In this episode, we're going to talk about two genres: prophecy and apocalyptic. The reason for doubling up will become apparent as we proceed, but basically we need to talk about these two genres because most modern Bible students don't realize there are clear...
Interpretation
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 027: What is a Proverb?
In the last podcast episode we continued our series on studying the Bible in light of its various types of literature its literary genres. We looked at parables and offered some guidelines for interpreting them. In this episode, we're going to briefly look at...
Allegorical Interpretation of the Names in Genesis 5
I've had several readers over the past several months ask me to comment on a post authored by Chuck Missler entitled, "Meanings of the Names in Genesis 5." The essay puts forth the idea that the list of names in Genesis 5, stretching from Adam to Noah, can be read as...
On Using Rabbinic Material to Interpret the New Testament
I'm still in the process of getting things together for the posting of my ETS papers (both of which were well received). I'll have that ready by the end of the weekend. However, I decided to post something else that I have recently run into. I'm not sure why it hasn't...
Book Recommendation Related to the Inspiration Discussion
Some of the posts on this topic have dealt with the looseness of how NT authors quote / use the OT. I've given a couple of examples, but if you want to see how thorny the issues are, I recommend a recent book on the subject--nay, an entire commentary on this...
Like Jesus and Paul Before Me, I Love Israel and Its People
I know … not the sort of “academic” title you’re used to seeing here. It’s prompted by some recent feedback I’ve gotten for my post “Can We Please Stop Appealing to Rabbis for Biblical and Ancient Text Interpretation?” You guessed it. There's fear that my words (in...
Are the Hebrew Letters to be Interpreted from their Original Picture Signs?
I recommend the video below created by Dr. Michael Brown. It's more than a debunking of the deeply flawed, nonsensical idea that the meaning of Hebrew letters is to be found in their original pictographic (picture) representations. Like myself, Dr. Brown is a trained...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode: Translating Genesis 1-11
In this episode Dr. Heiser talks to the men behind a new translation project, John Hobbins and Samuel Bray. The first volume of their effort is entitled Genesis 1-11: A New Old Translation for Readers, Scholars, and Translators. Our discussion focuses on the...
Ever Heard a Sermon on Numbers 5?
Me neither. I just got an email at work letting me know that an old Bible Study Magazine (BSM) article I wrote on the ritual for detecting adultery was re-run on the BSM blog today. It's entitled, "Love Potion: Numbers 5." Yes, it's a cheesy title. But BSM pieces are...
How Mike Approaches the Bible
Camping Crackpottery Survey Update
Contest voting is pretty tight, as the graphic shows. No sign of a clear consensus yet, so I'll be leaving the survey live for a while yet. Not sure if Harold Camping's latest nugget of incoherence will sway voters, either. In case you haven't heard you're blessed,...
Harold Camping, Bible Crackpottery, and a Contest
In honor of today's blazingly stupid (and failed) rapture prediction by Harold Camping, I thought I'd coin a new term to use for Bible crackpottery. I can't decide between two alternatives. I was actually hoping he'd be right since I've been grading (mostly poor)...
Historically-Conditioned Scriptures
This short piece was posted by Larry Hurtado today. Good food for thought, especially in the context of our (now old) discussion of inspiration (which we will revisit at some point). Larry targets fundamentalists (read: black and white thinkers) on both the...
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 10
Continuing on with our series, "why the seventy weeks of Daniel is more complicated than popular prophecy writers tell you -- or even know." This Daniel 9 issue requires especially close attention. It runs so contrary to what all the popular end times experts have...
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 9
Continuing on with the assumptions made in regard to the 70 weeks of Daniel... In the last post we jumped into Daniel 9:24-27 and saw (to the surprise of some I am sure) that, although so many people are sure that the 70 weeks prophecy was about a timeline that had...