All Posts

Proverbs are wise generalizations to apply in specific situations. They can be contradictory, as with other common platitudes like “Look...

The Book of Psalms is the Hebrew hymnbook. I offer some notes about context, New Testament references, etc., but I’m intentionally trying to say less to let the songs breathe. The numbering of the Psalms may differ according to which translation of the Bible you are reading. Like Job, here are more examples of people expressing their feelings to God. Getting a taste of the style and use of metaphorical language of Hebrew poetry will help us understand the prophets better when

Job is mentioned as a historical person in Ezekiel 14:14,20. This is a book of wisdom that teaches that God alone is wise (Job 28:12-28)....

This account took place between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7. The name Esther is derived from “Ishtar”, the sex goddess. Esther, Mordecai, and Haman...

Nehemiah, rebuilder of the walls of Jerusalem, had been next to power like Joseph, Daniel, Mordecai, etc. A small fraction of those...

Ezra is a variant of “Azariah” meaning “God helps”. He was sent by the Persian Empire (aka the Achaemenid Empire) to lead a group of...

2 Chronicles is a Judah-focused history perhaps written down by Ezra and his followers. We noted things like an early antecedent of the...

Congratulations for making it this far. Wow, that history was largely depressing, right? The good news is that life under the New...

2 Kings continues the Deuteronomistic History. 1:1 Moab leaving as a result of Ahab’s evil sets up the war in chapter 3. 1:2 “Baal-Zebul”...

This is another installment of the Deuteronomistic Histories, in which national success or failure is explained by...

This is a continuation of the history we’ve been reading. This was once all one work. Samuel died in 1 Samuel 25, so it’s just named in...

1 and 2 Samuel were once all one work compiled after the Israel/Judah split (as evidenced by 1 Samuel 27:6) perhaps from many books that...

Ruth is set during the days of the Judges. It shows David’s family being better behaved than the rest of Israel. Jesus is our Boaz, our...

Jesus is coming to judge the world, and we will rule with Him. In a theocracy, God is King. He gave the Law, so the rulers of his people...

Joshua means “the LORD is salvation”; in Greek, the name is Jesus. Jesus leads us into the Promised Land. Moses didn’t; Law is not the...

Deuteronomy means “Second Law”. Moses reminded Israel of the Law in his farewell address.  The letters can be used to spell, “To Me, you...

The Hebrew title of this book amounts to “In the Wilderness”. This book contains the laws pertaining to the camp on the move in addition...

Priests “protected” the holiness of the Tabernacle/Temple (and protected people from it—touching the wrong objects or attending without...

The Book of Exodus is about how a newborn man (Moses) or nation (Israel) is saved from/through water (from a hard lesson in being a...

1:1 The first word in the Bible in Hebrew begins with “B”; starting with the second letter instead of the first is believed by some to...