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1 Samuel 3:1-10,(11-20)

Jewish tradition is that Samuel was 12 years old at the time, the age at which Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph “found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” See Luke 2:40-52. Luke clearly had these beautiful stories in mind as he began writing his Gospel. [ NOAB]

2:12-3:18: Two stories are presented: one concerning the end of the line of Eli, and the other telling of Samuel’s growth both physically and in favour with Yahweh. They intersect in 3:1-18. God’s sentence in 2:31 is that “no one in your family will live to old age”. [ NJBC]

3:1: “word ... visions”: Both mean revelation from God . [ NOAB]

3:3: “lamp of God”: Its earliest form was simple, but in later conception, it became highly ornate: see Exodus 25:10-22; 37:1-9. [ NOAB]

3:11-14: Deuteronomy 10:8-9 tells us that descendants of Levi, son of Jacob, had a right to the priesthood. The families of Eli (at Shiloh, see 1 Samuel 14:3), of Zadok (at Jerusalem, see Ezekiel 40:46) and of Amaziah (at Bethel, see Amos 7:10-17) were descended from Levi. The Ark came to rest at Shiloh, giving prominence to this worship site. In the time of Josiah (ca. 639-609 BC, see 2 Kings 23:8) all the priests were brought to serve in the Jerusalem Temple and the other temples and worship sites were abolished. Thus Israelite religion came under the complete control of Zadokite priests. [ HBD]

Comments: Eli: his sons were a bad lot: They appropriated for themselves portions of the priestly offerings in defiance of the detailed regulations about proper priestly procedure, and the designating of the beneficiaries of these sacrifices, in Leviticus 7:11-18 and Deuteronomy 18. [ CAB]

3:13: “he did not restrain them”: This directly contradicts 2:22-25. Clearly the author is working from multiple sources. [ NJBC]

4:1: “word”: Probably means reputation: Samuel became known and trusted throughout all the land as a leader who spoke for God. [ NOAB]

Psalm 139:1-5,12-17

Verse 6: The psalmist is unable to comprehend God: such knowledge is “so high”. Note also v. 16: God’s thoughts are so profound.

Verse 8: In early Israel, people in Sheol were thought to be separated from God, but here they too are God’s. [ NOAB]

Verse 15: Genesis 2:7 says: “... the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground ...”. [ JBC]

Verse 19ff: A prayer for vindication and deliverance. [ NOAB] The psalmist identifies his enemies as enemies of God: as sinners, enemies of God are worthy of rejection. This is a (strange!) declaration of his loyalty to God. Finally he says: God, punish the wicked! Examine my deeds and thoughts! They are pure, but if I stray, “bring me back”, so that I may enjoy a long life.

2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Paul’s sufferings bring him closer to Christ, and enable him in demonstrating the authentic humanity that Christ embodied during his time on earth.

Verses 1-2: Paul develops the point he introduced in 3:12: “Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness”. [ NJBC]

Verse 1: “by God’s mercy”: Before his conversion (see 3:5-6), Paul had persecuted Christians: see 1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13, 23. [ NJBC]

Verse 1: “we do not lose heart”: NJBC offers we are not fainthearted. Paul’s opponents “say, ‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.’” ( 10:10). [ NJBC]

Verse 2: Probably an oblique reference to the methods of the “false apostles” of 11:4, 13. Paul has called them “peddlers of God’s word” in 2:17. [ NOAB] He has renounced practising cunning and falsifying the good news, while the “false apostles” continue these “shameful things”. To NJBC, “shameful hidden things” are things one hopes will never be brought to light.

Verse 2: “practice cunning”: NJBC offers operating without scruple. By writing 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul has laid himself open to the charge of unscrupulous readiness to adopt any means to achieve his end.

Verse 2: “falsify God’s word”: NJBC offers adulterating the word of God.

Verse 3: See also 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Verse 3: “veiled”: See also 3:15, 18; 2:15. [ NOAB] A concession that his preaching has been partly ineffective implies an accusation, possibly that he failed to make many Jewish converts: see 3:14-15. [ NJBC]

Verse 4: “the god of this world”: Satan or Beliar: see 6:15. (Beliar was an evil spirit in the intertestamental literature; he was under, or identified with, Satan.) [ NOAB] See also 1 Corinthians 1:20; 2:6, 8; 3:18; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 2:2; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11. [ CAB] NJBC thinks it likely that the genitive here is one of content, so the god who in this world is a good translation. See also Philippians 3:19. Sin plays the same role in Romans 3:9; 6:6-23.

Verse 5: “Jesus Christ as Lord”: Paul appropriates a confessional formula: see also 1 Corinthians 12:3; Philippians 2:10-11; Romans 10:9. [ NJBC]

Verse 5: “your slaves”: Elsewhere, Paul calls himself a “servant of Jesus Christ”: see Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 3:5; 4:1; 2 Corinthians 6:4; Galatians 1:10; Philippians 1:1. See also Titus 1:1. [ CAB]

Verse 6: “‘Let light shine out of darkness’”: Paul may also be thinking of Isaiah 9:2; 42:6-7; 49:6 and 60:1-2, a passage which tells of the light going forth to the Gentile nations. [ CAB] See also John 1:4-5.

Verse 6: “who shone in our hearts”: Recalls Paul’s own conversion experience on the road to Damascus: see Acts 9. [ CAB]

Verse 7: “clay jars”: A reference to the weakness of the body, and indeed to all human limitations. Recall Genesis 2:7: “the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being”. [ NOAB]

Verses 10-11: In his sufferings and perils, Paul shares in Jesus’ death; but it is given to him also to share in the life of the risen, victorious Christ. [ NOAB]

Verse 10: “visible in our bodies”: This includes everything others see in us: our comportment, our attitude, our joy in the certain hope we have, our attempts to live a moral life free from materialistic influences.

Verse 12: Paul dies, i.e. suffers, that the Corinthians and others may know the life in Christ. [ NOAB]

Verse 13: Paul quotes Psalm 116:10. The psalmist has faith in the midst of troubles. Our faith leads to confession of it. [ NOAB]

Verse 15: As the gospel of God’s grace (see 6:1) advances, “more and more people” respond in faith with thankfulness. [ NOAB]

Mark 2:23-3:6

The parallels are Matthew 12:1-14 and Luke 6:1-11. [ NOAB]

2:23: “pluck heads of grain”: This was permitted: Deuteronomy 23:25 says “If you go into your neighbour's standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbour's standing grain.” So what the disciples do is permitted except on the sabbath. [ NJBC]

2:24: One may wonder what pious Pharisees were doing shadowing Jesus and his disciples on the sabbath! But to emphasize this is to miss the point of this section. [ NJBC]

2:25: Jesus’ Old Testament analogy does not deal with the chief point at issue: the breaking of the sabbath. [ NJBC]

2:26: “Abiathar” is mentioned in 2 Samuel 15:35. Actually, at the time of this event, his father Ahimelech was high priest. Abiathar was high priest during David’s monarchy. See also 1 Samuel 22:2-33 and 1 Kings 2:26-27. Abiathar is not mentioned in the parallel accounts.

2:26: “bread of the Presence”: Leviticus 24:5-9 states that twelve cakes were to be set out in two rows before God in the tent and later consumed by the priests. In 1 Samuel 21:1-6, the priest gave the sacred bread to David because there was no other bread there. David did not take it by force or even on his own initiative. [ NJBC]

2:27: See Exodus 23:12 and Deuteronomy 5:14 for the commandment to refrain from work on the sabbath. By Jesus’ time, the religious authorities had defined “work”. This verse is not in the parallel accounts. Here, Jesus’ words are inconsistent with Jewish practice, so it is possible that Mark interpreted his source to meet the needs of an early (non-Jewish) church. [ NJBC]

3:1: “Again” indicates that the “synagogue” is the one at Capernaum mentioned in 1:21-28. [ NJBC]

3:4: In Matthew 12:11, the question is more limited; there it is confined to Jewish practice.

3:5: “with anger”: For other references in Mark to Jesus’ emotions, see 1:41 (pity), 1:43 (stern warning); 7:34 (sighing); 8:12 (sighing); 10:14 (indignant),10:21 (love). [ NJBC]

3:5: “hardness of heart”: See also 6:52 and 8:17

3:3-4: Jesus applies the principle he has enunciated in 2:27: he equates acts to meet human needs with acts “lawful on the sabbath”. [ NOAB]

3:6: The Pharisees and the Herodians are indeed strange bedfellows. The Pharisees stressed personal purity and separation from the surrounding (corrupt) culture; the Herodians appear to have been supporters of the puppet state created by the Roman authorities. [ CAB] 12:13 also associates the Herodians with the Pharisees in plotting against Jesus. [ NOAB] The Herodians were friends and supporters of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee; they did not constitute a sect or party like the Pharisees, Sadducees or John the Baptist’s disciples. [ NJBC] This verse concludes the first section of Mark, the revelation of Jesus’ authority in Galilee.

3:6: “conspired”: From 2:12 to 3:16, the feelings about Jesus move from the amazement of the crowd to overt hostility against Jesus. [ NJBC]

© 1996-2022 Chris Haslam