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Luke 2:8 – Shepherds: a despised class?

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It is sometimes thought (and said, by preachers) that shepherds were a despised class in Israel at this time.

This opinion has been voiced by scholars both old and new.  For example, Butler (2000) wrote,

‘Shepherding had changed from a family business as in David’s time to a despised occupation.’

Stein (1992), wrote:

‘In general, shepherds were dishonest and unclean according to the standards of the law. They represent the outcasts and sinners for whom Jesus came.’

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Luke 4:16-19 – An incomplete quotation?

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Luke 4:16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 4:17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
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Luke 2:7 – ‘No place in the inn’

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Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

So translated by AV, ESV, NASB, RSV, NRSV, God’s Word, Good News.

NIV – ‘…because there was no guest room available for them.’

New Living Translation – ‘…because there was no lodging available for them.’

Unravelling fact and fancy

The traditional translation (‘No room at the inn’) has become engraved in the popular mind and, along with an unfriendly inn-keeper, in many a nativity scene.…

Luke 2:1-4 – Quirinius and ‘the first registration’

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‘Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire for taxes. This was the first registration, taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to his own town to be registered. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David.’

This passage presents a number of historical challenges.…

Matthew 11:12 – “The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence”

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Matthew 11:12 “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and forceful people lay hold of it.”

(a) Forceful entry?

The NIV translation links this difficult saying with Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it.”  But it is not at all certain that both sayings are teaching the same thing.…

Matthew 10:23 – ‘Before the Son of Man comes’

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Matthew 10:23 – “I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

What does ‘before the Son of Man comes’ mean?

Mistaken expectation?  According to Mounce, Albert Schweitzer based his entire scheme of thoroughgoing eschatology on this verse. He held that Jesus thought that the mission of the Twelve would bring in the kingdom. He was disappointed when it did not turn out that way.…

Matthew 8:28 – Gadara or Gerasa?

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A possible contradiction has been identified, in that in Mark Jesus exorcises a demoniac in the region near Gerasa; (Mk 5:1) in Matthew it occurs in Gadara. (Mt 8:28) However, the former is probably a city; the latter, a province (so Blomberg, DJG).  If so, it’s rather like one person saying that something happened ‘near Norwich’, and another saying that it happened ‘in Norfolk’.

‘The problem of the city’s name is a classical one and goes back at least to Origen’s time.…

Matthew 5:21f – “You have heard it said…but I say to you”

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Matthew 5:21f “You have heard that it was said…But I say to you…”

Did Jesus reject the moral teaching of the Old Testament?

William Barclay thinks that

‘Jesus quotes the Law, only to contradict it, and to substitute a teaching of his own. He claimed the right to point out the inadequacies of the most sacred writings in the world, and to correct them out of his own wisdom.’

More generally, Richard Rohr writes this:

‘It is rather clear in Jesus’ usage that not all scriptures are created equal.

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Matthew 2:8f – Can God speak through astrology?

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Matthew 2:9 After listening to the king they left, and once again the star they saw when it rose led them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 2:10 When they saw the star they shouted joyfully.

‘”Magi” (not “wise men”-KJV) were pagan astrologers whose divinatory skills were widely respected in the Greco-Roman world; astrology had become popular through the “science” of the East, and everyone agreed that the best astrologers lived in the East.…

Matthew 2:1 – ‘Magi from the east’

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Matthew 2:1f After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Separating tradition from (biblical) text

Tradition says that the magi were three in number and that they were kings, but this is not indicated in the text. …