different names

April 11, 2018

The list of other twelve apostles (Mt 10:3-10:4)

“They were

Philip,

Bartholomew,

Thomas,

Matthew,

The tax collector,

James,

Son of Alphaeus,

Thaddaeus,

Simon the Cananaean,

Judas Iscariot,

The one who betrayed him.”

 

Φίλιππος καὶ Βαρθολομαῖος, Θωμᾶς καὶ Μαθθαῖος ὁ τελώνης, Ἰάκωβος ὁ τοῦ Ἁλφαίου καὶ Θαδδαῖος,

Σίμων ὁ Καναναῖος καὶ Ἰούδας ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης ὁ καὶ παραδοὺς αὐτόν.

 

This section about naming the 12 apostles is similar to Mark, chapter 3:16-19 and Luke, chapter 6:13-16.  This list can also be compared to the list in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1:13.  Except for Matthew, the tax collector (καὶ Μαθθαῖος ὁ τελώνης), Matthew had never explicitly mentioned the next 7 apostles by name.  They were Philip (Φίλιππος), Bartholomew (καὶ Βαρθολομαῖος), Thomas (Θωμᾶς), James, the son of Alphaeus (Ἰάκωβος ὁ τοῦ Ἁλφαίου), Thaddaeus (καὶ Θαδδαῖος), Simon the Cananaean (Σίμων ὁ Καναναῖος), and the traitor Judas Iscariot (καὶ Ἰούδας ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης ὁ καὶ παραδοὺς αὐτόν).  Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot are on all four lists of apostles.  However, Thaddeus is only listed by Matthew and Mark, while Luke and the Acts listed him as Jude or Judas, the son of James, not Thaddeus.  Are these two-different people or just two different names?  Is this Jude Thaddeus like Simon Peter and Levi Matthew?  Did he have a Jewish and a Greek name?

 

February 18, 2018

The problem of God

Do we accept anything beyond our own concerns?  Is there something about life besides us?  Do we have ultimate concerns about something other than ourselves?  Do we accept the concept of mystery in our lives?  Various religions use different names for the transcendent mystery that goes beyond what we can understand.  However, many religious traditions call this transcendent divine reality “God.”  We, as human or finite, seek the great and the mysterious.  This mystery stands as the foundation, the center, the purpose of human existence.  God within a religious belief system contains the answer to the question of the meaning of life.  What counts most?  What is important for understanding and living?  Is God the answer or the problem?

January 6, 2017

Jeremiah is sent to Gedaliah (Jer 39:13-39:14)

“So Nebuzaradan,

The captain of the guard,

Nebu-shazban the Rabsaris,

Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag,

With all the chief officers

Of the king of Babylon

Sent for Jeremiah.

They took him

From the court of the guard.

They entrusted him

To Gedaliah,

The son of Ahikam,

The son of Shaphan.

They brought him home.

So he stayed

With his own people.”

Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, and presumably the man in charge on the ground in Jerusalem, gathered the other Babylonian officials together. Two are named here. One is the same as mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, who was in charge of the Assyrian priests or religious element of Babylon. On the other hand, Nebu-shazban the Rabsaris has the same title as Sarsechim, Rabsaris, earlier in this chapter. The Rabsaris was in charge of the eunuchs, but the name is different here. Are they the same people with different names or two different people? Anyway, they take Jeremiah from the royal prison, presumably before they burn the royal palace down. They hand him over to Gedaliah. His father and grandfather, Ahikam and Shaphan had been loyal to the various prophets. Shaphan went back to the days of King Josiah (640-609 BCE) and his religious reform. Ahikam had protected Jeremiah during the reign of King Jehoiakim (609-598 BCE) as in chapter 26 of this book. His brother Gemariah had helped Jeremiah in chapter 36. Thus Ahikam’s son Gedaliah seemed like the right person to protect Jeremiah.