Ephesians Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...The six corresponding parts (e.g., A: 1:3–14 [eulogy] → A′: 3:20–21 [doxology]; see below) center on the exposition of the church of Jew and gentile as the beginning of cosmic reconciliation and unity ( 2:11–22 ). As in many epistles of the Pauline corpus, this first part of the letter is affirmative and expresses foundational theological realities, whereas the second part contains a number of practical exhortations that build on the first part. The paraenetic part of the epistle ( 4:1—6:20 ), introduced by parakalō (“I beg you”), is an appeal to live out...
Numbers Reference library
Reinhard Achenbach
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...theories about the authorship of the book as part of the Pentateuch. Many still follow Kuenen's and Wellhausen's traditional Documentary Hypothesis with some modifications. They assume that a “Yehowist” (JE) or a Jerusalemite redactor and historian combined the sources of an ninth/eighth century “Yahwist” (J) in Numbers 10:29–32 ; 11–14 ; 20–21 , and of an eighth-century b.c.e. “Elohist” (E) in the Balaam-story ( Num 22–24 ) during the seventh century b.c.e. ( Num 10:28—14:45 *; 16 *; 20–25 *; 32 *). This work was conflated with a basic...
Matthew, Gospel According to Reference library
Anders Runesson
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...was written by a Jew, a minority view emerging especially after Clarke's 1947 study claims that the final redactor of the gospel text was a non-Jew (Tilborg 1972 ; Meier 1979 ; Cook 1983 ) . Underlying this claim is the gospel's alleged anti-Jewish stance (cf. esp. Matt 23 ). Other scholars have understood the inflammatory language and polemic of the gospel as part of an inner-Jewish struggle (Overman 1990 ; Saldarini 1994 ; Sim 1998 ) . Accordingly, they claim, the gospel would have been written by a Jew within a Jewish setting. To support their...
Mark, Gospel According to Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...b.c.e. to Caesar Augustus. Likewise, the story of the Gerasene demoniac ( Mark 5:1–20 ) names the evil spirits “Legion” ( Mark 5:9 ), a Roman military term; the claim that Jesus inaugurates their decisive demise may derive from the writer's view that even the authority of Caesar's reign cannot compare with the reign of God. And repeated references to Danielic prophecy, perhaps culminating in Mark 13:26–27 , suggest that the “kingdom of God” that Jesus' ministry and passion inaugurate anticipates the imminent demise of Rome's rule. Despite the traditional...
Sirach Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...different subdivisions within these larger groups (cf., for example, Skehan and Di Lella ; Crenshaw 1997 ). The Prologue (to the Greek translation) Part I: Sirach 1:1—4:10 Part II: Sirach 4:11—6:17 Part III: Sirach 6:18—14:19 Part IV: Sirach 14:20—23:27 Part V: Sirach 24:1—33:18 Part VI: Sirach 33:19—39:11 Part VII: Sirach 39:12—43:33 Part VIII: Sirach 44:1—50:24 Part IX: Sirach 50:22—51:30 Interpretation. Sirach contains instruction given by a scribe/sage who trained young men for scribal careers. These students needed to...
Deuteronomy Reference library
Bernard M. Levinson
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...main issues for the reader (both ancient and modern) to resolve. The first involves how to understand the narrative claim of the Decalogue that God wrote “Ten Words” on two stone tablets and gave them to Moses following the revelation at Horeb ( 4:13 ; 10:4 ). The actual enumeration of the text of the Decalogue into ten commandments is complicated because there is no special number of or name for each of the commandments in either Exodus 19–20 or Deuteronomy 5 , and there are more than ten verbs expressing commands within the list. Because of the...
Paul, Letters of Reference library
Magnus Zetterholm
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...following main parts: after the prescript ( 1:1–7 ) in which Paul presents himself as the apostle to the gentiles, and a thanksgiving ( 1:8–12 ) follow the major sections of the letter (which are quite differently interpreted depending on the individual scholar). In 1:18—3:20 Paul claims that all humans, Jews and Greeks alike, stand before God on equal terms, a section followed by an exposition on the righteousness of God and of the believer ( 3:21—8:39 ). Thereafter follows a section (chs. 9–11) on the status of the Jews in the divinely ordained salvation...
Genesis Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...with Abraham ( 17 ) D′. Hospitality/progeny episodes; Abraham contrasted with Lot ( 18–19 ) C′. Wife-sister story ( 20 ) —the Lord 's rescue of Abraham in Philistia B′. Final challenge: call to sacrifice family of future ( 22:1–19 ) A′. Epilogue 22:20–24 Almost every part of the narratives in this structure links in some way with the theme of promise, from the Lord 's Exodus-like rescue of Abraham from Egypt ( Gen 12:10–20 ), Abraham's split from Lot ( 13:1–13 ), and the Lord 's “showing” of the whole land of Israel to Abraham ( Gen 12:1 ; ...
John, Gospel According to Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...guarantor of its tradition, if not its actual writer, as the unnamed figured referred to as the Beloved Disciple (“the disciple whom Jesus loved,” 13:23 ; 19:26 ; 20:2 ; 21:7 ). The early Christian writers were unified in identifying the Beloved Disciple as one of the “twelve”: specifically as John the son of Zebedee, although the Gospel itself nowhere makes that identification. Irenaeus claims that John lived in Ephesus until Trajan was emperor ( 98 c.e. ) and that that disciple “who also leaned upon his [Christ's] breast, did himself publish a gospel...
Job Reference library
Brennan W. Breed and C. Davis Hankins
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...Wisdom “is not found in the land of the living” or beyond ( 28:12–14 ). However, the poem's third stanza ( 28:20–27 ) claims that there is one who does know wisdom's way, namely, God ( v. 23 ), since wisdom appeared to God during creation ( 28:25–27 ). Interestingly, wisdom here is neither a divine attribute, nor a principle guiding divine activity (as, for example, in Prov 3:19–20 or 8:22–31 ), nor even an aspect of creation. Job 28 claims that wisdom appears to God in God's creative activity but belongs neither to God nor to creation. But then, in...
Revelation Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...fled to Asia Minor after the Jewish revolt of 66–73 (Jos. Ant. 20.256). While several factors support this suggestion, the most important is John's distinctive style. John's use of Greek suggests that his first language was Aramaic or Hebrew, languages spoken in Palestine ( Charles 1920 , v. 1 , p. xxxix; Aune 1997–1998 , v. 1 , p. l ). Date of Composition and Historical Context. The date of Revelation is debated. The earliest evidence comes from Irenaeus ( Haer. 5.30.3), who claims that it was written in the final years of the emperor Domitian (...
Joshua Reference library
Nili Wazana and Sarah Shectman
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...in the DtrH. Depicting the consummate military leader Joshua as a prophet is also part of a conception that the period of Joshua was an ideal time of communication between God and the leader. Unlike biblical The Twelve Tribes © Oxford University Press tradition (compare explicitly Deut 34:10 ; and see on this Römer and Brettler, pp. 406–407), later sources have no qualms in calling Joshua “the successor of Moses in prophesying” ( Sir 46:1 ), or claiming that as Moses grew old, he had appointed Joshua as his successor, “both to receive directions...
Source Criticism Reference library
David M. Carr
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation
...hill country of Benjamin. Nevertheless, scholars have been more inclined in this case to see these materials as part of an exclusively oral cycle of traditions, and any written source is so thoroughly adapted to later Deuteronomistic theology that precise source identification would be difficult in any case. Finally, following on the work of Leonard Rost in 1926 , many have identified an early “Succession Narrative” embedded in most of 2 Samuel 9—20 ; 1 Kings 1—2 . Nowadays this hypothesis of a “Succession Narrative,” along with the idea of other early sources...
Exodus Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
..., The Authority of Moses 3. Exodus 7:8—15:21 , The Conflict 7:8—10:20 , The Initial Confrontation 7:8—8:15 [Heb. 8:11] , Episode One: Water 8:16 [Heb. 8:12]—9:7 , Episode Two: Land 9:8—10:20 , Episode Three: Air 10:21—14:31 , The Defeat of Pharaoh 10:21–29 , The Darkness 11:1—13:16 , The Death of the Egyptian Firstborn 13:17—14:31 , The Destruction of the Egyptian Army in the Re(e)d Sea 15:1–21 , The Celebration of Victory 15:1–18 , The Song of the Sea 15:19–21 , The Song of Miriam Part 2: Exodus 15:22—40:38, The Presence of Yahweh in the Wilderness 1. ...
Tobit Reference library
Loren T. Stuckenbruck
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...of seven would-be husbands ( 3:7–15 ; the pronunciation Ṣarah would mean “trouble”). Finally, the name of Sarah's father “Raguel” (“friend of God”) is in tension with his propensity to anticipate or plan events that do not come about ( 7:10–11 ; 8:9–10 ; 8:19–20 and 10:9–10 ). The main part of the story, too, is ironic: It is precisely Tobit's pious devotion to showing concern for the poor ( 2:2 ), to burying the dead ( 2:3–4 , 7 ), and to his dogged attempt to observe purity ( 2:7 , 9 ) that leads to his blindness ( 2:10 ). Similarly, a short text...
Dead Sea Scrolls Reference library
Ken M. Penner
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...not contain much in the way of economic transactions. The Rule of the Community (6.17, 19–20, 22) reflects the voluntary communalization of individual property, a feature attributed to the Essenes by Josephus ( War 1.122) and Pliny ( Natural History 5.73). In the Damascus Document there are stipulations about forming business associations. Evidently communal living was not so unique that it needed to be defended or explained in the Rules. Similarly, Acts 2 claims members of the earliest post-Easter Jesus movement shared their property and even brought the...
2 Corinthians Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...of the letter ( 1:12—13:10 ) can be divided into three main parts: Paul's defense of the nature of his ministry ( 2:14—7:4 ); his appeal for the resumption and completion of the collection ( 8–9 ); and an attack on intruding missionaries, who claim authority over the Corinthian congregations ( 10:1—13:10 ). The first part ( 2:14—7:4 ) is framed by two smaller passages ( 1:12—2:13 ; 7:5–16 ), both of which deal with an incident that occurred during one of Paul's visits to Corinth (the so-called intermediate visit) and with the events ensuing from that...
Luke, Gospel According to Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...by the work of J. Jervell ( 1972 ) . Jervell points to the many places in Acts where Jews convert to the new message ( Acts 2:41 ; 4:4 ; 5:14 ; 6:1 , 7 ; 9:42 ; 12:24 ; 13:43 ; 14:1 ; 17:10ff ; 19:20 ; 21:20 ), which would belie the older notion that Luke's view of Jews was universally dim. He is especially interested in Acts 21:20 , which describes “myriads” of Christ-believers in Jerusalem who are Jews and who are said also to be zealous for the Law. Such texts suggest to him a necessary adjustment to the older consensus. Luke did not in...
1 Corinthians Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...local customs and blurring lines of sexual identity. While such matters are often culturally determined, for Paul culture was subject to the gospel and must be evaluated against its bold claims. In particular he considered the narrative of creation instructive and authoritative in discerning what practices should be kept or discarded. According to reports ( 11:18–20 ), the Corinthian church was also deeply divided over what took place when they gathered over fellowship meals. In particular, the haves would arrive early and go ahead with their meals,...
Joel Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
...however, makes much more of Joel, and Christianity has built much on the book. Romans 10:13 quotes Joel 2:32 ( Heb. 3:5 ) to the effect that salvation will be granted to anyone who calls on God. This quote is used to support the claim that God recognizes no difference between Jews and gentiles which is an important part of Christian belief. In Acts 2:14–21 , Peter quotes the prediction in Joel 2:28–32 ( Heb. 3:1–5 ) of universal prophecy to interpret the miracle of speaking in tongues (glossolalia) and the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost....
