TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JUNE 23, 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.
Today, Track 1 offers two different readings from 1 Samuel 17 so there are a total of five readings.
1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49
Reading
1a The Philistines gathered their armies for battle. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 David said, “The LORD, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you!”
38 Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
41 The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” 45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give you into our hand.”
48 When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
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).
The story of the killing of Goliath appears twice in the Book of Samuel. The older version is in 2 Sam. 21:19, in which Goliath of Gath was killed by Elhanan, the son of a Bethlehemite. Today’s account is the better-known story. In the Bible, it follows an account in which Saul (who was being tormented by “an evil spirit”) sent messengers to Jesse (David’s father) to have David come to him to play his lyre for him. David’s music soothed Saul and the evil spirit departed from Saul when David played (16:23). David’s lyre playing became the basis for the fiction that David was the author of the psalms.
The description of Goliath is fearsome. The cubit was about 18” so he was 9 feet tall. His armor weighed about 130 pounds and his spear weighed 15 pounds. Scholars have noted that the shepherd boy vs. the giant incorporated many fairy tale motifs.
Having each side represented by a hero was not uncommon in literature, particularly in The Iliad in which Paris opposed Menelaus and Hector opposed Ajax.
In today’s reading, David was sent by Jesse to bring food to his three older brothers who were in Saul’s army. In this version of the Goliath story, it appeared that David met Saul for the first time when David volunteered to fight the Philistine (vv. 31-37). (As an attempt to reconcile the accounts, verse 15 – a later addition — suggests David was shuttling back and forth from playing his lyre for Saul and then returning to Bethlehem to watch the flocks.)
The promise by Saul to give his daughter in marriage (v.25) to the person who defeated Goliath was upheld, and one of David’s first wives was Michal (18:27). Michal loved David (18:20) and served him well for many years, choosing David over her father in some instances. The Jewish Study Bible points out: “Michal is the only woman in all biblical narrative of whom it is said that she loves a man.” She was later effectively banished because she criticized David for dancing naked in the streets of Jerusalem after he brought the Ark of Covenant there. (2 Sam.6:20-23.)
Referring to the Philistine as “uncircumcised” (v.26) was intended as an insult and may also reflect a later addition. In opposition to the Philistine’s taunts, David gave a theological speech about the power of YHWH (vv.45-47).
In today’s reading, David killed Goliath with a stone. In the verses that follow, David beheaded Goliath (v.51) and brought the head to Jerusalem (v.54). This is clearly an anachronism, because – according to another tradition — Jerusalem was not conquered by David until later (2 Sam. 5:6-9).
1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16
Reading
57 On David’s return from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
18:1 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 5 David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.
10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand 11 and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. 14 David had success in all his undertakings; for the LORD was with him. 15 When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.
Commentary
The alternative Track 1 Reading for today continued the account in Samuel after the killing of Goliath. It was derived from another source — as shown by the anomaly that David brought the Philistine’s head to Saul (v.57), even though v.54 said he brought it to Jerusalem. David’s introduction to Saul by Abner was presented as if it were the first meeting between David and Saul (Saul asked David who was his father in v.58), notwithstanding the stories in Chapter 16 and the conversation between David and Saul in Chapter 17.
Scholars agree that verses 1-5 are an insert to establish the depth of the relationship between Saul’s son, Jonathan, and David. The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that “loved” (v.3) implied political loyalty in addition to personal affection, and that Jonathan’s royal robe and armor represented his status as crown prince. Jonathan’s giving the robe and armor therefore depicted David as Saul’s true successor — a status achieved by the initiative of Jonathan himself. Throughout the Book of Samuel, David never usurped the throne or harmed Saul, even though he had opportunities to do so.
The omitted verses (6-9) stated that the women gave greater glory to David than to Saul because of David’s prowess in battle, and this made Saul angry and jealous of David (v.9).
This jealousy explained Saul’s throwing a spear at David while he was playing his lyre (v.11). Saul’s decision to put David in charge of a large army group (a “thousand”) was done because Saul was afraid to have David nearby and he hoped David might be killed in battle.
The relationship between David and Jonathan was developed in the balance of 1 Samuel, and Jonathan (like his sister, Michal) was loyal to David rather than his father.
One of the unspoken issues in the books of Samuel was the legitimacy of David’s accession to the throne. The JSB points out that by becoming Saul’s son-in-law, it gave David a right of succession, even though Saul’s own sons would have precedence. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary emphasizes that David’s accession to the throne was presented in these stories as the will of God, and that there was no justification for any charge of ruthless ambition.
Job 38:1-11
Reading
1 The LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?—
9 when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?”
Commentary
The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. Job was presented as a righteous person (in right relation with God and others) and as a non-Jew living in the land of Uz (somewhere in what is now Saudi Arabia).
Ha-Satan (the “adversary” – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made a wager with God and argued that Job was righteous only because he had health, family, and riches. Ha-Satan bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth.
Ha-Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God. His friends came to “comfort” him and (using typical Deuteronomic thought) told him that his deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears.
Job denied this reasoning and (contrary to the claim in the traditional translation of Jas. 5:11) Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and in some respects, defiant. He asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He asked to confront God face-to-face.
Today’s reading is the beginning of a four-chapter “response” by God to Job. The “response” is structured by the author (called “Poet-Job”) as a series of rhetorical questions from God to Job that demonstrated the complexity of created reality and presented an imaginative inspection of the cosmos. God did not, however, give Job a “straight answer” to his question. The NOAB points out that storms typically accompany a theophany and this answer came “out of the whirlwind” (v.1).
After the theophany (the appearance of God to Job), Job acknowledged his limitations as a human (“I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” – 42:6). The NOAB suggests that the words translated as “I despise myself” should probably be translated as “I relent” or “I recant.” It goes on to say that Job may be understood to say that he recanted and regretted mournfully, and that he was consoled about the limitations of the humanity.
In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored, he had another family, and the LORD told Job’s friends that they had not “spoken the truth about Me as did My servant Job” (42:7).
The Book of Job does not “answer” the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Bad things just happen, and humans cannot demand that a God of Mystery must act in a certain way in order to be “worthy” to be known as God.
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Reading
1 As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see — we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. 13 In return — I speak as to children — open wide your hearts also.
Commentary
Corinth, a large port city in Greece, was among the early Jesus Follower communities that Paul founded. Its culture was diverse and Hellenistic. Corinthians emphasized reason and secular wisdom. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written in the 50’s (CE) and presented his views on many issues that were controversial in this Jesus Follower Community.
Based on internal references in the two remaining letters to the Corinthians, scholars agree that Paul likely wrote at least four letters to the Corinthians. The so-called Second Letter to the Corinthians is composed of fragments of these letters.
Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians was sometimes strained (2:2-4). In today’s reading, Paul relied on Isaiah 49:8 in which the prophet, speaking for YHWH, told the Judeans that “on a day of salvation” they would be delivered from the Babylonian Exile. Paul used this verse to urge the Corinthians to accept God’s grace as an inbreaking of salvation.
He continued his defense of his ministry (v.3), enumerated his sufferings (v.4-5), defended his works (v.6-7), and countered charges against him (v.8-10). He claimed that his affection for the Corinthians was unrestricted, but the affections of the Corinthians were limited (v.11).
The NOAB observes that Paul’s use of contrasting pairs in verses 8-10 are not paradoxes to show that he was imperturbable (like an ideal sage in Stoic philosophy) but were antitheses to refute charges made against him. It sees these verses as a summary of his self-defense that began in chapter 2.
The NJBC understands Paul’s use of the words “sorrowful” (v.10) and “poor” as demonstrating his refusal to accept support from the Corinthians – a notion that had been used by his opponents to prove that he was not an apostle.
Mark 4:35-41
Reading
35 When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is generally 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 (and readings that follow up to Chapter 8) emphasize Jesus’ connection to both Moses and Elijah with sea crossings, exorcisms, healings, and wilderness feedings. These actions occur in the face of opposition and the disciples’ misunderstandings about the person of Jesus and his ministry.
In today’s story, Jesus was going from the Jewish/Western side of the Sea of Galilee to the Gentile/Eastern side. Like Jonah, Jesus was asleep in the boat during a storm. The disciples were presented here (and elsewhere) by Mark as uncomprehending, weak-willed or cowardly. The boat may also be a symbol for the small Jesus Follower community in 70 CE.
The sea was often portrayed as a metaphor for confusion or chaos. Control of the sea and the restoration of order (shalom) was seen as a divine power.
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.
2024, July 21 ~ 2 Samuel 7:1-14a; Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JULY 21, 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 7:1-14a
Reading
1 When the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you.”
4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: 5 Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” 8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; 9 and I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.
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 is one of the most important passages in the Deuteronomic Corpus. In it, the Deuteronomists articulated three major religious ideas by casting them as pronouncements and promises by YHWH. The passages in today’s reading formed the scriptural bases for three critical understandings held by Ancient Israel: (1) Jerusalem was the central place for the worship of YHWH, the place where the Temple would be, and the place where the “presence” of YHWH would reside; (2) the “House” of David would be eternal (v.13); and (3) Israel will have rest from its enemies (v.11).
These promises were so central to Judaism that they were repeated in Psalms 89 and 132, and in 1 Chronicles 22.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that a king was often described in the Hebrew Bible as a “son” of God (v.14) and the promise of “steadfast love” (v.15) was also part of the promise given to David and his “house” forever. The Jewish Study Bible points out that this promise was not accompanied by any conditions but that a similar promise to Solomon in 1 Kings 9:4 required him to “walk before Me as your father David walked before Me, wholeheartedly and with uprightness, doing all that I have commanded you and keeping my laws and my rules.”
For the Deuteronomists, the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians, the interruption of the line of Davidic kings after 587 BCE because of the Babylonian Exile, and the occupation of Israel by (successively) the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Seleucids, and Romans were all the result of the failure of Israel to worship YHWH properly. Notwithstanding these events, the promises of YHWH were seen by the Deuteronomists as remaining in full force and effect, but the behaviors of the kings and people caused YHWH’s promises to be “suspended” for a time.
The “suspension” did not mean the promises were abrogated. Instead, YHWH’s promise regarding the Davidic line became one of the key characteristics of one of the understandings of the Messiah who was to come. The Messiah was to come from the House of David, and (for some) would unify the nation and drive out the outside occupiers.
In today’s reading, YHWH was presented anthropomorphically as having conversations with the prophet Nathan who, in turn, recounted YHWH’s words to David. As part of this conversation, YHWH promised that David’s offspring would build a “house” for YHWH’s name (vv.12-13). The Jewish Study Bible points out that these verses were was interpreted “in the postbiblical period as referring to the Messiah, who will be of the House of David and whose reign will last forever.” It also observes that verse 13 uses “My name” instead of “Me” to exclude the possibility of misunderstanding that God actually dwells in the house.
Later in the Books of Samuel and Kings, Nathan and Bathsheba conspired to arrange for David’s 7th son (Solomon) to become king. Solomon caused the First Temple to be built during his reign.
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Reading
1 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So, I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. 3 Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD.
5 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.”
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 prose style and attacked the kings and priests (the “shepherds”). The JSB notes that concern with false prophecy is an important theme in Jeremiah and that he was frequently in conflict with other prophets about the future course of the nation.
Consistent with the “do bad, get bad” theology of the Deuteronomists, YHWH (“LORD” in all capital letters) will “attend to” these shepherds for their “evil doings” (v.2). Consistent with the reading from Samuel for today, the writers held up the promise that YHWH would raise up for “David” (Judea) a righteous king who would also enable Israel to live in safety and righteousness (v.5). For the Deuteronomists, YHWH controlled everything. YHWH caused the Exile, the end of the Exile through Cyrus of Persia in 539 BCE, the return of the Judeans to Jerusalem, and the relatively peaceful Persian Era (539 to 333 BCE).
If these “predictions” by the prophet were in fact made after the Exile, the writers had “20/20 hindsight” that the “remnant” (v.3) (a “code word” for the Judeans who returned to Jerusalem after the Exile) would be “fruitful and multiply” – the command given by God to the humans in Gen. 1:28.
Other translations of the name of the LORD (v.6) in addition to “righteousness” are “Vindicator” (JSB) and “Justice” (NJBC).
These prophesies by Jeremiah remained an important part of the 1st Century CE understanding (and expectation) of what the Messiah would be and do.
Ephesians 2:11-22
Reading
11 Remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” — a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands — 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for 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 authentic 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 spoke mostly to the Gentile (“uncircumcised”) Jesus Followers (v.11). In speaking of “the circumcision,” the author was referring to Jewish Jesus Followers who were required to obey the Mosaic Law and took the position that Gentiles who wanted to become Jesus Followers also needed to obey the Mosaic Law, including being circumcised and maintaining a kosher diet.
In considering the “dividing wall” and “hostility” (v.14), The JANT notes that “Holiness” in the Hebrew Bible conveyed a sense of separation from others. Later extensions of the Law (such as forbidding Jews from eating any Gentile food) made the “wall” even higher. This sense of self-separation often led to hostility towards Jews on the part of some Gentiles.
The author of Ephesians told the Gentile Jesus Followers that through Jesus the Christ they were brought into the Covenants of promise that formerly were only for the Jews (v.13). The author said that by Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, Jesus created a New Covenant open to both Jews and Gentiles. Gentile and Jewish Jesus Followers are now “one new humanity in place of the two” (v.15) and “members of the household of God” (v.19), a phrase that is used in welcoming newly Baptized persons into the Church (BCP p.308).
Historical note: The question “Does a Gentile have to become a Jew (be circumcised and follow Kosher dietary rules) as a prerequisite to becoming a Jesus Follower?” was supposedly “answered” in the negative at Jerusalem in 49 CE (recounted in Acts 15). Many scholars, however, see Acts 15 as a “compression” of events that continued well past 49 CE until Acts of the Apostles was written around 85 CE by the same person who wrote the Gospel According to Luke.
The notion that the Christ “abolished the law” (v.15) is a late First Century development and was not a position taken by Paul in his authentic letters. For example, in the Letter to the Romans, his view was more nuanced and he acknowledged that the Law was still binding on Jewish Jesus Followers, even if it was not fully binding on Gentiles. Similarly, in 5:17 in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Reading
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54 When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, 55 and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is generally 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 the story of the beheading of John the Baptizer and gives the author’s sense of the excitement that Jesus’ presence and healings caused. The reference to sheep and a shepherd (v.34) is a common one and echoes the metaphor used in the reading today from Jeremiah.
Gennesaret was a small town on the western (Jewish) side of the Sea of Galilee, about four miles south of Capernaum. (Sometimes the Sea of Galilee was referred to as the Lake of Gennesaret.)
The omitted verses today (35-52) recount one of Mark’s two versions of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus’ telling the disciples to row north to Bethsaida, his walking on the water during the night, and his calming the wind and sea when he got into the boat. Notwithstanding these events, the disciples “did not understand … because their hearts were hardened” (v.52). The JANT comments that this is “a serious condition, akin to that of Pharaoh who oppressed the Israelites.”
Mark’s mention of the fringes on Jesus’ cloak (v.56) is a reference to the blue threads (tzitzit) worn (even today) by devout Jewish men on the corners of their cloaks as directed by Num. 15:37-40. As with the woman with the hemorrhage (5:29), merely touching the fringes of Jesus’ cloak led to healing.
2024, July 14 ~ 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19; Amos 7:7-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JULY 14, 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 6:1-5, 12b-19
Reading
1 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. 3 They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart 4 with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. 5 David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the LORD with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
12b So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; 13 and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. 14 David danced before the LORD with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
16 As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the LORD. 18 When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts, 19 and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
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).
Last week’s reading was from first verses in Chapter 5 and recounted David’s anointing (again) as king over all Israel. The remaining parts of Chapter 5 tell of David’s successful campaigns against the Philistines.
In today’s reading, David brought the “Ark of God” (v.2) to Jerusalem from a small town about 10 miles west of Jerusalem. This made Jerusalem the political and the religious center of the nation. The Ark of God was seen as a symbol of the presence of YHWH and as the “throne” of YHWH. According to 1 Sam. 4:4, it contained the Tablets of the Covenant referred to in Deuteronomy 9:11. (The Ark was the holiest object in the First Temple but was not in the Second Temple.)
In the Books of Samuel and Kings, there are four persons named Abinadab: David’s older brother and the second son of Jesse; a son of Saul who was killed with Saul at Mount Gilboa; the father of one of Solomon’s sons-in-law; and a Levite who lived in the town in which the Ark resided for 20 years (after it was returned like a “hot potato” by the Philistines). It was from this town that the Ark was brought to Jerusalem by two of Abinadab’s sons.
In the omitted verses (6 to 12a), Uzzah (a son of Abinadab) touched the Ark to keep it from falling off the ox cart that was carrying it. YHWH became angry and struck Uzzah dead because of the awesome holiness of the Ark. This made David angry, and he refused to bring the Ark into Jerusalem. For three months, the Ark was placed in the home of a Philistine from Gath.
During the procession into Jerusalem, David wore a linen ephod, an apron usually worn by priests (v.14). The text suggests that David was wearing little else – which caused one of his wives (Saul’s daughter, Michal) to “despise” him (v.16).
In the verses that follow today’s reading, Michal criticized David to his face for “uncovering himself” in public in front of young women. David responded by saying in effect, ”YHWH made me king instead of your father; the maids will honor me.” The chapter’s last verses say that Michal was childless to her death, presumably because David had no relations with her. If Michal had borne David a son, the child would have been a grandson of Saul, and this might have raised issues about who would succeed David.
Amos 7:7-15
Reading
7 This is what the LORD GOD showed me: the LORD was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the LORD said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by, 9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very centre of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’ ”
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; 13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, 15 and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”
Commentary
After Solomon died in 930 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel with 10 tribes) and the South (called Judea with two tribes). Each of the Kingdoms had its own king.
The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 BCE) was very prosperous but was a time of great inequality between rich and poor in which large landowners gained control of the lands of small farmers. (A three-liter bottle of wine is called a “Jeroboam.”)
Amos was a cattle or sheep herder and also cared for fig trees in Judea (v.14), but he was called by YHWH to go north to prophesy (speak for the LORD) against Israel from about 760 to 750 BCE. Amos is one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel). He was the first (chronologically) of the prophets whose words left an indelible stamp on later thought in Israel about God.
In today’s reading, Amos told Israel/Isaac (the northern 10 tribes) that it was not measuring up to YHWH’s plumb line and that it and its “high places” (shrines or open air sanctuaries) would be destroyed if it did not reform (vv.8-9). The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that both Amos and Hosea condemned “high places” as places of illicit worship. It also points out that “Isaac” (v.9) was a rare designation for the Northern Kingdom – “Jacob” (whose name was changed to “Israel” when he wrestled with an angel) was a more common designation.
According to The Jewish Study Bible, Amaziah accused Amos of treason (v.11) because his prophetic statements would demoralize the people.
Amos disputed with the King’s appointed priest, Amaziah, who was the official priest of the royal shrine at Bethel. Amaziah told Amos to stop prophesying in Israel and to go back to Judea (vv. 12-13). Amos responded that he was not a “professional” prophet but had been called by YHWH to prophesy to Israel (vv. 14-15), thus lending additional authority to what he was saying.
In 722 BCE, just as YHWH told Amos to say, the Assyrians conquered Israel. Samaria was the capital of Israel, and because Assyrians intermarried with Samaritans, Samaritans were later looked down upon by Judeans.
Ephesians 1:3-14
Reading
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
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 emphasized the shared beliefs of Jesus Followers, and that the Christ is the mediator of “spiritual blessings in the heavenly places” (v.3). The JANT notes that the phrase “heavenly places” does not appear anywhere else in the Christian Scriptures and refers to “the unseen realm where God resides.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary describes it as “the union of the heavenly and earthly worlds.”
Following the theology expressed in the Fourth Gospel, the letter asserts the pre-existence of the Christ (v.4). Through adoption by God (v.5) – rather than on account of works – believers are heirs of God with all the attendant rights and responsibilities. Similarly, grace is “freely bestowed” and not earned. Good works are the byproduct of one’s salvation, not the cause of it.
In gathering “all things in him” (v.10), the Christ gathers both Jews and Gentiles as God’s chosen people and children. Because the letter is addressed to Ephesians (who were Gentiles), the “you” in verses 13 and 14 are Gentiles who have received the pledge (or “first installment”) of redemption.
Mark 6:14-29
Reading
14 King Herod heard of Jesus and his disciples, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason, these powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. 18 For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22 When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” 23 And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” 24 She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is generally 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.”
When Herod the Great died in 4 BCE, his kingdom was split into four “tetrarchs.” The Herod in this part of Mark’s Gospel was Herod Antipas who ruled as Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea from 4 BCE to 39 CE and whose headquarters was in Tiberias – a city on the Sea of Galilee.
In the First Century, it was not uncommon for people to think of someone as a reincarnation of another, and Herod saw Jesus as a reincarnation of John the Baptist, particularly because of his preaching of the need for repentance (v.16). Because Elijah was raised to heaven in a chariot (2 Kings 11), others suggested that Jesus was a reincarnation of Elijah (v.15).
Josephus, the First Century Jewish/Roman historian, gave more commentary in his books to John the Baptizer than he gave to Jesus of Nazareth. Josephus indicated that John was a well-known and respected figure. The Gospel of Luke claimed that Jesus and John were cousins because Mary was a “relative” of Elizabeth (Luke 1:36). Some scholars suggest that Jesus was a disciple of John’s before he began his own active ministry.
“Levirate” Law (Deut. 25:5-6) required a brother to marry his brother’s widow only if the couple died childless. Herod Antipas’ brother, Herod Philip, died in 24 CE but he did not die childless. John the Baptist publicly condemned Herod Antipas for marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias, as a violation of the prohibition on incest in Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21 (v.18). This angered Herodias and she wanted John the Baptist killed (v.19).
The text in the Gospel seems confused when it said, “when his daughter Herodias came in and danced” (v.22). Other ancient texts said, “when the daughter of Herodias herself” came in and danced. This daughter is identified as Salome by Josephus, and the story makes better sense if Salome did the dancing and was urged by her mother (Herodias) to ask for the head of John the Baptizer who was being held in prison by Herod Antipas.
According to The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Josephus said that Herodias was the niece of Herod Antipas and had been married not to Herod Philip but to another brother of Herod Antipas who also bore the name Herod. Josephus also said that John the Baptist was killed at the fortress of Machaerus on the Eastern shore of the Dead Sea rather than at Tiberius.
This story in Mark uses terminology and images found in stories in the Hebrew Bible. For example, the promise by Herod to give “half my kingdom” (v.23) are the same words used by the Persian King Ahasuerus to Esther (Esther 5:3) when her beauty pleased the king at a royal banquet. The vow by Herod Antipas is similar to the vow of Jephthah in which he promised to YHWH to slay the first person he saw upon his return from victory. The first person he saw was his beloved daughter, and he killed her two months later (Judges 11:29-40).
2024, July 7 ~ 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; Ezekiel 2:1-5; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JULY 7, 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 5:1-5, 9-10
Reading
1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, “Look, we are your bone and flesh. 2 For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The LORD said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.” 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
9 David occupied the stronghold and named it the city of David. David built the city all around from the Millo inwards. 10 And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him.
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).
Last week’s reading (2 Sam.1) was David’s “lament” after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. In the three chapters between it and today’s reading, David (who had been anointed king by Samuel in Bethlehem in 1 Sam. 16:13) was anointed king of Judah in Hebron (2 Sam. 2.4), and then conducted a successful war against the sons of Saul, but when they were killed, David took great pains to claim he was blameless. The New Oxford Annotated Bible says: “The author stresses that David was in no way involved in the death of his enemy.”
In today’s reading, all the tribes assembled in Hebron, a city about 15 miles south of Jerusalem, and anointed David as king of all the tribes of Israel (excluding Judah, of which he was already the anointed king.) This “division” between “Israel” and “Judah” also reflected the later split-up of the Kingdom after Solomon’s reign ended in 930 BCE.
In stating the David reigned “forty years” (v.5) scholars recognize the “forty” is a euphemism for a long time. Nevertheless, the dates of David’s reign are customarily set at 1005 BCE to 965 BCE.
In the omitted verses (6-8), David and his army marched against the Jebusites, who were said to be the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The “Millo” (v.9) was a landfill or fortification. Jerusalem was geographically closer to the Northern Tribes than other cities in Judea (such as Hebron). According to The NOAB and The Jewish Study Bible, in selecting Jerusalem as the capital, David selected a “neutral site” for uniting the 12 tribes politically and religiously.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary describes David at this point as follows: “Theologically and socially, he is a centrist. He remains a tribal leader over discrete Yahwist confederations and disparate non-Yahwist peoples, but he also embodies overarching paramount authority.”
Ezekiel 2:1-5
Reading
1 The LORD said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. 2 And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the LORD GOD.” 5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.
Commentary
Ezekiel is one of the three “Major” Prophets – so called because of the length of the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a Zadokite priest (descended from the High Priest Zadok in the time of David and Solomon) and was among the first group of persons deported by the Babylonians to Babylon when they captured Jerusalem in 597 BCE. His name means “God strengthens.”
The Book of Ezekiel is in three parts: (1) Chapters 1 to 24 are prophesies of doom against Jerusalem before the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE; (2) Chapters 25 to 32 are prophesies against foreign nations; and (3) Chapters 33 to 48 are prophesies of hope for the Judeans written during the Babylonian Exile (586-539 BCE).
Similar to other prophets, Ezekiel “prophesied” by speaking for God. Prophesy in the Hebrew Scriptures is not about telling the future. A prophet is one who speaks for YHWH.
Today’s reading is part of the “Call of Ezekiel” and followed the nearly psychedelic visions of God described in Chapter 1. These verses are part of the “Commissioning” of Ezekiel by which YHWH gave him authority to speak for YHWH and imbued him with the spirit of God (v.2).
In verse 1, Ezekiel said that God addressed him as “O mortal” – the translation used 93 times in the Book of Ezekiel for the Hebrew words “ben adam.” “Ben adam” literally means “son of the earthling/human.” “Adam” was the “name” of the person who was fashioned from fertile earth (in Hebrew, “adamah”) by YHWH in Genesis.
The NOAB describes ben adam as “a Hebrew idiom denoting a member of the category of ‘humanity.’ The traditions of Ezekiel’s group stressed how God and the divine realm transcended this category.”
“Ben adam” is elsewhere translated in Scripture as “Son of Man” or “human being” in Daniel 7:13, and Son of Man is a frequent title given to Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospels.
The phrase “rebellious house” (v.5) is a statement of Israel’s seemingly ingrained defiance. Other prophets later relied on this theme as justifying Israel’s suffering as a divine punishment.
In the verses that follow today’s reading, Ezekiel was directed by God to not be afraid even though the people would treat him badly. God also told him to eat a scroll of Scripture — which Ezekiel found was as sweet as honey (3:3).
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Reading
2 I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. 3 And I know that such a person — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows — 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. 5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. 6 But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, 7 even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I appealed to the LORD about this, that it would leave me, 9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
Commentary
Corinth, a large port city in Greece, was among the early Jesus Follower communities that Paul founded. Its culture was diverse and Hellenistic. Corinthians emphasized reason and secular wisdom. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written in the 50’s (CE) and presented his views on many issues that were controversial in this Jesus Follower Community.
Based on internal references in the two remaining letters to the Corinthians, scholars agree that Paul likely wrote at least four letters to the Corinthians. The so-called Second Letter to the Corinthians is composed of fragments of these letters.
In today’s reading, Paul described his own mystical experience of God as validation of his own spiritual authority – because his opponents were claiming that their experiences validated their spiritual prowess. His experience was an ecstatic one – “whether in the body or out of the body I do not know” (v.3). Paul said the things he heard are “not to be told” – consistent with the notion that mystical revelations are to be kept secret.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament explains Paul’s reference to “third heaven” (v.2) as follows: “By the first centuries, Jews imagined the existence of multiple, hierarchically arranged heavens through which the soul after death or a person in a state of ecstasy in life could ascend to God’s throne. Some texts including the early 1 Enoch 14 (probably second century BCE) depict a three-tiered cosmology while [later texts] describe the soul as passing through seven heavens, including a fourth one in which the soul observes the sun … crossing from west to east under the world…. It appears that by Paul’s day, a full complement of seven heavens was commonly conceived.” The JANT notes that some rabbinic authorities referred to the third heaven as paradise, just as Paul did (v.4).
It is important to note that all during his life, Paul thought of himself as a Jew, and the Jerusalem Temple was in full operation even after his death in 63 CE.
In verse 7b, Paul spoke of a “thorn” with which he was afflicted, the nature of which is not known. The NOAB states that rather than asserting the Hellenistic ideal of sufficiency to transcend hardships, Paul accepted the hardships as real and as coming from God who would also give grace that would be sufficient (v.9). His recapitulation of them (v.10) contrasted with the ecstatic experience described in verses 1-7a.
The JANT observes: “Paul may be dismissing triumphant mystical enthusiasm and presenting himself as a failed and humbled mystic (see v 7). Again, Paul ironically boasts that he is as great in spiritual matters as his adversaries, even as he maintains that, for one in Christ, power is represented in weakness. Cf. vv 9-11.”
Mark 6:1-13
Reading
1 Jesus came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is generally 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 JANT comments on the reference to ”brothers and sisters” (v. 3) as follows: “Christian tradition has sometimes explained these siblings as children of Joseph and a wife other than Mary, or as cousins. The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words for ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ can mean relative (Tob 7.9). The context suggests close family members, and the virginal conception of Jesus is not mentioned in Mark.” The virginal conception of Jesus was a later-developed tradition within the Jesus Follower Movement in the First Century, and the tradition of “perpetual virginity” of Mary was an even later developed notion.
The NJBC says the description of Jesus as the “son of Mary” (v.3) may have been intended as an insult because Jesus – like other First Century men — would have been typically described as the “son of Joseph.” The NJBC regards as unlikely that the phrase was intended to mean that Joseph had died by this point in Jesus’ life.
The notion that a prophet has no honor in his hometown was a common theme in the Hebrew Bible – particularly with the way prophets such as Jeremiah and Amos were treated.
In Mark, the lack of faith by others in Jesus led to the situation in which he “could do no deed of power” (v.5). Matthew 13:58 says, “he did not do many deeds of power there.” In Luke 4, Jesus was rejected in Nazareth but there is no mention of his not performing deeds of power.
The commissioning of the twelve is generally seen as the appointment of symbolic heads of the renewed Israel while expanding Jesus’ mission of proclamation, exorcism, and healing. The JANT observes that sending out “two by two” (v.7) may have been done to “ensure that there would be two witnesses in accordance with Deut 17.6; this would be relevant for the testimony in v 11.” It also notes that anointing with oil (v.13) was a common medical practice.
The NJBC says that although the Twelve were told to take nothing for the journey except a staff (v.8), they were instructed in Matt. 10:10 and Luke 9:3 not to take a staff.
2024, June 30 ~ 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JUNE 30, 2024
During this Pentecost Season, there are two “Tracks” of Scriptures offered, and congregations may choose which Track they 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 1:1, 17-27
Reading
1 After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag.
17 David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. 18 (He ordered that The Song of the Bow be taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said:
19 Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places! How the mighty have fallen!
20 Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon; or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.
21 You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor bounteous fields! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more.
22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, nor the sword of Saul return empty.
23 Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
24 O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with crimson, in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
25 How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.
26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
27 How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!
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).
Last week’s readings from 1 Samuel (there were two of them) gave accounts of David’s slaying of Goliath, the jealousy of Saul against David because the people acclaimed David more than Saul, and the beginning of the relationship between David and Jonathan, Saul’s son.
The remaining chapters of 1 Samuel have a “soap opera” quality about them and reflect the numerous sources from which the Book was constructed. Many of the stories in this part of 1 Samuel are not in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible done in Alexandria from 300 BCE to 200 BCE).
In brief, although Saul was afraid of David (18:12), he offered David his first daughter in marriage, but then reneged on his promise (18:19). Saul’s next daughter, Michal, loved David (v.20) and they married, but Saul then realized YHWH was with David. Saul became David’s enemy (v.29).
From that point on, Saul tried to kill David (or hoped the Philistines would kill him) but Jonathan often thwarted Saul’s plans. At one point, Saul even tried to kill Jonathan (19:33) and pursued David to try to kill David. David had an opportunity to kill Saul but spared his life (24:10). David married two other women (25:42-43), and Saul gave Michal as a wife to another person. David spared Saul a second time (26:9), and then went over to fight for the Philistines (!) (Chapter 27).
After Samuel died, Saul consulted a medium at Endor (the so-called “Witch of Endor”) who conjured up the spirit of Samuel. The spirit told Saul again that YHWH had rejected him because of his disobedience regarding the annihilation of Amalekites (28:18).
The Philistine leaders then decided they did not want David and his men to fight on their side (Chapter 29). David left the Philistine camp and attacked and vanquished the Amalekites (Chapter 30). (As The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out, this story is inconsistent with 1 Sam 15 in which almost all the Amalekites were destroyed by Saul.) The Philistines attacked Saul and killed his sons and severely wounded Saul who then fell on his own sword (31:4).
Today’s reading is from the first chapter of 2 Samuel (1 and 2 Samuel were a single book but were divided so each would fit on one scroll.) The Jewish Study Bible points out that 2 Samuel is composed of three parts: David’s rise to power (Ch 1-8); his sin with Bathsheba and the ensuing troubles in his family (Ch 8-20); and an appendix consisting of miscellaneous materials (Ch 21-24).
The verses omitted from today’s reading (2-16) gave an account of Saul’s death that is different from the account at the end of 1 Sam and comes from a different source. In the omitted verses, an Amalekite soldier brought David the crown and armlet of Saul and (expecting a reward) told David that he had (at Saul’s request) put him out of his wounded misery by killing him (1:10). David, however, killed the Amalekite soldier because he “killed the LORD’s anointed” (v.16).
The reading today is a lament/dirge of David and refers to a lost type of song (“The Bow”) and a lost collection of poems that is also mentioned in Joshua 10:13. Given the strained relationship between Saul and David, the description of Saul as “beloved” (v.23) shows that these verses came from a different source. The NOAB suggests that the reference to Philistines as “uncircumcised” is intended to disparage them. The JSB notes that the lament does not mention God and the expressions of grief relate solely to the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, and not to Israel’s defeat. The NOAB opines that the closeness of David’s relationship with Jonathan (“passing the love of women” in v. 26) does not necessarily imply a sexual relationship.
Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24
Reading
13 God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living.
14 For he created all things so that they might exist; the generative forces of the world are wholesome, and there is no destructive poison in them, and the dominion of Hades is not on earth.
15 For righteousness is immortal.
2:23 God created us for incorruption and made us in the image of his own eternity,
24 but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it.
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.” 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 “TaNaKh”) when it was codified around 110 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 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 the books that were in the Septuagint.
Luther and other Protestants followed the Jewish Canon of the Hebrew Bible and put books from 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 author’s intent was to show the superiority of Judaism in language that would be relevant to persons familiar with Greek philosophy, and to encourage Jews in the Diaspora during the Greco-Roman Era to be faithful. For this reason, there is an emphasis in the Book on Platonic ideas such as soul, immortality, and the guiding force of Sophia (Wisdom).
Today’s reading (v.14) referred to Hades, the Greek abode of the dead (“Sheol” in Judaism) and affirmed that “righteousness” (right relation with God, others, and the world) is immortal. According to The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, the author of Wisdom, contrary to Greek philosophy, did not conclude that immortality arose from the nature of the soul but from one’s relationship with God. Immortality was seen as a gift of God to the righteous. For those who were not righteous (v.24), death is the result of the Disobedience Event in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:19) – “to dust you shall return.”
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Reading
7 As you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you — so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
8 I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. 10 And in this matter, I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something – 11 now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. 12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has — not according to what one does not have. 13 I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between 14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. 15 As it is written, “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”
Commentary
Corinth, a large port city in Greece, was among the early Jesus Follower communities that Paul founded. Its culture was diverse and Hellenistic. Corinthians emphasized reason and secular wisdom. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written in the 50’s (CE) and presented his views on many issues that were controversial in this Jesus Follower Community.
Based on internal references in the two remaining letters to the Corinthians, scholars agree that Paul likely wrote at least four letters to the Corinthians. The so-called Second Letter to the Corinthians is composed of fragments of these letters.
Today’s reading began with flattery to support Paul’s exhortation to Jesus Followers in Corinth to give generously to a collection he was taking up on behalf of the Jerusalem Jesus Follower community. The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that Paul’s appeal was intended to bring both economic relief for the Jerusalem church and also show unity between it and the Gentile diaspora congregations. (It also notes that Acts of the Apostles – which details much of Paul’s activity – does not mention the collection.) Chapter 9 repeated much of Chapter 8, but may have been from a different letter that made a similar appeal to a different group in Corinth.
In verse 15, Paul paraphrased Exodus 16:18 which described the amount of manna each Israelite received in the Wilderness – neither too much nor too little.
Mark 5:21-43
Reading
21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23 and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” 24 So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26 She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29 Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 He looked all around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.”
35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat.
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is generally 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.”
In last week’s reading, Jesus crossed to the east/Gentile side of the Sea of Galilee and calmed the storm. While there, he confronted the Gerasene Demoniac (5:2-13) and caused the evil spirits within the Demoniac to enter 2,000 swine who rushed into the sea and drowned (v.13). Not surprisingly (after this economic disaster), the people begged Jesus to leave them. The man who had been possessed by demons asked Jesus to be allowed to go with him, but Jesus refused and told him to go around the Decapolis proclaiming what had done for him (v.20).
Today’s reading picked up after Jesus returned to the western/Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee. In these verses, the author has “sandwiched” separate healing stories.
At these times, “leaders of the synagogue” (v.22) would not have been religious figures but were prominent persons in the community.
Jewish Law distinguished between a woman having her period, and one suffering from a genital hemorrhage. In either case, this woman might well have been regarded as ritually unclean and in a continuously impure state – which might also have affected the community’s response to her. The JANT questions whether such ritual impurity (a topic not mentioned in the text) would have mattered in a local village where access to the Jerusalem Temple was not an issue. The JANT points out that the contrast presented in the story was between sickness and a healing based on faith. Where Jesus’ healing is emphasized, the Kingdom of God is presented as a time of liberation from impurity not from purity laws.
The healing of Jairus’ daughter is not unlike Elijah’s raising of the widow’s son (1 Kings 17:22). In both stories, the child was understood by others to be dead. Noting that the girl’s age (12) is the same number of years as the woman suffered from a hemorrhage, some scholars regard the stories as a reference to the renewal of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jairus called the child “little daughter” (v. 23) and Jesus called her “little girl” (v.41) even though she was on the cusp of marriageable age in the First Century.
2024, June 23 ~ 1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49; 1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16; Job 38:1-11; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:36-41
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JUNE 23, 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.
Today, Track 1 offers two different readings from 1 Samuel 17 so there are a total of five readings.
1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49
Reading
1a The Philistines gathered their armies for battle. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 David said, “The LORD, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you!”
38 Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
41 The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” 45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give you into our hand.”
48 When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
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).
The story of the killing of Goliath appears twice in the Book of Samuel. The older version is in 2 Sam. 21:19, in which Goliath of Gath was killed by Elhanan, the son of a Bethlehemite. Today’s account is the better-known story. In the Bible, it follows an account in which Saul (who was being tormented by “an evil spirit”) sent messengers to Jesse (David’s father) to have David come to him to play his lyre for him. David’s music soothed Saul and the evil spirit departed from Saul when David played (16:23). David’s lyre playing became the basis for the fiction that David was the author of the psalms.
The description of Goliath is fearsome. The cubit was about 18” so he was 9 feet tall. His armor weighed about 130 pounds and his spear weighed 15 pounds. Scholars have noted that the shepherd boy vs. the giant incorporated many fairy tale motifs.
Having each side represented by a hero was not uncommon in literature, particularly in The Iliad in which Paris opposed Menelaus and Hector opposed Ajax.
In today’s reading, David was sent by Jesse to bring food to his three older brothers who were in Saul’s army. In this version of the Goliath story, it appeared that David met Saul for the first time when David volunteered to fight the Philistine (vv. 31-37). (As an attempt to reconcile the accounts, verse 15 – a later addition — suggests David was shuttling back and forth from playing his lyre for Saul and then returning to Bethlehem to watch the flocks.)
The promise by Saul to give his daughter in marriage (v.25) to the person who defeated Goliath was upheld, and one of David’s first wives was Michal (18:27). Michal loved David (18:20) and served him well for many years, choosing David over her father in some instances. The Jewish Study Bible points out: “Michal is the only woman in all biblical narrative of whom it is said that she loves a man.” She was later effectively banished because she criticized David for dancing naked in the streets of Jerusalem after he brought the Ark of Covenant there. (2 Sam.6:20-23.)
Referring to the Philistine as “uncircumcised” (v.26) was intended as an insult and may also reflect a later addition. In opposition to the Philistine’s taunts, David gave a theological speech about the power of YHWH (vv.45-47).
In today’s reading, David killed Goliath with a stone. In the verses that follow, David beheaded Goliath (v.51) and brought the head to Jerusalem (v.54). This is clearly an anachronism, because – according to another tradition — Jerusalem was not conquered by David until later (2 Sam. 5:6-9).
1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16
Reading
57 On David’s return from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
18:1 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 5 David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.
10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand 11 and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. 14 David had success in all his undertakings; for the LORD was with him. 15 When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.
Commentary
The alternative Track 1 Reading for today continued the account in Samuel after the killing of Goliath. It was derived from another source — as shown by the anomaly that David brought the Philistine’s head to Saul (v.57), even though v.54 said he brought it to Jerusalem. David’s introduction to Saul by Abner was presented as if it were the first meeting between David and Saul (Saul asked David who was his father in v.58), notwithstanding the stories in Chapter 16 and the conversation between David and Saul in Chapter 17.
Scholars agree that verses 1-5 are an insert to establish the depth of the relationship between Saul’s son, Jonathan, and David. The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that “loved” (v.3) implied political loyalty in addition to personal affection, and that Jonathan’s royal robe and armor represented his status as crown prince. Jonathan’s giving the robe and armor therefore depicted David as Saul’s true successor — a status achieved by the initiative of Jonathan himself. Throughout the Book of Samuel, David never usurped the throne or harmed Saul, even though he had opportunities to do so.
The omitted verses (6-9) stated that the women gave greater glory to David than to Saul because of David’s prowess in battle, and this made Saul angry and jealous of David (v.9).
This jealousy explained Saul’s throwing a spear at David while he was playing his lyre (v.11). Saul’s decision to put David in charge of a large army group (a “thousand”) was done because Saul was afraid to have David nearby and he hoped David might be killed in battle.
The relationship between David and Jonathan was developed in the balance of 1 Samuel, and Jonathan (like his sister, Michal) was loyal to David rather than his father.
One of the unspoken issues in the books of Samuel was the legitimacy of David’s accession to the throne. The JSB points out that by becoming Saul’s son-in-law, it gave David a right of succession, even though Saul’s own sons would have precedence. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary emphasizes that David’s accession to the throne was presented in these stories as the will of God, and that there was no justification for any charge of ruthless ambition.
Job 38:1-11
Reading
1 The LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?—
9 when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?”
Commentary
The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. Job was presented as a righteous person (in right relation with God and others) and as a non-Jew living in the land of Uz (somewhere in what is now Saudi Arabia).
Ha-Satan (the “adversary” – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made a wager with God and argued that Job was righteous only because he had health, family, and riches. Ha-Satan bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth.
Ha-Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God. His friends came to “comfort” him and (using typical Deuteronomic thought) told him that his deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears.
Job denied this reasoning and (contrary to the claim in the traditional translation of Jas. 5:11) Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and in some respects, defiant. He asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He asked to confront God face-to-face.
Today’s reading is the beginning of a four-chapter “response” by God to Job. The “response” is structured by the author (called “Poet-Job”) as a series of rhetorical questions from God to Job that demonstrated the complexity of created reality and presented an imaginative inspection of the cosmos. God did not, however, give Job a “straight answer” to his question. The NOAB points out that storms typically accompany a theophany and this answer came “out of the whirlwind” (v.1).
After the theophany (the appearance of God to Job), Job acknowledged his limitations as a human (“I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” – 42:6). The NOAB suggests that the words translated as “I despise myself” should probably be translated as “I relent” or “I recant.” It goes on to say that Job may be understood to say that he recanted and regretted mournfully, and that he was consoled about the limitations of the humanity.
In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored, he had another family, and the LORD told Job’s friends that they had not “spoken the truth about Me as did My servant Job” (42:7).
The Book of Job does not “answer” the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Bad things just happen, and humans cannot demand that a God of Mystery must act in a certain way in order to be “worthy” to be known as God.
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Reading
1 As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see — we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. 13 In return — I speak as to children — open wide your hearts also.
Commentary
Corinth, a large port city in Greece, was among the early Jesus Follower communities that Paul founded. Its culture was diverse and Hellenistic. Corinthians emphasized reason and secular wisdom. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written in the 50’s (CE) and presented his views on many issues that were controversial in this Jesus Follower Community.
Based on internal references in the two remaining letters to the Corinthians, scholars agree that Paul likely wrote at least four letters to the Corinthians. The so-called Second Letter to the Corinthians is composed of fragments of these letters.
Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians was sometimes strained (2:2-4). In today’s reading, Paul relied on Isaiah 49:8 in which the prophet, speaking for YHWH, told the Judeans that “on a day of salvation” they would be delivered from the Babylonian Exile. Paul used this verse to urge the Corinthians to accept God’s grace as an inbreaking of salvation.
He continued his defense of his ministry (v.3), enumerated his sufferings (v.4-5), defended his works (v.6-7), and countered charges against him (v.8-10). He claimed that his affection for the Corinthians was unrestricted, but the affections of the Corinthians were limited (v.11).
The NOAB observes that Paul’s use of contrasting pairs in verses 8-10 are not paradoxes to show that he was imperturbable (like an ideal sage in Stoic philosophy) but were antitheses to refute charges made against him. It sees these verses as a summary of his self-defense that began in chapter 2.
The NJBC understands Paul’s use of the words “sorrowful” (v.10) and “poor” as demonstrating his refusal to accept support from the Corinthians – a notion that had been used by his opponents to prove that he was not an apostle.
Mark 4:35-41
Reading
35 When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is generally 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 (and readings that follow up to Chapter 8) emphasize Jesus’ connection to both Moses and Elijah with sea crossings, exorcisms, healings, and wilderness feedings. These actions occur in the face of opposition and the disciples’ misunderstandings about the person of Jesus and his ministry.
In today’s story, Jesus was going from the Jewish/Western side of the Sea of Galilee to the Gentile/Eastern side. Like Jonah, Jesus was asleep in the boat during a storm. The disciples were presented here (and elsewhere) by Mark as uncomprehending, weak-willed or cowardly. The boat may also be a symbol for the small Jesus Follower community in 70 CE.
The sea was often portrayed as a metaphor for confusion or chaos. Control of the sea and the restoration of order (shalom) was seen as a divine power.