provide the necessary help by sending Huran-Abi (13), the son of a Tyrian father and a Danite mother (in Kings a Naphtali widow)...The name Huranabi presents some problems. The Kings parallels (I Kg. 9:13, etc.) have Huran (NIV mg Hiram) and the text here may be translated 'Hiram my father', but king Hiram's father was Abihad and would any way be an old man by this time and hardly be the sort of person to be sent as a skilled craftsman. Rudolph points out that 'ab may also mean 'master' (Gen. 45:8; Jg. 17:10, etc.) and if this view is correct the meaning is probably 'Hiram my master (craftsman)'.” Much of this comment echoes Myers' earlier assessment of the situation.

Ellison: “There are no grounds on which we can choose between Huram and Hiram [in 2 Chron 2:13]; the name of the king is no guide. Some claim his name was Huram-abi, which is possible, but more likely it should be: 'Huran, my (his) trusted counselor.'”

“In the substance of his letter [in II Chronicles 2:13-14], Hiram deals in turn with each of the matters raised by Solomon. To the request for a skilled man (v. 7), he saends Huramabi. These verses are clearly based on I Kg. 7:13-14, here brought forward to the very start of the building operation, with Huramabi being sent by Ahiram, not merely 'brought' by Solomon. The extension of the list of his skills has already be noted as one probable outcome of the Chronicler's desire to compare him with Bezalel in Exod. 31 and 5. To this may now be added the ascription of his mother to the daughters of Dan rather than Naphtali: Bezalel was helped in his work by one Oholiab who belongd to the tribe of Dan (Exod. 31:6; 35:34), so that in a way both buiders of the tabernacle are brought together in type in Huramabi, the aditional 'ab element being a reflection of the final syllable of Oholiab.” (Williamson)

Such an ingenious analysis may be disturbing to some, even though it actually does an excellent job of explaining several seeming discrepancies in the parallel accounts. However, it should be noted that even the historical books of the Old Testament contain a great deal of theological undertones in their narratives and are much more than just a dry recitation of factual information.

JESUS, THE SON OF MARY (MARK 6:3)

Jesus the son of Mary (Mark 6:3)

Helen Bond, writing in the Summer 2026 issue of BAR magazine, discusses the unusual designation by the townspeople of Jesus as 'the son of Mary' after he had preached a sermon in the Nazareth synagogue. The question is: “What was the exact implication behind that statement?” In the first place it was certainly in contradiction to the usual pattern, which is reflected in both Luke (v. 4:22) and John (v. 6:42).

Joel Marcus reviews the first three theories summarized below, only to point out possible objections to each of them:

Possibility #1: “Ilan has shown that a matronym could be used when the mother's pedigree was superior to the father's, but that can scarely be the case here, since Davidic descent was the most important of all, and Jesus was a Davidide on his fathers side.., a fact of which Mark himself seems to be aware (see 10:48; 11:10...)”

Possibility #2: “Bauckham thinks that 'son of Mary' distinguishes Jesus from his 'brothers,' who in Bauckham's view are sons of Joseph by a previous wife, but in that case the brothers' mother would need to be specified too; lacking such an identification, the natural assumption is that the men listed after Jesus have the same mother as he does.”

Possibility #3: “Freedman suggests that perhaps they did all have the same mother, Mary, but that Joseph had a previous or subsequent marriage and that Jesus and his brothers (and sisters) therefore needed to be distinguished from the children of Joseph's other wife or wives. But in that case Mary should be mentioned alongside of Joseph, not instead of him.”

Possibility #4: But that is not the end of the theories since it has been seriously proposed that the townspeople in calling Jesus “the son of Mary” are actually labeling him as being illegitimate. The noted Bible scholar Raymond Brown discusses the pros and cons of this theory in detail, beginning with later Jewish writings. For example, the Christian writer Tertullian (ca. AD 197) noted that in north Africa Jewish opponents had labeled Jesus as the son of a prostitute. Similarly, the Roman critic Celsius in approximately AD 177-180 quoted Jewish sources as saying that Mary was driven out by her husband Joseph for having had sex with a Roman soldier.

Much more germane, however, is the evidence provided by the New Testament itself. And here we run into a mare's nest in which much or little depends on which ancient manuscript is felt to best represent the original writing, and what are the implications of considering the variations in wording found in the other Gospel accounts. Basically it all boils down to the fact that while most early manuscripts of Mark 6:3 have the townspeople calling Jesus “the carpenter, the son of Mary,” there is one even earlier source which reads that he is “the son of the carpenter and of Mary.” Then there are the variations in wording found in the other Gospel accounts which must be dealt with:

    Matthew 13:55 – “Is not this the son of the carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary...?”

    Luke 4:22 – “ Is not this the son of Joseph?”

    John 6:42 – “Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother?”

Brown next considers the evidence of John 8:41 in which Jesus states that the “sons of Abraham” are in reality “sons of Satan.” The Jews reply, “We were not born illegitimate. We have but one father, God Himself.” The question remains as to whether the word “we” should be stressed in these two sentences, in which case the Jews are in fact strongly hinting that Jesus is illegitimate, unlike themselves.

The same ambiguity exists in regard to the implications of Mark 6:3. After careful consideration of all these issues, Brown concludes that “as a result of studying both the later and earlier evidence, I would have to judge that we simply do not know whether the Jewish charge of illegitimacy, which appears clearly in the second century, had a source independent of the infancy narrative tradition – a source that would help to confirm as historical the chronology of an early birth supposed by Matthew and (implicitly) by Luke.”

Reeder puts this verse into perspective when he states: “Nothing less than the public face of the household is at stake in Matthew 1:18-19; Mark 6:3-4; Luke 15:11-32.”

“The...phrase 'the son of Mary' is probably disparaging. It was contrary to Jewish usage to describe a man as the son of his mother, even when she was a widow, except in insulting terms. Rumors to the effect that Jesus was illegitimate appear to have circulated in his own lifetime and may lie behind the reference as well. The rhetorical question of the people indicates that they know Jesus only in a superficial way. They find no reason to believe that he possesses the anointment of God.” (Lane)

Mann concurs with the above analysis as he writes that “to describe a man as the 'son of' his mother,' even when the father was deceased, is often a usage of insult. We would be unjustified in seeing the Markan phrase any implication of knowledge of the tradition of virgin birth. The textual evidence is not illuminating, for while all the uncial texts, and many minuscules, have the text we have translated here, many important texts support a version not unlike that of Matthew.”

Anderson states that “it is by no means certain that the original reading in Mark is that of RSV, the carpenter, son of Mary. If it is, it is most unusual. Among the Jews a man is called after his father. Must we suppose then that Joseph was dead by this time (but see Luke 4:22)? Or is a slur intended by naming Jesus after his mother, in order to render his paternity suspect? Or again is Mark's omission of the father meant to suggest that only God is the Father of Jesus?” These are questions which he leaves unanswered.

Grassmick: “The phrase Mary's Son was...derogatory since a man was not described as his mother's son in Jewish usage even if she was a widow, except by insult (cf. Jud. 11:1-2; Josh 8:41; 9:29). Their words, calculated insults, also suggested they knew there was something unusual about Jesus' birth.”

But Rengstorf expresses the contrary opinion that it was common at that time to refer to a person by their mother's name after the father had died.

As Perrin summarizes the situation, “Scholars disagree whether the reference to Jesus as the son of Mary in Mark 6:3 is derogatory. Most note that this reference implies Jesus' illegitimacy. In any case, the climactic saying of Jesus in Mark 6:4...does not reflect positively on the mother (or brothers) of Jesus.”

Finally, getting back to the article by Helen Bond which started this post, here is her conclusion regarding the parentage of Jesus, as understood by the people in Nazareth at that time. “It is often suggested that describing Jesus in this way was a deliberate slur, implying that his father was unknown or that there was something irregular about his birth. But insulting Jesus is not the issue: the villagers' point is that they know everything about him, not that they despise him...The best explanation, in my view, is that Jesus was locally called the 'son of Mary' because Joseph was known to have had more than one wife. The point the villagers are making, once again, is that they know everything about Jesus down to the precise identity of his mother. On the rare occasion when women appear in genealogies in the Hebrew Bible, it typically is to distinguish a man's sons by one wife rather than another [citing Genesis 4:19-22; 1 Kings 1:5; 2:13]. Presumably, Jesus was normally known as the 'son of Joseph' but in Nazareth, where Joseph was known to have had two (or more) wives, he was sometimes further distinguished as the 'son of Mary.'”

Adding to this supposition, according to Bond, is the fact that the Gospel accounts suggest Joseph's family consisted of at least seven children. “If these were full siblings, then Joseph's family was extremely large given the high infant mortality rates at the time, when a third of children died in their first year, and up to half before their fifth birthday. This would require Mary to have had at least 14 pregnancies, and quite possibly more...This is not completely impossible, but it does seem extremely high in an ancient context where poor healthcare and sanitation, not to mention frequent complications during pregnancy and birth, would all have taken their toll.”

 

WHY DID PAUL GO TO THE PISIDIAN ANTIOCH? (ACTS 13)

Why did Paul go to Pisidian Antioch? (Acts 13)

Ben Witherington asks that question in the Summer 2026 issue of BAR magazine. For some background here, this event happened as part of Paul's first missionary journey. He and his companions started out from the Syrian Antioch and proceeded in order to Cyprus. At that point Paul converts the governor of the island, who was named Sergius Paulus. At that point, Paul travels to Paphos, from where he sailed to Perga and then on land traveled to Pisidian Antioch. It helps at this point to look at a map of his travels, such as those usually included in most study Bibles.

There are two troubling issues (which may or may not be related) worth discussing regarding this trip.

First is the unusual fact that Saul's name suddenly changes to Paul during the course of the the narrative. Second is the problematic last leg of that journey that would have led Paul 's party over a difficult overland route through mountains for at least 160 miles. And to make it even more remarkable, that final stop was only a small Roman town.

Reason for Paul's Trip

Previous scholars have explained the necessity of this journey as quoted below:

“Ramsay infers from Gal. 4:13 that Paul caught malaria in the low-lying territory around Perga, and went to recuperate in the higher altitudes of southern Galatia...this, however, is highly speculative.” (Bruce)

Goodwin, on the other hand, states “The best critics now interpret St. Paul's infirmity [i.e. his thorn in the flesh] as some form of physical disease, either ophthalmia or epilepsy.” If either of these two explanations is correct, then that destroys the malaria theory for the inland trip completely.

Neil mentions several possibilities: “To reach it (i.e. Pisidian Antioch) from Perga, the two missionaries had to cross the Taurus mountains, and it has been suggested that this difficult and in places dangerous journey was undertaken because the swamps of Perga had brought on one of Paul's recurring attacks of malaria – if indeed this is what the 'thorn in the flesh' was (2 C. 12:7); in writing later to the churches he founded in Galatia on this first missionary journey, he speaks of his original mission there as being the result of illness (Gal. 4:13). The highland air of Antioch, 3,600 feet above sea level, may have assisted his recovery. It has been objected, however, that since a sick man would be unlikely to face the rigors of a mountain pass, no doubt 'in danger from rivers, danger from robbers' (2 C. 11:26), Paul's real intention was perhaps to reach the great road to Ephesus which passed through Antioch, with Rome as his eventual goal...On the other hand, his encounter with Sergius Paulus [on Cyprus] may have fired him with the desire to evangelize a Roman colony; he seems to have devoted much of his attention to this particular field of activity: as Antioch, Lystra, Philippi and Corinth were all Roman colonies...”

John Stott quotes Ramsay favorably at this point and adds: “Perhaps it was this hurry [to escape to a higher altitude] which explains why the missionaries did not stay to evangelize Perga, which they did on their return journey.” And another popular author, Lloyd John Ogilvie, in his Drumbeat of Love also accepts the malaria theory.

Saul's Name Change to Paul

Then, concerning the fact that Saul is first called Paul during his stay in Cyprus, the following scholars weigh in:

Bruce explains: “The apostle, as a Roman citizen, must have had three names – praenomen, nomen gentile and cognomen – of which Paullus was his cognomen. It is probably a mere coincidence that Luke should first designate him by his Roman cognomen in a context where another bearer of the same cognomen appears.”

Witherington agrees: “Acts 22:28 says the apostle was born a Roman citizen. We are not dealing here, as many have suggested, with a name change related to Paul's conversion; rather, we are given the apostle's Roman name, since he was a Roman citizen from birth. Why is this important? The reason for mentioning Paul's non-Jewish name in a discussion with the governor of Cyprus is because Paul is trying to appear Roman to a fellow Roman.”

Matthews: “Saul was his Jewish name, used up to this point to stress his origin; Paul was his Roman name, the one he was generally known by, and is used from now on in Acts as missionary activity aims at both Jews and Gentiles.”

By contrast, S.E. Johnson attributes the name change to a different author taking over the narrative at this point in Acts, a supposition which has little support elsewhere.

Fitzmyer offers his opinion on the name change as follows: “Commentators, following Jerome, have tried at times to suggest that Saul adopted his name from the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, the first Gentile whom the apostle brings to the Christian faith. That, however, is fanciful. It is sheer coincidence that Saul happens to bear the same Roman name as the proconsul. 'Paul' is the only name that the apostle ever uses in his letters, and if it were not for the Lucan usage in Acts up to this point, we would never have known that Paul was also called Saul. From this point on in the Lucan story only 'Paul' will be used, save in the episodes in which Luke recounts the apostle's experience on the road to Damascus, when the risen Christ addresses him as Saoul (22:7; 26:14), as he did in 9:4, or when Ananias so speaks (9:17; 22:13). The change of name is hardly intended to be 'the water-shed.' as Synge...would have it...That is to make far too much out of this minor detail.”

Fitzmyer offers a further objection to Paul adopting the name of his convert Sergius Paulus, namely that “The connection is purely literary, not historical. It fact, it is a sheer literary coincidence and mentioned even before the conversion of the proconsul.”

Hackett mentions yet more to seal the coffin on that theory: “...it was customary among the ancients for the pupil to adopt the name of the teacher, not the teacher to adopt that of the pupil...It is more probable that Paul acquired ths name like other Jews in that age, who when they associated with foreigners had often two names...Lightfoot suggests, he may have borne the two names from early life. This explanation of the origin of the name accounts for its introduction at this stage of the history. It is here for the first time that Luke speaks directly of Paul's labors among the heathen; and it is natural that he should apply to him the name by which he was chiefly known in that sphere of his ministry,”

Recent Archaeologial Evidence

Witherington, in his article, now offers a good alternative explanation for Paul's movements during his first missionary journey based on recent evidence he and Mark Wilson uncovered at the site of ancient Pisidian Antioch. He writes that they “noticed in Yalvac (the modern name for Pisidian Antioch), in the courtyard of the small municipal museum, [an inscription] where it sat gathering mold and gradually wearing away...Its first line mentions the 'Paulii,' with the plural referring to an entire family, and the second line names L. Sergius (Lucius Sergius Paulus) – the very proconsul of Cyprus who was so impressed with Paul when they met in AD 48 or 49. Indeed, we can trace this figure's career through a number of other inscriptions detailing his posts and promotions over time. One particular inscription, discovered near Pisidian Antioch in the early 20^th century, appears to refer to a son (filius) of Sergius Paulus, and thus serves as additional corroborating evidence linking this family with the Roman town.”

Witherington then offers some intriguing indirect evidence in the form of Pliny the Elder's treatise Natural History, which mentions Sergius Paulus as one of his sources. It may be just a coincidence but that book describes the fact that there were magicians on the island of Cyprus (see Acts 13:4-12).

Witherington concludes: “It makes good sense that the governor would suggest Paul and Barnabas go to his hometown; perhaps he even wrote a letter of recommendation for them, though Acts does not say so...When one journeys the same route that Paul and Barnabas likely took over the rugged mountains, probably following the Via Sebaste, it becomes obvious that there had to have been a good reason why they undertook this arduous journey to the north...It seems clear, then, that Paul and Barnabas deliberately went to Pisidian Antioch, the home of the Paulus clan, with the blessing of Sergius Paulus. The governor may have provided a letter of introduction or commendation to the authorities there for his fellow Roman citizen. This was an opportunity they could not pass up.”