Parables of Ill Repute
In rabbinic parables God could be portrayed as behaving in a morally ambiguous manner: he might be a cruel slave owner or a heartless judge. In a few Lukan parables, Jesus also portrayed God as...
View ArticleSeder with Family
A visitor to Israel last night might have been puzzled by seeing the streets heavy with traffic, especially since it was already one o'clock in the morning. The reason was that last night was the first...
View ArticleMusalaha Conference for Christian Arab and Jewish Women 2003
One of the most amazing and unusual experiences we have living in Israel is to see people who are avowed enemies nationally and historically come together in harmony and peace. A number of Israeli...
View ArticleSelected Examples of Rewriting in Mark’s Account of Jesus’ Last Week
It has been noted that in instances where Mark’s editorial hand restructured his story, Luke has preserved a more primitive form of the account, a form that is independent of Mark’s influence. Gospel...
View ArticleBlessed Be the “Name”!
We Christians sing a hymn that contains these words: "Blessed be the name, blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord." We also sing choruses that proclaim: "Your name is like honey on my...
View ArticleOver and Under-Familiarity with Matthew 6:11
Hearing something repeatedly can diminish its significance. I suspect that this is particularly true of Scripture. Overfamiliarity with a biblical passage can contribute to its misunderstanding....
View ArticleRepentance: God Inhales
Blessing God as one who delights in repentance has rich theological implications. Nevertheless, this blessing runs the risk of inaccuracy by understating God’s reaction to repentance. He not only...
View ArticleThe Amidah Prayer
Because the prayer Jesus’ taught his disciples (The Lord’s Prayer) is apparently an abbreviated version of the Amidah prayer (also known as the Eighteen Benedictions, or Blessings), it is important for...
View ArticleElijah Prays About Rain
Toward the end of his Epistle, James exhorts his readers to pray with faith for the healing of the sick. When we read that “the prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects” (James 5:16),...
View ArticleEngaged: The Family Blessing
A simple paragraph in a JP article changed the way I prayed!
View ArticleAnd Where Did You Go for the Seder?
We are now in the middle of Passover week and one frequently hears the question, "And where did you go for the Seder [the special home service on the first night of Passover]?" Answers are varied: "To...
View ArticleA New Approach to the Synoptic Gospels
It is easy to claim new solutions and new approaches to familiar problems. But in the field of New Testament research it is much harder to make these claims stick. Some years ago I wrote an article in...
View ArticleLord’s Prayer
David Bivin and Joshua Tilton envision how the Lord's Prayer might have been formulated in its original language and explore the ancient Jewish context to which the Lord's Prayer belongs.
View ArticleThe Didache and its Relevance for Understanding the Gospel of Matthew
In this article, Professor Huub van de Sandt introduces readers to the fascinating treatise called the Didache, and discusses how this early Christian document, which was based on an earlier Jewish...
View ArticlePraying Like Gentiles
What can Jesus' warnings against praying like Gentiles teach us about Jesus' relationship to Second Temple Judaism and his attitude toward non-Jews?
View ArticlePersistent Widow Parable
In what way is God similar to a crooked judge? Do believers have to pester God into action? Explore questions such as these in the LOY commentary on the Persistent Widow Parable.
View ArticleFriend In Need Simile
Is God asleep, oblivious to our prayers? Is he a grouch, unwilling to respond to our pleas? In the Friend in Need simile Jesus instructed his disciples that the grounds for confident prayer is the...
View ArticleBlessed Be the “Name”!
We Christians sing a hymn that contains these words: "Blessed be the name, blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord." We also sing choruses that proclaim: "Your name is like honey on my...
View ArticleNotes on the New Testament as a Witness for Broader Jewish Patterns in Jesus’...
This essay probes a number of Matthean and Lukan contributions to the shared Synoptic narrative, in search of possible reflections of contemporaneous Jewish customs and beliefs with broader circulation.
View ArticleSanctus and Gloria
Professor David Flusser investigates the Jewish background of the angel's song to the shepherds, "Glory to God in the highest...."
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