Category Archives: Tough texts

Mt 24:34/Mk 13:30/Lk 21:32 – ‘This generation will not pass away’

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Mt 24:34/Mk 13:30/Lk 21:32 – “I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

Jesus has been speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem and the ‘coming’ of the Son of Man.

Taking our Lord’s words at face value, it is possible to suppose that he is teaching that the parousia would take place within the lifetime of his hearers (‘this generation’).  If that is what he meant, then he would appear to have been mistaken.…

Exodus 12:37 – How many Israelites left Egypt?

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12:37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 men on foot, plus their dependants. 12:38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and flocks and herds—a very large number of cattle.

To the reader who is inclined to take Old Testament history seriously, the presence of large numbers – particularly in military accounts – presents a significant problem.

What are we to make of

  • the standing army of Israel of over half a million (Numbers 1:46; 2:32; 26:51)?
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1 Corinthians 14:34 – ‘Women should be silent in the churches’

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1 Corinthians 14:33-35 – ‘As in all the churches of the saints, 14:34 the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says. 14:35 If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home, because it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.’

Various approaches to interpreting this (notorious?!) passage have been proposed:-

1.…

Jude 7 – ‘Unnatural desire’

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Jude 7 – ‘So also Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire in a way similar to these angels, are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.’

The expression sarkos heteras is, lit., ‘other flesh’.  It is variously translated:-

ESV, NET  – ‘unnatural desire’
NIV, Good News, – ‘perversion’
NASB – ‘went after strange flesh’
RSV – ‘indulged in unnatural lust’
NRSV – ‘pursued unnatural lust’
AV – ‘going after strange flesh’

1.…

John 14:12 – ‘Greater deeds’

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John 14:12 – “The person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father.”

What are these ‘deeds’, who would perform them, and in what sense would they be ‘greater’?

Miracles (accompanied by conversions)?

The standard Pentecostal understanding is that the ‘deeds’ are miracles, as in Jn 5:17; 10:32.  They would be quantitatively ‘greater’ in that they would be multiplied through all Jesus’ followers.…

Matthew 2:23 – ‘Jesus would be called a Nazarene’

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‘[Joseph] came to a town called Nazareth and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.‘

Where does it say in the prophets ‘that Jesus would be called a Nazarene’?

This wording is not to be found in any of the prophets.  In fact, Nazareth is not mentioned at all in the Old Testament.  Bethlehem, on the other hand, had a higher status as the ‘city of David’.…

1 Corinthians 7:14 – Sanctified spouses, holy children

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1 Cor 7:14 – ‘The unbelieving husband is sanctified because of the wife, and the unbelieving wife because of her husband. Otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.’

What is the meaning of ‘sanctified’ and ‘holy’ in this verse? Several options may be considered:-

1. That it is about the regeneration of the unbelieving partner.  According to this view, Paul would be stating that the unbelieving spouse has become regenerate through the believing partner. …

Ephesians 5:21f – ‘Submit to one another’

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Ephesians 5:21f – ‘…submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.’

What does it mean to ‘submit to one another’?  And what does it mean for wives to submit to their husbands?

1. Some think that it means that everyone is to submit to everyone else

Wives to husbands, husbands to wives, children to parents, parents to children, and so on.  In this case, ‘to submit’ would have to mean, ‘care for one another and put one another’s needs first.’  …

1 Cor 11:3/Eph 5:23 – ‘Kephale’: ‘head’? ‘source’? ‘foremost’?

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1 Corinthians 11:3 – ‘Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.’

Ephesians 5:23 ‘The husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church.’

Much discussion has taken place over the meaning of kephale (‘head’) in these contexts.

Bartell (Men and Women in Christ) remarks that no writer earlier that Paul had used the kephale metaphor to apply to the relationship of a man to a woman.…

1 Kings 20:30 – ‘The wall collapsed on 27,000 of them’

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A hundred thousand casualties…the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them.

These numbers seem incredibly high.  Various explanations have been suggested.

1. Supernatural event

Older commentators tend to understand the numbers literally, and find a supernatural explanation.  With regard to the figure of 27,000, Barnes, for example, thinks that a ‘terrific earthquake’ took place.  But this is conjecture, and, in any case, still does not explain the large number of victims.

Poole says that such

‘might possibly happen through natural causes; but most probably was effected by the mighty power of God, then sending some sudden earthquake, or violent storm of wind, which threw down the wall, or walls, upon them; or doing this by the ministry of angels; which cannot be incredible to any man, except to him that denies the truth of all the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament.’  

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