TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
AUGUST 4, 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.
2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
Reading
26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. 27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son.
But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD, 12:1 and the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds; 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; 6 he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; 8 I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. 11 Thus says the LORD: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. 12 For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Commentary
The Book of Samuel 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 beginning of Babylonian Captivity (586 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 numerous 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 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 Samuel (to the extent it may be historical) covers from the end of the time of the Judges (c.1030 BCE) to the last years of the Reign of David (c. 965 BCE).
Today’s reading picks up where last week’s reading ended – David sent a letter carried by Uriah to Joab to have Uriah placed in the front lines. In the omitted verses, Uriah was killed, and Joab sent a messenger to tell David that the battle did not go well, but then to tell him that Uriah was killed so that he (David) would not become angry (v.23).
Bathsheba mourned for the prescribed seven days (v.26), and David made her one of his wives, and she bore a son.
YHWH was not pleased with David’s behavior (v.27) and sent Nathan to tell a parable (structured as a legal case) to David about a rich man and a poor man. David became angry and said the rich man was required to repay the poor man fourfold (v.6). This was prescribed by Ex. 22:1.
YHWH (through Nathan) verbally chastised David for his ingratitude and noted that YHWH gave David the master’s (Saul’s) “house” (v.8). The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that this word is sometimes translated as “daughters” and considers it more consistent with the assertion that David acquired Saul’s wives and concubines and had no reason to take Uriah’s wife. The Jewish Study Bible points out that the claim that David took Saul’s wives and concubines in not mentioned elsewhere.
The distinction between the house of Israel and Judah (v.8) shows that this text was written after the division of the United Kingdom in 930 BCE soon after Solomon’s death.
YHWH told David that the sword (understood by The NOAB as a symbol for violence) would never depart from his house (v.10) because David “despised” (“spurned” in The Jewish Publication Society Translation) YHWH and took Bathsheba to be his wife (v.10). In the balance of the Book of Samuel, most of David’s problems arose because of his sons: Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah all met violent deaths.
In the verses just after today’s reading, Nathan told David that YHWH had remitted his sin, but YHWH afflicted the Bathsheba’s son (v.15). David fasted and prayed for the child’s recovery, but the son died after seven days. The NOAB understands that David’s sin was transferred to this son, and sees this as an example of intergenerational punishment in the Hebrew Bible.
David “consoled” Bathsheba and she bore another son (v.24). In the NRSV, it says David named this son Solomon, but in the JPS it says “she” named him (v.24). The name “Solomon” means “his replacement” – which could refer to the son who died after seven days or that Solomon would succeed David. In the next verse, YHWH named the child Jedidiah, which means “beloved of the LORD” (v.25) but this reference does not reappear.
Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
Reading
2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the LORD, for he has heard your complaining.’“ 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 The LORD spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning, you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’“
13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”
Commentary
The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Bible and covered the period from the slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh (around 1250 BCE), the Exodus itself, and the early months in the Wilderness.
In today’s reading, the Israelites had not yet reached Sinai, and were complaining (once again) to Moses that it would have been better to have died in Egypt than to starve in the Wilderness.
Because YHWH was perceived as controlling everything in most of the Hebrew Bible, the writers of this story said that the Israelites’ deaths in Egypt would have been at the hand of YHWH (v.3) rather than at the hand of Pharaoh.
The God presented in this story is very human-like. YHWH “heard” their complaining (v.7). YHWH “spoke” to Moses (v.4) and responded (twice – one in v.4 and again in v.11) by sending the Israelites manna and quail. The NOAB notes that the two responses indicate that this story is an amalgam of two oral traditions.
Man hu are the Hebrew words for “What is it?” (v. 15), so the name of the substance is also a play on words. “Manna” is, however, a real thing. The New Oxford Annotated Bible says it is “the carbohydrate-rich excretion of two scale-insects that feed on the twigs of the tamarisk tree.” In Israel today, something called “manna” is sometimes available for purchase in Arab markets. It is sweet and sticky.
In the omitted verses (5-7) the Israelites were directed to collect manna each day, collect two days’ supply of manna on the sixth day, and not to collect manna on the Sabbath. This shows the story was written (at least in part) by the Priestly writers – for whom the Sabbath was most important.
Numbers 11 contains another story about YHWH’s sending quail to the Israelites in such quantity that they gorged themselves and were struck by a great plague that killed many of them. The JSB notes that quail migrate, often in large numbers, from Africa to Europe in the spring and fall and sometimes fall exhausted in the Sinai Desert.
Ephesians 4:1-16
Reading
1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high, he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.”
9 (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
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 be unified in Christ. He urged them to be humble, patient, “bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (v.3).
The JANT notes that seven forms of unity are emphasized in vv.4-6 (body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, God and Father who is above all and through all and in all).
The NOAB suggests that the quotation in v.8 is a paraphrase of Psalm 68:18 (“You ascended the high mount, leading captives in your train and receiving gifts from people, even from those who rebel against the LORD God’s abiding there.” )
Christ both ascended and descended (into Sheol?) so that he might come to all persons. Each person has different gifts for the body’s growth in building itself up in love (v.11-12). A perfect (i.e., complete) church is modeled on Christ himself.
John 6:24-35
Reading
24 The next day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the five thousand saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Commentary
The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many of the 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 being sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held that night.
Today’s reading is part of a longer discussion in the Fourth Gospel that is sometimes called “The Bread of Life Discourse” that is not found in the other Canonical Gospels. Conversely, this Gospel, unlike the Synoptic Gospels, does not include an institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. (Instead, Jesus washed the apostles’ feet at the Last Supper in the Fourth Gospel.)
The account contains terms that have deeper meanings. In saying that the Son of Man will “give you the food that endures for eternal life” (v.27) the author drew upon the Jewish understanding of the Son of Man as the messenger of God (Dan. 7:13) who makes God known (Jn.3:13). In referring to the Son of Man (v.27) and “him whom he [God] has sent” (v.29) in the third person, the author of the Gospel reflected the tension in the Gospel in the understandings that Jesus (as the Christ) is both an “agent” of God and divine.
The “work” to needed to “perform the works of God” is to “believe in him whom he [God] has sent” (v.29). In the Farewell Discourses, Jesus gave content to “belief in he whom God sent”: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (15:12).
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that the phrase “He gave them bread from heaven to eat” (v.31) conflates the story from Exodus with Psalm 78:24. It also points out that there are references to “bread of life” in a Jewish book, Joseph and Aseneth. This book was a midrash on Genesis written around 200 BCE. It provided an account of the relationship of the patriarch Joseph and his wife Azeneth — who received heavenly food from an angelic figure in answer to Joseph’s prayers.
The references to “my Father” and the “I am” (v.35) statement reflect the greater emphasis in the Fourth Gospel on the divinity of Jesus and his connection with the Father. All the “I am” statements in the Fourth Gospel echo the response from the Burning Bush in Exodus 3 – “I am what I am” – to Moses’ question about the name of God.
2024, September 29 ~ Esther 7:1-6,9-10;9:20-22; Numbers 11:4-6,10-16,24-29; James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
SEPTEMBER 29, 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 last two readings are the same in both Tracks.
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
Reading
1 The king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me — that is my petition — and the lives of my people — that is my request. 4 For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?” 6 Esther said, “A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.
9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.
9:20 Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, 22 as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.
Commentary
The Book of Esther is included in the “Historical” Books in Christian Bibles and in the portion of the Writings in the TaNaK known as the “Five Scrolls.” The story in Esther is an etiology (story of origins) for the Jewish Feast of Purim (which is much like Halloween or Mardi Gras with costumes and parties). Purim is the only Jewish Feast that is not based on the Torah. It is celebrated in February or March, depending on the Jewish Lunar Calendar. The Jewish Study Bible observes: “The story’s plot is structured on improbabilities, exaggerations, misunderstandings, and reversals.”
The story is set in the Persian Court during the time of the Persian rule (539-333 BCE) and was likely written between 400 and 300 BCE. The Septuagint (LXX) has a longer version of the story. This version is in the Apocrypha in Protestant Bibles.
The Book of Esther was not immediately accepted into the Jewish Canon, and some scholars suggest it was not accepted until the 3rd Century CE. The Book does not contain any mention of God or of religious observance, although the “additions” in the Greek version do contain references to God. The Book is the only book in the Hebrew Bible that was not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The story is about the Jews who lived in the Jewish Diaspora Community in the Persian Empire and is best read as an historical novella that is a comedy and satire. As The JSB notes, the characters are caricatures. The Persian King, Ahasuerus (Xerxes I who reigned from 486 to 465 BCE), is presented as a tyrannical buffoon. In the opening chapters, when he was drunk, he ordered Queen Vashi to dance before his courtiers wearing only her diadem. She refused, and the courtiers persuaded Ahasuerus to banish her lest all wives become disobedient.
Ahasuerus set out to find the most beautiful maiden in the Empire to be his queen, and a Jewish girl, Esther (whose Jewish name is Hadassah – which means “myrtle”) was selected to be the queen. Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, had adopted her and oversaw her.
Ahasuerus also selected Haman to be the most senior official in his court. Haman convinced Ahasuerus to issue a decree to eliminate all the Jews in the Persian Empire, and Mordecai in particular. (The JSB points out that the Persian Empire was in fact tolerant of its ethnic minorities and was an unlikely place for an edict to eradicate the Jewish population.)
Today’s reading is the central event of the story in which the King granted Esther’s wish to preserve her people and punish the person (Haman) who sought to do them harm. At the end of the story, the King transferred Haman’s wealth to Esther, and she transferred it to Mordecai. Mordecai became the chief advisor to the King.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes: “Jews and Christians have been deeply troubled by the story’s uncritically enthusiastic account of the violence of the Jewish community’s response to their enemies, which involves not only self-defense but also the slaughter of women and children, including the sons of Haman (8.11-12; 9.9-10).” These verses are omitted from the readings.
The motif of offering “half my kingdom” (v.2) is repeated in the story of the Beheading of John the Baptist by Herod Antipas who offered “half my kingdom” to Salome, the daughter of Herodias, who danced for Herod on his birthday (Mark 6:22-23).
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Reading
4 The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the LORD became very angry, and Moses was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,’ to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. 15 If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once — if I have found favor in your sight — and do not let me see my misery.”
16 So the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting and have them take their place there with you.
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy elders of the people and placed them all around the tent. 25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!”
Commentary
Numbers is the fourth book of the Torah (Hebrew meaning “teaching” or “Law”), also known by Christians as the Pentateuch (Greek meaning “Five Books”). Numbers (like the last half of Exodus, and all of Leviticus and Deuteronomy) was set in the time the Israelites were in the Wilderness before entering the Promised Land. If the time in the Wilderness is historical (no archeological evidence has ever been found to support it), this would have been around 1250 BCE.
Most of the book of Numbers was written by the “Priestly Source” during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE) and in the 100 years after the Exile. Today’s reading is one of four stories in the Torah in which the Israelites complained about their food or water or both. (The other three are in Exodus 16, and Numbers 20 and 21.)
In the omitted verses (vv.7-9), manna is described as a rich and tasty food suitable for various modes of preparation. The JSB says, “This positive depiction of manna underscores the unjustified complaints of the people.” It also points out that the description of manna is different from Exodus 16. This was “reconciled” in Classical Jewish thought by saying that manna could take on various flavors, depending on the palate of each individual.
In today’s reading, the Israelites complained about the lack of water, vegetables, and meat. YHWH became very angry with the people, and Moses lamented to YHWH that his burden in dealing with the Israelites was too great. After Moses’ lament, YHWH directed Moses to gather 70 elders. YHWH took some of Moses’ “spirit” so this group of 70 could “prophesy” (speak for God). The reading concluded with two other men having prophetic powers – a story reflecting some ambivalence in the Bible about who can speak for God – whether there is only one legitimate prophet at a time as assumed by Deut.18:15-18 or if there may be many prophets in a single era.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes: “The acknowledgement of Eldad and Medad’s prophetic charism by Moses, against the objections of Joshua, serves to protect the independence of the prophetic office from those who would subject it to institutional control.”
The JSB notes that the desire to return to Egypt amounted to a rejection of God that warranted punishment. In the verses that follow today’s reading, YHWH caused large numbers of quail to fall on the camp of the Israelites to a depth of three feet. The Israelites gorged themselves on the meat and suffered a great plague that killed many of them. (Lesson: Be careful what you ask for; you just might get it!)
James 5:13-20
Reading
13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Commentary
Although the authorship of this epistle is not known, it has traditionally been attributed to James, the brother of Jesus, who is presented in Acts of the Apostles as the leader of the Jesus Follower community in Jerusalem.
This James (sometimes called “James the Just”) is distinguished from “James the Great” (the apostle, brother of John, and son of Zebedee) and “James the Less” (apostle and son of Alphaeus).
The letter is seen by some scholars as the expansion of a sermon likely delivered by James prior to his martyrdom in 62 CE. Because of the high quality of the Greek in the letter, however, scholars believe the sermon was edited and expanded by someone well versed in Judaism and skilled in Hellenistic rhetoric.
It was edited and distributed in the late 80’s or 90’s, was addressed to Jewish Jesus Followers, and emphasized the importance of good works. It mentions Jesus of Nazareth only twice in the letter. The NOAB says: “The letter alludes to both the Hebrew Bible and the Jesus tradition (particularly that of Matthew and Luke) and there may also be references to Paul’s teaching (2.14-26)”
This emphasis on works in the letter has been understood by some (including Luther) as being opposed to Paul’s position (particularly in Romans) that one is justified (or attains a right relationship with God) by Faith alone.
The NOAB notes: “Paul and James each interpret a verse from the Hebrew Bible – ‘And he [Abraham] believed the LORD and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness’ (Gen 15.6) – to support his own view (Paul in Gal 3.6-14. James in Jas 2.21-24). For Paul, the believer’s justification comes through faith, not works (Rom 4.16-5.2) but for James ‘faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead’ (2.17). The conflict, however, is more apparent than real. For Paul, faith is primarily trust in God (Rom 4.5), a sense of the word that James also shares (1.5); but, in his critique of faith, James means by it essentially the assent to ideas about God without any personal relationship or commitment to inform them: ‘Even demons believe’ (2.9). James sees works as acts that spring from the love of the believer for God (2.14) whereas for Paul, works are the external observations of ritual, like circumcision, regarded in isolation from any connection to one’s relationship to God.”
In other words, these positions are not opposed and can be reconciled by recognizing that salvation/wholeness (however defined and understood) is the byproduct of the combination of Faith (understood as trust in God) that leads to Faithfulness in doing good works.
This chapter concludes the letter. The first six verses of the chapter are warnings to the rich that their riches will be of no use to them at the end. The next five verses are consoltions to the faithful urging them to be enduring until the coming of the Lord, reflecting the common understanding in the First Century that Jesus would return to bring about the fullness of the Kingdom.
Today’s verses urged Jesus Followers to pray and to sing songs of praise (v.13). The NOAB notes that oil was a “common medicinal remedy” that was given special significance if the oil was anointed in the name of the Lord (v.14). The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that “church” (v.14) is “ekklesia” in Greek, which can also be translated as “synagogue” and the practice of “extreme unction” (the last rites) was adopted by the Catholic Church in the 12th Century, perhaps as an adaptation of these verses. The NJBC says that the Council of Trent (1545-1563) specifically tied Extreme Untion to the letter of James. It also noted that “elders” (v.14) did not signified advanced age, but an official position in the local church.
The author cited the example of Elijah to show the power of prayer – a reference to the story in the Book of Kings in which Elijah defeated the priests of Baal who were the agents of the evil King of Israel, Ahab (vv.17-18). The Epistle concluded with an exhortation to bring back sinners from their wanderings (v.20).
Mark 9:38-50
Reading
38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us. 41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
42 “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
49 “For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is usually dated to the time around the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest gospel and forms the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85 CE). Over 50% of the material in those two Gospels is based on Mark. Because these three Gospels follow similar chronologies of Jesus’ life and death, they are called “Synoptic Gospels” for the Greek words meaning “Same Look/View.”
The first part of today’s reading ties back to the reading from Numbers 11 – that many persons can speak for God (“prophesy”) and do good works for others in Jesus’ name.
The reference in verse 43 to “hell” is “Gehenna” in the Greek. In the First Century, Gehenna was a garbage dump outside the walls of Jerusalem where trash was burned. In Kings 23:10 and Jeremiah 7:31, the place is referred to as “valley of the son on Hinnom” and a place where child sacrifice to the pagan god Molech occurred. As such, Gehenna came to be understood as a symbol of a place of punishment.
The use of “cut off” your hand, foot, or eye (vv.45-47) is regarded by some scholars as a preacher’s hyperbole used to make a point emphatically. The JANT suggests that hand, foot and eye may be “the means of carrying out sinful deeds (stealing, coveting, etc.); if sexual sins are meant specifically, there may be allusions to the Heb ‘foot’ as a euphemism for genitals (Isa 7.20) and of the ‘eye’ as transgressing sexual boundaries (Lev 20.17-21).”
There are no verses 44 or 46. In some ancient manuscripts, the words of verse 48 (“Where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched”) are added at the end of verses 43 and 45. The NJBC says that these added words are based upon an apocalyptic vision in Isaiah 66:24.
2024, September 22 ~ Proverbs 31:10-31; Wisdom 1:16-2:1,12-22; Jeremiah 11:18-20; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
SEPTEMBER 22, 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 reading presented is from Tracks 1. The next two readings (from the Wisdom of Solomon and Jeremiah) are alternative readings in Track 2. The last two readings are the same in both Tracks.
Proverbs 31:10-31
Reading
10 A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from far away.
15 She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and tasks for her servant-girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all her household are clothed in crimson.
22 She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies the merchant with sashes.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her:
29 “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.
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 (v.1:1) to be written by Solomon who reigned from 965-928 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 (the “Instruction of Amenemope”) dating to about 1100 BCE.
Most sayings in Proverbs are presented as teachings from the elders and are aimed at young men. They advise that moral living (diligence, sobriety, self-restraint, selecting a good wife, honesty) would lead to a good life.
The authors of Proverbs suggested that attention to the Wisdom of the past and employing powers of reason would be sufficient to know what to do and what to avoid. In this sense, Proverbs has an approach that is different from those portions of the Hebrew Bible which emphasized divine revelation and the Law.
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.
Today’s reading is from the last chapter of Proverbs. In the verses just preceding today’s verses, the author cautions young men not to “give your strength to women” (v.3), or to take strong drink (v.4), but to defend the poor and needy (v.9).
The remainder of the chapter presented an ideal for women from the point of view of the husband, and is an acrostic poem in Hebrew – one in which each successive verse began with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The word “capable” (v.10) is also translated as good, perfect, virtuous, noble, and valiant, and the description “more precious than jewels” is also attributed to the personification of Wisdom in 3:15 and 8:11.
The distaff and spindle (v.19) are both instruments for spinning wool and flax. The notes to The Jewish Study Bible say: “Providing cloth for a household would require incessant spinning.”
The JSB points out that the ideal woman had considerable independence in conducting business (vv. 18 and 24) and may acquire real estate (v.16). This allowed her husband time to sit at the city gates, presumably conducting civic business and serving as a judge (v.23). The final verses reflect, however, the system of patriarchy in that the men to whom this was addressed were urged to “give her a share” (v.31).
The JSB says that these verses are traditionally recited by Jewish men to their wives at the beginning of Sabbath and at the funerals of women.
Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22
Reading
16 The ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death; considering him a friend, they pined away and made a covenant with him, because they are fit to belong to his company.
2:1 For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves, “Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end, and no one has been known to return from Hades.
12 Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training.
13 He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord.
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
15 the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange.
16 We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father.
17 Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life;
18 for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
19 Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance.
20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”
21 Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them,
22 and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor hoped for the wages of holiness,
nor discerned the prize for blameless souls.
Commentary
The Book of Wisdom, also known as “The Wisdom of Solomon,” is not part of the “Canon” (accepted books) of the Hebrew Bible. It is, however, included as part of the Hebrew Scriptures in Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church Bibles as “deutero-canonical” – part of a “second” Canon. In Protestant Bibles, Wisdom is not included in the Hebrew Scriptures but is part of the Apocrypha (“hidden books”).
This difference in treatment arises because in the period from 300 to 200 BCE, the existing Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek (the most common language of the time). Compilations of these translations were called the “Septuagint” represented as the LXX. The Book of Wisdom was included in most versions of the Septuagint, but this book (among others) was not included in the Canon of the Hebrew Bible (the “TaNaK”) when it was codified around 100 CE by the Pharisees/Rabbis after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.
Jerome included “Wisdom” and the other books that were part of the Septuagint in the Vulgate (the Latin translation of the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures around 405 CE). Jerome wrote prefaces to some books that they were not in the Jewish Canon of the Hebrew Bible. Later compilers overlooked Jerome’s prefaces, and the Council of Trent in 1546 decreed that the Roman Catholic Canon of the Old Testament included all the books that were in the Septuagint.
Luther and other Protestants followed the Jewish Canon of the Hebrew Bible and put books that were only in the Septuagint (such as Wisdom) in a separate section called the Apocrypha.
The Wisdom of Solomon purports to be written by Solomon (who reigned in Israel from 965 to 928 BCE). It was actually written in Greek by an anonymous Hellenistic Jew in the late First Century BCE or the early First Century CE. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary suggests that the place of composition was Alexandria, the great intellectual and scientific center of the Mediterranean world, and one of the largest centers the Jewish diaspora, and the author was familiar with Hellenistic philosophy, rhetoric and culture.
The author’s intent was to show to his fellow Jews the superiority of Judaism in terminology that was relevant to persons familiar with both the Hebrew Scriptures (likely the LXX) and Greek philosophy. For this reason, there is an emphasis on Platonic ideas such as immortality and the guiding force of Sophia (Wisdom).
As The NOAB points out, today’s reading was structured as a Greco-Roman diatribe in which a fictional adversary was asked to respond to arguments made by the speaker. Here, the speaker criticized the “ungodly” (v.1:16) who have made a covenant with death (v.16b). The “ungodly” presented themselves as opponents of the righteous (vv.12-20). The author criticized their wickedness and their failure to know the “secret purposes of God” (v.22).
In the omitted verses (2-11) attribute to the “ungodly” some of the thoughts expressed in the Book of Job and in Ecclesiastes — that life is fleeting, all persons will be forgotten in time, and that enjoyment of pleasure is a proper response to living under the shadow of death.
Jeremiah 11:18-20
Reading
18 It was the LORD who made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me their evil deeds.
19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!”
20 But you, O LORD of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
Commentary
After the righteous and reforming King Josiah was killed in battle at Megiddo (from which we get the Greek word Armageddon) in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported many Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and a larger number in 586 (the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e., speaking for YHWH) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.
Most Bible scholars agree that the Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah (627 to 586 BCE) and the First Century. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there were different versions of the Book of Jeremiah. The Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.
Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were added later by writers whose theological outlook was closely aligned with the Deuteronomists. (In fact, Chapter 52 in Jeremiah is virtually word-for-word with 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:30 written by the Deuteronomists after the Exile.)
Today’s reading is in poetry style and is Jeremiah’s first (of seven) “personal laments” (or complaints). The JSB observes that Jeremiah’s complaints provide an intimate glimpse of the prophet’s own feelings and that there is more biographical information in Jeremiah than in all of the other prophets combined. The New Oxford Annotated Bible says: “The origin of the grievance against Jeremiah may be his identification of certain fellow citizens as false prophets and priests.”
In this section, Jeremiah lamented that he was opposed by the “court prophets” who told the King what the King wanted to hear. Anticipating the public humiliations that would be brought upon him in later chapters, Jeremiah compared himself to an innocent lamb (v.19) who was the subject of an assassination plot (v.19b). He asked YHWH (the “LORD” in all capital letters) to bring retribution upon his enemies (v.20).
James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a
Reading
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
4:1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8a Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Commentary
Although the authorship of this epistle is not known, it has traditionally been attributed to James, the brother of Jesus, who is presented in Acts of the Apostles as the leader of the Jesus Follower community in Jerusalem.
This James (sometimes called “James the Just”) is distinguished from “James the Great” (the apostle, brother of John, and son of Zebedee) and “James the Less” (apostle and son of Alphaeus).
The letter is seen by some scholars as the expansion of a sermon likely delivered by James prior to his martyrdom in 62 CE. Because of the high quality of the Greek in the letter, however, scholars believe the sermon was edited and expanded by someone well versed in Judaism and skilled in Hellenistic rhetoric.
It was edited and distributed in the late 80’s or 90’s, was addressed to Jewish Jesus Followers, and emphasized the importance of good works. It mentions Jesus of Nazareth only twice in the letter. The NOAB says: “The letter alludes to both the Hebrew Bible and the Jesus tradition (particularly that of Matthew and Luke) and there may also be references to Paul’s teaching (2.14-26)”
This emphasis on works in the letter has been understood by some (including Luther) as being opposed to Paul’s position (particularly in Romans) that one is justified (or attains a right relationship with God) by Faith alone.
The NOAB notes: “Paul and James each interpret a verse from the Hebrew Bible – ‘And he [Abraham] believed the LORD and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness’ (Gen 15.6) – to support his own view (Paul in Gal 3.6-14; James in Jas 2.21-24). For Paul, the believer’s justification comes through faith, not works (Rom 4.16-5.2) but for James ‘faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead’ (2.17). The conflict, however, is more apparent than real. For Paul, faith is primarily trust in God (Rom 4.5), a sense of the word that James also shares (1.5); but, in his critique of faith, James means by it essentially the assent to ideas about God without any personal relationship or commitment to inform them: ‘Even demons believe’ (2.9). James sees works as acts that spring from the love of the believer for God (2.14) whereas for Paul, works are the external observations of ritual, like circumcision, regarded in isolation from any connection to one’s relationship to God.”
In other words, these positions are not opposed and can be reconciled by recognizing that salvation/wholeness (however defined and understood) is the byproduct of the combination of Faith (understood as trust in God) that leads to Faithfulness in doing good works.
Today’s reading continued these themes and observed that good works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. This passage spoke of “wisdom from above” as the source of mercy and good fruits (deeds). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes that many of the exhortations in this section of the letter are drawn from Proverbs. Today’s reading concluded by urging submission to God and resistance to the devil.
Mark 9:30-37
Reading
30 Jesus and his disciples passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is usually dated to the time around the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest gospel and forms the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85-90 CE). Over 50% of the material in those two Gospels is based on Mark. Because these three Gospels follow similar chronologies of Jesus’ life and death, they are called “Synoptic Gospels” for the Greek words meaning “Same Look/View.”
Today’s reading follows Mark’s account of the Transfiguration (9:2-13) and a dramatic exorcism of an unclean spirit in a young boy (14-29). The first part contains the second announcement in Mark that the Son of Man (“The Human Being”) would suffer and die – a notion that was foreign to First Century understandings of the Messiah. The phrase “three days” (v.31) is a euphemism that means “in a short time” – even though it has been generally understood literally.
The second portion of the reading deals with humility and servanthood and continues the theme that self-preservation is not the highest value (“For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” 8:35).
In the First Century (and much of history), children were the lowest persons in a household, and the presentation of a child by Jesus illustrated the need for the first to become last and servant of all (v.37).
The emphasis on servanthood is found in multiple places in the Christian Scriptures: Jesus’ washing the feet of his apostles at the Last Supper in John 13, Jesus’ “emptying himself” as a servant/slave in Philippians 2:7, and the Son of Man who gives his life as “a ransom for many” in Mark 10:45 – taking a theme from the Suffering Servant poems in Isaiah 52 and 53.
2024, September 15 ~ Proverbs 1:20-33; Wisdom 7:26-8:1; Isaiah 50:4-9a; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
SEPTEMBER 15, 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 offer a choice in Track 1 between Proverbs and Wisdom. The third reading is from Track 2 and is from Isaiah. The last two readings are the same in both Tracks.
Proverbs 1:20-33
Reading
20 Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice.
21 At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
23 Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
25 and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you,
27 when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
30 would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof,
31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices.
32 For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33 but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.”
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 (v.1:1) to be written by Solomon who reigned from 965-928 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 (the “Instruction of Amenemope”) dating to about 1100 BCE.
Most sayings in Proverbs are presented as teachings from the elders and are aimed at young men. They advise that moral living (diligence, sobriety, self-restraint, selecting a good wife, honesty) would lead to a good life.
The authors of Proverbs suggested that attention to the Wisdom of the past and employing powers of reason would be sufficient to know what to do and what to avoid. In this sense, Proverbs has an approach that is different from those portions of the Hebrew Bible which emphasized divine revelation and the Law.
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.
Today’s reading presents Lady Wisdom as a female prophet who speaks publicly in the city streets, in the squares and at the gates (which were the busiest places in the city). The New Oxford Annotated Bible says: “The simple (v.22) are considered teachable but scoffers and fools are generally represented as fatally resistant to instruction.” She will scorn (“laugh at”) the fools when they need her most — when there is a “calamity” (vv. 26 and 27). Those who have ignored her will “eat the fruit of their way” (v.33) – the natural consequences of their evil acts.
The Jewish Study Bible says: “Lady Wisdom does bear some similarities to ancient Near Eastern goddesses but in Proverbs she is a literary figure created as a vivid and memorable way of speaking about human wisdom.”
Wisdom 7:26-8:1
Reading
26 For wisdom is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.
27 Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
28 for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.
29 She is more beautiful than the sun,
and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
30 for it is succeeded by the night,
but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
8:1 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
and she orders all things well.
Commentary
The Book of Wisdom, also known as “The Wisdom of Solomon,” is not part of the “Canon” (accepted books) of the Hebrew Bible. It is, however, included as part of the Hebrew Scriptures in Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church Bibles as “deutero-canonical” – part of a “second” Canon. In Protestant Bibles, Wisdom is not included in the Hebrew Scriptures but is part of the Apocrypha (“hidden books”).
This difference in treatment arises because in the period from 300 to 200 BCE, the existing Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek (the common language of the time). Compilations of these translations were called the “Septuagint” represented as the LXX. The Book of Wisdom was included in most versions of the Septuagint, but this book (among others) was not included in the Canon of the Hebrew Bible (the “TaNaK”) when it was codified around 100 CE by the Pharisees/Rabbis after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.
Jerome included “Wisdom” and the other books that were part of the Septuagint in the Vulgate (the Latin translation of the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures around 405 CE). Jerome wrote prefaces to some books that they were not in the Jewish Canon of the Hebrew Bible. Later compilers overlooked Jerome’s prefaces, and the Council of Trent in 1546 decreed that the Roman Catholic Canon of the Old Testament included all the books that were in the Septuagint.
Luther and other Protestants followed the Jewish Canon of the Hebrew Bible and put books that were only in the Septuagint (such as Wisdom) in a separate section called the Apocrypha.
The Wisdom of Solomon purports to be written by Solomon (who reigned in Israel from 965 to 930 BCE). It was actually written in Greek by an anonymous Hellenistic Jew in the late First Century BCE or the early First Century CE. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary suggests that the place of composition was Alexandria, the great intellectual and scientific center of the Mediterranean world, and one of the largest centers the Jewish diaspora, and the author was familiar with Hellenistic philosophy, rhetoric and culture.
The author’s intent was to show to his fellow Jews the superiority of Judaism in terminology that was relevant to persons familiar with both the Hebrew Scriptures (likely the LXX) and Greek philosophy. For this reason, there is an emphasis on Platonic ideas such as immortality and the guiding force of Sophia (Wisdom). As The NOAB points out, the description of wisdom as a pure emanation or reflection of God (v.26) reflects the influence of philosophical concepts.
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Reading
4 The LORD GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens — wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
5 The LORD GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.
6 I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
7 The LORD GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
8 he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.
9a It is the LORD GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were made from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE, and then assembled into a single book.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Israel and Judea to repent in the years before Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE and Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.
Today’s reading is part of Second Isaiah and is often seen as one of the “Suffering Servant” songs, the longest of which is Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12. The identity of the “Suffering Servant” is sometimes understood as the prophet Isaiah (as in today’s reading) but is more commonly is seen as Judea itself, whose suffering in the Exile (as the servant of YHWH) would lead to vindication by YHWH in the restoration to Jerusalem after 539 BCE. The JSB notes that the prophet “sets a model that the nation as a whole should follow, since the whole nation has a prophetic role to the world at large.” It adds: “Deutero-Isaiah, like all Israelites, suffered in the Exile. But Deutero-Isaiah knows the punishment meted out to the exiles was just, accepts it, and awaits the vindication that surely follows.”
The NJBC notes: “Like the prophets before him, the servant is ignored and even maltreated (v.6). It also notes that the prophet used “courtroom terminology” (vv.8-9).
The author of the Gospel According to Mark used many of the Suffering Servant themes to describe the sufferings of Jesus of Nazareth and for the representation that “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
James 3:1-12
Reading
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4 Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no one can tame the tongue– a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
Commentary
Although the authorship of this epistle is not known, it has traditionally been attributed to James, the brother of Jesus, who is presented in Acts of the Apostles as the leader of the Jesus Follower community in Jerusalem.
This James (sometimes called “James the Just”) is distinguished from “James the Great” (the apostle, brother of John, and son of Zebedee) and “James the Less” (apostle and son of Alphaeus).
The letter is seen by some scholars as the expansion of a sermon likely delivered by James prior to his martyrdom in 62 CE. Because of the high quality of the Greek in the letter, however, scholars believe the sermon was edited and expanded by someone well versed in Judaism and skilled in Hellenistic rhetoric.
It was edited and distributed in the late 80’s or 90’s, was addressed to Jewish Jesus Followers, and emphasized the importance of good works. It mentions Jesus of Nazareth only twice in the letter. The NOAB says: “The letter alludes to both the Hebrew Bible and the Jesus tradition (particularly that of Matthew and Luke) and there may also be references to Paul’s teaching (2.14-26)”
This emphasis on works in the letter has been understood by some (including Luther) as being opposed to Paul’s position (particularly in Romans) that one is justified (or attains a right relationship with God) by Faith alone.
The NOAB notes: “Paul and James each interpret a verse from the Hebrew Bible – ‘And he [Abraham] believed the LORD and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness’ (Gen 15.6) – to support his own view (Paul in Gal 3.6-14. James in Jas 2.21-24). For Paul, the believer’s justification comes through faith, not works (Rom 4.16-5.2) but for James ‘faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead’ (2.17). The conflict, however, is more apparent than real. For Paul, faith is primarily trust in God (Rom 4.5), a sense of the word that James also shares (1.5); but, in his critique of faith, James means by it essentially the assent to ideas about God without any personal relationship or commitment to inform them: ‘Even demons believe’ (2.9). James sees works as acts that spring from the love of the believer for God (2.14) whereas for Paul, works are the external observations of ritual, like circumcision, regarded in isolation from any connection to one’s relationship to God.”
In other words, these positions are not opposed and can be reconciled by recognizing that salvation/wholeness (however defined and understood) is the byproduct of the combination of Faith (understood as trust in God) that leads to Faithfulness in doing good works.
Today’s reading emphasizes the responsibilities of those who teach (v.1) and discusses the importance of disciplined speech. Although the human tongue is small (v.5), our speech can have a significant influence on others and on ourselves. The author asserts that what we say will be pleasing to God if we avoid unwholesome speech.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that many of the admonitions in today’s reading are reflections of materials in Proverbs and in Jewish Wisdom Literature.
Mark 8:27-38
Reading
27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” 30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is usually dated to the time around the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest gospel and forms the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (which were written around 85 – 90 CE). Over 50% of the material in those two Gospels is based on Mark. Because these three Gospels follow similar chronologies of Jesus’ life and death, they are called “Synoptic Gospels” for the Greek words meaning “Same Look/View.”
The scene of today’s reading is Caesarea Philippi, an area in the northernmost area of Israel. (In the next Chapter, Jesus was transfigured on a mountain, and although the mountain is not identified in the text, the largest mountain in Israel was Mount Hermon in the north of Israel.)
The response of the disciples that Jesus might be John the Baptist or Elijah (v.28) is not surprising and represented the notion that was prevalent in the First Century that famous persons of the past might be reincarnated in others who resembled them.
Peter’s statement (v.29) that Jesus is the Messiah led Jesus to say that the Son of Man (“The Human Being”) would be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes (v.31). From this point on in Mark’s Gospel, the Pharisees were no longer presented as being opposed to Jesus. This is a significant difference from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in which the Pharisees were seen as the primary opponents of Jesus – a reflection of the later date of those two Gospels.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes: “The messianic secret is most explicit here; Jesus speaks quite openly about what will happen to him, but only to his disciples.” Regarding the rebuke of Peter (vv. 32-33), The JANT says: “See Zech 3.2 where, in the presence of the high priest Joshua – Jesus in Greek! – God rebukes Satan with similar language. Peter cannot imagine a messiah who suffers and dies, and Jesus’ sharp response defines this passage as a central, defining moment in the Gospel.”
The notion that the Messiah would suffer was not common in Jesus’ lifetime, but for the audience of Mark’s Gospel, the “future” suffering of the Son of Man (v.31) was already past and confirmed by history. Mark appropriated the Suffering Servant texts from Isaiah and used them (along with Psalm 22) to describe Jesus and his Passion.
In the second part of the reading, Jesus told not only the disciples but also the crowd (v.34) of the need to deny oneself and “take up their cross and follow me.” The footnote in The NOAB states: “The Romans used crucifixion as a gruesome means of terrorizing subject peoples by hanging rebels and agitators from crosses for several days until they suffocated to death. They required condemned provincials to carry the crossbeam on which they were about to be hung.”
The statement about the Son of Man coming with his holy angels (v.38) was a reference to Daniel 7:13 (“I saw one like a human being [Son of Man] coming with the clouds of heaven, and he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him.”) The NOAB interprets this verse: “How the followers stand towards Jesus and his gospel when facing trial will determine how the Son of Man will stand toward them when, in God’s final condemnation of the oppressive empire, he comes in judgment as well as restoration of the people.”
2024, September 8 ~ Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
SEPTEMBER 8, 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.
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Reading
1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.
8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.
9 Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.
22 Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate;
23 for the LORD pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.
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 (v.1:1) to be written by Solomon who reigned from 965-928 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 (the “Instruction of Amenemope”) dating to about 1100 BCE.
Most sayings in Proverbs are presented as teachings from the elders and are aimed at young men. They advise that moral living (diligence, sobriety, self-restraint, selecting a good wife, honesty) would lead to a good life.
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.
Today’s reading emphasizes the commonality of rich and poor, even though in later verses, the “rich rule over the poor and the borrower is the slave of the lender” (v.7). Debt slavery was a reality in Ancient Israel.
The author noted that injustice leads to calamity (v.8) but those who are generous are blessed (v.9). The “gate” (v.22) was the place where judgments were rendered, and Proverbs calls for fair treatment of the poor. The Jewish Study Bible observes: “The wretched man’s wretchedness is a reason not to cheat him. The poor may lack a human protector, but they have a divine one.”
Isaiah 35:4-7a
Reading
4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.’
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
7a the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water;
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Israel’s history. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and called for Jerusalem to repent in the 20 years before Jerusalem was under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55 and brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 and, for the most part, gave encouragement to Judeans who returned to Jerusalem (which had been largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile.
In spite of these seemingly clear divisions, The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes these verses as a “link-chapter that stands in contrast to the description of Eden in 34.1-17 and connects with the theme of return from exile.” Today’s reading from Chapter 35 was likely written during the Exile and was inserted by the final compiler of the Book of Isaiah to provide a transition from First Isaiah to Second Isaiah.
Today’s reading gives hope that the Exile will end. It says that disabilities would be removed (v.5) and there will be water in the wilderness (vv. 6-7). By promising that the wilderness would have water, it suggested that the Judeans would be able to return to Jerusalem by a more direct route than expected. Portions of verses 5 and 6 were paraphrased in today’s reading from Mark.
The Jewish Study Bible says: “This ch is the converse of the previous one: In ch 34, a land inhabited by Judah’s enemies becomes a desert; in ch 35, the desert is transformed so that Judean exiles in Babylonia can pass through it with ease on their journey to Zion.”
A minor point of information: the “a” in the description of the reading shows that only the first half of verse 7 is included in the reading. The second half of this verse has a number of different translations – which reflects the fact that it is sometimes difficult to determine the best text to translate.
The NRSV translates verse 7b as follows: “the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp; the grass shall become reeds and rushes.” A translator’s note says that the Hebrew text is “in the haunt of jackals is her resting place.” The Jewish Publication Society translation of the same verse is: “the home of jackals, a pasture; the abode [of ostriches] reeds and rushes.” The JPS translator notes that 34:13b reads “a home of jackals and an abode of ostriches.”
James 2:1-17
Reading
1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Commentary
Although the authorship of this epistle is not known, it has traditionally been attributed to James, the brother of Jesus, who is presented in Acts of the Apostles as the leader of the Jesus Follower community in Jerusalem.
This James (sometimes called “James the Just”) is distinguished from “James the Great” (the apostle, brother of John, and son of Zebedee) and “James the Less” (apostle and son of Alphaeus).
The letter is seen by some scholars as the expansion of a sermon likely delivered by James prior to his martyrdom in 62 CE. Because of the high quality of the Greek in the letter, scholars believe the sermon was edited and expanded by someone well versed in Judaism and skilled in Hellenistic rhetoric.
It was edited and distributed in the late 80’s or 90’s, was addressed to Jewish Jesus Followers, and emphasized the importance of good works. It mentions Jesus of Nazareth only twice in the letter. The NOAB says: “The letter alludes to both the Hebrew Bible and the Jesus tradition (particularly that of Matthew and Luke) and there may also be references to Paul’s teaching (2.14-26)”
This emphasis on works in the letter has been understood by some (including Luther) as being opposed to Paul’s position (particularly in Romans) that one is justified (or attains a right relationship with God) by Faith alone.
The NOAB notes: “Paul and James each interpret a verse from the Hebrew Bible – ‘And he [Abraham] believed the LORD and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness’ (Gen 15.6) – to support his own view (Paul in Gal 3.6-14. James in Jas 2.21-24). For Paul, the believer’s justification comes through faith, not works (Rom 4.16-5.2) but for James ‘faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead’ (2.17). The conflict, however, is more apparent than real. For Paul, faith is primarily trust in God (Rom 4.5), a sense of the word that James also shares (1.5); but, in his critique of faith, James means by it essentially the assent to ideas about God without any personal relationship or commitment to inform them: ‘Even demons believe’ (2.9). James sees works as acts that spring from the love of the believer for God (2.14) whereas for Paul, works are the external observations of ritual, like circumcision, regarded in isolation from any connection to one’s relationship to God.”
In other words, these positions are not opposed and can be reconciled by recognizing that salvation/wholeness (however defined and understood) is the byproduct of the combination of Faith (understood as trust in God) that leads to Faithfulness in doing good works.
Today’s reading emphasized that good works include caring for the poor, not giving preference to the rich (2-7), obeying the “royal law” (a designation unique to James) to love one’s neighbors as oneself (v.8) and caring for the bodily needs of those in want. The author asserted that while faith is important, if it does not lead to good works, it is dead (v.17).
The NOAB notes that “assembly” (v.2) is literally translated as the synagogue, showing that the letter was primarily addressed to Jewish Jesus Followers and observing that both rich and poor participated in worship services. The “law of liberty” (v.12) reflected the Jewish understanding that the point of the Law is to free humanity from the domination of evil powers.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that verses 1-8 are based on Deuteronomy 16:19-20 (“You shall not judge unfairly; you shall show no partiality”) and that the “royal law” (v.8) is Lev.19:18. It notes that verses 15-17 are likely based on Isaiah 58:7 (“Is it [a day acceptable to the LORD] not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”)
Mark 7:24-37
Reading
24 Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. 27 She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go – the demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is usually dated to the time around the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest gospel and forms the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85 CE). Over 50% of the material in those two Gospels is based on Mark. Because these three Gospels follow similar chronologies of Jesus’ life and death, they are called “Synoptic Gospels” for the Greek words meaning “Same Look/View.”
Today’s reading is presented as an “epiphany” for Jesus of Nazareth. Looking for some R&R, Jesus went to the region of Tyre, a city on the Mediterranean in the Province of Syria, about 30 miles north and west of the Sea of Galilee.
The woman who came to Jesus was “a Gentile of Syrophoenician origin” (v.25). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that describing the woman as a “Gentile” gave her religion, and Syrophoenician gave her nationality or ethnic origin. The JANT points out that she was a Phoenician from Syria rather than from North Africa. Phoenicians generally were (along with the Canaanites and the Moabites) seen as the original inhabitants of the land before the Israelites arrived and were therefore viewed by Jews as inherently wicked and dangerous.
The response of Jesus to her plea on behalf of her daughter was that the “food” (his teaching of the kingdom) was only for the “children” (the people of Israel) and was not for “the dogs” (a generic insult meaning Gentiles in this story). The woman’s rejoinder figuratively took the insult upon herself and thereby caused Jesus to recognize that the teaching of the Kingdom was for both Jews and Gentiles, and the woman’s daughter was healed.
This story is in Matthew (but not in Luke) with some variations – the woman is described as a “Canaanite” and Jesus refers to the “lost sheep of Israel” rather than “the children.” The theological point made in both Gospels is that Jesus’ message of the Kingdom was for Jews and Gentiles.
In the second part of the reading, Jesus took a circuitous route (north from Tyre to Sidon and then southeast) to the Decapolis (literally, 10 cities) region on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. The NOAB sees the healing of the deaf man (v.32) as “symbolic of a more general restoration of hearing and speech.” The JANT notes that such a person would have been considered the equivalent of a minor – a person not responsible for observing the law. His healing brought him into the community.
The exhortations not to tell others of these events is generally called the “Messianic Secret.” The JANT observes that this “secret” is ironically contrasted with the paraphrase in verse 37 from Isaiah 35:5 (“Then [after the Exile] the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped”) though the phrase “he has done everything well” is not part of the text in Isaiah. It also points out that only God has the power to make the mute speak, citing Ex. 4:11 (Then the LORD said to him [Moses], “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?”)
2024, September 1 ~ Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-9; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
SEPTEMBER 1, 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.
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Reading
8 The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away;
11 for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
Commentary
The Song of Solomon is also known as “The Song of Songs” and “Canticles.” It is a series of lyric poems celebrating human love that were combined into a single poem. The poem has the voices of two lovers, a man and a woman addressing each other, interspersed with other voices. Although the superscription (1:1) attributes the poem to Solomon, The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that nature of the Hebrew used and the inclusion of Persian and Greek “loan words” shows that the poem was written over an extended period and was put in its final form (“redacted”) in the fourth or third century BCE. The poem is similar to other Near Eastern and Egyptian love poetry.
The poem is highly erotic and describes the lovers’ physical attractions in detail. It uses sensuous imagery including sight, smell, taste, and hearing. With its emphasis on human erotic love, the Song is silent on the Bible’s theological and historical themes, making it unique in the biblical canon.
As mentioned by The NOAB, in order to “tame” the poetry, allegorical interpretations arose as early as the First Century CE when the lovers were seen by Jewish commentators as YHWH and Israel and as a song about Israel’s ongoing redemption by God. Christian allegorical interpretations included the love between the Christ and the Church, and as an expression of the soul’s spiritual union with God. These allegorical interpretations remained prevalent until the development of modern historical criticism (analysis) in the 18th Century.
The Jewish Study Bible notes that The Song is recited at Passover, and in some communities to welcome the Sabbath on Friday evenings.
The Song uses clever puns and homonyms. In verse 9, for example, the woman refers to her lover as a “gazelle.” The NOAB notes that in Hebrew, there is a homonym that means “beauty.”
In verse 15, she says “our vineyards are in blossom” — understood by The NOAB commentators as a statement that her sexuality is in full bloom and is available.
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Reading
1 Moses said: So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it but keep the commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging you.
6 You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!” 7 For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?
9 But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.
Commentary
Deuteronomy is the fifth (and last) book of the Torah and is presented as Moses’ final speech to the Israelites just before they entered the Promised Land. “Deuteronomy” comes from Greek words that mean “Second Law” and is structured as a “restatement” of the laws found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Parts of it were revised as late as 450 BCE, but the bulk of the book is dated to the reign of King Josiah of Judea (640-609 BCE).
The authors of the Book of Deuteronomy were also the authors of the books of Joshua, Judges Samuel, and Kings (collectively called “the Deuteronomic History”). The Deuteronomists used the stories in these books to demonstrate that it was the failures of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judea (and, by extension, the people) to worship YHWH exclusively 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.)
In today’s reading, Moses began a long (30 chapter) “restatement” of the Law and emphasized that obedience to the Law would make Israel a great nation and the envy of other nations (vv.6-8).
The Jewish Study Bible sees this chapter as an “historically later theological reflection” on the Deuteronomic Decalogue (5:6-21). The NOAB points out that, even though this chapter precedes the Decalogue, it emphasized the second Commandment (no false gods). The breach of this Commandment was seen by the Deuteronomists as was the critical reason for the Exile (vv.25-31). Failure to obey the Law would lead to bad outcomes such as the Exile.
The Deuteronomists presented this restatement as the “final” version of the law — nothing can be added or taken away (4.2).
This idea of a “final law” conflicted with later interpretations of the Law that came to be known as the “Oral Torah.” These interpretations (which often led to regulations) were codified and written down after the First Century CE. The first codification was called the Mishnah (c. 200 CE). The Torah and the Mishnah were further interpreted, and these interpretations were compiled into the Gemara (c. 500 CE). Later interpretations of the Torah, the Mishnah and the Gamara were eventually combined into the Talmud (c. 700 CE).
The Gospels refer to the Oral Torah as “the tradition of the elders” (Matt. 15:2, Mark 7:4) as shown in today’s Gospel reading.
The JSB observes that the presentation of the Torah as Israel’s wisdom (vv.5-8) “challenged the prevailing Near Eastern idea that wisdom was a royal prerogative, such as in the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1755 BCE).”
James 1:17-27
Reading
17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act — they will be blessed in their doing.
26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Commentary
Although the authorship of this epistle is not known, it has traditionally been attributed to James, the brother of Jesus, who is presented in Acts of the Apostles as the leader of the Jesus Follower community in Jerusalem.
This James (sometimes called “James the Just”) is distinguished from “James the Great” (the apostle, brother of John, and son of Zebedee) and “James the Less” (apostle and son of Alphaeus).
The letter is seen by some scholars as the expansion of a sermon likely delivered by James prior to his martyrdom in 62 CE. Because of the high quality of the Greek in the letter, scholars believe the sermon was edited and expanded by someone well versed in Judaism and skilled in Hellenistic rhetoric.
It was and distributed in the late 80’s or 90’s, was addressed to Jewish Jesus Followers, and emphasized the importance of good works. It mentions Jesus of Nazareth only twice in the letter. The NOAB says: “The letter alludes to both the Hebrew Bible and the Jesus tradition (particularly that of Matthew and Luke) and there may also be references to Paul’s teaching (2.14-26)”
This emphasis on works in the letter has been understood by some (including Luther) as being opposed to Paul’s position (particularly in Romans) that one is justified (or attains a right relationship with God) by Faith alone.
The NOAB notes: “Paul and James each interpret a verse from the Hebrew Bible – ‘And he [Abraham] believed the LORD and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness’ (Gen 15.6) – to support his own view (Paul in Gal 3.6-14. James in Jas 2.21-24). For Paul, the believer’s justification comes through faith, not works (Rom 4.16-5.2) but for James ‘faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead’ (2.17). The conflict, however, is more apparent than real. For Paul, faith is primarily trust in God (Rom 4.5), a sense of the word that James also shares (1.5); but, in his critique of faith, James means by it essentially the assent to ideas about God without any personal relationship or commitment to inform them: ‘Even demons believe’ (2.9). James sees works as acts that spring from the love of the believer for God (2.14) whereas for Paul, works are the external observations of ritual, like circumcision, regarded in isolation from any connection to one’s relationship to God.”
In other words, these positions are not opposed and can be reconciled by recognizing that salvation/wholeness (however defined and understood) is the byproduct of the combination of Faith (understood as trust in God) that leads to Faithfulness in doing good works.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament suggests that the phrase “there is no variation or shadow due to change” (v.17) reflects the Platonic notion that eternal forms do not change, and the term “first fruits” (v.18) is derived from Jer. 2:3 that metaphorically defined Israel as God’s first fruits. In The JANT, “implanted word” (v.21) “means God’s natural moral law described by Scripture as in the ‘mouth and heart,’ the law that needs to be observed (see v. 22)” “particularly towards widows and orphans, and in general keeping the soul from impurity and iniquity.”
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Reading
1 When the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”
21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is usually dated to the time around the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest gospel and forms the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85 CE). Over 50% of the material in those two Gospels is based on Mark. Because these three Gospels follow similar chronologies of Jesus’ life and death, they are called “Synoptic Gospels” for the Greek words meaning “Same Look/View.”
Two major points of disagreement between the Jesus Follower Movement and Pharisaical Judaism (the other surviving sect in Judaism after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE) were the question of circumcision for male Gentiles who sought to become Jesus Followers and the observation of the Purity Codes (including laws relating to kosher food).
In today’s reading, the Pharisees and “some scribes” (v.1) from Jerusalem came to the Galilee and raised a question about Jesus’ disciples failing to wash their hands before eating, which they claimed was a violation of the “Oral Torah” – the traditions of the elders (v.3). (The JANT observes that the Pharisees were, in effect, importing a Temple practice into the home, and that in the First Century not “all the Jews” (v.3) – including the Sadducees – washed their hands before eating.)
In verse 6, the author of the Gospel paraphrased the verse from the LXX version of Isaiah 29:13 to make the point that externals were not as important as intention and the human heart (v.21). The JANT points out that the term “hypocrite” (v.6) is “a term from Greek drama, and means one who plays a part; here it indicates a person who has only the appearance of righteousness.”
In omitted verses (9-13), Jesus accused the Pharisees of making financial contributions to the Temple as a hypocritical way of excusing themselves for not providing for their parents. In other omitted verses (17-20), Mark said that Jesus declared all foods clean. This statement is not in the Gospels of Matthew or Luke, and Luke omitted this encounter with the Pharisees altogether.
2024, August 25 ~ 1 Kings 8:1,6,10-11,22-30,41-43; Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
AUGUST 25, 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 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43
Reading
1 Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 10 And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands to heaven. 23 He said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 24 the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand. 25 Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26 Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant my father David.
27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! 28 Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.
41 “Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name — 42 for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, 43 then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.
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 beginning of Babylonian Captivity (586 BCE). The books were written in the period from 640 BCE to 500 BCE and continued to be revised even after that.
The authors of the Deuteronomic Books artfully wove their stories from numerous 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 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 (c. 965 BCE) to the Babylonian Captivity.
Last week’s reading was from Chapters 2 and 3 and was an account of Solomon’s dream in which he was granted his request for wisdom. In the chapters between that reading and today’s, Solomon exhibited his wisdom by identifying the true mother of a child by threatening to cut a child in half (3:27). His kingdom extended to the areas promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:18) – from the Euphrates to the border of Egypt (4:21). The kingdom was well ordered and Solomon’s wisdom was described as greater than that of any ruler (4:30).
He built a Temple for YHWH using foreign conscripted labor. The details of the Temple were described in Chapters 5 and 6. Solomon spent almost twice as much time building his palace as he spent on building the Temple, and his palace was 6.6 times larger than the Temple. The New Oxford Annotated Bible sees these discrepancies as a criticism by the Deuteronomists of Solomon’s priorities.
The Jewish Study Bible says that the Temple was constructed “on a hill north of the city. A broad consensus among historians and archeologists maintains that Solomon’s Temple was built beneath the platform around the Dome of the Rock and in the surrounding area.”
Today’s reading described the bringing of the ark of the covenant from a tent to the Temple at the Feast of the Tabernacles. It was carried by the priests, because not even the elders were safe in its immediate proximity. A cloud (v.10) filled the Temple, a frequently used symbol for the presence of YHWH, as in the cloud that led the Israelites in the Wilderness (Ex. 13:21).
Most of today’s reading is a prayer by Solomon that expresses many of the themes of the Deuteronomists. In particular, the prayer noted that YHWH had kept the covenant with the people (v.23) and YHWH had kept the promise made to David that his house would endure forever. The original promise to David was unconditional (2 Sam. 7:13), but this text added the proviso that the descendants of David must walk before the LORD as David walked before the LORD (v.25). The JSB observes: “The concept expressed here that the Temple is the place where God dwells is qualified by a more abstract conception in v. 29, which portrays the Temple as the place where the divine ‘name’ dwells.”
The JSB observes: “In the ancient world, the proper posture for petitionary prayer was standing erect with raised hands” — just as Solomon did (v.22).
In the chapters that follow, Solomon’s great wealth was noted and YHWH warned against “turning aside from following me (9:6). In Chapter 11, Solomon’s love of “many foreign women” (11:1) turned away his heart (11:4) and made YHWH angry with him (11:9). Thus began the decline of Israel that eventually led to the division of the kingdom into the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) in 928 BCE soon after Solomon died.
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
Reading
1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2a And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel:
14 “Now therefore revere the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the LORD. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; 17 for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 18 and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”
Commentary
The authors of the Book of Joshua (called “the Deuteronomists”) were also the authors of the books of Deuteronomy, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. These books were given their final form around 550 BCE – long after the events they described.
The Deuteronomists used the stories in these five books to make the case that it was the failures of the people and the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judea 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 Joshua is part of this “Deuteronomic History.” It covered the entry of the Israelites into the Promised Land by crossing the River Jordan (around 1225 BCE, if the account is historical), the swift conquest by Joshua of the people that were in the land (starting with Jericho), the allocation of the lands among the tribes, and concluded with the “Covenant at Shechem” by which the people swore (acting as their own witnesses) to be faithful to YHWH.
In today’s reading, Joshua assembled and united all the tribes in Shechem (an important religious and political center in what became Samaria). After reciting an account of the conquest (that is different from the accounts in chapter 6), he challenged them whether they will serve YHWH exclusively. The people promised to serve YHWH and put away foreign gods in this Covenant at Shechem (vv.16-18). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes: “This affirmation expresses the essence of Israel as a confederation whose principle of unity was religious worship of Yahweh and Yahweh alone.”
The Deuteronomists used this Covenant at Shechem to “convict” the Israelites of their own later failures to worship YHWH as the cause of their conquests by foreign powers. YHWH was presented by the Deuteronomists as faithful to YHWH’s promises (such as the promise to Abraham of the land and the promise that David’s “house” would rule forever). The later failures of the people (and their kings) to worship YHWH were breaches of their own Covenant.
Ephesians 6:10-20
Reading
10 Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.
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.
Today’s reading is the last of the six portions of the Letter to the Ephesians that have been presented in recent weeks.
Today, the author portrayed life as a Jesus Follower as a struggle against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and the spiritual forces of evil. He urged that believers put on the armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness (appropriate behavior and being in right relation with God, others, and the world), the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and use one offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit (which the author says is the word of God).
The NJBC describes this section as presenting Christian existence “as a constant warfare against the malevolent spirits in the heavens.”
John 6:56-69
Reading
56 Jesus said, “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.” 59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65 And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”
66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67 So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
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 the conclusion of the Bread of Life Discourse in Chapter 6. It is not surprising that some of Jesus’ followers found the sayings “difficult” (v.60) because (taken literally) the eating of flesh of a human is cannibalism and drinking blood (the life force in all creatures) belongs to God and was therefore forbidden to humans (Lev. 17:15).
The reference to the Son of Man (v.62) ascending is a reference to Daniel 7:13 (“I saw one like a human being [son of man] coming with the clouds of heaven.”)
In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus is presented as omniscient, and therefore knew who would believe and who would betray him (v. 64). Faith, which is God’s gift (v.65), is what enables one to know that Jesus is the Messiah and the human embodiment of God.
Peter’s calling Jesus “the Holy One of God” (v.69) is a phrase that does not appear elsewhere in the Fourth Gospel. Other ancient texts substitute the words “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” in this verse. The only prior Scriptural references that are similar to “Holy One of God” are references in Judges 13:7 and 16:7 to Samson as a “nazirite to God.” A nazirite was a person who took a vow to dedicate their life to YHWH’s service. In Psalm 106:16, Aaron (Moses’ brother) is called “the holy one of the LORD.”
The Jewish Annotated New Testament says: “The passage suggests the practice of theophagy (lit., ‘eating the God’) associated with Greco-Roman mystery cults such as those of Demeter and Dionysius. The allusion implies the Gospel writer’s familiarity with such cults and supports the hypothesis that the audience included Gentiles.”
2024, August 18 ~ 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14; Proverbs 9:1-6; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’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.
2024, August 11 ~ 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; 1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
AUGUST 11, 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.
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Reading
5 The king, David, ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders concerning Absalom.
6 So the army went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. 7 The men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread over the face of all the country; and the forest claimed more victims that day than the sword. Absalom happened to meet the servants of David.
9 Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.
15 And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him, and killed him.
31 Then the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, “Good tidings for my LORD the king! For the LORD has vindicated you this day, delivering you from the power of all who rose up against you.” 32 The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” The Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my LORD the king, and all who rise up to do you harm, be like that young man.”
33 The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Commentary
The Book of Samuel 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 beginning of Babylonian Captivity (586 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 numerous 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 Samuel (to the extent it may be historical) covers from the end of the time of the Judges (c.1030 BCE) to the last years of the Reign of David (c. 965 BCE).
Today’s reading has fast forwarded from last week’s reading in which Nathan told David that YHWH said, “I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house” (2 Sam. 12:11).
In the intervening six chapters, Amnon (David’s oldest son) became infatuated with his half-sister (Tamar) and raped her (13:14). David learned of this but declined to punish Amnon “because he loved him, for he was his firstborn” (13:21). Absalom (David’s third son) was Tamar’s full brother and got revenge by having his servants kill Amnon (13:29). In fear, Absalom ran away and lived with his maternal grandfather (13:37). After five years, he was allowed to see David and was subservient to him (14:33).
This subservience was short-lived. Absalom ingratiated himself with the people of Israel and led a revolt against David (15:13). David fled from Jerusalem and Absalom moved into David’s house and took all his concubines (a symbol of kingship and power). Absalom brought his army to pursue David but was persuaded by a person secretly sympathetic to David to hold off on attacking David. The Jewish Study Bible points out that the advice given to hold off was ”decreed” by YHWH (17:5-14). The delay in attacking gave David time to regroup his scattered forces (18:1-4).
David was now ready to attack Absalom’s troops but told his generals to “be gentle” with Absalom (v.5). In this way, the Deuteronomist absolved David of Absalom’s death.
Absalom was described as very beautiful (14:25) and had such a great head of hair that when he had it cut at the end of each year, the cut hair weighed five pounds (14:26). and Absalom’s unseating symbolized his loss of the kingdom. As Absalom was riding his mule (which as The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out, was the royal mount for David and his sons), he was ensnared by an oak tree because of his beautiful hair (v.9), and was killed by Joab and 10 of Joab’s men. As The NOAB observes, because there were 10 men, no individual could be blamed for the actual killing.
In the omitted verses (16-34), Joab dissuaded people from bringing news of Absalom’s death to David and sent a “Cushite” (an Ethiopian) (v.21) instead. When David got the report, he was (according to the Deuteronomist) less interested in the victory over Absalom’s troops than he was about Absalom’s fate. He bemoaned Absalom’s death and said he would have preferred to die himself (v.33).
In the verses that follow today’s reading, Joab (who was fiercely devoted to David) scolded David for caring more about his rebellious son than all the persons who were loyal to David and helped him regain his throne.
The balance of 2 Samuel relates the return of David to power and the consolidation of his reign. Next week, the Lectionary introduces the reign of Solomon.
1 Kings 19:4-8
Reading
4 Elijah went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
Commentary
The authors of the Book of Kings were also the authors of the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Samuel, usually called the “Deuteronomic History,” a didactic history of Ancient Israel from the time in the Wilderness (c. 1250 BCE) to the Babylonian Captivity in 586 BCE.
These books were given their final form around 500 BCE – long after the events they described. The authors used the stories in these books to demonstrate that it was the failures of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judea 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.)
After Solomon’s death in 928 BCE, the nation divided in two. The Northern Kingdom consisted of 10 tribes and was called “Israel.” The Southern Kingdom had two tribes, Judah and Benjamin and was called “Judea.” For the most part, the Deuteronomists portrayed the Kings of the North as unfaithful to YHWH. Ahab (873-852 BCE) was one of the worst offenders and his wife was the Baal-worshiping foreigner, Jezebel.
The prophet Elijah is the subject of today’s reading. Elijah and his successor, Elisha, were two of the great prophets (speakers for YHWH) in Jewish History. They opposed the (mostly) Baal-worshiping kings in Northern Israel for 90 years (from approximately 873 to 784 BCE), and their stories comprise about 40% of the Book of Kings. Elijah and Elisha are both credited with numerous healings, restoring people to life, and other extraordinary events.
Just prior to today’s verses, Elijah invoked the power of YHWH to overcome the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in the Northern part of Israel. He brought fire upon a huge sacrifice, rain to end a drought, and then killed all 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah, the consort of Baal (1 Kings 18).
Ahab told Jezebel what Elijah had done (v.1). Jezebel swore to kill Elijah (v.2), so he ran away as far south in Israel as he could – first to Beer-sheba (about 100 miles) and then to the Wilderness where he hoped to die (v.4). As The Jewish Study Bible observes, the theme of a prophet wishing to die out of a sense of isolation and failure was repeated in Jonah 4:3.
YHWH’s angels provided food to Elijah (v.5) so he could journey to Horeb and continue his ministry. For the Deuteronomists, the holy mountain was called “Horeb” (which means “dry place”) rather than Sinai. (“Sinai” was the name used by the authors of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.) The location of the holy mountain in the Sinai Peninsula has never been determined. Elijah’s receiving food in the wilderness was parallel to Hagar’s story in Genesis 21:19.
The Jewish Study Bible points out that a person could cover 20-25 miles a day walking. If Elijah walked for 40 days and 40 nights (v.8), he could have covered between 600 and 1,000 miles. The JSB suggests that 40 is merely a “formulaic number” meaning “a long time.”
In the verses that follow today’s reading, Elijah had a theophany and was directed by YHWH to return to the north, anoint a new king of Israel, and appoint Elisha as his successor.
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Reading
25 Putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil. 28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
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.
Because of the verses just before today’s reading, this passage appears mostly directed at the Gentile Jesus Followers. The author urged them to put away falsehood, not speak evil of others, and to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling and slander (v.4:31). He urged them live in love as Christ loved us. Describing Christ as a “fragrant sacrifice” (v.5:2) was a reference by the author to burnt offerings in the Hebrew Scriptures which are described as giving off an odor that was pleasing to YHWH, for example, Noah’s sacrifice in Gen. 8:21.
John 6:35, 41-51
Reading
35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 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.”
Commentary
The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many of the 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 being sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held that night.
Today’s reading begins with the closing verse of last week’s reading with Jesus asserting that he is the “Bread of Life” (v.35). In the omitted verses (36-40), Jesus asserted that he had come from heaven to do the will “of him who sent me” (v.38) and that those who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life (v.40).
The “Jews” who complained (v.41) about Jesus’ claim that he is the “bread from heaven” are the Temple Authorities and the Pharisees, not Jewish people generally. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary sees the reference to “his mother and father” (v.42) as indicating that “there is no evidence that John know of the traditions about Jesus’ conception or birth in Bethlehem. Such a tradition would be irrelevant in any case, since the point is that Jesus has come from heaven.”
In verse 45a (“And they shall all be taught by God”), Isaiah 54:13 was a paraphrase of a portion of Isaiah of the Exile in which the prophet said that the Exiles would be taught by God and would be restored to Jerusalem.
The NJBC understands “Not that anyone who has seen the Father except the one who is from God” (v.46) as asserting “there is no knowledge of God apart from Jesus [citing other verses in the Fourth Gospel]. One cannot be ‘taught by God’ apart from hearing and believing the word of Jesus.”
The Fourth Gospel does not contain an Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Today’s reading is part of an extended discussion in which Jesus affirmed his relationship with the Father and asserted that – unlike manna in the desert — he is the Bread of Life that brings eternal life.
The Fourth Gospel is the most theologically dense of the four Gospels, and the theology of the Eucharist is one of the most challenging religious constructs for Christians to appreciate. To affirm that bread and wine are somehow transformed into the Body and Blood of The Christ requires a leap of faith. To affirm that ingesting the Body and Blood will transform us and put us in “common union” with The Christ demands a leap of faith. To affirm that this union with The Christ opens us to “eternal life” (however understood) also is a faith statement.
2024, August 4 ~ 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a; Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
AUGUST 4, 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.
2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
Reading
26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. 27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son.
But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD, 12:1 and the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds; 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; 6 he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; 8 I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. 11 Thus says the LORD: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. 12 For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Commentary
The Book of Samuel 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 beginning of Babylonian Captivity (586 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 numerous 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 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 Samuel (to the extent it may be historical) covers from the end of the time of the Judges (c.1030 BCE) to the last years of the Reign of David (c. 965 BCE).
Today’s reading picks up where last week’s reading ended – David sent a letter carried by Uriah to Joab to have Uriah placed in the front lines. In the omitted verses, Uriah was killed, and Joab sent a messenger to tell David that the battle did not go well, but then to tell him that Uriah was killed so that he (David) would not become angry (v.23).
Bathsheba mourned for the prescribed seven days (v.26), and David made her one of his wives, and she bore a son.
YHWH was not pleased with David’s behavior (v.27) and sent Nathan to tell a parable (structured as a legal case) to David about a rich man and a poor man. David became angry and said the rich man was required to repay the poor man fourfold (v.6). This was prescribed by Ex. 22:1.
YHWH (through Nathan) verbally chastised David for his ingratitude and noted that YHWH gave David the master’s (Saul’s) “house” (v.8). The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that this word is sometimes translated as “daughters” and considers it more consistent with the assertion that David acquired Saul’s wives and concubines and had no reason to take Uriah’s wife. The Jewish Study Bible points out that the claim that David took Saul’s wives and concubines in not mentioned elsewhere.
The distinction between the house of Israel and Judah (v.8) shows that this text was written after the division of the United Kingdom in 930 BCE soon after Solomon’s death.
YHWH told David that the sword (understood by The NOAB as a symbol for violence) would never depart from his house (v.10) because David “despised” (“spurned” in The Jewish Publication Society Translation) YHWH and took Bathsheba to be his wife (v.10). In the balance of the Book of Samuel, most of David’s problems arose because of his sons: Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah all met violent deaths.
In the verses just after today’s reading, Nathan told David that YHWH had remitted his sin, but YHWH afflicted the Bathsheba’s son (v.15). David fasted and prayed for the child’s recovery, but the son died after seven days. The NOAB understands that David’s sin was transferred to this son, and sees this as an example of intergenerational punishment in the Hebrew Bible.
David “consoled” Bathsheba and she bore another son (v.24). In the NRSV, it says David named this son Solomon, but in the JPS it says “she” named him (v.24). The name “Solomon” means “his replacement” – which could refer to the son who died after seven days or that Solomon would succeed David. In the next verse, YHWH named the child Jedidiah, which means “beloved of the LORD” (v.25) but this reference does not reappear.
Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
Reading
2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the LORD, for he has heard your complaining.’“ 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 The LORD spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning, you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’“
13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”
Commentary
The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Bible and covered the period from the slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh (around 1250 BCE), the Exodus itself, and the early months in the Wilderness.
In today’s reading, the Israelites had not yet reached Sinai, and were complaining (once again) to Moses that it would have been better to have died in Egypt than to starve in the Wilderness.
Because YHWH was perceived as controlling everything in most of the Hebrew Bible, the writers of this story said that the Israelites’ deaths in Egypt would have been at the hand of YHWH (v.3) rather than at the hand of Pharaoh.
The God presented in this story is very human-like. YHWH “heard” their complaining (v.7). YHWH “spoke” to Moses (v.4) and responded (twice – one in v.4 and again in v.11) by sending the Israelites manna and quail. The NOAB notes that the two responses indicate that this story is an amalgam of two oral traditions.
Man hu are the Hebrew words for “What is it?” (v. 15), so the name of the substance is also a play on words. “Manna” is, however, a real thing. The New Oxford Annotated Bible says it is “the carbohydrate-rich excretion of two scale-insects that feed on the twigs of the tamarisk tree.” In Israel today, something called “manna” is sometimes available for purchase in Arab markets. It is sweet and sticky.
In the omitted verses (5-7) the Israelites were directed to collect manna each day, collect two days’ supply of manna on the sixth day, and not to collect manna on the Sabbath. This shows the story was written (at least in part) by the Priestly writers – for whom the Sabbath was most important.
Numbers 11 contains another story about YHWH’s sending quail to the Israelites in such quantity that they gorged themselves and were struck by a great plague that killed many of them. The JSB notes that quail migrate, often in large numbers, from Africa to Europe in the spring and fall and sometimes fall exhausted in the Sinai Desert.
Ephesians 4:1-16
Reading
1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high, he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.”
9 (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
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 be unified in Christ. He urged them to be humble, patient, “bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (v.3).
The JANT notes that seven forms of unity are emphasized in vv.4-6 (body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, God and Father who is above all and through all and in all).
The NOAB suggests that the quotation in v.8 is a paraphrase of Psalm 68:18 (“You ascended the high mount, leading captives in your train and receiving gifts from people, even from those who rebel against the LORD God’s abiding there.” )
Christ both ascended and descended (into Sheol?) so that he might come to all persons. Each person has different gifts for the body’s growth in building itself up in love (v.11-12). A perfect (i.e., complete) church is modeled on Christ himself.
John 6:24-35
Reading
24 The next day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the five thousand saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Commentary
The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many of the 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 being sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held that night.
Today’s reading is part of a longer discussion in the Fourth Gospel that is sometimes called “The Bread of Life Discourse” that is not found in the other Canonical Gospels. Conversely, this Gospel, unlike the Synoptic Gospels, does not include an institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. (Instead, Jesus washed the apostles’ feet at the Last Supper in the Fourth Gospel.)
The account contains terms that have deeper meanings. In saying that the Son of Man will “give you the food that endures for eternal life” (v.27) the author drew upon the Jewish understanding of the Son of Man as the messenger of God (Dan. 7:13) who makes God known (Jn.3:13). In referring to the Son of Man (v.27) and “him whom he [God] has sent” (v.29) in the third person, the author of the Gospel reflected the tension in the Gospel in the understandings that Jesus (as the Christ) is both an “agent” of God and divine.
The “work” to needed to “perform the works of God” is to “believe in him whom he [God] has sent” (v.29). In the Farewell Discourses, Jesus gave content to “belief in he whom God sent”: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (15:12).
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that the phrase “He gave them bread from heaven to eat” (v.31) conflates the story from Exodus with Psalm 78:24. It also points out that there are references to “bread of life” in a Jewish book, Joseph and Aseneth. This book was a midrash on Genesis written around 200 BCE. It provided an account of the relationship of the patriarch Joseph and his wife Azeneth — who received heavenly food from an angelic figure in answer to Joseph’s prayers.
The references to “my Father” and the “I am” (v.35) statement reflect the greater emphasis in the Fourth Gospel on the divinity of Jesus and his connection with the Father. All the “I am” statements in the Fourth Gospel echo the response from the Burning Bush in Exodus 3 – “I am what I am” – to Moses’ question about the name of God.
2024, July 28~ 2 Samuel 11:1-15; 2 Kings 4:42-44: Ephesians 3:14b-21; John 6:1-21
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JULY 28, 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.
2 Samuel 11:1-15
Reading
1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. 3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. 5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, 13 David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.”
Commentary
The Book of Samuel 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 beginning of Babylonian Captivity (586 BCE). The books were written in the period from 640 BCE to 500 BCE and continued to be revised even after that.
The authors of the Deuteronomic Books artfully wove their stories from numerous 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 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 Samuel (to the extent it may be historical) covers from the end of the time of the Judges (c.1030 BCE) to the last years of the Reign of David (c. 965 BCE).
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary states that today’s reading is the first part of the stories that culminate in Solomon’s succession to the throne – even though he was David’s 7th son. Today’s story illustrated a weakness on the part of David that infected his family. Eventually, the disorder in David’s family enabled Nathan and Bathsheba to bring Solomon to power. These stories in Samuel are convoluted, and some of them will appear in the readings in upcoming weeks.
Today’s reading comes after three chapters that recount David’s successful wars. Wars were conducted primarily in warmer weather, and the text noted that it was in the Spring that kings “go out to battle” (v.1). Tellingly, David sent his generals to do battle, but stayed in Jerusalem (perhaps to avoid danger) and took naps in the afternoon.
The story is shocking in its details. Notwithstanding the fact that he was told that the woman was married, David had her brought to him, had sex with her and got her pregnant. He then attempted a cover up his actions by urging the woman’s husband, Uriah, to “wash his feet” (v.8) — which The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. As a pious soldier (even though a Hittite), Uriah (who was described in 23:39 as one of David’s best soldiers), refused to go to his own home to lie with his wife, even when David got him drunk (v.13).
David trusted Uriah so much that he then gave Uriah the task of delivering his own death warrant to Joab (v.14), knowing that if Uriah could read, he would not read the message to Joab. In the verses that follow today’s reading, Uriah was killed (v.17) and Joab made a tactical error in assuring Uriah’s death that caused the death of other officers (vv.20-21).
In the next week’s reading, David quickly took Bathsheba as one of his wives because she was pregnant, and she soon gave birth to a son (v.27).
As the stories about David continue in the Book of Samuel, this episode will be central to the difficulties David encountered – particularly with his family.
The Jewish Study Bible notes: “It is highly unusual for ancient literature to criticize powerful and successful kings. The way David’s behavior is depicted and condemned in the Bible shows the overriding importance it assigns to moral values.”
2 Kings 4:42-44
Reading
42 A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” 43 But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So he repeated, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’” 44 He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.
Commentary
The authors of the Book of Kings also wrote the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Samuel, usually called the “Deuteronomic History,” a didactic history of Ancient Israel from the time in the Wilderness (c. 1250 BCE) to the Babylonian Captivity in 587 BCE.
These books were given their final form around 500 BCE – long after the events they described. The authors used the stories to demonstrate that it was the failures of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judea to worship YHWH properly 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.)
Elijah and his successor, Elisha, were two of the great prophets (speakers for YHWH) in Jewish History. They opposed the (mostly) Baal-worshiping kings in Northern Israel for 90 years (from approximately 873 to 784 BCE), and their stories comprise about 40% of the Book of Kings.
Elijah and Elisha are both credited with numerous healings, restoring people to life, and other extraordinary events involving food, such as the one presented in today’s reading.
Prior to today’ reading, there was a famine in Northern Israel. Elisha took a limited amount of food from a man from Baal-shalishah. He directed that the food be given to 100 people, and (miraculously) there was more food left over than to begin with. The Deuteronomist recounts (v. 43) that this was caused by the power of YHWH (translated as LORD in capital letters).
In today’s passage, even the name of the town (Baal-shalishah) shows that Baal worship was continuing in Israel in the 700’s BCE. Modern archeological evidence shows that significant Baal worship also continued in Southern Israel (Judea) – alongside worship of YHWH – until the beginning of the Babylonian Captivity in 586 BCE.
The NJBC states: “The text is obviously the inspiration for NT multiplication miracles (cf. Mark 6:34-44, 8:1-10).”
Ephesians 3:14b-21
Reading
14b I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
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 states that he “bows his knees before the Father” (v.14) and The JANT comments that this was a “traditional Jewish position for prayer” citing 1 Kings 8:54 – a long prayer in which Solomon knelt.
The author then continued his efforts to unify the Jewish Jesus Followers and the Gentile Jesus Followers in Ephesus. Here, he reminded them that they are all part of the “family” of the Father (v.15) and prayed that they will be “rooted and grounded in love” (v.17). The author emphasized that the love of Christ surpasses knowledge (v.19) – it is a mystery. The prayer to be “filled with the fullness of God” is a prayer for believers to grow into the fullness of divinity.
Today’s reading concluded (vv. 20-21) with a “doxology” – a statement of glory and praise of God who can perfect the church through the Spirit, thus concluding the doctrinal portion of the letter.
John 6:1-21
Reading
1 Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
Commentary
The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many of the 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 being sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held that night.
The feeding of the multitudes is the only miracle story found in all the Canonical Gospels. Multiplication of oil and grain were also miracles attributed to Elijah and Elisha.
The setting was on the Eastern side of the Sea of Galilee and was in the spring when the Passover occurs (v.4). The reference “of the Jews” (v.4) in this reading is one of the few times in the Fourth Gospel that it meant the Jewish people generally rather than only the Temple Authorities. One of the two ancient feasts that formed the basis of Passover was the Feast of the Unleavened Bread that coincided with the spring barley harvest. The loaves presented to Jesus were barley (v.9). The feast of the sacrifice of a lamb in the Spring was the other feast that was combined into the Passover Feast.
The JANT notes: “In contrast to his usual practice, Jesus does not go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem [for Passover] but stays in Galilee where the people flock to him rather than the Temple. The scene fulfills his prophecy to the Samaritan woman in 4:21 [“Woman, believe me the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”] and may reflect a post-70 perspective in which worship in the Temple is no longer possible, and from John’s viewpoint, no longer necessary.”
The collection of 12 baskets of leftovers was symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel. The reaction of the crowd to make Jesus the king (v.15) because he fed large numbers of persons is not surprising, but such an action would have been seen by Rome as treasonous and would lead to crucifixion. The Fourth Gospel is the only gospel that included the idea that the crowd wanted to make Jesus the king.
The reference to “the prophet who is to come into the world” (v.14) refers to the expectation that the Messiah would be (among other things) a “New Moses” the basis for which is found in Deut. 18:15 (“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among your own people and you shall heed such a prophet.”)
The story of Jesus’ walking on the water (vv.16-21) is also found in Matthew 14 and Mark 6. Calming the sea was seen as a demonstration of Jesus’ divinity in that God was depicted as making order out of chaos (Genesis 1, Ps. 89:9). Jesus’ statement “It is I” (v.20) is also translatable as “I am” – the same translation of the word (“YHWH”) stated to Moses as the “name” of God in the Burning Bush story in Exodus 3.