Matthew 10:34 – “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.”
(See also the parallel saying in Luke 12:51- “Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!”)
Looking no deeper than the literal meaning of the words used here, some sceptics see in this verse evidence that Jesus was a warmonger.…
Mt 10:28 – “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
The traditional view
The traditional interpretation goes back at least as far as Tertullian, who espoused a Platonic view of the immortality of the soul (see Fudge, The Fire That Consumes).
Blomberg asserts that
…‘”kill,” like “destroy,” does not imply annihilation but eternal suffering, as the qualification “in hell” makes clear.’
Matthew 12:30 – “Whoever is not with me is against me.” (Also Luke 11:23)
Mark 9:40 – “Whoever is not against us is for us.”
Bart Ehrman (Jesus, Interrupted) asks:
‘Did [Jesus] say both things? Could he mean both things? How can both be true at once? Or is it possible that one of the Gospel writers got things switched around?’
Ehrman has failed to notice that these are not two versions of the same saying, but rather two distinct sayings uttered in different circumstances and for different purposes. …
Mt 16:27f – “The Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Mk 8:38-9:1 – “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. …
Deut 23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite may not enter the assembly of the LORD; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever do so, 23:4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 23:5 But the LORD your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed the curse to a blessing, for the LORD your God loves you.…
Gen 15:13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. 15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15:15 But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 15:16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.”…
Luke 2:39 So when Joseph and Mary had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
This statement is held to be at variance with that of Matthew, which implies that they resided in Bethlehem for some months after the birth of Jesus (i.e. until the visit of the Magi) and states (Mt 2:14) that they then took Jesus to Egypt.
Gundry (Commentary on Matthew) argues partly on linguistic grounds:
…‘Luke says that the Holy Family went back to Nazareth when they finished the ceremonies in the Temple (Luke 2:39), i.e.,
Summary: It has been claimed by some revisionists that the relationship between David and Jonathan was of a sexual nature. This is implausible, since it imports modern concepts and ideas into the ancient text.
In detail:
In 2 Samuel 1:26 David laments:
I grieve over you, my brother Jonathan!
You were very dear to me.
Your love was more special to me than the love of women.
Their relationship has been introduced in 1 Samuel 18 –
18:1 When David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship.…
22:35 Then Jesus said to them, “When I sent you out with no money bag, or traveler’s bag, or sandals, you didn’t lack anything, did you?” They replied, “Nothing.” 22:36 He said to them, “But now, the one who has a money bag must take it, and likewise a traveler’s bag too. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one. 22:37 For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was counted with the transgressors.’…
Romans 16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my compatriots and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.
The main issue to be discussed here is whether Junia (along with Andronicus) is being described as ‘well known to the apostles’, or ‘outstanding as apostles’.
A cluster of issues surround this commendation:
1. What general background can we infer about this couple?
Along with Prisca and Aquila, Epenetus, and Miriam, Andronicus and Junia would have quite recently returned to Rome after Claudius’ decree of banishment of Jews and Christians from that city had been reversed. …
