TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
AUGUST 13, 2023
During Pentecost Season 2023, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Reading
1 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the story of the family of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.
He came to Shechem, 15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’“ So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him” — that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; 24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. 28 When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
Commentary
The word “Genesis” means “origin” and the Book of Genesis starts with the two Creation Stories and concludes with the death of Joseph (Jacob’s son) in Egypt. If the stories about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are historical, these events took place in the period from 1900 to 1700 BCE.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, called “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomic) and “P” (Priestly). These sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
Today’s reading jumps from the marriage of Jacob and Rachel (Chapter 29) to the long and remarkably cohesive story of Joseph and his brothers in Chapters 37 to 50. In the intervening chapters (29 to 37) Jacob had 12 sons, six by Leah, two by Leah’s maid (Zilpah), two by Rachel’s maid (Bilhah), and two by Rachel (Joseph and Benjamin). He also had a daughter, Dinah, by Leah. As the stories continued, Jacob left Haran and traveled to Canaan, wrestled with an angel/God who changed his name to “Israel” (Ch. 32) and encountered (and reconciled with) Esau along the way (Ch. 33).
Joseph was Jacob’s 11th son; his mother was Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. Joseph’s older brothers had antipathy and resentment toward him because of a “bad report” Joseph gave to Jacob (v. 2) and because of Jacob’s giving Joseph a robe with sleeves (not many colors notwithstanding the LXX) (v.3), a sign of royalty (See 2 Sam. 13:18). This animosity was enhanced when Joseph recounted to his brothers (in verses 5 to 11) two dreams which he interpreted as showing that he would lord over his older brothers. The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that Jacob saw the dream as predicting that he and Joseph’s mother, Rachel, would join the brothers in submitting to Joseph (v.10). The NAOB suggests that “this episode was probably part of an independent Joseph story that originally did not follow an account of Rachel’s death [Gen.35:19].”
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes that the enmity caused by Joseph’s reports comes from “P”; the enmity from favoritism is from “J”; and the hostility from the “ruling” dreams is from “E.”
According to the story, Joseph traveled a long distance to find his brothers. It is about 50 miles from the valley of Hebron (v.14) to Shechem and another 20 miles north from Shechem to Dothan (v.17), a town along a trade route from Syria to Egypt, where Joseph was thrown into a pit. The NOAB observes that the pits were cisterns for storing rain water and sometimes used to imprison people. It continues: “The advice of Reuben and Judah reflects the ancient idea that blood cannot be “concealed” (v.26) but cries out for requital (See 4:10-11 [Cain and Abel].” It shows the brothers’ callousness that after throwing Joseph in a pit, they sat down to eat (v.25).
Joseph was sold into slavery (depending on the source) to Ishmaelites (v.27) (the descendants of Abraham’s son by Sarah’s maid, Hagar) or to Midianites (v.28). Joseph was and saved from death by the oldest brother, Reuben (v.22) (who planned to rescue him), and the fourth oldest brother, Judah (v.27).The Jewish Study Bible observes that Reuben and the Midianites are derived from the “E” version of the story and Judah and the Ishmaelites fare rom the “J” version.
Continuing this inconsistency from multiple sources, the story later says that Joseph was sold to Potiphar in Egypt by the Midianites (v.36) and by the Ishmaelites (39:1). Judah later took the leadership role in dealing with Joseph in Egypt. Judah’s tribe eventually inhabited Jerusalem and the area around it.
The multiplicity of sources is also shown by Jacob’s name being recounted as “Israel” (v.3) and elsewhere as Jacob (42:4).
The JSB points out that the patriarchal narrative is replete with appearances of God or his messengers and oracles from them, but Joseph never sees or hears God or his messengers. The only direct revelation in these chapters comes to Jacob in chapter 46. In the Joseph story, God is understood as working in hidden ways – secretly guiding the course of human events and even bringing good out of human evil (50:20).
1 Kings 19:9-18
Reading
9 At Horeb, the mount of God, Elijah came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15 Then the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
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.)
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, and Ahab (873-852 BCE) was one of the worst offenders. His wife was the Baal-worshiping foreigner, Jezebel.
The prophet Elijah is the subject of today’s reading. Just prior to these verses, Elijah invoked the power of YHWH to overcome the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in the Northern part of Israel. He successfully urged YHWH to bring fire upon a huge sacrifice and then to bring rain to end a drought. Elijah then killed all the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18).
King Ahab told his Baal-worshiping wife, Jezebel, what Elijah had done (19:1). Jezebel swore to kill Elijah (v.2), so he ran away as far south in Israel as he could – first to Beer-sheba and then to the Wilderness where he hoped to die (v.4). (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 so he could journey to Horeb (meaning “dry place”) and continue his ministry (v.5,7). For the Deuteronomists, the holy mountain was called “Horeb” rather than Sinai. “Sinai” was the name used by most of the authors of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Elijah’s receiving food in the wilderness was parallel to Hagar’s story in Genesis 21:19 and gave him strength for the journey to Horeb which took “forty days and forty nights” (v.8). Horeb was also the place where Moses had the Burning Bush experience (Ex. 3:1).
The Jewish Study Bible points out that, depending on the terrain, a person could cover 15-25 miles a day walking. If Elijah walked for 40 days and 40 nights, he could have covered between 600 and 1,000 miles. The JSB suggests that 40 is merely a “formulaic number” for “a long time” and is not to be taken literally.
When Elijah was at Horeb, the voice of YHWH came to him in the silence (vv.12-13) and told him to anoint Hazael as king of Aram (modern Syria). YHWH also told Elijah to commit treason by anointing Jehu as King of Israel even while Ahab was still alive (v.16). The NAOB says: “The new order is to succeed the old, and it is that order which will bring about the final victory over Baal worship, not through obviously spectacular demonstrations of divine power as in chapter 18, but through the (quieter) political processes as God removes certain kings and sets up others.”
This is not the first instance of treasonous activity in the Deuteronomists’ accounts. YHWH told Samuel to anoint David as King even though the anointed king, Saul, was still alive. (1 Sam.16:13).
The NAOB observes that “the emphasis at Carmel had been on God’s spectacular ways and particularly on his use of fire. The emphasis here is upon God’s quiet ways. He is not to be found on this occasion in the spectacular elements of the storm outside the cave.”
Romans 10:5-15
Reading
5 Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11 The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13 For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
14 But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15 And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Commentary
Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.
Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.
The NJBC interprets the verses preceding today’s reading as follows: “They explain how Paul could not only regard Christ as the goal of the law but also look upon uprightness through faith in him as a way to fulfill the law itself and uphold all that it stood for. The prized status of uprightness before God is now available to everyone through faith.”
According to The NAOB, the righteousness from the law and righteousness from faith are not opposed since there is only God’s righteousness (v.3). It continues: “The promise of life to the person who does these things (Lev 18.5) requires not human effort to produce the messiah, but faith in the messiah whom God has sent. Such is Paul’s christological reading of Deut 30.11-14.”
Regarding today’s reading, The NAOB suggests that in verses 5-13, “using a common Jewish technique, Paul interprets one passage of scripture (Lev. 18.5) in light of others.” (Lev.18:5 reads: “You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live; I am the LORD.”) Paul then used Deut. 30:14 (“The word is very near you.”) which Paul paraphrased in v.8; Isaiah 28:16b (“One who trusts [in the LORD] will not panic”) which Paul loosely paraphrased in verse 11; and Joel 2:32a (“Then everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved”) which Paul quoted in verse 13.
Paul used terms in Romans that need to be unpacked. “Righteousness” (v.5) is understood as being in right relationships with God and others and is sometimes translated as “justified.” A “just” person is also a “righteous” person, and “justified” (v.10) is used the same way that a page of type is “justified” – all the margins are straight and in order. The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes: “Righteousness is an expression of one’s intent, of doing right for the right reasons.”
“Faith” (v.6) is not used as an intellectual assent to one or more propositions. The Greek word for “faith” (pistis) has an active aspect and should be more properly understood as “faithfulness” – active living into one’s beliefs through grace and trust in God. Paul emphasized that “belief” is a matter of the heart (v.10), not the intellect.
As a Jewish Jesus Follower, Paul continued to respect the “law” (the Torah) but emphasized that mere obedience to the Law was not sufficient for salvation, wholeness, or righteousness. Righteousness is a matter of the heart and living in active faithfulness just as Jesus the Christ was faithful to the God of Love. The NAOB observes: “For Paul, observing Torah involves being faithful to the revelation of Christ; he is not arguing for Torah’s abolition but for recognizing its goals.”
In verse 9, Paul once again asserted God’s agency in raising Jesus from the dead. The NJBC notes that in verse 10, Paul was implying that one should not “overstress the differences between justification and salvation.”
In verses 12 and 13, Paul continued his call for unity between the Jewish Jesus Followers and the Gentile Jesus Followers (“no distinction between Jew and Greek”). The NJBC also observes: “Paul’s use of Kyrios can only refer to Jesus who is the risen Lord of the Jew and Greek.”
“Kyrios” was the Greek word used in the Septuagint to translate “YHWH,” so Paul was making a clear equivalence between YHWH as LORD and Jesus the Christ as LORD.
In the concluding verses (14 and 15), Paul asserted that God was remaining faithful to Israel by having the “good news” preached to them. Verse 15 is a paraphrase of Isaiah 52:7 (“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation…”)
Matthew 14:22-33
Reading
22 Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.
Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.
The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.
Today’s reading follows the story of the feeding of the 5,000 and is a story that shows Jesus’ dominion over nature. It appears in Mark and John, but not in Luke.
The NAOB points out that Jesus’ response “it is I” is literally “I am” – a reference to the divine name in Ex. 3:14 and a clear identification by the author of Jesus with God. It also notes that the story with Peter (vv. 28-31) is not found in Mark or John and is an echo of Psalm 69:1-3.
The JANT observes that the disciples’ calling Jesus “Son of God” (v.33) indicated the author’s assertion of Jesus’ divine nature. The JANT goes on to say that the phrase “may have been a messianic reference [citing sources]; no Jewish texts identify the Messiah as the son of God.”
2023, August 13 ~ Genesis 37:1-4,12-28; 1 Kings 19:9-18; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
AUGUST 13, 2023
During Pentecost Season 2023, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Reading
1 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the story of the family of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.
He came to Shechem, 15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’“ So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him” — that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; 24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. 28 When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
Commentary
The word “Genesis” means “origin” and the Book of Genesis starts with the two Creation Stories and concludes with the death of Joseph (Jacob’s son) in Egypt. If the stories about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are historical, these events took place in the period from 1900 to 1700 BCE.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, called “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomic) and “P” (Priestly). These sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
Today’s reading jumps from the marriage of Jacob and Rachel (Chapter 29) to the long and remarkably cohesive story of Joseph and his brothers in Chapters 37 to 50. In the intervening chapters (29 to 37) Jacob had 12 sons, six by Leah, two by Leah’s maid (Zilpah), two by Rachel’s maid (Bilhah), and two by Rachel (Joseph and Benjamin). He also had a daughter, Dinah, by Leah. As the stories continued, Jacob left Haran and traveled to Canaan, wrestled with an angel/God who changed his name to “Israel” (Ch. 32) and encountered (and reconciled with) Esau along the way (Ch. 33).
Joseph was Jacob’s 11th son; his mother was Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. Joseph’s older brothers had antipathy and resentment toward him because of a “bad report” Joseph gave to Jacob (v. 2) and because of Jacob’s giving Joseph a robe with sleeves (not many colors notwithstanding the LXX) (v.3), a sign of royalty (See 2 Sam. 13:18). This animosity was enhanced when Joseph recounted to his brothers (in verses 5 to 11) two dreams which he interpreted as showing that he would lord over his older brothers. The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that Jacob saw the dream as predicting that he and Joseph’s mother, Rachel, would join the brothers in submitting to Joseph (v.10). The NAOB suggests that “this episode was probably part of an independent Joseph story that originally did not follow an account of Rachel’s death [Gen.35:19].”
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes that the enmity caused by Joseph’s reports comes from “P”; the enmity from favoritism is from “J”; and the hostility from the “ruling” dreams is from “E.”
According to the story, Joseph traveled a long distance to find his brothers. It is about 50 miles from the valley of Hebron (v.14) to Shechem and another 20 miles north from Shechem to Dothan (v.17), a town along a trade route from Syria to Egypt, where Joseph was thrown into a pit. The NOAB observes that the pits were cisterns for storing rain water and sometimes used to imprison people. It continues: “The advice of Reuben and Judah reflects the ancient idea that blood cannot be “concealed” (v.26) but cries out for requital (See 4:10-11 [Cain and Abel].” It shows the brothers’ callousness that after throwing Joseph in a pit, they sat down to eat (v.25).
Joseph was sold into slavery (depending on the source) to Ishmaelites (v.27) (the descendants of Abraham’s son by Sarah’s maid, Hagar) or to Midianites (v.28). Joseph was and saved from death by the oldest brother, Reuben (v.22) (who planned to rescue him), and the fourth oldest brother, Judah (v.27).The Jewish Study Bible observes that Reuben and the Midianites are derived from the “E” version of the story and Judah and the Ishmaelites fare rom the “J” version.
Continuing this inconsistency from multiple sources, the story later says that Joseph was sold to Potiphar in Egypt by the Midianites (v.36) and by the Ishmaelites (39:1). Judah later took the leadership role in dealing with Joseph in Egypt. Judah’s tribe eventually inhabited Jerusalem and the area around it.
The multiplicity of sources is also shown by Jacob’s name being recounted as “Israel” (v.3) and elsewhere as Jacob (42:4).
The JSB points out that the patriarchal narrative is replete with appearances of God or his messengers and oracles from them, but Joseph never sees or hears God or his messengers. The only direct revelation in these chapters comes to Jacob in chapter 46. In the Joseph story, God is understood as working in hidden ways – secretly guiding the course of human events and even bringing good out of human evil (50:20).
1 Kings 19:9-18
Reading
9 At Horeb, the mount of God, Elijah came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15 Then the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
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.)
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, and Ahab (873-852 BCE) was one of the worst offenders. His wife was the Baal-worshiping foreigner, Jezebel.
The prophet Elijah is the subject of today’s reading. Just prior to these verses, Elijah invoked the power of YHWH to overcome the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in the Northern part of Israel. He successfully urged YHWH to bring fire upon a huge sacrifice and then to bring rain to end a drought. Elijah then killed all the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18).
King Ahab told his Baal-worshiping wife, Jezebel, what Elijah had done (19:1). Jezebel swore to kill Elijah (v.2), so he ran away as far south in Israel as he could – first to Beer-sheba and then to the Wilderness where he hoped to die (v.4). (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 so he could journey to Horeb (meaning “dry place”) and continue his ministry (v.5,7). For the Deuteronomists, the holy mountain was called “Horeb” rather than Sinai. “Sinai” was the name used by most of the authors of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Elijah’s receiving food in the wilderness was parallel to Hagar’s story in Genesis 21:19 and gave him strength for the journey to Horeb which took “forty days and forty nights” (v.8). Horeb was also the place where Moses had the Burning Bush experience (Ex. 3:1).
The Jewish Study Bible points out that, depending on the terrain, a person could cover 15-25 miles a day walking. If Elijah walked for 40 days and 40 nights, he could have covered between 600 and 1,000 miles. The JSB suggests that 40 is merely a “formulaic number” for “a long time” and is not to be taken literally.
When Elijah was at Horeb, the voice of YHWH came to him in the silence (vv.12-13) and told him to anoint Hazael as king of Aram (modern Syria). YHWH also told Elijah to commit treason by anointing Jehu as King of Israel even while Ahab was still alive (v.16). The NAOB says: “The new order is to succeed the old, and it is that order which will bring about the final victory over Baal worship, not through obviously spectacular demonstrations of divine power as in chapter 18, but through the (quieter) political processes as God removes certain kings and sets up others.”
This is not the first instance of treasonous activity in the Deuteronomists’ accounts. YHWH told Samuel to anoint David as King even though the anointed king, Saul, was still alive. (1 Sam.16:13).
The NAOB observes that “the emphasis at Carmel had been on God’s spectacular ways and particularly on his use of fire. The emphasis here is upon God’s quiet ways. He is not to be found on this occasion in the spectacular elements of the storm outside the cave.”
Romans 10:5-15
Reading
5 Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11 The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13 For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
14 But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15 And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Commentary
Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.
Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.
The NJBC interprets the verses preceding today’s reading as follows: “They explain how Paul could not only regard Christ as the goal of the law but also look upon uprightness through faith in him as a way to fulfill the law itself and uphold all that it stood for. The prized status of uprightness before God is now available to everyone through faith.”
According to The NAOB, the righteousness from the law and righteousness from faith are not opposed since there is only God’s righteousness (v.3). It continues: “The promise of life to the person who does these things (Lev 18.5) requires not human effort to produce the messiah, but faith in the messiah whom God has sent. Such is Paul’s christological reading of Deut 30.11-14.”
Regarding today’s reading, The NAOB suggests that in verses 5-13, “using a common Jewish technique, Paul interprets one passage of scripture (Lev. 18.5) in light of others.” (Lev.18:5 reads: “You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live; I am the LORD.”) Paul then used Deut. 30:14 (“The word is very near you.”) which Paul paraphrased in v.8; Isaiah 28:16b (“One who trusts [in the LORD] will not panic”) which Paul loosely paraphrased in verse 11; and Joel 2:32a (“Then everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved”) which Paul quoted in verse 13.
Paul used terms in Romans that need to be unpacked. “Righteousness” (v.5) is understood as being in right relationships with God and others and is sometimes translated as “justified.” A “just” person is also a “righteous” person, and “justified” (v.10) is used the same way that a page of type is “justified” – all the margins are straight and in order. The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes: “Righteousness is an expression of one’s intent, of doing right for the right reasons.”
“Faith” (v.6) is not used as an intellectual assent to one or more propositions. The Greek word for “faith” (pistis) has an active aspect and should be more properly understood as “faithfulness” – active living into one’s beliefs through grace and trust in God. Paul emphasized that “belief” is a matter of the heart (v.10), not the intellect.
As a Jewish Jesus Follower, Paul continued to respect the “law” (the Torah) but emphasized that mere obedience to the Law was not sufficient for salvation, wholeness, or righteousness. Righteousness is a matter of the heart and living in active faithfulness just as Jesus the Christ was faithful to the God of Love. The NAOB observes: “For Paul, observing Torah involves being faithful to the revelation of Christ; he is not arguing for Torah’s abolition but for recognizing its goals.”
In verse 9, Paul once again asserted God’s agency in raising Jesus from the dead. The NJBC notes that in verse 10, Paul was implying that one should not “overstress the differences between justification and salvation.”
In verses 12 and 13, Paul continued his call for unity between the Jewish Jesus Followers and the Gentile Jesus Followers (“no distinction between Jew and Greek”). The NJBC also observes: “Paul’s use of Kyrios can only refer to Jesus who is the risen Lord of the Jew and Greek.”
“Kyrios” was the Greek word used in the Septuagint to translate “YHWH,” so Paul was making a clear equivalence between YHWH as LORD and Jesus the Christ as LORD.
In the concluding verses (14 and 15), Paul asserted that God was remaining faithful to Israel by having the “good news” preached to them. Verse 15 is a paraphrase of Isaiah 52:7 (“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation…”)
Matthew 14:22-33
Reading
22 Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.
Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.
The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.
Today’s reading follows the story of the feeding of the 5,000 and is a story that shows Jesus’ dominion over nature. It appears in Mark and John, but not in Luke.
The NAOB points out that Jesus’ response “it is I” is literally “I am” – a reference to the divine name in Ex. 3:14 and a clear identification by the author of Jesus with God. It also notes that the story with Peter (vv. 28-31) is not found in Mark or John and is an echo of Psalm 69:1-3.
The JANT observes that the disciples’ calling Jesus “Son of God” (v.33) indicated the author’s assertion of Jesus’ divine nature. The JANT goes on to say that the phrase “may have been a messianic reference [citing sources]; no Jewish texts identify the Messiah as the son of God.”
2023, August 6 ~ Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Peter 1:13-21; Luke 9:28b-36
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
AUGUST 6, 2023
TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY
Exodus 34:29-35
Reading
29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; 34 but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Commentary
The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Bible and covers the period from the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt under Pharaoh (around 1250 BCE, if the account is historical), the Exodus itself, and the early months in the Wilderness.
Because of this reading from the Hebrew Bible and today’s Gospel reading, many Christians refer to this Sunday as “Transfiguration Sunday.” In this reading, Moses’ face shone when he came down from Mount Sinai after speaking with YHWH (translated as LORD in all capital letters). On the mountain, he (Moses) wrote the “words of the covenant” (the Ten Commandments or the Ten Words) on tablets as directed by YHWH (34:27). Moses put a veil over his face after he gave the people the Commandments (v.33) and he removed the veil whenever he spoke to YHWH face-to-face (v.34).
Today’s reading is set at Mount Sinai (“Horeb” in other parts of Exodus and in Deuteronomy) during the time in the Wilderness.
The account in today’s reading is Moses’ second return from the top of Mount Sinai. Just a few chapters earlier, Moses came down from the mountain with the Commandments written by YHWH in the first account of the giving of the commandments (31:18). When Moses and YHWH saw that the Israelites built a Golden Calf, YHWH threatened to destroy them. Moses pleaded with YHWH to reverse that decision and YHWH relented (Chapters 32 and 33).
The Hebrew words saying that Moses’ face “shone” (v.29) – or in other translations “was radiant” – shares an etymological root with the word “horn” (as in an instrument or source of sound projections). In his translation of the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate), Jerome rendered these Hebrew words as “was horned.” This unfortunate translation was the basis for Michelangelo’s statue of Moses showing him with horns and led to the antisemitic belief that Jews had horns.
The Jewish Study Bible points out that there are passages in Ezekiel, Habakkuk, and Psalm 104 portraying the Divine Presence as surrounded by radiant luminosity and that this is a concept also found in Mesopotamian literature where it is called “fearsome radiance.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary opines that the radiance of Moses’ face demonstrates his privileged position as a servant close to YHWH, and as reaffirming his position as the intermediary between God and the Israelites.
Moses’ speaking with God face-to-face became an important aspect of the description of the expected Messiah when this account in Exodus was combined with two verses in the Book of Deuteronomy. In one of these verses, YHWH promised to “raise up for them [the people of Israel] a prophet like you [Moses].” (Deut. 18.18) The other verse stated that no other prophet in Israel has been known by God face-to-face (Deut. 34.10).
Today’s Gospel reading presents Jesus of Nazareth as conversing with Moses and Elijah, and notes that “the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became dazzling white” (LK 9:29).
2 Peter 1:13-21
Reading
13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory, 14 since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
19 So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Commentary
In the First Century, it was not uncommon to write something in another person’s name so that the writing would have extra “authority” – particularly when the writer believed he knew what the “authority” (in this case, Peter) would have said. This is called pseudepigraphy.
The Second Letter of Peter was likely written some time between 100 and 150 CE (Peter died in the 60’s CE) and it was written in the popular Greek rhetorical style of the age, not a style that would have been customary for a Galilean fisherman. The NJBC sees the letter as “written to a pluralistic Church of Jewish-Christian and a Greek converts.” It says the “language is good Greek with special attention to technical, intellectual terms, such as ‘divine nature’.”
The Jewish Annotated New Testament understands the reference to “in this body” (v.13) as a juxtaposition to the glorious, resurrected body anticipated after death. By alluding to his death “as coming soon” (v.14), the letter presented itself as a “testament” (final advice and warnings) by Peter based on his own experiences. The JANT notes that early Christian legend from the 2nd and 3rd centuries states that Peter was crucified upside-down by Nero in 64 CE.
It is not clear if the author of 1 Peter and 2 Peter was the same person.
This short (three chapters) letter emphasized the dangers of false prophets and presented a vision of the world so corrupt that it could be saved only by the Second Coming of the Christ.
In today’s reading, “Peter” claimed he was an eyewitness to the Transfiguration of Jesus (v.16) where he heard the voice of God declare that Jesus was God’s Son and God’s Beloved. The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that the wording of the heavenly voice (v.17) is different from the words spoken at the Transfiguration as recounted in the Synoptic Gospels. The NAOB surmises that the writer of the letter may have been relying on an oral tradition rather than a written gospel. The “holy mountain” (v.18) is not identified, but The JANT points out that early (late 2nd Century and after) Church fathers such as Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem and Jerome said it was Mount Tabor. Mount Tabor is located in the Lower Galilee at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, 11 miles west of the Sea of Galilee.
Connecting the reference to the “morning star” (v.19) to Revelation 22:16, The NAOB interprets the morning star as the Christ who will return. The JANT sees the “lamp shining” reference (v.19) as related to Matt. 5:15 (“do not hide a lamp shining under a bushel basket”) and the “day dawns” (v.19) as a reference to Judgment Day.
“Peter” concludes that prophesy comes from God to humans who are moved by the Spirit to speak for God (v.21), which The JANT describes as “charismatic pronouncements.”
Luke 9:28b-36
Reading
28b Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — not knowing what he said. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” 36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
Commentary
The Gospel According to Luke is generally regarded as having been written around 85 CE. Its author also wrote the Acts of the Apostles. Both books were written in elegant and deliberatively crafted Greek and presented Jesus of Nazareth as the universal savior of humanity. Both emphasized the Holy Spirit as the “driving force” for events.
The Gospel followed the same general chronology of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as the Gospel of Mark, and more than 40% of Luke’s Gospel was based on Mark. The other portions of Luke include (a) sayings shared with the Gospel According to Matthew but not found in Mark (these portions are said to derive from the “Sayings Source” known as “Q” – the German word for which is Quelle — and (b) stories that are unique to Luke such as the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Presentation in the Temple, the Prodigal Son, and the Good Samaritan.
Today’s reading is an account of the Transfiguration and is found in all three Synoptic Gospels, but not in the Fourth Gospel. In Luke’s account, Jesus took his “inner circle” (Peter, James, and John) and went up on an unspecified mountain (sometimes identified as Mount Tabor) where he was transfigured and appeared with Moses (the lawgiver) and Elijah (the great prophet whose return would be a sign of the coming of the Messiah). The NJBC says the inclusion of Moses and Elijah shows “the road upon which Jesus is embarking is in accord with the law and the prophets.”
The JANT points out that Jesus’ face shining (v.29) is a parallel to Moses’ face shining in Exodus 34:29. The JANT continues that “dazzling” clothes suggest a mystical experience, citing Moses and Daniel 12:3 (“Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky”).
The statement that Peter, James, and John were “weighed down with sleep” (v.32) may indicate that the Transfiguration occurred at night and anticipated the same sleepy condition when they were supposed to keep watch for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (22:45).
Peter’s desire to make three dwellings (v.33) was a reaction to make permanent a numinous moment and to keep Moses and Elijah present. Other translations are for “tents” or “tabernacles.”
The “cloud” is a customary image for God (as in Exodus 13) and the “voice” is similar to the voice and words spoken at Jesus’ baptism (3:22).
The NJBC suggests that the teachings that Jesus gave in Luke’s Gospel just before the Transfiguration were so different and difficult (“take up your cross and follow me”) that it was necessary to present a “divine sanction” for these teachings.
2023, July 30 ~ Genesis 29:15-28; 1 Kings 3:5-12; Romans 8:26-39; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JULY 30, 2023
During Pentecost Season 2023, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Genesis 29:15-28
Reading
15 Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were lovely, and Rachel was graceful and beautiful. 18 Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But in the evening, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) 25 When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “This is not done in our country — giving the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.
Commentary
The word “Genesis” means “origin” and the Book of Genesis starts with the two Creation Stories and concludes with the death of Joseph (Jacob’s son) in Egypt. If the stories about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are historical, these events took place in the period from 1900 to 1700 BCE.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, called “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomic) and “P” (Priestly). These sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
Today’s story is the concluding part of Jacob’s journey to find a wife in the land from which Abraham came, Haran. Like many other Biblical men, Jacob met his wife Rachel at a well. Rachel was Jacob’s first cousin in that her father, Laban, was Rebekah’s brother. Although Jacob was previously described in 25:27 as “a mild man who stayed in camp” (JPS) or “a quiet man, living in tents” (NRSV), when he saw Rachel he performed a feat of great strength and singlehandedly rolled the stone from the mouth of the well – a task that would have required the efforts of all the other shepherds who were there (v.10). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes that Jacob, the “heelgripper” (25:26), “knows how to seize the opportunity.”
When Jacob saw Rachel, he kissed her (v.11), and agreed to work for Laban for seven years so Rachel would be his wife (v.18). Scholars note that this story contains one of the few accounts of romantic love in the Bible.
Previously, Jacob (with Rebekah’s assistance) had tricked his father Isaac into giving him the blessing that belonged to Esau, his older twin brother (27:5-29). When the time came for Jacob to marry Rachel, in a clearly ironic twist, Laban tricked the trickster Jacob by substituting his older daughter (Leah) for Rachel in Jacob’s tent on his wedding night (v.23). The New Oxford Annotated Bible suggests that this exchange could be made because the bride was brought veiled to the bridegroom (24:65). The NJBC observes that although Leah’s eyes were described as “lovely” (v.17), the Hebrew word is “rak” which can also mean dull and without luster.
Jacob was understandably unhappy about this development but agreed with Laban to “complete Leah’s week” of marriage festivities, and Laban gave Rachel to Jacob as another wife (v.28). Jacob worked for Laban for another seven years (v.30). Leah bore Jacob’s first four sons, including Judah.
Continuing the theme of the “barren matriarch” that began with Sarah and Rebekah, Rachel was unable to conceive until Jacob had already sired a total of ten sons by Leah, Rachel’s maid (Bilhah) and Leah’s maid (Zilpah). After many years, Rachel gave birth to Joseph (who had the famous coat) (30:22-24) and later died in childbirth when Jacob’s last son, Benjamin, was born (35:19).
1 Kings 3:5-12
Reading
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.”
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.)
Prior to today’s story, Solomon (who was David’s son by Bathsheba, and not the oldest of David’s sons) acceded to the throne upon David’s death in about 965 BCE through the machinations of Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan (1 Kings 1). Solomon was anointed king even before David’s death, and then ruthlessly eliminated those who might have challenged him as king (1 Kings 2).
Immediately before today’s reading, the author reported that Solomon made a marriage alliance with the Pharaoh and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to Jerusalem (v.1) — an action which The NAOB describes as “questionable from a moral point of view” (see Deut. 17:16). The marriage, along with having other foreign wives was noted in 11:1 as one of the reasons for YHWH’s anger with Solomon (11:9). The Jewish Study Bible observes: “Since Egyptian sources indicate it is unlikely that the actual daughter of a reigning pharaoh would have been given in marriage to a non-Egyptian, “daughter” may refer to a woman closely related or descended from the royal family.”
In addition, “the people were sacrificing at high places” (v.2) – another violation of Deuteronomic Law – although (according to The JSB) this prohibition did not arise until after Solomon built the First Temple.
The NJBC takes a more generous view. It sees the marriage as “a common political practice of the day” and notes that worship of YHWH at high places was acceptable before Solomon built the First Temple. The NJBC observes that “Solomon loved YHWH, offered incense at high places” and made an extravagant (1,000 burnt offerings) at Gibeon (v.3).
Today’s story is recounted as a dream sequence in which Solomon asked YHWH for wisdom, and YHWH granted him a wise and discerning mind (v.12). The NAOB suggests that the phrase “not knowing how to go out and come in” (v.7) likely implied a lack of military experience. The notion that the people were “so numerous that they cannot not be numbered or counted” is likely a reference back to the census taken by David (2 Sam. 24) that made YHWH angry – perhaps because it was an act of pride on David’s part.
As events unfolded in 1 Kings, Solomon gained great wealth, expanded Israel’s borders, and exhibited wisdom in the famous “cut the baby in half” incident (3:16-28). But as his rule progressed, he governed Israel harshly and married many foreign wives who turned his heart away from YHWH (1 Kings 11).
According to the Deuteronomists, Solomon’s harsh rule contributed greatly to the breakup of the Kingdom in 930 BCE when he died (1 Kings 12 and 13). Eventually, both the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judea) were conquered, respectively, by the Assyrians in 722 BCE and the Babylonians (587 BCE).
Romans 8:26-39
Reading
26 The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
38 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Commentary
Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.
Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.
Today’s reading concludes Paul’s theologically dense discussion in Chapter 8. The NAOB interprets the earlier portions of this chapter as follows: The inclinations of human “flesh” prevented earlier generations – including those who received the law at Mount Sinai — from fulfilling the “just requirement of the law.” The law is “thus weakened by the flesh” but Christ satisfied “the just requirement” through “his own act of righteousness.” The law’s “just requirement” is the standard of righteous living.
The NAOB continues that when Paul spoke of “the law of the spirit of life and of death” he was not referring to two different laws but rather to God’s law experienced under two opposing dominions — sin and of righteousness.
Paul’s theology included the idea that “all things work together for good for those who love God” (v.28). Even if matters are not going well, God’s purpose nevertheless prevails (v.28). Paul asserted “foreknowledge” on God’s part (v.29) and predestination (v.30). The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that Paul assumed in verse 30 that justification and glorification have been accomplished.
Verses 31 to 35 are presented as rhetorical questions, and The JANT suggests that verse 34b is also a rhetorical question even though the NRSV does not translate or punctuate it that way.
In verse 36, Paul quoted Psalm 44:22, a psalm in which Israel stated that it was being mistreated and implored God to intervene on its behalf.
The reading concluded with an oft-quoted affirmation that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (vv. 38-39).
Matthew 13:31-33,44-52
Reading
31 Jesus put before the crowds another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.
Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.
The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.
Out of respect for his Jewish Jesus Follower audience, Matthew did not refer to “the Kingdom of God,” but instead to the “kingdom of heaven.”
The parables/comparisons to the kingdom of heaven in today’s readings are all intended to convey the great value of seeking the kingdom of heaven wholeheartedly and the enormous impact that seeking the kingdom will have in the world. The parables, do not, however, make sense on a literal or practical level.
No sane farmer would sow a mustard seed in his field. A mustard bush is like kudzu – it grows wild and takes over everything in its path. Moreover, what person cultivating a field wants birds in his field where they will eat the seeds and the crops? On a non-literal level, however, the parable emphasized the enormous impact a person who is righteous (in right relation with God, others and oneself) can have. The JANT notes that Jesus was using hyperbole to refer to the growth of the kingdom of heaven.
It would be an extraordinary First Century woman who would have “three measures” (v.33) of flour – about 60 pounds. Is she making bread for the entire village? The JANT observes that it is “an account of unexpected exaggeration.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out: “Leaven in Jewish tradition often had the symbolic meaning of evil, the proneness or tendency to sin in an individual, connected with the rituals of Passover as the feast of Unleavened Bread.”
Selling everything one owns (v.44) to buy a field to get a “treasure” also makes no practical sense. What would this person be left with after having the treasure? No home, no other assets to buy food or anything else. What would the person do with the treasure? Similarly, the pearl merchant was said to “sell all that he had” (v. 46). Now what? The JANT points out that in Rabbinic Literature, pearls relate to piety and Torah Study.
The comparison of the kingdom of heaven to the net (v.47) describes an apocalyptic process in which the good will be separated from the bad at the end of the age (v.48). The JANT says, “Fishermen in the Sea of Galilee would have had to separate kosher and non-kosher fish from their nets.”
Some commentators take Jesus’ question “Have you understood all this?” (v.51) as ironic in that the later behaviors of the disciples showed that they did not fully understand the importance of giving one’s full efforts to the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus’ rejoinder (vv.52-53) is interpreted by The JANT as a positive reference to “Matthew’s own scribes (citing references).” The JANT understands “what is old and what is new” as “implying that older Torah teachings are still valid, but Jesus’ new interpretations must be heeded as well. The rabbis [in the Talmud] also utilized ‘old’ and ‘new’ to refer to the teachings of the Torah and the scribal interpretations of those teachings, respectively [citing Talmud sources].”
2023, July 23 ~ Genesis 28:10-19a: Isaiah 44:6-8; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JULY 23, 2023
During Pentecost Season 2023, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Genesis 28.10-19a
Reading
10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And the LORD stood beside him and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; 14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place — and I did not know it!” 17 And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19a He called that place Bethel.
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah called “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomic) and “P” (Priestly). These sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).
In the intervening chapters since last week’s reading, after a famine, Isaac went to Abimelech, the King of the Philistines in Gerar, where he passed Rebekah off as his sister in order to save his own life (26:6) but the King found out and protected Rebekah. Isaac prospered in Gerar and then moved to Beer-sheba where God reiterated to him the promises made to Abraham (26:24). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes that the site of Gerar “cannot be identified with certainty but that it seems to be about midway between Beer-sheba and Gaza.”
Scholars agree that the reference to the Philistines is anachronistic in that the Philistines did not arrive in Canaan until about 1,200 BCE.
When Isaac was very old and nearly blind, Jacob (with Rebekah’s connivance) tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing that should have gone to Jacob’s older twin brother, Esau (27:1-29). Esau begged Isaac for a blessing and received one that was inferior to the one given to Jacob (27:30-40).
Regarding the “blessing,” The NJBC says it is a “vitality that is passed on by the one who is departing from life to the one who is continuing in life. Because the blessing is concerned with vitality as a whole, the blessing cannot return or be subsequently altered.”
Esau threatened to kill Jacob, and Rebekah urged Jacob to go to her brother Laban in Haran, where Abraham came from (27:43). At Rebekah’s behest, Isaac also directed Jacob to go to Laban to find a suitable (i.e. non-Canaanite) wife. The NJBC notes that according to “J,” Isaac departed to avoid Esau’s wrath but according to “P” Jacob departed to find a suitable wife.
In today’s reading, Jacob was enroute to Haran and dreamt of a ladder (preferably translated as a “stairway”) with angels descending and ascending from heaven to earth. In Jacob’s dream, YHWH stood beside Jacob and reaffirmed (vv.13-14) the promise of extensive lands and many offspring that was made to Abraham in various forms in Genesis 12, 13 and 15. The Jewish Study Bible observes “Jacob will inherit the patriarchal promise, thus demonstrating that, however deceitfully it was gotten, Isaac’s blessing on him conforms to God’s will and that Jacob’s exile will be temporary.” (As the stories progress, however, it will be 20 years before Jacob returned to Canaan.)
The JSB also notes that a “stairway” was a “ramp of the sort with which Mesopotamian temple towers (ziggurats) were equipped and atop which the deity was thought to appear to communicate to his worshippers.”
When Jacob awoke, he said this was a holy place and the “house of God” (v.19). He named the place “Bethel” because in Hebrew, “Beth” means house (as in “Bethlehem” – house of bread), and “el” is the most ancient name for God. The suffix “el” appears in many names that have meanings “of God” such as Gabriel (God is my strength), Daniel (God is my judge) and the like. The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that naming this place “Bethel” anticipated the future of Bethel as one of the two royal sanctuaries of the Northern Kingdom.
Regarding the setting up of a pillar (v.18), The JSB observes: “The Tanakh frequently associated sacred pillars, an important element of ancient worship, especially in Canaan, with idolatry [citing examples]. Nevertheless, Moses sets up twelve of them at the foot of Mount Sinai (Exod. 24.4), and Joshua erects one in the temple at Shechem (Josh.24.26). [An important commentator in the Talmud] suggests that sacred pillars were prohibited only if they were erected to the honor of other gods. More likely is a midrash that sees in the practice a vestige of an early form of worship that was later proscribed altogether.”
Isaiah 44:6-8
Reading
6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
7 Who is like me? Let them proclaim it, let them declare and set it forth before me. Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be.
8 Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.
Today’s reading is part of Second Isaiah in which the prophet spoke for YHWH to the Judeans in Exile and reassured them that YHWH was “first and last” (v.6), unique (v.7) and the “rock” upon which they could rely (v.8). Because of YHWH’s power, the Judeans in Babylon were assured by Isaiah that they would return to Jerusalem.
The JSB interprets these verses: “The LORD is clearly unique since only the LORD predicted so far in advance events that in fact came to be. Cf.43.9-15.”
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary understands the phrase “Lord of hosts” (v.6) to mean “Yahweh has domain over the sun, moon and stars. In the present setting, however, Yahweh is discrediting the heavenly hosts, worshipped by the Babylonians, and thereby claiming for himself a cosmic sweep of power.”
Romans 8:12-25
Reading
12 Brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ — if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Commentary
Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.
Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that portions of the Letter to the Romans are written as a diatribe, a rhetorical technique using questions and answers and changes in voice to represent different points of view. The use of this technique makes it difficult to distinguish whether we are encountering Paul’s views directly or those of others as presented by Paul.
Today’s reading continues Paul’s extended discussion of sin, the flesh, and the Spirit in Chapter 8. For Paul, “the flesh” is our human tendency towards self-centeredness and self-interest. “Sin” is our personal egoism that leads to “death” (both spiritual and physical). Life in the Spirit of God (or the Spirit of Christ Jesus) leads to wholeness and life. Although Paul does not generally equate the “body” with “flesh,” The NAOB says that “deeds of the body” (v.13) was being used interchangeably with the flesh in this instance. The NJBC, on the other hand, understands this phrase to be “the accomplishments of the body” which can be dominated by “flesh” and need to be put aside to “live” in the Spirit.
Paul emphasized that as children of God (v.14), we are in a new relationship with God as heirs of God and joint heirs with the Christ through the power of the Spirit (v.13). The NJBC notes that Paul used the word “huiothesia” (translated as “adoption”) from “current Hellenistic legal language and applied it to Christians … to denote that the baptized Christian has been taken into the family of God and has a status in it — not that of a slave (who belonged indeed to the ancient household) but of a son.”
If we suffer with him (v.17), we will be glorified with him. This suffering can take many forms, including rejection by those who embrace the values of the world/the flesh. The suffering is seen as transitional.
Paul also had a sense of “now, but not yet” in terms of the glory to be revealed (vv.19-23), and that God’s purposes for us are greater than the present time indicated (v.25), a theme that Paul explored more fully in Chapters 9-11. Paul’s apocalyptic view was that the present age was evil (“the bondage of decay,” v.21) and that “creation itself will be set free” (v.21). The NJBC understands it as follows: “Paul would be saying that God, though he cursed the ground because of Adam’s sin, still gave it a hope of sharing in human redemption or liberation …. Paul is actually the first biblical writer to introduce the note of ‘hope.’”
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43
Reading
24 Jesus put before the crowd another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ 28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!”
Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.
Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.
The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.
Today’s reading is one of the parables in this chapter, and one of the few that has an allegorical explanation supplied by the evangelist. It is a parable that is unique to Matthew. The Son of Man (v.37) is a Messianic and eschatological figure derived from Daniel 7:13-14 (“one like a human being”) who comes at the end of times as we know them – the “harvest” is the “end of the age” (v.39). The phrase “the righteous will shine like the sun” (v.43) is a variation of Daniel 12:3 (“Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the sky.”)
More than any other gospel, Matthew speaks of “judgment” and used the phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth” five times in the Gospel – 8:12, 13:42, 22:11, 24:51 and 25:30. Luke used the phrase in 13:28. The phrase “gnashing of teeth” as a sign of anger also appears in Psalm 112:10 and in Acts 7:54.
2023, July 16 ~ Genesis 25:19-34; Isaiah 55:10-13; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JULY 16, 2023
During Pentecost Season 2023, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Genesis 25:19-34
Reading
19 These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.”
24 When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau, because he was fond of game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!” (Therefore he was called Edom.) 31 Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah called “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomic) and “P” (Priestly). These sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (a story of origins, in Greek, “etio” means a beginning and “logo” is a story) – relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).
Today’s reading comes after the burial of Abraham by his sons Ishmael and Isaac (25:10), and a list of the 12 tribes descended from Ishmael residing in the deserts on both sides of the Red Sea (25:13-15).
Rebekah’s barrenness for 19 years put her in the line of “barren matriarchs” (Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Hannah). The LORD’s response to Isaac’s plea is intended to show the power of God, just as it had in the story of Sarah.
The birth of Jacob and Esau is also an etiology a story of the origins of the Edomites and the Israelites. An anthropomorphic YHWH told Rebekah she had two nations in her womb (v.23). In these accounts, Jacob (whose name means “supplanter”) will become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel, and Esau (whose land, Edom, is a play on the word “admoni” which means “red”) will become the father of the Edomites, traditional enemies of Israel. Esau is described as “hairy” (v.25), and the Hebrew word for hairy (se’ar) is a play on the word “Seir” – a region in Edom.
In the story, the younger son Jacob bought Esau’s “birthright” (blessing, family leadership and a double share of inheritance when Isaac dies) for a bowl of stew. Esau was presented as dull-witted and willing to give up his birthright because he was temporarily famished. This was a slap at the Edomites whom Israel dominated during the reigns of David and Solomon (1005-930 BCE), but who pillaged Jerusalem during the middle years of the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE).
The Jewish Study Bible sees this story as another case of God’s being perceived as favoring the younger son, as with Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, and Joseph and his 10 older brothers.
Isaiah 55:10-13
Reading
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 For you shall go out in joy and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.
Today’s reading is the closing verses of Second Isaiah. It emphasized the effectiveness of YHWH’s word (v.11) and the joy the people would experience (v.12) when the Exile ended when Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered the Babylonians in 539 BCE and allowed the Judeans to return to Jerusalem.
The Jewish Study Bible notes that this reading reflects the indirect manner in which God’s promises and prophecies are fulfilled. “The metaphor is significant: God sends rain which inevitably falls to the ground; then it is absorbed by soil and nourishes vegetation. Humans in turn harvest the vegetation and transform it into food. Similarly, God’s word is sure to have a series of effects, the most important of which are indirect and involve human input.”
The JSB goes on: “The nature of the fulfillment of restoration may be indirect and will depend on human response to God’s invitation. The prophet may be responding to the failure of most Judeans to move back to Zion after the Persian king Cyrus allowed them to do so in the 530s BCE.”
Romans 8:1-11
Reading
1 There is [therefore] no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law — indeed it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Commentary
Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.
Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that portions of the Letter to the Romans are written as a diatribe, a rhetorical technique using questions and answers and changes in voice to represent different points of view. The use of this technique makes it difficult to distinguish whether we are encountering Paul’s views directly or those of others as presented by Paul.
Today’s reading continues Paul’s extended discussion of law, sin, the flesh, and the Spirit. For Paul, “the flesh” is not our bodies as such, but our human tendency towards self-centeredness and self-interest. “Sin” for Paul is our personal egoism that leads to “death,” both spiritual and physical (v.6). (Paul saw, as was common in his time, the story of Adam’s disobedience as the cause of human mortality.)
Paul uses “law” in diverse ways – in some places, it means the Torah, the Jewish Law (v.3), but in other contexts it means a “way of living” as in “the law of the Spirit in the life of Christ Jesus” (v.2) and “the law of sin and death” (v.2).
Life in the Spirit leads to wholeness and Eternal Life (v.10). The JANT sees the thrust of this chapter as follows: “Although still in the body and thus subject to human limitations, God’s Spirit lives in those who set their minds on things of the Spirit in faithfulness to Christ. Conflict between spiritual conventions and human limitations will continue, for Christ followers are still living in bodies (i.e. in the present age), but victory is assured for all creation which will be rescued when the awaited age arrives fully.”
Regarding verses 4-6, The JANT says: “Paul moves from declaring a state of change already accomplished, to a conditional state that one can accomplish in a new way, but one that requires ‘walking’ or ‘norms for living’ (i.e. ‘halakah’) to accomplish it.”
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
Reading
1 Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!”
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.
Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.
The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.
Today’s reading is the familiar parable of the sower and the seed, one of a series of parables in Chapter 13. The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes parable (“mashal” in Hebrew) as a story, fable, proverbial saying, or a riddle. It goes on: “Narrative parables involve analogy or comparison between the situation and the subject being discussed.” This parable is also in Mark and Luke and is one of the few parables in the gospels for which an interpretation is given in the gospels.
2023, July 9 ~ Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Zechariah 9:9-12; Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JULY 9, 2023
During Pentecost Season 2023, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Reading
34 The servant said to Laban, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels, and donkeys. 36 And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has. 37 My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; 38 but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.’
42 “I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! 43 I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” 44 and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also” — let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ 46 She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. 47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. 48 Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. 49 Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.”
58 And they called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.” 59 So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes.” 61 Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.
62 Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi and was settled in the Negeb. 63 Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. 64 And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, 65 and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah called “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomic) and “P” (Priestly). These sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).
Today’s reading is part of the longest chapter in Genesis and is the conclusion of the story of how Abraham’s servant – not named in Chapter 24 but thought to be Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. 15:2) – obtained a wife for Isaac by going back to Haran, the land from which Abraham came.
Because of the emphasis on Isaac’s not taking a wife from the Canaanites (v.37), the story is attributed by scholars to the Deuteronomic writers (650 to 550 BCE). Intermarriage with Canaanites is strictly forbidden in Deut. 7:1-4.
In the verses before today’s reading, Abraham’s servant did what everyone looking for a wife does – he went to a well where women draw water (v.11). (Jacob and Moses also met their wives this way.) There, the servant encountered Rebekah, who was Isaac’s first cousin, once removed. (Her father, Bethuel, was Isaac’s first cousin.) Rebekah was described as very beautiful and a virgin (v.16). In response to the servant’s request, she gave him water to drink and watered his camels (v.20). The servant gave her gold jewelry, and she told him that he and his animals could come to her home (v.25). Rebekah then told her mother’s household all that had occurred (v.28).
Rebekah’s brother, Laban, met with Eliezer (vv. 31-49) who recounted to him his conversation with Rebekah in which she answered Eliezer’s questions satisfactorily (v.46). Laban and Bethuel gave her to Eliezer to be Isaac’s wife (v.51) and Eliezer brought her to Isaac (v.66).
In future readings, Rebekah will give birth to the twin brothers, Esau and Jacob.
Scholars have noted that, although camels may have been domesticated in Saudi Arabia as early as 2,500 BCE, they were not domesticated in Israel until about 1,000 BCE – long after the events in today’s reading were said to occur.
Computing the approximate dates of the events in today’s reading requires “backward” counting because there is no evidence outside the Bible for the historicity of these events. There are sources outside the Bible for the building of the store cities of Pithom and Rameses in the reign of Rameses II (1,279 -1,213 BCE) around 1,250 BCE. If the Exodus was historical, it would have occurred around 1,225 BCE. According to Ex. 12:40, the Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years after the death of Joseph (which would mean Joseph died around 1,655 BCE). Abraham was Joseph’s great-grandfather. The patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) had great longevity, so there were about 220 years between the events described in today’s reading and the death of Joseph at age 110 (Gen. 50:26). Isaac was 60 (25:26) when Jacob was born and he died when he was 180 (35:28). Jacob lived to 147 (47:28). Accordingly, the events in today’s reading (if they are historical) might have occurred around 1,900 to 1,875 BCE.
Zechariah 9:9-12
Reading
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
Commentary
Zechariah is the longest and most obscure of the “Minor” Prophets (so called because their books are much shorter than the three “Major Prophets” – Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel). The Book has 14 chapters, and Chapters 9 to 14 are referred to as “Second Zechariah” or “An Oracle” – the superscription at the beginning of Chapter 9. First Zechariah is dated to about 525 to 500 BCE and Second Zechariah is dated to about 400 to 300 BCE.
Today’s reading is one of the many (sometimes contradictory) descriptions of the anticipated Messiah found in the Hebrew Bible. The image presented here is a king who brings peace and rides on a donkey (v.9) rather than on a war-horse. The king’s dominion is not only over Israel, but is from sea to sea, from “the River” (the Euphrates in northern Syria) to the ends of the earth (v.10).
The Hebrew Bible contains many parallelisms, and the description of the king “on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (v.9) was intended to describe one animal. The Gospel of Matthew (unlike Mark and Luke) treated the phrase as describing two animals (Matt.21.5).
This peace-bringing king cuts off the instruments of war from “Ephraim” which was pre-Exilic Northern Israel, named for its most powerful tribe, and the war-horse of Jerusalem (v.10), the capital of Judea.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that the voice shifted from the third person to the first person in verses 11 and 12. This represents the idea that God will accomplish what is promised in these verses. The phrase “blood of my covenant with you” (v.11) referred to the covenant at Sinai that was sealed by a blood rite (Ex. 24:6-8).
Romans 7:15-25a
Reading
15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 19 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Commentary
Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.
Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that the Letter to the Romans is sometimes written as a diatribe, a rhetorical technique using questions and answers and changes in voice to represent different points of view. The use of this technique makes it difficult to distinguish whether we are encountering Paul’s views directly or those of others as presented by Paul.
Today’s reading is part of Paul’s extended discussion of the law, sin, the flesh, and the Spirit. As a First Century Jew, Paul was recognized that Jewish Jesus Followers were still bound by the Law, but that Gentile Jesus Followers were not bound by the requirement of circumcision or the Jewish dietary laws.
As to the effects and purposes of the Law, Paul seemed ambivalent. He saw the Jewish Law as “spiritual” (v.14), but as a Jesus Follower, he recognized that mere obedience to the Law would not lead to wholeness/salvation. Sometimes he used “law” to mean a principal or norm (“I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand” v.21), and at other times it meant the Torah.
Without the Spirit, Paul asserted, even outward obedience to the Law could be a manifestation of “the flesh” (our human tendency towards self-centeredness and self-interest) that is grounded in sin (our personal egoism). Paul said it is through the Spirit that we can be rescued from “this body of death” (v.24).
In the early part of this chapter, Paul analogized the binding effects of the law to the convention of marriage. That is, if a person’s spouse dies, that person is no longer bound by the laws of that marriage. The Jewish Annotated New Testament says: “The convention since Adam of being slaves to sin no longer binds the Gentiles since Christ has died. They are now bound to a new life in Christ.”
The JANT continues: “The language [in this chapter] is very difficult to follow: the same terms are used with different referents and connotations….Paul’s point seems to be that these Gentiles who have turned to God in Christ are not bound to the limitations of their previous identity in Adam, in sin leading to death. They are not under Torah because they are not Israelites but they are nevertheless now free from the law of sin to live a Torah-based life, i.e. to live according to God’s standards.”
In some ways, although the Revised Common Lectionary does not include it, the last part of the concluding verse in today’s reading serves as a useful summary: “So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin” (v.25b).
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Reading
16 Jesus said to the crowd, “To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
25 At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.
Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.
The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.
Today’s reading follows a section in which Jesus praised John the Baptist as “no one who has arisen greater than he” (v.11) and Matthew specifically compared JTB to Elijah (v.14) whose return was to be a sign of the coming of the Messiah (Mal. 4:5).
The criticism of “this generation” (v.16) is followed by a reproach of the cities in which Jesus did “deeds of power” (v.20) but they did not repent (vv.20-24).
Regarding vv.25-27, The New Oxford Annotated Bible comments, “The nature of true wisdom is an important question in Matthew. Powerful and influential people form the opposition in Matthew’s Gospel. Ironically, it is the younger students without influence, training and power who have heard and understood the message.”
The JANT points out that the image of the “yoke” (v.29) was commonly a reference to study of the Torah (Sir. 51:26). The NJBC interprets “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (v.30) to mean: “In comparison with the halaka of the Pharisees, Jesus’ teaching is quantitatively easier because shorter and centered on the essential. But in view of the exceeding righteousness demanded in [Matt.] 5:20, [“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”], it is qualitatively more difficult because the demands of love of God and neighbor are inexhaustible.”
2023, July 2 ~ Genesis 22:1-14; Jeremiah 28:5-9; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JULY 2, 2023
During Pentecost Season 2023, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Genesis 22:1-14
Reading
1 God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah called “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomic) and “P” (Priestly). These sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).
In the prior chapter, Abraham sent away his firstborn son, Ishmael, at Sarah’s insistence. In today’s account, the reader was told (v.1) that God tested Abraham by telling him to offer “your only son whom you love” (v.2) as a burnt offering. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes that “only son” is inaccurate since Abraham had another son, Ishmael, and says that the LXX correctly interpreted the Hebrew word as “favored.”
Just as Abraham was asked by God in Chapter 12 to “go from your country,” in today’s reading, he responded promptly and “rose early in the morning” (v.3) to go to the place God would show him. The Jewish Study Bible says: “There is no good English equivalent for the Hebrew ‘hineni’ translated in this verse [vv.1 and 7] as Here I am. The term indicates readiness, alertness, attentiveness, receptivity, and responsiveness to instructions.”
Although the Akedah — the Binding of Isaac (as the story is known in Jewish tradition) — has been understood by some as a condemnation of child sacrifice, most scholars observe that there was no general practice of child sacrifice in Ancient Israel, particularly because of the large number of verses in the Bible that condemn the practice as Canaanite idol worship.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible says: “The story does not presuppose a general practice of sacrifice of the firstborn but does suggest that such a practice could be performed under extraordinary circumstances (see 2 Kings 3:27).” The NJBC observes: “Infant sacrifice was widely practiced in Canaan and in Phoenician colonies of North Africa. It was even practiced in Israel as the OT polemic against it shows (2 Kgs 16:3; Mic 6:7) in critical times as a means of averting divine wrath. Israel recognized that the firstborn belonged to Yahweh (Exodus 13:11-16; 34:19-20) but ‘redeemed’ firstborn human beings by an alternative sacrifice.”
The JSB observes: “The context of the Akedah is sacrificial. A sacrifice is not an execution, and in a sacrificial context the unblemished condition of the one offered does not detract from, but rather commends, the act.”
The NAOB notes that Abraham’s promise “we will come back to you” (v.5) may “suggest a faith that God will work out an alternative sacrifice (see v. 8)” but The JSB observes that “Abraham may be concealing the truth from his servants (lest they prevent him from carrying out God’s will), from Isaac (lest he flee) and from himself (lest the frank acknowledgement of his real intention cause his resolve to break).”
It is difficult to know how old Isaac was in the story. He was old enough to carry the wood for the burnt offering (v.6) and to ask about the lamb for the sacrifice (v.7). Some Jewish commentators see Isaac as an adult and a willing participant in his own sacrifice – a prototype of the Jewish martyr. Some Christian interpreters see Isaac as a “type” anticipating Jesus’ carrying of the cross.
Regarding the phrase “fear of God” (v.12), The JSB notes: “In the Tanakh, the ‘fear of God’ denotes an active obedience to the divine will. God is now able to call the last trial of Abraham off because Abraham has demonstrated that this obedience is uppermost for him, surpassing even his paternal love for Isaac.”
The NAOB points out that “like other characters in Genesis (e.g. Jacob in 28.19 and 32.2, 30), Abraham named the place in response to his encounter with God” but “the name The LORD will provide is not attested elsewhere as a place name.” In this reading, the name of God from verse 1 to 13 is Elohim but in verses 14-16 it is YHWH, indicating that the stories came from two sources.
The location of Moriah is not known, but 2 Chronicles 3:1 (written around 450 BCE) identified it as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a tradition that continues to today.
Based on Surah 37 of the Qur’an, Muslims believe that the son whom Abraham was asked to sacrifice was Ishmael.
Jeremiah 28:5-9
Reading
5 The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD; 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill the words that you have prophesied and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. 7 But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.”
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 Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BCE.
The Babylonians deported most of the Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and took most of the treasures from the Temple. In 586, the Babylonians deported a larger number (the beginning of the Babylonian Exile) and destroyed the Temple. 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 Ancient Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.
Jeremiah is largely a prophet of doom and gloom, and the English word “jeremiad” means a long, mournful complaint or lamentation, a list of woes.
Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were likely 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 is set in the period from 597 to 594 BCE. The NJBC sees this chapter as biographical and suggests it may have been written by Baruch, the secretary to Jeremiah.
A false prophet, Hananiah, prophesied that the treasures from the Temple that were taken as spoils by the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, would be returned soon (v.3) and that King Jehoiachin would return – even though Judah had not repented and Babylon was as strong as ever.
In today’s verses, Jeremiah said he hoped Hananiah’s prophesies would come true (v.6) but suggested they would not (vv.8-9). In the verses that follow today’s reading, Hananiah broke the wooden yoke that had been placed on Jeremiah (v.12) to symbolically show the liberation of Judea. After a short time, YHWH told Jeremiah to tell Hananiah that an iron yoke would be placed upon Judea (v.13). Jeremiah told Hananiah that he did not have a commission from God, asserted that the Babylonians would continue to enslave the Judeans, and told Hananiah that he would die within a year (v.16) – which (according to the account) is what happened (v.17).
Romans 6:12-23
Reading
12 Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Commentary
Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.
Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that the Letter to the Romans is written as a diatribe, a rhetorical technique using questions and answers and changes in voice to represent different points of view. The use of this technique makes it difficult to distinguish whether we are encountering Paul’s views directly or those of others as presented by Paul.
Today’s reading continued Paul’s discussion of the effects of Baptism (which joins us in the death of Christ Jesus and unites us with him in overcoming death through resurrection).
In speaking of “sin” rather than “sins” (v.12), Paul was referring to the human propensity to assert one’s own ego and power rather than living as “instruments of righteousness” (v.13) – living in right relationships with God and others. The word “instruments” is literally “weapons” and The NAOB suggests that “through martial imagery Paul calls Christians not to surrender themselves as sins prisoners of war.”
The JANT understands the phrase “not under the law” as meaning “not circumcised” and this would mean that this section was addressed to Gentile Jesus Followers. When Paul referred to the law and grace (vv.14-15), he also expressed the view that mere obedience to rules will not bring about human wholeness or salvation or righteousness or Eternal Life (v.22), terms which Paul uses interchangeably. The NAOB interprets Paul’s words this way: “If grace provided immunity from the law’s verdict, then we might well ‘continue in sin.’”
Matthew 10:40-42
Reading
40 Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and 42 whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple — truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.
Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.
The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.
Today’s reading is the conclusion of a series of instructions given by Jesus to his disciples. The NAOB sees today’s verses as saying that “mutual support and provision is a hallmark of the communities gathered around Jesus.” A prophet (one who speaks for God) is “equivalent to God who sent him (Ex.16.8; 1 Sam 8.7).”
The NJBC states that this principle was based on a “legal principle governing a Jewish emissary that a man’s agent is like himself.” Similar statements that Jesus’ disciples can speak for him are found in Luke 10:16, John 13:20 and Mark 9:37.
2023, June 25 ~ Genesis 21:8-21; Jeremiah 20:7-13; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JUNE 25, 2023
During Pentecost Season 2020, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Genesis 21:8-21
Reading
8 The child grew and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. 10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” 11 The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. 13 As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation Stories to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah called “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomic) and “P” (Priestly). These sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).
The verses before today’s reading tell of the conception of Isaac by the 90+ year old Sarah and his birth when Abraham was 100 (v.5). Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave, gave birth to Abraham’s first son, Ishmael, 14 years before Isaac’s birth when Abraham was 86 (16:16). Hagar was presented as a person who spoke directly with YHWH (16:10-12) and named God as “El-roi” – God who sees (16:13).
Today’s account is another etiology – a story of the origins of the non-Jewish Semitic peoples who claim their ancestral fatherhood of Abraham through Ishmael. In the story, God said, “I will make a great nation of him” to Abraham (v.13) and to Hagar (v.18).
Sarah became upset because Ishmael was “playing with her son Isaac” (v.9). Literally, the words are “”making him laugh” but other translations are Ishmael was “toying with” or “laughing at” Isaac. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary and the NRSV translator’s notes observe that the words “with her son Isaac” are not in the Masoretic Text even though they are in the LXX and the Vulgate. This was likely a copying error. The Jewish Study Bible’s
JPS translation does not include the words. The JSB suggests that “playing” is another pun on Isaac’s name and that Ishmael was “Isaacing” or “taking Isaac’s place.”
The JSB also states that the expulsion of Hagar in Chapter 16 is an account attributed to “J” but the account in today’s reading is attributed to “E.” The name YHWH never appears in this reading. For example, God (not YHWH) urged Abraham to acquiesce to Sarah’s demand that he cast out the slave woman, Hagar, and her son (v.10).
Although the passage referred to Ishmael as a “boy” (v.12) and as a “child” (v.16), the chronology of the over-all story indicates that the events occurred after Isaac had been weaned (v.8), so this meant that three years had passed since Isaac’s birth. The NJBC says that three years was the age for weaning and showed that Isaac would survive in an age of high infant mortality.
Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born (16:16) and was 100 when Isaac was born (21:5), so Ishmael would have been at least 16 or 17 years old when he and Hagar were expelled. Notwithstanding this, the account said that Hagar placed the food and water (and the child Ishmael) over her shoulder (v.14). The JSB accounts for this discrepancy based on “source criticism” and notes that although the story in today’s reading comes from “E,” the chronology comes from “P.”
When Hagar and Ishmael ran out of water and food (v.15), God heard Hagar’s lament (“Ishmael” means “God hears”) and protected both Hagar and Ishmael.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible sees a parallel between the endangerment of Ishmael’s life in this story and the near sacrifice of Isaac in Chapter 22. In both stories, Abraham rose early in the morning to fulfill God’s commands (21.14 and 22:3); the child was delivered from danger when an angel of God/the LORD intervened (21:17 and 22:11); and Hagar and Abraham found ways to save the sons (21:19 and 22:13).
Based on the Qur’an, Mohammed (who was from what is now Saudi Arabia) traced his hereditary roots to Abraham through Ishmael. Muslims trace their religious roots to Abraham.
Jeremiah 20:7-13
Reading
7 O LORD, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
10 For I hear many whispering: “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. “Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him.”
11 But the L0RD is with me like a dread warrior; therefore, my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.
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 the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported most of the Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and a larger number in 586 (the beginning of 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 Ancient Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.
Jeremiah is largely a prophet of doom and gloom, and the English word “jeremiad” means a long, mournful complaint or lamentation, a list of woes.
Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were likely added later by writers whose theological outlook was closely aligned with the Deuteronomists. (In fact, Chapter 52 in Jeremiah is virtually word-for-word with 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:30 written by the Deuteronomists after the Exile.)
Today’s reading is in “poetry style” and is the fifth (of six) of Jeremiah’s laments. In it, he claimed that YHWH exerted such irresistible power over him (v.7) that he could not help but proclaim the unpopular message that unless the king and people reformed, Babylon would overcome them and place them in captivity. The JSB points out that the word “entice” (vv. 7 and 12) is used in other contexts in the Hebrew Scriptures to denote the seduction of a woman by a man (Judg.14:15 and 16:5) or of a man by a woman (Hos. 2:16).
Notwithstanding his lament and the plotting of his enemies (v.10), Jeremiah expressed confidence in the LORD’s God’s protection for those who rely on YHWH (v.13).
Romans 6:1b-11
Reading
1b Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8 But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Commentary
Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.
Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that much of the Letter to the Romans is written as a diatribe, a rhetorical technique using questions and answers and changes in voice to represent different points of view. The use of this technique makes it difficult to distinguish whether the reader is encountering Paul’s views directly or those of others as presented by Paul.
Today’s reading begins with a “leading question” which Paul used as a rhetorical vehicle to present his views. The NAOB suggests that the underpinning of the question was the notion (which Paul rejects) that grace is “simply a matter of being relieved of the punishment for trespasses.” For Paul, grace is much more this, and led to his discussion of the effects of Baptism. The NJBC says “the baptismal rite symbolically represents the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The convert descends into the baptismal bath, is covered with its waters, and emerges to a new life.”
Paul asserted that in our Baptism we are united with Christ Jesus in his death, and we will be united with the Christ in resurrection (v. 5). He urged that we consider ourselves “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v.11). For Paul, “sin” (as contrasted with “sins”) can be understood as our human propensity to put ourselves and our egos in first place rather than (as Jesus did) having the good of others as our primary focus. The NJBC says “For Christ was raised from the dead not merely to publicize his good news or to confirm his messianic character, but to introduce human beings into a new mode of life and give them a new principle of vital activity, the Spirit.”
Paul was clear that Christ was raised (vv.4 and 9) — the “actor” was God and Jesus the Christ was acted upon. It is not clear, however, when Paul thought our “resurrection” would occur. In one verse, Paul suggested that Baptism allows us to “walk in newness of life” (v.4). In verse 5, he suggested that we “will” be united with Jesus the Christ “in a resurrection like his.” In verses 10 and 11, he seems to suggest that our resurrection is now because we are “alive to God in Christ Jesus.” The JANT understands “once and for all” in this way: “though the death was a past event, it is operative (in a way not specified) on behalf of everyone now.”
Matthew 10:24-39
Reading
24 Jesus said to the twelve disciples, “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
26 “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.
Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel was aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.
The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.
Today’s reading continues to present Jesus’ teaching to the disciples. His statements about slaves/servants not being above their masters (v.24) is echoed in the Fourth Gospel in 13:16 and 15:20. In commenting on the verse that the disciple is not above his teacher (v.24a), The NJBC observes that “disciple” means learner or student. The NJBC continues: “In the background stands the Jewish school relationship of that time but precisely that [relationship] poses a danger. In the normal school relationship, once the disciple has learned what the master has to teach, he moves on to another master or becomes a teacher himself. This is what the gnostics did — make Jesus only one among many teachers. It was to block the possibility of twisting Jesus’ original simple statement (as it still can be found in Luke 6:40 – “A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.”) in a gnostic direction that Matthew reshaped it to include the words ‘nor a slave above his lord.’ This means that for the believer Jesus is not only a teacher but also an abiding lord.”
In verse 25, the “they” who call the master of the house Beelzebul (the original name of the Canaanite god, Baal) were the Pharisees (9:34). The JANT notes that the name means “lord of lofty abode,” but when changed to Beelzebub in 2 Kings 1:2, it means “lord of the flies” which The NAOB suggests was intended to express the Deuteronomists’ scorn for this deity.
The teachings found in vv. 26-34 are “Q” material and are found in Luke 12:2-9. The NAOB understands verse 27 (“What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light”) as a “denial of any secret or esoteric teaching.” The NJBC understands the phrase “destroy both soul and body” (v.28) as presupposing a Hellenistic view that the soul is intrinsically immortal. Verses 34-39 have parallels in Luke and are largely derived from Micah 7:6.
2023, June 18 ~ Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7; Exodus 19:2-8a; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:23
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JUNE 18, 2023
During Pentecost Season 2023, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7
Reading
18:1 The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. 3 He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
9 They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” 10 Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too wonderful for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”
21:1 The LORD dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as he had promised. 2 Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 7 And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah called “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomic) and “P” (Priestly). These sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).
Today’s reading jumps from Abram’s entry into the land of Canaan in last week’s reading (Ch. 12). In the intervening chapters, Abram passed off his beautiful wife (aged 70+) Sarai, as his sister and Sarai was taken into Pharaoh’s palace so that riches were bestowed on Abram by Pharoah. But YHWH inflicted plagues on Pharaoh because of Sarai, and Pharaoh sent them both off. Then, Abram and Lot divided the lands and Lot chose the fertile lands east of the Jordan River. The LORD made another covenant with Abram (Ch.15) and Ishmael was born to Hagar, Sarai’s handmaiden, when Abram was 86 years old (Ch. 16). When Abram was 99, YHWH made another covenant with Abraham requiring him and his household to be circumcised; changed his name to Abraham (father of a multitude); changed Sarai’s name to Sarah (princess); and promised Abraham that Sarah would bear a son next year which made Abraham laugh (Ch. 17).
Today’s reading is prefaced (v.1) by the statement that the LORD appeared to Abraham at Mamre. It then shifted to an account of three “men” (v.2) who came to Abraham’s tent at Mamre (whose oaks/terebinths were regarded as oracles). The New Oxford Annotated Bible says that the motif of divine visitors is widespread in folklore. It observes that the account fluidly shifts from the LORD (v.1) to “three men” (v.2) to “they” (v.9) to “one” (v.10) to “the LORD” (v.13) to “I” and “he” (vv.14-15).
One of the “men” predicted that Sarah (who was over 90 years old by this time) would have a son in a year (v.10). Sarah laughed to herself (v.12) and this anticipated the name of her son, Isaac (which means “he laughs”).
Abraham’s hospitality to the three sacred figures was overwhelming: an entire calf and three “measures” of flour (about 63 quarts of flour). The Jewish Study Bible points out the contrast between Abraham’s self-deprecating language (vv.4-5 “a little water… a morsel of bread”) and the enormous quantities offered to his guests. The JSB also observes that Sarah did not believe she could conceive because Abraham was so old (v.12) but the LORD reversed her words to ask why she said she was so old (v.13).
This story is first part of Chapter 18 which shifted to YHWH’s decision to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham’s negotiation with YHWH to spare the cities if an ever-declining number of just persons resided there. In Chapter 19, the men of Sodom sought to sexually abuse Lot’s guests/angels. Lot refused and offered his two virgin daughters to the men. When the men tried to break in, the angels blinded them. This Chapter concluded with Lot, his wife and his two daughters escaping from the cities when they were destroyed, but Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back. Lot’s daughters were convinced there were no more men on the earth, so they got Lot drunk, had sex with him and conceived sons who were the forebears of Israel’s great enemies – the Moabites and the Ammonites. In Chapter 20, Abraham again passed off Sarah as his sister, this time to King Abimelech of Gerar. (In Chapter 26, Isaac also passed off his wife, Rebekah, as his sister to Abimelech.)
Today’s reading concludes with the fulfillment of God’s promise of a son to this aged couple. The JSB observes that there is a midrash (interpretation) that the LORD “dealt with” (NRSV) or “took note of” (JPS) Sarah (v.1) on Rosh Ha-Shanah and for this reason, Genesis 21 is the first Torah Reading on Rosh Ha-Shanah in synagogues today.
Exodus 19:2-8a
Reading
2 The Israelites had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. 3 Then Moses went up to God; the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: 4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, 6 but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”
7 So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 The people all answered as one: “Everything that the LORD has spoken we will do.”
Commentary
The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Bible and covers the period from the slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh (around 1250 BCE, if the account is historical), the Exodus itself, and the early months in the Wilderness.
Like Genesis, Exodus is an amalgam of religious traditions. Today’s reading is mostly from the Priestly writer – shown by the emphasis on precise dates. These events occurred “on the very day” of the third new moon after leaving Egypt (v.1), the day the Israelites reached Sinai. (The holy mountain is called “Horeb” by other writers even within Exodus – for example, in Ex. 3:1.) According to the accounts, the Israelites stayed at Sinai for about a year.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible says that these chapters “incorporate a wide diversity of traditions reflecting different understandings of God and the divine relationship with Israel.” This is shown by the reference to the people as both “the house of Jacob” and “the Israelites” (v.3) but the reference in v.6 only to the Israelites. It is also shown by the “E” language that Moses went up to “God” (Elohim) (v.3a) and the “P” language that YHWH called him from the mountain (v.3b).
The Jewish Study Bible describes the encounter with God at Sinai as “momentous” and as “the defining and seminal moment in Israel’s relationship with God.” The JSB observes that the account of the encounters at Sinai (Chapters 19 to 24) is “extraordinarily difficult to follow” because “it was transmitted in multiple versions that differed about the nature of the event and what God communicated to the people.” It notes that text in these chapters combined material from J,E, and P and that the Redactor included these multiple versions because he thought all of them were true, even though they are inconsistent with each other. The JSB concludes that “despite, or perhaps because of, these tensions, the narrative has great power expressing the multifaceted, ambiguous nature of revelation.”
In today’s reading, YHWH proposed a conditional covenant to Moses and the Israelites (“If you obey my voice” v.5), and all the people responded that they would do all that YHWH had spoken (v.8). In the Chapters that follow (20 to 23), the Law was given. This covenant is summarized by the statement that Israel shall be God’s “treasured possession,” “a priestly kingdom” (consecrated for service to God”) and “a holy nation” (set apart as belonging to the holy God) (vv.5-6). The JSB notes that the Hebrew word for “treasured” is segulah and denotes private property of a king as distinct from that used for public purposes.
The JSB notes that the covenant proposed here went beyond the ones established with Israel’s ancestors and was modeled on ancient royal covenants in which a citizenry accepted a king and also on suzerainty treaties in which a weaker king (a vassal) accepted a more powerful one as his suzerain.
In Rabbinic Judaism, the giving of the Law at Sinai became the theological basis for the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost, a feast that originally celebrated the spring barley harvest (Ex. 23.16) and occurred 50 days after Passover. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says, however, that some Jewish groups are recorded as connecting the giving of the Law with the Feast of Weeks as early as the 2nd century BCE.
Romans 5:1-8
Reading
1 Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
Commentary
Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.
Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that the Letter to the Romans is written as a diatribe, a rhetorical technique using questions and answers and changes in voice to represent different points of view. The use of this technique makes it difficult to distinguish whether we are encountering Paul’s views directly or those of others as presented by Paul. The JANT suggests that today’s reading is not a statement by Paul but the voice of a “Christ-following Gentile dialogue partner (“we” and “us”) who is commenting on what Paul has argued about their equal standing with Jews, or it is Paul speaking inclusively for them.” Seeing today’s reading as the “voice” of persons other than Paul gives additional insights into it.
In his epistles, Paul used a number of terms that need to be understood in context. “Justified” (v.1) is sometimes translated as “righteousness” – that is, being in right relationships with God and others. A “just” person is also a “righteous” person, and “justified” is used the same way that a page of type is “justified” – all the margins are straight and in order.
“Faith” (v.1) for Paul was not used the way it is now typically used — as an intellectual assent to one or more propositions. The Greek word for “faith” (pistis) has an active aspect and should be understood as “faithfulness” – actively and steadily living into one’s beliefs through grace and trust in God. Paul emphasized that “faith” is a matter of the heart — not the intellect — and that faithfulness leads to being “justified” or righteousness (v.1).
The New Oxford Annotated Bible suggests the phrase “we are justified by faith” (v.1) may, however, refer to the faith[fulness] of Jesus the Christ in his life. This is supported by Paul’s statement that “we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation (v.11). The NAOB also understands the phrase “while we were still weak” (v.6) as meaning that “God’s grace preceded any human act that might constitute a claim to righteousness before God.”
All during Paul’s life, animal sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple (which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE) were a way Jews were reconciled to YHWH. It is therefore not surprising that Paul used “sacrifice” language to interpret the meaning of the Crucifixion: “Christ died for us” (v.8); and we are “justified by his blood” (v. 9).
Matthew 9:35-10:23
Reading
35 Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
10:1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. 9 Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
16 “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 22 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.
Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.
The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.
Today’s reading is primarily about mission and reflects the use of hyperbole in much of scripture (“all the cities and villages” v.35a) and the growing split between Matthew’s community and Pharisaic Judaism in Matthew’s time (“teaching in their synagogues” v.35b). In Jesus’ lifetime, he would have been welcomed in synagogues, but by Matthew’s time (50 years later), there was growing tension within Judaism between the Jesus Followers and nascent Rabbinic Judaism. Similarly, the “prediction” that “they” would “hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues” reflects Matthew’s time, not the time of Jesus 50 years earlier.
The NAOB observes that vv.35-38 was a summation of Jesus’ activities and ministries over the last five chapters of this Gospel. Jesus was portrayed as a teacher, healer, and proclaimer of good news to all the people. The description of the people as “sheep without a shepherd” (v.36) is a traditional image from the Hebrew Bible. The quote about laborers being few (v.38) is from the Q-Source and is found in Luke 10:2.
Matthew’s list of the 12 “disciples” (v.1) – learners or students – who are also called “apostles” in v.2 – those who are sent – is slightly different from the lists in the other Synoptic Gospels. The “12” is seen as a symbolic representation of the 12 tribes of Israel. According to The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, only Matthew refers to the 12 as “apostles.”
Only in Matthew were the apostles instructed to go only to Israel and not to Gentiles or Samaria (v.5). This limitation began to change in Chapter 15 when the Canaanite woman asked that her daughter be healed and reminded Jesus that “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (15:27). The restriction was fully abrogated in the post-Resurrection’s Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all nations” (28:19).
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes that the sentence in verse 8b (“Your received without payment; give without payment”) is “surprisingly Pauline” citing Romans 3:24 and 2 Corinthians 11:7 and “the point of the statement is that the divine truths of salvation are so important for everyone that they must be taught without regard for the listeners ability to pay.”
The JANT notes that although the mission was expanded to the Gentiles, the mission to Israel was never abrogated. The JANT sees Matthew’s Gospel as one in which Gentiles were already included, for example, in Matthew’s genealogy (1:1-17) in which the four women who are mentioned are Gentiles.
The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah (v.15) was the failure to express and hospitality, and its punishment would befall the places that “do not welcome you” (v.14).
Matthew, like Paul and Mark, believed the eschaton (the final judgment) was near (”you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes”) (v.23).
2023, June 11 ~ Genesis 12:1-9; Hosea 5:15-6:6; Romans 4:13-25; Matthew 9:9-13,18-26
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JUNE 11, 2023
During Pentecost Season 2023, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Genesis 12:1-9
Reading
1 The LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and invoked the name of the LORD. 9 And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).
Today’s reading is part of the oldest writings and presented YHWH (“LORD” in all capital letters) anthropomorphically in that the LORD had a conversation with Abram.
This chapter in Genesis began the “ancestral history of Israel” in which YHWH called Abram (whose name is the same root word as “Abba” or father) to go to a land that YHWH would show him. There, Abram would become a father of a great nation and (as a descendent of Shem) his “name” will be great (v.2). Similar promises of YHWH making another a “great name” were reported to be made to David (2 Sam. 7:9) and to Solomon (1 Kings 1:47). The promise to make Abram “a great nation” (v.2) created an immediate tension in that Sarai was presented as barren in 11:30.
The Jewish Study Bible observes that the LORD “singled out one Mesopotamian – in no way distinguished from his peers as yet.” It continues: “These extraordinary promises come like a bolt from the blue, an act of God’s grace alone; no indication has been given as to why or even whether Abraham merits them.” Later, they will be seen as merited after the fact by Abram’s obedience and his willingness to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac.
Unlike some other covenants in Genesis, these promise by the LORD were “conditional” in that they would not become effective unless Abram went to the land YHWH would show him.
In Verse 3 is the phrase “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” – which Paul interpreted as a blessing on the Gentiles through Abraham. This phrase is also translated as “by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” – or in other words, people will say “may we be like Abraham.”
The places where Abram went (Shechem in v.6 and Bethel in v. 8) appear in later stories – Shechem as the place where the Israelites took an oath to YHWH in Joshua 24 and Bethel as the place where Jacob settled in Genesis 35. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that Abram’s journey to Shechem in the center of the land and then to Bethel and to the Negev is duplicated in Jacob’s journeys in Genesis 33, 35 and 46 and in the general route of the conquest under Joshua.
Today’s reading is followed by a story of Abram’s passing Sarai off as his beautiful sister and her being “taken into Pharaoh’s house” (v.15).
Hosea 5:15 – 6:6
Reading
15 Thus says the LORD: “I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their distress they will beg my favor: 6:1 ‘Come, let us return to the LORD; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.’ 4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Commentary
After Solomon died in 928 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel with 10 tribes) and the South (Judea with two tribes). Each Kingdom 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 and mistreated the poor.
Hosea was one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works were shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel). He was a contemporary of Amos. His prophesying (speaking for YHWH) began towards the end of the reign of King Jeroboam II and continued until the Assyrians conquered Israel in 722 BCE. He severely criticized the political, social, and religious life in the Northern Kingdom. He was the first of the prophets whose speeches were collected and edited as literary documents. The call for “steadfast love and not sacrifice” (v.6) is a persistent theme of the prophets, particularly Amos and Micah.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible interprets today’s reading as stating that YHWH punishes “not to annihilate but in order to inspire repentance.” It also notes that “two days … three days” (v.2) is “an idiomatic expression for a brief period of time.”
This reading is structured as a dialogue. Verse 15 was spoken by YJWH. Verses 6:1-3 were spoken by the people who half-heartedly urged repentance and assumed YHWH would forgive, and verses 4-6 are a response by YHWH with a fatherly – but exasperated – tone. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that Israel’s words of repentance are “insufficient” and that the repentance was spoken of in terms of fertility symbols such as rain. The unshakeable judgment of YHWH’s light (v.5) was contrasted with Israel’s inconstancy that is likened to the ephemeral dew (v.4)
Romans 4:13-25
Reading
13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
Commentary
Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.
Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ.
Paul exhorted the Jesus Follower Community in Rome to follow the Commandments, particularly to love one another as neighbors.
In his epistles, Paul used a number of terms that need to be understood in context. “Righteousness” (vv.13 and 22) is one of them. “Righteousness” is understood generally as being in right relationships with God and others. It is sometimes translated as “justified.” A “just” person is also a “righteous” person, and “justified” is used the same way that a page of type is “justified” – all the margins are straight and in order.
Another term that needs explanation is “faith,” a word Paul used seven times in this reading alone. “Faith” for Paul was not used the way it is now typically used — as an intellectual assent to one or more propositions. The Greek word for “faith” (pistis) has an active aspect and should be understood as “faithfulness” – actively living into one’s beliefs through grace and trust in God in a steady way. Paul emphasized that “faith” is a matter of the heart — not the intellect — and that faithfulness leads to righteousness (v.13).
In today’s reading, Paul held up Abraham as an example of “righteousness” (being in right relation with God and man) who was blessed by God, not because of obedience to the Law (v.13) and prior to the requirement that he be circumcised (Gen. 17:10), but because of his faithfulness to YHWH. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says that Paul would have known that Abram’s faithfulness occurred prior to the giving of the Law at Sinai. It also points out that there was a tradition in 1st Century Judaism that Abraham knew the Law and obeyed it even before the Law was promulgated. This tradition was based on Sirach 44:20 (“Abraham kept the law of the Most High”).
In verse 16, Paul relied on Genesis 12:3 to assert that Abraham is the father of all – both Jews and Gentiles – and all inherit God’s promises as they share in the faithfulness of Abraham.
Paul argued that God can do what God has promised (v.21). Most particularly, Paul asserted (v.23) that just as Abraham’s faithfulness was “reckoned to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6), our faithfulness will be reckoned to us as righteousness by God who raised Jesus from the dead (v.24). That is, both Gentile and Jewish Jesus Followers share in the faithfulness of Abraham will be “justified” and in a state of righteousness with God and man just as Abraham was (v.25). The NJBC points out that Paul asserts that God is the actor in the “handing over” and who “raised [Jesus] for our justification” (v.25).
Matthew 9:9-13,18-26
Reading
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.”
10 And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread throughout that district.
Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.
Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.
The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.
Today’s reading began with the call of Matthew in Capernaum. In both Mark and Luke, this apostle is named Levi. Although The NJBC concludes that this tax collector named Matthew was not the author of the final Greek form of the Gospel According to Matthew, there may have been a tradition that one of the apostles was literate – as a tax collector would likely have been. The NJBC also regards as “psychologically implausible” an immediate obedience to the call (v.9) and suggests that Matthew must have possessed some prior knowledge of Jesus and his mission.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes the tax collection process as follows: “The Roman system, known as ‘tax farming,’ leased out the right to collect taxes (including customs fees) in a given area for a flat fee. The entrepreneur, usually a local aristocrat, who obtained this right would then try to collect more than the fee in order to profit by the arrangement, with obvious potential for abuse [citing Philo]. Actual collections were carried out by underlings, who would be under pressure to bring in as much as possible, and who were despised by the populace; most of the references to collect tax collectors are probably to this class.”
The NJBC describes “sinners” (v.10) as a technical term for members of despised trades thought susceptible of ritual uncleanness and other blemishes. The NJBC believes that the historical Jesus actually shared meals with sinners and that by doing so, he was “breaking with the model of the Pharisaic sage, not to destroy Judaism but to save its increasingly marginalized members.” The “commonsense” response to the Pharisees (v.12) recognized that a physician must often be exposed to contagious diseases (here analogized to legal impurities) to heal others.
Jesus continued to confront the Pharisees and in verse 13 paraphrased Hosea 6:6 (one of today’s readings). The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that in both Hosea and in Matthew, mercy takes precedence over sacrifices but sacrifices were not eliminated.
In the story of the resuscitation of the leader’s daughter, the words “of the synagogue” are not in the most authoritative texts of this Gospel and are likely taken from the longer version in Mark 5 where the leader of the synagogue was named Jairus. Similar miracles were attributed to Elijah (1 Kings 17:22) and Elisha (2 Kings 4:32).
The hemorrhaging woman would have been deemed ritually unclean. The NAOB says that it is not clear the extent to which such a ritual impurity would have affected village life. The NJBC suggests that she would have been socially marginalized – a pariah in her community.
The JANT points out that the fringe of Jesus’ garment was the tsitzit – tassels on his prayer shawl which Jewish men (and perhaps women) were commanded to wear to remind them of the commandments.