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Genesis 1:1-2:4a

This creation story is from the Priestly (P) tradition: it uses the formulae “let there be ...” and “God created/made ...” as does the story of the building of the Tabernacle: see Exodus 25-31 for God’s commands and Exodus 35-40 for the execution of these commands. [ NJBC]

1:1: Another translation: At the beginning of God’s creating of the heavens and the earth. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth has been the traditional translation since at least the third century BC, when the Hebrew was so translated in the Septuagint but, says FoxMoses, it is an unlikely translation because the first two Hebrew words cannot be translated in this way. Other ancient Near East cosmologies use a “when ... then” construction as does Enuma Elish. [ NJBC]

1:1: “the heavens and the earth”: Probably a merism – an inclusive idiom meaning everything or everywhere . [ FoxMoses]

1:2: Genesis 1 describes God’s bringing order out of chaos, not creation from nothingness. God does not destroy darkness, a chaotic force, but relegates it to the nighttime, where it too becomes part of the good world. [ FoxMoses]

1:2: “formless void”: The Hebrew is tohu wabohu. Tohu occurs twenty times in the Old Testament; it means without shape or form, so uninhabitable by humans. [ NJBC]

1:2: “the deep”: The Hebrew, tehom, suggests that the earth was completely covered by water, as Psalm 104:6, a psalm that resembles Genesis 1, says. [ NJBC]

1:2: “while a wind from God ...”: Chaos was never beyond God’s control. Psalm 33:7 says: “He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses”. [ NJBC]

1:2: “swept”: FoxMoses offers hovering or flitting. He says that the image is one of an eagle protecting its young. Deuteronomy 32:11-12 says “As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young; as it spreads its wings, takes them up, and bears them aloft on its pinions, the Lord alone guided him”.

Days 4, 5 and 6 match Days 1, 2 and 3:

1:4: “God saw that the light was good”: This phrase is reminiscent of an ancient Near East craftsman being satisfied with his work. [ FoxMoses]

1:5: “there was evening and there was morning”: Jewish feast days begin in the evening. [ NOAB] The words translated “evening” and “morning” are specific: they mean sunset and daybreak. [ FoxMoses] Creation is very orderly. [ CAB]

1:6: “dome”: The Hebrew, raki’a , literally means a beaten sheet of metal, hammered out of the flat – suggesting God as a craftsman. The KJV translates the word as firmament. It was so translated in the Septuagint and later in the Vulgate. So translated, it lacks some of the meaning of the Hebrew. [ FoxMoses]

1:11: “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, ...”: FoxMoses says that there are sound-doublets here in the Hebrew which are hard to translate as such into English. He suggests Let the earth sprout forth with sprouting-growth, plants that seed forth seeds ... V. 12 contains no such doublets.

1:14: “lights”: In the sense of lamps. [ FoxMoses]

1:21: Birds seem to be thought to come from the water. [ NJBC]

1:22: “blessed”: This is the first occurrence of this key motif in Genesis. [ FoxMoses]

1:25: “wild”: i.e. undomesticated.

1:26-27: “humankind”: The Hebrew word is adam. [ FoxMoses]

1:26: In the ancient Near East, a king was often called an image of the deity and was vested with the god’s authority. In this area, humans were usually considered to be slaves of the gods, but here royal language is used for humans. [ NJBC]

Another interpretation is that “us” is an echo of the divine assembly. In ancient Near East literature, gods decided the fate of humankind. The Old Testament accepts the picture of the assembly, but Yahweh alone makes the decisions: see also Deuteronomy 32:8-9; 1 Kings 22:19-22; Isaiah 6; 40:1-11; Job 1-2. [ NJBC]

1:28: “Be fruitful and multiply ...”: Imperatives are a biblical way of defining essence, as also in 8:17 (to Noah); 9:1, 7; Exodus 20:2-7, Leviticus 19:2; 35:11 (to Jacob); Deuteronomy 16:18-20; Jeremiah 23:3; Ezekiel 36:10-11. [ NJBC]

1:28: “subdue it”: i.e. master it, bring it forcibly under control; however, note vv. 29-30: humans are to respect the environment; they are not to kill for food but to treat all life with respect. (In the renewal after the Flood, God permits humans to eat meat.) [ NJBC]

1:29: “you”: The word is plural. [ FoxMoses]

1:31: “very good”: Either an indication that the creative activity on the sixth day is special or a summary of the whole process. [ FoxMoses]

2:1-3: A tightly structured poem in which:

• “God”, “seventh day”, “work” and “done” appear three times
• “finished”, “rested” and “all” appear twice, and
• “done in creation” echoes 1:1, rounding out the narrative.

2:4a: Some scholars consider that this half verse introduces 2:4b-4:26 rather than ending the first creation story. FoxMoses suggests begettings rather than “generations”.

A comparison of Genesis 1 and Enuma Elish:

Genesis 1 does not accept the theology of Enuma Elish. Genesis 1 says that:

• There is only one God. (vs. many)
• God created a world order from his goodness and wise plan
• Matter is good (vs. the result of a whim or magic)
• God’s word decrees what is to be and establishes limits.
• Humans share the divine gift of procreating life and know God personally. [ Boadt]

Psalm 136:1-9,23-26

A hymn of praise in the form of a litany. [ JBC]

Verses 1-3: "O give thanks to the L ord": See also Psalms 106:1, 107:1. [ NOAB]

Verses 9-17: Great deeds that God has done specifically for Israel. See also 135:6-12. [ NJBC]

Verses 17-22: The conquest of Canaan. [ NOAB]

Verses 19-20: "Sihon ... Og": See Numbers 21:23. [ NOAB]

Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18, 9:8-13

Long ago scholars observed that the first five books of the Bible are full of repetitions and contradictions; they also differ in style. Scholars now agree that behind the text lie earlier sources. In the story of the Flood we find “the Lord” and “God”, Yahweh and Elohim in the Hebrew text. In verses where “God” occurs there are numbers and dates; those where “the Lord” is found show God as being more personal, e.g. “when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor”, 8:21. Scholars have labelled the former as the J source, as in the Hebrew J[Y]WH, and the latter as the P source, as in Priestly. There are two creation stories in Genesis: Chapter 1 is based on the P source, and Chapter 2 on the J source. In the Flood story the two sources have been combined. [ HBD]

NJBC says that sources in the Flood story are:

• Priestly (P): 6:9-22; 7:6,11,13-16a,17a,18-21,24; 8:1,2a,3b-5,7,13a,14-19; 9:1-17
• Yahwist (J): 7:1-5,7-10,12,16b,17b,22-23; 8:2b-3a,6,8-12,13b,20-22.

Many details in this story are also found in the Gilgamesh and Atrahesis epics. [ FoxMoses]

Our reading begins after the construction of the ark in 6:14-16.

7:2-3: These verses are from the Yahwism source. The Priestly version mentions two animals of every sort in 6:19 and 7:9. [ NOAB]

7:2: The distinction between clean and unclean animals was introduced at Sinai, suggesting that this verse is later than Sinai. [ NOAB]

7:4: The flood was caused by heavy rainfall, lasting “forty days and nights” (v. 12). Compare the Priestly version in v. 24. [ NOAB]

7:4: “forty”: Used in the Bible to denote long periods of time. [ FoxMoses]

7:11-24: Largely from the Priestly version. [ NOAB]

7:11: “fountains of the great deep”: FoxMoses offers “well-springs of the great Ocean”. The world returns to the primeval chaos of 1:2.

7:16: “and the L ord shut him in”: Another sign of God's control over the events and of his protection of Noah. [ FoxMoses]

7:11: Here the flood was not caused by a rain storm but is a cosmic catastrophe resulting from opening “the windows of the heavens” (fixed in the firmament) and the upsurging of “the fountains of the great deep” (or subterranean watery chaos). Thus the earth was threatened with a return to pre-creation chaos: see 1:2. [ NOAB]

7:17: The first part of the verse, attributed to P, is probably an editorial addition based on J. [ JBC]

8:7: “sent out”: Or released .

8:8: “dove”; This bird is portrayed in the Bible as beautiful (even pure) and delicate. From this passage, of course, stems the popular use of the dove as the symbol of peace.

8:9: “So he put out his hand ...”: Noah's humanness [ JBC]

Psalm 46

This psalm is a difficult one to interpret, as poetry sometimes is. In Comments, I follow JBC, who cautions against seeing it as being eschatological. Further, a non eschatological interpretation fits better with the story of the Flood. JB also sees it in a historical setting. He sees “God will help it when the morning dawns” as an allusion to the withdrawal of Sennacherib’s forces in 701 BC (see 2 Kings 19:35 and Isaiah 17:14), after a peace deal that spared Jerusalem .

Note v. 6: “see what desolations he has brought on the earth”. Perhaps this says that God had been on Assyria’s side in attacking Jerusalem and restoring Assyria’s rule over the north, but it may be a reference to the end-times, when the “desolations” (Hebrew: shammah) in vv. 2-3, 6 were expected: see Isaiah 13:9. NOAB and CAB interpret the psalm this way. Space restrictions in Comments does not permit offering both interpretations, so the eschatological interpretation is presented here. (The last part is the same.) A scholar has told me that the tense of verbs in Psalms is often uncertain.

People expected terrible events to occur before the Day of the Lord: earthquakes (vv. 2-3), return to close to the initial chaotic state of the earth (“waters”, v. 3) and political turmoil (v. 6); in short, utter “desolation” (v. 8). But in the midst of this, God will stand steadfast as the protector of the godly, who seek his help night-long in prayer (and receive it in the “morning”, v. 5). They will be citizens of the eternal “city of God”, where he dwells. (Ezekiel 47:1-13 tells of a “river”, (v. 4), a source of life, flowing from the celestial Temple).

Both JB and REB avoid this problem by translating shammah as astounding things and astonishment respectively. They seem to see the psalm in a historical setting.

Superscription: “Of the Korahites”: The Korahites were the Levitical group responsible for singing in the Temple (see 2 Chronicles 20:19). They are also mentioned in the superscriptions of Psalms 42; 44-49; 84-85; 87-88. [ CAB]

Superscription: “Alamoth”: The Hebrew word means young maidens. We do not know what this musical direction means but some have suggested that it may mean to be sung by young women; however note that 1 Chronicles 15:20 says that certain people “were to play harps according to Alamoth”. [ HBD]

Verses 1-3: God will preserve his people even during the cosmic tumults of the latter days. Joel 3:16 foretells: “The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake. But the Lord is a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel”. [ NOAB]

Verse 1: This verse inspired Luther’s hymn, A Mighty Fortress.

Verse 1: “a very present help in trouble”: NRSV offers an alternative translation: “a very well proved help in trouble”.

Verse 3: “Selah”: This word is probably a liturgical direction, added to the original text of the psalm. It may mean lift up, either to indicate the lifting up of the voices of the singers in a doxology, or to call for lifted-up instrumental music in an interlude in the singing. [ NOAB]

Verse 4: “the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High ...”: Because of this emphasis on the holy city here and in certain other psalms, they are called songs of Zion, a term which comes from 137:3. [ NOAB] The others are 48; 76; 84; 87; 122. [ NJBC] To CAB, the “city” of God could be Jerusalem, renewed in the future (as in a Jewish apocalypse and Revelation 21), or a new city at the end of time.

Verse 4: “a river”: Isaiah 33:21, telling of the time when we will be with God, says “there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams”. Ezekiel 47:11-12 tell of a life-giving river flowing from the Temple, creating a new Garden of Eden. See also Zechariah 14:8 and Revelation 22:1-2. [ NOAB] On the other hand, CAB refers the reader to Isaiah 8:6-7 where the “waters of Shiloh” are what God offers and can be depended on, unlike the offerings of foreign kings. There Israel has refused God’s offer so there will be a flood of judgement, symbolized by “the River”, the Tigris-Euphrates, i.e. the Assyrians. NJBC suggests that the unruly “waters” (v. 3) have been transformed into the river that brings joy to the city.

Verse 5: “God will help it when the morning dawns”: For this theme, see also 5:3. [ NJBC]

Verse 7: This refrain also appears in v. 11. It has been dropped out by accident after v. 3. Some translations (e.g. JB) restore it. [ NOAB]

Verses 9-10: Isaiah 2:2-4 says “In days to come ... He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”. This is eschatological. [ NOAB] See also 76:3; Hosea 2:18; Zechariah 9:10. [ NJBC]

Genesis 22:1-18

Two traditions have been woven tightly together in this story: Elohist (E) and Yahwist (J). The result of the editing is that the Elohist predominates.

Verse 1: “After these things”: A conventional opening to a new section, meaning sometime afterwards. See also 15:1; 22:20; 39:7; 40:1. [ NJBC]

Verse 1: “God tested Abraham”: See also Hebrews 11:17-19. Elsewhere in the Pentateuch, God tests the people Israel: see Exodus 15:26; 16:4; Deuteronomy 8:2, 16; 13:3; 33:8. [ NJBC]

Verse 1: “Here I am”: Often used to indicate readiness and availability with respect to God’s command. See also 31:11 (Jacob); 46:2 (Jacob); Exodus 3:4 (Moses); 1 Samuel 3:8 (Samuel).

Verse 2: “your only son”: Realizing that “only” is inaccurate, the Septuagint translated this as favoured.

Verse 2: “Moriah”: A word-play on the Hebrew word ra’a, meaning to see. In vv. 8 and 14, the Hebrew translated in the NRSV as “provide” can be translated as see for himself to. [ NJBC]

Verse 2: “one of the mountains”: In 2 Chronicles 3:1, the mountain is identified as the site of Jerusalem; however, Samaritan tradition locates the scene at Mount Gerizim – note that 12:6 refers to Shechem. Abraham is the first Israelite worshipper there. [ NJBC]

Verse 7: “fire”: A torch, brand or fire-stone. [ FoxMoses]

Verse 8: Another interpretation is that Abraham deflects Isaac’s question. It is also possible that irony is intended, as in God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering – my son. [ FoxMoses]

Verses 9-10: This story may have a secondary message for future Israelites: that child sacrifice is not to be practised. Infant sacrifice was widely practised by the Canaanites and in the Phoenician colonies of North Africa – and even in Israel, as Old Testament polemic against it shows: see 2 Kings 16:3 and Micah 6:7. Israelites practised it in critical times to avoid divine wrath: for Josiah’s destruction of the altar used for child sacrifice, see 2 Kings 23:10. Israel recognized that the first-born belonged to Yahweh (see Exodus 13:11-16; 34:19-20) but, based on this story, an animal was to be sacrificed in place of the first-born. Animal sacrifice acquires the same aura of reverence and holiness that previously belonged to human sacrifice.

Verse 10: “kill”: The Hebrew word is a technical term used specifically to describe animal sacrifice.

Verse 11: “the angel of the Lord”: For the angel’s role in story of the flight of Ishmael and Hagar, see 21:17-19. [ NJBC]

Verse 12: Abraham has learnt to give up control over his own life (which would continue in his son) in order to receive life as a gift from God. [ NJBC]

Verses 15-19: God has made promises to Abraham six times: see 12:2-3, 7; 13:14-17; 15; 17; 18. Now the angel repeats for the seventh and climatic time ( 12:2-3, 7; 13:14-17; 15; 17; 18) the great promises in their most generous form. For the first time, Abraham is blessed because he has heeded God’s command. [ NJBC]

Verse 16: “says the Lord”: A phrase often found in the prophetic books. 15:1 says “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great’”. See also Exodus 4:22; 5:1; 8:1; 2 Samuel 7:5; 12:7; 24:12; Isaiah 1:11; 3:15. [ NJBC]

Verse 17: “possess the gate”: i.e. possess or take the city. [ FoxMoses]

This is the last time God speaks to Abraham. After this story, we know that God will come to the rescue of his chosen in the direst circumstances, but it is difficult being chosen! Love, mentioned here for the first time by name, almost leads to heartbreak. So it will be for the rest of Genesis.

Psalm 16 NRSV

The NRSV translation is significantly different from Peter’s quotation in Acts. He quotes the then-current Greek translation loosely (probably from memory); it takes liberties with the Hebrew original. Vv. 1-2 summarize the psalm. The speaker probably takes refuge in worship in the Temple; he sees God as supreme good (v. 2). He takes the members of the faithful community, “the holy ones” (v. 3) as models for living; he will not worship with those who choose pagan gods – and not even associate with them (v. 4). His fate and his future (“portion and ... cup”, v. 5) are in God’s hands. The author compares his devotion to that of a Levite. For other tribes, there were “boundary lines” (v. 6) between tribal territories in Israel, but Levites received no land; the psalmist’s “chosen portion” (v. 5) is God himself. God gives him “counsel” (v. 7) and deep understanding (“heart”). God teaches him his ways. Because God supports him, he will not stumble (“be moved”, v. 8) in following godly ways. V. 10 is unclear: it may refer to immortality or just to living a full lifetime. “Forevermore” (v. 11) may be meant literally but is more likely to mean throughout the rest of my life.

Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21

The text is much more than a journalistic account of what happened: it is a rhythmic retelling of an experience, strongly conditioned by traditional (probably oral) Israelite forms of story telling. [ FoxMoses]

According to NJBC, material from three sources (traditions) have been edited together to form the text as we have it in this chapter. Most of Chapter 15 is from yet another, unnamed, source.

13:17-19: These verses are from the Elohist (E) tradition. [ NJBC]

13:17: “by way of the land of the Philistines”: The main military road into Canaan – along the Mediterranean. [ NOAB]

13:18: “Red”: The Hebrew means reed. It appears that the word was first translated as “Red” in the Septuagint, which later translations have followed. [ NJBC] See also “the sea” in 14:2, 9, 16, 21-23, 26-29.

13:18: The Hebrew word for sea can also mean lake. The reference is probably to one of the marshy lakes in the eastern Nile delta area, bordering on the wilderness of Sinai – rather than the Gulf of Suez farther south. [ CAB] NJBC suggests Lake Balah; FoxMoses suggests Lake Timsah.

13:18: “prepared for battle”: FoxMoses says that the Hebrew is unclear. CAB says that the phrase is not meant literally, since families and livestock were involved in the migration.

13:19: In Genesis 50:25-26, as he lies on his deathbed, Joseph has made the Israelites promise to take his bones with them when God “will visit you”. [ NJBC] Joseph’s bones are reburied in Joshua 24:32 – marking the conquest of Canaan. [ FoxMoses]

13:20-22: These verses are from the Yahwist (J) tradition. [ NJBC]

13:20: Numbers 33:6 gives the same initial itinerary.

13:20: “Etham”: Probably a frontier fortress. [ NOAB]

13:21: This may reflect the ancient custom of carrying a burning brazier at the head of an army or caravan to indicate the line of march day and night. See also 3:2; 19:9; 33:9; 40:34-38; 1 Kings 8:10-11. [ NOAB]

14:1-4: These verses are from the Priestly (P) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:1-2: That these cities in the northeastern region of the Nile delta are named confirms the theory that the crossing of the sea was in the marshy lake region rather than in the Gulf itself. [ CAB]

14:2: “Baal-zephon”: The name of a Canaanite deity – indicating the mixed cultural situation in this delta region bordering the land of Canaan. [ CAB]

14:5a: This half verse is from the Elohist (E) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:5: “the people had fled”: i.e. they had not just gone to observe a religious observance, as God commanded Moses to tell the Pharaoh in 8:21, 27.

14:5b-6: These verses are from the Yahwist (J) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:7: This verse is from the Elohist (E) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:7: “six hundred”: A nice counterpart to the six hundred thousand (or six hundred units of) Israelite males mentioned in 12:37 as setting out from Ramases. [ FoxMoses]

14:7: “officers”: The Hebrew may also mean teams of three or warriors or a picked team. [ FoxMoses]

14:8-10: These verses are from the Priestly (P) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:8: “boldly”: defiantly, in triumph [ FoxMoses]

14:11-12: These verses are from the Elohist (E) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:11-12: The Israelites are faint-hearted when faced with enemies, as God has predicted they would be, in 13:17. For other complaints (murmurings) against Moses (God) see 15:24; 16:2-3; 17:3; 32:1-4; Numbers 11:4-6; 12:1-2; 14:2-3; 16:13-14; 20:2-13; 21:4-5.

14:13-14: These verses are from the Yahwist (J) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:13-14: An exhortation to holy war: in a holy war, gods fought in the heavens in support of their armies on earth. Yahweh being the only true deity, Israel’s victory is assured. [ NJBC]

14:13: “deliverance”: The Hebrew word means rescue, but extending to the miraculous in the eyes of those who experience the event. [ FoxMoses]

14:15-18: These verses are from the Priestly (P) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:15: “Tell the Israelites to go forward”: Thus countering the Egyptian advance. [ FoxMoses]

14:16: “divide it”: As if as natural an event as stretching out one’s hand! [ FoxMoses]

14:19a: This half verse is from the Elohist (E) tradition. [ NJBC] Note “the angel of God”.

14:19b-20: These verses are from the Yahwist (J) tradition. [ NJBC] Note “the pillar of cloud”.

14:20: “lit up”: FoxMoses says that the Hebrew is unclear.

14:21-31: The battle as described by the two traditions differs:

• In the Priestly (P) tradition: Moses divides the sea with his rod; the Israelites walk through on dry land, the waters being a wall to left and to right. When they reach the other side, Moses raises his hand and the walls of water crash on the Egyptian army, wiping it out.
• In the Yahwist (J) tradition: the storm god drives the sea back for long enough for the Israelites to cross; the sea returns to its normal depth in the morning. (The language is like Psalm 48:5-8, where Yahweh throws the kings into panic and uses the wind as his weapon.) [ NJBC]

14:21-23: These verses are from the Priestly (P) tradition. [ NJBC] Tradition heightened the miracle by attributing it to Moses’ wonder-working staff (vv. 16, 21a, 26-27) and by saying that the waters stood like walls (vv. 22b, 29b) [ NOAB]

14:21: “a strong east wind”: Looking back, one recalls the east wind that brought the locusts to Egypt in 10:13; one also looks forward to God’s “strength and ... might” in 15:2.

14:21: “dry land”: The same Hebrew word appears, also as a sign that all is well, in the Flood narrative, another story of deliverance (and of death). Similarly, the word translated as “dry ground” in v. 22 also appears at the end if the Flood story (see Genesis 8:14). [ FoxMoses]

14:24-25b: These verses are from the Yahwist (J) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:24: “At the morning watch”: i.e. before daybreak.

14:24: “threw ... into panic”: A Hebrew phrase used in the Old Testament to describe God’s effect on his enemies: see also, for example, Joshua 10:10 (the Amorites before Joshua’s army); Judges 4:15 (Sisera and his army); 1 Samuel 7:10 (the Philistines). [ FoxMoses]

14:25a: This half verse is from the Elohist (E) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:26: This verse is from the Priestly (P) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:27: This verse is from the Yahwist (J) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:28-29: These verses are from the Priestly (P) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:30-31: These verses are from the Yahwist (J) tradition. [ NJBC]

14:30-31: These verses show the influence of the Deuteronomist. Using language that mirrors the end of the entire Torah (see Deuteronomy 34), the text speaks of seeing, fearing, hand, eyes and the unique-to-Deuteronomy phrase “his servant Moses”: see Deuteronomy 34:5. Significantly then, the final narrative of Israel’s relationship to Egypt is cast as a classic ending in general. [ FoxMoses]

We do not know what actually happened at the Sea, but that has little to do with the meaning of the text. The narrator demonstrates God’s final victory and portrays Israel’s escape in terms of a birthing (through a path, out of water), and these themes had the most influence both on later biblical tradition and on the generations of inspired Jews and Christians that heeded them. [ FoxMoses]

Exodus 15:1b-11,17-18

NJBC says that vv. 1-19 are from none of the traditions identified as contributing to the rest of the Pentateuch. He attributes vv. 20-21 to the Yahwist (J) source.

Verses 1-18: The poetic style of this hymn and the imagery of its celebration of the triumph of Yahweh show clear affinity with sacred poems found by archeologists at sites in the Near East dating from this epoch, especially at Ugarit in Syria. The defeat by Israel of the nations named in vv. 14-15 occurred centuries later; this indicates that the hymn achieved its present form no earlier than the time of Solomon or David. [ CAB]

Verses 1-3: V. 21 attributes this song to Miriam – which is probably correct, because literary material was often attributed to well-known figures independent of its original author. [ NJBC]

Verse 2: See also 14:12-14.

Verse 2: “my father’s God”: A reference to the God of the ancestors ( 3:6). [ NOAB]

Verse 3: See also 14:14 (“The Lord will fight for you ...”), 14:25 (“... the Lord is fighting for them [Israel]”); Psalm 24:8 (“Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord , mighty in battle”).

Verses 4-10: A recital of the divine warrior’s victory at the sea. See also Psalm 78:12-13. [ NOAB] Yahweh, like Baal in Ugaritic texts, is pictured as a storm god battling his enemies with wind, lightning and thunder. [ NJBC]

Verse 4: “his picked officers were sunk”: There is an implication that the Egyptian officers were in boats. This differs from the traditions found in Chapter 14.

Verses 8-10: The language is influenced by the ancient myth of a divine battle against the sea, the chaotic power hostile to the rule of the gods. See also Psalms 77:16-19; 114:3-6; Habakkuk 3:8. [ NOAB]

Verse 8: As in Psalm 107:25-27, a storm lifts high mountains of water. [ NJBC]

Verses 11-12: Yahweh’s victory over the Egyptians shows his superiority to their gods; he controls heaven, earth and the underworld (“earth” in v. 12). [ NJBC]

Verse 11: “among the gods”: See also Psalms 80:7-8; 86:8; Genesis 1:26 (“Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, ...”).

Verse 13: “your holy abode”: A mountain in Canaan. See Psalm 78:54 (“... he brought them to his holy hill, to the mountain that his right hand had won”). [ NOAB]

Verse 14: “Philistia”: The coastal region at the eastern end of the Mediterranean settled by Philistine about 1175 BC. So this song was presumably written later, but probably before the Monarchy. [ NOAB]

Verse 15: Numbers 20:18-21 says something different: the Edomites would not allow the Israelites to pass through their territory. See also 21:13.

Verse 17: Canaan is described as a mythical cosmic mountain, Zaphon, the location of God’s “abode” and “sanctuary”. See also Psalm 48:1-3. [ NOAB] The impression is that God brought them to Canaan without the forty-year delay mentioned elsewhere in the Pentateuch and Joshua. [ NJBC]

Verse 17: “the sanctuary”: Understood by later generations as Jerusalem, the site of the Temple on Mount Zion, but the poem is earlier than David’s conquest of Jerusalem in the tenth century. The whole land may be referred to as Yahweh’s mountain, as is the case in Deuteronomy 32:13; Ezekiel 39:4, 17, etc. [ NJBC]

Verse 20: “Miriam”: Numbers 26:59 tells us that Moses, Aaron and Miriam were brothers and sister. See also Micah 6:4.

Verse 21: One of the oldest poetic couplets in the Bible. It may have been composed by an eye-witness of the event.

Isaiah 54:5-14

Verses 1-3: The Yahweh-spouse image (also in 50:1) combines with the familiar biblical situation of a sterile wife: Sarah in Genesis 15:2 and 16:1, Rachel in Genesis 29:31, Manoah's wife in Judges 13:2 and Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:2. All bore children through God's special promise. [ NJBC]

Verse 5: God's creative power exists for the sake of redemptive love. [ NJBC]

Verses 7-8: The mysterious theology of Genesis 6:6; 8:21-22 where God repents of what he has done, or of Hosea 2:19-25; 11:11-12 where God could not cast off his beloved despite her repeated adulteries. [ NJBC]

Verse 7: “I will gather you”: Reconciliation is imminent. See also Psalm 27:10; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18. [ NOAB]

Verse 8: “everlasting love”: See also Jeremiah 31:3. [ NOAB]

Verse 8: The last line resounds with the undeserved love, kindness and generosity in action, his steadfast love. [ NJBC]

Verses 9-10: Both the flood and the exile were catastrophes of disobedience to the divine word. Even though God promised to Noah that such a horrendous destruction would not happen again (Genesis 8:21-22; 9:11-17), something comparable did in the exile! [ NJBC] For the everlasting covenant, see Jeremiah 31:35-36 and Mark 13:31. [ NOAB]

Verse 10: This “covenant of peace” (Numbers 26:12; Ezekiel 34:25; 37:26; Malachi 2:5) will firmly unite the entire universe in harmony and happiness (see also 44:28) according to the fulness implied by the word shalom, “peace”. [ NJBC]

Verses 11-17: The prophet compares renewed Israel first with a splendid bejewelled building and then with a victorious people whose enemies will be utterly destroyed. [ CAB]

Verses 11-14: New Jerusalem is Paradise restored. See Ezekiel 28:13-19; Revelation 21:19.

Verse 12: Revelation 21:18-21 depicts the new heavenly Jerusalem in similar language. [ NJBC]

Verse 13: The word of God emanates from the splendour of the Lord's presence. The author does not eliminate teachers but insists that all teachers are themselves obedient learners before God. See also 50:4; John 6:45. [ NJBC]

Verse 17: No one can assault God's “servants” with impunity. [ NOAB]

Psalm 30

This psalm was probably sung in fulfilment of a vow. [ NOAB]

Verse 1: “extol”: Literally raise up. The psalmist raises up praise to God, who has raised him up from near death. [ NJBC]

Verse 3: “Sheol ... the Pit”: It is also mentioned in 88:5-6; Job 14:13-19; Genesis 37:35 (Jacob when Joseph is missing from the cistern); 2 Samuel 22:6 (David’s song of thanksgiving when delivered from the hands of Saul). [ NOAB]

Verse 5: The joyful reintegration into the community of one who had been at the point of death. See also 22:23-24. [ NJBC]

Verse 9: “Will the dust praise you?”: See also 6:5 (“For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?”) and 115:17 (“The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence”). [NJBC]

Verse 12: “so that my soul may praise you and not be silent”: See also 115:17. [ NJBC]

Isaiah 55:1-11 This is a hymn of triumph celebrating the approaching consummation of Israel’s restoration.

Second Isaiah was written immediately after the fall of Babylon in 539 BC to Cyrus and during the generation following. The author exults in joyful anticipation of exiled Judah’s restoration to Palestine, for which Cyrus is the precipitating agent. Second Isaiah emphasizes the significance of historical events in God’s plan, a plan extending from creation to redemption, and beyond. Blindness to God’s way is a cardinal sin. God is exclusive creator and lord of all whose ultimate manifestation will be accompanied by a new creation. In Chapters 40-55, written between 530 and 510 BC, the relationship is “I – thou”, but in Chapters 56-66, the relationship is more transcendent. From Chapter 56 on, one sees the sobering realities of life in the restored community.

This chapter includes almost every theme found in Chapters 40-54. Chapters 40 and 55 form an inclusio around Chapters 41 to 54, repeating many key themes:

Verses 1-2: The style is typical of wisdom literature: see also Sirach 24:18-20. The meal is desacrilized and extended into the daily lives of the people. There is one condition for participation: “thirst” for God: 51:21 says: “hear this, you who are wounded, who are drunk, but not with wine: Thus says your Sovereign, the Lord , your God who pleads the cause of his people: See, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; you shall drink no more from the bowl of my wrath”. These verses are reminiscent of wisdom’s invitation to a banquet in Proverbs 9:3-6: “... Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed ...”. [ NJBC]

Verse 1: “everyone who thirsts, come to the waters”: In John 7:37-38, Jesus says “‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink’”. [ NOAB]

Comments: Recall other banquets ...: For the (first) Passover meal, see Exodus 12; for the banquet after the covenant at Sinai, see Exodus 24:5, 11. The abundance of the new era is laid out by later prophecy as a banquet: 25:6 says: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear”; see also 65:11-15. [ NJBC] Song of Solomon 5:1 sings of a nuptial banquet for God and Israel. The notion of a banquet at the end of time is carried forward into the New Testament:

• the Paschal banquet: see Luke 22:16-18 (“‘I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God ... I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes’”)
• the Eschatological banquet: see Matthew 5:6 (“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”) and
• the Nuptial banquet: see Matthew 9:15 (“‘The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast’”) and Revelation 19:9 (“‘ ...Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb’”). [ JBC]

Verses 3-5: The Davidic covenant and its special privileges are neutralized and are transferred to the people. For the Davidic covenant, see 2 Samuel 7:8-16; 23:5; 1 Kings 8:23-25; Psalm 89:2-38. [ NJBC]

Verse 3: “everlasting covenant”: The covenant is not “everlasting” in the sense of beginning now and lasting forever, but one bringing the promises of the distant past to present fulfilment. This phrase is also found in 24:5; 61:8; Ezekiel 37:26-28. For Jesus’ “covenant” at the Last Supper, see Matthew 26:28 and Luke 22:20. [ NJBC] See also Isaiah 54:10; Jeremiah 33:19-26. Jeremiah 31:31-34 says “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ... I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts”. [ NOAB]

Verse 5: The inclusion of peoples other than Israel is also found in 56:1-8, especially vv. 6-8: “... the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord ... I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer ... for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples”. [ CAB]

Verses 6-9: A call for repentance (see Jeremiah 29:10-14 and Matthew 3:2) and trust in God’s inscrutable grace (see Psalm 103:12; Romans 11:33-36). [ NOAB] The literary dependance on Jeremiah 29:10-14 accentuates movement away from the single sanctuary, i.e. not only in the Temple. [ NJBC] These verses combine the paradoxes of divine grace: God is transcendent, yet near enough to help; humans are helpless, yet required to act energetically; the ways of God are exalted, yet required of humans. See also Job 42:1-6; Sirach 43:28-35; Acts 13:10 (Paul and Barnabas preach in Cyprus). [ JBC]

Verse 6: “Seek the Lord ”: Similar invitations are found elsewhere in the Bible. See, for example, Amos 5:4; Hosea 10:12. [ JBC]

Verses 10-11: As “rain” causes germination and ultimately provides sustenance, so does God’s “word”. “Word” is more than a statement; it includes the potential and fact of accomplishment: it is used in a similar sense in 9:8: “The Lord sent a word against Jacob, and it fell on Israel”. See also Jeremiah 23:18-20. [ NOAB] The Word comes from God, but it can be heard only when it is soaked up in human life and spoken with human accents. A scholar attributes to this text the immediate origin of the theology in John 1:1-18. We hear its echo in John’s doctrine of the Eucharist: the Word come down from heaven, and received, as bread: see John 6:32, 35. [ JBC]

Verses 12-13: For the new Exodus, see also 43:16-21 and 49:9-11. It will be into an Eden-like land. 51:3 says: “For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song”. The symbolism of creation appears often in biblical pictures of the new era. The end-times will be a return to the ideal conditions in Eden. See also Ezekiel 36:35; 47:1-12. [ NOAB] The renewal of God’s people will be matched by the renewal of creation itself. [ CAB] All the world breaks into song at the wonder of God’s saving power within Israel. The curse of sin is removed forever: see Genesis 3:18 and Isaiah 7:23. [ JBC]

Isaiah 12:2-6

11:10-12:6: While most of Isaiah 1-40 was written in the 700s BC, these verses (and some others) were written centuries later. [ NJBC]

11:11: “a second time”: It is possible that the first time was the Exodus, and the second time will be the return from Exile. The countries from which the people will come are Assyria, Egypt, Upper Egypt (“Pathros”), Ethiopia, Elam (north of the Persian Gulf), Babylonia (“Shinar”), “Hamath” (in Syria) and the Aegean seacoast and islands. This list includes most of the Fertile Crescent, plus Upper Egypt and Ethiopia.

12:1-6: NJBC considers that these verses were added to the book later.

12:1-3: A song of deliverance (see also Psalm 116) [ NOAB]

12:1,4: “you will say in that day”: NOAB considers these to be liturgical rubrics.

12:1: The language and form reflect the psalms, especially psalms of thanksgiving, rather than prophecy. See Psalms 9:2; 111:1; 138:1. [ NJBC]

12:2b: See Exodus 15:2 (Moses’ or Miram’s Song) and Psalm 118:14. [ NOAB]

12:4-6: A song of thanksgiving. [ NOAB]

12:4: While “you” in v. 1 is singular, “you” here is plural. This may indicate a different source. [ NJBC]

12:6: “Shout aloud and sing for joy”: Zephaniah 3:14 begins “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel!” [ NOAB]

12:6: “O royal Zion”: NJBC translates the Hebrew as dweller in Zion. He sees this as a reference to the redeemed community.

12:6: “Holy One”: 1:4 refers to Yahweh as “the Holy One of Israel”. [ NOAB]

Baruch 3:9-15,32-4:4

Much of the Comment on this reading is derived from NJBC.

This book consists of four distinct parts:

• the narrative introduction ( 1:1-14) sets the writing in Babylonia during the Exile
• a prayer of confession ( 1:15-3:8)
• a hymn to Wisdom personified ( 3:9-4:4)
• a psalm of comfort ( 4:5-5:9)
• a psalm of comfort ( 4:5-5:9)

3:9-4:4: The whole import of the confession and prayer of 1:15-3:8 is:

• Obedience to the Lord's commands offers the possibility of unbounded prosperity;
• “stiff-necked” (stubborn and stupid, 2:30) Israel disobeyed these commands and received just punishment.
• “stiff-necked” (stubborn and stupid, 2:30) Israel disobeyed these commands and received just punishment.

The poem celebrates the Mosaic law as wisdom (see Deuteronomy 4:6; Psalms 19:8; 119:97-98) a connection which becomes more pronounced in post-exilic Judaism (see Ezra 7:6,14,25; Sirach 24:1-31; 39:1-11). Wisdom is the most prized possession, for it is the source of prosperity for all who possess it. [ NJBC]

3:9: "growing old": The exile has been long. This contrasts with 1:2. [ NOAB]

3:10: "you are defiled with the dead"; For the idea that contact with a corpse defiles a person, see Leviticus 21:1-4. [ NJBC]

3:11: See also Psalm 28:1; 88:4; Isaiah 53:12. [ NOAB]

3:12: “fountain of wisdom”: God who gives wisdom. See also Proverbs 18:4; Jeremiah 2:13; John 4:13-14. [ NJBC] [ NOAB]

3:14: See also Proverbs 8:14. [ NOAB]

3:15: See also Job 28:12. [ NOAB]

3:29-37: God found wisdom and gave her to Israel. See also Sirach 24:1-12. [ NOAB]

3:22-34: See also Job 28:23-26; Proverbs 8:22-31 [ NOAB]

3:33: “light”: See also Genesis 1:3. [ NOAB]

3:34: "stars ... were glad": See also Job 38:7. [ NOAB]

3:37: Many early Christian commentators took this as an allusion to the Incarnation. [ NOAB]

4:1: See also Sirach 24:23. [ NOAB]

4:2: See also Isaiah 60:3. [ NOAB]

4:3: See also Exodus 32:10; Numbers 14:2; Deuteronomy 9:14.

Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6

The poem can be divided into seven stanzas of five couplets each (except the second, which has six couplets):

• vv. 1-5: Wisdom’s universal call
• vv. 6-11: her truth, integrity, and inestimable value
• vv. 12-16: her intellectual gifts
• vv. 17-21: her favours
• vv. 22-26: her existence before all created things,
• vv. 27-31: her presence at creation, and
• vv. 32-36: her appeal to be heeded. [ NJBC]

8:1-4: In 1:20-21, Lady Wisdom pronounces a public address, but there she speaks only to the people of the city: “Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks”. [ NOAB]

8:17-21: Psalm 112:3 says that material prosperity is a gift of Yahweh to those who love him: “Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever”. [ JBC]

8:20-21: There is no incompatibility between loving Wisdom and enjoying material prosperity. [ NJBC]

9:4: Lady Wisdom invites the “simple”, those for whom Proverbs is intended. [ JBC]

9:6: The invitation to the eschatological banquet promised by Yahweh is in Isaiah 25:6 and 55:1-5. [ JBC] During the Last Supper, Jesus tells his disciples “I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until the day I drink it new in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25). [ NOAB]

Psalm 19

A hymn to God as creator of nature and giver of the Law. [ NOAB]

NOAB suggests that the original poem was vv. 1-6, and that vv. 7-14 praise of the revelation of God in the Law, were added later in order to counterbalance what seemed to be an almost pagan influence upon the revelation of God in nature; however NJBC considers that the thematic connections show that this psalm has always been one poem. He views the Law as one of God’s works.

Verses 1-6: The glory of God is shown in the phenomena of the heavens and especially in the might of the sun. [ NOAB] God’s glory is revealed through the splendour and order of creation, especially in the daily cycle of the sun. [ CAB]

Verses 1-4a: The sky and successive days and nights are personified as members of a heavenly choir ceaselessly singing God’s praises. [ NOAB]

Verse 1: “the glory of God”: For the attribution of glory to God (here El in Hebrew), see also 24:7, 10 (“king of glory”) and 29:3 (“God of glory”). “Glory” suggests both the nimbus of light enveloping the deity and the storm cloud: see Exodus 40:34; Psalm 18:12-13. [ NJBC]

Verse 3: The words cannot be heard by human ears. [ NOAB]

Verses 4b-6: The skies provide a track along which the sun, like an athlete, runs its daily course. [ NOAB]

Verses 7-9: There are six synonyms for the Law in these verses. See also Psalm 119. [ NOAB]

Verse 7: “making wise the simple”: For wisdom and Torah, see also 1:1-2. [ NJBC]

Verse 10: Observance of the Law is a joy, not a burden. [ NOAB]

Ezekiel 36:24-28

Verse 26: The “new heart” will be created by God's spirit. See also Chapter 37; Isaiah 44:3; Romans 8:3-6. [ NOAB]

Verse 27: "put my spirit within you": This promise of the spirit will be taken up by Joel ( 3:1ff) and be extended to all humankind; as such, Joel will be quoted by Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-21). This activity of the spirit does not produce a transitory change as in the judges or ecstatic prophets (e.g. Judges 6:34; 1 Samuel 10:6ff), but it will give an inner abiding power to “follow my statutes”, and thus a new level of life will begin. We have here a truly elevated conception of the Law and the relation of the life of the spirit in it. [ JBC]

Verse 28: “you shall be my people”: This reflects the Priestly covenant formula in Exodus 6:7. [ JBC] See also Jeremiah 7:23; 11:24; 24:7; 31:33; Ezekiel 14:11; 37:23,27; Hosea 2:23; Zechariah 8:8. [ NJBC]

Psalms 42;43

Superscription: “Korahites”: The Korahites were the Levitical group responsible for singing in the Temple: see 2 Chronicles 20:19. They are also mentioned in the superscriptions of Psalms 44-49; 84; 85; 87-88. [ HBD]

Note the references to water in 42:2 (“thirsts”); 42:3 (“tears”); 42:7.

42:1: “As a deer”: The comparison is also known in Ugaritic literature. [ JBC]

42:5: “my help”: Literally the salvation of my face , meaning my personal saviour.

42:6: “Mount Mizar”: The exact location is unknown, but it was probably near Mount Hermon. Mount Hermon is the source of the Jordan. [ JBC]

42:7: The sea is life-threatening. [ JBC]

43:3: “your light and your truth”: Personified attendants of Yahweh. [ NJBC]

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Ezekiel’s mission is to preach the word of God to bring new life to dead Israel. [ NJBC] This reading summarizes Ezekiel’s mission to the exiles.

See also Hosea 6:2: “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him”. [ JBC]

This passage never mentions the resurrection of individuals, but the concept is not far removed: see also Isaiah 26:19 (“Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a radiant dew, and the earth will give birth to those long dead”) and Daniel 12:2 (“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”). [ JBC]

Verses 1-28: Two vivid images depict the reconstitution of Israel. The second (vv. 15-28), the joining together of two sticks, is a symbol of the reuniting of the divided peoples of Israel (“Joseph”, vv. 16, 19, and “Ephraim”) and “Judah” (also vv. 16, 19). [ NJBC] There will a single Davidic ruler over the united kingdom, and the people will be joined in a “covenant of peace” (v. 26), worshipping their God at a single sanctuary. [ CAB]

Verse 1: “valley”: NOAB sees this as the same “valley” as in 3:22 (Ezekiel’s fifth commission from Yahweh) and in 8:4. The “valley” is the southern Tigris-Euphrates valley.

Verse 1: “bones”: The exiles have no more hope of resuscitating the kingdom of Israel than of putting flesh on a skeleton and calling it to life. Bones are often associated with the stamina a person needs to stand up to difficulties: see Job 4:14; Psalms 6:2; 102:5; Isaiah 38:13. [ NOAB] [ JBC]

Verse 3: “‘Mortal, can these bones live?’”: One scholar says that because the resurrection of the nation was never in doubt, this vision must be about individuals. In 18:25ff, Ezekiel emphasizes individual responsibility as key to life with God, whose ways are fair. [ JBC]

Verse 9: The “four winds” may indicate God’s universal presence. [ NOAB]

Verses 12-13: In later Judaism, when a person died, his soul was believed to rest, uneasily, in the grave. Either these verses are the source of that belief, or they were written later. Matthew 27:52 speaks of the bodies of godly people who have died being “raised” when Jesus dies, and in John 5:28-29 Jesus says that “those who are in their graves” will hear Christ and “come out”.

Verses 12b-13: These verses may be a later addition. [ NJBC]

Verse 14: This vision is indirectly an anticipation of the doctrine of resurrection. [ NOAB]

Verses 15-28: The Oracle of the Two Sticks envisions the reunification of the long-divided land and the establishment of a united Israel, ruled by one king. Then the situation predicted earlier (see 34:28) will prevail: law-abiding living (see 11:20) in the Promised Land (see 28:25) under a Davidic king (see 34:23-24), “a covenant of peace” (see 34:25), and re-establishment of the central sanctuary (see 45:1-8). See also Zechariah 11:7-14. [ NOAB]

Verse 16: “Ephraim”: The two largest tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, were sons of Joseph. The area of the north left after the Assyrian attacks of 732 BC were known simply as Ephraim. Hosea also uses this name. [ NJBC]

Verses 23-28: These verses expand the implications in three areas:

• The people will be made ritually clean (vv. 23-24)
• They will once again be under one king in the Promised Land (vv. 24-25), and
• The covenant will be reaffirmed as eternal. [ NJBC]

Verse 25: “Jacob”: References to the patriarchs, meaning Israel, are occasionally found elsewhere: see Hosea 12:2; Ezekiel 39:25. [ NJBC]

Verse 25: “their prince”: i.e. the king. See also 12:10 and 34:24. [ NOAB]

Verse 26: “an everlasting covenant”: See also 16:60. In the Priestly (P) tradition, God made unconditional covenants with Noah and Abraham. [ NJBC]

Verses 27-28: “dwelling place ... the Lord sanctify Israel ... my sanctuary”: These expressions prepare for chapters 40-48, as does God sanctifying Israel. [ NJBC]

Psalm 143

Verse 7: “the Pit”: This is the place of the dead, where people retain only the faintest semblance of life. See also 6:5; 16:10; 88:5-6. [ NOAB]

Zephaniah 3:14-20

Verses 1-5: The first oracle. [ NJBC]

Verse 1: Only the nature of the accusations shows that Jerusalem rather than Nineveh is addressed. [ NJBC]

Verse 1: “defiled”: i.e. ritually contaminated: v. 4 says: “Its prophets are reckless, faithless persons; its priests have profaned what is sacred, they have done violence to the law”. [ NJBC]

Verse 2: Four descriptions of moral flaw, specified in vv. 3-4, where the duty of each order of society defines its sins. Rulers and judges prey on their people; prophets are unfaithful to Yahweh; and priests fail to render the proper decisions. [ NJBC]

Verse 5: While in other contexts these would be words of assurance, the preceding accusation shows that it will be the leaders of the people who will be condemned, and not their enemies. [ NJBC]

Verses 6-8: The second oracle. Yahweh speaks in the first person. It begins with an accusation against Jerusalem (vv. 6-7) but ends with a threat against other nations! (v. 8) [ NJBC]

Verses 9-10: Unexpectedly reprieved, the nations become true servants of Yahweh. [ NJBC]

Verse 9: “a pure speech”: This gift symbolizes fidelity (see Isaiah 6:5-7, Isaiah was “a man of unclean lips”), removes the curse of Babel (see Genesis 11:1-9), and, for Christians, anticipates Pentecost (see Acts 2:1-11). [ NOAB]

Verse 9: As in 2:3 and vv. 11-12, judgement brings salvation. While “the peoples” may originally have been my people, the Masoretic Text understands that the Gentiles will serve Yahweh by restoring the exiles to their homeland. See also Isaiah 66:20. [ NJBC]

Verse 11: As elsewhere, wickedness is identified with arrogance and wealth: see 1:11-13, 16, 18; 2:10, 15; 3:1-3, 5. [ NJBC]

Verse 13: Ezekiel 34:11-16 says: “For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out ... I will rescue them ... and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them ... with good pasture ...”. See also Zechariah 8:3, 16. [ NOAB]

Verse 13: “they will pasture and lie down”: An idea also found in other verses perhaps written by later editors: see 2:7, 11. [ NJBC]

Verses 14-20: NOAB says that this passage is generally held to be a later addition.

Verses 14-15: Summons to rejoicing. These verses resemble psalms of enthronement of Yahweh: see Psalms 47; 97; 98. See also Isaiah 40:2; 41:10. [ NOAB] The closest parallels are Isaiah 12:6 (“Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel”); 52:9; Zechariah 2:10; 9:9. [ NJBC]

Verse 15: “is in your midst”: See also Psalms 46 and 48. Yahweh’s presence provides defensive, rather than offensive, help. [ NJBC]

Verse 16: “Do not fear”: In other oracles (Isaiah 7:4; Jeremiah 30:10-11; Isaiah 41:10; 54:4ff) and in the simple language of encouragement (2 Kings 6:16; 1 Chronicles 22:13; 28:20) do not fear usually accompanies assurance of Yahweh’s presence to save.[NJBC]

Verse 17: In Exodus 15:3, part of Moses/Miriam’s victory song after crossing the Reed Sea, we read: “The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name”. See also Isaiah 12:2; 62:5. [ NOAB]

Verse 17: “renew”: The word in Hebrew can also be translated be silent. When so translated, the image is of God overcome, to the extent that he is both silent and sings loudly, as though in his great joy he cannot decide which to do.

Verses 18-20: An oracle predicting changes of fortunes. [ NJBC]

Verses 19-20: In these verses, we find major themes of post-exilic eschatology:

• Destruction of enemies: see also Obadiah 15; 16; Micah 5:9; Zechariah 12:9
• In-gathering of exiles: see also Micah 4:6-7; Zechariah 10:8-12
• Return to the Holy Land: see also Isaiah 62:1-5; Zechariah 8:7-8. [ NOAB]

Verse 19: “lame ... outcast”: In the Hebrew, these are adjectives in the feminine singular, so they refer to Jerusalem. No longer reduced to shame by her afflictions, Jerusalem will be honoured by all. [ NJBC]

Verse 20: NJBC feels that this verse is definitely post-exilic editing, even if v. 19 is not. This verse expands on v. 19.

Verse 20: “renowned”: Literally: a name. [ NOAB]

Verse 20: “make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth”: By this, Yahweh fulfils his long-standing promise to the patriarchs: see Genesis 12:2-3 (God’s covenant with Abram). [ NOAB]

Verse 20: “restore your fortunes”: See the promise in 2:7: “The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall pasture, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes”. [ NJBC]

Psalm 98

The language of this psalm is strikingly similar to that of many passages in Deutero-Isaiah, e.g. Isaiah 44:23; 52:10; 55:12. [ NOAB]

Verse 2: “victory”: The word also occurs in vv. 3 and 4.

Verse 3: “He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel”: i.e. God’s covenant commitment. The sense of “remembered”is as in Exodus 2:24 (“God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”) and Exodus 20:24 (“in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you”). [NJBC]

Verse 3: “have seen the victory”: God has acted (will act) to save Israel.

Verses 5-6: “the lyre and the sound of melody ... trumpets and the sound of the horn”: The inclusion of musical instruments shows that the setting of the psalm is the Temple. [ NJBC]

Verse 6: “before”: i.e. in the presence of.

Verses 8-9: The alternation of watery and dry places emphasizes that all creation should join in the chorus of joy. [ NJBC]

Verse 9: Israel’s missionary outlook, though never a major motif in the Old Testament, saw nations coming to Zion to worship God. Isaiah 2:1-4 says, in part: “Many peoples shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ’ ... out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples”.

Romans 6:3-11

5:19: “one man’s disobedience ... one man’s obedience”: i.e. Adam’s disobedience and Jesus’ obedience. [ NOAB]

5:20: This is explained in 7:7-13. With the giving of the Law, there were then specific rules which could be broken – and broken they were. Waywardness existed before the Law was given, and it then increased. [ NOAB]

5:21: “dominion”: Paul writes in v. 14: “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace”. [ CAB]

6:1: As in 3:1-20, Paul anticipates questions which might come from his readers. and then proceeds to answer them. This form of rhetoric, developed in Greek philosophical debate, was called diatribe. See also 3:5; 4:1; 7:7; 9:14, 30. [ CAB]

6:1: That the question is raised repeatedly (see also 3:8 and 6:15) shows that people did not understand Paul's theology. Another way of putting the question is: if God brings about salvation of humans through Christ, as a sheer gift, why try to live an upright life? In 3:8, the question is phrased as: “And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), ‘Let us do evil so that good may come’?” and in 6:15: “Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace?”. [ CAB]

6:2: “who died to sin”: See also 5:12-21. [ NJBC]

6:3: “Do you not know”: A frequent phrase in Paul’s writings, usually indicating something his readers already know well. It is also found in 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:2; 9:24. [ CAB]

6:3: “baptised into Christ Jesus”: It is possible that this reflects the imagery of baptism by immersion, but it certainly speaks of a movement of incorporation by which one is born to life in Christ.

6:3: “baptised into his death”: In Galatians 2:20, Paul writes: “... it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”, and in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed ... always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies”. [ CAB]

6:4: A basic Christian confession of faith from the earliest traditions of the Church. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 expresses the same ideas: “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures ...”, as does Colossians 2:12: “when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead”. [ CAB]

6:4: “buried”: The Greek word is synthapein, literally meaning co-buried. [ NJBC]

6:4: “glory of the Father”: In the Old Testament (see Exodus 16:7, 10), exodus miracles are ascribed to Yahweh’s kabod (glory); so too here is the rising of Christ. [ NJBC]

6:4: “walk”: A favourite Pauline expression borrowed from the Old Testament (see 2 Kings 20:3, Hezekiah prays to Yahweh, and Proverbs 8:20) to designate the conscious ethical conduct of the Christian. [ NJBC]

6:4: “newness of life”: See also Galatians 2:20. Through baptism, we are identified with the glorified Christ, enabling us to live actually with the life of Christ. [ NJBC] [ CAB]

6:4: “we too might walk in newness of life”: Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7: “ we walk by faith, not by sight” and in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”. [ CAB]

6:5-8: Paul says of the baptised Christian what he says of Christ himself in vv. 9-10. [ NJBC]

6:5: “been united with him”: Another syn word in Greek: synphytoi, literally grown together, as when a young branch is grafted onto a tree, it grows together with the tree and is nourished by it. [ NJBC]

6:5: “we will certainly ...”: For Paul, the resurrection of Christians is a future event, an eschatological one, but the renewal of Christian life is a present reality. [ NJBC]

6:6: “our old self”: NJBC offers the self we once were.

6:6: “was crucified with him”: See also Galatians 2:20. In Galatians 5:24, Paul writes: “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”, and in Galatians 6:14: “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world”. [ NJBC]

6:6: “the body of sin might be destroyed”: NJBC offers to do away with our sinful self. Probably the whole human is intended, both the former orientation of one’s very being and physical tendency to sin.

6:6: “no longer be enslaved to sin”: See also Galatians 2:20 and 2 Corinthians 5:17, quoted above. We have a new orientation. [ CAB]

6:7: There are two possible meanings:

• The Jewish notion that death of a guilty person ends all litigation, or
• One who has died has lost the very means of sinning. [ NJBC]

Both infer that a person’s status has changed.

6:8: “we have died with Christ”: i.e. through baptism. [ NJBC]

6:8: “we believe”: New life is not something seen in the normal sense, but with the eyes of faith; however, as v. 4 suggests, we already enjoy a share in this life. In 2 Corinthians 4:11-12, Paul writes: “For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you”. [ NJBC]

6:9: “Christ ... will never die again”: The parallel for the Christian is that he/she is freed from the finality of death. [ NJBC]

6:10: “he died to sin”: In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul puts the point a little differently: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”. [ NJBC]

6:10: “he lives to God”: Since his resurrection, Christ enjoys a new relationship with the Father, into which he also introduces all who are baptised. In Galatians 2:19, Paul says: “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ”. [ NJBC]

6:11: “consider yourselves”: NJBC offers think of yourselves. He goes on to interpret the verse as saying: deepen your faith continually to become psychologically aware of your union with God.

6:11: “in Christ Jesus”: As in 2 Corinthians 5:17, life in Christ is the new sphere of existence, a totally transformed way of looking at life and the world. [ CAB]

Psalm 114

Psalms 113-118 constitute the so-called Egyptian Hallel, used in connection with great festivals. Psalms 113-114 are sung before the Passover meal, and Psalms 115-118 afterwards. If the Last Supper was a Passover meal, these psalms are “the hymn” sung by Jesus and the disciples: see Matthew 26:30.

A hymn in praise of God’s great work in creating the nation – from leaving Egypt to crossing the Jordan. [ NOAB]

Verse 3: “Jordan turned back”: Joshua 4:23 says: “For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we crossed over”.

Verse 4: CAB sees this verse as describing Israel’s enemies in poetic language.

Verse 8: “who turns the rock into a pool of water”: See also Exodus 17:6 (at Rephidim); Numbers 20:11; Deuteronomy 8:15.

Luke 24:1-12

The parallels are Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-8; John 20:1, 11-18. [ NOAB]

Verse 1: “at early dawn”: The powers of darkness (see 22:53) give way to the light of the dawn of Jesus’ victory over death, as Zechariah foretold in the Benedictus: “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (see 1:78-79). [ NJBC]

Verse 4: “two men in dazzling clothes”: In Acts 1:10 (the Ascension) and Acts 10:30 (Cornelius), Luke calls angels men. There are also two at the Transfiguration (see 9:29-30). Lightning frequently expresses some kind of heavenly or unearthly visitation in Luke’s writings: see also 10:18; 11:36; 17:24; Acts 9:3; 22:6 (at Paul’s conversion). [ JBC]

Verse 6: In 9:22, Jesus tells his disciples: “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” and in 13:32-33 he tells some Pharisees: “Go and tell that fox [Herod Antipas]for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem’”. [ NOAB]

Verses 6,8: “Remember ... remembered”: The meaning of the Greek word, mimneskesthai, is more than mere recollection of the content of a previous conversation. Mimneskesthai is to bring to bear in the present, with power and new and deepened insight, the meaning of past actions and words in salvation history. This Greek word is also found in this sense in 1:54 (Mary, in the Magnificat), 1:72 (Zechariah, in the Benedictus); 23:42 (one of those crucified, to Jesus); Acts 10:31 (Peter, to Cornelius); Acts 11:16 (Peter “remembered the word of the Lord ...”). Luke uses related words in 22:19 (the institution of the Eucharist); 22:61; Acts 17:32; 20:31, 35. [ NJBC]

Verse 6: “you”: This suggests that Jesus’ disciples as a group often included others than those of the inner circle. [ NOAB]

Verse 7: In 9:44, Jesus has prophesied: “‘Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands’”. [ NJBC]

Verse 7: “Son of Man”: Jesus saw himself as the fulfilment of the Old Testament, especially the Son of Man and Servant Songs of Isaiah.

Verse 8: “remembered”: The revelation of Jesus’ vindication gives new meaning and power to the women’s recollection of Jesus’ words. [ NJBC]

Verse 9: The sequence in Matthew 28:8 differs. The actual sequence cannot be worked out. Each account is a separate summary of early Christian testimony to the facts of Jesus’ resurrection. [ NOAB]

Verse 9: “told”: NJBC says that the Greek word, anengeilan, means more than told . Proclaimed is a better translation. It is found frequently in the gospels and Acts. [ NJBC]

Verse 10: “Mary Magdalene, Joanna ...”: For women who were followers of Jesus, see also Mark 16:1 (“Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome”); Luke 8:1-3 (“some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, ... and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward ... and Susanna, and many others”); John 19:26 (Jesus’ mother); John 20:1. [ NOAB]

Verse 10: “Joanna”: In Mark 16:1, it is Salome. A Joanna is mentioned in Luke 8:3. [ JBC]

Verse 11: “an idle tale”: JBC translates the Greek as nonsense. [ JBC]

Verse 11: “did not believe them”: See also Mark 16:10-11 (Mary Magdalene tells of seeing the resurrected Jesus), Mark 16:14; Matthew 28:10, 17 (of the eleven disciples “some doubted”); John 20:18, 24-25, 29 (Thomas). NJBC says that Luke uses the same verb here as he does in Acts (e.g. Acts 28:34) to declare the negative response to the Christian proclamation.

Verse 12: This verse is in some early manuscripts but not in all (e.g. the Western Text). Some scholars consider that this verse is an addition based on John 20:3-10; others accept it as authentic, because:

• v. 24 depends on it,
• it is in the most reliable manuscripts, and
• it is consonant with Lucan theology. [ NOAB] [ JBC]

Verse 12: “what had happened”: The Greek is a general phrase also found in 23:47 (“When the centurion saw what had taken place ...”), 23:48 (“... when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place ...”) and 24:18 (“‘... Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’”).

© 1996-2022 Chris Haslam