Ezekiel 17 presents a riddle or parable of two eagles about the treachery of Zedekiah, the puppet governor appointed by Nebuchadnezzar to replace Jehoiachin, the Judahite king taken captive in an earlier wave of exile of which Ezekiel had been a part. Zedekiah would...
messiah
Naked Bible 87: Exorcism of Demons as Part of the Messianic Profile
There is no direct talk in the Old Testament about the messiah, the son of David, would cast out demons. Yet that title (“son of David”) is found only in the synoptic gospels in association with Jesus’ healing and demonic exorcisms. While healing is a clear part of...
Naked Bible 41: Acts 3
Acts 3 There are two focus points in this episode. The first is Acts 3:6, specifically the concept of the “name” and the NT understanding of the term “Christ” (Greek: Christos). Is the term merely an adjective ("anointed")? Is it a proper name, like a last name? Or is...
Jesus and the Morning Star
One of the questions I get with some frequency concerns the phrase “(bright) morning star.” The gist of the question usually concerns some presumed relationship between Jesus and Lucifer (the question, as we will see, is something of a misnomer all on its...
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 12
Before leaving Daniel 9 I wanted to comment on Peter Gentry’s very recent article, as well as two others. All three take Daniel 9:24-27 as messianic (i.e., that the anointed one who is cut off is indeed Jesus the Messiah), though they do not take all elements...
Still More on Gabriel’s Inscription
Israel Knohl and J. Collins go at it here. Editor's note: the text of the linked blog post is included below for easy-access. Original content, published August 26, 2008, found here at John Hobbins' Ancient Hebrew Poetry blog: Collins vs. Knohl on the Vision of...
More on the “Gabriel’s Revelation” Tablet – Israel Knohl Responds
Israel Knohl addresses some of the concerns raised by April DeConick. Editor's note: because of potential loss of external content, link's main content is reproduced below:From https://forbiddengospels.blogspot.com/2008/08/letter-from-israel-knohl-addressing.html,...
April DeConick on Gabriel’s Revelation
This pertains to the ignorant media hysteria over the Gabriel inscription (blogged about earlier). April DeConcick of Rice University has questions. She is correct in that the 2nd temple texts cited by Israel Knohl may have been revised by Christians, and therefore...
New Inscription and the Jewish Roots of Christianity: The “Aaargghh! Award”
My thanks to OJA, Debra, and TH (from elsewhere) for sending me the link to the NYT article entitled, “Ancient Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection.” This article is especially noteworthy in that I have decided to keep tabs on hyped media...