portrayed

March 27, 2019

Full of light (Lk 11:36-11:36)

“If then your whole body

Is full of light,

With no part

In darkness,

It will be

As full of light

As when a lamp

Gives you light

With its rays.”

 

εἰ οὖν τὸ σῶμά σου ὅλον φωτεινόν, μὴ ἔχον μέρος τι σκοτεινόν, ἔσται φωτεινὸν ὅλον ὡς ὅταν ὁ λύχνος τῇ ἀστραπῇ φωτίζῃ σε.

 

Luke uniquely indicated that Jesus said that if their whole body (εἰ οὖν τὸ σῶμά σου) was full of light (ὅλον φωτεινόν), with no part in total darkness (μὴ ἔχον μέρος τι σκοτεινόν), it will be full of light (ἔσται φωτεινὸν ὅλον).  Thus, it will be like a lamp (ὡς ὅταν ὁ λύχνος) that shines or gives light with its rays (τῇ ἀστραπῇ φωτίζῃ σε).  Many ancient societies believed that the eye was the source of the light for seeing.  If there was no darkness in a person, they would be like a bright light.  Notice, that throughout history, holy people were usually portrayed with a halo light around them, emphasizing light and goodness.  This was an inner light that would shine with its bright light.  Your body would be like a lampstand shining light on the whole world.  Do you light up a room when you arrive?

 

January 1, 2019

Judah and Perez (Lk 3:33-3:33)

“The son of Amminadab,

The son of Admin,

The son of Arni,

The son of Hezron,

The son of Perez,

The son of Judah.”

 

τοῦ Ἀμιναδὰβ τοῦ Ἀδμεὶν τοῦ Ἀρνεὶ τοῦ Ἐσρὼμ τοῦ Φαρὲς τοῦ Ἰούδα

 

The two genealogies of Matthew and Luke are almost the same from Judah to Amminadab.  Luke listed them as Nahshon, the son of Amminadab (τοῦ Ἀμιναδὰβ), the son of Admin (τοῦ Ἀδμεὶν), the son of Arni (τοῦ Ἀρνεὶ), the son of Hezron (τοῦ Ἐσρὼμ), the son of Perez (τοῦ Φαρὲς), the son of Judah (τοῦ Ἰούδα).  Clearly, Judah had become the dominant tribe by the time of Jesus.  The story of the children for Judah is a very interesting tale as portrayed in Genesis, chapter 38.  Judah married a Canaanite woman named Bathshuah in Adullam.  They had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah.  Then the story got more complicated.  Judah found a lady named Tamar to be a wife for his first-born wicked son Er, whom Yahweh put to death.  Then Judah sent Onan, his second son, to produce children for his brother from Tamar, Er’s wife.  However, Onan spilled his semen on the ground, so that he would not have any children.  Thus, Yahweh put him to death also.  Judah then told Tamar to live as a widow in her father’s house, until his youngest son Shelah was older and able to marry her.  Tamar, in the meantime, saw that Shelah had grown up, but was not being offered in marriage to her.  She decided to throw off her widow garments, put a veil on, and sit on the road from Adullam to Timnah.  Now Judah, whose wife Bathshuah had died, was on this same road and thought that she was a prostitute, because her face was covered.  He gave her his signature ring and the cord as a pledge that he would pay her later for her sexual favors.  They had sex and she conceived by him.  Three months later, Judah found out that his daughter-in-law Tamar was pregnant as a result of prostitution.  He wanted her immediately burned, but she told Judah that the owner of a ring and cord made her pregnant.  Judah admitted that she was right.  Tamar then had twins from this pregnancy, Perez and Zerah, who disputed about who was the first out of the womb.  Interesting enough, the line of Judah would have died out without this prostitute episode.  Thus, the sacred lineage of Judah goes through a father-in-law having paid sex with his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who was a Canaanite.  According to Genesis, chapter 46:12, Perez, the son of Judah, had 2 sons, Hezron and Hamul. who went with Jacob to Egypt.  From 1 Chronicles, chapter 2:9-17, we learn about the linage of Hezron.  He had 3 sons, Jerahmeel, Aram, and Chelubai.  This Aram, Arni, or Ram was the father of Aminadab or Amminadab.  Luke added an Admin who is not found elsewhere or maybe another name for Ram.  Amminadab had a daughter, Elisheba, who married Aaron, the brother of Moses, in Exodus, chapter 6:23.  Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, the brother-in-law of Aaron and Moses.

October 2, 2018

Jesus goes through Galilee (Mk 9:30-9:30)

“They went on

From there.

They passed

Through Galilee.

He did not want

Anybody to know it.”

 

Κἀκεῖθεν ἐξελθόντες παρεπορεύοντο διὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἵνα τις γνοῖ·

 

This incident in Galilee can also be found in Matthew, chapter 17:22.  Jesus and his disciples left the area (Κἀκεῖθεν ἐξελθόντες) around the transfiguration mountain.  They were passing through Galilee (παρεπορεύοντο διὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας).  Only Mark indicated that they did not want anyone to know what they were doing (καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἵνα τις γνοῖ).  Mark portrayed Jesus as more secretive.

February 10, 2018

Jesus Seminar failure

The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 150 critical Biblical scholars founded in 1985 by Robert Funk (1926-2005).  Although never formally disbanded, the seminar effectively ceased functioning in 2006.  Their goal was to reconstruct the historical Jesus and find out what exactly Jesus said.  The result was that they portrayed Jesus as an itinerant Hellenistic Jewish sage, a faith-healer, who preached a gospel of liberation from injustice.  However, they believed that Jesus did not hold an apocalyptic worldview, as indicated in the canonical writings.  The methods and conclusions of the Jesus Seminar came under very harsh criticism by some biblical scholars, historians, and clergy.  However, this Jesus Seminar produced a significant number of publications for over 20 years, especially articles about the Gospel of Thomas.

May 14, 2017

The longing for the youth wasted in Egypt (Ezek 23:19-23:21)

“Yet Oholibah increased
Her prostitution activities.
She remembered
The days of her youth,
When she played
The whore
In the land of Egypt.
She lusted
After her lovers there.
Their sexual organs were
Like those of donkeys.
Their sexual emissions were
Like those of stallions.
Thus you longed
For the lewdness
Of your youth.
The Egyptians fondled
Your bosom.
They caressed
Your young breasts.”
Yahweh, via Ezekiel, portrayed Oholibah, Jerusalem, as a sex starved female teenager. However, now she had become a full fledged prostitute. She remembered the good old days when she was a young whore in Egypt. There she lusted after all her lovers, who seem to have been well endowed. Yahweh compared their sexual prowess with donkeys and stallions. Thus Jerusalem longed for the days of her youth when her Egyptians lovers fondled and caressed her breasts.

May 13, 2017

The lure of the colorful Chaldeans (Ezek 23:14-23:15)

“But Oholibah
Carried her prostitution ways
Further.
She saw male figures
Carved on the wall.
These were
The images of the Chaldeans
Portrayed in vermilion.
They had belts
Around their waists.
They had flowing turbans
On their heads.
All of them looked
Like officers.
This was
A picture
Of the Babylonians
Whose native land
Was Chaldea.”
Oholibah carried her prostitution ways even further. She saw male figures of the Chaldeans carved on the wall. They were portrayed as dressed in vermilion with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads. They all looked like officers. This was the idealized picture of the Babylonians from Chaldea.

April 22, 2017

Jerusalem did not remember (Ezek 16:43-16:43)

“‘You have not remembered

The days of your youth.

But you have enraged me

With all these things.

Therefore,

I have returned

Your deeds

Upon your head.’

Says Yahweh God.

‘Have you not

Committed lewdness

Beyond all

Your abominations?’”

Jerusalem did not remember the days of her youth when Yahweh was kind and compassionate towards her. Instead Jerusalem enraged Yahweh with her wicked actions. Thus Yahweh has returned these deeds back on her. Jerusalem has committed many lewd deeds, beyond all her abominations. Yahweh is portrayed as ungrateful man because his lover Jerusalem has left him for other lovers.

February 23, 2017

The ruined walls of Jerusalem (Lam 2:8-2:8)

Heth

“Yahweh determined

To lay in ruins

The wall

Of daughter Zion.

He stretched

The line.

He did not withhold

His hand

From destroying it.

He caused ramparts

To lament.

He caused the wall

To lament.

They languish together.”

Yahweh himself determined that the walls of Zion should be made a ruin. He stretched out the measuring line, like a surveyor, to determine how to do this. He did not restrain his hand from this work. He has caused the walls and ramparts of Jerusalem to lament and languish together. It seems that Yahweh is portrayed as personally overseeing the destruction of the Jerusalem walls because of his anger at them. This verse starts with the Hebrew consonant letter Heth. Each verse after this will use the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet in this acrostic poem.