2 Samuel

January 1, 2019

The son of David (Lk 3:31-3:31)

“The son of Melea,

The son of Menna,

The son of Mattatha,

The son of Nathan,

The son of David.”

 

τοῦ Μελεὰ τοῦ Μεννὰ τοῦ Ματταθὰ τοῦ Ναθὰμ τοῦ Δαυεὶδ

 

Once again, these genealogies of Matthew and Luke converge with the name of David.  However, they both have different sons of David for their lineage.  Matthew, chapter 1:6-8, has Solomon, while Luke has Nathan.  King David had 6 sons while living in Hebron for a little over 7 years, based on 2 Samuel, chapter 3.  Each son had a different mother.  After King David moved to Jerusalem, he had some more wives and concubines.  Altogether, David had at least 20 named children, as indicated in 2 Samuel, chapter 13.  Shimea or Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon (Σολομῶνα), were the 4 sons of him and Bathsheba.  Solomon followed David to the throne as king, because of the intrigues of his mother Bathsheba, as found in 1 Kings, chapters 1-2.  I Chronicles, chapter 3, lists the kings of Judah, based on 1 Kings and 2 Kings.  Based on those 2 books, there was no disruption in the lineage of David via Solomon to all the kings of Judah before the Exile, since there were no revolutions in the southern kingdom of Judah.  However, Luke’s Nathan never became a king.  Luke listed the genealogy as the son of Melea (τοῦ Μελεὰ), the son of Menna (τοῦ Μεννὰ), the son of Mattatha (τοῦ Ματταθὰ), the son of Nathan (τοῦ Ματταθὰ), the son of David (τοῦ Δαυεὶδ).

December 31, 2018

Jesus was thirty years old (Lk 3:23-3:23)

“Jesus was

About thirty years old

When he began

His work.

 

Καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἀρχόμενος ὡσεὶ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα,

 

This saying is unique to Luke.  He was the only one of the gospel writers who put an age on Jesus.  He said that Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his work (Καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἀρχόμενος ὡσεὶ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα).  Perhaps this is an allusion to King David who was 30 when he became king in 2 Samuel, chapter 5:4.  For some the age of 30 was considered mature.  Anyway, this concept of Jesus being about 30 with a 3-year public ministry put his death at age 33, a common Christian tradition.

March 1, 2018

King David (Mt 1:6-1:6)

“David was

The father of Solomon

By the wife of Uriah.”

 

Δαυεὶδ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σολομῶνα ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Οὐρίου,

 

King David had 6 sons while living in Hebron for a little over 7 years, based on 2 Samuel, chapter 3.  Each son had a different mother.  After King David moved to Jerusalem, he had some more wives and concubines.  Altogether, David had at least 20 named children, as indicated in 2 Samuel, chapter 13.  Shimea or Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon (Σολομῶνα), were the 4 sons of him and Bathsheba.  However, she was not mentioned by name here but was simply called the wife of Uriah (ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Οὐρίου).  King David had Uriah killed, while committing adultery with her.  Notice that the Greek text did not say wife but only implied it, saying she from Uriah.  Solomon followed David to the throne as king, because of the intrigues of his mother Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan, as found in 1 Kings, chapters 1-2.  The Greek text used the term ‘begat’ (ἐγέννησεν) to represent the relationships between David and Solomon.  However, it seems perfectly acceptable to simply call David the father instead of saying “fathered him.”

February 3, 2018

The Former Prophets

The former prophets are the same as the so-called Christian Old Testament historical works.  These works tell us of the establishment of the Israelites and the troubles that they faced.  However, they introduced a number of prophets that received oracles from God, including Elias, Elijah, Samuel, and Nathan.  The former prophets include the works of Joshua, from the 8th-7th century BCE and Judges, from the 7th-6th century BCE.  They also include the works of Samuel or 1 Samuel and. 2 Samuel, as well as Kings, or 1 Kings and 2 Kings. all coming from the 7th-6th century BCE.  These writings indicate what happened to the Israelites as they struggled in the new promised land.  They gradually went from a few judges to a full-blown kingdom, with many prophets with their divine oracles along the way.

November 22, 2017

Against the small towns in Judah (Mic 1:10-1:12)

“Tell it not in Gath!

Weep not at all

In Beth-leaphrah!

Roll yourselves in the dust!

Inhabitants of Shaphir!

Pass on your way

In nakedness and shame!

The inhabitants of Zaanan

Do not come forth

From their town.

Beth-ezel is wailing.

They shall remove its support

From you.

The inhabitants of Maroth

Wait anxiously

For good.

Yet disaster has come down

From Yahweh

To the gates of Jerusalem.”

In a play on words, Micah wailed against 10 small Judean towns near where he lived.  One of the largest towns mentioned was the old Philistine town of Gath that King Uzziah (781-740 BCE) had conquered.  Micah used the same terminology as in 2 Samuel, chapter 1, about Gath, since there should be no weeping for that town.  Then Micah turned to 5 small towns that are difficult to determine where they were.  Beth-leaphrah literally means rolling around in dust.  Shaphir literally means the fair one.  Thus, the good-looking people of this town of Shaphir should keep going in their naked shame.  On the other hand, the people of Zaanan did not come out to fight from their town.  Beth-ezel was mourning and not supporting Yahweh.  The people of Maroth were waiting anxiously for something good to happen.  Yet Yahweh sent a disaster that went as far as the gates of Jerusalem.

July 12, 2017

The Zadok Levitical priests (Ezek 44:15-44:16)

“‘But the Levitical priests,

The descendants of Zadok,

Who kept the charge

Of my sanctuary,

When the people of Israel

Went astray

From me,

Shall come near

To me

To minister

To me.

They shall attend me

To offer me

The fat

With the blood.’

Says Yahweh God.

‘They shall enter

My sanctuary.

They shall approach

My table.

They shall

Minister

To me.

They shall

Keep my charge.’”

It was a different story for the Zadok Levitical priests, as mentioned in the previous chapter. These Levitical priests from the family of Zadok came from a righteous priest, who was descended from Eleazar, the son of Aaron. This Zadok aided King David during the revolt of his son Absalom in 2 Samuel, chapters 13-22. Then this Zadok helped bring King Solomon to the throne in 1 Kings, chapters 1-2. After Solomon’s building of The First Temple in Jerusalem, this Zadok was the first High Priest to serve there in 1 Kings, chapter 4. Thus, the house of Zadok occupied the high priesthood throughout much of the Second Temple period. These Zadok Levitical priests had been loyal to Yahweh, when the other Levites went astray. They were the ones who could come near to Yahweh to minister to him. They would offer the fat and the blood. They would enter Yahweh’s sanctuary and approach his table. They would be in charge and directly minister to Yahweh.

July 10, 2017

The dedication of the altar (Ezek 43:18-43:20)

“‘On the day

When it is erected

For offering

Burnt offerings

Upon it,

For dashing blood

Against it,

You shall give

A bull

For a sin offering.

The Levitical priests

Of the family of Zadok,

Who draw near to me

Shall minister to me.’

Says Yahweh God.

‘You shall take

Some of its blood.

You will put it on

The four horns

Of the altar.

You will put it on

The four corners

Of the ledge.

You will put it

On the rim,

All around.

Thus,

You shall purify it.

You will make atonement

for it.’”

The first thing to be done on this new altar, after it was erected for offerings, was a burnt offering. The Levitical priests of the family of Zadok was based on a righteous priest, who was descended from Eleazar, the son of Aaron. Zadok had aided King David during the revolt of his son Absalom in 2 Samuel, chapters 13-22. Then this Zadok helped bring King Solomon to the throne in 1 Kings, chapters 1-2. After Solomon’s building of The First Temple in Jerusalem, Zadok was the first High Priest to serve there in 1 Kings, chapter 4. Thus, it was not strange that the house of Zadok occupied the high priesthood throughout much of the Second Temple period. These Levitical priests were the ones who came near to Yahweh to minister to him. The first of the sin offerings was a bull. These Zadok Levitical priests were to put its blood on the 4 horns of the altar, plus on the rim all around it for a purification and an atonement at the same time.

 

December 9, 2016

The prophet Uriah (Jer 26:20-26:20)

“There was another man

Prophesying

In the name of Yahweh.

This was Uriah,

The son of Shemaiah,

From Kiriath-jearim.

He prophesied

Against this city,

Also against this land,

In words exactly

Like those of Jeremiah.”

Uriah the prophet was from Kiriath-jearim, about 10 miles from Jerusalem. He had prophesied in the name of Yahweh against Jerusalem and Judah in almost the same words as Jeremiah had done, since he was almost a contemporary of Jeremiah. This Uriah is not the same as Uriah, the Hittite husband of Bathsheba in 2 Samuel, chapters 11-12, that David had killed. We know very little about this prophet Uriah, except what is here in Jeremiah. What happened to him is a little different than the fate of Jeremiah.

August 11, 2016

Yahweh comes (Isa 28:20-28:22)

“The bed is too short

To stretch oneself on it.

The covering is too narrow

To wrap oneself in it.

Yahweh will rise up

As on Mount Perazim.

He will rage

As in the valley of Gibeon.

To do his deed!

Strange is his deed!

To work his work!

Alien is his work!

Now therefore do not scoff!

Your bonds will be made stronger.

I have heard a decree of destruction

From Yahweh God of hosts

Upon the whole land.”

Isaiah explains that your beds will be too short and the covers on your beds too narrow to cover you. This would indicate that he was referring to taller people like giants who could not get a comfortable bed. Yahweh was going to rise in anger as he had done at Mount Perazim and Gibeon. Perazim was a place between Jerusalem and Hebron where King David defeated the Philistines in 2 Samuel, chapter 5 and 1 Chronicles, chapter 14. There it was called Baal-Perazim. Gibeon was a place north of Jerusalem where Joshua defeated 5 kings in Joshua, chapter 10. Yahweh’s work was going to happen, even if an alien had to do it. They were not to be scoffers. Yahweh, God of hosts, had issued a decree of destruction for the whole land.