I suspect we’ve simply never been “competent readers”— or at least, not competent enough— to appreciate Job. (On the idea of “competent readers” see this excerpt from Brettler’s excellent How to Read the Bible
Category: Old Testament
Come Follow Me: Ezra 1–8; Nehemiah 1–2; 4; 6; 8
(Reposted with minor updates)
Ezra and Nehemiah originally constituted one book, so it’s natural to treat them together. Let’s review the timeframe and story here. Continue reading
Who Put Bathsheba on the Roof? Leonard Cohen and Failure to Study in Context, That’s Who
Apparently, the idea has entered popular consciousness that in 2 Samuel 11, Bathsheba herself was on the roof. I’ve been confused as to why people seem to think this, since the text doesn’t actually say so; it’s David who was on his flat palace roof, trying to cool off. So, where is this idea coming from that Bathsheba was “bathing” on the roof? Continue reading
Come Follow Me- Ruth and Samuel 1 (updated)
Today, we’re focusing entirely on Ruth, and then just on a small section of Ruth. (I’d really like to write a long article for Ruth as I did for Judah and Tamar, but my list of projects is long.) Ruth is a short and masterful novella. If you haven’t read it yet, give it a quick read. It’s four chapters, minimal characters. I’ll assume you know the story for the rest of this post.
I do have a podcast on Ruth as well as Samuel 1! (links to old podcasts now fixed.) And I discuss the “redeemer” and atonement concepts found in Ruth in depth in my BYU Studies article on The Israelite Roots of Atonement Terminology.
Continue reading
Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson 19- Judges
Reposted with no significant updates. I have a big writing deadline I’m trying to hit in a few weeks.
The Book of Judges begins with the death of Joshua, and is arranged in very distinct and obvious cycles: Israel prospers, forgets God and embraces idolatry, is allowed to be enslaved/captured by its neighbors until it repents, and then God raises up a charismatic military leader or “judge” who delivers Israel from captivity. Wash, rinse, repeat. Continue reading
Come Follow Me: Joshua (with special guest appearance from Elder Joseph F. Merrill)
We are now out of the Pentateuch, into what’s called the Deuteronomistic History, or DH. This refers to the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Continue reading
Come Follow Me: Deuteronomy
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Mat 22:36-40 KJV)
I begin with this familiar passage because it bears directly on our study of Deuteronomy. It illustrates two things. Continue reading
Abraham, Sarai, Hagar, and the Contextual Approach to Scripture
I recently saw someone comment, “Well, I’m off to explain to a bunch of twelve-year olds why Abraham proposed sleeping with another woman as a cure for infertility.” Presumably a bit tongue in cheek, but it illustrated the problems of an approach to scripture which doesn’t emphasize seeking understanding through context.
Come Follow Me Notes: Exodus 15-20, 32-34.
Insert here my usual gripe of “we’re trying to cover so much ground in so little time!” So let’s focus about The Ten Commandments. It’s a common-knowledge topic, and everyone’s seen the film, so we all know everything about them, right? Continue reading
Come Follow Me: Notes on Exodus 1-14
As we move into Exodus, time passes suddenly. We move away from the individual novella of Joseph to several hundred years later, just as we often do in the Book of Mormon. Just how long, we don’t actually know. Continue reading
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