Paul begins his letter to the Romans by introducing himself: Παῦλος δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, κλητὸς ἀπόστολος ἀφωρισμένος εἰς εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ, “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle set apart for the gospel of God ….” One would think that this would be a rather difficult verse to misinterpret, but nearly anything is possible [...] Read more »
“Sabbath” or “Week”? When Words Mean More Than One Thing
One of my commenters has asked an excellent question about Matthew 28:1 (and several other verses), centering on the fact that the Greek word σάββατoν (sabbaton, “Sabbath” or “week”), which occurs twice in the verse, is translated differently each time. He observes that the same word (Strong’s reference number 4521) seems to be translated several [...] Read more »
Why Paul Went West
This month’s Biblical Archaeology Review includes a nice piece by Doron Mendels on Why Paul Went West (subscription required), highlighting the difference between the Jewish diaspora communities of the (Roman/Hellenistic) west and the (Babylonian) east, explaining that it only makes sense for Paul, with his fluency in Greek and roots in the culture of the [...] Read more »
Daniel Kirk on the “Not Exactly Deacons” of Acts 6
Nice post by Daniel Kirk over at Storied Theology on the “deacons” of Acts 6 and how coming to the text asking the wrong questions (questions about church government and structure) can lead to missing some very important points. He rightly points out that two of these “deacons” are then highlighted preaching/evangelizing, not waiting tables—and [...] Read more »
Jesus Was not Born In a Stable and Other Christmas-Related Details
Since once again it’s that festive season, I thought it might be good to link everyone to a couple pieces on Luke 2 by Stephen Carlson. In the first (recently published in NTS), he shows (in spite of the constant threat of the Spanish Inquisition) that Luke 2:7 in fact involves no “inn” (the word [...] Read more »