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Bible Q

Author Archives: BibleQ

Who is Phoebe? What role did she play in the Bible?

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Phoebe is mentioned in only one place in the Bible: I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron […]

Who was the rich ruler in Luke 18:18?

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The Bible doesn’t identify the ruler beyond the scant information it provides in Luke 18:18-30, Matthew 19:16-30 and Mark 10:17-31 (we certainly can’t pinpoint a particular, named person). All we know is that he is young (Mat. 19:20,22), rich, religious and a ruler (Luke 18:18). There are a few possibilities about what it meant for the man […]

When was the Holy Spirit given?

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The full question: “I always thought the Holy Spirit came after Jesus’ ascension. However, Luke 2:25-26 says Simeon had that same “”Holy Ghost”” as Jesus mentions in Acts 1:8. Am I right? Also, was the Holy Spirit always available, but the apostles just didn’t have him until Jesus’ ascension? Basically, why the big plug in […]

Who was Eliakim son of Hilkiah? (Isaiah 22)

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Eliakim son of Hilkiah was one of King Hezekiah’s government officials.1 His job was to be ‘over the household’ (2 Kings 18:18), ‘in charge of the palace’ (NRSV). In some of the Biblical records, Eliakim worked closely with two of Hezekiah’s other officials: Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. They were […]

Where did Leviticus and the Levites get their names?

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The Levites The Levites got their name from their ancestor: the Levites were the people who descended from Levi, one of Jacob’s twelve sons (Ex. 6:16ff.).1 The Book of Leviticus “Leviticus” is the English name for the third book of the Bible (its title in the Hebrew Bible is taken from the first word of […]

Why is God so violent?

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There is no denying that in the Old Testament (and in part, the New Testament) the actions of God are often violent and bloody. Either through direct action or through sanctioned action God seems responsible for a large number of deaths. These actions attributed to God not only seem unpleasant compared with our modern conceptions […]

Why did the Old Testament make a distinction between certain meats (i.e., clean and unclean) but not plants, even though some plants are poisonous?

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There are two possible reasons why the law was given distinguishing between clean and unclean animals: (1) The main reason, because it is the one explicitly stated in the Bible was that the people were to “not defile themselves”, the physical defilement apparently emblematic of spiritual defilement. Leviticus 11:43-44 Do not make yourselves detestable by […]