Bible Study for Amateurs
By Ben, the Amateur Exegete
Bible Study for AmateursSep 21, 2023
To Whom It Is Concerned
This is the third of ten episodes examining Paul's letter to Philemon.
Prisoner Paul and Brother Timothy
This is the second of ten episodes examining Paul's letter to Philemon.
Dear Philemon
This is the first of ten episodes examining Paul's letter to Philemon.
A Lesser-Known Simon
There are a lot of Simons in the New Testament. In this episode we look at one you may not have given much thought to.
Works Cited:
Adela Yarbro Collins, Mark: A Commentary, Hermeneia Commentary Series (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007), 222-223.
"Καναναῖος," A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, third edition, revised and edited by Fredrick William Danker (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000).
Richard A. Horsley and John S. Hanson, Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs: Popular Movements in the Time of Jesus (Minneapolis, MN: Winston Press, 1985), 216-217.
“How Art Thou Fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer”
In his notes on Isaiah 14:12 for the Scofield Reference Bible, C.I. Scofield taught that the diatribe against the king of Babylon was really a veiled reference to the demise of Satan. Let's investigate.
Works Cited:
R.E. Clements, Isaiah 1-39, The New Century Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1980), 142.
C.I. Scofield, The Scofield Reference Bible (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996 [originally published in 1909]), 726.
The "We Passages" of Acts
In chapter 16 of the book of Acts, the narrator switches from using the third person to the first person plural. Why does he do that?
Works Cited
- C.K. Barrett, Acts: A Shorter Commentary (London: T&T Clark, 2002), xxiv.
- William Sanger Campbell, The "We" Passages of the Acts of the Apostles: The Narrator as Narrative Character (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2007), 87-91.
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.14.1. Translation taken from The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1957).
- Mikeal Parsons, Acts, Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 238-240.
No One Is Good but God Alone
Does Jesus's rhetorical question in Mark 10:18 suggest his divinity?
Works Cited:
Erik Manning, "18 Passages from Mark's Gospel That Prove That Mark Had a High Christology" (12.27.18), isjesusalive.com.
Joel Marcus, Mark 8-16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, The Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009), 721, 725-726.
Treading Water
Does the scene in Mark 6 wherein Jesus walks to the disciples on the water signal Mark's belief in Jesus's divinity or does it point to something else?
Works Cited:
Michael J. Kok, "Jesus' Imperial Authority over the Sea in Mark 6:45-52," in The Future of Gospels and Acts Research, edited by Peter G. Bolt (SCD Press, 2021), 123-138.
Erik Manning, "18 Passages from Mark's Gospel That Prove That Mark Had a High Christology" (12.27.18), isjesusalive.com.
Barabbas, Jesus?
In the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and John, the crowds want Pilate to release Barabbas. But in Matthew, the crowd wants them to release Jesus Barabbas. What in the world is going on there?
Works Cited:
Robert E. Moses, "Jesus Barabbas, a Nominal Messiah? Text and History in Matthew 27.16-17," New Testament Studies 58 (2011), pp. 43-56.
Paul the Jew, part 3
Paul is sometimes conceived of in ways that erase or minimize his Jewishness. But what if we interpreted what Paul wrote in terms of his native Judaism?
Works cited:
Paula Fredriksen, "What Does It Mean to See Paul 'within Judaism'?" Journal of Biblical Literature 141, no. 2 (2022), 359-380.
Paul the Jew, part 2
Paul is sometimes conceived of in ways that erase or minimize his Jewishness. But what if we interpreted what Paul wrote in terms of his native Judaism?
Works cited:
Paula Fredriksen, "What Does It Mean to See Paul 'within Judaism'?" Journal of Biblical Literature 141, no. 2 (2022), 359-380.
Paul the Jew, part 1
Paul is sometimes conceived of in ways that erase or minimize his Jewishness. But what if we interpreted what Paul wrote in terms of his native Judaism?
Works cited:
Paula Fredriksen, "What Does It Mean to See Paul 'within Judaism'?" Journal of Biblical Literature 141, no. 2 (2022), 359-380.
A New Direction for the Podcast
In what direction is the podcast headed?
Self-Designations in the Acts of the Apostles
The author of Acts uses a variety of terms to describe the earliest Jesus-following community. What is the significance of this?
Works cited:
Paul Trebilco, "The Significance of the Distribution of Self-designations in Acts," Novum Testamentum 54 (2012), 30-49.
A Fourth Synoptic Gospel
Typically scholars refer to Matthew, Mark, and Luke as the Synoptic Gospels. But what if there's a fourth?
Works cited:
- Mark Goodacre, "Parallel Traditions or Parallel Gospels? John's Gospel as a Re-Imagining of Mark," in John's Transformation of Mark, edited by Eve-Marie Becker, Helen K. Bond, Carin H. Williams (London: T&T Clark, 2021), 77-89.
A Clever Way to Date the Chronicler
When was Chronicles written? Israel Finkelstein has a clever way of figuring it out.
Works cited:
Israel Finkelstein, "The Historical Reality behind the Genealogical Lists in 1 Chronicles," Journal of Biblical Literature 131, no. 1 (2012), 65-83.
Nat Ritmeyer, "Ezer, Elead, and Exodus," biblicalhistoricalcontext.com (10.13.17).
Galilee or Jerusalem?
Where did the disciples first meet Jesus following the resurrection? Was it in Galilee or in Jerusalem?
The Eye of the Needle...Gate?
When Jesus speaks of the "eye of a needle" in the Gospel of Matthew, was he referring to something tangible like a gate in Jerusalem?
Ziemnińska's piece - https://tinyurl.com/y7r4shkm
The Creation Combat Myth
There are many different creation stories in the Hebrew Bible. Job 26 has one you may not be familiar with.
Was Paul a Roman Citizen?
The Acts of the Apostles claims that Paul was a citizen of Rome. But was he?
Pro-Life Proof-Texting
Does the book of Jeremiah offer support to the Pro-Life movement the way they think it does?
Papias, Mark, and Slaves
When Papias speaks of Mark as Peter's "interpreter," how would a reader in the second century CE understand that?
"Without Excuse" – Is Paul Referring to Atheists in Romans 1?
Is Paul thinking of atheists in his diatribe in Romans 1? I'm not convinced.
Hey Jude - Final Thoughts!
On the epistle of Jude and its place in the Christian canon.
Hey Jude 24-25!
And now, the Benediction.
Hey Jude 20-23!
Jude offers hope for the community, as well as a guide for helping those deceived by false teaching.
Hey Jude 17-19!
Jude attempts to keep the family together.
Hey Jude 14-16!
Jude quotes from 1 Enoch.
Hey Jude 11-13!
Jude turns up the megaphone.
Hey Jude 8-10!
What a dispute over Moses's body tells Jude's audience.
Hey Jude 5-7!
Three cautionary tales.
Hey Jude 3-4!
Intruder alert! Intruder alert!
Hey Jude 1-2!
The first of ten episodes looking at the NT epistle of Jude utilizing some of the tools from my amateur toolbox mentioned in episodes 11-20.
An Amateur's Toolbox: The Oxford Bible Commentary
Caution: do not throw in anger as it is a massive tome.
An Amateur's Toolbox: Women's Bible Commentary
A commentary by women and about women but for everyone.
An Amateur's Toolbox: The Fortress Commentary on the Bible
Covers both testaments? Check. Well written? Check. Diverse voices. Check!!!
An Amateur's Toolbox: 'The New Testament' by Bart Ehrman
Christians don't have a monopoly on writing introductions to the New Testament!
An Amateur's Toolbox: 'The Old Testament' by Michael Coogan
Michael Coogan is da man!
An Amateur's Toolbox: The Jewish Annotated New Testament
The New Testament is a lot more Jewish than some give it credit for.
An Amateur's Toolbox: The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha
Want to know more about the Apocrypha? Boy, do I have the book for you!
An Amateur's Toolbox: The Jewish Study Bible
Yes, you need The Jewish Study Bible.
An Amateur's Toolbox: The New Oxford Annotated Bible
The next item in this amateur's toolbox - The New Oxford Annotated Bible.
An Amateur's Toolbox: The HarperCollins Study Bible
What belongs in every amateur exegete's toolbox? Let's take a look at my own, beginning with The HarperCollins Study Bible.
Is the Synoptics’ Three-Hour Darkness a Solar Eclipse?
When Jesus died, the Gospel of Mark says that there was darkness over the world for three hours. What in the world happened?
Is the Atheist the Fool of Psalm 14:1?
A look at an oft-misunderstood verse in the Bible.
God Said It, I Believe It, and That Settles It for Me
Sometimes the Bible touches you.
It's All Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic to Me
Spoiler alert: the Bible wasn't written in English!
The Bible is Old
Context, context, context!
Authorship Anonymous
So many of the books of the Bible are anonymous. Why?
Two Pivotal Moments
586 BCE and 70 CE. Why are these dates important?