2024, August 18 ~ 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14; Proverbs 9:1-6; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58
TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
AUGUST 18, 2024
During this Pentecost Season, there are two “Tracks” of Scriptures that are offered, and congregations may choose which Track they will follow. The first two readings presented are the readings from Tracks 1 and 2, respectively. The third and fourth readings are the same in both Tracks.
1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14
Reading
10 David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. 11 The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.
3:3 Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. 7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”
10 It pleased the LORD that Solomon had asked this. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. 14 If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”
Commentary
The Book of Kings is part of the “Deuteronomic History” that includes the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. These books are a “didactic history” that covered the period from just before the entry into the Promised Land (c.1220 BCE, if the account is historical) to the release of the exiled king of Judah during the Babylonian Exile (562 BCE). The books were written in the period from 640 BCE to 550 BCE and continued to be revised even after that.
The authors of the Deuteronomic Books artfully wove their stories from many sources. They then used the stories in these books to demonstrate that that God controls history and to assert that it was the failures of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judea (and, by extension, the people) to worship YHWH and obey God’s commands that led to the conquest of Northern Israel in 722 BCE by the Assyrians and the conquest of Judea by the Babylonians in 597 BCE. (The conquests were not seen as the result of the Assyrians’ and Babylonians’ greater wealth and more powerful armies.)
The Book of Kings (to the extent it may be historical) covers from the end of the reign of David (965 BCE) to the time of the Exile (587-539 BCE).
At the end of last week’s reading, David was reported to be lamenting Absalom’s death, just as he lamented Saul’s death – another death that had political advantages for David. In the intervening chapters, David and Joab fought battles against persons who revolted against David. In Chapter 21, there are descriptions of battles with the Philistines (which seem to be transposed from earlier in David’s reign), including the killing of Goliath by Elhanan, the Bethlehemite (21:19). Chapter 22 is virtually the same as Psalm 18, a psalm of praise of YHWH. In Chapter 24, YHWH became angry with David because he took a census. YHWH offered David a choice of three punishments and David chose to have a pestilence visited upon the people. David then built an altar at the place where Solomon built one of the altars in the Temple, and the pestilence ended.
The first chapters of the Book of Kings are a continuation of 2 Samuel and were, at one time, not divided as they are now. David was described as old and, even though he was offered Abishag, the most beautiful girl in all Israel, he had lost his sexual potency (1:4).
Adonijah was David’s fourth (and oldest surviving) son and had been born in Hebron (where David first reigned). He was presented as similar in several ways to Absalom (2 Sam. 14:25-26). Learning of David’s decline, he began gathering allies to support his own kingship and had a celebration in anticipation of his kingship.
When Nathan and Bathsheba learned of this celebration, they decided to go to David to convince him that he had promised her that Solomon (David’s seventh son, and one who was born in Jerusalem) would be David’s successor. (This promise is not recounted anywhere in the Book of Samuel.) The high priest, Zadok (from whose name we get the word “Sadducees”) anointed Solomon king (1:39). David then gave last instructions to Solomon that, as The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out, were “similar to God’s words to Joshua upon his succession to the leadership of Israel after Moses’ death (Josh. 1:6-9).”
In actions that “The Godfather” would later imitate, Solomon had his brother Adonijah killed for asking that Abishag be given to him as his wife; banished and later killed a rival high priest on a flimsy excuse; and had Joab killed for siding with Adonijah.
After all this mayhem and murder, in today’s reading, Solomon was presented by the authors in a favorable light. In a dream, he asked YJWH for wisdom, and was granted a “wise and discerning mind” (3:12). According to The NOAB, in saying he did not know whether to “go out or go in” (v.3:7), Solomon was noting his lack of military experience. YHWH granted Solomon both wisdom and wealth, and these became themes in describing most of his reign. The promise that had been given to David was, however, made conditional (“if you will walk in My ways and observe My laws and commandments as did your father David” (v.14).
In the omitted verses (2:13-3:2), Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter (3:1), thus starting down a path of marrying foreign wives that would lead to the breakup of his kingdom after Chapter 11.
Proverbs 9:1-6
Reading
1 Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars.
2 She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls from the highest places in the town,
4 “You that are simple, turn in here!” To those without sense she says,
5 “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”
Commentary
In Christian Bibles, the Book of Proverbs is included in the “Wisdom Literature,” but in the Jewish Bible (the “TaNaK”), it is part of the “Writings.” The other two parts of the Jewish Bible are The Torah and The Prophets. The name “TaNaK” is an acronym for the first letters of the Hebrew words for each of these sections: the Torah, the Nevi’im, and the Ketuvim.
Although Proverbs claims to be written by Solomon (v.1:1) who reigned from 968-928 BCE, most scholars agree that these sayings were compiled over a lengthy period and put in their final form around 450 BCE. In fact, two Chapters of Proverbs (22:17 to 24:34) are copied almost word-for-word from Egyptian wisdom literature dating to about 1100 BCE.
Most sayings in Proverbs are presented as teachings from the elders and are aimed at young men. They advised that moral living (diligence, sobriety, self-restraint, selecting a good wife, and honesty) would lead to a good life. The Jewish Study Bible notes that although chapters 1 through 9 serve as an introduction to the book, this section was probably written later as a guide to the interpretation of the old sayings that are contained in chapters 10 through 29.
The usual translation of a recurring theme in Proverbs is that “fear” of YHWH (translated as LORD – all capital letters in the NRSV) is the beginning of wisdom. Many scholars suggest that “awe of YHWH” or “reverence for YHWH” better captures the sense of the authors of the sayings in Proverbs.
The JSB notes that today’s reading is part of invitations to two contradictory banquets, one by Lady Wisdom and the other by Lady Folly (vv. 13-18). Wisdom here was portrayed as a woman who invited even the “simple” and “those without sense” to share the bread and wine at her table and to walk in the way of insight. The NOAB opines that the “seven pillars” (v.1) may allude to the pillars on which the earth was founded (Job 9:6).
In Proverbs 8:22, Wisdom was portrayed as being present at the Creation.
Ephesians 5:15-20
Reading
15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Commentary
Ephesus was a large and prosperous city in what is now western Türkiye. In the Acts of the Apostles and 1 Corinthians, Paul was said to have visited there. In Ephesus, there were Jesus Followers who were Jews and Jesus Followers who were Gentiles, and they did not always agree on what it meant to be a Jesus Follower.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that because the letter contained over 80 terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms such as “mystery and “inheritance,” most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. In another difference, for Paul “salvation” is a future event, whereas in Ephesians it is a present experience.
The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.
In today’s reading, the author continued to urge the Jewish Jesus Followers and the Gentile Jesus Followers in Ephesus to live wisely, soberly, and to be thankful to God. In the verses just before today’s reading, the author used light and dark imagery to show that they were all now children of the light.
The JANT points out that “do not get drunk with wine” (v.18) is “not a condemnation of wine – which would have been difficult, given the centrality of wine to the diet in most of the Roman world, including Judea and Galilee – but of drunkenness.”
The preparers of the Revised Common Lectionary were prudent in ending the reading where they did. Verses 22 and 23 reflect the patriarchy of the First Century: “Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior.”
John 6:51-58
Reading
51 Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
Commentary
The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many stories in the Fourth Gospel are unique to it, such as the Wedding at Cana, Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, and the Raising of Lazarus.
The chronology of events is also different in the Fourth Gospel. For example, the Temple Event (“cleansing of the Temple”) occurred early in Jesus’ Ministry in the Fourth Gospel, rather than late as in the Synoptic Gospels. In the Synoptic Gospels, the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, but in the Fourth Gospel, it occurred the day before the first day of Passover so that Jesus (who is described as “the Lamb of God”) died at the time lambs were sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held that night.
Today’s reading is a continuation of the “Bread of Life Discourse” that has been the subject of the readings for the last two weeks. As usual, the author of the Fourth Gospel presents “the Jews” (the Temple Authorities and the Pharisees) as unduly literal. For them, consuming flesh was cannibalism, and blood (the lifegiving force) was reserved for God and was forbidden for humans. When animals were sacrificed at the Temple, the blood was poured on the altars. Meat that is “kosher” has all the blood drained from it.
The Bread of Life Discourse assumed the institution of the Eucharist (“eat this bread” – v.51 and “this is the bread” in v.58). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary sees these references to “bread” is as a later addition to the Discourse and evidence that the ritual of the Eucharist was part of the Jesus Followers’ worship by the time the Fourth Gospel was compiled late in the First Century. The NJBC also notes that, unlike the Eucharistic Formula in the Synoptic Gospels, this Gospel uses the term “flesh – sarx” rather than “body – soma” in verses 53-56.
According to The JANT, the ritual of “eating god” existed in some Greco-Roman mystery cults such as the cults of Demeter and Dionysius.